Now I know how to generate comments. Yeow! A couple of things:
I do like action movies.
I appreciate that many of you did like THOR. Great. I'm sure you'll love THOR 2-11. I didn't. I don't apologize for my review. But I do apologize for not putting an S at the end of Dennings.
See you tomorrow.
She is quite a looker..."s" or no "s"....
ReplyDeleteAnd you are still aces in my book Ken...Dave Benson says Hi!
Don't worry, Ken. I tried to watch it with my son and I couldn't stay awake! Later my son (who likes almost every movie) said it was "kind of OK."
ReplyDeleteTo me it was just another unremarkable bread and butter money maker that had just enough allure to get the masses into theaters. Lost forever in a swirl of movies we'd like to forget.
For "Friday Questions":
ReplyDeleteKen, I was watching the terrific season opening episode of "Modern Family", in which Phil says,
"I've been practicing all my Cowboy skills...shootin', ropin', pancake eatin'", and it occurred to me that he could have
extended the line by tacking on "...even droppin' that pesky hard 'g' sound..."
In light of my own reaction, I assume that when you're watching various sitcoms, alternate lines or line embellishments come to you that you know would have improved a joke that made air. If you're casually discussing an episode of a particular show with a friend or colleague of yours who is writing for or even running that show, would you potentially offer your alternative line after the fact? You know, something like, "I think it would have been funny if so and so said such and such, instead." Or is that kind of post-mortem script doctoring considered bad form in the sitcom writing community?
Thanks.
Quite right, Ken - don't go changin'
ReplyDeleteI'm now a Kat Denning(s) fan. Never seen her show - just going by that picture. Damn, I'm shallow.
I almost never walk out in the middle of a movie. Thor earned that honor.
ReplyDeleteAlso not being familiar with Kat Dennings a few years ago, I was very intrigued after seeing "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist."
Following up on Mark Solomon's comment about alternate lines and embellishments, how do you feel when you're watching someone else's work and you end up saying the punch line before the character does? Do you feel disappointed because it was sooooo predictable, or do you congratulate yourself for being so dialed in to the character, you knew the line before he or she could speak it?
I'd just like to call for a distinction between the few whose comments amount to "You didn't like a movie I like, so you suck and so do the things you like" and the majority of us who quite respectfully pointed out that a lot of your criticisms simply seemed to be about it being a Thor movie. It was as if you went to see Star Trek and said "There were all these silly space ships and lasers and stuff. I mean, honest-to-God LASERS! And don't get me started on the teleportation gimmick!" All perfectly valid criticisms from someone who doesn't like that stuff, but that doesn't mean it's a bad movie.
ReplyDeleteKen! How dare you have an opinion of your own! How dare you not like a comic book movie!
ReplyDeleteAnyways...
As I stated in the comments section of the review, I enjoyed the movie, but was a) entertained by your review and b) totally understood where you were coming from. What does it say about a person who can't take someone not liking a movie they liked? Probably a lot more about them than you.
Seems to me that most of the responders were fine with Ken not liking the movie; they (myself including) were reacting more to his call for filmmakers to stop making films for people who like this kind of film. He got some similar responses when he said Woody Allen should stop making movies, because he didn't enjoy the ones he saw. (Shortly thereafter, Midnight in Paris came out... and became Woody's highest grossing film to date. Good thing for all involved that Ken didn't halt this enjoyable flick.)
ReplyDeleteHeh! All of your negativity about the movie peeked my interest Ken. I hadn't heard of it until you vented your spleen about it. So, I ordered it yesterday. What the hell. I need to take an hour or so off to vegetate in front of the television. I may as well take a look at the movie which made you cringe. lol :)
ReplyDeleteKat Dennings is freaking funny in "2 Broke Girls". Very strong Pilot. Doesn't feel fake, the timing is good, the writing is good as well. I really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteSO for a Friday question - Ken, what is your favorite comic book turned in to movie? Or which one would you consider the 'best' adaptation?
ReplyDeleteDon't sweat it, Ken. Your review was more entertaining than just about any superhero movie I've ever seen. Then again, I try to avoid them. I didn't even like superhero comics as a kid. The fact that Hollywood keeps spending billions to churn out these cliche-ridden, lowest-common-denominator live action cartoons just speaks volumes about the juvenile fantasies of the arrested adolescents who are posing as adult males these days.
ReplyDeleteBoy, talk about kicking the fanboys' beehive! That last sentence ought to get them foaming over their iPads. Now they can rail away at me instead of you. You're welcome.
