Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

This fight is for everything.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

American History and Black History can not be separated.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it’s a trap.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

People are complicated. Love is not.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

You are here: Home / TV & Movies / Movies / Monday Night Open Thread- Don’t Forget to Punch the Clock, Shorty

Monday Night Open Thread- Don’t Forget to Punch the Clock, Shorty

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It occurred to me I am always referencing Breaking Away , and aside from a few of you (I know DougJ loves it, and my best friend loves it, too), many of you have never heard of the movie. Here is the trailer:

Along with Harold and Maude and The Tao of Steve, this i one of my favorite movies that not enough people have seen. Hell, Breaking Away is one of my top ten all time movies, period. Get it if you have netflix. You will not regret it.

Reader Interactions

175Comments

  1. 1.

    freelancer

    I love Breaking Away. Daniel Stern with his thumb stuck in the bowling ball is just classic.

    I didn’t see it until about 2 years ago, but the writer also wrote a movie called American Flyers with Kevin Costner also about cycling. That movie, I grew up on, and the synth heavy soundtrack is a joy to work out to.

  2. 2.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    my best friend loves it, too

    Dogs can’t really “see” television like we imagine they can.

  3. 3.

    Hawes

    How about a little Local Hero?

    Or The Tall Guy?

    Those are pretty good movies not enough people have seen.

    But when Dooley butters his bread to butter his corn in Breaking Away is just a classic touch.

  5. 5.

    J.W. Hamner

    Well, I’m at the bar getting ready to likely witness the Ravens get wrecked… which should at least put John Cole in a good mood… and I’m about to dine on a tasty Burger, so it won’t be all bad.

  8. 8.

    Tom Levenson

    Breaking Away is great, (especially for those of us who think that broken Italian is a form of high art), as is Local Hero and Harold and Maude — which did more to validate Cat Stevens in my eyes than anything else I can remember from those days (not much).

    And how about some props for Alice’s Restaurant…as amateurish as one can ever believe, but not to be missed for all kinds of reasons, from the massacre to the Group W. bench…

  9. 9.

    DougJ

    The stuff with the college girl who thinks he’s Italian just kills me. How she’s so touched by the serenading and slaps him when he tells he he made it up. I can’t describe why. I think maybe it’s because his whole fantasy is presented as ridiculous, but you can see how it would seem real to her.

  13. 13.

    Tx Expat

    I made a reference to Harold and Maude to some buddies the other day and got blank looks all around. Ahh, the joys of being in law school w/people that are, on average, 10+ years younger than you.

    One of my favorite exchanges from Breaking Away:
    Dad: He’s never tired. He’s never miserable.
    Mom: He’s young.
    Dad: When I was young I was tired and miserable.

  15. 15.

    JK

    Favorite movies that not enough people have seen.

    I love Breaking Away too

    Other films that belong in this category

    Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, Next Stop Greenwich Village, The Daytrippers, The Spanish Prisoner, Primer, The Hospital, Butterflies Are Free, Two Lane Blacktop, Days of Heaven, Seconds, Naked, The Ice Storm, Husbands, Safe, Mickey and Nicky, Slaughterhouse Five, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Melvin and Howard, and The Unbearable Lightness of Being

  20. 20.

    Tom

    Peter Yates is one of my favorite underrated directors. If you haven’t seen The Friends of Eddie Coyle, put it at the top your netflix queue. Finally came out on DVD earlier this year. One of my favorites (along with Breaking Away).

  21. 21.

    Brian CB

    I used to race bikes in that era, and the bike racing scenes were a little too contrived for me. I had a leather hairnet helmet and wool jersey and everything. In any case, Daniel Stern and Randy Quaid gave great performances, and Paul Dooley, too, especially when he explains to his son that his son doesn’t have to be a townie. I agree with JK’s list. I love “Melvin and Howard,” which was Demme’s best work before
    “Stop Making Sense.” Except I’d scratch “Butterflies are Free” and replace it with “Gymkata.”

  22. 22.

    Jim

    Love Breaking Away. The girl even forgives him in the end.

    Dave: “Have a good trip.”

    Kat: “You too.”

    Dave: “But I’m not going anywhere.”

    Kat: “I don’t know about that.”

  23. 23.

    UNE_VelocipedalCassandra

    Happen to be a cyclist and a native still resident in the town in which the film was made.

    Still a bit miffed that my parents would not allow me to miss a day of school to be an extra in the film. Best friend who lived across the street, got some face time.

    As much as I love the film, it is always a reminder of my hometown when I was 13….

    Also spent a bunch of time as a bike mechanic in town and was head mechanic at the race depicted by the movie between ’00-’02.

    Thanks for the self indulgent trip down memory lane.

    :)

  27. 27.

    bemused

    That one has always been one of my top favorite movies. I get that younguns may have never heard of it but I’m always amazed how many 50 some yr olds haven’t either. I don’t know how they missed it.

  28. 28.

    J. Michael Neal

    Sorry. I need to rant.

