The magic of The Simpsons was always that it created jokes by recontextualizing the mundane and finding the comedy in the familiar. Simple lines like, “Yeah, we’re not gonna be doing that” became endlessly quotable and funny. The Simpsons Movie recaptures that magic which was largely lost since season 9. I’ve been getting mileage out of, “Here we are, kids, the Grand Canyon” for years. The movie works like any great episode, setting up a bit and then plugging in…
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Being There 1979
The problem with Being There is that it takes itself way too seriously, and consequently is ponderous and glacially paced. The book is a mere 118 pages; dialogue and situations move quickly, and it is clear that the whole thing is a big joke. The idea that all these people would mistake Chance for a genius is ludicrous and should be treated so. The movie comes across as inauthentic, because there is little to no humor in the situations where such…
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Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench 2009
The only reason I gave this 1.5 stars is because the musical numbers are all really good but otherwise this would be a flaming 0.5. Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench exemplifies the worst elements of French New Wave, cinéma vérité, and mumblecore, which are some of the fucking worst cinematic movements ever created. This movie is nothing but fucking miserable close-ups, and meandering and pointless shots of people walking, cooking breakfast, standing around, etc. I don’t know how Damien…
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War and Peace 1956
Everything about King Vidor’s War and Peace adaptation is absolutely pathetic. It reduces a novel that addresses the entire spectrum of human emotion, makes broad points about the changing of Russian society, and explores the philosophy of what causes wars to a poorly written, badly acted, sappy wartime romance.
The dialogue has no wit or complexity whatsoever. The writing both simplifies and misunderstands the source material. Furthermore, aside from the hideous miscasting of almost everyone and the unfortunate mixing of British…
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