Rating: 
Summary: Excellent family film
Review: People who find this movie slow, boring, dull or uninteresting have attention deficit disorder. "Holes" is one of the best movies of 2003 and also one of the best family movies I've seen, either live-action or animated.The wonderful screenplay is faithful to the novel and director Andrew Davis does a terrific job of bringing the story to vivid, atmospheric life. I saw the movie before I read the book (which I immediately ran out and bought), and I had no idea where the story was going from one moment to the next. I did know that I was in tremendous suspense and could not guess the outcome of the film. For some people, that's a drawback -- they feel safer when they can see everything coming and it all works out according to formula. Such viewers should avoid "Holes" at all costs. Others will enjoy the action-packed story telling, the outstanding desert photography, the twisting, turning plotline, and, most of all the performances. The acting in "Holes" is good enough to outshine most of the so-called "Oscar contenders" that always come out late in the year. Jon Voight is sensational as the sinister Mr. Sir -- I tell you, this guy is fearless -- and Tim Blake Nelson makes a likeably ambiguous bad guy. Sigourney Weaver took my breath away with her unbelievable beauty (did she wear any makeup for this movie?) and powerful screen presence. But the young actors at the heart of the film earn my highest praise, especially Shia Lebouf as the heroic Stanley Yelnats. My 11-year-old daughter, who's as big a fan of hyperactive entertainment as any child, loved "Holes" and demanded to watch it twice. She can't wait to own the DVD. Neither can her old man. This is a film to treasure.
Rating: 
Summary: Why did we rent this?
Review: I rented this movie with my husband and daughter. Now my daughter LOVES movies and will sit forever watching a movie if it's good and entertaining. This didn't hold her attention for more than 10 minutes. After it was over we were left with a feeling of "what the heck?" It's really odd and way too hard for a kid to follow. It switches around between present day and old West constantly and never ties it all together until close to the end of the movie so you're left with a feeling of confusion. The scenes all looked the same, not much variation and it just seems so odd to me that this was marketed towards kids. There is some language that I would prefer not to have my child hear and the casting wasn't that great. Sorry Disney, but I'd have to give this one a thumbs down for a poorly done confusing mess.
Rating:
Summary: Good book,Bad movie
Review: What a mess,so much hype for one stupid movie based on Louis Sachar's better book.the movie is terrible it stars the most annoying kid actor Shia LeBeouf as Stanley Yelnats being accused of stealing shoes and sent to a camp where he and other juveniles dig holes for punishment.the owners of Camp Green Lake are so cruel.Jon Voight and Sigourney Weaver in their worst roles ever are really badly mis-cast.the plot is confusing and the kids at this camp are losers.one of the worst movies ever.it's down there with Batman and Robin,The Matrix 1 and 2,Isthar,Gigli,Amazon Women on the Moon,Baby Geniuses,Mary Shelley's Frankenstein{1994},Godzilla{1998},Crash{David Cronenberg's},Jason X,Adventures of Pluto Nash,Dreamcatcher,Daredevil,Scary Movie 1 and 2,and Not another teen movie.all the worst movies ever,so far.
Rating: 
Summary: UNBELIEVEABLE MOVIE!
Review: Wow this movie was great! It was one of the best movies I have ever seen and was a movie you jsut can't stop watching.I think the movie was definitely better than the book and the book was excellent. This is a movie for people of all ages and is just flat out a fantastic film.I would recommend it to anyone!
Rating: 
Summary: Holes: the movie
Review: Almost 50% of all kids nowadays read the book "Holes" in school. Finally, this movie is out. It follows precisely the original story, so it can be interesting to compare the two. The story is about a young boy, Stanley Yelnats (what's peculiar about that name), who gets sent to boot camp. He gets put there because he is accused of a crime he didn't commit. He is then forced to dig a hole 5 feet wide and 5 feet deep for every day for a year. Soon, you realise that the digging is for a treasure, not for no reason. The movie is well done, but very slow paced. All the colors all also the same dirt color, which takes a bit out of the movie in the long run. If you've read the book, then I suggest this movie, otherwise, read the book first.
