defend the indefensible: Richard Brody

From the David Denby thread

there's no richard brody thread but i needed somewhere to c&p this -

His most personal work, “Norbit,” a psychodramatic outpouring of bile, pain, conflict, and sheer comedic invention, which Murphy starred in and wrote, deserved to be hailed as a masterwork.

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/why-is-eddie-murphy-in-cinematic-exile

― just sayin, Sunday, September 25, 2016

i revived the eddie murphy thread to talk about it. that article is bonkers.

― slam dunk, Sunday, September 25, 2016

why is there no brody thread. i just read this

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/jared-hesss-spiritual-gross-out-comedy-in-masterminds

― r|t|c, Sunday, December 25, 2016

I have my issues with Brody but he knows a ton about movies (unlike Lane or Denby) and I don't think he should necessarily faulted for having unorthodox views, which he comes by honestly afaict

― intheblanks, Sunday, December 25, 2016

So here's the Brody thread.

I can see Norbit being sort of like a Freddy Got Fingered, a super personal and puerile 'masterwork' that was savaged when it came out

A long time coming.

Hess’s comedy is something of a gross-out comedy, in which he defies viewers (and, as seen in a blooper outtake in the credits, the actors themselves) to face the repellent physical side of the human condition and to see divine love there as well. A showdown between Jandice and Kelly starts with extravagantly frank, PG-safe but implicitly explicit show-and-tell about women’s anatomy. Whether involving the creation of life or the dealing of death, Hess makes the talk and the action both boldly and innocently direct while also unfailingly suggesting the higher purposes of lower functions.

A+

i do agree with intheblanks fwiw, am personally thrilled and delighted by every mad old take from this mad old dying breed

what's more, reader, is that i was moved to watch masterminds and and my enjoyment was greatly enhanced by this rvw (it wasn't so bad on its own terms tbh)

nothing says chestertonesque childs play of god like zach galafinakis sharting in a hotel pool

Masterminds sucked but glad I saw it for the all too brief scenes with Kate McKinnon

Armond's been on Norbit's jock since day one.

brody's good & everyone else operating in a similar role is bad, i think. he has some shortcomings - he isn't self-parodic yet but seems to be lapsing into reverie too eagerly at anything north american that presents an unfamiliar modernity - but like intheblanks says is incredibly knowledgeable & curious in a way others aren't; he isn't easily suckered by the kind of shiny snowpiercer type trash american writers fill their quote of international film with; he's a very patient, sensitive reader with real arguments; & he writes about film in the context of life & art instead of as some branch of gradeable pop culture - he has real significant bodies of articles discussing sex in film, really diving into adaptations of novels, &c. he is a serious guy, also a good jazz writer. even if i agreed with whichever other name guy at whichever other magazine more, which i don't !, i'd rather read brody's arguments than their two paragraphs of plot recap & then dull forensic analysis of whether or not the film's rhythm distracted them & whether or not it was beautifully 'lensed'. he rly understands cinema.

I like Brody. He's awes

I thought he was too enamored of "chiraq," though

brody’s 2020 list: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/2020-in-review/the-best-movies-of-2020

regarding this thread question and brody in general, could not have put it better than schlump above, he’s really a rare treasure

love brodes but no way im watching a miranda july or spike lee movie

7. "On the Rocks"

ok wtf

miranda july is def the weird point where im completely confused by his tastes lol hes got this weakness for mumblecore

Why complain about Brody when Anthony Lane exists

i like some mumblecore a lot but i have turned every miranda july movie ive ever watched off after 15 minutes

the one where shes talking in a cat voice was exactly that for me ... maybe ten mins

Brody is wonderful, and we have considerable overlap...except when Miranda July's involved.