Sony's decision not to release The Interview on Christmas Day due to hackers threatening violence seemed inevitable. But the shock still hasn't worn off. That some group of idiots could intimidate and bully a major motion picture studio into shelving a multimillion dollar motion picture seems unbelievable.
It's even more unthinkable that the movie that would test our mettle and the strength of freedom of speech would be a movie starring the guys from Pineapple Express.
As Bonnie Tyler once belted, we "need a hero" and in a small way we've found it right in our little corner of the globe. You know it as the Alamo Drafthouse. The Richardson-based Drafthouse announced that they will instead screen a movie that once pissed off another North Korean dictator called Team America: World Police.
The Drafthouse announced that they will screen the marionette action epic about the greatest team of freedom fighters ever to police the world in place of The Interview on Saturday, Dec. 27. The screening also coincides with the 10-year anniversary of the film written by and starring the voices of South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
The evening will be more than just a simple screening. The Drafthouse decided to turn the event into one of their patented "Quote Alongs" in which the audience is not only allowed but encouraged to shout the dialogue and songs along with the screen while it's running. It's sure to attract a very loud crowd who are eager to utilize their First Amendment rights when it's got songs like "Pearl Harbor Sucked and I Miss You," "Freedom Isn't Free" and "America, Fuck Yeah."
Parker and Stone's film features a large cast of marionette puppets to tell the story of an elite American fighting squad that attempts to take down terrorists around the world, even if that means destroying major landmarks in order to do it. The plots are backed by then-North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il who uses left-leaning celebrities such as Alec Baldwin, Sean Penn and Matt Damon as pawns to turn the public against Team America while enacting his world domination plans.
Creative Manager James Wallace said in an email shortly before the screening was announced that the theater chose the movie "Because America, fuck yeah. And you can quote me on that."
