#21 ·
Vin Diesel said:Well, I guess we’re back to dissecting Smith again—and honestly, can you blame us? We’ve already gone round and round in circles debating his movie reviews in that other thread, haven't we? Seriously, Richard Hernandez13, I am begging you, please step in and help me make sense of all this!
We actually touched on Smith during that "Do you believe a film critic?" thread. To be honest, I’ve tucked him into that small group of critics I truly respect, even if I find myself disagreeing with his takes more often than not. I tend to value him much more for his insights as a social commentator through his columns than for his movie reviews. news from Lilliput ...and most of all, like a journalist who writes insightful pieces about the struggles within the film industry and the broader cinematic culture here in America.
Honestly, when it comes to those deep-dive phenomenological essays about American cinema, Smith tends to get incredibly sloppy and superficial. Take that piece in Saturday's USA Today regarding Oscar night, for example; he actually tripped over three massive factual errors, and he built his entire set of Oscar predictions right on top of them.
He mentioned that Sofia Coppola actually walked away with a Golden Globe for her directing. Not really. It’s already gone; I think Peter Jackson beat everyone to the punch and snatched it up himself.
I honestly find myself feeling pretty shaken by the fact that... Holy City It wasn't actually nominated for Best International Feature—the Brazilians had already put that film up for an Oscar back in 2002, but the Academy ended up passing on it at the time. Since they couldn't resubmit it in 2003, those four nominations we saw later were really thanks to Miramax; they kept the film in theaters for over a year and ran such a powerhouse Oscar campaign during the fall season.
He’s actually mistaken about that—Japan did pick up an Oscar back in 1975 when Kurosawa won for that massive joint production between Japan and Russia. Dersu uzao I was just thinking about how everything seems to be shifting lately, and honestly, I can't help but wonder where we all stand in the middle of it all. It’s one of those moments where you just sit back, take a breath, and realize that life has a funny way of moving faster than we ever intended it to. Rashomon Back in 1951, when Toshiro Mifune was making his mark, everything just felt different, didn't it? gates of hell 1954.
By the way, one of Damir Radić’s favorite little cinematic hobbies is hunting down all those factual blunders his colleagues tend to leave in their movies. 😁
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Honestly, I have to say that Damir Radić is also completely full of it. It feels like this critic managed to lose all credibility in record time. 😠.
Regarding his... I really feel like we need to dive much deeper into this than we have been lately. It feels like we’re just skimming the surface of the conversation, and I’d love to really get into the weeds of it all, if you catch my drift. I honestly think we should take a moment to really dive deep and analyze this situation, because there is just so much more going on under the surface than meets the eye at first glance. It feels like if we don't slow down and look at the finer details, we might completely miss the bigger picture that's actually unfolding right in front of us. witness ...
First off—this person is making a massive mistake by judging the movie based solely on the book. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to say during our Lord of the Rings debates, "just forget about the source material for a second." I really have to go on the record and say it again here, too. witnessI mean, personally, I haven't actually sat down to read the novel—but does that really mean I'm disqualified from having an opinion on the movie?
Actually, I have to disagree there. Smith was the one who did it. I'm feeling pretty inspired lately. It was just a total fluke involving that rabbit. He really isn't that guy. I just finished writing. So, I was thinking about that novel centered on the Rabbit family. You know, the one where he actually had... I’ve always had this funny little habit of getting a bit too caught up in the details, probably because I tend to overthink things, but I can't help but wonder about the sheer amount of poetic license directors take these days. It’s such a delicate balance, isn't it? On one hand, you want to respect the foundation of a story, but on the other, there's that undeniable magic that happens when someone decides to bend the rules just a little bit to capture a feeling or an atmosphere. Sometimes I catch myself being a bit of a stickler for accuracy, which I know is a bit silly, but there's just something so captivating about seeing a vision brought to life, even if it means straying quite far from the literal truth of what actually happened. I honestly feel like he just wrote that novel exactly how he wanted to because he was working with complete creative freedom. I honestly can't help but feel like I’m getting lost in the weeds sometimes when I try to dive deep into fiction, especially when I'm attempting to parse through those massive, sprawling epics that seem to go on forever. It's funny because I always tell myself I have the attention span for it, but then I find myself staring at a page for twenty minutes wondering if I actually read the last three paragraphs or if my brain just decided to take an unscheduled coffee break. There's just something about the way a really great story pulls you in, though—that feeling where the world around you just fades away—that makes all the mental gymnastics totally worth the struggle..
Thirdly, Brešan decided to take matters into his own hands and put together a few... I honestly feel like I'm just staring at a bunch of rough drafts right now, trying to make sense of all these half-baked ideas floating around in my head. It’s one of those moments where everything feels a little messy and unpolished, but I suppose that’s just part of the process, isn't it? I'm just sitting here, working through the chaos and hoping that if I tinker with these enough, something actually coherent might eventually emerge from the pile. The script was actually holding up quite well, really pulling its weight, right up until the moment he finally reached... I guess I’m just sitting here wondering if we could ever actually produce an American version of Rashomon.Smith has mentioned in several interviews with USA Today that this final cut is honestly nothing like the original version he first put together.
Fourthly, I don't think there's anything immoral about him focusing on the killer rather than the victim. Smith—or maybe Brešan, if you prefer—always seemed to operate under the idea that the murderer is where the real drama lives, not the one who was killed. He was really just trying to show us what makes them tick. It really got my wheels turning! In that way, sure, but they aren't actually anywhere to be found. I honestly feel like I’ve finally justified myself, though I suppose it’s a bit silly to be seeking validation for something so small!I honestly can't quite wrap my head around why Radić keeps leaning on such cheap generalizations; it really feels like there's some underlying personal grudge he's holding against Smith.