Worst Personal Reflection on One's Generation Ever

It's a subjective argument you're making. As is with all art I suppose. I like some of the directors you listed. I'd also rather gouge my eyes out than watch a Paul Thomas Anderson movie. You seemingly feel the same way about Smith. To each their own.

Not sure if there's much else to discuss here.

 

I'm not a huge fan of either of the Andersons, but I never watch a movie and think they don't know what they are doing.

 

Actually, they’ve been putting out pretty good music for the past 30 years IMHO. I still enjoy playing the Backspacer album and their most recent CD, Gigaton, with one of their better songs, “Dance of the Clairvoyants” on it.

 

Smith’s shitty production values are an argument in favor of, not against, his being a Gen-X icon.

Tarantino is interesting. I certainly think he’s a Gen-X icon, but I don’t think he’s any more enduring figure than Smith. They both hit their high-water marks very early in their careers.

Tarantino is certainly more technically proficient, but Gen-Xers don’t really give much of a shit about that.

 

There is a lot I would argue against in this.

Smith's problem isn't just production values. The problems extend to story, structure, evenness of tone, a lack of anything resembling self awareness, all which ends up in overindulgence, shot very poorly.

Where is it that shitty production is a staple of Gen X movies let alone defining?

I know people who hate Tarantino. The idea his career arc is in any way comparable to Kevin Smith's is absurd. Name a movie by Smith in the last 10 years you would want to watch. Hell, name a movie.

All the directors I mentioned are lauded for their ability. Gen X doesn't care?

Mumblecore? They showed much more talent than Smith could articulate.

 

Tarantino has been chasing Basterds for 15 years and hasn't come close to capturing that magic. But Smith's best thing isn't within a thousand wet dreams of Tarantino's worst thing but he does get some credit for making a movie around Joey Lauren Adams.

 

Gen X puts much greater emphasis on connection, and you can connect without all of the traditional Hollywood bells and whistles.

Honestly, reading your post makes me think about the growing chasm between critics and audiences, and how a lot of critics have completely lost touch with what makes a movie “good.”

I would never dare to compare Smith to Tarantino in terms of craft. Only that they both connected with our generation in a way few have. The zeitgeist, if you will.

Almost everyone my age will recognize and understand a quote from Clerks, Pulp Fiction, or Seinfeld.

 

Oh good. It's not just me.

 

I truly think Smith isn't good.

However, I am influenced by Syd Field and his idea of a film structure. So I have an ideal film type and Smith misses it. So if it comes across as a critic's opinion rather than an audience opinion, I will accept that.

But Smith has so many misses. You would think he would learn to make a movie.

 

I’m a geezer and my wife and I have two”kiddos.”

I spend most of my day on a computer working with a variety of ever-evolving software. When our 30-something explains in first-grade level language something technical I already know, I call it Z-splaining.

The 20-something usually only long-winded about newer social norms and language. Despite ingrained habits, I’m pretty aware of those norms. But calling that pontification X-splaining just doesn’t work.

 

My father was late 50's early 60's when the Internet and mobile phones became ubiquitous. Not only does he not know how to text, he doesn't understand voicemail. He will call back without listening to a message. I try taking him through apps, and things I find intuitive I have to explain to him in detail.

Pretty much everything I learned to do on the Internet or a phone was self-taught or trial and error. When I have to explain where to click on the menu to find the page he wants or to set up an account, it's like a foreign language. He is just unable to poke around a website and figure it out or transfer the understanding of the way one app or website works to another.

It is so frustrating because he doesn't see all these as intuitive or having a similar logic to them and he just doesn't try to figure it out.

 

I was "Samsung for life" before switching to T-mobile 2 months ago and getting a free iPhone.

iPhone sucks ass. So user unfriendly and shitty camera system.