dayoung1

I"m really almost speechless about this movie. I really felt like I'd been transported to another world, and had lived there for such a long, engrossing period of time that it was only after leaving the theatre that I remembered "oh yeah, and that whole big thing happened in the beginning.... and that other thing happened, too". I guess what I'm trying to say is that this is the first TRULY epic film I've seen placed in a modern setting in years. When I say it makes me think of "Lawrence of Arabia", that's not to make any qualitative judgments, but simply to say that I felt like I LIVED in Gotham City in the same way I felt like I lived in the desert with T.E. Lawrence. So that, in and of itself, is a monumental achievement. And it's achieved not just by the use of IMAX cameras in a richly textured city like Chicago. It's also the result of a script that covered a vast amount of territory, both chronologically and emotionally, while never ever making you stop to look at your watch to see where the time went. It's a totally engrossing STORY, expertly translated into film.

As much as an achievement as Heath Ledger's performance is as the Joker (which it is - he's tremendously good, and totally believable as Batman's equal), I think Christopher Nolan deserves a massive amount of credit for really taking film direction to a whole other level. No one has achieved such artistry in such a commercial film before, to my memory.

Because the experience was so complete and satisfying, I'm barely able separate out individual elements to highlight, like all of the performances, across the board, or the amazing action sequences, and then, finally, the morality play.

I don't know what else to say. I love this movie. The fact that it's a Batman movie is almost irrelevant.

There are some parts of this movie that are hysterically funny. Performance-wise, I think Will Smith is hitting the zone right now. But, much like "I Am Legend" and "Ali", he's better than the underlying script. Hard to have a superhero movie without a real antagonist. And there's no consistency to the tone. And the ending is just so abrupt. Yet another movie that lacks a true third act. But Will is good, and Jason Bateman is the real hero of the film.

If it wasn't for the fact that I loved the original source material, I'd probably give this another half-star. FINALLY, somebody remembered how to make a straight-up action movie! Car chases! Gun play! Fights! But, beyond that, the underlying mythology is pretty original and interesting. I love Angelina's role in the finale, and Morgan Freeman may have delivered the best line in his career - "SHOOT this motherfucker!" That was a rockin' good time. More, please. :-)

This was exactly what I thought it would be, despite all of my friends who told me they enjoyed it. First of all, they basically abandoned most of the stylistic troupes that make up the rest of the Die Hard series, in terms of Michael Kamen-esque music, anamorphic lens flairs, etc. And Len Wiseman clearly never met a blue filter he didn't like. My biggest problem with this film, though, is that most of the really big action sequences are completely and cartoonishly implausible, and the only way to achieve them is with CGI. But, of course, the appeal of the Die Hard films in the past is that most of the stunts were practical stunts. CGI works fine for a superhero movie, but it totally defeats the purpose of an action movie. Moreover, the appeal of John McClane as a character was that he always knew he was in over his head and was just getting by by the skin of his teeth. Now, he's freakin' Clint Eastwood - cool as a cucumber while giving lip service to his fear. The pacing is off, so the finale feels extremely anti-climatic. And, as much as I like Kevin Smith, that was the very definition of a superfluous cameo. And, on a personal note, as a Baltimore native, I know there's a city ordinance in Washington DC that doesn't allow buildings to be taller than a certain height so that they don't obstruct the federal monuments. There's n such ordinance in Baltimore, so the city is, consequently taller. All that's to say, you can't shoot in Baltimore and pretend it's DC. It does not work.


On the other hand, I always like Justin Long, so that's a star, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead is smoking hot, which is another star.

wow. talk about a beautifully crafted thriller that is, ultimately, a love story. Jean Reno is, really, a man frozen in amber - in many ways, he's a child himself, in comparison to Natalie Portman, who's so much older than her years. Gary Oldman steals the show, though. Just a totally manic performance, dancing right on the edge of caricature. But he's definitely a force of nature. In the end, the Oldman/Reno battle is really the irresistible force getting punked by the immovable object.

This is what epic filmmaking should be - taking the immense moments of history, but shown through the prism of individual human relationships. The human drama MAKES the history important. Warren Beatty is superhuman for writing, producing, directing, AND starring in this. Diane Keaton is just one of those actresses who's perpetually so good for so long that you forget her enormous contribution to film, and this is just one of those telling moments. It's also amazing how this film is ostensibly about those who were passionate about the Bolshevik Revolution, told totally from their point of view, and yet gives an honest critique of why it failed without betraying the characters. I only knock off a star because it's too freakin' long. :-)

This movie changed my life. And that is not an exaggeration. I never looked at the world the same way again after I saw this film. Beforehand, I was very rigid in my understanding of right, wrong, ethics, and morality. This film was the moment when I suddenly understood that there was something.... MORE. And let's not even get into what a technical masterpiece it is at every single level, amid the chaos of its production.

Hitchcock's masterpiece. Hypnotic, and haunting, and beautiful. I saw this when I was 14, and I've had a crush on Kim Novak ever since.

My introduction to both Oliver Stone, the craziness of the Kennedy assassination, and, most importantly, the notion that, just because you see it on TV or in a movie and someone calls it "news" doesn't mean that it actually happened. Once again, the average critic of this film misses the point - the reason why Stone went through all the trouble of using the different mediums & film stocks with these conspiri-fied recreations of Deeley Plaza was to show you that, if HE could fake some footage that you can't distinguish from the real thing, why should you believe that the real thing is really the real thing at all? A masterpiece.

Part III of my early 90's Oliver Stone trilogy, and, stylistically & thematically an unnamed sequel to "JFK" - Nixon as Stone's version of "Citizen Kane", right down to the opening shots of the White House as Xanadu. Hopkins disappears into the role.

Filmmaking on a whole other level. Genius. Provocative. One of my all-time favorites.

David Fincher is one of my directing idols - every single frame of this film is like a deeply rich Renaissance painting. But, beyond that, it's such a totally engrossing story with one of the most life-affirming endings I've ever seen. Just a beautiful film, disguised as a dark thriller.