    My job search going nowhere. A bunch of us from my Internal Control class went to the Gopher hockey game Friday night (they lost), and several were talking about the job offers they had from places like KPMG. I had to explain to them that it isn’t that I’m not happy for them; it’s just that I have a hard time not feeling a bit bitter. I thought their innocence was rather touching: they’re always surprised when I tell them I can’t find anything. They insist on telling me how smart I am. I try to explain that someday they might learn that being smart doesn’t get you as far as they think it does.

    I know that one of the reasons I entered this program is so that I could use the career center. That turns out to have been a poor calculation. They’re fucking worthless. I just got home from another meeting there. The woman I met with doesn’t know anything about the Master in Accountancy program, including its name or how many years it takes to finish. She can’t identify any jobs in accounting; she kept asking me to list what kind of jobs I was looking for, and couldn’t follow my answers. She kept suggesting various things I could try, to half of which, I had to respond that I’d already told her that I’d done exactly that and it hadn’t helped. My mother said that these people really know what they’re doing, but all I can conclude is that the Michigan Business School Placement Center hires out of a completely different gene pool.

    Her repeated suggestion was that I needed to network. I asked, “How?” She responded by telling me that it’s very important. I said, “That’s nice, but how do I do it?” She told me that I needed to talk to people that I know at different companies. I told her that I don’t know anyone at these companies. She then said that I should look up company directories and find someone who worked in accounting and ask them about the job. I said, “Seriously?” She then hedged, and said that I needed to find someone that I had someone in common with. I asked, “How?” This got us back to my calling people that I know at these companies.

    She also told me that I should be signing up for their workshops. I asked her where, because I couldn’t find them on the career center’s website. She said she didn’t know how to use their system, and I should ask someone at the front desk. No one at the front desk knew how to use it, either. I asked her if being 42, unemployed for four years and trying to start in a new profession was part of the problem. She avoided giving an answer to that one.

    I then went and talked to Professor Kallio, the MAcc program director, telling him I needed a pep talk. He said that I’m not the only one having a problem, and that everything has completely dried up. He said that the firms he’s talked to said that they don’t think that they are going to need any full time hires until the fall of 2011. He said that I should try the temp places, because there were still companies trying to fill outsourcing needs. He winced when I said that they won’t call me back, either, and said that he hadn’t talked to them in a couple of months. He winced again when I told him that they haven’t called me back for a couple of years. He at least would agree that being 42, unemployed for four years and trying to start a new career probably made it a lot harder.

    I’m trying to be funny, but I’m really down about this. I have no idea what to do. I put in eight more applications this morning. The best advice I’ve gotten lately has been from the cats, and, since I don’t need food in my bowl, I guess that means it’s time for a nap.

  29. 29.

    Origuy

    I was away at school when Breaking Away was being filmed. We never heard of anyone being called a cutter; townies was what we were. It was neat to see some of the placed I had cycled up on on the screen.

  30. 30.

    Phoebe

    Breaking away IS great, I was thinking about it the other day, on my bike. That scene where those Italian guys do that thing to him. God it’s so painful in every way.

  32. 32.

    YellowJournalism

    Is this turning into a movies that aren’t as well known thread? Can I add The Major and the Minor with Ginger Rogers to this list? Wonderful little comedy.

    As far as movies that we like that embarress us? I will come out as loving Mannequin quite dearly.

  34. 34.

    Jon Gallagher

    Best line from Breaking Away:

    Dad (Paul Dooley): “You’re not a cutter! *I’m* a cutter!.”

  35. 35.

    Chris

    Great movies, Breaking Away and Local Hero. I’ve been lucky enough to spend time/live in both locations. Gotta love Bloomington, and the west coast of Scotland both.

    Its true that locals in Bloomington still talk about the shoot, cash being thrown round town, etc. The guy who wrote it had been an undergrad at IU. And it was Dennis Quaid’s debut I think.

    The little 500 race still goes on, it was never a normal bike race, so it shouldn’t look like a typical 1970s race. It was a relay on heavy, single speed bikes on cinder track. The cutters are always a pretty elite team, ironically.

    Great call John.

  36. 36.

    donnah

    I was in college when Breaking Away came out. I could relate perfectly to that movie back then and I still love it now.

    “Refund? Refund?” my god, we still laugh at that scene. Paul Dooley steals the show. What I love about the movie is that it’s sweet without being sappy and honest without being preachy.

    A true classic.

  37. 37.

    J. Michael Neal

    Have you thought about CPA?

    I’ve passed all four of the exams. To actually become a CPA, I need to work for a year as an accountant.

    Taxes?

    Yes. I’ve applied for a lot of tax positions.

  40. 40.

    Deschanel

    I love Breaking Away. It’s a really fine film, where the character’s eccentricty was no big deal, even in Indiana. I feel we’ve maybe become less tolerant of eccentricity since. It had a breezy 70’s “do your own thing” feel, a relaxed easy POV about life. The 80’s were impending, for the late Boomers that was the time to grow up I guess. But “Breaking Away” was a nice portrait of that youth and freedom.

