Election (1999)

sideways is some bullshit.

xpost

Seriously? I thought it was just aimed at a generic, politically-unaligned teen audience. I guess I'm not sure what you're saying.

I took a lot of shit for pointing out that Beuller's basically an unsympathetic exploitative asshole embodying Reagan-era rich-white-selfishness... but what do I know

-- Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, February 7, 2008 12:10 AM (31 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

so basically he's a teenager

slocki, what didn't you like about Sideways? I'm just curious, b/c I remember all the hype when it came out, but never saw it until last year, under sorta weird circumstances of watching it with family members on cable...so maybe I was partly just grateful for the opportunity of pleasant distraction, and turned whatever critical part of my brain off for the time being.

so basically he's a teenager

Point conceded, partially...but there is a weird aspect to that film in that it does exalt as a hero someone who seems to exhibit a slew of borderline-sociopathic qualities, or at least a ready willingness to exploit the shit out of others with only a modicum of conscience present to keep his charisma in check. One could imagine his character growing up to be a cult leader...or powerful politician?

or Ivan Boesky.

or John DeLorean.

I couldn't stand this movie when it came out. I wonder if I'd like it any better now.

Election = About Schmidt (I am a sap) >> Sideways

election equals about schmidt?

like I said, I like sappy movies.

This movie is amazing, and heart-wrenching in a way that About Schmidt doesn't touch -- because rather than ending on a now-typical "meaningful" fadeout it makes you stare hard at the fact that, in real life, people's lives continue long after the story you're telling about them is over. Shorter version: I also like when he throws the Coke at the car.

One of my three favorite movies ever.

Shorter version: I also like when he throws the Coke at the car.

Yeah, I really need to watch this film again before too long. That scene in particular pretty much blows away anything in American Beauty, or any other film that one might be tempted to compare with Election.

him pitching his drink uselessly against the back of the car is possibly one of the most poignant and awesome things ever captured in a motion picture not based on a true story

I think we can all agree that election is way better than American fucking Beauty.

Tombot's post, by virtue of its pithy eloquence has left me speechless. Shit.

The weird thing is, as much as I love this movie, I only saw it the one time, when it came out in theaters. I'm worried that if I see it again I'll pollute the near-perfection of this experience.

Up until the Margo Martindale segment of Paris je t'aime, Election was the only thing preventing me from really strongly disliking Payne. (Citizen Ruth's alright, but mostly because of Dern.)

But Election, which is awesome (i.e. kid in wheelchair running unopposed for student body vice-president), was enough.

xpost

Nah, I've seen it at least a couple of times and I'm inclined to think that a second viewing would be alright.

I remember thinking this was misogynistic when I saw it but I was only a couple years out of my New Moon magazine subscription back then, think I ought to reexamine it with eyes that have an eighth grade diploma under their belt

i remember being torn between intense loathing for reese witherspoon's character and considerable lust for ms witherspoon herself

harmonious and productive

http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/advertisers/slate/house/jan/120x240v2TracyFlick.jpg

http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/advertisers/slate/house/jan/120x240v2TracyFlick.jpg

I took a lot of shit for pointing out that Beuller's basically an unsympathetic exploitative asshole embodying Reagan-era rich-white-selfishness... but what do I know

no i think that's a good point. but that's why he was a hero to us white suburban kids. he showed that you can get away with anything if you're rich white kids. which was inspiring even if you weren't rich. it really is a sort of recruiting poster for the lifestyle. john hughes knew his audience.

(which is why we still love him. he was there for us man.)

man I just think y'all might be politicizing ferris a bit much. sure, he's obv white and from an affluent suburb, but he's just a glib, rambunctious 17 year old. Would he be more sympathetic if he'd skipped school to huff rubber cement in his step-dad's double-wide?

i loved this movie a lot when it came out, but sideways was so awful that it's kind of tainted everything Payne's done in retrospect for me.

i liked sideways actually. i mean, the yuppie wine shit was zzzzzzzzzz but i thought it was funny.

when david brooks or somebody wrote a column last year about whatever happened to middlebrow culture, sideways was the first thing i thought of. it's ironic middlebrow, but it's still sort of proudly middlebrow. which i think is fine, middlebrow culture deserves some respect. but i think that's payne's whole orientation.

(even election is sort of a middlebrow tragedy. poor shlub realizes how world works.)

fair enough. what is high brow these days though?

I recently rewatched Election, and I think it's a well made but also quite a confusing film. Like, it doesn't really seem to know what it's trying to say: it makes fun of Witherspoon's character for being a political go-getter, but on the other hand it also presents Broderick's character as a pathetic loser. So if it's supposed to be a satire it's sort of lacking an edge, unless the only point is that everyone sucks. Also, there's a weird misogynic vibe going on in the film (especially regarding Witherspoon, but also Broderick's love affair), and I'm not sure whether it's supposed to reflect the attitude of Broderick's character or the attitude of the director.

alfred i think it's perfectly legitimate to look at what's communicated by particular characters in particular movies - just because you think it's beneath you doesn't mean it isn't interesting for other people

i love this film. It's such a quiet little gem that doesn't cause a fuss and doesn't expect anything from itself or the viewer, but manages to keep me captivated througout.

still not as good as Wargames though which is arguably my favourite Brod movie

You can make fun of the Tracy Flick's of this world as much as you like - the're still going to 'win'.

I wondered for a long time if we would ever get a female Ferris Bueller onscreen. I suppose Juno comes closest, except she's possibly even more cynical, less enthused and go-getty.

i don't think it's as judgemental as you make out, tuomas

my objection to Sideways isn't that it's middlebrow. i love middlebrow, if i even know what that means. Sideways is gross, though.

how so?

i don't think it's as judgemental as you make out, tuomas

-- blueski, Thursday, February 7, 2008 12:40 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

i agree. that's what i like about this movie. and i'm not surprised it confused tuomas, who seems to yearn for a straightforward and comfortable moral reckoning in art.

The book is much less cartoony, tho I like the film.

i don't think it's very judgemental, both mr. m and tracy do awful things for understandable reasons

and i don't really know where the misogyny claims are coming from, other than that it has a vaguely unsympathetic female lead?

him pitching his drink uselessly against the back of the car is possibly one of the most poignant and awesome things ever captured in a motion picture not based on a true story

Says it all...

my favorite moment in election, and my favorite reese witherspoon moment period, is when she finds out she's won and starts jumping up and down in the empty hallway. payne shoots her from the middle distance, kind of giving tracy the moment to herself. it crystalizes her character, and humanizes her too. it's a very sweet scene.

haha his little blue car was the roffles

it still makes me laugh every time the way Klein's character Paul says so blase yet earnestly "My leg wasn't bugging me too much, and the weather was so nice, and every day after school Lisa and I would go to her house to fuck and have a hot tub."

i don't really know where the misogyny claims are coming from

Clinton voters.

how th hell is half this thread about ferris bueller? Anyone? Anyone?

Nice work with the FLICK cupcakes that looked like a different word.

I've liked a couple of Payne films since then, but an Election sequel seems quite unnecessary (and will interfere with the fun of trying to imagine where Tracy ended up).

Y’all seen this? It’s pretty obscure and was allegedly discovered at a flea market in 2011. Even the Criterion didn’t have it..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhezOPupmj4