As much as Paddy Chayefsky was admired for the rapier-sharp content of his satire, he's often also criticized for the clever ornateness of his dialogue. No, no one really does talk like that, but it sure is a gas to listen to, particularly delivered by the likes of the late Peter Finch and George C. Scott. If there's anything you can say about the multi–Oscar winning screenwriter, he was nothing if not prescient. This Thursday's Chayefsky double feature at the Aero attests to that; many have noted in recent years how intuitively the screenwriter nailed the insatiable reality television boom and the concept of news-as-entertainment in 1976's Network, but in recent months there's a distinct whiff of precognition in the decrepit shambles of a health-care system at the core of 1971's The Hospital(pictured). Each film packs as solid a wallop as ever and just as many laughs, depending on your capacity to chuckle until you realize it's quite seriously not funny anymore.

Thu., Oct. 22, 7:30 p.m., 2009

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