7 posts categorized "Film"

June 19, 2010

COLE SMITHEY RESPONDS TO "TOY STORY 3" DEFENDERS

Welcome!

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.ColeSmithey.comThis ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.

Thanks a lot acorns!

Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

ColeSmithey.com

 

Cole776After beating Armond White to the punch of upsetting "Toy Story 3's" perfect 100% RottenTomatoes score I realized how militantly fetishistic RT [RottenTomatoes.com] readers are about such ridiculously inane things as protecting a "perfect score" for a movie. 

You can't make this kind of stupidity up; it is real. 

What's more surprising to me is how few "critics" exercise the demands of their job description. 95% of the people who claim to be film critics, aren't; they are pandering sycophants placating a bunch of publicists so they can see movies for free. 

There isn't a film I can think of that doesn't have detractors, so why should "Toy Story 3" be any different? That I had to come along behind 150 "critics" (a.k.a. sheep) to be the first to point out about this film's weaknesses — and they are many — speaks volumes about the feeble state of film criticism in 2010. Based on this example, you might surmise that film criticism barely exists anymore. Well, it doesn't. 

Colesmithey.com

Personally, I have young nieces and nephews with responsible parents who are sensitive to what their kids see. I could not in good conscience endorse "Toy Story 3" as a G-rated film that meets the criteria of a G-rated movie. Check out "2001: A Space Odyssey" for a more appropriate example of the rating than TS3. The ever-lessening number of G-rated movies is indeed a worrisome trend.

ColeSmithey.com

On top of that, Hollywood is currently changing the game on what audiences should, or can, expect from a "3-D" movie in order to charge higher ticket prices across the board on all theatrical releases. As a critic, I've had the luxury of seeing many "3-D" films, and know what that medium should deliver on a consistent basis. Again, I cannot endorse the watered-down version of "3-D" that Disney/Pixar is selling with "Toy Story 3." See my article on 3D Breaking the Window: What You're Not Supposed to Know About 3D.

As for all of the personal attacks — some including death-threats — that readers make in their nasty emails to me, I understand that people need to let off steam, especially in these difficult economic times. It goes with the territory of being a critic who takes his job seriously. Sticks and stones. I'm not going away.

ColeSmithey.com

By definition, being a critic means it is my job to "criticize." I wrote this review just as I approach writing any piece of criticism — with honesty, patience, sincerity, and a singular mission to express my ideas as clearly and briefly as possible. 

I gave "Toy Story 3" a C+, and I stand by that grade, although it probably deserves a "C-" because it is a "disappointing" movie. A masterpiece like Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket" only has a "96%" rating on RT, but I don't think anyone's losing sleep over the fact that it isn't a perfect "100%." It's still a far better film than "Toy Story 3." If you doubt me, I challenge you to watch them back-to-back. There is only one right answer. Not only does TS3 not belong in anyone's list of the top 10,000 films of all time, it is clearly the weakest film of the franchise trilogy — by far.

CRUMB

To feign indignation over such a trivial issue as an aggregate website's score is a sign of ulterior motives from people pandering to some imaginary form of lowest common denominator. It's the same kind of intellectual virus that has ruined journalism and the media in America. You came to me for my opinion, and I freakin' gave it you. You're on your own from there.

Cozy Cole

Cole Smithey on Patreon

March 31, 2010

HE RAN ALL THE WAY — CLASSIC FILM PICK

Welcome!

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.ColeSmithey.comThis ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.

Thanks a lot acorns!

Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

ColeSmithey.com

 

 

He_ran_all_the_wayBy the time he finished directing this notable addition to the film noir cannon in 1951, John Berry had become the eleventh member of the (since-discredited) Senator Joe McCarthy's "Hollywood Ten" blacklist.

Berry earned the career-wiping title when he directed a 15-minute documentary about the screenwriters and directors singled out by the House on Un-American Activities Committee's communist witch-hunt.

ColeSmithey.com

The supportive short film documented the "ten" film artists stating their ethical positions on their dilemma. When FBI agents appeared at the door of his Los Angeles home to serve him with a subpoena, Berry climbed out the bathroom window and headed straight to the airport, where he bought a ticket to Paris. It took years before he was able to look back at the country where he built a career he could never fully return to.

ColeSmithey.com

For the next 12 years John Berry continued to work as a filmmaker in France, but he did not thrive as he once had in America. He eventually returned to the States in 1963 to piece together what was left of his career. But by then, too much time had passed. Too many things had changed.

ColeSmithey.com

Fellow blacklisted Dalton Trumbo wrote the script for “He Ran All the Way,” based on a novel by Sam Ross about Nick Robey, the cynical product of a broken home who shoots a cop while trying to escape (after killing a guy over ten grand in cash). In an attempt to blend in with the local crowd, Nick (played by John Garfield in his last film role before his untimely death) goes to a nearby public swimming pool, where he meets Peg Dobbs (Shelley Winters), a bakery worker living at home with her parents and little brother. Nick escorts Peg home, and then loosely holds her working-class family hostage while initiating a troubled relationship with the emotionally needy Peg. 

ColeSmithey.com

"He Ran All the Way" marked the end of John Garfield's once-promising acting career — one that significantly influenced Marlon Brando's naturalistic style of method acting. Garfield's refusal to name names in the HUAC hearings left him without work; a heart attack finished him off a year later. As such, the bloodbath of the movie reflects the political scapegoating going on at the time the picture was made.

ColeSmithey.com

Cinematographer James Wong Howe's vivid use of deep focus shots contributes to the film's lushly saturated photography, effectively conveying Nick's imminent doom. Shelly Winters and James Garfield play their characters' charged emotions and wavering degrees of trust and romantic attraction with a potent sense of urgency that is startling to witness. The tragedies behind the heartbreak on the screen are real.

Not Rated. 77 mins.

5 Stars

Cozy Cole

Cole Smithey on Patreon

August 13, 2009

PASSING STRANGE

Welcome!

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.ColeSmithey.comThis ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.

Thanks a lot acorns!

Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

ColeSmithey.com

 

 

 

ColeSmithey.comFilmed during three live performances of Stew's and Heidi Rodewald's popular Broadway musical, director Spike Lee beautifully captures the play's vibrant music and energetic physicality to produce a priceless cinematic artifact.

In its picaresque narrative, a sensitive young black musician from '70s era South Central Los Angeles named Youth (well played by Daniel Breaker) escapes his discouraging environment when he travels to Amsterdam and later Berlin.

Along the way Youth is liberated by his experiences with sex, drugs, music, and freethinking.

A generous sonic dose of blues-inflected rock music places a driving rhythm under the play's humorous, yet heartfelt, themes of personal growth and artistic passion.

ColeSmithey.com

Stew famously work-shopped the play at the Sundance Theater Lab before taking it to Broadway where it received two Obie Awards and a Tony.

"Passing Strange" purely expresses the magic of a truly innovative Broadway musical as performed by a tremendously gifted cast.

It's a must-see for any fan of the musical genre, and a lot of fun for anyone else willing to give it a chance.

Not Rated. 135 mins.5 Stars

Cozy Cole

ColeSmithey.com

 

Featured Video

SMART NEW MEDIA® Custom Videos

COLE SMITHEY’S MOVIE WEEK

COLE SMITHEY’S CLASSIC CINEMA

Throwback Thursday


Podcast Series