tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288666414384718002.post377220799474531854..comments2023-10-24T10:23:55.159-04:00Comments on The Film Buff Blog: Am I the only one hoping the Mayans were right?La Sporgenzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10543562450051712414noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288666414384718002.post-48542267976692852612010-03-04T21:09:53.214-05:002010-03-04T21:09:53.214-05:00Hey Sporg,
I think we should rename Crunchy Frog &...Hey Sporg,<br />I think we should rename Crunchy Frog "Blood of the Nav'i". ya know... for the kidsDropkickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15565072310591097997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288666414384718002.post-81915653133961716792010-02-28T00:01:56.880-05:002010-02-28T00:01:56.880-05:00Strange you would suggest that I hated Avatar beca...Strange you would suggest that I hated Avatar because I didn't Kris. As an event movie, it also delivered and made for an entertaining 2+ hour diversion. The problem with Avatar is fairly straightforward – by most measurements, it's just not a very good film. The story and themes are infantile, unrealistic and irrelevant, but that's probably not the fault of the filmmakers. Although it's probably true of every generation, we seem compelled to overstate every achievement, every current event as the biggest this and the biggest that of all time. It's a game changer. These are the best Olympics ever. This is unprecedented. That's never been done before. etc. etc. etc. <br /><br />This proclivity for exaggeration is both a little pompous and a lot boring. We endure nearly constant media intrusion and have to grapple with the endless sensationalizing of news and entertainment designed to stand out from the next guy's broadcast. Yesterday's story needs to be one-upped and the result is an infinite feedback loop the amplifies the mediocre into the important. My point about 2012 was only partly tongue-in-cheek. As a film, it's not a lot different from Avatar in many ways. What is different, the result of some very shrewd marketing, is Cameron's film has plugged into this desire and expectation for modern excellence. It's ended up receiving an incredible (and quite frankly, mostly undeserved), degree of acclaim as a great film, which it certainly is not. It's an event, a spectacle, which isn't a bad thing at all, we've just lost all perspective on its true merits as a film. The only thing Avatar changes about film is the industry's economics. It drives an even larger wedge between film as an art form and film as a commercial venture. While it expands the possibilities of technically manufactured movies and an artificial visual palette, it doesn't advance the language of cinema as a tool for communication and disseminating ideas. One could even argue that Avatar represents a giant step backward in this regard. <br /><br />To be sure, 2012 is guilty of all of these same charges, but it seemed somehow less intellectually insulting than Avatar. It has ground rules and the filmmaker acknowledges that the audience is in on the joke right out of the gates. Emmerich's film is all illusion and banality delivered at breakneck speed, promising nothing other than escapism, thrills, chills and more than it's share of audience groans. To impose anything else on it is pointless. The reason I keep referring back to Avatar in a number of my recent post is to suggest it needs to be seen as the preposterously overblown B movie it is. Avatar isn't a total film experience in the way that great films are. Cameron's fantastic use of technology props up a terrible screenplay that's clogged with hokey plot retreads, gag-inducing dialogue, and shallow characterizations. Just like 2012 is.La Sporgenzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10543562450051712414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288666414384718002.post-27031316316851243242010-02-27T14:21:36.074-05:002010-02-27T14:21:36.074-05:00i watched this in D-Box seating. That's where ...i watched this in D-Box seating. That's where your actual theater seats move in relation to the action on screen and even that couldn't get me into a movie this stupid.<br />Some people get a real hard on for shit blowing up but i've never really been that kind of movie-goer.<br />i guess if you've been watching summer blockbusters since you were 2 stuff blowing up seems old hat.<br />The last time i cared about something blowing up was the buildings of Parliament in V for Vendetta. Before that it was the Death Star (both of them)<br /><br />i think the last line of this film "look daddy, no more pull-ups" has a double meaning. <br />1. The line relates directly with the film speaking of us as a species having to grow up.<br />2. It speaks directly to the audience saying "hey! you don't have to sit through this shit anymore!"<br /><br />i challenge you to sneak your Avatar hate into everything you write for the blog throughout the year. <br />You're on a pretty good roll so far.Dropkickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15565072310591097997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288666414384718002.post-1736213744460617952010-02-27T10:44:12.167-05:002010-02-27T10:44:12.167-05:00that's it - i'm watching this tonight!that's it - i'm watching this tonight!the coelacanthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10034292021589028600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8288666414384718002.post-32330975855790453402010-02-27T04:20:28.625-05:002010-02-27T04:20:28.625-05:00i's heari's hearBritardedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14542391733186734506noreply@blogger.com