Kevin Smith (kvnsmith@colba.net)
Sat, 31 Jul 1999 07:21:41 -0400
Etienne Borgers wrote, regarding my comparison of POINT BLANK
and PAYBACK:
>I think you just saw these as two stories and not
as
>two *films*... cinema has other imperative
>necessities, and is far more complex, than that to
be
>a success or a miss!
>
>Gibson a good actor? In Playback? I doubt. He
seemed
>to be just preoccupied by his own promotion in
that
>film and his act was an uninterrupted sequence
of
>grimaces.
>If the goal was to make Parker looks like a
bloody
>psycho, then he succeded!
>The filming was professional of course, but
mostly
>pedestrian, as aimed to a TV public.
Well, sorry. I like good story-telling. PAYBACK had it, POINT
BLANK didn't. I didn't realize that meant my tastes are
pedestrian. Maybe they are. But I'd rather watch a
tightly-written, well-acted episode of something like TV's
HOMICIDE or LAW AND ORDER than pay nine or ten bucks to watch
some director of the "cinema" trying to impress his film
school buddies with technique. Wanking is wanking.
I didn't think Porter was a psycohopath; maybe more a
sociopath. But definitely not a nice guy.
PAYBACK was hardboiled pulp, made to entertain; POINT BLANK
was made for film critics, I think. I think Boorman went on
to make far better films. I just don't think trying to
entertain is a bad ambition in any creative endeavour, be it
writing, movies, music, comic books, whatever. The art comes,
I think, from doing it well, pushing the boundaries, being
innovative, using the medium to say new things in old ways,
old things in new ways, in ways that are not always
immediately apparent.
>Now, about your last suggestion, what do you
prefer:
>.38, .45, or a very professional .22LR with
revolver?
Actually, come to think of it, I think a sling is the desired
weapon of choice for Phillistines like me.
Hey, I think Kubrick was a pretentious git, too! Though THE
KILLING is fantastic. In that one, art and craft is used to
tell the story, not bury it, as he did in other movies.
Mario, Etienne, the line forms to the left. I think there's
some ladies from another list ahead of you.
Kevin Burton Smith The Thrilling Detective Web Site http://www.colba.net/~kvnsmith/thrillingdetective/
Now available! Our Summer Issue, focussing on Radio Private
Eyes, plus new fiction by Peter Parmantie and Kathy
Korty.
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