me? i have the office in my sig.

Why, so you do!

you make it sound like my taste in movies are no good. Why's that?

First off, using a TV show to justify your taste in movies is never a good idea.

Yes, I do think you have poor taste in movies, and not just because you like the films I don't and vice versa. Your reasonings and excuses for liking or disliking films are vague and silly and nonsensical. Disliking Jesse James because it was 'boring' or No Country because it didn't make sense are utterly moronic reasons and betray your true expectations of film. Films like Jesse James or No Country are not meant to be seen as thrilling, exciting, shut-your-brain-off entertainment (though the latter certainly has duped some into viewing in that way). They are pieces of art, and should be taken apart and analyzed and critiqued as art, not as fun. If you didn't like No Country because you felt that its worldview is depressing and its themes are explored poorly, fine. You'd be wrong, but at least you'd show some sign of understanding what the film is really about. At the very least, you could write a better review than "this film was kickass. until that ending. WTF."

Of course, if you just want to watch movies as pieces of entertainment, fine. But then don't claim that your taste in film is better or even equal to those of us who actually dig into and understand what film is about. To view films like No Country without understanding what's going on underneath is to miss the point entirely, and it's rather unfair of you to judge the film in that way.

Eh, I don't like calling someone's taste good or bad... Jay can like what he wishes, he doesn't need to look at movies as art. IMO while I do drift towards "arty" films more and more, I still recognize entertainment is its equal and I have no right to say whether someone shouldn't place more stock in it. Baumer is another person who probably places entertainment above art, and I respect/agree with his reviews more than any other person here.

I did like No Country for Old Men, I never said it didnt make sense. I gave it a B+. Jesse James I didnt expect to be action packed, I just felt the story dragged way too long and just didnt enjoy it. A movie can be boring and still have tons of action, like Pirates: AWE, and a film can have no action and still be engaging, There Will Be Blood. And I do end up leaning towards more critic films. My top films of the year are Gone Baby Gone, There Will Be Blood, Superbad, and Waitress. Not exactly action packed thrillers.

Well, when you post stuff like this...



It comes off as sarcastic and condescending, and makes me think that you don't care about 'getting' the film.

People are calling it a masterpiece. I thought it was a good film. The last 30 minutes were something I wasn't expecting and when I saw it, it pissed me off. When I gave it a B+ it was a day after I saw the movie when those feelings were still there. I felt that I was cheated. As I think more and more about it I can see why the Coens went that way but I need to see the film again to see if it can change me opinion. I dont see how that is sarcastic or condescending.

Hehe, I can promise you Dan thats not him being sarcastic, I know where you'd get that vibe but its not Jay's style.

That said he's wrong about NCFOM not being a masterpiece, horribly so!!

There's ten pages of discussion here from people explaining why the film is 'great', but your comment seems like you're making fun of that. If you truly want to watch the film again to see what you missed, that's great. But do me a favor, try to watch it as a piece of art, not entertainment. Try to think about what the film is saying, and try to understand why the ending works. If you can do that, then maybe you can understand why we're all calling it a masterpiece.

i know which films to look at for art and which ones to look at for pure entertainment. I'm considered a movie snob around my friends because I like films like this and other oscar films. You're making it sound like a B+ is a bad grade.

I need some backup.

makeshift? yoshue? kypade? Care to help me out?

This is a really stupid discussion.

trixster, I think you came across a little harsh, no offense. This isn't about viewing a movie as entertainment or viewing a movie as art. I think jayhawk has it in him to appreciate good films - maybe something about NCFOM just drove him the wrong way.

In which case...

jayhawk, you should be aware of your surroundings. You can't enter a thread full of people who loved NCFOM, and just dismiss the film as being "nothing special," without any explanation. Maybe if this was "Pootie Tang," and the first five reviews were negative...it'd be cool. But not here. By writing that comment, you're admitting that you felt differently about NCFOM than everyone else. So explain why.

The ending is polarizing, and some people just can't look past it. If it disappoints, it disappoints. Although I think us NCFOM-lovers are technically correct (this is an appropriate ending - TLJ is the main character, and the main theme here is creating your own path...there'd be no other way to end the film), we can't behave like Nazis and outright dismiss someone as a "mainstream" film viewer, and someone who just doesn't get what film's all about. Maybe there's something else to jayhawk's reasoning. He needs to explain himself. That's why we've got this thread, anyways, no?

You pretty much just explained what I meant. Sorry if I came across as harsh, but Jayhawk's initial comment felt, to me, to be condescending.

Anyway, makeshift will come in here and sum it all up better than I could ever hope to, so I'll just leave it for now.

I've just never seen you like this before, haha. Chillllllll.

Wouldn't makeshift be like

Jaywhawk's feeble mind and incompetence makes him unable to process the allegories and metaphorical brilliance of the Coens' aesthetic mediation on the destruction of religious goodness in the world. Thus, Jayhawk cannot properly judge art and film and should be banished to the realm of the weak and blind.

(jk jk. but not really. please don't kill me)

"Art" is an interesting word, at least when considering its connotations.

Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins is art the same way 2001: A Space Odyssey is art.

Vantage Point is art the same way Eraserhead is art.

Bad Boys II is art the same way No Country for Old Men is art.

The key is that there is good art and bad art, just like anything else. Calling something art by itself is not a compliment. I don't think it's fair or right to suggest that Jayhawk watches No Country any differently than he would any other movie. If Jayhawk is nonplussed by the power and artistry of No Country, there is a problem with the way he watches movies, not the way he does or doesn't watch art.

I know what you're saying trixster, and I agree with it in principle. We need to be actively watching movies and digesting them and reading them. My point is the separation of "entertainment film" and "art film" is a fallacy. The excitement and adrenaline rush and yes, entertainment of something like Bad Boys II is the art of it. I believe the crucial element is in finding why and how it does these things. It is, hopefully, the exact same way I would watch something like No Country for Old Men.

It's cool, I'm cool. You've noticed I've managed to stay casual in the heat of the Corpse battle underway? It's just I get a little more defensive when we're talking films, for whatever reason.

Good post, but one note, Bad Boys II isn't really entertaining. It's kind of boring and repetitive actually. Bay might be an auteur with his fast cutting and stuff, but in most cases(Transformers and The Rock excluded), I don't think he succeeds in much more than blowing up as much shit as possible.

Told ya.

That was a pretty cheap shot. I don't think you understand makeshift.

makeshift gets overly passionate sometimes, but his reasons for loving a film are always clear. I "agree to disagree" with him, because he explains himself very well.

And that's essentially Jayhawk's problem here. Dislike the ending all you want, but let me know WHY, and we'll be cool.

Are you talking to me? I didn't mean it as a shot. I mean that makeshift understands what I'm saying better than I do, if that makes sense.

He was talking to me

I was trying to be humorous but it didn't come out too well

I'm not even tracking the Corpse battle. I'm waiting for someone to give me the CliffNotes version.

I don't really have time for WoKJ, much less Corpse's latest drama. Something about school makes me forget everything. Like, I made it a new year's resolution to "see more movies," but I haven't really watched shit since coming back to Ithaca. Not even those Godards.

And, yeah, that was to Shack. Why would I attack you? His post was ridiculous, probably stemming from the fact that he's jealoussssssss.

A little late in the convo, I suppose. I should probably quote him next time.