tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post293591158832670162..comments2024-03-22T05:48:33.690-07:00Comments on Uncensored John Simon: Critics and CriticismJohn Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00876490457067235124noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-21093220625550286382018-02-24T13:43:43.369-08:002018-02-24T13:43:43.369-08:00I wonder if Mr. Simon liked LaBute's YOUR FRIE...I wonder if Mr. Simon liked LaBute's YOUR FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS (1998) --- I viddied it last night and thought it was amazingly good.noochinatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12584058407655395128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-25553154968401754872018-02-20T02:48:21.960-08:002018-02-20T02:48:21.960-08:00"Criticism is necessary and useful; it is oft..."Criticism is necessary and useful; it is often indispensable; but it can never take the place of action, or be even a poor substitute for it. The function of the mere critic is of very subordinate usefulness. It is the doer of deeds who actually counts in the battle for life, and not the man who looks on and says how the fight ought to be fought, without himself sharing the stress and the danger."<br />Theodore Roosevelt.Joe Carlsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10925042164233399553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-63709442876931857092018-02-16T11:50:29.346-08:002018-02-16T11:50:29.346-08:00GIRTH OF A NATION and BATTLESHIP POTOMAC - I'l...GIRTH OF A NATION and BATTLESHIP POTOMAC - I'll have to check those two great films out!Joe Carlsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10925042164233399553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-59933298227538795502018-02-12T14:26:49.992-08:002018-02-12T14:26:49.992-08:00“Kauffmann was born in 1915, so film must not have...“Kauffmann was born in 1915, so film must not have been part of his early life. He was more of a literary guy, even wrote four or so novels.”<br /><br />That, Nooch, hits the nail on the head. Especially since “literary” includes theatre where, I believe, Kauffmann’s heart was. Early on he worked in theatre, even casting an unknown Marlon Brando in a children’s play he directed. While still reviewing films at THE NEW REPUBLIC, he was also theatre critic for the SATURDAY REVIEW until it folded in the 1980’s. Famously he was theatre critic for the NY Times for a brief spell in 1966 but walked away over a conflict with his bosses. Imagine that! Quitting the most prestigious theatre critic job in the country! No doubt he was a very intelligent man whose film criticism is filled with perceptive comments. But I wonder if he didn’t secretly regret leaving the Times’ job.<br /><br />Here he is with two other theatrical critic stalwarts, Robert Brustein and the irrepressible Eric Bentley who is still going at 101. They’re all a bit gassy but, hell, they have every right to settle some old scores, don’t they?<br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb823S5iVBg&t=4643s <br />Joe Carlsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10925042164233399553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-61565222022239681252018-02-12T11:06:52.622-08:002018-02-12T11:06:52.622-08:00My favorite movie critics are Kael and Simon. Does...My favorite movie critics are Kael and Simon. Does anyone have other recommendations? I love books on film.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-87725994412988237572018-02-12T10:19:02.076-08:002018-02-12T10:19:02.076-08:00I like that 1963 Kauffmann quote---it challenges m...I like that 1963 Kauffmann quote---it challenges my tendency to look forgivingly on a man who persists in courting a woman despite her lack of interest. I see such persistence as crucial to the continuation of life, but perhaps I'm wrong to do so.<br /><br />Kauffmann was born in 1915, so film must not have been part of his early life. He was more of a literary guy, even wrote four or so novels. Not for him being scarred for life from watching LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR as a teen! <br /><br />Jim Goad was mentioned above, he just released today a con-Tarantino piece.noochinatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12584058407655395128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-65055380506689350802018-02-10T16:30:24.220-08:002018-02-10T16:30:24.220-08:00Stanley Kauffmann? Squaresville, Nooch, strictly S...Stanley Kauffmann? Squaresville, Nooch, strictly Squaresville. Not only didn’t he get Godard but he didn’t even get the first three Truffaut films, which everyone else on the planet saw as seminal! Or 2001. Or THE GODFATHERS I and II. Or LAST TANGO IN PARIS. Or most of Robert Altman. Or PULP FICTION. He gets points for praising Elaine May’s MIKEY AND NICKY. A few for being a good critic of actors. Few more for editing THE MOVIEGOER and FAHRENHEIT 