I have a confession to make, I’ve realized that I’m not the movie snob that I’ve pretended to be. After the last few “pedestrian” movies I’ve watched in the recent past (I don’t need to compound my shame by identifying which ones) I found myself laughing and/or enjoying myself a lot more than I figured I would. Why is it that as a critic I feel it necessary to pre-dismiss what I would instinctively describe as “Hollywood Crap”? Isn’t it possible to enjoy “great” films as well as the generic brand of movies being cranked out by the Hollywood sausage factory.
When I say that I love watching movies, I don’t qualify that by saying that I only like “good” movies. It’s like someone saying that they only like good music… there are people like that but I don’t consider myself to be one of them. I mean, I’d rather be watching a movie than not watching a movie – be it a good one or not.
So why the pretense? I suppose the commonly accepted logic is that in order to appear to have credibility you need to be able to display your pedigree to the world. It’s like the pliable critics that got to see an advance screening of G.I. Joe - their proclivities had been made known so they could be trusted to deliver an uncharacteristically warm review to what I’m sure the studio already knew was not a great film.
Maybe the point is that a movie doesn’t have to be great or even good to be enjoyable. I freakin’ love watching Under Siege(and yet I hate Steven Seagal) despite the fact that I know the movie’s lacking in substance. While I consider City of Lost Children and The Fisher King among my favourite films, I’d never presume to watch them at the drop of a hat, the timing would have to be right. Citizen Kane might be considered one of the greatest films ever made, but I’m sure as hell not gonna sit and watch it on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
On the other hand, the pedestrian movies that Hollywood cranks out don’t require a second look from critics, because people will flock to them regardless of anyone’s opinion. I think my purpose in the critic game is to bring attention the movies that might not have gotten the royal treatment, hype-wise and maybe poke fun at those films that might have been more privileged in that respect… that’s me: Champion of the Underdog… except when I’m heralding the next superhero blockbuster… Or lauding the next work of Terry Gilliam or Steven Soderberg… Hmmmm… Maybe I don’t have a pattern after all – maybe I’m just an equal opportunity snob.
As an update, I finally watched GI Joe the other day with my buddy Jack, and I actually really enjoyed myself. I think I enjoyed myself the most laughing at how cheesy a movie this was, but I had a good time nonetheless. I did fall asleep just when things were getting good, so I think I missed the final confrontation battle between Snake Eyes and Stormshadow, which was the whole point of me watching this freakin’ in the first place, so it definitely gets marked down for making me pass out before it got to the good stuff. That’s not snobbery, that’s pure practicality. A movie should is meant to be a delivery device for entertainment, and it only succeeded for the most part, not the entirety – and if that’s not a way to measure the greatness of a film, I don’t know what is.