HIGH PLAINS SCRIBBLER: THE SOUND AND THE FURY

Great article, Elisabeth.

I suspect even here at CHUD we're a little fatigued at movies as well (Evidence: The low posting at Threads). We're all Veterens and we've seen it all before. I love to genuinely surprised by a good movie but for the most part I can't say I've been worked up by the films I've seen recently.

Great article Elisabeth. I fully understand getting riled up about a movie one way or another, but what I don't understand are the movies that generate such passion. I mean, SUCKER PUNCH? TRON?  Or as seen on a recent BA column, JENNIFER'S BODY? I mean, have people seen these movies? They barely merit 2 hours of your time, let alone pages of heated argument.

It seems to me that a lot of this actually comes from people feeling more invested in the narrative behind the film than the one on the screen. It's like geek catnip. Doesn't matter that Sucker Punch is "meh", what matters is that it was made by Zack Snyder.

There are amazing/horrendous movies out there, ones deserving pages and pages of praise or scorn, but these certainly aren't them.

I really enjoyed that editorial, Ms. Rappe. Good work.

I used to be someone who got angry because Julia Roberts won an Oscar over Ellen Burstyn.

That happens much less these days, though I was very happy that Avatar lost Best Picture to The Hurt Locker.  And I didn't even like The Hurt Locker all that much! I was pushing for Inglorious Basterds, though I knew it wouldn't win.

My point is, that I think you are most wise and prudent to keep a level head about "this stuff."  I've always hated the "best/worst EVER" sentiment.  And I've generally tried to keep myself in check when it comes to my reactions towards movies.  A high is only as high compared to something low, and I don't want my highs to come across meaningless. 

Fine editorial.

The thing I always find interesting about these insane negative reactions to things is the 'echo chamber' seeking behaviour that people go through. Y'know the type, someone who consistently states a subjective opinion as objective fact and will keep doing that until someone agrees. Then those two will talk to each other and no one else and convince themselves that they've got themselves a consensus. 

I'm also fascinated by the people who cannot appreciate ANY good in something. I get not liking something, but I'm genuinely shocked at how often people will work themselves up so much as to not be able to see ONE positive. 

I actually think this attitude is more prevalent in regular (avid) moviegoers moreso than geeks (or whatever we consider us to be). I used to go to a lot of Friday night, or even midnight screenings with audiences, and they would sit down and say stuff like, "Oh, this had BETTER be good." Like, why are you owed a good movie? Where did this sense of entitlement come from? The movie's got your money, what are you gonna do if you hate it? These wouldn't be the big message board types, these would be 9 to 5ers and such.

I remember sitting next to some early twentysomething dude during Inception at the midnight screening. We didn't talk, but he seemed like a normal guy. But when SPOILER SPOILER the screen cut to black on that spinning top, he screamed out a rageful "WHAT????" and sat there with his open hand extended, his face frozen IN HORROR that we don't know the resolution to the falling top. His hand froze in the air for a good minute, like he was fucking Hamlet, the clear anger in his eyes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabe T 
But when SPOILER SPOILER the screen cut to black on that spinning top, he screamed out a rageful "WHAT????" and sat there with his open hand extended, his face frozen IN HORROR that we don't know the resolution to the falling top. His hand froze in the air for a good minute, like he was fucking Hamlet, the clear anger in his eyes.

That's a damned good freeze-frame!

Great piece, Elisabeth. I feel that this is even worse when the film is not yet out in wide release and critics or bloggers can do the bi-polar thing in order to be the progenitors of a movie's buzz. Everyone's ears are wide open at that point. And yet I'm still a sucker for sometimes listening to them because deep down I want to believe that something is either transcendent or abysmal.

My basic rule is that most filmmakers don't set out and try to make a shitty movie, even if sometimes it sure seems like it from the results. So there's almost always something to like or dislike about everything. People given the lucky job of being able to make movies often get at least a few things right and more than a few things wrong, but that story is as old as art itself. When people who see stuff early come off with white-hot heat or praise without specifics already sound a little suspect. To me anyways. But what ends up usually killing a movie for me is when the roots of the ideas in the film are so miscalculated that the rest of the thing just rots. It's why a film like Forrest Gump, while technically well done and effective in it's storytelling (or manipulative depending on your position) can inspire real disgust. Or how I will defend the shit out of The Matrix as not just a good film but a classic to some of my geek friends (who for reasons I can't begin to explain hate it.)

