Review: Green Lantern (spoiler-free)
This is when Rotten Tomatoes does a disservice to movies.
Green Lantern is not the best comic book movie of the summer. But it’s nothing like the as-of-this-writing 19% on Rotten Tomatoes bad. Not even close.
In fact, I would say that the quality of the first half of the film could make it a surprise box office hit. It’s not the comic book movie we have come to expect lately. It actually looks like a comic book… much more so than Thor, for instance, which also spends a fair amount of time in other worlds. Thor looks like sets and some cool CG around them. Green Lantern is immersive. And it’s a certain kind of comic book… not Burton, not Nolan, not Singer. Director Martin Campbell is not shy about making reference back to Donner’s Superman, with a bit of Lester in there.
The problem really starts when the film gets way too complicated.
When I see reviews and read that people thought it was too busy or that they couldn’t understand it or that it was a mess, I throw up my hands. Bull. If you are a professional critic and you can’t keep up with Green Lantern, you aren’t trying. You probably went in with your mind made up.
However… the film gets too big for its britches. It’s not the Lantern Corps taking itself too seriously. It’s not the idea of the power of will vs the power of fear. It is, for me, having a really great performance by Peter Sarsgaard – really, the performance he probably signed up to give – obfuscated by, as some call it, The Doody Monster. It’s like they just refused to trust what they had… an angry human portrayed by a great actor turned into an empowered monster by the power of fear. Yeah, you need more that two guys punching it out. But you don’t need the brown cloud endlessly working its way to earth and then on earth. It’s supposed to be the most powerful evil in the film but it’s not even interesting. (There is one interesting angle, which I would consider a spoiler… one of the few in the film… but not interesting enough.)
Another, less significant problem, is that the idea that our new Green Lantern progresses and that we can see that in the creativity or intelligence of how he uses his ring… not really there. It’s not a very complex piece of character writing. But it isn’t really there. The audience, like the 10-year-old Green Lantern comic book reader I once was, should get a kick out of what he comes up with. And he gets smarter about his choices. But there really isn’t a moment when he creates something with his ring that makes the audience want to shout or applaud.
There were two CG sequences that I really didn’t like. One involves a race track out of a giant Hot Wheels box… which speaks to the last paragraph. And the other is the close, which is a great idea, but which just doesn’t play as it is clearly intended to play. but some of it is really quite wonderful. And the 3D is about as well done as any movie ever, maybe better. Looking at the first half of this film, I see what Jim Cameron is thinking when he says 3D could be a standard. They shot this film with visual layers and never did anything for 3D’s sake. No swords coming at the audience. But when Ryan Reynolds walks down an alley, the abandoned building behind him has holes in the wall and gives the shot unusual depth. This may be the very rare film that is actually better in 3D.
Ryan Reynolds is fine. He’s not doing smirky joke-telling guy. He is a smart-ass, but his tone fits the story and his character.
Blake Lively has a bit of a Sarah Jessica Parker thing going on with her face and body. In some shots, she is stunning. In others, she looks like she could cut her way out of a vault with her face. And as an actor… she’s a solid TV actor. But she’s not special. You don’t really believe she is as hard-charging as her character is supposed to be.
Mark Strong is very good and pretty close to unrecognizable as Sinestro.
Tim Robbins, Angela Bassett, and Jay O. Sanders are sadly wasted in paycheck roles that have nothing to work with, aside from Bassett’s wig.
And the voice over/fish head… well, I kinda liked guessing through the film… well, through the first 4 minutes or so. I didn’t see his name in the credits, so maybe that is part of the fun. I’ll leave it there. But I liked him a lot.
Speaking of Fish Head, I love the 2011 version of the Mos Eisley Cantina. It doesn’t feel like the CG guys are trying to win awards. It feels right… in a comic book way.
I didn’t love this movie. But for the first half-hour, it had me, hungry for it to win me over completely. And like I said, it got too complicated. Ryan Reynolds, yes. Sarsgaard, really great. Loved the elders. Sinestro, solid. Many, many things work and work on a level that I thought for a while that this might be a game changer for what is embraced in this genre.
Less would probably be more in this case. But I would be really happy to see a sequel… a simpler, tighter sequel. I like Hal Jordan and the Lantern Corps. And there is a sequel set-up a couple of minutes into the credits. I bet that could be a very good summer comic book movie.
At last someone whose brave enough to both give and throw punches. I look forward to seeing this movie because movies are made for us to be entertained. I have read one review after another on how lousy this movie is, Geoff who brought the GL back to life gave this movie his blessings, and here is a guy who KNOWS comics- yet he pencil necks out there are saying in effect- his a idiot, the director & others are on a different flight, what the heck is that? I wonder if any of these critics have ever picked up a GL comic and read it?
Thank you for a fair reflection of the movie.
I rarely say this about summer movie reviews, but I agree almost 100% with David on this one.
Thank you Internet for lowering my expectations so I enjoyed it even more.
@merlin
Maybe that’s why it’s getting panned, because it’s like a Geoff Johns comic in film form… which isn’t a good thing. Johns hasn’t written a decent comic for about 5 years.
Also, if you ever thought that one of the heads of DC Comics was ever going to be against the littlest thing in this movie…c’mon…
Anyway, seems like it could have a good box office weekend but i don’t see this having a good hold the next one at all…looks mostly for kids
I wonder if any of these critics have ever picked up a GL comic and read it?
Probably not many, but what’s that got to do with it? With critics and paying audience members alike, it’s the film’s responsibility to persuade newcomers to the franchise as well as existing fans.
It’s not the film’s responsibility to do anything for newcomers. A friend of mine made a great point about how superhero films haven’t gone all out. They tip their toes into the Superhero waters but keep telling origin stories and keep the SUPERHERO ACTION limited to a point. Why do they do this? PERSUADING NEWCOMERS TO THE FRANCHISE.
Enough of that bs. It’s time someone just makes a superhero movie, that goes balls out, and makes it good enough to get people that way. Until then, more origin stories, and more 2 hour superhero movies with a lot of third act action. Here’s hoping Joss uses the Avengers to change things.
That aside, David, BRAVFUCKINGO.
Interesting to hear that the 3-D is well used bec this was a post-conversion from what I’ve read. Is Trannies 3D the only film this summer to truly shoot with 3D cameras?
Your review gives me some hope. Todd McCarthy didn’t outright kill it either. Sounds like it has some strengths and some weaknesses.
Action, Pirates 4 was shot with 3D cameras as well, but WB apparently just need time for the post-conversion. Which leaves me with some hope that the last Potter film has some decent 3D going on during those battle scenes.
