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Yup, the state of Hollywood cinema...

24.208.213.190

Posted by Harmonia on August 10, 2002 at 12:53:06

In Reply to: sad part posted by Mart on August 10, 2002 at 05:10:42:

I have never been able to warm to Spielberg and I am nearly immune to the charms of Tom Cruise, hence my disappointment with Minority Report, which most critics hailed as terrific. (I'm a big fan of Phillip K. Dick, and sci-fi, but I'm still waiting for the next great sci-fi flick...maybe Solaris, though it'll have to go some to beat Tarkovsky's original.) There are some good things in MR, but Spielberg cannot resist the pull of the "Spielberg" moment. I know this point of view puts me squarely outside the majority.

The only 2 films of Steven's that don't make me cringe are Raiders of the Lost Ark (a live action comic book, it is what it is) and Schindler's List. Close Encounters has some nice moments, and AI is an interesting failure. I must be the only person in the universe that is indifferent to ET. Spielberg is gifted, but his taste is something else again. I know movies are manipulative, but there's just something about Speilberg's cinematic sensibility that takes me out of his films. He will always annoy me at some point with that manipulation. Peter Jackson doesn't, Spielberg does. Lucas does. (Lucas can't write dialog to save his life.)

Opie gets trapped in the banal, and even with a good set-up, can't resolve his stories in a satisfying way. BTW, I credit much of A Beautiful Mind's triteness to sapmeister Akiva Goldsman, how this man won an Oscar for screenwriting is totally beyond me. It's not like he didn't have competition - Memento, Gosford Park, LOTR etc.

It's not that I'm too snotty to enjoy popcorn flicks, it's just that too many movie makers go for the big boring effects and idiot plot devices. I can fall in love with a blockbuster (rarely, but I did for LOTR). I just can't embrace dumb.

BTW, I might disagree with you about Tarentino. It's too early to tell, he's been too full of himself. I thought Jackie Brown was a step in the right direction. Burton is great when his obsessions dovetail with the material, but he's another one who has problems with dramatic structure.

I hope Miramax & Harvey Weinstein do right by Scorsese. Harvey - keep yer paws OFF Gangs of New York!

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