Stranger Than Fiction

[bob_barron 0]

Ditto Man on the Moon

[Downhome 0]

I don't see how anyone who enjoys movies can't find something about Eternal Sunshine that they like. It's my favorite movie ever.

[cd213 0]

How could you not like Eternal Sunshine, which was probably not just Carey's best performence but one of the best performences of the past decade overall?

 

Easy, I never saw it. I also never had the urge to see it. It just doesn't interest me. If it's on HBO and I turn it on that's fine, but I'm not in the mood to search it out and watch it.

 

Ditto Man on the Moon

 

Didn't like Man very much when I saw it and never cared to see it again. I'm just not a fan of the man, so I'm not going to make it my business to watch his films. After seeing Ace Ventura I got turned off by his films.

 

Everyone has that one actor that they don't like and won't see anything from them, and he's one of those to me.

 

I did like Bruce Almighty though. It was a cute movie and I was able to tolerate Jim in that. Looking forward to the sequal since I love Steve Correll.

[bob_barron 0]

Ace Ventura does suck.

[SuperJerk 0]

Ace Ventura does suck.

 

I still can't beleive how big of a hit that movie was. I saw it on video a while later and remember thinking it looked like it should have been straight-to-video.

[Yuna_Firerose 0]

As a writer, and a fan of Will Ferrell in general, this film is doubly interesting. Not only is it not his typical-normal film, but the trailer looks incredibly interesting. From a writer's perspective, the idea of having one's muses/characters living and breathing elsewhere in the world, and that what we write effects them, I find to be fascinating.

 

I hope to see it in theaters soon. For those that already have, if there any, how was it? Sans spoilers, if you please.

[Black Lushus 0]

well Jim Carrey was just making it big at the time due to In Living Color, so of course Ace Ventura was going to be a big hit...

 

as far as Ferrell goes...I liked a lot of his SNL work, but the only movie character I've liked is Frank Ricard...however, Anchorman is one quotable movie, regardless of it being stupid as hell.

 

I do think this movie has some promise, however.

[Toshiaki Koala 0]

Ferrell/Buster near the end of '06 and Ferrell/GOB in '07?

 

I have no problem with that.

 

I do. Imagine if they were in movies with people who were actually funny! Now that'd be something.

 

Ditto Man on the Moon

 

LAWLER: (Something about Andy Kaufman)

JR: Yeah, and they made a movie about it that eight people saw!

[bob_barron 0]

I do. Imagine if they were in movies with people who were actually funny! Now that'd be something.

 

Nah, Ferrell's awesome. So is Buster. So is Gob. Blades of Glory just sounds so awesome.

 

LAWLER: (Something about Andy Kaufman)

JR: Yeah, and they made a movie about it that eight people saw!

 

Not many people saw Eternal Sunshine in theatres as well.

[Toshiaki Koala 0]

Not many people see good movies.

[SuperJerk 0]

well Jim Carrey was just making it big at the time due to In Living Color, so of course Ace Ventura was going to be a big hit...

I don't think "In Living Color" was that a big hit, though he and Damon Wayans did pretty much carry that whole show on their own.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Ace Ventura does suck.

Any movie co-starring Dan Marino does not suck. Frankly, I think it got snubbed by the Academy that year.

[DMann2003 0]

Saying of course "Ace Ventura" would be a hit because Jim Carrey is *ahem* big on "In Living Color" at the time would be like saying a film starring Will Forte dumped in the middle of January will be a big hit.

[SuperJerk 0]

I've liked all of Jim Carrey's dramatic parts.

 

The fact that "Ace Ventura" was a bigger hit than "Eternal Sunshine" or "Man on the Moon" says more about the movie-going public than it does about Carrey's acting ability.

 

 

 

Back on topic...Um, err... Will Ferrell...?

 

SHAKE AND BAKE!!!!!

[Yuna_Firerose 0]

Yeah, back on topic.

 

So far, it has an 80% rating on the Tomatometer.

[Downhome 0]

Well, I went to see this earlier, and I must say that I was very pleased. It is a well made film from top to bottom and is more than worthy of all of the praise critics are giving it so far. All of the performances are fantastic, including Will Ferrell. It's not the best dramatic work we'll see from him, but it's a great start. Yes, I know he's done a couple of dramatic roles in the past, but this is really the first main one that most people will see. I'd compare this point in his career to Jim Carrey's performance in The Truman Show.

 

Emma Thompson was gold in the film, one of my favorite performances of the year period. Dustin Hoffman was, well, he was Dustin Hoffman on one of his good days, if you know what I mean. Maggie Gyllenhaal was cuter than ever, just adorable. I didn't even mind Queen Latifah, she did her role and it was solid as well. Tony Hale (Buster from AD) doesn't do too much, but it was cool seeing him in the flick also, even if I kept thinking of him as Buster. Marc Forster's direction was great, with some great shots and effects throughout the movie, and of course we have Zach Helm who, in my opinion, has lived up to the hype. His movie on screen felt like a Charlie Kaufman film that went through a few more re-writes to ground it a bit more than usual. Yes, the premise in this movie is out there, but they still made it seem more "real" than most Kaufman flicks. That's not really good or bad either way, it's just what it is, and it works. I can't wait to see more of his work, I'll be looking forward to much more from Helm.

