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Review: Orange County 184

Posted by JonKatz from the is-college-really-necessary? dept.
Orange County is a strange movie, hard to categorize and, in a way, a tease. At times, (and sparked by the over-the-top Jack Black) it's hilarious and challenging. Then it tries to be a derivative teen movie, then a social satire on family, identity and college snobbery. As a result, it's a bunch of different kinds of movies thrown together. The movie also has generational significance, at least for Hollywood. It's directed by Lawrence Kasdan's kid Jake, and stars Tom Hanks' son Colin (Shaun Brumder) and Sissy Spaceks' daughter Schuyler Fisk (Ashley). Hanks looks and acts so much like his father it's distracting. But don't be fooled by the trailers -- Orange County is an ambitious movie, drawing nearly as much from American Beauty as from Clueless. Spoilage warning: plot discussed, not ending.

Shaun is a brainless Orange County surfing dude until he stumbles across a novel and decides he was to use his brain and become a writer. He obsesses on Stanford, doesn't get in because of a paperwork screw-up by his moonie guidance counselor (Lily Tomlin) and, with the help of his perpetually-stoned brother (Black) and girlfriend (Fisk), sets out to gain admission to Stanford. Part of his obsession comes from a desire to get away from his hilariously and spectacularly dysfunctional family (drunken drama queen mother is played by Catherine O'Hara, remote divorced money-obsessed dad by John Lithgow).

Black is by now wonderful at playing the stoned loony, but he needs to be careful, as it's already nearly impossible to imagine him in any other role. And he's great at it. He nearly steals the movie, especially playing against the steady-as-she-goes nice guy Colin Hanks who, like his Dad, has a Jimmy Stewart quality that makes you root for him, even when he's behaving badly.

The plotting and conceit of the movie are both strange. Orange County, a wealthy suburb of LA, is held to be insipid and valueless. Although we get a peek at the dummies who Shaun befriends and who go to his high school, there is little feel at all for the actual place, one of America's early, mythic suburbs. At least at first, all Shaun wants to do is get away, though the writers eventually suggest that wanting to leave arid suburbs and go to colleges like Stanford is a mistake. Creative and interesting people should stay at home where their roots are, all the better to be inspired and keep their needy parents and girlfriends happy.

Shaun's paperwork snafu could probably have been corrected with a phone call, so all the slapstick racing around -- there's an improbably mad dash up to Stanford -- and hysteria seems a bit silly. And the ending -- well, it's original, but also goofy. It lost me.

I think for a total of 15 to 20 minutes this is one of the most inventive and original movies I've seen in awhile. In toto, it's disjointed. It seems as if Kasdan wanted to make a semi-serious, biting movie but either chickened out or was held back. Still, there are more than a few great laughs in Orange County and the parts of the film that portray a complex kid trying to figure out where he belongs while coming to terms with his insane family really work -- at moments.
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Review: Orange County

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  • I really don't want this to sound like a troll, and I really love Slashdot, and I read it every day, and Linux is a great operating system, and open source is The Way, and I've really enjoyed all of Jack Black's movies, BUT...

    Is this really a Slashdot news story? I mean, I'd never submit a non-tech movie review to /., much less expect it to be posted, and I don't think I personally know anyone who would.

    Perhaps the editors could do the same thing we lowly grunts do—post stories like this in your journal.
    • I think, unfortunately, some people around here are probably wrongly assuming that all of us "losers" who read Slashdot have little or no social life, and, henceforth, the only entertainment we get is watching sci-fi and hot chick movies. Therefore, they probably think the movie reviews are pertinent information.
    • I guess it may surprise some, but in most cases nerd != 1 dimensional tech person. I sort of like the fact that slashdot runs stories on a range of topics that typically appeal to people that also tend to like "geeky" things.

      I still think it's interesting that many types people interested in a given topic, also typically share an interest in another seemingly unrelated topic.

      For example, slashdot typically runs significant stories on space exploration / physics topics. What does linux and open source have to do with NASA? Nothing really, but for whatever reason, it seems like the majority of linux enthusiasts are also interested in physics / science stuff.

      I guess I'm way, way off topic on the movie review, but I guess my point is something like, "if you don't like a story headline, don't read it." It's most likely posted here because it will appeal to a number of other slashdotters.
      • I sort of prefer reading the comments on the movie reviews over the actual review because the /. community tends to feel the same way I do about things. So when a majority of /.'ers think a movie is good, it usually turns out to be good.

        It's not like /. isn't getting enough M$ bashing in so I think its cool. It would help if Jon Katz wasn't such a prick but oh well.
      • Well, science is geeky. Sci-fi movie and book reviews are geeky. Giving Jon Katz a forum to post whatever the hell he wants is just lame. I'm not saying the site shouldn't be open to items of peripheral geekiness, but at the same time, there have to be limits. We don't need an Ask Slashdot discussion on cat litter, even though most of us have cats. From what I've seen, the movies Jon Katz reviews aren't particularly geeky movies, nor does he write said reviews from a perspective different than you'd find in any newspaper (Joe Queenan you're not, Mr. Katz). In fact, you probably can find reviews of these same movies in just about any newspaper. What's nice about Slashdot is that it concentrates worthwhile geek/nerd news into a single place--news that I'd have to dig through a thousand hardware sites, mainstream news sources, press releases, etc to find otherwise. On the other hand, I can get movie reviews anywhere, and without hardly any trouble at all.
      • Yes, but why can't Katz at least post reviews on movies that aren't so damn mainstream and overhyped already?

