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Wild and Woolly
You always make good points, john. And your posts are always welcomed and appreciated. But...also too, are people like jhutt. Take for example his three word response above. That's a great line. A better line than you'll see in most of todays comedies. I spent two hours arguing with a woman I met at a party that said the movie "The Reader" was flawless. And, it wasn't because, as Duncan would say, "I want critics to agree with me." It's because, that movie had a few flawless scenes, but it had too many lame scenes, too. And so...when I read a list of the 10 best movies of the year, and the 3rd one listed is Promotion, I assume he thinks it's great. I have no problem with him not liking a comedy like There's Something About Mary (although...come on, I would like it if only for the Jonathan Richman songs alone!)... But as much as you defend Shephard, it would be nice to see you say once in a while, that yeah...he's using bad phrasing if he says "wasting time" on a documentary on steroid abuse, and then giving us crap for not going back to read the capsule review of it.— January 31, 2009 10:21 a.m.
Honking at the Homeless
I, too, love the word "jerk". I just wish it weren't used with my name in the same sentence so often! I liked it used in that Warren Beatty movie, where Benning tells him to "jerk himself a soda", although I have to say, I didn't like the title of the Steve Martin movie being called "The Jerk," as I thought he was "slow", but hardly a "jerk". But yeah, MsG...when someone is waiting for your spot, you pull out. I've been in cars with people where I alert them to that fact, and they say "I shouldn't have to speed out of here because someone wants my spot." And I'll tell them you don't have to peel out...but you also don't have to spend 5 minutes looking in your glove compartment or finding the pack of gum in your purse. It basically boils down to people ONLY thinking about themselves, because if it were reversed, they would want the other person to pull out of the spot sooner. And anti...I would do that, passing out dollar bills to the homeless, telling them to have a nice day. But, I would say to them "Look...I'm going to give you this money, but I don't want you buying soup, or food or anything. Promise me, that you're going to buy a bottle of beer, or a cheap wine like Thunderbird. If you promise me you'll do that, I'll give you some money."— January 31, 2009 10:12 a.m.
None
Okay angel...that settles it. Next question is "ever stabbed by sewing equipment?"— January 30, 2009 10:40 a.m.
Wild and Woolly
johnrubio...here's what I can't understand. you spent all that time on rickeysays. why? i mean, really...not one unkind word for mr. shephard? he spent a lot of time regarding OUR debate, instead of reviewing a film with that space. rickeysays once sent me an email, when i posted that i liked the movie "paris, je t'aime" a few years back. so what. i liked the fact that he was that fired up about hating that movie, and we had a spirited debate. my only conclusion is that you are duncan shephard, or you're his best friend. anything else just doesn't make sense (about as much sense as him not writing unless he's paid...as if someone like you, an obviously talented writer that's also smart, doesn't have anything better to do than write on a website post for free). a person that ONLY seems to be fired up when someone attacks duncans opinion of films.— January 30, 2009 1:24 a.m.
100 Point Basketball Game
If anyone gets a chance to see the latest Pacific Magazine, Cookie Chainsaw Randolf of KGBs morning show, writes a really wonderful piece for Valentine's Day, on Wilt Chamberlain. One of the funniest things I've read in a long time.— January 30, 2009 12:52 a.m.
Talking with Peter Max
I love most of Peter Max stuff. Not the hearts so much. But the vibrant colors, and his style, I think is great. I just wish I had that kind of money to buy one of his paintings. I saw one in a pawn shop in Hillcrest. I asked the guy how much it was. I was hoping he wouldn't know it was Max, but he said "Well..it's kind of expensive. It's a Peter Max." It was $8,000!— January 30, 2009 12:50 a.m.
Deion Disses L.T.
Well pete...stay tuned for next week. I talk to a black woman. She played high school basketball, but I left that out of the column!— January 30, 2009 12:48 a.m.
Overrated Movies -- Gran Torino, Wrestler, Reader, and Slumdog Millionaire
Well sam...in my original post about the Oscar nominated films, I said the movie was great but had "a few problems." You certainly named a few more, too. The police torture did seem excessive, but I think the show producer was so convinced the kid cheated, and he probably has pay offs and things going with the cop. After all, the kid got an answer right that he admitted not knowing. The director does relish violence (ever see his Trainspotting? I liked that film a lot, but it can be hard to take at times) Good point about the brother using the revolver. I thought of that during the movie, as well as him knowing about the Three Muskateers. Just because he and his brother, along with the girl, called themselves that...they made it clear in the movie that he never did read the book (as he was supposed to in school).— January 29, 2009 5:06 p.m.
Wild and Woolly
joeb...it's not that I was "unable to find fault" with other Shepherd things. I didn't feel the need to write a long post that wouldn't all fit in the character limit. There was also a problem with him saying a movie was "wasting time," but then scolding us for not reading his original capsule review of it (100% of the population would assume that if you say something was "wasting time" that means it's a negative review). And, I am guessing, most reviews DS misses the boat. Not just in agreeing or not with the "majority" of the population. A lot of critics fall into that category. But, it was easier to use examples with Roger Ebert, since I can remember exact ones, and it gets my point across (which was merely defending myself...that I don't need a critic to just "agree" with my opinions).— January 29, 2009 9:27 a.m.
Wild and Woolly
Since Duncan replied to the online debate, I'll reply to his reply here. No sense wasting column space on something 5% of the readers will even understand. First, I'm amazed that you would do a list of the Top 10 movies of the year, and object to me saying one of them was "great". So, I'm guessing your top 10 movies of the year consists of movies that are just "okay" or "nothing special," all the way up to "good, but not great." With such a large volume of movies I'm sure you've seen, that's surprising. I'll bet most critics Top 10 consists of movies they find "great." Second, for you to think I want a critic that expresses "my views" is insane. I only want a critic to express intelligent views. That doesn't mean to like movies I liked, or hate movies I hated. It means, when someone like Roger Ebert complains that Benjamin Button wasn't a good film because "people are not born old, that makes no sense," and "what is the lesson we learn?"... he must also (in my opinion), not like Batman, because a person cannot fly just because they put a cape on. Ebert does the same thing in picking JFK as one of his greatest 100 movies of all-time, saying that it doesn't matter that Oliver Stone made up facts, "it's "just a movie." Yet, Ebert reviewed another movie about a historical figure, and gave it a bad review because it got facts wrong. See the problem there? To say that people that get upset and take things personal "aren't ready for grown-up conversation'; I agree with 100%. It seems you might fall into this category, since you felt the need to devote column space to this online debate, instead of a movie review or two. As for not wanting to "trade blows" and discuss film...well, I would think most film lovers would welcome that, paid or not. I'd like to think of a film critic also, as someone that would go to movies, whether they were paid or not. Perhaps I am wrong in assume you're that way.— January 28, 2009 10:42 p.m.