Eccentric Flower talk:201002/Two Too Long

Ysabel:

Okay, wait, you're saying District 9 is crap because you decided without seeing it that it's crap and have then gone and (admittedly) cherrypicked things to support your point?

I hope it's okay if I don't take your opinion particularly seriously. Wow.

-- 17:58, 4 February 2010 (GMT)

Columbina:

I think it would be a mistake for anyone to take any of my opinions on films I haven't seen particularly seriously!

The gist of the original postings was, "Normally the Academy awards Best Picture to films I find unpleasant to watch. Ergo, I have not seen any of the films which are likely to win Best Picture and cannot speculate on them." District 9 may be a good film and it may be a bad film, but it definitely strikes me as a film I would find unpleasant to watch. So who knows? Maybe it has a chance!

-- 18:02, 4 February 2010 (GMT)

Jette:

I can't take criticism seriously from someone who didn't see the movie. Yes, "District 9" didn't follow through as strongly as it could have on its political messages, and that was a shame. But it was a well-told story -- more to the point, it was an original story in an industry full of remakes and adaptations and films based on toys. There is very little Michael Bay-ishness to it, and it is currently hovering around the bottom of my Top Ten Films of 2009 list.

The main character is terribly unsympathetic at first, which would probably be difficult for you, but that changes as the story progresses. None of the characters are likeable, but I could empathize. I'm not recommending you see it -- I'm not sure whether you'd like it -- but I wouldn't call it a mess, nor would I consider the characters unpleasant.

I liked Tarantino fucking around with me in "Inglourious Basterds" (except that he keeps making me spell those words wrong, damn it), but it too is hovering at the middle of my Top 20 list because it just got too damn talky in some parts, and at least one scene made me feel really uncomfortable.

"Up in the Air" is the kind of shallow that can still win Oscars; I'd favor it over "Avatar" (which I didn't much like), but I am not good at Oscar predictions.

P.S. Seen "Moon" yet? I'd recommend that over "District 9."

-- 18:06, 4 February 2010 (GMT)

Columbina:

As I said to Ys, I don't expect anyone to take my sight-unseen criticisms seriously. If I've actually seen the film, that's different.

I was lied to about Moon, and it's a damned shame. The campaign for the film didn't tell me anything about where the plot went. As I said somewhere else recently, I had no interest in watching Sam Rockwell talk to himself and go a little nuts for two hours, as much as I like Sam Rockwell. NONE of the very interesting and unusual occurrences later in the film were even HINTED at by the media or reviews - which, for once, is a damned shame, because if someone had even suggested there was more there than met the eye and this wasn't just a sterile closed-space piece like Solaris or Silent Running, I'd have rushed to it. Now, of course, I've read the spoilers and found out what I missed - but now that the fun has been spoiled for me, it sort of diminishes my desire to see it. Sigh.

-- 18:12, 4 February 2010 (GMT)

Soccerjude:

On the publishing thing, I remember hearing that publishers were salivating over the iPad because they were able to set their own prices in the iBookstore instead of having to kneel to the $9.99 pricing set for all Kindle titles.

And here I am saying, "But you're not paying for printing or distribution, so you're still making money HAND OVER FIST - probably MORE than you'd make on the print edition!"

And it's still impossible to get a writing deal, which is why I have all these ideas that I never bother to follow up on after I document them for "when I have time and someone will pay me to do it."

Perhaps you can also explain to me why I keep seeing James Patterson flogging his own novels on TV? Is he self-publishing now, or is his publisher figuring that the author saying, "This is a speeding freight train!" while waving his book in the air will get non-Patterson-philes to run right out to the B&N?

Lastly - I *hate* e-books. I'm sure there'll be a day when I finally give in and buy an e-book reader and the associated e-books...but having started my working life as a page in a public library, thumbing through a PRINTED book is one of those sensual, tactile experiences I hope I never have to give up.

-- 18:22, 4 February 2010 (GMT)

Peebles:

Normally, I'm not one to agree with your a priori assessments, but I thought District 9 was the worst film I saw all year. And I saw Angels 'n Demons!

-- 20:17, 4 February 2010 (GMT)

Nonelvis:

Unlike me she writes things people might actually pay to read. But she won't do it.

That last sentence should read "But she can't do it." I would love to write some original fiction again, and would love it even more if I managed to sell something. But I have yet to have an idea for anything original, or for a character I feel I could hang a story on. Until that happens, you won't be seeing anything original from me, and don't think this doesn't drive me absolutely batshit.

-- 21:41, 4 February 2010 (GMT)

ProfRobert:

Would I like Up in the Air? Clare and I were considering seeing it tonight (it's Date Night, yay!), but she said she was worried I wouldn't like it and then be crabby about it over dinner.

I really want to see Hurt Locker, and I really like Jeremy Renner, whom I hadn't even heard of till last year when I saw him in the quirky The Unusuals series. Clare doesn't want to see a depressing film, though, so it's just dinner tonight.

-- 23:39, 4 February 2010 (GMT)

Nonelvis:

I think you'd like the movie. It has a great script, the acting is terrific, and for once onscreen, you actually get to see a relationship between two adults instead of a graying older man and the 19-year-old starlet of the week. Plus Vera Farmiga is smokin' hot.

I warn you that the ending is not exactly upbeat. I felt it was the right ending, given the characters, but Col had a hard time with it.

-- 23:46, 4 February 2010 (GMT)

Jette:

I liked "Up in the Air" and would recommend it fairly widely.

Chip and I are starting to wonder if we had a bad day when we saw "The Hurt Locker" because we seem to be the only two people we know who thought it wasn't very good. "The Messenger" was a much better war-related film. And I hate to say this about the film that may cause a woman to win the Best Director Oscar for the first time, but I thought it was poorly directed and even confusing at times.

-- 02:09, 5 February 2010 (GMT)