I was recently sent a review that was creaming over how the 2005 War Of The Worlds travesty was a NEAR PERFECT film... and that got me to thinking... have we as critics let our biases and wanton egos get the best of us where we label clearly awful and deeply wounded (far beyond flawed) films as NEAR PERFECT just to be contrarian? I love movies such as Flash Gordon or Galaxy Of Terror but they are by no means great art and I would never condescend to call them as such let alone ignore their obvious deficiencies simply to be a film snob. We are able to like a film, even love a film, without having to make up reasons for liking or loving that film and yet this critic was so far out on a limb with War Of The Worlds 2005 that they were in crazy person talking to themselves on the street about how Hitchcock stole all their ideals via mind control territory. The 2005 War Of The Worlds was full of plot holes from the story perspective... massive plot holes from a logical perspective, characters who acted stupid simply for the sake of moving the plot along, massive amounts of luck to just our (frankly unlikeable) protagonists, convenient bouts of what in the real would elicit an Yeah, that does not work like that... physics and science say so... and so on... in other words far, far, far, FAR from a PERFECT FILM. The review in question and the person behind it, in their quest to prove they are better than you, even hinted at one of the most pretentious and outrageously offensive theories about King Kong 1933 that I have been seeing more and more of the last few years... that King Kong is an allegory to white fears of blacks in the 30s taking our women and running amok in society... that theory is something I have seen bandied about a few times and it reeks of not just elitism but of that trait in which one sees racism in EVERYTHING because you know... racism and white guilt. Also, in a review of War Of The Worlds 2005 NOT A SINGLE MENTION of HG WELLS, ORSON WELLES or even the 1953 Byron Haskin/George Pal War Of The Worlds and I am surprised a hip, smart, with it, college snob like this person would be proud to remind people of the 1988 TV series since no one else remembers it. Stop being snobs about things (this includes me)... if you like a movie, just like it, you dont need to make up reasons to justify liking nor do you need to talk down to the plebeians unfortunate enough to give you pseudo credibility by endorsing your rambling thoughts and hearing how much you love to hear yourself talk. I know it just sounded like I described myself and I kind of did... so take that as it was meant.
Posted on: Fri, 11 Apr 2014 22:05:05 +0000
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