Saw it tonight after work - I work in a theatre anyway, so I can see stuff for free - and it was only a stone's throw away!
Anyways,
very good film. I highly recommend it. I too had never heard of the book before - and I'm usually in the loop about this stuff. *shrug* It's very intelligent family entertainment - and that's a rare delicacy in film these days, for sure.
Even the
Harry Potter flicks pale a bit in comparison - and you're hearing this from a big HP fan, too.
What I find incredible is that this is from the author of dozens of young readers books - including probably his most well-known, the "Wayside School" series - who'd never written a screenplay in his life. It's
also from the director of
The Fugitive, who has never done a family film before. I'd say it was a very successful first for both of them!! LOL
Yes,
Holes definitely deserves all the critical praise it's getting, for sure. The only dissent I've been hearing is that the interwoven plotlines are confusing, but I had no trouble at all keeping up, myself. I found the backstories quite interesting, actually - Kissin' Kate's story was especially sad, I thought. *sniff*
Another great feature of the film is the soundtrack. Everything from urban music to
O Brother, Where Art Thou?-esque tunes play in the background throughout, and it definitely augmented the atmosphere. I may even
buy the CD - I was so taken. Hehe...
So all in all, I watched it for free, but I would've been very satisfied even
if I'd paid $7 for it.
Jake - Aww, there was a stinger? Dang - missed it. I had a feeling there might've been something - but I was impressed by all the beautiful cinematography that runs with the credits, anyway.
CB - The trailers I saw were for
Johnny English (I wanna see that!! Go Bean!!),
Daddy Day Care, Lizzie McGuire, and
How to Deal. Okay, remind me how HtD is different from
A Walk to Remember, again?
. Oy, vay. I was hoping to see the latest
Pirates trailer, but no luck. >:p
PB - I've heard a bit about
Whale Rider. It's a Kiwi flick about a Maori tribe that has lost their next leader at birth, and have issues with letting his twin sister try to prove herself as a viable chief (the classic gender-challenging theme). The title comes from the tradition of the tribe leaders riding on the backs of whales, due to an ancestral tale that the tribe's founder escaped death when his boat capsized by riding a whale back to shore. So this girl Pai, with her mother dead and her father fled, has to prove to herself and her tribe that she can ride the whales, and become their leader, too. It's coming out on June 6th in NY and LA, and probably into a few hundred independent film theatres after that. The official website is
here, if you wanna check it out.
....