Movie Snob
Filed under: Vexed - June 27, 2008 @ 1:00 pm
Beau: I think I’m going to go see a movie later today. (gets online) Boy, there are a lot out I want to see - the new Hulk movie, Get Smart, Love Guru, Zohan… are you interested in any of those?
Me: Um, no. I’m not into recycled schlock, thanks.
Beau: I guess I’ll go by myself.
Me: You know what would be cool? If you were to buddy up with a group home of mentally retarded people and take them to see these kind of movies. They would love it, you’d have company, and it would be good community service.
Beau: Does it ever get tiresome for you to be so much better than everyone else? Does it ever get wearisome?
Me: I am pretty exhausted.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Im lucky that my wife does appreciate good movies, she does gravitate toward more conventional (although good) music. I cant tell you the last time I went to a regular movie theater, Landmark for me thanks. I really hate to be thought of as a snob in any way, I just LOVE art and want to expose people to new things. I think when it comes to music, food, movies and many other things some people develop more “mature” tastes as they get older and some continue to like the same things they did when they were a kid.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
BTW, how bout M Nite Shyamalan’s new movie, looks cool to me.
http://www.thehappeningmovie.com/
June 27th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Little known fact: Dor and I are co-chairs of the Snob Club. Whenever I say the word “mainstream” I make that same face dogs and cats make when they smell fornicating armadillos smashed to bits in flagrante delicto by a Hummer. And rolled in donkey shit.
wtf?
yay Friday…
June 27th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
That Shyamalalalaananan dorkwad lost me at Unbreakable. Or whatever movie came right after Sixth Sense. He’s like V.C. Andrews or Danielle Steel for movies. Formulaic much??
That’s why I’m optimistic about Wall-E - I think it will bust out of the typical rule set for computer cartoon movies. Tho I DID like Kung Fu Panda. Skadoosh!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyKRjeJBX_Q
Shh don’t tell anyone. Man I am so embarrassed…
June 27th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Yep, Im not a big Shyamalama-ding-dong fan either, I thought that might be a compromise movie. I do plan on seeing that one though, never saw Unbreakable, sucked huh? Mass market anything sucks, massive corporate machines crank out tons of worthless, food, entertainment and all manner of junk. Their primary motive is profit, if you make entertainment that is timeless its not nearly as profitable as making something easily digestible and disposable. These things do little to nourish the body or mind.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Let him go see movies. You can continue to be smug in your appreciation for fine films!
-D
June 27th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Dougie, by all means, he can do what he wants. I just think his time would be better spent at, say, an orgy.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
I think it’s much more honest to just like things if you like them, and dislike things if you dislike them, regardless of their supposed status as “mainstream” or “counterculture” or “conventional” or what-not.
The whole, “Ew, I don’t like that because EVERYONE likes it.” is just as bankrupt as “Ew, I don’t like that because it’s not popular enough.”
June 27th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
TBK- i feel ya on being worn down constantly by “normalness”, your taste is so refined that you seek refuge in this crazy civilization, yet find very little.
as for ME, i love normal movies. i love being able to see the deep, mystical, spiritual side to “normalness”.
i would totally go see the hulk, or indiana jones with the Beau….but i would also enjoy going and seeing a deep overly complex “fine” film.
The orgy is a “real” thing…..most of us americans prefer to do things that are not real. Like go see movies, play video games, or eat order out pizza.
That which you meditate on, becomes you……
Our biggest problem, in my opinion, is we meditate on objects of sense, and that eventually destroys us, as these things are not real………. real is nothing, and nothing is exactly what we need……………………………
but if we learn from Buddha, we can take from this that ultimately one can simultaneously eat the cake and be free from it at the same time.
meaning, to enjoy simple things, is simply divine….
including the hulk….if you can find depth, and love, and life in simple silly things, you are already there…..
June 27th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
BELLE ! ! ! yes, you are bangin on the right door ! ! ! !
if you love it, u love it……
mystical stuff shows up in every form, in every shape and size….
including Ratatouille, one of the best movies EVER MADE…..
June 27th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Rev L - OK, A.O. Scott, NY Times movie critic snob extraordinaire, thought that Ratatouille was Oscar-worthy. Why? I saw it, I don’t get it.
Also, can a cynical bitch be Buddhist? I’m thinking not. I WISH I could find depth and love in fried twinkies and crocs.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
crocs are a crock.
fried twinkies are experiential. ideally they have fresh homemade blackberry syrup on them. personally i don’t fuck with sugar. or hydrogenated oil.
TBK - In the end, every single thing on earth, and in the universe is the same thing. my foo foo word for it is stardust……but in scientific terms they are called quarks.
every molecule in everything is made of the same building block, ultimately energy.
you are trapped by the sense that everything around you is real. this is not so. it is what you want it to be…..that is why macgyver, and old a-team episodes are deep and spiritual to me. supposedly we see the world as we are inside.
I am spiritual, and WAY TOO deep, so the world is as such for me also.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
The beau is correct when he said to me, you just like it cuz of the cooking.
speaking of ratatouille i am.
I think the deep deep moral, or hidden zen buddhist meaning is much more accessible to those of us that have slaved for years in professional kitchens.
The moment Ratatouille steps from a normal deep animated film into “fine film” is the second that Anton Ego tastes the dish, ratatouille………
in this moment, we, the lucky viewer, are shown a small glimpse into the true nature of “things”…..
as fine food and Haute cuisine rise to new levels of absurdity, this movie reminds us that true magic, true complexity, the ENTIRE MEANING OF LIFE, is found right there in simplicity.
i will make up a metaphor to display this idea…….
