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Moriarty looks at MYSTERY MEN and EYES WIDE SHUT!

Moriarty by Anti-fanboy	Jul 15th, 1999 04:27:47 AM
An exceptional article. You really make this site special. The Humbert Humbert in me can hardly wait for more of Leelee in her underwear8)
Thanks but no thanks by Bruce Wane	Jul 15th, 1999 05:23:48 AM
I have been reading your readers reviews for months now and have come to belive that most (if not all) of the readers sending in these reviews have yet to see the films at all. What the result is a combination of trailers and rumors mixed into a usually undetailed review with little or nothing of interest to say.
the sky turns green and the grass turns blue... by reni	Jul 15th, 1999 05:47:07 AM
Bless you Moriarty, I hope everything sorts itself out soon. In the meantime go 'good' for a few days and look after yourself. By the way, the EWS review is your best yet.
Moriarty, don't feel bad... by Serdar Yegulalp	Jul 15th, 1999 06:16:00 AM
You said, "I wasn't involved in the situation in any direct way, but I still felt guilty about how exuberant the night had left me. I felt like I had done something wrong, going out and having fun." Don't. If we were obliged to feel bad at every such step in our lives, joy would be impossible. Don't let such arbitrary guilt hold you back from living well. I've known people who did, and they were spiritually and emotionally dead before they left their twenties. I don't want to see it happen ever again, just on the basis of what little I've encountered in my life. So don't fall into that trap, OK? One last word -- both your reviews were outstanding. I plan on seeing both movies at my earliest convenience.
Stuff by Gryphon68	Jul 15th, 1999 07:16:07 AM
I wasn't too excited about either movie reviewed above, but after these glowing reviews, I'll probably check them out. I offer my sincere condolences concerning your recent loss. Take some time to heal. All my best, Gryphon
More information by Pope Buck 1	Jul 15th, 1999 08:50:25 AM
I want to echo the comments above -- Moriarty, these were perhaps your most eloquent and poetic reviews/essays yet. One point to clarify: it is not surprising that the "censoring" digital images didn't detract from the scene as executed, because Stanley Kubrick designed them that way. According to Tom Cruise's interview with Roger Ebert (posted at the Ebert website, if you're interested), Kubrick already knew he would have to cover up the "offensive" images, and was prepared to do so (albeit grudgingly) as part of his contract to deliver an R-rated film. Since the images in question are part of a LONG, unbroken Steadicam shot, it couldn't be fixed via editing without ruining the shot completely. So it was always planned for the interposing figures to be digitally inserted -- and though Kubrick died before all the work was done, he had his customary part in designing and planning how they would appear. Tom Cruise was there and should know, and now goes on record to say that that's why he hasn't spoken up to decry the situation. Yes, it was a ridiculous thing to have been forced onto Kubrick by the MPAA. Yes, it is hypocritical and censorious. But it is NOT an act of vandalism performed after Kubrick's death -- he himself planned it, to make the best of the bad situation.
To answer SithLord999 by THEJuice	Jul 15th, 1999 09:34:05 AM
I saw this movie about a week and a half ago, this was before the CGI story was released (or atleast before i had heard anything about it). Anyways i had no idea that there were cgi people placed in the scene while i was watching, but then again i wasnt looking for them. All they had to add in was black cloaks from behind, shouldnt have been too difficult. Oh yeah and to Bruce Wane (im hoping you left the Y out on purpose). Why dont you believe people like me or Moriarty have seen EWS? Just because we dont give away every detail of the plot? Most people like to wait and find out on their own but if you want to you can email me any question you have and i will gladly answer. later all
TWO WORDS by lalapoo	Jul 15th, 1999 09:44:09 AM
Buckaroo Banzai.
Stunning by Equestrienne	Jul 15th, 1999 10:12:17 AM
Reviews like this are what keeps me coming to this site. No spoilers for the films, only portraits of the emotions the films evoke. Every review of EWS I've read up until this point had spoken well of it, but had been very vague as to why it was so stunning. Moriarty manages to convey the reasoning without giving up plot points. I'm looking forward to viewing this film myself. Any Moriarty, my condolances on your loss. The death of anyone close is painful, but to loose someone young is doubly tragic.
