by Travis Johnson
Apparently still upset over the poor critical reception of his mythical epic, Gods of Egypt, Australian director Alex Proyas has used his public Facebook profile to go on a tirade against his detractors, calling them – among many other things – “…useless and crap, when they are coming from somewhere completely dishonest and laughable.”
This latest outburst follows Proyas’ statements shortly after the theatrical release of Gods of Egypt, when he referred to the film’s detractors as “… a pack of diseased vultures pecking at the bones of a dying carcass.”
On June 27, Proyas took to Facebook, posting, “OOPS! I think I upset me some critics by questioning the usefulness of their profession. Honestly, for those who love to dish it out on artists, they are so incredibly over-sensitive. Poor sad petty fools. Looks like I will not be getting too many positive reviews for my future films. Like I give a shit.”
Friends and followers quickly agreed, with one saying, “Critics now are less educated and more along the lines of PR schills [sic] who will pimp anything. The others, they conduct themselves like troll-bloggers living in their parents basement. Fuck intelligent discussion, they don’t complain about what the movie WAS, they have not the mental tools. They complain about what the movie was NOT, and how it didn’t live up to their preconceptions.”
Dissenting opinions were quickly quashed.
“Speaking as a semi-professional critic, the good ones care about the work.” one wrote. “They go into every film wanting it to be good. They don’t get personal and they critique each film on its own merits.”
“What fantasy world do you live in, mate?” Proyas replied. Another was told, “zzzzzzzz – hope your reviews are more interesting than that post because it actually put me to sleep.”
It’s not known exactly when Proyas developed his dislike of film criticism as a practice, although it’s estimated that it was probably long after the release of The Crow (82% on Rotten Tomatoes) and Dark City (74%), but could have occurred following the release of Garage Days (43%), I, Robot (58%), Knowing (34%), or even Gods of Egypt (16%).
He did allow that he respected some critics, singling out the now deceased Roger Ebert. “Ebert was one of the few. Loved the bloke. Had dinner with him once. But he would have taken my critique of the critics in his stride. Sadly many of the idiots around at the moment have no idea. They wouldn’t know a good film if they fell over it.” and later, “Ebert was someone who truly loved film. I am not saying that because he gave me some good reviews.”
After going on to say, “It is a sad profession. Earning money by ripping down artists, because of jealousy. It is so easy to spew rubbish about someone’s work, and so hard to actually make a work of art.” “Let’s eradicate critic vermin for good!” and “They are all scum!” Proyas went on to frame his statements as both an act of free speech and a part of the artistic dialogue (which, by inference, he feels should exclude professional criticism).
“Once again, just as in my last anti-critic post, I have been told I should stop criticising the critics. Why can’t an artist criticise those who spout hate about his work? You can say what you like about my films, dear Critics, but you have no right to deny me my freedom of expression and free speech. So screw you, and the horse you rode in on.”
Gods of Egypt, which is actually quite enjoyable, is out on home release now.
A critic is an arse upon which everyone has sat except a man. You really need to do something for that thin skin condition. Calling this an article reveals a misunderstanding of what an article is.
Wow, is this guy accusing FilmInk of having thin skin for running this article? How ironic that it is about a filmmaker having thin skin
Hi Qasi,
Cry more.
Weeb.
What is the point of a critic? What is the function? Why do we have them? Would a name change to “Film Enthusiast” change their outlook? I think I might like to hear a film enthusiast respond to a new release. I do think they should spend time thinking about a film before talking about it. Film is the closest thing we have to the dream state, and any dream really benefits from reflection. Also I’ve heard that many many media reviewers cut and paste previous reviews so they don’t have to write about it themselves- hence with Proyas’ GOE we end up with a constant stream of negativity. I thought it was good fun, isn’t that what big films are supposed to be : Creative, flashy and fun? Speaking as someone who has made a low budget film and as a writer – Alex is right, it is so so much work to get it made… I totally understand his bitterness…
You have to admit, the man is right.
Making a movie is like giving a birth to your beautiful baby, for every one to stand at the window in the hospital and sneer, “Oh its ugly” , “oh its ears sickout”, “oh it fat”, “oh i thought it would be more interesting to look at”
If one critic of the world become took on the task of making a blockbuster movie, I am certain they would come out the other end 3 years later and apologise to every director they shot down. I guess its just easier to sit on ones ar$e and type a couple of sentences into rotten tomatoes, thats a gutless nd effortless profession.
I agree with that director’s POV on film critics. Film critics is mostly the useless and lame ilk that is consist of the bunch of pathetic attention seekers and parasites that are trying to solve self-esteem issues at the account of celebs. Pretty much like paparazzi. Most of them are absolutely ignorant on how the analysis and the critical article should be written at all. Most of them never read a professional literature on the subject. They lack the professional knowledge. They feed on the work and things that they can’t do themselves. Many of them dreamed to work in the industry but they don’t care about movies. Such people want to compensate their own complete uselessness and inability to achieve something on any professional field. That’s a usual tactic for the weak and cowardly people. What’s worse: they spread the false ideas about what “proper acting and directing”are and the poorly educated audience believes the rubbish they write. Then the both parties happily start a disgusting and immoral witch-hunt. Did anyone count how many really good and professional people they hurt with their attacks? How many good movies never found the way to the wider audience because of that? Especially from the Indie films? I’ve read some good articles about movies but it’s a scarily small amount of people that can actually write a good article about a film.
Film critic” is not even a profession, it’s an occupation. Sadly, Internet gave the opportunity to way too many “occupants” in this case. Everyone is a film critic now, no? And, sure, they so don’t like to be criticized! Which makes them even less interesting and more pathetic. If I want to see a film, I don’t need any “critic” to tell me how to watch it. In the end, good movies stay in Movie History and people keep watching it – generation by generation. Who will remember a film critic? Exactly.
Critics of plenty of entertainment, Arts and culture are around because there is a demand for them in from media, which is in demand by us, the readers. What film critics and Industry press do outside of Australia is clearly a bit different though. I always read the media on news and interviews here on filmink, and IF and others, but not any of the reviews on Australian films. There aren’t any around here that review them objectively and or consistently, and we all know why. So I wait if need be for the Industry press reviews out of the US and Europe. Not because I want a film here to be bad, I just want to read an objective review from somewhere else that has no interest in laying claim to how great a film is. And they are always more in-depth, and informed. They mention people involved in the work other than the director, like writers, and designers, both production and sound. And if relevant, also mention other key players in the production. One thing they don’t do often is retaliate in a fashion like this article does. No director likes to have their work ripped apart at levels Gods was, it would be a horrific and awful, and public experience. Some are better at concealing it than others, none of them could honestly say they aren’t bothered by it. And no one would blame them, but no-one likes to lay in the slipper more than the Australian. In a tiny space like Australian film and television, its never not easy to see. I could pick out all the film critics in Australia by what genre they prefer to watch in less than a weeks worth of press releases and reviews from the industry.