Eric's DVD watching.

[Jon]

Once again I come here to share my despair while I'm watching a movie.  This time it is "Cold Mountain".  I've tried watching it over a year ago and couldn't make it to the end, since most people give good reviews and ratings I thought maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it so I kept it on the ice until now.

I've been watching it for 55 minutes now and I after 30 minutes I was already bored.  It's a nice story and visually it's beautiful but it's just soooooooooooooooooooo sloooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww.  I'm gonna watch it 'til the end this time but I hope it gets a litlle more "catchy".  I think they should have made it shorter and give a little bit more rhythm, that would keep my attention.  Right now I keep wandering away, every scene seems longer than the previous one and appears to take forever to get the point.

Interesting. I've never watched Cold Mountain, but had the exact same reaction to The English Patient, also by the late Anthony Minghella. It's frustrating because the story is brilliant, the actors perfectly cast and it looks gorgeous. But damn, it's ponderous! And as you know, my favourite film is Dances With Wolves, so I don't mind a film taking its time.

[Touti]

Interesting. I've never watched Cold Mountain, but had the exact same reaction to The English Patient, also by the late Anthony Minghella. It's frustrating because the story is brilliant, the actors perfectly cast and it looks gorgeous. But damn, it's ponderous! And as you know, my favourite film is Dances With Wolves, so I don't mind a film taking its time.

Right on the spot Jon.  "The English Patient" was one of the very firsts DVD's I owned, within the first 10 I acquired.  I sold it recently when I started letting go of my collection.  I tried to watch it 3 times in all those years I've owned it and could never get to the end.  Just like you I have no problems with movies taking their time, on the contrary,  I always found Kevin Costner not to be a very good actor but I love watching his movies because they're always long.

All my favorite movies are long ones.  Amadeus, Mutiny on the Bounty (Brando one), Dances with Wolves, Braveheart, Wyatt Earp etc.  I can sit there and watch those movies from beginning to end without a pause but "The English Patient" and "Cold Mountain" have or miss something that prevents you from falling in.

[Jon]

I like this opening quote from the Empire review for Cold Mountain (they rated it 4/5, but accept it isn't for everyone):

The problem with The English Patient is that to enjoy it, you have to be either English or patient. So said Joe Queenan, as he delivered his pithy proscription on director Anthony Minghellaís multiple Oscar-winner. Well, Minghella was at it again last year, chiding those who are neither patient, nor, in this case, American; those unable to endure the ponderous, painful roads down which his characters invariably wander.

[Touti]

I checked RottenTomatoes before watching it last night and I was surprised to see that their critics gave an average score of 90% while the community "only" gave 79%.  They're both pretty good scores but, although I don't check RT that much, I seem to recall that the community is usually somewhat more generous than the critics.

I'm really not that knowledgeable when it comes to directors, until you mentioned his name I had never heard of Minghella and obviously had no idea what movies he had done but I just checked on IMDB for the fun of it.  It's funny but I was not really surprised to see he also directed "The talented Mr. Ripley", another movie I found hard to watch 'til the end and that is, imo, also ponderous.  Maybe not as much as Cold Mountain and The English Patient but still, it has that slow pace and characters that don't really seem to be there like the other 2 movies.

I guess I'll have to remember from now on that Minghella movies aren't my cup of tea...................or should I say, being french canadian, my bottle of beer.

[Jon]

I was sad when he died suddenly last year though, because I always enjoyed his potential. The look of his films and the detail; one day he was going to make a film I liked, I was sure of it! His last was a TV movie pilot of a series he produced, called The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, adapted with Richard Curtis (Four Weddings, etc) from books by Alexander McCall Smith. It was a wonderfully quirky series. Slow pace, but no more so than any typical British detective like Morse and Poirot, but set in Africa and the photography was gorgeous. If you see it come on telly, give it a chance. 

[Touti]

There is one good side of watching these boring movies, when you reply to my posts I learn new words.  Last night I didn't know what ponderous meant...............now I think it should be added as a genre in dvdp

[Jon]

 

[Dragonfire]

I've never seen The English Patient.  I remember all the praise it received the year it came out and I just wasn't interested in seeing it.  It just looked like it would be a long, boring movie.  I'm still not interested in seeing it and have no plans to change my mind on that at any point.

I did see The Talented Mr. Ripley back after it came out to rent.  Parts of it were ok, but I remember being hugely bored by most of the movie.  I haven't watched it again and have no desire to watch it again.

I have also seen Cold Mountain.  I actually went to the theater to see it with my mom..she loved it.  Me..not so much.  I didn't hate it..but...well.  It was a well done movie that I didn't like that much.  Again, there are decent elements, but it did drag out too long.  I didn't care for the way things worked out either.  To me, that was just depressing.  I have only seen the movie once, and I will never watch it again. 

[Achim]

I have seen The Talented Mr. Ripley (provided that's the one with Matt Damon) and thought that, while it's rather slow, it was interesting to see how things developed. (I had never read the books, so din't know what to expect.)

For The English Patient I am right with Marie, it never seemed interesting to me in any shape or form. Same is true for Cold Mountain.

[Kathy]

Oh dear, these are on my unwatched pile. I think they may stay there quite a bit longer.

[Touti]

Oh dear, these are on my unwatched pile. I think they may stay there quite a bit longer.

Give them a try Kathy, you never know.  Just because nobody in the whole world liked them doesn't mean you won't 

But seriously, we all have our tastes, maybe you will like them but if I were you I'd start with The Talented Mr. Ripley.  If you find it ponderous (gotta use my new learned words ) chances are you won't like Cold Mountain The English Patient much either.

[Rich]

I quite enjoyed all 3 in the end, so no accounting for taste (I think my review of cold mountain should be on here)

[Touti]

Your review is there Rich, I read it before watching the movie.........your review was positive but you did mention that it's "overly long".

[Jon]

His English Patient is there too. I really can't blame you for liking them, Rich. Honestly I wish I did, if that doesn't sound too odd..

[Touti]

Wish you liked them but like hating them Jon ?