        I mean, come on! If I wanted a review of orange county I could get it in my local paper.

        LOTR I can definitly see being reviewed on slashdot. But this?
      • It's not so much that this isn't a geeky topic. It's more to the effect that most of the movies I've seen JonKatz review have been the sort of movies that Beavis and Butthead would just love. Don't get me wrong, as I love *good* comedies, but this doesn't qualify, I'm sorry. Plus I would find them incredibly irritating, and I would much rather gouge my eyes out than pay $8 to see it.

        So to say the least, this geek would really rather not see these reviews, thank you very much.
    • True - I can see a place here for reviews of LOTR, certainly A Beautiful Mind and maybe even Harry Potter.

      Where next though? Has "Ocean's 11" any relevance to Slashdotters? SFX and CGI are interesting as well as techie topics, but there are other places to go to talk about movies just for their own sake.

      Kuro5hin [kuro5hin.org] has a voting system open to all registered users for the front page. Maybe this is needed here on Slashdot.

      • Kuro5hin [kuro5hin.org] has a voting system open to all registered users for the front page. Maybe this is needed here on Slashdot.

        You stupid ponce. This is slashdot, and that [adequacy.com] is Kuro5hin.

        Both slash and scoop sucks. With slash, you have to put up with the idiocy of the authors on the front page. But with scoop, you have to put up with the idiocy of the entire site. You get hundreds of retarded authors, instead of ten.

        It's a hell of a lot easier to filter the authors you don't like, than to sift through endless trolls and pointless links and regurgitation on k5. Picking the lesser of two evils, you get slash.



        You don't like it? There are plenty of other quality websites [olsentwins.com] out there.

    • Was LoTR a tech movie? That got tons of coverage on here, and nobody had a problem with it. I've seen the movie. It's OK. Besides Jack Black (who is excellent), there is nothing really special about the rest of the movie. Y'all should just wait for it on video.
    • There is this cool little feature that allows you to customize what stories you view. If you don't like movie reviews, turn them off.
    • Why is it that every movie review posted on /. receieves a flood of 'why the hell is this on /.?!??' posts?

      If the article doesn't interest you, skip it. I'm sure a good amount of daily slashdot readers are interested in knowing whether or not they should spend the zillion bucks to go see a movie. And believe it or not, nerds don't go see only tech movies.

      End mini-rant.
    • Its tech related. Look here:

      He nearly steals the movie, especially playing against the steady-as-she-goes nice guy Colin Hanks who, like his Dad, has a Jimmy Stewart quality that makes you root for him, even when he's behaving badly.

      Creative and interesting people should stay at home where their roots are, all the better to be inspired and keep their needy parents and girlfriends happy.


      Root is a *nix term, therefore its tech related...and he says it twice!
    • Obviously you have a low tolerance for things that lie outside of your interests. My suggestion to you, since you went through the trouble to obtain a slashdot login, is to take hold of the mouse and click on the "preferences" link in the upper left of any slashdot served page. Next, navigate to the page that has all the little check boxes. Then configure them to only show the things you can tolerate. Finally, quit bitching about having a choice!
    • I really love Slashdot, and I read it every day

      Then also read the comments before you post.
    • Oh look, it's the arguement that never ends.

      There are options to block out specific types of stories, or specific authors- set it to block out JonKatz or Movies, and you'll never see a movie review again. Now stop trolling and get a better hobby.

      Go see a movie or something.

  • I also saw it.... (Score:3, Funny)

    by frostgiant ( 243045 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @12:09PM (#2832602)
    I also saw the movie. It looked incredibly stupid in the previews but I was surprised by its quality. It's not a Lord of the Rings or A Beautiful Mind, but it is a decent flick. And you get to see Tom Hanks's clone.
  • Count me out from any more Tom Hanks movies. Too phony (out for the awards).
    • Tom Hanks isn't in it. His son, Colin, is.
    • neat. now we have holden caulfield's slashdot nick.
    • Don't blame the son for the sins of the father. I mean, it's not like Colin has ever won any awards. Besides, I'm looking forward to another youthful, attractive actor appearing in hundreds of horrible movies (like Big) before going into films that are garaunteed to win an Oscar.

      Hey! Now they can make sequels to all of Tom's best films, starring his son! I can just see it now. "Insomniac in Islip," "You've Got Text Message," and, of course, "Toy Story 16."

  • O C (Score:3, Offtopic)

    by Brit Aviator ( 542593 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @12:12PM (#2832615) Homepage
    Ah yes, I remember the trailer for this movie. Specifically, I remember it delaying my viewing of LoTR for another 60 seconds. I will never forgive them. Bastards.

