comment #1

the sordid sentinel says ...

I wish someone would do the same with all things Nixon.

comment #2

Rich S. says ...

If they impose a moratorium on Holocaust films, won't they have to impose a resultant moratorium on the Oscars? It would be like the college football bowls not having enough winning teams to fill all the slots. The documentary division would all but shut down.

comment #3

Chase Kahn says ...

Add to the list:
-Inspirational sports dramas
-Eastwood movies
-black/white blue-screen gritty, growling graphic novel adaptations
-dysfunctional holiday family comedies
-urban dance movies

comment #4

NDH says ...

I agree with his point when it concerns films like The Reader, which asks the audience to sympathize with a Nazi concentration camp guard, but not when it comes to all Holocaust films. Like Defiance, for instance. While it may not be a stellar film, it is a story that many never knew about until this year, and so I'm glad it was made. It seems there are a number of other Holocaust incidents that have yet to be learned by wide audiences and, like it or not, movies are a very effective way of educating the masses (so long as they're not exaggerated films that completely rewrite history, a la Inglourious Basterds). So I'm all for the production of movies like Schindler's List and The Pianist. I grew up in Israel and you can be sure that films like these are shown in schools over there.

comment #5

DavidF says ...

Stupid typekey...I'm only typing this one more time.

I agree, broadly, that there are probably more Holocaust movies and books out there than we need.

That said, what is clear is that people continue to make GOOD Holocuast movies like The Pianist and the Counterfeiters.

Even I roll my eyes a bit, watiing to see which Best Documentary nominee is about the Holocaust but does that mean, for example, Polanski should have put aside his desire to make The Pianist?

A good story should be told, no matter what it's setting. Particularly in this case where there is something to be learned from it.

comment #6

btwnproductions says ...

Enough with the history lessons. More superheroes, please. :)

comment #7

p.Vice says ...

This comes about 15 years too late.

comment #8

actionman says ...

I'll second what Chase said -- no more urban dance movies. Ever. Please. Thanks.

comment #9

dukedog says ...

No more movies where chicks dance and/or sing Motown.

comment #10

ZayTonday says ...

actionman: The Wayans Bros will make sure of that with Dance Flick.

comment #11

ZayTonday says ...

dukedog: hey wait a minute.. Clerks 2 was awesome.

comment #12

dangovich says ...

Anyone ever see Jerry Lewis' "The Day the Clown Cried?" I always wondered if it was as bad as it sounds.

comment #13

actionman says ...

Nobody has ever seen it, dangovich.

ZayTonday: Dance Flick looks like new levels of awfulness. The Wayans' must be stopped.

comment #14

DarthCorleone says ...

Exactly what DavidF said.

A moratorium is an overreaction. It's fine to say that you think too many films of lesser, distortive quality have been churned out and thus want to make filmmakers think twice before throwing in their lot on this topic. However, a good film is a good film, and the dilution and distortion of history is going to happen with or without cinematic retellings.

comment #15

Chase Kahn says ...

The thing about 'Dance Movie' is its parodies appear to be spot-on (ex: white chick from Julliard going to a south-side, gangster school, etc.)

Unfortunately, it's bound to be as bad a movie as those its targeting. Someone needs to do a parody of the Wayans Bros. parodies....

comment #16

dukedog says ...

Hey ZayTonday: You are so right. Sorry. I should have said any chick flicks that have that scene. "Clerks 2" is a most excellent exception!

comment #17

erniesouchak says ...

It's true, the Academy would be lost w/o Holocaust films.

comment #18

dangovich says ...

actionman, Harry Shearer saw it, according to Spy Magazine:

"With most of these kinds of things, you find that the anticipation, or the concept, is better than the thing itself. But seeing this film was really awe-inspiring, in that you are rarely in the presence of a perfect object. This was a perfect object. This movie is so drastically wrong, its pathos and its comedy are so wildly misplaced, that you could not, in your fantasy of what it might be like, improve on what it really is. "Oh My God!" — that's all you can say."

comment #19

actionman says ...

well...besides harry shearer...

comment #20

btwnproductions says ...

There was a thread about the Lewis film (and Lewis) on Dave Kehr's blog:

http://www.davekehr.com/?p=173#comments

And it's "Stuart" Klawans.

comment #21

TVMCCA says ...

Re the Dave Kehr blog entry:
Love the Japanese poster for THE DISORDERLY ORDERLY.

comment #22

Chicago48 says ...

That Typepad sign-in is the WORST....back to the Jewish / Holocaust films....I agree, they don't have a monopoly on suffering and persecution....I wish the film industry would just stop and/or run out of stories to film.
They never make money do they?

comment #23

YRG says ...

Yes! No more Wayans brothers comedies.
As for Holocaust films, I don't have a problem with them-- they are a genre that resonates on many levels: an important part of Jewish history and experience, the last war America won, good vs evil with no shades of gray. In a way they are very similar to superhero films, they bring out the same emotions-- they are more powerful because we like to see the truth in them and say to ourselves-- this story really could have happened. I prefer Hong Kong gangster films.

comment #24

actionman says ...

Fucking A! Wall*E takes it in L.A. This is sweet.

http://www.variety.com/VR1117997085.html

comment #25

lipranzer says ...

While I agree with the sentiment, I've seen some of the comments on similar articles, and damn, there are a lot of Holocaust deniers out there, or else they have a good publicity machine. You could argue, I guess, the prevalence of such films, and the weariness greeting them, ironically makes a denier's job easier, but my reaction to seeing these comments was, as my co-worker at work put it, "Bring the films on."

comment #26

xiaoguo says ...

Enough with the history lessons. More superheroes, please. :)
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comment #27

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