"X-Men Origins: Wolverine," an effects-less movie.
A recent visit with a friend reminded me of the importance of having a sense of awareness.
My friend is an idiot. That’s not meant to be snide, insulting or cute. It’s just a fact. This person is genuinely not smart.
This is by his choice. He would rather stay ignorant and convince himself he’s brilliant rather than opening his mind and learning something. Striving for self improvement, which is something we all must do, is out of the question. The thought of admitting there’s something he doesn’t know makes him shudder, as it seems like the surest sign of weakness.
He sees himself as a Renaissance man and somewhat of an expert on a variety of topics, including business, politics, medicine, nutrition and entertainment. He won’t shy away from telling you his concrete facts, most of which he makes up on the spot or gathered through the grapevine. One of his biggest downfalls is making statements about subjects he knows nothing about to people who do.
Most of his statements are absolutely hilarious.
He gave me some real whoppers this weekend. Since this is a movie blog, I’ll only relay his latest cinema gems.
One regards the fascinating 1997 science fiction film, “Dark City.” We were at a DVD store when I grabbed it, as it was one I’d been after for awhile. When my friend saw I’d made a selection, he couldn’t let me get away with purchasing something without his expert opinion.
“You shouldn’t get that. It had way too much cussing,” he said after seeing the dark, scary and mysterious cover.
My friend is no prude. He has absolutely no problem using or hearing bad language. He just saw it as a chance to impress me with knowledge that he hoped I didn’t have.
His method of making up a criticism that he only hoped would fit the context came back to him instantly. He happened to be talking about one of the few movies that, despite its R rating, contains no profanity whatsoever. In fact, film critic Roger Ebert even notes on his commentary track for the DVD that there are no four-letter words. The film's setting has a reason for this. The closest thing is when a character says, “Shoot!”
When I asked my friend if he had ever actually seen the movie, of course the answer was no. He just didn’t realize that my purchase of it might mean that I had, so I would believe and take his critique at face value and be impressed at his observation.
He hopes for this a lot.
While his comment on “Dark City” was simply ignorance, his next one was downright baffling. The topic of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” came up. (digression: I still say it was a fun flick with deeper character interactions than I expected. It also had the second best opening credit sequence of the year behind “Watchmen.”)
My friend had a review for this movie that he missed, too. “There weren’t any special effect in it,” he said.
It’s hard to comment on a statement like this. It’s just too dumbfounding. Those who have seen it know that the movie couldn’t go two minutes without a superpower display, fight scene, explosion or vehicle stunt. The trees were probably computer-generated. Heck, in one sequence the hero flies through the air onto a moving helicopter, grounds it then blows it up.
Those that haven’t seen it would probably guess that a comic book-based summer action flick that follows three other films in a huge action series would probably contain a few effects. But that kind of thinking doesn’t matter to him. Logic doesn’t play in this mind.
These are not isolated incidents. He frequently says things that he doesn’t know and that make no sense. He doesn’t think about that. He just hopes people will immediately believe anything he says simply because he says it. Why wouldn’t they?
My friend is an idiot. That’s not meant to be snide, insulting or cute. It’s just a fact. This person is genuinely not smart.
This is by his choice. He would rather stay ignorant and convince himself he’s brilliant rather than opening his mind and learning something. Striving for self improvement, which is something we all must do, is out of the question. The thought of admitting there’s something he doesn’t know makes him shudder, as it seems like the surest sign of weakness.
He sees himself as a Renaissance man and somewhat of an expert on a variety of topics, including business, politics, medicine, nutrition and entertainment. He won’t shy away from telling you his concrete facts, most of which he makes up on the spot or gathered through the grapevine. One of his biggest downfalls is making statements about subjects he knows nothing about to people who do.
Most of his statements are absolutely hilarious.
He gave me some real whoppers this weekend. Since this is a movie blog, I’ll only relay his latest cinema gems.
One regards the fascinating 1997 science fiction film, “Dark City.” We were at a DVD store when I grabbed it, as it was one I’d been after for awhile. When my friend saw I’d made a selection, he couldn’t let me get away with purchasing something without his expert opinion.
“You shouldn’t get that. It had way too much cussing,” he said after seeing the dark, scary and mysterious cover.
My friend is no prude. He has absolutely no problem using or hearing bad language. He just saw it as a chance to impress me with knowledge that he hoped I didn’t have.
His method of making up a criticism that he only hoped would fit the context came back to him instantly. He happened to be talking about one of the few movies that, despite its R rating, contains no profanity whatsoever. In fact, film critic Roger Ebert even notes on his commentary track for the DVD that there are no four-letter words. The film's setting has a reason for this. The closest thing is when a character says, “Shoot!”
When I asked my friend if he had ever actually seen the movie, of course the answer was no. He just didn’t realize that my purchase of it might mean that I had, so I would believe and take his critique at face value and be impressed at his observation.
He hopes for this a lot.
While his comment on “Dark City” was simply ignorance, his next one was downright baffling. The topic of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” came up. (digression: I still say it was a fun flick with deeper character interactions than I expected. It also had the second best opening credit sequence of the year behind “Watchmen.”)
My friend had a review for this movie that he missed, too. “There weren’t any special effect in it,” he said.
It’s hard to comment on a statement like this. It’s just too dumbfounding. Those who have seen it know that the movie couldn’t go two minutes without a superpower display, fight scene, explosion or vehicle stunt. The trees were probably computer-generated. Heck, in one sequence the hero flies through the air onto a moving helicopter, grounds it then blows it up.
Those that haven’t seen it would probably guess that a comic book-based summer action flick that follows three other films in a huge action series would probably contain a few effects. But that kind of thinking doesn’t matter to him. Logic doesn’t play in this mind.
These are not isolated incidents. He frequently says things that he doesn’t know and that make no sense. He doesn’t think about that. He just hopes people will immediately believe anything he says simply because he says it. Why wouldn’t they?
By Jonathan Grass
Home Staff Writer
jdgrass@crimson.ua.edu
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