Seriously, though, enough with this crap. Grow up. Read a book without illustrations. Go to a play with live human beings exchanging actual dialogue. Watch a film that doesn't include a scene where a grown man wearing tights and a cape leaps an impossible distance in slow motion while screaming, "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Take your hero Bill Shatner's advice and kiss a girl. And quit asking me to take something seriously that includes an all-powerful God who has to wear a freakin' eye patch. I mean, he has all that power over space, time and matter and he can't even cure his own wonky eye? Truly, you are following a false god here.
Mr. Reeding,
ReplyDeleteI do all the stuff you mentioned in your final paragraph. I'm a grown-up, married, with kids and grand-kids.
I also ran a comic-book shop for twenty-one years. I can comfortably stand in both worlds.
I don't like the vampire genre. I find them annoying. Didn't care one whit for Interview With a Vampire. So when Twilight came out, I had no desire to see it. I didn't rail against it for being what it was, didn't scream at Hollywood for not putting out more mature fare.
I just didn't go.
What a concept.
I will share with you the advice I shared with Mr. Levine (whose blog is still part of my daily webcrawl, even if we disagree on Thor):
If you don't like super-heroes, you should probably avoid movies based on them.
Mr. Reeder (or Ms. Reeder...'Pat' is sort of an androgynous name),
ReplyDeleteI apologize for getting your name wrong. Sorry about that.
I have to chime in with the other sane commenters. Your review didn't focus on production values or other movie qualities ("it was so sloppily made, you could see the wires holding him while he flew"), it was about the subject matter. ("they wanted us to believe a man could fly!") It was as if I wrote about a baseball movie and did not overly discuss the acting skills or the plotline, but instead foamed and ranted about all the miserable time the movie required me to watch a baseball game.
ReplyDeleteBut I've noticed whenever you get within arm's length of scifi or fantasy topics your writing/humour gets a hard edge. Put you in the same room with "superhero" and your witty "bon mots" become thudding "raw meat". Essentially you become nearly as dull as Ms. Reeder
Otherwise, your blog is a must-see every day!
The only superhero movie that I would say is actually a good movie -- not just compared to other superhero movies, but to other movies generally -- is SUPERMAN II. The story of a guy who could have anything, gives it all up to be with his one true love, and then has to give her up for the greater good.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a superhero-movie or comic book hater (I've been a collector for years), but I don't kid myself about how seriously some of these concepts should be taken. Getting bitten by a radioactive spider should kill a wimpy kid, not give him super-strength and angst.
I don't think that the problem is 'too many superhero movies' -- it's 'too few movies for the rest of the market' especially during summer.
Hey now, Ken did give a very good review of "Iron Man' I seem to recall. A movie should involve you whether or not you're a fan of the genre, I think. I don't care for them because I don't like it when a ridiculous concept is taken so very seriously. Same with vampires. I like the original Batman TV series because it did NOT take it so seriously. The "Dark Knight"? Oh please!
ReplyDeleteWish I had seen your post sooner. I added a comment and link to my harsher review to your original post. I felt sorry for the waste of Kat Dennings, who was so good in a great movie that was undervalued: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist.
ReplyDeleteKen,
ReplyDeleteLong-time/first time, and I've loved a lot of what you've written (and I appreciate your Mariners work, if not my Mariners this year... :p) but you're being overly tetchy here, as are some of your more ardent supporters. Your review of Thor (or at least the tone and content, your writing is sharp as usual) is not very good. Happens to all the great ones every once in awhile. I'm beating the greasy spot that was once a dead horse at this point, but you clearly don't care for the genre (liking Iron Man is akin to liking the Godfather while normally not liking crime dramas...) so just give them a pass. Or, you know, write these reviews and don't be irritated by the response.
For what it's worth, I only read the comments on your review after seeing this latest post of yours, and you really, REALLY don't have a reason to be tetchy. In fact, you should be proud of the level of discourse your fans show, because by and large they simply call you on your bias - there are plenty of actual robotic fanbois who would roast you in other forums, but thankfully didn't show up here.
Lastly, to Pat Reeder: I need your erudite help. What's a genial way to say "get bent?"
Ken's blog, Ken's opinions. That's what I want, and ghu knows I don't always agree with him.
ReplyDeleteAnd Mr. poster, interest is piqued, not peeked.
Haha. It's silly to have to apologise for your opinion. We all have different tastes, after all :)
ReplyDeleteApology accepted about the missing s in Dennings, but what about the extraneous u in Branagh?
ReplyDelete