Comments on Bitch Flicks: Misogyny Still Reigns at the Box Office

Good point. I suppose we don't have much of a cha...

2009-07-01T10:05:06.770-04:00

Good point. I suppose we don't have much of a chance at getting female-driven inoffensive films made if nobody goes to see the current slew of offensive ones. That may be the saddest thing I've ever written.

You know, in our post-ironic age, these bad review...

2009-06-30T20:19:15.383-04:00

You know, in our post-ironic age, these bad reviews probably just bolster the movie. I can imagine a member of the target audience thinking it cool that "only an asshole could have made this film." Because it's funny to be an asshole, right Judd Apatow?

Another point you make--about women flocking to see movies like The Proposal--I feel less sure about. The Proposal isn't a movie I'm interested in seeing, but if a mainstream comedy starring a big female celebrity doesn't make a ton of money, what hope is there for better movies starring women? I don't think it's a good thing that women love a movie that Manohla Dargis describes by saying "Like most Hollywood romantic comedies these days, “The Proposal” is all about bringing a woman to her knees, quite literally in this case." She also says, about Sandra Bullock: "She’s just another female movie star in need of a vehicle that won’t throw her overboard for sexist giggles and laughs." So, it's not good, but what's the alternative?

Finally, your line "I don't think it's too much to ask for these actresses to take themselves a little more seriously as actresses and a little less seriously as male fantasies" blew my mind. Insert "some women" in place of "actresses," and that's how I feel most every day.

Wow, that IS scathing. I like this snippet from M...

2009-06-30T15:48:09.747-04:00

Wow, that IS scathing. I like this snippet from MaryAnn Johanson's review:

" ... eventually I got so bored -- for these two and a half hours feel much, much longer than the same two and a half hours the first movie consumed -- that I lost track of the number of testicle jokes and taser jokes that flew by. The target audience will be pleased to know, perhaps, that yes: one joke combines testicles and tasers. It’s like the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup of frat-boy humor."

One of the most scathing reviews I have ever read:...

2009-06-29T21:12:57.751-04:00

One of the most scathing reviews I have ever read:

"And, to deal with the token objections of the film's defenders, I have an inner child; he's just not an inner idiot. And if how much money something made had any correlation to how good it actually is, doctors would recommend you get more cocaine instead of more leafy greens. And no, I can't shut my brain off and have fun, anymore than I could rip out my tongue and enjoy a meal, because my brain is where I feel fun. And I could talk about the plot and characters and performances of "Revenge of the Fallen," but why should I care about those things when it's so clear that Bay doesn't? Many will walk out of "Revenge" praising the action and the special effects, but they'll be indicating that they don't know what they're talking about. The action is badly cut, confusing and incoherent, with no sense of space or distance or dynamism aside from close-ups of brutal blows and long shots of explosions. The effects are either too swift to be truly seen (Wasn't one of the pleasures of the Transformers toys slllllllowly ... clicking ... each change into place?) or so phony you can't bear to look (like when walking big-rig Optimus Prime, a giant multiton mass of metal, moves and fights with the lithe lightness of a 12-year-old gymnast). "Revenge of the Fallen" isn't good; it's just expensive, and while Michael Bay can't tell the difference between those things, a reasonably intelligent person can.

And I haven't even begun to talk about the racist-caricature robots of "The Twins," who speak in thug slang and "aren't much for reading" and talk about getting "up in that ass," and one of whom has, I wish I were kidding, a gold tooth. Or about how when the film isn't drooling over Megan Fox's poreless, lifeless form and visage, it's busy calling women "bitches" and throwing around "pussy" as an insult..."
-James Rocchi "'Transformers': Nothing Meets the Eye"