25th hour......

[Guest NoCalMike]

This movie interested me in the theater, but I just never got around to seeing it. I just rented it and I have got to say I am extremely impressed. This movie had much more depth to it than I thought, and I can't remember the tv spots too well, but I believe it may have been advertised wrong, kind of like American Psycho was advertised as a slasher movie, even though it was anything but.

 

I liked everyone's little backstory and the ending had a nice little double twist.

[Guest EsotericMaster]

I think Ed Norton is in line to be the next great actor. Ten years from now, people will think of him in the same terms they think of Deniro and Pacino, because of the quality of his movies.

[Guest hardyz1]

I just saw this movie a couple days ago. Very good. Although I was disappointed that nothing else happened with Mary and Jake after the kiss.

 

The ending was interesting. The whole time his father was telling him what to do, I knew it would go back to the shot of him in the car. But did all that stuff actually happen later on, or was it all imagined? I'm pretty sure it was imagined, but you never know.

[Guest Lord of The Curry]

Barry Peppers performance in that movie is nothing short of awesome. Norton, Hoffman and Cox all turn in their usual great stuff but that movie belongs to Pepper.

 

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

I enjoyed the fact that Pepper's character was the only one who saw past what nobody else would. He knew it was Monty's fault for getting into the drugs but also everybody else's fault for not stopping him. While to most the party at the nightclub was one of celebration, to Francis it was a night of realization and dealing with the fact that it's partly your fault your best friend is going to jail.

[Guest godthedog]

I think Ed Norton is in line to be the next great actor. Ten years from now, people will think of him in the same terms they think of Deniro and Pacino, because of the quality of his movies.

i don't think we have any male actors now worthy enough to be called the next pacino or the next de niro. but i'd say that russel crowe comes closest, solely for 'l.a. confidential' & 'the insider'.

[Guest the 1inch punch]

Just a reminder, Anna Paquin is insane gorgeus and has the teenage jailbait market cornered for the next few years

[Guest MDH257]

The ending was interesting.  The whole time his father was telling him what to do, I knew it would go back to the shot of him in the car.  But did all that stuff actually happen later on, or was it all imagined?  I'm pretty sure it was imagined, but you never know.

I thought the ending was clear.

 

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

On the DVD commentary the writer of the novel and movie talks about how suprised he is by how many people think the ending is ambiguous. He said that people in New York knew he was going jail because there is a shot of the car driving by an exit sign and New Yorkers know that is the last exit before the prison.

[Guest Brush with Greatness]

Regarding the ending:

 

I found it ambiguous. So...

 

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

I had interpreted it as to be the viewers decision. I noticed the whole exit ramp sign and shit but never real had time to see what the signs said. So what your telling me is that they past the exit ramp for the prison and what he envisioned happening really happened? I know quite a few other people had wondered about the ending as well. I don't think that whole exit ramp thing is clear enough. Other than that it was a great movie. And I just chose the ending that I wanted to choose. So all was good.

[Guest MDH257]

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

I may have put it the wrong way, the exit was their lsat chance to get away. The writer said people are free to interpret it however they want, but his intention was that Monty was going to prison.

[Guest NoCalMike]

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

what I got from the ending was that his father was telling him about the life he was close to missing and/or not having and it led us all to believe he was gonna run, yet when the camera went back to the shot in the car, what it really was saying was that he was going to jail and that it was his jail sentence that he was "so close" to not having instead.

[Guest Crucifixio Jones]

Well, if nothing else 25th Hour proved that Spike Lee can tell a "white story" as well as a "black" one, although going to jail is a story that all races can ID with.

 

I saw this in the theater and was impressed. It's like three movies in one actually. Initially, I thought the ending was ambiguous as well, but the last shot of Monty still asleep in the car cleared it up for me. The ending reminded me way to much of the ending to Raising Arizona, was my only problem.

 

I think Norton is already, at this young age, held in the same regard as a young DeNiro and Brando. Too bad THE SCORE didn't capitalize on this.