I think Peter Sarsgaard is a shoe-in to play Len Klady in his biopic; that’s what I got from “Green Lantern.”
But I agree with you — Rotten Tomatoes is wrong on this one. It’s a half-way decent comic book film, and a different one at that.
I saw the film and pretty much agree with this review. the good outweighs the bad, but the rushed anticlimactic ending is the film’s downfall. I love the fun comic book feel, a great change from superhero movies that take themselves way too seriously.
I will disagree on the 3D though. It looked awful, like any other movie that was post-converted. It had the flat look, and since there is less CG than one might expect it really hurt. When I go back for seconds it’s 2D all the way!
Death, taxes, and Poland being a deliberate contrarian.
Or maybe his taste is just suspect. See Land of the Lost and “Best Picture Lock” Phantom of the Opera.
I don’t think Green Lantern looks very good, and I’m not surprised that reviews aren’t glowing, but I also don’t find it hard to believe that it isn’t as bad as its RT percentage suggests. 19% positive would indicate something pretty bad (it’s at 27% right now), but how do these ratings account for mediocre movies? Certified Fresh Fast Five only has an average rating of 6.3/10. Green Lantern has a 4.7/10. That’s not good, but there’s hardly a vast ocean between 4.7 and 6.3. Yet the difference in their percentage is more than 50%. Other rotten movies, Hangover II and Pirates 4, are even closer to Fast Five in average rating. So it doesn’t seem like a stretch to state that Green Lantern is better than its rotten status suggests.
I had heard this was being shot in 3d from pretty early on.
If that isn’t true, it could be possible that having Reynolds in a mocap suit the whole time made conversion easier.
Golly, this feels a bit like David giving this one a pass.
Well, that’s one qay of taking a stand against the overall disdain been flung in this movies direction.
Writing my review as we speak, but I pretty much agree with DP. I sat there, waiting for the movie to turn into something I hated, but it never happened. It has serious structural issues, but the film works. Sarsgaard saves the film, especially as the picture focuses almost as much on him as on Reynolds. And yes, the 3D was terrific in that invisible but visually compelling fashion. If this is the work Warner is doing, than I can gladly see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II in 3D IMAX without fear. It’s more earthbound than it should be, and the second act is a bit of a mess. I agree that the race car scene is terrible, but I love the next scene basically admits as much (I laughed). But damn, I loved the creepy horror elements, even if that may scare off parents (I had to sadly inform my wife’s best friend NOT to take her four year old this weekend). And Jordan wasn’t nearly as ‘cocky/arrogant hotshot!’ as I was fearing (it’s obvious overcompensation and every character calls him on it). Point being, I walked out of the theater VERY relieved. And frankly, I’m glad I’m not the only one, as I had the feeling this was going to be another GI Joe, where I was one of the few who liked a movie everyone else hated.
Man, I was amused by that Phantom of the Opera Oscar lock prediction too — back in 2004. Bringing it up now, though, is essentially a compliment, as you’re basically saying you have to go back 7 years to find something to fault him with.
It wasn’t even THAT big a deal even at the time. Lex and IO make outrageously unrealistic predictions about box office and Oscars on this blog every single day.
Good point about what’s wrong with Rotten Tomatoes. If 81% of the critics think a film is just BARELY below the level where they can recommend it (i.e. a two star movie), it will have a score suggesting to the quick reader that it’s only 19% good (i.e. a one star movie.)
reducing reviews to a number will only ever appeal to the lowest common denominator.
Oh good lord Tungsten. There you go on about the lowest common denominator again. Seriously, it does do a disservice to movies, but it’s a metric. We are a nation in love with metrics. Dismissing this one metric out of hand is easy as hell to do, but it’s not like it’s meta-critic or cinemascore. People are obsessed with numbers and not getting that, not grasping that, is missing the point of this stupid metric all together.
Now Sam or should I call you Ringo? Seriously people, when a brother gets rid of a name: respect the name change. You folks probably come from folks that referred to Kareem as Lou and Muhammad as Ali :P!
My fave emoticon aside, don’t lump me in with Lex’s predictions. Seriously, I call shit a lot more than most people on this blog and even Poland. So I didn’t bow down to the blight of Cameron. I never will and would gladly put that guy on the moon given the chance. It’s called a blind spot, it happens, but when I am right I am super fucking right. Go look it up.
Now, if I dig this film, just assume that I think the worst of all you who don’t. Seriously, that’s how I roll :P, but while Mr. Stella makes good points. He misses the point I made about Sucker Punch and now I will make it again with GL. This is critic groupthink punching bag mentality. They couldn’t beat up on Thor or First Class. They probably won’t beat up on Cap unless it’s just dreadful, so they once again turn to a DC film in June to beat the shit out of, and it’s just typical bs from all of them. This alone is why critics as a group cannot be trusted.
Or in general critics genuinely believe that Thor and First Class are just better than Green Lantern and Sucker Punch. Or maybe there is some grand conspiracy and critics use some Journolist-type email system to plan in advance which movies they will like and which they will pan.
When it does a disservice to film…. but people keep using it because it’s simplistic – that is lowest common denominator.
That’s right — Pirates 4 was shot in 3-D. I didn’t see this latest installment….
I read that GL was a 3-D post-conversion and that it was not truly shot in 3-D…and it’s interesting to hear some people saying that the 3-D is great and then others say it’s as bad/ugly as any other post-conversion (all of which I’ve skipped).
I have a feeling that GL is gonna open to at least $50 million and then sink like a stone, creating massive demand for something that will in all likelihood totally deliver (Trannies 3). If movie-bloggers and comic book geeks are only “OK” with it, that means that it’s a one-time viewing only for a majority of the people who do see it, which means word of mouth will be weak.
Again, your response to this is as bad as Bulldog’s response to why some movies just shouldn’t exist. You thinking the movie looks bad or me thinking the movie looks good, is just pure and utter horsehit in comparison to people who go to screenings together, coming up with common bullshit, and posting reviews.
Seriously, this sort of teaming up on any movie is just horse shit and you should know how much horse shit it is, when David Poland and Todd McCarthy and even Mendelson of all people are intimating to you that it’s not that bad.
You literally are the worst person in the world to have a discussion with, and I sooner have a discussion with a tree! The tree would at least concede a point :D!
ETA: Action, I am starting to think that the theatre these people go to, has a lot to do with the 3D they are getting. If the 3D presentation is not up to snuff and it’s post converted, that’s just a recipe for total freaking ass 3D presentation.
io, i totally get it. you still believe yourself to be an intellectual, and it’s adorable. but you need to stop starting your points with YOU DON’T GET IT. it’s Rotten Tomatoes man. Everybody gets it. That’s the entire point of what i was saying, which you obviously didn’t get.
