Makes perfect sense. I agree, pretty good but falls short. VFX and the techy stuff is superb, but the script and acting (Sam Morton's performance falls into the "Nell" category) have always bugged me. Spielberg seems unsure if he's making a dark sc-fi thriller or a lighthearted summer flick... or was trying to have it both ways.

As cheesy and dated as it is, I prefer Verhoeven's Total Recall to Minority Report. It's a better story and script, takes itself less seriously, and is more fun to watch.

Just got this on DVD. One of my favorite childhood movies.

"Belay myself off? ..... BELAY MYSELF OFF?!?!"

I also loved Upstream Color. It's definitely a better film than Primer, which was Carruth at his roughest and least filtered. It's also a more emotionally engaging film. Primer gets a little bit too caught up in the science to actually be about anything. Upstream Color shows exactly the kind of film that Carruth wants to make, and I'm so excited about where he goes next.

Upstream Color is pretty wild. For me, it felt like riding the Tilt-A-Whirl. The whole time I'm sitting there saying "This is kind of insane. Am I supposed to be enjoying this?" Then when it's over I say "Yes, totally insane. I didn't realize it, but that actually was me enjoying myself back there."

The first 15-20 minutes are really quite well done—beautiful filmmaking on all fronts. The film never fully regains the sense of urgency it had during that opening stretch, which was my only major criticism of it (other than Carruth as a leading man).

Oh, and I watched Dogma yesterday. Interesting and not bad, but also not really funny. It's slightly overwritten and underdirected.

Wait what? Didn't Shane die at the end of the movie?

That's a myth. I was waiting for it, but he's clearly reining his horse as he rides over the hill.

That doesn't mean he'll survive the wound, but he's definitely not dead.

It's never specified in either the book or the film whether Shane is dead, mortally wounded, or simply wounded.

Honestly, I don't have a stake in which it is...but I'd note that just because the actor was reining the horse to stay on it during the shot doesn't mean the story wasn't supposed to be that he was dead. Those sorts of "mistakes due to real life" crop up all the time, especially in older films.

There's also the argument that he's mortally wounded, so even if he may be technically alive as the movie roles credits, it's the same as if he was dead.

But again...it's not specified in either the book or the movie. There is no answer, and I've never seen an interview from the author that identified his thinking/intentions on the subject.

//shrug

It's not like it'd be the first time a director failed, or that a real life limitation like a guy acting while on a horse caused a foul up.

The book was ambiguous, so my only real opinion on it was that the end of the film was also supposed to be ambiguous. If you loathe the idea of him being dead and the reigns thing merely being reality bleeding into the film, then it's just as ambiguous to say that he was mortally wounded and going off to die vs. being regularly wounded and fine.

Again...I shrug.

I honestly thought the whole thing was supposed to be a spoof until my friend told me afterwards that it wasn't. The movie was kind of entertaining, but thinking back it was really weird if they were taking themselves seriously.

Edit: Since this seems slightly relevant in this thread. A while ago there was a thread about movies to watch before you die or something along those lines. I remember a google doc being made with a huge list of movies on there, could anyone do me a favour and link me?

Last edited by MrDudeMan (2013-06-07 00:25:50)

Seconded.   Although I give Anna Kendrick a lot of credit for classing up the joint as much as possible.   

Rebel Wilson was clearly hired to do the same schtick she did in Bridesmaids, just too much of it and not as sharply written.    And I figured there'd be at least some kickass musical numbers, but blown away I was not.

Especially Anna Kendrick's "audition".    Is tapping a plastic cup and moaning softly considered musical skill now?  I feel like there was a punchline that I missed on that one.

But, as with many movies, I am not the target audience.  I can see teenage girls digging that movie all to hell and back and good for them.  It's pretty much their Revenge of the Nerds.   Just not mine.