Rating: Summary: Truly Amazing Review: What an amazing movie! I agree with another reviewer, as I've always thought so myself-anyone who loved Sixth Sense would probably like this movie too...the ending is pretty similar, unbelievable and shocking. The movie is about two children who are allergic to light; they die if they are exposed for more than a minute or so. Their mother (Nicole Kidman) hires a small family to move in and help care for the children, but there is something so strange about them. Also, one of the children is convinced there are "intruders" in the house. At the end of the film, you learn why the children are harmed by light, why the servants seem so strange, and who the intruders are...it all links together. It's just such a great movie, it makes Sixth Sense seem like a Disney movie.
Rating: Summary: amazing movie! Review: i just saw this movie last night and it is definitly one of the best i've seen in a while. it starts slow and because of that at first i was actually wondering how good it was going to be and if i would like it. but it turned out to be so good! i agree with someone who said people who liked the sixth sense will especially like this movie. i loved the sixth sense and this one too. its one of those movies that has lots of hidden things that all come together at the very end. you know something just isnt right but you cant put your finger on it. its definitly one of those movies where it ends and you hit yourself in the head and go oooooooooh i cant believe i didnt see it before! it all comes together so perfectly. if you like scary movies but dont like all the blood that most of them have, get this movie! it'll make you jump out of your seat without making you sick. the actors they chose are PERFECT for this movie and the lighting and way it was shot only add to the creepiness of it. ill definitly be watching it again!!
Rating: Summary: Great Film Review: I was quite impressed with this film. There were some frightening moments here and there, but the thing that impressed me about the film was the story. It was well done, well written, and moved swiftly through the plot. The arrival of a certain relative in the middle of the film threw me off just slightly, but I understood well after the twist at the end, which, while not as impressive of a surprise as the Sixth Sense, was quite good. Great Film!
Rating: Summary: Not All Good Movies Are Rated R Review: This was a good performance from Nicole Kidman and the actors who played her children. The truth of the situation faced by them with regards to the "others" does become patently obvious and the storyline is relatively predictable. Nevertheless I recommend this movie and would rate it above average compared to a lot of others out there. If you are into period pieces this is also a good one for you. The story transpires in 1945 as I recall shortly after the end of WWII from which Nicole's husband never returned. Her and the two children live in a spiffy English mansion on an isle in the British Channel that the Germans had occupied during the war. Nicole excellently depicts the haughty and aristocratic lady of the house who knows her social station and is accustomed to directing servants. The tone of the movie is further set to the spooky end by the medical condition of her children being sensitive to light requiring that the house be kept dark. Since there is no electricity it's all candles and gas lamps and well you get the picture. There is also a fair amount of spooky English fog too... What you won't see here is a lot of big splashy special effects the film relies on more traditional techniques. These details give you a sense of the atmosphere but not the real storyline for that you have to watch the movie. I thought it an excellent performance and actually watched it twice (once with my mom too she like it as well).
Rating: Summary: A triumphant American debut for Alejandro Amenabar Review: Writer/director Alejandro Amenabar has burst onto the motion picture scene in a major way with this, his first American film. The Spanish auteur had already made a mark in Spain with "Abre Los Ojos", a film he wrote, directed and scored, which was remade four years later by Cameron Crowe as "Vanilla Sky", starring Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman's ex-husband who co-produced both films. This film is outstanding in almost every respect. With a microscopic budget of $17 million and one bankable star, Amenabar turned a great idea into a brilliant film. As he has in past films, he also composed the music, which is exceptionally powerful and a perfect fit for the story. There are few directors with the talent to write, direct and compose this effectively. It is even more impressive when you consider that he is barely 30 years old. Amenabar's use of shadow and light is phenomenal and he is extremely adroit at utilizing the camera to maximize the suspense. He is also very insightful in his direction of the actors. While Nicole Kidman is a veteran, the children are both in their first film and Amenabar elicits terrific performances from each. The story is elegant in its simplicity and the ending is difficult to predict. The use of the séance scene to flip the film on its ear is inspired, creating a defining moment by taking an indirect approach. He brings us a supernatural thriller that is scary without the need for blood and gore, making the most of what is unseen. Often compared with "Sixth Sense" because of the final plot twist, this film is better in most of its technical elements, despite being slightly less flashy in its presentation. As if Amenabar's genius weren't enough, Nicole Kidman kicks out the jams and delivers one of her best performances to date. She is utterly believable as Grace, the neurotically overprotective matriarch and mistress of the house. Her interaction with the children is exceedingly genuine, replete with nurturing affection and backbiting irritation at her daughter's perceived recalcitrance. Grace's daughter Anne is played by Alakina Mann who gives a phenomenal performance in her first film. Mann is sassy and stubborn and shows a strong backbone in the face of her oppressive mother. James Bentley, as her brother Nicholas, plays off Mann extremely well. Bentley's timidity and reliance on his sister creates a strong symbiosis between them that is extremely realistic. This is a fantastic thriller by a director with a very promising future. While the pacing is sometimes overly deliberate, the story, music, camerawork, and the acting are first rate. I rated it 9/10. Don't miss it.
