BOOK REVIEW:
Every wannabe critic has an axe to grind. Seriously, how can
anyone regard The Departed as anything more than pedestrian
(or corny with its joke of an ending) if they have watched
the original Infernal Affairs? Guillermo Del Toro’s
Pan’s Labyrinth is good, but it pales in comparison
to The Devil’s Backbone and its haunting imagery. Babel
is simply the most presumptuous movie about misunderstandings
I have ever seen; a lazy work that heaps contrivance upon
contrivance on a story about coincidence.
Not
to say I am a better judge of films than author Allan Smithee,
but with this book, Smithee tries to get away with some repetitious
accusations that rings hollow after the first few reviews:
He does not like movies without a point, movies that he does
not get, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Terribly subjective if you ask
me. Movie criticizing may be a personal experience, but writing
a book and collecting royalties by pandering to those who
love to disagree is a tad disingenuous. If Smithee is trying
to be humorous I am not laughing.
CHOICE XCERPT:
"I learnt a lot from American Beauty. It’s a movie
that takes concentration, but if you look close enough you’ll
discover that Thora Birch’s breasts are not the same
size, Kevin Spacey is annoying (in every role – how
does that happen?) and no matter how slow the DVD player goes
you never get to see any of Mena Suvari’s important
bits. And that’s about it really.”
VERDICT:
Uh-oh.
I liked American Beauty and Thora Birch’s breasts won’t
change my opinion. Though can’t say I don’t disagree
with some of his lampooning (read Titanic and Last Tango in
Paris), Allan Smithee sounds too much like the school bully:
all boisterous posturing and too below-the-belt to be taken
seriously; wait, does he want to be taken seriously?
Review
by Lim Mun Pong
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