Vulgar auteurism
Vulgar auteurism is a movement that emerged in early 2010s cinephilia and film criticism associated with championing or reappraising filmmakers, mostly those working in the horror and action genres and whose work has otherwise received little attention or negative reception in the critical mainstream.[1][2][3][4][5] Initially associated with the social network and streaming service Mubi[4] and its online film magazine, The Notebook,[4] vulgar auteurism became a controversial[6] topic in the cinephile community following the publication of an article in the Village Voice in 2013.[4][5] It has been described as "a critical movement committed to assessing the 'unserious' artistry of popcorn cinema with absolute seriousness."[7]
Origin[]
According to film critic Peter Labuza, vulgar auteurism "seems to have been an unconscious movement before it ever had a name."[4] The earliest criticism identified as exhibiting "vulgar auteurism" was published in the Canadian film magazine Cinema Scope in 2006 and 2007.[3][4] Cinema Scope writer Andrew Tracy coined the term[3][4] in his 2009 article, "Vulgar Auteurism: The Case of Michael Mann".[4] Initially pejorative,[4] the term was repurposed by MUBI user John Lehtonen.[4] Over the years which followed, Mubi's online film magazine began to publish more and more articles defending genres and directors which were unpopular with the critical mainstream.[4] It derives its name[5] from the auteur theory, a key component of film criticism which posits that the director is the author ("auteur") of a film and that films should be analyzed in terms of how they fit into a director's larger body of work.[5][8] Also known as "auteurism," the auteur theory was introduced by French critics associated with the film magazine Cahiers du cinéma during the 1950s and popularized in the United States in the 1960s by Andrew Sarris.[3]
Several critics, including Richard Brody of The New Yorker and Scott Foundas of Variety, have drawn parallels between the earliest French and American proponents of the auteur theory and vulgar auteurism.[3][5] However, many commentators on the movement consider vulgar auteurism to be distinct from the classical auteur theory, pointing to its concern with visual style over theme.[4] The question of whether vulgar auteurism is a legitimate separate movement or a subset of the auteur theory is a point of disagreement among film critics.[4]
Vulgar auteurist ideas gained currency[4] when one of the movement's leading proponents,[7] critic Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, became the co-host of the television program Ebert Presents: At the Movies, produced by Roger Ebert. However, while "vulgar auteurist" criticism was becoming popular, the term and the movement to which it corresponded remained obscure until the publication of an article by Calum Marsh, "Fast & Furious & Elegant: Justin Lin and the Vulgar Auteurs", in The Village Voice on May 24, 2013.[4][6][9]
Controversy and criticism[]
Marsh's article was immediately controversial.[4][6] While some took issue with the films and filmmakers being championed by the proponents of vulgar auteurism, others took issue with the idea that vulgar auteurism was a movement distinct from the auteur theory.[4]
Former Village Voice critic Nick Pinkerton has been associated with vulgar auteurism, as he has written essays in praise of directors championed by the movement and whose 2012 article "The Bigger and Better Mousetraps of Paul W.S. Anderson" has been described as vulgar auteurist.[3][6][9] However, Pinkerton has been critical of the movement; in an article written in response to Marsh's, he decried the term "vulgar auteurism" as "a shameless attention grab", arguing that "no persuasive argument has yet been made for why the phrase should be vitally necessary to modify old, fuddy-duddy Auteurism."[10] He further objected to the argument that film critics routinely panned the works of directors included within the movement, writing, "Fast & Furious 6, which we’re assured is scorned by critics the world over, currently stands at 61% at Metacritic, above The Great Gatsby (54%), and within striking distance of arty jazz like Simon Killer and Post Tenebras Lux."[10]