  • When I saw the prewiews (Score:5, Informative)

    by xg0blin ( 547154 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @12:14PM (#2832622)
    there looked to be all these great scenes in the movie. Like when Shaun is making his tape for stanford and his brother comes behind with twizzlers stuffed in his nose, or when the brother is playing drums on the cereal bowl singing "you don't need collage to rock". I saw tons of movie previews like these. None of these parts are in the movie. I saw probably ten different scenes on MTV and in previews that weren't actually in the movie. I truly enjoyed the movie, but the best parts were the ones in the previews that weren't even in the movie. I found this to be very misleading. Those were the scenes that made me want to see the movie in the first place.
    • "you don't need collage to rock"

      I thinc you need forth grade agan to lurn how to spel.
    • Well, you already saw the parts you liked. They were funny, right? Well, good. Isn't that all you need?

      When I see a joke in a trailer, even if it is funny, I virtually never laugh at it in the final film, because I know it's coming. You should be happy that the filmmakers filled the running time with fresh material, rather than recycle the stuff they used for the trailer. And as long as the film didn't betray the way the trailer marketed it (which I really doubt), you're not being robbed of anything, because the trailer is probably widely available for d/l.

      Just some thoughts is all...

      • If they showed outtakes in the trailer, and the titles said, "This is the stuff that we cut out of Orange County," that would be enormously cool. They could even say "The stuff we left in is even better." Millions of moviegoers would be grateful. But including excised scenes in the trailer with no such disclaimer is uncool, dishonest, deceptive advertising, bait and switch, theft of the viewer's money, etcetera and ad nauseum. "You don't need college to rock" is the only reason I ever considered seing this movie.

        • Umm...you gotta remember that the trailer is made waaay before the movie is in a completely edited state. Be thankful that the editing staff were still working on the movie -- too many recent movies leave the editing floor unfinished today, in my opinion. They must have cut the scenes after they had produced the trailer.


          Movie folks work on multi-year timelines, and rarely stay within them :) It would be silly to delay the trailer until every scene was edited, because the distributor needs to get publicity rolling early to recoup his investment.

          • It would be silly to delay the trailer until every scene was edited

            Translation: "It would be silly to wait until we know what our product actually is before we start trying to pursuade people to buy it. The only thing that matters is that they buy it, not whether it works, or even does what we say it does."

            Yeah. I'm ok with that. It's not like I actually need to make intelligent decisions about where to spend my money. I've got plenty to spread around for things that aren't really what they say they are.

    • Remember the tractor tire smashing into Bill Paxton's pickup's windshield in the Twister [imdb.com] trailer? Not in the movie. This fact was even lampooned on (IIRC) SNL around the time Twister was released: "Right!.... Left!... Cow!... The tire that was in the trailer but not the movie!"

      And then there was the funny exchange from the Major League [imdb.com] trailer: "That ball wouldn't have been out of a lot of parks." "Name one." "Yellowstone." That little gem actually made it into Major League II [imdb.com].

      These are only the first two instances I can think of... but there are plenty more.

      What really chaps my ass, though, is when they put a song that catches my ear in the commercials for a movie, and then the song is not in the movie or on the soundtrack, and doesn't get any/enough radio play so I can ever find out what song it is. Thanks to CDNow's samples, and Napster/Morpheus nowadays, though, I no longer have to waste $20 on the soundtrack CD, only to find out that the song I bought it for, isn't even on there.

      ~Philly

  • Re: (Score:2, Offtopic)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Should intelligent reviews really get a redundant nod? I'm always eager to hear what intelligent people have to say (even if it is about something trite, like what looks like a forgettable road comedy).

      It seems several people are complaining about this post being redundant and "not 'News for Nerds.'" Then don't read it. I, for one, lament the fact that there aren't more posts on Slashdot. I tend to read even the ones that discuss things I know nothing about, because I learn, and because there's always somebody out there who will make me laugh.

      As an aside: does it seem to anyone else like Jon Katz just sends these things in and doesn't ever read the responses he gets? Every time the guy makes a post, there are hundreds of people flaming his very existence. That would make me feel kind of unwelcome...

      Hm.

  • Hmmm... (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    "I think for a total of 15 to 20 minutes this is one of the most inventive and original movies I've seen in awhile. In toto, it's disjointed."

    I'd imagine it would be hard to watch it in a dog, even if it was toto.

  • ummmmm (Score:2, Offtopic)

    by xg0blin ( 547154 )
    At least N'Sync didn't get a cameo in this movie.

  • Pulling my hair out (Score:2, Flamebait)

    by fat_mike ( 71855 )
    Ebert doesn't do technology stories, so why does Katz continue to write crappy movie reviews. Stick to your crappy technology stories instead. By the way, good job ripping off Ebert's review. Anybody notice that Jon's reviews always come out a day or two after Ebert's.
    • Yup, /. does a movie review every Sunday morning (well, usually). Since Ebert's review comes out on what, Friday? That would be accurate. I think /. announced this whole Sunday morning movie review thing a while back, but I'm too lazy to look it up.
      Oh and just to go with the flow, I hate Jon Katz, this isn't News for Nerds, blah blah jump on the bandwagon because karma is more valuable than my life) blah.
      • Jeezus Christ, people, you all give Jon Katz a hard time about his views, but could any of you write a better review? Maybe some of you could, but this guy does have a regular review, and he does not rip off Roger Ebert. I'm sure he is just trying to give his opinion on a movie, and you're allowed to have your own, but damn, quit your bitching about him!

