Posted on 11/25/2004 11:01:22 PM PST by churchillbuff
National Treasure," a surprise box office hit from Hollywood, demonstrates once again the embarrassing gap between cultural elite and the general public.
This splendid adventure movie starring Nicholas Cage drew overwhelmingly negative reviews, and leading critics even predicted its commercial failure. Ordinary moviegoers, however, have expressed gratitude for the film — a clever romp with a patriotic heart and a family friendly "PG-rating," spinning an enjoyable yarn about a treasure map left by the founding fathers on the back of the Declaration of Independence. ...
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
My 15 yr old saw it last night, she came in and said, "Dad we have to see that movie together."
Nikki and John were both extreme individuals..
Which is..........
....What??
It never ceases to amaze me the Hollyweird hasn't caught on to the side-effects of the excesses of the previous generation. We are the first generation to grow up with an awareness of AIDS, ect. I have noticed that a lot of people my age (mid-to-late twenties) are having more kids, earlier than their parents, and are--in general--more conservative as well. We are getting married earlier as well, once again, generally speaking. Lots of people my age and younger are married with kids. (I married at 23, my younger brother married at 21--he's got two and will have one more, I will soon have five--just for example) I refuse to pollute my kids with crap...I saw too much growing up. The latchkey kids have grown up, and lots have rejected the so-called "values" many of us grew up with and were regularily portrayed in the movies and TV popular at the time. We're staying at home to raise our kids, getting married and staying married, and fewer and fewer are having sex or children before marriage. Hollyweird will catch on to this trend, or strangle to death on their own irrelevance.
Oh, come on now. There had to be nudity, some sex and lots of cussing for it to even get to the theater.
PG I didn't think those movies were made anymore.
Shooting yes, though I don't recall them actually making contact. Remember when they see Cage in the elevator with "the map" and start shooting? The case the map is happens to be bullet-proof...oops, spoiler, sorry.
GREAT LINE!!
Hey, is it me or am I the only one who reads too slow to see just who these "favorable" critics are when a commercial for a particular movie comes on TV? I'm talking specifically about Alexander.
I consider myself a fast reader . . . the fastest in my speed-reading class a hundred years or so ago when I took it . . . but, man oh man, it flashed by so quickly I couldn't catch squat.
First off, let me be blunt. I will never, no-way-in-hell, ever see another Oliver Stone movie. But I saw a commercial of it yesterday and the commercial flashed what were some absolutely GREAT reviews. The announcer announced the reviews in an excited, passionate, breathless tone . . . but conveniently forgot to mention just who the folks were he was quoting. The letters in the praise were big and bold and easily read but the names of the reviewers nearly blended in with the background and flashed by so quickly I couldn't read who was praising it.
I'm mindful of the one movie studio . . . Sony, maybe? . . . who had some schlep reviewing movies under an assumed name to give their movies a jump at the box-office.
I've read some awful reviews and comments about Oliver "I'm proud to be a Traitor" Stone's latest history-reinvention piece on FR and I was curious to see who the reviewers were.
Has anyone else noticed it's awfully hard to see JUST WHO IT IS giving these great reviews to liberal movies?
Maybe Medved is making too much out of this. The same reviewers, after all, have given savagely negative treatment to "Alexander", a film which apparently highlights the main characters bisexuality and was made by Oliver Stone, a leftist darling.
Its about Russia.
I think it is just great that your child and you enjoyed the movie.
When my wife and I 1st started going together, the 1st movie I took her to see was 'Old Yeller'. She knew I was a country boy in my heart after that. LOL
I have nothing but empirical evidence but it sure does seem forced to me. A parallel example: At Hollywood video keep your eyes open to how many copies of a film hits the shelf and its rental patterns. “Ella Enchanted” received good reviews and was enjoyable family entertainment. I saw seven to ten total copies and had to wait two weeks to rent it. Close by filling an entire shelf section was “The Girl Next Door”. I have not seen it and I know enough about the story to keep it that way. The many copies went largly unrented. If frequency of rental is crucial to profit maximization then they are either ignorant of what the data may be telling them or there is intentional bias.
If someone out there has more info I’m all eyes. I know there are many possible factors I have omitted, but I have seen the same thing over and over. Fahrenheit 9/11 filled 1½ sections and languished on the shelf - in NY! (perhaps there is hope)
hope your wrong...rto
I *believe* it was:
"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
I might be wrong, though. My backup quote would be: "That whenever any Form of
Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
IN any event, it was summarised by Gates (Cage's character) as something like: "When somethign is wrong, those who have the power to fix it hav ethe responsibility to fix it."
And that line from the ad "the dollar bill is trying to tell me something" seemed kinda dumb.
Glad the movie is ok. I think that some of the negative reviews might just be Nick Cage burnout though.
For months I couldn't get away from seeing advertisments for “The Girl Next Door,” whether it was on websites, television, or on campus. Frankly, it looks like a piece of crap more suitable for the straight to video bin. I don't know why the hype. Plus the blonde that kept adorning those ads, well, didn't really do it for me.
Better watch out: "Loved it" are Rex Reed's two favorite words.
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