This movie is a joke.
I mean it's litteraly ONE joke over and over and over.
Peter Sellers' character says something simple and dumb about gardening or watching TV and every one is like "OMG you're right, you're a GENIUS !!!"
Rinse and repeat for two hours
(I exagerate, you can also see someone having erection trouble and some people absurdly unable to find any informations about M. Chance)
Everything is so forced, therefore it's never believable, therefore it's neither funny nor clever.
And it's a real shame because the concept is great (all the beginning and its delightful mystery is really good), Sellers is amazing and the visuals are nice and poetic.
It has everything to be great and meaningful but it's just forced, dumb and repetitive.
A major disappointment for me.
I find the comments here a little bit harsh.
Sure the movie is a little bit long for the story it has to tell but on the other hand, so much is told here !
It's a great reflection about what success and failure are, about changing times, about love, family and destiny.
It's filled with really great moments (
When Jett comes to see the Benedicts full of oil, all the hotel inauguration scene with the storm outside
)
And I see nobody here talking about the directing ! The way George Stevens uses angles and shadows to add some visual subtext in the scenes, it's pretty great !
Oh and did I need to mention that James Dean is absolutely fascinating in every scene he's in ?!
This movie was a big disappointment.
The viewer is miles ahead in the progression of the plot. The bad intentions of Boyer are obvious from the start (no ambiguity whatsover). Bergman is frustratingly completely submissive and stupid and we don't get to doubt about her sanity and experience what she's experiencing. Subtlety is nowhere to be found in the acting, everything is very theatrical. And there's no suspense at all.
I don't understand how it can possibly be considered a classic while I saw much better in Lang, Preminger, Wilder and of course Hitchcock filmographies around that era!
5/10
Well, someone has to do it, I didn't quite like this movie.
Granted, the acting is impressive and risky, Mike Nichols did a tremendous job and the cinematography is gorgeous.
But it is said to be a very "true" and "raw" vision of human relationships however I didn't find any of the reactions of the characters (and all the stuffs happening) realistic at all.
From the moment the young couple sees that George and Martha are not quite sane and unbearably toxic they should have left the house ! Why the hell are they staying ? For the sake of drama ?!
Besides, the plot seems very theatrical. The characters are very incoherent from a line to another. It feels like I'm watching a "better-looking Cassavetes movie" (that's not a compliment in that case). The actors looks like they're trying really hard to find the next random thing to do or say to look intense or crazy.
All of that seemed very artificial in the end and I really got nothing out of it except being very annoyed.
Oh, and most of all, I really don't care at all that it's Taylor and Burton playing the old couple and that they are kinda displaying their private life on screen.
I'm here to see a movie that tells me something meaningful, not to see an over-the-top, over-long egotrippy extension of a tabloïd fantasy on screen !
I think this one is much better than the first.
Better animation, the story is more focused, better characters, better slapstick (better comedy overall) and better action.
Granted, it might be a little less "poetic" than the first one but it's equally beautiful and the score by James Horner is still amazing (if not even better ?)
Incredibly underrated indeed !
Why did I never heard of this movie before ? It's a gem ! (and not in any official list ?! Seriously ??!)
Of course it's a minimalist "little" movie by its nature but it's incredibly written, directed and played ! The subject is quite deep and complex and more than ever relevant these days !
This movie REALLY needs to be rediscovered !
"What an unexpected twist !"
You litterally see the ingeneers controlling the whole thing in the first few minutes of the film lol
However it's a pretty fun and "clever" movie to watch but as I'm concerned I think it lacks the intensity of a real inspired directing and writing to make it something really good.
It's ok and original though.
One of the most overrated movie I've ever seen. I simply hate it.
It pretends to be about "a separation" but it is mostly about living with a alzheimer parent at home and finding out if the maid has been pushed in the stairs or not.
It is very melodramatic with a very "grey" and uninspired filming, and in the end everything is resolved by
a "swear on allah" move
(and there's nothing racist in me saying that, it's just too much of a cop-out plotwise)
Superb directing by Bertolucci, amazing story, complex characters, powerful commentary about the absurdities in politics and power, wonderful soundtrack and all you guys are talking about are the english dialogues ?! Seriously ??!!!!
Imagine Lost In Translation but removes the spontaneous humour from Bill Murray, the shy sensuality of Scarlet Johansson, the romantic tension between the two and the exotic experience of living in a 5 stars hotel in Tokyo and you get... Somewhere.
An interesting but clearly weaker movie.
Yes it's a complete ripoff of Yojimbo but discoreving these two back to back I must say that "Fistful of Dollars" is superior in a lot of way ! Faster pacing, spectacular directing, beautiful soundtrack, improved plot (yes it is !)
Yojimbo is still very good though !
Comments 1 - 20 of 20
Movie comment on Being There
AlexDkad
This movie is a joke.I mean it's litteraly ONE joke over and over and over.
Peter Sellers' character says something simple and dumb about gardening or watching TV and every one is like "OMG you're right, you're a GENIUS !!!"
Rinse and repeat for two hours
(I exagerate, you can also see someone having erection trouble and some people absurdly unable to find any informations about M. Chance)
Everything is so forced, therefore it's never believable, therefore it's neither funny nor clever.
And it's a real shame because the concept is great (all the beginning and its delightful mystery is really good), Sellers is amazing and the visuals are nice and poetic.
It has everything to be great and meaningful but it's just forced, dumb and repetitive.
A major disappointment for me.
Movie comment on Giant
AlexDkad
I find the comments here a little bit harsh.Sure the movie is a little bit long for the story it has to tell but on the other hand, so much is told here !
It's a great reflection about what success and failure are, about changing times, about love, family and destiny.
