Kurt Loder on Film: The Good, the Bad and the Godawful

"As Keith Richards says, 90 percent of everything is crap."

Kurt Loder, who reviews movies for Reason.com and Creators Syndicate, quotes the legendary Rolling Stones guitarist to explain why most of the reviews in his new book, The Good, The Bad and The God-Awful: 21st-Century Movie Reviews are negative. Loder says he loves movies, but because of the constant demand for new product, the bad movies will inevitably outnumber the good ones.

In this interview with Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie, Loder offers up a few examples of some recent underrated cinematic gems, some god-awful big-budget fiascos, and why he devoted an entire chapter to the enigma that is Nicolas Cage's movie career.

Runs about 4.19 minutes.

Shot by Meredith Bragg, Jim Epstein and Anthony L. Fisher. Edited by Anthony L. Fisher.

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Comments

[Kevin]

"It insists upon itself."

Anyway, I liked "The Golden Compass". Given that Loder singled out both "Compass" and "Australia" I can only assume he hates Nicole Kidman.

[Warty]

The books were great, but the movie had no chance. The studio made them take out the blasphemy, and blasphemy was the whole point of the books.

[Tim]

It's like a pile of shit without the flies-incomplete.

[Kevin]

I haven't read the books, which is probably why I liked the movie. The blasphemy was there, but subtle; more of an anti-authoritarian theme than specifically anti-religion.

[T]

The first book was okay, the second got a little more preachy, the third was just in your face about it. And predictably, the story suffered for it.

[Warren]

It wasn't half as bad as half the other movies made the same year

[John]

I would like the books more if I hadn't had the misfortune of hearing the author. It is pretty clever idea to make God the villain. Makes for good fiction. But the author seems to think the books are real cosmology. My God is he tiresome.

[Warty]

Taking Paradise Lost, reversing the roles of God and Satan, and making it into kids' novels was brilliant, no matter how big of a douche the guy may be.

[robc]

So Loder is unfamiliar with Sturgeon?

[The MAn]

To paraphrase Ham the space chimp: He ain't familia wit a lotta tings.

[rts]

90% of all quotes are misattributed.

[Hugh Akston]

90% of statistics are made up on the spot.

[ClubMedSux]

90% of 50 is 40. #Iamthe10percent

[ClubMedSux]

#whocantdomath

[Abraham Lincoln]

The trouble with most quotations on the Intennet is that they are made up

[Anomalous]

As Junior Soprano said, what you don't know could fill a book.

[PS]

I think Keith was referring to all the stepped on horse he's ingested.

[JSinAZ]

robc - thank you for remembering Ted.

[Pip]

"As Keith Richards says, 90 percent of everything is crap."

That's most generous.

[Restoras]

Yeah, more like 99%...

[Occupy Wall Street]

I AM THE 99%!

[AT]

And you are crap.

[Shirley Knott]

Um, that was Theodore Sturgeon who said that, not Keith Richards...

no hugs for thugs,
Shirley Knott

[R C Devils Advocate]

I thought Sturgeon said it was 80%.

[rts]

I repeat Sturgeon's Revelation, which was wrung out of me after twenty years of wearying defense of science fiction against attacks of people who used the worst examples of the field for ammunition, and whose conclusion was that ninety percent of SF is crud.[1] Using the same standards that categorize 90% of science fiction as trash, crud, or crap, it can be argued that 90% of film, literature, consumer goods, etc. are crap. In other words, the claim (or fact) that 90% of science fiction is crap is ultimately uninformative, because science fiction conforms to the same trends of quality as all other artforms.

[R C Dean]

I stand thoroughly corrected.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

This is not acting, but it's LULZY.

[Warren]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks Nicolas Cage has made a career out of really crappy roles.

[robc]

His last good movie was Raising Arizona.

[Restoras]

C'mon - what about Ghost Rider?

[ClubMedSux]

Yeah, I blame the Coen Brothers for Nicolas Cage's career. If they hadn't put him in Raising Arizona maybe his future in movies would never have been.

[Quetzalcoatl]

He's a Coppola: it was inevitable.

[John]

Lay off Francis. Most people who do a master piece early in their careers spin in and end up doing crap the rest of their career trying to live up to it. Coppola make the greatest American movie ever. And still managed to make an almost equal sequal and Apocolypse Now. That is pretty awesome.