I get that people like easy branded “thumbs up” style criticism. I get that the people that enjoy that represent a large portion of the population don’t like details. You actually completely validated what i was saying. You’re right. It does a disservice to movies because the vast majority of ticket buyers don’t read full reviews. That’s exactly what i was saying, but you didn’t get it. Hopefully these additional paragraphs more clearly telegraphed it for you.
Sigh.
Of course, because it’s impossible for them to have genuinely disliked the movie. If IOwheverthefuckhescallednow likes it (even before seeing it)anyone who has a differing opinion is in the tank. Clearly.
Tungsten, the fact that you think you are smarter than anyone, is worth a good hearty chortle. Seriously. Nice of you to make personal it first you despicable ass, but I am not validating your hatred of the common human!
It’s a metric, people love nice round numbers, but that doesn’t make them idiots. You love to think that your North Carolinian ass is some how superior to everyone and this is why you are such an ass.
Helium, it has nothing to do with my opinion. Why do you people in this blog always go back to that crutch in response to me? It’s just so tired of all of you to be so uptight about your opinions because this is not about opinions. It’s about people tagging up on a movie and when David, of all people, points out that the tagging up is bullshit. Why not pay attention?
You also are a god damn motherfucking idiot, if you believe I function like these geeks, who go in EXPECTING to like something. The fact that you people, go back to that time and time again, when someone disagrees with you, is why this blog remains so god damn weird. Rango level weird.
The positive reviews thus far are basically framed around the expression “it’s not THAT disappointing.” That really is not encouraging me to see it. For The Hangover 2, similarly, all I heard was, “Well, it’s funny enough to check out…” Which translates to you might find it worthy, but don’t expect much.
I’m not going to see it. I expect it’ll do Thor numbers.
I can take DP’s expected contrarian review. It comforts me like a pair of thick socks.
But his attempts at humor on Twitter are killing me. The Weiner Charlie Sheen joke… yikes.
If it does Thor numbers internationally. Here’s hoping we get Guy Gardner because Guy Gardner makes everything better. Oh I forgot, outside of FS, no one knows who Guy Gardner is in here. Sorry, weirdos :P!
I know Guy, though I’m not a huge fan.
Now, if they can work Beta Ray Bill into Thor 2….. that would rock!
Helium, Beta Ray Bill is a must for any Thor movie, and that makes three of us. If we can get to 5, nothing is going to happen, but you folks might want to figuratively yell at me for EXPECTING to like something. Seriously, how does that work? McWeeney started his GL review with that bit of business and it immediately screamed, “FAIL”, to me.
If that’s all you can come up with to make a case, Chris, you have a pretty weak argument.
Relative to this being “the worst comic book movie ever,” yes, Storymark. In that context.
Did this seem like a rave to you?
I would only recommend this film to people who want to see a movie that looks like a comic, unlike most these days.
It actually reminded me often of Tron… really imperfect, but will some very cool elements.
More evidence:
DP preferred the awful Due Date and The Hangover 2 to the original Hangover, not to mention Bridesmaids.
He either has terrible taste or just likes being different.
“Relative to this being āthe worst comic book movie ever,ā yes, Storymark. In that context.
Did this seem like a rave to you?”
No, of course not. But to say this one’s not so bad, and then say others are giving Thor a “pass” for essentially saying the same (as I saw few “raves” for it), struck me as amusing.
Not trying to make it a “David’s always wrong” tirade that some people like to go into. Just thought it was amusing.
“Helium, Beta Ray Bill is a must for any Thor movie, and that makes three of us.”
Wait… I’m Helium? Okay…. don’t get where ya came up with that, but whatever.
Going back to address this, since I didn’t realize it was directed at me:
“…this is not about opinions. Itās about people tagging up on a movie and when David, of all people, points out that the tagging up is bullshit.”
“Tagging up on” with what now? That’s right…. their opinions. You just assume that because they have similar opinions, they MUST be ganging up. Logic and you…. not so tight.
Stax of all people, states Jonah Hex is better than GL. Have any of you seen Jonah Hex? Do you know how much ass a movie has to be to out do Jonah Hex? Come on!
Again Chris, no context… weak.
My taste may not be your taste… and that’s cool. But I don’t do a whole lot of black and white. And none of your examples were that.
If you want to poke at it, I thought Star Trek and Dark Knight overrated, though I like both. I love Speed Racer. For that matter, Popeye is a masterpiece.
So there you go…
“Stax of all people, states Jonah Hex is better than GL.”
Maybe he’s angling to become Armond White’s apprentice?
Due Date over both The Hangover 1 & 2
The Hangover 2 over The The Hangover 1
Bridesmaids over all of ’em
Every time you bring up TDK being overrated, David. I will always think of Hancock and go; “How fucking quaint.” XD!
Silliness aside, I love Kristen Wiig but Bridesmaids is so absolutely flawed by her character in so many ways. Her whole deal with Rose Bryne’s character is just so overblown and ridiculous. It’s hard to take that movie seriously even as a comedy.
Im about as big a Batman fan as you’ll find, loved TDK, and even I think it was a touch over-rated. Still awesome, but hardly flawless.
I want to meet Michael Schumacher one day and tell him; “Schumi, I love you as a driver, but you are a touch over rated, and hardly flawless.” That’s just such a weird dichotomy of a sentence.
Right, I forgot you’re binary “man” – it’s the best ever or it’s the worst ever. Never mind, shoulda known better.
For what it’s worth, I can understand Drew’s frustration as a father of young kids. He was looking forward to taking his sons, but the film is much too scary/violent his his kids (and also my wife’s best friend’s 4-year old, as I informed her last night), so that has to be really disappointing to him, and he basically admits that said issue makes up a big part of his annoyance at the film. My 3.5 year old really wants to see Cars 2 next weekend, so I’m kinda hoping that the articles I’m reading that compare it to The Incredibles (in terms of violence) are at least a little off the mark. But would I condemn Cars 2 for being too violent/intense for my daughter? No (of course, if I can’t take the kid, I’ll probably just wait for DVD), but I get the frustration. I love the Wonder Woman DVD cartoon that came out back in 2009. But, as a father of a kid who likes Wonder Woman from Super Friends and selected Justice League episodes, I sure wish it wasn’t as insanely violent as it is. There seems to be a drive amongst the hardcore fans who want these comic book and fantasy films to be uber dark, gritty, and violent, at the expense of the very audience that would love to see these films as quasi-gateway drugs. I was like that in my teens (Boo! It’s too campy and it’s not violent enough!), but today I’m kinda glad that there is at least one live-action Batman movie I can show my daughter in the near future, even if it is Batman & Robin. For what it’s worth…
For those who care – http://scottalanmendelson.blogspot.com/2011/04/thor-comic-book-adventure-is-kid.html
I’ve only seen the last 20 minutes of Jonah Hex and there isn’t a minute of Green Lantern as bad as that… in spite of a game Brolin.
