Conference bookie::movies

    Siskel and Ebert voted thumbs down.
    
    Brief story line: Obnoxious yuppies rent a room to a stranger who then
    turns up dead in the room with a suitcase full of cash. They want to
    keep the cash, but what to do with the body?
    
    Steve H.
        

    I heard from a friend in Glasgow last Friday who was 
    going to see it over the weekend that it was made by
    a couple of gradutaes of the Glasgow Film School, so 
    was popular because it was made by "home town boys".
    
    I got the impression, it was kind of a "black comedy"
    and it's supposed to be good.
    
    I'll find out it he actually saw and what he thought.
    
    Sue 

    I just saw this at a special screening in San Francisco, knowing
    nothing about it other than it was a "Neo-noirish black comedy".
    
    I really enjoyed it.  The setup was good, the twists and turns pretty
    devious, it was suitably black, very comic, and rather intense in
    portions.  (I don't want to give away much of the plot or setups - much
    already revealed in previous notes - because I found that half the fun
    was figuring out which direction things were going to head off in.)
    
    As is the rule with first time directors, there was a love-affair with
    weird camera angles and movements.
    
    Well worth checking out.
    
    - Dave
                                                                       

    I saw this a week ago in Los Angeles.  Group of four
    saw it and ... 4 thumbs down.  For calibration purposes,
    this group all liked "Pulp Fiction" quite a bit.
    
    If you bear in mind that "dark" is an advertising
    euphemism for "sick", you'll be on the right track.
    
    It certainly did have good moments, but not enough to 
    recommend this as a good movie, or worth seeing.
    
    			dick
    

    [  I've corrected my geographic summary.  Thank you to the alert Noters
    who pointed this out.  Sorry about that. ]
    
    Moderator note:
    
    Well, things seem to have heated up a tad.  A number of notes have been
    returned to their authors.
    
    Regarding the film, let it be noted that the film is set in Scotland,
    and is cast with Scottish actors.  Danny Boyle, the director, was noted
    to be Scottish, and likely the film company was Scottish as well.
    
    In summary, we can conclude that there are four countries that make up
    the United Kingdom.  Those four countries are: Scotland, Wales, Northern 
    Ireland, and England.  Great Britain consists of Scotland and Britain
    which in turn is comprised of England and Wales.  The term "British" 
    seems to be a bit more ambiguous in usage.  (So, Scotland <> England, 
    and "British" is not the same as "English").
    
    Having established that, let's talk about the film, okay?
    
    Discussion of the differences between England, Great Britain, and the 
    United Kingdom have taken place in great depth elsewhere, such as in the 
    CDSRV::ASKENET_V5 Notes conference and likely many others.  Any future 
    discussion of the differences between these geographic/political entities 
    should be taken elsewhere.
    
    Thanks for your cooperation,
    
    - Dave Wiegleb, co-moderator

    Saw this last night - really enjoyable movie.  Very funny, and well
    scripted.  Its not an 'action' movie, and it wouldn't really lose
    anything by being seen on TV/Video.
    
    mikef  

    RE: small screen
    
    I don't know - some of the shots looked quite wonderful on the big
    screen and would lose a lot on a TV.  I'm thinking of the shot of the
    inspector and his assistance perched on the sofa late in the film,
    looking like birds of prey.
    
    - Dave
    

    
    Well, I just rented this disc, and I really enjoyed it.  I would put
    it in the category of "Blood Simple."  Although by no means as good
    (Coen bros. ROOL), it had the same dark, somewhat ploddy, twisty plot
    feel.  Likewise, it had a bunch of characters, none of whom you liked
    very much.
    
    At first I was lukewarm, but by the ending, I was enjoying myself.
    
    I'm surprised Siskel/Ebert panned this.
    
    - Sean

    
    I saw this on vacation in Scotland and like re-1 thought it to be kinda
    ploddy but by the end I did enjoy it!
    
    
    							ian

    
    
    I found this film to be very disturbing. Really makes you get into
    the tortured minds of the main stars. 
    
    
    spoiler warning
    
    
    
    very sick mind that thought up the body mutilating stuff. That really
    affected me let alone the person who actually would do such a thing.
    
    Chris_understanding_the_double_thumbs_down_rating
    :)