dex14

This Golden Globe winner opens wide this week. Currently 90% on RT: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1917_2019/

TomOpus

Not sure yet if I'll catch this Thursday night or Friday at noon.

Shannon Nutt

My local IMAX isn't showing 1917 this weekend - opting instead to keep Rise of Skywalker on that screen (although, granted, they may have a contract with Disney to do so). Disappointed, as I really would have went out of my way to see this one in IMAX. Just going to find the next best screen available.

dex14

This was pretty awesome. I love one-take stuff so I was impressed. Sure, you can see the seams if you know where to look... but there are things that happen within these takes that are amazing. Crazy feats they accomplished. On a technical level, this is exemplary. Deakins will win another Oscar.

There is one sequence halfway through that is just glorious to look at. Absolutely beautiful.

Now... if you take out all the technical stuff, is still a great film? I'm not sure... The two leads are great. The direction is great. But not an incredible amount of character development. I didn't mind that though. Like Dunkirk, this is a film that makes you experience war. And it is a fantastic theatre experience.

Is it Best Picture of the Year worthy? Sure. I wouldn't be annoyed like last year if it won. But there are two other films from masters that are probably more worthy.

I'm a little surprised George MacKay's name isn't in contention for a Best Actor nom. It is a really great performance... and physically demanding.

Abob Teff

Same here. Local AMC is just doing its best to continue with poor decisions and poor service around here. The AMC an hour to the north has 1917 on its IMAX. Not headed back home this weekend though.

Debating whether to wait a week or just catch it on a normal screen.

dex14

Star Wars still has all the IMAX screens around me until next week when Bad Boys comes out. Did Disney lock them down for a month? I wouldn’t be surprised.

1917 is in the Dolby Cinema though.

Why So Blu?

Yes, 1917 will be on IMAX screens starting 1/24. Hell, Bad Boys 3 is playing in IMAX here next week, so the schedule is screwey. 1917 is in Dolby Cinema, though, so that's where I will see it in.

story

I'm hoping to go to an afternoon show in Dolby on Friday. I like IMAX, it's big, but the Dolby sound is just great and the screens seem pretty big comparably, at least in my neighborhood AMC.

rocket1312

I'm pretty much with dex on this one. I will add that at times it felt like watching someone play Call of Duty. I was also surprised that the tension level wasn't higher at times. As intense as it was, I didn't have that same pit in my stomach like I did watching something like Sicario or the raid sequence in Zero Dark Thirty. That said, there were a couple of moments that I literally jumped out of my seat. The climax is pretty emotional as well, even though the money shot is spoiled in the trailer.

This was my first Dolby experience and it was mind-blowing. Anyone with an interest in seeing this needs to see it in a theater. Like Gravity, a film I loved but have not revisited since seeing in theaters, I'm not sure how it will play on the small screen. It feels like Mendes giving a big double bird to the Netflix model.

devilshalo

I think because it takes place in 'real time', not all moments were as tension filled as much as there was just a sense of urgency. But I certainly felt it when they get to and cross the front.

I still think the process it took to shoot this film was amazing...

dex14

Here is the extended BTS video:

Jack's Smirking

I just got home from it, and this is pretty spot-on with where I ended up. The sheer achivement of the film was impressive and a wonderful film experience. That alone, to my mind, should put it in the nomination category. However, did it really move me, and will I still be thinking about it a month from now? Not sure.

I love that a movie like this was made, and I hope it reaps the financial rewards that ensure more movies like this. But it didn't hit me like "Parasite" or "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood".

rocket1312

I'm fine with there being down moments. I just mean that when the tension was ratcheted up, it wasn't quite what I thought it might have been. When they're searching through the German trenches being one such example. I've only seen it once, and I'd have to do a much more in depth analysis (which in reality I'm never going to do), but I wonder if the "one shot" gimmick had a part in this since there was no way to cut in order to build tension through editing. Again, I'm not being very specific. It's just a vague feeling I had. It's still amazingly impressive for what it is and has more than it's fair share of tension.

Why So Blu?

