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Richard Bacon's Review In Sunday People (UK)


Did any one read the review for In My Fathers Den by Richard Bacon in this weeks (19 June) Sunday People? Here's some quotes..

"It's a shame that there's not a toolbox that can fix film scripts which really dont work"

".. and finally a vice to place it in and batter it over the head with a great big hammer"

"Its an odd type of movie that i cant really imagine any one liking very much. Why exactly would you want to go and see it?"

WHAT THE HELL IS HE TALKING ABOUT?

Someone please back me up and agree that he is talking rubbish. Yes everyone deserves their own opinion but he's not giving it a chance at all. He's calling it rubbish just because its different.


GRRRRRRR

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He is talking rubbish.
(backing up enough?)

I am not from the UK so I do not have access to that review. But I think he likes only movies that give away the clue within the first 5 minutes. I think he likes his stories told linear and not in parts with flashbacks. I do not know him but he is probably only interested in main stream movies. IMFD is absolutely not. Don't let him spoil your interest in this movie. I don't know if you have already seen it. If not, go see it and look for yourself. I, personally never let a reviewer spoil my interest in a movie. I am grown, I can decide for myself.

To back you up even more: This film has won several awards in Spain (San Sebastian), Canada (Toronto) and the USA (Seattle). I saw it on the Rotterdam film festival in a big theatre with 800-900 people and all were sheering and applauding afterwards. Although it did not win a price here, it ended in the top 15 of people's choice award with if a remember correctly a 8.5 average. Not bad if you realise that over 200 movies were shown there. Also look at the over 400 people that already have voted for this movie in the IMDB-database. At the moment the average is 8.2 I believe. Not all of us can be wrong, can we?

Go see for yourself and let us (I am curious) know what you thought of it.

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yeah i have it on DVD and its a totally amazing film

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Richard Bacon? The sacked and disgraced dope smoking former Blue Peter presenting twat? Who cares what this chump thinks.

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Richard Bacon's opinion is worthless. The Sunday People is worthless. Maybe buy a different paper, read the last paragraph of any review rather than the whole thing (last paragraph summarises, generally doesn't give the plot or key moments away), make your own judgement, go and see films which your insight tells you may appeal to your taste then write up your own opinion and post on this website. Hope that helps.....

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Well, I never read anything he writes, or the other 'journalists' who know nothing about film, such as Johnny Vaughn (or however you spell his name). His reviews always end up being about him, not the film, and Kevin Bacon is just a drug addict.

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It made over US$1 million in NZ and this is in a country that mocks NZ films and avoids them like the plague - so that is saying something

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Richard Bacon's slammimg of this movie merely exposes his lack of intellectual capacity. Movie critics are such bores!
The movie is complicated and very demanding of the audience - the plot is full of red herrings.
Thats what makes it so delightful- it is ambiguous - nobody comes out with what they are thinking - they are reluctant to face some difficult past events -
Any member of the audience could not fail to have some empathy with Celia - the actress playing her role is fabulous
The movie is gripping- both the plot and the characters are well written and acted. I have watched it several times and am still enthralled by it.

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Everyone has their own opinions on different movies. i have a list of favourite films that admittedly would include some that many others would think are complete rubbish. As a writer/director myself i can watch a movie with no scrip, no plot and terrible acting and be totally enthrawled by a few snazzy camera shots that somehow forgive the movie all its flaws. I too can appreciate a well thought out, intelligent script, but if the subject matter doesnt interest me, i'll probably not be interested enough to watch the movie to its conclusion. And thats what reviewing movies is all about, its just someone elses considered opinion. whats important is whos opinions you actually choose to listen to and take notice of. Richard Bacon is at best a D list celebrity / journalist who's opinions on most things (if indeed he has any opinions of his own and not one's hes adopted from his other tabloid contemporaries) are probably best igored. All he's actually done is display his comlete lack of knowlege and understanding of movies and emphasised yet again how little skill he has as a journalist.

i wonder if he was stoned while watching it?

i on the other hand thought this movie was fantastic. Well written, superbly acted and the tone of the whole movie was perfectly balanced throughout. An inspired, thought provoking, intelligent piece of filmmaking in an age where such qualities are often not appreciated.

Howewever, this is just my opinion and nothing more.

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Sunday papers hold no mana.

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It's mainly because many people in or associated (or want to be) with film in UK are quite sour to the fact that the British Film Council used some of their funding on this NZ movie under a co-production treaty. The argument was that they can't even put enough money into their (British) films without funding ours (NZ). NZ films are notorious for only appealing to a Kiwi audience but this has disproved by major successes in festivals and distribution all over the world. Many people in UK did like it and there were reviewers there who loved it but they must be watching it for what it truly is, a great film. The script had to even be re-written for Mathew McFadyen to explain for his accent - this was a condition of the co-production agreement). I'm just glad that we fought to have Celia played by a Kiwi or the movie would not really have worked.

In a Single Moment - Everything Can Change. Release 2006-07 www.duality-productions.com

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3 days ago I got my IMFD dvd back from a friend that I lent it to over the weekend. This is someone who, I have to say, much as I love her, has the attention-span of a goldfish. She made her husband watch the film 3 times over one weekend and GET THIS: she's not even into Matthew Macfadyen OR his acting skills. Her hubby called it one of the best films I've ever given them to watch. (They also loved, for points of reference, Whale Rider, Chopper and Hotel Rwanda)
None of this probably means anything to any of you but to me, that justifies a 10 star rating.
My opinion: Whenever I watch this film I discover something new. The scenery makes me desperately want to emigrate to NZ (OK well, LOTR already did that).
I grew up in a claustrophobic town in a remnant of colonial Africa. My family is profoundly dysfunctional. I buggered off to a different hemisphere as soon as I could. So maybe this film touches many personal chords but I believe the issues addressed are universal. IMFD is currently on top of my list of all-time favourite films. No doubt that will change...what can I say, I'm fickle. But it'll stay in the top ten for a LONG LONG time. I could go on forever but have just realised what topic whe're supposed to be on.

For the record: Richard Bacon has my vote for TWAT (please note: extreme euphemism) OF THE YEAR.

ok i'm done now

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I've only recently seen this on DVD and I think it's a great film.Incidentally, I also liked "Whale Rider" and "Hotel Rwanda". Does that tell you anything?

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I, too, have just watched IMFD last night and here I am on imdb, looking at all the posts about it (actually just started and here I am writing). In the added commentary on the DVD, the actor playing Andrew said that many of his scenes were cut or shortened to his dismay because they helped explain his character and made him more sympathetic. True, I didn't understand him or his wife...or their motivations...but that won't stop me looking for them. Because the acting and writing are good enough...more than good enough...to find out the entire story of IMFD. It's unfortunate that they had to to re-edit to conform to a certain time constraint. But that's why you watch a good film (made by honest filmmakers) more than once.
(thread unweaving)
Reading the above comment by aggiecartz (from Nov 24, 2005) and the comment "growing up in a claustrophobic town in a remnant of colonial Africa" made me want to shout...you must see "Wah-Wah"!
It's about that very subject! I will see that film this week. Must go to that message board and see what's there.

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The Sunday People is a sleezy tabloid..............need I say more!

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