  • Katz Theory (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13, 2002 @12:38PM (#2832719)
    Is it possible that Katz is just a construct, sent back from the future by MS to distract the /. crowd from attacking Windows with all possible strength?
    • This is not directed specifically at the parent post.

      I am sick and tired of all of the whining about Jon Katz that appears (and gets modded up) every time Katz posts a story. It's obvious that all of the posters who hate him and complain about everything he posts derive some perverse pleasure from their moaning, otherwise they would exclude Katz's stories in their preferences and shut up about it. So, i have a feature request: I would like two new toggles in the preferences. One should be labeled "I hate Katz" and the other "Ignore Katz haters." That alone should double the amount of constructive, thoughtful posts that I read.

      Sorry, everyone's welcome to their own opinions, but this anti-Katz rhetoric is beyond old.

    • Well it ain't working then - Fuck Microsoft!!

  • >Orange County, a wealthy suburb of LA, um....

    Orange County is a ... county, NOT a suburb.

    There is the City of Los Angeles, and there is the County of Los Angeles.

    Orange County is next to the County of Los Angeles, but it is NOT a suburb of the City of Los Angeles.

    I live in Orange County and it takes me an hour and a half to get to LA...

    Oh, did I mention that Orange County is NOT a suburb of the City of Los Angeles.

    • easy there friend, it happens, for instance: southeastern wisconsin is pretty much a chicago suburb and a good deal of connecticut commutes to NYC. though it is somewhat cute your calling for OC to get it's "props"...
      • Well... That's all and good but in the OC/LA case, OC is a different world than LA is. I lived in Newport Beach for a year. We were an hour out of LA but used to go into LA for clubbing and such semi-regularly and it was a great time. Whenever I was asked where I lived, I always said Orange County. The people there feel very strongly about not being a suburb of LA--it's a serious cultural stigma.

        Now I live in Waltham just outside of Boston. When I tell people where I live, I just say Boston. It's easier and there's no real stigma against it so people know what I'm talking about.
        • I guess it depends upon the audience. When I'm talking to Californians, I tell them that I'm from Orange County. When I'm in NY or Europe for example, I just say LA.
      • OC is probably considered a suburb of LA becasue it really has no metroploitan center. People still don't understand thought that it is really a world unto itself. You really do have just about every culture and every level of income here in OC.(except for seemingly absent african americans) I just get sad when the rest of the world thinks that South county is all that we are. (a stereo-type usually propagated by people _from_ south county) This post originates from Garden Grove (where I have been all of my life) so I think that I have gotten the OC experience.
    • Orange County is very much a suburb of LA, as well as (if the tautology needs to be stated at all) being a county. The previous poster seems to believe that the phony "city" and "county" boundaries in what is actually a huge, amorphous sprawl are in some way meaningful.

      I would dispute Katz's use of "wealthy" though. He's obviously never been to Placentia, La Habra, Santa Ana, Stanton... The emptiness, vulgar materialism, white-shoe golf-Republicanism and near-total lack of culture, and obsession with brand-names sounds a lot like many of the more upper-middle-class enclaves, though.

      By the way, I grew up in OC and live there now. And it never takes me more than 45 minutes to get to LA, unless traffic on the 405 is too bad...

      • You must live somewhere near the edge of the county like I do. You're right, from where I am it only takes about 45 mins. If you're living in south OC though, it takes an hour and a half easy. Hell, if you're trying to get from Irvine to Cypress at rush hour, 5-7p, it takes about an hour. I used to work in Irvine and I live in Cypress, so I do know what I'm talking about.

        And between the disgust that is Los Angeles the city and the better parts that are in Los Angeles the county, those boundaries are very meaningful.

        And you're mentioning of Santa Ana and Stanton in the same sentence as "wealthy" is quite disturbing. Under that statement, Irvine, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, etc, etc would be millionaires.

        I do agree regarding the materialism, but how is LA any different? If you ever watch the news when they're talking about fashion, they don't come to OC, they go to LA. I don't personally pay any attention to it and find it kinda disturbing when people put so much effort into being "fashionable". But I, however, am a geek, so fashion matters to me not.
    • Orange County is kind of enigmatic really.

      For those of your who don't know, Orange County is
      the county that lies directly between LA and San Diego counties. Orange County is home to Disneyland,
      Knott's Berry Farm, the Crystal Cathedral, etc.

      It isn't exactly fair calling it a suburb of L.A.
      entirely, even though the whole thing is a fairly large, interrupted sprawl of homes and shopping districts.

