7/10
I was expecting a bit more, to be honest. Maybe I built it up in my head too much beforehand but I was let down. In never really "took off" like I expected it too and while I felt sympathy for Mickey Rourke's character, I never felt too emotionally invested in him. Don't get me wrong though, it was still a great performance.
5/10
Just got back from this tonight...I don't know, it just didn't do anything for me. I rarely felt anything during the 3 hour running time. I didn't connect with the Benjamin Button character so I was never really moved by what happened to him. The acting was fine, not exceptional but certainly not bad. I'm a huge Pitt fan but it seemed like he was letting his makeup do most of the acting, which was unfortunate. I dunno, I don't really know what to say about it, it just never gripped me like I expected it to. It's well-directed, very nice cinematography, fine acting, all the bells and whistles, but no real substance. The three other people I saw it with felt pretty much the same. We all left feeling kind of unfulfilled, I think.
8/10
I was really not expecting to like this, but I did. I was never bored for its 3 hour runtime (impressive considering the way the plot seems to come and go) which is the main thing...I can't even act like I know what half of it meant but then, I don't think Lynch or any of the actors do either, so I won't be too hard on myself. Laura Dern was exceptional though and I was genuinely freaked out at parts.
Elephant Man is still my favorite Lynch movie but I'd have to think this is his magnum opus (in terms of "Lynchian" films, which Elephant Man really isn't) and I have no idea how he's going to top it.
5/10
I finished watching the series, and watched the prequel film last night...and it was pretty disappointing. The series was on a steep decline after Laura's killer is revealed, then Lynch steps back in and rescues it with the great series finale, and then does...something...with the film, I'm not entirely sure what he was going for. I "got" (I think) and liked the resolution with Cooper's character in the Black Lodge with Laura but I guess I was hoping more questions would be answered and that it would be more closely related to the series...instead it created more plotholes and more questions. But that's Lynch for you.
The DVD box was also pretty misleading, giving the impression that Kyle MacLachlan, Chris Isaak and David Bowie were starring in this movie when their roles barely rise above cameo status (Bowie's certainly is nothing more than that).
Apparently they intended to make more Twin Peaks movies, and that almost 2-3 hours of footage was cut, which makes the whole series + film an incomplete portrait, so it sucks to think of what it could've been instead of what it is - occasionally brilliant, often messy and convoluted.
8.5/10
The acting was really good (by either the kids, the teenagers, or the adults), soundtrack was exceptional and the way the story is written and how it comes together in the end was really clever. It's a nice, simple (even old-fashioned) story told in a very refreshing manner. The Bollywood-style musical scene at the end was the best part IMO.
I "only" gave it an 8 because for a long time at the start I found it hard to care about Jamal and what happens to him...the movie did eventually make me come around very quickly at the end but there were parts where I felt it dragged a bit because I just wasn't particularly interested in what was happening to Jamal (mainly in his pre-teen days). It was one of those movies that relies a lot on its ending to deliver and it did because it was so well put-together.
