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In Reply to: Sixth Sense was one of the best acted suspense films in years. posted by Audiophilander on August 20, 2001 at 09:30:58:
I really did figure out that he was a ghost, in those first few minutes when he sits down at the table in the restaurant with his wife, and she never looks at him (ever)...maybe I'm just more observant than the average guy? Or could it be that anyone who liked the Sixth Sense isn't very observant? HOW OFTEN DO YOU SIT DOWN AT A TABLE, AND YOUR WIFE NEVER LOOKS AT YOU, AT ALL? Just doesn't happen...Of course it wasn't at the usher's insistance, it was at my brain's insistance...I don't care if you liked this film or not...no one will convince me it was a worthwhile film, or that Haley Joel Osment can act. He just seems like the average kid performing in a middle school play whenever I see him. The dialog and pace of the Sixth Sense was putting me to sleep...the home videos I've shot myself are less boring. Hell, PBS's pledge drive (at times) is less boring...
If it makes you feel better to dog me here than respond (like a man) to the e-mail I sent you, then that's fine...you aren't as mature as you'd like to pretend...not that you're giving any effort to that.
My taste in films is just fine, Sixth Sense sucked...and to even remotely begin compare it to Citizen Kane is folly of the highest magnitude...like comparing a pile of trash in a dumpster, to Michelangelo's "David".
Follow Ups:
I'll take a look and if it's there I'll respond; it is possible that I overlooked it since our server provides us with several addresses and I check my audio e-mail addy less frequently. BTW, I haven't been "dogging you here" or anywhere else. If I respond to a post it's on it's own merits or lack thereof.You're entitled to like or dislike whatever you want. However, IMHO you are dead wrong about Haley Joel Osment's acting; as a matter of fact you may be a majority of "one" on that particular observation. AFAIC, if he's not the best kid actor he's certainly one of the best I've ever seen in a movie.
> > > "The dialog and pace of the Sixth Sense was putting me to sleep." < < <
So, are you saying that the usher escorted you out for snoring too loud? ;^)
Just teasin',
AuPh
I just replied to the e-mail that you finally replied to.Look, most everyone I know detests Haley Joel Osment, so I am in no way a "majority of one" (that's just wishful thinking on your part). I'm surprised that you would be so in lock-step with what essentially every movie critic on the planet thinks about Osment. Can't you decide for yourself?
He has only played one role in his short carreer: that of the introspective, wistful outsider-kid who always manages to out-think everyone, and solve everyone's problems for good measure (almost like a pseoudo-pop psychologist in kid form...a miniature Depac Chopra if you will....ok, this mostly applies to "Pay it Forward", but you get the idea). There's nothing compelling or plausible about a character like that. And who are you to criticize me for whining? This Haley kid whines more than Al Franken on Inauguration Day, and almost one tenth as much as Ben Affleck in "Armageddon"...Ben's borders on inhuman, so ten percent of his whine-level is more than enough to be troublesome.
btw, Read my review below of "Along Came a Spider", and tell me what you think of it if you've seen the movie (and forget it was me that wrote it, please...hypnotize yourself if you have to...listen to a Barbra Streisand song or sumthin).
You seem to be hung up on the usher thing. Have YOU had any bad experiences with them? Seriously, I'm curious...They seem to be decent teenagers for the most part. Sometimes they'll fix a focus problem, other times not (esp. if it's a problem that refocusing won't fix).
Frankly, I long for 1993 thru '94, when DTS films made use of the dynamic range DTS is capable of. None of them do anymore...even Phantom Menace was pooped out...huge disappointment for me. The DTS reissue of Episode 4 in 1997, was worlds more dynamic than the soundtrack for Phantom Menace. What a waste! IMO, I think that the theater chains must have complained to the movie studios about people not liking the loud sound effects, or maybe they even were burning out speakers a lot of the time?
And now, no theater in my area has decent sound anyway. They've all let it go downhill (and the picture lots of times too...they let the bulbs get old and dim and don't replace them when I suggest it repeatedly).
It's all the fault of the management and the theater chains themselves. The ones in my area are Carmike, and Regal. What ones are in your area? Regal has the room that I saw JP1 in (every room there is of low quality now)...but back then it was a sonic and visual experience that I'll always be nostalgic for. I just don't see the total experience of stimuli ever exceeding that in a public theater again. Just seeing this film then, caused a fine-tuning of my interest in audio, for which I am grateful!
Lots of people love to knock the sound quality in public theaters, but in 1993 this room in this theater was something different and special. The room eq must have really been dialed in. And honestly, besides dynamic swings seemingly matching that of guns firing in real life...the tonal quality was still like tubes in a highend 2 channel-for-music system! I know that sounds ridiculous, but it's true! The soundtrack allowed the sound effects to be 30 dB or more above dialog level. No DTS movie soundtrack that I've heard since then has even approached that ("Star Trek 7" and "True Lies" both take second place)...much less a Dolby Digital one.
