Re: Armond White

Glad to get a second affirmation of Ondine.  My wife and I loved it.  It was 
such a pleasant, surprise.  And much respect to Colin Ferrell for not going the 
hollywood, Johnny Depp route.  He is easily as good looking as Depp, and IIRC 
was on the same star track.    

I don't think White is a troll, even if he is provacative.  

I loved the last line from his Ondine review, simple succinct but speaks 
volumes:

"Today’s audiences think fantasy should look real; Jordan knows it only needs to 
be believed. There’s a difference.  "

 




________________________________
From: Johne Cook <[email protected]>
To: DADL (off topic) <[email protected]>
Sent: Thu, January 20, 2011 2:46:56 PM
Subject: Re: [DADL-OT] Armond White

Ondine was marvelous and he is right to extol it, but I was introduced to White 
through his review of The Dark Knight. It was enough to put me off of him as a 
thinker:
http://www.nypress.com/article-18545-knight-to-remember.html


Ironically, Nolan’s aggressive style won’t be slagged “manipulative” because it 
doesn’t require viewers to feel those discredited virtues, “hope” and “faith.” 
Like Hellboy II, this kind of sci-fi or horror or comics-whatever obviates 
morality. It trashes belief systems and encourages childish fantasies of absurd 
macho potency and fabulous grotesqueries. That’s how Nolan could take the fun 
out of Batman and still be acclaimed hip. As in Memento, Nolan shows rudimentary 
craft; his zeitgeist filmmaking—morose, obsessive, fussily executed yet 
emotionally unsatisfying—will only impress anyone who hasn’t seen De Palma’s 
genuinely, politically serious crime-fighter movie, The Black Dahlia.
>

The Black Dahlia? I love film noir. I like De Palma. I saw The Black Dahlia. It 
was a craptastic mess. The 33% rating at RottenTomatoes was generous.

Though this ambitious noir crime-drama captures the atmosphere of its era, it 
suffers from subpar performances, a convoluted story, and the inevitable 
comparisons to other, more successful films of its genre. 

>
Ebert himself has some interesting love / hate for White and his methods:
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2009/08/in_defense_of_armond_white.html


On Thursday night I posted in entry in defense of Armond White's review of 
"District 9." Overnight I received reader comments causing me to rethink that 
entry, in particular this eye-popping link supplied by Wes Lawson. I realized I 
had to withdraw my overall defense of White. I was not familiar enough with his 
work. It is baffling to me that a critic could praise "Transformers 2" but not 
"Synecdoche, NY." Or "Death Race" but not "There Will be Blood." I am forced to 
conclude that White is, as charged, a troll. A smart and knowing one, but a 
troll.
>
Johne Cook
| http://raygunrevival.com | http://authorculture.blogspot.com |



On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 1:44 PM, Mike Findlay <[email protected]> wrote:

I think he is my favorite film critic, primarily because he validates my 
feelings about the relatively unseen and unheard of Ondine.  

>
>http://www.nypress.com/article-21294-grimy-glamour.html
>
>I was listening to Rob Bennington's interview w/him today and he is an 
>intetesting, and obviously brilliant guy.  That is he is portrayed popularly as 
>the anti - Ebert only helps him in my book. ; - )
>
>Here's a link to some of Ron Bennington's invteriews.  IMO he's the best 
>interviewer out there.
>
>http://ronbenningtoninterviews.com/
>
>Mike F.  
>
>
>
>
________________________________
From: Karl <[email protected]>
>To: DADL (off topic) <[email protected]>
>Sent: Thu, January 20, 2011 1:04:57 PM
>Subject: Re: [DADL-OT] If an 8th grader can figure out High Frequency 
Trading...
>
>I assume by our comment he got it right.  A good presentation and scary at the
>same time
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf
>Of Lance McLain
>Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2011 10:53 AM
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: [DADL-OT] If an 8th grader can figure out High Frequency Trading...
>
>Then why can't the SEC?
>
>http://dealbreaker.com/2011/01/eighth-grader-explains-high-frequency-trading-fla

>sh-crash-for-school-project/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=

>Feed%3A+dealbreaker+%28Dealbreaker%29
>
>Good overview by 8th grader.
>
>regards,
>-Lance
>
>
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