Rating:
Summary: ¿Holes¿ a satisfying film on many levels¿
Review: After reading/hearing many positive reviews regarding Disney's latest film "Holes," I rented a copy to see for myself. Although billed as a children's film (Disney no less), "Holes" deals with universal elements of friendship, loyalty, and destiny, with a healthy dose of intrigue, tension and danger to boot. There are many adult elements in the film, such as a mob killing, bandits and an interracial romance in Old Texas, but the movie is easy for a younger audience to connect with as well. Based on the popular children's book by Louis Sachar (I read several books by Mr. Sachar in elementary school), "Holes" is the story of Stanley Yelnats and company, boys who have been sent to Camp Green Lake, Texas to be "rehabilitated" after brushes with the law. The boys are forced to dig an endless number of deep holes in the desert in order to build character, but it quickly becomes evident that overseers Mr. Sir and the Warden have other plans in mind besides character building: lost treasure. Stanley befriends the D Tent boys: Zero, Armpit, Squid, X-Ray, Magnet and Zigzag, and in the spirit of the Three Musketeers it's one for all and all for one as the boys struggle to make it from day to day cut off from family and society. Stanley (Shia LaBeouf from "Even Stevens") and Zero/Hector (Khleo Thomas) quickly develop a bond as Zero helps him dig his holes and Stanley teaches Zero how to read. The two escape from the camp and must help each other survive in the ruthless heat and dust storms, and along the way they discover the secret of Camp Green Lake and the Kissing Bandit. Extras were decent, including a "gag reel" that was mostly footage from the film (no bloopers or anything of that nature), a "Dig It" music video by the D Tent boys, several deleted scenes, two commentaries (a cast commentary geared towards a younger audience and one for the adult crowd by director Andrew Davis and screenwriter Louis Sachar-a marvelous idea for kids' DVDs), "On the Set with Louis Sachar" and a making-of featurette. There are several moments of violence (fights, several deaths and near-death experiences, gunplay), implied romance, and no overly offensive language ("Holes" is rated PG). Overall this is a great movie, full of friendship, scheming, overcoming challenges, bandits and buried treasure, along with poisonous lizards, onions, and shoe odour!
Rating:
Summary: And we ain't talking no golf course either!
Review: Great book, great movie. The author wrote the screenplay himself - the director wanted it that way. Way to go. My 9 1/2 year old smart as a whip daughter loved the book and couldn't wait to see the movie (our first DVD, yeah, so we're dinosaurs).
The extras on the DVD are not that great though, surprisingly.
And what's with Shia's (Stanley) tics! Did they work this kid too hard?
One reviewer mentioned that the film was too intense for her 6 year old. Well, duh, this is NOT for kids under 10. (Same people who bring their toddlers into a movie theater to see scary movies because they don't have a baby sitter. Is anybody checking IDs these days at the theaters - babies, helloooooo!!! The kids in the film are great - it's basically Cool Hand Luke for kids meets Chicken Run/Stalag 17 meets Papillion. And it works due to great performances by all the kids and the adults too - Jon Voigt is an absolute hoot as Mr. Sir, Sigourney Weaver is the sexy Dominatrix warden. (Weaver's daughter is a fan of the book and asked her mommy to play the warden, Weaver says in the interview on the DVD version) The directing is very good, stylish but without undermining the story. Great soundtrack too, incl. one track with the kids rapping to the beat, yo! And did I mention that the one and only Eartha Kitt plays Madame Zeroni - she's perfect, ofcourse. The story line with Kate and Sam was neat and sexy. "I can fix that", says Sam to Kate. Mmmm, bet you can. He's a fine looking man, the actor who plays Sam. Patrica Arquette is perfect as the school teacher turned bandit, still in love with Sam after 20 years. Very brave to have a story that includes an interracial couple's lovestory, and showing them kissing! How often do we get to see that in mainstream Hollywood!?
Also fun to hear Louis Sachar [soccer] talking about his slow progress in writing the book - it took him 18 months I believe. A few pages every day. Very encouraging to hear this for a writer.
Catch ya later. Thank you very much.
