Chucho E. Quintero (mistershinobi)

By far, one of the worst films of the decade.

For start, it's absolutely boring. Visual effects are disgustingly awful and look like a 90's videogame from start to finish. Every single performance is completely out of tone with the movie: Channing Tatum thinks he's in some sort of indie Irak small-town drama, Marlon Wayans is boring, Sienna Miller thinks she's on a SNL sketch, Dennis Quaid doesn't understand a word he says the entire time and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, well, he's just thinking about the nice new fridge he's going to buy with his paycheck. When you think sci-fi/action fans will be pleased about a Brendan Fraser cameo, you have serious issues with reality.

But, I guess we couldn't expect more from the director who brought us The Mummy Returns and Van Helsing.

I stood up and walked away from my living room after 30 minutes, and my parents turned it off ten minutes later. And they like any piece of crappy action blockbuster they see. Go figure.

Never before has a movie been so respectful with its audience, never looking down on them or thinking they are less than morons. This is one gutsy, s.o.b. film: with the full knowledge of the tons of kids and money in merchandise (toys and games) they were going to lose, they still managed to pull this off - a movie with no concessions and no sugary fairy dust, just pure post-apocalyptic action, gruesome visuals and extraordinary imagination beyond all expectations.

I'm glad and at the same time disappointed by the respect they had for the original short film. Yes, they respected the original plot and expanded it in clever ways but, c'mon! It felt so freakin' brief. The good thing? It doesn't matter. The screenplay is so round, so tiny, so perfectly written, it takes you to a roller coaster ride and never lets go, til the end. The characters are lovable and real (they are, after all, all that's left of the human soul/spirit) and the action sequences are so goddamn well directed and crafted.

Shane Acker is a truly genius on his way to the top. Just wait. You'll see.

I loved how the small mature details like corpses and drug-use (the magnet, anyone?) reminded us that we were not watching just an animated film, but a full time tiny masterpiece, beyond filming techniques.

The Over the rainbow scene is probably one of the top scenes of the year. Maybe even the decade. It is out-of-this-world fantastic.

I've seen several films that touched me in so many important ways after I saw this one back in 2005 but there will always be only one Garden State in my life. I saw it a couple of days after it was released in just one theatre here in Mexico City and all I can remember is walking out of the cinema after the movie ended with the true decision of becoming a filmmaker. This movie completely changed my life, and that's beyond any flaw, any opinion, any academic review of rights and wrongs. This film means more to me than just 109 minutes of moving pictures set to the greatest soundtrack in modern memory. And that's all I have to say.

The ultimate B/W slacker indie film.