Any other overrated, critic-loved films you want to take down a peg or two?
And, again, I haven't seen "Sideways." For all I know, it's brilliant.
Kottke points out an article by NYT film critic A.O. Scott about how critics probably love "Sideways," the film poised to take the Academy Awards by storm, because the main character is basically a critic. What he means by that is the guy is kind of a withdrawn nerd with an encyclopedic knowledge on some arcane subject matter, which he then expounds on at length (ahem..cough..hypocrite blogger...cough).
I haven't seen the movie, but I've noticed this kind of behaviour in movie critics before. "Diner" is an OK movie, but since most film critics spent the early sixties in greasy spoons blabbing to their friends while the captain of the football team picked and chose cheerleaders, I can see how it resonates. Ditto with the "Big Chill," which isn't terrible, but also isn't in the least bit relevant to a Generation X no-good like myself. All the boomer critics love it, though, and consistently place it near the top of their "best of all time" lists. Same with "Accidental Tourist," a slow moving borefest about some withdrawn author, that really only has a decent John Williams score to recommend it.
Any other overrated, critic-loved films you want to take down a peg or two?
And, again, I haven't seen "Sideways." For all I know, it's brilliant.
I saw Sideways about a month ago and liked it a lot, but i don't understand why every critic in North America is hailing it the best film of the year. Christ, it wasn't THAT good.
One overrated, crtically-acclaimed film that comes to mind is Lost in Translation. What a piece of dogshit that was.
I didn't mind Lost in Translation, though I'll agree the critics went a little overboard. I'd say Gladiator is the same; not a bad flick, but certainly not worthy of a "Best Picture" nod.
Ya, I agree with you on Gladiator. A decent summer flick, but Best Picture? C'mon.
I loved sideways and would think any fan of the Alexander Payne movies would love it too.
Loved Election, never saw About Schmidt. Though it's been sitting on a couple of CD-Rs for about a year now. :)
Saw Sideways and it was an excellent movie. Worthy of Oscar consideration for sure. It was an interesting story, well told, acted and directed. Movies up for an Oscar might not have to relate to everyone but if they tell the story well, have decent acting, direction and can make it entertaining, then they (the filmakers) have done their job. Other films that will probably beat it this year are Million Dollar Baby, (not the movie you expect) and Hotel Rwanda.
Ok, here's one I don't get; the brouhaha over Napoleon Dynamite. It's mildly amusing, but it isn't the laugh-fest it's been made out to be.
Same goes for almost anything the Farelly Brothers have done, with the exception of "Something About Mary," which is pretty damn funny.
Well, I enjoyed Napoleon Dynamite, would I give it an award, gosh no, I think I saw it in the properer circumstance though, if I was in a differnt mood that surely would've affected my opinion. I am hit and miss with the farelly's ate best I liked Something About Mary and only mildy enjoyed the others. As for this years oscars, I really hope they take action to fix the Foreign language travesty that is occuring this year.
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