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Moriarty Reviews THE INVASION
Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here.
So, honestly... is anyone surprised THE INVASION doesn’t work?
I’m not blaming anyone. I think sometimes, a certain percentage of the time for any studio, no matter how good they are at what they do... sometimes, you make a bad film. Not an awful film, which can be worth watching. But a disappointing film. A film that just doesn’t work. And I’m sure it was clear to all involved pretty much all the way through this one. There are ideas in this film that hint at an interesting interpretation. Clever gags. Definite signs of artistic life, but sewn together with some cookie cutter Hollywood sound and fury that feels completely artificial and grafted on... because it was.
I don’t think that reshoots are the reason the film doesn’t work. I don’t think this is a case of a brilliant movie getting ruined by studio interference. The reshoots are just the particular way this one went south.
Step one of the mistake was remaking INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS again. I mean... I get it, okay? The source material is solid. Jack Finney was a damn fine writer, and the first film adaptation in the ‘50s is a classic of a certain era and style. The ’78 film is pretty gotdamn groovy in its own right. Abel Ferrara’s film works. It’s a more straightforward horror film in many ways, but with just enough personal signature that it’s essential Ferrara.
It’s sort of amazing that three good films were all made based on the source material because each of them bent the metaphor to apply to something different. In the ‘50s, Don Siegel’s film was about communists. The Phil Kaufman film seems to be riffing off of EST and other feel-good philosophies of the time. Abel Ferrara’s fear of the military mindset and his mistrust of anyone who is indoctrinated seems to drive the ‘90s version of the story.
There’s really no reason to throw another interpretation on the stack short of a brilliant reinvention, and even in the purest version of the script that Dave Kajganich or the film that Oliver Hirschbiegel set out to make, I’m not sure the central metaphor ever snapped into focus. There’s a scene with Roger Rees at a dinner party early on where the “big idea” of the film is laid out as overtly as possible.
Unfortunately, that “big idea” is then softpedaled so much that by the end of the film, when Rees’s dialogue is brought back as a voice-over to remind us of EXACTLY what the film is supposed to be about, all it does is clearly indicate just how much the movie misses the mark. And oddly, the “big idea” really doesn’t play into the body snatchers metaphor at all. Basically, Rees takes the position that civilization is a very thin veneer over our real natures, and that in the right circumstances, all of us are capable of the most extreme and unfathomable actions. Basically, Hirschbiegel covered this same ground in DAS EXPERIMENT, and more successfully. Here, after setting up that idea, the film turns out to be curiously gutless. Nicole Kidman’s such a big movie star, and so acutely aware of her image, that she never really does anything unspeakable or extreme. Imagine a movie where you introduce a character with a kid and you put them in sincere danger together. Imagine a film where those stakes matter. Because that... is not this film. Without giving it all away, I’ll just say that they end up making things really easy for Kidman and her son. Anything even slightly unpleasant that Kidman has to do, they make sure it’s handled discretely and it’s never really a question. She only shoots the bad guys, after all, in classic Hollywood fashion. I mean, they don’t really address the fact that we learn later that the process can be reversed, which means she’s a murderer. That’s sort of glossed right over. Talk about an overreaction. People get a little complacent, and you feel the need to shoot a bunch of them just because you haven’t slept for 70-something hours thanks to the drugs you’re constantly taking? Yeah... sounds like the classic hero’s journey to me.
It’s strange to see a film where the little background touches are more interesting and more thought-out than the actual main story. The idea of a world where peace is accomplished through alien conformity has some bite to it, and as you watch the headlines of a world coming together rather than falling apart, it does test your sympathies. Especially since there’s not a single likeable character in the film. I never found myself rooting for Kidman or her son because the film never bothered to make them interesting or create any empathy for them.
I don’t know... I don’t think it’s just me who is burned out on this particular story being retold.
This is a perfect example of what happens when creative bankruptcy smashes into corporate indifference. This is a “studio movie” in every sense of the term, plastic and pointless and without any passion at all. I’d rather see a truly terrible film than something this dull, and even trying to parse the film as an attack on Scientology wasn’t enough fun to keep me engaged.
