Pajamas Media

36 Comments

1. Radtop:

Anyone who goes and sees this movie is helping to support another “blame America first” spoiled elitist. Smith is an ingrate, like Obama and Michelle, who think Americans can never give them enough for denigrating our Country.

Jul 2, 2008 - 5:26 am 2. Review: “Hancock” | KyleSmithOnline.com:

[...] three-star review of “Hancock” has picked up some bloggy attention too, because of my claim (outrageous! [...]

Jul 2, 2008 - 6:18 am 3. AJ:

Of course, Smith is a big liberal and a schmuck. That’s what Obama-loving simpleton billionaires do best. I have heard nothing but the worst about this film, and Mr. Smith, though I generally agree with your reviews, this was far too short and light on info to convince me.

More wasted $ by Hollywood. Maybe they could give the 200 million they spent on this movie to the troops? Nya.

Jul 2, 2008 - 6:22 am 4. HardHeadedWoman:

This is the first time I’ve heard of “The Kingdom” described as “infuriatingly patriotic.” Must have seen different “Kingdoms.”

Jul 2, 2008 - 7:15 am 5. SPM:

Interesting thought AJ….how much are you giving this year?

Jul 2, 2008 - 7:26 am 6. AJ:

SPM:

Don’t ask silly questions. How much are YOU giving? See, I would never ask that.

For the record, I’m a vet and my two sons are in Iraq. I make 25k per year. Will Smith, who is far less educated and appreciative than I am, makes more in one minute for being a moron than I do in a year.

I’ll pray for you, SPM. You are a pathetic person.

Jul 2, 2008 - 9:06 am 7. Dave II:

Not to worry…the metaphor will simply be lost on the vast majority of moviegoers (who actually decide to go see it!).

Though..certainly, John Hancock doesn’t need his good name attached to such a monstrosity. Now people will only think of the movie first when they see his name…instead of the patriot and the FIRST signer of the Declaration of Independence who went and signed it so large so that the King of England would have NO QUESTION about who he was!

Ah…such is life in a media-driven 21st century America!

Jul 2, 2008 - 9:20 am 8. AJ:

More like Herbie Hancock

Jul 2, 2008 - 10:15 am 9. Jackie:

You people are horrible, I mean Will Smith is a great actor, he’s accomplished more than a lot of people. Seriously it’s a movie for peoples entertainment, you dont need to go in so deep. Oh and AJ you may be a vet but youre not better than anyone, since youre an adult act like one and respect others opinion instead of acting self-rigteous. Besides why everyone judges celebrities so deeply is beyond me, I mean you dont know them personally so it doesnt give you the right to say anything about them except that theyre good or bad at their job. So everyone get a life and lighten up!

Jul 2, 2008 - 11:27 am 10. AJ:

Blah, blah, blah moral relativism. Jackie, do you think a man who makes his billions off America should be a tad more patriotic and support a war hero over a marxist?

And I was answering question until that little child childishly asked me how much I have given to our country?

Will Pinkett Smith has given NOTHING to his country. Entertainment does not count….think he’d be in the movies for free? Silly.

Jul 2, 2008 - 11:43 am 11. Dennis:

Wow, that’s an interesting take on this movie. As I was watching it last night it never once crossed my mind that this could be an allegory about America’s relationship with other countries. Interesting. I guess it works that way, I just really enjoyed it as an entertaining movie.

I’d have to say that I agree in spirit with the thought that America needs to be responsible as the world’s biggest super hero… er, I mean, power, but sometimes I feel like I must be one of the only people who think that we already ARE responsible and we ARE generous to a fault. I think we resemble already the Hancock from the end of the movie.

Jul 2, 2008 - 12:18 pm 12. GUH:

AJ, you are HILARIOUS! I find it ironic that you’re criticizing Will Smith and lack of what he’s done for his country while claiming you’ve done so much yourself.

Question: what has your country done for you, AJ? You’re a vet, have 2 kids IN IRAQ and you make 25k a year presently??? Sounds to me like you’re a patriotic CHUMP! You’re exactly what corrupt government PREYS on. You’re also a testament to why citizens SHOULDN’T be so willing to do for their country without question.

And PLEASE quit with the “entertainment does not count” bull, this is how capitalism WORKS. This is America, jack.

Jul 2, 2008 - 12:19 pm 13. kylesuxx:

http://www.nypress.com/21/27/news&columns/feature.cfm

This is how you write film criticism dingbat. Hancock, like you, blows. You for Murdoch, Smith for Hollywood. Two sides of the same evil white man. Read and envy.

Jul 2, 2008 - 12:41 pm 14. Jonah:

AJ: Dont worry about small minded people. I am a vet, too and I know how much you gave and are still giving (by way of your boys) to this country. You dont need anyone else to affirm who you are. Liberals take shots a your personality because they have no other substance to defend.

