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Enigma Boy Really Likes WHAT LIES BENEATH!!
Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here. When Harry and I went to the Metreon for our special advance GLADIATOR screening this past spring, we met a number of AICN readers face to face for the first time, and one of them was Enigma Boy here. An average film geek like many who read here. Nice to see him in print again, and for those of you who think I was too harsh to this film (I wasn't... not nearly), this should serve as a nice rebuttal. Check it out.
Y’hello Harry,
Enigma Boy here. I just got back from the EW screening of Robert Zemeckis’ What Lies Beneath. Now, I realize that the last thing you (and all the AICN readers) want to see is another review that thrashes the shit out of this film (such as Moriarty’s scathing review), so I’m not going to do that. I’ll
say it now, this film is deeply flawed, but I enjoyed it. Yes, you heard me right, I enjoyed it. It’s a well-directed suspense thriller in every sense of the word. It’s traditional, and that’s what I liked about it.
This film showed me why I’ve loved Zemeckis since Roger Rabbit (excluding Death Becomes Her, of course). The camera is almost always moving, flowing perfectly. It’s smooth, fluid, and that’s always commendable. Unfortunately, since I know filmmaking so damn well, I recognize each and every ominous
movement of the camera, which can be distracting, but overall, I just fed off the crowd reactions (note: they were eating it up, screaming like shit). Zemeckis directs this with a strange sense of detachment, but maybe that’s the idea. I don’t think I ever actually felt for the characters very much, but I blame that much more on the screenplay, which, in itself, leaves much to be desired. Also, Zemeckis puts in some amazing visuals, which he has perfected so well throughout the years that even when I knew I was looking at visual effects, I could not tell. It…and I hate to use this word again…flowed.
There is one major flaw in this movie plotwise, and this is what stopped me from enjoying this film as much as I could have. If you view plot structure the way I do, you’d understand what I mean. I believe that everything in a script has to have a reason to be a part of the plot, a payoff, a connection to the other incidents. But this part of the plot, nearly half the movie, only adds a few clichéd aspects, some emotion, but in the end just seems a 45-minute setup to an only semi-humorous incident halfway through the film.
The acting is fine, the dialogue is sometimes cheesy but still fits the atmosphere, and there are some very nice twists. Overall, it develops into a Hitchcockian suspense thriller in more ways than one. It does somewhat greedily take an aspect from Rear Window, and Psycho is evident in much of the second half. The music, which I really enjoyed, starts off like an above-average Alan Silvestri score, but develops into a strange hybrid of Bernard Herrmann scores, including the already evident Psycho in addition to the
likes of Dangerous Ground, Vertigo, Torn Curtain, and Cape Fear. So, the Hitchcock aspect is basically what made this film worthwhile for me. I understand Zemeckis is kind of ripping from the ol’ Master of Suspense, but I just adore the eerie tension that connects his movies to What Lies Beneath.
Signing off,
Enigma Boy
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I'm suspicious of the peeps who sa this sucked. Everything Zemeckis does is worth seeing - even Death Becomes Her (once). Hope it does well.
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Hey,
It's not because the movie is traditional that it's bad, right? Com'on people, once trailer gave us everything, let's look at the direction, the acting, the track! You have to learn enjoy every piece of a movie. -
Take all the friends that like to scream loud to this one, trust me, you will have fun!! I never heard so many butch guys scream like bitches in my life! When People walked out of this movie, they had energy, they liked it and they were freaked!!! GO SEE IT EVERYONE!!
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Or, more accurately, a cover-up? That's all right; I'll help fill in. Yes, it looks like Harry and Co. were so very threatened by Deep Throat-esque conspiracy talk backs that, out of the terrible desperation that comes from knowing that P.I. JMB is on your trail, hastily found a positive review so as to squelch your whistle-blowing. Oh, that dirty Harry and his pal Moriarty, always up to something. But, common JMB, don't quit yet. I'm sure we could build an even grander conspiracy out of this. Yes, let's see. Knowing they had to post a good review (rather than let your glorious quest topple their evil empire, of course) they inspected the slew of glowing reviews they had been, to this point, hiding, and found the least scintillating "positive" review they could, written by a nearly "unknown" reviewer, and therefore less respected by AICN's loyal slaves, and posted it, in the pathetic hopes they could cover up the truth, which, according to certain special agents, is out there. They couldn't fool us though, huh? Yeah, that's right Harry and Moriarty, be afraid, be very afraid, 'cuz JMB and I are watching you. :::dramatic chords strike - evil laugh:::
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"Ghost, you leave us alone!"
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This was the positive review, huh? Crap script... crap characterizations... nicely shot... yup. Sounds just like the Haunting remake to me!
