Friday, January 28, 2005

Culture Vulture News: A&E stinks out the joint again

Tim Goodman in the SF Chronicle - A&E hits new lows with 'See Arnold Run'; see critic run even faster:
As if the A&E Network hadn't proved conclusively in recent seasons just how far it has fallen -- it has a roster of dreck to which few can compare -- a new biopic on Arnold Schwarzenegger confirms that nobody at the cable channel has much taste or, for that matter, smarts.
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Apparently this will be another calendar year during which none of A&E's executives bothers to go out and buy a box of clues. And so the laughs are all yours as "See Arnold Run" unfolds Sunday as two of the most embarrassing, ridiculous hours of filmed television in some time.
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Here's a caveat. And you should heed it: "See Arnold Run" is terrible. It's a movie so bad that even Mariel Hemingway's oh-honey-you-shouldn't-have take on Maria Shriver ranks among the very least of its crimes. Yes, if you're in the right frame of mind, the Arnold-Arianna-Barbara performances will make you howl. But that is a desperately sad place to imagine yourself.
Much more by following the link, but once again I wish I had been a fly on the wall at the meeting where all the minions congratulated the Big Cheese on this swell idea.