Firstly, I keep forgetting that I've been seeing posters and previews for Flight of the Phoenix. It's a remake of the 1965 version which starred a grizzled James Stewart and a youthful Richard "Dickie" Attenborough. Dennis Quaid looks nothing like Stewart, although there is an striking resemblance between Giovani Ribisi and Attenborough (except that he's not as roundish). What irritates me in a way that irritates me for being irritated is that in the updated version, they've added a female character.
So why does this irritate me? Because there wasn't a female character in the original, and adding one now doesn't make much sense. It strikes me as if the producers/directors decided to add a woman to the cast to a) add sexual tension; b) appeal to a female audience; and c) be PC.
And it bothers me that I'm irritated by this. I feel like I'm being disloyal to the sisterhood by mentioning it. I should be pleased that they're making an effort to portray women as being as capable as men at surviving under harsh conditions. It's just that I felt like rolling my eyes when I saw the poster - "Oh great. Another attempt at demonstrating women can kick ass when necessary."
(Oh, and in the original, the crash happened in the Sahara, and was filmed in California and Arizona. In the update, the crash happens in the Gobi Desert (Mongolia). Guess where it was filmed? Yeah, I said "the Sahara!" too. Actually, it was filmed in Namibia. Psych!)
Secondly, lest you think I'm a new member of the Ryan Reynolds Fangirl Club, I'll have you know that I used to watch "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" many years ago. I wasn't a faithful viewer, but I did like the show. I'd always lumped him in with Jason Lee and Ben Browder in the "Sarcastic, But Cute" category. (Of course, now I'm going to have to move Lee to the "Cute and Geeky" category, and rename the category "Sarcastic, Cute, and Ripped.")