      I suppose that North OC is a bit more like
      Los Angeles than South OC. South OC is actually
      bit more like San Diego. Not that there is a
      huge difference between LA and San Diego except
      for sheer size.
    • Having lived half of everywhere in LA (Cerritos, Compton, Harbor City, Inglewood, Long Beach, Santa Monica, South Gate, and Whittier), and with my brother just into Orange county in La Habra, I can testify that despite the fact that it is a seperate county, and as much as many Orange County residents would like to say it ain't so, OC is in fact drawn to the gravitational center that is LA. The glow of red tail lights east along the 91 freeway at quittin' time is one of the strongest indicators. Lots of OC'rs commute in. This is part of what makes a suburb a suburb. Lots of residences and necessary local services (gas stations, grocery stores, and pacifying consumer retail stores), with many of the other jobs that enable the creation of these things (agriculture, manufacturing, big financial services, etc) somewhere else.

      OC does have local flavor, and the farther you get away from the county line, you do get a sense of independence from LA. But... if you're still only in Santa Ana, I think you're still in LA.
  • I saw the movie myself last night. Surprisingly, Katz didn't make a jerk of himself -- I agree with most of his review! I especially liked the movie because it wasn't just a plotless comedy... it had depth. Jack Black was absolutely hilarious, he fits the role well.

    The part I had a hard time with is how the husband divorced his other wife so quickly, it was amusing but rather disturbing. I found the ending very hilarious, when they decide to commemorate Lonnie. I'd give this at least 4 and half stars.

  • I don't really know where Katz pulls American Beauty into this at all. I don't think Orange County is a very dignificant movie. Not very original, but it is entertaining.

    Its one of those thats worth the price of admission, but nothing more. Jack Black is really good. The rest of the acting is is also decent, but nothing special. Not good enough to be compared in anyway to American Beauty.

    That and Shaun was never brainless. He had straight A's and was very intelligent. He was merely directionless. I think by calling him brainless really shows that Katz missed one of the major themes: The vast and quick change a person goes through as he's about to enter college, where he gains a since of responsibility and respect for things that he never would have understood before. Specifically in this movie family and friends.

    Blake

  • Tenacious D (Score:2, Offtopic)

    by Grassferry49 ( 458582 )
    This will be my determining factor whether to download the movie in DivX or go pay to see it. Is there any Tenacious D music in the movie? For those of you who don't know who Tenacious D is, Tenacious D is Jack Black's band (well two guys with guitars). I would recommend you go download some Tenacious D music right now!
  • Seems like these days Hollywood is run by a Monarchy of family actors. Hanks and his son. Spacek and her daughter. The director's son, etc. Think of the Sheen family or the Douglas family. It's surprisingly like the old English families where estates were passed down from father to son ... only these modern estates come with fame and enormous power.

    I have no time for frivoulous movies. Hollywood can go jerk itself off (while I jerk myself off toying with computers...)

  • Is Jon Katz a nerd? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by KFury ( 19522 )
    Why is a review of Orange County news for nerds, just because Mr. Katz is writing the review?

    /. is not Jon's personal weblog. Are these stories likely to make the /. front page soon?:
    • Let me tell you how much having your wisdom teeth pulled sucks.
    • So I went on a date last night.
    • I have this great idea for a perpetual motion machine
    • I just discovered this really great author. His name is Assimov or something.
    Really, it's not that we all don't like you, Jon, it's just that you obviously have a lot of subjective things to say, and you should start your own weblog. Personally, I don't thikn it's stuff that matters...

    ..and it's certainly not 'news for nerds.'
      • So I went on a date last night.


      Hahhaa, that was a joke, right? I think the reason Jon does these reviews is because it's his only excuse to goto the movies by himself since god knows that's the only way he's getting there.

    • Re:Is Jon Katz a nerd? (Score:4, Informative)

      by namespan ( 225296 ) <namespan@el3.1415926itemail.org minus pi> on Sunday January 13, 2002 @02:33PM (#2833098) Journal
      you should start your own weblog

      Boy, that should be the catchphrase here. That and "pot. kettle. black."

      Guess what? Slashdot started life as a big weblog -- Taco's weblog. OK, it wasn't a "read my journal" blog, it was a "hey, look what I think is interesting in the science/technology world plus a few other things thrown in" blog. And it turned out to be so succesful that people like you hit reload on their browser at least 5 times a day while at work or wasting their lives in their parents basement, and feel some strange desire to post comments.

      And then, at some point, the editorial staff of this glorified (and cool) weblog decided that movie reviews might matter to some people. So here's Katz's take on a movie. Perhaps you may have noticed he does the same thing every week. Repeat: It's not a journal entry. It's a movie review. It's a regular feature, too.

      So what are you complaining about? That the editors decided to have weekly movie reviews? That the movies that Katz picks don't quite match up with your interests? That you don't like Katz's writing? That you might have to actually use your judgement and decide not to read some of these movie reviews yourself, rather than obsesive-compulsively reading every last slashdot article? Or that you might have to learn to use the topic/author filtering boxes in the preferences?

      If so, perhaps you should start your own weblog, and read it instead of this one. That way, you won't have to be inconvenienced by the presence of any content that doesn't match your individual expectations.
      • Bravo! It's growing very tiresome to read the same lame comments ridiculing Jon Katz every time he posts an article. Filter him (or movie reviews) if you dont want to read his articles. It's very easy.
    • Well, John primarily writes reviews, which, usually, are supposed to be subjective.

