Re: Critics review 'Desolation of Smaug' | POSSIBLE SPOILERS

by Eldorion Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:38 pm

bungobaggins wrote:You know, I thought that adding Tauriel was some politically correct feminist move, but seeing the rationale here and trying to make it appealing to the actress by saying "Oh, but you're caught between two really hot guys!" is borderline misogynistic in my eyes.

Mrs Figg wrote: its insulting and dumb. (the hot guy thing)

It does seem to undermine their stated reasons for including Tauriel. The mystery of what Philippa Boyens means by "feminine energy" grows deeper. Suspect

by Radaghast Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:39 pm

Eldorion wrote:And two, movie critics are expected to know what they're talking about when it comes to movies. There's no reason to expect them to be familiar with any given source material, and just because they don't know much about it doesn't mean they are ignorant about their specialty.

Come, now, the guy says "Jackson could most definitely be described as a Tolkien purist. If he doesn't know the book, he shouldn't make comments like that. He should absolutely be taken to task for it.

by bungobaggins Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:40 pm

I'm starting to think that "feminine energy" simply means: expand demographics / increased marketability.

by Radaghast Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:40 pm

Eldorion wrote:
Pettytyrant101 wrote:We should get Eldo to add that emoticon to the list
I foresee this emoticon getting lots of (over)use in the coming weeks.

by Radaghast Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:41 pm

Eldorion wrote:
bungobaggins wrote:You know, I thought that adding Tauriel was some politically correct feminist move, but seeing the rationale here and trying to make it appealing to the actress by saying "Oh, but you're caught between two really hot guys!" is borderline misogynistic in my eyes.

Mrs Figg wrote: its insulting and dumb. (the hot guy thing)
It does seem to undermine their stated reasons for including Tauriel. The mystery of what Philippa Boyens means by "feminine energy" grows deeper.

No mystery for me. I think she's just a twit.

by Radaghast Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:42 pm

Mrs Figg wrote:
bungobaggins wrote:

Jackson and his co-writers, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, have decapitated bodies twitching on the ground, and a captured dwarf leering at a female elf: “Aren’t you going to search me? I could have anything down my trousers.”
am I tripping, or is this stuff real??

Perhaps both Neutral

by Eldorion Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:42 pm

bungobaggins wrote:I'm starting to think that "feminine energy" simply means: expand demographics / increased marketability.

I was leaning towards that interpretation, but now I'm wondering if it just means "fawning over hot guys". scratch

by bungobaggins Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:44 pm

Eldorion wrote:
bungobaggins wrote:I'm starting to think that "feminine energy" simply means: expand demographics / increased marketability.
I was leaning towards that interpretation, but now I'm wondering if it just means "fawning over hot guys".

Oh, yes, that too.

And don't forget Boyen's boner for Manu Bennett. ("You can defile me anytime!")

[[[[[[[[[[[I don't think anyone would want to defile her. Rolling Eyes

]]]]]]]]]]]]

by Radaghast Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:45 pm

bungobaggins wrote:I'm starting to think that "feminine energy" simply means: expand demographics / increased marketability.

That's precisely what it means. Trying to put more fannies in seats. Heaven forfend the film should have any sort of focus on the titular character Mad

by Eldorion Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:49 pm

So TORn's Cliff "Quickbeam" Broadway has posted the official review of DOS for TORn. He's been a contributor on TORn for years and years and is one of their most devoted movie fans. He basically held a wake for Guillermo del Toro when he stepped down from the director's chair. He liked AUJ, but seemed unable to get over how much lighter and less weighty it was than LOTR. (What the hell did he expect, exactly?)

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2013/12/07/84310-quickbeams-dos-film-review-splendid-smaug-splits-fandom/

If it sounds like I am of two minds about ‘The Desolation of Smaug’ I probably am. The Smeagol side of me was delighted over and over again while munching popcorn and spilling drinks on myself when action scenes caught me off gaurd (Gakk! Spiders! Aghhh!). But the Gollum side of me came out during the final 20 minutes because of so many deviations. I found myself wondering where the heck we will end up in the final film: ‘There and Back Again.’ Anything… and I mean *anything*… is possible. Peter Jackson and Co. have shown chutzpah by swerving so far around the bend and being so unafraid to take liberties with the text. But your level of pleasure with what you get may be directly determined by your ability to be flexible.

I didn't read the spoilery section, but on the one hand, he seems happy to see the return of LOTR-style action and epic battles. On the other hand, PJ has finally, finally reached the point where even Quickbeam will hesitate to describe him as faithful. This is a guy who opened his review by gushing over "our fellow fan, Peter Jackson", praising LOTR as "a concentrated effort to (mostly) honor the source material", and somewhat more ambiguously describing AUJ as "a laborious effort towards fidelity".

by Mrs Figg Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:51 pm

bungobaggins wrote:I'm starting to think that "feminine energy" simply means: expand demographics / increased marketability.