451. But that’s it. <br />Joe Carlsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10925042164233399553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-33017089070152961082018-02-07T00:22:21.298-08:002018-02-07T00:22:21.298-08:00JS liked Nurse Betty, raved about RZ's perform...JS liked Nurse Betty, raved about RZ's performance. His description of Betty's "awakening" is why we read him. Like I said in my ditty, JS can make even a lousy movie seem worth watching just so we can savor how well he described it. Scott Whittakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03968186273740791074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-18920898992060124772018-02-06T15:58:47.666-08:002018-02-06T15:58:47.666-08:00Speaking of Stanley Kauffmann, this is from his 19...Speaking of Stanley Kauffmann, this is from his 1963 review of the film 'This Sporting Life'; this passage describes well methinks the horror of obsessive male "love":<br /><br />"His hunger for love, for *her* love, heedless of her condition, drives him to shatter her private sanctities and, in time, to shatter her....It is the story of an emotional need that is converted to egoism by rejection, that destroys what it prizes by insisting on loving without understanding."noochinatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12584058407655395128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-11887141051837081012018-02-03T11:50:18.199-08:002018-02-03T11:50:18.199-08:00Hey, maybe all these dark posters are Jim Goad.Hey, maybe all these dark posters are Jim Goad.Scott Whittakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03968186273740791074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-51738788690390901122018-02-03T11:09:56.152-08:002018-02-03T11:09:56.152-08:00Mr. Simon didn't seem to like Neil LaBute'...Mr. Simon didn't seem to like Neil LaBute's films, but I watched two by him in the past month that are amazingly good: 'Lakeview Terrace' (2008), with a shoulda-won-"Best Actor"-perf. by Samuel Jackson; and 'Some Velvet Morning' (2013), with amazing perf's by Stanley Tucci and Alice Eve.noochinatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12584058407655395128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-42635644695430108232018-01-31T02:35:52.460-08:002018-01-31T02:35:52.460-08:00http://takimag.com/article/eros_wept_taki#axzz55kr...http://takimag.com/article/eros_wept_taki#axzz55krLEQWN<br /><br />http://takimag.com/article/california_brownout_david_cole/print#axzz55krLEQWN<br /><br />http://takimag.com/article/the_week_that_perished_january_28_2018/print#axzz55krLEQWNSalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15050671703914324692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-65027432435636901922018-01-30T22:45:41.666-08:002018-01-30T22:45:41.666-08:00https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpfm56oCvGIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpfm56oCvGIcommenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07394097845990242477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-7073483954486666272018-01-30T19:13:49.746-08:002018-01-30T19:13:49.746-08:00@artlover >> word.@artlover >> word.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-6535440435965624652018-01-30T17:06:14.628-08:002018-01-30T17:06:14.628-08:00Well, the trading of epithets isn't very inter...Well, the trading of epithets isn't very interesting. But some of the substantive comments are. As much as I admire Simon's movie criticism, some of his later work was too much focused on plot, and in particular implausibilities in plot. And while Simon displayed erudition and intellectualism in spades in his criticism, I don't think his self-description as an elitist is an apt one. Simon had a lot of disdain for the elitist shapers of taste and standards in cinema and stage, and he relished bringing them down from their high horses. I don't understand the allusions to Simon's "globalist" political views, however. Simon's criticism was rarely overtly political and I am unaware that he has offered his viewpoints on any of the issues that are dominating political discourse today. When he wrote for National Review, I assumed without knowing for sure that he had a conservative political orientation. But that was not because of what he was writing in his film criticism, but instead because of where he was writing it. You would not expect Simon to write for the foremost conservative magazine of that era without sharing at least some of its philosophy.Art Loverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14579066517504828494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-88836123551740969792018-01-29T18:51:16.773-08:002018-01-29T18:51:16.773-08:00This is really boring.This is really boring.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-65044987105358251982018-01-29T13:29:21.162-08:002018-01-29T13:29:21.162-08:00Carlson, you're a cuckolding freak.
