Face Time
Proud Obama supporter Rod Lurie (Nothing But The Truth) coughed up $28 grand to be part of a select group who got to "hang with Barry" in a fourth-floor banquet room at L.A.'s Dorothy Chandler Pavillion the night before last.
That's obviously a lot of dough, but it's for the right guy at the right moment, it allowed admittance for both the contributor and a plus-one, and it also bought a special pass into the Democratic convention in Denver. "It just seems to me that human beings so rarely have an opportunity to take part in something pivotal in world history," Lurie says, "and I want to be there."
Sam Jackson, 20th Century Fox honcho Tom Rothman, producer Steven Bochco, Dennis Quaid and Don Cheadle went for the same deal.
Obama, says Lurie, "arrived 45 minutes early and started going from table to table, yapping, spending a couple of minutes with each person. He was really starting to tease Sam Jackson. He said to him, 'How many movies you make a year? Eight?'
"There was a lot more conversation than I expected," Lurie recalls. "He said to me, 'I just plugged your movie. Some reporter asked me my favorite movie president, and I told him Jeff Bridges [in The Contender].' The Hollywood community has gravitated to him almost because he is like a movie hero. He really reminds me of Cary Cooper in High Noon. He is principled and noble and yet you sense that he has the capacity to unleash a torrential machismo if the time has come and that is all that is left. He likes to play poker, and he really does have a pop culture sense. He loves going to films. His favorite movies are the Godfather films...the first two, not part three. Don't be coy. Nobody likes part three.
"Seal and David Foster performed 'Train's A'Comin' together.
"You were at his Kodak debate with Clinton so you know how impressive a presence he is. There is something very elegant and noble about him in person that transcends how he appears on television. On camera (and even in the photos that we took) there is almost something flimsy or spindly-looking about him. But in person he has a kind of athleticism and bearing that will serve him well when berating Republicans in the Oval office or meeting heads of state."
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 26, 2008 at 10:01 AM
comment #1
clancy
says ...
Rod Lurie was lucky on his first film to work with Jeff Bridges and that screenplay. I tend to agree that if not the best fictional movie President then maybe the most entertaining and complex. Though I might also vote for Henry Fonda in "Fail-Safe".
Posted by clancy
at June 26, 2008 11:25 AM
comment #2
LexG
says ...
I've always said that Rod Lurie and David Poland should play brothers in a bad road comedy.
Posted by LexG
at June 26, 2008 11:28 AM
comment #3
BurmaShave
says ...
Since this item mentions Lurie and Sam Jackson I thought I might ask what the hell happened to RESURRECTING THE CHAMP? It was a close to bad film, but Jackson did heartbreaking, certainly Oscar-worthy work in it.
Favorite President in any medium, real or imaginary: Jed Bartlet
Posted by BurmaShave
at June 26, 2008 11:40 AM
comment #4
Michael
says ...
Did the 28K include the kneepads, or did they have to pay extra for those?
Posted by Michael
at June 26, 2008 11:47 AM
comment #5
bluefugue
says ...
The Contender wasn't Lurie's first film; Deterrence came first.
My favorite fictional president would be Merkin Muffley (sp?) in Dr. Strangelove.
"Well, Dimitri, we've had a slight problem with the bomb... The bomb, Dimitri. The hydrogen bomb!"
Posted by bluefugue
at June 26, 2008 12:03 PM
comment #6
broadstreetbully
says ...
I'll vote for the guy because I'm very liberal, but this cult of personality worship developing around Obama is very worrisome. It's not dangerous yet, but I can see the signs of figure worship, and that's always a terrible thing in politics.
I like the man's ideas and policies. That's what should matter in a President, not his personality or personal likability. Seems strange to me that so many fellow liberals have always been so aghast that "other" voters said they would rather have a beer with Bush in the past 2 elections, then are doing the same thing themselves (actually, I believe worse, so far)
Posted by broadstreetbully
at June 26, 2008 12:11 PM
comment #7
Mark
says ...
That's it. I'm voting for McCain now. Any presidential contender who doesn't admit preference to Bill Pullman, a president who avenges his wife's death and country's attack by leading a bunch of hick-flied F14's against a superior alien army, is full of complete shit.
Posted by Mark
at June 26, 2008 12:13 PM
comment #8
broadstreetbully
says ...
And I'm not saying they shouldn't like the guy, or like what he personally represents (hey, people like it when a politician shakes their hand and talks to them in language they understand, whether it's about the movie industry or tractors and beer). I'm just saying the focus on the man rather than the policies is playing into something that might not end well, and the left is just as bad with this as the right.
He may not always be likable, noble, perfect. Something may come out about him that's not so great, and if the entire campaign has shifted to being about the worship of him rather than the support of his ideas, the mainstream media's focus on that will tear him apart.
Posted by broadstreetbully
at June 26, 2008 12:15 PM
comment #9
Monument
says ...
