Movies Critical Digest 19.12.11

1. By now, everybody knows that George Lucas isn’t the great visionary who gave us Star Wars. Now if only he’d stop messing around with the franchise and our dreams.  Read about the other biggest film controversies of 2011 to remind you that marketing and pre-movie drama are as much a part of the movie as the movie itself (I’m loosely quoting Abed ‘Jesus’ Nadir here):
http://flavorwire.com/238760/the-year-in-film-2011s-biggest-movie-controversies

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2. Speaking of Abed, look, I get that Season 3 of Community had some starting problems but I shouldn’t think it is sufficient reason to cancel one of the funniest, most original TV shows mid season. This show is a fricking game-changer, for heaven’s sake! SHIT JUST GOT PERSONAL BETWEEN YOU AND ME, NBC (stay tuned to my Youtube channel for my upcoming number, “NBC, you are a /b/”).

Then again, it IS possible that the mid-season cancellation is a part of the show’s meta ethos. It is possible that the show’s writers realised that they may never be able to top A Fistful of Paintballs and Critical Film Studies, so they decided to Arrested Development/ Veronica Mars the hell out of the show. This way a mini-religion and mythology can grow around the show without them having to ever do a thing. Only Community would dream of something that insanely ballsy. In the meanwhile, check out this wonderful campaign to Save Greendale!:
http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6664700/save-greendale-with-the-cast-of-community

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3. Woody Allen loves his cities, but cities are as reviled by film-makers as they are romanticised. The very city which Woody wooed with the now-iconic Rhapsody in Blue was a nightmarish cesspool of vice in the eyes of a taxi driver named Travis Bickle. This poignant article captures the love-hate relationship between Bangalore, with it’s rapidly changing social landscape and the Kannada film industry.
http://www.caravanmagazine.in/Story/1112/Meanings-of-the-City.html

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4. After I wrote this review for that rubbish movie World Invasion: Battle Los Angeles, I was asked by many to chillax and enjoy a dumb movie for its dumb delights. It wasn’t aiming to be Citizen Kane, I was informed. This article argues that such low standards only encourage lazy films with non-existent plots.
Note to Michael Bay: coherent plots and explosions are not mutually exclusive.
http://www.empireonline.com/empireblogs/empire-states/post/p1094

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5. December obviously means Christmas movies. While gearing up to watch the 50 repeat telecasts of The Santa Clause (with sequels, of course) and other wonderful movies that ought to be a part of everybody’s holiday tradition, spare some time to watch this eclectic collection of free Christmas movies and video clips:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-free-online-christmas-films-festive-enjoyment-stuff-watch/

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