The Aula Point of view
2002-2004 Archives
Zagat's movie guide
We here at Aula are opiniated. We more or less maintain that our word is gospel, a function, perhaps, of our collective temperament, of certain supreme self-confindence, faith in our intelligence. Some may argue that out epistemology is a variety of cultural fascism (if not mild delusion). But we have no way of enforcing adherence. Niether, for instance, does NYT film critic A.O. Scott, somebody we often disagree with (but reluctantly respect). And therein lies the rub. Who, dear readers, fans, sycophants, would you consider when you watch a movie? Aunt Aula, A.O. Scott or Zagat’s? The folks at Zagat’s have recently introduced a movie guide that ranks “’Finding Nemo’…nothing less than the 19th-finest film of all time, not quite of the quality of ’The Third Man’ but just a wee bit better than ’Dr. Strangelove.’” Understandably, A.O. Scott is not excited by this development: “And who am I to argue? Or, rather, who am I supposed to argue with? If this book enshrines a grand tautology — that the movies a lot of people like tend to be really popular, and vice versa — it also rests on an unacknowledged paradox. Consider the operative words of the title, ’survey’ and ’guide.’ These terms are closely allied in map-making, perhaps, but not necessarily in criticism, if we can apply that name to the consumer-friendly pop sociology on which the Zagat empire is built.” We steadfastly believe that everybody is wrong (scroll to March 28th.) In fact, we’re mulling putting together a movie guide ourselves.
Nov 24, 2003 by Husain
0 responses
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, tonight we had the misfortune of sitting through the worse movie Hollywood has produced in an epoch: Kill Bill. We here at Aula entreat, exhort you not to see it. More disappointing than the movie is the canon of American film criticism as so few dismissed the movie for what it was: an exercise in profound idiocy. Tartintino, ladies and gentlemen, arguably one of the most important directors of the nineties, has failed us. We, then, hearby dismiss the most of the canon of American film criticism, in particular, Kaltenbach of the Baltimore Sun, Morris of the Boston Globe, Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times (whom we have dismissed before), Corliss of Time, Howe and Hunter of the Washington Post and Travers of Rolling Stone (not to mention a cacaophony of minor voices). Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we’re naming names. Hail, Edelstein of Slate, Zacharek of Salon.com, Hoberman of Village Voice, Denby of The New Yorker and Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal; hail, the critic who kept his head despite being cut by Kill Bill’s blinding blade. Denby, for instance writes, “Kill Bill is what’s formally known as decadence and commonly known as crap…Coming out of this dazzling, whirling movie, I felt nothing—not anger, not dismay, not amusement. Nothing.” (We have quickly culled some reviews from the net that echo are sentiments since the constraints of Aula do not allow us to articulate the vitriol that wells within.) Most disappointing was the great A.O. Scott’s in his complicity: “How much you like ’’Kill Bill,’’ a two-part revenge epic, the first volume of which opens nationwide today, will probably depend on the extent to which you share those obsessions, on how much of a taste you have for the synthetic fusion cuisine that the director has cooked up.” Put differently, if you have the appetitie for shit, you’ll eat it. We don’t. Kill Bill is bullshit.
Oct 31, 2003 by Husain
0 responses
Many Aulas ago, we featured
Many Aulas ago, we featured Robert Evans, “head of production at Paramount Pictures from 1966 to 1975, when the studio turned out Love Story, Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown and the first two editions of The Godfather.” Now Bob features in a rakish, riske cartoon. “Any chance his life is being reduced to a joke?” No way: “To be an animated cartoon from the head of a movie studio is a good jump. I don’t look at it as a drop at all. I’m enjoying doing this show more than any movie I’ve ever done. It’s irreverent and I love being irreverent.” We at Aula salute Bob, Americana, the trajectory of pop culture, this funny little thing called postmodernism.
