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Reviews seldom indulge in analysis, which typically consumes a lot of space and might give away too much. Nor do reviewers usually float interpretations, but when they do, the most common tactic is reflectionism. A current film is read in relation to the mood of the moment, a current political controversy, or a broader Zeitgeist. A cynic might say that this is a handy way to make a film seem important and relevant, while offering a ready-made way to fill a column. Reviewers don’t have a monopoly on reflectionism, though. It’s present in the essayistic think-piece and in academic criticism too.
To this he appends a footnote:
Reflectionist interpretation usually seems to me unpersuasive, for reasons I’ve discussed in Poetics of Cinema, pp. 30-32. I realize that I’m tilting at windmills. Reflectionism will be with us forever.
Besides giving me something to add to my reading list, Bordwell has gifted me here with a term for the lamentable fixation of mainstream reviewers on sociopolitical allegory, real or imagined, in genre films generally and horror films specifically. As Bordwell implies, this tendency is by no means limited to genre and may or may not be a worthwhile line of inquiry.
* EW's fanboy-writ-large Doc Jensen takes a look at 17 unsolved mysteries from Lost. I'm glad he called out the fatuity of the show's creators' half-assed treatment of the mysterious Numbers, because he actually has their ear. Dropped ball on "Adam and Eve," though. (Via Whitney Matheson.)
* Because the only thing cooler than water monsters is water monsters from subterranean bodies of water, based on the plot description in this piece about how the guy who designed the Cloverfield monsters is working on the movie, I am now looking forward to the remake of Piranha.
* In an earlier, Spoiler Warning-free iteration of this post, Matthew Perpetua took the liberty of revealing to me the secret of M. Night Shyamalan's upcoming film The Happening, goddammit.
* Speaking of Shyamalan, Not Coming to a Theater Near You's Leo Goldsmith takes a look at the director's underrated superhero thriller Unbreakable. Ah, that opening train-crash sequence shot. Long-take heaven.
* Dave at Rue Morgue posts the poster for Maniac. They don't make 'em like this anymore.
* This parody video centering on a deluxe Tokyo hotel that doubles as a giant robot makes good use of uncanny immensity, something that all parody videos should probably do. (Via Topless Robot.)
* Your video of the day is "Let Me Go" by Heaven 17. The whole first two thirds is an redolent with the promise of the final third (you can't miss when it kicks off)--it's one of the most brilliantly structured pop songs I've ever heard.
* Finally, in the vein of my months-long project of Netflixing The Wire and watching it during my lunchbreaks, I've lately been doing the same with Deadwood. So far it makes The Wire look like CSI Miami, but the real reason I bring it up is because last night I had a sex dream about Calamity Jane and I don't know how to feel about this. (I should note that this dream began with me being engaged to Gene Hackman's daughter, who I barely knew and whose name I couldn't even remember, and ended with me locking my father and uncles into a room, then holding the door shut while I listened in horror as they succumbed to the zombie bites they'd incurred earlier, tormenting myself by trying to discern who was the last to turn and therefore the first victim of the other two. It made the Jane-sex seem a lot less uncomfortable in retrospect.)
Ugh, what people did to 300 just plain grossed me out. As Jim Emerson reminds us, of course, no movie is made or seen in a vacuum. But sometimes there's just putting a lot where there isn't anything. After I finally saw THE HOST, I couldn't figure out WHAT political allegories ANYONE was talking about.
DEADWOOD makes pretty much everything look like CSI: MIAMI.
And: Robin Weigert not only cleans up well, she's fucking brilliant. Listen to the commentary track (somewhere on the first season) with her and Brad Dourif, aka Doc (my favorite character). They are BRILLIANT.
I sort of wish I'd been keeping up a running email commentary to a buddy or something as I've been watching Deadwood the same way I did with The Wire, because I'm feeling more and more inadequate to the task of writing about the show when it's finished. There are just so many magnificent things about it that I wouldn't know where to begin--it'd just be a list. But near the top would be the Doc's prayer at the end of season one, that's for goddamn sure.
Second for me would be Rev. Smith's sermon at Wild Bill's funeral. Very stirring, and a good underlining of what the series would then be about, once the last "lone gunman" had fallen.
