Hit Somebody - Kevin Smith's 4 hour hockey epic
08-20-11, 10:16 PM
#76
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Re: Kevin Smith's "Hit Somebody". 4 hour epic.
Why does Smith get the smack-down for laziness and not say, Wes Anderson?
Wes Anderson: who's films (with the exception of "Rushmore") have no point, the characters all have the same bland affect, and the cutesy diorama-like framing of each scene grates the first couple of movies. But he's got the snobs to back him up.
"Dogma" blows away anything Anderson ever done in terms of imagination if nothing else.
Wes Anderson: who's films (with the exception of "Rushmore") have no point, the characters all have the same bland affect, and the cutesy diorama-like framing of each scene grates the first couple of movies. But he's got the snobs to back him up.
"Dogma" blows away anything Anderson ever done in terms of imagination if nothing else.
* Anderson gets great performances out of his actors, even the amateurs. Affleck and Rickman are the only actors to ever appear in a Smith film and not come off like they're starring in a local playhouse production.
* Anderson's films are visually impressive, even when he does the diorama thing (which really isn't that common in his films). Smith has as much sense for mise-en-scene as the guy who directed episode 57 of Full House.
* You may not enjoy the plots to Anderson films, but they're there, and they're much more interesting than, "Hey, that guy who was working at a convenience store in the early '90s is now working at a fast food place and having the same conversations with his best friend."
08-21-11, 03:03 AM
#77
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08-21-11, 07:50 AM
#78
Challenge Guru & Comic Nerd
Re: Kevin Smith's "Hit Somebody". 4 hour epic.
Shall we break it down?
* Anderson gets great performances out of his actors, even the amateurs. Affleck and Rickman are the only actors to ever appear in a Smith film and not come off like they're starring in a local playhouse production.
* Anderson's films are visually impressive, even when he does the diorama thing (which really isn't that common in his films). Smith has as much sense for mise-en-scene as the guy who directed episode 57 of Full House.
* You may not enjoy the plots to Anderson films, but they're there, and they're much more interesting than, "Hey, that guy who was working at a convenience store in the early '90s is now working at a fast food place and having the same conversations with his best friend."
* Anderson gets great performances out of his actors, even the amateurs. Affleck and Rickman are the only actors to ever appear in a Smith film and not come off like they're starring in a local playhouse production.
* Anderson's films are visually impressive, even when he does the diorama thing (which really isn't that common in his films). Smith has as much sense for mise-en-scene as the guy who directed episode 57 of Full House.
* You may not enjoy the plots to Anderson films, but they're there, and they're much more interesting than, "Hey, that guy who was working at a convenience store in the early '90s is now working at a fast food place and having the same conversations with his best friend."
08-21-11, 10:22 AM
#79
Re: Kevin Smith's "Hit Somebody". 4 hour epic.
"Clerks 2" was a major disappointment to me too. But I will say, the whole Star Wars/Lord of the Rings fanboy segment was awesome. If only the rest of the movie matched that lunacy.
Sorry you've taken my comment so personal. Of course you're allowed an opinion, but that's a two-way straight street, brother, meaning I'm allowed to disagree and have my opinion. That's all. Meant no harm other than to stick up for the great "Kill Bill," my opinion of course. And "graph" was short for "paragraph." Peace.
Sorry you've taken my comment so personal. Of course you're allowed an opinion, but that's a two-way straight street, brother, meaning I'm allowed to disagree and have my opinion. That's all. Meant no harm other than to stick up for the great "Kill Bill," my opinion of course. And "graph" was short for "paragraph." Peace.
Last edited by Pizza; 08-21-11 at 10:31 AM.
08-21-11, 10:39 AM
#80
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Kevin Smith's "Hit Somebody". 4 hour epic.
Sorry you've taken my comment so personal. Of course you're allowed an opinion, but that's a two-way straight street, brother, meaning I'm allowed to disagree and have my opinion. That's all. Meant no harm other than to stick up for the great "Kill Bill," my opinion of course. And "graph" was short for "paragraph." Peace.
