Supernatural 1. (RESPONSE TO THIS ARTICLE) (SEND A LETTER)
Ashley:
I’ve been trying to pimp Supernatural at my friends for ages but
whenever I do I can never think of the right words and ‘because it’s
really good!’ doesn’t seem to do the trick. I no longer have to worry
about that though because now all I have to do is link them to your
article.
Thank you so much for saying all that I’ve been wanting to
say but hadn’t been able to put into words. The show really is much
more than just another WB/CW show with pretty actors and little else
going for it. It deserves more people watching.
Nick: Wow, you fans of Supernatural sure are polite. I got about 65 emails just like this one from you folks and for the most part they were literate, polite, and logical. If only the Browncoars knew better…
Lottery Director Retaliates. (RESPONSE TO THIS ARTICLE) (SEND A LETTER)
Erik:
What’s up Nick, this is Erik White. Im slated to direct the "Lottery"
movie that you guys blasted in your article. I would like to shed some
light on the film. Actually, it’s an idea that I’ve had for about 10
years now. I approached Abdul Williams with the concept and basic
breakdown (we have the same management), and he took it from there.
Trust me, I can’t stand those type of "hood" movies that you
mentioned in your article as well. The tone of the film does not lean
towards the "Soul Plane" or "Beauty Shop" variety. It’s about choices,
and a topic like the lottery stretches far beyond race or status. Just
because the film takes place in the hood, doesn’t automatically mean
that I’ll resort to the "chitlin play" type of humor or style of
filming. I think we have enough of those films cluttering the shelves
at Blockbuster.
It’s my first film and my own idea, so I definitely do not intend
to go out like that. I do commend you for patrolling our consciousness.
Nick: See, that’s the kind of letter we should get more of from people who rail on! I have to admit, though Micah wrote that article I was seriously skeptical too. Of course, I’m white. I hope you can deliver something that doesn’t pander to the stereotypes because it’s really annoying to see both the lamebrained movies being made but also the black community supporting them on principle alone sometimes. I wish you the best of luck and if you can manage to not cast some of the all-too-familiar faces you’re off to a good start. As an aside, I was watching Something New in my hotel and found it to be both mainstream AND gorgeously shot and though it sometimes rode too close to being obvious, it pulled off the feat of being a solid flick. I think that’s a step in the right direction. Once again, good luck.
Feedback! (SEND A LETTER)
Carl:
Just letting you know that I still check your site at least daily. I
know you guys love the feedback. CHUD is by far the best reporting for
my tastes. I love the lists. I will be a dedicated reader of any list
you present. The format is great. It is fairly easy to avoid the posts
I do not care to read, but at the same time easy to spot the ones I do.
The Special Edition still makes or breaks my purchasing or netflix
choices. I go from my email to CHUD every morning. Keep up the great
and always witty work.
Nick: Thanks so much. When we relaunch you’re gonna shit your pants. In a great way.
Mean Machine. (RESPONSE TO THIS ARTICLE) (SEND A LETTER)
Simon:
You come crying to me in PM about why I don’t like you, then reinforce
everything I say about your mean spirited website by not bothering to respond,
other than your usual inarticulate response of one word sarcasm and
disappearance when the going gets tough.
to your easily defensible column and slag off another guy who spotted how
you dismissed the movie without apparently even bothering to watch it, with
risible insults. Then you use your column to dish out another insult to the
movie.
on the forums, or to me in PM, your fragile ego goes running to where you can
make your 12th grade insults without recourse.
You are desperate to be loved and approved of, but when someone confronts your
twattery, you run off to safe grounds.
movies, cartoon strips etc, and talk them up to the max. And you talk. And you
talk. And no-one gives a tin shit anymore, because talking is all you ever do –
you never follow up on anything. Despite the fact that absoluteley no-one
understands your cartoon strips, at least you produced something – for
what, a few months?
latest bullshit self-promotion-love-fest-take offense and run away act. Please
believe me, no-one gives a tin shit, check out the relevant threads and catch
the tumbleweed.
veiled xenophobia on your site, but, well, you get the idea.
Nick: I didn’t immediately respond because I was out of town, now I don’t have to. You’re not worth the effort.
Supernatural 2. (RESPONSE TO THIS ARTICLE)(SEND A LETTER)
JP:
I want to thank you for the wonderful article that Brendan M. Leonard wrote about Supernatural. I'm a huge fan of the show and it's very rare to read something about it, especially something so positive.
Nick: Brendan is enjoying his paychecks from the makers of Supernatural. Under the table of course.
Better Off Dead. Essential. (SEND A LETTER)
Joey:
You’re not alone. I just can’t trust anyone who doesn’t like Savage Steve or
Better Off Dead in particular. Who are these people, these inhuman monsters
who can find no pleasure or solace in his genius? Do they have no soul? It’s
really a line in the sand to me. I have a couple of enemies or rivals in my
life, and I can tell you that the root of each divide pretty much always
started with, "what do you mean you don’t like Better Off Dead?" It’s just a
fire that boils your guts.
