GrimFandango

Thought it was really well done--I was concerned they were going to jack it up (a la Alien Covenant), but it appears it really benefited from Villanueve's reverence to the source material, I think. I really liked the story, and I felt really bad for Kay when he goes from such a high of believing himself to be very special, to realizing that he is "less-than-human", although I wonder if his sacrifice was realizing that the act itself made him greater and special in another way? My only nitpicks were the length (could have been 30 minutes shorter), and the music was overbearing. The original score had a lot of deftness and delicateness to it in parts, whereas in 2049 it's like a speaker power test--just way, way too loud and overbearing. I'm tempted to see it again, but the length is making me wait till it comes out on bluray, as even in the theater I was checking my watch in parts. Overall, quiet good and I give it a B++.

Could somebody edit out the "Its rotten on rt"?

baumer, you might try seeing it even a second time--for me it was even better for some reason; I think maybe by the end I understood what the characters were supposed to be and that helped when I watched it again. I'd still like to see some lines and scenes cut a little bit though. The second time I REALLY dug the opening, and I thought the soundtrack fit so much better. It's not a good sign that it takes a second viewing to 'get' the characters; I haven't read the comics but I get the feeling that maybe subconsciously Besson made the assumption that people were more familiar with the comic book characters than we are, so as an audience we really feel that they're both kind of self-centered jerks right off the bat because Besson doesn't set them up properly.

I hope people take their kids to see Valerian instead, because that IS a much better movie for kids than DM3, and deserves the money over DM3 IMHO.

I feel the same way--Luc really, really tried to make a great movie, and you can tell. It is sooo close to being awesome, it's frustrating. It is way better than the last three Transformers movies, so it sucks that it is crashing so bad while those movies somehow get a pass. I'm hoping that the dialogue flaws that are killing it domestically aren't seen as being so bad to foreign audiences, particularly China, South America, etc. (essentially where English is not the first language). There is the possibility that it could do a lot better OS numbers. I saw it for a fourth time today, because I've gotten to where I can overlook the poor dialogue because the rest of the movie is really, really good. The plot actually makes sense despite a deus ex piece, and I believe with a little bit of work it could be saved. The post-theater release can absolutely be fixed enough by some judicious editing, and turn it into a solid B movie. Like I've mentioned before, as it is it works great as a kids/teen movie (much better than about 80% of the stuff that's been released this summer), but man, once the critic slam-pile starts, it's hard to escape its influence.

Cara I can understand based on Luc's past obsessions with young, model waifs; and, Cara is one of the current 'IT' girls of the model world. She has a lot of personality off-camera, but if a director wants to use that to their advantage they're going to have to work it in the script and capture it on camera. Unfortunately, Cara doesn't have the acting skill (that we've seen yet anyways) to work with, and Luc doesn't have the writing skill by himself to make it happen. I suspect some ego is involved. Dane kind of looks like the comic book character, but he is absolutely miscast. Don't know what happened there.

I remember when Roots came out, and even as young as I was I recall that it was HUGE. It was everywhere, and because of the subject matter and reflection on race relations in the US it had a huge impact culturally. With M*A*S*H, it was one of my favorite shows to watch with my parents. It was a magic blend of tragedy and comedy, tackling such serious issues with a deft levity that was really unique. Blake's death and Hawkeye's heart-rending retelling of the "she killed her baby" experience still make me tear up. And the thing to keep in mind is that back then, there was really only three stations to watch, and no DVRs or anything like that so the competition for viewers was way, way less.

Valerian Sun July 23 7pm 85% full Arrived too late for trailers. Some laughs at appropriate moments. Exiting theater I heard a lot of compliments about it.

Dunkirk is quite a bit different than most WW2 films though:

Ban's over: While I think Dunkirk is a really good movie, I don't see a lot of repeat viewings outside of hardcore fans. I think a lot of fans will stay away despite the great reviews because of the subject matter, and it is not a "fun" nor feel-good* film. I still think it's over-rated, but will still get tons of Oscar noms. I saw Valerian for a 2nd time because a neighbor offered to take me with his family--I didn't tell them I'd already seen it and that I thought it was an "A+/C-" movie because I didn't want to affect their enjoyment of it. That said, I actually liked it much better the 2nd time around! (My friends REALLY liked it, and this audience was way into it) I see myself seeing Valerian maybe a third or fourth time with my spouse and friends. I don't see myself seeing Dunkirk again despite being as quality as it was--my spouse doesn't like that kind of movie so won't see it at all. This time viewing Valerian there were a lot of kids in the audience, and they freakin' loved it! I was surprised, but I'm thinking now that of the movies showing now, Valerian is a great option for kids. I've really changed my mind on this one. I really hope Valerian does better despite it's critics and faults, because I do think it is a special movie in its own weird way, and there's no denying it is a powerhouse of SFX and concept-art, and the plot was actually fine for me on a second viewing (still wish it had different leads though). *in a "I feel inspired!!" way.

