Saw The Prestige last night...I wanted it to be better than it was. I think Nolan was just so much in love with the cleverness of the structure that he lost track of the movie within it.
Saffron: He's my husband. Mal: Well, who in the damn galaxy ain't?
'Trash'
Buffista Movies 5: Development Hell
A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
Jessica - Oct 17, 2006 5:15:26 am PDT #4748 of 10001
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
beekaytee - Oct 17, 2006 5:40:51 am PDT #4749 of 10001
Compassionately intolerant
Oh nooooo. I skipped The Illlusionist in favor of patiently waiting for the Prestige. I just assumed it would be a better movie.
Strega - Oct 17, 2006 5:42:40 am PDT #4750 of 10001
But... Bowie! As Tesla! Sigh.
I wanted it to be better than it was.How good did you want it to be? Okay, what I actually mean is: is it reasonably entertaining but not amazing, or is it too busy being clever to even be entertaining?
beekaytee - Oct 17, 2006 5:46:13 am PDT #4751 of 10001
Compassionately intolerant
But... Bowie! As Tesla!
This!
Mikey - Oct 17, 2006 5:52:07 am PDT #4752 of 10001
All this time, I thought Hunter was a bitch. Turns out she was just hungry.
Beej, Edward Norton. The man doesn't make that many movies these days. (Who knows? You might enjoy both movies anyway.)
Jessica - Oct 17, 2006 5:52:20 am PDT #4753 of 10001
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
Bowie! As Tesla!
In latex that hides his cheekbones and a mustache hiding his upper lip! It's criminal, I tell you!
is it reasonably entertaining but not amazing, or is it too busy being clever to even be entertaining?
It's reasonably entertaining, but it spends so much effort making sure you know that this is a movie structured like a magic trick and will have a twist turn and a reveal prestige JUST LIKE A MAGIC TRICK that, if you're paying any kind of attention at all, you'll be able to figure out both tricks pretty early on.
What's really well done is how intense the rivalry between Jackman and Bale's characters is -- when they don't back down, they really don't back down, and I appreciated how far the movie was willing to take it. Mostly, I wish less had been explained. The third act is painfully drawn out, and depends on the audience not having figured out either trick to be interesting.
esse - Oct 17, 2006 6:37:10 am PDT #4754 of 10001
S to the A -- using they/them pronouns!
I just read the book and didn't quite get a few things by the end, so if the movie manages to clue me in I'll be pleased. I've heard mixed reviews on it, but if it's anything like the book I can't help but think it will be better than a lot of the crap out there right now.
Sean K - Oct 17, 2006 7:24:10 am PDT #4755 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
Hmmm.... I was hoping for jaw-droppingly awesome, too.
On the other hand, it's nice to know that Nolan is just a human and has a so-so movie or two in him.
Jessica - Oct 17, 2006 7:28:47 am PDT #4756 of 10001
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
It's also possible I'm being too hard on it. Frankly, the premise of "Ziggy Stardust helps Wolverine kick Batman's ass using THE AWESOME POWER OF ELECTRICITY" was never really going to live up to the version in my head.
Sean K - Oct 17, 2006 7:32:34 am PDT #4757 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
Snerk