Bottom line: Liberal to the core. Another expose on the “best and the brightest”. In other words, with the actual nature of our political and economic system no where to be found.
Someone called this the Spinal Tap of politics. True. Only this comes much, much, much closer to reality. It’s less that they are morons than their proximity to the most dangerous buttons on earth.
Comedies don’t get blacker than this. Or funnier. Promoting war or preventing it? Really, what’s the difference?
It got a 94% fresh rating at RT. What idiots could not possibly like it? Is Tony Blair, Dick Cheney or Dubya Bush a film critic?
This really is a funny movie. And, in the context of, say, the war in Iraq, infuriating. These fucking dolts [along with our “leaders”] are running the country!
And all because there really is no way to know for sure what is “the right thing to do”. And because money doesn’t talk, it screams. Mostly from the general direction of the military industrial complex. Completely invisible here though.
wiki
Iannucci has stated: “We don’t go up to White House level, we deal mainly with state department underlings, the kind of people that actually make decisions with enormous political consequences.”
Another level they missed? Wall Street.
IMDb
[b]Prior to filming, Armando Iannucci gained access to the US Department of State by flashing a simple photo ID to a security guard and saying “BBC. I’m here for the 12:30.” He then spent a few hours walking around taking pictures for his set designers. The meeting in which General Miller is stood up by Linton Barwick was also scheduled for 12:30.
Many scenes set at 10 Downing Street (the Prime Minister of the United Kingdoms’s office) were actually filmed at the real 10 Downing Street. The production gained access to the location largely because the staff were extremely excited to meet the actors who were playing their fictional counterparts.[/b]
trailer:
youtu.be/dQrqMkCuHqA
IN THE LOOP
Directed by Armando Iannucci
[b]Malcolm: Diarrhea? This is the minister of international development here, he should be talking about food parcels…not fucking, arse-spraying mayhem!
…
Malcolm [on phone]: He did not say “unforeseeable”. You may have heard him say that, but he did not say that.
…
Suzy: He sounded like a chicken with a wasp up his ass.
Toby: You give me a week, I’ll have him sounding like a chicken without a wasp up its ass.
…
Malcolm: We’ve already got enough fucking Pentagon goons here to stage a fucking coup d’état.
…
Judy: Why wasn’t I told about this?
Malcolm: Why the fuck would I tell you about it? I told you to fuck off twice.
Judy: It’s a scheduled media appearance by this department’s secretary of state so it falls well within my purview.
Malcolm: Within your purview?
Judy: Yes.
Malcolm: Where do you think you are, some fucking Regency costume drama? This is a government department, not a fucking Jane Austen novel.
…
Malcolm: You, hey, put the snifter out there that if the BBC ambushes a minister with another surprise question about the war, I’ll drop a bomb on them.
Judy: I can’t do that, can I? That’s political.
Malcolm: Does that not fit within your purview, Marie Antoinette? Why don’t you just scuttle off back to fucking Cranford and play around with your tea and your cakes and your fucking horse cocks. Let them eat cock!
…
Judy: They’re all kids in Washington. It’s like Bugsy Malone, but with real guns.
…
Karen: I think it’s worth noting that ministers in the UK government, such as our colleague here, Simon Foster, have made it very clear that they feel currently war is unforeseeable. Isn’t that right, Simon?
Simon: Er…well, yes. That’s…That’s what I said. And I stick to what I said. That doesn’t mean that what I said won’t change…in the future. Um…it’s not immutable or mutable. It’s…It’s…It’s… It’s developing.
…
Chad: You’re like the woman from The Omen. You’ve given birth to a demon, and now it’s gonna kill you.
…
Malcolm: “Climbing the mountain of conflict”?! You sounded like the Nazi Julie Andrews!
…
Simon: Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! Why didn’t we nail the line?
Judy: Simon, I did try to warn you…
Simon: Yes, you tried to warn me, but you didn’t actually stop me, did you…
Judy: Well I can’t tackle you to the ground…
Simon: …by shouting ‘train’ at somebody as they get hit by a train? You should go ‘train! there’s a fucking train!!’
…
Malcolm: Simon, I don’t like finding out about people employed by this government via the news unless they’ve just died.
…
Karen: Linton has set up a secret war committee. I just know it. I mean, Linton is an absolute lunatic, Liza. He is dangerous. The voices in his head are now sing barbershop together.
…
Simon: I’m on the verge. I’m not in any way decided.
Malcolm: Christ on a bendy-bus. Don’t be such a fucking faff arse.
Simon: No, I’m standing my ground…on the verge.
…
Karen [to Liza]: What you have to do is you’ve got to look for the ten dullest-named committees happening out of the executive branch. Because Linton is not going to call it the “Big Horrible War Committee”. He’s gonna hide it behind a name like “Diverse Strategy”.
…
Liza: “PWIP PIP”? Oh, God, it already has an acronym.
