another maniacal Armond White review, this time "Fahrenheit 9/11"

Armond has gone on the record basically saying you can not be a cinephile (in America, at any rate) unless you live in New York.

Apparently Armond doesn't subscribe to Netflix.

Well, maybe I'm wrong. He probably really just said you can not be a film critic (in America) unless you live in New York.

Well, maybe I'm wrong. He probably really just said you can not be a film critic (in America) unless you live in New York are Armond White.

I pick the last one.

As the thing he probably said that is.

well you can, you just need to stfu about art movies because if they get to you they're underrated and just tell people which big budget kaboom is the best

overrated, rather

They aren't overrated when they're only in New York, but by the time they reach flyover country, they sure as hell will be.

RIP Hurt Locker, I thought being directed by the lady who did Point Break would save you from this fate

Schwartzbaum presented herself as the masthead of a movement among middle-echelon, middle-brow journalists who value pop commerce and celebrity over everything and who have wrecked the currents of film culture.

Boy, he concluded this from just one remark?

if he doubts the critical facilities of everyone who isn't harvey weinstein, why does he give a fuck if they watch the turds they adore at home or in theaters?

i mean, unless he's just trying to be a contrarian prick.

"In the real world hamburgers matter!"

Schwartzbaum presented herself as the masthead of a movement among middle-echelon, middle-brow journalists who value greasy food and obesity over everything and who have wrecked American gastronomical habits.

Apparently Armond doesn't subscribe to Netflix.

He would argue that you can't review a film you haven't seen on a theater screen, which is an ideal I subscribe to (that is not practicable for all but a few people).

I think saying that "Oscars matter" sentence OUT LOUD and getting something short of a punch is good fortune.

yeah i forgot--it's not like they were at a meeting of professional film critics.

seeing a lot of movies in the theater is really hard if not impossible b/c of terrible distributing of smaller films, and yet, asking for screeners to give these films their due means you're "in bed with hollywood"?

that's bullshit, morbs. if i was in a meeting and someone said that, you can just have a lol and debate their weird point (if she even said that, and her point was in fact weird) instead of assuming the worst in people. guy seems like a sociopath.

anyway if armond white really feels that way about theater screens i wonder why he bothers to write up essays for criterion on occasion, because only a fuckin philistine would watch the movie on a small screen.

goole: yes, bcz they are promotional devices geared at awards/promotion. That's his position.

srsly, I wouldn't frame it that way, but the serious cinema conversation from November thru Oscars was not utterly monopolized by the Trophy Carousel 30, 20, even 10 years ago. It makes me ill.

well, in the case of CCs, you are NOT going to see the films any other way unless you live near a rep venue.

JOEKS re the punching.

don't hit me, dogg!

yeah well that's a dumb position. who gives a shit what they're geared at, if they're you're only way of seeing a film, watch it. any individual film print is basically a tool to get 9.50 out of me anyway, so what

i'm a lover, not a sociopath. xp

ha, Lisa Schwarzbaum is horrible tho

Armond has gone on the record basically saying you can not be a cinephile (in America, at any rate) unless you live in New York.

― sir-mounter (Eric H.), Thursday, August 13, 2009 12:18 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

did any of u guys see that documentary about cinephiles in new york - Cinemania, i think? anyway AW reminds me of the crazy broad from that movie

always wanted to see that movie!
maybe i'll go hunt for it

acc to James Redd, that "crazy broad" just died.

Was it Orly Taitz?

We should a RIP thread.

everyone in it was pretty depressing but she was the least grounded, most insane seeming one... that poor-ass monster.

Is it worth watching? Is she the really old with the glasses?

old lady

no, she wasn't that old iirc, just kinda middle aged and wiry catlady-ish... when they show her apartment though it's terrifying. she had a thing about keeping all her ticket stubs, and there's a story about when she physically attacked an usher who dared to tear her stub in half

Jesus that's bonkers.

Roberta Hill, a former mail carrier in her early 60's, lives in an apartment crammed with promotional junk and bric-a-brac, including the ticket stubs for every movie she attends. (She shuns television.) Hot tempered and imperious, she was banned from the Museum of Modern Art after attacking an usher who unwittingly ripped her stub in half.

these people sound sad and depressing.

really does kinda sound like AW tho

Armond would have just called the usher a cunt and then written a blog post bad-mouthing ushers in general for wrecking the currents of museum culture though.

she reminded me a lot of my mom... hit a lil 2 close 2 home imo

yeah i saw her at a lot of screenings. as i related on the film snob thread i vividly remember her loudly kvetching about the air conditioning at anthology before a screening

Ebert: Not In Defense of Armond White

that's funny but im not sure Ebert is really the paragon of good taste (though i often enjoy his reviews).

That picture:
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/1897/armondwhiteisntinsane.jpg

id say the "good movies" column is much more damning than the "bad movies" column. Rise of the Silver Surfer? ugh.

That good list is WAY more selective than is accurate.

btw go see You, the Living

Ebert asks some good questions in there.

you the living is amazing. i dont think it's even available on dvd in the states (or canada for that matter). songs from the second floor is out of print too. this is an injustice imo

xpost Sorry, not on local radar. Apparently even the Walker feels it more important to run a retrospective of the Coen brothers.

I suppose I could check for torrentz, et al ...

you should see songs first if poss

id say the "good movies" column is much more damning than the "bad movies" column. Rise of the Silver Surfer? ugh.

it's true that armond's one reliable use is that if you happen to hate some movie lots of other people love, his predictable trashing of it can give a certain amount of satisfaction. but it always feels like a cheap thrill.

It will be interesting to see which of his '00s hobby horses make it onto his 2012 S&S list a la A.I. in '02.