The Best of Armond White: (A Retrospective) Part Two
So apparently we need to "educate ourselves." That was what Armond White told us to do after releasing Part One of our Four Part look at some of his reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. First of all, this is all supposed to be tongue-in-cheek. If you've listen to The Simplistic Reviews Podcast, you know how good we are at putting our tongues firmly in cheeks, any cheeks if you know what we mean...
And Second, if you think we are doing this to get a rise out of someone, we're not. You might call bulls*it on that comment, but we are just taking the piss and having a little fun. If people get their feelings hurt, well, that's all part of the game isn't it.
Part Two is going to cover some of the films that were universally savaged all over
Rotten Tomatoes, yet low and behold, Mr. White found some little rays of sunshine in them.
Dirty Grandpa (2016) 11% RT Score
Armond Say:
The fun of sex is the entire point of the raunchy, goofy Dirty Grandpa. You have to be humorless (and sex-averse) to be offended by its deliberate naughtiness as so many critics have demonstrated.
Matt Says: White brings up a good point; sometimes a sex comedy is just a sex comedy. Why should people be upset about Zach Efron topless either?
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) 28% RT Score
Armond Says:
In this age of petty Marvels, most comic-book movies merely perpetrate fantasies of power, but Snyder, enacting his personal aesthetic, braves a film that examines those fantasies. He boldly challenges popular culture's current decay.
Matt Says: I do agree that the polished and shiny look of Marvel films is wearing thin, even on myself, and the grittier and darker tone of the DCU can be alluring, but Batman v Superman still isn't all the great.
Your Highness (2011) 27% RT Score
Armond Says:
By trashing fairytale propriety, Green and McBride personalize the genre enthusiasm of the Star Wars generation.
Matt Says:Taking a piss out of films like "The Princess Bride" and other adult-oriented fairy tales films, "Your Highness" isn't as bad as many people say and you might say it's unappreciated in our time and will become a cult classic in the next 10 years or so.
The Green Hornet (2011) 43% RT Score
Armond Says:
Rogen's image and his attitude as co-screenwriter of The Green Hornet updates the bland superhero template using comic irreverence.
Matt Says: White is very forgiving of anything Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen, and anyone from that film family tree. "Green Hornet" isn't bad, it just so happened to be a film that no one cared about and no one asked for. An ego stroke for Rogen is anything.
Jonah Hex (2010) 12% RT Score
Armond Says:
It reexamines assumptions of good and evil-morality tale vs, trite entertainment-by confronting the hideous compromises people make with social conventions and their own desperation.
Matt Says: I guess there is something to be said about "Jonah Hex;" It's a film...that was made by a studio and released nationwide based on a comic book character that is about as fringe as it gets.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) 19% RT Score
Armond Says:
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is more proof [Bay] has a great eye for scale and a gift for visceral amazement.
Matt Says: There's never been any doubt about Michael Bay as a filmmaker. However, people will always blame him for creating robots that couldn't read and reinforcing stereotypes that are more than meets the eye. Oh, and ruining people's childhoods as well from what I've been told.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) 37% RT Score
Armond Says:
Of all the summer's big-budget action sequels, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is the least painful.
Matt Says: A backhanded compliment to say the least. Other big budget flicks from 2007 included: Spider-Man 3, Transformers, Ghost Rider....yeah, good point.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou 56% RT Score
Armond Says: It's part of that American eccentricity to obsess over growing up. Anderson's obsession has genuine, daffy substance.
Matt Says: A 56% for "The Life Aquatic" is criminal, and I honestly don't understand the subtle dislike for one of Wes Anderson's more off-the-wall films.
Stay tuned soon for Part Three where we examine films where Mr. White and RT are on the same page when it comes to the bottom of the cinema barrel.