…
Simon: Why does Judy have control of the blinds? I’m a government minister and I don’t have control of my own blinds.
…
Linton: I can’t stand to see a woman bleed from the mouth. It reminds me of that Country & Western music which I cannot abide. That stuff is just choking the airwaves.
…
Gen. Miller: Twelve thousand troops. But that’s not enough. That’s the amount that are going to die. And at the end of a war you need some soldiers left, really, or else it looks like you’ve lost.
…
Maclom [to Toby] Don’t mention this to the press, OK? Don’t mention it to anyone. If the press get a whiff that there’s a war committee even a cardboard one, every fucker in this town is gonna turn up and try and get on it.
…
Liza: You see this mosh pit? Well, they’re mostly house staffers, senators’ interns. Tonight they rage hard, but tomorrow they go back to the Hill and argue noise-reduction legislation.
…
Malcolm: You say nothing, okay? You stay detached. Otherwise that’s what I’ll do to your retinas.
Simon: Right, can I go to bed now, please?
Malcolm: No, no, no, no. We are gonna stay here, and you are gonna rehearse saying nothing.
Simon: Am I being tortured?
…
Simon: Tobes, I don’t want to have to read you the riot act here, but I am going to have to read you some extracts from the riot act. Like section one, paragraph one: don’t leave your boss twisting in the wind, and then burst in late smelling like a pissed seaside donkey.
Toby: All right, I was late for the meeting. I am sorry, but it’s not like I threw up in there, is it?
Simon: No, you’re right, I’m being unfair. I should be thanking you for not throwing up. Well done, you’re a star. You didn’t wet yourself, did you? You’re in the right city. You didn’t say anything overtly racist. You didn’t pull your dick out and start plucking it and shouting, “Willy banjo.” No, I’m being really unfair. You’d got so much right without actually being there for the beginning of one of the most important moments of my career. Thanks, you’re a legend.
…
Judy [on phone]: Malcolm?
Malcolm: What?
Judy: Do you like how I’m telling you what’s going on where you are?
…
Malcolm Fucking hung up, haven’t you? You fucking hoity-toity fucking…
Tourist: Hey, buddy? Enough with the curse words, all right?
Malcolm: Kiss my sweaty balls, you fat fuck.
…
Karen: Yes, Assistant Secretary, on point six, it feels like there’s already been an assumption that we’re invading and don’t you think that we should discuss the practical implications? I mean, this is, after all, the War Committee.
Linton: This is the Future Planning Committee.
Karen: Well, unofficially, it is called the War Committee.
Linton: Well, Karen, unofficially, we can call anything whatever we want. I mean, unofficially, this is a shoe, but it’s not, Karen, it is a glass of water. And this is the Future Planning Committee.
Gen. Miller: Well, unofficially, this appears to be bullshit.
…
Malcom: Linton! Linton!
Linton: Mr Tucker, isn’t it? Nice to see you again.
Malcolm: Are you fucking me about?
Linton: Is there a problem, Mr Tucker?
Malcolm: I’ve just come from a briefing with a nine-year-old child.
Linton: You’re talking about AJ. AJ is one of our top guys. He’s a Stanton College Prep, Harvard. One of the brightest and best.
Malcolm: Well, his briefing notes were written in alphabetti spaghetti. When I left, I nearly tripped up over his fucking umbilical cord.
…
Simon: Oh, great. Meeting my constituents. It’s like being Simon Cowell but without the ability to say, “Fuck off, you’re mental.”
…
Karen: I’m wondering where you were in committee, Simon. I called for back-up and you sat there like a dumb sack of shit. Only maybe worse, because, actually, on a molecular level, shit is probably fizzling with energy.
Simon: I have to say, Karen, I do have a clear strategy on this, which is I’m playing the long game.
Karen: They’ve bounced us into a short game, and you just sat there like a…what do you call it in England? A wanker.
…
Jamie: There’s a cartoon of you in here as a walrus.
Simon: A walrus? I’m not fat, I don’t even have a moustache. Fuck, they’ve given me tusks!
…
Gen. Miller [to Karen, about Linton]: He’s got his little cannons and he’s got his little guns, and…This is the problem with civilians wanting to go to war. Once you’ve been there, once you’ve seen it, you never want to go again unless you absolutely fucking have to. It’s like France.
…
Gen. Miller: I’m a voracious reader. I’m the Gore Vidal of the Pentagon.
Karen: Gore’s gay.
Gen. Miller: No, he’s not!
Karen: I beg to differ, but…
Gen. Miller: He’s gay? 'Cause I’ve been saying that Gore Vidal line.
Karen: He is gay.
Gen. Miller: [pause] Guess I’d better stop saying that then.
…
Simon: We called some builders. They didn’t turn up when they said they would.