To the rest of you:
As far as this movie goes – I have not seen it. I have been all over the ‘Net and have heard mixed reviews. Whether or not Will Smith is a decent human being is irrelevant. His time on earth is maximum 80 years. He is just making the most of it like we all are. Dont spend your time here on Earth putting other people down. Your lives are short, people, use the gifts you were given to uplift, not put down.

Thats my $.02

Jul 2, 2008 - 1:11 pm 15. Buzz:

Jackie – so, AJ can’t criticize Smith because he doesn’t know him personally? But you’re quite free to tell AJ to act like and adult and, most hilariously “respect others opinion instead of acting self-righteous”.

Do you happen to know what “irony” is?

Jul 2, 2008 - 1:13 pm 16. Karen:

I would rather my two children see LAST TANGO IN PARIS than Will Smith’s trash. When a dufus like him goes over to Russia, and then tells us how much better it was there than here, well he can forget seeing my money.

First Amendment works both ways for millionaire liberal elitist — you can dissent, and we will dissent your dissent, which I think is much more patriotic. Hancock is known to be a bad movie, but when Will Smith came out swinging for Obama and bad mouthing the country, the liberal papers all of the sudden decided it will give it a good review.

It is called propaganda folks, And the liberal media has said if you don’t hate this country and vote for Obama, you are a racist.

Jul 2, 2008 - 1:26 pm 17. trash:

Will smith is a SCIENTOLOGIST in a country of CHRISTIANS. Figure it out. This so called man is trash and America was fooled for a while about this cricket.

obama will smith, michelle obama, wes clark , nancy pelosi, harry reid, and the rest of the democrat party , we will be praying you all get blown up by the muslims.

Jul 2, 2008 - 1:30 pm 18. thebronze:

AJ, I’ll say it, since none of the other ingrates here will.

Thanks for serving, from a fellow Vet.

GUH, the great thing about the internet is that a f*cking douchebag like you can call someone a “chump” for serving their country. And do it from the safety of their computer. You wouldn’t have the guts to say something like that to AJ’s face, but you’re a real internet tough-guy aren’t you? You don’t rate to carry AJ’s jock, you turd.

Jul 2, 2008 - 1:42 pm 19. Dirty Harry’s Place… » DHP Review: Hancock:

[...] The film works many themes, chief among them, finding one’s place in the world. But there’s a subtle Destroy A Village To Save A Village idea at work, as well. Eventually liberal Los Angeles finds they need a Hancock — they need an a**hole not pinned down by Miranda rights or unafraid to remove someone’s body parts without a warrant if it might save lives. All the “niceties” the left employs to make sure American Exceptionalism isn’t so exceptional are not only ignored by Hancock but eventually found foolish by the film itself. [Kyle Smith deconstructs this in an excellent write-up here.] [...]

Jul 2, 2008 - 2:36 pm 20. John the Bitter:

AJ,

Thank you for your service. I will enjoy my freedom on the 4th, that good people like you provided.

Jul 2, 2008 - 2:44 pm 21. A.B.:

I’m not stupid, I know what everybody’s going to compare this film too.

They are all going to say that BARACK OBAMA IS HANCOCK…even though BOTH have gotten their POWERS…from ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

Yet we’re going to put our trust in both to SAVE US! When we should take Personal Responsibility.

Jul 2, 2008 - 2:58 pm 22. BLF:

AJ, I respect your self-proclaimed service, but why would the film industry need to donate $200 mil? That’s kinda nutty. And your response to criticism is kinda nutty/angry…

All that said, most of “Hancock” is a funny, charming picture. But be advised, the movie does have a lot of rough language. And very often, for some strange reason, the language is used in conversation with children.

Jul 2, 2008 - 8:05 pm 23. rotwang:

This is a pretty lame allegory. If Smith were actually “America,” he’d just kill people and steal their stuff, then call it “liberation.”

Funny, though, that the first “PR” move is to dress him up in a flightsuit to make him look more heroic. We all know how well that works.

Jul 2, 2008 - 8:43 pm 24. 2/3 of a masterpiece « Rightwing Film Geek:

[...] some superheroes”). It just feels tacked on, and curiously Kyle Smith barely mentions it in his formal review of HANCOCK. It’s been reported that the end was being reworked at the very last minute, and [...]

Jul 2, 2008 - 9:48 pm 25. ic:

Jackie: why everyone judges celebrities so deeply ?

