tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post5567829691551782014..comments2024-03-27T21:42:56.131-05:00Comments on 1001plus: Insert QuarterSJHoneywellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-20432722011849175032018-09-08T17:13:55.900-05:002018-09-08T17:13:55.900-05:00Here's the thing--I learned early on that thos...Here's the thing--I learned early on that those pissing contests just get ugly very quickly. If you grow up in an environment like that, you either accept it and join in or react to it. You accepted it, it seems, and I reacted to it. My father used to regularly pick fights with me about the subject I have an MA in because he needs to be the smartest guy in the room. I can see gearing up for that fight, but for me, I just get agita. <br /><br />So for me, at least, it's not that the pissing matches exist, but that they make me really uncomfortable. <br /><br />Snow Crash, by the way, I liked until the last 20 pages. It felt very much like Neal Stephenson needed 100 pages to end, but his publisher put a gun to his head. SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-6330601216491299422018-09-08T15:41:16.948-05:002018-09-08T15:41:16.948-05:00In my experience of both once being a teenager, an...In my experience of both once being a teenager, and teaching them for years and years, nolahn forgets that a lot of those experiences are/were quite gross and entail pissing matches on multiple levels (with one's parents, teachers, friends, enemies, etc.). Just late last night, my brother extolled on how he missed the pissing matches we used to have at the supper table with my dad over books he forced us to read. I just wish that he had lived long enough to have read "Snow Crash," and I wish I could thank him for making me read "Lonesome Dove." It helped me realize that there were more great books/novels to read other than the Grand Masters. To his dying day he just never got my love of Heinlein or Asimov, but somehow he did appreciate a little Bradbury. <br /><br />btw, I had to redo this reply post as I accidentally hit the Publish button before I could semi-coherently rethink and correct my thoughts. John from Daejeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08431973044799010218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-49967305342553794262018-09-04T14:33:15.149-05:002018-09-04T14:33:15.149-05:00This makes me really not want to read the book, an...This makes me really not want to read the book, and I was kind of considering it.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-69993612578895215762018-09-04T14:10:01.849-05:002018-09-04T14:10:01.849-05:00You might be surprised by the lack of blow-back yo...You might be surprised by the lack of blow-back you're getting for this review, but I'm not. I really want to love this beyond the high concept, but the execution leaves so much to be desired. <br /><br />I do have to disagree with the previous comment though: The film is actually an improvement on the book, where the relationship (such as it is) with Art3mis is grosser and the trails are strictly who-knows-the-most pissing contest to which Parzival, in recurring defiance of any setup to pay-off, has always "just spent the past x months" mastering. Seriously, that happens so often I thought the author was trolling the reader.nolahnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14686127419316337858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-41644392927851124042018-09-03T09:35:31.550-05:002018-09-03T09:35:31.550-05:00That it's Spielberg is a little disappointing,...That it's Spielberg is a little disappointing, since one of his first movies (<i>Jaws</i> in this case) is vastly superior to its source material.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-42088734034371498352018-09-03T00:00:59.246-05:002018-09-03T00:00:59.246-05:00Another good book that got lost in cinematic trans...Another good book that got lost in cinematic translation and by Spielberg of all people. The funny thing is that most of the film's problems were due to Spielberg's poor casting choices and his re-(more PC)imagining of the book's characters.John from Daejeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08431973044799010218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-79212326063206132672018-09-02T18:45:24.221-05:002018-09-02T18:45:24.221-05:00It is unbelievably impressive visually...and that&...It is unbelievably impressive visually...and that's about it. Those visuals are the sort of thing that gets noted, though, and it would not surprise me if this showed up in the 2019 version of the 1001 Movies.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-86986274574306648672018-09-02T18:31:29.673-05:002018-09-02T18:31:29.673-05:00I liked it a bit better, entirely because of those...I liked it a bit better, entirely because of those visuals, but damn if I don't agree with every word of this review. Feeling a little ashamed I didn't quite pick up on those themes myself, but they are certainly there. Great job.Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-52719642382722805282018-09-02T18:24:37.561-05:002018-09-02T18:24:37.561-05:00Right--Art3mis's issue is that she has a birth...Right--Art3mis's issue is that she has a birthmark on her face which is clearly a disappointment to everyone in her world. I'm so glad you brought this up, because it's yet another thing I could have brought up in the review that plays into that white Jesus thing. Art3mis has a birthmark on her face which makes her "ugly" despite the fact that, of course, she isn't. And the fact that Wade still finds her attractive is supposed to make us think more highly of him--this is him showing that he's not superficial.<br /><br />How much more interesting would it have been for Art3mis to be a guy and have Wade end up with Aech? Or, shit...end up with no one because we didn't need a love interest?SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-43137532913028488552018-09-02T18:21:13.368-05:002018-09-02T18:21:13.368-05:00It is massively flawed for as pretty as it is. And...It is massively flawed for as pretty as it is. And while the white male savior stuff can be accepted or dismissed, the movie still has huge flaws all the way through it. <br /><br />Thirty years ago, I would have loved it. SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-6912674414133036142018-09-02T17:51:50.283-05:002018-09-02T17:51:50.283-05:00I agree with you for the most part, although I thi...I agree with you for the most part, although I think I enjoyed it more than you did. The plot is just a bunch of recycled tropes and plot cliches and the fact that the entire OASIS is stuck on 1980s pop icons in the year 2045 is just weird. People would get bored with that crap. Also, your point about the white, male savior is well taken.<br /><br />There's also a laugh out loud moment where Art3mis, whose icon is a hot anime babe, is nervous that when she meets the hero in real life he won't like her, suggesting that she's unattractive. She's NOT unattractive and the reveal that she's hot made me laugh at how stupid the whole setup was. I think it would have been more clever and interesting if she had actually been a guy.<br /><br />I wouldn't mind seeing it again, having had some time to think about its many flaws.Ipecachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15157560182505626755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-33081567218133635352018-09-02T17:36:00.162-05:002018-09-02T17:36:00.162-05:00Was not expecting a review of this from you; still...Was not expecting a review of this from you; still, pleasantly surprised that we ended up on pretty much the same level of appreciation for it: nice to look at, but a little too much of a pretender to avoid falling into the pitfalls of the genre that it squarely sets itself up in.<br /><br />I saw a few clips pop up on YouTube when the film came out on digital, and watched a handful of them enough to be interested, so I figured what the hell and I rented the thing. Didn't get too much of the "white male savior" aspect that you pointed out on my watch, but it's certainly there now that I look back after reading your words on it. And yeah, I echoed the countless YouTube and Reddit comments that were aghast that the film set itself in this realm of gamers and egg hunters, with an unwinnable race as the first challenge, and somehow years go by before one guy even tries the thing of racing backwards from the starting line? Pleeeeease.<br /><br />Spielberg has gone on record saying this was the third-most difficult movie he's ever made. I feel kinda bad saying that this is only barely worth a single watch and little more than that in light of his comments, but if I said anything else I'd be lying.Adolytsihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12266038228108057617noreply@blogger.com