Ask Mick LaSalle:
Do critics watch movies the same way we do?
Good morning, Mick: When you see a first-run movie that you will not be reviewing, are you able to turn off your “inner critic” and just watch the film, knowing that you won’t have to write a review?
Paul Sheinfeld, San Rafael Good morning, Paul: I think you’re assuming that a critic watches movies differently from a normal person, or that watching a movie without having to review it is somehow easier or better. Neither is true. The watching is the same in either case. It’s what happens later — the thinking about it — that’s different. In fact, assuming I actually want to see a movie (not always true), it might even be more pleasurable to watch it knowing I’m going to write about it — just like it’s more fun to travel somewhere when you have something to do when you get there, rather than going entirely as a tourist. It just gives it all an extra layer of purpose, having two reasons to do something instead of one. Plus, it would be frustrating to see a masterpiece like “Blue Is the Warmest Color” without being able to tell anybody about it. Dear Mick: I’ve always found Julianne Moore a compelling actress, but almost equally disturbing. To me, she projects an inner ravenousness that’s within about 1 millimeter of sociopathy. Any thoughts?
Michael Biehl, San Francisco Dear Michael: There’s a lot of drive there, but the image is just showbiz, a function of the roles she happens to be good at. I’ve never met her (I stood next to her once, but that doesn’t count), but everybody says she’s a very nice woman. Dear Mick LaSalle: When you say it’s hard to see what the Bradley Cooper character sees in the Emma Stone character (in “Aloha”), I submit that the Emma Stone character is extremely beautiful, intelligent, beautiful, has an interesting personality, and is, lastly, very good-looking.
Bill Dwyer, Houston, Texas Dear Bill Dwyer: When I was single, I liked guys like you, because it meant we would never be fighting over the same women. In this case, I’m also probably showing my age, because Emma Stone just looks like a girl to me, and I could not understand why Bradley Cooper would be interested in her, especially with a woman like Rachel McAdams in the same movie. I kept feeling sorry for him, thinking he was going to have to settle for an infant, when a fantastic woman was around. Hello Mick: A movie I would love to see remade with today’s special effects is “Logan’s Run.” What movies would you like to see remade with today’s technical advancements?
Ken Ogle, San Francisco Hello Ken: I never think in terms of technical upgrades because I see technology as incredibly ephemeral. Everything that looks amazing today looks ridiculous in 20 years, so there’s almost no point in bothering. But I like your idea of a “Logan’s Run” remake. I’d call it “Running From Logan” and make it about a 65-year-old Baby Boomer, living at a time when aging can be stopped (but not reversed), thus preventing all forms of natural death. Because Logan is, at this point, the president or the head of an army — and because he doesn’t trust anyone under 40 — he devises a plan to wipe out the younger generations, whose reproductive capacity could only result in overcrowding and in the ultimate outnumbering and overpowering of older people. Through mass murder, his goal is to create a utopian haven for older Boomers, where they can spend endless days talking about how virtuous they are and listening to Grateful Dead records. The movie would have a double appeal: (1) It would satirize the self-love of the ’60s generation as a lethal form of vanity; and (2) It would give older Boomers a delicious fantasy. I propose Liam Neeson as Logan. This is a $100 million idea, and you read it here first.