    Love some of the movies mentioned above: My Bodyguard for one.
    Late 70’s, early 80’s cinema had seriously tons of great, memorable movies. Too many to name! Not put through the mediocrity blender as today, I guess.

  41. 41.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @J. Michael Neal:

    To actually become a CPA, I need to work for a year as an accountant.

    Who said the apprentice sharecropping system isn’t alive and well? /snark

    Seriously, I’m always amazed at how corrupt accounting can be (witness Enron), and how many sick mofos can get into the field (ditto the MBA and the Wall Street f**ks). “Standard Accounting Practices” = “How can we screw the system” for most.

    Not a diss on you, but my experiences with business accounting have been eye-opening.

  42. 42.

    JMY

    So I was wondering what all the hoopla was about between Gibby and April Ryan. I didn’t see it until a few minutes ago but heard about it. I thought he said something really mean and disrespectful like “nappy-headed hoe” or something of that nature. Come to find out, it wasn’t really anything. She was acting like a child…he called her out on it. People may think that it’s unprofessional of Gibbs to say that, but at this point, many of the WH Correspondents – I’m looking at you Todd & Tapper, Henry…and now Ryan…don’t deserve that courtesy.

  45. 45.

    John O

    @J. Michael Neal:

    Thanks for the holiday uplifter. Christ, I’m fighting off opening a vein.

    Yep, things suck, and my best wishes to you. I have a theory: Most people get exactly what they want, and close to what they deserve.

    Keep at it and good luck. It’s a crappy situation out there.

  47. 47.

    Geeno

    @Hawes:
    I loved that cuz that’s how my father buttered his corn. We kids used battle over the butter and salt soaked bread.

  50. 50.

    JK

    @JMY:

    The WH Correspondents

    are spoiled brats. The next time Robert Gibbs shows up for his briefing, he should toss them a bunch of pacifiers.

  52. 52.

    Comrade Luke

    I’m watching the game and an ad for the Flip camera comes on showing a dog saying “I love you”. The dog looks EXACTLY like Lily.

    amirite?

  59. 59.

    JMY

    @JK:

    I couldn’t have his job b/c I would lose it the next day. I’m shocked he hasn’t gone Rambo on ’em yet. I’m pissed people are defending Ryan and I’m black. She’s asked a lot of stupid questions since this administration started and that question about Rogers was the icing on the cake. She definitely has a vendetta against her.

  60. 60.

    Arachnae

    I just do not get the ‘cult’ thing about Harold and Maude. I kept hearing everyone rave about it so I finally got it from ‘flix – was bored to a stupor. My review: Eh.

    At the top of my should-be-better-known movie list is The Stuntman. Slightly marred by a miscast Barbara Hershey, but O’Toole more than makes up for her.

  63. 63.

    Bobby Thomson

    I didn’t want you to be this miserable. A little bit’s all I asked for.

    It’s formulaic and predictable, but the characters and dialogue are great. Terrific cast. The best scene is the one with his mother and her passport.

  65. 65.

    Yoy Don't Say

    My posts aren’t showing up.

    Love Midnight Run and yes, I swear that was Lily.

    (Oops, email was incorrect.)

  68. 68.

    Corner Stone

    @Arachnae:

    Slightly marred by a miscast Barbara Hershey,

    I was going to say the only part she ever nailed was as the Devil worshipping little freak Langella strangled to death, but to my surprise that was actually Lena Olin.
    And she was spot on.

  69. 69.

    mandarama

    Harold and Maude is brilliant. “Dinner at eight, Harold. And do try and be a little more vivacious!”

    @John O:

    I like While You Were Sleeping quite a bit, too. I find that I hate most romantic comedies that are big hits, but I like the smaller ones that a lot of people overlook. Peter Boyle as the dad? Love him. And when the brother wakes up from the coma and starts confessing what a jackass he really is–that always cracks me up. “I knocked the squirrels out of their nest with a rock. Then I saved them.”

  70. 70.

    John O

    @Arachnae:

    I had no idea it was a cult thing.

    My take it is that it is a “love is blind” thing. A, “you just never know,” “your life can change” thing.

    Plus, the sight gags were brilliant. Of course, I’m a fan of dark and grim humor.

  72. 72.

    Tom

    At the top of my should-be-better-known movie list is The Stuntman.

    Yes! Gonna have to dust that one out from the DVD collection. Great soundtrack.

  74. 74.

    J. Michael Neal

    Oooo…speaking of cutters, Secretary is a great movie.

    Oh, absolutely. At least until it insisted on introducing a plot, which was lame. As long as it was just the two characters interacting, it was great.

    @Corner Stone: I never claimed that I actually am funny. Christ, man, I’m an accountant.

  78. 78.

    John O

    @mandarama:

    Yep, mandarmara.

