New movies...

[palexander]

I saw SAW (see-Saw, seen Saw?!) last night... not bad for a modern 'horror/thriller', but completely hammy-over acting spoiled it - as well as the film being quite blatent and obvious with one person in the movie that spoiled the suspense for me...

Not just my opinion - the cinema was sold-out for Saw and when the credits came up and we were walking out, I was looking around and everybody had the same kind of bemused/disappointed look about them.

Had some geniune jumpy moments, but not as good as the trailers make out (are they ever?!)

Also watched Open Water this morning - again not that good. Clocking in at under 1hr 20 - though I knew it wouldnt be much cop - I mean, how much can happen to 2 people in the middle of the ocean? You can fill in the story before you watch it...

 

[West Country Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (pboreham @ Oct. 03 2004,20:04)]I saw SAW (see-Saw, seen Saw?!)

Eh?

Weirdo.....

 

[Guest]

Quote[/b] (pboreham @ Oct. 03 2004,21:04)]Also watched Open Water this morning - again not that good. Clocking in at under 1hr 20 - though I knew it wouldnt be much cop - I mean, how much can happen to 2 people in the middle of the ocean? You can fill in the story before you watch it...

Ive also seen it, and despite all the decent reviews i thought it was a bit crap, theres only a certain amount of excitement you can get from a film about 2 people in the middle of the water for an hour and a half

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

Alas, quite a few movies aren't living up to the hype at the moment. I saw "Hero" yesterday. It was good, don't get me wrong... but a lot of the reviews have seemed to suggest that it's the best thing since sliced bread. It isn't.

The cinematography is, it must be said, some of the finest since "The Last Emperor", "Gladiator" and "The English Patient" - it's right up there for that. The acting is also superb, as are the fight scenes.

But the storyline is simplistic, and yet slightly confused... and it is also a film that no doubt will have pleased the Cental Committee of the Chinese Communist Party... Our Land, indeed...

Matt

 

[Its grim up north!]

I watched 'Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind' last night,

EXCELLENT film!

 

[Napster]

Open Water is absolute rubbish. Avoid at all costs.

 

[West Country Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (Napster @ Oct. 04 2004,17:34)]Open Water is absolute rubbish. Avoid at all costs.

What's wrong with it? Meant to be one of the best films out for a while

 

[Napster]

Quote[/b] (West Country Shrimper @ Oct. 04 2004,17:40)]

Quote[/b] (Napster @ Oct. 04 2004,17:34)]Open Water is absolute rubbish. Avoid at all costs.

What's wrong with it? Meant to be one of the best films out for a while

Where do I start?

Plot- should have been 20 minutes long
Characters- who cares about a couple who have everything and are the embodiment of American success?
Camerawork- shaky handicams are so 90s. Although to be fair, on two occasions it worked well
Fear effect- supposed to be scary and it wasn't
Logic- don't want to spoil the ending, but it doesn't work.

Not to mention the lack of any emblematic structure, iconicism, and the fact that you could even call it slightly racist. (let's all denigrate the stupid locals who can't count properly)

Oh, and it's dull. Very dull.

 

[palexander]

Quote[/b] (Napster @ Oct. 04 2004,18:45)]

Quote[/b] (West Country Shrimper @ Oct. 04 2004,17:40)]

Quote[/b] (Napster @ Oct. 04 2004,17:34)]Open Water is absolute rubbish. Avoid at all costs.

What's wrong with it? Meant to be one of the best films out for a while

Where do I start?

Plot- should have been 20 minutes long
Characters- who cares about a couple who have everything and are the embodiment of American success?
Camerawork- shaky handicams are so 90s. Although to be fair, on two occasions it worked well
Fear effect- supposed to be scary and it wasn't
Logic- don't want to spoil the ending, but it doesn't work.

Not to mention the lack of any emblematic structure, iconicism, and the fact that you could even call it slightly racist. (let's all denigrate the stupid locals who can't count properly)

Oh, and it's dull. Very dull.

Hmmm, it was dull, but at the same time strangely compelling due to its originality (I guess only because its not an interesting story, so never been filmed before!).

About 30 mins into it, my girlfriend said "I'm going for a smoke, give me a shout when they get eaten"

The shark element was very disappointing - they gave a couple of jumpy moments, but the size and scale of them left a lot to be desired. Not that I would like to be in a pool with a load of bull-sharks mind, but for example, the ending credit sequence would have been better left out in my opinion because it blatently showed what the couple were up against.

As far fetched as the situation was, you cannot complain about it as it has really happened, so its not that unbelievable.

For me, the feeling of hopelesness for the pair, rather than anything else was the overiding emotion I was left with - but yea, they were a pretty unlikeable couple.

To give the story a bit more validality, the film should have showed a shot of the boat company being extremely busy and almost turning around straight away with another load of tourists - I fail to believe they would have missed the couple. I'm sure the true story in Australia was not like that...

A comparison of "a cross between Blair Witch and Jaws" is so far off the mark it is untrue!

I gave it 5.5/10 - if only for the fact it was only 1hr 15 long and didnt subject me to any more!

 

[palexander]

** May have spoilers **

As for "Saw"...

Not the great horror it was made out to be. It does have an original twist on the serial killer genre and I dont think anybody guessed the twist at the end, though looking back it was staring you straight in the face!

It had too much cheesy dialogue between the two main characters - but almost exactly the same as Open Water, how much can happen to two guys chained in a room?

The story started and promised so much, with 2 men waking up in a dark room, chained at opposite ends of the room to pipes with heavy chains. In the middle of the room lay a mutilated body and the 2 characters had no idea why they are there.

The 2 then find packages on them that contain information - this is where the story starts to promise so much. Each man has a task to perform to secure their own escape - using only what they can find in their limited radius.

All of a sudden, one of the characters remembers everything about the serial killer and knows they are the next victims of his killing spree. The promise evaporates as nothing really happens... we are greeted to flash backs of previous killings - which are pretty cool, but again the trailers mislead the film as these sequences are all too brief.

The story then gets a little lost in the middle as the writer tries to reach the end of the movie. There are a couple of twists towards the end, climaxing with an original twister that leaves scope for a sequel that will no doubt suck even worse. After the shock of the twist evaporates and you are left to think about the ending, you can finish the story quite easily so nothing is really left open enough...

One very scary, tense sequence, some disturbing imagery, plenty of gore - but ultimately another disappointing modern day horror.

 

[Napster]

Quote[/b] (pboreham @ Oct. 04 2004,19:33)]As far fetched as the situation was, you cannot complain about it as it has really happened, so its not that unbelievable.

Hmmm. Logic overdrive without spoiling the ending...

 

[palexander]

If you mean what I think you mean Napster, then yea, a fair bit of imagination had to have been added to the story, but the actual fact that 2 people were once left behind on a diving trip in Australia actually happened...