comment #1

George Prager says ...

"As far as church goes, I attend regularly."

comment #2

mitchtaylor says ...

Paging Viggo Mortensen.

comment #3

Jeremy Smith says ...

"The hatch just blew! It was a glitch! It was a technical malfunction! Why the hell won't anyone believe me!?!?"

comment #4

George Prager says ...

"I wanted to talk to Jackie....about...THINGS!"

comment #5

MikeSchaeferSF says ...

MitchTaylor: that is genius casting.

I remember rumors that NASA chose Armstrong to be the first man to set foot on the moon because of his last name. (y'know, like "Jack Armstrong the All-American Boy") I'm much more interested in that script about the Challenger disaster mentioned in the Variety story.

comment #6

thorsen1nk says ...

The Challenger blew up what, 96 seconds after takeoff? How are they gonna make a movie out of that? It's not like Titanic--nobody had time to romance another crew member and there's no dramatic buildup to the massive death scene. It's just "go for throttleup" and--WHAM!--fireball.

comment #7

erniesouchak says ...

Let's cement the boredom and cast Tom Hanks.

comment #8

thorsen1nk says ...

The Challenger blew up what, 96 seconds after takeoff? How are they gonna make a movie out of that? It's not like Titanic--nobody had time to romance another crew member and there's no dramatic buildup to the massive death scene. It's just "go for throttleup" and--WHAM!--fireball.

comment #9

Josh Massey says ...

"One small step! I'd like to stuff a plate of Tang down that slick piece of shit's throat!"

comment #10

BurmaShave says ...

He fucking walked on the moon. He fucking walked on the moon! HE FUCKING WALKED ON THE MOON. HE WAS THE FIRST FUCKING ONE. FUCK NORMAL MAILER.

comment #11

jse33 says ...

Armstrong, a dull boy? I think I just found Jake Gyllenhaal's next project.

comment #12

le corbeau says ...

The point of Neil Armstrong is that they trusted he would never embarass America. They picked him because they knew he wouldn't advertise hemmorhoid cream or leave his wife for a 17-year-old or say he saw Jesus eating snickerdoodles on the moon.

There might be a movie in the story of how they managed and manipulated the imagery of NASA that way, except there already was one.

Now, my Neil Armstrong story-- I'm working on a newsletter for Hallmark, and I see they have a Christmas ornament called "First Man on the Moon" that plays Armstrong's words. I say to Hallmark, "Wow, that's great that you got the rights to Neil Armstrong's likeness, I know he's really careful about that, doesn't do commercials or anything."

"It's not Neil Armstrong, it's the First Man on the Moon."

"Well, that's like saying it's not Arthur Miller, it's Marilyn Monroe's Famous Playwright Husband. First Man on the Moon is Neil Armstrong. The whole fricking planet knows that."

"Shut up and write the newsletter," was the response.

About a year later, Purdue University received a large sum of money from alumnus Neil Armstrong after Hallmark settled his lawsuit for what was assumed to be a six or seven figure sum....

comment #13

NDH says ...

"A jimp!? Now what the hell's a jimp!?"

comment #14

hardlanding says ...

The Hansen book isn't just *any* book about Armstrong - it's the *only* one he ever authorized and contributed to.

The guy has every right to be a recluse, but it's a shame he didn't join his crew members Aldrin & Collins for the recent "In The Shadow of the Moon", which, while enjoyable, just seemed incomplete without him. He owes the world at least one recorded retrospective; we spent billions to give him a unique experience in human history, the least he could do is spend one hour on camera trying to convey what it was really like.

And while there may have been multiple reasons he was chosen, no one argues he wasn't a completely credible choice. More than any of them, Armstrong had ice in his veins, and had proven it repeatedly.

comment #15

soap-and-water says ...

He played the sax
Had no B.O.

I always like that Burma Shave guy's contributions the best.

But boy is that Don Murphy guy rude!

Who are some other readers' favourite / least favourites posters around here?

comment #16

Jeff says ...

Challenger was an awesome script. It took place after the crash and the team that was put in charged of finding out what went wrong.

comment #17

soap-and-water says ...

And as an aside to Burma, when the lander was descending towards the moon and Armstrong was at the controls looking for a place to land, telemetry readings had his heartbeat at 150 beats per minute. Whoa!

comment #18

D.Z. says ...

So it looks like Ebert's back...sorta...

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117983340.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

comment #19

Arizona Joe says ...

I read parts of "In The Shadow of the Moon," and it was very good book, giving insight into the Apollo astronauts.

I think if done correctly, a Neil Armstrong bio pic would be interesting. In addition, it is sorely needed. Here is one of the most notable human beings of all time, and the general public knows very little about him.

They should portray him as a stereotypic engineer who is all rational thought, assiduity, with the measured courage of a military pilot; a man of precision and prudence; An Eagle Scout; Wapakoneta, Ohio, born and bred. Really smart. Kinda dull.

Then I would contrast the All American Armstrong with the pugnacious and colorful Aldrin. Apollo versus Dionysus.

This is a sexist thing to say, but I don't know if a woman screenwriter could capture the soul of a nerd, even a combat pilot nerd. She would have to understand engineers and all their rational, rather than aesthetic, personality traits. You'd need someone who had taken classes in calculus and physics, and observed her classmates.

I would end the movie with the incident where the retired astronaut Armstrong jumps from his truck, catches his wedding ring on something, and rips off his finger. He calmly packed the finger in ice, and had it reattached.

Another small step for a rational man.

Engineers, you might say, are the antithesis of drama. The screenplay would be quite a challenge. It's something I'd enjoy because, like Hanks, I was Mr. Space as a kid.

As a youngster, I had three sets of heroes: the Mercury Astronauts, the Cleveland Browns, and the Rolling Stones. They all had male genitalia, yet I knew they were distinctly different species of men. And that's what this screenplay has to get at, a different sort of guy.

comment #20

Rich S. says ...

I just watched a documentary on the National Geographic Channel debunking all these moon landing conspiracy theories. In the doc, they had significant input from Aldrin. THAT's the guy you should be making the movie about.

On the whole, though, I imagine you could make a pretty compelling film about all the Apollo astronauts. A pretty fair percentage of them ended up batshit crazy, or nearly so. It's difficult to imagine what it must be like to be in a club that exclusive.

comment #21

lar8 says ...

Yep, I can't improve on Burma's comment. The Moon landing is poetic in its conception and meaning, but poetry didn't land them up there. Wells, sometimes the scope of your mind is genuinely baffling. Armstrong looks down on you, 100 floors up. A clown is dull, Neil Armstrong most definitely isn't.

comment #22

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