The DaVinci Code

[potatobroth]

anyone else looking forward to seeing this? I thought the book was a lot of fun, and from seeing the trailers expect the movie to be as well.

I know this topic has been getting a strange amount of publicity from the Catholic sect because evidentally they don't trust their followers to seperate fact from fiction.

[King of Snake]

haven't read the book (from what i heard it was a good story but not so good writing) but I hope the film is good cause i like the premise of the whole thing.

[potatobroth]

the writing was fine, but nothing ground-breaking. his style is to write in short chapters that leave a cliffhanger for the next short chapter. "just gotta read three more pages.." and the likes.

[holden]

Not bothering with the film. It'll be a huge hit, cause controversy, and probably get Ron Howard/Tom Hanks Oscar nods. i think these are safe bets. But i'm not interested for several reasons: (1) Ron Howard's movies always make me feel toyed with...he pulls out all sorts of sentimental stops to manipulate your emotions. Maybe that makes for uplifting endings, but i leave the theater feeling used. (2) The book's premise isn't original and it's got lots of facts wrong. Even though it's listed as fiction, however, too many people will accept this interpretation as the gospel truth, and that's too bad, imho.

[Kennrr]

yeah, holden. stupid, guilable people. the same people that believe the blair witch project is real. if your talking about originality, are you talking about the writer who sued brown? The book was good, loved the story and premise.

also, isn't the whole point of a movie is being able manipulate your emotions? you want to root for the hero, you want to hate the villian... or I miss you point competely.

[adam]

No, I understand his point, Kennrr. There are occurences in a movie that are true to the plot and the characters, and there are occurences that are contrived simply for an emotional response. Obsiously the distinction is pretty fine, but it's really irritating once you spot it. I've always felt that way about Spielberg films, too.

An example would be in Pearl Harbour, right before the bombs start dropping, there's a scene with children dressed as angels dancing. This is plainly designed to pull on the heartstrings, and it's super cheesy. Ron Howard is better than that, but he's a total heartstring-puller.

[cured]

I'm seeing it this weekend...looking forward to it. I've only read bits and pieces of the book but it was definitely a page turner whether I agreed with the subject matter or not.

I like Ron Howard. He made "Willow," one of my favorite movies ever.

[holden]

yeah, holden. stupid, guilable people. the same people that believe the blair witch project is real. if your talking about originality, are you talking about the writer who sued brown? The book was good, loved the story and premise.

also, isn't the whole point of a movie is being able manipulate your emotions? you want to root for the hero, you want to hate the villian... or I miss you point competely.

Adam got my point right on. It is a fine line between good storytelling/moviegoing and manipulation, but movies like "Cinderella Man", "Apollo 13" and "A Beautiful Mind" definitely took creative licences with real stories. Surely "Da Vinci Code" isn't truth, but it also claims to be based on facts. There are tons of gullible people who will buy it all hook, line and sinker. They already have. The fact that there are lots of websites, study groups, tv documentaries, other books based on it, trying to explain it, debunk it, whatever, is proof that people already bought this for something bigger than it is: an entertaining work of fiction. Comparison with "Blair Witch" is limited, because, except for that film's festival debut which took some by surprise, it was revealed to be fake and the buzz died. Did anyone bother with Blair Witch 2? Nope.
Maybe the movie and books are good things in that they get people discussing matters of faith rather than just accepting what they're told. I'm just saying the opposite also applies: people will blindly accept Da Vinci Code as well-researched fact. Woops!
Just my opinion, though! Like i wrote in prev. post, it'll be a huge hit film! Enjoy it!

[adam]

I like Ron Howard - I thought he was great on both Arrested Development and The Simpsons. Apollo 13 was pretty fun, too. But his movies tend not to be much more than brain candy - like Spielberg's. They are consistently well done, but they tend to be manipulative (in the above sense) and fairly simple.

[cured]

"Blair Witch" was something to be enjoyed and talked about...what the studio was thinking when they thought they could recycle every other horror movie and attach "Blair Witch" to the name and have it sell is beyond me but it's just another one of those bad Hollywood moments.

I enjoyed watching all the publicity MTV was giving the movie, though...it was such a perfect marriage.

A LOT of people I know have read "The DaVinci Code" and, yes, many of those people have used their Dr. Phil skills to come up with their own conclusions about what's true and what's not.

