Miscellaneous Movie Musings

[Cadaverous Pallor]

We never had a thread about Across the Universe? This board doesn't have boolean search. And there's no way I'm going to read this whole thread again, even though I would love to see others' impressions on this film.

Seriously, people - please start threads about individual new movies.

I thought it was great.

[innerSpaceman]

There was TONS of talk about Across the Universe when it was released. It's in THIS thread, if I'm not mistaken.

[JWBear]

I hated the Mr Kite sequence, as well.

[Gemini Cricket]

Visually, ATU was pretty. I really liked the draft exam sequence. I, too, liked Mr. Kite. But I wasn't moved by the movie. I kind of laughed when these actors started singing the Beatles' songs. I didn't find any of their portrayals to be as deep as the songs are. It felt like the director and the actors got together and said, 'Okay, now we're going to pretend to be hippies.' But because so many people I know adore this movie, I'm going to give it another shot...

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

All Imax showings of Batman were sold out yesterday so we saw the X-Files instead. Loved seeing it at the Chinese because the theater is lush and the sound system unsurpassed. Enjoyed the film and seeing them together again despite the obvious plot holes and often bad and repetetive dialogue. I can understand why it has been poorly reviewed but it was still a fun date movie for 2 fans of the series.

[Alex]

My weekend movie watching reviews:

The X-Files: I Want to Believe - Embarrassingly awful. Would have made for an ok made-for-TV reunion movie but only because the standards for made-for-TV reunion movies aren't even as high as for regular series episodes. Not even as high as "we're in the middle of a contract dispute so we're flexing our power with the stars by showing them how much they rely on us for quality by not giving them any quality" episodes.

Unbreakable - Holds up well. I still love what Shyamalan was trying to do with this movie and it really emphasizes how full of himself he has become since.

For Whom the Bell Tolls - I've never understood the appeal of Gary Cooper. The man has a face and acting style like Teflon. Minutes after seeing him I literally can't remember what he looks like and two days after watching this if I try to picture him my memory just has a talking gray blob in it. The themes of manliness, death, and sacrifice are not well defined - at least not in comparison with the book. However, it did spart an interesting conversation with Lani about why it is bad that Jennifer Jones played hapa in Love is a Many Splendored Thing but that it isn't much bothersome that Ingrid Bergman plays a Spaniard here.

Mamma Mia! - Painfully bad at several points and very fun at several others. Pierce Brosnan can't sing but that doesn't match much. Though I wouldn't mind future opportunities to watch Amanda Seyfried running around in a swimsuit.

The King Is Alive - Dogma 95 has produced some interesting movies. This really isn't one of them. The story of some tourists lost in a Namibian-desert ghost town produces a few interesting scenes but is mostly just a slog.

[innerSpaceman]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

Visually, ATU was pretty. I really liked the draft exam sequence. I, too, liked Mr. Kite. But I wasn't moved by the movie.

I didn't connect with the characters in the same way I did the sort of similarly-gimmicked Moulin Rouge, for example. But I think Ghoulish Delight got nailed it best as a visual album watched and listened to with 60's/Beatles vignettes strung together by a connective-tissue-paper-thin story featuring appealing actors.

Interestingly, I love all the covers of the Beatles songs as they appear in the visual album of Across the Universe, but dislike them greatly as merely cover songs on the CD from that movie.


So the visual album style is unique and, imo, marvelous. It's not a film I can connect with in the same way as a conventionally plotted or executed musical ... its form is unique and its road to appreciation also unique, and perhaps a little more challenging.


But, sheesh, it's like 2 minutes between numbers ... and I enjoy every single one of the musical numbers, with a handful being fantastically excellent.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

There was TONS of talk about Across the Universe when it was released. It's in THIS thread, if I'm not mistaken.

Like I said, I'm not rereading the entire thread, and there's no good way to search for the posts.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

Like I said, I'm not rereading the entire thread, and there's no good way to search for the posts.

If you use the "search this thread" and search for Universe that should get you most of the discussion.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Post #2460 is where people who'd seen it start discussing it.