So you finally got around to watching Deadwood, eh? If you had done so a year earlier, we would've been able to talk amongst ourselves as the season progressed!
My favorite dialogue is Farnum's speech while scrubbing blood off the floor of one of his rooms. Not sure when it occurs, but it's stuck with me. It's amazing.
Also, be sure to check out "John from Cincinatti" after you finish Deadwood. I'm doing so now. Even though it was canceled after 10 episodes, it's worth checking out. It features almost the entire cast of Deadwood, and uses essentially the same style of dialogue. But then there's levitating surfers and a bird that can bring people back to life and a guy who can make anything appear in his pockets that he could ever wish for... and surfing. It's sort of like 'Lost' meets 'Deadwood' meets any Bruce Brown surfing documentary.
As incredibly frustrating as John From Cincinnati is, I'm glad I watched it. Only one of the storylines is satisfactorily resolved, but it's the one you realize was the most important.
Paula Malcomson ranks as my Deadwood crush. Lost wasting her the way they did- literally- filled me with infinite rage.
Thankfully, Robin Weigert was treated better as Juliet's sister.
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Comments (7)
Yeah, 300 was reflectionisticated as all fuck, wasn't it?
Adam and Eve, AND the black and white stones they were carrying.
Robin Weigert is actually pretty hot when she cleans up. She was on that show Life on ABC, and she looked good.
Posted by Jim Treacher | May 15, 2008 11:13 PM
NBC, I mean.
Posted by Jim Treacher | May 15, 2008 11:15 PM
Ugh, what people did to 300 just plain grossed me out. As Jim Emerson reminds us, of course, no movie is made or seen in a vacuum. But sometimes there's just putting a lot where there isn't anything. After I finally saw THE HOST, I couldn't figure out WHAT political allegories ANYONE was talking about.
DEADWOOD makes pretty much everything look like CSI: MIAMI.
And: Robin Weigert not only cleans up well, she's fucking brilliant. Listen to the commentary track (somewhere on the first season) with her and Brad Dourif, aka Doc (my favorite character). They are BRILLIANT.
Posted by Ken Lowery | May 16, 2008 9:40 AM
I sort of wish I'd been keeping up a running email commentary to a buddy or something as I've been watching Deadwood the same way I did with The Wire, because I'm feeling more and more inadequate to the task of writing about the show when it's finished. There are just so many magnificent things about it that I wouldn't know where to begin--it'd just be a list. But near the top would be the Doc's prayer at the end of season one, that's for goddamn sure.
Posted by Sean | May 16, 2008 9:59 AM
Oh, hell yeah.
Second for me would be Rev. Smith's sermon at Wild Bill's funeral. Very stirring, and a good underlining of what the series would then be about, once the last "lone gunman" had fallen.
Posted by Ken Lowery | May 16, 2008 2:15 PM
So you finally got around to watching Deadwood, eh? If you had done so a year earlier, we would've been able to talk amongst ourselves as the season progressed!
My favorite dialogue is Farnum's speech while scrubbing blood off the floor of one of his rooms. Not sure when it occurs, but it's stuck with me. It's amazing.
Also, be sure to check out "John from Cincinatti" after you finish Deadwood. I'm doing so now. Even though it was canceled after 10 episodes, it's worth checking out. It features almost the entire cast of Deadwood, and uses essentially the same style of dialogue. But then there's levitating surfers and a bird that can bring people back to life and a guy who can make anything appear in his pockets that he could ever wish for... and surfing. It's sort of like 'Lost' meets 'Deadwood' meets any Bruce Brown surfing documentary.
Posted by Rick Marshall | May 16, 2008 4:30 PM
As incredibly frustrating as John From Cincinnati is, I'm glad I watched it. Only one of the storylines is satisfactorily resolved, but it's the one you realize was the most important.
Paula Malcomson ranks as my Deadwood crush. Lost wasting her the way they did- literally- filled me with infinite rage.
Thankfully, Robin Weigert was treated better as Juliet's sister.
Posted by Dan | May 17, 2008 3:14 PM