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Old 03-28-03, 10:11 AM
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Basic

Ebert's 1-star review:http://www.suntimes.com/output/ebert...-basic28f.html

Anyone plan on seeing this?
Old 03-28-03, 10:53 AM
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I don't, but that must have been Ebert's best-written review in a few weeks (his "Irreversible" review was also very good). Scathing reviews are usually fun to read, but this one was a truly joyful. Perhaps I liked it so much because it wasn't so much a critique of this one film but of a whole genre that for me has always represented lazy filmmaking. Sure, film is lies 24 frames a second, but not gimmicky lies.
Old 03-28-03, 11:05 AM
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I agree 100%.

I wouldn't be as harsh as to give this movie one star... but definitely two... but only because you get to laugh at all the absurdities.

...it was better than The Hunted anyway.
Old 03-28-03, 11:30 AM
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Is that all his review was? Seemed short. Bah - I'm not gonna review his review. Anyway - I still kinda want to see it. So it sounds like the film's biggest problem is that the big payoff doesn't pay off. Big deal... he seemed to be disenchanted with the whole thing yet he couldn't help but find some of the scenes compelling. I've seen terrible movies with far less star power...
Old 03-28-03, 11:47 AM
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For me, terrible films with considerable star power are the most terrible, because they coulda been contenders.
Old 03-29-03, 12:13 AM
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I thought it was great. I could care less what Ebert has to say. If I want to see a movie I see it. No critic has ever influenced my decision to see a movie nor will they. Theirs is just an opinion not based on anything other than their judgement. I can decide for myself if I like something or not.
Old 03-29-03, 11:18 AM
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Too bad. You're likely to miss out on a lot of great stuff you've never heard of.
Old 03-29-03, 04:56 PM
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Originally posted by Tyler_Durden
Too bad. You're likely to miss out on a lot of great stuff you've never heard of.
No I don't, I am pretty aware of what there is to view and what is coming out...
Old 03-30-03, 08:46 AM
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I caught a couple of minutes of Oprah last week with Travolta on, and she was practically orgazming talking about the movie and how much she loved it. I have heard that it was hard to follow, and there are some twists that don't add up that make me want to see it, but thankfully there are some spoiler sites out there that make it so I don't have to waste my money or time just to satisfy my curiosity...
Old 03-30-03, 10:47 AM
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To give you a clue, the film Rashomon is mentioned in a couple of reviews.
Old 03-30-03, 11:18 AM
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Originally posted by MrN
To give you a clue, the film Rashomon is mentioned in a couple of reviews.
That's not how I remember it.
Old 03-30-03, 12:35 PM
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Originally posted by MrN
To give you a clue, the film Rashomon is mentioned in a couple of reviews.
I see. I know what you mean. Thanks!
Old 04-01-03, 12:01 AM
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This is one of the movies that has a story that makes a mountain out of a molehill. The storyline is so ludicrous and just seems to exist to confuse and befuddles it's audience for the sake of being different. Not only did this aspect of the film give me a headache, but Travolta's acting is so pompous and overblown this didn't help either. I could have settled for a V8 instead.
Old 04-01-03, 08:01 AM
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Originally posted by movieking
I caught a couple of minutes of Oprah last week with Travolta on, and she was practically orgazming talking about the movie and how much she loved it. I have heard that it was hard to follow, and there are some twists that don't add up that make me want to see it, but thankfully there are some spoiler sites out there that make it so I don't have to waste my money or time just to satisfy my curiosity...
Orca Winfrey's 15 minutes should have been up a decade ago.
Old 04-01-03, 08:39 PM
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A twist is nice, followed by another twist, hey that can be cool too...add a twist to that, do it right it could be good.

Fifteen twist beyond that is Basic, a movie that seems to exist only to to serve up twist. Hey a twist is nice, but if there are no stretches of straight road you just end up going in a very small circle.
Old 04-04-03, 10:23 AM
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Finally saw this, since I was curious about it. It was preposterous. Too many twists and turns, and it all adds up to nothing.
Old 04-04-03, 10:49 AM
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I don't even know why they bothers putting Roselyn Sanchez in this movie. It was all dark and her face was covered up.
Old 04-04-03, 04:47 PM
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okay movie with a very surprising enging.
Old 06-29-03, 10:59 PM
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I've saw the movie today. There was so many swerves I was lost during the 15 minutes.
Old 06-29-03, 11:14 PM
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I was not impressed, I didn't find the movie hard to follow, but they tried to throw too many curves which IMO caused the movie to suffer greatly.
Old 07-29-03, 10:50 AM
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I finally watched this over the weekend. I didn't expect a whole lot out of it and that's exactly what happened.

I was able to follow the movie with all its twists and turns, BUT I just didn't care about any of it. In the end, the outcome was all but meaningless to me.
Old 07-29-03, 11:14 AM
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i saw this a few weeks ago. it started off ok, but then the 92nd twist was just unnecessary. its like they didnt know how to end the movie so it kept going.
Old 07-29-03, 11:40 AM
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Twists for the sake of having twists that don't serve any actual plot purpose other than to confuse or "mind blow" the audience. It could've been something besides the utter mess it turned out to be. Not a surprise that the writer also wrote Darkness Falls.

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