Ed Johnson-Ott was the one I was referring to specifically--saying it was why he didn't think it should win best picture. I haven't read a great deal of criticism toward _Elizabeth_, so I couldn't say how common it is. I do know, however, that anytime something is stylized, it's described as MTV, which really is menaingless in itself. I don't think there are any reviews of Luhrmann's R & J that didn't do this, and my film criticism professor at the time commented on mine that that statement is really rather meaningless. The only exception I can think of is Phil Hardy, who suggested it had more to do with HK action and gangster films than MTV, despite the alternative rock soundtrack. I must admit the fact that both films had the same editor, Jill Billcok, is not surprising. Scott =============================================================================== Scott Andrew Hutchins http://php.iupui.edu/~sahutchi Oz, Monsters, Kamillions, and More! "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously."--Noam Chomsky On Fri, 19 Mar 1999, Edward R. O'Neill wrote: > Are the accusations against the current film > _Elizabeth_--that the style derives from MTV--really > common? Can anyone refer me to an example in print? > > Isn't the more obvious comparison to _The Godfather_? I.e., > family rivalries, chiaroscuro lighting, young scion of > family assumes patriarchal responsibility at the cost of > personal happiness, penultimate cross-cutting bloodbath, > etc. Isn't it all just lifted straight from _The > Godfather_? > > Granted _The Godfather_ gets a lot of its thematic material > from treating what had previously been gangster iconography > as post-Elizabethan drama (specifically Webster)--as a UCLA > Theater major, the director would hardly have been unaware > of these references--and _Elizabeth_ just returns the favor > by borrowing the visual and editing strategies back to the > proper time period in order to "update" the visual style and > to differentiate itself from the Masterpiece Theater > tradition. > > Whence the excuse for comparing _Elizabeth_ to MTV? > > Sincerely, > Edward R. O'Neill > UCLA > General Education Program > > [log in to unmask] wrote: > > > > Considering the accusations of _Elizabeth_ being MTV, I'm sure I'll get > > attacked with that, and assumed because of my age to have been weaned on > > MTV. In truth, it was inspired primarily by 1920s avant-garde cinema, > > plus Maya Deren and others, and around a particular theme. > > ---- > Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the > University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu > ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite