Rate CHILDREN OF MEN

[abcdefz]

Holy crap. Padster was right.


See it. I saw it when it first came out over here, seems like a very long time ago now. Any idea why it took so long to get over the pond?

Anyway, amazing movie, I loved it. It's the kind of film that creates and depicts a world that's so cool you just wanna climb into the screen and walk around taking pictures. Plus there's some amazing steadicam work in there and a lot of nice little touches that help immerse you in the world. I remember at one point theres a really long steadicam shot through a warzone scene and some blood splashes on the lens; because it's all done in one shot it stays there for another 3 or 4 minutes after. Thinking about it now, I'd say it was probably my favourite film of '06. (y)



It's terrific. I don't know if I've ever seen a better life during wartime sort of movie. Like Padster says, there are these pretty carefully choreographed long takes which really help sell things. The camera -- and the audience -- becomes another witness as things unfold, and nothing is telegraphed. So, for instance, there's a sequence when people are driving and off in the distance, you see flames, and something rolling out into the road. What happens from there is dreadful, harrowing, stunning, and surprising.

God only knows how carefully people had to hit their marks and get their timing down during some of these sequences. It's beautiful.

Clive Owen does a great job actually reacting to the bullets and explosions and whatnot. Usually, our hero ducks, there's a pause, then he fearlessly makes his move. Clive's character flinches and winces and is scared. He really sells the violence -- he doesn't look at all like he's reacting to blanks.

I also like the fact that they don't try to overexplain things. That also contributes to the sense of being just dropped into this other world. There are deft, futuristic touches, but mostly they don't try to re-imagine the world of the future, which only makes it more realistic. This movie really works. There's a scene where I about fucking lost it. I had tears I kept wiping away, and the woman a couple seats down probably kept me from looking like the biggest little girl in the place. :)

Highly recommended. A-. (y)

[roosta]

yeah, definitely. Its up there with the Departed as my favourite movie of the year. Pretty much what abcdefz and padster says is spot on. I can only imagine that the finale scenes are the closest to what being in an urban war is like. Thrilling stuff.

oh, and not to change topic, but i thought id just say Apocalypto = (y) just saw it tonight.

but yeah, Children of Men, amazing!

[weez]

i gave it a 10, cause i'm still high off the moment of seeing it. what an intense movie. I almost choked up at a few parts, which is saying something for a movie.

[Drederick Tatum]

the Padster is never right, no matter if he is right.

[Loppfessor]

I saw this movie on Friday and wound up walking out of the theater thinking “yeah this is the kind of shit a lot of people on the message board would dig” As a movie in general it was extremely predicable and generic. Plus the whole underlying political “message’ was even lamer. The viewer is supposed to be so wrapped up in the “big brother government” is bad theme that you’re not supposed to ask obvious questions like “Why did every woman on the planet suddenly become sterile?”. Instead we’re supposed to be hating “the man” for the state of the world not too mention putting a pregnant woman or baby in peril is great way to steer the audiences attention away from the gaping plot holes. I’m not even saying I mind a movie with a political agenda but this movie was garbage with no originality.

[Mr Films]

Seeing it Tuesday and can't fucking wait. I've been reading the book and liking it but I'm told they're very different.

Alfonso Cuaron is the man. He's also made the only decent Harry Potter movie imo.

can't wait.

[abcdefz]

I saw this movie on Friday and wound up walking out of the theater thinking “yeah this is the kind of shit a lot of people on the message board would dig”




Nice of you to think of us.

Yeah, I think the reason it was never explained why women had become infertile was that they still didn't know. It was still a mystery.

[Lex Diamonds]

I'm glad you liked it. :)(y)

[roosta]

Yeah, I think the reason it was never explained why women had become infertile was that they still didn't know. It was still a mystery.

that's what i thought.

and its not a plot-hole either, its not like they wrote in the infertility part later on in the movie than just ignored why it happened. for me, it didn't matter. it was a mystery to them as well.

[abcdefz]

...just as mysterious as the pregnancy. Yeah; I had zero problem with that. Like I (think) I said, I thought that leaving some stuff out just made it seem more realistic. On one hand, I like movies to be tight as a drum when they need to be (Memento comes to mind), but I don't want my hand held while someone's spoon feeding me, either.

