Thursday 7 February 2008

Sun & The Paper

Columnists have been the cornerstone of the Toronto Sun since Day One in '71, but critics occasionally pipe up and say there are too many in the tabloid.

And every time we hear that, The Paper comes to mind. The 1994 movie isn't the most realistic newspaper flick ever made, but it has its moments.

A couple of quotes about columnists might have been written with the Sun in mind:

Bernie (Robert Duvall): I hate columnists! Why do I have all these columnists? I got political columnists, guest columnists . . . celebrity columnists. The only thing I don't have is a dead columnist. That's the kind I could really use.

Henry (Michael Keaton): Right. Listen . . .

Bernie: We reek of opinions. What every columnist at this paper needs to do is to shut the fuck up.

Another stab at columnists:

Michael McDougal (Randy Quaid): What's with all the grunt work? I'm a columnist.

Henry: You're not a columnist. You're a reporter who writes long.

The IMDB web site has a lengthy list of "memorable quotes" from The Paper and some sound like they were snatched from the life and times of the Little Paper That Grew.

Including this one:

Bernie: Where did you get this?

Henry: This? I stole it off Bladden's desk at The Sentinel.

Bernie: Jesus, Henry, I was kidding.

Henry: You know, they called us "cute", and I was right there and they were out of tote bags.

In 1977, Peter Young, a cocky young Australian hired by the Toronto Sun as a reporter, walked into the Toronto Star newsroom and left with a photo of a man involved in an ongoing hostage drama.

Much to the applause of colleagues and Sun city editor Les Pyette.

Perhaps The Paper had a source at the Sun providing real life newspaper antics.

Entertaining movies about newspapers are a rare breed. It's time for another newspaper movie - one based on the Toronto Sun.

There's certainly enough comedy and drama for a 90-minute flick.

And, hopefully, it will have a happy ending.

No comments:

Post a Comment