Halfway through "The Others," there were these kids giggling about ten rows behind me. They were relatively far away, but they were loud enough for me to hear. They weren't giggling because the movie was funny, they were giggling because they were in their own world or whatever. The mother did nothing to shut them up. This was going on for about five minutes, and I couldn't take it anymore, so I turned around and yelled "Shut up, up there!" A few seconds later, I heard the mother say, "why don't YOU shut up?"
And that's what's wrong with going to the movies today. On the plus side, the giggling stopped.
Anyway...
"The Others" is not your typical horror movie. I probably shouldn't even call it a horror movie. It's a ghost story, set in a haunted house. It's not cheesy, like "The Haunting," though. It's a very good movie, and at one point I actually jumped. It wasn't one of those deals where a cat jumps at the character during a quiet moment, nothing like that. Nothing that overdone. It's actually a very scary, effective moment in a movie. It's been a very long time since a movie made me jump like that. It was only one time during the movie, though. And dammit, I'm no less of a man because of it. I'll still kick your ass.
This is a very moody, atmospheric movie, but it also moves slowly. It spends the first three quarters teasing you leading you on, until it has it's incredible last quarter. The problem is, those first three quarters are frustrating. You just wanna know what the hell is going on. Yeah, the house is haunted, but you KNOW that there's something else. Who's haunting it? Why is it haunted? Do the servants know more than they're implying? Why is that one servant girl a mute? And so on and so on. The movie takes so long to answer the questions that it gets frustrating.
There isn't a lot I can say (write) about this movie because it's very easy to ruin many of the surprises. Keep away from ANY information on this movie if it's one that you plan on seeing. Don't read any reviews (except this one, because I'm absolutely spoiler-free), don't watch any interviews or specials, don't watch or read ANYTHING about this movie. Just go see it.
Nicole Kidman has been impressing me a lot lately. I remember back when I didn't think very much of her. That's probably because I saw her in "Batman Forever," and since I hated that movie (since 1989, the only good "Batman" movies are the first two, which were directed by Tim Burton), I had no interest in her. Then I saw "Eyes Wide Shut." Wow. She was excellent, and suddenly, I thought she was great. She looked incredibly beautiful (with a gorgeous belly, by the way), and I thought she was a very talented actress. Then recently, I saw "Moulin Rouge." Once again, she blew me away, not just with her beauty and her acting ability, but with her singing. With "The Others," once again, I'm impressed. In a weird way, I think that her recent divorce with Tom Cruise will make her more popular. I'm willing to bet that she'll win a Best Actress Oscar before her ex-husband wins one for Best Actor (personally, I think they're both talented enough to win it eventually). Nicole Kidman is awesome in this movie, and despite playing a homely role, she still looks beautiful. Also in the movie is Christopher Eccleston (he was the "Duke of Norfolk" in "Elizabeth," and he was the main bad guy in "Gone in 60 Seconds"). He isn't in the movie much, but he's good in his role. Alakina Mann and James Bentley play Nicole Kidman's children, and although this is the debut for both of them, they're very good. Fionnula Flanagan plays the main servant, and though she's done lotsa movies before, I never heard of 'em. She's great, too.
"The Others" was written and directed by Alejandro Amenábar, a Spanish filmmaker who's new to me, but I know I'll be seeing more of his work soon. He directed and helped write "Open Your Eyes," a Spanish film currently being remade as "Vanilla Sky" by Cameron Crowe, a movie which happens to star Tom Cruise. I think that Tom Cruise is a big fan of Amenábar, because aside from starring in the American remake of one of his movies, he's the producer of "The Others," which is Amenábar's first American film. That's right, Tom Cruise produced this movie, which stars his ex-wife, Nicole Kidman. Trust me, the media has been all over that. Amenábar also directed and helped write "Thesis," another Spanish film. I'm definitely gonna watch "Thesis" sometime, but I think I'll see "Vanilla Sky" before I see "Open Your Eyes." By the way, in addition to writing and directing the movie, Alejandro Amenábar also did the music. Damn. That's a lotta talent right there. The most depressing thing is that he's only a year older than me.
The last quarter of "The Others" is awesome, but getting there takes some patience. The movie is frustrating, and it moves slowly. It's really good, though, and worth watching. It's not like you'll be bored, quite the opposite. You'll be very interested in what you're watching, and you'll be asking yourself tons of questions. But at some point, you may get sick of waiting, and you'll wanna know what's going on. Is it worth the wait? Yes, I believe so.
Scale of 1-10: 7