Ranpitsu

I tell them that any time you decide to forward something, you are making a big decision. You are putting your reputation in real life and in cyberspace on the line.

Originality is, in its own way, a sign of authenticity: only Bowie could be Ziggy Stardust, because the character, however elaborately garbed and alien-seeming, came from within. Lady Gaga is more like a collection of quotes than a singular performer. Every move she makes, every crazy ensemble she wears, can be easily traced. She’s a human mash-up, a sample bank, recycled and reused.

To Gaga’s detractors — and, I suspect, to dance floor veterans 30 and older, who say she makes them feel old — the borrowed quality of her act undermines her obvious smarts, decent voice and endearingly overwrought sense of purpose. But what pop innovator hasn’t also been a borrower? In the permanent state of Gaga, “new” is a false category, just like “real.” Every thought’s been had by someone who came before and is searchable through Google. Every image has been minted and uploaded to YouTube.

While the Ice Age franchise’s migration from spring to a more competitive summer might be bandied about as a reason for Dawn of the Dinosaurs’ relatively more glacial reception, the picture suffered from looking like more of the same in its marketing campaign. No compelling reason was presented to make it as big a theatrical event as The Meltdown, and the proceedings may have been confounded by the anachronistic inclusion of dinosaurs, which were seemingly intended as a shortcut to audience expansion.

Wikipedia has, over time, instituted gradually more control because of some embarrassing incidents, particularly involving potentially libelous material, and some people get histrionic about it, proclaiming the death of Wikipedia. But the idea of a pure openness, a pure democracy, is a naïve one.

Issues of personal taste usually shouldn’t be a factor when engaging in legitimate movie criticism. The good movie critic should be able to aptly assess a film’s merit regardless of their own personal preferences for what they like to see on screen. Yet when it comes to a movie like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, personal taste is the major factor that will determine the response of everybody who sees it. Those who embrace the aesthetic of Michael Bay or were a fan of the first film are most likely going to have a good time with this one. For those who think Bay’s films are emblematic of everything wrong with contemporary Hollywood cinema, Transformers 2 will prove to be further evidence to fuel their fire. While many will defend this film and many others will despise it, there’s one thing this film is sure not to do: disappoint. Whatever expectations you have going into it—whether it be a bombastic summer-fun explosions-and-cleavage fest or a bloated schizophrenic mess of incomprehensible noises and images—Bay delivers fully on these expectations.

Actors live dependent on being validated by other people’s opinions. I don’t understand what it is I do that people want. I don’t know what an actor does. I have no credentials. I don’t know what I’m doing. To my mind, talent doesn’t really exist. Talent is like a card player’s luck. It is motivation, ambition, and luck. It’s just a drive to be the best. I think acting is a con game.