Gothika

[ono]

Well, Halle is nude, but all you see is her back, and then she's naked and rolled into a ball and you see her body, a little bit of her butt (like, the tip of the crack), but nothing really specific.  The main nudity isn't very pretty.  Shower scene from one of Halle's first days in the asylum where we see a long shot of all the women showering.  But it's no cheesy erotica.  So it's mostly old, weathered women who you'd really rather not see naked.

[SHAFTR]

Well, Halle is nude, but all you see is her back, and then she's naked and rolled into a ball and you see her body, a little bit of her butt (like, the tip of the crack), but nothing really specific.  The main nudity isn't very pretty.  Shower scene from one of Halle's first days in the asylum where we see a long shot of all the women showering.  But it's no cheesy erotica.  So it's mostly old, weathered women who you'd really rather not see naked.

Damn, the guy in me wanted to see a penelope/halle lesbian prison scene.

[Weak2ndAct]

Does the ending/payoffs even add up?  I read the script and couldn't make heads/tails of it.  Plus, Ebert admitted as much on his show, but still gave it thumbs up!

[ono]

Does the ending/payoffs even add up?  I read the script and couldn't make heads/tails of it.  Plus, Ebert admitted as much on his show, but still gave it thumbs up!

Yes and no.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD.

So Miranda is institutionalized for the murder of her husband.  Before that, she wrecks, sees the girl in nightgown (the head of the facility's daughter).  She erupts into flames and absorbs Miranda, and Miranda blacks out, then proceeds to murder her husband.  Later, it is revealed that she did this because her husband and the sheriff were in cahootz, raping young girls and covering each other's backs.  This, through a long, convoluted stretch where Miranda escapes from the facility, goes back to her house where the murder took place, and finds a picture of her and her dead husband.  This picture leads her to an abandoned farm house.  In the cellar she finds a bed with chains, and a video camera.  On the tape (how convenient) is her husband, with a girl chained to the bed.  He's obviously raped her and many others.

One of these girls is the girl Miranda keeps seeing.  We're to understand this is one of the girls her wife and the sheriff raped and killed.  This girl, a ghost, comes to Miranda many times, torturing her, and other girls in the hospital, carving NOT ALONE in different places, mostly in blood.  Miranda realizes that the killer is no one person, but two, and that's how she realizes the sheriff and her husband were in cahootz.  What's never explained is how she's seeing these visions, and how she went crazy, other than the fact that she's simply blacked out and the ghost has chosen to appear to her.

What doesn't make sense is why the ghost would torture HER unless it's out of anger (in that Miranda didn't believe this ghost's story just like she didn't believe Chloe's story, or a need for attention.  And, complicating matters, when Miranda vindicates herself (with help from a security guard who aided her escape in a most unlikely turn of events) and she and Chloe leave the asylum, Miranda sees a boy standing in the middle of the road, pointing.  A bus is about to hit him, but it passes right through him.  Camera pans to a sign on a telephone pole, with a picture of the boy, saying LOST.  This, unfortunately, sets up a sequel and also doesn't even answer any questions about how or why the ghost appeared, other than to try to set things right.  Which is a decent explanation, but not really enough for a sophisticated thriller of this nature.  And, the way in which she reveals herself to Miranda is unsettling, torturing her and all, when she wants her to help her.

So hopefully, that'll give you some explanation as to why the film did and didn't wrap up/pay things off, and it therefore didn't quite work in my opinion.  Questions?

[Weak2ndAct]

Oh dear, they actually kept all that bullshit in!  SPOILERS!

I can't believe the story went that way.  In the script, there was nothing to even suggest that anything was amiss with the marriage in the first place, and the Pete character is a huge red herring that pays off to well, nothing at all.  There wasn't even any suggestion that girls in the area had gone missing in the first place-- only convienently when it's connected to doctor's daughter, of course.  And the last scene is the most tacked-on bullshit ever.  I literally burst out laughing and said "I see dead people."  God.  How awful.  It sounds worse than what I read.

[NEON MERCURY]

..even though this has gotton  bad reviews ..i expect it be visually stunning since i just found out the film's DP is Matt Libatique..... 8)

[Kal]

so... without giving any spoilers... is it a good movie or sucks? should i bother to go and watch it?

[NEON MERCURY]

so... without giving any spoilers... is it a good movie or sucks? should i bother to go and watch it?

my guess would be ..a glossy looking popcorn film.....don't expect anythign groundbreaking or anything...

possibly like the ring/don't say a word  w/ cool visuals??????

go for it....

