e enjte, 7 qershor 2007

"...Just another American who saw too many movies as a child?"

Don’t let the banner fool you. I may be a critic, and sometimes a tough audience, but I’m not a malcontent. It might be a little aggressive, I know; but I've made something of a name for myself writing about action movies. And besides, it's really just a reference to the opening credits of Magnum Force.

Reaction Shot will be a place to blast away at our sprawling pop-cultural and political landscape, or to aim with laser-like focus on the ridiculously specific. It’s all fair game: Structured argument, free association. A whole genre, a specific scene. Government, entertainment, advertising, even the marketing of breakfast cereal (just you wait). And the 1980s. Expect lots of writing on the 1980s.

This may seem scattered, but then, there's a lot to react to. And I believe that when we look around, we all feel--at least a little--like Big Trouble in Little China's Jack Burton. “I’m a reasonable guy,” Old Jack insists, “but I’ve just experienced some very unreasonable things.”

I hope Reaction Shot will be fun: at times serious, at others frivolous. I hope it will be surprising. I think it might. After all, how many people could you possibly know who preoccupy themselves with ranking the movies of John Badham? And though I may sometimes seem random, I hope you will find it relevant. On that score, if you happen to have a strong opinion on, say, the movies of John Badham, then we’ll be off to a particularly good start.

2 komente:

The Littons tha...

Well, I went to John Badham's page on IMDB to refresh my memory of his oeuvre, and I found that the only film he's made which I would even consider watching more than once is WarGames. I was sure he'd done something halfway decent after that, but it appears not. Drop Zone, Nick of Time? Oh dear...

tomdwayne tha...

i´d say blue thunder is on the top of the list. war games probably next. and short circuit out of nostalgia. i remember liking bird on a wire. nick of time was cool...gosh i miss john badham - but i recently saw his name in the credits of a heroes-episode, so there´s hope.
haven´t read your book, yet, but i will. loved your article on the oneliner - not just because the first die hard is one of my favorite movies.