| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| MisterBadIdea |
Posted - 04/11/2007 : 15:12:44
So I don't know exactly how my review got declined as "too generic"... after it was accepted. |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Conan The Westy |
Posted - 04/14/2007 : 09:29:21
quote:
Originally posted by demonic
But to my memory there are actually more than two towers in the film.
When Tolkien initially wrote The Two Towers he was thinking of Minas Tirith and Minas Morgul being the towers in question. Peter Jackson altered the focus to the uneasy alliance between Saruman in Orthanc and Sauron in Barad-dur.
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the potential generic conflict for "Towers: Two of them" between World Trade Center and The Two Towers. 9/11 had some studio execs wanting to change Tolkien's title. |
| MisterBadIdea |
Posted - 04/14/2007 : 08:43:01
quote:
There is nothing intellectually interesting about The Lord Of The Rings. It is pure twaddle.
A great deal of scholars would disagree, I imagine, as "Lord of the Rings" is frequently discussed and studied in literature classes. Cruising online for film reviews of "Two Towers" alone, I found people critiquing the movie as an allegory of World War II, particularly with the Ents, sleeping giants who are incited to war when their own are attacked, as being representative of America. "Two Towers" is where we first meet Gollum, whose devotion to the Ring has been read as both an addiction and a codependent relationship. One of the major theme through all the movies is that true power can't be put in the hands of anyone -- Frodo is given the One Ring because he's a shmuck who wouldn't know how to use the power he's given. And that's me just cruisin' through, I haven't even looked at the real heavy scholarly stuff yet.
quote:
And I understand that "Towers: Two of Them" is not an inversion of "X's Y." but it mimics it, which is enough to reference it and make the point.
Not really. "Towers: Two of them" doesn't work as a critique of Tolkien's "pretentious" language because it actually sounds less pretentious than "Two Towers." Maybe "Towers of Two" would have worked. Even so, that's hardly a joke you could tell without explaining your logic.
quote:
"Films are an artistic pursuit" - don't you think trying to sum up film in one short sentence is a little ambitious?
Not really. Films are by definition an art form. That's just what they are, there's nothing at all to argue here.
quote:
If you want to criticise "Towers: Two of Them" for not giving a full critique of the film in four words then, yes, you are right, thanks for pointing that one out to me. 
Hey, hey now, you made the contention that "Towers: Two of Them" said all you needed to know about the movie. |
| Tori |
Posted - 04/14/2007 : 03:55:14
quote:
Originally posted by Shiv
quote:
Originally posted by Tori
quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
(By the way, I'm not sure about "Towers: Two of Them" because, to tell you the truth, I don't remember seeing any towers in that damned boring movie. Perhaps they showed up during my 2 hour nap in the middle.)
Ha ha, you too? I think I was pregnant when we went to see it and exhausted enough already but I totally conked out. Eventually after DH insisted we watch the series five million times I came to like it enough. 
I have for some reason been unable to sit through any of the three (on DVD) without falling asleep. I've tried a couple of times and have come to the conclusion its not the quality of the films but some freaky sound wave effect that's soporific for some people
Are you pregnant too? :) |
| Shiv |
Posted - 04/14/2007 : 01:51:39
quote:
Originally posted by Tori
quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
(By the way, I'm not sure about "Towers: Two of Them" because, to tell you the truth, I don't remember seeing any towers in that damned boring movie. Perhaps they showed up during my 2 hour nap in the middle.)
Ha ha, you too? I think I was pregnant when we went to see it and exhausted enough already but I totally conked out. Eventually after DH insisted we watch the series five million times I came to like it enough.
I have for some reason been unable to sit through any of the three (on DVD) without falling asleep. I've tried a couple of times and have come to the conclusion its not the quality of the films but some freaky sound wave effect that's soporific for some people |
| demonic |
Posted - 04/13/2007 : 20:11:32
It's definitely my least favourite of the three (bearing in mind I love the first one, and really like the last), because, well nothing really happens - they're having a wander toward Mordor at the beginning and they're doing the same at the end. It's pretty much worth it for the fantastic dual performance by Andy Serkis though.
But to my memory there are actually more than two towers in the film. |
| Josh the cat |
Posted - 04/13/2007 : 19:06:44
quote:
Originally posted by Tori
quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
(By the way, I'm not sure about "Towers: Two of Them" because, to tell you the truth, I don't remember seeing any towers in that damned boring movie. Perhaps they showed up during my 2 hour nap in the middle.)
Ha ha, you too? I think I was pregnant when we went to see it and exhausted enough already but I totally conked out. Eventually after DH insisted we watch the series five million times I came to like it enough.
What a wise man DH is.
|
| Tori |
Posted - 04/13/2007 : 18:36:33
quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
(By the way, I'm not sure about "Towers: Two of Them" because, to tell you the truth, I don't remember seeing any towers in that damned boring movie. Perhaps they showed up during my 2 hour nap in the middle.)
Ha ha, you too? I think I was pregnant when we went to see it and exhausted enough already but I totally conked out. Eventually after DH insisted we watch the series five million times I came to like it enough. |
| Whippersnapper. |
Posted - 04/13/2007 : 13:35:55
quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
I think the problem was that the MERPs are used to your rapier wit and when faced a review that seems (on the surface) to be overly simple (for you) they were looking for the joke and couldn't find it. You can't blame them for not understanding that you were so bored by the film that you couldn't find anything witty to say about it.
(By the way, I'm not sure about "Towers: Two of Them" because, to tell you the truth, I don't remember seeing any towers in that damned boring movie. Perhaps they showed up during my 2 hour nap in the middle.)