Anyways, more navel-gazing posts from everyone!

This here's ^ the nugget of truth. I blame the internet. It builds anticipation like no other marketing venue before. Remember knowing nothing about a flick before seeing it? And the internet offers a soapbox for the vocal minority. That minority is almost always polarized in their opinions. And loud. That minority (was I one of them? am I still?) used to be relegated to cons. Now the world-wide-web is their oyster.

I too feel the temperance of old age (or something) setting in. Astute piece, E.

I mean... OMG BEST/WORST ARTICLE EVA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The thing that always makes me kinda sad...

... is experiencing the huge marketing hype and blitz prior to the release of a big movie, and then comparing it to the sight of the DVD of that movie sitting in a Walmart bargain bin. 

A youth full of pizazz!  And then of death and obscurity...

The time between those two extremes has shortened.  I partially blame the internet.  Mostly, I blame how forgettable the big movies are.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evi 

Great article Elisabeth. I fully understand getting riled up about a movie one way or another, but what I don't understand are the movies that generate such passion. I mean, SUCKER PUNCH? TRON?  Or as seen on a recent BA column, JENNIFER'S BODY? I mean, have people seen these movies? They barely merit 2 hours of your time, let alone pages of heated argument.

 

It seems to me that a lot of this actually comes from people feeling more invested in the narrative behind the film than the one on the screen. It's like geek catnip. Doesn't matter that Sucker Punch is "meh", what matters is that it was made by Zack Snyder.

 

There are amazing/horrendous movies out there, ones deserving pages and pages of praise or scorn, but these certainly aren't them.

I agree 100% with this. It's like certain people attract or create a Fan base (Kevin Smith, Joss Whedon) that will support them irrespective of the quality of their output. I also think in some cases (like the guy who posted numerous times in the Tron thread with detailed arguments for it's greatness) that movie goers have no "film history' behind them. Someone who's seen a good number of classic films just can't get that into something like Tron. Right? Right?!

Did put a longer reply in the talkback, but to me the tipping-point is when passion just becomes melodrama, whether it's for attention-grabbing/trolling, or simple emotional immaturity (Case in point: Spinning Top Angst Lord as described by Gabe)

One point I didn't make in the talkback, and that I feel I should: As bad as film fans get with the 'Sturm und Drang' stuff, they're NOTHING compared to video game fans. Seriously, try looking on NeoGAF every time the PC version of a popular game gets cancelled; it's like the fucking Wailing Wall on there.

I will be using Spinning Top Angst Lord, btw.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabe T 

I will be using Spinning Top Angst Lord, btw.

Glad to be of service :D

In the future though, I recommend when you tell that story just say the guy was wearing a cape while he was doing it. Creates such a powerful image, I'm sure you'll agree.
 

I think the main thing that tempered my snarky and dismissive hyperbolic opinions about a given property/film on the net was the fact that I started using them towards my wife... in person. Snarky and dismissive hyperbolic opinions don't sit well with the missus. "What do you mean you do/don't like XXXX? Are you crazy???" It was time to curb that shit.

Really great piece Elisabeth and in response to your queries I think its a simply matter of 'with wisdom, comes perspective'. The fact is, between geeks being given the chance to megaphone their opinions across the online echo chamber combined with Hollywood being in an incredibly unimaginative place right now while pandering to that geek crowd with their by-the-numbers blockbuster summer output, those of us who've been through it all a bit and seen stuff come and go realize that life's just too short to froth yourself into bursting a blood vessel over a film that by rights you should be forgetting about twenty minutes after you've seen.

What I would say is, don't lament this change in your perspective, revel in it - tis the coming of wisdom and sense. You'll still get passionate - just over the stuff that actually deserves it rather than simply every new thing just cause it's new - and when you do get that passion, it'll be all the more enjoyable and burn all the brighter because it'll have been truly earned, one way or another.