    • Ham and Green Peppers is my fav. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by PerpetualMotion ( 550623 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @03:28PM (#2833342)
      Blatanly plagurized material straight from the FAQ just because yall haven't seemed to have read it, or are ignoring it entirely.

      Why did you post story X?

      Slashdot is many things to many people. Some people think it's a Linux site. To others, it's a geek hangout. I've always worked very hard to make sure that Slashdot matches up with my interests and the interests of my authors. We think we're pretty typical Slashdot readers... but that does mean that occasionally one of us might post something that you think is inappropriate. You might be interested in my Omelette rant.

      Personally, I have a pet peeve when people post comments saying things like "That's not News For Nerds!" and "That's not Stuff that Matters!" Slashdot has been running for almost 3 years, and over that time, I have always been the final decision maker on what ends up on the homepage. It turns out that a lot of people agree with me: Linux, Legos, Penguins, Sci (both real and fiction). If you've been reading Slashdot, you know what the subjects commonly are, but we might deviate occasionally. It's just more fun that way. Variety Is The Spice Of Life and all that, right? We've been running Slashdot for a long time, and if we occasionally want to post something that someone doesn't think is right for Slashdot, well, we're the ones who get to make the call. It's the mix of stories that makes Slashdot the fun place that it is.

      Answered by: CmdrTaco
      Last Modified: 6/26/00

      "The Omelette"

      Let me try to give you an analogy for Slashdot's homepage. It's like an omelette: it's a combination of sausage and ham and tomatoes and eggs and more. Over the years, we've figured out what ingredients are best on Slashdot. The ultimate goal is, of course, to create an omelette that I enjoy eating: by 8pm, I want to see a dozen interesting stories on Slashdot. I hope you enjoy them too. I believe that we've grown in size because we share a lot of common interests with our readers. But that doesn't mean that I'm gonna mix an omelette with all sausages, or someday throw away the tomatoes because the green peppers are really fresh.

      There are many components to the Slashdot Omelette. Stories about Linux. Tech stories. Science. Legos. Book Reviews. Yes, even Jon Katz. By mixing and matching these things each and every day, we bring you what I call Slashdot. On some days it definitely is better than others, but overall we think it's a tasty little treat and we hope you enjoy eating as much as we enjoy cooking it.

      Answered by: CmdrTaco
      Last Modified: 6/14/00
    • Edit Homepage Preferences [slashdot.org]

      Check the box with Jon Katz. Click Save.

      Problem solved?

      Jeremy

  • Mock. Mock. Mock. (Score:1, Troll)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The review of Orange County is a strange review, hard to categorize and, in a way, a joke. At times, (and sparked by the horrible grammar of JonKatz) it's hilarious and challenging. Then it tries to be a derivative of the much better Orange County review done by Roger Ebert, and then a facsimile of every other review JonKatz has even done. As a result, it's a bunch of different rip-offs and clones thrown together. The movie review also has zero significance, at least for SlashDot. JonKatz wrote this mess, and it stars his opinions on Tom Hanks' son Colin, Jack Black, and Sissy Spaceks' daughter Schuyler Fisk. JonKatz looks and acts so much like a retarded monkey sitting in front of a keyboard it's distracting. But don't be fooled by the horrible review -- Orange County is a really funny movie, drawing nearly as much from American Beauty as American Pie. . Spoilage warning: JonKatz discussed, not ending.

    JonKatz is a brainless hack writer until he stumbles across the Internet, and decides he was to use his brain and become a hack movie-reviewer and soapbox-monkey for a technological Website. He obsesses on SlashDot, doesn't get in because no one there really likes him and, with the help of his perpetually-stoned buddy CmdrTaco and his girlfriend Cowboy Neil, sets out to gain acceptance with SlashDot. Part of his obsession comes from a desire to get away from his hilariously and spectacularly dysfunctional writing career.

    JonKatz is now wonderful at writing god awful movie reviews, but he needs to be careful, as it's already nearly impossible to imagine him in any other role. And he's great at it. He nearly steals the Website, especially playing against the I-actually-post-information-about-relevant-technol ogical-news nice guy CmdrTaco, who like Jimmy Stewart, has a Jimmy Stewart quality that makes you root for him, even when he's behaving badly.
    The point and conceit of a movie review on a technological Website are both strange. SlashDot, a premier source of tech news the world over, is held to be insipid and valueless when it posts rubbish like this. Although we get a peek at the dummies that gave JonKatz a job, there is little feel at all for the point of a badly written movie review {and subsequent badly written parody review}. At least at first, all JonKatz wants to do is make an ass of himself, though I'm sure he's been told on numerous occasions that he would probably fit in better with the people at Ain't It Cool instead of the tech crowd. Hack writers and poor movie reviewers should stay at home where their roots are, all the better to spare the rest of us from this sort of garbage.

    JonKatz should probably be fired with a phone call, so all the insults and bad-sort-of-laughter - there's an improbable amount of this - can be redirected. And the ending - well, he'll probably die from old age.

