Now that school is out, however, I'm finally catching up on my magazines, and soon I'll get the chance to read my own little reward for myself - Cloud Atlas. The book was written by David Mitchell and has been universally praised for its structural ingenuity and literary prowess. And the concept is so unusual it's actually being adapted for the big screen by the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer.
Color me intrigued... but also annoyed.
I don't like being in on something that's a hot commodity. With a team like that, you know a lot of money is being spent and even more will be spent trying to bring audiences in. This is a rarity for me. Generally, I am on the outskirts of popular media - not avoiding it per se, but not seeking it out either. I avoided 30 Rock, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad for years before finally succumbing (and subsequently loving), and here I am actually on the forefront.
There's just something about populist material that makes me suspicious. Of what, exactly, I'm not sure, but suspicious... and more likely to be captious in my opinion. Here's hoping the book is great nevertheless, and I'm curious to see if this "unfilmmable" movie is any good.
Its interesting to hear this perspective. I felt this way about LOST, then became an absolute super fan of it.
ReplyDeletePeople who spend time critiquing things tend to be wary of those things which receive praise from the untrained or novice.
For some people its cars, others technology, etc...
I would say that I would be more surprised if you just blindly read either the next "in" book or watched the next "great" movie just because everyone else did.
Being on the forefront might also mean that you are becoming more adept at sending mass popularity.
In my critiques, long ago, I began to creep towards a feeling of superiority. However being humbled has directed that.
I suspect, after reading your blogs,.you have experienced such a time as well.
I just like to watch things that look good. Or things my wife wants to see. Cloud Atlas huh? Might have to look into that.
ReplyDeleteAlso, my review of the Avengers is up. Let me know once you have read it, so the epic debate can begin.
ReplyDeleteWell, in a sense, writing reviews/critiques is foolproof because you can't really be wrong; you're just expressing your opinion/thoughts/insight. You may not be particularly insightful or thoughtful, or perhaps your opinion stands on shaky ground, but it's still yours - it's not as though there is any real quantitative way to judge art. At the end of the day, we're really just talking about shades of gray.
ReplyDeleteMaybe ten/eleven years ago, when I first started writing reviews for the Web, I thought I knew it all and was so clever. Of course, I didn't know what I was talking about and was struggling to find "my" voice, but it was still a fun thing to do and forced me to think about movies critically and really examine them, rather than simply watch them. Anyway, I got into an Internet argument that spread itself out over months - literal months - concerning the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. I'm not a fan of the trilogy, never have been, and I was outspoken about my view. We kept going back and forth, writing pages and pages of arguments and rebuttals, until finally we both agreed to disagree - what a waste! But that's the nature of the beast. Because we're dealing with opinions and perspectives, no one is really "right" - it really comes down to how well you make your case.
I don't know what that has to do with anything, but it seems somewhat related to the topic at hand. :o)
ps. I've read your review, Dave, I'll take the discussion there... Alan, if you'd like to take a peek, I'm sure Dave wouldn't mind the traffic.
http://nextonsicksadworld.blogspot.com/2012/05/marvel-movie-countdown-day-whatever.html
Thanks Jacob. That makes up for you being wrong.
ReplyDelete