Stay away from this pile of *beep* - Taking Woodstock (2009) Discussion

[–] Big_Bad_Wolf3456 15 years ago

Had Jeffrey Dean Morgan or Emile Hirsch not been in it, I wouldn't have rented it. It was seriously...kind of awful. I really liked the atmosphere that Ang Lee created and all that, but it was boring as hell. It was just Elliot walking back and forth and a few laughs along the way.

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[–] jac91604 15 years ago

I guess a lot of movie audiences today need explosins or fart jokes to keep them entertained.

Telling a story doesn't hold their interest.

You also had to pay attention...that is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hard to do nowadays.

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[–] Big_Bad_Wolf3456 15 years ago

If that was to me specifically, no, not at all. I mean it was just....boring on the first go around. It's still kind of boring and a lot of parts feel like maybe they could've been cut and some of the deleted scenes should've been put in but that's just me, the movie was kind of slow and it does take a certain personality to appreciate those movies (Clint Eastwood movies, The Zodiac, etc).

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[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] vince200002000 15 years ago

I don't understand how people could say "this is the worst movie ever" and they don't even list their reasons to back-up their opinions. Seriously, if you're going to say something like that at least explain why you didn't like it.

"Sometimes it's right to do the wrong thing, and right now is one of those times."

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[–] musica_poetica 14 years ago

But you had to like the inclusion of one of my favorite Doors songs, "Maggie M'Gill" Performed by The Doors?

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[–] mccoymike 14 years ago

Morrison Hotel....an underrated Doors album...and my favorite...

Peace Frog
Maggie M'Gill
Roadhouse Blues
Queen of the Highway
The Spy
Indian Summer
Blue Sunday
You Make Me Real
Ship of Fools
Land Ho
Waiting for the Sun

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[–] pamelals66-1 14 years ago

I actually liked this movie a lot. If you are expecting a "wild ride" that focuses on the music and drugs, you'll be disappointed. It is a story about a family, all stuck in their day to day ruts, until Woodstock wakes them up. I loved how Elliot got to see his father being brought back to life, so to speak.

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[–] sugar_n_spice 14 years ago

Although a few people I know were extras in the movie (you can see them in the background during a payphone conversation), I didn't like the film at all. Extremely slow character development, poor writing and acting (everything had a low-energy effect)--not even Ang Lee's use of the split-screen could spice up the montages. Pretty much the whole movie felt like all of the filmmakers were bored with it.

Honestly, the only interesting things were the mass crowds walking to the concert (the nuns giving the peace sign were pretty cool) and the acid trip. But even the latter they managed to drag out (especially the buildup/anticipation of the high) to the point where I was like, "Okay... I get it... he's having his first trip..."

Just a really, really boring film.

(And before anyone says it--I don't need explosions to keep me happy. In fact, I hate Transformers.)

Although I would've liked the OP to elaborate...

How's your head, David?
: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_-yBJ0YnZ0

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[–] Grammaw_Oddree 14 years ago

but it had "John Boy"!

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[–] emo_ville2002 14 years ago

It's great that the filmmakers added a Doors song, unfortunately "Morrison Hotel" was released AFTER Woodstock happened!

If you are going to do a movie about a particular era in music, make sure you use the music which was actually released during that time!

If someone were to do a movie about the Monterey Pop festival experience, I sure hope they'd use the correct music.

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[–] sunbatt50 14 years ago

Have to agree with the haters - Ang Lee managed to take an iconic, major moment in history and turn it into a boring coming of age piece of dreck.

The transvestite character was a really stupid, pointless inclusion, the gay, public themes I can guarantee never happened in that era, the characters and scenes were so predictable they could have been taken from any below average TV show.

Scenes started and never went anywhere, characters never developed, the obligatory tripping scene added to "bring the era to life", I suppose. It was so ham-fisted I'm not sure what they were trying for, but it seemed gratuitous, at best.

The music generally sucked - they didn't even include THE seminal moment - Max Yasgur's speech. In fact, the concert was pretty much ignored, making the title deceptive, at best.

A fail on almost every account.

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[–] RichCrenshaw 14 years ago

agree with the last bit, waited the entire goddamn movie and he spent the concert in a van....what a waste

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[–] scerny21 14 years ago

If this is one of the worst movies you have ever seen then you havent seen many movies.

A great paranormal website. SpookToob.com

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[–] bmalone135 14 years ago

Would you like to...elaborate a little?

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[–] greenbanzanas 13 years ago

I gave it a 9, so I guess it's a matter of taste.

I also believe it might be Ang Lee's masterpiece, although I really liked the Ice Storm and have never seen Brokeback. I also don't recall liking Ride the Devil, and I was a huge Jewel fan. And, as for crouching tiger, I didn't care for that too much either, as I'm not a kung-fu fan, although I don't recall it being awful.

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] tmlfan77 13 years ago

I personally enjoyed it....but I also watched it immediately following the original 'Woodstock' documentary film, so I went into it knowing who the key players were (Michael Lang, Max Yasgur, etc.) If I were to watch it as a stand-alone film, I'm not sure I would've enjoyed it as much, but I considered it to be a great companion piece, giving you a sort of "behind the scenes" look at how it all came together. As to how accurate the events in the movie were portrayed.....I honestly wouldn't know. But I enjoyed it very much for what it was.

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