Friday, March 09, 2007

Has anyone seen "300" yet?

Alas, I have not, and I'm already extremely late for work, so if anyone has seen Zack Snyder's "300" and can let me know if it lives up to the hype, please do so. I'll be going to see it Saturday morning, and I'm rather psyched, to say the least. To get a bona-fide big ball of popcorn this early in the year is a real treat.

So, if you have already managed to see it and have any words of warning (or, of course, praise) let me know, and please feel free to check back for a review Sunday. Peace out.

27 comments:

Anne Rettenberg LCSW said...

May I ask you a frank question: Have you spent much time watching classic movies? I mean, movies by directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Frank Capra, Francois Truffaut etc.?

Classics stand the test of time. A lot of the movies you're reviewing here are just crap that will be forgotten in several years, never mind several decades.

Chris said...

Yes, I've seen it. I thought it was pretty damn awesome. My review is here.

Chris said...

By the way Elizabeth, you sound like an elitist. Good movies that stand the test of time have come out this decade. For me, movies like City of God, Children of Men, Memento. Anyone who likes movies has seen at least a portion of films from the directors you mention. Just because someone talks about the recent flicks doesn't mean he/she doesn't have a grip on film history.

Let me ask you a frank question: have you even read Reel Fanatic's blog? How many times has he gone through classic films and discussed them? A ton. Read the whole blog.

Sameer Vasta said...

I saw it at midnight screening on an IMAX screen, and it blew my mind. I should have a review up later today, but do know that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Then again, I'm a huge graphic novel junkie, so I may be a bit biased.

Terence Towles Canote said...

It is my brother's and my birthday tomorrow and we plan to see it then. Having read the graphic novel, I am looking forward to the movie.

As to Elizabeth, I have to question how much of this blog you have even read. As Chris has pointed out, Reel Fanatic has reviewed plenty of classic films. As to myself, I have watched a LOT of classic, including nearly every movie made by Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Capra, Francois Truffaut, Stanley Kubrick, and several others. And I can honestly say that not every movie that has come out lately is crap.

Jim Marquis said...

Elizabeth- Classic movies are great. But they don't need to be reviewed...they've already been judged. I think RF does a great job on this blog. And you might be surprised what or what isn't considered a classic twenty years from now.

Reel Fanatic said...

Thanks for all of you who have jumped to my defense ... As to why you may see a lot more current movies than old ones on here, Elizabeth, I would answer that I watch and enjoy all kinds of movies ... The only one from your list I've watched in the past month or so would be Truffaut's "Day for Night," but as some have already said here, why bother to review what is pretty much universally hailed as a classic.

And thanks for the good word on 300, Chris and Vasta ... I'm insanely jealous that you got to see it in IMAX, Vasta .. we have a pretty good stadium-style theater here with great sound, so I'm hoping it will blow me away too

Anonymous said...

I love movies, but evidently not on the same scale as you. :D

Nice blog!

~hashie

Reel Fanatic said...

Thanks, hashie ... Fortunately for the world, I'm pretty sure there aren't too many people who are quite as obsessed with movies as I am

anubhav said...

thanks for dropping by on my blog,I would have to wait atleast a week for 300.It will release on 16th in India.

Nice blog you have here,may be you have another reader now.

Unknown said...

I had little interest in seeing "300" to be honest. I am so tired of desaturated films. My bad! I ended up being given a preview ticket and went along - "300" and "Pan's Labyrinth" are probably my two favourite films of the last 12 months.

Of course there's a lot to criticise (lots of style, not really enough substance; David Wenham's voice is a bit weedy for narrator; the villain is too camp and the CGI work where the villain is made to look larger than he is doesn't quite work) but in the end none of that matters. The films is gorgeous - every damned frame of it. If this doesn't win a whole bunch of audio/video oscars next year there's no justice.

If you don't enjoy "300" you just don't like the movies. Period!

Reel Fanatic said...

Now that's a ringing endorsement, Ian ... Roger Moore of the Orlando Sun-Sentinel (I think) put it a little more rudely, referring to the crowd who booed this at the Berlin fest as pansies (with tongue in cheek, of course)

Anonymous said...

Whats going on man. I saw 300 last night at midnight. And about 2:45 a.m. written my review. Check it out if you like. But the long and short of it, is it's a visceral feast for your brain, that happens to also be deeply flawed. Though I would still recommend it to about anyone.

Anne Rettenberg LCSW said...

Well, I never said that no one makes classic movies anymore..

I do wonder if very many places in the US outside of New York City and Los Angeles show many foreign, independent and smaller films? Of course there are film festivals but most people don't go to them...I am interested in Palestinian cinema and I just did a few searches on this blog for several notable Palestinian films and directors and nothing came up. Yet, "Paradise Now" was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe. Just curious (not trying to be critical) did anyone reading this blog see it or anything by Hany Abu-Assad or Elia Suleiman?

Reel Fanatic said...

I certainly wasn't offended by your comment, Elizabeth, so I'm glad you weren't put off by the reactions to it ... I do in fact live in a very much nonmetropolitan area of the U.S.A., so we don't get many foreign/truly indy movies in first run here .. we do, though, have a film guild, and of course DVD, so I try to keep up .. next month, the guild is showing Quinceanera, which I'm rather psyched to finally get to see

Chalupa said...

I had Quinceanera queued up on netflix, but my friends that saw it weren't too thrilled. My buddy Shorb said, "don't be tempted by the latino flare or the sundance hype.....an absurd script and acting that could be pretty easily be outdone by some of my students.....it was pretty bad."