[dunphy]

my only real criticism is him letting his daughter take that role in godfather III. that is inarguably imo the WORST acting performance EVER in a "serious" movie.

it stands out in a case of great actors. she is AWFUL.

she is also ugly as sin and it's REALLY difficult believing that she is such a love interest for andy garcia etc. but that's another issue.

it really ruined the movie (i hate people who call movies "films".). it was a fucking MOVIE.

she is the jar jar binks of GF III but WAY worse.

[Mongo]

I think they put peanut butter on her lips for her lines like they did with Mr. Ed.

[dunphy]

lol. that is awesome. considering she makes a horse look attractive, very relevant too

[Shmenge]

The Conversation was pretty good too

[Lord Humungus]

I disagree - it was Valley Girl

[Pro Libertate]

You don't like Raising Arizona?

[lurker]

Lord of War was very good.

[iguanodon]

::two conical thumb-spikes up for Lord of War::

still, it was very good despite Nick Cage rather than because of him

[dunphy]

i don't think nick cage is a bad actor at all. is that what you are implying?

i'll agree he's taken some questionable roles, although i like pop-tripe like "the rock" (sorry, epi).

i thought the 1st national treasure was entertaining. 2nd one sucked. the remake of the wickerman was a fucking abomination. the original , with the nekkid dance scene was waaaay better

[iguanodon]

i'll imply that i guess you're [reasonABLE], Dunphy, exepting most of your cop apologia...& i reckon i questioned HI McDunnas roles since [/plinket voice] Face\Off, Con_Air, GhostrideR, ThrE3 Men & a WIcker Baskyt, [etc]...never seen any of that Da Vincis Treasure movies...

[dunphy]

This cop apologia crap gets old. Its simply a gross mischaracterization, as I have repeatedly shown, I loathe CROOKED cops, and when it comes to ad conduct in general, I am far from apologetic

[JMW]

Its simply a gross mischaracterization, as I have repeatedly shown, I loathe CROOKED cops, and when it comes to ad conduct in general, I am far from apologetic

Your problem is that you don't believe that corruption amongst law enforcement is deep and widespread, and that your definition of "evidence" doesn't synch up with reality's definition.

[dunphy]

my definition of evidence synch quite well with reality. heck, it synchs with balko, like when i agreed with him that th eproper charge for the BART cop shooter was the exact charge he was convicted of - involuntary manslaughter, when the usual reason ignorati couldn't even understand the law, let alone apply it.

corruption among law enforcement is not deep and widespread.

there are corrupt cops, just like there are corrupt (insert job title here).

WHEN there is reason to believe cops act criminally, i call for their prosecution e.g. paul schene. right from the beginning

and of course the reason ignorati completely ignore the reason he was discovered in the first place was because a detective who found the video TURNED HIM in.

no code of silence there.

the problem with my definition of "evidence" according to the reason bigorati is that i automatically do not assume a cop is guilty or that any account of an incident that reflects negatively on the police MUST be true

many reason stories of alleged brutality, etc. turn out to be bogus e.g. the guerana shooting.

many others turn out to be egregious and should (and are) being prosecuted e.g. the kelly case.

either way, the difference is that i KNOW that the vast majority of cops are good, honest, and doing the right thing most of the time, and I respect law enforcement officers in general, just like most americans do

that does not make me apologetic when they engage in bad, or illegal behavior

when they do so, i am very critical of same

i also believe in due process. iow, that cops should not be fired because ALLEGATIONS are made, and that rights and due process apply to COPS, not just conventional suspects

[Q]

No love for Adaptation? And Leaving Las Vegas was pretty good in spite of the shitty soundtrack.

[John]

I kind of liked him in Matchstick Men and the Orchid Thief. I think he has done some okay work. But mostly he has taken horrible roles for the money.

[Kevin]

He blew all his dough and got raped by the IRS. "Meaningful" films that appeal to the "film as "art" crowd rarely make much money. He is one of my favorite actors, but that's not saying too much, as I don't really pay much attention to actors.

[Pip]

I enjoyed National Treasure.

[ClubMedSux]

My confession: I enjoyed 8mm (though, in my defense, I saw it in Hannover and may have just been overjoyed to watch a movie in English).

[Warren]

No points for Matchstick Men. Suspention of disbelief stretched beyond breaking.

[John]

But it was well acted and had good dialog. Yeah the ending required you to completely suspend disbelief. But the rest of it was good. And Allison Lohman is really cute.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

It was a movie about con artists, and he got conned. How did suspension of disbelief get stretched past the breaking point?

[Hugh Akston]

I believe they are referring to the ending where Alison Lohman shows up at Nicolas Cage's new job, or the part where he's married to the checkout girl.

I'm not clear as to what about either of them requires that much suspension of disbelief though.