Rating:
Summary: Connecting the Holes
Review: Stanley Yelnats the IV is walking home from school one day and, from out of the clear blue sky, a pair of nice shoes come crashing into him from above. Come to find out these shoes belonged to a famous athlete who'd donated them to a children's shelter to help raise money. So when Charlie is caught with them, he's dispatched to Camp Greenlake --- a juvenile detention facility designed to help him "build character." Flash back to the early 1900's and we find a totally different Greenlake town. In contrast to the Camp Greenlake that Stanley is sent to in the future where it is all desert, this area was a paradise. Until a white woman kisses a black man. A town mob kills the black man and turns the woman he kissed (the town's school teacher) into Kissing Kate Barlow, a notorious outlaw who robs nearly every form of commerce coming into Greenlake. The town soon withers and dies. Stanley arrives at Camp Greenlake to find a multitude of delinquents digging holes all around the dried up lake bed. No one is sure of what they're looking for. Stanley soon becomes Caveman, a nickname his band of hole diggers give him. Stanley befriends a little boy named Zero. And Zero has a past that will intersect with Stanley's in an amazing way. I don't want to spoil the enjoyment of this film, but be prepared for all of the connections that are made. Everything
--- and I do mean everything --- is related to everything else in this movie: Lizards, Onions, Kissing Kate Barlow, Zero, Stanley's Dad's stinky shoe project, Camp Greenlake's Warden, Mr. Sir (played excellently by Jon Voight), a curse on the Yelnats family, Madame Zeroni, the boat the black man is killed in, the treasure of Kate Barlow! Everything is woven together to form a fantastic spectacle for movie-goers! It's really a film for all ages. A+ movie.
Rating:
Summary: The 'Holes' story
Review: The inmates run the DVD asylum on Disney's release of the down-and-dirty teen adventure "Holes." The boys of D-Tent -- teen actors Shia La Beouf, Khleo Thomas, Jake M. Smith and Max Kasch -- get their own DVD commentary track, delivering a raucous rap session that captures the rebellious spirit of "Holes," and then some. Disney has something here. No big-brother director or producer keeping the commentary boringly on topic. Just kids telling it like is for the benefit of a (presumably) young audience. It's fart jokes, raging teen hormones and a lexicon of sick slang. Along the way, squeeze in some great stories about the production. Brilliant. Director Andrew Davis ("The Fugitive") and "Holes" author-screenwriter Louis Sachar tell their side of the story on a second commentary for those north of 18. Video and audio (your basic Dolby Digital) are up to major studio standards. The disc begins with ads that can be avoided by skipping a few chapters. Extras include two decent making-of featurettes, shot for the DVD. A high-energy music video features the boys singing the film's opening work song, which they wrote with producer Doug E. Fresh. A handful of pretty strong deleted scenes unspool without explanation of why they were cut. Davis, who's quite good at commentaries, aims his talk at a film-savvy audience, spending a lot of time on how CGI helped him achieve the varied naturalistic looks on a tight budget. Stock footage intercut with shots of the cast helped hold down costs on the wild-west scenes. Davis and Sachar discuss the challenge of the making a gritty, sometimes violent film for a PG audience. The movie had to be "not too scary for young kids and tough enough for older kids." (Parents might want to prescreen this one for kids under 7. This is not really a Disney film, but more of an independent film backed by Disney.) Check out the eclectic music Davis used throughout the film, with artists ranging from his brother's bar band to Eagle Eye Cherry. The soundtrack moves around quickly, but it's terrific.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable Disney movie
Review: "Holes" is a highly entertaining movie for all ages. It contains comedy, western, and action. Such combination gives this movie the unique and creative theme. Some surprises occur, which give it many unexpected twists and turns. Oscar nominee Sigourney Weaver and Oscar winner Jon Voight wonderfully perform their roles with humor and with sass. The duo give "Holes" the western feel that it needs, being the setting and its history. The kids' roles were improvised wonderfully by the producers and the director, whom also filmed the movie wonderfully. Stanley Yelnats possesses a terrible family curse that his great-great grandfather spreaded: the bloodline will always have bad luck. Stanley's bad luck starts with his criminal accusation of stealing a pair of legendary shoes, which he's innocent. The judge sentences him to 18 months in a juvenile facility. The warden and Mr. Sir force the kids and him to dig one hole a day. However, the kids know little about the land's history, which will lead them to a surprising and hilarious conclusion. Those looking for a great family movie will enjoy "Holes". Adults will enjoy this as well. Its genre variey gives joy to a broader audience.
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