Tuesday, September 04, 2007

What Is Josh Tyler's Problem?

Josh Tyler at CinemaBlend doesn't like film ick and has plenty of bad things to say about me. I think this all started when I caught him stealing stories from this site a year or so ago.

What is his problem? Why is he saying I am 'disreputable' exactly? I don't report any more rumour rather than confirmed news than he does, for example - and I always contextualise it as rumour, I always tell you where the story comes from. And what did I say about that Southland Tales clip? That I'd been e-mailed it and I had parked it on a Sendspace page. Which is absolutely true, to the letter. Go read that story for the full picture, if you must.

He doesn't have a valid complaint here, but I'm not going to leave his sniping unchecked. I guess he just still feels bitter about being caught stealing, maybe?

20 comments:

Rich D said...

At least you've taken the high road in the matter and not referred to his site as "Cinema Bland" or "Cinema Pretend" or some such.

Brendon said...

This site makes no money. I am not paid to do this. I do this because I want to.

I share all of the film news and rumours that I think will interest you.

Seems quite silly to take a shot at me, doesn't it?

Unknown said...

Perhaps it's your general malaise.
You do seem to put off a vibe that's bound to put off a lot of people. And the snide tone of a few of your stories might also turn people off.

But, I'm sure all of the hatred is COMPLETELY unfounded.

Brendon said...

I certainly don't want to sound snide.

Anonymous said...

yeah, I wouldn't worry about him and his site, I've never heard of it anyway.I prefer your content format. If you only you had aintitcool's talkback members adding comments, the real reason I visit their site (well its not for the reviews).

Brendon said...

I wish a lot of people left comments here too. It's fun to see what people think, good to have discussion and essential to have voices other than my own, I think.

Anonymous said...

Adam nailed the feeling a lot of your readers have Brendon. Much of the time your tone is condescending and bitter about many of the stories you run, making you seem more of a man who loves to appear witty at the expense of fair objectivity.

Brendon said...

Is this 'appearance of a snarky tone' a side effect of the fact I do not, never have and never will care about the traditional 'geek' products - toy robots and muscle men and that crap?

I don't want to condescend anybody but, honestly, in a world where there's films like, I dunno, that whole heap I enthused about yesterday, I do think giving a lot of hot air to contrived product films like, say, Rob Zombie's Halloween, Transformers or The Dark Knight would be quite insincere.

We're living in a world where a debate about the 'coolest bits' in Transformers generates tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, more web clicks around the internet than, say, an interview with John Sayles, Neil Jordan or Roy Andersson. I don't want to seem snarky, but is it just my constant disebelief at this that you're all reacting to?

I really don't know.

I'm going to make a deliberate and conscious attempt to avoid snarkiness from here on out.

Anonymous said...

Not at all. You're off the mark with most of this response. Your "constant disbelief" in the prevalence of stories on "product film" stories doesn't translate to the amount of bitter tonage of so much of your writing. It permeates far more of your writing than you apparently realize.

It is nice to see that you'll keep concious of it from here on out though.

Dennis said...

I'd like to request that you don't change your tone at all. I find that you tend to post in a very real "voice" that isn't sugar coated with some of the fanboy sugar coated ass kissing that can be found on 90% of the other movie news sites.

Keep up the good work.

Unknown said...

The funny thing about the whole situation is that he's accusing you of stealing stories.
Odd, in that you give attribution (and usually a link to the original) when you post material found elsewhere.

Maybe you killed his father?

Brendon said...

If any of you ever, ever, ever see a stolen story on this site - which you simply WON'T - you are welcome to bombard it with comments calling me a crook and a thief.

And if you are ever not sure of my source, just ask and I'll tell you what I can. Obviously, some people want to remain anonymous and I will ALWAYS observe that.

Christian said...

I really enjoy your site and your opinions are exactly what makes me come back. There are lots of movie sites trying to please everybody, and I am tired with their endless optimism, everything they write about has too much hype. I don't agree on every opinion but I don't have to in order to enjoy your site.

I don't get why complain so much about "the tone" there are so many other generic sites, just go read them.

The format is something I really like, keeps me informed without wasting too much time in news I don't care about I can choose to skip it or click on the link if I want to know more.

You've given film ick a voice, count on me to check your site once a day.

Unknown said...

Please don't make an effort to change tones.

I trust your honesty, and your taste. You are realistic about film, not some kind of grand pessimist. I come here for that reason.

Anonymous said...

I recently started reading your blog and I have to say I really enjoy it - tone and everything. Sure, there have been a couple of times when I've rolled my eyes at some of Brendon's more caustic asides, but it's the same roll of the eyes my friends give me whenever someone has unwittingly provoked my 'I-don't-see-what-the-big-deal-is-about-David-Lynch' rant.

Personally, I like the fact that you he has an informed opinion that he's willing to express - this website would read like some god-awful press release if he didn't.

As an Australian reader, I'm thankful that there's a website that provides comprehensive coverage of both British and American film.

Keep up the good work.

hissyfits said...

Removing CinemaBlend for my bookmarks. They make so many factual errors about upcoming movies, and just don't care. Would a little research hurt?

Anonymous said...

Brendon, I think the comments about your tone almost certainly stem from the way you refuse to cheerlead for fanboy* properties. Inevitably that'll put a lot of geeks off. However, I also think it stems from your willingness to express iconoclastic opinions: "Scorcese isn't all he's cracked up to be", that kind of thing, and perhaps your dry, ironic, and sometimes cynical British style.

As a dry, ironic, sometimes cynical Brit myself, I can get behind you most of the time even if I disagree (perhaps strongly) with what you've written.


*Nothing inherently wrong with being a fanboy. I like to indulge in a bit of fanboyery myself from time to time, unfortunately I'm usually let down by the finished product

Anonymous said...

DON'T change a thing. You're passionate about film and it shows. And given that you always provide attributes and links (when possible), what's this guy's beef? I think he's embarrassed that he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Keep on giving us the straight dope, Brendon. Screw the imitators and crybabies.

swishfish said...

Don't change your tone. It's your site and your voice.

Dweeze said...

Count me in among the don't change a thing crowd - I've never noticed anything about the tone that struck me as overly snarky.