:popcorn:

[ono]

In my opinion, Don't Say a Word was better.  I haven't seen The Ring.  And I saw Don't Say a Word before I was seriously into movies.

[Kal]

I didnt like The Ring at all and Im happy I rented the DVD instead of going to the theatre... Don't Say a Word was better but none of those comparisons make me want to see this movie...

Anyway... I guess I'll go to see Master and Commander, Hat in the Hat and then maybe I'll see this one... this time of the year when two or three good movies are being released every week its hard to go and watch the crappy ones... and when I say good movies I dont mean really good movies, I mean movies that you'd want to see first!

[moonshiner]

SPOILERS all i can is.....What Lies Beneath

also, entertaining movie, well-done, but fell into the ridiculous thriller mode that movies not aspiring to be smart fall into....definitely good creep value though

and, it's almost out of line to say that Don't Say a Word was better, being well aware that it was just an opinion

[MacGuffin]

*SPOILERS*


There were some tense moments in the film, and it does some nice work in it's editing and sound design (I'm talking about when you hear all the noises in Miranda's cell and the brushing of her hair; also the fogging of the glass), but overall, this is just the same story of a ghost coming back to a living person and telling them, without telling them, 'my death was wrong, set it right' plot that is becoming cliche. It made the story drag a bit since, in knowing that, you are a step or two ahead of the characters. The tacked on ending really suggests that now Miranda has a "Sixth Sense" perception, and goes against the entire story of revealing to her what a bad person her husband is.

[ProgWRX]

SPOILERS all i can is.....What Lies Beneath

also, entertaining movie, well-done, but fell into the ridiculous thriller mode that movies not aspiring to be smart fall into....definitely good creep value though

and, it's almost out of line to say that Don't Say a Word was better, being well aware that it was just an opinion

Exactly my thoughts!
Yes... i was dragged to see this by a female friend. I had really LOW expectations, but was pleasantly surprised. I called the "reason" for what was happening like 30 min into it...

I do wish they had used Robert Downey Jr. and Bernard Hill more...

[Ravi]

Spoilers

The film didn't quite work for me either.  I correctly predicted the twist about Miranda's husband and the sheriff a little while before they were revealed, unless it was supposed to be that obvious.  But perhaps the missing boy at the end was also one of their victims, so it isn't necessarily an "I see dead people" ending.  Hopefully there won't be a sequel in which Halle uses her newfound powers to solve old missing persons cases.

[NEON MERCURY]

i'm throwing this out for all the haters out there...... :bs: .......this wasn't nearly as bad as people(critcs and film buffs).....made this out to be....

SPOILERS ABOUND..

..for starters i wasn't expecting some masterpiece of a film........but nearly something with some good chills and good vibes...the film delivered for the most part......i loved the atmosphere of the film.....i thought it kept me off balancwe whiule watching this...LIBATIQUE IS A PHYCKING BADASS.......that scene where berry's character is recalling the incidents and the film goes backwards and then pauses on the closeup oif the rain drops ...phucking sweet......if i had screen cap capabilities i woul dhook you guiys up...its cool man....there are tons  more "badass llibatique sh*t" in their......but i just wanted to pint out that the atmosphere was great.......and effective.....the acting i found  solid for whats expected, downey just one of those actors you just get a smile on your face wathcing..(like penn, del toro, watts, crudup)....and w/ downey's drug problems you  never know when his last film will be so take heed....also, this is one of the few films that i actually jumped when the "typical scares, quick cuts" happen......therer's one scen when berry is in  her room/cell and she sees the shadows of something under her door then leans down.....(that sh*t scared the phuck out of me).....i think people took this film,s;' story to seriously....but one must always remeber.....ITS A PHUCKING DARK CASTLE FILM....not a kubrick film......and so your expectations should expect a solid popcorn piece....and it delivered....i agre w/ eberts review n this film....and people shoul dread it befre watching this film.....it will help take off some of that "film snob makeup" you wear....

the only gripes i had about this film would be the cop killer and the limp bizcut song at the end...but thats it.....



one last thing.....its funny, before i came to this site(and lurked on the old pta board) i would be considered a film snob maybe......its only after sharing opinions and enjoying my time w/ you guys that i began to enjoy the popcorn stuff and cinema in general more........