https://w...Carlson, you're a cuckolding freak.<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qipMooMxqHgSalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15050671703914324692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-80226136822088315792018-01-29T03:58:31.090-08:002018-01-29T03:58:31.090-08:00Crisis, Frulin Cup, Wonk Berry, Shells Mcthuth, Ke...Crisis, Frulin Cup, Wonk Berry, Shells Mcthuth, Keenikanz, Otona Lopsickle - different names that yet seem oddly similar? Perhaps many masks for one person? Perhaps a lonely, isolated, frustrated individual? Perhaps disguising his “real” name: Travis Bickle? Perhaps? Perhaps? <br /><br />Taxi! Taxi! Taxi!<br /><br />Nuff said.Joe Carlsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10925042164233399553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-34175324284972826502018-01-29T03:41:18.310-08:002018-01-29T03:41:18.310-08:00Elitist, which rightfully should be a term of prai...<i>Elitist, which rightfully should be a term of praise, is derogatory in the quasi-democratic U.S.A.</i> <br /><br />But most forms of elitism isn't about quality or meritocracy but about status, vanity, connections, greed, privilege, and snobbery. <br /><br />Just look at the EU elites. They will sell their own people down the river to keep their status and attend cocktail parties with the 'right' kind of people. <br /><br />Most members of the elite are total shit. Simon should know since he's been railing against corrupt and compromised elites all his life. <br /><br />Also, elitism doesn't sit well with humanism. If Simon is truly a humanist, he should find worth in the common man. <br /><br />America isn't about equality. It's about winnerism and championism. Not quite the same as elitism. It's more about everything as a kind of sport where winner takes all. <br /><br />Anyway, what has the elites given us? Harvard produced all those financial wizards who gave us Wall Street debacle. Ivy League and Deep State elites gave us lies and useless wars that destroyed millions of lives. The current elites of NYT praise garbage like Pussy Riot and some rap musical about Hamilton as a groid. <br /><br />And what did the elites do with the arts? Go to any contemporary museum, and it's about the corruption of elites. People don't like that shit. Elites go for that shit and pay big money for it. Salhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15050671703914324692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-45347563054320829472018-01-28T04:51:58.278-08:002018-01-28T04:51:58.278-08:00Oddly Pauline Kael and Joan Didion crossed paths i...Oddly Pauline Kael and Joan Didion crossed paths in the early Sixties at VOGUE. Kael wrote a movie column there, later moving to McCALLS, eventually to THE NEW YORKER. Didion wrote many pieces at VOGUE including a review of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, saying “it was like being trapped on a dance floor and crooned at by a drunk.” She departed to freelance elsewhere and write fiction.Joe Carlsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10925042164233399553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-38307094668176701962018-01-27T19:50:11.789-08:002018-01-27T19:50:11.789-08:00“Film criticism isn't to objectively what make...“Film criticism isn't to objectively what makes a film work or doesn't work.”<br /><br />"You have a way with words! Like dull old Stanley!"<br /><br />You holocaust-denying freak. Don't you understand that some people intentionally leave out certain words to accentuate the ABSENCE of what should be there. <br /><br />Now, it's clear that Keenikanz intentionally left our a word between 'objectively' and 'what'. But why? <br /><br />It was to commemorate the holocaust where so many people went missing, and no one noticed for yrs. <br /><br />But you lack sensitivity. There you are mocking someone's respect for the holocaust. What kind of freak are you? <br /><br />Go back to your den of crazy nazis. It's no wonder you want to bring over all those Africans and Muslims to Europe. You want to use them as New Nazis to kill the Jews. <br /><br />Freak! AOL Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11859273313659591077noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-51269262063655157752018-01-27T06:34:41.389-08:002018-01-27T06:34:41.389-08:00Simon did give positive reviews to those films Fok...Simon did give positive reviews to those films Fokie mentions. I have the book in front of me. Puzzling to say the least. 'Boys on the Side' is a decent film, but the other two are not very good. But, again, those are films that are very much like plays. You could do those movies live on stage and no one would know the difference. Right down Simon's alley.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-84266606712313328252018-01-27T06:32:35.529-08:002018-01-27T06:32:35.529-08:00Lots of boys here. Not men, boys.
https://www.yout...Lots of boys here. Not men, boys.<br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SUmUnLMWYQJoe Carlsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10925042164233399553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-88582668749731603352018-01-27T06:18:20.796-08:002018-01-27T06:18:20.796-08:00Keenikanz:
“Film criticism isn't to objectivel...Keenikanz:<br />“Film criticism isn't to objectively what makes a film work or doesn't work.”<br />You have a way with words! Like dull old Stanley!Joe Carlsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10925042164233399553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3752457333383090137.post-38217051024728771862018-01-27T03:15:11.247-08:002018-01-27T03:15:11.247-08:00Here's a very good lecture on American fiction...Here's a very good lecture on American fiction by Stanley Kauffmann, from 1968. He praises a lot of novels I'd never heard of:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwrs0NpDt3w<br /><br />I thought 'When a Man Loves a Woman' was a good film, but then I also liked 'Stuart Saves His Family', so what do I know....noochinator2https://www.blogger.com/profile/12384475422528811780noreply@blogger.com