posted
Because him ranting and raving about Spongebob cracks me up. I only saw one episode of that and it was really funny because he turned into a real sponge that got rubbed all over dishes. I have a sense of humour like a six year old. I swear I do. Today at work once again I was thinking about stupid television shows and how EVERYONE should be offended by them. Men should be offended, women, white people, black people, gay people, everyone because television makes everyone look stupid. White people on television are mostly dull yuppy dorks. Black people on a lot of television shows, especially sitcoms are ridiculous, Hispanics keep being portrayed as maids or gardeners for rich people and men look like lunky sports watching children neglecting bumbling jerks and if they are "sensitive" then they are weak. This drives me crazy and makes me long for the good old days before I even HAD a television. Heaven forbid I should ever have cable and start watching those lame repeats of crappy 60s shows just because they are on >.<.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
This is why I bar myself in my room and use only the computer to entertain myself. I haven't watched a sitcom in 6 years. The only thing I watch on TV is the History channel and Stand-Up Comedy.
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
I've stopped reading them -- tired of the rhetoric and lack of respect.
It's too bad, some of his ideas are interesting and make me think of things I wouldn't otherwise. And his book reviews are usually really good. But... reading his columns is too much like eating a batch of Bernie Bott's Every Flavor Beans that have a larger-than-usual share of unpleasant flavors.
Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
What a great metaphor! I can't read his regular columns. It makes me want to drink for some reason... A nice large bright green beer mug of absinthe followed with about a gallon of moonshine... Maybe it's because I am allergic to some forms of conservatism and the phrase "intellectual elite." I wonder if he would think I am one because of how smug I get when I realize I've liked opera for almost 20 years without anyone forcing me to like it... *smug and proud* But, his reviews are funny as all heck sometimes except for some of the movie reviews... Still, EVERYONE gets dissed on television. Which is why I should just play the Sims 2 all the time while reading.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
Card's reviews probably match mine on a long arc, like a close curve in space. He liked National Treasure. I think that he did get it wrong though, Gates did lie at the end, if I recall correctly.
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It's very strange, but almost every film that he loves, I hate, and vice versa.
Therefore, I now actively seek out films that he gives poor reviews to, although nothing in this world is going to make me go see SpongeBob. (I do rather wish he’d stop reviewing films he hasn’t seen though).
Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
I have disagreed with him on many a film review, and agreed with him on just as many. His review doesn't affect my desire to see the movie, though.
Posts: 530 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
I disagree with him about American Beauty. How can you review a movie you haven't seen? I TORTURED myself with Dr. T and the Women even though I KNEW it would be bad from the second I saw the trailer. Richard Gere has beady non asiatic eyes. Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
Gah! Doctor T and the Women is quite possibly the worst, most mysogynistic piece of crap I've ever had the misfortune of sitting through. I couldn't *believe* how bad that thing was.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Yeah, reviewing a movie you haven't yet seen is a fairly ridiculous thing to do. In fairness, though, that isn't what he did with the SpongeBob movie. He talked for a bit about SpongeBob in general, and how much he loaths it from the bits of it he's seen on TV, and then passed along his daughter's and wife's comments. Nothing wrong with that.
Not to say that is reviews are always particularly well thought out. I remember when he was reviewing Daredevil (which he *had* seen), he stated that
quote:Daredevil is a movie that is so much better than its comic book roots
Now, to make a statement like that, one would have to be familiar with those comic book roots, wouldn't you think? Either that or be dismissing the entire genre of comic books as trash, which would go against Card's anti-lit crit stance strongly enough that I doubt he'd do it. A few paragraphs later, though, he remarks that "it was a comic book so lame that I never heard of it before the promos for this movie began." Unless he went out and exhaustively read his way through the old Daredevil comic books (and Daredevil has been running since Marvel's early Silver Age), or at least a significant portion of them, he can't really comment with any authority on the quality of the comics, can he? And yet he does. He doesn't suspect that they were lame, he knows it for a fact. Somehow.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
I have previously commented on the Bizarro-World nature of Card's reviews (and political opinions). In general, I find his tastes are, while not 100% exact, a fairly accurate way to predict what I will dislike. Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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quote: Maybe it's because I am allergic to some forms of conservatism and the phrase "intellectual elite." I wonder if he would think I am one because of how smug I get when I realize I've liked opera for almost 20 years without anyone forcing me to like it... *smug and proud*
Psst . . . OSC loves opera. The liking of opera has nothing to do with what he calls the "intellectual elite." No, that phrase targets the unbearably snobbish people who believe their views are so superior that they cant fathom any intelligent human being who happens to hold the opposing view. These people can be found on both the right and the left, and OSC treats both with an equal amount of contempt (e.g. he despises Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh just as much as he does Al Franken and Michael Moore.)