” The mountain climber climbs and climbs his whole life, only to find in the end, he is alone and running out of oxygen….
standing at the top of the world is lonely, and the love we seek, ultimately, is right there at the base of the mountain the whole time ”
Anton Ego is a metaphor for perfection…….
The breakthrough Anton makes , is Our breakthrough……
all that ego we pile up for all those years is actually hiding our true self from the one thing we care about….comfort.
AND when it comes down to it, our greatest breakthroughs, or biggest discoveries, are often unexpected, like in the movie the rat cooks the best meal in the entire world.
The most complex genius ideas…..as einstein has said before, are right there in front of our faces the whole time.
Open your eyes to the unknown, and you will see things you could not see before.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
It NEVER gets tiring.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
~~~ This is the way of the shaman ~~~
June 27th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
rumor has it that the new shamalama-ding dong movie blows……
June 27th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
I would respectfully like to point out that saying that people with mental retardation would not necessarily like any of those movies. They are also not looking for anyone for to take pity on them by taking them on “community” outings. If you meant to refer to a bunch of “stupid” people, that’s fine. Please don’t insult people with mental retardation who may have to work much harder than the rest of us to make the same gains but who also have the same hopes and dreams that the rest of us have. Nothing about having mental retardation makes a person stupid.
June 27th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Belle’s point is right on the money, I do think though that many people just haven’t exposed to different things and therefore don’t know if they like them or not. Just know that BILLIONS are spent advertising things to people, I have a hard time believing that most of the fad’s that come and go, are things people genuinely “liked.” Everywhere I go now, Im seeing young girls wearing sunglasses with lenses the size of hubcaps, did they all decide they “liked” those ridiculous things simultaneously?
June 27th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
chiavata - you rock, that was beautifully said. I hate when people say “that’s retarded” “I got gypped” “what a cocksucker” you know, stuff that reflects how ignorant they are. I’m all about People First language and I DO know better. It’s just that sometimes I can’t resist saying inappropriate things. I consider it comedic license. One of my biggest weaknesses is the word “midget.” At one point I tried not to use that word anymore (it is SO wrong) but my life felt incomplete. The word brings me joy. So do sock monkeys and angelic redheads.
June 27th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
I am VERY politically incorrect, one time I was thinking about why I say awful things sometimes. I figured out that Im just not emotionally equipped to deal with the reality of such a painful thing, I use dark humor as a way of sidestepping actually having to deal with it. When it comes to those things, Im an emotional MIDGET.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
For the record, I’m on the fence about the Love Guru.
Also, I like what I like. I am as resistant to advertising as a person can be. That being said, Hollywood’s goal is to make movies that people enjoy–and I’m a person.
I also enjoy seeing movies alone, but I REALLY think that Beautiful needs to see the Hulk with Belle and I.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Saw M Night Shyamalan’s new movie last weekend…Don’t waste your money, seriously.
Premise was good, but bad acting(opinion, yes), and I actually like the actors in the movie (loved Zooey Deschanel in Almost Famous & Tin Man). We wondered if the director played it that way on purpose(probably did) but it gave it a real weird feel, the dialogue (and delivery) along with the camera closeups & tight shots.
His first “R” rated movie, that was the big marketing angle. At least it was the matinee, so we saved a couple of bucks.
Looking forward to “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
http://benjamin-button-trailer.blogspot.com/
June 27th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
haha, I liked kung fu panda too. let me know if you see wall-e, I think it looks endearing.
but you should be a sport and go to the movies w/ your man, I’m sure you could find a way to make it interesting for yourself
June 27th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
sb, I will let you know about wall-e — you are YATBK next week!!! Speaking of angelic redheads…
and um, no. That’s why I recruited Belle to be gf2. She watches those movies with him and documentaries with me.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
I have a whole new love for you TBK, and we’ve never even met! Anyone who understands people first language rocks my world and your other examples reveal you are more than just a sexy triad -er! Which I could tell anyway, and I have a weakness for intellect! I’m so glad you’re one of the people who ‘get it’. Now if only I were an angelic redhead we would be a match made in heaven! Curses!
June 27th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
There is one reason and one reason alone that I want to see The Hulk.
Edward Norton. He is at the top of my list of celebrities-I’d-like-to-fuck.
June 28th, 2008 at 3:57 am
Dor,
Do you like fencing??
BYJBAFOTFLAFJR,
B Diddle
June 28th, 2008 at 6:12 am
Durl 66- thanks for the tip, maybe we’ll skip it.
Belle- Ed Norton is a GREAT actor, ever see Primal Fear?
B-Diddle-never fenced, it looks cool, Im just not really into competitive sports,
competition is a bit foreign to me, a tad primal perhaps?
June 28th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
B-Diddy- what is BYJBAFOTFLAFJR……am i missing something???
June 28th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
I am an almost-occupational therapist so person-first language has been pretty much drilled into my head.
June 28th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Am I the only one amused that you shun Hollywood movies, but crave amateur porn?
June 28th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Saw, the doc “Surf Wise,” today, the wife and I both loved it.
July 1st, 2008 at 12:35 am
Lion,
BYJBAFOTFLAFJR=
Because You’re Jumping Back And Forth Over The Fence Like A Fucking Jack Rabbit
With Love of Course,
B Diddle
“Time for some action, Just a fraction of Friction, I got the clearance to run the interference”-?????
July 1st, 2008 at 8:58 am
B-Diddle, perhaps a more appropriate name for yourself, might be, B-Riddle!
July 1st, 2008 at 10:47 am
” into your satelite, shinin a battle light,
swing out the gat, and I know that will gat ya right ”
B-DIDDY - U are just straight up gangsta….
this is why i call u b-diddy. (like p-diddy)
July 8th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Anthony will go see The Hulk with Z, and you and I can sit around complimenting each other’s wit.