pretty much agree.
quality compelling tv? yes.
straight A flawless? no.

Just got back from this.
upshot?
definitely more satisfying than pacific rim imo but not as tight as District 9 which had a more firm grip on character, timing, scale, etc.  also the open ending of district 9 i found more convincing than the end of this film.
way too much shaky cam for me to fully enjoy it but definitely…

a thousand slash fiction documents have just been opened due to this idea….and it is possible that the adjective "nifty" is not the first one that comes to mind.

a dark story to be sure.
and let's not forget about the end
SPOOOOOOILER!!!!!!!!!
where the "great war hero" is gunned down by his own war traumatized and insane protege while on the shooting range back in the U.S. I can't think of a less speilbergian ending.

I think speilberg must have read that new yorker piece about his subject…not exactly a feel good ending:
http://www.newyorker.com/re…

those mofos are spinning like a top…they never seem to get it quite right.

they did a mathematically precise 180 from last year looks like….

22 Guns

i'm not sure likable should really determine whether a character is effective and compelling (and by extension the film they are in)
kubrick is full of such characters.
ellis/avery seem to thrive on despicable characters….it's their bread and butter.  i doubt they have any illusion that their characters are likable, etc.
…

well, drunk driving/vehicular manslaughter that is….

the last thing i enjoyed by him was the funny fan boy dvd commentary on Romero's Day of the Dead.
that was a hoot.
he's a talented guy….there were some transcendent moments in killing zoe, even if it was essentially silly posturing.  the french bad guy was pretty awesome.
with the right story/script he could do something…

as i suspected all the hoopla most likely made it sell better….
despite the cheesy music stories the long form journalism in rolling stone is often excellent and i suspect this story is no different.

having now just rewatched it i think i have to agree….it's all a bit cheesy.
the kids at the camp fire beginning is carpenter admitting as much…but even self aware cheese is cheese.

leslie will cry and that will make me cry.
damn you leslie.

I'm watching the fog now…i have to say the "jump scares" are a bit much.  either way…it's all in good fun.

remakes of horror movies generally suck.
the only one that comes to mind that was worth doing (and was in fact a massive improvement) was the fly.

it's been done….but this looks pretty damn funny.

grumpy old man post:
i still remember the old days when lollapalooza was not just a one weekend, one location affair….ah how the mighty have fallen.

man…so much for the meritocracy.
this movie was just not very good, pixar craps all over this middling fare….

with that…i will be give it a partially grudging 1080p re-watch.  it may not be "the thing" but at least it's high def….