If you miss this one completely, you’re not missing a thing. Now I’m off to work on reviews for films I actually loved as well as more set reports and other goodies for you guys. I may be taking off on vacation this week, but I’ll still be checking in for plenty of updates.
Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles
Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles
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And not in any conceivable good way.
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It's obviously just a star vehicle with no plot or um, film making at all, just slap a couple of big names on the marquee and hey, we'll make at least $50 million so it's all good. I'd have thought those two would have more respect for themselves. I know they made the Golden Compass so maybe this was karmic payback.
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And not in any conceivable good way.
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And not in any conceivable good way.
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What? It's another bloody INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS remake? Pass.
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I enjoyed that show, and was sad when it was shit-canned
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Yay!
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Nobody. To think potentially an amazing original film was passed over to remake this garbage for the fourth time.
They deserve to lose money on this one. -
She does not equal box office...
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poor carreer move. with good choices (and opportunities) over the last years, like Layer Cake, Munich, and 007, now he should've gone back to another low-key film like layer cake, and then proceed to Fernando Meirelle's "Blindness"(but the role went to Mark Ruffalo), but nooooo, lemme make a big studio film and get a quick 10mil.
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which obviously slipped under everyone's radar.
As far as not needing to remake body snatchers anymore, I dunno. It's a pretty timeless theme. They remake Romeo and Juliet and Pigmalion all the time, there's no harm in that. Ignore the "Pretty Woman"s, go see the "West Side Story"s. No biggie. -
The original script that Oliver commenced directing on was crafted really well. It elevated the tired remake to a whole new level. Even the original title was better..."The Visiting". Oliver walked from the project when Silver told him they wanted reshoots. But of course, this is Hollywood and the hiring of the Wachowski's and Teague were to only complement the film. Alas, maybe one day we'll see Oliver's cut like Schrader's Exorcist: Dominion which was a shade better than the Renny Harlin debacle.
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I was watching the Navy Seals the other day and kept thinking Lewis Teague
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This and Superbad collectively have about a million reviews at this point. Surely there are other movies worth reviewing?
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is her child support payments from Tom Cruise. Why does she still get starring roles in big budget movies that she (time and time again has proven) can't open box office-wise? She's one of the most over-payed actresses in Hollywood with a Salary of 12 - 15 million dollars a movie, but her box office pedigree doesn't justify half of that amount. Invasion is projected to do 6 million and by Monday night after adjustments it'll probably wind up doing about 5.5 million. She must give some bomb-ass head to keep getting these high profile roles. I gotta get me a blond wig and some blue contact lens and test my luck.
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Since when did the idea of "1984" turn into a GOOD — or, even appealing — thing?Peace at any cost is simply a euphemism for voluntary slavery.
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Aug 20, 2007 12:52:15 AM CDT
Hey, didja hear there's a new Body Snatchers movie out?
by and nicolas cage as fu manchu
I don't get why they even made another remake. We already have 3 great (or at least interesting)
versions of the story and The Faculty gave it the whole post-Scream postmodern deconstruction of the premise. Why film another version? It doesn't even look like there is any nudity in this. What is the point? -
books just brimming with cinematic potential, and we get fucking remake after fucking remake... coming up on the third remake of I Am Legend... How about a solid adaptation of Song of Kali? The Demolished Man? Mythago Wood? Just random choices, but any would make an instant classic if handled right...
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A boy scout gets diddled. A stripper gets killed. Someone takes a shit. And yet...something just isn't right about Uncle Joe.
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if you know what i mean.
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T.S. Boyle Sprawling novel dealing with the misadventures and travels of Mungo Park and Ned Leeds. Great fucking book! I read it twice. I'd love to see it adapted to movie form or even better - An eight hour mini-series on HBO or A & E. I remember reading in the Variety a few years ago, that Gus Van Sant had optioned the rights, but nothing ever came of it though :o(
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This has become beyond ridiculous. I mean, I'm sure it's crap, but what about THE LAST LEGION... that came out on Friday too. Let's mix things up just a teeny bit...
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But this "child in peril" shit is even worse. What a cheap, overused, manipulative and lazy screenwriting tactic...and that goes for you too, Speilberg!
