So I went to see “Disturbia” for INK. It was predictable but I enjoyed it. Shia LaBeouf is a decent talent who’s been showing he can transition into the biggie films without ruining his career. You can review my official INK thoughts here. Oh! and when I re-read the review, I realize there is a GLARING MISTAKE in my reference to “The Burbs” with Tom Hanks….
While writing the reviews, if I’m not sure about something, I’ll bold it or highlight it so I can come back to it and research it or whatever. Well, for “Disturbia”, I wrote that it was similar to “Hitchcock’s ‘Rear Window’” and “Zemeckis’ ‘The Burbs’”. However, “The Burbs” was NOT directed by Robert Zemeckis, it was directed by Joe Dante (”Gremlins”). I wrote down ‘Zemeckis’ because it was the first director that I associated with Tom Hanks, don’t ask me why. Anyway, I was supposed to go back and change it to the right director after I had IMDB’d it. But I obviously glossed over it and turned it in to my editor anyway.
And I know most people won’t care or even know that I made a mistake with a director’s name, but it’s still embarrassing. That’s what I get for turning in the reviews at the last possible minute at 3am.
BACK TO DISTURBIA
The worst part about the movie wasn’t the movie itself though, it was my experience at the theatre. I had to sit next to some giggly tweens and some guy who commented on EVERYTHING in the movie. I wanted so bad to stab everyone in the eye with left shoe.
The entire movie wasn’t properly fitted to the widescreen format. They sent a print that had not yet been cropped for theatre distribution. That means the movie was sorta 4×3 and the top and bottom were running off the edges of the screen. Even the giggly tween thug next to me was like ‘dude, fix the stupid screen’. And to top it off, a whole bunch of scenes prominently featured the boom microphone in the shot. It was really bad. Especially in the one dramatic scene of the film where there’s supposed to be a lovey-dovey connection between the two love interests — the boom mic (or mike?) just sits there. This, of course, caused waves of laughter in addition to hissing and booing.
It boggles my mind to think that the studio released this print for public screenings. Even if it wasn’t a finished cut of the film, why would you let the public see horrible blunders that would almost definitely affect the film’s viewership and box office totals? The movie was decent I thought, and a lot of young people are gonna love it. But now you have at least 200 people who are going to tell their friends and family what a sucky movie “Disturbia” was because the images was outta whack and the friggin microphone was a silent character in a bunch of scenes. I heard many of the audience members saying “This movie sucks!”, “They’re not gonna fix it by this Friday, what a crappy movie”.
Oh well, I liked “Disturbia”. LaBeouf is pretty funny, and the movie is a great commentary on the current state of technology and communication, even if it wasn’t intended. It’s very similar to “The Burbs” and “Rear Window” in its cooped up suburban paranoia. I always wonder why movies don’t mention the direct references to older films. Since “Disturbia” is basically inspired by older films, even if it is an original retelling, why don’t I read any of that stuff in press materials? Do they really think all these retellings, rehashes, and remakes are really original?
In some ways I agree with The Film Critic in M. Night Shyamalan’s “Lady in the Water” - “There is no originality left in the world, Mr. Heep. That is a sad fact I have come to face.”
See Ecclesiastes 1:8-11…
All this monotony is tiresome; no one can bear to describe it:
The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content with hearing.
What exists now is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing truly new under the sun.Is there anything about which someone can say, “Look at this! It is new!”?
It was already done long ago, before our time.No one remembers the former events,
nor will anyone remember the events that are yet to happen;
they will not be remembered by the future generations.
~ See Ecclesiastes 1:8-11
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