08-21-11, 10:44 AM
#81
Challenge Guru & Comic Nerd
Re: Kevin Smith's "Hit Somebody". 4 hour epic.
There were a few very funny bits, but overall the relationships didn't ring as true for me, and there was more crudeness than I like.
But I will give it another shot in November for the Comedy Challenge, and perhaps I'll hate it less.
Coincidentally, I'm heating up pizza for lunch as we type.....
08-21-11, 10:50 AM
#82
Re: Kevin Smith's "Hit Somebody". 4 hour epic.
I might be a bit too hard on it, as my expectations were set very high, Clerks and Chasing Amy being personal favorites.
There were a few very funny bits, but overall the relationships didn't ring as true for me, and there was more crudeness than I like.
But I will give it another shot in November for the Comedy Challenge, and perhaps I'll hate it less.
Coincidentally, I'm heating up pizza for lunch as we type.....
There were a few very funny bits, but overall the relationships didn't ring as true for me, and there was more crudeness than I like.
But I will give it another shot in November for the Comedy Challenge, and perhaps I'll hate it less.
Coincidentally, I'm heating up pizza for lunch as we type.....
08-21-11, 10:58 AM
#83
Re: Kevin Smith's "Hit Somebody". 4 hour epic.
No, I wasn't joking about Wes Anderson.
Gee, let's see what's the next WA movie is going to be about: a group of emotionally damaged friends/family members pursue a goal that they never reach while a bunch of British invasion songs blare in the background throughout. The cast acts like it's been fed a steady diet of sedatives and reads quirky dialogue that's mistaken as humorous by the hipster crowd. The end. Rinse, repeat, and release on Criterion.
Gee, let's see what's the next WA movie is going to be about: a group of emotionally damaged friends/family members pursue a goal that they never reach while a bunch of British invasion songs blare in the background throughout. The cast acts like it's been fed a steady diet of sedatives and reads quirky dialogue that's mistaken as humorous by the hipster crowd. The end. Rinse, repeat, and release on Criterion.
Last edited by PatD; 08-21-11 at 11:10 AM.
08-21-11, 11:15 AM
#84
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Re: Kevin Smith's "Hit Somebody". 4 hour epic.
I don't doubt you were joking. But admiration for Kevin Smith films rules out any sort of credibility to any argument you have against real filmmakers.
08-21-11, 11:38 AM
#85
Re: Kevin Smith's "Hit Somebody". 4 hour epic.
Yeah, he's no Kurosawa, (uh duh!), but I like him anyway because he's a unique voice.
08-21-11, 12:21 PM
#86
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Re: Kevin Smith's "Hit Somebody". 4 hour epic.
while a bunch of British invasion songs blare in the background throughout.
The cast acts like it's been fed a steady diet of sedatives and reads quirky dialogue that's mistaken as humorous by the hipster crowd. The end. Rinse, repeat, and release on Criterion.
And, yes, everyone who likes The Life Aquatic is a hipster, totally unlike those free-thinking Smith fans.
08-22-11, 04:55 PM
#87
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Re: Kevin Smith's "Hit Somebody". 4 hour epic.
So? There's a reason why "auteur" usually refers to the director and not the writer. Hitchcock films are Hitchcock films, and John Ford movies are John Ford movies regardless of whether they wrote the scripts themselves or had someone else do it. If you're seriously going to argue that Cop-out isn't a Smith film because he didn't write it, you're just underlining his weakness as a director -- he had no style to bring to the film.
Just using Hitchcock as an example, he enjoyed reading books (often very obscure pulp fiction), buying the story and/or commissioning the writer, and finally hiring a screen writer of his choosing to develop and write the screenplay. Hitch would supply input to the screenwriter throughout the process. He sheparded the whole writing process personally.*
This is very differnent than doing "for hire" work. Off the top of my head Witness is a good example of "for hire" work. A producer developed the script, got Harison Ford attached, and only then went shopping for a director. Peter Weir is an auteur but little of his familiar personal vision can bee seen in Witness.
