Night Watch at the Esquire

[kybearfuzz]

After work, I decided to head to a local comic book shop and then catch a matinee of Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozer) at the Esquire.

Despite an intriguing preview and some friends who told me that they couldn't wait to go see it (including my buddy Stewart, Kentucky's resident Scotsman), I was greatly disappointed. The movie is Russian made and the movie has subtitles. While there are some impressive special effects in the film, the story is confusing and the jerking camera motion with quick scene shifts made me a bit queasy. I felt like I had been dropped into the second or third movie of a series without any background. The movie introduces characters, settings, etc. with no reference to their importance. The story and its plot are just not very cohesive.

I always gauge how good a movie is by the number of times I check my watch during the film. If the movie doesn't capture my attention and interest, I find myself looking to see how much time has passed and how much I have left. I looked at the time at least 10 times during the film, wondering when it would end. I actually thought about leaving in the middle of it. This is supposed to be the first in a series of films about the characters. Oh well...

Did I enjoy it? Hardly, but the M & M's were tasty.
Would I watch it again? Only if Jeremy Piven asked me to see it with him.
Buy the DVD? As a gag gift maybe, but for myself, never.

Comments

[truebrixon.livejournal.com]

There has been a lot of hype about this movie, it is unfortunate that it doesn't seem to be able to live up to any of it. BTW, that is exactly how I gauge my interest in a movie. I check my watch a lot in movies that are dragging or that I find boring!

STILL ... foreign films are worth supporting.

[anziulewicz.livejournal.com]

I tend to doubt this film will make it to West Virginia, but if it did I'd go see it, even given the generally mediocre reviews, because moviegoers in the United States tend to insulate themselves from foreign films, let alone RUSSIAN films. Hell, when Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was in the theaters, box office employees were often instructed to make it clear that the film had subtitles, since American moviegoers tend NOT to like them. Given my choice, I prefer a film to be subtitled rather than dubbed.

Anyway, I'm glad you went to see this film, and I appreciate the review. Most of what I've heard said about this film is that you have to appreciate it on it's own terms, and be aware that much of the weirdness has to do with Russian folklore.

[tarotcub.livejournal.com]

i'm getting very worried about seeing this movie

I saw the trailer for it some time ago (I think the release date had changed a few times?) and I have been so pumped up about seeing it, but I have unfortunately been hearing not so great review about it, but I have hear one rave review of it.

I'll probably go and check it out anyways, but I just keep fretting that I'm going to be disappointed.
Maybe I should just keep watching the trailer over and over again and be satisfied with that.