The Armond White Thread

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Nothing
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#426 Post by Nothing » Thu Feb 25, 2010 5:39 am

MichaelB wrote:I'm racking my brains trying to think which Luc Besson films (plural) he can possibly be referring to.
I assume he's referring to the Taxi series...

I do like Un Prophete, but his review is pretty funny, and more thought-provoking than most, esp. "Bourgeois ethnic guilt mutates into genre excitation; that’s how liberals get to project their fears and simultaneously jack themselves off." - heh.

p.s. Thanks for the tip-off on From Paris with Love, looking forward to it :D

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MichaelB
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#427 Post by MichaelB » Thu Feb 25, 2010 5:55 am

antnield wrote:
MichaelB wrote:I'm racking my brains trying to think which Luc Besson films (plural) he can possibly be referring to. Subway springs to mind, but claiming that that exercise in superficial flashiness has "a sophisticated balance of first and third world empathies" - sophisticated anything, in fact - is a stretch even for Armond. So it must be something else - but what?
I'm guessing Armond is referring to the various Besson-scripted and/or -produced titles. He's previously gone giddy over the Transporter movies and everything Pierre Morel has helmed. Most recently From Paris With Love has been getting the, er, love.
I've betrayed my ignorance here - I've seen everything by Besson up to 1997 (he was one of the more reliable cash cows at the rep cinema I used to manage), but nothing since it ceased to be a professional obligation. But I haven't exactly been compelled to track The Transporter down.

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Re: The Armond White Thread

#428 Post by Nothing » Thu Feb 25, 2010 7:28 am

MichaelB wrote:I haven't exactly been compelled to track The Transporter down.
A shame, Transporter 3 is particularly fine :)

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colinr0380
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#429 Post by colinr0380 » Thu Feb 25, 2010 9:32 am

He's probably also talking about District 13 and its recent sequel District 13: Ultimatum, combining the 'urban odd couple' format of the Taxi films with an Escape From New York/Mad Max premise and the parkour gimmick (which is more successfully used here than when it was shoehorned into films like Die Hard 4.0)

EDIT: Sorry - knives beat me to it!
Nothing wrote:
MichaelB wrote:I haven't exactly been compelled to track The Transporter down.
A shame, Transporter 3 is particularly fine :)
They are quite fun films, especially the various pretexts used to get Jason Statham stripped to the waist and oiled up! The only way I can make sense of how the "sophisticated balance of first and third world empathies" quote comes about is maybe that the first Transporter deals with the practice of people smuggling. Though its rather a side issue to all the action!

SECOND EDIT: And I quite liked Danny The Dog, if only for the small, incongrous seeming scene of Jet Li and Morgan Freeman buying groceries together in a Glaswegian Spar shop!
Last edited by colinr0380 on Fri Feb 04, 2011 3:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Perkins Cobb
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#430 Post by Perkins Cobb » Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:44 pm

You have to admit, "resident window dresser for the Leonardo DiCaprio boutique" is a pretty good line, in a pretty sharp review -- for once White's incessant referencing of other films aligns with a director who is openly doing the same thing.

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HistoryProf
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#431 Post by HistoryProf » Fri Feb 26, 2010 1:36 am

Perkins Cobb wrote:You have to admit, "resident window dresser for the Leonardo DiCaprio boutique" is a pretty good line, in a pretty sharp review -- for once White's incessant referencing of other films aligns with a director who is openly doing the same thing.
and example #3881984 of why Armond is nothing but a troll:
Bringing Out the Dead (1999, Scorsese’s last decent film)

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Re: The Armond White Thread

#432 Post by Nothing » Fri Feb 26, 2010 3:50 am

HistoryProf wrote:
Bringing Out the Dead (1999, Scorsese’s last decent film)
One might instead say that he's made nothing better since...

Perkins Cobb
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#433 Post by Perkins Cobb » Fri Feb 26, 2010 8:31 am

Yeah, that opinion is not unique to Armond ... although personally I'd put it at Gangs of New York.

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tenia
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#434 Post by tenia » Fri Feb 26, 2010 10:54 am

Couldn't agree with you more, Mr. White. Shutter Island desperately needed the visionary touch of a Olivier Megaton, the cinematic artistry of a Pierre Morel, the visual poetry of a Paul W.S. Anderson, the avant-garde genius of a Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, not to forget the finesse and expertise of a Luc Besson. Wouldn't have hurt to have Jason Statham in the lead role and Eddie Murphy portraying the rest of the characters Norbit-style either. Keep fighting the good fight, Mr. White.
=D>

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Morbii
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#435 Post by Morbii » Fri Feb 26, 2010 1:20 pm

tenia wrote:
Couldn't agree with you more, Mr. White. Shutter Island desperately needed the visionary touch of a Olivier Megaton, the cinematic artistry of a Pierre Morel, the visual poetry of a Paul W.S. Anderson, the avant-garde genius of a Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, not to forget the finesse and expertise of a Luc Besson. Wouldn't have hurt to have Jason Statham in the lead role and Eddie Murphy portraying the rest of the characters Norbit-style either. Keep fighting the good fight, Mr. White.
=D>
My favorite part of that has to be the "visual poetry of a Paul W.S. Anderson". Hah! :lol:

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davebert
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#436 Post by davebert » Thu Mar 04, 2010 12:46 pm

On the other hand, being on the other side of an Armond slobberfest feels kinda good... :roll:
http://www.nypress.com/article-20975-gr ... ation.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Now I face the ethical dilemma of whether to excerpt for ads. Is that like pulling a Shawn Edwards?