Carl
I'm trying to be very Zen about your post Carl. First, you make a lame and quite frankly childish attempt at publicly insulting my manhood while accusing me of "dogging you" and not responding to your e-mails, then you imply that the delay was intentional (i.e., both here and in your e-mailed response) when I clearly explain the reason for it.Okay, let's address your mischaracterization of my opinons and Haley Joel Osment's acting. You state: "I'm surprised that you would be so lock step with what essentially every movie critic on the planet thinks about Osment. Can't you decide for yourself?" First of all, what makes you think that this isn't an opinion I've formed without the prodding of critics? Couldn't one just as easily accuse you of being a contrarian by nature who refuses to acknowledge talent because he wants to be out-of-step with anything associated with mainstream?
> > > "He has only played one role in his short carreer" < < <
Hmmm. How many film roles had Orson Welles played before "Citizen Kane?" ;^)
Seriously, why does the number of roles matter? Judge the performance, not the resume! Besides, you're incorrect on two counts: 1) "Pay It Forward" was a fine movie with strong acting (i.e., a box-office sleeper that should've done much better, IMHO), but you probably didn't like the Liberal subtext, and 2) you omitted Haley Joel Osment's performance in Steven Spielburg's film "A.I." this summer (i.e., Spielburg's homage to Stanley Kubrick, interpreting his unfinished last project).
> > > "btw, Read my review below of "Along Came a Spider", and tell me what you think of it if you've seen the movie (and forget it was me that wrote it, please...hypnotize yourself if you have to...listen to a Barbaras Streisand song or somethin)." < < <
ROTFLOL! Now that beats all...! You seek my approval and then insult me with a thinly disguised gay innuendo (i.e., there's a running gag about homosexuals liking Streisand's music; don't feign ignorance on this Carl, even you're not that naive! Sheeeesh!)
> > > "You seem to be hung up on this usher thing." < < <
Poe fellow, if thy glass house offends thee, invite in an Usher; it will surely fall! ;^)
> > > "Have YOU had any bad experiences with them?" < < <
Not the kind you're fixated on. ;^)
Seriously, it's hard to find good help to work in theaters nowadays (i.e., I'm pretty sure that it's a wage issue); I can't count the number of times my wife, myself and many of our friends have been disappointed by a poorly displayed film in a first-run theater. The reality is that we now expect inexperienced theater employees to act as ushers, projectionists, ticket takers, and concession operators all rolled into one. This all ties into your DTS sound quality issue. The cost of putting those high-quality sound systems into theaters and maintaining them must be astronomical; add to that the expense of havibng qualified technicians to run and service them... well, you can see the problem. The same holds true for dim bulbs (uhhh, I'm talking about the projectors; it wasn't intended as a personal slight! -- grin)
AuPh
"I'm trying to be very Zen about your post Carl."-thanks for sharing...still waiting on the "motorcycle maintenance" section, and not holding my breath on you being "Zen" about anything, ever.
"Couldn't one just as easily accuse you of being a contrarian by nature..."
-hell no they couldn't, I generally like mass audience/market movies (that are also at least halfway decent)...it's likely that anyone who liked JP3 would, so oh man are you dead wrong on this one!! You must have forgotten that thread below...I suggest you peruse it again...you know you want to!
"Seriously, why does the number of roles matter? Judge the performance, not the resume!"
-because it goes directly to acting ability. Ask any actor. If you can only play one role, you don't have much skill.
"you omitted Haley Joel Osment's performance in Steven Spielburg's film "A.I." this summer"
-and with good reason...I haven't seen it, and I refuse to see it. No one could pay me to see it.
"You seek my approval and then insult me with a thinly disguised gay innuendo"
-LMAO!! You have gay on the brain...she's a more outpsoken LIBERAL than she is a gay rights activist...that is widely known by everyone but you, apparently...Seek your approval? Hell no, your thoughts, yes. You don't pay my salary, so why in hell would I seek your approval? Makes no sense whatsoever. I'm here to share thoughts, not to seek approval or kiss the moderators' collective a$$es like you pathetically do.
"Not the kind you're fixated on. ;^)"
-It's YOU who has the fixation, not me. It's YOU who kept that little lame motif going, as if it were somehow humorous.
"The same holds true for dim bulbs (uhhh, I'm talking about the projectors; it wasn't intended as a personal slight! -- grin)"
-Like hell it wasn't, grin.
I've already responded several times to your e-mails in the vain effort to reach an understanding or at least a truce, and it's obviously a circular discussion going nowhere. If you wish to pursue making insinuations about me, my politics, the moderators or whoever, this isn't the place for it. Perhaps you should take these personal issues Outside. That is all I have left to say on the matter in this thread.AuPh
...and I find the above completely self serving and disengenuous on your part. Why don't you just admit that you always have to have the last word, as a baby to its bottle?
As usual, a ligitimate question is posted and the silly, unrelated arguments break out. Yes, there is no law against it, and the site doesn't forbid it; but really folks, take a look at yourselves. Have you no shame?
There's a dead give away just after he's shot. We cut outside with the camera high above the ground, floating earthwards. Aha, I thought. He's dead and his ghost is returning to his old haunts.
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