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Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Published September 29, 2014

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Film info

  • Title Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
  • Director Adam McKay
  • Year 2004
  • Run time 1hr 34m
  • Genre Comedy
  • Tagline They bring you the news so you don't have to get it yourself

There was a time before cable when the local anchorman reigned supreme... Enter the hard-hitting world of 1970's local TV news, where Ron Burgundy and his loyal Channel 4 News Team are San Diego's #1 rated news source. All is well in their male-dominated world of news until beautiful, rising star reported Veronica Corningstone turns it all upside down. Sparks don't just fly, they ignite and all-out war between the two perfectly coiffed anchorpersons. In a job where it pays to jeep a straight face, Anchorman is the comedy that makes it almost impossible to stop laughing.

Live blog

Time Comment
1:35 Excellent voiceover man. I wish I could do the big, bold voiceover thing.
4:06 Epic walk by Mr Rudd.
5:09 Water-skiing squirrel! Take it to the riverbank.
13:38 Panda news, yay!
15:25 “I don’t know what we’re yelling about. Loud noises!”
20:38 Little dig at the TV ratings there.
23:06 “Sixty per cent of the time it works every time.”
26:46 Is squire a verb?
28:23 Panda watch!
32:25 Is jazz flute a thing?
40:38 They make the weirdest musical quartet ever.
48:53 Did they just drop-kick a dog off a bridge?
58:40 “Son of a beesting.”
1:01:59 Hehe, taking a break from their pledge drive.
1:06:50 Anchorman rage.
1:18:53 Baxter!!! Phew.
1:21:27 He could just send someone else to get help. Win win.
1:27:44 “I’m 72% sure I love you.”

Thoughts

We’ve had this one on our list for a while, it’s so supremely popular and referenced all over the place - movies, TV, you name it - so we knew we’d have to give in and watch it eventually. The trailer didn’t exactly inspire me, and god how I have struggled with films set in the 1970s this year. However, after watching the brutality of Lone Survivor, I needed something completely different and refreshing.

It was good, although I was very aware that most of the time I wasn’t “getting it”. I can’t really see why it’s so culturally acclaimed, but perhaps it was of a time and a place that just passed me by. It was better than I thought, and laugh out loud funny in places. But on the flip side, I didn’t really enjoy the sexism storyline, and Ron Burgundy doesn’t cut it as a character for me. Loved Steve Carell though.

No matter what it was like, though, I can’t believe I didn’t know it was centred around a panda. If someone had told me that ten years ago, I’d have been all over it!

Rating: 2 / 5

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