...and hot guy meets hot girl and her hot guy boyfriend gets jealous, although he has super powers, the hot girl falls for the dark hairy one.

oh shit its Twilight!

by Radaghast Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:52 pm

"The Hobbit: Breaking Smaug" Neutral

by Eldorion Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:53 pm

Mrs Figg wrote:...and hot guy meets hot girl and her hot guy boyfriend gets jealous, although he has super powers, the hot girl falls for the hairy one.

oh shit its Twilight!

I've long suspected that Twilight was the reason why the romance plot in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was so over-emphasized in the film version (which came out about nine months after the first Twilight). And The Hunger Games initially garnered a lot of attention for its love triangle and similar teen girl fanbase. Twilight may be over, but I fear its cinematic legacy will stick around for some time. Razz

by Radaghast Sat Dec 07, 2013 3:54 pm

They Twilighted Spider-Man too Rolling Eyes

by Mrs Figg Sat Dec 07, 2013 4:06 pm

Twilight is is Buffy without the wit, charm and irony.

by Pettytyrant101 Sat Dec 07, 2013 4:22 pm

I'm trying to think of another movie that is full of Feminine Energy- Halfwise

Thelma and Louise? Shrugging

As to the whole feminine energy thing- Moon

Nice to see what reads like the first honest review Ive read from the Telegraph- although you expect a Telegraph journalist to be aware of the source and it seems like one of the few reviews which actually is, rather than just claiming to be before blindly discrediting themselves with a ludicrous statement like claiming PJ is a Tolkien purist! Banghead

.

by Radaghast Sat Dec 07, 2013 4:25 pm

Pettytyrant101 wrote:I'm trying to think of another movie that is full of Feminine Energy- Halfwise

Thelma and Louise?

Bad Girls Laughing

by bungobaggins Sat Dec 07, 2013 4:30 pm

The new Netflix show Orange is the New Black had a lot of feminine energy, mainly because it takes place in a female correctional facility. Although, most of the cast was of a racial minority and weren't "hot" like Evangeline Lilly. Maybe that's not the kind of feminine energy they're looking for.

by Radaghast Sat Dec 07, 2013 4:31 pm

No, they want something/someone bankable.

by Pettytyrant101 Sat Dec 07, 2013 4:33 pm

Netflix show Orange is the New Black had a lot of feminine energy- Bungo

Is there a love triangle in it?- I think thats essential for strong feminine energy if Im reading Boyens and Walsh right, being confused between which male is best is obviously very important. Nod

by Radaghast Sat Dec 07, 2013 4:33 pm

Btw, I have nothing against feminine energy (or whatever), if the story calls for it, which TH doesn't.

Lilly is a twit for saying it's a product of 1937. No, you twit, it's just a story that happens to not have any female characters in it. And it's hardly the only such story. Sheesh.

by Radaghast Sat Dec 07, 2013 4:34 pm

Pettytyrant101 wrote:Netflix show Orange is the New Black had a lot of feminine energy- Bungo

Is there a love triangle in it?- I think thats essential for strong feminine energy if Im reading Boyens and Walsh right, being confused between which male is best is obviously very important.

Yes, and there absolutely must be clumsy innuendos about things possibly being hidden in trousers Rolling Eyes

by bungobaggins Sat Dec 07, 2013 4:43 pm

Pettytyrant101 wrote:Netflix show Orange is the New Black had a lot of feminine energy- Bungo

Is there a love triangle in it?- I think thats essential for strong feminine energy if Im reading Boyens and Walsh right, being confused between which male is best is obviously very important.

There actually is something of a love triangle in it. The main character winds up in prison with her ex (she was with another woman for a long time (but is engaged to Jason Biggs at the onset of the series), and they were actually partners in crime). So when she gets to prison there's a lot of sexual tension between her and her ex. And of course there's the unwanted attraction from other lesbian inmates, and her same sex attraction starts to seep back in once she's been in prison for a while.

So it's pretty complicated, but the main triangle is Larry (Piper's fiance) + Piper (main character) + Alex (Piper's ex)

by Eldorion Sat Dec 07, 2013 4:48 pm

Just to be clear, the Alex in that triangle is a woman. And there's also "Crazy Eyes" who tries to insert herself into the love quadrangle, and is also a woman. And crazy. Razz

NB Actually, speaking of Orange is the New Black, that might give DOS a run for its money for "worst cliffhanger of 2013". Very Happy

by bungobaggins Sat Dec 07, 2013 4:52 pm

Poor Crazy Eyes. Sad

(DOS's cliffhanger will be worse.)

Spoiler: