psycho-dj

I expected this movie would be good, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out this movie wasn't just 'good'...it was great...fantastic...absolutely excellent!

Growing up in musical theater, I've always had a great respect for musicals, but I was also aware that in this day and age, musicals don't usually fly with the public like they used to. It seems to have become an era where "reality" entertainment is what people want to see, but this movie shows that the old fashioned musicals and fantasies are still alive and well. This film was obviously done right. It had the traditional musical movie aspects of it, but it also included modern music in its score, which made it appealing to the younger crowd. Like a long "MTV" music video, but without getting away from the charm of such a genre.

Not only were the musical score, the actors and the sets excellent, but it was such a great story. I'm not exactly into the mushy love stories, but I found myself getting lost in the movie...like I was there..and that IMO is the purpose of films and television; to escape our everyday lives for a little while. Obviously this film was successful in doing that.

It's nice to know that in the age of 'reality' TV shows and programming, that a film such as 'Moulin Rouge' still works, and we still have the opportunity to see a movie that we can get lost in.

I am a big fan of the Tomb Raider video games, and always thought it would be cool if they made a movie out of it. Then when I heard they were making a movie, I thought the most difficult thing would be to find the right actress to play Lara Croft. For anyone who's played the game would know that those are some difficult shoes to fill, but Oscar winner Angelina Jolie successfully did that. I can't imagine anyone else who could have. As for the film itself, well, I was quite impressed with it from beginning to end. I've never really been an action film fan, because they're usually mindless and overloaded with special effects which bury any possible story there. Tomb Raider, like most other action films, didn't really have much of a storyline, but since I didn't expect it to, I wasn't disappointed. Instead, I was in awe over the successful bringing of the game to life. Unlike many other movie adaptations of video games, Tomb Raider wasn't cartoonish looking or silly. To me it came across as real, but still having the fantasy element. I was impressed with how Jolie pulled off being Croft and not just looking like her. Since Jolie did most of her stunts, it was impressive to see her move and jump and flip and fight like Lara does in the game. I also have a lot of respect for Jolie for taking this role, since a lot of other Oscar winners stay with the stuffy Oscar-worthy roles. I'd also like to add that although many see Lara Croft as the "female Indiana Jones" or the female equivelent to other action heroes, I feel that she is an action hero of her own. She may posess some similar qualities, but she's still unique, and I don't think there's anyone else like her.

I was born and raised in Wilkes-Barre, PA. I was in high school when this was going on. There was a story in the local papers like everyday. It was so weird. Some believed the Smurls and some, of course, did not. Personally, I believed them for the most part. Why would anyone subject themselves with the kind of ridicule they had to endure? Not to mention my personal experiences with the supernatural (which are stories within themselves). This movie may not be a very good movie (however, I wouldn't say it was bad either), but it was frightening to me, because I was relatively close to the true story. One of my best friends lives in West Pittston, in fact the next street over from where the Smurls once lived. Although I didn't know the Smurls personally, my friend did. She used to be good friends with the oldest daughter and went to high school with her. My friend had told me stories about their house that she remembered from before it became public knowledge. She had been over the house many a time. She claims to have witnessed some strange goings on there, however nothing major. Some strange things even allegedly went on at her house after she was over there. As to how much truth there is to the Smurls' claims, I don't really know. As far as the movie is concerned, it's not great, but not half bad for a TV movie. It was spooky whether or not one was close to the actual events or not. As I've heard many Northeast Pennsylvanians complain about how they mispronounced Wilkes-Barre; that is one thing that makes me squirm probably more than anything else in the film. I realize for people living anywhere else, they would not know..but if your making a film revolving around any city, you'd think the filmmakers would make an effort to get it right. I've heard people from the area pronounce it different ways, but not "Wilkes-Bar"! "Wilkes-BERRY" (most common) or Wilkes-Bear-Ah..even Wilkes-BEAR. It may seem trivial, but it's rather cringeworthy to the natives of the area. And the set they used; they made it look like some 'happy-swell-meadows' neighborhood. It looks nothing like that...it's much more urban. All the houses are close together. I do realize that having room to shoot is a factor in making a movie, but this was way more suburban than it was. There was one night just a few years ago, I drove past the old Smurl house to show some out of area friends. That night after I got home, the lamp in the room I was staying in at my parents house just started flickering out of nowhere. My father checked it out but found nothing wrong with the lamp or the circuit. Qhite bizarre. One thing that sticks in my mind about this movie is the fact that they had the same pattern of sheets that I do!!! Freaky!!!! Overall, this movie was far from a great ghost story flick, but it was spooky, and I may only feel that way, because I was in that area when these things were allegedly happening. That's why I say, "I guess you had to be there".