    I think for a total of 15 to 20 yoctoseconds this is the most inventive and original review I've seen in a while. It's still pretty disjointed though. It seems as if JonKatz wanted to make a semi-serious, biting review but either chickened out or was held back. Still, there are more than a few great laughs in the review of Orange County and parts of the review that portray a complex look into the mind of a monkey with a keyboard trying to figure out what he should do with it.

  • I don't blame him. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ProfKyne ( 149971 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @02:23PM (#2833073)

    For at least as long as I've been reading Slashdot, Jon Katz has posted op/eds and stories investigating many of the social implications of emerging technology and current political trends, that have an impact on both our freedom to use technology and the industry itself. He's gone beyond speculating about the technical limits of supercooled processors, or the Quake 3 engine, to look at some of the things that actually make a dent in our lives.

    And for at least as long as I've been reading Slashdot, readers have posted their opinions of Jon Katz, and why he can go to hell, or why his opinion sucks, or some other complaint. Almost all of them request that he take his writing elsewhere, that he is not welcome with their morning news and cup of coffee.

    I'm not writing this to support the presence of goofy teen flick movie review on Slashdot. But judging from the way he's received, what did you expect? He's clearly come to the conclusion that, at least about important things, geeks must not like to think very much.

    And I don't blame him.

    • ... or he's been listening only to the "we hate Katz" roar and not discovering where that roar comes from.

      I'm going to go out on a limb and speak not just for myself, but for everyone who has the same visceral reaction against most of Katz's "social commentary" articles. I say "visceral" specifically because my first reaction is an uncomfortable feeling in my gut that is similar to the feeling I get when in the presence salesman who's overpromising.

      In short, the stories of Katz's that irk me say nothing.

      It's much more than that though that gets to me - certainly the "yet another Outlook-enabled virus found" story adds very little useful information - it's the style in which Katz says his nothing. It screams of the overpolished language of an excited journalist trying to "capture the feeling of the movement". This style ends up completely obscuring any other message, substance, or information that the article might have once contained. The end result is that I get the story of the intrepid reporter, out reporting his bold new story that the establishment doesn't understand. Lost is the underlying reality, lost (or never present) are serious sociological considerations. What I'm left with is a bunch of speculative drivel and the overriding story of the reporter.

      And I get that story every damn time. Once was really much more than enough.

      It's nice to see that Katz has backed off in his writing style. If he can return to social commentary without riding the intrepid reporter horse, it might go better for him. I'd hate to think that the slashdot editors would assume that the anto-Katz reaction reflects a fundamental unwillingness to discuss those issues among the slashdot audience. (Though I would also contend that the slashdot medium does not lend itself easily to considered discourse, but that discussion is for another post)

      In short, when we rail against Katz, we're not shooting the messenger because he carries an unpopular message. We're shooting the messenger because he arrives empty-handed.

  • The only reason for it being on Slashdot... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Kerouassady ( 550624 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @03:18PM (#2833292)
    ...as far as I see is that the movie was lousy with Macs. The main character had what looked like an LC II. For all the cash that family seemed to have, you'd think he'd have a better computer. The principle had an Apple Studio Display behind him. I saw one of the old clamshell iBooks as well as an old bondi iMac that the college counselor used.

    Also, as a Jack Black fan, that was the only reason I went to see the movie and, after the preview made it seem like Jack Black was a major co-star and had a major role in the film, I was extremely disappointed with how minor his role in the film was.

    So, what I want to see, is the sequal that takes place in a year after his girlfriend has dumped him (it took her about 10 minutes to find a frat party and start chatting up some preppie frat guy who obviously has a thing for jailbait 17/18 year old girls) and he feels like complete shit for turning down admission to one of the most prestigious schools in the country for his girlfriend who obviously didn't love him enough to even consider a long distance relationship and so he can keep hanging out with his stoner friends and live at home well into his twenties like his waster brother? Give me a break.

    Also, what about Bob? His mom was still married. His dad is going back to his ex-wife who is obviously just as unfaithful as his new ex-wife. I mean, she slept with a guy while her husband was in the house and flaunted him all over the place the next day.

    Disappointed overall. But still okay.
  • In the previews JB mentions Keith Moon, and that you do not need college to rock. "College is LAME!"

    ...Being on 'hiatus' from college pursueing smithing training, *and* being a Who fan, that is reason enough for me to want to see it.

    Not to mention I should see it for the D
    Hail Satan
  • is this doing on slashdot?

    Just from the advertising I'm sick of this obviously lame piece of crap. I can't believe somebody here went to see it, let alone REVIEWED it!

  • The reason I click on "Read More..." on Katz stuff (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ApheX ( 6133 ) on Sunday January 13, 2002 @05:19PM (#2833758) Homepage Journal
    My god, I just realized something:

    I find myself ONLY reading Katz stuff for the comments. I don't read anything he writes but I love reading all the colorful commentary that is provided down here by fellow slashdot users.

    What is this world coming to...
  • I don't like it when people put limits on themselves (as opposed to reconizing they have limits). The kid will have done far better to choose the most challanging environment he could grow in.