Quick thoughts on Jonah Hex from end of last year –
While you won’t find me calling the film some unheralded masterpiece, there are a few notable ideas that were missed in the rush to trash the obviously-butchered 73-minute theatrical adaptation of this cult comic book (and criticize innocent bystander Megan Fox for what amounted to a glorified cameo). The film has a mournful tone, and the picture uses the discontent of defeated Confederate soldiers as a parable to those on the political Right who feel so disenfranchised that they’ve considered taking up arms and/or doing violence against their government and their countrymen. The sight of John Malkovich deploying suicide bombers and weapons of mass destruction in the wholesale slaughter of innocent civilians to spur the populace to rise up against the government is a chilling one that brings to mind all of the worst fears of a truly militant ‘Tea Party’. Not a good movie, but an interesting bad movie.
Jonah Hex is AWESOME BEYOND BELIEF and I proudly own it on DVD; It’s certainly more entertaining than most of the non-X-Men/Punisher Marvel movies.
Also: I thought the weird comments about Blake Lively’s appearance in this review were harsh and just plain baffling; Blake Lively is SMOKING HOT OH MY GOD LOOK AT HER. I mean, it’s not like DiCaprio can’t have ANYBODY, so I don’t think he’d be going for “Sarah Jessica Parker.”
Though on my Gossip Girl Scale O Hotness, Blake is second after Taylor Momsen and just a notch ahead of Meester, who sometimes is hotter than Blake but her chin makes me think of turkey.
S&M, why are you getting so snippy? You also still know absolutely nothing about me. It’s not all or nothing. I simply find referring to anything or anyone in that way, very fucking rude. It’s just the height of rudeness to me.
Do you also not get that referring to something in the positive and the negative in the same sentence is just plain weird? Again, this place is Rango weird, because every single one of you are apparently capable of GETTING IT, and love to slag things that you like!
ETA: Yeah, referring to a world class beauty as a horse is just freaking bs. Blake Lively is no horse face. Seriously.
IO – If I were in the cockpit (if they call it that) with Michael Schumacher for an entire raise and knew enough to understand what he was doing through a whole race, I would be comfortable doing that.
And he might disagree with me on how he works the corners of the track or when he pits, etc.
Dark Knight is not comparable to Kubrick’s best movies about violence. Not in the same class. Nolan may well get there. He is clearly talented enough. But Dark Knight’s third act is profoundly imperfect. That doesn’t keep the whole film from working or the overall work in the film from being well over the standards for “comic book movies.”
But the effort to be about a much bigger issue fails. What I think people remember from that film is the Ledger performance, the intensity of the “choose between them” sequence, and some magnificent action work that brought stillness and size to what has become obnoxiously hyperkinetic in most action films.
But did people take away a world view or a political reflection of the US and how we intervene in the world from the film? I don’t think so. Do people refer back to Dark Knight’s ideas? Not that I’ve seen.
In part this is because Ledger’s Joker was an anarchist… and the jihadists are not. They have specific ideas of why they want to destroy The West. The Joker’s ambivalence was part of what makes the character great. But it also limits the importance of the character. The lesson of trying to fight someone who has no boundaries is interesting, but small.
Harvey Dent was the chance to speak to more complex ideas, but he doesn’t really get the chance. Thus, my request for another hour of the movie.
Anyway…
David that’s the thing: you will never understand what it takes to be an F1 driver. You might know about the car. The car is easier to understand but what makes Senna, Schumi, Freddie, and Fangio who they are, is an intangible.
Go see the Senna doc when it comes to LA and you’ll get the point more, but much like a great driver a great movie has intangibles. You can pick them apart sure but there’s something about a great movie, that’s above milly-mouthed criticism.
They say movie critics don’t have any power anymore, nor do frothing fanboys and geeks, but one thing they HAVE managed to do in perfect conjunction with one another is take a director I basically love (Christopher Nolan) and make it so I never want to talk about, read about, or revisit any of his movies ever again in the foreseeable future.
Anyone else watch the youtube clip of 5 or 7 minutes of “You don’t get it, do you” from the hundreds of movies who’ve used it?
Then they used it in Super 8 and an alarm bell went off.
As for GL, I don’t think I ever read one of his comic books. The main thing he means to me is I watched him fight alongside Black Vulcan, Samurai and Apache Chief on Super Friends.
I always though the Legion of Doom episodes needed to be an hour long. Seemed like the Super Friends would just line up with the bad guys they can easily defeat and dispatch them one by one with a bad pun for each. “You’ll make a perrrfectly good prisoner, Cheetah!” “There’s no question you’re finished, Riddler!”
I also remember an episode where GL was weakened by a yellow sun the same way Superman’s weakened by a red sun, which struck me odd becuz Superman established the sun’s normal color is yellow.
Agreed. Again.
Now on to your TDK… thing.
“Dark Knight is not comparable to Kubrickās best movies about violence. Not in the same class. Nolan may well get there. He is clearly talented enough. But Dark Knightās third act is profoundly imperfect. That doesnāt keep the whole film from working or the overall work in the film from being well over the standards for ācomic book movies.ā
Not only are you belittling Nolan’s skill and talent again. You seemingly missed the point of that third act. They even have Gordon summarize it for you. Come on man, it works on such a core human level that Kubrick wouldn’t have even gone down that road.
“But the effort to be about a much bigger issue fails. What I think people remember from that film is the Ledger performance, the intensity of the āchoose between themā sequence, and some magnificent action work that brought stillness and size to what has become obnoxiously hyperkinetic in most action films.”
Everyone who dismisses TDK and it’s gross. Always goes to Ledger. Sure he’s great but TDK as a movie is greater. It has always been greater. It become what it is today for a reason because it does speak to a greater issue. It’s more than just a comic book film or action film. It’s a summation of a time in this country that just happens to feature the Joker and Batman, and that’s pretty profound in an interesting way.
“But did people take away a world view or a political reflection of the US and how we intervene in the world from the film? I donāt think so. Do people refer back to Dark Knightās ideas? Not that Iāve seen.”