Rating: Summary: Satisfyingly eerie... Review: Speaking as someone who absolutely HATES horror films, I thought "The Others" is excellent. The movie is set in post-WWII England, in a dreary old house set in an equally dreary swamp/forest (it was never quite made clear). The film begins with three servants arriving at Grace's house, in response to her letter for help. We quickly learn that the previous servants (The "others") had disappeared mysteriously, leaving Grace and her two photosensitive children (whose father was apparently killed in the war) all alone in their huge (and perpetually dark) Victorian mansion. To make the setting even eerier, Grace explains that no door must be opened without the previous on being shut and locked. When strange things begin happening right after the servants arrive (whisperings, doors slamming, curtains opening, poundings, mysterious crying sounds), the story turns into sort of a supernatural whodunnit. Is it the malicious new servants, Grace's spiteful little girl, or a force beyond their reckoning? The story also provides psychological terror as Grace begins to reevaluate her devout Catholic beliefs. The movie is notably accentuated by a very excellent and bone chilling score, and one heck of a surprise ending (but mystery buffs might see it coming.) My advise is to not try to figure it out, but to sit back and enjoy the movie!! Kidman does an excellent job of portraying Grace and all her terrors, and the young actors who played the children also, in my opinion, did an excellent job of adding to the film's bone chilling effect. I highly reccomend seeing this movie!!
Rating: Summary: Great Movie; Below-Average DVD Review: When "The Others" was playing in theaters, I never got to go see it, but all my friends were telling me how great it was and how I had to go see it. When it came out on DVD, I picked it up knowing I'd like it because I love a smart thriller. Sure thing, I loved the movie. Kidman's performance is as everyone states... amazing and beyond words. The reason my score is only 2 stars is not because the movie was bad... oh, no. The film is great! The DVD however, is not great at all. Dimension has never been able to make a DVD with presentable picture quality and "The Others" is no exeption. I was hopeing that with all the critical accliam that this film got that Dimension would pull out all the stops and make the movie on this disk look as good as the recent picture quality that Dreamworks DVD and Columbia/Tristar DVD have been producing for thier recent releases. Yet, the picute quality is still very poor and cheap. My second problem with this DVD is that it is two DVD's when all this material could have easily fit on one disc. There's not more than 1 hour of bonus material on the second disc and all of it is less than interesting. Even if, after viewing the show, I wanted to look at some of the supplemental material, I'd have to go put the second disk in the player. It's just an extra hassle that wouldn't be if all the material was on one disk. These are two really big problems that do not manage to distract from a really great movie. If you're a fan of this movie, you shouls still buy it just to have the amazing film to watch whenever you want. If you haven't seen "The Others" yet, then you might want to rent it first to see how put-off you are by the discs flaws. There are a lot of high-quality DVD's out there for some other really exceptional movies that you might want to spend your money on rather than this bottom-shelf, poor-quality DVD from Dimension DVD.
Rating: Summary: Nicole Kidman the way I like her Review: Yes, I know it's the movies, and yes, it's only acting, and yes, I like her as an actress tremendously. Yet after seeing movie after movie with Nicole Kidman playing a cold as ice man manipulator, my movie psyche needs some payback. I got it with this movie. So even though she introduces what may be her bitchiest character yet, it was nice to see she doesn't have nearly the power over people she would like you to think. She plays a mother of two children, probably a widow, in post-war England. She lives in a huge mansion, and has children who cannot be exposed to sunlight. It is this condition that forces her to be tough and disciplined, especially to the new trio of servants she has just hired. But it is not only toughness out of necessity. If you see how she OVER-punishes her children, and assumes it is the servants who left some doors open (it couldn't be HER!) that she also has some inner meanness to her. If you've seen her other movies, you KNOW it, but if this is your first Nicole Kidman movie, you have to watch to see the true nature of the character come out. So when her fragile world starts crumbling around her, I for one was glad to see her unwind by finding that maybe she doesn't have all the power over her house she thinks she has. We see all the beginning classic symptoms of the haunted house, with unexplained noises and physical things being mysteriously altered. Of course, all around her deny everything, and after several instances of this, she has to make a decision to accept this, become stronger, or breakdown. I will reveal to you that all three things happen, but not necessarily in that order. She does valiantly make a stand to hold her title of Ice Queen. But eventually the supernatural gauntlet she is dragged through causes her to eventually break down. This was a big moment of the movie for me. However, I wouldn't be giving the movie four stars if it didn't have other things going for it. There is a big secret plot twist that I imangine people will say was taken from another recent movie, but I will say it did get me hook, line, and sinker. And just like that other movie, it honestly gives all the clues necessary to reach this conclusion upon a second viewing. Which is another reason why I like this. I did not like "Vanilla Sky" (by the way, not the movie this one "borrows" from), and even upon a second viewing of "Sky", when I knew the secret, I still though the movie did not play fair with the audience. "The Others" does play fair, and was enjoyable upon the second viewing, where it becomes interesting all over again once you know the secret.
Rating: Summary: Can you say slowww...... Review: Overall average. We guessed the ending about halfway through. Not one to add to your collection unless you are a real Nicole fan.
Rating: Summary: absolutely fantastic... Review: i loved this movie it was well written and the cast was fabolous not to mention nicole kidman who had an excellent year of work. moulin rouge, a 'goddess'.. birthday girl, 'sexy and innocent'.. and the others, 'extemely terrific'.. this movie will keep you guessing until the last minute and then you will keep thinking about it for days. you must have this movie in your collection. you will not regret it.
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