Stop Blowing My Mind!

[kanomi]

Napoleon Dynamite, Scott Pilgrim, these are useless, trivial, meaningless emulsions that venerate the banality of adolescent geek culture, defanging otherwise intelligent people who ought to be criticizing the viciously anti-democratic, classist, rapacious society we all share. Instead you sit around and talk about Batman or whatever the fuck.

 

[SomeUnregPunk]

And since most of Geek culture involves explosions, hot chicks, and mangled science, wouldn't the vast majority of blockbuster cinema already appeal strongly to geeks? Can someone explain this to me?

by geek cinema he means movies that are directly derived from things that influence geek culture; comic books, video games, etc.

and yeah there's plenty of them, but that's because, like he said, the geek cinema trend is still on going but could be coming to an end this decade.

As bothered as you might be, it's just a cinema phase like all others before it. I hope we get a good string of movies next though, not just a rebirth of the macho/buddy cop action movie niche.

But those influences of geek culture is chock full of explosions, hot chicks, and mangled science. The entire marvel or DC comics line is full of that; star wars type of space epics or even BSG is practically all that.

how is this type of geek influence any different from the mass market appeal of explosion, boobs and nonsense movie/tv science?

 

[SomeUnregPunk]

anthropomorphized computer programs locked an ideological conflict with videogames as gladiatorial combat in the quasi-feudal society within cyberspace-

And now I feel like watching ReBoot again...

... and if your feeling geeky enough... there is an official comic based off the series... http://www.reboot.com/index/launch/content/paradigms-lost

 

[MB202]

Well now I'm all sad now... I STILL need to see the first Tron, though.

 

[Maldeus]

There is so much wrong with this article I don't even know where to begin, and I'm not sure if I should begin at all as it appears as though everyone either agrees with me or is ignoring the issue entirely.

I'll just try to make it quick.

Just because a movie is geeky doesn't mean it's intelligent or mind-blowing, and not liking a geeky movie may have far more to do with personal tastes than it does with intellectual capabilities.

Watchmen isn't better than Dark Knight just because the heroes wore primary colors, and while a Batman reboot would be fine with having the traditional gray/blue with bat symbol costume, the current series of movies would suffer heavily for it.

The fact that bad movies from the geek genre failed isn't a sign that the genre as a whole is losing popularity.

And you're not better than other people because you have an interest in super heroes and Megaman.

EDIT: Almost forgot, Al Gore is not a science nerd. He either doesn't understand or intentionally exaggerates the evidence supporting his side of the argument to pretend that we fully understand the climate and there's no room for debate, even though we don't and there is.

 

[Mysnomer]

I know that part rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, but this article [http://nerdgirlpinups.com/article/129] gives it some perspective (it did for me, anyway). In short: it's not that being gay is "perverted stuff", it's using shameless lipstick lesbian exploitation to pander to horny old farts that is.

I get that he was probably taken out of context, but the fact that it's on his off-the-cuff "list" AT ALL doesn't say nice things about where his head is at in regards to the subject either way. If nothing else, it implies that his "default reaction" to lesbianism is to regard it as a fetish for straight men rather than as a legitimate lifestyle for millions of actual women.

Yes, fine, even the most well-intentioned stories about gay women in comics are either created or executed with at least ONE eye on a straight male audience that wants to see such-and-such hot heroines "with eachother;" but I don't see how that necessarily devalues it automatically as a concept. Hell, not for nothing but SURELY there are gay women reading comics who appreciate such things on much the same level, no? When deny them the chance to see such stories, and writers to write them, because it's also going to be enjoyed by pervy dweebs?

I read this post, starting fuming with indignance (Who is this idiot, they admit it's out of context but that doesn't affect their opinion, did they bother to watch the youtube video which gives all the context you need, etc. etc.) and then I noticed it was Bob *sigh* moving on...

*mumble*Seriously, why do I even read this stuff, it's the most "hit or miss" content to the Escapist...*mumble*

Edit: Interesting trivia with that Xena thing, but that is still not directly applicable to the Darwyn quote.