EWS CGI coverups by sws	Jul 15th, 1999 10:53:20 AM
One thing to throw out there. Does anyone know if the DVD version of EWS will be free of the digital objects? Could they do this in a Special Edition or Director's Cut release like Blade Runner? Also, if anyone knows any information on a rerelease of the Kubrick DVD collection please put forth some information. While good, it totally lacks when compared to most of the DVDs released by studios such as New Line. I'm still mad since I have to watch Full Metal Jacket in pan-n-scan. Ug, maybe Warners' DVD division will learn from their mistakes.
I hope the loss wasn't the newborn you spoke of a few posts ago, by Tall_Boy	Jul 15th, 1999 12:21:51 PM
that would really be bad, but in any event, hope it turns out okay. PS- Gonna see EWS with my girl on Friday, hope it doesn't put bad ideas about fieldity into our heads. . .
Kubrick spent his final years watching flimsy french films... by Dolfanar	Jul 15th, 1999 05:28:12 PM
God, this sounds like those "Rachel" films from france(or was that Switzerland?). I guess it shouldn't be surprising that a rehash of a second rate french titilator would be viewed as "art" by North Americans. Still, I was pretty skeptical about Exotica but it didn't turn out to be quite the "Showgirls" I expected it to be... Anyway this is Kubrick, and like Lucas before him, AICN will treat ANY steaming pile he drops as a work of art.
athankyou by P1nkert0n	Jul 15th, 1999 09:13:29 PM
I've always read the talkback comments as long as I've been reading these articles, but Moriarty's reviews of these two films finally made me subscribe just so I could say thanks for such a literal and honest review of these films. So thank you, and I am now looking forward to seeing both of them more than ever.
Leelee in her nighty??? by Orangeface	Jul 16th, 1999 12:30:28 AM
Wow, I always thought she was a cutie, but as a "nymphet"???? Now I'm REALLY interested to see this movie.
To add absolutely nothing.... by Stefka	Jul 16th, 1999 07:12:09 AM
This is going to add nothing that hasn't already been said but I feel that it is important to say it again: Awesome review. It's the kind that makes someone really want to see a movie. Someone mentioned something about capturing the emotion that the movie gives off and I think you did that wonderfuly. Second, and most importantly, sorry for your loss. I hope that you and your friends can console eachother in the next few days.
EWS screening by Phil Noir	Jul 16th, 1999 09:08:13 AM
I was at the Ross screening as well. I echo your comments and commend you on summarizing the mood of the film better than most of the "professional" reviews. EWS is a difficult film on many levels. After bathing in the tepid water of mainstream films for so so long, one gets used to the temperature. EWS is like jumping back into a cold pool. Unpleasant at first, but once you get used to it, it's totally refreshing. Kubrick's unique voice will doubtlessly be misunderstood and unappreaciated by the masses expecting a real late night cable soft-core fuckfest with major stars. EWS is most like The Shining in the way it subverts audience expectations. It's Kubrick's Blue Velvet. ----------------------- Sorry about your loss.
