Wednesday, May 11, 2011

not charmed

I've come to realize that I'm not charmed by "quirky" movies featuring "quirky" characters whose "quirkiness" manifests itself in the form of slow, soporific line deliveries from scripts that confuse mundanity with wit.

Case in point. And the voice and paws of that cat are just damn creepy.


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4 comments:

Charles said...

Translation: you don't like hipsters.

Here's a Youtube link for those of your readers who don't have QuickTime and don't feel like installing it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_wlxqniyuU

Also, ever since you mentioned having Mandy Patinkin playing Osama bin Laden, I've been seeing images of bin Laden walking around telling his followers: "I do not think that word means what you think it means."

Although I suppose this would also be appropriate: "Hello! My name is Osama bin Laden. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

[Word Verification fun...

smshill: (n) someone who attempts to sell products or services using text messages]

Aaron said...

What a great coincidence that you should post this. I just had the same thought last night while trying to sit through "Garden State" (hadn't seen it), which I finally just turned off. I also stopped listening to "This American Life" several years ago for much the same reason. So I suppose Charles' assessment is correct: I'm not a fan of hipsters.

Kevin Kim said...

Aaron,

Just watched the "Garden State" trailer. Good God, it's almost as if it's the same movie as "The Future." I noticed that "Garden State" was loaded with A-list talent, though, which makes me think the problem has more to do with screenwriting and direction than with the actors.

Charles,

Thanks for the YouTube link. As for hipsters, well... I suppose I like hipster prose (though we may have to define what we each mean by "hipster"), but if these trailers-- "The Future" and "Garden State"-- are examples of hipster filmmaking, then I can do without that.

I think my problem is a certain Shakespearean bias: I'm a lover of le grand geste and eloquent bombast-- values painted in primary colors and lines delivered with energy, intensity, and conviction. American cinema lately seems to favor this weird, lazy, half-asleep/half-stoned approach to writing and acting, and I'm not at all happy with it. That's why when something like "The Hangover" comes along, I'm all over it.

Charles said...

I saw Garden State and thought it was OK. It had its moments, but my impression (and my wife's impression) after watching it was that it was aimed at a younger audience. I don't know if you've seen Elizabethtown, but Garden State kind of struck me as Elizabethtown for a younger, perhaps more hip audience. Not just in terms of sensibilities but also in terms of subject matter--it felt like maybe I was anywhere from 5-10 years too old to appreciate it fully.

Elizabethtown on the other hand, well, I actually enjoyed that. It dealt with issues that spoke to me: fear of failure, closed thinking, the difficulties of family, etc. But I felt that it was a bit more mature than Garden State. (I also thought it was funnier.)

Anyway, I think I have a higher tolerance for hipsters than you do (as for what I mean by "hipsters," well, that's a tough one, but roughly the trailer for The Future), so your mileage may vary.