comment #1

Mjs says ...

Well done.

comment #2

nola says ...

wow...Preach on!

comment #3

Legowombat says ...

I can understand where you're coming from, but it makes me wonder then if your time isn't better spent occupied with something else if the majority of what is being currently being made is so truly awful. I'll agree with you completely there, though i disagree that the stuff that targets the Oscar market is anywhere near the quality it is hyped to be either - it too often feels as predictable as the Summer stuff, and honestly only looks like quality by comparrison.

I feel the same way about modern music - it's overcompressed; there's no dymanics; i hate autotuned vocals; and it's all become predictable and generic. I simply don't listen to it, and focus instead on older music i love and creating music that does have the qualities I look for.

You obviously can write - instead of reviewing movies that Are Obviously Not For You, review the good stuff, and use the downtime to write scripts of movies you'd rather see. Why complain about 'Mamma Mia'? You're not the target market, and the target market will see it regardless of your opinion.

I've seen enough movies by certain people to know I can safely take the risk of missing out on the one good film they might *possibly* make by accident.

comment #4

bradb says ...

Jeff, you can't leave it at that... was there a reply?

comment #5

soap-and-water says ...

that's a really tight piece of writing.

Like, really tight.

Like, remarkable.

Like, should become a mass forwarded email, a rallying cry for the great underserviced market of filmgoers who care.

Kudos. Best thing I've read here since, sadly, Jeff's family woes.

comment #6

The Winchester says ...

Hells to the yeah, Wells. Don't take any guff from those swine.

comment #7

Chapman Carruthers says ...

Legowombat:
Wells could write the script, but it doesn't mean the studios are going to make it. I've always been of the opinion that when a system is out of whack (studios, networks, mnc's, government), we, collectively, need people like Wells screaming from the pulpit instead of moving on and trying to change things using system rules designed to maintain the status quo.

Plus, the dude's got a cat to think about.

comment #8

Chapman Carruthers says ...

Oh... and fucking bravo. Some of the your best yet.

comment #9

vansmith says ...

thats the thing about critics, they're usually a cut above the public that they're trying to serve. the studios know that. they know you'll champion their serious well made stuff and maybe cause a bump in the ticket sales (NCFOM, etc) but they also know you'll be ignored as you howl in the wind against the popcorn stuff...its a shame, you have a nice site, good stuff discussed and yet you have to constantly bang out post to get paid. i mean we're slaves even when we end up in ideal situations.. sorry about your family, i heard cathartic in a fuck it all kind of way..

comment #10

vansmith says ...

thats the thing about critics, they're usually a cut above the public that they're trying to serve. the studios know that. they know you'll champion their serious well made stuff and maybe cause a bump in the ticket sales (NCFOM, etc) but they also know you'll be ignored as you howl in the wind against the popcorn stuff...its a shame, you have a nice site, good stuff discussed and yet you have to constantly bang out post to get paid. i mean we're slaves even when we end up in ideal situations.. sorry about your family, i heard it can be cathartic in a fuck it all kind of way..

comment #11

The InSneider says ...

Wow, now THAT takes some balls my friend. Hopefully Hollywod will respect you for it and not pull their ad money and ban you from future screenings. I couldn't have said it any better myself. I think the studios are coming around to some extent but there's always going to be crap, Jeff. Of course, that doesn't mean we should have to eat it with a smile on our face either. Good for you for taking a stand and being honest. You have my sincere admiration. I wonder how many publicists it'll take to bang out a reply as thoughtful. Oh, and this should be some kind of viral email or video. Get Lewis Black to perform it. He'd do your voice justice.

comment #12

BurmaShave says ...

I believe Jay Sherman won a Pulitzer with a piece like this, I wish you the same. Huzzah.

comment #13

buzzdaman says ...

that was truly awesome!!! Peter Finch has nothing on you...

comment #14

Rod32303 says ...

Proud of you, Jeff.

I'd like to think I am a real lover of MOVIES as I think you are. They don't have to be highfaulutin, just...good. I will probably always disagree with some of your choices - we have different sensibilities, but I still read you several times a day - NO ONE sounds like you, no one uses words like you and few have the passion that you do for this art form (I don't miss Pauline Kael as much sense reading your column, if that makes sense).

Pretty telling that I have only been to the movie theater six times since January. Shame, really.

comment #15

swordandpen says ...

Thank you for writing this piece. The summer season, in particular, brings out apologists for studio crap who think people like us who have higher standards should sit back and "have fun" watching this garbage. These movies are mostly not fun or remotely entertaining.

I have only seen 7 movies this year. I remember when I used to see 50 to 60 movies a year. Now, it's a struggle to get to 25.

comment #16

Mgmax says ...

