"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

Lately I've been trying to catch up on movies that I've heard about for years but have never seen. I can now say with authority that Sylvester Stallone recklessly cheapened Rocky after the first movie (I had seen the sequels, but never the original). He should be embarrassed, except that he's so rich for it.

Another movie that made my must-see list was Network. I had heard the "mad as hell" line for years, often from my dad, but sometimes from people who were talking about this movie. All I can say is, you have to rent this movie NOW! I say this particularly to William Smythe, as this is waaay up your alley.

The plot is that a network anchorman learns that he is going to be fired in two weeks. He at first contemplates suicide, then decides instead to throw caution to the wind and begin saying anything he wants on the evening news. To everyone's surprise these outbursts of cynical, raging, delusional angst become wildly popular and turn into his own show that rates almost as high as the Beatles on Ed Sullivan on a nightly basis.

The storyline isn't the point, though. The point is Network is a 1970's movie that predicts YouTube, reality television, the New World Order, the global economy, through-the-roof oil prices, runaway corporate mergers and foreign ownership of American institutions with goosebump-inducing accuracy. You will hear dialogue that sounds like it was written this very afternoon. Not believing how current this dialogue delivered by actors in sideburns and flared cuffs sounds, you will then ask, "When did this movie come out, anyway?!" Looking at the box you'll be stunned to find it's copyright 1976! Your next question will be, "Who wrote this? He was a prophet!" His name was Paddy Chayefsky, and I think you may be right.

"What is finished is the idea that this great country is dedicated to the freedom and flourishing of every individual in it. It's the individual that's finished."

After watching Network I had to back up to certain monologues, particularly the one delivered by Ned Beatty as the head of the CCA Corporation, and try to memorize them word-for-word. Fortunately my memory can be assisted by the Internet, because they're posted all over the place, but I urge you not to look at them. They're also available on YouTube, and at first I thought about linking them here, but I'm not going to because I think outside the context of the movie their full impact might not be felt. You need to see this thing from start to finish.

Yes, in some ways Network is dated. Yes, there are slow parts, like a romantic subplot and another about Communist guerillas starting their own TV show. The monologues that glue the movie together are going to be enough to make you piss your pants, though.

"I have seen the face of God."

"You just might be right, Mr. Beale."