Pi

Rating:
Summary: Still Pondering Pi
Review: I viewed "Pi" about a year ago. My little sister felt I would appreciate the film for three reasons: I have a Bachelor in Mathematics, I find the nature of numbers to be beautiful, and I have been on a low-key spiritual quest most of my life. This film stimulated me in all three interests and many more. It would help the viewer to have some understanding of what "Pi" is in mathematics and why it is an essential but enigmatic number and concept. Don't let little kids watch it - they wouldn't ponder the film but have nightmares. "Pi" is a rich, deep film for those who philosophize about God, Sanity and so much more.

Rating:
Summary: Intriguing, thought-provoking, and......um, BIZARRE.
Review: Pi is such a bizarre movie that by the time you've finished watching it, you feel like you've just seen a toss-up of wacky images that don't relate to each other. But it is also very gripping and interesting. There's really no way to describe the plot in a few sentences. But I can say that it's about a genius schizophrenic scientist who loves numerical patterns, and he searches for the numerical pattern that created the universe, which develops into an earth-shattering sequence of 216 numbers. The music is eerie and excellent for the complex scenario. The black-and-white cinematography is simply not to be believed! But the ending and plot is so bizarre, it's hard to find anyone whom I know will not find any flaws in Pi. Or maybe they will. I'm just 14 years old, so I don't know everything.

Rated R, for bizarre and disturbing images, and for language. The atmosphere is also very intense. Too intense for preteens if you ask me.

Rating:
Summary: Very original, creative and disturbing
Review: PI is one of the most original movies I have seen in years, proving once again that you don't need a big budget to make a great film. At the same time, this movie probably is not for everyone; don't watch it in the dark when you're depressed. Or maybe you should: you may relate to it even more.

Delving into arcane knowledge of math, the Jewish cabal and the meaning of numbers, this movie makes you wonder. What is reality? What brings everything together? Is there something hidden, the name of God imprinted somewhere deep inside of imbalanced genius. Adding to it a group of people from some strange corporation who desire this knowledge and also a group of Jewish mystics who chase this poor genius of a man, the film takes on an unreal, yet believable quality.

With a great score, haunting acting and wild hallucinogenic images, the movie is a wild ride of a mystic thriller.

Rating:
Summary: wow
Review: I have to say i have never ever watched a movie and then watch it all over again straight afterwards......and i will watch it again and again. I love this movie - it has been a long time since i felt challanged by a film. Its a must.

Rating:
Summary: THIS IS ONLY FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE SEEN IT & DIDN'T LIKE IT
Review: The only way to be able to judge this movie is by watching it several times, because there is so much there that it is impossible to absorb it all the first time.

Spirals are everywhere, whether they be hurricanes, or subatomic particle paths, or galaxies, and come in many forms. The belief of the main character(indeed, probably the only thing resembling a religious belief for him) is that all nature is defined by mathematics, by patterns, and that it is only a matter of finding the right pattern, and he begins to find himself surrounded by logarithmic spirals, and in some very unexpected ways.

Forget about trying to say what this story is about, because the movie is about EVERYTHING; it is layered, intertwined and complex, but its messages can be interpreted so simply, it indeed deserves such a simple title.

Think about this: after having watched the movie, you can see that only Max was able to understand the number because he could see 'between' the numbers; he could see the entire hidden and intricate meaning behind it. Is there a meaning, or a message, behind this movie? Almost certainly, but one can only understand it if they can see all the facets of this movie (Max's growing insanity, the stock market, the Torah, consciousness, and so on) and be able to connect them.

And that is what I say, with no offense or pretension, to anyone who didn't like this movie. Please see it again. I get more out of it every time.

Rating:
Summary: Math Theory Fiction Title
Review: This film is beautifully done from the cinematography to the compelling character portrayal of a calculative, paranoid sociopath on the verge of understanding our universe. I guess it would be unfair to call him paranoid since most of his fears were justifiable. Fans of Kubrick, indy films, and or math will gladly hand over 90 minutes of their time for this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Ignorance is bliss.
Review: There are some thing man is better off not knowing, andapparently, the name of God is one of them. The Max Cohen character walks through life, seeing little other than numbers and their mystic relevance to the world. He reminds the audience of ancient theorists, who not only delved into mathematics, but black magic and other less tangible interests. He fails to see why his mentor stopped where he did. What follows is a paranoid fantasy, where Wall Street gurus and Hasidic Jews hunt Cohen down to pry the mysteries of their worlds out of his head. This is when the film stalls, especially the pointless superchip plot and characters. The strongest points in the film come when Cohen is alone, and allowed to ponder the significance of the information trapped in his skull. Hallucinogenic sequences leave little to the imagination, but serve a purpose as Cohen finds a rather simple solution to his problem. The ending leaves you cringing, then with a broad smile on your face. Well worth a rental.

Rating:
Summary: pi=3.14
Review: As the opening title scroles down with the number of pi going to infinity, to say the least, it was awesome!

This is one of those movies that you get goose bumps watching, not all that scary (like if someone were to scare you kind of scary) but a different kind of scary. Like when Max keeps taking his pills the same way, I can not explain it all that good but it was scary in its own way. The goose bumps came from not knowing what a lot of the movie meant, I have watched it a few times and it never gets old, you cant figure out why the pattern in pi and the stock market both equal the same 216 digit number and that is suposedly the true name of god... well I strongly suggest that you buy or rent this movie it is a very well made independent film...

Rating:
Summary: It aspires to be pretentious,
Review: as a friend of mine said. The storyline is simplistic, which would be no problem were the imagery not so overused and the dialogue not so terrible ("But maybe it's genius!"--perhaps the director's wistful thoughts on his own film?).

Maybe this is why the movie is as bad as it is: it mixes the storyline of the quest to know the secrets of the universe with a bunch of paranoiac gibberish. It doesn't focus enough on the emotional and spiritual consequences of Max's quest to know the mind of God. We never get enough sense of Max Cohen as a character to empathize with him. Hence my feeling that the movie is juvenile, because it puts him through a lot without allowing us to feel with him.

Rating:
Summary: 3
Review: An astonishing film, often unfairly compared to David Lynch's 'Eraserhead' by people who have only seen stills. Uniquely, it's an intelligent taught thriller about number theory, with a gritty visual style, accomplished with a tiny budget and lots of dedication. The stark, black-and-white footage and apocalyptic plot (with a nod to Arthur C. Clarke's 'The Nine Billion Names of God') seem to set the film in a strange otherworld in which big business and religion combine to drive a mathematician to the brink of insanity. The acting is fine - naturalistic, with no scenery-chewing (and any bad performances can be written off as the warped perceptions of the lead character), and the script, whilst being very functional, nonetheless conveys an impression of a mental world ruled by numbers. The soundtrack is fantastic, too - lots of edgy 'braindance' from Warp-esque artists, available on a great CD. On DVD you get two commentaries, a music video, some trailers, some cut bits (although they are nothing special) and a preview of the graphic novel - a 'Matrix-esque multimedia blitz. It sticks in the mind and you won't forget it - try not to watch whilst suffering from a toothache, either.