Signs: A movie you can see with your parents?

[Jackie]

This one girl in the theatre screamed at one point and the guy sitting next to Joe and I was really scared, he kept putting his hand over his mouth and saying oh jeez LOL!!

 

[beaker]

>>>I suspect some felt this film would be a special effects gore-fest at the end and were disappointed<<<

Jamie, that is exactly my problem with the last 10 minutes, after such a great psychological ride M Night messes up and turns it into a west side story mono y mono with the green suit man.
Just totally blows it. The score, the effects...wow. Brilliant, everything...just that last 10 minutes he slips up, doh!

 

[frogboy4]

I don't think it slips up at all. I like the fact that there is no typical ending and it was intentional on the director/screenwriter's part. I think we get so used to the American movie formula that when something deviates from it we don't know how to react. I liked that the alien didn't look like the same one we keep seing in pictures. It was tall and somewhat different. The fear wasn't about how he looked it was about who he was and what he was going to do. I assure you that was no slapped on ending. If you had seen a bunch of FX like in all the other movies you may have liked it more? We've all seen that before, but this movie was about something different and I like that. I'm sorry you didn't. But I assure you there was no real "slip up" - everything had a reason in that film.

 

[Gonzo]

*opening my mouth to say something and then closing it again*

 

[beaker]

My Jamie, did you not read my reply? No, it was BECAUSE of the bltant alien effects at the end that put me off. That scene, when they showed the birthday party footage, the alien guy in the day...OH MY! That was the most frightening scene for me...but when Joaqin Phoneix is having a Jason and the Argonauts dual with a cgi rubber man I was like 'oh brother!'. M Night keeps the slight of hand and suspense going til then.

 

[frogboy4]

You barely see the guy though - not clearly. And it wasn't a great feat of FX. The guy didn't look magical - he looked organic. I like that. Movie still gets a solid B from me.

 

[beaker]

>>>You barely see the guy though - not clearly. And it wasn't a great feat of FX. The guy didn't look magical - he looked organic. I like that. Movie still gets a solid B from me<<<

A solid B? See, so that means you didnt quite love it. I just thought it ruined the whole mystery to show the alien fully in the daylight for some final dual, it was more effective to hardly show him...or in the case of the video tape they showed, very effective like that. Solid A movies Ive seen this year would be One Hour Photo, Storytelling, Waking Life, The American Astronaut, and Minority Report. Ok, so most of those are obscure indie films...but still...sometimes less is more in the film world.

 

[frogboy4]

Yeah, but he really wasn't ever seen that clearly - even in the "daylight". I reserve the solid label for few films and it didn't quite make the cut, though I did enjoy it.

Totally didn't like Minority Report. Spielberg's been on my bad side for quite some time. Blade Runner is the kick butt film for me. This was a luke-warm film IMHO. That was the biggest disappointment of the season for me. C Heck, gave AI a D- or F. Speilberg has just lost the heart of his films in my view. Know you may disagree, but even the crowd in the theaters reacted poorly to those films. Just empty. I don't commonly compare films though. They all have their own rules and stand alone as a piece.

 

[beaker]

>>>Speilberg has just lost the heart of his films in my view. Know you may disagree, but even the crowd in the theaters reacted poorly to those films. Just empty. I don't commonly compare films though. They all have their own rules and stand alone as a piece<<<

Minority had some huge plotholes...though I did like AI better. If they would have edited out the carnival half hour scene from AI, that would have been the best film of 2001 IMHO. Hey, you have to like how Spielberg is going towards edgier faire. I mean Minority Report really pushed the pg-13 MPAA standard.

Btw, do you like indie films? I find myself enjoying these more than big budget hollywood films, sadly most people dont like thinking or artsy films.

 

[frogboy4]

That was the only scene I did like about the film. LOL! I do like some indy films. I despise indy pics about people sitting around and talking. Few do that well - Metropolitan was enjoyable, but many are not. That's the part of indy films I don't like - and the new digital video trend. Just looks crummy to me.