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Okay...peoples just read Rober Eberts review of this movie. It will first and foremost explain better this so-called Hitchcockian-type of comparisons. Hitchcock would never have made this movie or loved this "type" of movie. He would have considered this to be useless drivel, a pure "wanna be" Hitchcock that was desperately in need of a rewrite. Anyone who LOVES Hitchcock would know this. And I love: Rear Window (my fave HC flick), The Rope, The Problem with Harry, Vertigo...shall I go on?
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My personal Zemeckis favorite is Who Framed Roger Rabbit(sidenote, is this really based on a novel, if so what is it?), but DBH wasn't that bad. I thought it was kinda funny, actually. Oh, well. All the hope people have for this movie(some people) is gonna bite it in the ass, because people see the names ZEMECKIS FORD PFIEPFER(probably misspelled) and imagine it to be an incredible movie. Hell, the newist issue of Fangoria proclaims it to be the next "The Sixth Sense", and from the shitty mimi-movies--oops, I mean trailers--this movie can't live up to the hype. I'm waiting for this to come out on cable.
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I have not seen What Lies Beneath. I will get around to it, I suppose. On The Tonight Show last night, Michelle Pfeiffer said she was soaking wet for half the movie. And when she wasn't filming she was soaking wet in her trailer learning to play the Cello. If that's not positive buzz, what is?
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Ok, so Zemeckis stole a lot from Hitchock, and the last 10 minutes should be chopped off...but this was a damn cool movie. It wasn't overly scary but I like the twist and (SPOILER!SPOILER!.........................................................................................................................................................)the tub scene was bad ass. That is where the movie should have ended, none of that multi-climax shit.
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But I won't pay to get in, instead I will pay to see something else then casually walk into the theater at the multiplex which is showing WLB after I see the movie I want to pay for, so that's two movies for the price of one ($8) = $4 per pic, which is actually $1.50 more per pic than the local video store. Besides me thinks theaters make all of their real profits from the concession stand anyway -- $3 for a hot dog that costs them what, 35cents? Popcorn that starts at $2.75 and costs the theater maybe 27cents? Clearly the real money to be made in the movies is to own a theater and jack up the prices for snacks! Happy now Skubrick? I will go see this movie, and if it's not as Great as you say it is I will track you down and force you to learn proper grammar along with calculus and trigonometry too!!
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If you like scary movies where the camera NEVER shows the POV of the victim, then has the scary thing pop out of nowhere, for God's sake go see this movie!
Lots of things jumping into the frame. SCARE! Ha! Gotcha.
Now for more boring parts...
This would be a good project for aspiring film editors. Cut out all unnecessary scenes but keep the movie over 90 minutes. Good luck. -
...It's called "Who Censored Roger Rabbit" by Gary Wolf, and aside from the major characters, it's nothing like the movie. For one thing, it's not about motion picture cartoons, it's about comic-strip characters. When the toons speak, word balloons form over their heads, and newspaper photographers take their pictures and publish them... it's very odd. The plot of the novel, IIRC, does involve Roger being framed for murder, but other than that, it's completely unrelated to the movie. I hear the author wrote a sequel novel, too, but the quality of the first novel doesn't motivate me to read it. ...And by the way, "Death Becomes Her" is one of my favorites too.
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Was I the one who posted a joke that Moriarty already used? I didn't read his review as it was clearly labelled with a SPOILER warning. Forgive me for harboring thoughts of a soaking wet Michelle Pfeiffer.
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Roger Ebert is one critic we all know has lost it. I mean come on, how much can you trust a critic who gave MARY REILLY and SPEED 2 TWO THUMBS UP, huh?????
I rest my case.
This movie ROCKS!!!!! -
I think this review really hit the nail on the hand way beyond any of the awful reviews it has gotten so far. This film is very flawed, but it is well directed and well acted, with some good scares. If you go see it this weekend, you will have fun. It is derivitave, and does drag a little, yet it is still a pretty fun flick.
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Jesus Christ that stupid fat fuck!! At least Harry can discern between good crap (like Armageddon/Godzilla) and bad crap, but Ebert is just a moron. He wrote the screenplay for "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" you know...
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Jul 22, 2000 3:12:56 AM CDT
to READER MAN: STUPIDIST DAMN FILM I HAVE EVER SEEN! UH yeah, j
by geekbasher 3.0
I would have turned around and told her Scary Movie is in auditorium 7 lady..I am sure you will enjoy the the stupidest funny movie of the summer!
Whatever, one welfare mama' who uses really bad grammer's opinion will not change the fact that this movie will make tons of money, and that people are walking out of this movie, spooked, and satisfied, people go to the movie to have fun and escape...especially during the summer! You will of course get some hits and misses...same goes for SEX!