Thank you Moriarty by AlternateVersion	Jul 16th, 1999 10:22:39 AM
I am the worst at names so excuse me if your name is wrong on the subject. I just wanted to thank you for a very heartfelt article on EWS and Mystery Men...I saw EWS earlier this week and felt much the same way about it. It was so different from anythink else Kubrick had done. I really felt for the characters and the situation, I was captivated from the very beginning til Nicole Kidmans final line at the end. It was small and yet so grand in depth and meaning. For me personally this was his greatest film, I like his others but they never have ranked in my favorites...I feel for you in your time of loss, It happens to us all and it is never a non-life altering event...Just to Mr.Wane's theorys to a bit of rest as I said above I do like Kubrick but not nearly as much in the past as I have liked this film, and personally I see George Lucas as the lowest form of pondscum hack in Hollywood, He is anti-Hollywood yet he is the very embodiement of everything that Stanley hated, what Lucas does is not art it is not film, it is movies, which are fun and I like, I love star wars (especially the ones he didn't direct ironically)...AVOUT(www.altern ateversion.com)
by nelson	Jul 16th, 1999 02:22:13 PM
Don't know how to start. Let's just say that this was the 1st time I've watched a Kubrick film, and the last. I don't what makes critics call this man the 'greatest' director ever. I will admit, that EWS had a good story and his use of colors was excellent (shall I say that red is his favorite color?). BUt this thing dragged and dragged. I've sat through 4 hour sermons at church, but this movie is sooo damn slow. This movie should've been left better as a book. I think if an airline would want all their clients to fall asleep during a nyc-la flight, they would put this movie on. I was yawning and looking at my watch every 20 mins. God, I don't know because I'm young or what, but this movie dragged (BTW, all the people in the theater watching this flick were above their 50s). And this flick took 3 years to make and 65 million? Shit, I would've shot principal photography in 2 weeks, and post production in another 2. And for alot of less money (excluding Tom and Nicole's salaries). There were some parts in this movie that looked like a student film (and I'm not talking about grain in the film). Jeez, this is the slowest movie in history. I counted a total of no more than 175 cuts for this 2:50 hr film. Armageddon at one point had 30 cuts in less than 3 seconds. I again will admit that it's a wonderful story, great acting, but this flick dragged like an old tired horse. Can someone tell me why Kubrick is considered the GREATEST film maker of all time??
Eyes Wide Shut by danielle	Jul 16th, 1999 04:21:45 PM
It all goes to prove that you can still get it wrong after 15 months. This movie threatened and threatened and threatened and didn't succeed in delivering. The old cliched criticisms of Kubrick will be levelled again ... cold and distant ... I think in years to come, people will look back and say that for the last twenty years of his career (count them ... 20 years which produced only 3 films!), he didn't equal his previous work from 1963 to 1975. Stanley was passed his prime and living on former glory. The strengths of his contracts with Warners ensured he made the movies his way ... but that doesn't mean they should have been made that way. If anyone else had made EWS, I seriously believe people would have looked past it already. Cruise and Kidman may even have passed on the script. Why did they do it? They did it for the same reason we will go and see this movie ... because WE HOPE it will be good. It isn't. It's bland, which I think is THE worst thing you can say about someone who had greatness in him and who achieved greatness, but whose greatness had diminished over the years.
Slow? by TopQuark	Jul 16th, 1999 05:25:33 PM
As slowly paced as EWS is, I was not bored for a moment. In an age of instant gratification, where filmmakers seem intent on answering questiong the instant after they're raised, I was delighted to actually have to wait for reactions...to watch the characters struggle with their inner voices and hear what finally emerged, be it truth or falsehood. -- As to the poster who asked about why Kubrick is considered to be so great, it's because he tells his stories with images. 2001 is the most obvious example of this, where it's the pictures that are really what the film is about, not the dialogue. In EWS the dialogue is important, but it still serves the images, either reinforcing or contradicting what we are seeing. I'd be interested in the age of the poster who asked the question...not to imply anything negative, but like others I suspect this is a film that's not going to resonate with youthful audiences.