[Guest EsotericMaster]

I think Ed Norton is in line to be the next great actor.  Ten years from now, people will think of him in the same terms they think of Deniro and Pacino, because of the quality of his movies.

i don't think we have any male actors now worthy enough to be called the next pacino or the next de niro. but i'd say that russel crowe comes closest, solely for 'l.a. confidential' & 'the insider'.

I was talking about consistantly making good movies. Crowe is a great actor, I just feel movies like Proof of Life and Mystery Alaska were not good at all.

[Guest nl5xsk1]

Am I the only one that didn't really like the movie? I thought the acting was very good, but the story was just OK and the pacing seemed a bit off. I'd recommend people to see it, for the acting, but I doubt that I'd want to watch it again. And that's one of the ways that I define a good movie: re-watchability.

[Guest Y2BigJ]

Norton is hands down my favorite actor, and I think he belongs in the same class as Deniro and Pacino.

[Guest hardyz1]

I loved Hoffman's performance and character. I didn't feel that his story had closure, though.

[Guest Human Fly]

I think Hoffman's story did have closure. (At least in my mind). He kissed her, he realized it was a mistake, and nothing was probably said about it again after that night. The only other options were him getting arrested, or them fooling around and trying to cover it up.

[Yuna_Firerose 0]

Am I the only one that didn't really like the movie? I thought the acting was very good, but the story was just OK and the pacing seemed a bit off. I'd recommend people to see it, for the acting, but I doubt that I'd want to watch it again. And that's one of the ways that I define a good movie: re-watchability.

You're not the only one that feels that way. Of the "rotten" reviews I've read at rottentomatoes, most complained about three things: the focus of Ground Zero [which can be seen outside the window when Monty's friends are talking...hell, I didn't even know what it was], the music [which can be a bit annoying and distracting at times], and the narrative. To me, it was a bit dull at times....not a complaint on any of the actor's, simply the pacing.

 

Although I'm now officially dubbing Anna Paquin the luckiest chick alive. Not only did she get to be around the hotties of X2 [Alan Cumming, Aaron Stanford, etc etc] but then she was in a film with Edward freakin' Norton. Nope, I'm not jealous...not jealous at all.

 

.........................okay, maybe just a little.

[Guest Brush with Greatness]

Yeah, to me the only negative was the score. Although I've heard other places praise it.

[Guest godthedog]

just saw it this afternoon, wanted to add my own thoughts.

 

sweet jesus is spike lee a narrative genius. he KNOWS how to draw timeliness and emotion from a story, & provoke emotional reactions and discussion. i'm not a huge fan of his visual style (hey look, i'm putting my actors on a dolly! hey look, an iris shot! hey look, bright colors!), but he turned the volume down very deftly & mostly focused just on telling the story at hand. it dragged in some places, & there were some scenes when i wished the characters would just shut up and do something, but overall it was incredibly well told. character is usually one of spike lee's weak points, but everybody was very sharply drawn and felt true. really great dramatic arc too, relentlessly going through scene after scene that tears your heart out.

 

easily one of my favorite spike lee movies, up with 'bamboozled' and 'do the right thing', and norton's best since 'fight club'.

[Guest PORNFAQ]

Is ANYONE suprised that Yuna Firerose didn't like it? I mean, honestly...

 

You may not like Spike's visual style but like the accompanying documentary on the DVD says, when he directs you can tell it's him. He definitely puts his stamp on everything he touches. Personally, I find it distinctive and it doesn't bother or annoy me in the slightest.

 

When I first saw 25th Hour in theaters I didn't think I'd come back to it. Since its home release it gets better and better each time I watch it.

 

People who don't like 25th Hour tend to be the crowd who simply don't "get" movies like this; they need their hands held, they need a definite beginning and ending, to be presented with a clear problem and a clear resolution. The problem is, LIFE ISN'T LIKE THAT. Everything doesn't always wrap up neatly in an easily digestible package.

