The Flick Filosopher responds:
I, too, love seeing event movies on opening night with a huge crowd of rabid fans. It makes for a completely different experience than if you go, say, two weeks later. I like seeing a movie with a crowd that's excited and in the know about a movie.
As for that almost-kiss... I thought the half-bewildered, half-delighted look on Scully's face as she was obviously thinking, "Oh my God, I'm gonna kiss Spooky" was priceless.

rebeccaj@pobox.com writes:
I found it very soothing to find that you reacted to Armageddon with such distaste, because I had much the same response to The Fifth Element when I saw it (all together: as movies should be seen, in a big theater with big sound -- the horror, the horror) last summer. I could not believe that any intelligent or even half-intelligent movie critic of either gender could give this film a decent review: I must say my respect for Roger Ebert dropped about ten notches after I sat through that abominable movie.
It was a bad enough crime to waste Gary Oldman's considerable talent on such a role (though perhaps Oldman should share equal blame for having agreed to participate; and then there's the still more puzzling presence of Ian Holm -- but I digress), but by far the worst and most traumatic experience for me as a viewer was the crude objectification of every single woman in the film (with the possible exception of the tall blue opera singer, but I don't think she counts). I do not consider myself a feminist as such, and have in fact been known to argue with feminist acquaintances, but I swear, this movie was enough to make me want to march somewhere and burn something, even if I had to link arms with Gloria Steinem to do it. Was there not a single woman crammed into one of those grotesque Gaultier outfits, or in any way involved in the production of this film, who was willing to speak up about it? I can't even believe this movie got made, let alone hyped the way it was.
The male friend with whom I saw the movie, bless his soul, felt exactly the same way I did. We decided, as a matter of fact, that for all intents and purposes we had not seen this movie and would do our very utmost to forget it. The fact that I still feel the need to vent about it more than a year later says something for how deeply I was affected by Luc Besson's adolescent vision. On the whole, I think Bill the Cat said it best: ACK!
Rebecca J. Anderson
http://www.golden.net/~rebeccaj

The Flick Filosopher responds:
[A Fifth Element spoiler.]
I would argue that The Fifth Element's diva was just as much as an object as the other women. Not only did she have to die to serve the movie's purpose (giving up the stones to Bruce Willis), she was just another example of how men see women as exotic, alien, and perfect, while men are allowed to be ordinary and human.
The word "feminist" has ceased to have any meaning -- no one really knows what it means anymore. If "feminism" means "woman=good, men=bad" (which seems to be the current meaning), then I'm no feminist either. I prefer to call myself a humanist -- I'd just like women (and everybody else not white, Anglo and male) to be treated as human beings. Which neither The Fifth Element nor Armageddon did.
The Fifth Element got made because Hollywood is run by men just as adolescent as Luc Besson. And the intended audience of a movie like this is adolescent males.

mguilesp@microserve.net writes:
hehehe, your funny, and know a thing or 2 about webdesign, this has nothing to do with movies, and is basically a waste of your time. [all sic]
Creepy
P.S. I didn't notice that yellow & green went so good together until now!

The Flick Filosopher responds:
You're right -- you are creepy.

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MaryAnn Johanson.
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