Red Mosquito

tragabigzanda wrote:

Anders wrote:

Jorge wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:As a dramedy, Chef is serviceable. As a movie about a chef, it’s straight garbage. There’s The Bear, then there’s every other movie or show that tried to cash in on foodie culture and failed.

It's a treatise on artistic integrity

Agree on that. Finishing it now.

I think that's totally a fair reading. but it's pretty milquetoast in that regard. "Boo hoo, I can't put my radish slices on my foamy emulsifications any more, I'm gonna go start a food truck."

I'm not suggesting the narrative doesn't have any merit. I'm confidently stating that its execution of food and hospitality as a backdrop of those themes is very surface-level. Like they cobbled the plot together from a quick scan of the Food & Wine archives.

Steve Albini wrote:Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

Steve Albini wrote:Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

Steve Albini wrote:Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

tragabigzanda wrote:I get what you're saying, and recognize my attachment to the material makes me especially opinionated about the subject matter. but using a sci-fi fantasy film to make a point about a movie set in the culinary world isn't a great approach.

tragabigzanda wrote:but also comparing this movie to Arrival is pretty laughable for the basic reason that Arrival is packed with emotional resonance, and Chef is not. Is it "about artistic integrity"? Sure. Does it resonate? Not for me, and it'd be safe to say that would be the case if it were set in an industry I know nothing about.

Steve Albini wrote:Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

tree_ wrote:The only reason we still have netflix is she likes to watch Grey's Anatomy. I should just buy her the box set..

Steve Albini wrote:Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

tragabigzanda wrote:

Anders wrote:Looking forward to rewatching Whiplash soon (it’s a 2014 movie). Only time I’ve seen it was with an ex that absolutely hated it. Relationship lasted 8 months, and this was 3-4 months in, but I do remember it as one of the early negative moments, in an otherwise fun period.

I look forward to your three-word review

tragabigzanda wrote:

Jorge wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:but also comparing this movie to Arrival is pretty laughable for the basic reason that Arrival is packed with emotional resonance, and Chef is not. Is it "about artistic integrity"? Sure. Does it resonate? Not for me, and it'd be safe to say that would be the case if it were set in an industry I know nothing about.

I wasn't really comparing the films, they're radically different in every way. More the use of authenticity as a barometer of quality or worth. Chef may not have resonated with you but it did with many people, just as Arrival didn't resonate with some people (like our own Anders)

Yeah but Anders tastes are so enigmatic. He'll gush about some crap like Operation Dumbo Drop, but then lobby hard for a great deep cut like Army Reserve.

psychobain wrote:In the Mood for Love