hopelessly devoted to deconstructing popular culture and conventional wisdom, one blog at a time

Published Monday, February 07, 2005 by seanlmccarthy | E-mail this post

SPOILING MILLION DOLLAR BABY: Millions of Americans have yet to see the Oscar-nominated film "Million Dollar Baby.'' Yet some advocacy groups wish critics would talk more about the movie's ending. Should they?
Dr. Jane Shattuc, who teaches film studies and media criticism at Emerson College, said it depends upon how you define the role of a movie critic.
"Are you to turn the viewers on to seeing the film, which I think you are, but are you also to have an intellectual function which makes people think about the work, therefore, not to talk about the conclusion when it has a twist seems almost irresponsible,'' Shattuc said.

Read more of my story in today's Boston Herald here.
Read commentary from the L.A. Times here.

My sidebar doesn't appear to be online. It includes a list of past movies-with-a-secret and pithy hints. I'll include my favorite citations here for your amusement:

The Sixth Sense (1999): When Haley Joel Osment says he sees dead people, he really means it.
Fight Club (1999): The first rule is don't talk about Fight Club.
The Usual Suspects (1995): Keyser Soze is sneaky.
The Crying Game (1992): Even Eddie Murphy was fooled.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982): Not everyone lives and prospers, unless the studio wants another sequel.
Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980): Turns out Luke Skywalker really did have a lot to whine about.
Planet of the Apes (1968): We're all damned, dirty apes.
Psycho (1960): Literally a Freudian slip.