newcritics - Latest Comments in The Triumph of Derrièrism

Re: The Triumph of Derrièrism

NYC Weboy — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:35:00 -0000

I believe the genre should be named for Jaques Derriere, Hack Critic of us all. :) I really liked this, both as an observation and for creating a word to convey the hacktastic heights of some film crit. Forgive me for adding Manohla Dargis to the list of offenders, but I find her pretentious musings excruciating, and usually a lot of $2 words to convey taste every bit as bland as Ebert's.

Re: The Triumph of Derrièrism

kathleenmaher — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:18:40 -0000

Taking a cue from Mr McPherson, I wonder about those of us who really can't sit through a movie without moving a whole lot more of ourselves than a subtle shift from one butt cheek to the other. What about those, who honestly sometimes have very serious minds, yet squirm compulsively through even the stodgiest movies?
It always comes back to high school. I was once thrown out of an educational film for compulsive squirming based not on boredom but a certain kind of excitement.

Re: The Triumph of Derrièrism

Mark J. McPherson — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:42:24 -0000

Derrièrism is in the behind of the beholder, isn't it? For some, even the prospect of suffering through the robot-hand-crayoned excesses of "300" causes a reflexive squirming, if not clenching.

These Derrierists might be kin to the foot-soldiers in O'Reilly's War on Christmas, as these heroic critics have taken up the fallen and tattered flag of the Hollywood Blockbuster which is threatened only by its own puerile putridity. It may not have been ever thus, but it is usually thus.

It is only fair that having saddled the Derrierists with a certain part of the anatomy, that the Swiftian critics declare for themselves some other part. Would they go for the headshot, or perhaps just the snout? Personally I love me some Tarkovsky but that does not lead me to deny or denounce the simple fact that cinematic art is first and foremost the American Artform and Hollywood's history is studded with exemplars, many of which would pass muster with the Derrierists. It is not something I would expect most foreign filmmakers would contest, although it seems to be hard for some American film critics to digest.