 

Anyway, do not expect a "Will Ferrell" movie, because you wont get it here. You'll get a few laughs scattered throughout the film, but that is not what the point of this movie is. It's a well told story, with plenty of dramatic elements that really pull you in as the viewer, just as the script does to the reader.

[Guest Hotbutter Spoontoaster]

I saw this tonight, I liked it, except for the ending.

I thought it would've been a

much better ending if he had actually died, after getting hit by the bus.

[Downhome 0]

It wouldn't have made much sense had he died. The entire idea was for the writer to come to an awakening, to overcome her obvious sadness which is reflected by her always killing off her characters. The film is just as much about her finding a change for the better in her life as it was for Harold.

[Guest Hotbutter Spoontoaster]

I know. I still didn't like the way she made him "survive". He got hit by a fucking bus. I wanted the tragedy ending, I would've liked the story better like that. Everyone gasped in my theater when Farrell got hit, that felt real. Him surviving after that felt like a lame, happy Hollywood ending.

[Downhome 0]

That was, in part, the point as well. Not for people to hate the film, but for some people to feel as though he should have died. I think you were supposed to feel exactly as Professor Jules Hilbert, how it was good but not one of the best works over the past decade. Even the writer, Kay Eiffel, knew that the ending wasn't as great as it could have been, but that's how it had to be for her. This all might sound like a stretch, but I really feel that this film was written and produced in a way so that it seems like a film that you just watch and enjoy, but in the end it's set up to make you think about it a while later after you get home, and then talk about it just as we are doing now. You've got to wrap your head around being pulled in to think of it like this.

 

Even before the film, I was discussing with someone else I thought it would be more of a comedy or drama, just as Harold himself was trying to figure out throughout the entire film.

[vivalaultra 0]

I just saw the movie like...an hour ago, and I must say that Dustin Hoffman asking Will Ferrel "Are you pleased to know that you're not a golem?" is the funniest thing I've seen in a movie all year, and I'm really excited to see the new Will Smith movie they showed the preview for. Will Smith is a damn fine dramatic actor.

[Guest Felonies!]

Hot horse sex gets Downhome off. Hot horse sex gets Downhome off. Hot horse sex gets Downhome off. Hot horse sex gets Downhome off. Hot horse sex gets Downhome off. Hot horse sex gets Downhome off. Hot horse sex gets Downhome off. Hot horse sex gets Downhome off. Hot horse sex gets Downhome off.

[SuperJerk 0]

Czech needs to get laid.

[Man Who Sold The World 0]

I saw it Saturday night and thought it was the perfect movie to throw Will Ferrell into. He's not ready for that dramatic leap into a serious actor, so they grounded him well and just when you thought it was going to be a drama, you get a line that brings it back into a comedy. I did enjoy that the film had a surreal plot, but kept it realistic and very easy to get into. I enjoyed it and will put it next to The Departed as top movies to see. And the "Gollum" line was funny as all hell.

[Fökai 0]

A *bump* because this comes out on Tuesday. I usually receive new DVDs on the Thursday before street date, so when I spotted this, I remembered that great trailer and decided to watch it tonight.

 

I don't know what to think of the ending. Speaking of wristwatches, that movie should have ended three minutes earlier. I sat there shocked, mouth agape with watering eyes, at the death sequence, and THAT was the perfect ending to this movie. Yeah, Downhome makes a great point about why it ended the way it did, but I still disagree.

I have to say, the cast of this movie was dead-on. I can't imagine anyone else playing Harold Crick, Kay Eiffel, Ana Pascal or Jules Hilbert, or even coming close to doing the roles justice.

 

A must-see film for 2006 releases. I have yet to see a few of the big guns (Departed, for example), so this goes just below Little Miss Sunshine at the top, and could move up with repeat viewings.

[Yuna_Firerose 0]

As much as I absolutely adore and fangirl Will Ferrell, I gotta say, Emma Thompson was really the stand-out. As an occasional writer myself, her depiction of having zero creativity was flawless. I loved her asking the nurse

if there were any dying people she could see.

and getting miffed and frustrated when she couldn't find EXACTLY what she sought. Queen Latifah was great in her small role; it was weird seeing her with Ferrell in such a deadpan manner.

 

I look forward to the dvd. Fökai, if you have an extra copy...

[The Niggardly King 0]

What a fine film this is... loved it.

 

The ending says so much about our literature and culture.

It should end with Harold dying but it doesn't and they know this. It makes the film at first glance go from masterpiece to just good as, already pointed out, predicted by Dustin Hoffman's character. It has to do with genre, what we expect and making sense. And knowing all this they choose to let him live, breaking the genre and ruining the katharsis and giving the film a total anti-climax. But it's brilliant, just brilliant, so damn brilliant it makes me queasy and sad.