1. Wrapping up this week’s heavy film talk, I thought I’d post some provocative recent thoughts from controversial New York Press film critic Armond White. If you’re not familiar with White, he’s a bit of an agitator – frequently unfair but never boring and definitely coming from a sympathetic point of view (ht LF):
“. . . from early on, I knew I was different. Our parents raised us Baptist, then they got saved and became Pentecostal. There was always a lot of religion around. It had a big effect on me. I’m a believer. I think God is the force for ultimate good in the universe. He made the movies, didn’t he? If you cut me open, that’s what you’d find: the movies, Bible verses, and Motown lyrics.”
Anyhow, he used his review of the recent rom-com “It’s Complicated” as an occasion to give some pointed analysis of contemporary Hollywood. Check it out:
“No film school teaches about the Phantom Hollywood genre: mainstream movies that sneakily validate the personal foibles of film industry professionals. These movies—usually about divorce, infidelity, broken homes, power-and-sex addictions—are contrived to look like they’re about average folk. Nancy Meyers’ ‘It’s Complicated’ is the latest. Its story of a middle-aged divorced couple—Jane and Jake—who get back together despite other new attachments, bears little connection to actual human behavior or recognizable lifestyles. Each ‘adorable’ yet unreal scene is more offensive than the last.
“Art is supposed to be personal expression, but Phantom Hollywood movies deliberately avoid self-examination. They’re about self-pity and their plots navigate self-absolution for mistakes made through permissiveness, privilege and sheer vanity. ‘It’s Complicated’ is textbook Phantom Hollywood, starting with its establishing shot of sun-baked gabled roofs and manicured lawns—the middle-class world that once was the setting for boulevard comedies written for the theater to entertain the bourgeoisie. Recently this Los Angeles luxe has become the default milieu for fantasies about Hollywood’s nouveau riche (see any Judd Apatow-directed film).
“Meyers couldn’t be more false if she was trying to overlook complexity, difficulty and toil. Her slick, easily managed complications are no more credible than the myth of domestic happiness, which promiscuous Hollywood refuses to endorse. ‘It’s Complicated’ endorses analysis. Jane’s therapist session basically asks for permission (“It can’t hurt”)—the Hollywood alternative to prayer or religious counsel. No spiritual quest occurs in Phantom Hollywood movies, that’s why its characters are vapid.“
2. Mike Horton responds briefly to Pat Robertson’s truly detestable comments about Haiti. A lot more could be said, but how much do we really want to dignify Robertson’s predictably anti-Gospel bile…
3. The Leno vs Conan debacle. While Conan certainly has all of my/our support, the “letter-of-the-law” tone of this whole thing is starting to lead where these things always lead – sanctimony, schadenfreude and litigation (ht TB). At least the jokes are still funny! What do you think?
4. The Book Of Eli. As a shameless post-apocalyptic junkie, I’ve had high hopes for this one, and The A/V Club’s review only stoked the flames:
In the wake of The Passion Of The Christ, the expected deluge of big-budget Christian entertainments has never quite materialized, but the logline for the post-apocalyptic thriller The Book Of Eli—about a Biblical warrior who protects the last known copy of the Good Book—suggests a late start. Working from a script by Gary Whitta, the Hughes brothers, Albert and Allen, have made a stark affirmation of faith as a guiding light for a broken, lawless civilization, but to their credit, the film stops well short of proselytizing.
5. Finally, in financial news, apparently this is real (ht AZ). Invest with conviction!
COMMENTS
8 responses to “Another Week Ends: Phantom Hollywood, Pat Robertson, Conan vs Leno, The Book Of Eli”
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Where to start?
🙂
1. Armond White–who is he kidding? Hollywood movies ALWAYS overlook complexity, difficulty and toil. They made some of his kind of flics in the 60's and 70's but that's because they made money.
2. Leno vrs Conan: Maybe it's just me but I never thought either of them was Funny, besides you're looking for Justice from NBC?
Peace.
Thanks Dave, good summary. Looking forward to The Book of Eli (and secretly expecting to hear something from Elaine Pagels on its canonicity)…also, isn't Denzel the son of a preacher-man?
Saw Book Of Eli yesterday and was pretty disappointed. Great premise (duh), lots of flash and visual invention, but a pretty confusing/unconvincing central conflict and a terrible female lead… Denzel is awesome though.
One day perhaps one of these post-apocalyptic movies will top The Road Warrior (or at least touch it) but that day has not yet come. With Mad Max 4 on the horizon, maybe there's some hope…
p.s. Mich – I find Conan incredibly funny. Andy even more so.
Appreciate the update. 8-(
Picking up on the question DZ raised: What movies contend for the category of Best Post-Apocalyptic?
THE ROAD (released 7 weeks ago) has in my view gotta be one of the top contenders. I just loved it (though I felt that the last 3 minutes were problematic). Also important from a MB perspective in its treatment of suffering.
Other contenders surely include CHILDREN OF MEN, 28 DAYS LATER, and 28 WEEKS LATER. Depending on how much one loves strange cult films, ZARDOZ might also be up there.
See this link at Wikipedia for a complete list of all Post-Apocalyptic movies ever made:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dystopian_films#Post-apocalyptic
I'll admit that I have never seen THE ROAD WARRIOR. I'll see it now that I know how much Dave loves it.
Dave, should I see MAD MAX first? THE ROAD WARRIOR is a sequel to MM, right?
The Road Warrior is AWESOME!
George Miller, young Mel, The Gyro Captain and of course the Feral Kid–"Get the Bullit!"
Mad Max is good, but you don't have to see it to understand the Road Warrior.
Forget Thunderdome–the went Hollywood and wrecked it.
When is Mad Max 4 due out?
Hi Mich. IMDB has it being released next year. In the news releases and movie gossip pieces the movie is sometimes called MAD MAX 4 and other times FURY ROAD.
Here is a piece that was released a few hours ago about it.
http://www.filmshaft.com/teresa-palmer-cast-in-mad-max-4-fury-road/
It sounds like the movie will begin filming later this year which sounds consistent with a 2011 release.
I saw Book of Eli last weekend and I recommend it. Lots of pearls and powerful themes. One theme is that we take, among many other things, the ability to read (especially read "The Book") for granted. Because of this film, I will not read Genesis 1:1 the same again. The violence is extreme– so surreal that it becomes real (if that can make sense). As for the subject of literacy, I once met a man in his 90's and during our conversation I asked him which book of The Bible he liked most to read. He had worked in a mill in the Upstate of South Carolina. I'll never forget his response. He smiled and matter of factly said, "Ohhhhh, I can't read, but I sure do like to hear it all." Faith comes by hearing . . .