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crankyoldmanSo, the Minions and I had a discussion at lunch about literary criticism and some other awesome crazy deep shit. And then Minion J linked me to the interview with Battlestar's Ron Moore on Wired and there was something said about the world of criticism that really got me thinking. Also io9's take on the latest BSG episode makes me not want to read their recaps anymore, as it was wanky today (and I for one, think the episode was just how it should have been, and rather enjoy seeing male character "do something for love" as it's traditionally the girl that does that).
Criticism, that is, being a critic, is always something I battle with. To some extent, I think it's needed, I think you shouldn't always accept things as they're fed to you. But I think there's something to the critic culture that completely misses the point. When you get to the level of looking at things through a certain lens, you have a tendency of losing the source. It's like other things in fandom, when we start to think of characters and settings almost as ours. But they aren't. We're merely borrowing them. Ultimately, we are not the original creators, and even if they do something "out of character" it is still technically in character, because they wrote the character. It may not be consistent but it is in character. Sure, it alienates and frustrates and we can criticize that, but really we are left to our own interpretations.
Many may not know this, but back in the day I wrote music reviews for a publication. Under a pseudonym and I didn't get paid, but it was something fun to do and probably explains some of my weirder tastes in music. I eventually had to stop because I started to get too critical of an ear and really couldn't enjoy music for a while. Which was sad. Due to this somewhat disastrous occurrence I am loathe to do it to other forms of entertainment or hobby that I enjoy. It doesn't mean criticism is bad, I just wanted to throw that perspective out there before I got too into this.
Generally, I distrust professional critics. Which sounds crazy, but honestly, I don't trust them one bit. They attempt something objective when they obviously have a subjective viewpoint. The constraints of professionalism or space or what have you don't allow the context to get through. Instead you get "professional opinion" which while it can mean colored by experience more often is just an oxymoron. I want to know where the critic is coming from. For me, the best critics are those that don't hide the fact they are subjective, that insert a little of themselves where you can see it without hiding it. Like, I love the movie Donnie Darko not because of the time travel and crazy bunnies, but because it shows a family that is very much like my own in a positive light (but not perfect either), where a lot of the time families in that bracket are portrayed as hedonistic and largely dysfunctional. It was for this same reason that American Beauty didn't seem edgy to me, it just seemed idiotic and blunt in all the wrong ways. Not that every decently well off middle class family is close and supportive like mine is, but neither are they ALL dysfunctional materialists or gross caricatures. But obviously, my experiences will color my enjoyment. I never appreciated tragedy and sorrow until I really experienced it. And I still won't get most slapstick humor, no matter how hard I try to.
Does that mean if you have a bias, you shouldn't bother? Hell no. But you shouldn't hide your bias either. I think that someone's credibility should be made more apparent by allowing other people to see where they're coming from. Everyone has certain things that will bother them more than others. Some people have seen a lot of the world, while others have never left their town. Doesn't mean they'll only like what they know, but what they know will color what they like. We will tend to notice the flaws in something that closest approach the flaws we see in ourselves and our environment, unless we've become completely desensitized. Good writers and artists are such because they hit on universality, on common experiences, but don't make it too general that people can't see that which is outside of them. It pulls them in and allows them to be something else by drawing them with the similarities and keeping them going with the differences.
I'm getting a little too philosophical now, but really, the point I'm getting at is criticism really can't be objective outside of bare mechanics, and even then, there is dissent. All you can hope for is people that might have some commonality or empathy for your experiences that might bring up something you couldn't have found on your own. This is why I like recommendations so much better than criticisms (especially if the reccer tells us why they liked it).
Now that that's out of the way, some opinions on things!
So basically, I loved this movie. I'm going to agree with what I've heard from several people I know; it's no Last Crusade, but does it need to be? I mean, it has SOVIETS. Sure, they're caricature bad guys, but were the Nazis anything else? Sometimes I like my bad guys to be simple and my good guys to get into fistfights. Which was something I always liked about Indiana Jones; it hits some issues, but not too hard to ruin the fun. Since I'm a bit of a nerd for 50s alien stories and had a HUGE paranormal phase, I just about geeked out every five minutes. So I probably enjoyed that more than a lot would. I even liked the cheesy ending, but that is just because I found it strangely cute and they brought back my favorite Indy girl, so. I even liked the kid, but then, I'm a sucker for Old Man and Young Punk snark. I can't help it. And Cate Blanchett actually didn't do a half bad Ukrainian accent, only managing to drop it in a few places (though I really wanted her to say "nuclear wessels" but that's me). There were lots of nods to the times, some wonderful quips ("Any last words?" "I like Ike") and really a good job showing how stuffy Indy has gotten despite being Mr. Adventure.
