Links of Note

[thehefner]

Edgar Wright eulogizes the great Edward Woodward. To be followed up with Simon Pegg's own remembrances. I love how Pegg also notes, just as I do, that THE WICKER MAN* is a quasi-musical.



MGK's alternate-history timeline fic, SCENES FROM AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE WHERE THE BEATLES ACCEPTED LORNE MICHAELS' GENEROUS OFFER, is magnificent. I look forward to actually reading this one aloud to Mom later.



Twenty-something critic from the AV Club watches GHOSTBUSTERS for the first time, does not like it. A generation explodes. The quote that inspired the greatest ire:

Here’s the thing about Ghostbusters, though—a thing that seems to come up a lot when revisiting beloved old favorites: It isn’t as good as you remember. And if it is as good as you remember, that’s because you’re viewing it with nostalgic blinders on. And while there’s nothing wrong with enjoying a movie for nostalgic reasons, keep that in mind next time you berate someone for not seeing that one movie you loved when you were 7 years old.

On one hand, she does kind of have a point. Every time I revisit the original STAR WARS trilogy (which I first saw at the ripe age of 5 or 6), I think, "Wow, if I didn't love these movies so much, I might not like them at all." On the other hand, GHOSTBUSTERS! *arm flail*



Magnificent fan art covers for INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS comics... as drawn by Jack Kirby.

The last one is my favorite.



Devin at CHUD.com on "The Tyranny of Realism" in film. I'm not sure how much I agree with him, but he raises some good questions. Choice quote:

Sometimes you want to just tell a story and as long story and the emotions behind it feel true, why does anything else matter? How does learning how Batman made his suit improve Batman?







*God, how sad is it that a whole generation knows THE WICKER MAN only as a misogynistic campfest where Nic Cage gets bees poured upon him?

Comments

[tompurdue.livejournal.com]

I just read that Ghostbusters article.

What I thought most interesting was the way they analyzed what did and didn't work about it. I agree: the film's third act really is kind of weak, because it wasn't an action-adventure movie.

At best it was a spoof of one, and they had to have a third act somehow, so they kind of cribbed from what it was spoofing with a bit of humor thrown in where they could.

[rattsu.livejournal.com]

The funny thing is, I feel a little like that about the original Wicker Man. Being a huge fan of horror movies, that was one of the ones I just had missed out on seeing for a very long time. And then finally a friend of mine bought it, and we sat down to watch the classic that we had missed.

We both felt seriously underwhelmed, it wasn't bad, but for all the things we had heard about it, we would have expected a lot more. if it had been a movie we had never heard about, perhaps we would have been a lot more forgiving.

So perhaps the opposite is also true, if you KNOW a movie is supposed to be a classic, you hold it to higher standards than otherwise.

[box-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that review of Ghostbusters was shit.

After saying that Zombieland was one of her favorite movies, she then says that she can't understand what genre Ghostbusters was supposed to fall under, and then, in an awesome example of circular logic, she basically says, "If you took out all the parts of the movie that were memorable, it's actually forgettable!"

Somebody in Generation Z was butt-hurt over a Gen-X film franchise being popular, and decided to dress up her grudge in the guise of an outsider's perspective.

[box-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

Especially amusing is her BAAAWWWWWWing about how mean people were to her, as chronicled on Fandom Wank.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

What always made GHOSTBUSTERS work for me was that I never actually bought it as a spoof. Rather, I took it as three comedic guys facing off against a very genuine Lovecraftian menace. As such, I absolutely did buy the action as part of the atmosphere of the world they'd created. It's the one that Ray, Egon, and even Peter knew existed, even if the rest of the world didn't.

So no, I'm not sure I agree it was a spoof. In fact, considering Dan Aykroyd's views on the paranormal, I don't think he intended it to be one either. I think it was meant as a straightforward supernatural action comedy, and which is how a whole generation of fans like myself seem to have regarded it ourselves.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Your reaction makes total sense. I wouldn't expect anybody to love WICKER MAN, honestly, as it very much feels like a cult film. Me, I loved how the hero was almost the villain in comparison to the unsettlingly-nice-and-not-Dracula-like Christopher Lee, and I also loved how it almost entirely refrained from the typical cues of a suspense thriller. There was no creepy music, no BOO! scares, just a sunny, friendly, happy village. And the fact that it's through that that we get a sense of unease and discomfort is wonderful, I find. It really gets under the skin.

Viewed from the villagers perspectives (and theirs is more sympathetic than the dick-bag Sgt. Howie is), it's actually a happy movie with a happy ending! Plus, it's a cheery musical too! Everybody's happy! Except Howie.

But yeah, it's tough to watch a movie that's considered a CLASSIC, capital letters. Or worse, one with a devoted and loud following. So often, it depends on when someone saw it, and/or when it was released the first time, and/or how it holds up without hype to create unrealistic expectations.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen ZOMBIELAND yet, and have managed thus far to avoid the big cameo spoiler, but I further resent the reviewer for mentioning that because now I think I can guess who it is. Grr.

I mean, I know what it's like to check out something utterly beloved by another generation and just be left cold. Like, DAZED AND CONFUSED is just not for me. It doesn't speak to me at all. And so I can understand somebody watching any of the great "classics" now and just not feeling it.

But yeah, there's no point getting all butthurt about it, and the general condescending tone doesn't help. It seems like she's saying there's no way you can actually legitimately consider something to be good if you liked it as a kid, since you're now biased by nostalgia. When I was a wee brat, I loved THE GOONIES and GHOSTBUSTERS. Today, I can still have nostalgic affection for THE GOONIES while fully acknowledging that it's a shitty film, but I still think GHOSTBUSTERS is fantastic. It seems to get better the older I get, because I get more of the jokes as time goes by.

[box-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

What's funny is, she can't even HATE on it right, because I LOVE that film and even I could do a better job of ripping on it, starting with its subconscious but oh-so-1980s political slant, in which Bill Murray's smarmy, sleazy, smug, slightly sexist con-artist is presented as the viewer-identification hero, and the detail-minded, diligent representative of the Environmental Protection Agency is presented as The Ultimate Villain. Like the '80s-era G.I. Joe, I should hate it for its politics alone, but I still think it's awesome.

Inglorious Basterds comics?

[tragical-mirth.livejournal.com]

Dear God, if only!

Re: Inglorious Basterds comics?

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Hell, I'm still waiting for those KILL BILL comics Tarantino was talking about all those years ago!

[swimpenguin.livejournal.com]

Aaww, I saw a headline for the obit on Edward Woodward yesterday, but I didn't connect it with The Wicker Man, and thus didn't read it. That is a lovely movie (in the only way a horror/musical/indictment of religious hypocrisy with the freakiest ending ever) can be, just lovely, and he gave such a hypnotic, frightening performance of a stuck up prig reverting to a morally broken lone voice in a wilderness. I'm curious to check out the man's other performances.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

He gave such a hypnotic, frightening performance of a stuck up prig reverting to a morally broken lone voice in a wilderness.

That's one of the best summations of that character/performance I've honestly ever heard. Dead on. It's one of the key reasons why I love that movie, and his performance in particular.

[swimpenguin.livejournal.com]

Heh, thank you! Very classy of you to say; it's just a great movie.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Hey, dude, it was astute! Had to give you props.