Posted by Vincent at bg-tc-ppp1357.monmouth.com on November 19, 2002 at 22:46:35:
In Reply to: Re: Magnolia did suck. posted by rcpweiner on November 19, 2002 at 22:31:05:
: . . . also, magnolia was one of the great works in the past ten years. sorry kevin, but there is a difference between artistic works (i.e. none of the askew films) and funny views on life (clerks, mallrats, etc.)
Opinions are opinions, it's that simple. To you (and well, me too), MAGNOLIA may be a great cinematic achievment, but guess what? Not everybody is going to share our views, and other people are entitled to their views. It amazes me that some rabid-PTA think that Kevin Smith is somehow not entitled to his own personal opinion because he's not a "worthy" enough artist or something. That's assinine. By that logic, the only people entitled to have an opinion on ANYTHING in ANY artistic field must be masters of those fields themselves and deemed equal or better to the artists they are expressing a view about. Guess what? If those were the rules, you'd have no room to comment on any movies at all, because you haven't made any yourself. And when (if) you do make one, it must be presented before a learned panel of film critics, who will then assess where it places in the history of film and they will give you a list of films deemed equal-to or lesser-than yours, and you will then be allowed to have an opinion about the films on that list and express those views.
As for PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE, I don't think Kevin has seen it yet although he has said he really wants to. He's been kinda-sorta busy shooting and now editing his latest non-artistic funny view on life, JERSEY GIRL.
Vincent