Comments on: Overlooked Greatness: 'Brick' (2005)

By: Dt Shindler

Dt Shindler — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 04:36:13 +0000

AMY: Good for your regarding your conintuation of journalistic endeavors. But, seriously: you shouldn't do _any_ type of work for free. Especially when a site such as this — with all of its popups and links — probably earns Those In Charge (whoever they may be) some sort of money. The difference between professional writers and amateurs is getting paid (whether it be a small amount or not). Don't let folks who run internet sites fool you into thinking otherwise.
Best of luck to you in your future writing endeavors.
–DTS

By: Amy J. Aniobi

Amy J. Aniobi — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 04:04:21 +0000

@Dt Shindler: Little offense taken, but thanks! And appreciated your comments, too. @Patricia: When I called BRICK a "teen film," I actually was referring to the teen themes. It is a film with teens as central characters, and it deals with teen issues (belonging, growing up, drugs and peer pressure). But you're right in suggesting it probably wasn't geared towards teen audiences. I think it was geared towards the style-lovers, the art house audiences, whether adult, younger or older, and those who appreciate noir in general. Oh, and I'll probably be writing about THE LOOKOUT in the near future...I am a huge JGL fan, and most of his work, I'd say, is "overlooked greatness."

By: Patricia

Patricia — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 03:48:42 +0000

I rented this film about a year ago because I was backtracking through JGL's body of work. His performance here is excellent, as usual. Brick does indeed have a unique and interesting storyline and group of characters. I find your perspective that this is a "teen" film to be very interesting. I remember being puzzled about how to classify it, outside of film noir. I believe you are not using that classification because of teen interest but because the entire cast is teenagers. I just don't believe that teen audiences are fans of this type of mystery/noir. Too bad. Along with Mysterious Skin and The Lookout this film makes up an impressive choice of complex roles successfully portrayed by Joe.
(By the way, my son was having his birthday party in the same club in LA that the cast of Stop-Loss was celebrating the release of their film. When Joe left, he stood outside shouting interview questions and filming the paps who were screaming questions at him while filming. It must have been funny but my son said to the casual observer he seemed like a deranged person.)

By: Genne

Genne — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:42:14 +0000

Love this movie, watched it 2 years ago and bought it last year. Why aren't there more movies like this. I mean, 95% of the movies out there are clones, and the remaining 5% most of us don't have a chance to catch it cos it's showing somewhere so remote normal folks can't reach. And JGL is amazing in anything he does. I know some fans are doubting his choice for GI Joe. But he is excited about the experience to be in that film and I respect that. I mean, his mere enthusiasm and ambition toward his craft is admirable. I always envy ppl who loves their job and excited about it, cos god knows I hate mine and I'm only doing it for money and that really sucks.

By: Dt Shindler

Dt Shindler — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:44:25 +0000

AMY: First, I should mention that I use the term bone-headed quite often — sometimes it's in what is meant to be a non-threatening, "chummy" way. As above. But you couldn't have known that, so thanks for being so nice in your reply (whether it was written immediately or after counting to 100 in Russian). Second, sounds like we agree about whether someone should be paid or not, so if you want to stop reading now, go ahead, as the rest is merely apologia, etc. (Too many on the internet DO feel that everything should be offered up for free — regardless of the creator's feelings — I should not have assumed you felt the same. Mea Culpa.
Also: I meant to make mention of the fact that Rian probably felt compensated for his piece of online work, and that I was referring to other cases when griping about Those Who Believe I "Sharing" Without Compensation.

And, yes, "justly" is a term that should be worked out with each usuage of a creative piece of work (writing, photos, etc., etc). As for art and artists: personally, I think the terms get bandied about _far_ too much. For the most part, the majority of creative types out in the world (and I include myself, since I, too write journalism — but I do it for money) are merely craftspersons. Even folks who write bestselling novelists are, more often than not, craftsmen (or women) — entertainers. Nothing wrong with that. Just doesn't qualify as art.
There really _aren't_ that many people who create what could rightly be called, "Art" (with a capital "A").

But that, as you might say, is a discussion for another time. :)

Cheers.
DTS

By: Amy J. Aniobi

Amy J. Aniobi — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:57:01 +0000

@Dt Shindler: Alas, Reader, I believe you misunderstood me. I didn't in any way mean to imply in my writing above that work ought to be offered up for free–clearly, artists and all people who toil at a craft that takes tolls on the mind or body deserve to be compensated justly. We can discuss "justly" at another time, but listen–on his site, Rian seems to profess that it was his choice, not the studio's, that his script be offered for free online. That, in my opinion, is a gift from Rian to me, the reader. I very much enjoyed reading it, and whether I would have or could have paid for it isn't the issue–he gave it to me (and us…and the world), which is pretty swell.

I would never expect or demand that an artist work for free–and doing so doesn't necessarily make you an artist–but I do believe that those who work for love, need or addiction to their craft usually choose to work *despite* the presence (or lack) of "just" compensation. Just so you know, I am not paid a dime to write. I share my art–my writing–at any cost, to those who wish to experience it…and sometimes even to those who do not. What's more, I've been known to listen to Radiohead and Fleet Foxes at the same time! And Modest Mouse, too! ;)

By: William

William — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 05:51:35 +0000

Love the movie also.

Plus, back when I was at Temple University a few years back, in filmmaking class, Rian's Cousin Nathan came in to promote the film and talk about his idea's in making the musical score. Morricone's (sp? I hate it that I don't entirely know the spelling) score from "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" was a big inspiration towards "Brick's" score; which fits perfectly, and makes me like the score and the film even more.

By: dj karate

dj karate — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:46:25 +0000

this looks awesome, JGL is great… too bad about GI Joe though

By: Ross

Ross — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:49:43 +0000

Fantastic article. Fantastic movie.

By: Dt Shindler

Dt Shindler — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:40:43 +0000

AMY: While I'm not prepared (or seeking) to argue any of your points as regards "Brick" (caught it when it came out on DVD, and enjoyed it), I AM ready to tell you how bone-headed it is when you — or anyone else — let's flie the havoc-laden, self-centered cry of "art must be free (and shared for free) on the internet" (self-centered because it usually boils down to, "I don't wanna pay for that"). Most folks who are strictly writers often live off of residuals — royalties — from their writing (be it essays, short stories, novels or screenplays). Writers, quite often, _don't_ work for a corporation that might supply heath and dental care, etc. So the money they earn from royalties (payments made to writers when someone buys their work) usually goes to cover such essentials (as well as groceries, shoes for the baby, etc).

Would you expect an electrician to work for free? A cop? A plumber? Do YOU work for free? No? Then you shouldn't expect anyone else to do the same — even a writer (or a painter, or sculptor, or a photographer, or a musician, etc., etc.)

Here's to more enlightened times.
Cheers,
DTS