My previous post, on whether TV is (or is not) better than movies, touched a little on the issue of true popularity. To be specific: What’s the difference between mass entertainment and niche entertainment? I don’t want to relitigate this, so much as go back and point out a few elements and highlight some previous [...]
Movies & TV = Apples & Oranges
Via Twitter, Jaime Weinman pointed to Noel Murray’s article over at the Onion AV Club: “Movies Vs. Television: The Tide Shifts Back.” In it, Murray addresses the claims (made over the past couple decades) that television has become better than the movies. I think there is a lot of ambiguity to this claim. Murray notes [...]
Internet Freaks Out Over Movie That Lies
It’s hard to recall that The Social Network hasn’t even been out for four months. In that short period of time, it’s racked up more than $200 million in its theatrical global release, it’s already started winning awards (and is considered a top contender for the Oscars) and it’s become a top-selling DVD, (while still [...]
Other Christmas Movies
Some people don’t like Christmas music. I think it’s that they (rightly) don’t like bad music. Some people don’t like Christmas movies and TV specials. Same deal. There are way too many bad Christmas movies out there, commercially-driven pablum. Sure, there are the classics like Miracle on 34th Street (1947), A Christmas Story (1983) and [...]
Burlesque is The Pussycat Dolls: The Movie
Apparently, the blogosphere is buzzing a bit about the trailer released today for Burlesque. it stars Christina Aguilera and Cher (in her first film since Stuck on You in 2003). Part of the buzz is because the movie looks like (as Dlisted.com put it) it could be a combo of Showgirls, Glitter, Beyond the Valley [...]
All Drama Is Conflict
Drama is about conflict. Right? “Would you like a story about two people who always get along and everything in their life is great?” Uh, no. How you execute conflict is the variable. I could do a cop show about police in conflict with criminals. And all the police officers are terrific people. But I [...]
The Long Con
Last month, I was out in California and my friend Larry told me he was exhibiting at a small convention in Burbank. I decided to check it out and ended up staying there for hours. “Cons” have been a part of the science fiction/fantasy scene for a long time (like 70 years). It’s an opportunity [...]
Inglourious Basterds posters
Tags: Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino
More of a Dark Wonderful Life
I’ve written before of my interpretation of It’s a Wonderful Life (such as here briefly in ’05 and here earlier this month.) as a rather grim view of life, rather than merely heartwarming fare. Now here’s yet another take in the NY Times: Wonderful? Sorry, George, It’s a Pitiful, Dreadful Life. Wendell Jamieson writes: Lots [...]
It is, by-and-large, a wonderful life. Mostly.
In 2007, I had a major argument with an acquaintance of mine about whether Frank Capra’s film It’s a Wonderful Life is — at its heart — a life-affirming, warm-hearted positive view of humanity (as she maintained) or a dark, bitter view of a guy who figures out how to carve out a sliver of [...]