islandclaws

I was hoping to see some sumptuous visuals after reading some early buzz on the film, but the trailer just looked like a CGI bukkake fest. Completely disinteresting.

whoopdido

Not exactly. Here's the ending I read about:

RichC2

I call bullshit.

bluetoast

Ohhh yeah okay I remember that now. Damn, when I read that book...Athens was hosting the Olympics!

RichC2

First thoughts from NYFF are in:

Hollywood Reporter Review: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com//re...ang-lee-374992

Twitter stuff:
The first wave verdict is in for Ang Lee's anticipated 3D epic "Life of Pi," and so far, so good. Indiewire's own Eric Kohn called the film adaptation of Yann Martel's beloved novel "Lee's best spectacle since 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,'" while a slew of other folks weighed in on the film via Twitter ahead of the film's official world premiere tonight at the New York Film Festival.

Check out 10 of the best Tweets below:

John DiBello ‏(@johndibello): Seriously folks, make a promise to yourself now to go see #LifeOfPi . It is full of both small and grand beauties. Deeply moved by it. #nyff
Michael Cusumano ‏(@SeriousFilm): The effects work on Life of Pi is stunning. It will give The Hobbit a run for its money for the Oscar #NYFF

Nadia Neophytou (‏@NadiaNeophytou): After watching #LifeofPi, all the emotions from reading the book have been stirred up again. From the page to the screen - incredible #NYFF

Anne Thompson ‏(@akstanwyck): Ang Lee's transcendent Life of Pi reminds that film can heal and inspire. It will play for global critics, audiences and award givers.

David Ehrlich ‏(@davidehrlich): LIFE OF PI: people say the cinema is dying, and yet films like this prove that it's *still* just being invented. #NYFF

Christopher Rosen (‏@chrisjrosen): 'Life of Pi' is really something. An audience film that also manages to be beautiful art *and* Oscar friendly. The trifecta! #nyff

Joanna Langfield ‏(@Joannalangfield): Ang Lee has accomplished the impossible: @LifeofPiMovie is astounding. #NYFF

Matt Patches ‏(@misterpatches): Life of Pi: Thrilled there's so much heart and humanity behind Ang Lee's stunning visual feast. #NYFF

Rudie Obias ‏(@Rudie_Obias): Despite its script problems, LIFE OF PI was extraordinary! The 3D elevates the narrative when its words lets it down. Never doubt Ang Lee!

John Semley ‏(@johnsemley3000): LIFE OF PI (Lee): A faithful (writ small and large) adaptation of Martel's novel. Dull in long stretches. Bright 3D looks great. #NYFF50

Solid Snake

...hmm. Didn't expect that. Interesting.

Tarantino

Still not interested.

whotony

I thought the preview looked great.

Lee and the star of the movie were on Today this morning.

Their segment lasted for a bit of the trailer and maybe two more minutes.
Then they had a 10 minutes segment on skin care products. They barely let Lee answer the one question they asked him.

JumpCutz

Ang Lee and skin care products?

Sold.

Patman

Having no idea about the film or the book, besides having seen the trailer, which shows us a young adult shipwrecked at sea, on a lifeboat, and oh yeah, there's a big ass bengal tiger lurking about, making things interesting.

Ang Lee is on top of his game with this latest film, not only handling the stormy sea sequences and a multitude of complicated scenes, but making use of some jaw-dropping shots to inspire wonder and awe. I wanted a pause button just to study some of the scenes I was being shown.

I hate saying much more, so as to not spoil the film, but it's worthy viewing in 3D, and perhaps another viewing in 2D after seeing it for a first time. I'll just make one comment in spoilers:



I give it 3.75 stars, or a grade of A-.

Throwing Copper

Even really good movies just get a "B" from Patman. This film must be amazing. I'm there.

