Hey, Hyperion. This is [name withheld]. Your stories and reviews are good but you should review more obscure movies and less hollywood box office trash. I already know what to expect from those movies; check out movies like Waking Life, SLC Punk, the Secretary, Battle Royale, Happiness, Motorcycle Diaries, Sean of the Dead, and Maria Full of Grace (Maria llena de gracia, I think).
Not just because these are movies that I like, but because they're not watered-down or censored so that everyone will like them. They have lots of good points to write about. Your audience will appreciate learning about movies that they've never even heard about and might miss out on otherwise. Not that I saw Shrek 2 or Revenge of the Sith so I guess I can't really comment.
-[name withheld]
MY REPLY
Dear [name withheld],
I appreciate you taking the time to write. Please do not construe from the fact that I'm about to disagree with virtually everything you had to say that I am displeased that you wrote in the first place. I always like it when people write, whether or not they agree with me, and whether or not their email makes any sense whatsoever.
Now, to address your "points" in no particular order:
You are correct to write that you really can't comment on movies you haven't seen. From the tone of your comments ("box office trash"), it seems clear to me that you are far more influenced by popular culture than I, in as much as you seem to knee-jerk hate them all sight-unseen. I've long said a movie is not WHAT it is about as much as HOW it is about it, and any movie subject matter can be good or bad, depending on the film. And while it's true that a movie is not a quality experience JUST because it's popular, neither does that make it bad.
I really have to question whether you read my reviews. As for REVENGE OF THE SITH, did you see what I had to say about the Star Wars series? I consider it close to a religious experience, and as such couldn't care less how popular it is. I would see and review Star Wars if I had to strangle orphans to do it.
As for SHREK 2, it is somewhat true that I reviewed it partly because of its popularity. I review all types of movies (more on that in a minute), but part of my job, my "responsibility," if you will, is to keep up on what people are watching. SHREK 2 easily qualifies, as it's the third most popular domestic movie of all time (unadjusted for inflation). Furthermore, if you read my review, you'd see that while overall I gave it a positive nod, I certainly didn't think it was up to the standards of the original.
More to the point: I have zero problems with people disagreeing with me. However, I am nonplussed by someone trashing a review simply because of the movie itself. You want to impress me? Disagree with what I actually said line by line. I'm willing to argue about all day, but how can I fire back at someone who refuses to load her gun?
As to the point that I should review less popular movies: hello! Did you look at the site? The single biggest complaint I get is that I review all these obscure movies, and not enough popular fare. Again, I don't ignore the multiplex offerings, but my goal is to review all types of different movies, especially ones I think my audience might like.
I am all about little known movies. In the same SHREK 2 column I reviewed TREASURE PLANET, an overlooked film, and WATERSHIP DOWN, from the '70s! Can't get too much more obscure than that. In the weeks before that I reviewed TEAM
Before that I did a series on school violence, and reviewed ELEPHANT, BANG BANG YOU'RE DEAD and THE UNITED STATES OF LELAND, three incredibly obscure movies that deal with the same theme. You might want to read it.
Then there's the movies you so helpfully suggest. The first you come up with is WAKING LIFE, which is by director Richard Linkletter, of whom I just posted a movie review about (DAZED AND CONFUSED). I have reviewed WAKING LIFE, and am saving it for an entire Richard Linkletter retrospective if there is any interest. I have reviewed BATTLE ROYALE as well, and am saving that for a series on foreign films, though it is a good suggestion. I reviewed SECRETARY, SLC PUNK and HAPPINESS when they came out awhile ago. (You'll notice the latest number on my DAZED AND CONFUSED review is 00600, which means I've reviewed 600 movies in total.)
MOTORCYCLE DIARIES is about a terrorist (albeit when he was young and handsome), so while I may get to it, I have preferred to first watch movies about people that didn't murder thousands and be proclaimed as a revolutionary. That doesn't mean it's not a great film in and of itself, though (see above). SEAN OF THE DEAD I wouldn't have a problem reviewing, but just haven't gotten to, and MARIA FULL OF GRACE was the only Oscar-nominated movie of last year I didn't review. While I wish I did, you have to give me some credit for getting to so many.
I realize that i don't have every movie review I've ever done on my site yet. Still, even a cursory glance at the offerings would reveal that I have a quite eclectic repository. This is speculation on my part, but I'm guessing you're someone who values the cachet of a position far more than the actual validity or logic of that position. All I can answer to that is that the world is a much bigger place than just hating something for its consumer appeal. Yes, most of the movies you cite are good ideas to review (as I have already or plan to do so), but that doesn't make the STAR WARS, SHREKS, or HARRY POTTERS of the world any less worthy.
Sincerely,
Hyperion
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