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."