You Sure You Got Today's Codes?
In The Village Voice's year-end review of movies, critic Michael Atkinson notes a three-minute short called The Spirit of America, "reportedly shown in thousands of theaters," that "assembled a litany of chest-swelling movie moments subtitled with helpful generalities like 'diversity,' 'family,' and 'patriotism.'" Apparently, the film wasn't as effective as its maker intended -- not, at least, if you're familiar with the source material. "Amongst other foolhardy equations," Atkinson writes, "Dr. Strangelove was summoned to evoke 'courage' -- excerpting George C. Scott's notorious speech advocating nuclear holocaust: 'I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed!' but leaving out, 'But I do say, no more than 10 to 20 million killed, tops! Depending on the breaks!' We may all remember 9-11, but Hollywood would have us forget virtually everything else."