Malcolm: What did you expect? They’re builders! Have you ever seen a film where the hero is a builder? No, no, because they never fucking turn up in the nick of time. Bat-builder? Spider-builder? Huh? That’s why you never see a superhero with a hod.
…
Suzy: Has she got big tits?
Toby: Oh, Christ alive. Yes, actually, she has. She’s got massive tits. Yes. Look them up on Google Earth. They’ve got their own postcode. They’re so enormous that they actually suck in other tits from the surrounding area.
…
Toby: Suzy, this is probably going to sound a bit odd under the circumstances, but…
Suzy: A quickie?
…
Malcolm: We have got the fucking intelligence.
Simon: I haven’t seen it.
Malcolm: The intelligence we’ve got is so deep, so fucking hard, it’ll fucking puncture your kidneys.
Simon: Where’s it coming from?
Malcolm: There is an informant. Ice Man.
Simon: Ice Man?
Malcolm: I don’t name them. Ice Man. Yeah. And the fact is, the stuff that he’s given us is… I’ve seen it. It would make your blood run cold and clot and turn your insides into fucking black puddings.[/b]
For those of you who might have forgotten, that’s “Curveball”.
[b]Malcolm: Right. Was it you?
Simon: No, it wasn’t. No. What?
Malcolm: You do know what I’m talking about, don’t you?
Simon: No. And…And…whatever it was, I almost certainly didn’t do it.
Malcolm: Was it you, the baby from Eraserhead?
Toby: No, no.
Malcolm: Then it must have been you, the woman from The Crying Game.
Judy: It wasn’t me.
…
Gen. Miller: Got everything you need?
Malcolm: Yeah. Yeah, thanks. Whoa, whoa, whoa. General Flintstone. Was it you? Did you leak PWIP PIP? I mean, I know you can’t fire a gun, but can you use a fax?
Gen. Miller: No, I didn’t leak PWIP PIP. I do everything up front. OK? Not like some creepy little gay mercenary that sneaks around doing other people’s dirty work.
Malcolm: Hey, I am doing my own work. I’m doing my job.
Gen. Miller: No, you’re doing Linton’s dirty work. You’re his English bitch and you don’t even know it. I bet if I went into your hotel room tonight, I’d see you on all fours, little fishnets on, him hanging onto the back of you.
Malcolm: Oh, that’s nice, that’s nice. That’s tough talk coming from a fucking armchair general. Why don’t you put your feet up on a poof and go back to sleep?
Gen. Miller: Tucker, you might be a scary little poodle fucker, back there in London, but here you’re nothing. You know what you look like? A squeezed dick. You’ve got a little blue vein running up the side of your head. See, that’s where I’d put the bullet. But I’d have to stand back, cos you look like you’d be a squirter.
…
Gen. Miller: So you’re not resigning?
Karen: Are you still playing the hawk?
Simon: Well, in…in a way I’m playing a much cleverer game than that. I’m a fake hawk.
Gen. Miller: [pause] A what?
Simon Foster: …Fake hawk?
Gen. Miller: [pause] You’re an idiot. Or are you being a fake idiot?
…
Judy: I’ll just leave you to your thoughts, OK?
Simon: I haven’t got any thoughts. I’m just staring vacantly into space while a distant voice in the back of my head goes, “Oh, shit!” like a car alarm in the middle of the night.
…
Malcolm [to Toby]: I am putting you on a probationary period from today, until the end of recorded time.
…
Malcolm [to Linton]: Y’know, I’ve come across a lot of psychos, but none as fucking boring as you. You are a real boring fuck. Sorry, sorry, I know you disapprove of swearing so I’ll sort that out. You are a boring F, star, star, CUNT!
…
Gen. Miller: My loyalty is to the kids. I am a soldier.
Karen: You’re not a soldier.
Gen. Miller: I’ve been a soldier my whole life! What do you mean I’m not a soldier? I’m a soldier! Look at the uniform - what, do you think I’m one of the fucking Village People?
Karen: When did you shoot a guy last?
Gen. Miller: What, just because I haven’t shot someone in fifteen years. I’m not a soldier? You know, the Army doesn’t make you drag some bullet-ridden bloody corpse into the Pentagon every five years to renew your soldier’s license!
Karen: The war is unnecessary! And if you were a good general, you’d have some balls!
Gen. Miller: Look, shut up about my balls. My balls have been around. You’ve got no idea where my balls have been.
Karen: I can talk about your balls all you want, cos I remember when…
Gen. Miller: Oh, I fucked you once 20 years ago, and I never hear the end of it! Every time we’re together, I hear this shit. I don’t even remember it!
Karen: Come on, Chad. We have to draft resignation announcements.
Chad: Actually, I think I might stay with the General, if that’s OK. If he’s staying, I might stay with him, see what assistance I can furnish.
Karen: OK…General Shrek and his faithful, talking donkey.[/b]