Most of the time, journalism is not that exciting (trust us, we know). But these movies do a superb job of making the business look glamorous, dangerous and fun.
The Watergate scandal, which stained and terminated the Nixon presidency, made Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein the ’70s’ primo nerd-studs — guys who became famous by doing an important job sensationally well. Back then smart college grads — whose counterparts 30 years later would head to Wall Street for the kicks and power — wanted to be Woodward and Bernstein. It was only natural that, in the movie version of their best-seller All the President’s Men, the Washington Post cub reporters would be played by the top stars of the decade, Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman.
William Goldman’s script captured the exhausting leg work and the connect-the-dots inspirations that nailed a Presidential conspiracy; and director Alan J. Pakula created a tone both bustling and ominous. Here was a thriller where the good guys work on phones and typewriters, and the bad guys are trying to kidnap with the Constitution.
“Disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great Metropolitan newspaper…” What male journalist hasn’t, at some time or other, thought he exactly fit that description? Sure, we’re all superheroes hidden in double-breasted jackets, reveling in our interplanetary superiority even as we get dissed by an ignorant editor and dismissed by the star lady reporter. We use phone booths not to contact a source but to change into our red-lettered costume; and instead of taking a taxi to a crime scene, we fly there. Christopher Reeve’s solid earnestness in the 1970s-’80s spate of Superman movies was of course inspired by the Shuster-Siegel comic book, but it also suited the new mold of crusading young journalists who’d do anything to save the planet, get the story and bring evildoers to justice.
Truth, justice and the American way: that was the motto for Superman and Woodward-Bernstein.
The Foo Fighters captured five Grammys and Adele won four, including the song of the year trophy for “Rolling in the Deep,” at a Grammy ceremony that had the difficult task of celebrating music’s best while mourning the loss of one of their greatest, Whitney Houston.
From Nicki Minaj’s Red Riding Hood getup to Katy Perry’s head-to-toe blue ensemble, TIME rounds up some of the best (and worst!) sartorial choices at the annual music awards show.