Posts: 786 | Registered: Jun 2003
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He likes OPERA! *lights up* OOOO. i wonder if he likes Dmitri Hvorostovsky and if he has been exposed to the COOLNESS that is DMITRI.... *pours him some tea* Though, I am a terrible person in a way still...
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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"OSC treats both with an equal amount of contempt (e.g. he despises Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh just as much as he does Al Franken and Michael Moore.)"
It'd be nice if he took the time to complain about the former two more often, then. I'm sure Michael Moore doesn't need yet another screed directed at him.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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I heard Michael Moore behaved like a human being on Letterman recently. Maybe the screeds are getting through?
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
I'm smug because I actually know what screed is.
For real.
EDIT: Apparently, I didn't. At least not in the way Tom meant it. I was thinking of screed-- the sheet of loose rock that one might see after a landslide.
And now that I look it up on www.dictionary.com, I see that there is no definition that matches mine at all. . .
See what smugness does to you? It makes you look stupid.
[ December 01, 2004, 08:42 AM: Message edited by: Scott R ]
Posts: 14554 | Registered: Dec 1999
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quote: After watching SpongeBob for hours and hours, how can any child ever hope to acquire an appreciation of beauty and wisdom, of real humor and human virtue?
:blink:
But you LIKE 'Two-and-a-Half Men?'
Bleah on both shows. For my TV comedy, I watch Dr. Phil.
Posts: 14554 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
I kinda like reading his reviews too. I sometimes disagree, and I sometimes agree. I haven't yet detected any trend, and whether or not it will be a predictor of my enjoyment of something. I think I generally do enjoy books I have read that he has recommended. I think we have grotesquely different tastes in comedy, though. I generally can't stand the comedies he likes. I agree with him about The Incredibles, the short that comes before it, and Spongebob, though. I too wish he wouldn't review movies he has not seen (as he did with The Village, but I realize his collumns are kind of an informal side-thing, and they're almost more like a blog that happens to be published in a magazine. If you hold them to that standard for research and thoroughness, they don't seem so lacking anymore.
I disagree with some of his politics, and I agree with some of them. I regularly read his political column, because it gives me a point of view I don't routinely come across, and I consider it valuable to me to read a wide variety of opinions. I don't object to his politics at all, but I do object to his tendency to paint people who disagree with him as part of some evil Hollywood-academe conspiracy, or as dupes of same. Which is why this sentence made me choke with its irony:
quote: No, that phrase targets the unbearably snobbish people who believe their views are so superior that they cant fathom any intelligent human being who happens to hold the opposing view.
In any case, I'm hoping that I will see less of it now that the election is over.
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I was helping my now ex-girlfriend babysit, and the kids were watching it.
Spongebob took a job as a lifeguard. On a beach. At the bottom of the ocean. And he couldn't swim.
It was the kind of thing that could only be written (or enjoyed) by someone who is majorly high on some good drugs. Very trippy.
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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Brian, I don't think it's very nice to post that. Knowing how much OSC loves me will only serve to make other users of this forum feel bad. I know you're okay with it, but some people just don't have your self-esteem.
And besides...we've been trying to keep it on the downlow, know what I mean?
posted
As worthless as Spongebob is, and I wholeheartedly agree that it is, it is leagues better than Yugi-Oh.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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SpongeBob is funny. Really. It's roll your eyes and shake your head exasperatedly kind of funny, but sometime, it's actually funny. I promise. I guess you just have to have a cheesy sense of humor like I do...
and while I would not pay to see SpongeBob at the movies, I would not be opposed to someone else paying, or sitting through the movie once it hits the Starz channel.
posted
I can't wait until the makers of execrable movies such as I, Robot realize that OSC (a) considers a lot of awful movies to be instant classics, (b) writes glowing reviews of them and (c) is a very popular figure. Before long they'll be putting his quotes on DVD boxes.
Posts: 4600 | Registered: Mar 2000
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The essence of a good reviewer is not how much you agree with him, but how reliably you can predict whether you will like the work based on the review.
From that perspective, OSC is a great reviewer for Tom. With me he's hit or miss. When he takes time to explain why he likes or doesn't like something, he's very good. When he uses throwaway descriptions, not so much.
posted
That's between me and my concrete, thank you very much, and not a subject for discussion on a family friendly forum.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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He hates SpongeBob and loves Polar Express... oy!
quote:The problem, you see, is that our brains are designed to key in with remarkable precision on the eyes of other people. Every tiny twitch of the brows, lids, and skin around the eyes is registered as part of the character, as part of the life of the person.