Is it wrong to admit I like older Indy a helluva a lot more? I didn't nearly find him so charming when he was younger, but during this movie I pretty much wanted him to make out with everyone. >.> I say that mostly joking.
I'm very glad that I went into this without GINORMOUS expectations (which I rarely do for movies anymore, and try not to, it keeps me from being disappointed). Because it delivered exactly what I expected, and a little more in some places, a little less than others. Ignore the critics, they are crazy. Go see it for yourself and enjoy the parts you want to. Or go watch Sex and the City and join those legions.
Alright, admittedly, I went into this movie not expecting much at all, other than one recommendation on how pretty it was. Gasp, call me a heathen, but Narnia is not one of my favorite series by far. It was cute when I was younger, but reading it as I was older a lot of things... didn't really hold up. Mostly because I love some of Lewis's later works, and the stuff that he stopped masking in allegory--Lewis is strange in that he seems less preachy when he's actually being blunt. XD
But anyway, that out of the way, I rather enjoyed this movie. Unlike the first one, there wasn't this dead space in the middle. And I got to see more of Susan, who was actually my favorite character of the main kids (I'm an older sister, do you know how few older sisters get to go on adventures in fantasy and fairy tales?). I also have a fondness for archers, as that was one of the few weaponry things that I was good at. XD I also really liked how angry Peter was--before he was a bit of a stock character, I thought. I wish Edmund had more lines, as I like movie!Edmund because they sufficiently developed his new humbled perspective. It was subtle, but there was one scene in particular where there was Peter temptation and Edmund being the stronger one that was basically awesomely symbolic.
They added some things to movie that I don't recall to the books; like the whole growing up undertones that Lewis did a little clumsily, I thought. And Aslan's deus ex machina was far more appropriate than it should have been. Also the Tolkien influences are showing, but in a good way. Then again, I'm fond of writer groups and how they share ideas sometimes. XD The anti-industrialization message came through clearer than I expected as well (come on, the fragging TREES started fighting, if that's not obvious I don't know what is).
Also, Eddie Izzard was the voice of a mouse knight. I mean, come on, that was basically the best character in the movie. And I'm really not a fan of talking animals. I seriously want a mouse knight of my very own now. I'm sure that since Disney produced this I'll be able to get one soon enough. XD
My only real complaints is that while it was well-paced, it still felt long. Could have been the fact I was at a drive-in and had just watched another movie, but I think that if I had come to just see that I would have felt similarly. And they didn't really develop Caspian as a character much at all (not that I'm complaining, I only ever thought he was alright, but then I'm not a fan of monarchies). And due to the shear amount of characters a lot of the family dynamics with the kids was glazed over a little.
But overall this is a good movie to see with family (particularly my dad, who doesn't read and movies/TV are pretty much his only exposure to such stories. sad, I know).
Alright, I haven't liked an anime this much since I discovered RahXephon and Last Exile. So that says a freaking lot.
Kino's Journey is basically just that; a girl on a talking motorcycle (named Hermes, he's a wonderful character, actually) going through different countries that are all rather weird or exaggerated and meeting people. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's scary, most often it's freaking awesome. This is an anime that is full of ideas, discussions, and does so artfully and not preachy and somehow rather entertainingly. And it hits you rather hard in the first couple episodes (particularly the episode "A Tale of Feeding Off Others -I Want To Live-").
Kino is basically my new hero. For realz. There are very few tomboyish characters in anime that aren't some kind of sexualization on that ideal, so it was nice to see this cute girl that dressed appropriately (and sometimes got mistaken for a boy). And I want her goggles, like badly. Her personality was very even-tempered too, but not entirely perfect. She made perfect sense for a girl traveling on her own too--she kept herself generally inconspicuous, defended herself well, and knew when to leave. Her somewhat detached nature could be jarring at first for some, but she's not detached as much as... she has a good sense of survival. And when you learn her backstory, this sense of survival makes a lot of sense.
And some of the characters she meets... are awesome. Like the inventor girl that I want to be (for serious, her house was SO COOL), and the Brooding Swordsman With Fluffy Dog that she made fun of (seriously, this is why I love Kino, she's got a sense of wit that's subtle). And the last episode made me cry a little, as the little girl in that episode was just too adorable and... well. You'll have to watch it.
It makes me want to look up the novels it was based off of, because it was so interesting and engaging and dammit I want more than thirteen episodes. This is my biggest complaint. There are only thirteen episodes! And the last one is kind of a downer! I WANT MORE.
But this is basically the best thing I saw all weekend, for serious. I don't want to give it back to Minion J, since he was the one that loaned it to me. He has officially won my trust as far as recommendations go (well, he won it before by saying he didn't like Evangelion either, so I know that we share some philosophical similarities. XD) I hope he loans me more stuff to watch, I'll bet his collection is awesome.
~Cendri
P.S. FREE E-BOOKS. YAY!