 

[SandroTheMaster]

Ehh... I believe you're forgetting to take into account this economic depression the world is in now. Sure, we're recovering, but people are still skittish about what to spend their money on.

For me, I'd rather believe the Geek era has just begun. Geek numbers are rising, and irrelevant of how much the conservative fight against us, they'll eventually (hopefully) die off and leave us be.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

I have to say I've actually enjoyed more NEW films in the last 2 years than in the entirety of my life before that. I mean, more NEW films, when they were new. I've enjoyed tons of 80s and 90s films, sure, but I watched them with at least a five-year gap between when they came out and when I saw them.

But recently I've been watching films in theaters or just out of theaters and really enjoying them. And many others I've really wished I had the money or time to see in theaters. Usually I look at every new release and sigh a sigh of complete weariness, sad that nothing coming out has anything to do with any of my interests.

But yeah, that bubble will burst. I wish we could get a proper Garth Ennis Punisher MAX or Preacher movie out of it. Transmetropolitan might be an interesting film experiment if presented in the style of hard-hitting film journalism.

 

[Chunkyfudgelover]

Good grief, Scott Pilgrim is not some inspired, creative force. It, alongside Juno and that Nick & Norah tripe, is a triumph of marketing and demographic pandering, nothing more than the result of a group of hired think-tanks trying to zero in on one of the most obnoxiously self-aware cultures ever in modern society. (I of course realise it's based on a comic!)

I love your eloquent musings Bob and I know you're not one of the pretentious twats to be found in said movies so the only conclusion I can come up with as to why you don't immediately scorn these films is that you simply aren't as exposed to the levels of 'indie' idiocy that I have been.

Where I am from, Ireland, all the 'hip' clothing shops are sellings vintage tees with comic book characters emblazoned on the front. Of course not 5 years ago people wouldn't be seen dead in such attire but now every trendy idiot brandishes this apparel in a bid to attain 'geek' cred. Surely this must get to you? Maybe it doesn't...

It's similar to that piece on racism you did regarding Resident Evil 5. While some people saw Whitey with a badge shooting at Black people and instantly thought "RACIST!!", others, like myself who grew up in a relatively racism free world just said "No, not necessarily, relax!"

Perhaps you look at a film like Scott Pilgrim and, being somewhat less accustomed to the insidious world of 'indie', merely judge it based on its merits as a film (which I suppose is exactly what you are required to do).
Unfortunately when I look at this film, all I see is the calculated aesthetic, the typical soundtrack, even the premeditated 'indie' fonts used in the opening credits and say to myself "Well, this will go down great with the 14-25yr old, suburban dwelling, caucasian market."

 

[Bruden]

Gah, I can never take these seriously when the examples of "good movies" are terrible. Tarentino's Death Proof? that movie was so terrible it jumped over the so bad it's good that he was going for and circled round back to just plain bad. And Watchmen? Really? You can't figure out why people didn't go for it? That movie probably would have been a hit back when the comic was, in an era where the story was even vaguely applicable to the masses. These days the story of Watchmen is so dated that to someone who doesn't appreciate it from within the context of the time it was written, will find it a wordy pretentious piece of crap. So yeah, of course Watchmen bombed, they stuck hard to the comic, and that was written for an audience that hasn't been the norm for 25 years.

 

[bawkbawkboo1]

Since when is Jon Stewart nerdy? He makes fun of his own technical ineptitude on the show all the time, he's funny but I don't get why you used him as an example of a nerd comedian. Besides, Conan's getting a new show anyway.

 

[Sylocat]

Well, I think there might be other reasons [http://www.cracked.com/funny-4739-scott-pilgrim/] why geek films aren't doing so hot:

 

[370999]

I hate this attituse that MovieBob is developing, this whole "people don't get these awesome films, most moviegoers are idiots". I loved Scott Pilgrim, thought it was the bees knees but I can understand that for alot of people you don't want to see it due to it being not your thing. I didn't see superman returns due to the fact that I never liked superman. Does that make me idiotic? No it just means my subjective tastes differ from others. Likewise I knew people who hated Iron Man and viewed it just as fast food cinema going and that's fine.

