25th Hour dvd

Started by moonshiner, May 20, 2003, 11:57:36 AM

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

©brad

Quote from: MacGuffin
Quote from: cbrad4dbrian barry pepper is great too.

woops. i knew that.

Quote from: joeybdotI Heard 25th Hour  was good. I missed it when it was in theaters. I got the Dvd now and it friggin rules Great Movie! 2 Disc set is great

2-disc what?!

Duck Sauce

Im trying to keep myself from buying this just for the "FUCK YOU" part, even though I disagree with most of it, its still fucking intense

godardian

I was sad to miss 25th Hour upon its release, too.

So my question is this: Should I go spend almost 5 bucks to rent it, or should I just buy it, sight unseen, for under 20? I'd consider Summer of Sam or, especially, Crooklyn, to be well worth owning, but not Bamboozled (though I loved the idea and much of the film).

Who unequivocally thinks this is a keeper?
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

modage

i do.  saw it opening day.  liked it quite a bit.  whole cast is great.  i am not always a spike lee fan, but this was one of my favorite joints. he is kind of hit or miss with me.  (i like DO THE RIGHT THING, HE GOT GAME and SUMMER OF SAM.  i feel that this belongs up there).
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

Sleuth

I just saw this movie the other night and it's bloody GREAT
I like to hug dogs

soixante

Just watched it.  Disappointment.  I'm a big Edward Norton fan, too.  He was good, but...the film is way too long.  There is absolutely no reason for a film like this to be 135 minutes long.  Spike Lee quite often falls in love with a lot of his shots, and lingers over scenes that have made their point abundantly clear 5 minutes before they end.  No one has the gumption to tell Spike, "less is more."  Spielberg suffers from the same problem.
Music is your best entertainment value.

modage

okay something i just noticed about the movie.  is it just my copy or at the 29:08 mark Ed says "No, be my guest", to the DEA officers and the lip synch is completely off.  like, you hear him finish his sentence before his lips move.  am i the only one who notices this?  how the hell could something like this slip by?  its in chapter 5 "uncomfortable sofa" for anyone who wants to check this out for me.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

ono

I just caught this on DVD and was blown away.  Spike Lee has eclipsed Do the Right Thing.  It's so VERY hard to choose between this and Punch-Drunk Love for best picture of 2002; damn the Academy for snubbing this, and damn the distributors for giving this such poor distribution.  This could very well be one of the best movies of all time, though.  I hope it gets recognized in the future for its power and brilliance.  I know the movie may seem rather simple at first, but it's a movie with emotion, heart, regret, great characters, great acting, great filmmaking, and great storytelling.  The "Fuck You" scene was great.  The film started with a bang, with the dog scene, and used the dog throughout the film as a mirror for Monty.  The scene where Monty asks Francis to beat him up is one of the most powerful I've ever seen committed to film, and I got a bit teary-eyed because of its power.

The ending was just brilliant.  Not over-the-top, not too cheesy or unrealistic.  It was real, and reminded me of Limbo in a way.  Brian Cox gave another great performance as Monty's father, and his voice-over at the end hit all the right notes.  I really can't say enough about how much I loved this movie, and it's not too long either, even at 2:15.  Everything Lee included in the film is necessary to establish tone, and you may wonder about the scenes with Hoffman's character and Pepper's, and Paquin, and if they're necessary or not.  But they're framing devices that when looked at through the right microscope, become much more poignant with what's happened to Monty.  The DVD itself is great, and the 20-ish minute doc about Lee's career is great, if a bit of a love-fest.  So yeah, for anyone who asked if they should get this DVD, I recommend it.  If you like my taste in films, you'll probably love this, too.  ****+/**** (10/10)

Pozer

Quote from: OnomatopoeiaI just caught this on DVD and was blown away.  Spike Lee has eclipsed Do the Right Thing.  It's so VERY hard to choose between this and Punch-Drunk Love for best picture of 2002; damn the Academy for snubbing this, and damn the distributors for giving this such poor distribution.  This could very well be one of the best movies of all time, though.  I hope it gets recognized in the future for its power and brilliance.  I know the movie may seem rather simple at first, but it's a movie with emotion, heart, regret, great characters, great acting, great filmmaking, and great storytelling.  The "Fuck You" scene was great.  The film started with a bang, with the dog scene, and used the dog throughout the film as a mirror for Monty.  The scene where Monty asks Francis to beat him up is one of the most powerful I've ever seen committed to film, and I got a bit teary-eyed because of its power.