[Loppfessor]

I don't mind a bit of mystery but it just pissed me off that here I am watching this movie getting pretty into it and all I can think of is "How come no one is concerned with the how or why of this mess?" As far as being spoon fed I felt like I was...okay I get it Goverment is evil blah blah blah...plus I knew what was going to happen before it happened throughout. Like I said very predictable and generic

[roosta]

I don't mind a bit of mystery but it just pissed me off that here I am watching this movie getting pretty into it and all I can think of is "How come no one is concerned with the how or why of this mess?" As far as being spoon fed I felt like I was...okay I get it Goverment is evil blah blah blah...plus I knew what was going to happen before it happened throughout. Like I said very predictable and generic

are you one of those "don't question authority" types?

[Loppfessor]

are you one of those "don't question authority" types?

No not at all....this movie was just so damn transparent. It felt like it was written by some leftie college film major trying to impress his girlfriend. There really wasn't any originality to it. All the characters were so generic and predictable. No one stood out at all. It just seems like this movie was intentionally made with the soul purpose of capitalizing on the growing mistrust of the government. The market was there and someone definitely took advantage.

[MC Moot]

wow....everyone seems to think it's great....I was thinking about how ostentatious an advert I heard/saw for the movie was....claiming something to the affect that "in 50 years from now,this is a movie of which people will talk about as a film for all time".....I'll have to go see it,the novel has been suggested by someone around these parts as being a great read as well.....

[Loppfessor]

wow....everyone seems to think it's great....

Not everyone homeboy! :mad:

[MC Moot]

Not everyone homeboy! :mad:


Sorry,fair enough Jeeves.....What's funny is the nihilist in me say's what's really all that wrong with an evolutionary or conspiratorial extinction of Homo Sapiens?.....;)

[beastieangel01]

I loved it. I voted 9.

Great cinematography. Intense. Just, a very well done film. People have said it better than I in this thread so I'll leave it at that (y)

[marsdaddy]

It felt like it was written by some leftie college film major trying to impress his girlfriend.So, because you don't agree with the political bent you feel is being pursued, you cannot enjoy the movie? That must be very limiting.

[Bob]

I don't mind a bit of mystery but it just pissed me off that here I am watching this movie getting pretty into it and all I can think of is "How come no one is concerned with the how or why of this mess?"

who's to say they weren't? at the time when the movie takes place, the infertility had been going on for 18 years. i imagine after the first 5 years or so, people stop constantly discussing it, you know? i agree with A-Z, i like how they didn't try to overexplain things in a shoehorny kind of way. i mean, if some characters in the movie started talking like "man, can you believe this is the 18th year of women not having any babies? we're not sure why, but certain theorists have proposed that etc etc" it'd just feel forced and ridiculous, in my opinion

it's like how in dawn of the dead, they never explained where the zombies came from. for the purposes of the movie, it didn't really matter.

this movie was great. that scene shortly after the flaming car that A-Z mentioned in the first post was...was really something.

i came close to tears at a few points too. specifically (this is kind of a spoiler so stop reading if you haven't seen it) the part towards the end, where the fighting is going on, and they're coming out of the building with the baby, and everybody just kind of stops fighting and starts gaping. normally i'd find that kind of scene sappy, but i don't know, it just worked for me for some reason. also, jasper's second to last scene (with the suicide kit and "ruby tuesday" playing...for some reason the presence of the dog nearly pushed me over the edge, i have a soft spot for dogs).

i thought the ending was a little abrupt though. if i were writing that ending, i'd have left them stranded in the rowboat until starvation killed them off, but i don't know, i'm pretty nihilistic in some ways.

spoilers over

i also agree that the movie was just really really well filmed, too. like when they're driving, and people are chasing them, the whole thing is filmed from inside the car, looking back, so when the people are far away, they're far off in the distance, and when they get in a car, it's not done with any forced drama, it's just kind of "hey, is that a car, oh shit, they have a car, they're getting closer, drive drive drive". all of the tension that comes from the scene is tension that you feel from viewing it from the characters' perspective, you can't tell it's a movie.