So I bumped it far down on my list for now. I'd be interested to see what you think.

Unknown said...

I saw "Quinceanera" (or "Echo Park LA", as it's been titled in the UK) last week - it's yet another title in a huge pile of DVDs that's still waiting to be reviewed on my DVD Review blog).

I must say that given the high marks on rotten tomatoes, and to a lesser extent imdb, I was slightly disappointed with the film, but I'd say it's still worth a viewing.

I do think the UK DVD cover is misleading and that it's all a bit "Richard Curtis"-like in that instead of the "bad boy, living it rough" story I was expecting I got a rather fairy-tale like glossy story where we have some very unbelievable plot devices and a "bad boy" who's far too pretty and middle class to be believable in the role he's meant be playing. This is "bad boy" in that he puts his feet on chairs, and steals flowers for his girlfriend. It is hardly the sort of "City of God" like fable I'd been expecting, based on the cover image and some of the plot synopses.

If you like rather sentimental, somewhat unrealistic "feel good" movies then there are much worse films you could see though, and I liked the way the rather predatory gay couple in the film were presented, which I thought was pretty true-to-live (the writers/film-makers are also a gay British/American couple, although at great pains to point out the characters in the film are NOT based on themselves), where most of the other characters are too cartoon-like.

Reel Fanatic said...

Thanks for the input on "Quinceanera," guys ... the guild here shows movies once a month, and they go out of their way to show pretty odd ones .. this will be their most commercial selection for some time, so I'm hoping it draws a big crowd

Nell Minow said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Nell Minow said...

I think you'll enjoy 300, Keith. Elizabeth is right that the classics are, well, classic. Because of differences in culture and technology, we'll never get those days back, but the wonder of movies is that they preserve those moments for us. In particular, I miss the kind of dialogue in those old movies where the men wore dinner jackets and the ladies wore evening gowns. (And Elizabeth, I wrote a book about 500 of my favorite classic movies for families to share that will help them initiate conversations about sensitive and complicated subjects -- with many that are just fun to watch.) But remember that those "classics" are just a tiny fraction of the hundreds of thousands of films that came out from the 1930's-1970's. I think we probably do about as well on a percentage basis in producing new and future classics.

Compare 300 to "The 300 Spartans," the 1962 version with Richard Egan as King Lionidas (though one of my husband's childhood favorites, no one's idea of a "classic"). Today's technology makes anything possible and this movie uses it in some very striking and imaginative ways. This version (and I am sure there will be others in future generations -- this story has been around for a long time) is unlikely to be considered a classic, but it has a lot to offer. I'm fascinated by the way bloggers and commentators on both sides are using it as a metaphor for Iraq and I am looking forward to Keith's review.

Terence Towles Canote said...

Well, whether one has access to foreign and independent films largely depends on where one lives. Here in Randolph County, the only foreign film we have gotten is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Fortunately, we live just 30 miles north of Columbia. As a college town of some size with its own independent cinema (the Ragatag), it does get a few foreign films and independents. For instance, I was able to see Pan's Labyrinth. They have also shown Crumb, The Lives of Others, The U.S. vs. John Lennon, Little Miss Sunshine, and several others. They also show classic films on a regular basis--they've shown Dr. Strangelove, The Birds, and Vampyr. The Hollywood and Forum 8 mostly show the big Hollywood features, although they are pretty good about getting some independent films. Of course, there is a limit to what we can see here. You won't see any Palestinian cinema here. And there are many foreign and independent films that never make it here. I suspect that they do make it to St. Louis, but then as much I love movies, a three hour drive to see a movie would be a bit much!

Anyway, I don't blame audiences for foreign and smaller films not always being available to rural areas. I think more of it has to do with theatres and what they think people want to watch...

Reel Fanatic said...

I'll definitely be stopping by to read your review, Nell, but I think I'm gonna hold off until after I've seen it, since that's gonna be in only about an hour or so

I think you're right that the theaters are more to blame than the viewers for movie distribution of "arthouse" movies, Mercurie .. come to think of it, that term in itself probably has a lot to do with why such movies don't get better distribution!

1 Right Opinion Comics said...

I am an "older" guy who loves classics. The best of which is, Godfather II, Godfather, The Seven Samurai, Turner and Hooch, and Citizen Kane.

I must say, this does not take away from great movies like 300. I am open to all types of movies--if they are good. I hate most of the crap that is being made today. Most of the so called "horror" movies are a waste of time. They are nothing more than splatter porn. But if you understand that when you go see them. Great. Judge the movie in comparison to other splatter porn movies.

300 is great. I don't think it is understood by the masses that this is based on a comic book. It should be advertised as such. And as a "comic book" movie, it is one of the best.

Keep it up Reel Fanatic.

Richard
1RightOpinion-Comics

Molly said...

I have not seen 300 yet, but had the opportunity to get to "The Lives of Others" a few days ago and won't forget it soon. Quite well done, indeed. Don't miss it if you get the chance to see it. I'll buy a copy when it is released.

Reel Fanatic said...

I will definitely have to wait for DVD to see "Lives of Others," Molly, but I definitely will see it then .. I've heard nothing but great things since it won the Oscar

And you're definitely right about 300, 1rightopinion-comics .. I just managed to see it, and though I won't bother to post a review until tomorrow morning, you nailed it .. If one can remember that this is a "comic book" movie, it's nearly flawless

Ashok said...

Hey ! Watched it and posted my review at http://amusicment.blogspot.com.

Reel Fanatic said...

Thanks for the link, Ashok .. I'm about to put up my thoughts on it, and then will visit all the people who were kind enough to post their links here