Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by David Mester (A) on August 10, 2002 at 18:21:11

In Reply to: Yup, the state of Hollywood cinema... posted by Harmonia on August 10, 2002 at 12:53:06:

Totally agree with you, Harmonia! I'm not snotty either (at least no one who knows me thinks so), but my tastes are just out of the mainstream, I guess. I'm not ashamed to admit that I've been moved to tears by a good many films, some blockbusters, some not. But, predictable plot devices turn me off big time. Jackie Brown is definitely a step in the right direction for Tarantino. And, how about Paul Thomas Anderson? I was absolutely stunned by the stylistic originality of Boogie Nights and Magnolia. And Sam Mendes isn't bad either. He seems to have mastered a formula for appealing to the masses as well as sophisticates. Opie is what I call a faceless director. He has good storytelling "skills", and seems to know a great deal about the mechanics of filmmaking and how to manipulate audiences, but he has very little recognizable style of his own, and he, like Spielberg, resorts to some awfully predictable, deliberately manipulative devices that ultimately distract me from total involvement. After all, film IS art, and I can only express my opinions about it. It's not just about the story, but how the story is told. It's interesting to me that my brother and sister, for example, thought Erin Brockovich was a totally forgettable, made-for-tv kind of film, where as I liked it a lot and didn't see it that way at all. Our opinions of A Beatiful Mind are polar opposites. Go Figure.