Not a film geek breh. Still tryna get in the class. Never seen Straw Dogs. Old or new.
Read this article..along with this tweet
Is drawing a comparison between
Skyfall and
Home Alone really enough to discredit a film critic entirely? Smith certainly thinks so. I reached out to him via e-mail and asked if he would mind explaining further, and he graciously responded and said I could quote him in this article. Here's part of his e-mailed response:
"It is a facile, ignorant comparison. Skyfall ends with a siege that requires an outgunned and outnumbered Bond to repel invaders via the use of improvised weaponry and traps. Pick ten westerns at random, and you're likely to find one that ends with a handful of good guys - low on ammo, relying on ingenuity - defending the homestead from a legion of bad guys.
But the obvious point of reference - frankly, the only point of reference - for Skyfall's finale is Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs. Geographically (U.K.) and practically (the traps are crude and lethal), it's the only comparison that makes sense. I suppose you might consider Home Alone at some point, but for that to be your first point of reference reveals a gaping hole in your film education. Fine for a casual audience member, inexcusable for a film critic. It'd be like accusing a horror film with a shower kill of ripping off Vacation."
I think it's important to point out that Jeremy draws a very important line in the sand when he separates critics from "casual audience members," but I still think he's being a bit harsh (more on that in a second). Colleague Drew McWeeny from Hitfix also chimed in on the matter last Friday with
this tweet:
McWeeny and Smith are both writers for whom I have a tremendous amount of respect, but I think the issue comes down to
cinematic reference points. Yes, a lot of younger reviewers need to expand their cultural horizons and venture back to see films made before the 1980s. But even film critics (or paid movie bloggers, or whatever they'd like to be called) don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of every movie ever made, and since we all grew up with different backgrounds and went through different walks of life, even if we've seen a lot of the same movies, the age at which we see them can sometimes give a film more impact than another.
Sam Peckinpah's 1971 psychological thriller is a slow burn, unhinged, often-disturbing study of what it means to be a man. Chris Columbus' film is a family friendly holiday movie that made a lasting impression on a lot of younger writers during their childhoods. Is it so far-fetched a younger generation would recall Kevin McCallister's hijinks over those of
Dustin Hoffman's David Sumner as he fends off attackers from his English cottage? Just because someone makes a comparison to
Home Alone doesn't mean they haven't seen
Straw Dogs, only perhaps that the former movie made more of an impact at the time of watching.
I've seen
Straw Dogs, but I'll sheepishly admit that
Home Alone was the first film to come to mind when I was sitting in the theater watching Bond and M lay those traps in the house. Though I didn't make that specific comparison
in my own review, I don't think every other point I made should be tossed to the side if I did. The democratization of film criticism (or discussion) has made it so anyone of any age with an internet connection can share their thoughts on any movie, and while I agree that people who purport to be critics should definitely educate themselves to make their writing better, sometimes there are movies that simply slip through our mind's cracks.
Editorial: 007's 'Skyfall', 'Home Alone' and Cinematic Reference Points
She def did the damn thing in this minus kicking ass. But Bond skipped that lesson on the train. And I actually didnt roll my eyes when she wanted to tag along to meet the villain like other movies.
The movie was too long but at the same time should have expanded on some more character development with Bautista, Swan and Waltz. But I enjoyed it. The retro helicopter fight at the start made me go ape. It had my approval from early on. I didnt even catch the I love you at the end breh.
I was ready to dip.
Yea, I was wondering to myself during that scene if it was gonna ruin the whole movie cause it was so random. nikka rolled up to Dr. Evil's base after getting picked up at some random ass train stop. Then after Waltz gives him the grand tour, he in a torture chair. That shyt was amazing and stupid at the same time. Villains need to start stripping their victim's before they bound them to a chair. I mean he's James fukking Bond. Obviously his watch gon do some shyt. That desert part was QoS final showdown bad. But them bringing it back to London made up for it. Ralph, Q and Money played nice roles in this too.