Ok, so I was thinking about seeing this a 2nd time, but like I said in my review and prior comments, I didn't know if I could handle the acting and dialogue again. However, my neighbor and his 15 year old stopped by and invited me to see it with them, so I said sure. I didn't want to influence their experience, so I didn't tell them I'd already seen it or anything at all... You know what? I liked it A LOT better the second time around. The theater was nearly full, and some people were REALLY digging the movie. There was a lot of laughter at all the right parts, and outright guffaws and woots, especially from kids. It occurred to me then: this is a great kids movie. If you're faced with taking kids to see DM3, Cars3, Transformers, or whatever, take them to this movie--really. My neighbor is not nearly as critical of movies as I am, and he frickin' loved it. His 15 year old really liked it too (huge X box gamer kid), and he kept saying during the movie "Those sentry droids are so cool!" I'm going to update my initial review, because it actually does hold up well to a second viewing. I've decided I'll take my spouse later this week, so that will be my third time. I may see it once more after that--it's grown on me that much despite my initial criticisms. I"m convinced this will be a cult film, 100%. It may even approach the stature of The 5th Element--granted the acting is not as good, but conceptually, graphically and inventiveness-wise, this is several times the 5th element in those areas (I rewatched The 5th Element last night, so I'm comparing directly instead of a purely nostalgic perspective). Anyways, I hope beyond hope that despite its flaws and the critical pounding that it's taken, that there are enough people that will see it, enjoy it and spread the word. And again, encourage the kids to watch it because this movie is a perfect extension of the video-game/sfx world kids are exposed to so much, and this film is inspirational in it's own weird way.

Valerian July 22, 7pm, 80% full Colorado Trailers The Dark Tower Daddy's Home 2 (This looks like it could be real funny--lots of laughs, especially when John Lithgow showed) anna kendrick movie 3 some others I forget I saw Valerian on opening day, first showing--there wasn't many people. This one had a lot of people. Seemed like a really positive reaction from the crowd. Pretty good laughter at some scenes, some outright guffawing at some of the really funny scenes. I actually enjoyed it a lot more the 2nd time around. Will update my review.

I don't think it's that questionable--Besson's had some very popular, well-regarded movies and he is a well-respected director. I imagine between his enthusiasm for the project, and if he showed off a 5-minute concept reel that looked like the trailer (or the first five minutes of the alien planet from the trailer) it would certainly convince investors he has a good project on his hands. Everyone has admitted to being blown away by that, even if they disliked the movie. And this movie came really close to being a breakout hit. I like to contrast this against the last few Transformers movies: Valerian is a project of love for Besson, while Transformers kept coming off like a cash-grab by Bay. Both sport amazing SFX, although I would argue that Valerian's is better. Plus Valerian is much, much more inventive and intriguing. I personally feel Besson thought he had a really good script on his hands. Bay seemed to say "that last film made money, I'm just gonna copy and paste the main pieces, throw a script together in 30 days and good enough." Bay really didn't seem to give a shit if his script was actually any good. And the box office results seem to support it until that bottom finally fell out. But imagine as an investor having something that blows Transformers away in sfx, concept and story with a script that a so-far pretty successful directory really believes in? It would almost seem dumb to turn it down. And as Tele mentions, the risk was really spread out among a lot of investors. If Besson can put together a sequel and fix the dialoge and casting issues, I'll be there buying my ticket on opening night.

After watching the previews, I was NOT excited for this movie other than Nolan's name was on it, plus the crazy-high critic reviews. I thought the trailers were kind of lame, but now that I've seen the movie, I understand why: I don't know how the trailers could have been done any better off the top of my head.

Firstly, when I left I really wanted to hug a WWII vet, because if you were a guy in one of those situations, jeezus..... I think what impacted me the most was simply how awful, disgusting and horrible war is. Every politician should be forced to watch movies like these (although I imagine a lot wouldn't care anyways). I really appreciated the realism, although it just occurred to me that this is not a gory film, a la Saving Private Ryan. For all the bombing, shooting, etc, I don't recall seeing any sprays of blood, guts, or anything (outside of the boy's cerebral fluid). Strange, because my initial impression was that it was very reminiscent of that movie, but it handles deaths and such completely differently. The air battles were very impressive, as were the ship sinkings. Everything was top notch, but outside of hoping people survived, I wasn't really invested in any character. If they died, I was just "That sucks.", and that's it. I wish there had been more exposition from the characters. The other big problem for me is the pacing--there almost wasn't any. It's just full on the gas until the end. I really liked the score initially, but after it while it got on my nerves because it wouldn't let up. If I were to listen to it without viewing the movie, I wouldn't be able to tell you what was going on at that point. I think Inception is a much better film than this one, and I'm reminded of it because the Inception score fit it so well; but in Dunkirk it's almost like listening to someone continuously up-shifting a racing car with an infinite number of gears. My quick run-down: It's going to get all kinds of Oscar noms It was relentless It was soberingly impacting It is over-rated It will not have the legs of Interstellar I agree very much with Jeremy John's review, so I won't say much other than the fact that by the end I couldn't name a single character's name in this movie, and for me that means I wasn't seriously invested in it. It's a very well executed film, absolutely. I'm glad I saw it but I have no interest in seeing it again. The tension ratcheted up to 10 right from the get-go, and really didn't let off the gas for the rest of the movie, and I personally find that tiring. I'm predicting most viewers will not want to see it more than once, and that's going to hurt it's legs. This is a better executed movie than Interstellar, but it's hard to empathize with characters outside of hoping that they survive. I found the timeline more confusing than it needed to be, particularly going back between night and day moments. At some point I wondered if Nolan was playing with some sort of time loop a la Inception or Interstellar, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't, but it felt that way to me. I give it a B.