Where I -- as a writer and thinker on film -- endure the greatest controversy comes when I say something that in some way -- big or small -- readers think I'm disparaging one of their personal film favorites.
For example: "How can you say that you didn't like Event Horizon?"
Can you see where this is going?
My response is always this: "It isn't that I dislike Event Horizon. It's that Event Horizon says nothing to me."
Trust me when I say, kids, that at my age I'm well past the whole phenomenon of liking or disliking film. I think about film. I ruminate over what a film says to me and whether or not it speaks to me on some level. If something about the production tickles my fancy, then I'm the first person to say so ... and Event Horizon has some of the best production work of its kind that I'd match up against any film of its day. Performances? Why, they're also very good.
Where I stumble with it conceptually is that I'm not entirely certain anyone knew what it was ultimately about. That ambiguity -- especially given the fact that as a feature it's centered much more closely to Horror and Fantasy than it is true Science Fiction -- always pulls me out of the viewing experience, so much so that -- come the big finish -- I just am unmoved by it all.
Hey: if it's one of your personal favorites? Good for you. I'm glad that it spoke to you in some way. It just didn't break through to me. Sure, maybe that's a bit surprising, but that's why I'm always apt to remind folks I don't like the business side of recommending what films you should see. I'm far more comfortable telling you what I recommend or not. It's a fine line, but it's there.
In any event ...
Written for the screen by Philip Eisner and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, the motion picture stars the great Sam Neill, the even greater Laurence Fishburne, the incredibly lovely Kathleen Quinlan (had a thing for her since the Twilight Zone movie), the infinitely watchable Joely Richardson, and a host of other familiar genre faces. Here's the plot summary as provided by IMDB.com:
"A rescue crew investigates a spaceship that disappeared into a black hole and has now returned...with someone or something new on-board."
For example: "How can you say that you didn't like Event Horizon?"
Can you see where this is going?
My response is always this: "It isn't that I dislike Event Horizon. It's that Event Horizon says nothing to me."
Trust me when I say, kids, that at my age I'm well past the whole phenomenon of liking or disliking film. I think about film. I ruminate over what a film says to me and whether or not it speaks to me on some level. If something about the production tickles my fancy, then I'm the first person to say so ... and Event Horizon has some of the best production work of its kind that I'd match up against any film of its day. Performances? Why, they're also very good.
Where I stumble with it conceptually is that I'm not entirely certain anyone knew what it was ultimately about. That ambiguity -- especially given the fact that as a feature it's centered much more closely to Horror and Fantasy than it is true Science Fiction -- always pulls me out of the viewing experience, so much so that -- come the big finish -- I just am unmoved by it all.
Hey: if it's one of your personal favorites? Good for you. I'm glad that it spoke to you in some way. It just didn't break through to me. Sure, maybe that's a bit surprising, but that's why I'm always apt to remind folks I don't like the business side of recommending what films you should see. I'm far more comfortable telling you what I recommend or not. It's a fine line, but it's there.
In any event ...
Written for the screen by Philip Eisner and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, the motion picture stars the great Sam Neill, the even greater Laurence Fishburne, the incredibly lovely Kathleen Quinlan (had a thing for her since the Twilight Zone movie), the infinitely watchable Joely Richardson, and a host of other familiar genre faces. Here's the plot summary as provided by IMDB.com:
"A rescue crew investigates a spaceship that disappeared into a black hole and has now returned...with someone or something new on-board."
Also -- regarding my critical opinion of Event Horizon -- I will admit this: it's a film that's long been on my personal Bucket List to give a dedicated rewatch so that I can think a bit further about its circumstance and situations. As I said above, I've long thought its production detail was just damn incredible -- so much so that I sometimes do find it easy to overlook some plot shenanigans -- but I just couldn't resolve myself to thinking of it as anything more than a bloated ghost story ... and bloated ghost stories really interest me little.
Again: I'm glad you like it. I'm glad you love it. I love talking about it with folks who like and love it, so there. It do love its fans' collective enthusiasm about it. I have nothing but respect for those who think it's tops.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
-- EZ
Again: I'm glad you like it. I'm glad you love it. I love talking about it with folks who like and love it, so there. It do love its fans' collective enthusiasm about it. I have nothing but respect for those who think it's tops.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
-- EZ
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