Yes and yes. Use google before you write something such as this because people have spent thousands of words on each, but you seem to be referring to your friends. If it’s the same crowd that thinks Inception is TOO GOSH DARN LOUDS, well, you know how I feel about those folks.
“In part this is because Ledgerās Joker was an anarchistā¦ and the jihadists are not. They have specific ideas of why they want to destroy The West. The Jokerās ambivalence was part of what makes the character great. But it also limits the importance of the character. The lesson of trying to fight someone who has no boundaries is interesting, but small.”
That’s the thing you are missing with the Joker: he’s not anarchist. It’s the story about the scars. His anarchy is a plan. He wants more of him in the world. He wants more freaks, he wants his view of the world to take hold and once it does, that’s when he takes over.
“Harvey Dent was the chance to speak to more complex ideas, but he doesnāt really get the chance. Thus, my request for another hour of the movie.
Anywayā¦”
Harvey Dent is an IDEA. That’s why his campaign slogan was I BELIEVE IN HARVEY DENT. People believed in him. They voted for him in that universe to have a white knight in office. This is the whole reason why Batman takes the blame and hauls ass off into the night.
ETA: Lex, if we can get through one week of you not going on about cooze, that would be great as well!
JS: FYI, there’s no such word as milly-mouthed.
The second trailer for GL had me interested, but now I’m on the fence. I’m having enough trouble getting around to films I definitely want to see. If this has legs, I’ll try to catch it in a few weeks.
“she looks like she could cut her way out of a vault with her face. And as an actorā¦ sheās a solid TV actor. But sheās not special. ”
wow DP – this is going to make sure Blake won’t do a DP/30 ever ..
Yancy… IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWn0OCs0h-E
America, love it or leave it!
And as far as GL goes, some superheros are inherently iconic or cinematic, i.e., much of the Marvel Universe. The Green Lantern was never particularly cool or iconic, and that his power is a ring doesn’t translate to the kinetics of the medium. I like the space opera angle but it’s…green!
Appreciate Dwayne, Christian.
I’m continuing with this tortured analogy, IO, because there is light at the end of that tunnel…
Yes, you are right. I don’t know what went on as Christopher Nolan directed Dark Knight. And if I was there, 2 feet away from him for months, his mind would make unspoken, complex connections that I would never understand.
But not only weren’t you there either… his brain is not a whistle that only some people can hear. It is unique and special and loaded with unconsciousness.
All we have to go on is the outcome. And on that basis, some people think this driver is better than that driver… or has certain habits… or screwed up in this element of the race or that… or just measure by wins and losses.
“You don’t understand” and “I don’t agree” are not the same thing.
Ironically, I get shit from a lot of people – today, Drew and Guy Lodge – because I say it when I feel like there is a positive or negative gang up on a movie. They feel, it seems, that I am questioning whether they “get it.” I am not. They understand film and they have opinions. And I have opinions.
But if people want to deny that there is a critical zeitgeist that sometimes takes hold and pushes the conversation towards a pile on, so be it. I think they (not Drew or Guy… in general) are delusional.
Does it matter how I feel about a movie when I write about its context in the industry? Of course. But I am conscious of this and work hard to adjust and acknowledge.
And things get taken so far out of context. My Super 8 review is basically mixed negative/negative. It’s not a slaughter. It acknowledges entertainment value. But it’s got 80something percent on RT, so I am suddenly a renegade of hate. Give me a break. You love it? Great. Let me know what I am missing. Don’t just claim I can’t understand or won’t understand or am a hater. Because I didn’t just dismiss the movie. I put up my offer of why I had issues with it.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is Fresh at RT… 77%… same as Thor and 6% behind Super 8. So please, contextualize that for me.
There are movies in the world that are liked which are Snicker’s bars and others that are full meals and others in between. Snicker’s – and many critics – would like to tell you that the candy is really a replacement meal… and truly believe it in the moment… often because they are so hungry and there is nothing else around that can satisfy.
Conversely, 10s of thousands of people tested New Coke and preferred it to Classic Coke and then, when Coke launched it, everyone claimed to hate it and it was a disaster.
I am far from perfect. I know this. I don’t harbor the delusion that I control much more than happens in my home… and even then, forget about it.
But when people think I have a vendetta (pro or con), it’s usually because the movie in question has so much talk around it, so it stays in the conversation.
Is there such thing as proof of anything artistic? People mock Matrix Reloaded regardless of its box office. People tout masterpieces even though fewer people see them than Lock-Up on MSNBC at 2 am.
Alice in Wonderland is not a good movie. It has a lot of cool stuff in it, but it’s on the low end of Burton’s output. But it grossed over a billion dollars… more than Dark Knight. What does that prove? More people wanted to see Alice in Wonderland with a lot of CG and Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. That’s about it.
If the only way any of us can understand the work is to be the race car driver (or director), there is no point in discussing it, is there, JP/IO?
Is it wrong that I find Drews mention of his kids in his reviews grating?
Does anyone care about that particular train of thought?
I dont really think thats the kind of thing that should factor into a review. I want to know if YOU liked the movie. Being dissapointed because its too scary for kids is something I would expect to see in some Christian family website, not the ruminations if someone expecting to be taken seriously.
I don’t like it either anghus and it’s why I normally don’t read Drew’s reviews or the reviews at AICN. Others feel differently, which is totally fine because there are a ton of places to read reviews on the net and different strokes for different folks, but I am not reading your review of (insert movie here) because I want to know how your kids liked it, what you had to eat that morning and why, etc.
sanj – not worried about it. if she grows up and gets better, she won’t care. if she doesn’t, she’ll be forgotten.
And it’s unfair to pull that comment out of context… it was about how she was shot as much as anything. Almost anyone can be made to look back with a bad camera angle. She’s a very pretty girl and I thought this of her long before she became a TV star.
David, watch this trailer and get an idea about what an intangible is: http://www.slashfilm.com/moneyball-trailer-full-hd-version/ . You can sort of explain Moneyball but what it’s based around is a theory of intangibles and you not getting that there are some things and people in this world that are beyond a standard definition, is your lack of artistry, and not mine.
This also has to do with the serious dick attitude that is this; “I really enjoy I Am Love but all of that Italian is bullshit.” A positive and a negative in the same sentence is just overly critical milly-mouthed bullshit, that folks love to use on the internet thanks to their sense of entitlement. Excuse me for being totally dismissive of that attitude.
Seriously, I could care less about what you wrote up there because you refuse to admit when you are wrong about box office predictions, and refer to us as crazy people when we point this out to you. Midnight in Paris is going to be bigger than you thought. Care to admit that?
