Good grief. I do like that they're calling it "final cut" instead of "director's cut, really & truly this time." Although "Recut" would be a better word.

Or, say, Blade Runner Redux.

Well, both the mainstream press and the fandom reviews on X3 are starting to trickle in and the consensus seems to be .... it's not very good. Expected, but disappointing.

I read that long Brett Ratner article on the latest EW and it kind of made me want to bitchslap the dude.

We saw Army of Shadows, a film made in 1969 by Jean-Pierre Melville and never released in the United States. It's absolutely incredible. It is a dark, quiet haunting piece about loyalty and life in the French Resistance and it slowly draws you in and really gets under your skin. Melville himself was a member of the Resistance and the film feels very real. It's beautifully shot and restored and the acting is amazing, especially Lino Ventura as the lead. Corwood, I think that you will perish with love for this film, so go see it if it comes your way.

It was also great because with a film like this the only people in the theater are movie lovers, so the place was quiet and attentive. What a pleasure.

Brett Ratner irritates me. I'm still going to see the movie, but I miss Singer.

Corwood, I think that you will perish with love for this film, so go see it if it comes your way.

There's nothing higher on my list. Thanks for the short review!

It was also great because with a film like this the only people in the theater are movie lovers, so the place was quiet and attentive. What a pleasure.

I'm hoping to get a similar crowd at THE FALLEN IDOL which is playing a limited run in Cambridge. This is the first collaboration between Graham Greene and Carol Reed (THE THIRD MAN and OUR MAN IN HAVANA followed), and it's also one of the few films with Ralph Richardson in a leading role.

Well, both the mainstream press and the fandom reviews on X3 are starting to trickle in and the consensus seems to be .... it's not very good. Expected, but disappointing.

I saw it last night, and, um.... it sucked. Though in the interest of full disclosure, I did fall asleep twice for a few minutes each time, so there's parts I didn't catch, but what I did catch? Sucked.

The dialog was absolutely terrible and clunky, and everybody sounded stupid. The plotting was equally stupid and terrible, and the action was eh. Which really sucked, because they threw in lots of bits of beloved stuff from many storylines, and it all came out as a pureed mush. There were some sort of cool bits here and there, but they all added up to much less than the sum of their parts.

One upside to note, Colossus didn't look anywhere near as crappy as the stills made him look.

I did fall asleep twice for a few minutes each time

Sean, did you fall asleep because of the movie, or other reasons (such as lack of sleep the night before)?

Sean, did you fall asleep because of the movie, or other reasons (such as lack of sleep the night before)?

That had nothing to do with the movie. I got less sleep the night before than I'd wanted to, it was a midnight showing (and ROWDY at that, a whole bunch of punk kids who should have been AT HOME, IN BED), and it was spacious, comfy stadium seats.

(and ROWDY at that, a whole bunch of punk kids who should have been AT HOME, IN BED)

Oh, you know they would have been camping out on your lawn.