i dunno my beef is that too many seem eager to demonstrate some position of superiority in regard to the film. so many reviews boil down to scolding or patting the head of the filmmakers. if i never have to read "this movie isn't as smart as it thinks it is" again I think I'll die happy.
― ryan, Sunday, 31 March 2013 21:33 (eleven years ago) link
xpost or maybe you'll be like, i can name 15 exploitations movies about teen girl rampages where the dialogue isn't monotonous and doesn't loop and the film doesn't depend on james franco showing up as a goofy rapper to keep us awake
― da croupier, Sunday, 31 March 2013 21:35 (eleven years ago) link
xposts! and anyway yeah i get that criticism needs to defend its prerogative to designate artistic quality but at the same time that's basically the organizing principle of making interesting observations and arguments about those observations, and not really terrible interesting when that judgement is sorta the "point" of the review.
― ryan, Sunday, 31 March 2013 21:36 (eleven years ago) link
yeah but i kinda already know i'll love this movie and its not just reviews of this particular movie. its so many reviews of so many movies. like people writing about movies don't even know how to watch a movie anymore. not that there's one correct way to watch a movie, but their little heads are stuffed with so many preconceived notions before the lights even go out. they need to take a class. in movie watching. and writing. and thinking.
― scott seward, Sunday, March 31, 2013 5:30 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark
why do u even read that shit, man
― turds (Hungry4Ass), Sunday, 31 March 2013 21:36 (eleven years ago) link
if i never have to read "this movie isn't as smart as it thinks it is" again I think I'll die happy.
― ryan, Sunday, March 31, 2013 5:33 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark
same, which is why im killfiling da croupier. his reign of tedium has come to an end... tears of joy on this amazing day
― turds (Hungry4Ass), Sunday, 31 March 2013 21:38 (eleven years ago) link
you lie
― da croupier, Sunday, 31 March 2013 21:38 (eleven years ago) link
I don't know if I could have gotten this movie down to 70 minutes but I definitely could have gotten it down to 80:
- fewer/no repetitions of dialogue, especially the "are you scared"/"scaredypants" part and one or two other sections where one or two lines of dialogue were repeated four or five times;- end early, so that as the girls and Franco get off the boat and are walking toward the house for the climactic shootout, it just smash-cuts to closing credits as their asses are bouncing along the dock; not one shot is fired on-screen
In general, though, I loved it and am totally in agreement with Scott about the worthlessness of film criticism. Especially David Denby, who is just a tedious moralistic scold. Can anybody recommend a movie critic who focuses on how a movie looks rather than its message? That's the writer I'm constantly searching for, just like I'm constantly searching for music critics who write about music instead of lyrics or an album's presumed socio-cultural context (within the critic's circle of peers and friends, though that's never explicitly acknowledged—it's always just assumed that the entire world is made up of a few dozen critics who all follow each other on Twitter and Tumblr).
― 誤訳侮辱, Sunday, 31 March 2013 22:04 (eleven years ago) link
Glenn Kenny often does. So does Dave Kehr.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 31 March 2013 22:08 (eleven years ago) link
I really like Kenny because he always seems totally willing to accept a movie in the same spirit it's given.
― ryan, Sunday, 31 March 2013 22:13 (eleven years ago) link
I definitely wish there were more critics that wrote well about the visual experience of a film, but any writer whose primary goal was to discuss that would probably hate being a weekly movie critic in 2013.
― da croupier, Sunday, 31 March 2013 22:16 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, I read Kenny's blog and reviews. Don't know Kehr's work, though - where does he publish?
― 誤訳侮辱, Sunday, 31 March 2013 22:18 (eleven years ago) link
Can anybody recommend a movie critic who focuses on how a movie looks rather than its message?
not that you can really untangle the two, but... vishnevetsky could be your guy. bordwell's blog, too
http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/author/45http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/
― turds (Hungry4Ass), Sunday, 31 March 2013 23:05 (eleven years ago) link
beaten to vishnevetsky, he's one of the few newer guys i really like. seen some people passing around the negative edelstein (to name one) review of this accusing korine of being a creepy letch like "SEE I HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE BUT THIS IS HOW IT IS" which is mildly annoying.
― ta-nehisi goatse (fadanuf4erybody), Sunday, 31 March 2013 23:15 (eleven years ago) link
we know korine is a creepy letch. what does that have to do with the movie?
― ☠ ☃ ☠ (mh), Monday, 1 April 2013 00:28 (eleven years ago) link
have you seen the movie
― J0rdan S., Monday, 1 April 2013 00:29 (eleven years ago) link
yup!
― ☠ ☃ ☠ (mh), Monday, 1 April 2013 00:32 (eleven years ago) link
I guess I mean, "why is that relevant in reviewing the movie"
i agree that it isn't
― J0rdan S., Monday, 1 April 2013 00:35 (eleven years ago) link
it's there but it's pretty tangential to the movie korine actually made
― ta-nehisi goatse (fadanuf4erybody), Monday, 1 April 2013 00:37 (eleven years ago) link
seen some people passing around the negative edelstein (to name one) review of this accusing korine of being a creepy letch like "SEE I HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE BUT THIS IS HOW IT IS" which is mildly annoying.