Oct 22, 2003 by Husain
0 responses
Greetings from the Venice Film
Greetings from the Venice Film Festival, a 10-day potluck picnic of films, parties and actors both good and bad. As I’m too lazy to write my own reviews I think Sight and Sound’s Nick James sums it all up best in The Observer. Russian Andrej Zvjagintsev’s beautiful Vozvrasenie (The Return), one of the audience favorites, won the Golden Lion last night.
Sep 13, 2003 by Roosa
0 responses
“In the dusty remote reaches
“In the dusty remote reaches of Uzbekistan, in a city so desolate that it served as the site of a Soviet chemical weapons factory, sits what may be one of the most important collections of 20th Century Soviet art in the world.” From the Chicago Tribune.
Sep 05, 2003 by Abbas
0 responses
“With lateral thinking worthy of
“With lateral thinking worthy of the great man himself, British scientists have hit upon a new way of explaining the intricacies of Einstein’s theory of relativity: dancing. The Institute of Physics has asked a contemporary dance company to produce a new work marking the centenary of the 1905 publication of Einstein’s most famous and important ideas.” From the Guardian.
Sep 02, 2003 by Abbas
0 responses
“What happens with aesthetics is
“What happens with aesthetics is that we tend to be crazy in one direction or crazy in the other. Either we think it’s the most important thing in the world, and that ’beauty is truth’ and so on, or we decide that it’s utterly superficial and that if you focus on it at all there’s something wrong with you.” Virginia Postrel, the author of The Substance of Style, argues that we should count ourselves lucky to be living in “the age of look and feel.” From the Atlantic Monthly.
Sep 01, 2003 by Abbas
0 responses
“Picturing the New Ground Zero:
“Picturing the New Ground Zero: A look at the ideas, people and institutions competing to fill ground zero’s void, from the mysterious Museum of Freedom to the unassuming architect who is remaking the face of New York.” From the NY Times.
Aug 31, 2003 by Abbas
0 responses
Letter from Siena An hour’s
Letter from Siena
An hour’s drive from Florence, the picturesque Chianti region is world renowned for its wine. Although we were unable to sample wine at appointed enotecas, we stumbled upon Bottega del Moro, a quaint family run restaurant tucked into a corner at Greve. And although we may be more accurately characterized as boors than connoisseurs, the delicious, full-bodied house wine unique to the trattoria (which we sipped while having a lusty, native dish of tripe stew) is amongst the finest we’ve ever had. Since recent research suggests that red wine prolongs life, we had eight or nine carafes of it. After lunch, we searched the undulating countryside for Villa Vinamaggio where Kenneth Brannagh’s “Much Ado About Nothing” was filmed. Being closed to drunken tourists, however, we decided to drive on. Two hours later, we happened upon Siena, one of the most impressive towns in Italy. Founded by Senus, son of Remus (brother of Romulus, the founder of Rome), Siena at some obscure juncture of time possessed a larger population than Paris and waged war against mighty Florence. Montaigne described Siena’s town square, Piazza Del Campo, as the “most beautiful square in the world.” Boys and girls, we can corroborate this: to use colloquial, it rocks. Unfortunately, we missed the violent annual horse races redolent of the chariot scene in Ben Hur (when Masala gets savaged). We are determined to return next year. Perhaps, boys and girls, you can join us.
Aug 25, 2003 by Husain
0 responses
“It was once the gritty
“It was once the gritty folk music of rural India. Now bhangra has become this season’s must-have musical accessory for some of the hottest acts in pop. But, as the mainstream beckons, can it keep its soul?” From the Guardian.
Aug 16, 2003 by Abbas
0 responses
» The Aula Point of View (POV) began its life as the digest of the Aula member weblogs in 2002, edited by Abbas Raza and coeditors. The POV covers topics in literature, philosophy, politics, science, and of course gossip.
» The POV continues as 3quarksdaily.com. With original bloggers (Abbas Raza, Husain Naqvi, Marko Ahtisaari) and new faces (Robin Varghese, Morgan Meis, Azra Raza, J.M. Tyree, Ruth Kikin-Gil and others).
Browse the archives
Categories
» Art, film, music & architecture (99)