American Cinematographer - July 1988 - 110

The Last

Page

All

Together, Now...Let's Bash!

Everybody loves the Biblical story of how a
slender and bucolic youth, the future King
David, fatally beaned the giant warrior,
Goliath. It's also pleasant to contemplate
those old adages which assure us that "a
cat can look at a queen" and that "the pen is
mightier than the sword." Taken altogether
they illustrate facts enjoyed by those of us
who are lucky enough to live in the more
civilized parts of the world: that might
doesn't necessarily make right, that every¬
one has a right to an opinion, and that those
who are able to express their opinions to the
public hold the key to great power. The
power to topple giants.
Power demands responsibility;
some persons can handle it and some can't.
Abuse of power is a rampant fact of life,
even in the aforementioned civilized places.
Take, for example, the popular sport of bashthe-big-shot, which is practiced enthusi¬
astically by some of the less responsible
members of the press and electronic media.
Hastily, lest we appear to be indulging a
similar amusement, it should be noted that
there are critics who bring intelligence and
perception to their work. They are those
who resist the temptation to sacrifice the
efforts of others to personal whim, preju¬
dice, the urge to turn a clever phrase, or a
chance to take aim at a broad and vulner¬
able target. Praise be for these!
But there are others who, lack¬

ing creative ability of their own, find solace
in tearing down the creations of others. At
the same time, they become fixated upon
certain "heroes" whom they praise out of all
proportion, almost always at the expense of
their less favored colleagues.
Take, for example, the eminent
music critic who, in reviewing a return
appearance by an elderly, revered pianist
who had not concertized in many years,

reported with undisguised glee that the old
master had

of

lost his touch. There was

no

hint

poignancy, sympathy or understanding,

but there was an abundance of waspish,
vicious elation that a musical idol had fallen
to the ravages of time. Later, when his

forced to retire due
to ill health, the writer was inconsolable.

favorite conductor

108

American

was

Cinematographer

Should this critic one day suffer a lessening
of his abilities due to the erosion of old age,
he will not have far to fall.

"important" productions. Now the pen¬
dulum has reached the opposite extreme of
"if it cost a lot, it must be awful."
A favorite target for big-shot
bashers these days is George Lucas. He's
wealthy, he's independent, and - hor¬
rors!
he makes large-scale pictures that
audiences love (except for an occasional
miscue). Usually they exploit action, adven¬
ture, fantasy, exotic lands, mythology, and
entertainment. Most can only be achieved
through the utilization of highly sophisti¬
cated special visual effects. The current
Lucas production, Willow, was greeted with
-

salvo of critical overkill such as Newsweek's David Ansen's reference to Lucas as

a

"The great
the Los

regurgitator of pop culture" and
Angeles Herald-Examiner's Peter

Rainer's assessment of "Two hours worth of
cliche-ridden scriptwriting and lackluster

special effects."
Film and television,

being youn¬
ger and more popular than the other arts
and therefore having less venerable creden¬
tials, are especially vulnerable. Some shows
are licked before they're shown, often be¬
cause of prejudice against the genre, the
star, the director, or even the publicist. It was
Time's critic who, in the course of scourging
One Million Years B. C., synopsized the story
as it was printed in the press kit, which only
shown on
As the doctor should examine

somewhat resembled what

was

the

screen.

the

patient before making his diagnosis, so

should the critic

see

the movie before he

presents an opinion.
Some time ago one of the better
critics stated publicly that she so disliked

Sylvester Stallone that she would never say
anything good about any of his pictures.
True to her vow, she has since lambasted
each subsequent effort in turn. Whether or

As cartoonist Maratta recently
noted in the Los Angeles Times, "For every
action movie, there's an equal and opposite
reaction by critics." The curious thing is that
the same critics who despise pictures of the
Star Wars/Indiana JonesAA/illow school or a
fast-action piece like Lethal Weapon are the
same

persons

who occasionally bellyache

because not enough pictures are sufficiently
"cinematic." This is a term coined by critics

identify films that are true to the medium
being stultifyingly stagebound
or literary in concept. Such pictures obvi¬
ously can be done effectively only as motion
pictures and necessarily utilize all of the

to

rather than

artistic and technical resources of the
medium.
Another name too popular to
receive much critical approval is that of
Steven Spielberg, and yet another is Walt

which is that

Disney. Now that Disney, Spielberg and
Lucasfilm's special effects facility have
joined forces to produce an extravagant
action/comedy, we may expect some truly

cism, pro or con.

colorful invective from critic's

not

they deserved it is beside our point,
pre-judgment invalidates criti¬
Another consideration is the fad

factor. For years

it was fashionable to sav¬
age low budget pictures in general. Many of
these "B" pictures have stood the test of
time better than

July 1988

some

of the acclaimed

haps,

fad will

row.

Or, per¬

pass suddenly and
critical chorus will ring with praise

a

would embarrass

a

the

that
press agent. Who

knows? Who cares?

-GT
American Cinematographer - July 1988

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