If anything, Smith proved (to few peoples' surprise) that he can't bring much to a for hire situation.
*All this being said Hitch did do for hire work. Rebecca probably being the most famous example.
08-22-11, 06:35 PM
#88
DVD Talk Special Edition
Re: Kevin Smith's "Hit Somebody". 4 hour epic.
No, I wasn't joking about Wes Anderson.
Gee, let's see what's the next WA movie is going to be about: a group of emotionally damaged friends/family members pursue a goal that they never reach while a bunch of British invasion songs blare in the background throughout. The cast acts like it's been fed a steady diet of sedatives and reads quirky dialogue that's mistaken as humorous by the hipster crowd. The end. Rinse, repeat, and release on Criterion.
Gee, let's see what's the next WA movie is going to be about: a group of emotionally damaged friends/family members pursue a goal that they never reach while a bunch of British invasion songs blare in the background throughout. The cast acts like it's been fed a steady diet of sedatives and reads quirky dialogue that's mistaken as humorous by the hipster crowd. The end. Rinse, repeat, and release on Criterion.
08-22-11, 06:37 PM
#89
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Re: Kevin Smith's "Hit Somebody". 4 hour epic.
Smith lost me ever since he started dissing PT Anderson. That and I grew up. Can't stand the guy now. Clerks 2 was one of the biggest piles of crap in the last 10 years.
As far as Hit Somebody, I'm a huge hockey fan but a 4 hour, 2 part hockey movie?? You have got to be kidding me. This should be a 90-100 minute movie, that's it. Smith has lost it. And I don't mean his weight
As far as Hit Somebody, I'm a huge hockey fan but a 4 hour, 2 part hockey movie?? You have got to be kidding me. This should be a 90-100 minute movie, that's it. Smith has lost it. And I don't mean his weight
08-24-11, 09:37 AM
#90
Re: Kevin Smith's "Hit Somebody". 4 hour epic.
I'm glad music isn't held to the same pathetically myopic standards as film. For if it was, classical music would be the only game in town and anything done for *gasp!* fun or personal expression without regards to the tastes of the others would be shunned from the community. We now return to our regularly scheduled Kevin Smith-bashing already in progress.
08-24-11, 10:11 AM
#91
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Kevin Smith's "Hit Somebody". 4 hour epic.
I'm glad music isn't held to the same pathetically myopic standards as film. For if it was, classical music would be the only game in town and anything done for *gasp!* fun or personal expression without regards to the tastes of the others would be shunned from the community. We now return to our regularly scheduled Kevin Smith-bashing already in progress.
It's simply a lot harder for a nobody to get a film produced. Music will always be more subjective. You could have somebody banging on a trashcan and some asshole might walk by and think that's the sweetest music he's ever heard. Kevin Smith is the cinematic equivalent of that guy banging on a trashcan. He certainly doesn't know how to be a filmmaker, Bruce Willis almost made him cry on the set of Cop Out because of Smith's incompetency.
08-24-11, 10:18 AM
#92
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Re: Kevin Smith's "Hit Somebody". 4 hour epic.
I'm glad music isn't held to the same pathetically myopic standards as film. For if it was, classical music would be the only game in town and anything done for *gasp!* fun or personal expression without regards to the tastes of the others would be shunned from the community. We now return to our regularly scheduled Kevin Smith-bashing already in progress.
08-24-11, 10:53 AM
#93
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: Kevin Smith's "Hit Somebody". 4 hour epic.
I'm glad music isn't held to the same pathetically myopic standards as film. For if it was, classical music would be the only game in town and anything done for *gasp!* fun or personal expression without regards to the tastes of the others would be shunned from the community. We now return to our regularly scheduled Kevin Smith-bashing already in progress.
07-23-12, 05:34 PM
#95
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Kevin Smith's "Hit Somebody". 4 hour epic.
Kevin Smith? Fuck that.
