the simpsons

im not really very excited for the movie, but the in-theater advertising is totally awesome!

a hostile hostel

over the past week or so there has been a bit of a 'situation' going on over at my favorite online movie critic's page(s). its been very interesting, and also a bit humorous too.

here is the situation: david poland, the movie critic, got a bootleg copy of the movie 'hostel 2'. he said he would turn it into the authorities (which i assume he did), but on a whim he watched parts of it first. he was repulsed, and said so on his website here (warning: he gives spoilers and some rather graphic descriptions of scenes from the movie). he speaks about the film and how disgusting it is. he speaks of the movie and questions how something so "disgusting, degrading, misogynistic, [and] soulless" could have been released by a studio. he goes on to question those who greenlit it and financed it, he then asks what the director/writer, eli roth, was thinking and how he could justify the exploitation of the movie.

then, eli roth responds to polands accusations during an interview on 'attack of the show' (if you would like to see it, go to this site, then type 'eli roth' in the search bar, and its called 'the loop one on one: eli roth'). he claims that 'hostel 2' is a movie about female empowerment and is packed with political and social commentary. he goes on to call out poland and demand that his journalistic credentials be stripped away.

david then responds on his website here, and there is a flood of comments posted after his response. much of the reactions and discussion is actually quite intellectual- it rarely falls into the standard 'you suck!' internet debate one would find on most sites.

i have no interest in seeing the film (before or after all this went down), but it has been very interesting to follow the feud and resulting discourse. if you have any interest, the links above could provide you some thought-provoking conversations.

Pirates of the carribean: at world's end

what is everyones deal? almost every review ive read for this movie talks about how its too long, nonsensical, all over the place, and just plain bad. i dont get it. it sounds like a lot of people just want to complain about something, and so they decided to complain about this.

maybe they are right. but my approach to this series, ever since the first one, has always been just a willingness to go for the ride and not worry about it too much. i dont always take this approach, but i figured i was in good hands with johnny depp, so i didnt give it a second thought. the first one was a big dumb fun ride. it seemed that most people agreed. the second one was just a bigger dumber funner ride. it seemed that most people did not agree. and now this third one is just more of the same mindless fun, and its got people in an uproar! dude, just turn off you brain and enjoy!

the one complaint that i cannot understand at all is this: 'its too long!' what?!? you just paid between six and ten dollars to be entertained, and now you are going to complain that there was too much entertainment? i know there is something to be said for pacing and structure of storytelling, but ive always been of the mind that the longer time i can spend with these characters, the better. thats one of the reasons ive always liked kevin costners films- we always get to spend a lot of time with them! if its complaining because they cant sit still for that long, then thats even worse! grow up and get an attention span! or, just leave. see? an easy solution.

ok, enough ranting. i liked the movie, and hope they make more. the end.