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Reader Mail
selected reader mail from the week July 13-19, 2001
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Bonnie Black writes:

i cant believe you gave away the ending of Made... or did you?

The Flick Filosopher responds:

It's not really the kind of movie that relies on surprises. I didn't spoil anything.

Bonnie Black again:

however... The Court finds for the Critic in your review of Legally Blonde

So Ordered, Adjudged and Decreed.

B. L. Black D.M.A.M. (Discerning movie audience member)

Stephen Listfield writes:

The movie [Legally Blonde] is vacuous, the plot lurches all over the place, and the "heroine" is as much mocked by the filmmakers as she is respected.

I respectfully think your review is way off the mark. Although, I am not a 13 year old girl so I don't share the perspective of the target audience -- nor of you.

The Flick Filosopher responds:

No, my review is right on the mark. It represents precisely how I felt about the film.

Stephen Listfield replies:

thanks for writing back

Tim Keeler writes:

Having just seen Legally Blonde with my daughter, I'd like to share your article with her by forwarding it to her e-mail address. I don't find a "send" to or "forward" button like many newspaper sites have on your site. If you had one it would enable more people to know about your wonderful work. I know I've told many of my friends about it, but if they received one of your articles they might be more likely to visit your site on their own.

The Flick Filosopher responds:

I don't have email forwarding on my site for several reasons, one of which is that my Web host doesn't support it. But more importantly, the only way I can make money for my hard work on the site is either from advertising, which requires that readers visit my site and load pages with ads on them, or donations, which requires that readers visit my site to see the donation request.

So please, if you'd like to share my work -- and I'm glad you like it enough to want to share it -- email your daughter the URL to the review, and invite her to visit my site.

Lee Cpl Chantelle L writes:

Stop the insanity. Pitch Black was a great flick. Hello the aliens also eat each other and I'm sure they can still reproduce that is how they leave til every 22 yr eclipse. It is science fiction. Stop spoiling it. Vin Diesel is so sexy anyway who really cares about the flick? Just kidding. Seriously though it was a good flick lighten up. Maybe science fiction just isn't your thing.

FURIOUS PRYNCESS

The Flick Filosopher responds:

Hello, just because a movie is science fiction doesn't excuse it from anything. You are a perfect example of the kind of moviegoer I was talking about in my review, the kind who will watch any old piece of shit if it has spaceships and aliens in it.

Try reading some of my other reviews, and you'll see that science fiction is my thing. Good science fiction, that is, not crap science fiction.

Lee Cpl Chantelle L replies:

I read all your reviews but all science fiction has holes in it and is unrealistic. Hello Star Wars. Have you noticed the ton of pitchblack and Vin diesel sites on the web? I'm not a die hard science fiction fan by any means but I did enjoy this film. I think perhaps you are taking the film too seriously and letting your morals compromise your judgement on the film. You sound like one of those people who blame T.V. violence for real life problems. A movie is just a movie..Riddick was not an example for kids to follow but mearly a fictional character for entertainments purposes. Maybe you should try watching the film again with an open mind.

The Flick Filosopher responds:

All movies -- science fiction or not -- have holes in them. This is unavoidable when dealing with a constructed story. But good movies with interesting characters and compelling stories either blind you to the holes or allow you to forgive them. Pitch Black told a story I've seen a thousand times about people I couldn't care about. I don't care how many Web sites Vin Diesel has. What has that got to do with anything?

The idea that violence onscreen makes real people violent is a ludicrous idea, and I'd love to know how you gathered I support such an absurdity from my review.

Anonymous Film Fan writes:

First Visit ... many more to come

I stumbled across your site accidentally while I was searching for some reviews I don't usually bookmark film review sites cuz there are so many and it's easy to find reviews when needed . Heck even Amazon's fulfil the basic task of filtering total losses from watchable films . See when it comes to reviews I trust only one person . Me :) Sure it means I end up watching 500 boring long repetitions of the same basic movie mold , but discovering 5 gems in 500 feels a lot more of a triumph than being given a list of so and so 'great' movies to watch . You work for it , you appreciate it a lot more .

But when I stopped by your place , I was hooked . ( maybe it's the sarcasm , good sarcasm does it for me lol ) . So I have found my gem in a 100 .

That's not to say I agree with all your tastes ( watching my most beloved films butchered without mercy hurts , but at least you do it with style :)

But we all have different tastes ( I've even has the displeasure of meeting people online who thought Pearl Harbor was the best movie ever . Keep trying Hollywood - I'm sure one day they'll find the perfect blend of action/chick flick moneymaker and then we'll all be doomed to see pearl harbours IX X XI XII . for all eternity )

Anyway , Quickies :

Tomb Raider: Original idea for your review style . Quite funny . Reminds me , haven't played zork in sometime now ..

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within: Think it'll be quite some times before it opens here ( Jerusalem , Israel ) . Might not be much of a movie , but worth seeing as a demo of the wonders of computer rendering and/or possible a new style of art form that won't replace traditional movies but will be an interesting albeit quite different addition . I'm especially looking forward to closely examining the good Dr.'s hair .

Titus : Couldn't find your review for some reason . One of my best . To be watched with subtitles for maximum effect . Not to be taken over a full stomach. Dark comedy at its best .

Gladiator: Sorry to say I don't agree with this one . At least it's not a total loss . There's lots to see , good music , very nice locals , interesting recreation of the era , but the puzzle pieces as a whole don't fit my taste ( or maybe I just don't like all powerful male 'hero' movies )

Pearl Harbour : Thankfully haven't seen it . Never will . Cross my heart and hope to ...