  • Someone actually saw that movie? And these are the same people whose comments I read on /. to get useful information about tech stuff? Dear gods...

    Is there a way to get a -5 score on all comments by people who've seen this movie? I think that would be a lot more useful than any meta-meta-meta-meta-moderation scheme you can come up with.

  • Tell ya why it's on this site.. (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Because he's a part of this site. If all you jokers want to start up your own geek site and keep your stories all 100% Linux based/MS Bashing go for it.. Start your own damn site. I come to read everything that revolves around my "geek" life, and this INCLUDES almost 99.9% of the movies Katz has reviewed on here. I dont agree with him a whole hell of a lot, but at least he's consistant to my "nerd" life, and probably (gee, look how many people come here!) more lives. So piss off you tossers. Go start your own nerd site and leave this one alone..
  • In fact, Orange County is not a suburb of anything, it's a whole county. It sits on the hinterlands of Southern California between Los Angeles and San Diego, and features a north/south mountain range (the San Joaquins? I forget right now) and some really nice coastline.

    Anaheim, home to the first Disneyland, is in Orange County.

    The population consists mainly of middle-class Caucasians. There are more Republicans than Democrats and the school system is reputed to be better than in LA, no doubt due to the richer populace and accompanying higher property taxes. (You did know that's where Californian public schools get most of their funding, right?)
  • ...one of the most inventive and original movies I've seen in awhile.
    In toto, it's disjointed.
    Uh, dude...to the best of my knowledge, "in toto" is Latin for "in place of".


    Obscure trivia time:

    The band Toto was (is?) comprised of stand-in (backup) musicians for other popular bands. It could be said that their jobs were to play in toto the original guitarist, drummer, keyboardist, bassist, etc., anyway, they thought it would be cool to start jamming together when they weren't busy filling in for other musicians on tour, and thought it'd be clever and rather apropos to actually name their little band Toto. So they did. And they rock(ed).

    I can listen to Africa all day and all night, non-stop. I don't know why. I also don't understand what the hell African rain has to do with anything they're singing about, but who the fsck cares, they're Toto!

  • In case anyone wonders why Hollywood decided to attack Orange County, Orange County is the last bastion of the pre-counter-culture in urban California -- and it is going down (see "The Death of the West [barnesandnoble.com]"). That doesn't mean the old population likes dying off. So the pro-immigration mythmakers of the culture [csulb.edu] have to issue new edicts from time-to-time. Otherwise the slow death of the old culture in Orange County might cause them to go get ideas of their own -- and that could be damn dangerous. See the contrast between Hollywood's constituency and Orange County's constituency in the following table I just generated using a little Perl script to screen scrape some stats off the electoral return sites:

    Counties sorted by (Gore+Bush)*log(Bush/Gore)

    Gore, Bush, County, State

    338047, 466232, Orange, CA
    173705, 286843, Tarrant, TX
    415514, 525679, Harris, TX

    ...

    445196, 89377, Brooklyn, NY
    1291805, 541208, Cook, IL
    1598375, 812154, LosAngeles, CA

    • ...if this land is YOUR land, then why do they call this place San Diego?

      Wait, that's nowhere near Orange County...

      • And didn't Chris Rock say if this land is YOUR land, then why do they call this place San Diego?

        Wait, that's nowhere near Orange County...

        That Chris Rock -- he's a real comedian isn't he?

        Hey -- I've got one that's even more hilarious!

        A teacher in the San Diego school district, we'll call her Caetlyn O'Malley, childless woman who had dedicated her life to teaching teenagers (ESL) in San Diego, was talking to her vice principle, who we'll call Marta Sanchez, about the problem with all the illegal immigrant kids in her class.

        Marta looks to Caetlyn and through a contemptuous smirk says, "You're all just giving it away."

        To which Caetlyn replies with the cheerful smile of a Leprechaun with her impenetrable riddle, "Right, up until we start building camps!"

        At which point Marta Sanchez suddenly turns white.

        You think that was the punch line? Actually -- here's the punch line:

        That actually happened around 1991 -- I knew Caetlyn O'Malley.

        Jim Bowery -- San Diego County resident 1983-1994

  • is like saying that San Jose is a sububrb of San Francisco, New Jersey City to New York City. Get it?

    Clueless people.
  • A friend who grew up in Orange County went to see the film on opening night, just for giggles. He reported that rather than being filmed in Orange County (which he expected) it was quite obviously filmed in the San Fernando valley, about 20 miles to the north (and where the film studios are located). So they couldn't even get the location right.


    True, only Orange Countians (and Valley girls and boys) will notice this, but would it have cost so much more to shoot it on location?

  • Shaun is a brainless Orange County surfing dude until he stumbles across a novel and decides he was to use his brain and become a writer.

    Wow, Jon. What a wonderfully botched sentence. Were you also a brainless Orange County surfing dude, by any chance?

  • At the risk of being modded as a troll, I think this [slashdot.org] is the most telling thing about Jon.

  • I kinda halfway been waiting for a /. review of A Beautiful Mind, which has been out for three weeks now, but Orange County just came out this weekend and gets reviewed right away? Is everyone at /. smoking crack?

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