Hey, want me to be way less interested in seeing your movie than I was before? Say crap like this:

"One of the reasons I chose this story," Van Sant says, "is that it's sort of the rock 'n' roll suicide version of an overly reported subject like Columbine. [Cobain's] death had 24-hour coverage, at least on MTV. But I feel the way a journalist composes a story [makes it] as fictional as a fiction film. And that fiction filmmakers—those with imagination who resist making 'entertainment'—are the ones who can actually go in there and bring about answers. Not that [Last Days] was meant to be a literal investigation; it's more of a poetic investigation."

Wow, count the dirty words:

1) Journalism is somewhat constructed, and so is therefore totally untrue!
2) Not making entertainment is something to aspire to!
3) If you make something that seeks to please people in any way, what you have made is totally untrue!
4) "Poetic investigation." At least he didn't say "meditation," I guess.

So, what, do people think Van Sant's a good director because he manages to take really amazingly interesting subjects like Kurt Cobain and Columbine and make them boring? Making things boring is easier than it looks, kids.

On the bright side, Joshua Clover's excellent piece on the film makes me think there's a good play to be written called "Kurt and Axl." I'll get to work on that just as soon as I, um, gain the ability to write plays well. It will be a prose distraction through and through.
posted by Mike B. at 1:15 PM 4 comments