What do you use movie critics for? What’s their function or role? Is there a distinction between a film reviewer and a film critic? What do their opinions or verdicts mean? It’s getting to the point where the last thing the internet needs is another pretentious self-indulgent meditation on the nature of writing about film, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot of late. The blockbuster season seems to bring with it the classic “audience against critic” debate, not that it’s ever truly gone. Even at the heights of Oscar season, the argument is bristling away in the background, as people lament the relatively low box office if critic-pleasing films like The Artist.
"Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man..."
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: armond white, art, Critic, dark knight, David Denby, film, film criticism, Hubs, Internet Movie Database, Movie, Movies, reviews, roger ebert, rotten tomatoes, Theory and Criticism, toy story 3 | 18 Comments »
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Does Cabin in the Woods Out- “Hunger Games” The Hunger Games?
Sometimes I form weird movie connections in my head – tying two particular films together even if there’s very little common ground on which to link them. For example, I sat through quite a bit of Shame thinking of Collateral, a film linked tangentially thematically, as both offered rather scathing portraits of anomie against the backdrop of a major American city. On the other hand, I also formed a rather strong connection between the superb Cabin in the Woods and the mega blockbusting phenomenon The Hunger Games. As I watched Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s powerful exploration of the horror genre, I couldn’t help but feel that this was exactly what The Hunger Games wanted to be, even if the film adaptation couldn’t quite manage it.
The show must go on!
Note: This article contains some background information on Cabin in Woods. Nothing too big, but I would honestly recommend that you see the film as blind as possible. It is, by some considerable margin, one of the best films of 2012, and entirely deserving of both your time and your money. This article will still be here when you get back.
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Anna Hutchison, arts, battle royale, bbc, Cabin in the Woods, chris hemsworth, debate, Drew Goddard, films, Horror fiction, Hunger Games, joss whedon, meta-fiction, Movies, reviews, social commentary, Suzanne Collins, United States, Woods, Year of the Sex Olympics | 9 Comments »