comment #1

Shawn says ...

I'm so ashamed to admit it, but I really do think this movie looks funny. This is coming from somebody who's never been a Ferrell fan.

comment #2

adamkwong says ...

I'm thoroughly indifferent to NASCAR, but am looking forward to this. I expect it to be as much about racing as Anchorman was about journalism.

comment #3

Chris says ...

The blue state reaction to NASCAR always amuses me. Here is a competition based around engineering, aerodynamics and physical science, with pit crews composed of technicians who are prized for their efficiency and brainpower, and they sneer at it and tell us how much more important and elegant baseball is - a bunch of steroid stacks swinging at or - oooh! - catching a ball. Or pro football. Or "the perfect game" or whatever, soccer, culminating in an elegant head butt. What a joke. NASCAR is the real deal, a true technical competition where the most engineered and precise win. To put it in classical terms, baseball is the sport of Mars, NASCAR is the sport of Athena. Maybe the blue state types don't get NASCAR because they ain't that bright?

Also - I've felt from the start that Talledega Nights would connect with moviegoers in way$ that the stupid Boston Red Sox movie or all the high school and college football movies of late have not. Or even Will Ferrell's big failure grade school soccer movie. When Hollywood pays attention to the cultural preferences and mores of America, it succeeds.

comment #4

Dixon Steele says ...

The trailer looks funny. But it doesn't matter, because Jeff will hate it. HATE IT. It's too "red-state" for him, and since he's already panned it, he'll never reverse.

The other Ferrell pic that looks interesting is STRANGER THAN FICTION, a Charlie Kaufmanesque comedy with a great cast. Just saw the trailer.

OK, Will, all if forgiven for BEWITCHED and the bad WEDDING CRASHERS cameo.

If Talladega works, that is...

comment #5

nickc says ...

trailer looks funny as hell. I want to laugh in a movie theater so I'm there.

comment #6

Mark says ...

The cast is surprisingly strong? What's the surprise?

The three funniest things in the history of mankind are as follows: Ron Burgungy's history in the naming of San Diego, Reed's Rothchild's plea to get the music tapes back so he can sell them, and Borat explaining the Kazichstan heirarchy of things of power to a local woman voter.

I don't think there's any argument to this. Thus, a movie with Ferril, Reilly, and Boren should be gangbusters. Needing to find the socio-political vein behind such a romp is anal as hell.

comment #7

mike says ...

It's a bunch of cars driving around in a circle. Just as baseball's a bunch of idiots playing a game. It's all stupid.

Talladega Nights is a movie. It's set in a world that Will Ferrell and Adam McKay thought they could mine some laughs from. I don;t think there's any red state/blue state about it.

Why is there even an arguement about it?

comment #8

nola says ...

I am so not the target audience. Black woman, over 25, native NYCer now living in Los Angeles. I don't know why but this trailer cracks me up. When Will is running around in his underwear saying help me Jesus, help me Tom Cruise, I bust out laughing. I had no desire to see Dupree but Talladega? I will be there to cheer on Ricky Bobby (the father of Walker and Texas Ranger) opening weekend.

comment #9

Paulv says ...

I not surpise it works with Reilly and Gary Cole. I also hear that most of the movie you will be wondering why Adams is in it, she is suppose to a a great money screen towards the end.

comment #10

Hopscotch says ...

I live in a blue state, and NASCAR is huge here. I'm seeing this movie for three reasons:

1) Sasha. 2) Baron. 3)Cohen

comment #11

Anonymous says ...

It's a really funny movie. Reilly is almost as good as he was in that classic Boogie Nights scene. There's an amazingly funny scene dealing with betrayal, and Will's delivery of "that was this morning" is HYSTERICAL. It's not as good as Anchorman, but it's more mainstream and accesible for viewers that don't posses a taste for the absurd and surreal.

comment #12

Kristopher Tapley says ...

Anchorman - I can't even make it though that garbage. But this one is rather funny.

comment #13

Chris No says ...

Well.
Golly.
Gee.
If Steve Murray of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says something is good then you just know it is.
Disclosure: I went to school with Steve.
He stole a Filipino girl from me.
I confided in him how great she was in bed and the next thing I know she's telling me how great Steve is in bed.
But what can you do.
It's Steve Murray.
One of the smartest guys in my class.
We would read his stuff in class and the only thing anyone really had to say is that Steve writes well.
Disclosure: I am Steve Murray.

comment #14

Blue State Rob says ...

Chris:

Yeah, I don't get NASCAR because I'm not that bright. Give me a break.

