#May2013

Opinions Vary: Practically Effective

OV PE

I don’t mean to alarm anyone here, but sometimes I can sound like an old man bitching about how things today stink.  Usually I am aware of my behavior and I ham it up a little.  I like sounding like a bitter old man.  However today’s Opinions Vary is a very different beast.  I actually and truly believe the following.

I prefer practical special effects over digital effects.

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Strange Moments in Solid Movies: Boomer the Dog FTW in Independence Day

With an insatiable desire to depict worlds in disarray, Roland Emmerich has spent the better part of three decades pumping out grandiose blockbusters bedecked in social destruction with a flair for the skeptical. That isn’t to say there is a whole lot of method behind the madness; Emmerich’s love for blowing stuff up–be it a sturdy building or established fact–is just too primary, too outrageous. And he’s willing to draw on dicey pasts (The Patriot, Anonymous) and controversial presents (The Day After Tomorrow, 2012) to lay waste to the good earth of cinema, scorching anything that resembles sensible storytelling or true scientific inquiry in his movies’ cataclysmic march to commercial success. And leader of this bombastic parade is Independence Day, Emmerich’s most entertaining film to date.

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