Seabiscuit (sphinx approves)

[Pwaybloe]

C'mon filmcritic.  Will you please get one joke?  Please?

[filmcritic]

I can take it.

[Sleuth]

I wanna fuck you in the ass, filmcritic

[filmcritic]

Hey, hey, trem, calm down, pervert!

[markums2k]

I wanna fuck you in the ass, filmcritic

Tobey wants your phone number, trem...

[Pwaybloe]

Hey, hey, trem, calm down, pervert!

C'mon filmcritic.  Will you please get one joke?  Please?

[MacGuffin]

Definite candidate for one of the best films of the year.

Wonderful movie. Loved how it ever so often would set the mood and update us on that time in America to relay what was going on in the country and why people were so caught up in this horse and it's story. Superbly acted by Jeff Bridges (extending his "Tucker" performance), Chris Cooper and Tobey Maguire, conveying the emotions of why their characters all needed each other. The horse racing scenes were shot and edited beautifully. Gary Ross, once again, has written and directed another great nostalgic piece.

[ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ]

I hate how misleading trailers are.  I haven't seen the movie, but I know it's probably not an action film...but it tends to pack in all the excitement like a b-rate action film in all the tarilers i've seen for it.

[dufresne]

Superbly acted by Jeff Bridges (extending his "Tucker" performance)

fucking bravo to that.  i love jeff bridges.  this movie was very, very good.  i actually didn't mind the narration at all.  it was in the same vein as "A River Runs Through It" which is one of my favorites.

I'm glad to see the return of this genre.

[ono]

Saw Jeff Bridges on Leno last night, the late night version that reruns episodes from the previous week.  It's always great seeing Bridges, and what gets me about his acting chops is how well he was able to pull off the Lebowski role.  He really is one of those chameleon-esque actors, but now, whenever I see him in something and hear his voice, I'll hear the Dude in the back of my head.

Leno said Seabiscuit was definitely one of the best movies of the year, and Oscar material.  And while Leno is not a film critic, he does generally know what's good.  Ebert seems to like it as well.  (***½ from him)  I don't know if it's one of the best movies of the year; I don't know if a movie about a horse could ever be that.  But all those things definitely make me want to see it a bit more than before.

[modage]

quick review. finally saw this yesterday in my horses and old stuff double feature (with Open Range.)  i liked this one a lot.  i dont have a lot of interest in horses and such, (unless they're being rode on by cowboys shooting each other), but this really told a great story.  had a good cast, doing good work. i liked how when the horse was finally introduced they cut away to his backstory.  it was funny.  and also how the movie was building up to the big racee with that other horse, and thats where a normal movie would've ended.  but since there was more to tell, it kept going and they actually got better and won another race.  thats pretty incredible.  there have been some complaints that its too sentimental, and i can see that its not for everybody, but i liked it.

[cine]

I hate how misleading trailers are.  I haven't seen the movie, but I know it's probably not an action film...but it tends to pack in all the excitement like a b-rate action film in all the tarilers i've seen for it.

Yeah, but you can't blame the movie for that. It's just typical shitty American marketing. Exact same thing for the trailer for Russell Crowe's new pirate movie when I saw Seabiscuit tonight. This is fucking Peter Weir and I'm damn sure they could've toned down the action in this trailer. But, such is life.
Anyway, I enjoyed Seabiscuit thoroughly. The acting was great on everybody's part, and I laughed so hard over William H. Macy. I enjoyed him the most for his small role and Cooper again stole the movie. Somebody mentioned that Bridges' backstory shouldn't have been there but I disagree completely. I felt a helluva lot more for him as a person when the reaction shots went to him during the races. I didn't look at him as the car salesman. I looked at him as a man with a huge heart with such a troubled past that I could see that this was like him watching his only pride and joy race to victory. The thing I didn't like was the first.. 20 minutes or so. I felt that everything was VERY rushed. If you watch the first 30 minutes again you'll see that the dialogue makes you quite unsettling with how it hurries to 'present day'. All in all though, a wonderful and thrilling movie that SHOULD be nominated for Best Picture with Cooper for Best Supporting but who knows what'll happen. Four hooves up.

[filmcritic]

I was wondering what the differences are between the book and the movie. Can someone please tell me how they compare? Are they pretty much the same?

[MrBurgerKing]

Well, besides the blatent athiestic undertones in the book, it's a good read. The relationship between the Tobey Maguire character and the horse is of course non-sexual, but Hillenbrand adds as many erotic and sensual adjectives as he can when describing the horse races, you cannot help but be turned on. The book is extremely sexually charged in a way, but it also takes a stand on the injustices on the middle east. I wouldn't let your kids read it, because of the homoerotic metaphors and athiestic monologue, but if you read it with an open mind, you will enjoy it. Unfortunately, the film didn't pick up on Hillenbrand's metaphors, instead it focused on the superficial, cliche, "feel-good" narrative of the novel. If only Gary Ross knew what the book was really about. You see all these religious pricks blaming Mel Gibson for jew-hate, but they have nothing against this book. A huge double standard if you ask me.

[cine]

I wonder what the general consensus on the film would've been if they kept in the sexual undertones from the novel. Personally, I would've enjoyed that originality but I think it might've taken away from the film.. if it was subtle enough, I think it would've been fine. Hm.