No one enjoys harsh criticism. Even the most honest and thoughtful attempts at constructive words of encouragement can be tough to hear. But it’s all about how you react to those critics that matters the most. And if you’re filmmaker Joe Carnahan, maybe you shouldn’t publicly blast film critics if they don’t give your latest film a glowing review.
Last night, while everyone was trying to sleep, Carnahan was on a rampage on Twitter. You see, the filmmaker is a writer and producer of the film “El Chicano,” which is arriving in theaters today. The film is basically about the Latinx Batman/Punisher. It’s a superhero film that is a first to have a Latinx lead and by all accounts, should be at least praised for that. However, that doesn’t mean the film should automatically get amazing reviews. Just because you’re the first doesn’t necessarily mean you’re good.
Well, we’re not sure if Carnahan was expecting praise for representation or if he thinks the film is an incredible piece of art. Or both. What we do know is that he fashioned himself a bit of a social media vigilante, going after those folks that reviewed his movie and didn’t give it the best review ever.
Writer Carlos Aguilar (who has contributed to The Playlist in the past) is the first to feel the wrath of Carnahan. Aguilar wrote an admittedly mixed review of “El Chicano” for the Los Angeles Times, but ultimately gave the film a “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes (one of only two “fresh” reviews listed on the site). That wasn’t good enough, as Carnahan didn’t pull punches when attempting to drag the writer.
After saying that Aguilar “sucks as a writer,” Carnahan went on to say, “This motherfucker is PROOF that the days of Pauline Kael, Roger Ebert & Andrew Sarris are DEAD. Mexico City ain’t East LA, homie. Your ‘Review’ missed by MILES. Should have had @JustinCChang review @ElChicanoFilm. He’s from Orange County, GETS IT & is 10x the writer.”
Oof. But that wasn’t all.
It wasn’t just established critics that were feeling the heat from the director of “Smokin’ Aces.” Twitter user Lance St. Laurent was criticized by the filmmaker based on his name, with Carnahan busting out his best sixth-grade insult by asking St. Laurent, “Jesus, did a French perfume maker name you?”
ZING!
Ultimately, there were plenty more where that came from, but the tweets are difficult to track down because, after an evening of trashing random people on Twitter, Carnahan decided to delete his account.
The filmmaker, of course, left one parting shot aimed at critics all around the world. After his rants, the director received the backlash you might expect from other film critics stepping up to defend people. Instead of seeing this as some sort of solidarity, Carnahan saw it as a “tribal council.”
“Maybe look at that,” tweeted Carnahan. “At the fear and loathing you live in because of your reluctance and/or inability to create yourselves.”
After the director left the discussion, it was revealed by another critic Walter Shaw that he spoke to Carnahan and the filmmaker admitted that he was trying to drum up publicity for “El Chicano” by “punching down.” Well, it appears that the mission was successful. People are talking about the film. Just maybe not in the same way he had hoped.
The producer of EL CHICANO. Is angry that I have the movie a mixed review and decide to come an attack me. Cool, I guess. pic.twitter.com/hkAhj7cIdO
— Carlos Aguilar (@Carlos_Film) May 3, 2019
BTW, my mixed review of EL CHICANO counts as Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and this dude still decided to come for me. Damn man. pic.twitter.com/Ytvm97kCQc
— Carlos Aguilar (@Carlos_Film) May 3, 2019
appears I missed last night's Joe Carnahan freakout, but if you're going to throw a fit after critics pan your movie, you'd better have something more up your sleeve than "critics are scared to create" pic.twitter.com/ifAYnvXYW2
— Sam Adams (@SamuelAAdams) May 3, 2019
https://twitter.com/StonerFilmLover/status/1124183282449444864
No, I'm with you there. It was disappointing when he admitted to me that he was doing it to troll some attention for the movie and joked that punching down "reduced the drag". It just all sounds like someone in pain, to me. Hope he has a safe weekend.
— Walter Chaw 周瑜 (@mangiotto) May 3, 2019
