Surely Leonard would not have sold the rights to a "left-leaning" company.

ROTFLOL!!!

Awesome!!! +1 for now, more if I could!

lol. +1

What absolutely disgusts me about the SotU addresses is how partisan they get - especially from Democratic Presidents. It's not a bully pulpit. It's not for chastising the Supreme Court because you disagree with their decisions. It's not for lambasting your political opponents. And they shouldn't be more than about 10 minutes long.

Very true. I'd love to see "Executive Orders" as a movie, but I agree it's not likely to happen in today's Hollywood. What I kind of fear is an actual "Executive Orders" type of occurrence in about 5 years or so - only with a nuke - delivered by Obama's friends in Iran.

Klaus Maria Brandauer (never heard of him)

Here's the imdb.com trivia: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099810/triv...

One thing I didn't know was that Harrison Ford was originally cast and turned it down! He of course changed his mind later after the movie was a smash hit.

And BTW - I did like Gates McFadden as Dr. Ryan (the wife). It's too bad she couldn't stay on due to other commitments.

The newer (alt-time-line) movies lack the credible thoughtfulness of the ones with the original cast imo. The makers apparently think that explosions, shakey cam, and SFX are enough, and for today's younger audience target market they could be right from a ticket sales point of view. They have lost the concern for telling a timeless story that will be a classic for 2 generations (or more.) And they have lost my willingness to provide funding via ticket purchases.

Well said. "Undiscovered Country" was quite good (one I failed to mention earlier).

I really liked the remake of Khan, but it still doesn't compare to the original. I think that's probably because they tried to play just a little too much on the "Sherlock" fame of Cumberbatch even though he plays the egomaniac quite convincingly. I think it was the chase scene at the end that just drew things out too far. And Ricardo Montalban really did play a most convincing Khan.

I probably should have put a [/sarcasm] tag next to my Robert Downey, Jr. tag. My point was not to laud him as much as to pan Christensen. I used Downey, Jr. specifically in reference to his off-screen issues. I hate him as Tony Stark because I've actually read some of the comics. Ugh. Stark never had the narcissism complex Downey, Jr. just exudes.

In general, I agree with you about Baldwin's acting. But in that particular movie, he played Jack Ryan exactly how I saw him in my mind when I read Tom Clancy. Clancy describes Ryan quite distinctly both in physique and in style. I'm not arguing that Baldwin is a great actor, only that for that specific role he was a great fit. I don't take away from any of the other actors either - the character role-playing was excellent on all parts.

Trivia note: did you know that Connery wasn't who they initially wanted to play the part of Russian sub commander Marko Ramius? They only asked him when the other guy turned down the role!

While I despise Baldwin in everything, I liked the Hunt better than the other Jack Ryan movies, too.
Regarding ST movies, hadn't you heard that the even numbered ones are good and the odd numbered ones are bad? (grin)
The Khan movie is my favorite, too, and apparently the studio agreed since they made it again in the new timeline (not as well as the original although not Cumberbatch's fault.)
I wish they had made a movie of the Mirror, Mirror episode. It was setup for one with the ending. The fan based production in Georgia did do a sequel to that episode that you should see.
http://www.startrekcontinues.com/
(Episode 3, Fairest of Them All)
STNG's collective just can't be compared to STOS' individualism.

I didn't say he was a great actor or that I agree with him politically, only that as far as casting, he portrays how Clancy wrote Jack Ryan better than Harrison Ford IMO. Ryan was an ex-Marine, but at his heart was an academic. I understand that Paramount was trying to invoke the Indiana Jones part of Ford when they cast him instead of Baldwin in the subsequent movies, I just think they messed up. Ford is rough and tumble and boyish-charm. Baldwin is sophistication and spy. "The Hunt for Red October" remains a favorite movie of mine. "Patriot Games" wasn't my favorite book in that series anyway so the movie was just okay and I don't think it would have been much better with Baldwin. "Clear and Present Danger" was a good book, but I just couldn't buy Ford in that role - especially as a politician.

I couldn't watch "Sum of All Fears" (Ben Affleck) because there is no way Affleck is Jack Ryan. I also read about how they'd substantially changed the script from the book and decided that was too much for me so I boycotted.

I thought they cast Obi Wan well with Liam Neeson, but Hayden Christensen was a disaster in the pivotal role of Anakin Skywalker. I could get over Jar-Jar Binks (despite the racial sterotyping many were claiming) as comic relief, but I just couldn't get over Christensen's unconvincing rages or faked brooding melancholia. Robert Downey, Jr. would have been way more convincing even though I just can't see him as a Jedi.

For Star Trek, I'm just re-watching the old series on NetFlix. Though the special effects are downright cheesy in many areas, I can laugh that off due to advances in technology in movie-making. But the plots of the old Star Trek are by-and-large more convincing than many of the Next Generation, where the "particle-of-the-hour" discussions just get so old. It isn't to say that there aren't several Next Generation episodes which aren't fantastic. I liked the pilot "Encounter at Farpoint" and I liked the Data v Lore ones, but any of them where Troi was the main figure just set my teeth on edge.

As to the movies, "Wrath of Khan" still reigns supreme as far as storyline. "Undiscovered Country" was by far the worst followed closely by the Save the Whales edition. (The book follow-up was outstanding, however.) I can't point to any of the Next Generation movies as particularly inspiring to me - I preferred the two-part episodes in the mini-series better.

Agreed on Baldwin. Politically he is a looter whore.
I would love to see him in a one episode reality show titled, "Bleeding and Swimming with Sharks"

I'm a purist. I hated it when they recast Harrison Ford in place of Alex Baldwin for the Tom Clancy novels - mostly because Baldwin was a better fit for the part (even though Ford was a bigger box-office draw). Same with Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies (though that was because of death, not money). Could Star Wars (the new one coming out) have survived their fans if they had tried to reprise Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, or Leia Organa as anyone other than Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher? Please. The only way Star Trek could make a comeback was to use the "alternate timeline" thing so they could replace most of the actors and actresses (and update the special effects) but they tried to match them as closely as possible to the originals.

It would have been one thing to have to switch the characters out between Part I and Part II, but to ALSO have to change them out between Part II and Part III? The lack of continuity just kills you there with the fan base, but it also hurts because the audience gets invested in a certain style of character as portrayed by a particular actor/actress. It really takes away any momentum from the previous movies to have to re-cast and re-portray key players in films.

Excellent comment, Randy. I agree completely.

Without the release of Part I...I might never have learned of Atlas Shrugged, in the first place.

Regardless of the change of actors, I appreciate the opportunity to view and to own these fine movies.

"The Early Ayn Rand." is a good book. I have been moving in the direction of reading her works in chronological order. The truth is, I am as interested in what she thought as what she wrote.

That pretty well sums it up, Although, I will have to watch out myself that I don't become a "Snob" as time goes on.

It didn't bother me. I viewed it as a metaphor that any man can be JG and any woman can be DT.

I am very interested in Venezuela as a case study in how socialism self destructs, what the governments do to try and make it work and stay in power, and then how Venezuelans can rebuilt (although I have to accept that they might just be too ignorant or stupid to know how to rebuild. They seem to still support their idiot leader after all thats gone on...