I guess he's right about Wes Anderson, but maybe not the others. Soderbergh, especially this decade, I don't agree with. Sure Bubble and the girlfriend experience are more intellectual pursuits, but look at the rest of his work. Out of Sight, The Informant, The Oceans films, Erin Brokovich, hell, even Traffic presents a bunch of likable characters. The Coeans to. Their recent output has been more intellctual (though I feel utter compassion for Larry Gopnik and Llwellyn Moss), movies like Fargo show that, yah they're intellctual but can also show great compassion and warmth.
Fincher I've only seen Fight Club and Benjamin Button, but Fight Club is a movie where maybe compassion is lacking, but these characters are so fascinating I can't help but be enraptured. And Benjamin Button may have flaws, but lack of emotion is not one of them.
Anderson is the most outrageous claim for me. Yes, There Will Be Blood is portraying the life of a monster. And I don't think Boogie Nights is that great. But my love of Magnolia has a lot to do with the emotional reaction it gets out of me. Maybe some of the characters aren't pure of heart, but so what. They are human. They're cruelty comes from a place of compassion, from a place I can fully understand. I am fully onboard every step of the way. And, of course, Punch-Drunk Love is one of the best pure love stories of the decade.
To be fair, the writer - I really should look at his name . . . Ok, Tom Shone. So, to be fair, Shone did say that he liked
Erin Brockovich. I think you're right though that when you start listing what these filmmakers have made, it's difficult to make a blanket statement about their not making movies that pack some emotional punch.
Still, I suppose the article resonated with me some because I was thinking about some of the things he's saying when I watched such recent films as
A Serious Man,
Fantastic Mr. Fox, and, though Shone doesn't mention Jonze,
Where the Wild Things Are - all three filmspotting favorites.
And, as one more reason, the reason I love Wendy and Lucy is not becausde Williams is great, not because the craft is excellent, and the direction is wonderful, though all those are true. The reason I love it is because I was bawling at the end of the screening. It wasn't holding back tears, it was at the point where I was barely stopping myself from shouting at the screen.
If we have no emotions, then what are we?
Exactly. Shone wants to bawl at the end of a movie. I guess he hasn't in a while.