Just watched Wendy and Lucy. Daddy like.
Just watched Wendy and Lucy. Daddy like.
McG and his DP
Armond White, who accuses Pixar of forced sentimentality, and also happens to be one of Spielberg's biggest apologists.
And for the record, I'm a fan of huge movie fun, but I'm more impressed and interested in artistry in film, so I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy it beyond just siting back and accepting the popcorn entertainment
Don't lump White and Spielberg together, his 'sentimentality' comes from extreme compassion and perhaps a dedication to the fantastical fun that movies brought him as a kid. The tacked on endings of Minority Report and WOTW don't really bring down his immense talent for story-telling.
I'm just curious how impressed you were by the artistry in middling performances, uninspired musical composition, and an consistently inconsistent contradictory screenplay with absolutely no grip on its characters, narrative threads, or "thematic material" which is really a joke to even mention given how unexplored and nonsensical it is. I'm also curious how people are so content with the "popcorn entertainment" movie fun of a film rife with thoughtless inept action sequences that consistently deny the film's own internal logic.
Honestly, I want to know specifics. Where is the "artistry" and "movie fun" in this, one of the more purely inane and ludicrous blockbuster movies made this decade?
I hear the latter is quite fucking amateur.
My point in saying that was that I think people read waaaaaaay too much into this kind of movie, granted it wasn't on the level of Star Trek, but its enjoyable, and not worth ripping to shreds. Also my point about the 'thematic material' was that it was able to bring something else to the movie without spending too much time on it, but didn't really feel like an afterthought either, again the movie drops you into the action, so I'm not expecting soliloquies or deep character development. I seriously think movie fans made up their minds what they were going to think about this no matter what, and stuck with it. I'm not saying you don't have a right to dislike it, but I think there's lots of people out there spouting these things against it without objectively watching it, or watching it at all. I didn't straight up attack anyone's opinion, or call it a masterpiece, so I don't really think I need to be ripped apart either. As for the acting, I really want to know what people expect out of an action film, no one did a bad job, there's no awards-worthy performances, but who cares? Especially coming from a franchise that's built on the purposely mechanical persona of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
For the record Lance, are you agreeing or disagreeing with my Spielberg comment?
...worked just fine within the confines of summer entertainment...
...but he just proved himself to be a maestro action director...
What my point boils down to is, could someone else have made a better movie out of the concept? With a better screenplay, sure. But should we pick it to pieces and be so unforgiving of the man who's aspirations aren't all that high and worked just fine within the confines of summer entertainment? No. He'll never be a master storyteller, but he just proved himself to be a maestro action director. At least he's not so much of an obnoxious tool as Michael Bay, and again I liked the way TS was shot, which I can't say of even the fun Michael Bay movies.
I guess pre-gravitas injected action movies prior to this decade didn't need such a high standard, back then I'd say Spielberg and Cameron were the only directors who ever elevated mainstream movies, which I'm not saying is a bad thing (granted, screenwriting in the blockbuster department would always be welcome), of course we could benefit from all movies being good at storytelling and artistry even popcorn movies, but it doesn't mean I can't have fun with what's out there, and that the people behind them are totally worthless, I think people are needlessly harsh sometimes. You may want more out of your average blockbuster than me, but on a day like today when I just went out for a little escapism, I had fun, so shoot me.
DAMN YOU MICHAEL BAY!!!
I'm going to sound like a snob here, but I can't for the life of me figure out why people with decent taste would go anywhere near the likes of Terminator 3, Terminator: Salvation, Transformers, G.I. Joe, etc. You can smell that crap a mile away. There's always a couple popcorn films every summer that actually have a soul behind the effects, and those are enough to satisfy me without have to see every single event movie that comes out.
Full confession: I did pay to see The Island at the cheap theatre a few years ago, but it was mainly because I like both of the leads, and the concept looked interesting. I also saw I, Robot, mainly because I had faith that Alex Proyas's vision would somehow balance out the presence of Will Smith and a bastardized version of Asimov's World.
Don't read too much into it. Some people are just art-film snobs.
Do most film snobs talk about Star Wars as much as we do?
DAMN YOU MICHAEL BAY!!!
I'm going to sound like a snob here, but I can't for the life of me figure out why people with decent taste would go anywhere near the likes of Terminator 3, Terminator: Salvation, Transformers, G.I. Joe, etc. You can smell that crap a mile away. There's always a couple popcorn films every summer that actually have a soul behind the effects, and those are enough to satisfy me without have to see every single event movie that comes out.
Full confession: I did pay to see The Island at the cheap theatre a few years ago, but it was mainly because I like both of the leads, and the concept looked interesting. I also saw I, Robot, mainly because I had faith that Alex Proyas's vision would somehow balance out the presence of Will Smith and a bastardized version of Asimov's World.
Of my experience with film snobs? Yes. Definitely.
Lance thank you for pulling two sentences I didn't like much myself out of the whole thing that I wrote and making me look just great! +
DAMN YOU MICHAEL BAY!!!
I'm going to sound like a snob here, but I can't for the life of me figure out why people with decent taste would go anywhere near the likes of Terminator 3, Terminator: Salvation, ......
T3 is at 7.3 with over 17,000 votes on IMDB. (voting by plain folks and a random bored snob or two)
T2 is at 6.7, so I guess most people agree with Power and myself.
Now, let me ask this, anyone around here seen The Brothers Bloom? I didn't totally buy into Brick, but I do love that cast, and have been waiting for it through the multiple delays. I'm debating with myself when I'll put up with the snobby mcsnobsnobs that go to the only theater its playing at near me to see it, but soon, probably a weekday matinee if I'm free.
sorry, thanks for the correction
I may have liked T3 more than T4, too.
I don't spend a lot of time thinking about them once I leave the theater.
but, I have watched T1 and T2 on the T V a couple of more times.