NEWS: Armond White gets the boot

[EricJ]

For those who missed the news bulletin--After many years and one loopy public stunt too many, the Bane of RottenTomatoes finally got a big official one lobbed at his head.
http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/01/1...of-ny-critics/

Why Armond White got kicked out of the New York Film Critics Circle
By Owen Gleiberman on Jan 13, 2014 at 1:30PM

This morning, the members of the New York Film Critics Circle, including me, voted to expel Armond White, the former critic of the now-defunct New York Press (and currently the editor and movie critic of CityArts), from the group. To me, it was a sad moment — pathetic, really, though Armond brought it on himself. A week ago, at the Circle’s annual awards dinner, White made a rude and bellicose spectacle of himself, as he did the year before, by heckling one of the winners — in this case, Steve McQueen, the director of 12 Years a Slave, a movie that White, in his review, had dismissed as “torture porn.” Make no mistake: He has every right to dislike 12 Years a Slave, a movie that he considers not a powerful historical docudrama but a sensationalist feel-bad fantasy that is subtly designed to make white people feel good about their own guilt.

Unfortunately, it's only from his peers, news from his boss will have to come later.

(Of course, that doesn't mean 12 Years a Slave isn't "torture-porn" or even Conscience-Porn; this would be more of a cumulative punishment for multiple offenses.)

[DoubleDownAgain]

I initially thought he enjoyed being just a contrarian but he isn't. He appeared on a few /Filmcast podcasts and it became obvious he actually believe his reviews. Terrible reviews at that, and his arrogance is appalling.

[chris_sc77]

I think he honestly has mental problems.
He shouldn't be allowed near a motion picture

[drb999]

Sounds like a real d**k!

[cinemaphile]

Read the thread title and was like, "Who the F*** is Armond White?"

anyway, sounds like he is extremely unprofessional and I'm glad they booted him. Now if only his employers would boot him from being a critic at all!

[EricJ]

Like Owen Glieberman in the EW article, Roger Ebert originally posted a blog column mistaking White for a "bold, outspoken rule-breaker", and mythologizing him into some abstract critics' idea of "Pauline Kael broke rules, too!", and blaming "fans" for shooting the brave messenger.

After getting the messy details from his readers, however, Ebert retracted his defense:
http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-jou...f-armond-white

[blu-mike]

He is a "super hipster" who hates everything and watches the Sundance Channel while eating a hippy salad.

[chris_sc77]

Originally Posted by blu-mike

He is a "super hipster" who hates everything and watches the Sundance Channel while eating a hippy salad.

I dunno if you are talking about white.
He's the one who likes crap like big mommas house and hates there will be blood.

[Foggy]

Some one who must thrust himself into relevance shouldn't be left at hands distance from the spotlight. Good riddance to the prick.

[joie]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Like Owen Glieberman in the EW article, Roger Ebert originally posted a blog column mistaking White for a "bold, outspoken rule-breaker", and mythologizing him into some abstract critics' idea of "Pauline Kael broke rules, too!", and blaming "fans" for shooting the brave messenger.

After getting the messy details from his readers, however, Ebert retracted his defense:
http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-jou...f-armond-white

At the end of the first paragraph, at the link, Ebert writes:

I am forced to conclude that White is, as charged, a troll. A smart and knowing one, but a troll. My defense of his specific review of "District 9" still stands. Here is my original entry: ... [emphasis added]

Ebert didn't retract his defense of White's review of "District 9." A defense of the review is not a defense of the review's writer, of course.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by blu-mike

He is a "super hipster" who hates everything and watches the Sundance Channel while eating a hippy salad.

You don't know much about Armond White, do you.

[Ironhorse75]

GI Joe (positive)

" G.I. Joe must be understood as an authentic measurement of our cultural values. Its appeal to the pop-commercial synapses also demonstrates livelier filmmaking than such utter banality as Iron Man and Star Trek and Harry Potter's Half-Blooded Chintz."

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (positive)

" Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is more proof [Bay] has a great eye for scale and a gift for visceral amazement."

Clash of the Titans (positive)

" Leterrier certainly shows a better sense of meaningful, economic narrative than the mess that Peter Jackson made of the interminable, incoherent Lord of the Rings trilogy."