I just hope to be entertained. Magneto is usually worth the price of admission by himself :)

[b.miller]

i dunno.. I would compare DaVinci more with movies like From Hell or National Treasure... they have realistic backdrops but are pretty clearly just theories or outright yarns weaving them together. Of course neither of those movies made nearly as much money as DaVinci will ... but still, I'd say something like a Michael Moore movie has much more of a chance of being misinterpreted as the truth... at least Ron Howard doesn't pretend his movies are documentaries... he takes as much license as any other "based on real events" movie in hollywood...

Howard does succumb to sentimentality though... I personally think that's why Cinderella Man was such a bomb... everyone smelled the depression-era boxer's triumph a mile away and wasn't in a mood for any heartstring pulling of that magnitude. He's a good storyteller though and DaVinci is more of a fast-paced mystery than anything with character or love so the movie should be fun. it HAS to be better than Poseidon.

[adam]

I think Holden's just assuming that's the case because everyone is assuming the novel is real, which is definitely happening, and a little freaky.

[grady]

I can't wait to see National Treasure 2: European Adventure - the da vinci code later this week.

As far as Opie directing good films, that remains to be seen. I didn't see his western he made a couple year back. I didn't see Cinderella Man as it looked like setimental crap pleading for some gold statues. The oscar he won for A Beautiful Mind further proved the ineptitude of the Academy and their ability to award mediocrity.

Then there is Gladiator. The film directed by Ridley Scott that won Russel Crowe his oscar he so rightly deserved for his performance the previous year The Insider.

But all my reservations aside, I'm looking forward to Da Vinci. It will be interesting to see how they made all the real locations look and compressed the story.

[Kennrr]

okay I understand what you mean with movie examples like Pearl Harbor, Cinderella Man, etc. I never watched either of those movies but yeah, its meant for middle america to feel good about something.

Regardless, I dig reading the book and Tom Hank hasn't failed me yet so i'll be watching it.

sort of off topic, but did anyone catch Tom Hank on SNL? very funny stuff

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

Hey Kennrr, long time no hear! I'm in Texas now so I don't see meeting up in Pheonix too close in the future, your info in the past was more than appreciated, thanks again.

I did see the SNL with Hanks and if was a return to form for the show. I haven't watched SNL in ages, but Massive Attack in Denver has broke the bank for at least a month. I'll be watching the next SNL's to come for awhile, hope they're as good the Hanks show.

[ffolkes]

Then there is A Beautiful Mind. The film that won Russel Crowe his oscar he so rightly deserved for his performance in The Insider.


wrong, he was nominated for a beautiful mind but didn't win. the oscar went to denzel washington (rightfully so) for training day in 2002.
russell won his golden statue a year earlier for gladiator. i agree on your comment about the insider though

on another note, i'm not too excited about da vinci code. after seeing a documentary about the whole dan brown's novel phenomena, i kinda saw everything worth seeing (plus the debunking of the whole theory as well).

it's a bit like seeing a trailer for a movie that shows all the best bits... you're not really keen on seeing the rest as it seems just a filler.

oh and fuck ron howard too.

[Kennrr]

John - hows it going? its unfortunate we never got to hang out. I actually like the new cast of SNL'ers. I'm sure they took extra attention considering its Tom Hanks that week. the song he did was hiliarious.

back to the movie discussion. take it for what it is and you'll enjoy this a whole lot better. I can't judge it yet since I haven't seen it yet, but come on a film with Tom Hanks and the girl from Amelie. isn't that enough? :-p

Its funny how the church worries about this film. it shows how much faith the church has in their followers to decide if the film is just make believe or a documentary!

[matt]

i've had to laugh at some of the comments the church has been coming out with about the film

read one article last week where the guy denouncing the film said that it was based on the preposterous notion that christ had a child.

right, so a man having a child is far-fetched and yet you buy the whole water into wine, walking on water thing hook line & sinker :confused: :)

and surely there won't be many people who see this film and believe all its claims, will there? i imagine it'll be an entertaining movie and nothing more

surely the church should be welcoming the film if it encourages discussion and interest in christianity etc. their biggest worry should be that the inevitable success of the film is only going to encourage dan brown to write more terrible books :(

[patrick]

hahahha, one of t he greatest posts. i agree with everything here, especially about more terrible books. they are like fodder and once you start reading them you can finish them in about 4 hours and that was too slow for me cause i just wanted it over with...

i think it'll be ammusing though

[stimpee]

The book's premise isn't original and it's got lots of facts wrong. Even though it's listed as fiction, however, too many people will accept this interpretation as the gospel truth, and that's too bad, imho.Yeah, the facts, cos the bible is the Truth, right? ;)

[Tiger]

Yeah, the facts, cos the bible is the Truth, right? ;)

NO, the Koran is..............ask Adrian;)

[BeautifulBurnout]

... their biggest worry should be that the inevitable success of the film is only going to encourage dan brown to write more terrible books :(

Too late!

I have been seeing adverts for something called "The Dan Brown Readers Companion" or "Book Companion" or some such shit all over town. :eek:

So now not only are you encouraged to buy his crappy books, but also you have to buy another crappy book to help you read his crappy books.

I read the Da Vinci Code cos of the hype. I was impressed with the plot, although the ending was clear to me about half way through, but unimpressed by his writing style. I will prolly see the movie though to see what they make of it.

BTW - and this is the wrong thread - but if anyone felt like me "nice plot, shame about the Sun Reader prose", try Eco's Foucault's Pendulum. I am reading it at the moment (thanks for the tip, Lloyd) and it is eminently more satisfying to read something that is beautifully written, with strong, believable characters.

[mmm skyscraper]

try Eco's Foucault's Pendulum. .

I really like that book. Read the Illuminatus! Trilogy by by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson next and you'll pretty much have all you need in the way of conspiracy theories.

[holden]

Yeah, the facts, cos the bible is the Truth, right? ;)

Fair enough. But i was referring more to Jewish history and art history. Facts surrounding Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" and "Last Supper", the collation of the books of the Bible and early Christian practices recorded by Jewish historians e.g. Josephus.

But i think this thread is about the movie, right? ;)

[myrrh]

NO, the Koran is..............ask Adrian;)


No doubt about that.... Though, for the record, there is some Truth in the Bible too. It just that a lot of it has been corrupted.

I never read the Da Vinci Code, but will probably go check this out on the weekend. I think it will probably be an alright flick. I totally agree too, that there are a whole lotta people thinking that this is how things went down, and all. It's kinda sad, actually.

I think that the reason that the Church gets in a big uproar about these kind of movies is because it makes people question things about their doctrine, and the Church cannot provide answers to these questions.

When these questions go against the very root of the Christian faith (i.e. the Crucifiction), you are going to obviously (and understandably) get people in a uproar.

For example, you have Islam (via the Qur'an), which confirms that Jesus was the Messiah; mentions the Last Supper; mentions the miracles Jesus performed; mentions more about Mary (his mother, not Magdelene) then the entire Bible (chapter 19 of the Qur'an is called "Mary"); then goes on to negate the Trinity, and say that Jesus was never crucified.

On top of this, you have early Christian sects that believed Jesus was never crucified, and all the other gospels coming out now that mention this kind of thing as well. And when the people that are researching these things are Christians, you can see where issues arise. That being that when the Churches own followers are questioning what the Church is telling them, and the Church cannot provide a logical rebuttal, then only left for them to do is call it blasphemy.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

I'm having issue with those who are calling the entire work of DaVince Code to be fiction. Brown documents reference points for readers to do back up history checks. Same documents the top of the information-brain-food chain have used in the past to back up their arguments, NOW that the common populace is given the same said info., it's being called fiction.

[b.miller]

HE DIED FOR OUR SINS!!!!!!!!


or at least that's what Axl Rose's T-shirt told me.

[grady]

And he had wheels and wings. (we're still talking about Jebus right, or are we back on Dan Brown)

[grady]

wrong, he was nominated for a beautiful mind but didn't win. the oscar went to denzel washington (rightfully so) for training day in 2002.
russell won his golden statue a year earlier for gladiator. i agree on your comment about the insider though

oh and fuck ron howard too.

thanks for the heads up ffolkes. I updated my post accordingly and even double checked it again as I didn't know where the hell my mind was other than bashing opie.

But yeah, it's good to know others think the same about crowe and The Insider.

[Kennrr]

thanks for the heads up ffolkes. I updated my post accordingly and even double checked it again as I didn't know where the hell my mind was other than bashing opie.

But yeah, it's good to know others think the same about crowe and The Insider.

god has already punished him with baldness, why must you bash him any further? :D

[ffolkes]

thanks for the heads up ffolkes. I updated my post accordingly and even double checked it again as I didn't know where the hell my mind was other than bashing opie.


no problem, though now your updated post is kinda saying that opie directed gladiator... if russell won for that movie, wouldn't it be more of ridley scott's fault? :D


As far as Opie directing good films. I didn't see his western he made a couple year back. I didn't see Cinderella Man as it looked like setimental crap pleading for some gold statues. Then there is Gladiator. The film that won Russel Crowe his oscar he so rightly deserved for his performance in The Insider.

but honestly who cares, i'm just being overtly precise. ;)

imo ron howard should be bashed for winning best director and best movie for 'a beautiful mind'; a movie that reeks of cheesiness + academy-asskissing over-sentimentality (even more than cinderella man, in fact). surely one of the most underwhelming 'best movie' oscar winners ever. ...then again if i remember correctly there wasn't much competition back then either. peter jackson had his first LOTR but won "for all three" later on with return of the king etc etc.

so anyways, for a closure: fuck ron howard and fuck the oscars.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

rahgrraaarrahhaaawwwwwrrhahr, phittfff, phtitfff

[ffolkes]

rahgrraaarrahhaaawwwwwrrhahr, phittfff, phtitfff

my sentiments exactly. err...

[grady]

no problem, though now your updated post is kinda saying that opie directed gladiator... if russell won for that movie, wouldn't it be more of ridley scott's fault? :D



but honestly who cares, i'm just being overtly precise. ;)

imo ron howard should be bashed for winning best director and best movie for 'a beautiful mind'; a movie that reeks of cheesiness + academy-asskissing over-sentimentality (even more than cinderella man, in fact). surely one of the most underwhelming 'best movie' oscar winners ever. ...then again if i remember correctly there wasn't much competition back then either. peter jackson had his first LOTR but won "for all three" later on with return of the king etc etc.

so anyways, for a closure: fuck ron howard and fuck the oscars.

I updated my post yet AGAIN and it further expresses what you just typed above, fuck ron howard and fuck the oscars. Eh, we should direct all this hatred towards something useful like bashing MI:3-SCIENTOLOGY RULES or Poseidon.

Meanwhile, The Da Vinci code is finally being shown today in Cannes. We should all be so excited!

[ffolkes]

I updated my post yet AGAIN and it further expresses what you just typed above, fuck ron howard and fuck the oscars. Eh, we should direct all this hatred towards something useful like bashing MI:3-SCIENTOLOGY RULES or Poseidon.

Meanwhile, The Da Vinci code is finally being shown today in Cannes. We should all be so excited!

sorry about that. looks good enough now though... ;)

btw my brother is at the festival, he might attend the whole da vinci bash. i already asked him to give opie a swift kick in the arse if he sees him. :)

[potatobroth]

on another note, i'm not too excited about da vinci code. after seeing a documentary about the whole dan brown's novel phenomena, i kinda saw everything worth seeing (plus the debunking of the whole theory as well).

it's a bit like seeing a trailer for a movie that shows all the best bits... you're not really keen on seeing the rest as it seems just a filler.

oh and fuck ron howard too.

you do know that there is a fictious story wrapped up in this theory right? and its that story that makes the movie compelling, not the theory alone. the historical take on the secret wasnt the page turner, the ficticious drama was.

oh what's wrong with Ron Howard now? my goodness, he is one person who i couldnt possibly think you would say "fuck you" to. i mean, his work on Arrested Development leads me to think that he 'gets it'.