The ending was just brilliant.  Not over-the-top, not too cheesy or unrealistic.  It was real, and reminded me of Limbo in a way.  Brian Cox gave another great performance as Monty's father, and his voice-over at the end hit all the right notes.  I really can't say enough about how much I loved this movie, and it's not too long either, even at 2:15.  Everything Lee included in the film is necessary to establish tone, and you may wonder about the scenes with Hoffman's character and Pepper's, and Paquin, and if they're necessary or not.  But they're framing devices that when looked at through the right microscope, become much more poignant with what's happened to Monty.  The DVD itself is great, and the 20-ish minute doc about Lee's career is great, if a bit of a love-fest.  So yeah, for anyone who asked if they should get this DVD, I recommend it.  If you like my taste in films, you'll probably love this, too.  ****+/**** (10/10)

one of the best movies of all time? 25th hour or PDL? I gotta say, I disagree with you big time. I own the movie, it's alright. yeah, maybe it's got some power and brillance, but it lacks in the story department. and some scenes lag like no other. Great performances but not a great film and definately not one of the greatest films of all time....
in my opinion.

ono

Both PDL and 25th Hour, but I was referring to 25th Hour in that post.  I know it may seem like an overstatement, but I feel kind of like GT did when he posted his thoughts on City of God, something I desperately want to see -- that even though it is a grand statement, I believe the movie definitely lives up to it.  I don't think anything about 25th Hour dragged or anything about the story was weak, and the more I think about it, the more I realize how brilliantly realized it is.

The movie is about Monty, yes, but not just him.  It's about his friends, too.  And the scenes they have that are personal set the stage for what's to come, for their attitudes, and for Monty's.  And you must think about the title for it all to resonate: "25th Hour" is an aftermath.  References to 9/11 abound, and they are not just tacked on.  They're there for a reason, just like the "fuck you" scene, the conversations Francis and Jake have, and the poignant scene where Monty asks Francis to make him ugly.  Mise en scene is a term that is thrown around way too much, but I think it fits here: watch the aftermath of that fight scene, and the silhouettes of the characters therein.  The composition of that shot, the reactions of Doyle, protecting his master who first saved him, the look on Francis's face as he breaks down crying from having to beat up his friend, and the involvement of Jake, a man who would normally never hurt a fly.  I think I'll probably have to watch that scene again to nail down why I think it's so powerful, and that may apply to the movie as a whole as well, but that scene, in the context of the film, is truly brilliant.  And that makes the construction of the whole film brilliant as well.

Pubrick

it's good, great even, but not one of the best of all time. i think u've been had by the patriotic propaganda stuff. i found the final speech touching as all heck, and Anna Paquin was hella doable, but really now, not better than Do the Right Thing.. or even 4 Little Girls, there's true emotional power for ya. at best it's as good as those 2 others i mentioned, the best thing Spike does is express an urgency that doesn't wane as time progresses.

on a related note, it's more likely that history recognizes City of God as one of the defining movies of the times.. where times doesn't always mean america.
under the paving stones.

ono

Nah, it's not the patriotic propaganda.  The past year, I've been one of the least patriotic people around (a rather knee-jerk reaction to recent events, if you know what I mean).

And it's a matter of personal taste, but I do think 25th Hour is better than Do the Right Thing.  I think Do the Right Thing is brilliant, of course, but there was a little bit about it that didn't sit right with me at the end.  I think Lee has come full-circle and really honed and matured his talent, and done something that is even more universal in scope.  It addresses not just race and class, but other social issues such as drugs, sex, loyalty, and more, which was one of the reasons I was so impressed by it.  I don't think the movie was all that patriotic either.  It showed the aftermath of 9/11, but didn't really wave flags in your face.  It articulated anger, but it channelled it through productive means in light of a destructive happening.

You're right about Lee's projecting a sense of urgency.  That sums up his work very well.

©brad

i still can't get over how good the music is in it, not to get too off topic here. i got the soundtrack and its really wonderful- so angry, sad, happy, delicate, frustrated, and powerful all at the same time (like most of lee's movies.) listen to the music during the playground flashback when monty first meets naturelle. there's sum great piano stuff there. the opening title sequence music too. ahhh... too good.

moonshiner

Quote from: OnomatopoeiaIt's so VERY hard to choose between this and Punch-Drunk Love for best picture of 2002;

pick Adaptation
the rumble of the train trails off to infinity, a place where no one goes anymore

JC, no not that one

ono

Nah, Adaptation. suffers from third-act woes.  Kaufman couldn't figure out how to pay off such an interesting premise with material fitting what he'd set up, so he allowed the film to lapse into self-parody.  I get the "joke," and the movie is still very strong, but Kaufman's one weakness (see also: Being John Malkovich) is what hurts the movie most.  It's #3 for 2002, IMO, and still better than 99% of all the movies of 2002, so it's nothing to sneeze at.