two thumbs way up... my butt

[rone]

Dead Man's Chest was a lot of fun.  It's possible that my expectations were framed by this lengthy and in-depth review (thanks to rimrunner); i feel that anyone who complains that this movie is merely a "half" movie is as lame as someone who complained about the crappy ending of Fellowship of the Ring.  The character development for Norrington is excellent and probably my favorite part of the story.  I look forward to the conclusion and Keith Richards.

A Scanner Darkly is part stoner movie, part junkie movie, and part dystopia movie; good movie, but depressing.  I liked the Rotoscoping; the story was confusing in parts, but it didn't feel like there was a solution to that.  I have to find a copy of the book for comparison.  All actors involved gave good performances.

Lady in the Water is a weird and somewhat lurching tale that, nonetheless, averages out as an enjoyable movie.  Paul Giamatti is so good, he could spend two hours on screen reading "DNS and BIND" out loud for all i care.  I think i understand how some people found "The Sixth Sense" predictable; the movie held few surprises for me.  There were times when Shyalaman's "Fourth wall!  Whoops, no fourth wall!  Ha ha, fourth wall!" moments were fun; at other times, they were smug and grating.

Comments

[erikred.livejournal.com]

I think i understand how some people found "The Sixth Sense" predictable; the movie held few surprises for me.

I guessed Bruce Willis' state moments before the big reveal, but I enjoyed the premise none-the-less. Really, MNS's films are just fun, down-to-earth films in unearthly circumstances. There's fun in that.

[sunburn.livejournal.com]

Maybe I read too many Dan Simmons two-volume novels, but I'm gonna be lame and say that DMC was half a movie. I mean, Fellowship, at least, has its own story arc even if it's a sub-element of a much better and barely underway story, while DMC's only story resolution was something that's at once designed to be permanent and yet will certainly be dramatically undone shortly into the following movie. This was not Fellowship, this was Kill Bill, Vol. 1. Even Back to the Future managed to make two movies out of 2 and 3 despite, like this, filming both sequels at once.

That said, I think the movie had plenty good going for it, and the above and one other weakness are things I'll overlook completely; really the main thing for it to overcome was the main characters' lack of novelty, and of course it did that really well.

I haven't seen the other two, but I'll look forward to them.

Moral dilemma

[tomscud.livejournal.com]

Who to believe about Dead Man's Chest? Rone, or a ninja (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Cutv58h8Ag&search=%22ask%20a%20ninja%22%20%22dead%20man%27s%20chest%22)?