PI: Stands out in a crowd ( my favourite kind of films ) . Making a film this good with so little cash is itself a stupendous achievement.

Braveheart: umm .. I liked the part where the king threw that guy out the window ? naa . Very watchable , quite entertaining , but I still can't find anything to say about this movie . Just doesn't do it for me . Maybe it's Mel Gibson ? still gets a 3/5 for fun and heart .

Arlington Road: Finally the Bad guy wins for a change ? Already a reason to celebrate . ( I wonder how Hollywood approved this ... It's against the basic keep-the-audience-happy-at-all-times rule ). very nicely filmed , edited and executed . For some reason chapter 1 and the opening credits are what attracts me most , though the rest is just as good

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc: Most people who hated this hated it cuz it's not an authentic presentation of the 'saint' Joan of Arc . I loved it cuz it's open ended . You can see Joan as u wish to see her , or keep wondering . Saint ? Saviour ? Lunatic ? Warrior ? who knows .. that was the main theme of marketing this film in France . This film wasn't made to answer any of those questions or to tell us what Joan is , but to make us ask and think .

Wow this email turned out much longer than planned . sorry . One final question , how come you don't do review of old films ? The oldest I could find were 4 or 5 years old at best .

Will definitely stop buy often .

The Flick Filosopher responds:

Thanks for all your nice comments. Glad you like the site.

You couldn't find a review of Titus because I haven't seen it. Maybe I'll get around to doing a Shakespeare-on-film marathon someday.

But if you couldn't find reviews of old films, you didn't look hard enough. I've reviewed every film that has won the Best Picture Oscar, back to 1927! Look here.

I've also started going through the American Film Institute's 100 best films of all time, some of which are quite old

Finally, in the last year I've posted reviews of films more than 4 or 5 years old and not on either of the above lists:

Superman and Superman II, The Dream Is Alive (IMAX), The Princess Bride, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Days of Thunder, Manhunter, Santa Claus, the Movie (hey, I didn't say they were all good older films!), A Hard Day's Night, The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash, 101 Dalmatians (the 1961 version), Caddyshack, The Exorcist, Bob Roberts, Harold and Maude (offsite), This Is Spinal Tap, Misery, Highlander, Darkman, The Nutty Professor (1963), Ghostbusters, Village of the Damned

That should keep you busy for a while!

Ryan Matthew writes:

I'm emailing you regarding your review of Pearl Harbour, now i know it's your job to pick apart every movie you watch and give a critique on it but honestly i don't think it's necessary to be such a bitch about it. To be honest i loved the movie, and although it did have it's sour and cliche points ("Rafe, i'm not gonna make it") but along with it's awsome effects and what i found riviting music was one of the best films i've seen. The talent of the three young actors was remarkable, and although the storyline was a little sketchy it still had what i found a good outcome.

I find it strange that a person with job such as yourself would not know how difficult it is to create an incredible film. I'm sure it's easy to spin-off rude provocative reviews when you have absolutely nothing to do with creating the films, i'm sure if you had anything to do with creating a film of half of it's stature you'd carry a little more respect. But obviously it comes with your job to be an ungrateful bitch, and believe me you've got it down pretty good. I'm hoping that maybe in the future you'll consider that no matter how horrible a film is, there are always good points, and that there is never harm in pointing them out. Clearly you don't know the concept of giving a balanced opinion, and that is what sets you apart from any descent critic.

The Flick Filosopher responds:

Filmmaking is not kindergarten -- you don't get a pat on the head and a gold star on your chart just for trying. Hollywood is a multi billion dollar industry operated by people raking in a fortune -- a fortune of our money -- producing films made by people getting paid ungodly amounts for their supposed talents. If those people expect us to plunk down our hard-earned cash for the results of their work, that work had damn well better be worth it. "Ungrateful"? I should be "grateful" that Michael Bay deemed me worthy enough to shit on? Sorry -- the world doesn't work that way.

If an incompetent doctor removes the wrong kidney, do you give him an A for effort anyway? If an auto mechanic sticks a nail in your tire when you're not looking so he can sell you a new tire, do you applaud his ingenuity? I didn't think so. And neither does Hollywood get an automatic pass on Pearl Harbor or any other movie, just because, gosh darn it, they sure as heck gave it the old college try. What an absurd idea.

David Bathur writes:

Hi didn't anything to say other than i love your site, and reading your Moulin Rouge review the other day just confirmed my opinion. This is always my first (and often only) stop for movie reviews and I've even found myself quoting you to friends - which is odd, cause of my sieve-like retentive abilities.

Thank you for being clever and honest in your reviews - you don't fall into the trap of critiquing for the sake of being intellectually high brow (you acknowledge that there's a lot of really enjoyable crappy movies too!)

But most of all thank you for being passionate. Its a joy to read and always renews my faith.

Jill Cozzi writes:

Wow, a mention on Newsradio 880? Cool. But don't worry about what Harley Carnes says. He's devolved into their resident right-wing asshole. I guess they regard Charles Osgood and Dave Ross as lefties, so they have this yahoo doing the right. I guess he wants you to be a demure lady -- like Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter, and other Bimbos of the Right.

The Flick Filosopher responds:

I don't care what he said. Or perhaps I should say, I don't give a shit what he said.

I only wish I'd heard it on the radio. (I only fuckin' wish I'd fuckin' heard it on the fuckin' radio.)

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