tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post3523276614471743830..comments2024-02-23T05:17:08.682-05:00Comments on The Film Freak Central Blog: Meme StreetsBill Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14011398543859221282noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-15558632696990398562010-07-30T14:41:13.265-04:002010-07-30T14:41:13.265-04:00Finally saw Inception... and I disagree with your ...Finally saw Inception... and I disagree with your review. It pains me to say this, since I was pretty much convinced this would be a two-star film. <br /><br />It's not perfect, no way – the action sequences are too unexciting for that –, but at least it's something I can point to for those postmodernist idiots I know who always go around saying reality might have started to exist mere Patricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-68508419663335592882010-07-24T16:17:01.711-04:002010-07-24T16:17:01.711-04:00If your initial argument that BL: POCNO being a &q...<i>If your initial argument that BL: POCNO being a "stupid for smart" film is based upon the premise that its positive reception is colored by Werner Herzog being somewhat in vogue as a director, then could that argument not be applied to No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood or Synecdoche, NY? Certainly all three of those directors could be considered to be “hip” at one point in Alex Jacksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13028946403342782184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-69441376575740337622010-07-24T12:32:22.525-04:002010-07-24T12:32:22.525-04:00Joining this meme rather late, but these would be ...Joining this meme rather late, but these would be my 'dream film' choices:<br /><br />1. What Dreams May Come<br />2. Minority Report<br />3. Belle de Jour<br />4. DreamscapeDanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04548737130323277118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-73010499899668369562010-07-24T09:51:41.197-04:002010-07-24T09:51:41.197-04:00Alex-
If your initial argument that BL: POCNO bein...Alex-<br />If your initial argument that BL: POCNO being a "stupid for smart" film is based upon the premise that its positive reception is colored by Werner Herzog being somewhat in vogue as a director, then could that argument not be applied to No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood or Synecdoche, NY? Certainly all three of those directors could be considered to be “hip” at one Maxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15570414599775126905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-29675176849932191642010-07-23T23:05:11.124-04:002010-07-23T23:05:11.124-04:00Here's the test: if it's truly a "sma...Here's the test: if it's truly a "smart for smart" movie you should be enraged when people call it "stupid for stupid" as though they had just said your baby is ugly. <br /><br />If your response is just a condescending smile and a shake of the head, like they hadn't quite learned how to appreciate it, then what you have is a "stupid for smart".Alex Jacksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13028946403342782184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-15405822906654812322010-07-23T22:53:14.920-04:002010-07-23T22:53:14.920-04:00And yet a third interpretation:
A "stupid mo...And yet a third interpretation:<br /><br />A "stupid movie for stupid people" is a movie celebrated by a segment of the population that you see as being beneath you. Pretty straight forward, my example was Boondock Saints. <br /><br />I interpret "smart movie for stupid people" as meaning a genuinely smart movie that has something to appeal to stupid people but has depths thatAlex Jacksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13028946403342782184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-67830348643313162162010-07-23T18:19:01.767-04:002010-07-23T18:19:01.767-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Hasturtiumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11862042252658790443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-79789090728852761782010-07-23T17:54:24.503-04:002010-07-23T17:54:24.503-04:00...and now we're in time wasting mode because ......and now we're in time wasting mode because I read this totally different than John:<br /><br />Stupid for Stupid is a film that has nothing at all to say and makes no pretensions towards it, a piece of cultural garbage. See: Gamer<br /><br />Smart for Stupid is a film that has some promise, but dare not follow through on that and therefore *lacks* substance – it is widely hailed as smart, Patricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-47044131383297826112010-07-23T15:22:19.375-04:002010-07-23T15:22:19.375-04:00@ Gorgon:
"Stupid for stupid" is a film...@ Gorgon:<br /><br />"Stupid for stupid" is a film that is completely without worth, but appreciated by some nevertheless. Master of Disguise is an example.<br /><br />"Smart for stupid" is a film with intellectual substance that is peppered with action sequences and crude effects to make it palatable to "the masses". The Dark Knight and Se7en are examples.<br /><br Johnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-44966228918172120762010-07-23T01:41:21.998-04:002010-07-23T01:41:21.998-04:00i accept that such a reading could be considered t...i accept that such a reading could be considered the end of the argument for alex - it still won't mean a thing to him, there's no ACTUAL catharsis, no "ethical dimension" as he says. but me, i enjoy looking at films through this reflexive "movies as movies" lens. i'm a tremendous fan of brian de palma, does it show?Kylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08166197965433581352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-85235334004958624112010-07-23T01:35:25.694-04:002010-07-23T01:35:25.694-04:00first of all,
batman = bush
joker = "terrist...first of all,<br /><br />batman = bush<br />joker = "terrists"<br />alfred = karl rove<br />lucius fox = rumsfeld<br />latina detective = powell<br /><br />second of all,<br /><br />a second viewing of inception finds the work much improved, especially with the "dreams as film" approach that's been discussed here and on CHUD taken into consideration. that said, i think Kylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08166197965433581352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-29475423275621439532010-07-23T00:47:56.879-04:002010-07-23T00:47:56.879-04:00Can I suggest that all these suggestions about stu...Can I suggest that all these suggestions about stupid this for smart that and vice versa is the kinda pseudo-smart crap only stupid people waste their time considering.Gorgonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-83926715929004644592010-07-22T18:30:28.519-04:002010-07-22T18:30:28.519-04:00Alex, looking at the movie that straightforwardly ...