Posted on 01/01/2004 4:52:07 AM PST by FlyLow
You’d think that after the phony bubble of the late 1990s, built on exaggerated earnings and revenue claims by some greedy corporate executives, that referring to the Reagan era of the 1980s as “the Decade of Greed” would be passe. But it’s a slap at the decade some in the media can’t shake. Case in point: On Tuesday’s Today, Matt Lauer marked the 20th anniversary of the film The Big Chill -- yes, NBC considered this milestone newsworthy -- by recalling how it was released in 1983, a period he described as “a time of Reaganomics, burgeoning yuppies, and the Decade of Greed.”
MRC analyst Amanda Monson caught the assessment from NBC’s Lauer on the December 30 Today.
Lauer reminded viewers of the film’s plot and context: “They were college classmates from the '60s, mourning the loss of a friend and their idealism. It was 1983, a time of Reaganomics, burgeoning yuppies, and the Decade of Greed. This group of former radicals that once spent weekends protesting societal wrongs, spent this weekend questioning their life choices. JoBeth Williams played Karen." JoBeth Williams: "I think it speaks to an experience that many, many people in our generation went through. It was a reminder of what it was like to be around during the Vietnam War, the idealism, the activism, the passion that we felt."
Given Today’s decision to showcase such an anniversary, it seems to be a passion felt too by NBC News producers.
In addition to Williams, the movie co-starred Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline and Meg Tilly. For the Internet Movie Database’s page on The Big Chill: us.imdb.com
It's a terrible movie. Boring, maudlin, and morally creepy.
And the drugs that permanently damaged their brains.
For instance, when Kline's character berated Hurt's after being asked "when did you get so chummy with cops"
Or when Tilly's character referred to her indigent defendant clients as scumbags.
But perhaps you should stick with Pixar movies.
LOL. Man oh man. It was wall to wall introspection. There was a movie called Wonder Boys that came out in 2000. I saw it. Ebert gave it 4 stars (http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/2000/05/051207.html). I think that movie was intended for the same audience, and it left me queasy.
That's uncalled for. Pixar is Disney, right? I am not a big fan. All that Bugs Bunny I watched in my youth corrupted me. But I know you were just suggesting I am too stupid or immature to appreciate the brilliance of the Big Chill. I get it.
the drugs that permanently damaged their brains
drugs that permanently damaged their brains
that permanently damaged their brains
permanently damaged their brains
damaged their brains
their brains
brains
brains
In order to impregnate her. I know couples who had to try a long time before hitting the old bullseye. And there's a kid that's going to live happily ever after. No confusion there. Nice.
Man, do we come from different worlds and experiences. I say coffee you say latte.
Big Chill still sucks. Now Soylent Green-- there's a movie!
Nothing but the best would do for these Boomers. Couldn't have regular eggs from the supermarket. No! Has to be "cage free" organic eggs from someplace like Vermont. Forget the $1.99 block of cheddar, they had to have the $6 a pound goat's milk cheese from Trader Joe's (that went bad three days after you got it home but that's okay because it sat in the refrigerator for seven weeks so that all the guests would know that you had "taste").
Furniture had to be from Crate & Barrel or some other obnoxiously expensive "Yankee" or "European" styled place. Couldn't just go to the barber for a $7 haircut, had to spend at least $30 at a "unisex salon." Automobile had to have a trendy European name like Volvo or Audi or BMW. If you were stuck with a "pedestrian" American automobile, why you had to at least get that European-style license plate for the front and sport a bumper sticker that said something with "Oui" in it or "Citroen" or something equally as pretentious.
The whole Baby Boomer "yuppie" lifestyle of the 1980s really creeped me out. And this movie helped to set it all in motion.
The music from the movie was generally lame too. I still can't hear "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" or "Whiter Shade Of Pale" without thinking of that awful movie. In fact, most of the 1960s music was over-rated. Give me 1970s or 1980s rock anyday.
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