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They should've waited a few decades longer...
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Fellow talkbackers, go to dreadcentral.com. There is a special insiders update regarding Cloverfield. Apparently, the "insider" says the movie is alot more like Godzilla (1997) than originally thought. Supposedly, a majority of the movie is the characters running and hiding from "smaller" raptor-like monsters. If that's true, there's going to be alot of pissed off fanboys. Anyway, I find it interesting that I sent this report in a few days ago, and Harry and co. have completely ignored it. That tells me that some of you are right--they are in Abrams hip pocket. Bunch of sell-out pussies if you ask me. By the way, sorry about posting in this talkback, but there are no Cloverfield articles to do it in (suspicious isn't it?)
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...but Kevin McCarthy said it was more about conformity, about the American people's embrace of uniformity and consumerism in the 1950s in the post-war boom, a "paralysis of the will" etc, which wasn't just about falling for Joe McCarthy's doctrine - hence the small town, suburban, white picket setting and the middle-class social mileu. Bearing in mind the time frame, political climate and marketpalce obviously the metaphor had to be more vague and less overt. Maybe this should have been given to Zack Synder instead and he could have made a film about 'rilly cool' CGI pods or something.
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He's getting brewskis tomorrow.
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The problem is touched upon by 'Moriarty' when he mentions Nicole Kidman's 'image'.
As soon as a 'star' like Kidman is introduced to a movie like this, it's actually the kiss of death for the box-office potential of the movie. Any possibility of the movie becoming a word-of-mouth juggernaut (and subsequently a huge cult hit) is ruined the minute the studio suits insist that a big 'star' has to take the lead role. It actually removes any real sense of threat to the character, and it removes any real sense of sympathy from the audience, because you know it's just 'Nicole Kidman the big movie star'.
This isn't to say all movies should have unknowns in the lead roles, of course not, it would be ridiculous and impossible. But in the case of something like this, a paranoid tale about a large-scale epidemic with horrific consequences, it just serves as a distraction to have a famous pretty actress in that role. Everyone knows she's big and successful and rich and was married to Tom Cruise and is playing Ms Coulter in another big movie right now blah blah, and that's all you're thinking about all the way through the film. It just spoils it. -
You've never seen a Billy Wilder movie, have you? ;)
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http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/entertainment.cfm?id=1317522007
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I don't know if any of you have seen Dogville but that film is pretty near the knuckle stuff. It's definitely not safe, glitzy, Hollywood fare and certainly not something I could imagine Roberts, Diaz, Conelley or Zellweger doing.
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Anyone seen Superbad?!?! Ooops!
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Yeah, Dogville's great, but I can definitely see Connelly doing something like that (Requiem was pretty risky). Definitely not Roberts, though.
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I'm convinced that the media is against Superbad. We only got 50 reviews of glowing unabashed praise for this film on this website and a coverstory on every magazine complete with Seth Rogen shrine built in every major city around the world. Do they want this film to fail?
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bashing this film
way to be "edgy"
too bad the studio didn't buy ad space or fly you guys in to the set
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One of the all-time great usernames there, I'd say. Anyway, the reason there's no Cloverfield articles is that nobody cares about Cloverfield, or any movies except SUPERBAD and its reviled counterprogramming, INVASION. Now, from what I understand, it's beginning to sound like SUPERBAD is a funny comedy, and INVASION is not a good movie, and the dark night pics were from Brazil. But stay tuned to AICN for more SUPERBAD reviews and criticism of INVASION. After all, what could be cooler than dozens of reviews of two minor mainstream movies that opened days ago, both of which everyone visiting AICN already made up their minds about back in July?
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i know i was probably one of the few people that did this over superbad this weekend but i was wondering if anyone else caught about a dozen shots where the mic was floating above the heads of the actors and actresses. i mean could they edit that out or was the movie that bad that they just gave up trying to make it something?
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MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MORE!MOOOOOORE!!
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I had high hopes THE INVASION too. In all honesty, the trailer wasn't the best - it seems boring.
