Guardian Declares: American Cinema is Subpar, and Always Has Been

"I'd imagine Bergan also doesn't enjoy ice cream, sunsets, and the laughter of children"

LOL hilarious!!

Id imagine that he likes to kick puppies also

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You really don't have to watch a movie called "dumb and dumber" to know it sucks. And none of the directors you listed (lynch, kubrick..) impress me much - especially spielberg.

That said, his suggestions are not much better at all. In fact, they sound like something a wannabe indie cinema fan would say - just to disagree with everyone else.

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The anti-American sentiment, knows no bounds.

Thing is, no one over here cares if snooty, good-for-nothing, anal-retentive clowns like this guy like our cinema...I am a huge fan of IFC, Sunshine, Flix, etc..I love Foreign films, many of them have a much deeper and moving story, usually about a mundane subject, and they make it work.

But because the comic book culture never took to Europe like it did America, they have no concept of fantasy adventure..They have no imagination to enjoy seeing a 30ft tall robot destroy a city. Does it take an Orson Welles to generate interest in that?
Not when as a kid you grew up fantasizing what this would look like all along.
Ron Bergan will live, give horrible, anti-American film reviews, and when he dies, no one will notice or care, or even remember who he was or what he did...Micheal Bay, Steven Speilburg, and any other American Director this clown wants to bash, will be remembered for generations to come for their "sub-par" films...

SCOREBOARD, anti-America jerks.

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((( But because the comic book culture never took to Europe like it did America, they have no concept of fantasy adventure..They have no imagination to enjoy seeing a 30ft tall robot destroy a city )))

So HG Wells, Jules Verne, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, Tolkein were not European?

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Oh, I imagine he enjoys the laughter of children...right before he cuts their heads off!

I bet he's a communist.

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Is it a coincidence that he looks like the food critic in Ratatouille?

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It would have been a lot easier, simpler, and more honest, if he would have just said:

" I think American movies suck. "

and been done with it.

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"they have no concept of fantasy adventure..They have no imagination to enjoy seeing a 30ft tall robot destroy a city." Absolutely hilarious. Gross generalisations are stupid, whatever you're talking about.

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Bizarre. The Guardian themselves named David Lynch the greatest living film director today a couple of years ago. He's a god in Europe.

Their number 2 is Scorcese, followed by the Coens, Soderbergh, etc. Here's the link:

http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/page/0,11456,1082823,00.html

This is one of those contrarian articles meant to generate controversy, and hence, a sort of fame for its author.

I kept thinking, "Keyser Soze" after I saw his mugshot.

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"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new ..."
--Anton Ego from Ratatouille

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As a former student of Mr. Bergan's, I feel you're coming away with the wrong impression of what he's saying here. Sit down and have a beer with the guy some time and you'll find he does enjoy the work of quite a few American directors (He wrote an excellent book about the Coen Bros. for example). However, he's a guy that really looks for directors who push the language of cinema forward. The directors mentioned in this post (and the comments) have all made some expertly crafted films, a point I feel he would concede while noting they're not exactly breaking any new ground.

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Martin Scorsese hasn't "pushed the language of cinema forward?" Yeah right.

Back to anonymity for him!

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actually technically - cinema hasn't been moved forward in along time- hollywood trades of familarity not innovation and experiment. he's right about that, but its hardly a point worth making because then no movie or art can exist unless it creates a new language.

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Firstly: "In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new ..."

Ain't exactly Addison de Witt, is it. Hadn't seen Ratatouille yet, and am disappointed to hear about this tactic--especially since every critic has been kind to Brad Bird, or just about. (Quick, a theater's on fire--what do you haul out of it, the print of Transformers or the print of The Iron Giant?)
Anyone who thinks being a critic is easy never gave the task serious attention. Negative criticsm is easy, and it gets laughs, but it tears your heart out to write it day in and day out--especially if you got into the line of work because you loved cinema and wanted to level the playing field between something good, small and enduring and something huge, ugly and disposable.
It's easy (and puerile) to say all critics are crap-artists in the same way that it's easy to say all movies are essentally junk. In both cases what you've said hasn't advanced the causes of cinema or movie criticism.
I'm looking forward to reading this essay, which sounds like a nice alternative to the studio-financed AFI (or whomever) listing 100 Movies That You Saw Already.
And whatever this guy's face is like--what the hell is this forum, Rate My Looks? Jesus!--he seems to have a few points. Is there any American director around who is as advanced as Godard? Please don't say Scorcese, because you know that even Scorsese wouldn't say that.

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"Absolutely hilarious. Gross generalisations are stupid, whatever you're talking about."


then by all means name the European CGI action/adventure Thrillers coming out this or any other summer.

and it's "Generalizations" genius.

what I'm getting at, is that because their taste in movies differs from American culture does not make our films any less credible, and that his whole point was to pile on the "Anti-American" sentiment, no more, no less.
If he dislikes American directors, it's not for a lack of talent, its for a lack of taste.

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John,
The statement about Europeans was "they have no concept of fantasy adventure" (completely untrue) and "they have no imagination to enjoy seeing a 30ft tall robot destroy a city" (also untrue). This has nothing to do with the lack of "European CGI Action/Adventure Thrillers". The way it was worded made it sound like it was referring to Europeans in general, rather than Eurpoean film makers.

Generalisations v Generalizations
You do know that there are different spellings for words, depending on the country/language? Right, genius?

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"and it's "Generalizations" genius."

you're being ironic, aren't you? please?

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if you say so, because European film makers and their fans are known for their brilliant CGI blockbuster movies right?
I can only assume either European film makers and fans either don't like or can't produce those type of movies, which is fine by me, but the fact that in general American audiences are the target of said movies, and that American directors tend to direct those movies, I would think it safe and proper to say that in general European movie makers, don't bother with American CGI specialties, and therefore, when the ass clown in question bashes, American Directors, I can only assume, its because he like many other snobby euro directors, gives no credence to those movies. I've seen plenty of European movies, that bored me to sleep..its great they focus on acting and writing so much, but sometimes, we Americans just like to sit back and watch a three dimensional monster, rip us apart, just to have some "Johnny Bravo" type American good guy, win in the end. If your reviewers don't like it, they need to stop telling us as much, because honestly we could care less. I bet you 85% of Europe, will go watch any American CGI movie, and be damned happy we created it to begin with. Now to get them to admit to it.

and Simon, I was dripping with it.

"Generalisations v Generalizations
You do know that there are different spellings for words, depending on the country/language? Right, genius?"

which would make my spelling as correct as yours is, But seeing as how I am typing and reading this from America, then you could see how I wouldn't know or give a hoot about how you spell it where ever your from. This doesn't make us stupid, as a whole it's a different syntax, and I have no need or desire to learn yours.

I bet if I didn't more or less announce that I was American, my thoughts wouldn't have automatically been dismissed.
why is it since 9/11, theres been more or less a free-for-all on America and our citizens?
for all the perceived turmoil you guys think there is, we sure are a lot less angry than most Europeans I've met. angry people indeed.

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