I don't get it because it's boring. I'd rather watch a baseball or football game because I find it more compelling to watch the limits of human beings tested as opposed to the limits of machines. Yes, I realize that drivers must have immense focus and endurance, but that part of the drama is not a factor from a spectator standpoint.

And don't even try to pretend that those legions of fans are all experts in engineering, aerodynamics, and physical science.

comment #15

Larry says ...

Remember the old Superstars competitions where they'd take athletes from different sports and have them compete outside their specialties? The funniest guys were always the racecar drivers because they weren't athletes at all and would always finish last in everything.

comment #16

Rich S. says ...

Has anyone noticed the meta marketing for this thing? It really is quite brilliant. Almost straight-faced. Acting as if Ricky Bobby really were a NASCAR star. He's actually promoting products as the character, not Will Ferrell. The standee in the theater lobby where you can have your picture taken with Ricky Bobby is outstanding. I haven't seen anything like this since Superman and Spider-Man used to sell Twinkies.

And while the other actors mentioned are great, don't underestimate Gary Cole. The man is gold. His Mike Brady and Bill Lumburgh (Office Space) are two of the great comedic creations.

comment #17

NYCBusybody says ...

Being from a redstate, now living in NYC, I can attest to the fact that the average Nascar fan is, in fact, much more adept and knowledgable than the average blue-stater in matters of physics, engineering, etc. It's very much a way of life.

Of COURSE blue-staters don't know this, because the only image they normally get of people who don't live on the coasts is formed by Hollywood. It's easy to indiscriminately hate people when you don't know any of them, and the only image you get of them is based on a biased media.

Sound familiar?

comment #18

Nicol D says ...

Exactly. Most coasters/blue state types hate red state types not based on reality but based on the biased way they have been presented in movies by blue staters for 3-4 decades.

Will Talledega be silly? Of course.

But when Blue staters love/believe junk like The DaVinci Code that takes itself seriously, its kinda like the warped pot on the stove calling the kettle black.

I have a very urban blue state friend type who loves Pixar but hated Cars because of the Nascar connection. He said he couldn't relate to it.

What, he could relate to Little Nemo the fish?

Anti-Nascar comments by Blue Staters are just silly. It's not like basketball and the culture that goes along with it is intelligent.

I just hope this film is not as silly as Anchorman. I love Ferrel but want a film a tad more grounded in reality.

comment #19

Sean Richardson says ...

"But when Blue staters love/believe junk like The DaVinci Code that takes itself seriously,"

Uh, no, that was the red states too. Blue staters made fun of it.

I'm sure that makes you like it more.

comment #20

Nicol D says ...

Sean

Uh, no friend.

You don't get to rewrite history that soon.

Pagan, New Age sacred earth goddess feminist BS that takes a big fat piss all over Christianity, Catholics and history in general...that's pure Blue State all the way.

See if it was a red state Christian film...Amy Pascal would never have financed it.

I'll even raise the stakes...

I've yet to meet one liberal who didn't believe it.

You can always tell because they'll get all puffed up and throw out tid bits of 'history' gleaned from the book or film. Then when you correct them on proper history they go all quiet.

I find it kind of silly that you would even try to call DaVinci 'red state'. That's kind of up there with adsurd statements like 'Fidel Castro is an arch capitalist'.

Pure silliness friend. Pure silliness.

comment #21

NYCBusybody says ...

Wow, I didn't know someone could be culturally head-in-the-sand enough to not know Davinci Code was a blue-state phenomenon.

comment #22

Jason Birzer says ...

> I've yet to meet one liberal who didn't believe
> it.

I guess you don't meet too many liberals then. My wife, who is as bleeding heart as they come, called BS on the concept way back when she read "Holy Blood, Holy Grail". I think it is only the ignorant that really buys into Davinci Code (and even think that it even matters.)

As for NASCAR, I think it is a big bore, but I think the same of most car racing. I'm pretty amazed by its popularity, since it isn't much of a spectator sport.

comment #23

NYCBusybody says ...

I do actually hate Nascar. It's very boring to me.

To be fair, though, I also hate liberal sports, like whining, congregating with boring white people, and horn-rim glasses cleaning.

comment #24

NYCBusybody says ...

And I think Jeffrey's comment on another post that he wishes McKay was making a movie to make "red-staters" mad, but isn't, is interesting in how it ties into his not wanting to be a "humorless liberal".

