Bret Easton Ellis Did Not Particularly Enjoy The Hangover
Novelist Bret Easton Ellis has a Twitter account that he rarely updates, except to review movies, and tonight he tweeted his somewhat predictable disgust for The Hangover and the simpletons surrounding him who actually had the audacity to enjoy it.
You see, we’ve picked up on a trend amongst “the intelligentsia” of an almost kid-on-Christmas-morning eagerness to run to the theatre to see this film just so they can trash it on their blogs and Twitter accounts and in doing so feel superior to the doltish masses who actually derived some sense of pleasure from it. Of course, we have no actual data to back this up, there’s just a palpable snobbishness wafting through the air right now that our finely-tuned cultural antennae has picked up on.
Some members of the aforementioned “intelligentsia” who we actually like and hold in high regard have written about the film without really making mention of the film at all, choosing to focus instead on the “ugly and thoughtless” clothes worn by the other moviegoers at a screening in a notably unhip Manhattan neighbourhood instead.
What’s perhaps most perplexing about the gripes we’ve read and heard about The Hangover coming from members of “the intelligentsia” are their genuine professions of profound shock over how “fratty” and “juvenile” the film struck them. It’s almost as if they truly expected that a film titled “The Hangover” might actually be some sort of Fellini-esque neorealist high art film.
Another common trait shared by members of “the intelligentsia” who hated The Hangover is that they invariably loved Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience, a film we desperately wanted to like but truly thought was one of the biggest steaming piles of cinematic dung to emerge out of the 21st century.
One last thought about The Hangover—Yes, it’s a silly movie, but it’s not completely devoid of intelligence, and silly movies seasoned with just a sprinkle of intelligence can often do wonders for the soul. If, that is, you’re willing to unclench your anus just over the course of the couple of hours it takes to watch them.
With that said, go see The Hangover and judge for yourself.
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
@futurelegend: Or perhaps, "Trying to enjoy The Hangover, but the guy next to me is making me uncomfortable. Think he might be a serial killer or something."
miss melis is a bee girl for the 21st century
Honestly, I kind of liked this (his Twitter). Is that okay?
@Mama Penguino: I was a little worried when the couple passed me to sit down, but my ageist profiling was totally unwarranted when I looked around to see who was guffawing even harder than I was and saw the tiny woman two seats over killing herself! I hope her Poise held up. :D
lucylooo
@valet_of_the_dolls: Ahaha, don't feel bad, I convinced several other people to see it with that phrase, too. It is really hilarious, and BC mitigates being a total dick in the movie by being shirtless several times. :D
lucylooo
why does anyone care what BEE has to say about "The Hangover"? as if we didn't already know that he's an elitist, erudite, misogynistic asshole. i've read "Less Than Zero" and "American Psycho" (didn't make it through "Glamourama"), and i think Ellis has carved his niche in american literature. personally, i think he was just pissed that no giant ants ate a chocolate covered urinal cake. that's how you go over the fucking top! fuck yeah!
lilliputzian
Why is he hanging around UCLA?
@allyzay: in case that wasn't very clear, i was meaning that as in "choire is a terrible example to hold up here because he's doing a v specific thing that actually isn't particularly related to the movies he's reviewing"
@Oy Veh (Informality Reigns): that is how every single one of his flicked off reviews reads.
@Tietsu: Pretentious comments on twitter receiving pretentious comments about twitter on a blog post. Let head exploding commence.
Daveed
@boozeshaman: He probably thought it was a seminar on how to recover from one.
RollsRoyceRevenge
@VoxPopuli: And the way they walk with those flip-flops makes my blood pressure rise. Pick up your feet dagnamit!
i'm a bottle
@SugartitsMcFirecrotch: or rather, how can't they be?
@Anthony_Underscore: Grass planted by a hooker, only to be waxed off?
