tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3152270.post109660100923497608..comments2024-03-26T12:23:35.307-05:00Comments on The Buck Stops Here: Movie Reviews, Part IIStuart Buckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05731724396708879386noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3152270.post-1096760293803491732004-10-02T18:38:00.000-05:002004-10-02T18:38:00.000-05:00Stuart --
Humor and insight aside, don't use a ci...Stuart --<br /><br />Humor and insight aside, don't use a circle "c" if you mean a "tm." Some of us IP folks may start laughing at you, rather than with you. (And don't use the circle "r" in any event, 'cause it's actually illegal to do so unless you've actually registered the mark.)<br /><br />Uspto.gov has a pretty good FAQ.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3152270.post-1096677816216720702004-10-01T19:43:00.000-05:002004-10-01T19:43:00.000-05:00I've never thought about this in terms of movies, ...I've never thought about this in terms of movies, but I think your analysis is right because I've often thought the same thing in terms of theatre criticism. When the American Rep Theatre first opened in Cambridge I subscribed for a couple of years. In a season of five plays, 2 or 3 would be "experimental," 2 or so of the remaining with creative staging--traditional play, but performed with characters leaving the stage talking to the audience, etc. etc. I'd leave thinking "this was shit" and go home and read glowing reviews the next morning. I finally decided that if you see three plays a week, the fare was a welcome and refreshing change, but if you see six plays a year, you welcome something with more conventional theatrical values. I've seen some very fine plays at ART, but now I pick my spots.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3152270.post-1096652158900604812004-10-01T12:35:00.000-05:002004-10-01T12:35:00.000-05:00Critics watch a lot more films than you do and as ...Critics watch a lot more films than you do and as a result--I'm just saying it's possible!--they know more than you. I know nothing about woodworking or carpentry, as a result a carpenter may be a lot more (or lot less) impressed with a certain kind of crown moulding over my windows than me. He knows the stuff, he's run his hands over these things, he knows how different techniques or materials produce different results, he's tried to design them and has a deeper understanding than I about what it takes to create a truly beautiful bookshelf, whereas all I need is something to put my books on. <br /><br />Different people like different things for different reasons. You may think 'Citizen Kane' is the greatest movie ever made for a dozen reasons; I may think the exact same thing for a dozen completely seperate reasons. We can agree that Kane is the best ever based completely on aesthetic tastes that are entirely incongruous. <br /><br />I work in a video store and people ask me all day long 'what's a good movie' or 'what's funny'. I haven't the slightest clue what these people will think is funny or good. They're asking me because they're too ignorant/lazy to make their own decisions or maybe they just assume that I will make excellent suggestions. Frankly I hate telling people what I think they'll like--its incredibly presumptious on my part in a way that I have no interest in. <br /><br />Also you have to factor in that film critics nowadays are like baseball pitchers: they are way too many jobs for way too little talent. And these guys got to fight for their jobs by being in line with what people want. I think you'll find if you really watch closely lots of critics are really just cherry-picking the films they think will be successful and shunning the ones they think their constituency won't like. Point being: most critics don't really even care about their own opinions. <br /><br />Then there's also the consideration that people often see only the films that correspond to their socio-economic level, they will only participate in the art (or woodworking or bookshelves for that matter) they think they're supposed to like. But that's a whole 'nother can of worms.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com