The big internet debate right now is over a british film that was shown at SXSW (South By Southwest, y'all), entitled Attack The Block. The film was a big hit with audiences, and very mainstream, but no studio picked it up for distribution. The problem being that the punk british kids accents are too think for an American audience. So, the question is - Should the film be subtitled, if it would at least allow the film to be released in theaters in some form?
Personally, I think the audience who would have difficulty with the accents is also the audience that doesn't want to "read" their films. I have no strong objections, I suppose. The movie is about punk kids vs aliens. . . Doesn't sound particularly deep. Is our education system so broken that we would find it impossible to piece this relatively simple-sounding film together through context cues? It could be in Mandarin without subtitles and I think I'd get the general idea.
The excitement over this film, and another one at the fest called The FP (a satire of gang films, about a Dance Dance Revolution face-off), shows how distant I've grown from the beating heart of geekdom. Punks vs Aliens? Nah; I'm good. Who knows - Maybe it really is great. I've just grown a bit tired of all the juvenile cliches. I'm craving art that reflects life, not art that reflects other art, retreating up it's own asshole.
That said, let me completely contradict myself by saying that I'd like to see Paul. Sure, Simon Pegg's scripts are as reference heavy as you can get, but at least they generally have something smart to say about what they're commenting on.
Actually, the BIG debate right now is over the casting of Academy Award nominee Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in the big screen adaptation of the book The Hunger Games. Undeniably good actress, but many question if she's too old to play the teen (She's twenty) and too white (Katniss is described as dark haired and olive skinned). The age thing; I think she's fresh faced enough to pull off a teenager. And the skin tone; While this does seem like an obvious white-washing, and race actually plays a critical role in the novel, I'm not really that bothered by it. My thoughts are, and always have been - an actor is an actor. I don't mind Idris Elba playing Heimdall, nor do I mind Jake Gyllenhaal playing the prince of persia. Also, an adaptation is an adaptation. Maybe the film version has no interest in focusing on the racial aspects. It's a critical part of the book, but isn't necessarily something that needs to be directly dealt with in the movie version.
Plus, it's being directed by the asshole who made Seabiscuit. How good do you think this is actually going to be?
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