The first hour is perfect, then a bunch of stupid masks ruin the by Freud	Jul 16th, 1999 07:09:32 PM
Danielle's right about this movie threatening and threatening and then not delivering. The first hour of EWS is perfect. Every scene builds up this huge dread about Tom and Nicole not getting off, either inside or outside the marriage. The color scheme and grainy picture tell you there's a grand scheme behind all this, and every situation has wit and sadness in it, this comic desperation of characters who don't know what they're doing and can't stop themselves. I loved the first hour. It promised so much. I can't remember ever sticking with a movie this long, waiting for the payoffs. The audience stuck with it too--this huge crowded downtown Boston audience was absolutely still, even after waiting 25 minutes for the interns in the projection booth to fix the reel after loading it in backwards. That's 90 straight minutes of pure involvement. Then we get to the orgy, and right down the shit-chute go Kubrick, cast, and film. For those who haven't seen it, I'll dance around the details, but suffice to say that any scene that has characters wearing masks for too long a time loses an audience. Get this straight, wannabe filmmakers: audiences HATE fucking masks. Even if we don't know it consciously, we're getting robbed. Masks are fine in novels, and even plays, and sometimes they're fun in movies like "Halloween." But that's because we're in the mask with the killer. Here, we're looking at everyone from the outside, and we don't know who they are, or what they're thinking or feeling. At one point everyone in the room is looking at one person, and the masks are creepy. That's the only time the mask-thing works. All the rest of it is ridiculous, and the audience started laughing at it. Right there, the movie tanks. It never recovers. Tom revisits the same places, meets the same people, gets more and more panicky, and in the end has a crying jag. That would be nice if we could tell what he's thinking at the orgy--whatever it is that makes him keep looking, and gets him in more and more trouble. But we can't because of that stupid fucking mask. I never want to see another movie character wear another mask. Why do they always show up in pretentious movies? All those shitty Elizabethan pictures have a big party scene where everyone shows up wearing masks, so all this existential-mistaken-identity shit can go on. Stop it with the masks already! They ruin everything. "Eyes Wide Shut" is just like "Full Metal Jacket": brilliant setup, lame-ass payoffs. "Titanic" inverted. Freud out.
Eyes Sealed Shut by Jabroni	Jul 16th, 1999 07:28:57 PM
I really wanted to like this movie, for weeks I was hoping for a good "R" rated sexual thriller and what I got was an overly long, boring film that accomplished nothing by the films ending. I kept waiting for something to happen and much to my suprise nothing ever did. Acting was great, but what did the characters "REALLY" learn about each other? The media didn't help by saying "The Sexiest Film Ever!" and all that crap. I actually got a headache from being so bored. I actually wish I had gone to see South Park for the 3rd time. I thought I was a film buff, I apparently can no longer appreciate films that are long for that sake of being long. Don't even get me started on the awful ending. If someone can tell me why it was a good movie I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to e-mail me with an explanation.
Piece of major white-trash shit by looking-for-love	Jul 16th, 1999 08:15:21 PM
HORRIBLE!! And I thought the English Patient was bad. Sorry folks, this movie takes the cake for the shittiest and most boring movie of the year. Funny, the box office at the local cineplex was jammed, not for people wanting to see this movie, but people demanding their refunds. I got mine, my girlsfriend's and all our frat buddies $8 back. Critics are predicting this movie will make $150 million?? Huh?? What universe?? I fell asleep on what was the orgy scene. DAMN!! Shit!! This word alone can not begin to describe how bad this movie is and was and will be. First, cruise as a MD is hard to believe from a guy who didnt even graduate from highschool. This movie was highly overrated and absurd. I know the really deep and artistic cinema folk will want you to believe this movie was a masterpiece, don't be fooled, it was trash. Ive seem more eroticism in grade school sleepovers. Stanley Kubrick was a genius in his time but his time has passed. It took him3 hours to boringly tell us about a married couple who have fantasies of adultery (how cutting edge, I could've told you that in a minute). And ponder the age old question, to cheat or not to cheat. Like someone said: " Kubrick observed a generation's worth of cultural change from within his self-imposed bunker, and the remove shows. It's his eyes, I'm afraid, that seem to have been wide shut, and his movie that wears a mask."
What a surprise! by jgapocock	Jul 16th, 1999 08:54:28 PM
Just back from EWS. I'm a big-time Kubrick fan but I wasn't at all prepared for this one. I thought it was supposed to be about a couple's relationship falling apart? That was just the start of it! The mask sequence at the centre of the film is surely the creepiest thing Kubrick has ever done, and it resonates through the remaining scenes with equal parts of bewilderment and menace. This is a profoundly disturbing and bleak film, certainly not the warm and life-affirming drama some folks claim to have seen. It's certainly the best film of this year, and quite possibly the finest film this decade. Did anyone else have the same worry I've been trying to get out of my head since the picture ended: was Alice somehow at the masked party?
