Posted by Me_And_My_Big_Mouth at ppp123.netc.net on January 17, 2000 at 13:42:03:
Well, well, well.
Mmm. I'm the (to quote one of you) "cocknocker" who sorta kinda attacked Kevin Smith' directing skills in an earlier post. What brought me here is a simple little post on a Paul Thomas Anderson site :
" Kevin Smith Attacks PTA & Magnolia
Things are getting vicious over at Kevin Smith (Dogma, Chasing Amy, Clerks) website and more specifically his posting board. There have been many positive posts about Magnolia and Kevin and his director pal Vincent Pereira (A Better Place) has took the opportunity to not only say he did not like the film (he called it the worst film of the year) but really had some harsh things about the movie and Paul Thomas Anderson. I don't want to fling mud here as Kevin is entitled to his opinion of not liking the film but I think he stepped over the line with some of his comments. "
This is followed with a rather long list of such comments by Smith. Having loved MAGNOLIA so very much, that made my blood boil. I got to this board and wrote a few lines expressing my take on the whole thing. I felt that the reason Smith might be so critical of MAGNOLIA is that it's so ambitious and impressive, so different than what you usually see.
Looking back, I admit that attacking Smith was rather immature and inappropraiate. Like someone pointed out, this is his board, I should pay him some respect. I apologize...
But didn't I mention that I think Smith writes better than most of his peers ? Then, maybe I'm crazy, I just happen to think that Smith' first movies could have been directed better. Hey, my best friend's all-time favorite movie is CHASING AMY, and he still thinks that the visuals are so-so at best. Maybe being French Canadian make us stupid, like some guy wants to believe. Bastard children of Napoleon and the Devil, tss...
Just to clear things out :
1) I actually love Kevin Smith. I've seen all his movies and eagerly await his next one. But I love him enough to hope he can become even better than he is. A few of you used quotes from my film review website in their replies to my initial message. Well, here's the last lines of my DOGMA review ( I gave it 4½ stars out of 5) :
" and more surprisingly, Smith finally directed a "real" movie. As good as a flick like Chasing Amy is, it's still lousily directed. Dogma is the first movie of the New Jersey director that blows me away with its visuals. Smith is truly growing as a filmmaker, and Dogma is an amazing picture. Don't dismiss it because it's jam packed with laughs. Comedy if often more effective at showcasing ideas than drama, as it doesn't restrain itself from exploring even the dumbest possibilities. "
2) Yes, COMMANDO has been my favorite movie ever since I was eight. No, it's no ON THE WATERFRONT, but I still love it.
3) My opinion isn't worth anything more than any of yours. But after I see movies, I take the time to think about why a movie worked or not and to try to put that into words which I put on the Internet. That's all there is to it, and yes, any "fanboy" with a computer could do it. Nothing's stopping you.
Kevin