Brent L

Those three are REALLY good, I love that threesome, but truth be told...this has been a really crappy year for new releases for the most part.

Matthew Chmiel

I don't want to say anything, but In Good Company was a 2004 release.

[It was released at Christmas time in New York and LA.]

Brent L

It opened on like, 12/29/04, so it's fair to me to count it as a 2004 flick.

Chauzer

just watched this last night, very good movie

Holysmoker

I saw this yesterday with my wife and her sisters. We were all moved by it and agreed it was an excellent movie. I was one of the many laughing at some of the racist comments, but I don't feel bad about it. It was more of a "now that's messed up" kind of laughter. We were also brought to tears at some of the tragic moments. I now know of three DVD's I will be anxiously awaiting release of: Crash, Kung-Fu Hustle, and Sin City. On another note, I thought Slop's review of Crash was heavy handed and lacked subtlety.

Jason Bovberg

David Poland's thoughts about CRASH echo a lot of mine...

http://www.thehotbutton.com/today/hot.button/index.html

scott shelton

Poland... *shudders*

Giles

I agree with you there, my current favourite films for this year are:

3-Iron
Kings and Queen
Intimate Stories
Tropical Malady
Nobody Knows
Downfall
Travellers and Magicians
The World
Mad Hot Ballroom
The Syrian Bride

mainstream (wide release)

Kung Fu Hustle
Millions
House of Wax
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Frank Miller's Sin City
In Good Company
The Interpreter
Crash
The Upside of Anger
Fever Pitch

MrE

The racism (including the jokes) sounded like real people to me...and was one of the reasons I like the film. It's something most moviemakers avoid or tread around with kneejerk responses.

About the underdevoped characterizations: There were so many recognizable actors who were in brief scenes (Daniel Dae Kim for one) that I'm betting there are hours on the cutting-room floor. Here's one vote for an extended cut when this comes to DVD.

mytzplyx

it's funny how the roles of the Asians were kind of just glossed over. Just like real life. It's a pretty good movie though.

Mr. Cinema

This is the first great movie of 2005. (I haven't seen Sin City yet.)

Trigger

I thought it was okay... not the mindblowing masterpiece that people seem to be making it out to be though. I guess it would be good for people who never put any thought into racism or whatever. Nothing special IMO.

scott shelton

That exactly what I was thinking when I was watching it: "So THAT'S what it's like for minorities."

Nick Danger

We saw the movie a few days ago. We both liked it a lot, and discussed it for the rest of the day. That gets more points from me than cheap thrills.

The movie was a bit heavy-handed, but after all it's a Message Movie. I liked its length. I think it would have overstayed its welcome if it did an 8-minute version of "One is the Loneliest Number" a la Magnolia.

The minor characters were great. The TV producer, the D.A.'s fixer, and the chop shop owner all had strong dialogue.

Major spoiler.

Pressplay

I saw this today and loved it. Don Cheadle is one great actor.

Frank TJ Mackey

I agree. It had WAY too much going on for a movie that length. The black/white banter between Ludacris & Larenz Tate began to get old really quickly, and I thought Brendan Fraser was just plain awful.

Everyone else was really good though, it was moving in parts.

Rival11

Thought it was great. The cast was awesome and I personally loved the flow of the movie. I see a lot of people complaining about "not enough time for character development" but I had more than enough to get interested and keep going.

As far as laughing out loud at some of the racial comments......I did, but it was just like someone mentioned previously; It was deifnitely a "that's messed up" laughter.

The score was excellent as well, one of the best I can recall recent memory and it fit perfectly.

Well written, well acted and awesome direction - I give it an A

peon73

They were korean, you racist. do all asians look alike to you?



(i'm kidding)



I loved the movie. I think best film so far, imo, of 2005. When i saw that actor (Daniel Dae Kim) from "Lost" in the restaurant delivering the slaves, i thought cool! he's in this movie too! but he was on screen for like 10 seconds.

Ayre

I liked it a lot, but ...

The almost mathematical linking of subplots was horrendous. It suspended belief of the the entire premise. How could so many peoples lives be so intertwined? The casting was great, with the exception of maybe Brendan Fraser. Thandi Newton was brilliant. I wish Cheadle had more dialogue, he is clearly one of today's great actors.

As tight and crisp as the screenplay was, it took the stories waaaaay over the top. As beautiful and poetic as the "invisible cape" story was, the resolution almost made me laugh. At the same time I could not help but being moved by it.

Crash is a movie that wanted to be great but ultimately fell short. I still highly recommend it. 8/10

maingon

i thought it was a very good powerful movie. very well acted. gave me a stomach ache seeing some of these people do such stupid things.

Mr. Cinema

I know this was released in May, but the dvd lists the year as 2004 on the back. And IMDB also lists 2004. So is it officially 2004 or 2005?

Artman

That's what I was wondering. The dvd cover also incorrectly lists a 1:85 aspect ratio...

Great movie. A few actors and spots which keep it from being perfect, but a solid ***1/2 I thought.

The Antipodean

Phenomenally passionate film. Yeah, it's a bit broad and melodramatic, but that's the point. The scenes with had me on the edge of my seat like no other movies this year so far. I think it'll definitely make my top 10 of the year list.

Corvin

mikehunt

never heard of it until the recent commercials for the dvd release
rented it and watched it today
good movie
plot was a different style than most movies