Armond White's 2011 Better-Than List
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Re: Armond White's 2011 Better-Than List
I suspect White doesn't believe anything he posts. He strikes me as the kind of person who actively dismantles popular opinion to drive up his own notoriety. And I think the Stephen Colbert analogy may be the most apt.
Wesley Lovell
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
Re: Armond White's 2011 Better-Than List
Okri wrote: If you disagree with him, he might accuse you of being racist (1999 best actor discussion).
Re: Armond White's 2011 Better-Than List
Yea. I found this article amusing and humorous. And like most performance art, everyone is free to analyze it how they see fit.Okri wrote:Ummm..... in short, Armond White is the internet-movie world's favourite whipping boy. If you disagree with him, he might accuse you of being racist (1999 best actor discussion). If everyone likes a film, he does his best to hate it. If he admits to liking it before realizing that the consensus is agreeing with that statement, he changes his mind and criticizes those who like it (The Hurt Locker). If you don't like Mission to Mars, you don't like or understand movies (seriously). It's best to enjoy him as performance art.ITALIANO wrote:Who is this idiot?
Me, I read this as satire and in Stephen Colbert's voice.
Re: Armond White's 2011 Better-Than List
Ummm..... in short, Armond White is the internet-movie world's favourite whipping boy. If you disagree with him, he might accuse you of being racist (1999 best actor discussion). If everyone likes a film, he does his best to hate it. If he admits to liking it before realizing that the consensus is agreeing with that statement, he changes his mind and criticizes those who like it (The Hurt Locker). If you don't like Mission to Mars, you don't like or understand movies (seriously). It's best to enjoy him as performance art.ITALIANO wrote:Who is this idiot?
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Re: Armond White's 2011 Better-Than List
I usually find him infuriating, but I actually find myself agreeing with some of these. War Horse over Hugo; Rise of the Planet of the Apes over Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but he loses me with Jack and Jill over The Descendants.
Re: Armond White's 2011 Better-Than List
Well, at least we can credit Armond White with finally bringing ITALIANO to harmony with just about everyone on this site.ITALIANO wrote:Who is this idiot?
Re: Armond White's 2011 Better-Than List
Lord knows those didactic Iranians and obscure Asians need some comeuppance.
I can't even with this guy.
I can't even with this guy.
Re: Armond White's 2011 Better-Than List
What a thoroughly obnoxious article.
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Re: Armond White's 2011 Better-Than List
Who is this idiot?
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Re: Armond White's 2011 Better-Than List
I'm done.Sabin wrote:The 2011 Better-Than List
Incendies>
"What the hell?"
Win Butler
Win Butler
Armond White's 2011 Better-Than List
The 2011 Better-Than List
by ARMOND WHITE on Jan 4, 2012 • 11:32 am 9 Comments
Armond White looks back at the best movies that surpass and defy the year’s worst
We’ve reached the point where movies are less popular than other forms of pop culture yet remain compelling—as much for what they recall about the humanities as the inhumanity they routinely deliver. Thus 2011′s year-end mania for the specious cultural tributes of The Artist and Hugo, even though both films, while apparently reverential, were actually false to how cinema is made and enjoyed. Thus, the critics’ disrespect for Spielberg’s two ingenious state-of-the-art assessments (to be examined in the next issue of CityArts). Thus, this year’s better-than list, which again finds superior alternatives that defy falsely hyped movies. Art vs. Trash.
Incendies>A Dangerous Method
Denis Villeneuve’s blood-rich inquiry into the epic complexities of man’s inhumanity-to-man defies the nihilistic excuses favored by David Cronenberg’s Freudian one-gunmanship and ethnic spite. Catharsis vs. Egotism.
The Adventures of Tintin>The Artist
Spielberg restores the essence of cinema (from the Greek “kinesis,” meaning movement), defying Hazanavicius’ too-cute silent movie hoax. Joy vs. Inanity.
War Horse>Hugo
Spielberg revives genre esthetics as spiritual expression, defying Scorsese’s fatuous history lecture. Feeling vs. Sentimentality.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes> The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Rupert Wyatt reboots the original series as a fresh, wild vision of modern frustration, defying Fincher’s apathetic wallow in pathology and brutality. Emotion vs. Style.
Attack the Block> A Separation
Joe Cornish’s clever, good-humored exploration of sci-fi social conflict defies Asghar Farhadi’s obvious Iranian didacticism. Action vs. Talk.
Paul> Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Greg Mottola, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost grasp the depth of American pop culture while Apichatpong Weerasethakul peddles Asian obscurantism. Joyous vs. Spurious.
3 Backyards>Melancholia
Eric Mendelsohn parses the limits of communal empathy, exposing Lars Von Trier’s insincere apocalypse chic. Authenticity vs. Artificiality.
Film Socialisme>The Tree of Life
Godard pinpoints outmoded media and politics, defying Terrence Malick’s arty navel-gazing. Relevance vs. Irrelevance.
Colombiana>The Help
Olivier Megaton and Zoe Saldana find new racial, sexual and genre archetypes to discover the meaning of love, defying the stereotyping of black women’s civil rights struggle. Progress vs. Relapse.
Winnie the Pooh>Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Disney turns children’s literature into cinematic grace defying Stephen Daldry’s attempt to turn 9/11 tragedy into a fairy tale. Beauty vs. Shamelessness.
The Iron Lady>J. Edgar, My Week with Marilyn
Phyllida Lloyd and Meryl Streep wittily reinvent the biopic in a Shakespearean (British) tradition, defying the exploitation of Hoover and Monroe. Insight vs. Triteness.