9/10

[Bob]

So, for instance, there's a sequence when people are driving and off in the distance, you see flames, and something rolling out into the road. What happens from there is dreadful, harrowing, stunning, and surprising.


btw, if anyone's curious about this scene, here's a youtube link (WARNING!: it's a spoiler, a character dies in it, but if you weren't otherwise planning to see the movie, and you need a clip to sell you on it, i suppose nothing's lost)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jgbK-co5r1U

[Bob]

It just seems like this movie was intentionally made with the soul purpose of capitalizing on the growing mistrust of the government. The market was there and someone definitely took advantage.

i missed the part where the government was the only enemy

(i hate to post three times in a row in a thread, but i can't shut up about this movie)

[Bob]

i missed the part where the government was the only enemy

(i hate to post three times in a row in a thread, but i can't shut up about this movie)

i mean honestly, i wound up loathing the fishes more than the government

at least the government was forthright about being a bunch of jerks

[abcdefz]

SPOILERY STUFF



i came close to tears at a few points too. specifically (this is kind of a spoiler so stop reading if you haven't seen it) the part towards the end, where the fighting is going on, and they're coming out of the building with the baby, and everybody just kind of stops fighting and starts gaping. normally i'd find that kind of scene sappy, but i don't know, it just worked for me for some reason.




Yup. I really just about lost it. And the fact that the awe just slowly gives way to more warfare just killed me. Here was there miracle, and all they got was a pause.

[DandyFop]

I just got back from seeing this. Wow, what an amazing film. I wasn't necessarily prepared for the intensity of it but that's okay. An unflinching look at what the world could become - just made my whole body react.

minor spoilerage



What did you all think of the involvement of the dogs/cats? They were in pretty much every scene if I can remember correctly - and the barking when the baby was being born was definetly indicating involvement. I'm not quite sure what to make of it.

[abcdefz]

Hmmm. I don't remember. I'd have to see it again. I think the DVD comes out this week or next.

This is kind of a *bump* because I'm wondering if anyone else has thoughts.

[Junker]

I didnt watch it yet but I voted 10 because Padster said good things about it. :)

[Lex Diamonds]

If there's anything we can learn from this thread it's that I am always right and you should all worship my every word.

[abcdefz]

If there's anything we can learn from this thread it's that I am always right and you should all worship my every word.



Yeah? I didn't get that at all.

[Junker]

If there's anything we can learn from this thread it's that I am always right and you should all worship my every word.

Almighty Pads!

[saz]

i'm glad i'm not the only one who didn't like children of men. not only was it too slow and boring for me at certain points, but there were a lot of holes in the script, and it came across as pretty lazy. ditto the predictability of the movie.

for instance, how did they know that clive owen, the black girl, and fat woman were hiding out at michael caine's cottage? how could they have discovered them there? all of a sudden they showed up on the road, snooping around. i thought that was a colossal hole in the script, and from there on i had a hard time taking this film seriously, because it simply wasn't adequately explained. and then, at the end of the film, when clive owen and the black girl are sitting in the row boat, the much larger ship just shows up. they just happen to meet in the ocean on the right day, at the right time. right. and they didn't have to wait very long for the larger ship to show up as well.

and, that battle scene in refugee ghetto camp. sure, it was really well done. but it went on for way too long. it seemed as if it would never end, and the screenwriter/director kept dragging and dragging it out. it was incredibly frustrating to sit through. they really milked that scene, and in the process nearly drove me insane.

[abcdefz]

i'm glad i'm not the only one who didn't like children of men. not only was it too slow and boring for me at certain points, but there were a lot of holes in the script, and it came across as pretty lazy. ditto the predictability of the movie.

for instance, how did they know that clive owen, the black girl, and fat woman were hiding out at michael caine's cottage? how could they have discovered them there? all of a sudden they showed up on the road, snooping around.



I just assumed they either tracked them there or just relentlessly combed the area.

As far as the boat goes -- it was at a rendezvous point. That's what that boat was for.

