Far East Cynic

If you’ve lost McMegan…

Then you know a movie really sucks. Megan McCardle-the dumbest economics writer BAR NONE-hates Atlas Shurgged:

 I wish I could report that the movie holds out the same kind of promise that the first Lord of the Rings movie did.  Unfortunately, it’s . . . how do I say this . . . an incoherent mess that put me less in mind of Peter Jackson than Tommy Wisseau.  It was a huge mistake to watch it on a laptop; I spent the entire time fighting a nearly overpowering urge to check my email.

 
I know that some Rand fans who like the movie are going to accuse me of sucking up to my liberal cocktail-party attending friends by unfairly slamming a damn fine film.  The sad truth is that I don’t attend that many cocktail parties–certainly not as many as the people in this film.  Ayn Rand’s characters are already so understated as to be nearly wooden–her sensibility was heavily influenced by the “strong but silent” aesthetic of the penny adventure serials of her youth.  And in the hands of these actors, they’re practically petrified.  In lieu of emotions, the entire cast seems to have turned to drink.  Half the action takes place over a glass of wine or a tumbler of whiskey.  I suppose this is what you have to expect from a roomful of rigid, controlling people who have difficulty speaking about any emotions that don’t involve metallurgical studies.
 
McMegan-who loves everything teabag, and could not explain her way out of a paper bag- doesn’t like the movie. I’m shocked.

  1. Who knew that they had penny adventure serials in the Tsarist Russia of Ayn Rand’s youth?

    I learn something new every day!

  2. Pingback: Balloon Juice » But I prefer….alcohol

  4. @JRandom – Don’t be silly. Everyone knows the Tsarists didn’t have peny adventure serials, CLEARLY Megan was referring to the ones the communists brought in when they took over when Ayn was 12. I mean, duh.