Unpopular Movie Opinions: Part III

[Mistress9]

I forgot Denis Villeneuve. Absolute effing charlatan. Now he is being hailed as a visionary, lol, visionary of what?? Best CGI city? best teal and orange?

[LegacyCosts]

Originally Posted by Mistress9

I forgot Denis Villeneuve. Absolute effing charlatan. Now he is being hailed as a visionary, lol, visionary of what?? Best CGI city? best teal and orange?

Yeah he sucks, I liked enemy but hate everything that came after.

[Mistress9]

Originally Posted by LegacyCosts

Yeah he sucks, I liked enemy but hate everything that came after.

I've only seen Blade Runner 2149, one of the worst films I've ever seen, even visually, not impressive at all. I saw most of Arrival, terrible too.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by Mistress9

Cinema has become a place of fanboys, where no one respects any female artist or director, hasn't seen a film before Taxi Driver and salivates for whatever crap their favorite male, mostly white, tortured artist director will produce next.

I won't deal with your other comments, but this one really caught my eye.

I've seen all sorts of films by female directors, and by directors of color. Heck, McQueen is one of my favorite directors! Not to mention that if you asked me for a list of my five favorite directors presently, Sofia Coppola would be there.

And I've seen, and own a LOT, of films before Taxi Driver. Actually, the late 50s/early 60s is my favorite period in film. I also love a number of silents.

I'm not saying that you're wrong, really. I honestly agree with a lot in that paragraph when applying it to the general masses. But don't be so quick to judge, I guess is what I'm saying.

[LegacyCosts]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

I won't deal with your other comments, but this one really caught my eye.

I've seen all sorts of films by female directors, and by directors of color. Heck, McQueen is one of my favorite directors! Not to mention that if you asked me for a list of my five favorite directors presently, Sofia Coppola would be there.

And I've seen, and own a LOT, of films before Taxi Driver. Actually, the late 50s/early 60s is my favorite period in film. I also love a number of silents.

I'm not saying that you're wrong, really. I honestly agree with a lot in that paragraph when applying it to the general masses. But don't be so quick to judge, I guess is what I'm saying.

You're a big fan of cinema though, you're not really the general audience type he is discussing.

[Mistress9]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

I won't deal with your other comments, but this one really caught my eye.

I've seen all sorts of films by female directors, and by directors of color. Heck, McQueen is one of my favorite directors! Not to mention that if you asked me for a list of my five favorite directors presently, Sofia Coppola would be there.

And I've seen, and own a LOT, of films before Taxi Driver. Actually, the late 50s/early 60s is my favorite period in film. I also love a number of silents.

I'm not saying that you're wrong, really. I honestly agree with a lot in that paragraph when applying it to the general masses. But don't be so quick to judge, I guess is what I'm saying.

There was a trending topic on twitter about my favorite film and somebody posted something along the lines of, I'm sorry I didn't save it:

I'm a 20 - 30 year old male and my favorite films are The Revenant, Fight Club, Pulp Fiction, Panic Room, The Shining, Taxi Driver, Se7en, The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Drive, American Psycho etc.

It was pretty funny, you get the drill. This godawful ignorant cultish mentality has permeated absolutely everything, Bret Easton Ellis or whatever that creep is called said in a radio that American films reached pure art form status in the 1970's, completely disregarding the genius golden age Hollywood tradition. It's everywhere, just google best films of, all you'll see is a bunch of lists made by journalists and their lists decidedly male and new wave.

To these people film didn't exist before Taxi Driver. It is SO EMBARRASSING.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by LegacyCosts

You're a big fan of cinema though, you're not really the general audience type he is discussing.

I am, yes. And I understand that and what it implies. Sure, there's the gigantic mass that thinks Avengers is the height of cinema. And I'm not trying to downplay any of those opinions, don't get me wrong. We all like what we like, and for whatever reasons. I mean, I've seen The Devil Wears Prada more times than I can count (no, seriously -- it's more times than I can count ), the same with Mean Girls -- and although both are deliciously put together, full of very good and fun performances, I wouldn't call either "master cinema." I LOVE both of those films, but realistically I'm not going to be comparing either to early Godard, for example.

