Jolie to film the cult 'bible of selfishness' (Atlas Shrugged)

The Observer Guardian ^ | January 28, 2007 | Paul Harris

[Larry Lucido]

I drive my wife crazy by asking "Who is Brad Pitt?"

[Tribune7]

The latest attempt to film Atlas Shrugged is set to star Angelina Jolie in the role of Rand's railroad heiress heroine Dagny Taggart.

OK, but who is John Galt?

[BenLurkin]

I liked that movie.

[Publius]

Now how about having a beer with us after work...

Actually, Galt had dinner with Eddie Willers quite often in the Taggart Transcontinental cafeteria.

[az wildkitten]

I'm a "cult follower" of STREETS OF FIRE especially the score of Ry Cooder. Great action. Great CARS. Great music.

[Larry Lucido]

Tom Cruise.

That's it. You're banned. Take a 3 day suspension.

[PennsylvaniaMom]

If I were casting, I would select Johnny Depp. Depp and Jolie...I can see it.

[elhombrelibre]

Rand was also an atheist, and not one who is merely skeptical or one who required empirical proof as opposed to faith.

[elhombrelibre]

Rand was also an atheist, and not one who is merely skeptical or one who required empirical proof as opposed to faith.

[SomeoneNeedsToSayIt]

"America's abundance was created not by public sacrifices to 'the common good,' but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes. They did not starve the people to pay for America's industrialization. They gave the people better jobs, higher wages and cheaper goods with every new machine they invented, with every scientific discovery or technological advance -- and thus the whole country was moving forward and profiting, not suffering, every step of the way."
[Ayn Rand]

[Migraine]

I'm still dying to know in what year this "futuristic" novel written in the 50's will be set. Will it be re-adjusted to current times?

How about a "Back to the Future" scenario? That way, they could use Michael J. Fox (and he could "shrug" all he wants to)

[Dante3]

Bird-brains Jolie and Brad will turn this into a farce.

[Mr. Brightside]

Ayn Rand is one of the most controversial writers in modern American literature

I stopped reading right there.

\ To the author, Howard Zinn is probably pretty right of center.

[Huck]

Here's a short little thing I wrote years back...used to be up on FR but got fried when they reformatted the site a few years back. I just googled it and found it here:

Atlas Dined: An Ayn Rand Spoof

Excerpt:

When their dinner arrived, neither dared look at one another. They had both ordered rib eye steak with asparagus and baked potato. He had requested his own basket of rolls, and she knew he had done it to mock her. He could eat more rolls than she, and she hated herself for letting him, for caring, for not being able to hide her shame, in the pleasure it gave her to submit, to eat only one roll while he ate four.

[Publius]

Great CARS.

That mixture of 1950's and 1990's cars made the whole design work. It's timeless and outside of time.

For a taste of the absurd, also check out Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" from 1985. Take a look at the 1930's computer terminals with magnifying glasses and the ubiquitous ductwork.

[Lancey Howard]

I'm interested to see how Hollyweird will take a well-known major libertarian treatise, antithetical to everything that Hollyweird stands for (Marxism), and interpret it in a way that bolsters Marxism as the proper world view. And trust me, they will.

Yes, and it will be interesting to see how Hollywood socialists infer that the Democrats' idea of going into the polling place and voting for big government to confiscate more of their neighbors' money - - the ultimate in selfishness - - is somehow more moral than Rand's philosophy.

[montag813]

Both are fans of Rand's works.

That seems unlikely, given Jolie's one-time "U.N. Goodwill Ambassador" status, which conflicts with Randian philosophy on a number of levels.

[IronJack]

Not Depp. Again, I hate his politics, but I admit he's a good actor. But not in Atlas. I see Antonio Banderas as Francisco Danconia, Reese Witherspoon as Mrs. Rearden, maybe somebody like Scott Glenn as Galt. But I don't know who I'd cast as Rearden. Somebody with John Goodman's face but not quite as much girth ...

Steve Buscemi as Wesley Mouch ...
John Malcovich as Dagney's worthless brother ...

Other choices for Dagney? Clare Danes, Linda Hamilton ... looking for a brunette who's feminine but with some muscle ...

[mylife]

Sounds like a cult classic in the making

[Huck]

I stopped reading right there.

That's a good point. Controversial? I dunno. Was she once upon a time and I'm too young to remember? Like back when Elvis thumpin' around scared the neighbors? Or is the writer a nimrod?