Flight Risk / Mark Wahlberg

[Ron Resnick]

Even among a database of movies including dozens of cannibal documentaries and scores of Dolph Lundgren films, I hereby nominate Flight Risk, starring Mark Wahlberg, as

-- the worst movie of the year,

-- the worst movie of Wahlberg's career,

-- the worst movie of the decade, and

-- the worst movie of the century.

 

[MattK]

It was pretty bad. I am guessing you have not seen Rust yet, it's also a contender for worst of the year..

 

[Ron Resnick]

It was pretty bad. I am guessing you have not seen Rust yet, it's also a contender for worst of the year..

I won't be seeing Rust. As a purely symbolic and thus admittedly practically meaningless "protest" I choose not to pay money for movie tickets or cable TV rentals to see movies in which actors who have chosen to become political activists are appearing. As a result I pay to see very few movies these days.

 

[hopkins]

I won't be seeing Rust. As a purely symbolic and thus admittedly practically meaningless "protest" I choose not to pay money for movie tickets or cable TV rentals to see movies in which actors who have chosen to become political activists are appearing. As a result I pay to see very few movies these days.

I assume you mean "actors who have chosen to become political activists" and who's political views you don't share? Or are you also including Sylvester Stallone in the lot (can't seem to find any others... unsurprisingly...).

 

[Ron Resnick]

I assume you mean "actors who have chosen to become political activists" and who's political views you don't share? Or are you also including Sylvester Stallone in the lot (can't seem to find any others... unsurprisingly...).

This assumption is incorrect.

I mean what I wrote: "actors who have chosen to become political activists." I did not distinguish between actors whose political views I share and actors whose political views I don't share.

Again, as a result, I pay to see very few movies these days.

For example, I recently paid to download a season of Reacher to take my mind off Jacob's Ladder exercise. I have no idea what are Alan Ritchson's political views. Since I don't know what are his political views, this tells me that whatever he is doing politically, if anything, he is not focused on political activism to the extent necessary for it to appear randomly on my radar and make me aware of it. Thus he passes my little test.

 

[hopkins]

This assumption is incorrect.

I mean what I wrote: "actors who have chosen to become political activists." I did not distinguish between actors whose political views I share and actors whose political views I don't share.

Again, as a result, I pay to see very few movies these days.

For example, I recently paid to download a season of Reacher to take my mind off Jacob's Ladder exercise. I have no idea what are Alan Ritchson's political views. Since I don't know what are his political views, this tells me that whatever he is doing politically, if anything, he is not focused on political activism to the extent necessary for it to appear randomly on my radar and make me aware of it. Thus he passes my little test.

To be honest, it is rare that an artist's personal convictions influence my decision to follow them, but there are certainly extreme cases where it is hard to ignore these considerations. It is not really a new phenomenon (think of the McCarthy era...). A good example (for me) - the French writer Louis-Ferdinand Celine was a virulent anti-semite, yet an excellent writer (held by some as one of the greatest French writers).

Louis-Ferdinand Céline - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Thankfully, when it comes to music, it seems to be less of an issue. I've read many biographies of jazz musicians (the "genre" I am most interested in currently), and while many of them had personal issues (who doesn't?) I can't think of any who's personal behaviors or political outlooks I found repulsive, quite the contrary.

 

[hopkins]

P.S. i enjoyed "Reacher" as well, though I found the last season to be weaker than the others.

To add a few comments on the topic - I don't think we should blame artists for making political statements. Should we blame Charlie Chaplin for "The Great Dictator" (or in fact, any of his other works)? Picasso for his "Guernica"? If they believe strongly about issues, they have a right to express them, as we do. Where do we draw the line?

Musicians themselves had to struggle with this issue. Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, or Duke Ellington, among many others, were criticized for NOT being outspoken enough, or for being "too integrated" at the time. Ironically, Count Basie was extremely supportive of the black movement (as it was referred to at the time), but he lived in a white neighborhood, and hosted mixed parties, and was criticized for that....