Seeing this in a couple of hours in Dolby Cinema.

story

I just got out of it myself and really enjoyed it. It is technically incredible. The art and set direction, the cinematography, the seamless shot with sly seams, all of it amazing. All movies take work. This movie's work is 100% on the screen. It's hard to watch it without admiring it for its creation process.

It's really, really good, I personally can't call it great and wish I could. It probably is great and I'm missing it. See, maybe it never hit 100% tense for me because of the money shot in the trailer. I honestly think it was spoiled for me by a combination of the trailer and the screenshot AMC used for the tickets on the app. Really unfortunate, and I wish it hadn't happened. I think I just need to stop watching anything about movies. As soon as I get a whiff that something looks good, I need to make up my mind and go dark. My spouse doesnt really watch any of this stuff and when she sees movies, she's always surprised and has a good ride. Meanwhile, I feel like I've already seen too much of something like A Quiet Place Part II. I didn't need to see the trailer to know I want to see it. Now I feel fairly spoiled, sigh.

I'd forgotten Roger Deakins is the cinematographer. Yep. Give it to him. It's for him, period.

Edit to add: I liked the ending a lot, all three beats. They really worked for me and that's how a story like this should wrap up, all close to the characters in a story already close to the characters.

Mondo Kane

As everyone’s saying, a technical marvel, no doubt. No problems with character-development, But I was expecting a bigger & better payoff at the end (It felt like the crowd I saw it with wanted that too)

And I don’t know if it was intentional, but I spotted a few Good,Bad,Ugly influences.

Decker

Watched it in the Dolby Cinema. Thought it was really technically impressive. Didn't love the story and didn't emotionally connect with it. Also I thought it wasn't as good as Dunkirk. Still I enjoyed the movie and thought some shots were very impressive. Really an achievement in film making even if it wasn't my favorite movie of the year. I won't be pulling for it, but if it does win BP it won't be a travesty.

Why So Blu?

Saw it earlier today and two scenes in the film had me like:




I normally don't play that sentimental shit, but maybe because it was a near sold-out show and I wasn't the only one, may have had something to do with it. I think Deakins has a shot on winning that Oscar for cinematography, though.

One of the things that made me cringe early on where how they had what appeared to be




dex14

Well the GG win certainly helped this out. Probably going to be making around $30-35mil over the weekend.

story

The site keeps telling me there are posts after mine but I can't see them, so I'm posting this to see what happens.

Edit: now I can see everything, weird.

RichC2

It's been glitching out in weird ways recently, I tried posting a quote yesterday but it wouldn't let me override a quote from a previous post of mine in it, it was as weird as it sounds.

This is headed for $37m this weekend, that is an excellent pull.

DJariya

I saw this last night on a regular screen at Regal. It was pretty good. Some really intense scenes, especially that last sequence when Schofield was trying to relay the message and ran through the chaos.

But, I do want to see it again on a bigger screen, which this seems designed for. So I'll probably check it out again in Dolby.

The cast is mostly unknowns, but I thought they did a great job.

Osiris3657

Saw it this afternoon and liked it, definitely a top 10 film of the year...but a part of me also feels letdown. I was expecting this to blow me away and easily be my #1 film of 2019, but it's not. One thing I think it is a lock for is the cinematography Oscar. Deakins is a master.

Orbi-Wan Techno

We have tickets for tomorrow afternoon. Looking forward to it.

Count Dooku

I saw Bombshell, and a friend asked me if there were "shocking" revelations in the movie. I said that what is revealed about FOX News is pretty much how I expected women were treated there, and I probably thought it was worse.

Point is, I saw 1917 today, and didn't need or want a gut punch demonstrating to me that war is awful.

I thought this was a great movie. I was completely involved in the drama from start to finish, and while I didn't sit there weeping, I felt it was a very emotional experience.

Of course, the technical mastery of the production including design, cinematography, direction, and editing, was incredible. To me the decision to present it as a single, real-time shot was intended to immerse the viewer in the experience as the protagonists were experiencing it. A traditional presentation would have provided more opportunities to ratchet up the tension and emotion, but that's all manipulation tricks.

I think Mendes is making a significant point about the war with his film-making choice.