For those interested, Luke Y. Thompson drops a response to Kevin Smith’s diatribe against film critics, unleashed on Twitter over the past 48 hours. And he makes some good points, namely regarding the validity of opinion, which is what armchair pundits always invoke when they want to get all Sarah Palin on folks and paint film critics as effete elitists. Also, he’s right — there is (and should be) a certain stigma or price paid for films/studios when they don’t screen a film for review. It’s no big deal in the grand scheme of things, I agree, and totally well within a studio/filmmaker’s rights to do this, but it’s also certainly fair game to write about that fact, and let savvy moviegoers know. If that informs their opinion of said product, so be it.
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Nice going to both LYT and Shared Darkness for making me aware of such nonesense.
Why is it that artists feel like they should automatically get a free pass simply because they create?! The only artists who I can think of that deserve no criticism are outsider artists who generally don’t create work for others to be seen. They oftentimes create for their own pleasure. Unfortunately, so does Kevin Smith, ‘cept (even less fortunate) he’s not a hermit whose work won’t be seen by anyone but him. If you build it, whether you like it or not, they will come…
Why is it that COP OUT is his highest grossing movie to date? 1.) nobody knew it was a Kevin Smith movie until reviews were read (that’s how I found out) and now it’s obvious the general public didn’t read them. I think people just assumed it was another Bruce Willis cop movie; 2.) It’s an actual MOVIE and not a thinly veiled Kevin Smith diatribe/commentary passing off as entertainment. Not that there would be anything wrong with that if his diatribes, er, movies didn’t, as LYT puts it, suck.
I’m no critic, but I think Smith reached his peak with CHASING AMY, when his pop culture monologues and social observations were fresh and inventive. Now they’re just weak and self-absorbed. Perhaps if he spent as much effort into writing a decent script/plot as he does Twitterring, then I’d be more likely to check out a KEVIN SMITH MOVIE.