Well said, even if it's half just your mood passing itself off as the state of the world. But I feel much the same way; I can't think what the last big studio release that I actually liked that much was (Wall-E was overrated and too close to Idiocracy), (Okay, No Country For Old Men, I suppose.)

Other than The Fall, it seems like every new release I've seen for six months was both crummy on some level (Iron Man feh!) and half-wrecked by its projection or some other aspect of the lousy modern moviegoing experience. I've had good movie experiences-- on my big-ass TV, at old movie fests like Cinevent and Cinesation-- but modern Hollywood has nothing to do with it. Maybe I'm finally the older audience they can blow off and just keep making torture porn for the kiddies, but don't blame me if that's what they've done and I react as expected.

comment #17

Joe M. says ...

There are four of us who meet for lunch in center city Philly every two or three Fridays, just to drink wine, bullshit, and enjoy a nice Italian meal. We all love movies, but the funny thing is, we spend about seven or eight minutes of our lunches talking about the new movies we've seen, but then about 40 or 50 minutes discussing old stuff we've seen on TCM. And it's always about the acting, themes, photography, etc. in those movies. In other words, the arty stuff. There are exceptions, of course, but we just don't seem to have that much to mine in those areas when we go over new movies. When was the last time a big studio movie had the subtlety and complexity of "Vertigo"?

comment #18

otakuhouse says ...

You know what you online desperadoes don't have that the traditional media did that has a lot of value? It's called an editor. No one is an excellent writer without at least a good editor.

If I was your editor, I'd tell you to take some time off right now. Get someone to cover for you for a week or two, and let you deal with some stuff that requires you stop obsessing over getting copy up all day long. If you want to be curmudgeonly about something, be a cranky old git over how modern technology just moves too fucking fast for people to truly process feelings.

Not that you aren't right to some degree... But lately your writing has been grouchy, lazy, and far too full of invective in ways that aren't good for anyone and don't make for good writing or reading. They bring to the fore some of your own personal biases that really aren't interesting, like that Mamma Mia bit.

If you can't find any joy in any movie right now, that's not the fault of studios. Herzog's doc is out, Wall-E is a damn near masterpiece, Mongol was worth watching (though not as good as critical consensus has it)... Explore the world of Blu-Ray? Go on some set visits?

As infuriating as your writing makes me (your piece on Josh Peck was just hideously mean) you always root for the stuff that deserves it, you really do truly love movies. The way the world is for you right now means you can't love them. Take it easy.

comment #19

Alan Cerny says ...

Watched THE APARTMENT last night. When was the last time you saw a romantic comedy that actually had something to say? It feels like it's been eons.

No one fell in a wedding cake or had a grandma expound on the wonders of sex. Amazing.

comment #20

renorambler says ...

Is this like that "memo" in Jerry Mcguire? :)

Kudos

comment #21

Zimmergirl says ...

For what it's worth, your hard work is paying off. Your site's traffic has doubled from a year ago and that is due only to the way you throw yourself into your work, maybe at the expense of other things in your life (like Mouse!). But your site, though I often disagree with many of the tings you say, is provocative, fresh and always a good read. Who else out there does that with as much regularity and devotion? You will soon be at a point where you don't have to pimp out your site as hard for film ads but can have a third party ad site do it for you (like Federation Media) and then no one can really tell you what to write or what not to write.

comment #22

Mr. Muckle says ...

Having recently been chastised by the gruver (badge of honor, I know) for something (I forget what, possibly for being unwittingly offpoint and insufficiently substantive) I return.

I think the number one attraction of this site is (wait for it) THE CONVERSATION. It doesn't really matter all that much what it's about. Some smart folks are willing to speak. THAT is the defense of democracy, not the trumped up bomb-dropping bullshit foisted on us by political assholes. Jeff might be a slightly edgier version of Larry King and that would be fine. Perhaps he could take a little more time joining in the conversation and take some pressure off the reporting aspect.

At some point, it became respectable in our culture to be a "film lover" (maybe blame Ebert), and lots of people adopted that as an identity, as if it means anything at all. Big deal. How shallow do you want to be anyway? Sure some films are a kick in one way or another, but considering the complications of their production they are very rarely art, and only slightly more often entertainment. But they do necessarily deal with the stuff of life and might be a broadening influence in that way, which validates their existence beyond the money-making aspect.

So, if the blog validates its existence in the same way, I give it permission to exist. If not, who cares.

comment #23

cjKennedy says ...