Cult of personality? Why is everyone acting as though this is a new thing? It's as though people are forgetting that John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton never existed.
Posted by Monument
at June 26, 2008 12:16 PM
comment #10
Terry McCarty
says ...
Re Monument's comment:
We're now totally into what Gore Vidal calls "The United States of Amnesia." Everything that happens, happens for the first time.
Posted by Terry McCarty
at June 26, 2008 12:35 PM
comment #11
CinemaPhreek
says ...
clancy & blue - you both missed the fact that Lurie also wrote that script.
Posted by CinemaPhreek
at June 26, 2008 12:40 PM
comment #12
DarthCorleone
says ...
I like The Godfather: Part Three.
Posted by DarthCorleone
at June 26, 2008 12:44 PM
comment #13
Mjs
says ...
Well, if you're going to like a guy more for his personality than for what he stands for, you may as well like the guy that can form complete sentences. The fact that so many people voted for Bush because they'd like to have a beer with him is mind boggling. I
Posted by Mjs
at June 26, 2008 12:49 PM
comment #14
Rich S.
says ...
I think I'm with Mark on this one. I want a president who can fly an f-18 right up the ass of an enemy spaceship, and live to tell the tale.
Posted by Rich S.
at June 26, 2008 12:50 PM
comment #15
tommysunshine
says ...
cometh the hour, cometh my man mccain.
The driver may be getting old but the straight talk express is sorely needed to charge through big government and the politically correct frankenstein collective more than ever.
Posted by tommysunshine
at June 26, 2008 12:58 PM
comment #16
dangovich
says ...
Lurie should have asked Obama why he flip-flopped on FISA. If he can "adjust" his principles on telecom immunity, then how can we be sure he won't do the same with respect to the Iraq war?
I'm still voting for him over McCain, but this was not his finest week.
Posted by dangovich
at June 26, 2008 1:26 PM
comment #17
kingofnails
says ...
Twenty eight grand???
I thought the highest an individual could contribute to a campaign was something like $ 2,000. Someone wanna explain this to me?
Posted by kingofnails
at June 26, 2008 3:01 PM
comment #18
messiahcomplexio
says ...
"I want a president who can fly an f-18 right up the ass of an enemy spaceship, and live to tell the tale."
That was Randy Quaid sir! Typical. Working man sacrifices and the politician gets credit.
I know Bill Pullman by the way, and he's no randy quaid!
Thank Zenu for the real hero, apple's advanced computer virus technology.
In the words of my generation! Up yours!!
Posted by messiahcomplexio
at June 26, 2008 3:10 PM
comment #19
sardonis
says ...
@kingofnails
The haul from the $28K event goes straight to the DNC.
The Obama campaign will pocket the scratch from another, less-exclusive Obama event for which tix are $2300, the max for contributions to an individual.
Posted by sardonis
at June 26, 2008 3:27 PM
comment #20
clancy
says ...
LexG-
Poland makes Lurie look like Pierce Prosnan.
Posted by clancy
at June 26, 2008 3:40 PM
comment #21
clancy
says ...
LexG-
Poland makes Lurie look like Pierce Prosnan.
Posted by clancy
at June 26, 2008 3:41 PM
comment #22
clancy
says ...
LexG-
Poland makes Lurie look like Pierce Brosnan.
Posted by clancy
at June 26, 2008 3:41 PM
comment #23
supertaster
says ...
Godfather? Yeah, great movie, but isn't that as safe as Hillary saying 'Casablanca'?
Posted by supertaster
at June 26, 2008 4:55 PM
comment #24
The Bandsaw Vigilante
says ...
This reminds me of Artie Lange's great joke: "The GODFATHER DVD set is great, because you get two movies to watch, and one disc to do coke off of."
Obama's favorite TV series is THE WIRE, though. Anyone who can wax poetic about Omar during a live rally automatically gets a fuck-ton of street-cred points with me.
Posted by The Bandsaw Vigilante
at June 26, 2008 9:04 PM
comment #25
Rich S.
says ...
I guess you were right about that messiah. But then again, Randy Quaid didn't live to tell the tale, (oops, spoiler), so I guess I got my metaphors mixed.
Posted by Rich S.
at June 27, 2008 5:09 AM
comment #26
hfghg
says ...
This guy has posted his personal ad to the wealthy dating site called W E A L T H Y C H A T . C O M for several months. I just visited his profile page yesterday. It seems he has logged in recently. OMG, is he looking for a new relationship?
Posted by hfghg
at June 27, 2008 6:27 AM
comment #27
JChasse
says ...
I hate these HotWomenForHornyRichDudes.com commercials with a passion... but I got to say, the idea of Obama having one made me laugh out loud.
That being said... Jeff, if you can ban someone for the mortal sin of disagreeing with you on something, can you do something about getting rid of hfghg and whatever other incarnations they might take in the future?
Posted by JChasse
at June 27, 2008 8:17 AM
comment #28
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