It’s easy for us on this show to talk at great length about Sidney Lumet’s 1976 film “Network” as it’s one of our all-time favorites. Both a scathing indictment of the TV industry and a reality check for people’s feelings about the times in which they were living, this film made an indelible mark on the world of film and created one of the most iconic movie lines ever. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we not only finish our series of films from 1976 but also begin a short but deliciously sweet series of films written by the amazing Paddy Chayefsky. We talk about the prescience with which Chayefsky seemed to have about the modern state of television and our media-infused culture when he wrote this film in the mid–70s, and what he’s really saying with the film. We discuss the brilliant directing by Lumet and how he and his director of photography, Owen Roizman, chose to corrupt the look of the film as it progresses, taking us from a relatively normal world to one that is much more menacing. We go through the amazing cast — Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall, Ned Beatty, Beatrice Straight, and more — and talk about how pretty much every one of them is given their time to shine in this amazing script. And we look back on 1976’s Oscars and pick our own winners if we were the only two people voting. We have a great time talking about this amazing film. If you haven’t seen it, go watch it IMMEDIATELY, then come back and tune in!
Film Sundries
Assorted Notes & Links
- The History of Future Folk – Website & Trailer
- Red 2 — trailer
- The New York Times: The Notes Behind ‘Network’
- The Verge: “I’m still here: back online after a year without the Internet”