Notable directors[]
- Paul W.S. Anderson[8][3][11][12]
- Kathryn Bigelow[13]
- Michael Bay[8][13][14][15]
- Joe Carnahan[16][17]
- John Carpenter[13]
- Jon M. Chu[13]
- Brian De Palma[18][19]
- Clint Eastwood[16]
- Roland Emmerich[20][21][22]
- Peter Farrelly & Bobby Farrelly (the Farrelly brothers)[5]
- Abel Ferrara[16]
- David Fincher[16]
- James Gray[16]
- Walter Hill[23]
- John Hyams[5]
- Richard Kelly[16]
- Justin Lin[8][13][24]
- McG[8][16]
- Michael Mann[4][8][25]
- Russell Mulcahy[16]
- Alex Proyas[26]
- Sam Raimi[16]
- Matt Reeves[16]
- George A. Romero[16]
- Tony Scott[3][8][27][28][29][30][31]
- M. Night Shyamalan[16]
- Zack Snyder[32]
- Steven Soderbergh[16]
- Steven Spielberg[16]
- Sylvester Stallone[16]
- Johnnie To[18]
- Paul Verhoeven[4]
- Rob Zombie[18]
Notable films[]
- 8mm (1999)[18]
- A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)[16]
- Ali (2001)[16]
- The A-Team (2010)[16]
- AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)[18]
- Basic Instinct (1992)[18]
- The Black Dahlia (2006)[16]
- The Blackout (1997)[16]
- Blue Steel (1990)[16]
- The Cat in the Hat (2003)[33]
- Changeling (2008)[16]
- Che (2008)[16]
- Christine (1983)[18]
- Cloverfield (2008)[16]
- Crank (2006)[16][8][34]
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)[16]
- Dangerous Game (1993)[16]
- Deja Vu (2006)[8][16]
- Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)[16]
- Domino (2005)[16]
- Escape From L.A. (1996)[16]
- The Expendables (2010)[16]
- The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)[8]
- Fast & Furious 6 (2013)[8]
- Fast Five (2011)[8]
- Flags of Our Fathers (2005)[16]
- The Game (1997)[16]
- Geronimo: An American Legend (1993)[16]
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)[16]
- Go Go Tales (2007)[16]
- Gran Torino (2008)[16]
- The Happening (2008)[16]
- Halloween II (2009)[16]
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)[35]
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)[16]
- Lady in the Water (2004)[16]
- Last Action Hero (1993)[16]
- Man on Fire (2004)[16]
- The Matrix Revolutions (2003)[18]
- Me, Myself and Irene (2000)[16]
- Miami Vice (2006)[18][8]
- Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)[16]
- Million Dollar Baby (2004)[16]
- Mission to Mars (2000)[18]
- Mystic River (2003)[16]
- Near Dark (1987)[16]
- New Rose Hotel (1998)[16]
- Ocean's 12 (2004)[16]
- Ocean's 13 (2007)[16]
- Pain & Gain (2013)[18]
- Point Break (1991)[18]
- Predator (1987)[8]
- Public Enemies (2009)[16]
- Redacted (2007)[16]
- Resident Evil (2002)[16]
- Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)[8]
- Rocky Balboa (2006)[16]
- The Rock (1996)[16]
- Rollerball (2002)[16]
- Shallow Hal (2001)[16]
- Showgirls (1995)[16]
- Snake Eyes (1998)[16]
- Solaris (2002)[16]
- Southland Tales (2006)[16]
- Spider-Man 2 (2004)[16]
- Spider-Man 3 (2007)[16]
- Starship Troopers (1997)[16]
- Stuck on You (2003)[18]
- Sudden Impact (1983)[16]
- Taken (2009)[16]
- The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)[18]
- Total Recall (1990)[16]
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)[16]
- Two Lovers (2008)[16]
- Unbreakable (2000)[16]
- Unstoppable (2010)[16][29]
- The Village (2004)[16]
- War of the Worlds (2005)[16]
- We Own the Night (2007)[16]
- The Yards (2000)[16]
See also[]
Related movements
- American New Wave
- Arthouse action film
- Cinéma du look
- French New Wave
- Maximalist film
- Postmodernist film
- Social thriller
Related genres
- B-movie
- Blockbuster film
- Classical Hollywood cinema
- Exploitation film
- Extreme cinema
- Giallo
- Grindhouse
- Music video
Similar debates
- Rockism and poptimism
- Telephilia
- Video games as an art form
References[]
- ^ What Vulgar Auteurism Gets Wrong-CriterionCast.com
- ^ Cinema Scope-Trash Humping on "Vulgar Auteurism"
- ^ a b c d e f g h Foundas, Scott. "'Pompeii' doesn't suck: Paul W.S. Anderson and Vulgar Auteurism". Variety.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Labuza, Peter. "Expressive Esoterica in the 21st Century—Or: What Is Vulgar Auteurism?". LabuzaMovies.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-13. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
- ^ a b c d e f g Brody, Richard. "A Few Thoughts on Vulgar Auteurism". The New Yorker.
