Just to say, I've always felt that, in the arts, even the best critics have a hard time distinguishing between "I don't like this" and "This doesn't work" - often very different things, though that difference is almost always ignored. So, imagine if we had this discussion instead:
Poster 1 - The best five films of all time were directed by Sidney Lumet, a true artist and classicist! Look - 12 Angry Men, The Pawnbroker, Fail Safe, Dog-Day Afternoon, and Network.
Poster 2 - Die and go to hell you mo-fo!! No effing way. He is good, granted, but he is not an artist!! The artist is Frederico Fellini! How can anyone top: 8˝, Amarcord , La Strada, City of Women, and Roma.
Poster 3 - You're both full of shite! You don't know what you're talking about (and let's stick with English-language films please). The man who invented truly independent cinema was John Cassavettes: how can you beat the rawness and naturalness of Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Husbands, Women Under the Influence, Faces, and Opening Night....especially when they all cost so little to make? The future of film-making must be this model!!
Poster 4 - Yeah, yeah, the old purist B.S. How many regular movie goers have seen any of those films? What's popular is what's good, face facts. Just one of Rob Reiner's films probably made more money than all of those other films put together (and they were also quality films): Stand by Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, This is Spinal Tap.
Poster 5 - I'm outta here, except for two words: Frank Capra! The greatest ODG of all time, and films have never gotten better. Okay, more words: Mister Smith Goes to Washington; Mr Deeds Comes to Town; Meet John Doe; It Happened One Night; It's a Wonderful Life
And so on. In my opinion, ALL those films "work", and work well - though for all of them you can find many who say "I don't like it"...again, two different things. AFTER THAT, there are a lot of questions that can be discussed, i.e. What's art? What's movie-making? What's communication and story-telling? How much populism is good populism? How much elitism is acceptable? What is the nature of craft? What is the nature of talent?
Do most of JN's courses work, as golf courses? Do they serve their intended audience?
Peter