[Hugh Akston]

Warren, I may have to add you to my inverse aesthetic opinions list. Matchstick Men was awesome. The National Treasure movies were similarly awesome.

[Tim]

The next sequel to National Treasures sends Cage to steal the Constitution, only to find out it was hijacked decades ago.

[Restoras]

I see what you did there...

[Tim]

Comgratulations, you were tho only one.
Sincerely,
Captain Obvious Pun

[Lord Humungus]

With modern American films, I've gotten to the point where I'm impressed if the movie doesn't suck. That lowers my standards to the point where I consider Stake Land as a 'not bad' flick.

And then I watch something like the German "The North Face" and say, 'oh shit, we suck'.

[John]

Other People's Lives is the best movie of the 00s I think. And the French, after the governement cut their film industry off the dole, are making great movies again. Amalie and A Very Long Engagement and La Vie En Rose are all three great.

[ClubMedSux]

I assume you mean "The Lives of Others," right? Absolutely incredible movie.

[John]

Yes. I don't know why I switch that up in my mind. For some people I have always called that movie that. I can't stop myself. Very annoying.

Another great foreign flick, Mongol. Hollywood wishes it could make a kick ass movie like that now. If you haven't seen it, watch it.

[ClubMedSux]

It's pretty understandable since that's probably how one would say it in English. It just so happen that the syntax is a little different in German so "Das Leben der Anderen" is more directly translated as "The Lives of Others."

[John]

I think it goes back to my old German professor in college. He was German and ruthless about not letting people directly translate word for word German into English or vice versa. He called it jerklish. So when I see the German my mind immediately flips it into how I think it should sound in English.

[Gabriel Hanna]

He called it jerklish.

I think you mean Ger-glish.

[Lord Humungus]

very good flick...

[Tim]

It's a shame they stopped making Ernest movies.

[Gus]

"One monkey don't stop no show."

[Pip]

Amalie is filled with sterotypical French characters that only exist in films that stereotype the French.

The chick who played Amalie was hot though.

[John]

Audrey Tautou is a goddess. And sure it stereotypes French. So what? It was made by French people. And the movie is just wonderfully creative and entertaining. How can you ever eat a creme brulee again without thinking of that movie?

[Pip]

I gues by "sterotypical French characters" I ment what Americans like to think the French are like.

And goddess? Oh yeah!

[Tim]

You guys are so much more cultured than me. Creme Brulee is pudding right?

[John]

It is vanilla custard with a hard carmel shell on the top.

[ClubMedSux]

Actually, it's a beer brewed by Southern Tier.

[Lord Humungus]

it's also a fake rock band from the series 'A League of Gentlemen'

[Common Tater]

"The Story of the Weeping Camel" is the most boring documentary of all time.

[dunphy]

ime, the european movies i see almost universally suck.

asian films tend to fucking rule. i don't think it's any coincidence we remade the ring, the departed, etc. from asian movies.

one of my all time favorite movies is english "chariots of fire", but i almost just think of them as americans with funny accents, not europeans 🙂 but tons of great english, etc. movies.

harry browne is fucking GREAt btw. as is The Limey.

[Lord Humungus]

I'm a big fan of Asian films too -

the John Woo stuff from the 80s/90s - questions of honor and friendship play prominent roles. The Killer is a fine example of this genre.

And I also loved Infernal Affairs - bonus tube amplifier shots for the audiophile geeks.

[dunphy]

Yea. I stopped watching the departed part of the way through. Went back and re watched infernal affairs

[Tim]

I'd like to see a remake of Killdozer.

[Mr. Mark]

Movies with plots are now virtually exclusively made overseas.

[PantsFan]

Movies with plots confuse the masses.

[Elder Scrolls Enthusiast AuH20]

OT: So... we going to make some cooch chili with this Berlusconi thing, or what?

[jane]

Liked Kurt Loder best as the original Gossip News guy on MTV!

[Marc Jacobs]

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[Trespassers W]

Typical libertarians, shilling for Big Handbag.

[Concerned Citizen]

The wife and I recently saw The Guard, a very good Irish movie. The cop who was the central character was kind of libertarian in how he lived. Don Cheadle as the American cop was excellent.

[Marc by Marc Jacobs Handbag]

Mr. Marc Jacobs is a legend

[Bill]

So I gather that 90% of Kurt Loder's reviews are crap and 90% of Keith Richards's songs are crap, have I got it right?

[????? ?????]

thank you a lotsssssssssssssss

[????? ?????]

thank you a lotsssssssssssssss