 

And Lord am I glad someone here other than me gave props to Bamboozled.

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

Bamboozled is an awesome movie. That is all that needs to be said.

[Guest godthedog]

i dunno, i just don't find his style pleasant to look at. there's directors whose style is invisible, & there's directors whose style you can't help but notice; of those directors, their style either distracts you from the story to say "wow, that was cool," or it just distracts you. scorsese is a good example of the former, & spike lee to me is the latter. when scorsese films a subpar story, he can still make it entertaining. but when spike lee's working with a crappy script (like 'girl 6'), he seems to make it so much worse. directed by some hack, 'girl 6' would be pretty bad; but directed by spike lee, it makes me want to throw something through my tv. the man also cannot act, & in his earlier movies it's a problem (i shudder to think how great 'do the right thing' could've been if mookie was played by someone with range & charisma).

 

but his style IS very distinctive. his movies don't look like anyone else (and for that matter, lots of his moves don't sound like anyone else either).

 

i think 'bamboozled' has some serious flaws, but it's still sheer genius simply for how much bite it has. rarely has a movie floored me like that.

[Guest PORNFAQ]

Yeah...and people here tend to ignore such things. Instead we get threads about "Baby Boy."

[Guest Smark-Raving Mad]

I gotta agree with god. Spike Lee's directing style irks me.

 

There was no need for the whole Ground Zero scene and the accompanying music. It had nothing to do with the plot.

 

Same with Ed Norton's character's rants against all the races. While funny, it was totally out of character.

 

Yeah, it was like Spike Lee took time out of the movie to stop and say, "Hey, I'm Spike Lee. I'm directing here. Just in case you didn't know. Now back to the movie."

[Guest nl5xsk1]

People who don't like 25th Hour tend to be the crowd who simply don't "get" movies like this; they need their hands held, they need a definite beginning and ending, to be presented with a clear problem and a clear resolution. The problem is, LIFE ISN'T LIKE THAT. Everything doesn't always wrap up neatly in an easily digestible package.

I'm actually a bit offended to be lumped in with the "hold my hand" type of movie fan. In fact, I think I'm just the opposite. I HATE when movies just throw an ending on for the sake of having a clear cut ending - I skip most mainstream/blockbuster movies for this very reason. I LIKE ambiguities in my movies - just not a Spike Lee attempt at auto-fellatio for 90+ minutes. I thought that the pacing sucked, the score was distracting, and there were random scenes that seemed like filler to me. Just not some of Spike's best work.

[Guest Lord of The Curry]

I gotta agree with god. Spike Lee's directing style irks me.

 

There was no need for the whole Ground Zero scene and the accompanying music. It had nothing to do with the plot.

 

Same with Ed Norton's character's rants against all the races. While funny, it was totally out of character.

 

Yeah, it was like Spike Lee took time out of the movie to stop and say, "Hey, I'm Spike Lee. I'm directing here. Just in case you didn't know. Now back to the movie."

Norton's rant wasn't out of place at all, IMO. It showcased his anger and frustration that he'd fucked up and now he's looking for somebody to blame when the only person to blame was looking right back at him in that bathroom mirror.

[Guest Vitamin X]

There was no need for the whole Ground Zero scene and the accompanying music. It had nothing to do with the plot.

 

Same with Ed Norton's character's rants against all the races. While funny, it was totally out of character.

I agree on the Ground Zero thing. It's Spike Lee's New Yorker persona taking over what is (and still is actually) a great film. But the whole 9/11 remembrance thing, I just hate it when people do it out of context, and on that grand of a scale.. Either ways I digress

 

The rant against all races was awesome!!! I actually have it saved on my comp and I would post it if not for a certain comment against Puerto Ricans in New York, so I'm going to spare myself from Dames' wrath here. It was a nice touch in my opinion, as I felt it was kind of Edward Norton's character's way of dealing with going to jail, looking for a scapegoat and something to vent his anger and frustration on instead of accepting the blame on himself, which he sort of does at the end of it all.