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Fiery Angel
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#437 Post by Fiery Angel » Tue Mar 09, 2010 12:39 am

This open letter to movie reviewers is making the internet rounds (thanks to PG):
You may not have heard that Armond White has been blackballed by Focus Features at the request of Noah Baumbach and his producer Scott Rudin from seeing Noah's latest "masterpiece" GREENBERG. [Noah, maybe you should make better films. Scott, go throw a cellphone at some PA you thin-skinned pussy.]

Some of you may think that Armond is a pretentious pompous fool who has no idea what he's talking about, but he is still a fellow film critic. [Hail Todd McCarthy, fired by Variety today so they can save some shekels.]

Publicists are akin to Nazis. Remember what Hitler said, "Who remembers the Armenians?" As publicists blacklist each of us one by one we will be left with the Paul Wunders of the 21st Century aka blogger hacks who can't spell or write a comprehensive sentence.

I suggest we all do three things:
1. DO NOT review Greenberg, if you are ordered to by your superior make a reference to the Gestapo tactics of the distributor, filmmaker and producer.

2. Complain directly to the President of Focus Features, James Schamus who prides himself on being a writer and supporter of the written word. This is his email address: james.schamus@focusfeatures.com

3. Write directly to Scott Rudin and tell him you will not review any of his upcoming films.
Scott Rudin Productions
120 West 45th Street
10th Floor
New York, NY 10036-4041
(212) 704-4600
Maureen Battaglia - Internship Coordinator
mbattaglia@scottrudinproductions.com

Upcoming Films: Margaret (Fox Searchlight), The Social Network (Columbia - 10/15)

Hail the First Amendment. Fuck the talentless hacks.

Film Critic 1138

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knives
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#438 Post by knives » Tue Mar 09, 2010 12:41 am

If someone wished death on my mum I wouldn't let them get a free screening of a movie I made either.

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Mr Sausage
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#439 Post by Mr Sausage » Tue Mar 09, 2010 2:15 am

I don't understand where people got the idea that they'll make their points better by comparing innocuous things with Nazism. This should be obvious, but not a single person told Armond White what he could and could not write or think. What they told him is that he could not attend a studio-hosted private screening. Anyone who thinks that qualifies as "gestapo tactics" should be locked in a room with people who actually were oppressed and abused by the gestapo and then yelled at for two hours for cheapening their suffering.

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tenia
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#440 Post by tenia » Tue Mar 09, 2010 2:15 am

Goodwin point. :-"

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bottled spider
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#441 Post by bottled spider » Tue Mar 09, 2010 3:20 am

"... or write a comprehensive sentence"

Stupid people, they're so cute.

Napoleon
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#442 Post by Napoleon » Tue Mar 09, 2010 5:31 am

Some of you may think that Armond is a pretentious pompous fool who has no idea what he's talking about, but he is still a fellow film critic.
White hasn't been anything of the sort for at least 5 years. Every week he drags his profession down further.

To keep the Nazi theme going, critics supporting him is akin to research scientists supporting Mengele.

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HistoryProf
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#443 Post by HistoryProf » Tue Mar 09, 2010 6:22 am

knives wrote:If someone wished death on my mum I wouldn't let them get a free screening of a movie I made either.
i thought it was that noah's mom should have aborted him.

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domino harvey
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#444 Post by domino harvey » Tue Mar 09, 2010 6:36 am

How can I send Noah Baumbach a Thank You Card?

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Brian C
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#445 Post by Brian C » Tue Mar 09, 2010 11:27 am

DO NOT review Greenberg, if you are ordered to by your superior make a reference to the Gestapo tactics of the distributor, filmmaker and producer.
I can see no way in which this plan could possibly fail. I mean, the logic is perfect:

1) Rant at your boss about Nazis.
2) ????
3) Baumbach FAIL!!!!!

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Antoine Doinel
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#446 Post by Antoine Doinel » Tue Mar 09, 2010 11:33 am

That internership coordinator is going to get some of the most fascinating emails ever.

HarryLong
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#447 Post by HarryLong » Tue Mar 09, 2010 11:55 am

Or maybe none at all...

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HistoryProf
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#448 Post by HistoryProf » Tue Mar 09, 2010 3:42 pm

apparently it's all been smoothed over unfortunately.

damn, I was hoping for good American precedent!

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Andre Jurieu
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#449 Post by Andre Jurieu » Wed Mar 10, 2010 3:02 pm

It's astounding to me how people can constantly whine about their 1st amendment rights being trampled upon, but they never want to deal with the inevitable consequences of totally disregarding basic decency while exercising their 1st amendment rights.

It's tough to perceive White as an adult, since he frequently exhibits himself to have the general disposition of an adolescent. What exactly did he expect would happen after he publicly states that Georgia Brown should have had an abortion? Did he expect Baumbach to just brush that off with a casual "oh, that ol' Armond White, with all his wacky comments"-type dismissal?

I still don't even understand how White can claim to be an outsider to the elitist NY-critics society and then constantly get so upset when they don't embrace him. Shouldn't he actually accept this form of rejection as a badge of honour that would further enhance his outcast status? It's like he believes he should be granted total immunity from the results of his actions.

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aox
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Re: The Armond White Thread

#450 Post by aox » Wed Mar 10, 2010 3:26 pm

umm, how would that have been a 1st amendment issue? Did the person making that claim not get pass their 3rd grade civics/government class?

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