@i'm a bottle: My favorite is on weekday evenings, when they wear sweatpants and button-down shirts after work. There's usually a t-shirt under there, but it's the ultimate in laziness.
@Uncle_Billy_Slumming: As a former clerk at Borders, I love this story! I was in charge of the fiction section and I let BEE's books sit in my backstock. If someone wanted one, he had to ask for it.
@lucylooo: Don't worry about her, sweetie. She was probably wearing a Poise pad! Loved your review!
@Mama Penguino:
I think I told this story already, but it bears repeating. I was working in a college bookstore when young Master Easton's first commercial venture hit the shelves: Less Than Zero. We had a huge pyramid of these hardcover books in the middle of the store. Once every couple of days someone would take one and leaf through it. Even more infrequently, someone would buy one. Early on a Friday night we noticed someone loitering far too long in the store. Turned out to be the author himself! He hung out for hours to gauge his book's reception, like the movie people at their first screenings. Upon reflection, my encounters there with Kareem Abdul Jabar's kneecaps and Jay Leno's motorcycle were a lot more interesting.
Bret Easton Ellis = O Ver Rated.
(Full disclosure: I wore baggy shorts while enjoying the Hangover.)
bellhop68
@Tietsu: A Gawker commenter contemptuous of people on Twitter...oh shit, my head just exploded.
Just curious: how can clothes be "thoughtless"?
SugartitsMcFirecrotch
@Dally:
I'm a jaded, cynical bastard with a bad liver who practices a whore's trade. But I saw UP (3D!) this weekend with a civilian audience and loved it. BEE needs to take the poker out of his ass.
@Mama Penguino: uh-oh
@MrInBetween: Do they still give out Gold Stars around here?
If you've reached middle age and you're still droning on about feeling alienated, you've got bigger problems than aforementioned alienation.
If you hated the Girlfriend Experience, then you have got to see the Informers. The bar can get lower, people.
Christopher T. Sadler
Wait, isn't Bret Easton Ellis dead?
Am I thinking of someone else? I'm thinking of someone else.
the famous boat
Hey I know it's CRAZY but people have widely diverse taste in film. The Girlfriend Experience just tickled B.E.E.'s inner pleasure chords more effectively than the Hangover.
Not surprising, but what was he doing seeing the Hangover anyhow?
boozeshaman
@lucylooo: This was a maybe until I read the phrase "shirtless Bradley Cooper", at which point it became a yes. So, thanks, I guess.
@smithhimself: But I think you only qualify as a member of the intelligentsia if you are 'meh' about the 'The Hangover' and its audience leaves you despairing for the future of society.
Dally
God, I hated The Girlfriend Experience. And I thought The Hangover was hilarious. Not lifechanging or groundbreaking, but I really don't understand all the hate.
whoneedslight
@Tietsu: I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds it ironic that somebody is condescending to anything while using Twitter.
teke367
@EdithMorris: It depends on what you're wearing. Are your clothes ugly and thoughtless?
@MrInBetween: Well played, Mr. I-B.
I went to see it last night. It was disgusting, sophmoric, gross, moronic, offensive, frat-boy-wannabe humour with little redeeming value, and I laughed so hard through the entire thing I thought I was going to pee my pants (and I was a little worried about the 60-something woman sitting next to me, too). Seriously, if you're looking for the movie equivalent of All Bran, stick to the art-house. I'll take Lucky Charms (and shirtless Bradley Cooper) any day.
lucylooo
@Dally:
We're here. But concealed. For example, BookishLookish is so bright she glows in the dark.
Wow, posts or comments on Gawker that mildly hint at criticizing Choire in some way? *Backs slowly away from the computer, wondering if I awakened in an alternate universe*
Caught "The Girlfriend Experience" by accident on cable; it was one of those "watch this movie for free before it hits the theaters" (thank you, Verizon FIOS) and when I hit the "Info" button I saw it was made in 2009 and thought it was one of those straight-to-cable movies.
