You’re telling them something they already know.

Over at Alex on Film I’ve finished a miniseries of updates on  movies about the news industry. Hollywood doesn’t like television, and has always been cynical about the news (being expert on the construction of reality in the media). Starting things off is Ace in the Hole (1951), Billy Wilder’s satire on the extremes a fallen newsman will take to get back in the game. Next up is Network (1976), which still holds up pretty well thirty years later as a vision of where things were heading. Then there’s To Die For (1995), which has a great lead performance from Nicole Kidman and a slick documentary-style presentation that covers up for a fairly conventional story of aspirations gone too far. I didn’t think Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2005) was funny at all, and have trouble seeing why it was such a hit. But that’s often the way it is with comedy. Finally, Nightcrawler (2014) is an effective portrayal of psychopathy, and I think the first movie I’ve really liked Jake Gyllenhaal in.