I really need to stop reading movie reviews in the newspaper.
I imagine that the life of a movie critic is very lonely, rife with self-doubt and career insecurity, maybe even the nagging notion that the nature of their job is meaningless, weightless, and lacking any cultural permanence.
Nevertheless, movie critics make me angrier than any politician or wayward celebrity in America. I have grown almost completely cynical of movies after a year or two of watching real tripe; but now I've seen a string of movies---Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Revenge of the Sith, Batman Begins, and Bewitched--- that I've genuinely enjoyed despite prior reservations. And I'm not in the business of apologizing for movies I wish could be good anymore. This is me being honest with myself.
So now that I am finally getting good returns from Hollywood, none of the critics seem to be recognizing any of the positive things that I'm receiving. No, that's not the right thing to say. What I'm trying to say is this:
The reviewers at Village Voice are moronic.
The reviewers have accused Batman Begins, a film mostly lacking in excess special effects, of being swallowed in too much CGI action. They accused the makers of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy of not playing up Douglas Adams's atheist agenda, which---apparently---was the best and most important part of the book. They declared Nora Ephorn the death-knell of culture and their Revenge of the Sith review is unabashedly condescending to anyone who would dare to enjoy a Star Wars movie.
I don't think there's anything wrong with taking an intellectual approach to criticizing popular movies and exposing the formula in lazy moviemaking. I'm not talking about turning off the brain and enjoying a stupid, loud movie. I'm just saying, geez, when, finally, a movie skirts the formula and gives you something fun and smart, have the clear-mindedness to recognize that someone's actually doing good for once.
I really need to stop reading movie reviews.
I imagine that the life of a movie critic is very lonely, rife with self-doubt and career insecurity, maybe even the nagging notion that the nature of their job is meaningless, weightless, and lacking any cultural permanence.
Nevertheless, movie critics make me angrier than any politician or wayward celebrity in America. I have grown almost completely cynical of movies after a year or two of watching real tripe; but now I've seen a string of movies---Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Revenge of the Sith, Batman Begins, and Bewitched--- that I've genuinely enjoyed despite prior reservations. And I'm not in the business of apologizing for movies I wish could be good anymore. This is me being honest with myself.
So now that I am finally getting good returns from Hollywood, none of the critics seem to be recognizing any of the positive things that I'm receiving. No, that's not the right thing to say. What I'm trying to say is this:
The reviewers at Village Voice are moronic.
The reviewers have accused Batman Begins, a film mostly lacking in excess special effects, of being swallowed in too much CGI action. They accused the makers of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy of not playing up Douglas Adams's atheist agenda, which---apparently---was the best and most important part of the book. They declared Nora Ephorn the death-knell of culture and their Revenge of the Sith review is unabashedly condescending to anyone who would dare to enjoy a Star Wars movie.
I don't think there's anything wrong with taking an intellectual approach to criticizing popular movies and exposing the formula in lazy moviemaking. I'm not talking about turning off the brain and enjoying a stupid, loud movie. I'm just saying, geez, when, finally, a movie skirts the formula and gives you something fun and smart, have the clear-mindedness to recognize that someone's actually doing good for once.
I really need to stop reading movie reviews.
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