It's filled with really great moments (
And I see nobody here talking about the directing ! The way George Stevens uses angles and shadows to add some visual subtext in the scenes, it's pretty great !
Oh and did I need to mention that James Dean is absolutely fascinating in every scene he's in ?!
Movie comment on Vie privée
AlexDkad
A very elegant and cruelly underrated film from (the always great) Louis Malle!Movie comment on Gaslight
AlexDkad
This movie was a big disappointment.The viewer is miles ahead in the progression of the plot. The bad intentions of Boyer are obvious from the start (no ambiguity whatsover). Bergman is frustratingly completely submissive and stupid and we don't get to doubt about her sanity and experience what she's experiencing. Subtlety is nowhere to be found in the acting, everything is very theatrical. And there's no suspense at all.
I don't understand how it can possibly be considered a classic while I saw much better in Lang, Preminger, Wilder and of course Hitchcock filmographies around that era!
5/10
Movie comment on A Face in the Crowd
AlexDkad
Great movie.It seems like Daniel Waters took inspiration from this film for what happens to the penguin in Batman Returns!
Movie comment on White Squall
AlexDkad
When Dead Poets Society meets Titanic (with a little bit of Tucker)Not excellent but not that bad actually !
Movie comment on The China Syndrome
AlexDkad
Amazing political thriller !By the way, the character of Jane Fonda isn't supposed to be the inspiration for April O'Neil in TMNT ?
The two really have a lot in common !
Movie comment on Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
AlexDkad
Well, someone has to do it, I didn't quite like this movie.Granted, the acting is impressive and risky, Mike Nichols did a tremendous job and the cinematography is gorgeous.
But it is said to be a very "true" and "raw" vision of human relationships however I didn't find any of the reactions of the characters (and all the stuffs happening) realistic at all.
From the moment the young couple sees that George and Martha are not quite sane and unbearably toxic they should have left the house ! Why the hell are they staying ? For the sake of drama ?!
Besides, the plot seems very theatrical. The characters are very incoherent from a line to another. It feels like I'm watching a "better-looking Cassavetes movie" (that's not a compliment in that case). The actors looks like they're trying really hard to find the next random thing to do or say to look intense or crazy.
All of that seemed very artificial in the end and I really got nothing out of it except being very annoyed.
Oh, and most of all, I really don't care at all that it's Taylor and Burton playing the old couple and that they are kinda displaying their private life on screen.
I'm here to see a movie that tells me something meaningful, not to see an over-the-top, over-long egotrippy extension of a tabloïd fantasy on screen !
Movie comment on An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
AlexDkad
I think this one is much better than the first.Better animation, the story is more focused, better characters, better slapstick (better comedy overall) and better action.
Granted, it might be a little less "poetic" than the first one but it's equally beautiful and the score by James Horner is still amazing (if not even better ?)
Movie comment on In Bruges
AlexDkad
Although it is globally a comedy there is a lot of melancholy in here and I liked that. Original tone, themes and great characters.What a shitty poster though!
It makes the film looks like a "Snatch wannabe" but it's really something else!
Movie comment on For Love of the Game
AlexDkad
A corny "Kevin Costner-porn" for old women, a giant soap opera way too long and way too cheesy directed by a totally uninspired Sam Raimi.Movie comment on Pump Up the Volume
AlexDkad
Fresh, cute but a little too dumb.Movie comment on Talk Radio
AlexDkad
Incredibly underrated indeed !Why did I never heard of this movie before ? It's a gem ! (and not in any official list ?! Seriously ??!)
Of course it's a minimalist "little" movie by its nature but it's incredibly written, directed and played ! The subject is quite deep and complex and more than ever relevant these days !
This movie REALLY needs to be rediscovered !
Movie comment on The Cabin in the Woods
AlexDkad
"What an unexpected twist !"You litterally see the ingeneers controlling the whole thing in the first few minutes of the film lol
However it's a pretty fun and "clever" movie to watch but as I'm concerned I think it lacks the intensity of a real inspired directing and writing to make it something really good.
It's ok and original though.
Movie comment on Un singe en hiver
AlexDkad
Surprisingly a very introspective movie but a great one with precious subjects in it.A slow burn that needs a few time to grow on you.
Movie comment on Jodaeiye Nader az Simin
AlexDkad
One of the most overrated movie I've ever seen. I simply hate it.It pretends to be about "a separation" but it is mostly about living with a alzheimer parent at home and finding out if the maid has been pushed in the stairs or not.
It is very melodramatic with a very "grey" and uninspired filming, and in the end everything is resolved by
I hate it.
Movie comment on Highlander II: The Quickening
AlexDkad
Come on ! It's pretty bad and schlocky, yes.But "worst movie ever" ? Really ??!
What about the horrendous Highlander 3 and (most of all) 4 then ? =)
Movie comment on The Last Emperor
AlexDkad
Superb directing by Bertolucci, amazing story, complex characters, powerful commentary about the absurdities in politics and power, wonderful soundtrack and all you guys are talking about are the english dialogues ?! Seriously ??!!!!Movie comment on Somewhere
AlexDkad
Imagine Lost In Translation but removes the spontaneous humour from Bill Murray, the shy sensuality of Scarlet Johansson, the romantic tension between the two and the exotic experience of living in a 5 stars hotel in Tokyo and you get... Somewhere.An interesting but clearly weaker movie.
Movie comment on Per un pugno di dollari
AlexDkad
Yes it's a complete ripoff of Yojimbo but discoreving these two back to back I must say that "Fistful of Dollars" is superior in a lot of way ! Faster pacing, spectacular directing, beautiful soundtrack, improved plot (yes it is !)Yojimbo is still very good though !