    I live in Chicagoland, so that enhances the appeal, Peter Boyle and Grandma are great, and it, to me, is a lovely holiday story about making family out of what you have to work with. It need not be genetic.

    I have a big and terrific family, but have always hedged my bets by making sure other ones treated me the same.

  79. 79.

    KevinNYC

    I love Breaking Away. I took a film class with a professor who was the sister of the screenwriter.

    The is a great new rock band called The Hold Steady and on their last album after two hard-rocking songs they have this harpischord-driven (!)song that is a little piece of college-town Gothic called One for the Cutters. About a rich girl who starts drinking with the townies.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPQvYwvd2NU&feature=fvw

  80. 80.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @J. Michael Neal:
    sorry, not buying. I worked for a small corp. that made money every year, and yet, due to “accepted accounting principles” we *lost* money according to our accountant. Great for taxes, shareholders, etc., but a bit shady. He wasn’t told to “cook the books.” He just did what he was trained to do. Evil? no. Great guy. But still, that’s the accounting, not the business people (and I realize that Enron is the hyper-example there).

  84. 84.

    You Don't Say

    Let’s see if this posts.

    Love Midnight Run and Funny Bones. And yes, the dog looked exactly like Lily. I screamed at the TV.

    Go Packers1

  85. 85.

    Corner Stone

    Holy shit! No wonder Cole is +4.
    Stillers vs Cleveland on Thursday night football. I’d be drinking too if I was him.

  86. 86.

    Comrade Luke

    Regarding Breaking Away,

    “Refund? Refund?!”

    Has been a staple between myself and my friends for 20yrs.

  87. 87.

    JMY

    Can the lovely people of BJ do me a favor?

    Slap the next person you hear complaining about Tiger Woods and his affairs and how he was SO wrong and is a role model and how he let the kids down and he OWES us – that’s right – we the people an explanation of why he put his penis in other women besides his wife. Last I check, he didn’t hurt, kill, or rape someone…he cheated. People need to stop acting like Tiger Woods wronged us, like he stole our lunch money or slapped someone’s grandma. Further proves that people need to stop putting such high standards on those who they do not know personally, that they wouldn’t even put on themselves.

    …and I hate the TMZ-ification of this country…and society in general.

  90. 90.

    freelancer

    I’d also like to raise my glass in solidarity to my anonymous neighbor who reads Sully:

    As a lifelong Omahan, I couldn’t help but notice that people from my city were quoted twice in the Politico piece you linked to. I’d just like to point out that the congressional district that Omaha makes up, NE-2, was the only congressional district in the entire nation to split from its state and cast its electoral vote for Barack Obama. (This is because Nebraska isn’t a winner-take-all state. The only other state that allows this is Maine, which did not divide its votes.) I’d also like to point out that this was not expected to happen, and polls were taken throughout the election year showing McCain winning the district….that is until October when Sarah Palin visited here. You can thus draw your own conclusion from that as to whether we’re a hotbed of Palin love.

    Palin didn’t lose NE-2 because she showed up, she lost it because she uses tribalistic out-group pandering to credulous hicks, and Omaha is not that demo.

  91. 91.

    MMM

    Refund?! Refund?!

    Paul Dooley – WVU alum

    (and Larry David’s father-in-law on CYE; go watch the “Mary, Joseph, and Larry” episode. And from the “Grand Opening” episode – “Fellatio, cunnilingus, french kissing! Rim job!”)

  92. 92.

    Phoebe

    @Ben Richards: God yes! Midnight Run.

    I was thinking about that the other day too. My fave part is when Robert De Niro takes Charles Grodin to his [R.D.’s] estranged wife’s house, showing up on the doorstep, and she sees the handcuffs on Chuck and recoils, “you brought a criminal here?” [or something like it] and CD leans in sympathetically/reassuringly and explains, in a hushed voice, “white collar”. I can’t describe it any better than that, but the way he says that, this is why I love Charles Grodin. And if you love Charles Grodin I strongly recommend his autobiography “It Would Be So Nice If You Weren’t Here”.

    See also:
    The Heartbreak Kid [again with C. Grodin].

  93. 93.

    leinie

    @Arachnae:

    Oooh, The Stuntman. Peter O’Toole is brilliant in this! So love this.

    Also love My Favorite Year with O’Toole – but then, he’s my favorite actor and I could watch him read food labels and love it.

    “He’s plastered!”

    “Indeed. So are some of the finest erections in all of Europe.”

  94. 94.

    Corner Stone

    The Ravens have decided they really just don’t care about playing on the offensive side of the ball.

  95. 95.

    John O

    @freelancer:

    Well said. In general, Midwestern Americans are able to see bullshit when it is being stuffed down our collective throats.

    And at the risk of sounding politically incorrect, my experience with the African-American demo is that their collective B.S. detectors are first rate.

  97. 97.

    Ben Richards

    @Phoebe: One of the most rewatchable movies ever. So many great lines. “Have a cream soda!”

