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i went to see it yesterday. i think i would give it a generous 3 out of 5. not surprisingly, it’s no where as good as the book. more so than the normal book->movie loss in translation.
there were 2 big annoyances for me. the continous bashing over the head by tom hanks/robert langdon that these are “myths” and “if you believe that sort of stuff” comments. this wasn’t in the book. it seems a bit like playing to the christian complainers. the big changes to the ending were the other problem. it’s almost as if they were shooting in chronological order (would be unusual if they did) and got to the end and said, “oh shit! this is 2.5 hours long. we have to rip some stuff out.”. there are other differences that are listed on the wikipedia page for the movie. ian mckellen was the best performance of the bunch. everyone else (aside from paul bettany as silas) seemed like they were talking to the camera/audience. the script generally seems to have not been that good. definitely not up to the level of what you normally expect from ron howard.
you might want to rent it, but i wouldn’t bother going to the theater.

then there’s the whole controversy and complaining from christian groups (and the albinos). i don’t really want to get into this, but here’s an interesting article, particulary ian mckellen’s quote. my main problem with all of this type of stuff is that these types of responses (the article, not mckellen) claim to be “preaching” the “truth” and “authority of the bible”. it’s interesting that they’re apparently wanting to hold these high standards of “truth” for the da vinci code, but don’t seem to apply that to their own beliefs.

like all fiction books/movies, it’s based on fact and fiction. i suspect that the reason this stuff has gotten so blown out of proportion is that as conspiracy theory-esque as the stuff in the book/movie is, it’s actually sounds more reasonable that the assumed “truth” in the bible. it’s very difficult to have scientific evidence when scientists didn’t even exist.

the major question is “does god exist?”. for me, the question is totally irrelevant. i will behave the same way regardless if he/she/it does or does not exist.

a copy of “green street” finally showed up at flashback. i was able to sell back “the football factory” for p4 which made it basically a p2 rental. good deal. i think i mentioned it before, but i really like the used dvd shop style (they also sell vinyl and cds). the downside, of course, is that someone has to buy the initial dvd at full price and decide to sell it. it would be much better if they actually sold new dvds as well. here’s a project mayhem homework assignment for everyone: try and find out how to buy new release dvds from a distributor. i bet you can’t. they have that whole situation sewn up. when i say new releases i’m talking about movies that are about to be released to dvd the next week or even something that’s only been out a week not something that’s been out a month.

anyways, the box has a quote from “nuts” (low grade british playboy, n.s.f.w.): “makes ‘the football factory’ look like a girly playground scrap!”. it’s definitely more violent. surprising since the director is a woman. i didn’t know that until after watching it. well done. the look of the movie is very good. my only real complaint is the dialogue in the beginning seems a little forced and unnatural. the guy playing the head of the g.s.e. (green street elite) firm also is apparently not that great of an actor. i had thought that maybe he wasn’t english and faking the accent, but it turns out he’s from newcastle. a long way from east london. he also seems to strut around in an annoying manner that seems exagerrated and goofy.

i do have to give credit for actually showing an actual west ham football match. however, they said they played birmingham, but i didn’t know they were dark blue with black hoops? better than “the football factory” which didn’t show any football. my general statement still applies. there seems to be very little connection with the “hooligans” actually caring about the football itself any more than just giving them something to group around.

roger ebert’s review is ok, if slightly factually inaccurate. the reason west ham hasn’t played rivals milwall is because they aren’t in the same league, not due to violence. the only reason they meet in the movie is because they get drawn together in the f.a. cup. i forget what the others were. i would also disagree that this could only occur due to alcohol. see fight club for an example. i wouldn’t read the review before seeing the movie. the best point is a reference to a movie named, oddly, “the firm” from 1988 with gary oldham.

i’d say 4 out of 5 stars. it will actually be out in the states on june 13th according to netflix. i had though that the last time i checked it was still unknown.

i went to see this movie this afternoon. it was decent. it’s basically telling the story of the fake autopsy video from 1995. i think i remember when this was on t.v., although i don’t think i watched due to the fact that there was no way it could have been real. it’s also an odd coincidence that a lot of the stuff was going on around islington, where i’m living. the flat where the fake footage was shot is supposedly in camden town just a bit north. also, a shot from the movie appeared to be at chapel market which is just up the road and i’ve been to multiple times. movies that take place where you are definitely adds a little something extra.

there some stuff on wikipedia about it. i’m sure there’s plenty around on the movie itself.