I’m sorry. I could just really go off about it. Anyways, really diggin’ the
Essential series. It’s totally reaffirming why I come to this site everyday.
There’s a lot of love going on at CHUD. Keep it up.
Nick: Thanks. I’m noticing that most of the films I end up writing about (we all collaborated on the list and grab titles each week so just because Devin writes the piece, it doesn’t mean he suggested it, and so on…) don’t get much commentary from readers but this one certainly did. It’s nice to know that ol’ Savage Steve left a mark.
Supernatural 3. (RESPONSE TO THIS ARTICLE)(SEND A LETTER)
Hilary:
y enjoyed you
I really enjoyed your article on Supernatural. This show is basically
the center of my life right now, and has been since it started back two
septembers ago, and I think your wrote a great article about it,
describing each amazing detail to its fullest. I especially enjoyed
that you too agreed that the chemistry between the ‘brothers’ was
undeniable and one of the best relationships on TV. And, of course, the
music, haha. Well, anyway, I just wanted to thank you for promoting
Supernatural like so many of us fans are in hope for a third season and
to tell you that I reallr article.
Nick: A little palsy hit at the end there? Thanks for the nice comments. I know Brendan is going to appreciate all the joy.
Podcast. (SEND A LETTER)
Andrew:
The poscast was good. Better than #18 and better than last year's OscarCast. I appreciate how quickly it came to my doorstep.
I write you pretty much every podcast with complaints and this email is no different. Please Mic Micah or tell him to shut the fuck up. Everytime he talks it goes silent for 2 minutes. I don't mind him talking so you should just mic him. He sounds really old though, is he 40 yet?
Keep up the good work and hurry up with the site revamp, the suspense is killing us.
Nick: Micah used to breastfeed the dinosaurs.
MEG-Hate Repelled. (SEND A LETTER)
Kevin:
Well, I completely disagree with Ryan’s response to
you (and didn’t care for his attempts at insulting – but hey, it’s
the Internet and we’re all so manly behind our monitors!). Anyhow, I
thought your review for The Descent was dead-on (and read it after recently
catching it as a rental). I almost went to see it at theaters since it had such
positive comments online but I’m glad I didn’t – it wasn’t
a very good film. I liked Dog Soldiers, but didn’t like The Descent (nor
did my wife).
So first off, the movie isn’t scary. It’s just
not. It has maybe one decent somewhat scary moment (when she sees one of the
dwellers using the rather contrived night-vision on the camera), but the rest
are just lousy scare attempts. My wife watched it with me too and didn’t
jump once.
As for the infidelity subplot – well, I did catch that
right away, because it was not subtle – the way the husband helps the
Asian gal after rafting at the start of the movie was ridiculous. I turned to
my wife and said “You know, if I were cheating on you with a friend of
yours, I don’t think I’d do something blatantly obvious like that
in front of you.” And it wasn’t the main plot – the main plot
was a bunch of largely unlikable women getting killed by the cavern dwellers. I
think Ryan began making the females more than one-dimensional in his own mind
because they are just that.
Another thing you touched on in your review that often
really bothers me in both horror movies and superhero films alike is not establishing
a set of ground rules and sticking to them. For example, in a superhero film,
this might be where the superhero keeps suddenly coming up with new abilities
to overcome obstacles versus dealing with them around his/her limited set of
abilities.
In The Descent these cave dwellers are initially supposed to
be blind and relying on sound – as a side question, wouldn’t they
have an amazingly acute sense of sound detection and be able to here whispers
and soft footfalls (not needing a loud watch alarm to alert them)? Yet when
they kill the first dumb woman (the one that broke her leg) the dweller goes
right for the jugular, and to my knowledge she wasn’t making ANY sound. Likewise
when the Asian gal is trying to play tug of war with the dead gal and the
dweller – the dweller is swinging at her as if it knows where she is.
Likewise for later scenes where they claw at the gals when
the gals aren’t making sounds. Nor do the cave dwellers have a very sharp
sense of tactile feeling – they can literally step on a gal and not
realize it’s potential prey. So how do they find the gals they’ve
dragged below to eat if they can’t tell the difference between very soft
flesh and very hard rock? Sorry for wasting a few paragraphs on this – it’s
just really irritating and not much thought was given to the dwellers in
defining a set of conditions and sticking to them.
Also, I’m hoping MEG does get made. I love shark
movies (I watch most of them, even though 99% suck). Jaws is my favorite film,
in fact. So the idea of a giant prehistoric shark wreaking havoc sounds pretty
great to me. Good luck with that!
Nick: I should have let YOU write the review!