Sometimes you come hard, and other times it shoots out really tiny and you are left unsatisfied!
What Lies Beneath was very satisfying for me..
I came long and hard................ -
Jul 22, 2000 3:36:54 AM CDT
Friday night review: Moriarity was right! I can't believe I wast
by caligari
Flimsy, flimsy script. A barrage of tired cliches unworthy of a master director. A boring first half followed by a even duller slasher flick second half. Only one who survives this mess is Michelle Pfeiffer. I think Zemeckis directed this movie during a vacation or something, because his heart/soul is just not in it. Excuse me, I'm going to go watch "Contact."
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Because the reviews were decidedly mixed (some good, some bad), I took the plunge and went to see What Lies Beneath. What a waste of time -- don't make the same mistake I did. Audiences across the country were laughing tonight... in a bad way, of course.
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I've read reviews that claim the first hour is wasted because the trailer gives away husband has an affair, that there's too many twists at the end, piling one more stupid scene after another, that Harrison Ford is sleeping and ready for retirement in this film. All completely wrong. This story is a ghost story about the ghost of Madison who is trying to fix the wrong that was done to her. Somehow she has to CONTACT the wife, by knocking a picture down, by filling the bathtub. Only when the wrong done to Madison is corrected can her spirit move on. It's a very creepy movie, not SLASHER shocking, but slowly getting to you. It's not edited like Michael Bay or MTV, and mustn't be. The direction and editing have to fit what the story is doing. Finally a movie that has a strong story, and all parts of it are necessary. It's a great movie. Go see it immediately.
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I went in with low expectations and had a great time. As far as I know, film fans are the only group I know that actively hates almost every single new arrival. Well, that and Simpsons fans. Honestly. "MI2 was terrible! X-men could have been so much better! Waaa!" Tee hee. Maybe I just have low standards, but... take a chance on this movie, you just might like it if you remove the stick from your arse.
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Well, in some sense. The movie did do a good job with visuals, even if that's about it. He is truly being far too nice, it was a pit, but I tried to spend my time focused on the filmmaking when it got too painfully bad. I was truly tempted to pop out and go see the last half of X-men in on the next screen during the second run for popcorn I volunteered for. There were a few good points I can think of off the top of my head, but not enough to make it worth it.
Not Hitchcock by a loooong run, but an interesting experience some of the time. And hey, it did have a pretty good score. Some cheers to Enigma Boy for his review... Even if I prefer the more scathing as being closer to the truth. -
SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!
I never said the film was Hitchcockian...that would imply that A) I think it worked, and B) it had that air of wit and suspense that Hitchcock perfected through his actors, score, etc. (the whole package). Zemeckis simple stole! He remixed the score for Psycho, he copied the idea of Rear Window for the beginning when Michelle P. is a vouyver who suspects a murder of the next door neighbor, and it's plainly obvious where the Vertigo influences are. However, I really enjoyed the film. It is flawed, but was cool. That said, it could have been awesome....just chuck the whole shit with the truck (why the fuck would she stop and try the cell...drive to the police), and cut that shit with the corpse killing Harrison F. BTW, I think Harrison is a bad ass for finally playing the bad guy! What Lies is flawed for the same reason as The Haunting...it shows too much. We (the audience) should have been wondering if it was a figment of her imagination, or if it really was a murder. They was no doubt in the film (the psychologist stuff was dead time). This could have been a good suspense mystery. The only good suspense scene was the tub section when the water is rising on the paralyzed Michelle P. It was nice...but why couldn't Harrison F have just died in that scene?! What is up with all of these climaxes? Fuck me! How many times can the bad guy come back for one more scare?! (I really like the flash of the corpse in the tub though). Zemeckis was the wrong choice for this film...he's about sizzle and stars. This film would have been better suited for someone who would have delved into the dual characters and potential mystery, yet keep the supernatural mystique...somebody like Jonathan Demme, M. Night Shaymalan (BTW Unbreakable sucks...superheroes my ass, I want dead people), Lasse Hallstrom (Cider, Grape...genius), Adrian Lyne (Jacob was twisted, cool), Bryan Singer (think U.S. not X-Men), or Stephen Frears (good at character development). -
Jul 23, 2000 1:52:17 AM CDT
STUDIO SNITCH YOU STRETCHED OUT THE APPLET TO ABSURD LENGTH!!!
by bari umenema
OK ZEMECKIS IS AN ENORMOUSLY TALENTED TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, I THINK WE ALL AGREE ON THAT. SO WHY HE HAD TO CHOOSE THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT TO GET THE HITCHCOCK JONES OUT OF HIS SYSTEM WILL APPARENTLY REMAIN A MYSTERY. OF COURSE THERE AREN'T THAT MANY GOOD HITCH-TYPE SCRIPTS OUT THERE SO THE FACT THAT DREAMWORKS OWNED THIS ONE AND HE WAS LOOKING TO DO A HITCHCOCKIAN FILM MADE WLB THE OBVIOUS CHOICE...
