If you're a regular reader of online film criticism, then chances are you're already aware of the super-sharp crew over at The Onion's A.V. Club, and if indeed you are, then you know that these guys can put together a mean movie retrospective, with titles ranging from today all the way back to the mid-'90s. (I kid, I kid; Scott Tobias' The New Cult Canon did get around to the likes of I Am Cuba.)An equally fascinating recurring feature is Nathan Rabin's My Year of Flops, and the opening paragraphs to this week's entry on 1991's The Rocketeer are among the strongest testament to that column, that critic, and that team that I've read to date. Here's a taste:
"Anyone who tells you the appeal of moviegoing isn't at least partially voyeuristic is a goddamned liar and should be punched in the face repeatedly. We go to the movies in no small part to watch uncommonly beautiful people woo, romance, or reject other preternaturally fetching creatures in photogenic settings. As a young boy, I embraced movies as a socially acceptable way of looking at boobs. The fact that films were capable of art and truth was a neat bonus."
It only gets more graphic from there -- in all the best ways, natch -- before Rabin finally settles down to the film at hand (which just dashed up my Netflix Queue from the relative depths). Regardless, isn't that paragraph alone really just... something else?
[Thanks to Maxim for sending this my way.]
1. I always liked the Rocketeer and it make me happy to know Kevin Smith does too. Loved the article, thanks William.
Posted at 10:00PM on Oct 30th 2008 by Herff