SPOILER - William : What should we do ? Alice : We haven't done by darius25	Jul 16th, 1999 09:04:02 PM
With that my friends, ends the film career of one of the most provocative and brilliant directors of all time. Moriarty is 100% right when he said the movie is like a dream. There is no way in hell that anybody could imagine what this movie is about without experiencing it. Go see it people and see it more than once. See it 50 times and each time you will get another intrepretation. That scene when Tom Cruise walks into the Masked Ball is the probable the best scene of all the movie. Watch the camera angle, the haunting, eery and wildy erotic music, the actions of the characters. I swear if you don't feel the emotion behind the emotionless (masked) faces then something HAS to be wrong with you. Tom Cruise has delivered a magnificient performance and Nicole Kidman has proved that only she could have been Alice. Watch her face in the last scene for that. Just one question before I go - Where do I buy the Soundtrack. See you at the theatres.
To Igapocock by darius25	Jul 16th, 1999 09:11:01 PM
here's a theory - Alice was the head leader and she somehow changed her voice :)
HELP ME FIGURE THIS MOVIE OUT!!!!! by JARED99	Jul 16th, 1999 10:11:23 PM
Just got back from seeing Eyes Wide Shut. I do believe that I am an intelligent person but I couldnt fit all of the pieces together. What was with the mask at the end? What was all this dream stuff? Im sure there are a million "hidden" answers to this movie. And Im sure in 20 years after Eyes Wide Shut has become a household name ??????? theres a thought,...that, regardless of what many critics say now, this movie will be regarded as a masterpiece, but until then PLEASE EMAIL ME WITH ANY ANSWERS TO THIS CONFUSING FILM!!!!!
EWS and Armageddon by Rick Ralsten	Jul 16th, 1999 10:48:56 PM
First of all, to the person who mentioned having to watch a pan-n-scan version of Full Metal Jacket, rest assured, the DVD is not panned and scanned. The movie was actualled matted to be shown theatrically, so the DVD of FMJ (and The Shining) actually shows MORE than the theatrical version. Second, to the person who complained about EWS only having about 175 cuts in a 2:40 movie whereas Armageddon had about a jillion a second...you make the small number of cuts seem like a BAD thing! There is art in carefully blocking a shot, in camera placement and camera movement, in the way a scene unfolds naturally as one uninterrupted event. Not all movies benefit from the Michael Bay school of filmmaking, when even converstions between characters have to be hyperkinetically cut at breakneck speed.
AHA, a new theory!! by darius25	Jul 16th, 1999 11:03:37 PM
From the above, it looks like Alice could have saved her husband, Pollack partially lied to Bill and the Amanda got killed to protect Pollack's reputation. Pollack was the rich guy who threw the party in the start (for those that didn't know).
EWS - haunting, mezmorizing, .... by cygnusx7	Jul 16th, 1999 11:10:37 PM
Wow. Just got back from seeing EWS, and I must say that I haven't had such a totally engrossing moviegoing experience since...well, EVER. This film is absolutely mezmorising, on numerous levels. Vintage Kubrick. Kubrick's films are MEANT to be somewhat ambigous people, and open to interpretation!. Free your minds, and USE them for the love of Pete!. I had an invigorating 20 minute discussion in the lobby w/ 3 complete strangers over this film. It felt so good to CHALLENGED by a film again, and not spoon fed some tripe that I have seen a thousand times before. Just superior film art. Period.
My Eyes Will Be Shut by Pazuzu	Jul 16th, 1999 11:31:46 PM
Thanks to Moriarty
EWS -- the general public was totally misled by jdoc	Jul 17th, 1999 12:28:21 AM
into thinking this movie was going to be the kind of movie we have all gotten used to over the past few years. Am I surprised that, as mentioned some posts up, that some frat boys and their girls demanded their money back? Not really, as a former frat boy I might have done the same. IN the theater where I went opening night most of the theater was the same way. There were a lot of grumbled, a lot of shifting, and a lot of distracting comments from the teens/early 20s crowd (generalization) all around us. And I really don't blame them. The marketing for this movie was very misleading IMO. I enjoyed the film thoroughly and I think Moriarty's review was very good in light of what I saw tonight. UNfortunately I am still trying to get a good grip on everything I saw on the screen, trying to process the emotions generated by the characters and think the movie through, but I may never be successful in that. Maybe that's why I liked the movie so much, it is very rare IMO these days to find a movie that engages, or even attempts to engage, complex emotions. This movie may not be on my top 5 list, but it is very solid. If you go see it don't believe the mass media on your way in. Expect more and you shall be rewarded. Maybe this would be a good topic for the Lake Placid Regional 12-step Meeting.
