I just don't know. This was a well directed film with lots of great special effects, and it stuck to the story and characterisation pretty closely BUT I found myself getting restless and losing focus. I was not the only one as people seemed to be walking in and out of the cinema all the way through. It certainly didn't hold our attention to the point we were riveted to our seats. I don't know why though. There were moments it felt laughable, and overall it just felt like a kid's movie. It would've been more helpful if I'd realised it was only part 1. I was looking forward to seeing them return as adults in the second part, because that's what brings it all together. For me Stephen King's strength particularly in this book is characterisation. Although this was a horror story, the real focus was the power of friendship and how it triumphs over evil. There was some reference to this in the movie, but the adult part would've really brought that to life. I will see part 2, but I left part 1 feeling disappointed that it felt more like an action film for kids rather than a depiction of the real story beneath the horror and a reminder of the power inherent in that.
Reviews
5 Reviews
The Giving Tree
(2000)
Did some of you even watch it?? (spoilers)
10 October 2009
Warning: Spoilers
After reading some of these negative reviews, I wonder how much of the movie these reviewers actually watched, considering how many basic facts they got completely wrong.
First of all, the reunion didn't take place ten years after the event, it took place 8 months after. The pregnant girl, Sara, was 8 months pregnant. So...that tells us who the father is, right? They didn't call 911 or use a car to get help when she went into labour because there had been an earthquake which blocked off the road and trapped them there. Fairly significant point to miss I'd say. And the guy told the blind man he was taking full responsibility for the DOG's death, not Emily's.
I agree with other reviewers that this is Christina Applegate's finest hour. She has two lines of dialogue yet dominates the whole movie. I thought the title song that plays over her cabin scene was perfect.
It did have some flaws but overall, taken for what it was, I thought it was a good story that makes the viewer think. But only if the viewer pays attention to detail apparently.
First of all, the reunion didn't take place ten years after the event, it took place 8 months after. The pregnant girl, Sara, was 8 months pregnant. So...that tells us who the father is, right? They didn't call 911 or use a car to get help when she went into labour because there had been an earthquake which blocked off the road and trapped them there. Fairly significant point to miss I'd say. And the guy told the blind man he was taking full responsibility for the DOG's death, not Emily's.
I agree with other reviewers that this is Christina Applegate's finest hour. She has two lines of dialogue yet dominates the whole movie. I thought the title song that plays over her cabin scene was perfect.
It did have some flaws but overall, taken for what it was, I thought it was a good story that makes the viewer think. But only if the viewer pays attention to detail apparently.
The Happening
(2008)
Good premise, lousy follow-through
19 December 2008
I thought the overall concept for this film was brilliant and I still enjoyed it because of the questions it leaves you with. I'm just not sure how the same person who wrote Sixth Sense and The Village could have written this.
The problems for me were mainly in the dialogue, some of the things Mark Wahlberg said he just wouldn't, I mean really. And the woman on the phone to her daughter in Princeton - would the daughter really not have mentioned until asked halfway through the conversation that everybody outside was dead?? I also don't understand why Zooey's character was made to be so weak and flawed, it was never resolved - I mean characters start out that way usually so they can be redeemed through what happens. But I don't think she was, unless it was in her caring for the young girl, but if so I missed it.
And I also had a problem with the fact that the main characters were never hit with this deadly whatever-it-was, even though they were running around outside for most of the movie, instead of getting inside where it would obviously be more safe.
M. Night perhaps needs to have somebody proofread and edit his material in future. He has great ideas, but lately the practical application of them is lousy. If I were a writing teacher, I'd make him do it again.
The problems for me were mainly in the dialogue, some of the things Mark Wahlberg said he just wouldn't, I mean really. And the woman on the phone to her daughter in Princeton - would the daughter really not have mentioned until asked halfway through the conversation that everybody outside was dead?? I also don't understand why Zooey's character was made to be so weak and flawed, it was never resolved - I mean characters start out that way usually so they can be redeemed through what happens. But I don't think she was, unless it was in her caring for the young girl, but if so I missed it.
And I also had a problem with the fact that the main characters were never hit with this deadly whatever-it-was, even though they were running around outside for most of the movie, instead of getting inside where it would obviously be more safe.
M. Night perhaps needs to have somebody proofread and edit his material in future. He has great ideas, but lately the practical application of them is lousy. If I were a writing teacher, I'd make him do it again.
2:37
(2006)
Brave portrayal
19 January 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Good grief sethrp-1, you COMPLETELY missed the point. The girl was only seen briefly specifically BECAUSE she was the one who was going to kill herself...everyone else was so wrapped up in their own stories they didn't notice her, nor did we. As one of the other students says at the end - we're all so wrapped up in our own problems we don't notice what's going on for someone else.
The director himself said if he had killed off one of the others, it would've suggested their problems were worse than someone else's. The whole point of killing Kelly was that she was unnoticed by all of us. Get it now??
The director himself said if he had killed off one of the others, it would've suggested their problems were worse than someone else's. The whole point of killing Kelly was that she was unnoticed by all of us. Get it now??
Phar Lap
(1983)
Phar Lap and the Diva
2 November 2005
My mother nursed Tommy Woodcock before he died and said Phar Lap was the love of his life, his death broke his heart.
This week there are the inevitable comparisons with Makybe Diva who has rightly earned her own place in the history books. But she is 7 years old and has run 36 races, Phar Lap was only 3 when he died and had already raced 51 times, 37 of them wins.
His heart now resides in the National Museum in Canberra (his body is in the Melbourne Museum). The size of his heart is incredible to behold. I don't think there will ever be another horse that matches the incomparable Phar Lap.
This week there are the inevitable comparisons with Makybe Diva who has rightly earned her own place in the history books. But she is 7 years old and has run 36 races, Phar Lap was only 3 when he died and had already raced 51 times, 37 of them wins.
His heart now resides in the National Museum in Canberra (his body is in the Melbourne Museum). The size of his heart is incredible to behold. I don't think there will ever be another horse that matches the incomparable Phar Lap.
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