[ffolkes]

you do know that there is a fictious story wrapped up in this theory right? and its that story that makes the movie compelling, not the theory alone. the historical take on the secret wasnt the page turner, the ficticious drama was.

oh what's wrong with Ron Howard now? my goodness, he is one person who i couldnt possibly think you would say "fuck you" to. i mean, his work on Arrested Development leads me to think that he 'gets it'.

i am aware of a fictitious thriller within da vinci code that starts with someone getting murdered, i guess? but the problem is i was always more intrigued with the whole ridiculous religious commotion that was caused by the "theory". i wanted to know what the fuckin fuss was about. and now that that's out of the window there's little else than just a thriller left. believe me i've seen plenty of those before.

plus it's not like da vinci code is getting any rave reviews either (not that it really matters) http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/davincicode

mind you, i'll still catch it when the movie lands on dvd. tho i have my doubts it'll ever come even close to real classic thrillers like, let's say the marathon man... i'll try to reserve judgement until i see it.

as to fuckronhoward, i was referring to the man's work. not opie himself of course, as i don't even personally know him. it's his movies that i have a problem with: there's a lot of potential that always gets unfortunately fucked with overdramatic saccharine scenes. he needs to get colder.

i also don't think much of arrested development, but that's prolly more due to the fact that i hardly ever follow any tv series anymore.

[grady]

sorry about that. looks good enough now though... ;)

btw my brother is at the festival, he might attend the whole da vinci bash. i already asked him to give opie a swift kick in the arse if he sees him. :)

No worries, one likes to be as correct as possible when posting info.

what is your brother doing at the festival? Is he working it or seeing films there? I'd love to be there and see a few films there myself.

[grady]

oh what's wrong with Ron Howard now? my goodness, he is one person who i couldnt possibly think you would say "fuck you" to. i mean, his work on Arrested Development leads me to think that he 'gets it'.

Potatobroth, I think I share ffolkes feelings towards Ron Howard's films as well since they often start off nice and good and then sure enough veer off into the sachrine highway of feel good/do no wrong. It's almost like a safer version of Spielbergo.

Now as for ffolkes, I disagree with him regarding Arrested Development. I love that show so much and wish that Ron would have used more of his power and clout to save the show. (who knows though, perhaps he did, we'll just never know. I'd like to think he and his partner at Imagine Entertainment, Brian Grazer, did do all they could and then some to save the series. But it seems Mitch Hurwitz might have had different intentions.)

Ron Howard's contribution to Arrested Development was wonderful as the narrator. I enjoyed when he would offer his brief little snippy comments on certain charater's like Henry Winkler's.

[adam]

Go buy Arrested Development. The second season is insanely brilliant. I mean, freakin' genius.

[m.g.]

It will probably not change anything in terms of $, £ or €... but it's funny/interesting to know that the two first projections of the Da Vinci Code in Cannes festival were very badly received by press & critics... :rolleyes:

[den]

BTW - and this is the wrong thread - but if anyone felt like me "nice plot, shame about the Sun Reader prose", try Eco's Foucault's Pendulum. I am reading it at the moment (thanks for the tip, Lloyd) and it is eminently more satisfying to read something that is beautifully written, with strong, believable characters.

I second Foucault's Pendulum. I read that book while traveling around Europe, which made it even better. I specifically went to see the actual (recreation) pendulum at the Pantheon in Paris. I haven't read DaVinci Code, (maybe I should just see the movie :p ) but I feel that Foucault's Pendulum is the same idea except written ten years earlier and much more intellectual. It references so many historical facts in passing that I didn't understand at all. It's more about the idea of a conspiracy than the actual conspiracy itself. Great stuff, with a great ending. I'm currently slowly reading Eco's 'The Name of the Rose' per my brother's suggestion.

[ffolkes]

what is your brother doing at the festival? Is he working it or seeing films there? I'd love to be there and see a few films there myself.

he's doing both, actually.

his job is to buy movierights for a film distributor that he works for. i've heard that deals can go up to several hundreds of thousands of euros... the bidding gets quite crazy. the bigger the movie is (buzzwise) the higher the price naturally.

other than that he sees as much movies as possible during the festival, approximately six-seven per day. the company he works for focuses mostly on independent art-house films, so he sees a lot of stuff i've never even read about. it's quite taxing from what i've heard (tons of movies to see every day + tons of drinking in different parties) but he's not complaining... only worried that his liver will pop some day due to too much drinking, which seems to be mandatory there.

and when he's off from cannes there's other festivals to catch later on like milan, berlin, toronto etc. the bastard! ;)


p.s. i'll try to see arrested development a bit better some day if i can.

