Comments on: Aisle of the Dead (part 2)

By: Steve Boyett

Steve Boyett — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:34:27 +0000

I mention “A Boy and His Dog” in my fiction list, and if space permitted I’d undoubtedly end up listing the L.Q. Jones movie, but I don’t list it here because I have the same problems with it that Harlan does — chiefly an ending that cheapens all that has gone before for the sake of a bad pun.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:00:32 +0000

Pretty decent list, and I agree with your selections. I might add A Boy and His Dog to the list as well. Not a bad adaptation of the Harlan Ellison novella (fun to watch Don Johnson in one of his earliest film roles), and beats Road Warrior to the punch by six years.

By: Steve Boyett

Steve Boyett — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:02:40 +0000

Well, I don’t know that I do watch it ironically, to be honest. I saw THE OMEGA MAN when I was eleven and loved every second of the thing, and if I watch it again, I’m that awestruck 11-year-old.

BUCKAROO BANZAI is a great example, I think, of a movie that really isn’t very good — the bar on the production standards was low enough to give butch haircuts to ants — but I just love the thing, I think because I see the movie they were trying to make (or maybe think they made).

A movie I watch ironically? Hmm. That’s worth thinking about.

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:34:09 +0000

100% agree! I have a hard time explaining that to my friends, actually, because they don’t understand the separation. They say “If you LIKE it, doesn’t that make it GOOD?” I never really thought it did, and some people have the hardest time accepting that.

I guess I can see where the love of Omega Man comes in, it’s intriguing in a kitschy 70’s sort of way, and I have my fair share of guilty pleasures/movies I watch ironically as well. Like the Room. Please, please youtube it now.

By: Steve Boyett

Steve Boyett — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:23:19 +0000

Oh, I didn’t say I thought it was a good movie. I said I love it. A good critic understands the difference between what he likes and what is good, what he doesn’t like and what is bad. d.

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:44:30 +0000

Maybe I was spoiled, but I read Matheson’s book before I saw the Omega Man, and I, uh, didn’t like it so much. It probably has more to do with loathing Charlton Heston and his particular brand of overacting heroics. Though Heston was probably the perfect vessel to have to show off Neville’s drinking, and especially his angrily-thrown shot glasses piling up in one corner.