    Another DeNiro movie I feel the same way about is Ronin. I have seen it so many times…

  98. 98.

    Corner Stone

    @Phoebe: What I enjoy is how you’ve seamlessly tied older underrated movies and brought in dirty accountants.
    Now if you could recommend an underrated movie with a dirty accountant who is also an ex-NFL player – I would have to award you all the internets for a period to be not less than 24 hours.

  100. 100.

    JK

    @Phoebe:
    @Ben Richards:

    Favorite lines from Midnight Run

    “These sunglasses, they’re really nice: are they government-issued, or all you guys go to the same store to get them?”

    “Is this moron number one? Put moron number two on the phone.”

  104. 104.

    ellaesther

    Oh John Cole. I do not tell you often enough how much I love you!

    This was one of my favorite movies of all time for years and years — in high school, I gave my best friend a t-shirt I had made for her which read “Cutters.”

    And somehow, I managed to forget it!

    But thanks to you, I will see it again soon.

    I love you, John Cole!

  106. 106.

    Corner Stone

    BTW – Everyone – Huddle up.
    Edit and I have decided to stop seeing each other for a while. We had some smokin’ hot times together, and some tumultuous patches where we really just didn’t see eye to eye.
    In the long run, I hope to work through this difficult time and come through the other side the kind of man Edit can be proud of, and want to associate herself with.
    But sadly, I’m all to fragile and human and am just not there yet.
    We thank you for your support through this really hard time, and hope you all will respect our request for privacy.
    We apologize for any uncomfortable feelings this may cause you.

  109. 109.

    LosGatosCA

    Quaid: What’s our plan? We can’t stay in Bloomington and waste our whole lives here.

    Stern: I thought that was our plan. Stay in Bloomington and waste our whole lives here.

    Roughly.

    The definititve coming of age movie.

    And Bloomington is the quintessential college town. The 10th street stadium lives!

  110. 110.

    CalD

    Here’s one I wasn’t expecting (via PoliticalWire):

    Hardball on Climate Change
    The Financial Times notes that a new ruling issued by the Environmental Protection Agency today finds “that carbon dioxide and five other gases pose a danger to human health clears the way for the agency to regulate emissions from large industrial sources without waiting for legislation from Congress.”
    __
    Marc Ambinder: “Having ‘found’ that CO2 is a ‘public danger,’ and having taken the requisite administrative steps, the executive branch now believes it has the power to unilaterally impose carbon and greenhouse gas emissions caps on industry in the United States. This overhanging boot will threaten to drop until and unless Congress acts. It’s a neat executive weapon to have — one that, incidentally, the Bush administration chose not to take out of the locker, and one that the Obama administration decided to unsheathe as the President prepares to travel to Copenhagen.”
    __
    It’s hardball politics. With the threat of regulation hanging over them, many large companies would much prefer a cap-and-trade type system the Obama administration has proposed than have the EPA impose its own rules.

    Ha! How about that?

  111. 111.

    freelancer

    Well thanks to you folks, I’ve been having a pretty sweet movie month. Watched The Mission the other night, that was really solid.

    Tonight’s showcase is “The Lives of Others”, because it was consistently on everybody’s top 10 of the decade and I’ve never heard of it.

    One of the movies I own, but never got around to finishing is “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”, and I keep procrastinating finishing that. Daniel Day Lewis is good in everything. Anyone here see The Ballad of Jack and Rose? That’d be a movie I’d recommend but few have heard of.
    Not a favorite but decent all the same.

    @JK:

    As I just figured out up thread after seeing his Behar Clip, Levi Johnston is a perfect hybrid of Friday Night Lights’ Tim Riggins and The Trailer Park Boys’ Ricky.

  112. 112.

    John O

    @JK:

    Not only that, the MSM is going to keep her in the game to create a lovely narrative of Good vs. Evil, Right vs. Wrong, Jesus vs. Mohammed, and common-sense conservatism vs. any rational world view.

    I suppose we should be thankful, so far, that our Corporate Overlords have chosen her. But it’s still a little disconcerting.

  113. 113.

    J. Michael Neal

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    sorry, not buying. I worked for a small corp. that made money every year, and yet, due to “accepted accounting principles” we lost money according to our accountant.

    You’ll have to be a lot more specific than that before I could conclude anything nefarious. Do you mean that you were cash flow positive, but had negative net income? Nothing necessarily nefarious about that: it’s called depreciation, and you have to figure in the original investments. Do you mean that you had net income, but showed losses on a tax basis? Nothing necessarily nefarious about that: Congress wrote the tax code specifically to allow that in some instances. Do you mean that it was a tax shelter? If that’s the case, it not only wasn’t really making money, but it’s also been outlawed by the passive investor rules.

  115. 115.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @J. Michael Neal:

    Well, f**k, my wireless airport just went kaput. f**kity-f**k-f**k! there’s another $1xx out of my pocket!!