Julie Walker

I'm not sure what to make of the film, since the trailers didn't interest me. I did read the book in college, and I'll say I'm surprised by the films PG rating. It makes me think some of the more graphic stuff from the book was omitted. So I'm curious, how does the film handle that material from the book? One of the animal death scenes is nightmarish to say the least, and easily would give the film an R rating.

The book wasn't that bad, and I found it pretty entertaining, especially the early scenes. But the ending was underwhelming for myself, and that makes me wonder how they handle that in the film as well.

Roybq

Saw this today. I didn't read the book, but my wife did. She liked it just as much as the book. I thought it was pretty well done, but I wasn't a big fan of the first 20 minutes of exposition. Not that it was bad to get all of that information about Pi, but I was pretty tired after work and I caught myself starting to nod off. Fortunately the storm and shipwreck and all that followed kept me pretty glued to the screen. I thought the 3D was some of the best that I've seen outside of Avatar and I thought it was interesting how the aspect ratio changed for some of the bigger 3D moments so that the 3D was part of the black bars on the top and bottom. The flying fish scene is one that comes to mind. If you've seen G-Force in 3D, you'll know what I'm talking about.

I thought overall it was a very visually satisfying film. One warning though, the 3D on the sea is so realistically filmed that I was pretty sure that I was going to hurl before they got to the calmer waters. I never get motion sick at movies unless they are shaky camfests, but I think I was feeling the effects of seasickness.

Supermallet

I loathe Ang Lee. I hate virtually every directorial and artistic decision he's ever made except for--wait for it--Hulk.

I know, it's perverse.

Needless to say, I won't be seeing this.

Ash Ketchum

Sabu used to make this kind of movie with real tigers. Actors and directors are such pussies today.

Patman

I tend to like most Ang Lee movies, so take that, along with a grain of salt.

dex14

The commercials for this are annoying to me. Saying "it's the next Avatar". Why is that? Because it's in 3-D...? Come on...

Solid Snake

I saw that yesterday as I was eating. I literally spit out my Long Island when I saw that. My gut reaction was, "how the fuck is it the next Avatar?"

RichC2

A few critics have made that comment, it's more in regards to the proper use of 3D with excellent visuals than anything else.

Plus James Cameron seems to be helping with promotion of the movie for the sake of his 3D company (Several items from his company (Pace group) were used in the production of Life of Pi)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VOsuZvJmPOo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

To its credit, the movie does look like it's beautifully shot, nice color palette.

GatorDeb

Life of Pi 3D was absolutely fantastic. The 3D really added to it, it had a very deep, thought-provoking message, had a lot of thinking funny jokes, has tons of life lessons if you want them. Very highly recommended, I had to double check my watch because I could not believe two hours were up. This has been one of the most engrossing theater experiences I've ever had.

Dr. DVD

Saw it. Best 3D movie since Hugo last year. Unfortunately, I think it's also just about as artsy and will not get much mainstream success. However, Ang Lee's best work since" Crouching Tiger (hmm... ), Hidden Dragon. " I hope he and other auteurs continue utilize 3D as a storytelling device and not a gimmick.

RichC2

It had the biggest Wednesday to Thursday gain of any movie in the top 20 yesterday and is estimated to have a $28.4m 5 day weekend.

That isn't amazing but I wouldn't count Lee out, I don't think anyone anticipated a foreign martial arts flick would pull $128m domestically at the time, nor a gay cowboy love story would manage $83m domestic.

Finisher

This is a gorgeous looking film. Easily top three or four in terms of use of 3D. Tricky material to film, so the execution was surprisingly impressive.

Ash Ketchum

I hope they use that quote in the ads.

Dr. DVD

This movie needs to have staying power in order to do well. I see it getting good word of mouth in city and artsy areas, but not so much in Middle America. I saw it with a full crowd yesterday and a lot of the kids were bored. I could tell they were probably brought to it after Rise of the Guardians sold out. This is more or less an art house movie, just one with really good effects and a decent budget.