ETA: One more thing, A SUBJECTIVE FACT IS NOT A FACT, DAVID! Alice in Wonderland is not a good movie to you and stating otherwise, without said qualifier, is why a lot of the discussion on this blog is basically guys sticking their dicks in the wind, and trying to see who can pee into it long enough before it hits them in the face.
hey DP – so i guess the Blake character could have been
played by anybody else and it wouldn’t have really mattered much ? i’m gonna wait for this movie to hit dvd.
bad camera angles always seem to show up on superhero movies more than anything .. Uma Thurman looked horrible
in Batman and Robin .
also did you see Colbert last night ..he mmentioned Sex and City 2 being a horror movie.
Thanks for talking about the whole “critical zeitgeist” aspect Dave. I am not a movie critic, never will be – just a movie lover who finds film and film-making fascinating. Looking at film criticism from an outsiders perspective I have often felt like this sort of “pig piling” went on from time to time – but I also felt like it could have just been me feeling stung when a movie I really grooved on was seemingly hated by everyone else. I have come to really loathe Rotten Tomatoes, yet I still feel compelled to look at it.
To me the best part of having the internet as a resource is being able to find a film critics who are like-minded to point you in the direction of films you might not try. Thanks for your work Dave, I really enjoy it.
JSP/IO – I have already acknowledged, repeatedly, that I was low on midnight in paris. What do you need? And do you feel the same why about what you want when I am right? Should I be writing ‘Toldja” every time I am right?
As for Alice… do you disagree? I know it’s all very easy to make it about me. But do you know anyone who thinks Alice was a GREAT movie? A single person? I don’t.
And DaveA – I love that Rotten Tomatoes exists. It was and is a smart idea. But as with Metacritic and Movie Review Intelligence, trying to quantify hundreds of words into a rotten or fresh rating is a fool’s errand… or even a percentage of positivity. I “freshed” Green Lantern, though I have to say, there are more people I would tell to avoid it than to go to it. And in that, I was being contrary. But quantifying that is sometimes very hard, even for the writer of the review.
My personal goal is to be as honest and direct as possible. And I know, whatever the buzz is or ends up being, if I did my job well, I will represent some percentage of the audience. And if I happen to be against the trend, people will take anything I write out of context and turn it into something personal. Not good, but that is the way it is.
Thanks for the kind words.
“Is it wrong that I find Drews mention of his kids in his reviews grating?”
You are not alone. And if you follow him on twitter you’ll see that Drew is definitely raising them to follow in Dad’s deep footprints.
Jesus, I get out of the hospital to see what I’ve been missing here for the last few days, and it’s 2008 all over again. Holy crap…
i hope the kiwis (martin, taika and tem) at least come out of this professionally unscathed, just to be obnoxiously parochial and unrealistic
No Leah, your fellow kiwis must pay for your country’s support of the overly high foreign box office profits for our horrible American films and this is where it begins! Death to your filthy converted funds!
but our $ is pretty!
Then pretty $$$ make graves…
OBJECTIVE FACT: “milly-mouthed” is still not a word. Even The Rock knows that. š
Hey IO, when did I ever argue that some movies shouldn’t exist? And if this some sort of delayed reaction to my Sucker Punch review, I wont go digging through old blogs to find my comments, but I believe I was expressing my profound disappointment with a film that I thought could have been much much more.
Just so you know, I pay for more than 90% of the movies I see in theaters, and Sucker Punch was one of them. I go into every movie expecting to like it, so I’m not a hater, or full of scorn for some filmakers while giving every filmaker I like a pass. And unlike you and your scorched earth policy, I liked TDK and Avatar, I liked Inception and True Grit. And every time you bring up Dave’s lowballing predictions on b/o of Ironman and Inception, keep in mind you’re the guy who said he couldn’t wait for Ironman 2 to gross more than Avatar.
Let he who is without sin…etc..etc…etc
RE: Drew’s kids….yup. It’s like he’s trying to prove the point that he got laid twice and is therefore A MAN. It’s as grating as when he would reference his own (failed) screenwriting career when reviewing a movie. He’s a self-absorbed pompous ass. Which is a shame because he can write reviews that are better than most. Unlike Devin Faraci, who is just vile. I had to unfollow somebody on Twitter –somebody who posts/writes here, who I enjoy– because half their tweets were douchey, smug Faraci re-tweets. Christ on a cracker. I followed McWeeny for about a day. That was more than enough. However, following LexG is endlessly amusing.
So there.
Yancy, it still doesn’t matter what you think š ?
BD, it’s not about Sucker Punch, but I have brought up there’s just no point to some films being made, and you respond with a rather terse comment about how that’s a silly comment.
I also have no idea how anyone goes into the theatre expecting to like a film. Where does that sort of weirdness come from? It just makes no sense.
You also have to realize that it’s not about scorched earth. It’s about Red Sox and Yankees. Some films are the Red Sox. While the others are the Yankees, and who wants to root for the Yankees?
But what’s the point of any film being made IO. Does TDK have more of right to exist than Avatar?
And of course if I’m paying money to see a film I expect to like it. What moviegoer who isn’t a paid or professional critic shells out his hard earned cash for film they’re not expecting to like? That’s just crazy talk. All the movies I saw this year had something in the trailer that made say that I want to see that story because I think I’d like it. When I don’t, of course I’m disappointed. And I’ll be right back in the theater next week, to see something else that I expected to like, and maybe I will, and maybe I won’t. That’s the fun of it. Maybe I’m the crazy one, but I thought that this was pretty much the same for everyone.
And who roots for the Yankees? How about New Yorkers?
Its not just you bulldog.
Everyone goes into a movie expecting to like it. Who pays good money, puts up with traffic, crowded theaters, and eight dollar popcorn expecting dissapointment?
Or do you think people just go into every movie with
zero expectations?
such a strange world view.
fwiw, i definitely go into a movie hoping to like it
IO, seriously: Why would you bother to pay to see a movie you don’t expect to like, unless you’re actually getting paid to review it?
Date night. Everyone takes one for the team some time…
One of IO’s more bizarre, oft-repeated gems is that when he goes into any movie, he has no expectations for it to be good or bad. Yes, even things like Scott Pilgrim or Dark Knight that he beats the drum for on the Hot Blog for six months in advance. It makes no sense to me. It’d be like me saying when I go to a new Kristen Stewart movie, I have no expectation of finding her hot in the movie.
Seriously, that you people go into movies expecting to like them, is about as bizarre a concept to me as lying, cheating, and stealing. It’s astonishingly absurd to me, that you all EXPECT to be ENTERTAINED. How entitled of all of you.
