Elizabethtown...not looking too good!- Page 2

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 12:19am

Funniest review ever...
The movie becomes like an old woman who's put on so much perfume that one can only surmise that she's trying to cover up the smell of her own rotting flesh.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 12:32am

I'm glad I'm not the only one who wants to gouge my eyes out when Orlando Bloom is on screen. He and Keira Knightley are touted as Britain's great white hope and they're both talentless, personality free idiots who are about as sexy as cardboard. It upsets me.

[hannahshule]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 8:08am

ironically, they both had movies coming out yesterday, and both got negative reviews.

Personally, I don't really like Kirsten Dunst, I've seen a lot of her work, and the only one I can bear is Drop Dead Gorgeous. I can't put my finger on it, but I just don't like her acting. As for Mr. Bloom, in the previews, he looks like a wounded puppy trying to invoke sympathy. And he's a faliure, (or maybe a fiasco) oh well...

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 8:16am

i don't agree that crowe's a hack. he's hit or miss. i liked jerry maguire (tear jerking soap opera that it was), loved almost famous, hated vanilla sky (open your eyes david), was nonplussed by singles (but then i hate bridget fonda, hate her), and loved say anything. oh and i still wanna do his wife...ooooooooo barracuda.

[Patronus]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 10:38am

I do like some of Crowe's work. Almost Famous and Jerry Maguire are great. Say Anything is very good. The rest I can live without.

I am interested in Elizabethtown, but I'll mostly likely see it on DVD.

I don't have the same Dunst/Bloom venom as some of you, but I don't think either of tham are going to wow me either.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 11:15am

I generally enjoy movies the critics have torn apart, as I go, or rent, with no expectations......

[DAME]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 11:56am

I found this movie to be a total waste of time.

[broadway86]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 12:02pm

Crowe is a hack.

If you say so.

[erikaamato]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 12:46pm

OK, chiming in...

The director of the indie I've been promoting (Vaughn Verdi) is good friends with Nancy Wilson and her hubby Cameron Crowe, and as such, has been very involved with Elizabethtown since its inception. (He's seen dailies, been to the dub stage, screened numerous edits, etc.) He's aso been talking to me about it for over about a year. I know it's already been mentioned, but to repeat: the version of the film screened at Toronto was an early edit, very long, and possibly it was a tactical error for Cameron to open himself up by showing an "unifinished" product...

I've seen the film twice now. Once at a press screening at Paramount about 2 weeks ago, and yesterday I went to opening night at a normal theater in Santa Monica with Vaughn and Nancy and a bunch of other folks. The crowd LOVED it. I kid you not. They applauded at the end. I like the movie. I used to HATE Kirsten Dunst, but she won me over in this film. She does a fantastic job. I agree that Orlando seems emotionally stunted, and I can't quite figure out if it's him, or the character. Because the character is emotionally unavailable. The other performances are all good... There are one or two moments in the movie I personally found a bit silly, but overall, I enjoyed it.

Finally, to the person who said it seems like a "Garden State rip - off," the film is primarily about Orlando's character's relationship with his (now-deceased) father, and his family, and how he comes to grips with realizing what the important things in life really are (family, love, doing your best) as opposed to what he thought they were (success, success, success). It's also largely auto-biographical, and a very personal film for Mr. Crowe... Just fyi. =)

I don't know if it's going to be a hit, or not...I really can't tell. I guess we'll wait and see...

[DAME]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 12:49pm

I just saw it this week with a normal crowd. The crowd did not like it. Actually.. they were quite bored. Sorry. It is very deserving of the crtiical panning it is recieving.

[erikaamato]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 12:56pm

DAME: Oh, no apology needed... That's why I'm saying I don't know what's gonna happen, 'cause I'm just sort of luke-warm on the film... But honsetly, the crowd at the theater I was at applauded. It was bizarre. (That doesn't happen often at movies I attend...) Maybe it was filled with Crowe fans.

[erikaamato]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 1:08pm

I just was looking through the reviews, and I think this one is very apt. It very much mirrors what I thought of the film.

Here's the 1st paragraph, so you don't think I'm just posting some random rave:

Cameron Crowe's "Elizabethtown" is a film with heart, but no spine. A collection of beautiful moments held together by the finest of threads, it's a romantic comedy about grief, failure and family that's infuriatingly unsure of how it wants deliver its information. As always, Crowe proves himself a master of the gesture, the intimate moment and sweethearted cynicism, but the usually confident storyteller keeps stumbling over his own script...

