rdowb
Joined Feb 2008
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rdowb's rating
This is the most human sports movie I've ever seen. Most sports movies follow a very basic formula of being either inspirational or comedic. Some try to be dramatic, but most fail because unless a person is playing a sport they often don't feel the tension, the struggle, the pain, or the elation. Where most others fail, Friday Night Lights soars.
Peter Berg does a wonderful job using the shaky-cam technique to create a documentary type of feel to the movie. We see the characters in their daily lives as if we are walking side by side with them. This is especially effective considering the plight many of those people feel. They all want to escape. Through football they can. Berg captures this.
The acting is extremely balanced. Even Tim McGraw surprises. Derek Luke is exceptional tackling(no pun intended) a tragic superstar. Everyone shines.
For anyone who loves sports and remembers when nothing else mattered when you played, this is a beautiful parallel.
Peter Berg does a wonderful job using the shaky-cam technique to create a documentary type of feel to the movie. We see the characters in their daily lives as if we are walking side by side with them. This is especially effective considering the plight many of those people feel. They all want to escape. Through football they can. Berg captures this.
The acting is extremely balanced. Even Tim McGraw surprises. Derek Luke is exceptional tackling(no pun intended) a tragic superstar. Everyone shines.
For anyone who loves sports and remembers when nothing else mattered when you played, this is a beautiful parallel.
This a movie that excels both content wise and theme wise. That's something that only real quality movies do. The directing and cinematographyb are excellent. The story and the acting are superb. Things We Lost In The Fire makes you understand and feel the pain of its characters, not just see it.
I've always been a big fan of Benicio Del Toro. True to form he is spectacular. However he outdoes himself. Arguably a better performance than Daniel Day Lewis for his award winning role in There Will Be Blood. Even Halle Berry, who I am not a fan of, was very good. She perfected the misty eyed so-close-to-tears-but-not-ready-to- cry look.
Susanne Bier does an exceptional job with the content. She works the scenes very well and it shows that she really knew how to guide her actors. Not just that, she has an eye for beauty and building on it to match theme to content.
Only three moves have ever made me cry. My Dog Skip because it's about a dog, Saving Private Ryan because I was extremely sick that day, and Cinema Paridiso because it is the most moving film ever made. Things We Lost In The Fire came thisclose to being number four. If I didn't have a reputation to uphold, it would have done it.
I've always been a big fan of Benicio Del Toro. True to form he is spectacular. However he outdoes himself. Arguably a better performance than Daniel Day Lewis for his award winning role in There Will Be Blood. Even Halle Berry, who I am not a fan of, was very good. She perfected the misty eyed so-close-to-tears-but-not-ready-to- cry look.
Susanne Bier does an exceptional job with the content. She works the scenes very well and it shows that she really knew how to guide her actors. Not just that, she has an eye for beauty and building on it to match theme to content.
Only three moves have ever made me cry. My Dog Skip because it's about a dog, Saving Private Ryan because I was extremely sick that day, and Cinema Paridiso because it is the most moving film ever made. Things We Lost In The Fire came thisclose to being number four. If I didn't have a reputation to uphold, it would have done it.
For what it's worth, the X-Files: I Want To Believe isn't a bad movie. It's just a bad X-Files movie. I liked how they decided to do a monster of the week format and avoid all the hype associated with continuing the mythology of the show. The only problem is it's a very boring, bland monster of the week.
I will admit I enjoyed the character driven story, but when you watch the X-Files you're not watching for JUST Mulder and Scully. You're more watching for the mystery. And the mystery and how it is developed in I Want To Believe is just well, not believably any good.
There are a few odd musical cue choices and even a horrendous CGI effect. On top of that, there's some oftentimes goofy camera-work and questionable acting(keep an eye on Xzibit doing his best to be SO SERIOUS!)
Luckily this was the X-Files because if Duchovony and Anderson weren't on screen it would be a much lower score.
I will admit I enjoyed the character driven story, but when you watch the X-Files you're not watching for JUST Mulder and Scully. You're more watching for the mystery. And the mystery and how it is developed in I Want To Believe is just well, not believably any good.
There are a few odd musical cue choices and even a horrendous CGI effect. On top of that, there's some oftentimes goofy camera-work and questionable acting(keep an eye on Xzibit doing his best to be SO SERIOUS!)
Luckily this was the X-Files because if Duchovony and Anderson weren't on screen it would be a much lower score.