Friday, April 30, 2004
Who is this mystery woman?
I completely agree with fellow masked movie snob Sombrero Grande, you cannot trust an opinion if you do not know that person, and what they like. We all have the ability to disagree, and I can tell you I LOVE a good argument. Have a point, be able to back it up with reasons, and do not worry if anyone else shares your opinion, but be respectful and do not take anything too personally.
I have a bunch of “rules” for all kinds of things; there are very few exceptions to my rules. All that this means is that I am rarely disappointed and I am often pleasantly surprised. Win/win in my book.
When it comes to movies, the rules are actually pretty simple, do not insult my intelligence, have some pride in your work, and make an effort to entertain and make a statement at the same time. In general movies made purely for profit do not go over very well with me. I am a huge fan of the Indie film for this very reason. Those who make films because they have something to say, not just because they have bills to pay, should be given more credit from the start. “Titanic” was written in a day, and that is completely obvious, but it made money, which was all it was supposed to do. I run from sequels of the 90’s, none have been made because the story was not finished (LOTR does not count as it is supposed to be told in 3 acts). Every recent sequel was made because the first one did well (usually when nobody thought that it would), the producers figured they could make a killing on the next one. Problem is, that nobody takes any pride in the second one they throw the thing together as quickly as possible, have some lame continuation to a story that was nicely wrapped up in the first movie, and may or may not follow those same characters.
Examples of late, Men in Black, Shrek, Pitch Black, Blade, Matrix, Dumb and Dumber, the Whole 9 yards, The Bourne Identity, the Mummy….I could go on, but I won’t. These movies were fine, they are what they are. Like them or hate them, none of them needed a crappy sequel. There are always exceptions, but not very many.
Whether or not I like an actress is based on a very tough test. Many women have passed, but sadly many more do not. Some women that I love to watch, Drew Barrymore, Sandra Bullock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jodi Foster, and now I can add Jennifer Garner. I cannot stand actresses who do not take a role because it may require them to look unattractive, has them cast as the butt of a joke, or the totally uncoordinated ditz. Or worse yet, take the role, and then be out of place because their makeup has to be perfect, and they have to be the center of the screen. All of the women listed above have been seen in unflattering roles, have fallen down and been laughed at and have made me believe that they are “normal” people.
All I ask of actors is that they be able to act, for the love of God. Convince me that you are who you are pretending to be. I know that a lot of this has to do with directors, and casting people, but there are some horrific actors still getting work. Some get better with age, some find the perfect roles, and some just learn what they can do and what they cannot. A few of the actors that I think have improved over the years are Johnny Depp, Richard Gere (who would have thought), James Spader, and Burt Reynolds, to name a few.
Listed in my links section is a list of DVD’s that I own, also a list of movies that I have rented from netflix over the last 3 years. I have created a rating system for things that I have seen which is listed there as well. The ratings go from +5 to -5 I have explained what I mean by each number.
That should give you some insight as to the kind of movies that I enjoy. My mantra has been, “I will watch anything, I may not like it, but I will watch it”. I must confess, however that there are some movies that I will avoid at all cost, because there is absolutely no chance that I will like it at all. See the sequel rant above. So, if you do not agree with my assessment, that is fine, but you may want to look to someone else for guidance.
Happy watching:
Mujer de Misterio ♥
0 comments
I have a bunch of “rules” for all kinds of things; there are very few exceptions to my rules. All that this means is that I am rarely disappointed and I am often pleasantly surprised. Win/win in my book.
When it comes to movies, the rules are actually pretty simple, do not insult my intelligence, have some pride in your work, and make an effort to entertain and make a statement at the same time. In general movies made purely for profit do not go over very well with me. I am a huge fan of the Indie film for this very reason. Those who make films because they have something to say, not just because they have bills to pay, should be given more credit from the start. “Titanic” was written in a day, and that is completely obvious, but it made money, which was all it was supposed to do. I run from sequels of the 90’s, none have been made because the story was not finished (LOTR does not count as it is supposed to be told in 3 acts). Every recent sequel was made because the first one did well (usually when nobody thought that it would), the producers figured they could make a killing on the next one. Problem is, that nobody takes any pride in the second one they throw the thing together as quickly as possible, have some lame continuation to a story that was nicely wrapped up in the first movie, and may or may not follow those same characters.
Examples of late, Men in Black, Shrek, Pitch Black, Blade, Matrix, Dumb and Dumber, the Whole 9 yards, The Bourne Identity, the Mummy….I could go on, but I won’t. These movies were fine, they are what they are. Like them or hate them, none of them needed a crappy sequel. There are always exceptions, but not very many.
Whether or not I like an actress is based on a very tough test. Many women have passed, but sadly many more do not. Some women that I love to watch, Drew Barrymore, Sandra Bullock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jodi Foster, and now I can add Jennifer Garner. I cannot stand actresses who do not take a role because it may require them to look unattractive, has them cast as the butt of a joke, or the totally uncoordinated ditz. Or worse yet, take the role, and then be out of place because their makeup has to be perfect, and they have to be the center of the screen. All of the women listed above have been seen in unflattering roles, have fallen down and been laughed at and have made me believe that they are “normal” people.
All I ask of actors is that they be able to act, for the love of God. Convince me that you are who you are pretending to be. I know that a lot of this has to do with directors, and casting people, but there are some horrific actors still getting work. Some get better with age, some find the perfect roles, and some just learn what they can do and what they cannot. A few of the actors that I think have improved over the years are Johnny Depp, Richard Gere (who would have thought), James Spader, and Burt Reynolds, to name a few.
Listed in my links section is a list of DVD’s that I own, also a list of movies that I have rented from netflix over the last 3 years. I have created a rating system for things that I have seen which is listed there as well. The ratings go from +5 to -5 I have explained what I mean by each number.
That should give you some insight as to the kind of movies that I enjoy. My mantra has been, “I will watch anything, I may not like it, but I will watch it”. I must confess, however that there are some movies that I will avoid at all cost, because there is absolutely no chance that I will like it at all. See the sequel rant above. So, if you do not agree with my assessment, that is fine, but you may want to look to someone else for guidance.
Happy watching:
Mujer de Misterio ♥