P.P.S. Alright, a wicked part of me wants to read this, because I figure this will be humorous to me.
P.P.P.S. Summoner FST up here and on![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
viniel
Criticism, that is, being a critic, is always something I battle with. To some extent, I think it's needed, I think you shouldn't always accept things as they're fed to you. But I think there's something to the critic culture that completely misses the point. When you get to the level of looking at things through a certain lens, you have a tendency of losing the source. It's like other things in fandom, when we start to think of characters and settings almost as ours. But they aren't. We're merely borrowing them. Ultimately, we are not the original creators, and even if they do something "out of character" it is still technically in character, because they wrote the character. It may not be consistent but it is in character. Sure, it alienates and frustrates and we can criticize that, but really we are left to our own interpretations.
Many may not know this, but back in the day I wrote music reviews for a publication. Under a pseudonym and I didn't get paid, but it was something fun to do and probably explains some of my weirder tastes in music. I eventually had to stop because I started to get too critical of an ear and really couldn't enjoy music for a while. Which was sad. Due to this somewhat disastrous occurrence I am loathe to do it to other forms of entertainment or hobby that I enjoy. It doesn't mean criticism is bad, I just wanted to throw that perspective out there before I got too into this.
Generally, I distrust professional critics. Which sounds crazy, but honestly, I don't trust them one bit. They attempt something objective when they obviously have a subjective viewpoint. The constraints of professionalism or space or what have you don't allow the context to get through. Instead you get "professional opinion" which while it can mean colored by experience more often is just an oxymoron. I want to know where the critic is coming from. For me, the best critics are those that don't hide the fact they are subjective, that insert a little of themselves where you can see it without hiding it. Like, I love the movie Donnie Darko not because of the time travel and crazy bunnies, but because it shows a family that is very much like my own in a positive light (but not perfect either), where a lot of the time families in that bracket are portrayed as hedonistic and largely dysfunctional. It was for this same reason that American Beauty didn't seem edgy to me, it just seemed idiotic and blunt in all the wrong ways. Not that every decently well off middle class family is close and supportive like mine is, but neither are they ALL dysfunctional materialists or gross caricatures. But obviously, my experiences will color my enjoyment. I never appreciated tragedy and sorrow until I really experienced it. And I still won't get most slapstick humor, no matter how hard I try to.
Does that mean if you have a bias, you shouldn't bother? Hell no. But you shouldn't hide your bias either. I think that someone's credibility should be made more apparent by allowing other people to see where they're coming from. Everyone has certain things that will bother them more than others. Some people have seen a lot of the world, while others have never left their town. Doesn't mean they'll only like what they know, but what they know will color what they like. We will tend to notice the flaws in something that closest approach the flaws we see in ourselves and our environment, unless we've become completely desensitized. Good writers and artists are such because they hit on universality, on common experiences, but don't make it too general that people can't see that which is outside of them. It pulls them in and allows them to be something else by drawing them with the similarities and keeping them going with the differences.
I'm getting a little too philosophical now, but really, the point I'm getting at is criticism really can't be objective outside of bare mechanics, and even then, there is dissent. All you can hope for is people that might have some commonality or empathy for your experiences that might bring up something you couldn't have found on your own. This is why I like recommendations so much better than criticisms (especially if the reccer tells us why they liked it).
Now that that's out of the way, some opinions on things!
So basically, I loved this movie. I'm going to agree with what I've heard from several people I know; it's no Last Crusade, but does it need to be? I mean, it has SOVIETS. Sure, they're caricature bad guys, but were the Nazis anything else? Sometimes I like my bad guys to be simple and my good guys to get into fistfights. Which was something I always liked about Indiana Jones; it hits some issues, but not too hard to ruin the fun. Since I'm a bit of a nerd for 50s alien stories and had a HUGE paranormal phase, I just about geeked out every five minutes. So I probably enjoyed that more than a lot would. I even liked the cheesy ending, but that is just because I found it strangely cute and they brought back my favorite Indy girl, so. I even liked the kid, but then, I'm a sucker for Old Man and Young Punk snark. I can't help it. And Cate Blanchett actually didn't do a half bad Ukrainian accent, only managing to drop it in a few places (though I really wanted her to say "nuclear wessels" but that's me). There were lots of nods to the times, some wonderful quips ("Any last words?" "I like Ike") and really a good job showing how stuffy Indy has gotten despite being Mr. Adventure.
Is it wrong to admit I like older Indy a helluva a lot more? I didn't nearly find him so charming when he was younger, but during this movie I pretty much wanted him to make out with everyone. >.> I say that mostly joking.