[potatobroth]

ff, i gotcha now. ive actually not seen *any* ron howard movies. i stopped and thought about this for a second and realize that its true, i havent.

and yeah, the Metacritic scores are a lot lower than I would have expected; AO Scott wasn't too generous in his review.

Arrested Development on the other hand, is too wonderful to pass up. RH was responsible for getting that show on Fox in the first place. So yo have to understand, RH has an unfair advantage in my mind :P

[adam]

Anyone involved with Arrested Development has a permanent "get out of jail free" card.

ffolkes, I'm going to kill your brother and assume his identity. I'd appreciate it if you'd back me up ("Yes, this is my brother, mom. What are you talking about?"). Thanks in advance. Sounds like a great job.

[grady]

he's doing both, actually.

his job is to buy movierights for a film distributor that he works for. i've heard that deals can go up to several hundreds of thousands of euros... the bidding gets quite crazy. the bigger the movie is (buzzwise) the higher the price naturally.

other than that he sees as much movies as possible during the festival, approximately six-seven per day. the company he works for focuses mostly on independent art-house films, so he sees a lot of stuff i've never even read about. it's quite taxing from what i've heard (tons of movies to see every day + tons of drinking in different parties) but he's not complaining... only worried that his liver will pop some day due to too much drinking, which seems to be mandatory there.

and when he's off from cannes there's other festivals to catch later on like milan, berlin, toronto etc. the bastard! ;)


p.s. i'll try to see arrested development a bit better some day if i can.

That sounds like an amazing job. I would like to do something like that even for a year.

Via a friend of a friend, I knew someone who did a similar job in the mid 90s for Miramax, around 95-96. What was funny to hear him say was that you'd think it would be a great job, but it can really become an endurance test as you want give the fifth film the same shot you did for the first film you saw 15 hours earlier that day. Plus in writing up little reports about each film, he'd then have to prove he was at attention and not bullshitting his way through the reports.

So yeah, sign me up, tell your brother you've got a prospective trainee that his company needs to hire for the other festivals that are large enough but due to time constraints your brother cannot attend. Think he'd go for it?

[ffolkes]

ffolkes, I'm going to kill your brother and assume his identity. I'd appreciate it if you'd back me up ("Yes, this is my brother, mom. What are you talking about?"). Thanks in advance.

heh, i'd killed him myself a long time ago if we weren't in such good terms :D
but honestly i can't be envious really cos he's very much the man for the job and deserves it.

also he's mentioned that it's quite possible that i'd join his workplace someday in the future... (family ties etc.) who knows?
maybe one day i can run up and give ron howard a swift kick in the arse myself ;)

[ffolkes]

What was funny to hear him say was that you'd think it would be a great job, but it can really become an endurance test as you want give the fifth film the same shot you did for the first film you saw 15 hours earlier that day.

heh, exactly the same things my brother has been saying. last time i met him i asked him doesn't it get tough for him not to blur his focus/perception between a dud film and a good one, especially when he's been sitting in a movie marathon all hung over and the movies are mostly in chinese or some other exotic language etc?

he said that yes it used to be hard in the start, but the more experienced/professional you get in the job you will eventually develop some sort of a filter in your brain that automatically separates quality from utter shit within the first 15 mins of a movie. and he sees a lot of shit movies btw.

it seems that the good ones are always rarer... which makes sense when you think of it.


So yeah, sign me up, tell your brother you've got a prospective trainee that his company needs to hire for the other festivals that are large enough but due to time constraints your brother cannot attend. Think he'd go for it?

dunno, but it never hurts to ask :)

[b.miller]

yeah... from my limited festival-going experience, a good film stays good but everything under that level of quality drastically falls down. A film that might be ok at your multiplex on a friday night is utter shit when it's the 15th film you've seen in 3 days. I've come out of more than one movie knowing i'd like it better with a full night's sleep. but i think the big con with being a film buyer/festival-goer is that you lose the audience part of your brain.. you have to train your brain to examine each movie strictly in terms of is-it-worth-buying and how other people like it rather than how you yourself enjoyed it. I suppose this is true for all critics as well, but I think it'd lose a lot of the magic for me... plus you have to sit through a lot of bad movies that you have to pay attention to.

if you REALLY think about it though, isn't it the festival programmer's job to make sure he doesn't play crappy films? in a perfect festival every film shown would be worth watching... too bad it's not like that.