If we are entering a new era though, part of me thinks that's good. If we stop this whole subserviance to geek culture thing and a whole newe genre appears then good.

Where I am from, Ireland, all the 'hip' clothing shops are sellings vintage tees with comic book characters emblazoned on the front. Of course not 5 years ago people wouldn't be seen dead in such attire but now every trendy idiot brandishes this apparel in a bid to attain 'geek' cred. Surely this must get to you? Maybe it doesn't...

Where the hell do you live? (Would Dublin be a good guess?) I wear superhero shirts and I stand out for it.

 

[Jjkaybomb]

People warmed up to the Dark Knight because it was intelligently acted, written and directed that respected the source material without coming off as goofy or treating the audience like they were drooling numbskulls.

You know, all the reasons that they didn't like Watchmen for.

I agree and disagree here. Watchmen did have great acting and writing and was intelligent, but the end effect was that it still is not as strong as Dark Knight. Watchmen was one of those movies where, for at least my group of friends, was "as good as it could be, but just an okay movie". Dark Knight, on the other hand, had barely a thing wrong with it. I think the comparison between the two as "dark, thought provoking films" is a little unfair.

 

[Deacon Cole]

Blind Side 2: Blind Sider

Frankly, I have not been enjoying this geek movie boom as much as most.

I disliked Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Batman Begins and Dark Knight. I am not certain exactly why, but in the case of the batman movies, it's because they are ashamed to be super hero movies. It's been awhile since I saw the Spider-Man movies, so I'm not sure where they went wrong except for maybe the special effect were more unconvincing than in the George Reeves Superman TV show.

But maybe I'm just bitter. It used to be there would be one, maybe two geeky movies a year, at least that got mainstream promotion, so it was easy to catch all of them. Now there's a bumper crop and I'm not spending my entire paycheck to go to the movies.

Hey, that could be it. Having all these movies come out is just the 1983 video game crash again. They've flooded the market and now everyone gets a much smaller piece of a very big pie. Which is does not mean that the market for these movies isn't growing. Just that the filmmakers are trying to exploit that market far beyond what it's able to handle, so it looks like these movies are bombs.

This could lead to a geek movie "crash' which just means that studios won't be making them anymore or will simply be making fewer of them, which might not be a bad idea. And making some good ones for a change wouldn't be bad, either.

 

[Deacon Cole]

Well lets hope tron gets a boost via it's obvious appeal to *ahem* descerning males

Spoiler

I am reasonably certain I have seen sports team mascots with more sex appeal.

 

[Chunkyfudgelover]

I hate this attituse that MovieBob is developing, this whole "people don't get these awesome films, most moviegoers are idiots".

In fairness, most moviegoers are profoundly stupid.

I didn't see superman returns due to the fact that I never liked superman. Does that make me idiotic? No it just means my subjective tastes differ from others.

Indeed, Superman is a terrible character. Though that doesn't necessarily mean the movie was badly made.

Likewise I knew people who hated Iron Man and viewed it just as fast food cinema going and that's fine.

Those people are pretentious morons. They were under the impression that claiming to dislike something everyone else liked would make them look clever or in possession of some esoteric film based knowledge. Iron Man is a great movie, whether someone likes it or not. End of discussion.

Where the hell do you live? (Would Dublin be a good guess?) I wear superhero shirts and I stand out for it.

Aye, Dublin indeed. I only mentioned I live in Europe as American and European society are completely different. We don't have any jocks here, our schools are not segregated into different factions like 'nerds' or 'preps' or anything like that. I suppose it would be accurate to say that over here we'd have people into dance/rap music(scumbags), indie music (indieheads) and metal(goths & Metalheads). And I hate them all!

Anyway, years ago I would be ridiculed for having the audacity to wear a Sonic the Hedgehog T-shirt but now, like I said, these 'indieheads' have in a way taken gaming away from me. I wore my Sonic t-shirt to show my love of Sonic and, by extension, gaming. Nowadays they'll wear the same t-shirt out of some ironic gesture or something. Because they're just so cool, too much so for school in fact!