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So Long
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Why don't you try asking for a raise? Who knows!— November 15, 2010 11:53 a.m.
Bad Lot
"In Katherine Fugate’s screenplay, the navigation of the human heart, morning to night on the Fourteenth of February in Los Angeles, is as a leaf afloat on a puddle: superficial on top of shallow. But then, director Garry Marshall has never been one to venture so deep on any subject as to bother about rolling up his pants cuffs." I love it!— February 17, 2010 6:56 p.m.
Back in the Spotlight
Has anyone heard of Dennis Lehane? He wrote the book Mystic River, and he orchestrated the ending. Had the director departed from the received text, others would no doubt be on his tail. As for Mel... well... perhaps no one else here has ever gotten himself plastered and misbehaved. I don't know. But what did Mel allegedly say? "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.” Did any writer even for a moment consider that statement on merits? I don't think so. Instead everyone went, Oh you can't say that! In vino veritas? Who knows? At any rate the arresting/reporting officer was himself Jewish. Did that color the report? Who knows? Also these reports are supposed to be kept confidential but this one was leaked. By whom? Who knows? While I am a huge admirer of Duncan, I believe he mistepped in devoting so much space to Mel's supposed "anti-semitic" exploits.— February 10, 2010 8:13 p.m.
Gay Abandon
Duncan has nailed Bruno. In fact, the whole sub-genre: "Most of the time, there is no excuse for a camera to be present." That has always bothered me. Ali G played to the camera, which was fine, and Borat was a traveler with at least an excuse to have a crew along. But... But... the review is still a great read! Thanks as always for the insight. A Boston reader— July 16, 2009 10:32 a.m.
Tool of the Trade
"Pirates might prove to be my strongest allies." Thas' funny, mon, ver' funny. Let it be said of the theatre experience, that for myself screen size is not the operative factor, but the presence of an audience -- or rather, my own participation in that audience. Can anyone imagine sitting in a "legitimate" theatre (i.e. live actors on stage) alone? That would be ridiculous. Yet when a movie is watched at home, it's usually at home alone. That is not how the makers imagine a film, or how they direct its effects. Mind you I've never sat in an audience of reviewers, which might be a pretty chilly affair. But I'd like to think that Duncan at least could laugh out loud or wail his sorrow.— May 2, 2009 10:53 a.m.
The Dark Knight clocks in
First, a word about Duncan in general. When I visited San Diego nine or ten years ago and first picked up a Reader, I was impressed with the whole paper and especially by the movie reviewer. Not only that, but also included in that issue was a compendium of synopses of his past reviews, all very informative even in their shortened form, and all very amusing as well. I picked up a half-dozen copies to take home to Boston. In the two weeks I spend in San Diego each year, I always make sure to find at least three issues. Then, I discovered Duncan Shepard on line. And today, I can speak! While I am aware that around San Diego he is sometimes thought to be "Too picky.", "Too, oh I don't know, intellectual?", "Too biased against successful movies." and so forth, he rapidly became my reference standard for all movie critics. In fact, let me second a comment I saw above: "Shepherd approaches his reviews as a writer as well as a critic. His opinion is not the final point of his message." Exactly. Plus, his list of four-star movies became my guide for future viewing. Not that I always agree, either. Of Hellboy he wrote, "A jokey comic-book adaptation with delusions of grandeur." "A great good time had I, twice" I would reply. And I plan on getting the Blu-ray. So there! In conclusion, another comment above works for me: "You should not come to a review to be told what you want to hear. You read a review to have your opinion rivaled, to be intrigued or deterred by the movie in question — to learn... Fools do not want to be challenged."— July 28, 2008 8:05 a.m.