Last Movie You Saw, Name & Review Movie • Page 41

Not necessary.

 

I do not know where you got the idea that I was talking about or to you. I would have quoted you if I was.

 

i've listened to a few of his reviews on Fincher films. idk, i just feel like there are more interesting things to say about Fincher's ideas and style than what he does. and he really loves Fight Club and Se7en and those are my least favorites of Fincher's haha so I'm a little salty about that maybe. imo there's nothing wrong with being a fan of him if that's what you like in reviewers and i'm sorry if i sounded like that!

(to put my money where my mouth is, here's an analysis that i like of Fincher)

i feel like that's pretty presumptuous. he's of a different cloth and it's not my thing but that's a lot to read into his review style and what his audience watch him for - especially for YouTube where there's such an enormous range of reviewer quality and what people look for.

 

tbf that's totally an ap/chorus thing too haha so sometimes it's tough not to read things as such

 

@lightning13 I've watched three or four Stuckmann videos and have found he has really very little to say about how or why a film works or doesn't work. He reminds me of my roommate my first year of film school, which is an unpleasant connection for me, so maybe that's part of why I have trouble taking him seriously. He (like my old roommate) latches onto such purely, purely surface level critiques (this performance was good, this plot part didn't make sense, I didn't find this funny, this was so cool) that I don't see much gained from what he does. As an entry point into thinking critically about film he's probably harmless, but if one is interested in learning about film, he doesn't really offer much. That's why there's such a negative response to him from people who go a little deeper into film and film criticism, like a few of the people in this thread. I hope that makes sense and doesn't come off as condescending or intimidating.

As for other names, I enjoy David Ehrlich, Amy Nicholson, Wesley Morris, Richard Brody, Jordan Hoffman, Matt Singer, Jeremy Smith, and Film Crit Hulk, among others (though lately since I've been doing a lot of my own film writing I've been avoiding critics work on movies I've seen to let my own writing be as much my own as possible). If you're interested in finding critics who are a bit more challenging or in-depth, I recommend searching out reviews by those names (or others, browsing the Rotten Tomatoes page on a movie you're interested in probably works well) about films you like or don't like, not necessarily to see whether or not you agree with their ultimate judgement of a film, but to see how they approach it and what they bring to the writing about a film. For instance, Film Crit Hulk's piece on Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing is a masterful examination of how powerful that film is and why it matters today. David Ehrlich gave Nerve a good review, providing a valuable argument for a movie that many people probably thought looked silly or empty by uniquely making the connections to why it resonates beyond the way a lot of lesser critics would focus on just plot or acting. Not that plot and acting aren't important, but I think a lot of people don't quite realize how much other factors weigh just as much, and often far more heavily. I think a reviewer like Stuckmann doesn't go beyond those easily tangible beats. For me, approaching films from a truly unique perspective, whether it's a critic I like or friends I have or whatever else, makes the films far more memorable and impactful and brings about new ways to engage with them, whether or not I agree or disagree on basic assessments of quality, and Stuckmann seems to me just to operate on that level of basic assessment of quality. This isn't to say you have to agree with me or can't like Stuckmann or anyone else, or have to like any of the critics I like, or even have to approach movies the same way I do or anyone else does. Interact with movies and any other art however you like. I love film a lot, I've studied it a lot and worked in film and television* and sometimes feel like when I see a Stuckmann review that so much is being missed out on. I hope any of what I've said makes sense and might help understand at least where I'm coming from.

* That doesn't mean I know much more or less than anyone else, because I don't, or should be paid attention to any more or less than anyone else, because I shouldn't be. It's just where I come from.

 

Whether or not people want to watch him is their business, but he is what happens when you give a platform to an admirer of film rather than a professional critic. There are many people, including here in this forum, that brag that they "don't care what critics think" and this is what happens when you move away from the A.O. Scott's of the world and to a guy who just likes movies. He offers little more than a consumer guide, not thoughtful or probing criticism.

 

Ya this is what I was gonna say but better

 

Depends on what side of him you are interested in. My preference leans towards his horror works, of which I recommend Sisters, Body Double and Dressed to Kill. Femme Fatale is my favorite of his.

He's one of the most exciting film makers around and I'm so glad I got to see so much of his work in the cinema on 35mm this summer.

 

The best critics write for Cinema Scope and Reverse Shot.

 

you answered my question the best, I think. I'm more looking for his cult stuff, his horror stuff, and his hidden gems, that sorta thing. I'll check out Body Double and Dressed to Kill, as well as do a rewatch of Sisters. hopefully I can find more to like this time.

 

Slant has been slacking a bit. Film Comment is good. RS is the best

 

Sisters didn't work for me the first time but my rewatch a few months ago put it in my top 3 De Palma films. Hopefully it's more effective for you the second go as well.

 

Yes, I really like Film Comment, but only recently started reading it.

I mostly just follow the critics I like because a lot of them freelance for a bunch of places.

 

I've actually only seen Blow Out. Gotta see Dressed to Kill and Body Double

 

Mission Impossible has the greatest scene De Palma has ever made though.

 

The idea that admirers of film don't have their place at the table is rank snobbery. It's the fucking internet. Nobody's competing for column inches here.

 

Of course it is snobbery.

You are competing for the limited amount of time and attention that people have. Just because it is in an open platform like the Internet does not mean that people suddenly have more time to read and watch everything out there.

 

No you're not. The people watching those videos were never going to pick up Pauline Kael's writing.

 

Yes, you are competing for a limited amount of time and attention for every single platform. That is not disputable unless you have a way to add hours to a day. Every time you watch a documentary, you are not watching a fictional film. Every time you are reading a book, you are not watching a play. This is not disputable.

Pauline Kael and Stuckmann are worlds apart, and picking a highbrow writer that has been dead for over a decade suggests you have not considered the wealth of other options out there. There are some very great YouTube commenters who talk about recent and big-budget movies.

Red Letter Media is probably the most famous one:

Nerdwriter1 is another:

And Channel Criswell is another:

 

Utterly dodging my point. You're right if that if I watch Real Housewives, that's 20 minutes I'm not watching a documentary. But what logic creates the assumption that if I turn it off, the thing I'll be replacing it with is something that suits your aesthetic preferences.

 

I had no idea Youtube film criticism was even a thing, not saying it's bad or good just personally not something I'd be into

 

the second half loses some of its tightness but it's charmingly contained and intelligently put-together. not sure i'd put it up in top 3 but i also don't love de palma anyway, especially once i heard some of his thoughts on gender and decided he was a little less smart than i thought he was, haha.

 

No one said it did. There is a considerable hill for many people to climb. You are trying to create the position that somehow people should be stopped from watching it. You keep acting like we are not allowed to dislike hallowed master Chris Stuckmann.

 

And if you expressed it as dislike, I never would've quoted you in the first place. I don't like his reviews either. But your hostile snobbery puts people off from wanting to post in the thread.

 

You are generally rude but that is fine? You say harsh things about some of the greatest films of all time but people just generally write it off and move on. There is this weird double standard where you can be negative on films no one sees but if you attack something popular it is in another realm.