The 25th Hour

[medjay]

Looks like I'll be going to see this tonight. It was a choice between 25th hour and Narc and me being me, the lovely Rosario Dawson beat out both Jason Patrick and Ray Liotta.

Spike Lee movies can be kind of hit or miss but I figure this one ought to be okay because 1) Spike didn't write it, 2)Edward Norton (and Rosario of course).

I'll be back with a review later. Of course, if anyone has seen it already you've got an hour or so to let me know if I should rush to the theatre, rush to see Narc instead, or just stay home.

 

[modest mouse]

I still say that Spike Lee's best film is Clockers.

But 25th hour looks interesting. The problem is that its such an old premise. if it offers soemthing new then it will be worth the cash/time. I look forward to hearing what you think of it.

 

[Phoenyx]

I saw NARc. Pretty good. Could not beleive it was filmed in Toronto.

Never made my city look so disgusting.

 

[islandman]

Saw it last night.

I'd give it a 7 out of 10.

 

[paganangel]

never saw clockers, so of the handful i've seen, this is his best...by far. i don't know what is meant by an old premise, but this is an amazing piece of film. start to finish. it is exactly the type of character developmnt i like. you meet someone and know them in two minutes.
and then EVERYONE gets pushed.

 

[Guest]

I still say that Spike Lee's best film is Clockers.

But 25th hour looks interesting. The problem is that its such an old premise. if it offers soemthing new then it will be worth the cash/time. I look forward to hearing what you think of it.

A thum up for clockers.

This comes from a guy who totally didn't ''get'' Do The Right Thing.

 

[medjay]

Left to his own devices, Spike can get pretty long-winded, preachey and pretentious. An adapted screenplay is just what he needs. I think Summer of Sam is his best flick so far. It would have been Malcolm X if not for it's bloated ending.

 

[Guest]

Left to his own devices, Spike can get pretty long-winded, preachey and pretentious. An adapted screenplay is just what he needs. I think Summer of Sam is his best flick so far. It would have been Malcolm X if not for it's bloated ending.

Ditto on Malcom Cross.

Don't tell me about Summer of Sam. I haven't seen it yet.

 

[medjay]

Alright, I saw the movie last night and I have to say there is one thing that just didn't add up: Spike Lee + the beautiful Rosario Dawson and no fuck scene!

What a letdown! Okay, I know it's kind of boorish of me but hey, I really wanted to see Ms. Dawson getting it on with her legs in the air in typical raunchy Spike Lee fashion. Oh well . . . Guess you can't get everything.

But once I recovered from that travesty I had to admit it was a damned good movie. Edward Norton seems incapable of giving a bad performance, Philip Seymour Hoffman was excellent as usual and Barry Pepper was surprisingly good and is going on my list of actors to keep an eye out for.

A change of pace for Lee; it's a quiet movie and really self-assured. At the end he almost gives in and delivers another bloated and overwrought climax but manages to reel it in at the minute and provide a near perfect resolution. Thumbs up.

Next for me is Narc. Maybe I'll go see it today.

 

[red_rose]

Awesome - I'm so glad you posted about this! I've been wanting to see it (and Narc), but they both got rather lukewarm reviews (not that I like what most critics have to say these days).

I'll have to talk my guy into seeing it sometime soon.

 

[paganangel]

did anyone nptice anything when rosario walks into the bar in the silver dress?

 

[medjay]

did anyone nptice anything when rosario walks into the bar in the silver dress?

Was I supposed to notice anything besides her in the silver dress? If so, I was distracted.

 

[paganangel]

spike does something great. phil mentions the bartender and rosario makes a remark. complimentary and a putdown at the same time.
pepper: "why does every girl call any girl with nice tits a slut?"
dawson:"i have nice tits and i'm not a slut."
pepper:"says you."

did you notice anything before she sits down and has this little convo?

 

[medjay]

did you notice anything before she sits down and has this little convo?

Nope . . . Spill it!

 

[paganangel]

in the background, unbeknownst to our characters but visible to the audience (if they're looking), the bartender give rosario a NASTY look.
it put an exclamation point on the whole scene. i loved the way it was done. if you go back and watch it again you will too.

 

[medjay]

in the background, unbeknownst to our characters but visible to the audience (if they're looking), the bartender give rosario a NASTY look.
it put an exclamation point on the whole scene. i loved the way it was done. if you go back and watch it again you will too.

I'll keep my eye open when I see it again. I'm sure that segued into the little bit about the bartender's birthday party. Spike can be clever when he wants to be.

 

[Minkey Boodle]

I caught that look.

This movie was good times. I looove me some Ed Norton and he surely doesn't disappoint. Loved the car and the dog, too (I always notice those things in movies, don't know why). Tony Siragusa! How 'bout that! I couldn't quite figure out what the synopsis that I'd read and the title had to do with it, cuz the timeline wasn't on like that. Or maybe I'm just daft, but it wasn't just about 24 hours to change things...it was more than that. Typical Spike Lee speech in the middle, and floaty walking at times, but it seemed like he was tryin' to do something different with the "Norton-eye-view" camera work at times. And the end is left hangin' in a way, but it worked.

The scenes with his homeboys were powerful to me. The last one actually took my breath away. It was strong...and I like that.

I think it's worth the money, and I'd recommend it for sure.

 

[WaxNWane]

Just caught it today. I'm not usually a fan of Spike Lee, but this was a great movie. The four leads - Norton, Hoffman, Pepper & Dawson are all excellent. Norton and Hoffman are no surprise, they're always excellent. Pepper has developed into a strong actor - he steals a couple of the scenes he's in. Dawson does well, but Spike never really has a three-dimensional female character.

Anna Paquin is just bad, however. She looks awfully cute, but that's not saving her.

Great cast, good script, solid cinematography (some good filter work that was almost Soderberg-ish)...and it didn't feel like a typical Spike Lee "joint", which is a good thing.

Definitely worth seeing.

 

[red_rose]

Damnit, eventually I'm going to just have to break down and go see this by myself. Bah! lol

Maybe sometime this week... hrmm...