Oooh, you say the nicest things!  I'm not blaming the MERPs, I just thought the response of "Don't understand" was funny. I'm sure the MERP was either looking for something more that wasn't there, or else was having a joke his/herself at the review's simplicity.
Incidentally, I have to admit that I haven't even seen The Two Towers, but I saw the other two episodes of The Snoozefest Trilogy and I'm assuming that there must be two towers in the film somewhere to justify the title.
|
| Whippersnapper. |
Posted - 04/13/2007 : 13:21:05
quote:
Originally posted by MisterBadIdea
I have no idea whether you're being serious or not, but I feel like the argument is thought-out enough to merit a rebuttal.
Great - let me know when you write one.
Obviously, of course, the towers themselves are the least interesting part of a very long movie. I don't remember a damn thing about the towers. I remember a long siege, Gollum, walking trees, the resurrection of Gandalf, etc. 12 Angry Men, conversely, is always about twelve angry men; there's never any part of that movie that doesn't concern twelve angry men. Neither does it work as a critique of Tolkien's apparently "pretentious" language: "Towers: Two of them" is not an inversion of "X's Y."
You just wanted to slam The Two Towers for being intellectually vacant, I suppose. Well, films are not an intellectual pursuit, they're an artistic one. Further, you can intellectualize every single piece of film that ever existed, right down to the shittiest piece of direct-to-video garbage. Whenever I hear someone say that there's nothing interesting from an intellectual perspective, I just see someone who doesn't want to bother looking at it.
There is nothing intellectually interesting about The Lord Of The Rings. It is pure twaddle. And I understand that "Towers: Two of Them" is not an inversion of "X's Y." but it mimics it, which is enough to reference it and make the point.
"Films are an artistic pursuit" - don't you think trying to sum up film in one short sentence is a little ambitious? And I never said that films were an intellectual pursuit, I said that Lord of the Rings is intellectually vacuous, which a) is a very strong argument I'm sticking to and b) does not rule out the film having other purposes (like entertaining children or the simple-minded) or merits (like technical wizardry (pun intended.) If you want to criticise "Towers: Two of Them" for not giving a full critique of the film in four words then, yes, you are right, thanks for pointing that one out to me.
|
| Whippersnapper. |
Posted - 04/13/2007 : 12:38:07
quote:
Originally posted by TitanPa
I guess I should really throw away my Home Alone review
"All Alone at Home" 
As a matter of fact there are several reviews on site which are the same as the title of the film they review. I have "Elephants In A Tent" for example. It's a companion piece for my "Tent outside some elephants" review.
(This advertisement has been paid for by the "Whippersnapper For Dog-catcher" Committee.)
Elephants In A Tent
|
| Shiv |
Posted - 04/13/2007 : 11:54:53
quote:
Originally posted by Se�n
On the topic of penguins, Shiv, no there aren't any close to home (and roads) that are easily spottable, but I'm off fishing for a few days tomorrow and usually see a few.
Don't reverse over any then |
| ChocolateLady |
Posted - 04/13/2007 : 10:38:11
quote:
Originally posted by Whippersnapper
quote:
Originally posted by Beanmimo
Try "Ron of Clark Story"
Nah, I decided just to resubmit with the following:
"The Ron Clark Story" is the story of Ron Clark. Hope this explanation helps.
I think that should do the trick.
I think the problem was that the MERPs are used to your rapier wit and when faced a review that seems (on the surface) to be overly simple (for you) they were looking for the joke and couldn't find it. You can't blame them for not understanding that you were so bored by the film that you couldn't find anything witty to say about it.
(By the way, I'm not sure about "Towers: Two of Them" because, to tell you the truth, I don't remember seeing any towers in that damned boring movie. Perhaps they showed up during my 2 hour nap in the middle.)
|
| Demisemicenturian |
Posted - 04/13/2007 : 09:57:11
quote:
Originally posted by Chris C
For a huge selection of basic plot point reviews, check out Dicky. I overtook him recently and had a wander through his pages. IMHO, there's nothing to attract huge numbers of votes, but kudos to him for producing almost 800 reviews in a year.
He's a nice guy. I've been in touch with him because he was next to me during Be-kind-to-your-neighbour month. |
| Tori |
Posted - 04/13/2007 : 01:45:35
quote:
Originally posted by Chris C
quote:
Originally posted by Tori
As the writer of most of the site's boring reviews I have to say that I don't see anything wrong with reviewing on basic plot points (for instance if the name of the movie WASN'T 'the story of ron clark or whatever) but since it is the name of the movie, I just don't see it happening.
Boring?? Most certainly not!!!
For a huge selection of basic plot point reviews, check out Dicky. I overtook him recently and had a wander through his pages. IMHO, there's nothing to attract huge numbers of votes, but kudos to him for producing almost 800 reviews in a year.
I'm not exactly near the top of the vote heap. |
| Chris C |
Posted - 04/12/2007 : 23:05:08
quote:
Originally posted by Tori
As the writer of most of the site's boring reviews I have to say that I don't see anything wrong with reviewing on basic plot points (for instance if the name of the movie WASN'T 'the story of ron clark or whatever) but since it is the name of the movie, I just don't see it happening.
Boring?? Most certainly not!!!
For a huge selection of basic plot point reviews, check out Dicky. I overtook him recently and had a wander through his pages. IMHO, there's nothing to attract huge numbers of votes, but kudos to him for producing almost 800 reviews in a year. |
|
|
