Critics Changing Music/Movie History |
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MortSahlFan
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Posted: October 17 2018 at 10:23 |
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Either helping or hurting... As for music, from a recent Pink Floyd interview, it seems like Nick Kent's criticism of a show removed them from complacency after Dark Side. I haven't read much movie criticism, but I
remember reading Pauline Kael's enthusiastic review of Nashville, which
hadn't even come out yet. This was a book reviewing a review, and
mentioned that although Kael had got too close with Altman, that it
helped a movie that might have never received any popularity.
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Atavachron
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Reviews can certainly increase interest and impact sales, though I think at the end of the day people are drawn to what attracts them regardless of opinion or popularity. Once something is exposed, it's on its own. |
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"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy
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BaldJean
Prog Reviewer Joined: May 28 2005 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 10377 |
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critics destroyed "The Night of the Hunter" starring Robert Mitchum, the only movie Charles
Laughton ever directed. he did not dare to direct another movie after this disaster. today this movie is regarded as a classic
Edited by BaldJean - October 17 2018 at 13:59 |
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Logan
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Critics can both help and hinder. A lot of them are hacks.
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The.Crimson.King
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Especially if their paycheck comes from Rolling Stone
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Prog Sothoth
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Meanwhile, there are Oscar winners for best film that were critically acclaimed at the time that have fallen completely out of favor, starting with Cimmaron (1931). That film has aged poorly to say the least...no one brings up that stinker except in "worst Oscar winner" polls. |
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Atavachron
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^ Good point, and ones from the same year that probably deserved the award more and have stood the test of time better. Reviews are most useful as gauges of content rather than quality: "If you like dry, absurd British humor you'll love this. Otherwise steer clear of this ridiculous, unfunny movie". |
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"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy
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ForestFriend
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If I recall correctly, Pete Townshend wrote Pinball Wizard in order to make Tommy appeal to a music critic who was into pinball.
Edited by ForestFriend - October 17 2018 at 18:08 |
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micky
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hey long time PA'rs... we are a part of that history... we singlehandedly destroyed a band
two words itched in music critic history... God this site used to rule... Torman Maxt
Edited by micky - October 17 2018 at 18:24 |
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MortSahlFan
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I think bad music and bad movies can be helped by bad press - hence the many stunts, especially with the internet, phones. "Gossip non-art"?
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MortSahlFan
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I didn't wanna start another thread, but what do you all think the pros and cons of the internet is (and newspaper if you want)
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chopper
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I remember that little saga.
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micky
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good times.. while the never to be touched PA's record holder in hidden and deleted posts it was my deleted review I was most proud of... an angry Mick is a very bad thing one could almost feel sorry for that band. They had no idea what they were in for... but neither did M@X either. One really could point to that whole saga is the beginnings of the decline of the site as we did lose some collaborators out of it and the real nature of what this site is about became apparent thus starting the drain on enthusiasm and passion for the work we did....and we started to lose 'the talent' in spirit if not in body whose knowledge and hard work built the site.
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The Dark Elf
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I think you should probably mention the horrible track record of Rolling Stone magazine reviews throughout the 70s, in which they trashed albums upon their release, only to revise their reviews decades later when hindsight proved they didn't know their ass from the spindle hole in a 33 1/3 vinyl record.
I only bring this up as I was listening to Neil Young's After the Gold Rush the other day, and went to Wiki to get some info regarding the late Danny Whitten. Brilliant album: the haunting title track, Southern Man, Don't Let It Bring You Down, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, etc. But when the record was initially released in 1970, the RS reviewer stated "none of the songs here rise above the uniformally dull surface." WTF? Five years later RS suddenly proclaimed the album a "masterpiece", and a few decades later (2003) ranked the album as the 71st greatest album of all time. I can think of literally a hundred albums that that magazine trashed only to wallow in revisionist accolades much later. In a different vein, one only has to look at the 5 star ratings every original Nick Drake release has gotten decades after his death, and wonder what the hell critics were listening to when the albums first came out. There's a career that was sadly ignored and aborted by mediocre reviews and record label indifference.
Edited by The Dark Elf - October 20 2018 at 09:03 |
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MortSahlFan
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I think it was a fine movie.. Do you remember what was said that was so damning he never directed another movie again?
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Atavachron
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^ It's widely considered one of the finest in film history. Laughton may have been blacklisted. Also, critics tended to compare the film to Davis Grubb's novel-- almost always a mistake. |
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BaldJean
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I will give one example: Bosley Crowther of the New York Times said: "A weird and intriguing endeavor to put across something more in the way
of a horror story involving children than the mere menace of a bogeyman
is made in "The Night of the Hunter," a film based on the novel of Davis
Grubb and directed by Actor Charles Laughton, which came to the Mayfair
yesterday. Paul Gregory produced this audacious film. The trenchant and
troubling proposition they are obviously aiming to convey is that being a
child in the midst of sordid adults is a terrible experience. Innocent,
sweet and trusting youngsters are sorely torn in a world of greed and
hate. Withal, the authors assure us, the strength of little children
abides. This is a difficult thesis to render both forceful and profound
in an hour and a half of tangled traffic with both melodramatic and
allegorical forms. And the fact that Mr. Laughton, undertaking his first
film directorial job, has not brought forth a wholly shattering picture
is easy to understand. The story that Mr. Grubb provided is a dark and
horrifying account of the torment a fake evangelist inflicts upon a
couple of kids. In a frenzy to discover where a hanged bank robber has
hidden $10,000 in stolen bills, ??? perambulating back-country preacher
insinuates himself into the home of the robber's family, marries his
moronic widow, murders her and then persecutes her kids (the only ones
who know where the money is hidden) until he drives them forth into the
world. All this has been crisply compacted into clear screen drama by the
late James Agee and it is put forth under the direction of Mr. Laughton
in stark, rigid visual terms. The locale is crushingly rural, the
atmosphere of "the sticks" is intense, and Robert Mitchum plays the
murderous minister with an icy unctuousness that gives you the chills.
There is more than malevolence and menace in his character. There is a
strong trace of Freudian aberration, fanaticism and iniquity. Credit Mr.
Laughton with a clever and exceptionally effective job of catching the
ugliness and terror of certain ignorant, small-town types. He has got
out of Shelley Winters a grueling performance as the vapid widow and
wife. The scene of the wedding-night of Miss Winters and the preacher is
one of the most devastating of its sort since Von Stroheim's "Greed."
And Evelyn Varden's and Don Beddoe's performances as village gossips and
busy-bodies are edged with a sharp and treacherous cruelty that shows
through the appearance of homely farce. But unfortunately the story and
the thesis presented by Mr. Grubb had to be carried through by Mr.
Laughton to a finish - and it is here that he goes wrong. For the
evolution of the melodrama, after the threatened, frightened children
flee home, angles off into that allegorical contrast of the forces of
Evil and Good. Strange, misty scenes composed of shadows and unrealistic
silhouettes suggest the transition to abstraction. When the children
find sanctuary in the home of a little old lady who befriends orphans,
the idea comes across. The preacher, pursuing, is the Devil; the little
old lady is Goodness and Love. All this is handled with obvious pretense.
Lillian Gish is sweet but wispy in the role of the benefactress of
orphans, and Billy Chapin and Sally Jane Bruce, who are fine as the
youngsters through most of the picture, become posey and incredible in
the later scenes. The toughness of the grain of the story goes soft and
porous toward the end. The conclusion is an uncontestable statement that
children, God bless them, will endure". so the critic completely destroys the famous riverboat scene, which today is usually cited as one of the best moments of the movie
Edited by BaldJean - October 20 2018 at 18:44 |
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