Check it out; I think it's pretty on-the-nose.
Zap2it.com review

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 2:06pm

So if you don't mind posting a spoiler, or you could PM me...Does Bloom's character find "success" at the end? I mean career and financially.

[erikaamato]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 2:08pm

I'll PM you... =)

[broadway86]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 4:01pm

I think it's odd that when someone hates or loves a movie, everyone in the crowd seems to share the same opinion?

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 4:26pm

I'll still see it in theatres, I try to see everything - although I will admittedly pass on SERENITY and that Jessica Alba crap.

I don't dislike Dunst, but I think her talents are limited. I detested everything about SPIDERMAN 2, including her. I thought she was pretty good in MONA LISA SMILE, actually.

I'm indifferent to Bloom. He's nice to look at.

But I agree with papa, Crowe is very hit or miss. ALMOST FAMOUS was excellent, but VANILLA SKY was god-awful. I'm not a fan of SAY ANYTHING or JERRY MAGUIRE - too contrived for my taste - but I had faith in this movie. This is upsetting.

[erikaamato]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 4:30pm

I agree that seems odd. Suspicious, even. But let me be clear. I never said I loved the movie. I liked it. It's got lovely moments. But I was not one of the people applauding at the end. I'm just reporting a fact of what happened at that particular theater (it was the Mann theater on 3rd St Promenade), at that particular showing (7pm). At least half the audience broke out into applause at the end.

It may have been a fluke. And it was only half. But there ya go. =)

[cmleidi]

Posted: 10/15/05 at 7:18pm

Saw it this afternoon. It's a mess of a film. The writing is particularly weak. Crowe rarely stops to focus on a character or relationship for more than five minutes. The movie is too overwritten. Crowe depends too much on clever turns of phrases that don't sound plausible coming out of a human's mouth. For some inexplicable reason, Crowe writes Bloom's character as an American. There's no need for this. The film would have worked better if Bloom, his mother and his sister were British. The films ends with a travelogue that serves no narrative purpose.

Bloom is fine. Dunst is miscast in another woman as savior role. Paula Deen (t.v. chef) and Susan sarandon steal the film. They bring much needed energy as Bloom is required by the script to be emotionally needy and vacant. The few times Bloom shows some spark, he lights up the screen. He's quite charismatic.

With that said, the film isn't a disaster. It's one of those comfortable films that is never really good nor really bad. IT's just comfortable.

[flaemmchen]

Posted: 10/16/05 at 11:10am

Saw it last night. I didn't think it was horrible, but I didn't think it was great, either. The plot seemed to wander kind of aimlessly, and though there was character development, as erika mentioned in her first post about the film, I didn't feel like any of it was hugely significant. I think Bloom and Dunst did well and I enjoyed watching the two of them together. I'd wait for the DVD, unless you get caught in a situation like mine where the movie you WANTED to see was sold out (Good Night and Good Luck *cries*) and Elizabethtown is the only other option.

[broadway86]

Posted: 10/16/05 at 12:20pm

I agree that seems odd.

I'm sorry, erika. I wasn't referring to you. I was referring to someone else.

too contrived for my taste

Munk, what did you think of Finding Neverland?

Posted: 10/16/05 at 6:20pm

I'm just going to jump in

I saw the movie... I watched the movie for Orlando because he's easy to look at & I watched to see if it was a replicate of Garden State. I didn't think it was...

I thought the transitions between the scenes were really poor. I'm also not a big fan of Kirsten Dunst, but I don't hate her... she had a good character to play in this film, but I thought the accent that went in & out of her voice was annoying. I liked Susan Sarandon in this film, overall: the audience seemed to react to it well in the theatre I was in. It was better than I thought it was going to be, but it is probably a renting DVD type of movie.

--korenglish [Joyce]

[Broadway_Baby]

Posted: 10/16/05 at 6:24pm

They were making fun of Elizabethtown on the last episode of "The Soup"...'twas hysterical, god I love that show!

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 10/16/05 at 10:43pm

86: You know very well what my feelings are on FINDING NEVERLAND. I didn't find it contrived at all - and apparantly, most critics and the Academy agreed with me.

[broadway86]

Posted: 10/17/05 at 12:12am

Actually, Munk, I didn't know. As a matter of fact, I don't think we've ever discussed it. I read that sentence, and Finding Neverland was the first movie that popped in my head. I don't agree, but...

and apparantly, most critics and the Academy agreed with me.

What does that mean to me? In many occasions, the Academy has ignored great movies, and rewarded poor ones. Updated On: 10/17/05 at 12:12 AM

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 10/17/05 at 12:22am

Well you liked the remake of House Of Wax, 86, so......