    But to answer your question, yes, a lot of it was depreciation. We owned computers, which bled money, and kept us below the point of actually paying a divident. Not that it was nefarious in the same scope as Enron, but it seemed hinky to a non-accountant. Congress may have made the rules, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t hinky. I don’t trust congress as far as I could throw those overfed f**ks.

  118. 118.

    John O

    I suppose I should be shot.

    I’m watching Bridges of Madison County, for which I should be shot, and then I should be shot again for watching it on a school night when I should be in bed for a tough day at the ranch tomorrow.

    Can’t help but watch the great Meryl work.

  120. 120.

    John O

    When I found out she was an old Jewish Rabbi in “Angles in America,” I went back and watched it again and thought, “Holy Shit.”

    And I think Deer Hunter is the best of all Vietnam films. It was personal to me in ways the others weren’t.

  126. 126.

    Steph

    Favorite part of Breaking Away – when the mother (Barbara Barrie?) explains to Dennis Christopher why she has a passport.

  128. 128.

    Phoebe

    I resisted the Streep worship up until I saw Silkwood, and then I just gave up. Dang!
    But stay away from that Abba movie.

  129. 129.

    The Republic of Stupidity

    I’ve seen that movie… ‘n more than once too.
    Yer right… it IS good…

    And what about ‘Diner’… from the same era?

  130. 130.

    donnah

    Steph, how about when Dennis Christopher’s character gets beaten by the Italians and he breaks down in front of his parents.

    “Everybody cheats” and then he’s crying and says, “Daddy” and grabs his father, sobbing. And his dad doesn’t quite know how to act, and then he pats him awkwardly on the back. And then he embraces him. It’s just the best.

  132. 132.

    J.W. Hamner

    I’m listening to the Ravens radio announcers… so can anybody say whether that offensive pass interference was legit? It seems like the Packers have been getting serious home cooking from the refs all game regarding interference calls.

  133. 133.

    Sly

    @John O

    Well said. In general, Midwestern Americans are able to see bullshit when it is being stuffed down our collective throats.

    Joe McCarthy just slipped by you rugged plainsmen, I ‘spose. Twice.

    I kid. I still remember when Al D’Amato was the Junior Senator from New York. The period better known as “The Eighteen Years New Yorkers had their Collective Heads up their Collective Asses”. Chuck Schumer could simultaneously skin a baby seal and piss on my grandmothers grave, and I’d still kiss his ass for ridding us of Alphonse.

  134. 134.

    Exurban Mom

    Big, big ups to Breaking Away and American Flyers. Favorite cheesy quote from American Flyers:

    “I have a double major in Eastern Philosophy and cowboy movies: the ying, the yang, and the bang-bang.”

  135. 135.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @J.W. Hamner:

    I’m listening to the Ravens radio announcers… so can anybody say whether that offensive pass interference was legit?

    Mason ran back for the pass – through Woodson who was behind him – and in the process corralled Woodson around the waist and shoved past him. Woodson promptly fell down which made it look more suspect than it probably was.

  136. 136.

    mandarama

    @cay:

    I <3 Nobody’s Fool. I had to watch it 3-4 times the first time we rented it, just to watch Paul Newman. I would have run away with him in a heartbeat; I don’t care how old he was. And what a director, to pull great performances out of Melanie Griffith AND Bruce Willis!

  138. 138.

    mandarama

    @Corner Stone:

    Edit and I have decided to stop seeing each other for a while. We had some smokin’ hot times together, and some tumultuous patches where we really just didn’t see eye to eye.
    In the long run, I hope to work through this difficult time and come through the other side the kind of man Edit can be proud of, and want to associate herself with.
    But sadly, I’m all to fragile and human and am just not there yet.

    Edit says, “It’s TOO fragile, jackass, and don’t forget to give me back my black T-shirt.”

  140. 140.

    trollhattan

    The parents were a huge part of why “Breaking Away” works. I love dad’s ini food rant:

    —”all them ‘-ini’ foods, zucchini, and linguini and fettucine,” and to the cat: “Your name is Jake, not Fellini!”

  141. 141.

    Something Polish

    Breaking Away is fantastic. So many great performances, great script, dialog. And a quality story. Outstanding movie.

    Moocher: I didn’t know people your age could…
    Mr. Stoller: Careful son, your next word may be your last.

    Diner was indeed from around the same time. Also a coming of age flick. Also awesome.

    But for me, Night Shift is the granddaddy of them all. It just is.

  142. 142.

    Corner Stone

    @mandarama:

    Edit says, “It’s TOO fragile, jackass, and don’t forget to give me back my black T-shirt.”

    Hooooo hooo hoo. HOOOOOO hooo HOO.

    You basterd. Now I can’t stop crying.
    EDIT!! E-D-I-T!-!-!

  143. 143.

    Corner Stone

    @mandarama: Have you seen her? is she ok? was she wearing that grey hoodie I gave her from the time we went to the No Use Fer A Name concert?
    Did she ask about me?
    AHHHHHHH!!

