Kay has a great post this week, part of which caught your mad pulp bastard's eye:
"Still, Roth whining that nobody gets him is only about half as funny
as that spree Ted Elliot went on last year, complaining that
the critics were missing the deep, existentialist themes of
Pirates of the Caribbean 2. "
"This is no joke, gentle readers! He did such a thing. And it is twice as funny as Eli Roth's rant because of the legitimacy factor. The whole "Pirates" nonsense mirrors how craptastic "Bionic Woman" is. Here's the problem -- "Pirates" is based on a ride. A RIDE. AT A THEME PARK. The movies, therefore, should take me on a ride, not lecture me on some obscure philosophical principles or a dice game I still don't understand. The writers shouldn't use the screenplay as a forum for their genius.
I don't care if they're geniuses. I just want some fun summer entertainment. And for the record, I have enjoyed their work in the past, so this was obviously an attempt to elevate the genre... of theme-park rides, I guess. But how silly! Same thing with "Bionic Woman." It's based on a fucking spinoff of a 70s show. Don't elevate it. Just give me my Jamie Sommers ripping a fucking phone book in half and playing some tennis, for fuck's sake! As soon as people decide they're gonna make their mark with something, no matter how slight and silly the material, disaster ensues."
(Emphasis mine)
Is this what is wrong with BIONIC WOMAN? Yeah. I mean how hard is it to rethink BW for today's audience? Even with the deadlines and the turnaround and turmoil behind the scenes, all you really had to do was WATCH THE FRIKKIN' DVD SETS OF ALIAS and you could have a damn good template with how to deal with a show about a chick who kicks ass!
Also, is anyone else tired of the "slow buildup" here? Drop us into the story - we'll catch up - I promise. Seriously. We did it with JEKYLL.
In the interest of fair assessment though, I like the idea for this week's show - is the villain really the villain ? This is the territory to mine. This is where the gold lies along with bunches of kick-ass-action.
Let's see if this sort of show foreshadows things to come.
1 comment:
My question: did whatever deep meaningful message stuff that was in PIRATES get in the way of your enjoyment of the film?
The film made a ton of money, and audience exit polls gave it good marks even if critics thought it was confusing.
If whatever message didn't get in the way of your enjoying the film, then it's a bonus - a plus.
I thought the problem with INVASION weas the complete *lack* of theme / point. The three previous versions all had a point (and were also scary sci-fi movies). This version was just pointless crap.
I think anything that's a bonus is just that - a bonus. A good thing. When the movie starts preaching, it sucks. But with today's DVD world - where it's not about rentals, it's about *sales* - I want as many bonuses as possible. Those are things that make people want to see the movie again and again... and make the decision to buy the DVD.
- Bill
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