NYT's Renata Adler's quote from review

[Novecento]

It's not whether a critic liked it or not that matters. The inherent subjectivity means people will always disagree.

What's interesting is the visceral reaction it garnered.

[drinkanddestroy]

I think Ebert made a pretty good for not liking Blue Velvet. I don't necessarily agree but I understand where he's coming from.

I happened to hate Blue Velvet cuz it was an annoying film. But Ebert's reason for bashing it is ridiculous. Here is his review http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19860919/REVIEWS/609190301/1023 and here is the TV piece of Siskel and Ebert discussing the movie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uehfL60EA4
His argument basically comes down to this: if you are going to humiliate an actress during the making of a movie, you'd better make a classic. It'd okay for Bernardo Bertolucci to torture Maria Schneider and Marlon Brando if you're making a classic like Last Tango in Paris, but how dare David Lynch degrade Isabella Rossellini with that scene where she is walking naked on the lawn, for a movie like this one?


That is so fucking stupid (although it fits perfectly with Ebert's politics). Nobody forced Rossellini to do that scene. She did it voluntarily for the same reason actresses take off their clothes all the time: for money. Same reason strippers undress in front of strangers, and for the same reason whores have sex with strangers: for money. And for the same reason why anybody does any job, whether it's a banker working in a beautiful office on Wall Street or a plumber spending all day in the sewer: FOR MONEY! That's why people do what they do. Or maybe Roosellini simply did it cuz she felt it was important for art's sake. Either way, as long as it's done voluntarily, there's nothing wrong with it cuz nobody's forcing anyone to do anything. The owner of a strip club doesn't force girls to take off their clothes. The owner of a plumbing company doesn't force anyone to shovel shit. And David Lynch didn't force Rossellini to take her clothes off. She chose to do it, and she has to live with that, whether the movie turns out to be good or bad. (And I thought it was horrible).

[Groggy]

It's not whether a critic liked it or not that matters. The inherent subjectivity means people will always disagree.

What's interesting is the visceral reaction it garnered.

This is true. It's sort of hard for us to think how innovative or original Leone's films were in their day - until we read some of these reviews.

[drinkanddestroy]

This is true. It's sort of hard for us to think how innovative or original Leone's films were in their day - until we read some of these reviews.

If you ask a director whether he'd prefer it if A) critics bash his movie but the public loves them; or B) the critics love the movie but nobody watches it, I am sure that most directors would prefer A. There's nothing wrong with someone wanting to make as much money as he can, but even if you completely set aside the issue of money, I am sure they'd prefer A. Because being validated by millions of people means more than being validated by several hundred people, even if those people are supposed to be experts. Everyone has an equal right to an opinion of a movie, and while critics have generally watched and studied movies more than other people have, movies like all art is inherently subjective. So I'd prefer that ten million people love my movie rather than a few hundred critics. Sure, there are many movies that nobody watched but are great movies (in my opinion, of course; since it's all a matter of opinion); so a movie's popularity certainly is not dispositive of the greatness of the work. But to the extent that a director seeks validation from others, I think approval from the masses is certainly more validating than approval from the critics.

And by and large, Leone's works did get approval from the masses. (And eventually, from the critics as well. Sometimes, the experts follow the laymen  ).

[Cusser]

Didn't some critic call it "Blood and Gore in the Civil War" ?

I remember one critic complaining about Eastwood's poncho as too-warm for the weather.  One thought Stevens' place was ginormous.

I'll just tell you one thing: in 1968, age 15, at GBU we had absolutely NO idea what a Leone or spaghetti western was, but could tell the greatness immediately, in under 10 minutes.

[drinkanddestroy]

Didn't some critic call it "Blood and Gore in the Civil War" ?

I remember one critic complaining about Eastwood's poncho as too-warm for the weather.  One thought Stevens' place was ginormous.

I'll just tell you one thing: in 1968, age 15, at GBU we had absolutely NO idea what a Leone or spaghetti western was, but could tell the greatness immediately, in under 10 minutes.

yes, I've definitely thought about how little sense it makes for someone to wear what looks like heavy wool poncho in the sweltering Mexican/Texan sun. (The dusters were worn to protect from the dust, but the poncho seems to be of little benefit). But hey, it's an iconic look. And with Leone, style is as important as anything else. The important thing is not what you do, but how you do it and how you look while doing it 

[emmo26]

The Burn, The Gouge and The Mangle and called it "the most expensive, pious and repellent movie in the history of its peculiar genre."



The Burn???

Did she see witness the Socorro Sequence?

