Posts by philipmatthews
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My (no smarter than your average bear) eight year old analyses films all the time, you only need to talk to him about something he's just seen to figure it out. He looks for meaning and for narrative structure, and I'd argue it's really, really hard not to do that.
I'd probably need some examples before I agreed that what your eight-year-old does is what I would call analysis. But for me, and this is just subjective, a statement about or review of Star Wars -- to use that example again -- that doesn't talk about the era the film was made in, its sci-fi antecedents and influences, Lucas' contemporaries, his body of work etc, wouldn't qualify as an analysis.
In the case of Avatar, those hypothetical millions who were not thinking about Gaia, Iraq, Native Americans, etc surely had views on whether the story seemed corny or was exciting, whether the effects looked realistic, whether they liked the characters or didn't -- but I wouldn't call that an analysis. I'm not saying that's what your son does.
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You can enjoy or be entertained by films without bringing any kind of analysis to them whatsover. Example:
How old were you when you first saw Star Wars (A New Hope, if you must)?
And how old were you when you figured out that George Lucas was trying to make a statement about Vietnam?
I'm sure there are millions of people who have watched Avatar without thinking of Vietnam, Iraq, the conquest of the New World, Gaia theory and so on.
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From Robert Scheer's Article, An Oscar for America's Hubris.
That's a great piece Jack, thanks for linking to it. From the right, we get a Telegraph column by Nile Gardiner which cheers The Hurt Locker's triumph as patriotism winning over anti-Americanism at the Oscars. Avatar is "one of the most left-wing films in the history of modern American cinema" and ...
in essence a hugely expensive political statement against America’s leadership of the world, and the US-led war in Iraq. The Hurt Locker is not an overtly political movie, but it pays tribute to the tremendous bravery and sacrifice of American troops fighting in Iraq, at a time when Hollywood has produced a slew of anti-war movies.
Suddenly I feel a little bit less surprised about the result.
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Back on planet Earth, you might as well hate on the Pullitzer Prize jury as being a pack of out of touch elitists because the odds of Dan Brown or Stephanie Myer being on the shortlist this (or any other) year are somewhat remote.
Well, not really. Brown and Meyer are much further from where the Pulitzer Prize is positioned than Avatar is in relation to the Oscars.
Yeah, I would have preferred Deepa Mehta too.
Or Jane Campion. Or Gillian Armstrong. Or -- impossible, I know, but I'd love to see this -- Catherine Breillat.
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And each time - the intro as it were- detailing the relationship between Ellie & Carl, makes me want to grab a tissue-
Yes, lovely. Oscar for best marriage-done-in-a-two-minute-montage goes to ...
Got a bit sub-Miyazaki after that though.
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Um, I don't think a post that ends "And people wonder why I have nothing but contempt for the Academy?" exactly screams dispassionate analysis.
When the same Academy has, for example, rewarded Ordinary People over The Elephant Man and Raging Bull or Forrest Gump over Pulp Fiction, I guess it's hard to assume that the best film will always win. Do you think that politics, loyalties, grudges and whose turn it is assumed to be might not sometimes enter the equation?
If Nikki Finke wants to throw in with the "Avatar wuz robbed by the Hollyweird liburul elite" gang, the geek equivalent of 9/11 Truthers, so be it.
That's such an over the top reading ...
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That's complete rubbish. The only thing Avatar had going for it was the visuals, everything else was derivative or even directly carbon copied from other films. The Academy recognised the visuals with several awards.
Yeah, I guess you know more about how Hollywood works than Nikki Finke does. She's talking about why people voted the way they did.
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Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood:
Academy voters rewarded a tiny film that made no money just because almost everyone in Hollywood really dislikes James Cameron. This shows how out of touch the Oscars are with moviegoers around the world, who loved Avatar. But what can you expect from a bunch of mostly geriatrics who decide on the Best Picture by watching them on small screens instead of in the movie theater. Most of the 5,000+ voters only saw Avatar in 2D. So, of course, The Hurt Locker played better. And people wonder why I have nothing but contempt for the Academy?
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What were you wearing that day ?
Were you showing any cleavage ?
Did you discuss anything sexually related about his time in jail ?
Did you lead him on by doing anything that might have led him to act out a fantasy ?
Why didnt you say anything to him when he allegedly got his penis out ?
What sort of woman condones that sort of behaviour in a professional setting ?
Did it turn you on knowing you had got him aroused ?
Come on, this is just vile. Very glad its your last rant -- for now -- on this.
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I know contrarianism makes the pop-cultural world go 'round, but... *really*? How tiresome.
Any chance of linking to the guy? Just want to see how this argument goes.