<i>Alex, looking at the movie that straightforwardly does certainly make it seem bland. Check out what Devin at Chud says about it's hidden meanings - he makes a very compelling case to look deeper into the movie, and thereby opens it up to far more interesting interpretations that make the film not just less bland, but turns it into Nolan's most thought provoking film yet.<br /><br />Alex Jacksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13028946403342782184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-47775068218680255632010-07-22T15:46:29.157-04:002010-07-22T15:46:29.157-04:00thanks for the link. i've been having a harde...thanks for the link. i've been having a harder time writing about inception than i thought i would (personal problems and chronic depression don't help, of course) but between the several new films i've seen in the past week - exit through the gift shop (a spectacular invective against the nature of art appreciation in modern society), life during wartime (an interesting failure) - Kylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08166197965433581352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-35156428557302404532010-07-22T12:06:46.454-04:002010-07-22T12:06:46.454-04:00Alex, looking at the movie that straightforwardly ...Alex, looking at the movie that straightforwardly does certainly make it seem bland. Check out what Devin at Chud says about it's hidden meanings - he makes a very compelling case to look deeper into the movie, and thereby opens it up to far more interesting interpretations that make the film not just less bland, but turns it into Nolan's most thought provoking film yet.<br /><br />http:Paul S.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-53622449169018339972010-07-21T21:08:00.041-04:002010-07-21T21:08:00.041-04:00But Mulholland Dr., Last Year in Marienband, and S...<i>But Mulholland Dr., Last Year in Marienband, and Synecdoche, NY aren't blockbusters. Is it possible that Inception isn't only interesting for defining itself as an analog to the dream life, but for asserting a relationship between the dream life and the blockbuster? Something about Hollywood's colonization of the subconscious (duh duh duh)...</i><br /><br />You mean its mechanical Alex Jacksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13028946403342782184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-26011976500026014882010-07-21T14:43:31.093-04:002010-07-21T14:43:31.093-04:00"Stain on your cracker"= the name of my ..."Stain on your cracker"= the name of my first album.<br /><br />Does someone up there actually like Batman's voice in TDK?<br /><br />And did someone else up there get called a coward for posting a comment without a name attached?<br /><br />Haha, internet forums, true tests of bravery.<br /><br />"The only thing of real interest in the picture is that it appears to be trying The Brave Little Posternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-15563938014018844772010-07-20T22:17:25.233-04:002010-07-20T22:17:25.233-04:00Alex-
Get ready for some fancy footwork...
While I...Alex-<br />Get ready for some fancy footwork...<br />While I agree on the point that Bad Lieutenant:POCNO is arguably not as cohesive as, say, Fitzcarraldo, I would argue that it's still leaps and bounds (in terms of actually asking something of its audience) than say Grizzly Man (though I liked that movie). I don't automatically like something just because a particular name was attachedMaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15570414599775126905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-6053169808689646332010-07-20T17:58:47.959-04:002010-07-20T17:58:47.959-04:00What do you guys think of the theory of the entire...What do you guys think of the theory of the entirety of Inception taking place in a dream? That it has more in common with 8 1/2, with Leo's character as a stand-in for Nolan dealing with his film-making process. And how the characters in Inception are analogous of the relationship between filmmakers (dream-makers) and the audience (dreamers).Joey Joe Joe Shabadoonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-44156073433381180822010-07-20T05:17:59.766-04:002010-07-20T05:17:59.766-04:00I saw it, I (think I) liked it, I have a lot more ...I saw it, I (think I) liked it, I have a lot more thoughts I'll compile here for no one to read tomorrow, time to sleep.Kylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08166197965433581352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-15490616111306378402010-07-19T17:08:27.743-04:002010-07-19T17:08:27.743-04:00(ctd.)
It has in the Joker someone with supernatu...(ctd.)<br /><br />It has in the Joker someone with supernatural abilities to set up situations. It has the woman in a refrigerator. It has the Joker attacking a party from which the film simply cuts away – did he kill everyone there after Batman went out to save the one woman he would later lose anyway? Who knows, who cares? It's lazy.<br /><br />And then in the end, the film has the gall to Patricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-80748710960668200952010-07-19T17:07:51.529-04:002010-07-19T17:07:51.529-04:00The Dark Knight has a boat of convicts where the b...The Dark Knight has a boat of convicts where the big bad black prisoner throws the remote control overboard and shows us prejudiced folk how wrong we are, a scene where I feel like Nolan had gotten a big iron sledgehammer and bludgeoned me repeatedly with it.<br /><br />It has a terrific moment where Batman becomes Big Brother and then immediately negates it with the off switch so that God/MorganPatricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-66268556730768718432010-07-19T17:04:36.180-04:002010-07-19T17:04:36.180-04:00Inception reminded me most of Dark City. It's...Inception reminded me most of <i>Dark City</i>. It's not explicitly about dreams, I guess, but is about perception in a similar way and also does that whole thing where shit goes boom in an ever-changing slo-mo world. However, if <i>Inception</i> is in category 2 then <i>Dark City</i> goes in 3.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05522829251859509601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-72889213820155975522010-07-19T13:47:26.459-04:002010-07-19T13:47:26.459-04:00Oh, and Cronenberg's Naked Lunch.. It's a ...Oh, and Cronenberg's <i>Naked Lunch.</i>. It's a narcotic dream, a not-at-all pleasant one.Jefferson Robbinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05356665406917571985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9668842.post-32209175809543258662010-07-19T13:44:06.655-04:002010-07-19T13:44:06.655-04:00Kurosawa's Dreams comes to mind, although I ha...Kurosawa's <i>Dreams</i> comes to mind, although I haven't seen it in years. My favorite vignette is either the world inside the Van Gogh painting or the army officer confronting the regiment he led to their deaths.<br /><br />Haven't seen <i>Inception</i>, avoiding spoilers, so I can't come in swinging. Sorry.Jefferson Robbinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05356665406917571985noreply@blogger.com