Just back from seeing Rush

From "The selvedge yard":

Kimi Raikkonen uses James Hunt’s name as a nom de plume when he checks in to hotels for weekends spent skiing in gorilla suits and racing boats. I’d say he’s still a wild one.

Finally saw Rush yesterday. I enjoyed it a lot.

I'm no F1 hyperfan, but I'm not sure why I grew up so much more aware of Niki Lauda than James Hunt.

Anyhow, hoping to find some good reading about both of them, and others.

I love how earlier eras of racing were so much less in the realm of needing Red Bull budgets to race at the top level (though it's clear that it was always hideously expensive), but I hate that in some way it almost seems it was only sanitizing for the market that moved safety forward. Not to lessen the actions of folks like Lauda and Stewart; if the driver's hadn't complained, it probably wouldn't even have been considered...

Anyhow, I digress. I enjoyed the movie a lot. I don't know what they were really like, but it felt right that both main characters were portrayed as both likable and aggravating, both admirable and flawed.

It made me jones badly for an autocross or something

In reply to ransom:

Because Lauda stayed around longer....

In reply to yamaha:

Good point...

Lauda's book "meine story" is pretty damn good.

I'd start there.

Interesting article on why Rush was snubbed by the Oscar voters: http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/01/21/rush-oscars-nominated-nothing/

Tom_Spangler wrote: Interesting article on why Rush was snubbed by the Oscar voters: http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/01/21/rush-oscars-nominated-nothing/

This surprises you? Any body that can not just nominate such classic steaming piles of dog excrement as 'Titanic' but actually give it an award is obviously beneath consideration to be taken seriously. Rush should wear the snub as a badge of honor.

Did I say I was surprised?

Not to mention giving Shakespeare In Love the award over Saving Private Ryan, consistently snubbing Tarantino, etc. The Academy has always rewarded safe, middle-of-the-road movies. Certainly Bruhl deserved at least a nomination for his portrayal of Lauda. But then Val Kilmer deserved one for Tombstone. And on and on the list goes.

Add "The Color Purple" to that list...

Oscars only matter to marketers and the overblown egos that covet and win them. Brando was right-- art isn't a contest.

I can say, with pride, that I've never given one E36 M3 about the Oscars.

Just saw it on the flight to Korea (I'm here for work and will be here a few weeks) . Not surprised at how good the movie is because I've read all these comments. It is a good movie though.