February is our first Movie Matinee month of 2018 and we’ve picked Broadcast News.
If you haven’t seen it in a while or it’s your first time watching, here’s the synopsis:
A highly strung news producer finds herself strangely attracted to a vapid anchorman even through she loathes everything he personifies. To make matters worse, her best friend, a talented but not particularly telegenic news reporter, is secretly in love with her.
This pick was a very smart suggestion from Prathi, who wrote,
I’ve been meaning to request “Broadcast News” as a Movie Matinee, but was too lazy to write out the reasons why. Lo and Behold! Vulture did it for me!
I think there’s an even better discussion there as to why Aaron is the prototypical “nice guy.”
I am entirely into this suggestion. Thank you, Prathi!
Broadcast News is available to rent for around $3-4 and $10 to buy digitally on iTunes, Google:Play, and Amazon, and the DVD can be found at your local library, or cheaply online in new and used condition from Amazon or Alibris.
And, by overwhelming demand, we’ll be hosting a group chat on the site on Sunday, 25 February, at 8:00pm ET! You can watch on your own schedule, then hang out with us to talk about the film.
Much like the book club chats, we’ll be here at SBTB in a text-based chat (so no need to worry about video or audio) discussing the movie, our reactions, and, of course, all that fine 80s fashion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPjx2pI–2U
Thanks to Prathi again for the suggestion – see you at the end of the month!
It’s a film about Holly Hunter choosing between two men and she gets third billing?
Welcome back to the 1980s.
What a great pick! I’m ashamed to admit Broadcast News (and Moonstruck from the same time) sit in my rom-com blind spot. Excited for a good reminder to go watch now!
I have never seen this. Now I need to.
Hmmm, interesting choice. I love this movie and I’ll be interested to see the reactions.
One of my favorite movie quotes ever:
Paul Moore: It must be nice to always believe you know better, to always think you’re the smartest person in the room.
Jane Craig: No. It’s awful.
@CarolS- one of the best exchanges ever written. What really sells it is Holly Hunter’s delivery. When she says “No. It’s awful.” It’s said so sincerely and with such sadness not sarcastically at all. Absolute genius.
I saw this back in the day and enjoyed it a lot. I don’t think of it as genre romance because there’s not a traditional hea (although I think Holly Hunter’s character does get her hea, it’s just not what’s expected for genre romance).
Should make for good conversation.
Well, who does she pick?
Can anyone tell me? (With spoilers tag for other comment-readers…)
Please.Pretty please!
@Diana, I don’t know how to do spoiler tags, but the Vulture article linked in the announcement above includes a discussion of the ending that answers your question
Just finished watching this for the first time and wow… they just don’t make movies that way anymore. Why?! I have so many thoughts and can’t wait for the discussion.
Loved this back in the day and think back to it often. But it hasn’t stuck in the public mind, has it? Unlike Moonstruck. Broadcast News is one of many films I go to look for streaming on Netflix or Amazon and it’s not available. I tend to assume that must be not enough demand for it, though that is probably my ignorance of how these things work.
I never pay to stream movies, but I probably will for this one. Great choice.
Yay! I’m so glad! I saw this for the first time last year and I’ve been dying to discuss it. Other than the technology, the film really does age well. I’m so glad I get to share it with this community.
This looks so good! There is a certain comfort for me in watching movies from the 80’s, even if I now am more prone to notice the gender roles and general whiteness. Can’t beat the 80’s music soundtracks, either.
I first saw this movie when I was in my early twenties, a few years after it came out. Boy, has my take on it changed. I am still trying to figure out if it’s about being at an entirely different life stage, or the changes in media and the treatment of gender in the meantime. I also can’t tell at this point what the director’s point of view was at the time, so I am REALLY looking forward to the discussion on this one.