Father Christmas Hunting
Uhm . . . okay. Now we know where they get those crappy mall Santas.
OFF TOPIC:
Did anyone else find the casual disregard for spousal affection in Mr. and Mrs. Smith to be as disturbing as I did? I switched the button in my psyche to "off" when the scene with Brad Pitt literally kicking the shit out of his fictional wife flickered across the screen . . . and that was after both characters had spent a great deal of screen time (and many many millions in special effects) attempting to outright murder one another.
Right before they had mad, animalistic sex, of course. Can't forget to include a mad, animalistic sex scene right after the husband kicks the shit out of his wife and/or the wife blows holes in the walls trying to fill her dear hubby with lead. I guess domestic violence is the new sexy.
"Achieving catharsis via punching your husband or wife in the face may begin as a tongue-in-cheek metaphor. However, as this one-note film segues into a standard-issue summer blow-'em-up, such activities eventually seem less like therapy and more like good ol’ fashioned domestic – and audience – abuse."
I mean, what's with the tango in the restaurant where Pitt as the emotionally confused husband bashes his character wife's head into the wall, nearly knocking her unconscious? Is this supposed to pass as edgy commentary on the state of the modern relationship? If so, I didn't get it, and, actually, found it very depressing to watch.
Comments
Honestly, I don't think there was anything to "get" in that movie. The thought process seemed to have been, "Uhm, we need some hotties that are super-secret spies. You know, James Bond with all the cool gadgets, but none of the 'thinking'. Then, they have to go after the same guy and get in each other's way. Then, they try to kill each other. Oh, oh, oh, and they tear their expensive house a new one! And crash the car! Lots of guns and explosions! Ooooh, and mad, angry, monkey sex! Uhm, and it all works out in the end somehow."
This is another one of Hollywood's formula movies where they figure if they put the elements of what they think is a successful movie together, without all the difficulty of actually working out plot and so forth, and give the special effects department a blank check, the money will just roll in. Apparently, 13 year old boys have become the single largest group of people in the United States because too many movies lately seem to have been written solely for them. Could just be me though...
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Homocon sez:
The formula seems to have worked for them, though, which is why I'm so puzzled. The film has pulled in almost half a billion dollars theatrically (worldwide), and DVD and TV/Cable revenue generally eclipses theatrical revenue, which means that Mr.and Mrs. Smith is headed towards being a genuine billion dollar cash cow, and . . . I still don't get it.
Posted by: Phillip | December 24, 2005 7:59 AM
Man... I'm glad to hear you mention those scenes about the movie. While "Hollyweird" was playing it up for big laughs (Pitt standing up and kicking a blocked-from-camera-view Jolie over and over), the theater in which we watched the movie was mostly silent. I think a few people laughed from sheer nervousness. It was stunning in its ferocity of man beating woman (and vice-versa).
And the movie industry honchos scratch their collective heads as to why the seats are emptier every year...
On a similar note, are you getting as tired as I am of seeing movies/television shows where the woman protagonist (or just about any female character, for that matter) beats the living be-zonkers out of any male in a fifty mile radius? What's THAT all about?
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Homocon sez:
I wish I had an answer.
In regards to the emptier seats -- they're not really getting that much emptier. Perhaps only in the United States. Revenues from overseas showings have been skyrocketing, especially with films that don't do so hot in the U.S. For example, Troy and Alexander both did 3 to 4 times better internationally than they did in the domestic market, with Mr. and Mrs. Smith pulling in nearly $100 million more overseas than in the U.S.
Perhaps American audiences are scratching their heads because the films are increasingly being crafted for foreign audiences.
Posted by: InTheWest | December 24, 2005 10:07 AM
It made no sense, but I enjoyed it by & large, because I thought they had good chemistry. It was screaming for a writer worthy of some Hepburn / Tracy repartee, but alas, there are none. As for its success, look at the competition.
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Homocon sez:
Whatever happened to Philadelphia Story dialogue?
Posted by: beautifulatrocities | December 26, 2005 1:54 PM
And yes, it's true, the studios want more action, less dialogue, so it plays better overseas. Witness the King Kong turkey that was supposed to save Hollywood (aka Give Jackson Enough Rope).
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Homocon sez:
I know! It's almost as if they *wanted* him to fail -- 'Yes, let him do whatever he wants, so that when he bombs miserably, we'll own his ass!'
It was almost a win-win situation for the studio, no matter which way it sliced.
Interestingly enough, one of the only blockbuster films that has done far better domestically than internationally is The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, which isn't surprising, considering its tres anglo subject matter. Usually, a film like that will gross two to three times as much internationally, but it isn't playing very well to the overseas audience. Fortunately, the anglos are paying the bills, so we'll still get to see the sequels.
But with the higher fantasy quotient of the successive Narnian stories, I think its international appeal may broaden. I mean, Voyage of the Dawn Treader could be a masterpiece, if they do it right . . .
Posted by: beautifulatrocities | December 26, 2005 3:29 PM