I can't figure out if this is just a really, really good trailer, or if the movie is actually going to be good. On paper it can't be; it's another fantasy/CG movie. But that trailer is wonderful. It looks incredible.

No the movie is most likely going to suck. The trailer looked good, but then again that guy who does the voice overs can make anything look good.

I saw this at an advanced screening and you are doing yourself a great disservice if you don't see this film and give it a fair shake. It is anything but a standard CGI/Fantasy film. One of the best of the year in my opinion.

Welcome back, Dan.

I'm glad to hear a vote of confidence for it. It's trying so hard not to be standard CG fare. I can tell.

Yeah I have had my greedy little eyes set on this for a while (this and Children of men and also the Fountain) i do hope it's as good as it looks

Since when was there ever worry that Del Toro would make a bad movie? I'm not his number one fan by any means but I see that the man has vision, and this trailer looks ****ing great. Although it feels like forever since I saw the trailer for the first time, I wonder why it's taking so long.

elliott (otiose)...

This is a movie being very dishonestly marketed. In my opinion it is a better movie than the one in the trailers but it is undoubtedly different. Fair warning.

I like to think I have a keen eye for what lies beneath a trailer. Watching a trailer I usually come pretty close to guessing how I'll like it, how much it will make, etc. (Within reason, of course) and to me this doesn't look like a good trailer despite a bad film, it looks like a good trailer for a good film. We'll see.

looks pretty cool

I finished watching this 30 minutes ago. Meh. Wasn't impressed.

really? what was it you werent impressed with?

Not that this means much, but it's already top 250 on IMDB. I've also heard of a lot of people calling it the film of the year.

It didn't leave me with much to think about after it was over.
Also they were trying to juggle between two storylines with completely different moods and I think they put twice as much emphasis on the spanish civil war storyline than the fantasy-fairy-tale storyline. I was hoping it would be the opposite.


I think I'll watch it again to see if I missed something.

Really good movie. I liked it a lot- and actually the spanish civil war story was the main story and way more interesting- the fantasy bits just sort of added it to it, and they successfully made the eyeball in the hand creature the coolest, creepiest, and funniest all at once.

Still, it did not beat Children of Men. Cuaron beat Del Toro in this round.

quote:

Originally posted by Nervous Larry:
they successfully made the eyeball in the hand creature the coolest, creepiest, and funniest all at once.

That was by far my favorite part. I was laughing hysterically at the pure bizarre-ness of it, but I was also a little terrified at the same time. Amazing character.

i think that this might be the best movie i have seen from 2006. i thought it was fantastic.

Freaking loved it. Second best movie this year.

It was not a bad movie. It was well-executed but never transcended generic limitations. I was surprised that the metacritic number is 98 - Children of Men is far superior. Del Toro is a fine director but his approach is so mainstream that I was unable to find any trace of a rigorous, innovative approach like Cuaron utilized to make Children of Men revelatory and powerful.

Overrated.

Siggghhhhh.

Cuaron's film did not have a rigorous or innovative approach. It was a pretty good film, but definitely more overrated on this messageboard than just about any other film. It was a good film...8 months from now, no one will remember it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Hall,

That being said, Pan's Labyrinth was very good. So many people on here seem so accustom to the belief that a film has to be technically or aesthetically innovative, before it can be emotionally stimualting. Emotion is the most important thing in film and I felt it al ot more in Pan's Labyrinth than I did watching Clive Owen fake-cry next to a dead tree or the great julianne moore give a lackluster performance (something I had thought was impossible before) in children of men. Didn't Bresson say, "I want to show feelings long before intellect. I want people to feel a film and its characters before they understand it." ?? Children of men was too narrative driven for the approach Cuaron tried to take. In its best sense, his film was merely a visceral experience based on a well-handled dystopian premise...after seeing it a second time, its numerous flaws became VERY apparent. Del Toro does a great thing in Labyrinth by making it fluid and convincing enough to cause us to completely forget, for a time, that we are watching a movie. For me, Cuaron did just the opposite on numerous occasions. The acting in his film (for THAT director with THOSE actors) was pretty bad and really had a negative effect on not only my viewing experience, but on that of others I was with. I was shocked by Moore's performance (she's julianne freakin' moore...one of the few actors who can handle PT Anderson dialogue with grace), as well as that of Claire-Hope Ashi-tey and Chiwetel Ejiofore. The films emotional trust depended heavily on these characters coming off as REAL PEOPLE and not simply something some screenwriter whipped up...at times it almost seemed as if Ashi-tey was reading her lines off of cue cards. Cuaron is a great director...this is hardly his crowning achievement (in fact, I liked his graduation short film better).

That's just my opinion though. But what do I know...I think David Gordon Green and PT Anderson are the greatest directors of thier generation. Sort of explains why I don't dig narrative drive over character drive.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Hall,