Joking aside, it would be interesting to see if her views have changed

[emmo26]

Waynes World II

Siskel and Ebert´s review....

2 thumbs up.

------


I rest my case.

[cigar joe]

yes, I've definitely thought about how little sense it makes for someone to wear what looks like heavy wool poncho in the sweltering Mexican/Texan sun. (The dusters were worn to protect from the dust, but the poncho seems to be of little benefit). But hey, it's an iconic look. And with Leone, style is as important as anything else. The important thing is not what you do, but how you do it and how you look while doing it  

Hey, it looks the same winter & summer, high & low elevation it dry it looks like desert but it can be cold and windy.

DESERT CLIMATE, STORMS AND WEATHER

  
Temperatures can drop quite low at night because heat that arrives during the day, with no clouds to hold it in, escapes into the atmosphere at night. In some deserts in Saudi Arabia temperature can drop below freezing as late as April. In the hottest deserts in the winter, temperatures can rise to the 90s F (30s C) in the day and drop to the 30s F (single digits C) at night.

 The summer is so hot that shoes fall apart because the glue melts, thermometers don’t have high enough readings to record the high temperatures, and the hot sands can reach 180°F. The air is so dry that pages fall out of books because the bindings fail. At night the temperature drops only to 85°or 90°F (30°C) and people sleep on their roof to escape the heat.

 Websites and Resources on Deserts: United States Geological Survey usgs.gov/gip/deserts ; Desert USA (good info on the world’s deserts); desertusa.com/life ; United Nations Global Desert Outlook unep.org/geo/gdoutlook ; Desert Biome article, University of California, Berkeley Desert Biome ; Blue Planet Biomes (about U.S. deserts) blueplanetbiomes.org ; Wikipedia article Wikipedia ;National Geographic online article National Geographic Oxfam Cool Planet oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet ; Sand Dunes article waynesword.palomar.edu ; United States Geological Survey usgs.gov/gip/deserts

[drinkanddestroy]

Hey, it looks the same winter & summer, high & low elevation it dry it looks like desert but it can be cold and windy.

DESERT CLIMATE, STORMS AND WEATHER

  
Temperatures can drop quite low at night because heat that arrives during the day, with no clouds to hold it in, escapes into the atmosphere at night. In some deserts in Saudi Arabia temperature can drop below freezing as late as April. In the hottest deserts in the winter, temperatures can rise to the 90s F (30s C) in the day and drop to the 30s F (single digits C) at night.

 The summer is so hot that shoes fall apart because the glue melts, thermometers don’t have high enough readings to record the high temperatures, and the hot sands can reach 180°F. The air is so dry that pages fall out of books because the bindings fail. At night the temperature drops only to 85°or 90°F (30°C) and people sleep on their roof to escape the heat.

 Websites and Resources on Deserts: United States Geological Survey usgs.gov/gip/deserts ; Desert USA (good info on the world’s deserts); desertusa.com/life ; United Nations Global Desert Outlook unep.org/geo/gdoutlook ; Desert Biome article, University of California, Berkeley Desert Biome ; Blue Planet Biomes (about U.S. deserts) blueplanetbiomes.org ; Wikipedia article Wikipedia ;National Geographic online article National Geographic Oxfam Cool Planet oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet ; Sand Dunes article waynesword.palomar.edu ; United States Geological Survey usgs.gov/gip/deserts

I understand that it gets cold at night, so it makes sense he should carry warm clothing in his saddlebags, not wear it all day.

as to the question of whether it was summer or winter, I think we can assume it's summer cuz there are many others in the film who don't wear any coats or other warm clothing

[cigar joe]

Its like the Bedouins in the Sahara, they wear all the robes to sweat, which in turn keep them cool.

[emmo26]

Didn't some critic call it "Blood and Gore in the Civil War" ?

I remember one critic complaining about Eastwood's poncho as too-warm for the weather.

wasn´t the poncho used for hiding his gun, thus making it more difficult to draw (gun) against him?

[Cusser]

 
Temperatures can drop quite low at night because heat that arrives during the day, with no clouds to hold it in, escapes into the atmosphere at night. In some deserts in Saudi Arabia temperature can drop below freezing as late as April. In the hottest deserts in the winter, temperatures can rise to the 90s F (30s C) in the day and drop to the 30s F (single digits C) at night.

Duh !!! Phoenix, Arizona where I live.  Not uncommon to still be over 100F after midnight during next two months, and the low can be 93-95F and muggy.  Today's "just" 111F, just got back from out of town camping in mountains 2 hours awy.