You respect and you fear this. You WORSHIP IT!

By RM
 

Shameless Plugs

By RM
PLEASE COME READ MY JOINT BLOG W/ WIRY LIBERTINE:

WWW.WALTWHIMSY.BLOGSPOT.COM

It's a project blog where we rank and review every Disney theatrical feature, in the attempt to create the ultimate list.

We love comments and we encourage people who want to join us for a viewing.

So please go check it out.

We already have done:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Fun and Fancy Free
Lady and the Tramp
The Jungle Book
The Great Mouse Detective
The Lion King

Come join us for your favorite (if we haven't already done it, then find your silver medal). We can do this long-distance, too, so don't be afraid to get in touch. We can make this work for you!

End Plug.
 

In the Interest of Stirring the Pot...

By RM
Heath Ledger was wonderful in the Dark Knight.

He doesn't deserve the Oscar.

He wasn't the best actor in that film.

All praise Aaron Eckhart.
 

Ah, Culture

By RM
 

Chagrin over my own mots fortes and other otherities...

By RM
So the last post seems pretty harsh.

And some of you have, rightfully so, called me on my opinions.

But I'd like to make a few counterpoints.

One, there is no question that film reviewers, particularly those of the clout of people like A.O. Scott or Roger Ebert are certaily given more heft of their opinion on there film than others. As much as we may laugh, the trailer for Iron Man didn't say....Steve from Poughkeepsie says "This is the finest action Film you'll see all year!", which I would argue does affect ticket sales and the number of people who go to see a movie. I grant that reviewers have more clout and that tends to give some of the more unpleasant people of their ilk a tendency to be holier than thou in their view of their own merits. That is a shame.

HOWEVER, I also find that people who have read Batman's The Killing Joke also feel MORE than entitled to tell me why their opinions are more valid, so maybe I'm just tired of being in the middle (especially when my own views are obviously the right ones). And I know that in our society now we want a definitive word on everything because we don't have the time or desire (at least most of us) to want to understand stuff on a more complex level. There's other things that simply need to get done. So I don't begrudge the concept behind RT in trying to give films a numeric ranking.

I resent that some people tell me one thing based on their perceived superiority whilst simultaneously ignoring other people (whether it's right or wrong, they don't offer an M.F.A in reading The Long Halloween, they do in film criticism), which is the tenet of fascism. Perhaps I painted with to broad a brush using that term. But dismissing people's opinions as invalid without seriously entertaining them and even going so far as threatening them is fascism, right? It's bullying, because we've been calling out Fox News for doing that to guests for years, and we're right on that one.

We're a society of brutes because we are creatures that, at our core are all passion and instinct. And our first instinct when what we care about is threatened is to push back. Some of us are better at repressing those urges than others. They should be commended for that. Some people have a saint-like patience I could never hope to have (see last post). But the reality is that passionate people also tend to be opinionated people, and it's rare to find an opinionated person who will give full respect and credence to the other side of an argument. Because the other person is trying to tell you that what you are passionate about is wrong. Being passionate is a double-edged sword like that.

What I was trying to say, and I feel it got lost in what, I see now, was a deluge of poorly chosen phraseology and examples, is that I don't believe in righteous anger/vindication through perceived superiority, which is the first tool in any good Holier-Than-Thou Man's Utility Belt. Perhaps there are one in a million times (you just watched a devil shoot a baby) where you can be pissed off and feel that the forces of right are on your side, but more often than not it's your opinion of your justness that makes you righteous, which is a term I only accept as a one word adjective immediately followed by a guitar solo.

Long story short, I just want people to be open-minded that The Dark Knight may not be the 2nd coming.

Unless we're talking IMAX.

Also, I want an otter.
 

Our inability to handle external merde and other manure based phenomena...

By RM
There are many things to say about the Dark Knight, but this is one of them.

The film currently holds somewhere between an 89-91 at Rottentomatoes.com. Six reviews so far have come in as rotten. The first one, by the film reviewer of The New Yorker makes valid artistic criticisms that I feel, if I were dissatisfied with the film, I would see as being my exact problems. He has received 530 comments as of right now (7/16/2008, 2:51 pm EST), ranging from purile, childish insults to death threats. I shit you not, death threats.

530 comments of that. I took the time to count. The total number of comments on positive reviews is 249. And that's the total of 53 positive reviews.

Each of the other five negative reviews have more at least four times as many comments on any of the positive reviews (it would be closer to six, if not for a high volume on Ebert's critique). And all of them the same.

No one allows that their opinions are valid, as all of them are reviewers of reputable magazines, as opposed to Emmanuel Levy of Emmanuellevy.com. And certainly no one admits that their points may be correct in areas. The so-called fans of this intellectual, dark, intelligent film are behaving like the troglodytes they perceive everyone else to be.

At the end of the day, we are a species of brutes. I don't mean to say that negatively, it just is what it is. And people who think we aren't are fooling themselves. Even a person with an IQ of 175 and the patience of a saint will, when properly provoked, start swearing like a 7th grader and either start trying to strike you or think about it because you're bigger than he is.

What bothers me is this inherent concept of righteous anger. There is no such thing as righteous anger. Or having the right to be upset. You are upset. It's just a fact of life. And while some reasons for being upset are more understandable, there's never a anger that is justified because of your perceived superior understanding/intelligence/morality on any given issue. It's simply deluded thuggery. Maybe it's thuggery for a noble cause, but it's still thuggery.

I'm as excited as anyone to see this film, but my fear is that this birth of the "artistically valid" comic book film is giving a very vocal, traditionally repressed and angry minority a sort of "righteous anger" when there are other valid artistic voices disagreeing with them, and that it will only end poorly for all involved. I beg all of you out there who see this film, and indeed, the next time you hear anyone who didn't like a film you and most of your friends/the world liked, don't be a dick to the minority. Because if you are, that makes you a fascist. Which is cool, just don't be offended when I call you on it. Own what you are. And everyone who insulted or threatened David Denby is a fascist.
 

With All Due Respect to die Leute von Wermelskirchen

By RM
I have often expressed my admiration for Dr. Uwe Boll.

It takes a man of the sublimest intellect to psychologically and artistically justify radical changes from any given source material (and, in his defense, he doesn't get the creme) in defense of the greater good of the finished product.

And, granted, he doesn't always succeed. Those who aim for the stars rarely reach them. But this doesn't in any way downplay his dedication or desire or his sense of artistic decency.

Indeed, it takes a visionary to not simply correlate film actors with prostitutes from a philosophical perspective, but to take his logic that step further and HIRE prostitutes to replace his actors. Bravo! D'accord!

But indeed, such lofty pursuits must tire Dr. Boll, and I think we can all agree that by going here, and signing the polite missive to encourage Dr. Boll to take a most heartily deserved sabbatical.

For he has taught us all so much.

Vaya con 1% on RT, Dr. Boll.

Sincerely,
RM
 

Robotic Undertakings by Steven Jobs the XXII and other thoughts

By RM
Saw Wall-E and I will spare you the gushing and say only this:

Didn't Eve look a little like an iPod?