I lack the ability to walk into a theatre, to pick up a book, listen to an album, or watch a TV show an EXPECT IT to entertain me. I hope it will work but never expect anything. What grown adult expects to be entertained? Life does not work that way. You do not always win. You hope but do not expect, that’s just tacky.
Seriously though Lex, everything gets a blank slate. Everything gets judged on it’s own merits. Being any way else is about as weird as I find you all to be expecting to be entertained.
Oh yeah Tungsten, it’s a leap of faith. Duh.
Oh yeah, GREEN LANTERN IS FUCKING TREMENDOUS and to the moon with those who disagree because you don’t understand and you sure as don’t get it :P!
“Itās astonishingly absurd to me, that you all EXPECT to be ENTERTAINED.”
Out of many bizarro ideas within this paragraph, this might be the king. I guess the word should be changed from “entertainment” to “expectainment”…
Green Lantern has received generally negative reviews from film critics. But despite of the negative reviews this film won the award for “Most Anticipated Movie” at the 2010 Los Angeles Scream Awards. The award was presented to Ryan Reynolds by his co-star, Blake Lively.
“I hope it will work but never expect anything”
i would argue that hope would be an expectation. here’s some definitions of the word ‘hope’.
verb (used with object)
6.
to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence.
āverb (used without object)
8.
to feel that something desired may happen: We hope for an early spring.
i would also argue that you make idiotic statements and defend them as if your life depended on it no matter how obviously wrong you are.
you are 100% wrong. everyone in the world expects to be entertained when they see a movie. everyone. the fact that amazes you shows how disconnected you are from reality. You even contradict your own statement with the clarification “you hope it works”….
and it’s not even the idiotic statements you make. everyone does that. we all say stupid shit from time to time, but you defend your stupid shit like a pundit for Fox News.
To say that you don’t expect to be entertained going to watch a movie, tv show, or any form of entertainment is like saying that people don’t go to a restaurant expecting a good meal.
My wife and I rarely get the chance to go to the movies alone together. When we do get the chance, considering the cost of a ticket and concessions, etc., we choose carefully and damn well expect to be entertained (while hoping that no cell phones ring and the people next to us don’t talk from start to finish). I don’t know anyone who pays to see a movie not expecting to be entertained. That is the whole point of going for everyone save for people getting paid to see them. Why would hard-working people spend time and money going to a movie not expecting to be entertained?
Guess I saw a different Green Lantern than DP and Scott M. Every time Sarsgaard was on screen it just sucked the life right out of the movie. People were restless in their seats with a “oh no, not more of this guy” vibe.
Just to clear up one matter, Green Lantern was converted into 3D in post-production:
http://www.primefocusworld.com/work/portfolio/green-lantern-warner-bros-pictures
Pete, i’m with you. I thought the whole thing was pretty terrible. I’ll wait for a Spoiler thread to go into any detail.
But the audience i saw it with vas very much in the same boat. Every line uttered by Sarsgaard was met with chuckles and laughter. The action was horribly staged. The planet Oa was a greenscreen mess that never felt real. There’s so much pointless nonsense in the movie, and even the editing and pacing feel really awkward. There are scene cuts from Earth to Space and back to Earth that happen in seconds. You’d swear you were watching a movie by Directed by someone who never had a big budget movie before, like the Wolverine film.
There’s just no cohesion to anything in the movie. The best comment i heard as we walked out of the theater was a friend of mine who’s a huge comic fan. He said
“I’ve seen a lot of comic book movies, and that was one of them.”
This makes Thor look like a masterpiece in comparison.
Looks like Green Lantern’s midnight screenings pulled in almost exactly the same as Thor and First Class. Will it open closer to the former or latter?
“I hope it will work but never expect anythingā
i would argue that hope would be an expectation. hereās some definitions of the word āhopeā.
verb (used with object)
6.
to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence.
āverb (used without object)
8.
to feel that something desired may happen: We hope for an early spring.”
You can argue all you want you dumb arrogant fuckwit, but this is the definition to EXPECTATIONS: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/expectations
There is a difference and that you, again, think you know better is why you are such a waste of time. You wretched cur.
“i would also argue that you make idiotic statements and defend them as if your life depended on it no matter how obviously wrong you are.”
If I am so stupid, then why I have not come on here and stated that I needed my friends to make up my opinions for me? You did that with First Class, you let your friends make up your mind for you, and you think I am an idiot? Disagree with me all you want but at least IT’S MINE.
“you are 100% wrong. everyone in the world expects to be entertained when they see a movie. everyone. the fact that amazes you shows how disconnected you are from reality. You even contradict your own statement with the clarification āyou hope it worksāā¦.”
Again, according to the dictionary, there is a difference between hope and expectations. You also seemingly go on and on about me contradicting myself, when you nary the ability to comprehend what the fuck I am writing most of the time, and even after I explain it to you.
Now, again, I am apparently an idiot but how fucking stupid does one have to be to think he knows with 100 PERCENT CERTAINTY ANYTHING ABOUT SEVEN BILLION PEOPLE? How arrogant are you, and what makes you think you have earned such arrogance? Are you the new god or something? Seriously, that statement by you alone is why you are such a waste as a poster because you are basically stating you know all, and anyone who disagrees with you is an idiot. Seeing as how you don’t like Pixar films, that’s proof enough of just how deep your stupidity goes.
“and itās not even the idiotic statements you make. everyone does that.”
Like the fucking statements you’ve made in this post of your’s, which have to be some of the stupidest in Hot Blog history.
“we all ssy stupid shit from time to time, but you defend your stupid shit like a pundit for Fox News.”
You just ripped that FOX NEWS shit from someone else and much like with them, it’s just so fucking stupid that words could fail me but unlike you, I CAN USE MY WORDS!
You basically stated you know how seven billion people work and emphatically did so. That’s FOX NEWS level stupid. I simply defend what I love and get shit for it. I love countless films, thousands of films, but you milly-mouthed assfucks, give me shit for standing up for a genre that you dismiss out of hand. Fine, what the fuck ever, but fuck you. Fuck all of you for the way you treat anyone, not just me, who disagrees with you.
“To say that you donāt expect to be entertained going to watch a movie, tv show, or any form of entertainment is like saying that people donāt go to a restaurant expecting a good meal.”
Who goes to a restaurant expecting I good meal? Seriously, you are all bestowed with a level of entitlement I have never had, and never will. Good for you but fuck you for giving me shit about it. Enough of you folks and your limited spectrum of understanding.
“unlike you, I CAN USE MY WORDS!”
That you can.