If anyone's ever actually watched Blue Collar Comedy Tour, it's substantially, not totally, but substantially made up of jokes poking fun at red-state culture. Red-staters are quite used to being made fun of, and can take a joke. They don't tend to get mad when insulted.

Blue-state liberals get furious and humorless when even gently poked, which is what fuels political correctness. This is probably because most liberals are either women, gays, or effeminate men.

comment #25

Chris H. says ...

I'm a liberal in a red-state, and I think across the board everyone believes that the Da Vinci code is just a poorly written piece of schlock. If there is one thing liberals can't stand, it's unreadable prose.

How anyone can take it seriously is beyond me, these blue-staters Nicol is mentioning are probably just alocholic housewives who are addicted to airline fiction.

I beleive that the Catholic Church (and all religions, really) are based on a lies meant to control people, just not the ridiculous lies mentioned in Brown's terrible book.

comment #26

NYCBusybody says ...

"I beleive that the Catholic Church (and all religions, really) are based on a lies meant to control people, just not the ridiculous lies mentioned in Brown's terrible book."

Finally, something a liberal says that I can agree with. Man do I hate religion.

comment #27

Anonymous says ...

NASCAR = Non-Athletic Sport Circling Around Rednecks

comment #28

NYCBusybody says ...

"NASCAR = Non-Athletic Sport Circling Around Rednecks"

laughs...I'd never heard that one.

LPGA = Lesbians Playing Golf Atrociously

comment #29

Nicol D says ...

"If there is one thing liberals can't stand, it's unreadable prose."

Then why do they love Maureen Dowd?

"I beleive that the Catholic Church (and all religions, really) are based on a lies meant to control people, just not the ridiculous lies mentioned in Brown's terrible book."

How do you know unless you have studied the complex histories of all world religions?

To just say you believe it, 'cause...is to be every bit as controlled as the people you claim are controlled by religion.

To believe in a religion without questioning it and understanding its origin is to be ignorant.

To not believe in a religion without questioning that assumption is equally ignorant.

And of course it is this ignorance of religion and complex history that made the Da Vinci Code so popular especially amongst blue staters and tweed jacket types. Most of the feminist history BS in DaVinci is standard stuff on university campuses...which is why Brown intuitively has his hero be a professor.

When man believes in nothing...he will believe in anything.

comment #30

jesse says ...

Nicol, the idea that most liberals literally believe the Da Vinci Code story to be TRUE requires conspiracy theorizing the likes of which would make Dan Brown proud. Or some very selective "meeting" on your part, never having met a liberal who didn't believe it.

In fact, I've never met anyone who *does* believe it, though I don't doubt some hardcore fans extend their love of the hokum to actual belief. But while I can't say for sure, I'd bet a bunch of the people who do believe it would identify as some kind of Christian. I don't think political stance has much to do with it, and I doubt a majority, let alone all, of the liberal elitists you love to bash, would allow themselves to take a bestselling shlock novel as history.

Also, can you tell me how protesting against a work of fiction is any less insane than taking it as truth? It's the ultimate debate over nothing.

comment #31

NYCBusybody says ...

Nicol D,

I agree with a lot of what you say, man, but to say "if a man believes in nothing...he will believe in anything".

Not true. Irreligious types like myself don't believe in NOTHING...we believe in evolution, science, Big Bang, etc. You may disagree with that, and hell, it may even be wrong, but it's not "nothing".

comment #32

Anonymous says ...

Nicol, you're out of your fucking mind. The Da Vinci code is an awful work of fiction that's a phenomenon all over the US. And I've never met, even among the people that love it, someone that believes the book has anything to do with the real world. It's a glorified beach read. It's just a fucking forgettable entertaining piece of fluff. When's the last time you overheard a deep conversation about what that book "has to say?" The only people that were worried about the book being taken seriously were the devoutly religious that boycotted the movie. The choir that the book would have been preaching to is too smart to take Dan Brown literally or as, ironically enough, "gospel." You're just as bad as Jeff when you get into this stupid us versus them mentality. As if this Blue State vs. Red State thing was a simple issue.

comment #33

Nicol D says ...

Jesse,

"Also, can you tell me how protesting against a work of fiction is any less insane than taking it as truth?"

What about a work of fiction that said the Holocaust was a conspiracy concocted by the Jews? Does the 'it's only fiction' call justify anything? Would you have no problem with that story either?

Why can't I rent Song of the South again? Seems to me that is a work of fiction.

Of course who says DaVinci is a work of fiction? Dan Brown doesn't. He says it is fiction based on fact...and it are those 'facts of history' that are false and where the controversy lies.

