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Topic: Old School

Pravin Ratnam
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 844
From: Atlanta, GA,USA
Registered: Sep 2002

posted 03-05-2003 07:52 AM

Saw this at Regal Perimeter pointe , Atlanta. Sound and masking seemed fine. The problem was with the brightness. Daylight scenes seemed a tad dull looking. I am assuming a film like this would be filmed with a brighter look in the daytime scenes since that's how upbeat comedies are filmed.

As far as the movie: I was disappointed. I did not expect a great comedy. But I expected a breezily paced movie. The first half had some funny laughs. But the second half was lame. The whole bit with trying to make sure the frat doesn't get disqualified by undergoing a battery of tests has been done better in many 80s cheesy movies such as Revenge of the Nerds series.

Another problem with the movie was it did not want to go all the way in nastiness. It tried to have it both ways by trying to give the lead character a yearning to be mature. Luke Wilson, who is good in his collaborations with his brother and Wes Wnderson in the Bottlerocket, Royal Tenenbaums movies is just a plain bore here. He just lacks any sense of personality in movies he does without his brother Owen. Vince Vaughn was just underused in the second half. Will Ferrell had a few funny moments, but they could have amped up the comedy factor more with him.

While you won't get bored by the flick, it is definitely a video rental more than a movie you want to go to the theater to watch.
Or just catch it on cable.

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Evans A Criswell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1579
From: Huntsville, AL, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 03-14-2003 01:54 PM

Attendance: 2003/03/13 19:45, Carmike 10, Huntsville, AL, Auditorium 2, Scope (Super35), DTS

This comedy was entertaining, but the real test of movie quality is whether I want to buy the DVD when it comes out, and I think this movie falls just short of that threshold.

As soon as the house is inspected by the dean guy, you know what the plot is going to be. It's a formula that has been used many times before. You know what many of the outcomes will be as well long before the movie is over. It was a bit too predictable. The movie had elements of several comedies I've seen before.

One interesting thing about this movie is the out of focus points of light in the background formed 8-sided polygons, which amde me interested enough to stay for the end of the credits to find out what kind of cameras were used. They were Clairmont. 9 seems to be the norm for Panavision cameras and 7 for Arriflex.

There were many characters in this movie I just didn't really like and I would have been more pleased to see some funny nasty things happen to some of them at the end of the movie.

Luke Wilson's hair was too short. (Distractingly so). His face shape just doesn't go with that short hair he had.

The presentation was fine during the movie. On the flat to scope changeover, the aperture plate stopped halfway between the two positions, leaving a vertical bar in the center of the image with the scope opening on the left of the screen and the flat opening on the right, with the soundtrack on the left corner of the auditorium. I went out and told them and it was fixed after one preview/commercial. The audio was good. The DTS dropped out for a couple of minutes at one point, but this theatre has raised the level of the analog audio so the levels match, making it not nearly as noticeable.

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William Leland III
Master Film Handler

Posts: 336
From: Charleston, SC,
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 03-16-2003 05:17 PM

I rate "Old School" 5 beers out of a 12 pack [beer]

I knew going in to "Old School" I expected fart jokes and stupid physical humor i.e falling down the stairs. I was not let down. The premise is summed up by Pravin Ratnam and Evans A Criswell. A typical 80's movie, the plot is laid out very easy to follow.

I didn't find Luke Wilson funny. He's not funny. He should never do a comedy, he's a good drama and charactor actor. This is not his type of role. I found him annoying and wishing a keg would fall on his head. Vince Vaughn was good, he played the type of character we love. Your best friend but never lies, always honest, brutally honest. When will he be a leading man?? Will Ferrell does what he does best, big, physical comedy and alot of yelling. He's good at it, but he reminds me of Leslie Neilson and Chevy Chase. They can do physical comedy and talk with dry humor very well. Will Ferrell just tried to be to stupid, like Homer Simpson.

Don't get me wrong I did laugh alot. The audience loved it. You need to see this movie with an audience that wants to laugh, so go on a Friday or Saturday night with young teens.

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System Notices
Forum Watchdog / Soup Nazi

Posts: 215

Registered: Apr 2004

posted 10-25-2006 12:43 AM

It has been 1318 days since the last post.

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Chris Hipp
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1462
From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas)
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 10-25-2006 12:43 AM

Excellent film. The former pinacle of Will Ferrell's career, this was of course before Ricky Bobby.

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