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I just can't see the 3rd book being adapted; Pullman must be psyched with all this money rolling in; it doesn't even matter how the movie performs, the books are still out there.
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No one leaves the Church unscathed. No one.
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And a good cast. Sam Elliot is perfectly cast. The only miscast person is the Lyra, I worry that that kid will suck. But I will be thre opening weekend. Anything that involves killing God is okay in my book.
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Saw it because I like sci-fi. The movie never really gets off the ground floor. Kidman is laughable and never conveys any actual danger. The plot feels rushed and non-sensical. For example, Kidman is unable to find her son near the beggining of the film but has time to go to some old dudes house because he's acting wierd. She then see's some creepy shit and now 'really' has to go find her son? Wow I guess the fact that the kid could have been kidnapped in the first place wasnt important enough but now that theres an alien threat, its go time? I could have done a better job with that stupid movie.
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Think of all the free publicity it would get on these boards.
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As noted, the TV series Invasion was a remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. As to some degree as the 60s The Invaders. And you have as someone mentioned The Faculty, which was a deconstructionist version of Invasion... So you really have at least six versions, with this being #7.
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No picture of girl with boobies?
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and go exclusively with HD. Just when I thought this stupid format war was winding down to its inevitable conclusion:Blue Ray - These fuctards has to go and muck things up even further. STOP THE MADNESS AND JUST MERGE DAMN IT! Now back to your regular scheduled program. Btw, this is according to TVONDVD.COM
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Thats a film I'd definitely go see.
Heck, someone entrepreneurial soul will surely re-dub clips from this film and make them talk of Xenu. They're gonna be all the rage in youtube.. .. heck, what am still doing here? I gotz edits to do! -
Proof that the Wachowski's have definitely lost whatever it was they had when they created the original Matrix movie.
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From what I've read and heard the ideas they tried to put across seem like good ideas. What I don't understand is why they needed to incorporate it into the pre-existing Invasion of the Body Snatchers story. Why not just make a new story about being invaded by aliens who give us the choice to stay crazy and free or peaceful and lobotomized?
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i saw it last nite and thought it was decent, alot better than reviews seem to hint. i hate reviewers that want to connect emotionally with the characters or feel empathy....sounds pretty gay to me...but i found no problem feeling tense while watching them run from the infected people..as far as i know thats gettin involved with the characters....ive heard this "i didnt connect with the characters so i didnt care what happened to them" stupidity when the reviews for transformers came in about how no one cared about bumblebee and sam because the camera didnt focus on it like a dick going into a twat in a porno..i dont know about anyone else but i did feel sad for bumblebee when he got his legs blown off... i didnt need him and shia holding hands and picking flowers to get the connection btween them two and feel the sadness when BB was hurt...and i had no prob with nicole and her kid in this film...... and to contradict moriarity, she shot those people because they were infected aliens that were going to take her and her son, so she shot them, not because she was on drugs and caffeine trying to stay awake, and she didnt shoot the boyfriend..in some ways i still call that heroic, and what did he actually want ?? for nicole to break down and cry over the guilt of killing innocent people ??? please stop being PC moriarity and realize its just a movie dude...
not a great movie, but kept my attention.... and the part with nicole in the white T-shirt with no bra on in worth the watch alone...in fact her breasts were perky throughout the movie...awesome. -
That's what I was sayin (up at the top), M.O.M.!
Silky, the fact she even has breasts let alone perky in that tight sweater is all to do with the wonder of... the wonder bra! Dunno about the t-shirt. "Chicken filets" as they call 'em?! -
No more remakes of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers! Give credit where credit is due! Heinlein's "The Puppet Masters" is the real shit. Invasion is just a poor imitation.
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hey i know she got Acups or somethin but they were awesome in that T-shirt, maybe it was the nipplage that did it for me.... reminiscent of kirsten dunst in spider man 1 and 2 minus the water...sometimes i think they did it on purpose, what are the odds of kirsten being wet with no bra in 2 straight movies, but then again if u notice in spiderman 2 there was only HOT chicks.....if u slow mow the part where peter rescues aunt may from falling and swings over the crowd, 2 chicks swing into view and theyre both hot with big bouncy boobs.....nice... lol....but nicoles boobs were nice, no matter how small they may be ....haha
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does anyone know which parts were reshot ?
