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I've been collecting negative reviews posted on my flist about Twilight, because I can.
http://psa.blastmagazine.com/2008/08/16/twilight-sucks-and-not-in-a-good-way/
This one is refreshingly enough written by a nineteen year old girl who states that she is trying to figure out where she fits in the world one book at a time.
Reading Monsterous Regiment by Terry Prachett at the moment. Quite humorous in places.
This is how satire should be, subtle, with likable characters, and a sort of irreverent wit.
Not over-the-top and in your face like Sex Lies Murder Fame and Tropic Thunder were. Granted both were funny in places. I laughed very hard during Tropic Thunder and snorfled a bit during Sex, Lies...but, I had troubles caring all that much about the people. Instead of laughing with them, I was laughing at them, and that always tends to leave a bad taste in my mouth.
Satire when done well - has you laughing at human behavior, the stupidity of it, yourself, and a situation. Not at the person themselves. It's hard to do satire well. A lot of American Satire has a tendency to fall into "Broad" Comedy or go too far.
At any rate, I'm enjoying Monsterous Regiment.
If you want - there are two reviews of Tropic Thunder on my flist. One by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dlgood who to my knowledge has no association with Hollywood and has never worked in the Entertainment Industry, and one by kevinlevine - who you have to find on blogger, since he's not lj. Or go here Kevin Levine's Review of TRopic Thunder. Levine is a comedy writer - best known for writing the situation comedies - MASH, FRAISER, and CHEERS. He also wrote the Tom Hanks/John Candy comedy Volunteers. What's interesting about the two reviews is the non-Hollywood guy loved TROPIC THUNDER, while the Hollywood Writer despised it. Levine states the problem with Tropic Thunder is it is too insider for most audiences and clearly a comedy for actors and agents.
While dlgood found it hilariously funny and is as about removed from Hollywood as one can get.
I've seen it and I have to say, with all due respect to Mr. Levine, while Bowfinger is certainly a slyer and far subtler picture, Tropic Thunder does a great job of lampooning Hollywood's War films, including Volunteers (which may be why he didn't like it) and especially Apocalypse Now, the Making of Apocalypse Now, and Oliver Stone's Platoon. It even lampoons some of the music used. The funniest bits are actually in regards to those films and how Hollywood views war and terrorism. There's a really funny phone conversation between a Hollywood Producer, a Drug Exporter/Guerilla and a Hollywood Agent that had me, Wales, and half the movie theater dying with laughter.
The other bit Tropic Thunder lampoons is how Hollywood handles ethnic roles. Instead of actually casting a black actor in a lead black role or an asian actor in a lead asian role - Hollywood has notoriously found white actors and dressed them up as these characters, justifying it as "color-blind" casting. Or they will just make the character white. Notable examples include Mickey Rooney in the Teahouse of August Moon. The rampant racism in Hollywood is made fun of here in much the same way it is made fun of in Borat.
At any rate, got to go to bed now. Long work day tomorrow. Next week is apparently National Stay AT Home week according to the media. I don't know about anyone else? But for me, it's National Go to Work Week...with the hopes of getting time off later.
http://psa.blastmagazine.com/2008/08/16/twilight-sucks-and-not-in-a-good-way/
This one is refreshingly enough written by a nineteen year old girl who states that she is trying to figure out where she fits in the world one book at a time.
Reading Monsterous Regiment by Terry Prachett at the moment. Quite humorous in places.
This is how satire should be, subtle, with likable characters, and a sort of irreverent wit.
Not over-the-top and in your face like Sex Lies Murder Fame and Tropic Thunder were. Granted both were funny in places. I laughed very hard during Tropic Thunder and snorfled a bit during Sex, Lies...but, I had troubles caring all that much about the people. Instead of laughing with them, I was laughing at them, and that always tends to leave a bad taste in my mouth.
Satire when done well - has you laughing at human behavior, the stupidity of it, yourself, and a situation. Not at the person themselves. It's hard to do satire well. A lot of American Satire has a tendency to fall into "Broad" Comedy or go too far.
At any rate, I'm enjoying Monsterous Regiment.
If you want - there are two reviews of Tropic Thunder on my flist. One by
dlgood who to my knowledge has no association with Hollywood and has never worked in the Entertainment Industry, and one by kevinlevine - who you have to find on blogger, since he's not lj. Or go here Kevin Levine's Review of TRopic Thunder. Levine is a comedy writer - best known for writing the situation comedies - MASH, FRAISER, and CHEERS. He also wrote the Tom Hanks/John Candy comedy Volunteers. What's interesting about the two reviews is the non-Hollywood guy loved TROPIC THUNDER, while the Hollywood Writer despised it. Levine states the problem with Tropic Thunder is it is too insider for most audiences and clearly a comedy for actors and agents.While dlgood found it hilariously funny and is as about removed from Hollywood as one can get.
I've seen it and I have to say, with all due respect to Mr. Levine, while Bowfinger is certainly a slyer and far subtler picture, Tropic Thunder does a great job of lampooning Hollywood's War films, including Volunteers (which may be why he didn't like it) and especially Apocalypse Now, the Making of Apocalypse Now, and Oliver Stone's Platoon. It even lampoons some of the music used. The funniest bits are actually in regards to those films and how Hollywood views war and terrorism. There's a really funny phone conversation between a Hollywood Producer, a Drug Exporter/Guerilla and a Hollywood Agent that had me, Wales, and half the movie theater dying with laughter.
The other bit Tropic Thunder lampoons is how Hollywood handles ethnic roles. Instead of actually casting a black actor in a lead black role or an asian actor in a lead asian role - Hollywood has notoriously found white actors and dressed them up as these characters, justifying it as "color-blind" casting. Or they will just make the character white. Notable examples include Mickey Rooney in the Teahouse of August Moon. The rampant racism in Hollywood is made fun of here in much the same way it is made fun of in Borat.
At any rate, got to go to bed now. Long work day tomorrow. Next week is apparently National Stay AT Home week according to the media. I don't know about anyone else? But for me, it's National Go to Work Week...with the hopes of getting time off later.
