Here’s Brett McCracken on Movieguide’s ongoing campaigns of preposterous “film criticism.”
Earlier, Mark Moring’s post at CT… in which the comments became lively, especially when Movieguide’s Tom Snyder showed up to call Moring’s post “a silly article” without sufficiently answering any of the problems exposed.
I like the idea of seeing Naomi Watts and Sean Penn together, but after the double-punch of the thoroughly mediocre MR. AND MRS. SMITH and the absolutely abysmal JUMPER, I’ve just about lost all faith in Doug Liman. It’s a shame; once upon a time, Liman was a promising talent.
Personally I think a person should be able to marry whomever they want…provided they’re of age, of the same species and not swimming in the same gene pool. Regardless of my personal views on homosexuality, it’s not my place to deny them their earthly happiness.
However, the Oscar speechifying was definitely the low point of the night, especially since I think Black and Penn received their awards just so they could give those speeches. I haven’t seen Milk yet (planning to at some point, if for no other reason than to justify or nullify this quasi-mini-rant), but I can’t for a moment imagine Sean Penn bettering Mickey Rourke’s epic performance in The Wrestler. It struck me as a purely political gesture, not an artistic one. If Prop 8 hadn’t passed a few months ago, we probably wouldn’t be having this discussion.
The stopped clock is right twice a day, so I’m not shocked I partially agree with Andrew Sullivan. And “The Colonel” was hilarious. “Finger-lickin’ dead,” indeed.
Er, Jeff, it’s somewhat dishonest to quote Sullivan’s very short piece criticizing Penn’s speech without noting that he unequivocally praised Black’s, isn’t it? 😉
And Seth, many very credible people feel Penn deserved the Oscar on the merits of his performance. And I to, too. 🙂
*er, “I do, too.” (gotta take a nap…)
Perhaps Penn did deserve the Oscar on the merits of his performance. I have no quarrel with that. It’s still illogical for him to maintain that people should reconsider their votes on Prop 8 because he got an Oscar. Denzel Washington played Malcolm X and didn’t get an Oscar; does that mean I should reconsider my position on racial equality?