But like I said, we all like what we like for whatever reason that is. I attempt to keep a pretty open mind, and to learn from those (at least somewhat) offbeat films I see. For example, I got into a little grind with modern Iranian cinema a couple of years of go (Kiarostami, Farhadi, etc) but I haven't made it even a 1/10 of the way that I would like to. But there's always something, like the Romanian New Wave -- which although I've only scratched the surface is amazing so far.

Now, none of this means that I don't pop in The Dark Knight or Gone Girl every once in a while, just because I love those films to death. But it also doesn't mean that I didn't order the Criterion Ingmar Bergman set. I don't think that this is a binary situation. Someone can absolutely love both Deadpool and Persona. There doesn't have to be a choice.

Eh, I'm rambling. My only real point is there doesn't have to be a choice. Mean Girls still makes me laugh until I cry, and I've seen more times than you want to know (or I want to know, for that matter!). I still find Atonement a heartbreaking commentary on humanity no matter how many times I've seen it. Vivre sa vie is easily one of the best movies ever made. But none of these things are conflicting with one and other.

OK, I'll stop now.

[LegacyCosts]

Originally Posted by Mistress9

There was a trending topic on twitter about my favorite film and somebody posted something along the lines of, I'm sorry I didn't save it:

I'm a 20 - 30 year old male and my favorite films are The Revenant, Fight Club, Pulp Fiction, Panic Room, The Shining, Taxi Driver, Se7en, The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Drive, American Psycho etc.

It was pretty funny, you get the drill. This godawful ignorant cultish mentality has permeated absolutely everything, Bret Easton Ellis or whatever that creep is called said in a radio that American films reached pure art form status in the 1970's, completely disregarding the genius golden age Hollywood tradition. It's everywhere, just google best films of, all you'll see is a bunch of lists made by journalists and their lists decidedly male and new wave.

To these people film didn't exist before Taxi Driver. It is SO EMBARRASSING.

Maybe I'm the type you hate but are there many films more competently made than Taxi Driver? I don't know of many if any and I've seen plenty before it.

[scifisuperfan]

Say hello to the pc agenda head of department.

[AaronJ]

If I see someone say "PC" one more time I'm gonna lose it.

[Gacivory]

Ah looks like Princess Toadstool is back under a new name!

[oilers73]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

If I see someone say "PC" one more time I'm gonna lose it.

You are on a roll tonight, sir/madam. Well done!

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by oilers73

You are on a roll tonight, sir/madam. Well done!

Why thank you.

[dgoswald]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

If I see someone say "PC" one more time I'm gonna lose it.

[Show spoiler]Personal Computer...

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by dgoswald

[Show spoiler]Personal Computer...

Heh. Well done.

[Mistress9]

Originally Posted by LegacyCosts

Maybe I'm the type you hate but are there many films more competently made than Taxi Driver? I don't know of many if any and I've seen plenty before it.

what's competent about Taxi Driver though? badly light with editing and cinematography that brings attention to itself. Just because it spawned modern cinema and everyone stayed there doesn't make it competently made.

[Martoto]

Much of early cinema's photography and editing called attention to itself. It's unlikely it would have made an impact as a new art form if that wasn't the case.

[Mistress9]

Originally Posted by Martoto

Much of early cinema's photography and editing called attention to itself. It's unlikely it would have made an impact as a new art form if that wasn't the case.

that is not true at all, it was always Hollywood's credo to not call attention to the fact that it was a movie, and believe me that is really hard to do and that is where the true art of cinema lies in. That's what Hitchcock would do, you forget entirely that you are watching a movie, that's the true artistry of film, not documentary realism. That worked well for something like Rosemary's Baby but it can't be the default template for all films across the board, and once you get into the classic style films like Taxi Driver look amateurish as hell.

[Martoto]

Originally Posted by Mistress9

.....it was always Hollywood's credo to not call attention to the fact that it was a movie,

Sorry but that is just not true.

[Mistress9]

Originally Posted by Martoto

Sorry but that is just not true.

and why is that? do you think that something like King Kong brings attention to its editing or direction?