  144. 144.

    Cathie from Canada

    Yes, I love Breaking Away too.
    And anyone who is a fan of Breaking Away should also try to find a little movie called Smoke Signals. Adam Beach is a young man on a reserve in Idaho who has to go and retrieve his father’s ashes in New Mexico after his father dies. Its about growing up and messing up and getting sober, and guilt and redemption and forgiveness, as well as being one of the funniest movies you’ll ever see. And it has a song about John Wayne’s teeth.

  145. 145.

    diakron

    Breaking Away has been one of my favorite movies since my dad introduced me to it when I was 12 years old or so (~1986). Essential.

  146. 146.

    J. Michael Neal

    @arguingwithsignposts: Depreciation can’t turn you from being profitable to non-profitable in the long run. What it means is that you had capital investment in earlier years that wasn’t expensed at the time. You expense it in succeeding years as it wears out. All it means is that the net income or losses isn’t recognized in the same year that the cash is paid out. The same amount of profit is generated overall, just not in the same years that you end up with more money in the bank account.

    The same thing is true with regards to depreciation and taxes. The internal revenue code often allows you to recognize depreciation faster for tax purposes than for GAAP, but it all gets recognized once and only once in each method.

    There is an awful lot of accounting that looks hinky at first glance, but is actually perfectly reasonable when you learn about it.

  147. 147.

    Mr Furious

    @Ben Richards: Midnight Run is at the top of the “Great Movies that I Never Remember Being in the Theater.”

    Love. That. Movie. I don’t think there is a more quotable film.

    Another De Niro flick that equals VHS cover in the video store: The Mission.

  148. 148.

    Davis X. Machina

    Seconding Nobody’s Fool and Next Stop, Greeenwich Village.

    The Boston Globe recently named The Friends of Eddy Coyle the greatest Boston movie ever.

  149. 149.

    Mr Furious

    And, yeah. Breaking Away is great. Even the TV show wasn’t bad. I actually saw that first, then the film.

    And as much as I love Paul Dooley (“Just because I don’t know what it is, doesn’t mean I’m lying.” –Strange Brew), Vincent Gardenia as the father in the television version wins.

  150. 150.

    Aussiesmurf

    Loved Breaking Away, and American Flyers by the same writer (Steve Tesich, from memory – who died very young).

    Paul Dooley was brilliant, and I still remember the rant about how the ‘cutters’ will get older and older, but the college kids will always stay young.

    In American Flyers, its hideously cheesy, but I still loved the segment where they race with ‘Eddie’, only to find he’s a aggressive little dog.

  151. 151.

    freelancer (itouch)

    @Mr Furious:

    Watched The Mission two nights ago. They don’t make movies like they used to.

    Another absolute gem from the 80s is Peter Weir’s The Mosquito Coast. Harrison Ford has said Allie Fox is his favorite role of all that he’s played.

  152. 152.

    Mr Furious

    @freelancer (itouch): Though I could picture the video box almost exactly, I couldn’t remember the name of “The Mission” to make that previous comment.

    Went off to imdb.com to find it, and I read the summary and thought, “Hmmm. I bet that’s really good.” Powerhouse cast: De Niro, Jeromy Irons, Liam Neeson…

  154. 154.

    NobodySpecial

    I remember watching The Mission three times at my local cinema. Before they shut it down and opened up one of those megaplexes on the rich side of town that has 18 screens and shows five movies at approximately $25 a ticket with $10 salad bowls of popcorn.

    /bitter

  156. 156.

    James in WA

    HFS. Breaking Away! I must have watched it a million times, until the VHS tape snapped in two. Hell yeah, John, it’s a great movie! The fact that you love it pretty much seals my opinion that you’re okay, along with Lily and Tunch. Damn, what a fine film. Optimism just pours out of it, and when we were young and cycling like mad, what more did we want? Not a bad thing to have now, either.

  157. 157.

    HeartlandLiberal

    Filmed here in and around Bloomington, where we have been since 1985. One of the most beautiful residential campuses in the nation, bar none. Aside from IU being a great school.

    John is right, the film should be on everyone’s must see list of coming of age films. And hey, Dennis Quaid is in it.

    I would also mention “Hoosiers” with Gene Hackman, also written and produced by IU alumni David Anspaugh and Angelo Pizzo. Some of the cast and creators were here a few years ago for an anniversary celebration, and my friends in our gift shop were able to snag a special DVD Edition autographed by all of the participants in the film who were here for the event.

    I actually think I like “Hoosiers” better. It is a quite but powerful movie that ruminates on the heart of what teamwork and commitment means, set in the mythical world of Indiana basketball and the fairy-tale triumph of the team from tiny Milan that one the state championship against all odds in the early fifties. The film was use, still may be, for many years in companies as a tool during training on teamwork. Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper and the rest of the cast all give indelible, memorable performances. And the sound track is outstanding. I have searched for it on CD for years and been unable to find it, but I have it on an LP release.

