The headline alone should acknowledge the absurdity that there is even a shred of evidence that proves such a thing, but film critic Armond White believes that A Thousand Words, Eddie Murphy’s flop – and I say that lightly – is indeed better than Ben Affleck’s critically acclaimed Argo.
White is notorious for obliterating highly acclaimed films and praising colossal failures, so seeing him make such comparisons isn’t a total shock. But if you don’t know who he is, well let’s just say that he thinks Resident Evil 5 director Paul W.S. Anderson is better The Master director Paul Thomas Anderson.
This is exactly the comparison he made about A Thousand Words being better than Argo, which was nominated for five Golden Globes (winning two of them) and seven Academy Awards:
Brian Robbins and Eddie Murphy dared the most personal Hollywood critique since Clifford Odets’ The Big Knife; Ben Affleck trivialized Hollywood accountability.
His reasoning is so short and vague that it’s hard to take him seriously. But White doesn’t just stop there. He goes on to say how Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and Taken 2 are better than Zero Dark Thirty. Another film nominated for a number of Golden Globes and Oscars. This is what he had to say about the films:
Neveldine-Taylor and Olivier Megaton revealed the post-9/11 zeitgeist in genre tropes, while Bigelow reduced the zeitgeist to an enigmatic comic strip, a “mission accomplished” delusion.
Again, it’s very short, but his explanation and reasoning is more clear. There are other films he points which he thinks are better than the other, some of which you may agree with, but of the most part, White is just trolling. But give the guy credit, he actually believes that the absolute “worst” are the best and better than the “best” which he thinks are the worst.
[Source: CityArts]
Every time I’m afraid that my own reviews are way off base, I find something by Armond White and remember that I’m not a professional troll.
Comment by Robert — January 15, 2013 @ 9:49 pm
Ah, the old film illiteracy rage. Emphasizing things like “Eddy Murphy’s FLOP,” “obliterating HIGHLY ACCCLAIMED films,” and “Argo, which was NOMINATED for FIVE Golden Globes,” reveals your herd mentality. Rather than assess the work itself (I know, that’s hard), you gauge art based on it’s financial performance and critical reception. If you can’t be discerning, you might as well get comfortable with the idea of subjectivity. Regarding your “best,” vs. “worst,” closing sentence which shows you’re incapable of thinking beyond absolutes: Kubrick, De Palma and Friedkin were all nominated for the Golden Rasberry Award for Worst Director in 1980. So how do you reconcile that, considering all three of the films they directed are considered classics today? Let me guess, you like those movies now, since it’s OKAY to like those movies now. Make no mistake about it, you’re a sheep, bro. Keep up the Armond writings, though. It’s good publicity for the guy.
Comment by David — January 15, 2013 @ 10:23 pm