“you milly-mouthed assfucks”
“Fine, what the fuck ever, but fuck you”
“Fuck all of you for the way you treat anyone”
“Good for you but fuck you for giving me shit about it”
If people don’t go to restaurant expecting a good meal, what are they going for? Unless you’re going for fast food, eating out is expensive. If a couple or a family goes out for a meal, aren’t they expecting the food to be good?
JSP, can you link to a definition of “milly-mouthed”? Or is that what you meant by “I CAN USE MY WORDS”? š
I believe “milly-mouthed” is the Memphis regional dialect version of “mealy-mouthed.” BTW: For Father’s Day, I’m being taken to see Super 8. I expect to like it.
Exactly Joe, thanks for being hip on the uptake.
Paul, and you missed the point entirely. Good lord man, if someone can’t tell you people to fuck off… figuratively, then who can?
I also have no idea how any of you are so damn entitled. Who really goes through life expecting everything to be good?
Not a good take JSP.. sorry… swung and missed wildly…
I mean I guess my wife could tell me to fuck off if I really deserved it.
Is it really entitlement to expect good food when you pay for a meal? I don’t see how that’s entitlement.
Oh, I know he meant “mealy-mouthed.” But I am confused how someone can be both “overly critical” and mealy-mouthed, since the latter basically means beating around the bush. And most people don’t write in dialect. Anyway, just some friendly chops-busting. š
As for expectations, I do sometimes go to see a movie that I’m pretty sure I won’t like overall but it looks like it might have a worthwhile performance or something, or like it might fail in a bold, interesting way.
io, I have no problem stating that the vast majority of the world goes to a movie expecting it to be good. I also have no problem stating that people go to a restaurant expecting a good meal.
To argue otherwise is just nutty.
From your own link to the dictionary.
Expect – to look forward to.
Which youll notice also shows up in the
definition of “hope” I provided.
I think IO is the Joker, bringing anarchy to our world with his expectation-less vision of human choice. Maybe that’s why he digs TDK so much.
Wow, this conversation is oddly reminiscent of the Joy Luck Club…
Suyuan: Not expect anything! Never expect! Only hope! Only hoping best for you. That’s not wrong, to hope.
Jing-Mei ‘June’ Woo: No? Well, it hurts, because every time you hoped for something I couldn’t deliver, it hurt. It hurt me, Mommy. And no matter what you hope for, I’ll never be more than what I am. And you never see that, what I really am.
Haven’t seen it yet, but cracking up at audiences groaning all “Not this idiot again” with each new round of Sarsgaard hamming; Can’t think of enough examples of this, but ALWAYS ALWAYS funny to me when someone who hasn’t earned his “license to ham” plays a villain, and goes way over-the-top in that MISFIRE way where each new scene is just embarrassing and annoying.
I’m thinking of Michael Ironside in “Highlander 2.”
And maybe McNulty in the 2nd Punisher, which I think is the funniest performance of its era.
I thought mcnulty was in the third Punisher
“Itās called a blind spot, it happens, but when I am right I am super fucking right. Go look it up.”
Vintage stuff right here.
Somehow I consider the Lundgren Punisher its own thing, and War Zone as an official sequel to the Thomas Jane one, making it a part two. Though I guess there’s no reason to see it that way, since there’s no real overlap beyond studio.
All of the Punisher movies are better than Green Lantern.
I say this with love, Lex, but do you by any chance wear a WWJMD bracelet (What Would Jimmy McNulty Do)?
I mean, the guy has got to be some kind of role model for you, right?
Favorite McNulty moment ever– not counting the 10 million times he’d drink 32 beers yet retain his 146-lb physique AND end up in bed with some new hot chick– is when he drunkenly crashed his CAVALIER into a pillar under some bridge late at night, stumbled out, figured out the angle/trajectory of the hit, backed it up and totaled that fucker just to go all out.
Awesomest character and performance in all of TV history, even in the shark-jumping fifth season, which is ALL worth it for that scene where they read the psych profile of McNulty’s made-up “serial killer” back to him.
I know people who can drink as much as that and retain coherence. They’re alcoholics. They can drink insane amounts of alcohol and not end up passed out on the floor in a pool of their own vomit. Great scene though. Man I miss McNulty.
Yeah, and then McNulty picks up a waitress and he wakes up next to her still bloodied from his wreck…after rocking her world the night before…hard core, Jimmy.
Season 5 was all about David Simon getting his experience at the Baltimore Sun off his chest while he had the chance and HBO’s dime.
I liked it in season 2 when he went into the whorehouse undercover and the cops come in to find him being ridden like a prize bull.
I actually know what JS means when he says something like “I hope it’ll be good but I’m not expecting much.” I do that. I was kinda that way w/Super 8. I’ve been borderline w/JJ Abrams and w/that trailer, I don’t know, it looked like it had potential but then, it was like I could see the machine where the smoke was coming out and the reflection of someone’s converse poking out from beyond the mirror. Not good signs. I want it to be good but I like knowing as little about the film as possible and open for whatever. Language and lexicon would make it impossible to describe w/out contradiction I suppose but sometimes you just go to the movies not knowing what to expect. A trailer may not generate that much interest but you might see a film because of an actor or director or subject matter. Sometimes I’ll watch something off a recommendation, even though you’re skeptical of the film based on what you know or seen, or based on the person’s previous track record of taste but you know you’ll never get the person off your back until you see the film. I hope it’ll be good and I’m not wasting my time and/or money but sometimes the best way to describe my attitude going in is “we’ll see.”
OK, saw Green Lantern. I guess I’d give it a meh -. A little slow at times. A buddy of mine was talking about how much he hates Saarsgard in general. I always see the name but I never know who it is. People will say his part and I still can’t think of who he is. I hope his career keeps going. If the guy ever had to resort to a life of crime and held me at knife point, he sure as heck wouldnāt need a mask. The police would ask ācould you give us a description?ā Iād be like āNope.ā
āDid you not get a good look at him?ā
āOh no. We sat down, had coffee. He showed me a few pictures of his kids at Disneyland before he took off with my cash but donāt ask me to pick him out of a lineup, I just couldnāt begin to say.ā
The name may have changed, but it’s still retarded fucking IO. You can’t put a dress on a monkey and say he’s Jessica Alba.
IO, is there no movie on earth that you neither LOVE nor HATE? Just think is good? Like me, I come out of Predators and someone asks me what I think, I can say “yeah, it was all right. Decent enough, I enjoyed watching it. Not great though, maybe I’d watch it if it was on tv in a few years.”
When Dominic West was running around Baltimore I think he really did fuck half of it.