Wonderful post, Barbara.
I have only one thing to say on doubts over the dearth of truly great US
films : American Beauty. Thank goodness it wasn't too hard to find.
I rest my case.
Jason.
PS. My review of AB is now featured on my writing portfolio page at
Themestream.com. Colin, you needn't visit :-)
BarBearUh wrote:
>
> i will say this about the foreign v. american argument - foreign
> audiences, generally speaking, have more interest in films that require
> thinking on the part of the viewer. that is not to say that they make
> better movies or that everything american is stupid. i think it's
> really easy to look at what is at the local multiplex and believe that
> american cinema is devoid of any kind of quality and is in a state of
> complete decline. the types of movies that get promoted to death are
> pretty rotten IMHO, and i can't believe that people are entertained by
> all the crap out there. the production values are so high - i mean,
> most of these stupid movies are shot beautifully, the effects can be
> flawless, etc. - they just have bad scripts with one-dimensional
> characters (and this year has been particularly bad). as the
> corporatization of everything increases, so will the vapidness of movie
> culture. but we produce a lot, and it is very difficult to make a great
> movie, as it is to write a great book or anything else (even joni can't
> score a 10 every time out). america has a tremendous cinematic history,
> and there are always a few gems produced every year - you just might
> have to look for them.
>
> barbara
> np: jane siberry, tree