Speaking as a teenager by RedElephant	Jul 17th, 1999 12:48:30 AM
If there's one thing that pisses me off, it's when people expect all teenagers to be in the line for American Pie. I went to go see EWS today (with a horde of crazy teens) and my body is still, cough cough, resonating on many levels, all of which have little to do with seeing people naked (they did a baaad baaad thing). And while yes, i can't say that i'm the most experienced when it comes to relationships and the various questions they bring up, i dont think i needed to be to appreciate this movie. I can still question my motives, and I can still try and better myself through doing so. I like to think (in my young, naive way) that good movies do that, that even if you have little in common with the characters, you always have your humanity, and there's always a way to fit a movie into your little sphere. I'm 18 yrs old, I still think i'm a teenager, and EWS made a whole lot of sense (in a Kubrick way) to me.
Kubrick leaves us with an amazing lesson by Bone-Daddy	Jul 17th, 1999 02:44:15 AM
this movie was hauting, disterbing in a way and upright amazing!! The biggest thing that turned me on was the whole idea behind it. Premiscious people, and how everyone is human, and born to ...well.. fuck, as Nicole put it. Thank you Kubrick and see you some day. Bone-daddy
Great Film by Darth Kittles	Jul 17th, 1999 06:32:25 AM
I just recently started taking an interest in Kubrick's career, waiting for the DVDs to come out before watching any of his movies. EWS certainly is a worthy final addition to his career. For me, the film wasn't a psychosexual thriller (and if you really thought it would be, you believed the hype). It's, like all of Kubrick's films, a man's struggle with himself. And the whole movie become complete when (SPOILER) Bill saw Alice asleep with the mask next to her. It's summed up right there: His secrets lie there on the bed. And Kubrick asks the question: Can anyone truly be married if he or she hides things from his/her spouse? And is there a difference between reality and fantasies? Great stuff.
EXCREMENT by souchak	Jul 17th, 1999 09:13:27 AM
Sorry 'bout your loss, Moriarty, but EyesWideShut BLOWS. I haven't been in such excruciating pain in a movie theater since...well...maybe never. Maybe since the last half of Lost Highway. I used to consider myself a Kubrick fan, but y'know, I think Strangelove is the only film of his I can sit through with genuine pleasure. The rest feel like penance. The real shame is that THIS piece of crap was his swan song. I despise Cruise & Kidman, but I was surprised to find myself despising the film even more. If I hadn't been stuck in the middle of a crowded theater, I would've split LONG before the torment ended.
It's Not Brilliant at all. by luluthebeast	Jul 17th, 1999 11:28:42 AM
The entire premise of the movie is absurd, there is no dramatic reason given for Tom going off on a sexual bender. So his wife had a little fantasy, BIG DEAL! Tom was shown to be a self-confident person who understood how sexual games were played and where the lines are drawn, he was not shown to be a sexually or emotionally naive person that could not deal with reality. Without that motivation, there is no reason for him to do what he did, making the rest of the movie pointless. No matter how beautifully the movie was made (and it was) it was still the dumbest, most poorly written movie Kubrick ever did and that is a major disappointment!