speaking of though... there's a 7-day horror/sci-fi/fantasy film festival coming up here in Austin this September. It's at the best theater in town and the guys who are putting it together are really cool. Anyone interested or nearby should try to make it! it IS quite a unique feeling to watch 5-7 movies a day for 7 days straight... much like an all-night marathon and The Matrix, it can't really be described

[ffolkes]

i think the big con with being a film buyer/festival-goer is that you lose the audience part of your brain.. you have to train your brain to examine each movie strictly in terms of is-it-worth-buying and how other people like it rather than how you yourself enjoyed it.

exactly. that's when the professional side pretty much overtakes all personal enjoyment. it becomes work!! :eek:

i love movies a lot, but when i think of how much my brother puts time into them only via his work i can't help but be amazed that he still has interest in them on his freetime. i'd be complete toast after a grueling festival, and wouldn't prolly want to see a single film for weeks.

then again he has also said that sometimes it gets so taxing that if anyone would even mention "movies" to him he'd most likely assault them :)

[adam]

There's an aspect of that in all things. Mark Twain said nothing ruined the pleasure for him of boating down the Mississippi as much as learning to do it properly, and that's the reason I decided not to take a job in the audio industry, after my training for it. I wanted to keep it as my passion, and I knew the nature of the work I'd be getting into, at an entry level, anyway, would kill it for me. There most definitely are jobs that allow people to combine their passion and their work (Scott? Aaron?), but those people are lucky; it's a tricky position to obtain, methinks.

[Eikman]

review of the daily mail:

As the world's dishiest police cryptologist, Audrey Tautou mangles the English language so badly that she is hard to understand.

ace. more reviews here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4993430.stm).

[ffolkes]

There's an aspect of that in all things.

yeah that's true. i play music with a couple of friends, and ever since we've started recording or playing live it's become such a bitch at times that the last thing i wanna do is watch other bands playing live.

and even if i do, it gets all analytical as i pay too much attention to how they perform, with what gear etc. which again distracts totally from enjoying the actual music that's supposed to be the point. it kinda kills the mystery of everything.

[myrrh]

So, I went to see this this afternoon. I must have been expecting something more. I feel like it was a modern day Indiana Jones flick, but without the action sequences.

[cured]

So, I went to see this this afternoon. I must have been expecting something more. I feel like it was a modern day Indiana Jones flick, but without the action sequences.

I agree. How about National Treasure 2: The Holy Grail Mission, as it has been put so bluntly by the press.

National Treasure was full of action.

On the plus side, Audrey Tatou is my new wife.

"DaVinci" was ok but not without its eye-rubbing moments. And to think Sir Isaac Newton is one of my ancestors...I must be special!

[potatobroth]

it was meh.

[m.g.]

On a technical point of view, quite good (but that's the minimum expectable from a movie costing more than 100M$), 30 to 45 minutes too long (but this is just to explain you "before" what's going to happen "next" in case you wouldn't be able to understand it), mmm... what else?... Ian McKellen is an excellent actor... and... nothing else, really...

Well... if you don't mind that film makers believe that you have yogurt instead of brain, you'll probably like the movie...


ps : the best moment of the projection was seeing Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette" trailer with Ceremony by New Order, loud, on a big screen... out here next wednesday :)

[Strangelet]

I saw this in Paris. The parisians laughed openly at it. rightly so. They will have to suffer an entire summer of american clue hunters taking the "da vinci code" walk by the louvre so they ought to get joy out of it where they can.

[cured]

I saw this in Paris. The parisians laughed openly at it. rightly so. They will have to suffer an entire summer of american clue hunters taking the "da vinci code" walk by the louvre so they ought to get joy out of it where they can.

if nothing else, it is good for the economy...damn rude Parisians ;)

(I apologize for our movies...well most of them)

[grady]

Finally got around to seeing it and to use potatobroth's post to convey my thoughts.

it was meh.
Watching Hanks run around I was trying to imagine someone like Aaron Eckhart or someone else in his role of Robert Langdon.

There was the new Miami Vice trailer on the print I saw which was nice to see. There was also a newer trailer for M. Night Shamalamadingdong's next film Splash 2 er, I mean Lady in the Water that left a bad taste in my mouth.