There are times when I look at a list of “our favorite movies of all time” in stunned disbelief. Consider, for example, this list from the editors of the Wall Street Journal. I note with sorrow that not a single picture in their list was made before 1950. Was noone’s favorite Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, or any of a hundred other pictures of not only surpassing excellence but also tremendous entertainment value made before 1950?
But Kangaroo Jack?
It didn’t strike me at first, but going back through the list, these all appear to be movies with a conservative theme. That’s the only explanation for choosing The Incredibles over more worthy Pixar movies like Finding Nemo.
I’ve never seen Kanagroo Jack, so I don’t know how it fits in.
Kangaroo Jack represents the wonders of market capitalism, where a movie widely panned by elite, liberal opion-makers, can still receive a direct-to-video release.
Someone warned me that these “best of” lists, with a forward button, are a callow mechanism to boost page views. Since then I never click through.
One of the techniques for creating a character is to give him a list of favorite movies. I don’t do it myself because it’s more of a Writing 101 kind of thing. But it can work in a primitive sort of way to define a character.
I think that’s what these guys — and yeah, it absolutely had to be guys — were doing for themselves. They were defining themselves as characters.
Unfortunately they succeeded in defining themselves as obvious and unsubtle, straining embarrassingly for cool, single-mindedly political and devoid of imagination or originality. In other words, if I were writing them as characters and using this technique I’d be describing immature, insecure college Republicans. My guess is this was put together by an intern or the “new guy.”
“Unfortunately they succeeded in defining themselves as obvious and unsubtle, straining embarrassingly for cool, single-mindedly political and devoid of imagination or originality. In other words, if I were writing them as characters and using this technique I’d be describing immature, insecure college Republicans.”
LOL You were saying something about immature?
Sorry, Drew, was that intern your friend?
Actually,
“To each his own ….” is the better way to phase it in English.