Because they behave “holier” than us, so they should be judged with a “holier” standard. For instance, the celebrity who parks his private jets at his garage, flies wherever he likes, and lectures us that our carbon footprints are destroying the planet. The celebrity who uses more electricity in a week than I, an “average” American, do in a year lectures me for causing global warming. The celebrity who makes hundreds of millions per lousy film complains that our income taxes are too low, then hires an army of accountants and lawyers to hide his incomes from Uncle Sam.

These people are not judged deeply for being celebrities, they are judged for being loud mouth hypocrites.

Jul 2, 2008 - 10:30 pm 26. Sue:

Please, you have to be an elite of the worst sort, a snotty European or other foreigner to compare America with Hancock. It is extraordinarily difficult to understand what American truly is because in the 6+ million year history of the humanoid races, there has never been anything like it, never! It has been mercilessly beaten on these past forty years, almost like the world hated it for saving them during their madness of WWI and WWII and the current Middle East fiasco. We are facing the end of the first, only and last experiment of its kind in history, America. Perhaps the human race prefers to be treated like a child, be taken care of by a dictatorial type regime. If so, they will rue the day and wish fervently for an America they helped to destroy!!!!!

Jul 3, 2008 - 8:05 am 27. Amphipolis:

There is a huge double standard about America.

Are we really equivalent to the town drunk? Are we worse than others, or are we just honest about ourselves?

We let it all hang out – in movies, news, in our own statistics that we keep. Other nations don’t do this, they brush most of their garbage out of sight.

Add to this the natural human tendency to resent the rich and powerful, especially if the rich and powerful is unlikely to strike back.

Jul 3, 2008 - 8:13 am 28. AJ:

Jackie, like a child, has left the building

Jul 3, 2008 - 9:52 am 29. patrick:

Hancock looks like interesting spin on the latest superhero movie craze… if nothing else at least Will Smith tends to be pretty funny

Jul 3, 2008 - 10:43 am 30. ChrisGreen:

I don’t get the vitriol directed toward Smith’s interpretation of this movie. He’s saying that, according to the movie, the US has bludered around a little bit and hasn’t always been perfect, but overall, it’s done far more good then bad. I think that is a pretty fair assement.

Rotwang: As far as Rotwang’s comment is concerned, what exactly are we stealing from Iraq and Afganistan? Have we forbad the Iraqi government from making oil contracts with other countries? Have we forced them to sell oil only to us? What did we steal from Bosnia or Granada or South Korea. What resources did we plunder from Vietnam?

Jul 3, 2008 - 2:02 pm 31. Javelin:

AJ, whether you are a patriot or your sons are in Iraq are irrelevant. Yyou are just another petty little mind with nothing to say hiding behind your patriotism.

Jul 3, 2008 - 11:51 pm 32. lee:

I saw this movie today. You can see the “Twist” of the second half a MILE way.

The movie is borderline R material, btw.

Jul 4, 2008 - 12:03 am 33. Luis:

People stop backing up our goverment mistakes. How many millions are being wasted a day on the middle east trying to teach those folks how to live like westerners. Get a reality check! they have been fighting each other way before our mainland was ruled by Sitting bull great grandpa.
Only weaponry companies are making big money while our brothers and sisters are being killed by guerilla type armys. Help america, invest in america not faraway causes. Finally, how does the middle east war (the one we $upport) has help us keeping the gas prices low? Thank you.

Jul 6, 2008 - 1:01 pm 34. Bill Bradley:

Yeah, I’ve seen “Hancock.” I know what Will Smith is up to in this film.

And, uh, well, haha …

Jul 6, 2008 - 5:45 pm 35. MDWhite:

Having been born and raised in Los Angeles, I can attest to the fact that most people involved in the “celebrity” industry think of themselves as living in a world apart from the rest of us. By and large, most, if not all of them have been lulled into believing that they are “anointed” and that, simply because they can act, sing, dance (or by extension shoot a ball through a hoop or hit a high-speed fastball), they hold the intellectual and moral high ground on any and all topics, political and social. One need only to look aty the recent ravings of idiots such as Sharon Stone, Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, Barbra Streisand, et. al. to see that “Vapidity, thy name is Oscar.”

Jul 8, 2008 - 12:01 pm 36. MDWhite:

Having been born and raised in Los Angeles, I can attest to the fact that most people involved in the “celebrity” industry think of themselves as living in a world apart from the rest of us. By and large, most, if not all of them have been lulled into the comfort of believing that they are “anointed” and that, simply because they can act, sing, dance (or by extension shoot a ball through a hoop or hit a high-speed fastball), they hold the intellectual and moral high ground on any and all topics, political and social. One need only to look at the recent ravings of idiots such as Sharon Stone, Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, Barbra Streisand, et. al. to see that “Vapidity, thy name is Oscar.”

Jul 8, 2008 - 12:01 pm

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