GoldbergBlog

New Trailer for UP

What happens starting at around 1:20 absolutely destroyed me.  I cannot wait for this film.

Review: WATCHMEN

Review – Watchmen

Film Criticism: A Disclaimer

I love writing movie reviews.  While Oberlin College was, for the most part, a horrible experience and one I intensely regret (and will regret every time I make a student loan payment), at the end there is some satisfaction to being able to say that I have a degree in thinking critically about film.  I know I have colleagues who look at the expensive piece of paper (they don’t put diplomas on sheepskins any more…cheap bastards) and laugh but I rarely feel out of my depth when studying a film…provided that I have it on DVD…and can watch it on my own time…and on my own terms.

And therein lies the problem of the professional film critic.  As I try to flesh out my thoughts on “Watchmen”, I not only have to consider the basic necessities of quality writing like crafting a strong argument, using evidence to support my case, and, oh yeah, making it fun to read (that’s where professional criticism veers away sharply from academic criticism).  But I’m working under limited knowledge.  Yes, I’ve seen the film, but I’ve only seen it once.  I only have X amount of days to publish it.  I don’t know how it will hold up on repeat viewings.  I don’t know how it will hold up when (or even if) I’m thinking about it a month from now.

I can be tricked.  While I don’t think “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is as good as I first thought, I still think it’s a very good movie.  However, I must now admit that it is too Gumpian in its structure.  The act of aging backwards doesn’t really serve a thematic or dramatic purpose.  Benjamin’s decision to leave Daisy and their newborn daughter so he can live a bohemian lifestyle is a selfish and utterly dickish decision.

I also was too enamored of “American Gangster”.  While I think it’s a great film, if I had had the opportunity to see “There Will Be Blood” more than once before I had to write my Top 10, it would probably the first or second spot, not eighth.  And chocies like this trouble me because it makes me doubt my initial opinion.  I feel like I have to put this disclaimer at the top of all my reviews: Warning–I could be wrong.

Of course, most folks would wonder how a subjective opinion could be wrong.  But I don’t subscribe to this belief that all opinions are equal.  It removes the onus of self-education and the possibility of spirited disagreement.  And while I try to let myself off the hook by saying that I’m younger than most of my peers, it remains frustrating when I don’t pick up on a film’s strengths and weaknesses the first time around.

In summation, my thoughts and opinions, like release dates, are subject to change.