Note to critics: Stop annoying me
Filed under: Critical Thought, Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg
Like most Americans, I purchased a Sunday paper this weekend, read the comics, and threw the rest of the paper away. However, I couldn't help but notice Steven Spielberg on the cover of the USA Weekend insert, along with a blurb mentioning his new "hit" movie War of the Worlds. I was just wondering how a movie could be considered a "hit" if it hasn't even been released yet?
I see this happening all the time in entertainment journalism, and it needs to end. How many times have I seen the adjectives "controversial" or "blockbuster" applied to a movie that no one has actually seen? Are these journalists brain damaged?
Yes, some of them most likely are, but I think we've gotten so used to formulaic flicks custom made for substantial monetary returns that we automatically praise them as a huge success without really giving them the critique they deserve, or even bothering to see them. Yes, with Spielberg at the helm and Cruise starring, War of the Worlds will most likely be huge, but let's not count our blockbusters before they hatch.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-20-2005 @ 9:59PM
TDavid said...
Well said. However, don't most of the critics get to see these movies at advanced screenings? So they might be basing their opinion/critique based on actual movie screening instead of just making a best guess based on the players and film budget. Lest we forget such epics like Waterworld where all kinds of $$ were spent but a huge hit it did not make.
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6-21-2005 @ 2:51AM
Ash said...
I think you could still say "controversial" at the point where the film had not been released. However, calling a movie a blockbuster or a hit before it is released does have to stop. I hate, hate, hate infotainment. The E Channel must be stopped. Society is just killing itself when most people are so concerned about TomKat, all the while their own marriage is falling apart. Everyone wants to be a "star". I know people that want to be a "star", they don't care for what, they just want to be a "star". Those headlines are self-fulfilling prophecies. They say it is a hit, so everyone will see that it obviously is already called a hit by everyone, so they must see it immediately.
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