Posted on 05/17/2006 7:19:19 AM PDT by Reaganesque
Quotes from early reviews of "The DaVinci Code" at Cannes:
"CANNES, France - "The Da Vinci Code" drew lukewarm praise, shrugs of indifference, some jeering laughter and a few derisive jabs Tuesday from arguably the world's toughest movie crowd: critics at the Cannes Film Festival."
"One especially melodramatic line uttered by Hanks drew prolonged laughter and some catcalls, and the audience continued to titter for much of the film's remainder.
Some people walked out during the movie's closing minutes, though there were fewer departures than many Cannes movies provoke among harsh critics. When the credits rolled, there were a few whistles and hisses, and there was none of the scattered applause even bad movies sometimes receive at Cannes."
Yahoo News
"A pulpy page-turner in its original incarnation as a huge international bestseller has become a stodgy, grim thing in the exceedingly literal-minded film version of "The Da Vinci Code." Tackling head-on novelist Dan Brown's controversy-stirring thriller hinging on a subversively revisionist view of Jesus Christ's life, director Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman have conspired to drain any sense of fun out of the melodrama, leaving expectant audiences with an oppressively talky film that isn't exactly dull, but comes as close to it as one could imagine with such provocative material; result is perhaps the best thing the project's critics could have hoped for. Enormous public anticipation worldwide will result in explosive B.O. at the start in near-simultaneous release in most international territories, beginning May 17 in some countries -- day-and-date with the official Cannes opening-night preem -- and May 19 in the U.S. and elsewhere."
Variety
" Several whistles instead of applause were all that greeted the end of Ron Howard's 125-million-dollar film, and worse than that, the 2,000-strong audience even burst out laughing at the movie's key moment.
"I didn't like it very much. I thought it was almost as bad as the book. Tom Hanks was a zombie, thank goodness for Ian McKellen. It was overplayed, there was too much music and it was much too grandiose," said Peter Brunette, critic for the US daily The Boston Globe. '
Breitbart.com
"Bottom line: A jumble of historical myth, religious symbology and international thriller-action makes for an unwieldy, bloated melodrama."
The Hollywood Reporter.com
.
$125 million ?
snicker snicker!
Good books are generally hard to make into good films. The best film version of a good book I ever saw was "To Kill A Mockingbird". The director translated the book to film exceedingly well. His choice to make in black and white was brillant.
Bad is still bad even to Hollywierd lefties.
The way I read it, the elite snobs who hated a popular book hate the movie even more. I predict a box office hit.
Opie,lets find Goober,Floyd,and Barney and go fishin ...We can forget all this other stuff.....
I'm sure Tarentino and the rest of the liberal artisan Cannes cabal will ram this movie into winning the top award, just like they did for F911.
For some reason, this makes me really, really happy -- and I'm not the most religious person the world. I just hate phony Hollywood hype (especially from the bigoted left) and it's great to see their bullsh*t blow up in their face.
The left loses.... again.
I don't think so. People are tired of paying $7.50 - $9.00 on Hollywod crap. MI3 is a classic example of that. I think this will bomb huge.
I agree completely, "To Kill A Mockingbird" was the best ever & nothing else is even close. Loved the book, saw the movie and was so impressed I went back and read the book again.
Ronnie Howard & Tom Hanks = Opie and Mopey
The greatest controversy has been stirred by the book's central theme that Jesus Christ married and had children whose descendants still survive today.
Thus book's detractors will no doubt be comforted to hear that when Hanks reveals who is supposedly the last surviving descendant of Jesus, the Cannes audience couldn't hold back their laughter.
From the reaction of the audience, you'd think they revealed the last decendent to be President George W. Bush.
It was not a great work of literature. It was going to be a tall order for it to transform into a great work of cinema.
Regards, Ivan
As for the book The Da Vince Code, I didn't find it anything special. And there were these annoying sections where the author lectured to the readers, even included a plug for a film.
The great screenwriter, Robert McKee, maintains that the best books for movies are good but not masterpieces. Since it is almost impossible to improve on a masterpiece such efforts are difficult to carry off. But a not-so-well written book with a great story can be improved upon as a movie.
There are some exceptions: All the Kings Men, Lord of the Rings, etc.
I hope you're right, but I'm afraid that it's going to be the biggest movie of the year.
People want an excuse for their religious indifferentism and TDVC serves that need, facts be damned.
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