I watched about 20 minutes of it. It was like watching grass grow.
...grass that was planted by a HOOKER! Am I right, people?
People?
Anthony_Underscore
@The Cajun Boy: But those were his ONLY comments relating to the film instead of the audience. I thought that his overall EXPERIENCE was "meh" because of the crowd attending.
Oy Veh (Informality Reigns)
@the lost texan:
Really, the movie doesn't need to be pimped out either. "15 more minutes of fart jokes?" I don't need to be sold on that.
QuarterlyProphet
I find his point about men in Murray Hill dressing "ugly and thoughtlessly" to be true. He's hit on something when he said that they have two modes depending on where they are: at the 1) entry-level management job (for instance, "at a risk management consulting firm"), or, 2) anywhere else. At (1) they "thoughtlessly" wear blue button-down shirts, at (2) they wear their "silvery gym clothing, and synthetic t-shirts and cheap flip-flops from China." Have you ever been in a sports bar with these people? It's painful and, ultimately, a draining experience.
Oh, he forgot that there is a third locale for which they dress, Murray Hill non-sports-themed bars. For those, they wear Abercrombie & Fitch shorts, baggy button down shirts that they tuck in, flip-flops and fitted baseball caps. This I like to term "Kips Bay casual formal."
i'm a bottle
Somewhere there is a twitter (or is it a tweet? I'm old) that reads:
"Trying to watch the Hangover at Westwood theater, but there's some asshole in a sweater vest next to me who won't get off his phone."
futurelegend
I thought "The Hangover" was very funny. And I'm definitely not in the 20something age group. When my boyfriend told his teenage son I really liked the movie, the kid's jaw pretty much dropped to the floor. And then he said in his most snarky tone of voice, "Dad, I didn't think that movie was for your demographic."
Whatever, Kid, I still enjoyed it.
@EdithMorris: Yes.
antennae have antenna has ...or is it palpable snobbishness to point this out?
EdithMorris
Years ago, I had a similarly alienating movie experience in a nearly empty theater in Westwood. While the handful of moviegoers sat stone-faced at "American Psycho," I roared with laughter.
What are these "intelligentsia" of which you speak?
I clicked on the Gawker "intelligentsia" tag and there is only a single search result - this post. My conclusion: the intelligentsia must hang out at ... Jezebel?
Dally
I think B.E.E. was just annoyed by the usher bringing him complimentary bellinis despite Bryce's protests.
As a recent fan of Brett Easton Ellis (just got around to him), I have to say that his does put the hint of a damper on my excitement because I am one of those ugly and thoughtlessly clad movie-goers who isn't cool enough to see this movie even in an unhip Manhattan neighborhood. The geography doesn't quite work out.
@Oy Veh (Informality Reigns): You know, I usually "get" Choire's humor, but came away from reading that piece not really knowing how he felt about it. He praised Zach G. and the baby abuse, but I sort of took away that he felt kinda "meh" about it. Maybe that's just my interpretation.
Ellis is probably just pissed Galifianakis didn't use his real penis in the credits. Total letdown brah.
Barret Lee Fisher
It seems that Choire actually liked the movie--just not the thought that he could have shared ANYTHING in common with the rest of the audience.
Oy Veh (Informality Reigns)
I like that when I went to the linked Awl review, I was inundated with "Mall Cop" ads all over the page. When panning a movie for pandering to the unwashed masses, they should probably make sure they're not making money by pimping Mall Cop. Just sayin
@airvault: Lolz!
What someone sitting next to Ellis likely tweeted:
"Saw Patrick Bateman at showing of The Hangover. Fucking creep just sat there."
airvault
I wonder how Ellis felt about not being able craft a character like Phil, who might actually come out of his novels except more grounded as he is crass and hilarous.
imatter
I find myself disgusted by everything that goes on at Twitter. So I pretend it doesn't exist.
Twitter is destroying the fabric of society...well it's helping...