Show me a liberal at a university that does not believe that Christians and the 'patriarchal' Catholic Church are not the sole cause for the oppression of women, gays, minorities and all things good for two thosand years. If you can find one...I'd love to meet 'em.

The phrase '2000 years of oppression' is SOB at most campuses these days.

NYC,

Be careful of the 'I'm a man of science' tone that atheists/agnostics like to take.

Science has always had outside causes that influence it. Who pays for the science? What outside influences are on it? What are the biases of the scientist/researcher?

Do you not think modern day science is influenced by political correctness?

There was a time in the 50's when 'science' could prove smoking was not bad for you. In the seventies 'science' proved peanut butter caused cancer.

I agree with much of what you write...but I'm just saying...

Anonymous,

"The choir that the book would have been preaching to is too smart to take Dan Brown literally or as, ironically enough, "gospel." "

So then you and this 'choir' do not believe that the Catholic church has oppressed women and gays for 2000 years?

Also, if this choir were so smart...they wouldn't be drawn to this trash in the first place.

You can't bash Nascar fans for liking Will Ferrel, then say you like junk like the DaVinci Code and be taken seriously.

Again, most people I know who are liberal certainly do take the underlying assumptions of the DaVinci Code seriously when it comes to the lies and historical misinformation it says about the Catholic Church and the Opus Dei.

If you do not...good for you!

comment #34

NYCBusybody says ...

"Be careful of the 'I'm a man of science' tone that atheists/agnostics like to take"

Whoa, whoa. I don't claim that "science" is infallible, or totally correct, or uncorrupted by bias and political thought. I'm just saying that I BELIEVE it, over any religious book stating that a great sentient being in the sky created the world.

No one KNOWS anything. Faith is faith, and I'm well aware that being an atheist is as rigid a belief system as religion. Which is why I'm an agnostic, really.

comment #35

jesse says ...

"What about a work of fiction that said the Holocaust was a conspiracy concocted by the Jews? Does the 'it's only fiction' call justify anything? Would you have no problem with that story either?"

Well, as with anything, it would depend on the telling, wouldn't it? But it might be more potentially offensive because the holocaust WAS A FUCKING TRAGEDY. This work of fiction (which I haven't read, but I have seen the lame film) says that certain aspects of a religion were a conspiracy. How is that analogous to a movie where Jews make up the Holocaust? Wouldn't the analogy be more apt if the book/movie in question were about Christians covering up Christ *not* being the son of God? Actually, even that is less offensive, because it's one historical figure versus six million lives.

"Why can't I rent Song of the South again? Seems to me that is a work of fiction."

Hey, I'm all for being able to watch Song of the South, though obviously as a kids' movie it would take some extra care in terms of releasing it.

And I don't care what Dan Brown says about his book. If that bothers you, write a book debunking his claims (which I've heard more often from your indirect comments than any other sources). Wait, didn't a bunch of people do that already?

"Show me a liberal at a university that does not believe that Christians and the 'patriarchal' Catholic Church are not the sole cause for the oppression of women, gays, minorities and all things good for two thosand years. If you can find one...I'd love to meet 'em."

The "sole" cause? Well, I don't know many college professors personally, but I would wager most of them would not consider "Christians and the 'patriarchal' Catholic Church" the "sole" cause of oppression for the past two thousand years. I'm pretty sure the degree of cause and the timespan would both vary pretty greatly. That's just speculation on my part, but that's all your throwing out, too, and if one person is saying "all people in this group believe this" and someone else says "some of the people in this group believe something like this," I'm inclined to go with the one less dependent on absolutes.

I mean, "most campuses"? What job do you have where you're afforded great experience at campuses around the country?

I always have to laugh when I see stuff like that; I went to one of the most notoriously liberal of the east-coast libby arts schools, and I never encountered the kind of narrow-minded, humorless rhetoric many conservatives seem to fantasize about. Actually, if anything, there were *students* who fit this description moreso than professors. Which indicates, hey, maybe they weren't being brainwashed! Maybe some of these students actually felt this way!! I'm not talking about whether I agree with them or not, mind you. But somehow conservatives and libertarians are all free thinkers, and anyone with a liberal POV is just a university brainwashee. I know I didn't come out of school with a particular liberal dogma drilled into my head.

Oh, but I did become more aware of gay-rights issues. I can see how that would leave Christians feeling persecuted*.

*I shouldn't have to note this, but no, I can't; I'm being sarcastic. I'm also sort of Catholic!

comment #36

NYCBusybody says ...