And that is precisely the thing that the capture method they used in making Polar Express could not reproduce. That is why some people complain of dead eyes -- even though Polar Express actually has far more facial expression than The Incredibles or any other animated movie before it.
wait for it....
waiiiiiit for it.......
......AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!
He seems to just lurrrrve plopping himself down in someone else's field and showing off his just-enough-to-be-dangerous grasp of the subject. Why not just write about topics he actually understands??
Posts: 1681 | Registered: Jun 2004
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Zeugma, it's because he reads a lot of stuff, about a lot of different topics, so that maks him feel educated enough to at least form (and share) informed opinions on multiple topics. I am curious. What is it about the section you quoted that makes his grasp of the basic concepts "just enough to be dangerous"?
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Again, think of it as his blog, and, while you may still disagree with him, it will probably aggravate you less.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Brian, he's correct about the importance of facial and eye animation, especially when animating human characters, but that line about Polar Express having "far more facial expression" than "any other animated movie before it" is.... I mean, it's just so far out in left field, it's not even funny. He's just pulling this stuff out of thin air.
Posts: 1681 | Registered: Jun 2004
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You know what it reminds me of? The Sesame Street segment with Alistair Cookie, where the Cookie Monster would pretend to be an aloof well-read scholar while he sat around in a highback leather armchair puffing on a pipe that blew bubbles.
Posts: 1681 | Registered: Jun 2004
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I like his reviews too--when he actually reviews, that is. In many cases his critiques descend into diatribes against the Evils of the Left. Check out his Incredibles review. Starts off simple enough, but then his focus becomes that little minor short film and takes over the rest of the review. And it wasn't that evil of a short film, anyway.
Posts: 722 | Registered: Jul 2004
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What was so wrong about Boundin'. It was a cute story with a pretty non-controversial moral. Hey sheep, you were beautiful when you had your coat and you danced, and just because you don't have your coat, it doesn't mean that you are not beautiful when you dance. Is that so bad? Heck, you can extrapolate that to death. You don't stop living, just because you know that you are going to die. You can have another lesson about priorities, and with all of these folks with more gadgets and toys than food on the table, a story concerning priorities seems appropriate. It was a nice little cartoon where the sheep was shown to think and remember what was important and seperate it from what was not.
Posts: 5600 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Reading the review, OSC definitely has a point about the how people interpret realism. It's been shown that, in many situations, definite 'cartoon' characters resonate more with people than more realistic CG characters. At some point the mind stops filling in the details. It stops noticing the differences and starts noticing the differences. The result is characters that are somewhat zombie-like or unreal. The exact effect OSC describes.
Posts: 903 | Registered: May 2003
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The short film was asinine. The people who wrote it didn't even understand their own point, as evidenced by the fact that the sheep, who was ashamed at having been made naked, was made to feel better by pointing out that his skin color was nothing to be ashamed of. If you want us to feel good about the solution to the problem, at least solve the problem you set up.
quote:It stops noticing the differences and starts noticing the differences.
posted
It was boring. It was like one of those bland '80s Saturday morning cartoons. I've been trying so hard to forget it...
Posts: 2911 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
Boundin' was easily the worst of Pixar's shorts so far; tonally, visually, and sonically it was on a level far below what they've done in the past. The poem was terrible, the moral managed to be both oversimplistic and incoherent, and the animation was purely mediocre (exhibiting only the occasional moment of intriguing whimsy.) Between that and the NASCAR film, I'm a little worried that they've lost their way a bit. But who knows? *shrug*
That said, people who do not find SpongeBob at least occasionally side-splittingly funny lack an appreciation of what funny is.Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
The short sheep film was stupid and good at the same time. I liked the message and did not see it as PC nonsense at all. He was saying, No matter what, don't fret. Whether your naked or covered in wool, dance anyway. It was cute and very dumb.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
I found Boundin' to be exactly what it presented itself as--a sweet,silly, sentimental cartoon.
All this hand wringing about whether or not the cartoon is moral or immoral makes me laugh. It's a freaking cartoon. Look for life lessons somewhere else, okely dokely?
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
I don't think anybody's questioning whether or not Boundin' is moral. Rather, the issue is if it's stupid, particularly in the way it lets a clumsy attempt at a moral get in the way of the storytelling.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Being stupid. Sorry. I meant to say, once a certain level of detail is achieved, the mind stops filling in the details and starts noticing when they aren't there. Hence the effect that CG characters appear wooden...
As for Boundin', I thought it was stupid. If it threw a moral at me, it soared past me like most baseballs. To me, it was just kinda... dumb.
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