    A woman who runs an antique store down in Milan in east central Indiana has accumulated memorabilia from the game and team members, and has a nice little museum/shrine to the story in her store.

    http://edgeinfotech.com/index.php/album/indiana/MilanTeamMuseum_20031126_hires.jpg

    http://edgeinfotech.com/index.php/album/indiana/munciemilanmuseum_hires.jpg

  158. 158.

    aimai

    “Inni food ! Inni food! why do we always have to have Inni food!”

    The father screams it at the mother after she cooks zucchini.

    aimai

  159. 159.

    R-Jud

    @Cathie from Canada:

    a little movie called Smoke Signals.

    Yes. Sherman Alexie, the writer, was on Colbert recently. He’s a funny guy who is one of the few authors who still bothers with (and does an excellent job of crafting) short stories. He also does great live events– I saw him at the Field Museum once and laughed so much my stomach muscles ached for a few days.

  161. 161.

    low-tech cyclist

    Back in the days when you actually had to go to a movie theatre to watch the movies, I used to be a regular at the (D.C.) Circle Theatre’s twin bill of Harold and Maude and King of Hearts. Loved ’em both.

    Saw H&M for the first time in many years, a few years back. To me, at least, hasn’t held up well under the test of time. The premise that offing oneself while in perfectly good health at 80 is a reasonable thing to do, because if you hang around long enough, you’re bound to regret it, seems downright stupid. Other acts of rebellion in the movie, such as H&M’s taking the anemic tree out of the planter and re-planting it in a forest, seem equally dumb.

    For me, this is one of those movies that ceases to work once you no longer are possessed of a 1960s state of mind.

    Contrast H&M with the movie version of Hair, which respected the fact that its audience is no longer living in 1967. So it worked in 1980, and it still is a good flick today.

  162. 162.

    Nannergrrl

    I love that film. “Mama..papa… I’m in love.” /wanders off

    Although every time I see it and he’s drafting the semi, I can’t stop myself from shouting out, “Bad editing! He’s in the wrong gear!”

  163. 163.

    Hawes

    For quotable lines: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

    You’ve got Robert Downey and Val Kilmer going full metal Mamet, only it’s not Mamet, it’s a goof on Mamet (and Hammet and Chandler).

    “Let’s ask Native American Joe Pesci.”

  164. 164.

    JenJen

    Late to the party, but “Breaking Away” was on HBO or Cinemax just the other day, and I watched the whole thing again. When I was a kid, I would say this was my first-ever “favorite” movie. And it really, really stands up to time. Just excellent.

  165. 165.

    Da Bomb

    I watched “Breaking Away” as a kid. It was really good and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

    The Tao of Seve is a great movie as well. Very underrated.

  168. 168.

    Original Lee

    @J. Michael Neal: Go to DC and work for the feds. Last I heard, they are hiring. Also many contractors are hiring. Being willing to relocate is a huge plus. Being willing to travel is also a huge plus.

  169. 169.

    Amanda Hugginkiss

    My husband just mentioned to me that Breaking Away was turned into a TV series with Shaun Cassidy. It was filmed in Athens, Georgia, with Jackie Earl Haley playing an usher at the Varsity Movie Theater.

    /nerd

  171. 171.

    PTirebiter

    @Da Bomb:

    Ditto. I think Smoke Signals would have done better if they’d used the original book’s title: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Haunting last line about forgiving our fathers.

  172. 172.

    Andrew

    Yes, Breaking Away is great. And I feel sorry for anyone who hasn’t seen it. So many great and memorable lines/performances. You just have to love Daniel Stern’s Cyril, one of the best characters in motion picture history.

    Mike: They want a fight, we’ll give ’em a fight.
    Cyril: We rednecks are few… college paleface students are many. I counsel peace.

    Mike: How’d you get to be so stupid, Cyril?
    Cyril: I don’t know… I guess I just have a dumb heredity. What’s your excuse, Michael?

    Mike’s Brother: How are you fellas doing?
    Cyril: Well, we’re a little disturbed by developments in the Middle East, but…

    Moocher: Since you won that Italian bike, man, you’ve been acting weird. You’re really getting to think you’re Italian, aren’t you?
    Cyril: I wouldn’t mind thinking I was someone myself.

    Moocher: Well, you know, you don’t have to ride it either, Dave. We’re not gonna beg you.
    Cyril: We may plead, but we would never beg!

    Cyril: I was sure I was going to get that scholarship. My dad of course was sure I wasn’t. When I didn’t, he was real understanding, you know. He loves to do that. He loves to be understanding when I fail.

    On top of that, the serenade scene where he’s playing guitar and singing along is just classic.

  173. 173.

    Liz

    My parents took me to see this in the theater many many years ago. It has always been one of my favorites.

    Those were the days.

  174. 174.

    Robert Waldmann

    Dear John

    You are not alone. When I read “Don’t Forget to Punch the Clock, Shorty” the scene flashed before my eyes.

    I love that film.

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