Wednesday, February 09, 2005

controversy: million dollar baby

re: this metafilter thread (all about how pissed people are about reviewers and headlines ruining the end of million dollar baby):

actually, i'm kind of glad to know what the movie is about--now i'm a lot more inclined to see it. i couldn't figure out why everyone was giving such good reviews to some sports drama, but suddenly it seems a lot more interesting.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Huh, I agree; now I'm much more interested in seeing it, too. Of course, I'll still wait till I can Netflix it. Nobody likes going to the movies with Miss Fidgetypants. --Erin

Alicia K. said...

no one likes going to the movies with little-miss-talks-a-lot either, but i make them anyway. :)

Anonymous said...

jordon here.

i saw the movie hours before i first read of the controversial ending, so no real hype in that regard. however, i too initially balked at the idea of going to see some rags-to-riches rocky retread, but the critics i admire were so absolutely ga-ga over it that i figured any movie about boxing that's getting good reviews has to be worth checking out. (my opinion of it is another matter, just check my blog from a week ago.) just goes to show the sway, for better or for worse, the gadflies have over what we choose to watch.

Alicia K. said...

eh, i don't know. good/bad reviews aren't enough to make me decide whether or not to see a movie--ok, maybe enough bad reviews would convince me not to go, unless it looked appealing anyway. i sort of see movies on whims. i find the idea of million dollar baby more interesting, but i probably still won't see it in theaters. and re: your blog entry--i haven't seen sideways yet either, despite all the good reviews (i hate movies where some douchebag doesn't really care that s/he is engaged). i'm sure it is an awesome movie, just i'm glad i saw tale of two sisters instead.

Anonymous said...

and i do? (heart has been broken many a time, in case you're scoring at home.) but that's the genius of thomas haden church's performance and the writers' characterization: jack is utterly repugnant yet we somehow find him likable, not in this you-old-dog-you sorta way, but just with respect to his loyalty to his friend (which sharply contrasts with his disloyalty to his bride-to-be). unlike in million dollar baby, in sideways saints and sinners are not as easily demarcated.

Alicia K. said...

oh, i didn't mean that in some sort of "i'm cynical about love and all men and dogs" way--for some reason that specific behavior in movies really bothers me. many romantic comedies that i have been forced to watch revolve around that premise--and i always feel really bad for the scorned fiancee for some reason that has nothing to do with my own lovelife, but with shoddy stories instead.

i am sure sideways is not shoddy. and i really like paul giamatti (he totally should have been nominated for american splendor!). for some reason i haven't been going to as many movies lately--i still haven't managed to see either house of flying daggers or hotel rwanda, for instance, and they both were pretty high priorities for me.