Comment

Comment by The Chaz on March 13, 2013 at 11:48am

@Toe Knee Bee Ears
It's pretty pointless to call something overrated. How popular or unpopular something is should not be a depiction of how you feel about that same thing. Of course, there will always be a school of people who like things because it makes them seem more like the person they want to appear to be, but it's not really up to you to say why people say they like something. And, to parallel this point, perhaps people you say like a Tarantino movie simply because it's a Tarantino movie actually like them because most of his films follow the same story staples; staples they always enjoy seeing.

There is nothing pretentious about simply using black and white; it does look classy. Plus, the same excuse you gave Clerks could easily work here. I'm not 100% certain on the conditions of this film's production, but, according to the above report, it was a very trimmed, and crude. Something that Whedon just wanted to work on for a couple of months with some close friends on his own property. Why is it only acceptable to use Black and White when you have no other option? Yeah, Sin City used it to stick to the source material, but Frank Miller used it because it looked good.

I'm with you on the dialogue bit, actually. It drove me nuts in Romeo + Juliet, and, in spite of my initial excitement, distracted me in Coriolanus. To my surprise, it didn't bother me so much in this trailer, but we'll see once the film is released.

So, to hell with the snooty critics, and the folks online who would praise Whedon and Shakespeare if they sh*t in a pickle jar and filmed it for two hours. If you dislike this movie, then dislike it, but don't hold it's popularity against it, or else you could miss out on something great.

Comment by Toe Knee Bee Ears on March 12, 2013 at 4:43pm

@zwareToo much praise and overrated is the same thing. But, if it's more acceptable for you that I say Shakespeare has too much praise then OK. Shakespeare has too much praise.

I don't call it pretentious not necessarily so much because of the language used. Just because Shakespeare's words are used doesn’t always make it pretentious.

One reason I call it pretentious is because of the use of black and white. A movie like OZ the Great and Powerful uses black and white as homage to the original. A movie like Sin City uses black and white to stick closely to the source material. A movie like Clerks uses black and white simply to keep the coast down. But, this film seems to use black and white to be "classy", fancy, and artsy fartsy.

Another reason is because it's only half contemporary. It's set in modern day but the dialogue is not. Nobody talks like that these days. If Whedon is going to use Shakespeare's words then set it in Shakespeare's time. Don't mix and match. That's the same problem I had with Romeo + Juliet 1996. If you’re going to do a contemporary version of Shakespeare then make it fully contemporary and use contemporary dialogue. I would love to see a Joss Whedon contemporary Shakespeare movie that actually used Joss Whedon's contemporary words instead of rehashing Shakespeare's words.  If you want to use Shakespeare's words that's fine but, set it in Shakespeare's time so it makes sense. If you’re going to use Shakespeare's words then do it like Shakespeare in Love and set it in Shakespeare’s time.

Another reason I call it pretentious is simply because it is Shakespeare. A lot of snooty critics are going to love this movie simply because Shakespeare's name is attached. That's the proof that people are "falsely," praising him to seem intelligent. Just like when Korey said that some critics will love any Quentin Tarantino movie just because it's a Quentin Tarantino movie. The same goes for Shakespeare.

Lastly, maybe I missed it but I still don't see where you explained how relationships is a “intellectual topic".

Comment by zware on March 12, 2013 at 12:20pm

@Toe Knee Bee Ears

Well you said the most overrated writer of all time, but how does false praise = overrated? You should say he gets to much praise but that doesn't deminense his writing or influence. I feel more high school students who are forced to read him don't like him. Can you give me any sort of proof that people are "falsely," praising him to seem intelligent? Or are you just generalizing people in order to act like your original position has merit.

Like I stated earlier, you regarded it bring pretentious (I'm assuming for the language) which I said is a dumb statement because they are adapting a Shakespeare play, the additional bit I added was just to point out a pet peeve I had over the misuse of the word.

Comment by Toe Knee Bee Ears on March 12, 2013 at 7:59am

@zware  Also, I don't see how talking about relationships is an "intellectual topic" Please explain this to me.

Comment by Toe Knee Bee Ears on March 12, 2013 at 7:53am

@zware Yes I read what I write and I am fucking serious. Anyone with immense amount of praise will have bandwagoners who will praise them simply to go along with the crowd. Therefore, some praise that they get is false and that makes them overrated.

Many people praise Shakespeare only in order to seem cultured and intelligent to others. This makes these people's praise false. And when you add up all of Shakespeare's false praise it leads to Shakespeare being overrated.

Comment by zware on March 12, 2013 at 1:24am

@Toe Knee Bee Ears
"@zware Overrate - to give greater praise than due. Do you know a writer more praised than Shakespeare? Some people consider him to be the best writer who has ever and will ever live. Anyone with that much praise (no matter how good they may be) is overrated" umm do you even read what you write? Seriously anyone who gets an immense amount of praise is overrated? Are you fucking serious? No that isn't fact, in fact your advocating he in fact deserves his praise since so many people think he is great. Also you said "the most overrated writer of all time." I meant the language in regards to it being pretentiousness, the addition as a pet peeve.

@Daneil Martins

Yes you are right, I should have been more specific.

Comment by The Chaz on March 11, 2013 at 7:43pm

Ah, that trailer tickled me. This looks endearing.

Comment by Bundini on March 11, 2013 at 9:16am

cool im in austin when it comes out! so that means i can see this without much hassle.

Comment by Toe Knee Bee Ears on March 11, 2013 at 9:02am

@PopCultureGuru Thank you.

@zware Overrate - to give greater praise than due. Do you know a writer more praised than Shakespeare? Some people consider him to be the best writer who has ever and will ever live. Anyone with that much praise (no matter how good they may be) is overrated. This is something that is fact not opinion. Now, I did not say he was not good. I simply said he is overrated. There is a huge difference. 

"intellectual topics" ? ! Really?! The people in this trailer are talking about relationships. Teenage girls gossip about relationships all the time. I would not call them intellectuals.

Besides, with this movie Whedon is simply adapting Shakespeare's play. He's not even using his own words. Yes Avengers was an adaption to but, at least he wrote his own dialogue. 

Hey, if you want to see this movie fine. I'm glad you do. I hope you enjoy it.

But, I'm simply telling it like I see it.  

Comment by Daniel Martins on March 11, 2013 at 8:05am

@zware 

Shakespear has had an immense infuence on literature, but not on all writers, you will find that specialy south american writers have next to none influence from shakespear and are instead greatly influenced by Cervantes. Roberto Bolano for example, or Parra, have no influence whatsoever from Shakespear.

This said, I do agree with you, shakespear is not overrrated, he is the most important author in english language, and possibly in european/north american literary tradition.

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