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Jul 23, 2000 3:11:07 AM CDT
WHat Lies Beneath...# 1 at the Box OFFICE...FUCK ALL YA ALL!!
by geekbasher 3.0
there I said it!
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I havn't seen WLB yet, so I'm speaking out of my ass, but it seems rather obvious to me that Rob choose to direct this film, only to keep him occupied while Tom Hanks lost the weight for Cast Away. Which, according to the trailer, looks genius! Zemeckis is up on my list with Fincher & Speilberg, and I will never fear that he has lost his touch. He just pooped something out for summer. Christmas will reveal what Zemeckis is really capable of.
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Jul 23, 2000 11:34:12 AM CDT
JTrenton: All of Z's Films are usually #1, but that doesn't make
by bari umenema
What a hackneyed, cliched, overly-obvious screenplay! So weak, so riddled with Mack Truck-sized plot holes that it truly boggles the mind how Z could've filmed it. Clearly the time-constraints of fitting the production into the available window for director and cast had much to do with this lame script being filmed. A sad commentary on how Hollywood really picks and chooses its pics.
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Jul 23, 2000 7:57:46 PM CDT
What Bores Beneath was so slow and so damn dull that I got up an
by bari umenema
I will wait til WLB is on free network TV 2 years from now so I can switch back and forth between it and whatever else is on at the same time, even if it's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" or even "Big Brother". As I said, WLB is a USA cable movie that got lucky with its cast and director. Had Clark Gregg written it on spec it probably would've wound up as a USA "thriller"; instead he was plucked from relative obscurity to flesh out this Hitchcockian Idea of Spielberg's and fortunately Zemeckis had a Hitchcock Jones to get out of his system. SKubrick, start studying up on your grammar and calculus and trigonometry because you have a lot to learn...
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Seriously, how many more years before a bastard runonsentancefillibusternolongercripplesthissitealastudiosnitch?
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Sorry if I fucked up the site with my post somehow...it seems that some people think there is a code problem or something? I am using IE, and the page loads quickly & without problems. What is everyone talking about so I don't do it again?
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Jul 24, 2000 1:29:16 AM CDT
To those of you who were scared by this movie: have you ever SEE
by rjtapper
EVERY single scare was totally predictible. Zemeckis never changed up the rhythm. It was always: cut music, Pfeiffer looks one way, then looks back/camera follows, the JOLT! I didn't jump once at this junkheap. It was dull, pointless, and with the exception of Pfeiffer, terribly acted. This was worse than Battlefield Earth
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Point being, this was a textbook thriller. I thought it was very well put together. I thought it was frightening and by the screems of the packed audience, they thought so too. There, my first posting. Broke my cherry. Later.
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Jul 24, 2000 6:20:51 AM CDT
USA today movie? I did not see a plot about Bulimia...This movie
by geekbasher 3.0
HEY..we have been through many films this summer, some good and some bad, this film was FUN! What a summer movie should be, MUTENTS, GHOST, GLORY HOLES THAT DICKS COME OUT OF...IT'S SUMMER LIGHTEN THE FUCK UP EVERYONE...Obviously we are out there every weekends jacking off to the screen, regardless if a movie sucks or is awesome, cut the LA cliche bullshit and sit back and do some poppers and relax..
sssshhhit's only a movie -
Regardless of whether you liked it or not, The US of A did and that's what counts. About cliches and all that your great "X-Men" was also full of it what with stereotyping the charaters - the responsible leader, the impossible loner, the empathic beauty, etc, etc, etc. Come on we've actually seen it all and read it all on the comics...which had BETTER character developement than the movie.
One other point. Although I agree that Wolverine is essential to the X Men , he is NOT the X Men. They are a team and the show is so ooo Wolverine this and aahhh Wolverine that. Come on , the movie is The X Men and not the Grouch that is Wolverine!!!!!
As an X Men fan who has followed the comic from pre to post Jim Lee (who arguably is the best X Men artist...look what he did for the babelicious Psylocke) this movie did not exceed my expectations.
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Jul 24, 2000 10:18:53 AM CDT
The message above this one is addressed to all who think that th
by mojoe
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Jul 24, 2000 11:19:02 AM CDT
I'm just standing here in the dark and I'm slowly looking off to
by ziranova
This movie was like going to a haunted house where you know people are going to jump out and scare you but it gets to you anyway. I found it entertaining.
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