Wednesday, February 01, 2006

The Best Directors in Hollywood

With all this Oscar talk, I think I want to be vocal about what I see. When I escape to the movies by myself, I spend $7 for a ticket and $8 for a popcorn/soda combo. If I am in the mood for candy then that kills a 20 dollar bill in no time flat. This is at the matinee time too. SOOOOOO, I think I have every right the complain about my movie experience once in a while.

I think Peter Jackson and Robert Zemeckis are probably the best directors around these days. I am very fond of Ang Lee too because for a short little asian man, he can tell an awesome love story. I have not seen Brokeback Mountain yet but I have seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Sense & Sensibility. He did not turn Brokeback Mountain into a political agenda, the media did. He just wanted to tell a love story. At least, this is what I have read him saying. Back to the greatest directors and WHY.

Peter Jackson and Robert Zemeckis make movies for ENTERTAINMENT. I am sick and tired of having friggin' political views crammed down my throat every time I sit and watch a movie. I don't care if I agree with the theme or not. Seriously. I love Steven Spielberg but for the love of God, stop telling me what to think! Go back to the days of Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark. I admire his dedication to the Jewish community and don't mind sitting through a historical recount of an era. But when a "spin" is put on certain movies to either support or not support a political view I get pissed. Who gives a rat's @ss what you think "should have happened" in history?! Get a blog if you want to spout your opinions.

I hate having to explain movies to my kids. I try to teach them to see BOTH sides of the story when I get suckered into watching an agenda pushing movie but it is so much safer to pop in LOTR or Back to the Future and let them laugh, cry, hide their face in fear and cheer for the hero. Basically, be entertained. I get enough reality and if I wanted to see some more I would watch the news.

Some of my favorite movies have hidden messages in them (yes I know LOTR is a Christian allegory but that is VERY hidden. It is mostly about sacrifice, courage and love). I don't stop watching them but secretly wish they didn't have that. I am not talking about messages of love, loyalty, honor, courage or anything theme like that. No no no. That is not what I am bitching about. Here is an example: Jurassic Park.

Jurassic Park is an AWESOME movie directed by Mr. Spielberg. I have watched it numerous times but underneath the action and adventure there is this "environmentalism vs. evil scientific progress" message. I care about the environment and even support most efforts but do I really want to see that in my movie experience? NO.

I feel like I am picking on Steven Spielberg. He is a good director and certainly not the only one out there pushing his political views on everyone *cough cough * george clooney *cough cough* Robert Altman *cough cough* Clint Eastwood *cough cough* I am just asking directors to please go back to entertaining us. We get enough programming from the commercials before your movie :)

Thanks to anyone who actually made it to the bottom of this post!

1 Comments:

At 7:46 PM, Blogger HanktheDog said...

I wonder if there's such a thing as an "apolitical artist." I suspect that deep down at some fundamental core, that's an oxymoronical term. Misters Jackson, Zemeckis and Lee have their politics, in a sense, but it's seldom worn on their sleeves. Perhaps that's a lesson for most artists.

 

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