Essays Archive for March, 2011
Somewhat in Defense of Sucker Punch (Well, Parts of It, Anyway …)
It will probably surprise you to learn that, for all its flaws, I kind of dug Sucker Punch. Or rather, I like the idea of Sucker Punch a lot, and I like parts of how it was executed. Visually, it’s pretty stunning. Loved the desaturated and tinted tones, loved the hair and makeup (yes, even the many false eyelashes), loved the costuming (and look forward to seeing gangs of roving teenage cosplayers lovingly recreating those costumes at cons over the next year).
I loved the movie’s opener, which in many respects evokes the opener for Watchmen, which was also brilliant … and was also, as is the case with Sucker Punch, the best part of that film.
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The Real Problem with Rebecca Black
I’ve been following this whole Rebecca Black thing with kind of a morbid interest. I don’t think there’s an objective argument that her vanity video “Friday” is, by any definition, good music, nor that it actually pretends to be any other than what it is. The problem is her parents. You know how when your kid is like, a year old, and discovers for the first time that banging on pots and pans loudly is really awesome, and you’re so impressed they figured it out that you’re all, “Look at you make noise! Aren’t you a brilliant girl?!”
I get the feeling that Rebecca Black’s parents do that a lot.
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1,000 Monkeys: Bullying Behavior
Film critic Thelma Adams, who, like me, also does a lot of writing that has nothing to do with movies, has this great essay up on her site called “Fat Ten-Year-Old,” in which she details defending her daughter from a sullen, bullying former classmate. This piece really struck a chord with me, as I must confess to having felt that “Mama Grizzly Bear” urge myself on more than one occasion when my own little cubs have faced social challenges.
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