Film Crit Hulk <3

February 20, 2012 4:22 PM

Film Crit Hulk presents us with 22 SHORT THOUGHTS ABOUT MARGARET, the film which Kenneth Longeran (You Can Count On Me) directed in 2005 and which was finally released last year.
posted by Rory Marinich (26 comments total)

Hyperbole is totally deserved, it's amazing.

It's interesting to think how Anna Paquin's carrier might have been different if it was released on time.
posted by The Whelk at 4:25 PM on February 20, 2012

You know, the thing I find amusing about this style of Hulk writing -- just write a piece, put it in all-caps, and type "Hulk" every now and then -- is that all the grammar mistakes are unintentional.
posted by gurple at 4:31 PM on February 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

Film Crit Hulk is the best gimmick on the Internet. I was thinking about doing a megapost on him, but wanted to emphasize the movie, not the critic. His article on Edgar Wright captures what makes Scott Pilgrim or Hot Fuzz simultaneously pop culture overloads and completely heartfelt, and helped me make sense of a lot of my own thoughts on cinema. His criticism of David Fincher manages to nail something about Fincher films that always made me uncomfortable, without once denying Fincher's immense talent as a director.

I haven't seen Margaret, but I'm going to obtain it for a screening tomorrow night. It was FCH's article that made me excited to see it.
posted by Rory Marinich at 4:38 PM on February 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

(oh, apparently there was an FCH megapost last month. score!)
posted by Rory Marinich at 4:40 PM on February 20, 2012

I'm on my way to see Margaret tomorrow at the Siskel Film Center. Please hold this post until I get back.
posted by shakespeherian at 5:11 PM on February 20, 2012

"ANDREI TARKOVSKY WROTE IN HIS MASTERPIECE "

Am I supposed to believe that the actual Hulk wrote this? 1. Hulk hates Tarkovsky. His review of "Solaris" was "SOLARIS SHIT, HULK SMASH PROJECTOR!!!!" 2. Hulk doesn't "FEEL INTRINSIC SORROW..." Hulk is intrinsic sorrow.
posted by MikeMc at 5:16 PM on February 20, 2012 [2 favorites]

Hey, shakespeherian, I'm going to be projecting that show! Get there EARLY. Margaret has literally been selling out every screening. (Supposedly the print we're showing is one of only two 35mm release prints that exist of it - not that that's why it's been selling out, but it's a nice thing to know).

Also, I'd seen this Film Crit Hulk thing going around and had avoided it — but he's got Margaret down. A great piece, and a great film.
posted by bubukaba at 5:33 PM on February 20, 2012 [2 favorites]

Okay, goddamn it. It doesn't look like any copies of this movie have leaked their way online, and it doesn't seem to be coming to Philadelphia in any way that I can track. I just blue-balled myself. :-(
posted by Rory Marinich at 5:37 PM on February 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

Margaret is a truly great film, although not without its flaws. See it at any and every opportunity. Lonergan can't set a foot wrong, in my book.
posted by mykescipark at 6:16 PM on February 20, 2012

SEBMOHULK WANT SMASH FILM CRIT HULK FOR DOING HULK-PIDGIN WRONG!

SEBMOHULK SEES USE OF DEFINITE ARTICLES AND GETS ANGRY!! SEBMOHULK WANTS READ INSIGHTFUL CRITICISM IN SENTENCE CASE NOT POINTLESS CAPS!! SEBMOHULK SMASH PUNY MONITOR TO DESTROY UNFUNNY GIMMICK!!!!

BEFORE FIST CRUSH SCREEN SEBMOHULK NOTES RELEVANT ANIL DASH ARTICLE AND CAVEATS CRITIQUE WITH ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FILM CRIT HULK'S CORE ARGUMENT MAY BE SOUND.
posted by Sebmojo at 6:39 PM on February 20, 2012 [4 favorites]

Is it playing in NY anymore? I can't find anything online.
posted by timsneezed at 7:07 PM on February 20, 2012

i would like to see red hulk evaluate movies from an anarcho-syndicalist perspective
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 7:20 PM on February 20, 2012

Am I supposed to believe that the actual Hulk wrote this?

