One topic of note in film criticism is the Attack of the Fan Boy – the legions of so-called losers and devotees who do nothing but Google till the day’s end, searching out apostates who have targeted their favorite films. Many a discussion has been had on this subject at Toto’s site What Would Toto Watch.
How odd that the course is being reversed in regard to James Cameron’s epic “Avatar.” While The New Yorker and Rotten Tomatoes Cream of the Crop lavish the film with praise to the tune of a 94-percent rating, the fanboys are actually letting the negative juices froth. From Ross Douthat.
Browse through the online reaction from fanboys and film geeks, though, and you’ll find that a modest (and appropriate) backlash has been building since last week. (I particularly liked this fan’s hostile review, carried out via Instant Messenger after a screening.) The source of the backlash is unexpected, in a sense, since you’d think that a movie like “Avatar” — a science fiction epic with groundbreaking special effects and a weak script — would find its most intense apologists on action and sci-fi obsessed sites like Aintitcoolnews and CHUD.com, and its most dismissive critics in the more rarefied air of, say, The New Yorker. But the more highbrow critics have all seemingly decided to grade the movie on a spectacle-driven curve. (Thus David Denby: “The movie’s story may be a little trite … but what a show Cameron puts on!”) So it’s been left to the fanboys, the people who’ve watched “Aliens” 97 times and worship the ground James Cameron walks on, to insist that there’s more to epic-making than spectacle and special effects.
There’s plenty of reasons for this. Critics love Cameron for one. The film espouses the proper politics, and it’s hard to knock Avatar for being as trite and cliche as the average Hollywood blockbuster. Maybe fanboys are becoming tired of defending substandard films. The legions who once hacked your computer for uttering of a negative word toward “The Phantom Menace,” are quite resigned to the film’s rather visible faults – two documentaries have been made on the subject even.
Print
Digg
StumbleUpon
del.icio.us
Facebook
Yahoo! Buzz
Twitter
Google Bookmarks
Google Buzz
LinkedIn
MSN Reporter
MySpace
Orkut
Ping.fm
Reddit
RSS
Slashdot
Technorati
Tumblr
Webnews.de
Dances with Shaka-Smurf of Arabia.
Welcome, carthaginean!
Don’t forget they’re blue, computer generated smurfs. That’s what makes it worth your $10.
So, the newsies aren’t doing their jobs… and the critics aren’t doing their jobs… and the politicians aren’t doing their jobs…
That’s it – it’s time to get a backpack and a cardboard sign! See you at the intersection.
Don’t forget the scientists Kenn! We’re not doing our jobs either!!!
I’m going corrugated with my sign. Can’t decide on the correct length for the scraggly beard though.
How could I forget scientists, these days?
6″-8″ of beard length is standard. Don’t forget the small particles of food – an essential detail. Thinking of taking my dog along – get me some sympathy coinage.
Some critics simply adore some directors … think Woody Allen for a primo example. Said artists really have to stumble before the smitten critics call them on it.
At risk of getting dog-piled, I never thought Woody Allen was funny, even when he was funny. Does that make me a bad person?
I don’t get him, either. I also don’t think Jerry Lewis is that funny.
“Without Feathers” is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. “Everything You Wanted to Know…” was a funny movie. Worth the price of admission for the scene with Gene Wilder drinking Woolite.
Also, check out the Big Hollywood post about some critics starting to call BS on some left wing films. It’s a smart, thoughtful piece …
RE: Woody Allen
I am a big pre-1985 Woody Allen fan. Kind of like the Young Elvis and Fat Elvis debate, I prefer the pre-1985 Allen. Love and Death is on my top ten list of favorite movies, with Zelig and Sleeper in my top fifty.
As far as Avatar, I will not see it. Not because of the politics, but because I am sick of being hit over the head with the promotions. I can’t watch fifteen minutes of TV without seeing an Avatar commercial about either the movie, the game, or a damned restaurant tie-in.
JS Lawlin, I have not seen “Love and Death,” do not like “Sleeper,” but I think “Zelig” was very funny! Once he married his step-daughter I have refused to give any money to Woody Allen, even through renting one of his older films, and I lose immense respect for actors and actresses who act in his films, knowing he is a pedophile.