 

Great movie, it tends to be rented out at my Blockbuster because I keep recommending it to my customers.

[Guest godthedog]

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

but up to that point, no mention at all had been made of any blacks or foreigners or old ladies with tight faces. it just came out of nowhere. it would've fit perfectly in 'do the right thing', since that movie is about race relations & hatred across ethnic groups, but this movie wasn't about any of that. it was a story of a guy going to prison, & spike lee just sidestepped and said "hey look, now i'm going to bring race into it!" and that's IT, nothing like it is ever brought up again, except when pepper is talking about the WTC & when you see the those faces again at the end. and THAT montage not only feels out of place, but is also pretty implausible--why would a black kid on a bus feel such an affinity toward this guy whose face looks like it went through a meat grinder? why is nobody looking at him and going "augh, what happened to his face?" the whole "woe is me, i'm going to blame other ethnic groups" angle just feels very ad hoc.   lee was on the right track when monty started to blame naturelle. the montage would've been a lot more effective if he went through all his friends and family, saying "fuck them" for turning their backs & never saying anything: "fuck my father for taking my money and having the balls to question where it came from 15 years later...fuck frank for acting like he's above me when he spends every day of his life trying to find new ways to fuck people out of their money..." stuff like that, stuff that's actually explored later in the film. he can find plenty of people to blame without doing some faroff white man's burden rant.

 

 

but that's just one moment when i think lee was being too showy, & is a minor flaw in an otherwise great movie.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

but up to that point, no mention at all had been made of any blacks or foreigners or old ladies with tight faces. it just came out of nowhere. it would've fit perfectly in 'do the right thing', since that movie is about race relations & hatred across ethnic groups, but this movie wasn't about any of that. it was a story of a guy going to prison, & spike lee just sidestepped and said "hey look, now i'm going to bring race into it!" and that's IT, nothing like it is ever brought up again, except when pepper is talking about the WTC & when you see the those faces again at the end. and THAT montage not only feels out of place, but is also pretty implausible--why would a black kid on a bus feel such an affinity toward this guy whose face looks like it went through a meat grinder? why is nobody looking at him and going "augh, what happened to his face?" the whole "woe is me, i'm going to blame other ethnic groups" angle just feels very ad hoc.   lee was on the right track when monty started to blame naturelle. the montage would've been a lot more effective if he went through all his friends and family, saying "fuck them" for turning their backs & never saying anything: "fuck my father for taking my money and having the balls to question where it came from 15 years later...fuck frank for acting like he's above me when he spends every day of his life trying to find new ways to fuck people out of their money..." stuff like that, stuff that's actually explored later in the film. he can find plenty of people to blame without doing some faroff white man's burden rant.

 

 

but that's just one moment when i think lee was being too showy, & is a minor flaw in an otherwise great movie.

Spoiler (Highlight to Read):

I don't really think the race card is the FOCAL point of the rant, merely just kind of an addition to it, as you can see it focuses on the other types of people in the city and not just whites vs blacks vs Jews vs Arabs. He goes off on them too, because let's face it NYC is a pretty damn diversied place and they all live in the city. And he goes off on frank and naturelle, and every one of his friends as well, as you pointed out. I don't see what was so wrong with it and with Ed Norton's acting I thought it was excellent.

[Yuna_Firerose 0]

I actually have it saved on my comp and I would post it if not for a certain comment against Puerto Ricans in New York, so I'm going to spare myself from Dames' wrath here.

Damn...I was hoping you'd post it. Actually, I wonder if I would be able to tape from that movie....after all, I was able to tape from Death to Smoochy without a problem. The mirror scene was brilliant, imo, and I agree with the "looking for a scapegoat" theory.

 

Is ANYONE suprised that Yuna Firerose didn't like it? I mean, honestly...

I didn't say I hated it. I just thought the music was a little distracting, as was the GZ focus. It's good for a few rentals, but it's not something I'd buy.