HULK FURIOUS AT FAILED IMPRESSION OF HULK! HULK SPEAK IN THIRD PERSON! HULK NO USE GOOD GRAMMAR! HULK NO USE PRONOUNS! HULK NO USE TENSES!

Seriously, it takes more than just hitting your caps lock key to write in HULK VOICE. What the hell? Could be a great review, but it's pretty much unreadable because its in all caps.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 7:21 PM on February 20, 2012 [2 favorites]

Damn it, sebmojo. You beat me to it. HTWRT SMASH!
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 7:22 PM on February 20, 2012

The annoying thing is it's a potentially very funny gimmick, s/he just does it really badly.

Rich Burlew's order of the stick webcomic (the Kickstarter for which is closing in a few hours and is currently at a demented $1.14 million, digression fans!) does it right with his Orc characters:

Thog: thog wonders how thog will cope with life outside jailhouse walls. prison changed thog.
Elan: We were only in there for 40 minutes!
Thog: prison changed thog quickly
posted by Sebmojo at 7:34 PM on February 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

Hey, shakespeherian, I'm going to be projecting that show! Get there EARLY.

Hey thanks for the tip. I'll probably get over to the box office right after work, now.
posted by shakespeherian at 7:37 PM on February 20, 2012

Who gives a shit about the gimmick? Run it through a low-caps filter if you need to. S/he's a damned good critic. Read it for the criticism.
posted by Rory Marinich at 7:39 PM on February 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

Who gives a shit about the gimmick?

Well... me, I guess?

I'd like to read it but I'm bouncing off the presentation and ctrl A =>ctrl C =>open notepad =>ctrl V =>ctrl A =>open Word =>ctrl V =>Format =>change case => sentence case is more effort than I typically want to put in when it's to strip out a formatting choice that adds nothing to the actual piece. Plus the way FCH uses it is inartistic - just as conventionally bad spelling and grammar would be, it distracts.
posted by Sebmojo at 8:05 PM on February 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

Rory Marinich: "Who gives a shit about the gimmick? Run it through a low-caps filter if you need to. S/he's a damned good critic. Read it for the criticism."

Agreeing to the criticism and being pissed I will prolly never see Margaret, but more so revelling in the posting by Rory...
posted by Samizdata at 8:08 PM on February 20, 2012

Who gives a shit about the gimmick?

Me? Anybody else trying to read the article? You might as well publish in ROT13 or Morse code - of course you can make it readable, but it's just a pointless, tremendous hassle. Given that they haven't even utilised the gimmick correctly, the all caps add absolutely nothing except frustration.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 8:14 PM on February 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

Who gives a shit about the gimmick?

I dunno, you'd think maybe the person who created the gimmick and attempts to maintain the persona would.

Personally I found the critique amazing and I really want to see the movie now (I hadn't heard of it before reading the article) but the combination of ALL CAPS and lax Hulkian grammar adherence really gave me a headache.

OF ALL PEOPLE FILM CRITIC HULK SHOULD KNOW THAT IF PERSON WANT TO WRITE FILM CRITICISM IN VOICE OF HULK THEN ONE SHOULD COMMIT, DAMMIT. HULK COMMIT!
posted by m0nm0n at 8:22 PM on February 20, 2012 [2 favorites]

I saw it at Cinema Village when it played in December.

SPOILER:






The death of the mother's bf was extraneous.
posted by brujita at 9:51 PM on February 20, 2012

I don't really feel like giving away plot details in a Lonergan story makes a whit of difference, as his whole genius is in the dialogue. I put him up there with Shaw in his ability to make his characters talk pure ideas in a totally natural-sounding vernacular.

SPOILER: Which is why it's so much fun that his own character is so utterly inarticulate.
posted by mykescipark at 11:10 PM on February 20, 2012

You guys you guys you guys

That movie was pretty amazing.
posted by shakespeherian at 6:13 AM on February 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

Mostly of interest to any Chicagoans who missed it this time around (but I suppose also of interest to anyone willing to make the trek out here to see the movie) ... the Siskel Film Center just announced that they're bringing MARGARET back April 27-May 3.
posted by orthicon halo at 10:09 AM on February 23, 2012 [1 favorite]

Chris Farley did it well.

This Hulk sucks. The gimmick fails.
posted by IAmBroom at 6:19 PM on February 23, 2012