March 06, 2009
Patrick O'Crabby Patty Wags That Finger - Episode 247
The LAT's top neo-con hypocrite blogger (witness: right before the entry debunking that silly ol’ internet for spreading dumb rumors about Judd Apatow being involved with Ghostbusters 3… an entry about a Bruce Wills/Tracy Morgan project he read about – wait… wait – on an unreliable site on the internet) has decided to declare – hiding behind some other writer’s skirts, as he does when he doesn’t want to be responsible for his right wing nonsense – that you are an idiot if you take your kid to go see Watchmen.
Are these the terms of discourse at the Los Angeles Times these days? Agree with me… or you are an idiot?
I wouldn't take a kid under 15 to see the film either. But am I a film writer or the morality police?
This follows in the heels of some bizarre off-key effort to question how Taken was pirated because it has held well in theaters.
Patrick… wakey, wakey. EVERY wide release movie that opens every single weekend is pirated. Some hold. Some don’t. Some films have a theatrical box office hit from piracy. Most don’t because people who buy pirated films tend not to be people who would spend the money to go to the theater. Where the pain comes is in the DVD market, in which, if you already own a copy – even a crap copy – the motivation to buy or even rent is diminished.
Piracy is real. It matters. It is often overstated by the MPAA and the figures cited have a lot to do with countries that are underscreened and/or have restrictive screening rules for US films. But suggesting that it means nothing... it's just hype because a movie has legs... profoundly wrong-headed.
Sorry you haven’t caught up with the new mod technology. Do the studios burn VHS for you to watch at home with the kids around the neighborhood so they can do some free reporting for you? Must be unpleasant watching everything in black and white... on or off TV.
It’s good to know that the Tribune Company, which is dumping people who work for a living left and right, is still investing in someone who doesn’t feel the need to make much effort at all… though getting those reservations at The Grill 3 times a week… that must be exhausting.
P.S. On a personal note: My “whining” about WB’s Watchmen screening choices… not about me… about how they were positioning the movie… and I dare say, every fear I called out about weeks ago has turned out to be central to the discussion of this film by critics and feature writers all over this country… including the one you built your name-calling piece about. Maybe if you got a few weeks ahead of the curve instead of riding everyone else’s wake, you would be woebegone too… and actually have a blog worth reading.
Posted by dpoland at March 6, 2009 12:36 PM
Comments
Is Goldstein really a big right-winger, does he just have a compulsive need to read and link to some of the more out-there conservative film sites, or does he just post that stuff to get more hits?
He does indeed seem to pretty consistently acknowledge and quote loons like the chick in his Watchmen post, or "Dirty Harry" and the Breitbart/Libertas crew, who often mention him back in kind. Goldstein's comments section usually gets a lot of its activity from regulars at Big Hollywood, Libertas and Dirty Harry's Place. And, yes, those are the crazed "Hollywood is destroying our values!" hardcore Medved types who find a liberal conspiracy in any- and everything.
Does PG just court them for controversy and page count, or is that his general line of thinking as well?
Posted by: LexG ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/nav-commenters.gif)
at March 6, 2009 01:24 PM
Hey LexG, props for predicting everything that happened on the Hot Blog this week in exquisite detail. You should add "Oracle" to your resume.
I also dropped by your blog, and can't wait for the next installment of Total Ownage.
Posted by: Not David Bordwell at March 6, 2009 02:04 PM
Maybe I'm reading the lines more than between the lines of this entry, but I don't see the endorsement from Goldstein for Schlussel's views AT ALL here. An opening paragraph with the line, "...no one quite matches the inspired lunacy of Debbie Schlussel", doesn't give one the impression that PG's got her back on this one. What follows is a short list of some of Ms. Schlussel's off the wall sentiments, and a hilariously self-indicting quote("If you see it yourself, you're also probably a moron and a vapid, indecent human being" - um, you mean just like YOU, Debbie? Does our little club get T-shirts too?).
David, are you saying that Goldstein is protesting TOO much? Is centering a blog entry around the hysterical reactions of an obscure right-wing pundit a back door ploy to get her more publicity? Because otherwise, all I'm seeing is a "check out THIS wingnut!" piece that makes the girl look like a total jackass.
Posted by: Hallick at March 6, 2009 02:17 PM
Anybody who wants a good laugh should read Schlussel's full review; especially the comments section at the bottom. I was going to give her props for at least seeing the movie before bitching about it, but thanks to some of her remarks about how historically retarded the filmmakers were to have Nixon still in office in the 80s, I rescind my respects.
On a side note: who wouldn't love to see IOIOIOI and Schlussel get their own cage match thread to fight it out over Watchmen?
Posted by: Hallick at March 6, 2009 02:32 PM
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