Toy Story 3 (negative)

" Toy Story 3 is so besotted with brand names and product-placement that it stops being about the innocent pleasures of imagination -- the usefulness of toys -- and strictly celebrates consumerism."

Tangled (negative)

" By mixing up and confusing the purpose of cinematic amusement and fairy tales, Tangled is aptly named for the mass misperception of popular entertainment as a mechanism of gimmicks rather than an expression of feelings."

Resident Evil Afterlife (positive)

" If critics and fanboys weren't suckers for simplistic nihilism and high-pressure marketing, Afterlife would be universally acclaimed as a visionary feat, superior to Inception and Avatar on every level."

Inception (negative)

" Like Grand Theft Auto's quasi-cinematic extension of noir and action-flick plots, Inception manipulates the digital audience's delectation for relentless subterfuge."

[Foggy]

^^^

Is that what he said? Or his thesaurus?

[buzzwoody]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse75

GI Joe (positive)

" G.I. Joe must be understood as an authentic measurement of our cultural values. Its appeal to the pop-commercial synapses also demonstrates livelier filmmaking than such utter banality as Iron Man and Star Trek and Harry Potter's Half-Blooded Chintz."

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (positive)

" Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is more proof [Bay] has a great eye for scale and a gift for visceral amazement."

Clash of the Titans (positive)

" Leterrier certainly shows a better sense of meaningful, economic narrative than the mess that Peter Jackson made of the interminable, incoherent Lord of the Rings trilogy."

Toy Story 3 (negative)

" Toy Story 3 is so besotted with brand names and product-placement that it stops being about the innocent pleasures of imagination -- the usefulness of toys -- and strictly celebrates consumerism."

Tangled (negative)

" By mixing up and confusing the purpose of cinematic amusement and fairy tales, Tangled is aptly named for the mass misperception of popular entertainment as a mechanism of gimmicks rather than an expression of feelings."

Resident Evil Afterlife (positive)

" If critics and fanboys weren't suckers for simplistic nihilism and high-pressure marketing, Afterlife would be universally acclaimed as a visionary feat, superior to Inception and Avatar on every level."

Inception (negative)

" Like Grand Theft Auto's quasi-cinematic extension of noir and action-flick plots, Inception manipulates the digital audience's delectation for relentless subterfuge."

[Darth Marcus]

Just goes to show if you're an *******, no one is going to care about your opinion. No one. Even other *******s.

[Abdrewes]

Armond White is a very smart guy, but unfortunately he gets his kicks on riling people up either through his obnoxious personality or hyperbolic reviews. I honestly think that the guy COULD HAVE become the next Sarris or Rosenbaum if he just had a more fruitful private life. Oh well.

[Infernal King]

Originally Posted by Darth Marcus

Just goes to show if you're an *******, no one is going to care about your opinion. No one. Even other *******s.

Yep. As Armond has proven, if you're a contrarian, a self-aggrandizing publicity hound and an *******, your opinion becomes null and void. He got what he deserved.

[MrBlonde]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Armond White is a very smart guy, but unfortunately he gets his kicks on riling people up either through his obnoxious personality or hyperbolic reviews. I honestly think that the guy COULD HAVE become the next Sarris or Rosenbaum if he just had a more fruitful private life. Oh well.

This

If anyone has ever listened to the guy speak, he knows his stuff. It's too bad he resorts to garbage like his "is better than" columns that he writes every year.

[MifuneFan]

It's like Christmas all over again. This is great news. He is no doubt one of the biggest trolls in the industry. He wasn't always this way. Maybe it was a desperate attempt to get more attention than he was before, but it was sickening how much he seemed to intentionally rail on movies that everyone else liked. And not just rail, but also criticize other critics for their opinions. As I said, a troll if ever there was one.

[Walts Ghost]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

It's like Christmas all over again. This is great news. He is no doubt one of the biggest trolls in the industry.

This.

He may be smart, but he was nothing more than an egotistical troll to the film community, who wanted nothing more than to leave his mark by doing reviews that went against the grain. Pathetic, really.