552 Broadcast News

[domino harvey]

Broadcast News



In the 1970s, the name James L. Brooks was synonymous with intelligent television comedy—his shows were insightful about work and love and always tapped into the zeitgeist. With his transition to film in the 1980s, he became a master Hollywood storyteller, and none of his films was more quintessentially Brooks than Broadcast News. This caustic inside look at the Washington news media stars Holly Hunter, in her breakout role, as a feisty television producer torn between an ambitious yet dim anchorman (William Hurt) and her closest confidant, a cynical veteran reporter (Albert Brooks). Brooks’s witty, gently prophetic entertain­ment is a captivating transmission from an era in which ideas on love and media were rapidly changing.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION

- New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director James L. Brooks and editor Richard Marks (with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- New audio commentary featuring Brooks and Marks
- New documentary on Brooks’s career in television and film, featuring actors Marilu Henner (Taxi) and Julie Kavner (Rhoda, The Simpsons) and several other of Brooks’s collaborators
- Deleted scenes and an alternate ending, with commentary by Brooks
- New video interview with veteran CBS news producer Susan Zirinsky, one of the models for actress Holly Hunter’s character and an associate producer on the film
- Featurette containing on-set footage and interviews with Brooks, Hunter, and actor Albert Brooks
- Original theatrical trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Carrie Rickey

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[dustysomers]

Holy shit, Broadcast News! YES YES YES YES-- this film was a huge discovery for me during the 80s project and deserves the big audience a Criterion release will bring-- AMAZING gnus!

Agreed. Absolutely love this film. It has what is probably Albert Brooks' best performance, spot-on writing from James Brooks and a rather disappointing DVD.

[Flike]

Uh, this is a complete surprise (to me, at least).

[Jeff]

This is the only James L. Brooks film that I really like. Kind of surprised that Fox gave it up, but welcome to the brave new frontier of DVD I guess.

[Cinephrenic]

Haven't seen Broadcast News, but it appears to have been nominated for 7 academy awards according to IMDB. Sounds like a overlooked film.

[domino harvey]

It was popular when it was released but then fell to the wayside in the interim. It happens all the time to Oscar-nominees, but this one didn't deserve it

[Murdoch]

Broadcast News is a great 80s American comedy, and a timely release given the state of the media. Love the one exchange in it:

"It must be nice to always believe you know better, to always think you're the smartest person in the room."
"No. It's awful."

Can't wait!

[matrixschmatrix]

I'm so-so on the movie, but if they get Albert Brooks in for a commentary or an extended interview, I'm in.

Meanwhile, I'm going to sit here imagining that this is going to be part of an Albert Brooks-themed box set.

[zedz]

All I remember from the time is a modestly amusing Hollywood comedy (which I suppose is rare enough), so I'm afraid I'm not that excited by this prospect unless they can pull some great extras out of the hat.

[domino harvey]

Revisit, revisit! The three main characters are among the most interesting cinematic characters I can conjure, and watching them interact in the film is a total joy. They seem tangible in a way few films, especially films that connected on a popular level like this, can produce.

[aox]

"It must be nice to always believe you know better, to always think you're the smartest person in the room."
"No. It's awful."

Wow, this is the movie that quote is from? Incredible. This will be day 1 for me.

[TomReagan]

Broadcast News is a great 80s American comedy, and a timely release given the state of the media. Love the one exchange in it:

"It must be nice to always believe you know better, to always think you're the smartest person in the room."
"No. It's awful."

Can't wait!

Same here.

My personal fave:

"What do you do when your real life exceeds your dreams?"
"Keep it to yourself."

[lacritfan]

- "If there's anything I can do..."
- "Well, I certainly hope you die soon."

[fiddlesticks]

The most memorable (and true) part of this film for me is Aaron's speech to Jane about how the Devil won't appear with a pitchfork and pointy tail, but rather would be very attractive and seductive and seek to lower our standards bit by bit. And that Tom is the Devil. I'm glad that the Wacky C will introduce new aficionados to this film, while I remain content with my old copy I've had for years.

[lacritfan]

...while I remain content with my old copy I've had for years.

Does it have a James L Brooks commentary? I can distinctly remember the control room scene while Jane has her finger on the "talk" button for Tom and hearing JLB say they took forever to find that squishy sound effect?