Jack and Jill>The Descendants
Adam Sandler’s affectionate, very broad ethnic satire defies Alexander Payne’s smug denial of America’s ethnic history. Humility vs. Sanctimony
What’s Your Number?, Kaboom>Bridesmaids
Gregg Araki and Anna Faris flaunt revelatory, nonjudgmental sexual choices while Kristin Wiig imitates frat boy vulgarity. Freedom vs. Conformity.
Rejoice and Shout>Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Don McGlynn’s gospel music history traces beginnings of art in faith while Werner Herzog’s loss of faith prompts his history of art. Heaven vs. Purgatory
Your Highness, The Sitter>Midnight in Paris
David Gordon Green indulges his love of fiction and adolescence while college dropout Woody Allen name drops and disrespects his literary betters. Humor vs. Hoax
Prom, Polytechnique> We Need to Talk About Kevin
Villeneuve and Joe Nussbaum’s complementary tales of school trauma defied Lynn Ramsey and Tilda Swinton’s nihilistic chic version of Columbine psychosis. Visionaries vs. Pseuds.
Real Steel>Moneyball
Shawn Levy explores fatherhood and masculinity in professional competition while Bennett Miller and Brad Pitt take the fun out of baseball. Entertainment vs. Sophistry.
by ARMOND WHITE on Jan 4, 2012 • 11:32 am 9 Comments
Armond White looks back at the best movies that surpass and defy the year’s worst
We’ve reached the point where movies are less popular than other forms of pop culture yet remain compelling—as much for what they recall about the humanities as the inhumanity they routinely deliver. Thus 2011′s year-end mania for the specious cultural tributes of The Artist and Hugo, even though both films, while apparently reverential, were actually false to how cinema is made and enjoyed. Thus, the critics’ disrespect for Spielberg’s two ingenious state-of-the-art assessments (to be examined in the next issue of CityArts). Thus, this year’s better-than list, which again finds superior alternatives that defy falsely hyped movies. Art vs. Trash.
Incendies>A Dangerous Method
Denis Villeneuve’s blood-rich inquiry into the epic complexities of man’s inhumanity-to-man defies the nihilistic excuses favored by David Cronenberg’s Freudian one-gunmanship and ethnic spite. Catharsis vs. Egotism.
The Adventures of Tintin>The Artist
Spielberg restores the essence of cinema (from the Greek “kinesis,” meaning movement), defying Hazanavicius’ too-cute silent movie hoax. Joy vs. Inanity.
War Horse>Hugo
Spielberg revives genre esthetics as spiritual expression, defying Scorsese’s fatuous history lecture. Feeling vs. Sentimentality.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes> The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Rupert Wyatt reboots the original series as a fresh, wild vision of modern frustration, defying Fincher’s apathetic wallow in pathology and brutality. Emotion vs. Style.
Attack the Block> A Separation
Joe Cornish’s clever, good-humored exploration of sci-fi social conflict defies Asghar Farhadi’s obvious Iranian didacticism. Action vs. Talk.
Paul> Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Greg Mottola, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost grasp the depth of American pop culture while Apichatpong Weerasethakul peddles Asian obscurantism. Joyous vs. Spurious.
3 Backyards>Melancholia
Eric Mendelsohn parses the limits of communal empathy, exposing Lars Von Trier’s insincere apocalypse chic. Authenticity vs. Artificiality.
Film Socialisme>The Tree of Life
Godard pinpoints outmoded media and politics, defying Terrence Malick’s arty navel-gazing. Relevance vs. Irrelevance.
Colombiana>The Help
Olivier Megaton and Zoe Saldana find new racial, sexual and genre archetypes to discover the meaning of love, defying the stereotyping of black women’s civil rights struggle. Progress vs. Relapse.
Winnie the Pooh>Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Disney turns children’s literature into cinematic grace defying Stephen Daldry’s attempt to turn 9/11 tragedy into a fairy tale. Beauty vs. Shamelessness.
The Iron Lady>J. Edgar, My Week with Marilyn
Phyllida Lloyd and Meryl Streep wittily reinvent the biopic in a Shakespearean (British) tradition, defying the exploitation of Hoover and Monroe. Insight vs. Triteness.
Jack and Jill>The Descendants
Adam Sandler’s affectionate, very broad ethnic satire defies Alexander Payne’s smug denial of America’s ethnic history. Humility vs. Sanctimony
What’s Your Number?, Kaboom>Bridesmaids
Gregg Araki and Anna Faris flaunt revelatory, nonjudgmental sexual choices while Kristin Wiig imitates frat boy vulgarity. Freedom vs. Conformity.
Rejoice and Shout>Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Don McGlynn’s gospel music history traces beginnings of art in faith while Werner Herzog’s loss of faith prompts his history of art. Heaven vs. Purgatory
Your Highness, The Sitter>Midnight in Paris
David Gordon Green indulges his love of fiction and adolescence while college dropout Woody Allen name drops and disrespects his literary betters. Humor vs. Hoax
Prom, Polytechnique> We Need to Talk About Kevin
Villeneuve and Joe Nussbaum’s complementary tales of school trauma defied Lynn Ramsey and Tilda Swinton’s nihilistic chic version of Columbine psychosis. Visionaries vs. Pseuds.
Real Steel>Moneyball
Shawn Levy explores fatherhood and masculinity in professional competition while Bennett Miller and Brad Pitt take the fun out of baseball. Entertainment vs. Sophistry.
"How's the despair?"