It's desperately and ridiculously wrong to pretend that universities in the West aren't bastions of liberal political correctness. There are countless tales of conservative/moderate/libertarian ideas being threatened, quashed, or outright banned.

If you're a liberal, sure, you're all for censorship or destruction of others' ideas, and that's understandable. That's how liberal philosophy is built. But don't pretend it doesn't exist. You just didn't realize it, Jesse, because you were a liberal at a liberal school.

comment #37

NYCBusybody says ...

When you're among like-thinking people in a cushy, comforting, banal and protected zone like a liberal university, of course you don't realize or care about those who are different from you, and the struggles they go through in having their voices heard fairly.

comment #38

NYCBusybody says ...

And yes, I realize conservatives can be just as guilty as this, whereever they congregate (including conservative universities). Hell, the natural instinct of ANY kind of group is to create a zone where dissent is discouraged. I just laugh at the idea that liberals are actually any more "tolerant" people than anyone else.

comment #39

jesse says ...

Honestly, NYCBusyBody, any behavior I saw that was even somewhat related to the gestapo-PC tactics breathlessly recounted, often without any specific backup, was more on the side of student groups than faculty-bred dogma. Are college faculty more likely to be liberal in general? Sure, but funny how so few conservatives and libertarians want to differentiate between liberals and the dreaded PC boogeyman. Of course they don't; they're one and the same, right? I'm liberal, so of course I'm pro-cenorship and anti-idea, and *me* making that distinction is doubly offensive! Perfect. Another self-fulfilling prophecy.

Maybe it was because I majored in English and not PoliSci. But the focus in my classes was always on the work (the novel or the poem or the short story or the play) at hand, not a Village Voice movie review-style evaluation of its "correctness." I wasn't taught to hate religion or burn flags or shout down conservatives.

comment #40

NYCBusybody says ...

I don't know, man. I went to college in a rural part of a "red state", and both of my film professors were Marxists (one transplanted from NY). Avowed and professed. The disconnect between them and the student base at large was astonishing, and even remarked upon in just about every class.

Not that this one example proves the rule, but it's certainly indicative of a strange phenomenon. It's not just the student groups, which would be laughable if they weren't so dangerous in their suppression of dissent.

Not that you're like that, Jesse. I'm sure there are actually "good" liberals, though not many.

comment #41

strangelove1969 says ...

Man, you know this country is in sorry shape when an innocuous entertainment like Talledega Nights touches off a complete sociopolitical crap storm!

I guess I'm a blue-stater because I live near a gigantic body of salt water and I'm not a big fan of the current administration.

I also enjoy watching large noisy automobiles go fast and turn left all day long. I love baseball. I thought Michelle Wei was kind of hot when I saw her playing golf a few weeks back for the first time.

I hate the Da Vinci Code novel because it was so poorly written. I hated the movie because it was soul crushingly boring. I don't think the novel or film are true and I don't much care.

When I die, I won't be surprised to find out Jesus wasn't in fact the son of God but unless and until that happens, I don't worry about it much one way or the other. I don't go to church. I don't take much on faith one way or the other, though if pressed I'll admit I suspect man did evolve from lower life forms. Whether or not the process was helped along by some kind of superior being, I couldn't say. If said superior being chooses to make him/herself known to me, I'll ponder the question more at that moment. Until then? Not so much.

I'm college educated and consider myself to be reasonably intelligent. Most of my friends consider me to be a film snob. I won't touch Pirates 2 with a ten foot pole.

But...

The clip I saw a couple months back of Will Farrell trying to drive blind folded and he drives into a house?...COMEDY GOLD! I can't wait. (in Rodney King voice) Can't we all just get along?

comment #42

jesse says ...

NYCC, do you honestly think that foaming-at-the-mouth student groups are the mode of most liberals -- and thus there are "a few" good ones but they're mostly unworkable?

Isn't that like calling all conservatives hicky rednecks at heart?

(And I wouldn't do that. I reserve that exclusively for conservatives who try to argue against gay marriage ;) )

comment #43

NYCBusybody says ...

Fair enough, Jesse. You're right.

However, I resent the implication that all conservatives are hicky rednecks. I far prefer rednecks to conservatives.

comment #44

Telemachos says ...

If I scan a blogline here and see 30+ comments, somehow I know that Nicol D. is involved. :)

comment #45

voce della reason says ...

red state? blue state? are you all retarded? it's a comedy about racing (remember cannonball run among others?) and for those who feel a hyper need to justify nascar, just shut up and go watch it and leave me alone.