The movies below are fascinating to me because, like a bad con artist who can't look you in the eye, they
make claims that are undermined and contradicted by their own cinematic "body
language." Some are despicably hypocritical, some are just misguided, but all
are revealing case studies in how popular movies work -- or don't -- at reflecting pop
culture, capitalizing on the zeitgeist, and pandering to ticket-buyers.
| Pretty
Woman
A morally corrupt, capitalistic fairy tale -- and a revealing example of how the
studio development system "polishes" and re-works screenplays without regard to
what they're "about." Review |
Mississippi
Burning
As manipulatively racist a movie as has ever been put out by a major studio --
portraying racist whites as easy-to-spot, inbred gargoyles, blacks as noble and utterly
helpless/passive victims, and white FBI agents as the action-heroes of the American civil
rights movement. Pavlovian director Alan Parker will burn in hell for this one.
And he still won't have a clue as to why. Commentary |
Dead
Poets Society
A timidly conventional and conformist "celebration" of
non-conformity. Review |
Natural
Born Killers
Oliver Stone's slick, Hollywood glamorization of serial killers ignores or betrays
every idea in Quentin Tarantino's original screenplay and becomes a mindless celebration
of wacky, outlandish violence. Which is fine, except that Stone hypocritically tries
to pass this off as some sort of "satire." Well, Tarantino's script was,
but Stone's rewritten movie is pure-adrenaline sensationalism, empty-headed stylistic
acrobatics without any dangerous or provocative ideas (or even point-of-view) to back 'em
up and give 'em real punch. Review Commentary
|
Thelma
and Louise
Gender-switching sold as "feminism" -- as slick and prettified as a perfume
commercial. Review |
|