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Silky, my favourite album title ever (even though I'm more of a leg guy than boobs) is "Hooray for Boobies". I woulda liked to be there for the nuanced and sensitive negotiations of Raimi convincing Dunst to do a wet t-shirt shot. Classic. Where the hell was THAT on the extras I ask you?!
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Aug 20, 2007 11:59:36 PM CDT
HA HA ha ha HA HA HA HA HA ha Ha HA ha HA HA HA ha HA H
by omgamionhere
Never rub another man's rhubarb
HA HA ha ha HA HA HA HA HA ha Ha HA ha HA HA HA ha HA HA HA HA HA HA R HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ha ha ha HA HA HA ha HA ha ha ha HA HA hA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ha HA HA ha HA HA HAha ha HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ha HA HA HA HA HA ha HA HA ha HA HA ha HA HA HA ha HA HA HA ha HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ha ha ha HA HA ha HA HA HA ha ha ha HA HA ha HA HA HA ha ha HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ha HA HA ha HA ha ha HA HA HA HA HA HA ha HA HA ha ha ha HA HA HA HA HA HA ha ha HA HA HA ha HA HA HA HA ha ha HA ha HA ha HA HA HA HA HA ha ha ha HA HA HA HA ha HA HA HA ha HA HA HA HA ha HA ha ha HA HA HA hA HA HA ha HA HA HA HA HA HA ha ha HA HA HA HA HA Ha ha ha HA HA HA ha HA ha ha HA HA HA hA HA HA HA ha ha ha HA HA HA HA HA ha ha HA HA HA ha HA Ha ha HA hA HA ha ha HA HA HA HA ha ha ha HA HA HA ha HA HA HA HA HA ha HA HA HA HA HA ha ha HA ha HA HA HA HA HA HA ha ha HA HA HA HA HA ha Ha HA ha HA HA HA ha HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ha ha ha HA HA HA ha HA ha ha ha HA HA hA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ha HA HA ha HA HA HAha ha HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ha HA HA HA HA HA ha HA HA ha HA HA ha HA HA HA ha HA HA HA ha HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ha ha ha HA HA ha HA HA HA ha ha ha HA HA ha HA HA HA ha ha HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ha HA HA ha HA ha ha HA HA HA HA HA HA ha HA HA ha ha ha HA HA HA HA HA HA ha ha HA HA HA ha HA HA HA HA ha ha HA ha HA ha HA HA HA HA HA ha ha ha HA HA HA HA ha HA HA HA ha HA HA HA HA ha HA ha ha HA HA HA hA HA HA ha HA HA HA HA HA HA ha ha HA HA HA HA HA Ha ha ha HA HA HA ha HA ha ha HA HA HA hA HA HA HA ha ha ha HA HA HA HA HA ha ha HA HA HA ha HA Ha ha HA hA HA ha ha HA HA HA HA ha ha ha HA HA HA ha HA HA HA HA HA ha HA HA HA HA HA ha ha HA ha HA HA HA HA HA HA ha ha HA HA HA HA HA ha Ha HA ha HA HA HA ha HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ha ha ha HA HA HA ha HA ha ha ha HA HA hA HA HA HA HA HA HA ha ha ha -
shitty projectionist, if you kept seeing the boom mic the projectionist at your theater had the film framed up wrong. Some 1.85 prints are not hard matted so you have some wasted space top and bottom of the film and lazy or just stupid projectionist who line up the edge of the film frame with the projector gate are off by 25% from where the "framing" of the shot should be so if it is too low you see the mics and if its too high you see the chain going down through Pee Wee's bike basket...
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Nicole Kidman could have had a sex scene so good they had to add a 4th x and I still would of cared less, but at the least somewhat interested in seeing this. :)
The trailers sucked. And the shuttle disaster in the trailer I think was 100% poor taste. Still kind of soon to be doing that. Using a tragic accident in likeness that killed our astronauts was very weak.
Honestly that was 100% the reason why I could of cared less that this movie was even made.
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