Just when I'm getting used to the idea of writing of HE forever, Jeff rattles off four or five posts that have some honest juice to them and I get sucked right back in for another few months. Whether it's the poster story, or the cat story, a rant about the state of cinema or a simple appreciation of a cool old car, you've been on a nice little roll the last day or so. I wish you could isolate how you feel at these moments and tap into it more often.

Not that every post has to be life affirming, positive BS, but pick your battles. Spend the rest of your time getting some sun.

Don't bother writing a review of Mama Mia. Don't waste any more time on it at all. All I'm saying.

comment #24

CinemaPhreek says ...

Yet, there's something amusingly ironic about the posters here backslapping Wells for bemoaning the state of cinema yet have been praising some of the very films he is bitching about.

They don't have to suck outright like SPEED RACER or INDY IV. They just have to lower our expectations each time just a little so we whoop it up over polished pablum like IRON MAN.

comment #25

Rich S. says ...

Jeffrey is kind of caught between a rock and a hard place here. My local food critic doesn't spend any time reviewing McDonald's or the latest permutation of TGI Appebenechiligan's, which to my mind is directly analogous to the film situation Jeffrey is talking about.

Mamma Mia, Don't Mess with the Zohan and Hancock are the kind of non-nutritious junk food the fast food franchises pump out and the masses devour. It's okay to eat there once in awhile, but you can't base a healthy diet on it.

But in the blogosphere, it's hard to feed the beast by only reviewing that little Tuscan bistro on the corner or writing about long lost promotional materials for McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Thankfully, a significant chunk of the posters here come back either way. But it's tough to grow your audience without wading into the swamp from time to time. That's got to be wearying and I admire Jeffrey for trying to strike a balance.

comment #26

bill weber says ...

There's hope for Jeff yet, if he learns to see through the fall and Christmas dreadnoughts.

comment #27

Jean says ...

DAMN! Rich S beat me to the fast food analogy... but yeah, fast food movies like Mamma Mia, etc. only need a one-word review: "fun-Iron Man" or "crap-Wanted". They do rate some mention. It's the fine dining films that require an in depth review. The great films are the ones that stick with you & their deeper impact is often felt upon reflection. If any one is familiar with a local chef here in Chicago, Rick Bayless - in an interview he was asked what he orders when he tries a restaurant: "I usually order the most unusual thing on the menu. The chef may be crazy enough to pull it off & create something delicious". Same thing with films, I feel.

comment #28

Edward says ...

Hard to add to what's already been written. Great stuff. I don't want Jeffrey to change anything. I love his rants, his piss-offs. Sure there's a lot of crap, which needs to be called out for what it is. But sometimes when you expect crap, you can be plesantly surprised.

I also have to agree with a previous poster, maybe you do need some personal time to deal with your losses in your own way. But if dumping on Mama Mia! helps, so be it.

Rock on!

comment #29

DarthCorleone says ...

Well said, sir. Keep fighting the fight.

comment #30

hcat says ...

Make Better movies or I'm staying home to stare at my cat.

comment #31

Joshua Mooney says ...

Goddamn "mission statement," that was. Bravo. But I have to wonder: To what end? Will the publicist care? Isn't it his/her job not to care? I suggest you kick back, sit down and write a screenplay, or go sell antiques for a while. I'm not kidding. I'm doing both, at the moment. You're a sensitive man of quality who needs to step back from the abyss you delve into every day. If it brings you no (or at least lesser) pleasure, then why do it? Life is short.

comment #32

Richardson says ...

I applaud the sentiment of the initial post and yet, at the same time, I don't really understand why somebody would be a movie reviewer if they don't like the vast majority of movies that are being made.

Just as a for instance, if you completely dismiss animation, and more or less dismiss all comic book movies, then why even bother seeing them and then complaining about the limitations which are inherent to your take on their genre?

I think this hasn't been a great year for movies at all, but it has been a year with a surprising number of "pretty good" movies. Like 'Zohan' or 'Hulk', better than we had any right to expect, even if they're only accomplishing anything within a narrow window.

comment #33

Bonifer says ...

A publicist at a major studio said to me five or six years ago, of Wells, "He sort of scares me. He's not controllable."

That's the day I began taking him seriously.

comment #34

Tim says ...

"That's how you become great, man. Hang your balls out there!"

OR the exact opposite of what otakuhouse said. Two weeks off is the death knell for honest invective.

Not that I'd hold it against you if you did take time off from the grind, but thanks for the grind.

comment #35

Richardson says ...

"A publicist at a major studio said to me five or six years ago, of Wells, "He sort of scares me. He's not controllable.""

I'm having a hard time not picturing Jeff with a moustache, saying that in a funny voice.

comment #36

bill weber says ...

Just for perspective, "the vast majority of movies being made" are never distributed ...in America.