- ^ a b c d Singer, Matt. "Some Refined Discussion About Vulgar Auteurism".
- ^ a b Patches, Matt. "The Other Paul Anderson: The Psychotic Action Vision of 'Pompeii' Director Paul W.S. Anderson". Grantland.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Vulgar auteurism and Justin Lin|Westword
- ^ a b Kenigsberg, Ben. "From the Wire: Pinkerton's Notes on Vulgar Auteurism". Indiewire.
- ^ a b Pinkerton, Nick. "BOMBAST #96". SundanceNow. Archived from the original on 2014-03-02. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
- ^ Monster Hunter Review: Paul W.S. Anderson Crafts a Hyperkinetic, Faithful Videogame Adaptation|The Film Stage
- ^ New to Streaming: To the Wonder, Monster Hunter, Nomadland, Test Pattern & More|The Film Stage
- ^ a b c d e Vulgar Auteurism-Film Theory
- ^ Fresh blood: Three Great Directors of Direct-to-Video Action|Balder and Dash|Roger Ebert.com
- ^ The artistic genius of Michael Bay – Macleans.ca
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by Vulgar Auteurism: A Guide Or: The "Mann-Scott-Baysians"-MUBI
- ^ Start your engines: Seventh 'Furious' film provides winning shot of adrenaline - Entertainment - Columbia Daily Tribune - Columbia, MO
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n For Love of the Vulgar-MUBI
- ^ 'Dressed to Kill' and 'The Hunger': So Lethal, So Very Fashionable
- ^ The Golden Age of TV: Rise of the Television Auteur|Facets Features
- ^ Army of Milla: Resident Evil and Modern Auteurism-End of Cinema
- ^ Secret Defense: Roland Emmerich’s “Anonymous” on Notebook|MUBI
- ^ Walter Hill on his EIFF retrospective-The Skinny
- ^ Vern Tells It Like It Is: Those Damn Vulgarians-Vern's Reviews on the Films of Cinema
- ^ Back to "Basic" on Notebook|MUBI
- ^ "Gods of Egypt Director Alex Proyas Hates Film Critics". /Film. 2016-02-29. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
- ^ 'Dressed to Kill' and 'The Hunger': So Lethal, So Very Fashionable
- ^ Fresh blood: Three Great Directors of Direct-to-Video Action|Balder and Dash|Roger Ebert.com
- ^ a b Smearing the Senses: Tony Scott, Action Painter on Notebook|MUBI
- ^ Tony Scott: A Moving Target—Movement A on Notebook|MUBI
- ^ 35 Years On, Why I've Never Lost That Loving Feeling For 'Top Gun'|WBUR
- ^ It's time to take a serious look at Zack Snyder-Little White Lies
- ^ A Dreadful Mike Myers Is in Netflix's Top 10 - PopCulture.com
- ^ John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum - Paste
- ^ A Dreadful Mike Myers Is in Netflix's Top 10 - PopCulture.com
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