Life Experience helps here by OlderOne	Jul 17th, 1999 11:59:05 AM
Sometimes, when reading a novel, seeing a movie or aplay, it helps to have experienced the situation the author is talking about. If you are doing a nuanced commentary on sexual relationships between long-married partners, it becomes more difficult to reach an audience who have not had similar experiences. Unfortunately, this let's out most people not out of their early twenties. I would not have understood this picture at that age. I simply had no reference points. I am much older now and have seen the elusive qualities of sexual desires, the nature of relationships and often weighing how any decisions at all matter to the overall meaning of my life. I think that Kubrick (being a VERY old one)is addressing these questions. EWS is a real adult movie. These are not seen very often anymore. Most emotionally based movies slip into cheap-novel histrionics very quickly.I say, see it because it's different from regular cinema fare and then see it again in 10 or 20 years. (This doesn't always work. No matter how much I try, I still can't watch Barry Lyndon all the way through. I try every 7 years of so.) By the way, when I ran a video store in the 80's and was asked for a "real good action-type movie", I could always recommend Clockwork Orange as chillingly violent and gave a "love it or your money back guarantee". I never had to give back a dime. . . and usually then rented them Dr Strangelove ("But it's in black and white!" . . "Don't worry about it. Same guarantee")
Eyes Wide Shut Sucked! by Li_W	Jul 17th, 1999 02:42:41 PM
I don't understand these Kubrick ass kissers! Eyes Wide Shut was a piece of crap. A big tease! It's set in NYC but nobody has a NYC accent! Not one person! even the waitress. There are more English and European accents than NYC accents. Kubrick didn't know what the F*** he was doing in the last year of his old age, so he strung everybody along includ Cruise & Kidman. As for Cruise I will never ever see him in a movie again. He cannot carry a picture. That's why he surrounds himself with A list actors.
God--I really wanted to get it! by Future-boy	Jul 17th, 1999 03:30:49 PM
So much about this movie was right--the acting, the design, the cinematography--and that extraordinarily creepy orgy sequence (a mini-masterpiece onto itself) but this movie just didn't hold together. You've got this one plot thread about the disillusionment of Nicole's fidelity (P.S. Nicole IS underused and her drunk act is terrible) along with this thriller plot about Tom's odyssey into the sexual underworld that becomes more and more conventional as it went along. The supporting performances are fabulous with Alan Cummins, LeLee Sobieski(?), and Sydney Pollack (who should act as much as he directs) striking just the right notes but Tom's one facial expression really grew monotonous after a while. While no one can deny the movie's dreamlike tone and the thoughtfulness behind the different vigenettes, the snaillike, sometimes jagged pacing and the lack of any overall point just made it seem like a puzzle that just didn't fit together. Now that I think about it--Kubrick would probably take all of this as a complement. Enigmatic indeed.
great review! by Pinball Wizard	Jul 17th, 1999 09:17:33 PM
I just want to commend Moriarty on what I thought was a great review. He made me exited about this Eyes Wide Shut without giving anything away. A superb job. It's very frustrating to read a review which gives away too many plot points and when the reviewer feels it's his/her obligation to give away a film's twist. Roger Ebert, by the way, is a prime example. I only read his reviews AFTER I see a movie to find his opinion on it.
EWS by mayo	Jul 18th, 1999 10:12:09 AM
I am so disappointed im EWS. I am also very surprised that Tom and Nicole spend to much time and energy on this film. I am usually a fan of Kubricks, (loved The SHining and Full Metal Jacket beats any war film ever been made) but I definitely found myself wondering if or when anything exciting was going to happen. When things almost looked interesting, it turned out to be a tease to keep me awake if anything. The supporting characters were great but also a tease. I really wanted to know more about them but didn't get to. Kubrick was a great filmaker but I am a little disappointed.
Orgy scene = creepy! by Frank Rizzo	Jul 19th, 1999 12:33:55 AM
I was pretty surprised that I actually liked this movie, I was expecting something too "artsy", like that excruciating piece of excrement called "Thin Red Line". Maybe what I liked best was the fact that the movie never did what I expected it to. How many movies have we seen (of any genre) that aren't really bad per se, but its just that you've seen a million others like them and you have a pretty good idea of what's going to happen at the end. By the way, I thought the orgy WAS creepy--you are left with the disturbing realization that it might just be a bunch of rich hedonists, or...something more sinister. It leaves it to your imagination. I say sinister--a secret society with passwords, black robes for initiates, purple for higher ranks, and red for the high priest...plus the chanting, incense, big circle on the floor, sex-as-worship(?), and death penalties....sounds like witchcraft or satanism. And it involves the leaders of society--kind of unsettling!
Are the Eyes watching Mystery Men? by Wolfpack	Aug 12th, 2006 01:42:21 PM

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