[colinr0380]

It could be worse - it could be Up Close And Personal!

I actually really like Broadcast News, even if The Day Today and Brass Eye blow it out of the water terms of scathing satire of the news media (The only good thing about the London Olympics so far is that I can now use the indignant "I hate Sebastian Coe!" line from The Day Today legitimately!) It is perhaps played on a more human level than Network too, with characters you come to care for, which can be quite nice to see in a film sometimes!

[Perkins Cobb]

I'm with zedz on this one, I'm afraid. Not a very challenging film as I remember it, and not as sharp as A Face in the Crowd or Network as it covers the same ground. Although I like all three of the lead performances.

[Feego]

Wow, this was totally unexpected. I saw Broadcast News for the first time about a year and a half ago, and I wasn't that enthralled by it. However, it might have had something to do with the fact that my only familiarity with it was from its appearance on the AFI's 100 Years 100 Laughs special on TV. The clip they showed was from the scene where Joan Cusack is running frantically through the studio and nearly gets decapitated by a file drawer. Based on that snippet, I went into the film expecting a wild, slapstick comedy, and when it didn't deliver on that expectation, I felt disappointed. I hope that doesn't make me seem too shallow. But I'm definitely willing to give the movie another try.

[felipe]

Broadcast News is such a charming little comedy and extremely underated, very well written characters and spot on performances. One of my favorite films of the 80s.

[manicsounds]

Count me in the crowd surprised I'd never even heard of this movie before.
Even with James L Brooks and Albert Brooks, somehow this just completely avoided me.
Interested to see it though.

[cdnchris]

Wow. Out of left field. I'm sort of surprised at what Criterion can get their hands on lately. I've actually never seen the whole thing, which is odd since stuff like this is right up my alley (Network is one of my favourites.) I moved it up on my Netflix instant queue and this is a bit more of a motivator to finally sit and just watch it.

[movielocke]

One of the best films of the eighties, and one that personally hits close to home all too often. I'm terrifically excited that Criterion is able to release these kinds of mainstream-masterpiece films again. Physical media may be on a ten year course towards extinction, but dammit, it's going to go out in style.

[dustysomers]

...while I remain content with my old copy I've had for years.

Does it have a James L Brooks commentary?

No, the current DVD is barebones, aside from the trailer. The image quality is only so-so too.

[Cronenfly]

If ever a movie were crying out for a studio-produced special edition with improved A/V, as opposed to a bells-and-whistles Criterion package, this would be it. I know Criterion's gaining access to more mainstream titles from the studios now, but their releasing a title like this seems to me a misuse of finite resources. I know that there's no way in hell Fox would release this (or virtually any other catalogue title, for that matter) anymore, and I'm sure if it were a title I were more personally invested in I would be overjoyed instead of relatively nonplussed, but I still think Criterion's got enough on their plate at the moment without taking on titles Fox should really be handling themselves.

Of course, I'm more angry with Fox and the rest of the majors for giving up on their catalogues than I am with Criterion for taking on titles like Broadcast News; I just hope that, as in the case of other titles I've bitched about prematurely (The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, say), Criterion comes up with some worthy/unusual supplements for this. I hope it sells well, too, for Criterion's sake, and that it's an indicator that Fox won't be stingy in giving up the goods from the vault.

[HistoryProf]

rather lukewarm on this one. Just seems a rather odd choice - and i'd put money on it being a choice by someone at Criterion for whom it is a personal favorite. Oh to have that power! I'll probably pick it up, if only for the excellent writing and Holly Hunter - who I definitely have a bit of a thing for. I can't not watch Home for the Holidays if I come across it around Christmas.

But I can't help but wonder if their resources should be going towards something we've never been able to buy...certainly there has to be plenty of options in the Fox vaults. And I don't mean Gentleman's Agreement, or Hustler, or All About Eve, or How Green Was My Valley (though most of those Fox Classics titles would be great to see turn blu...maybe Criterion's first blu-only titles)....but others that Fox never did right to begin with. On the other hand, however, the 80s were so bad overall in terms of film that I do like the idea of getting something that's both very good and from smack dab in the middle of the low point for adult dramas in post WWII America. A lot of great adventure flicks and comedies, but not much in this realm. So for that reason I can get behind it. I'd really like to know how they came to choose it though.