This movie has three distinct segments. The first is about actual hecklers of stand up comedians. The second is an over-reaching view on criticism in society, its effect on the criticized and what it reflects on the critic. The third is about how blogging and the internet have… More
This movie has three distinct segments. The first is about actual hecklers of stand up comedians. The second is an over-reaching view on criticism in society, its effect on the criticized and what it reflects on the critic. The third is about how blogging and the internet have exaggerated the nastiness of criticism.
It made me reflect on my criticism. I realize that it's just easier to bitch. I can't be fawning over giving praise because I haven't the words or the nergy. As to how bad something is, I haven't usually the words for that either, but I've the energy to find shorter words to express my immediate anger at mediocrity, which is why most of my reviews are intentionally negative. However I find the amount of energy even for negativty to reflect on the overall effective nature of the film, whether it's effectively bad or incredibly great. Sometimes a film, by its greatness or its awfulness, leaves me without a long-winded reaction. Some things only need a sentence to promote it because that's how great it is conversely some things are so bad that I can't waste the investment of my time thinking and typing about it. I admit that I can't give 100%l all the time (which is why I put my reviews on Flixster or another similar site as opposed to in a draft bin for a book on actual film criticism), but I can always find the finger energy to get my negativity out.
I'll give this film some of my genuine energy: I appreciate the wide range of people interviewed and I think it's a great modern sampling of entertainers, artists, and critics. Keep in mind that this film goes WAY beyond just hecklers into all criticism, but the heckler figure is used as a perfect example of the type of critic this film is standing up against.
Hilarious yet human highlights: Jamie shows people REALLY slamming him to his face, and his reactions strike the side of us that has been criticized before. Uwe Boll punches the crap out of some detractors in a highly publicized boxing event. Footage of Bill Hicks going ballistic on a heckler. Letting the critic get their predictably negative say on the end of the film.
Some people I'm really glad this film was able to interview: Richard Roeper, Andrew Dice Clay, Pauly Shore, Rob Zombie, Leonard Maltin, Joel Schumacher, all the geeky net reviewers
I think if you're a creator of any sort and are or want to be involved in today's entertainment and arts world, you should see this doc, as it may help you sort through some stuff and put it in an objective perspective. It's also a good reminder to the bloggers to stay (well, in most cases, become) humble if they want to attain genuine and respected critical status.