I'm very glad that I went into this without GINORMOUS expectations (which I rarely do for movies anymore, and try not to, it keeps me from being disappointed). Because it delivered exactly what I expected, and a little more in some places, a little less than others. Ignore the critics, they are crazy. Go see it for yourself and enjoy the parts you want to. Or go watch Sex and the City and join those legions.
Alright, admittedly, I went into this movie not expecting much at all, other than one recommendation on how pretty it was. Gasp, call me a heathen, but Narnia is not one of my favorite series by far. It was cute when I was younger, but reading it as I was older a lot of things... didn't really hold up. Mostly because I love some of Lewis's later works, and the stuff that he stopped masking in allegory--Lewis is strange in that he seems less preachy when he's actually being blunt. XD
But anyway, that out of the way, I rather enjoyed this movie. Unlike the first one, there wasn't this dead space in the middle. And I got to see more of Susan, who was actually my favorite character of the main kids (I'm an older sister, do you know how few older sisters get to go on adventures in fantasy and fairy tales?). I also have a fondness for archers, as that was one of the few weaponry things that I was good at. XD I also really liked how angry Peter was--before he was a bit of a stock character, I thought. I wish Edmund had more lines, as I like movie!Edmund because they sufficiently developed his new humbled perspective. It was subtle, but there was one scene in particular where there was Peter temptation and Edmund being the stronger one that was basically awesomely symbolic.
They added some things to movie that I don't recall to the books; like the whole growing up undertones that Lewis did a little clumsily, I thought. And Aslan's deus ex machina was far more appropriate than it should have been. Also the Tolkien influences are showing, but in a good way. Then again, I'm fond of writer groups and how they share ideas sometimes. XD The anti-industrialization message came through clearer than I expected as well (come on, the fragging TREES started fighting, if that's not obvious I don't know what is).
Also, Eddie Izzard was the voice of a mouse knight. I mean, come on, that was basically the best character in the movie. And I'm really not a fan of talking animals. I seriously want a mouse knight of my very own now. I'm sure that since Disney produced this I'll be able to get one soon enough. XD
My only real complaints is that while it was well-paced, it still felt long. Could have been the fact I was at a drive-in and had just watched another movie, but I think that if I had come to just see that I would have felt similarly. And they didn't really develop Caspian as a character much at all (not that I'm complaining, I only ever thought he was alright, but then I'm not a fan of monarchies). And due to the shear amount of characters a lot of the family dynamics with the kids was glazed over a little.
But overall this is a good movie to see with family (particularly my dad, who doesn't read and movies/TV are pretty much his only exposure to such stories. sad, I know).
Alright, I haven't liked an anime this much since I discovered RahXephon and Last Exile. So that says a freaking lot.
Kino's Journey is basically just that; a girl on a talking motorcycle (named Hermes, he's a wonderful character, actually) going through different countries that are all rather weird or exaggerated and meeting people. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's scary, most often it's freaking awesome. This is an anime that is full of ideas, discussions, and does so artfully and not preachy and somehow rather entertainingly. And it hits you rather hard in the first couple episodes (particularly the episode "A Tale of Feeding Off Others -I Want To Live-").
Kino is basically my new hero. For realz. There are very few tomboyish characters in anime that aren't some kind of sexualization on that ideal, so it was nice to see this cute girl that dressed appropriately (and sometimes got mistaken for a boy). And I want her goggles, like badly. Her personality was very even-tempered too, but not entirely perfect. She made perfect sense for a girl traveling on her own too--she kept herself generally inconspicuous, defended herself well, and knew when to leave. Her somewhat detached nature could be jarring at first for some, but she's not detached as much as... she has a good sense of survival. And when you learn her backstory, this sense of survival makes a lot of sense.
And some of the characters she meets... are awesome. Like the inventor girl that I want to be (for serious, her house was SO COOL), and the Brooding Swordsman With Fluffy Dog that she made fun of (seriously, this is why I love Kino, she's got a sense of wit that's subtle). And the last episode made me cry a little, as the little girl in that episode was just too adorable and... well. You'll have to watch it.
It makes me want to look up the novels it was based off of, because it was so interesting and engaging and dammit I want more than thirteen episodes. This is my biggest complaint. There are only thirteen episodes! And the last one is kind of a downer! I WANT MORE.
But this is basically the best thing I saw all weekend, for serious. I don't want to give it back to Minion J, since he was the one that loaned it to me. He has officially won my trust as far as recommendations go (well, he won it before by saying he didn't like Evangelion either, so I know that we share some philosophical similarities. XD) I hope he loans me more stuff to watch, I'll bet his collection is awesome.
~Cendri
P.S. FREE E-BOOKS. YAY!
P.P.S. Alright, a wicked part of me wants to read this, because I figure this will be humorous to me.
P.P.P.S. Summoner FST up here and on
viniel![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-02 07:48 pm (UTC)>.>
I mean, just loads of awesome.
~Cendri