― ta-nehisi goatse (fadanuf4erybody), Sunday, March 31, 2013 7:15 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark
yeah that review is awful. im normally cool with edelstein, hes not the most insightful guy but he can be glibly amusing sometimes, but that was such phoned-in garbage.
― turds (Hungry4Ass), Monday, 1 April 2013 01:20 (eleven years ago) link
I like Edelstein if we're on the same hate page but I forget what a snob he sounds like when he derides things I like
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 1 April 2013 03:59 (eleven years ago) link
As with some Girls criticism, some of the reviews are bound by the idea that there's nothing to learn from a woman under 30.
Also, it wouldn't be hard to cut The Tree of Life or Einstein on the Beach to an even hour.
― cougars and sneezers (Eazy), Monday, 1 April 2013 04:05 (eleven years ago) link
One unexpected corollary result of having seen this movie: the sudden desire to give the finger to all cameras. What's with the camera anyway -- who's behind the camera? Lots of footage that was playing to the camera, but did we ever see who was operating it? Is that part of the movie and I just missed it because I'm dense?
― and that sounds like a gong-concert (La Lechera), Monday, 1 April 2013 13:25 (eleven years ago) link
ilx sure loves to complain about how long movies are
― ❏❐❑❒ (gr8080), Monday, 1 April 2013 14:10 (eleven years ago) link
i love long movies
the longer the better
you must not like this one very much, then, it's pretty short!
― ☠ ☃ ☠ (mh), Monday, 1 April 2013 14:28 (eleven years ago) link
cant wait for your guys' fan edits of spring breakers
― zero dark (s1ocki), Monday, 1 April 2013 17:44 (eleven years ago) link
slow motion beer bongs to skrillex 4ever
― ☠ ☃ ☠ (mh), Monday, 1 April 2013 17:51 (eleven years ago) link
― ☠ ☃ ☠ (mh), Sunday, March 31, 2013 8:28 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
this movie couldn't have not been made by a creep tho. so it's relevant in that sense, i guess
― flopson, Monday, 1 April 2013 19:13 (eleven years ago) link
one of the funniest scenes was when franco & the girls are sitting at a parc bench just after he bails them out of jail & he's describing the twins "gangbangers... talkin bout double penetration" and then in the next shot it turns out they're sitting at the table with them licking their lips & nodding along
― flopson, Monday, 1 April 2013 19:16 (eleven years ago) link
i think the movie peaked after the skrillex song stopped playing
― 乒乓, Monday, 1 April 2013 19:18 (eleven years ago) link
wait, i mean... you know whati mean
― 乒乓, Monday, 1 April 2013 19:20 (eleven years ago) link
not really
― zero dark (s1ocki), Monday, 1 April 2013 19:43 (eleven years ago) link
parc bench
secretly filmed in quebec
― ☠ ☃ ☠ (mh), Monday, 1 April 2013 19:57 (eleven years ago) link
glad someone else finally decided to talk about the twinsthey were something else
― and that sounds like a gong-concert (La Lechera), Monday, 1 April 2013 20:18 (eleven years ago) link
whoever said upthread they were "classic korine" otm-- def one of the only parts of this movie that could have been in gummo
― ❏❐❑❒ (gr8080), Monday, 1 April 2013 20:22 (eleven years ago) link
that was me
― and that sounds like a gong-concert (La Lechera), Monday, 1 April 2013 20:23 (eleven years ago) link
― flopson, Monday, April 1, 2013 3:16 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark
that was good but it sucked that we didnt see them dping anyone
― turds (Hungry4Ass), Monday, 1 April 2013 20:25 (eleven years ago) link
― zero dark (s1ocki), Monday, April 1, 2013 3:43 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark
... you know
― 乒乓, Monday, 1 April 2013 20:46 (eleven years ago) link
they play themselves! their real story is pretty much as presented, although they're employed by some lawyer-type guy instead of Alien
― ☠ ☃ ☠ (mh), Monday, 1 April 2013 21:31 (eleven years ago) link
yeah the ATL twins. they're cool as hell
― turds (Hungry4Ass), Monday, 1 April 2013 21:32 (eleven years ago) link
they're something
― ☠ ☃ ☠ (mh), Monday, 1 April 2013 21:36 (eleven years ago) link
lol the atl twins are in this?
― balls, Monday, 1 April 2013 22:33 (eleven years ago) link
balls
where have you been?
― ☠ ☃ ☠ (mh), Monday, 1 April 2013 22:52 (eleven years ago) link
the H&O thread.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 1 April 2013 22:53 (eleven years ago) link
talked with a student about spring breakers upon our return from spring break. she had the following observations:
* it was funny and also disturbing (her words)* james franco used to be hot, but is not anymore* ashley benson is great * vanessa hudgens was the best* the reason selena gomez didn't get to go totally bananas (my words) is because of her Disney contract* she had never heard of harmony korine and had no idea what i was talking about when i brought him up
― and that sounds like a gong-concert (La Lechera), Tuesday, 2 April 2013 19:01 (eleven years ago) link
not sure why i capitalized disney, totes doesn't deserve it
these are good points
― ☠ ☃ ☠ (mh), Tuesday, 2 April 2013 19:06 (eleven years ago) link
does she know who gucci mane is
― johnny crunch, Tuesday, 2 April 2013 19:07 (eleven years ago) link