[roosta]

it's funny how the people who didn't like it went directly to the lowest possible rating. I mean, ok you didn't like it, but I can't see how someone could think it was completely useless.

[Parkey]

for instance, how did they know that clive owen, the black girl, and fat woman were hiding out at michael caine's cottage? how could they have discovered them there? all of a sudden they showed up on the road, snooping around. i thought that was a colossal hole in the script, and from there on i had a hard time taking this film seriously, because it simply wasn't adequately explained.

Jesus wept - do you want them to explain every little aspect for you? Reading between the lines (as they assume you will) it's pretty obvious you're expected to deduce they had him under surveillance for some time before the initial kidnapping.

[DandyFop]

Yes, when they kidnapped him the first time, they told him they'd be "watching his every move" blah blah, so it's safe to assume they were doing that for a while.

As far as the boat, they said in the beginning that there was a certain rendezvous point by that buoy that they were supposed to be at in order to meet the boat "tomorrow".

I didn't find it slow moving at all and I'm actually surprised someone would find it that way. I love it that anything that lasts longer than a makeover montage scene can't keep people's attentions.

[abcdefz]

I think that mainstream Hollywood movies have cultivated generations of audiences to feel a certain smugness at being smarter than the movie or the characters. That's why the movies keep getting dumber and dumber and trailers give away so much. When a movie really is smart or assumes people are -- like this one or Memento, let's say -- it threatens some people, and there's a knee-jerk "there are plot holes!" reaction where, in fact, there aren't.

Children of Men requires suspension of disbelief, but I don't think it's misplotted, and I don't think the details purposely omitted make it a flawed picture. Something like Memento, though, man, when people complain that it's got plot holes ("How can he remember he has this condition if he can't make new memories HA HA HA HA HA!") they belie their own laziness: the answers are all there, and it's absolutely airtight.

[saz]

Jesus wept - do you want them to explain every little aspect for you? Reading between the lines (as they assume you will) it's pretty obvious you're expected to deduce they had him under surveillance for some time before the initial kidnapping.

i don't remember any indicators that he was under surveillance. sure, perhaps they were following clive owen around, and briefly abducted him, but we did not see anyone following him when he went out to caine's cottage. and that group came across as a rag-tag, half-assed group of amateur extremists. regardless, it is an indication of whether or not the screenplay, and film were written and made competently by professionals, who you can take seriously, and therefore be held in such high regard or not. plus, i just found everything too predictable. and 'jesus wept'? lol, no need to get bent out of shape because some dude on the net doesn't share the same opinion as you over some movie.

I think that mainstream Hollywood movies have cultivated generations of audiences to feel a certain smugness at being smarter than the movie or the characters. That's why the movies keep getting dumber and dumber and trailers give away so much. When a movie really is smart or assumes people are -- like this one or Memento, let's say -- it threatens some people, and there's a knee-jerk "there are plot holes!" reaction where, in fact, there aren't.

i actually loved memento, but spare me the condescension because i didn't love some movie you did.

[abcdefz]

i actually loved memento, but spare me the condescension because i didn't love some movie you did.




Spare the condescension, spoil the child. :D

[saz]

whatever

you liked a.i.

[abcdefz]

Love it. In spite of bunches and bunches of problems. (y)

[Parkey]

and 'jesus wept'? lol, no need to get bent out of shape because some dude on the net doesn't share the same opinion as you over some movie.

He may have been cutting onions...

[Yeti]

What did you all think of the involvement of the dogs/cats? They were in pretty much every scene if I can remember correctly - and the barking when the baby was being born was definetly indicating involvement. I'm not quite sure what to make of it.

You know how some people don't have kids so they have pets to round out their family? I think the cats and dogs were the extended family.

I just watched the DVD tonight. I really enjoyed the film. The cinematography was fantastic and there was great detail in the shots. I loved the shot of the cat climbing Theo's leg and the deer crossing his path in the corridor. The camera would pan rooms to show details of the location...Jasper's home....etc. I usually do not get into this type of film but it was quality work.

[roosta]

just watched it again.

still fookin' amazing...

[Parkey]

I like the fucked up 'London 2012' jumper Clive Owen wears throughout... Nice touch.