We watched "The Help" on DVD last night. Regrettably....

[NRaleighLiberal]

very disappointed. My wife read/loved the book and felt the movie was a Hollywood-ized mess. I didn't read the book, but also didn't really enjoy the movie. Could have been done so much better. 2-3 stars out of 5.

Felt the same way about The Descendants. Way too many dangling bits, disconnections, glossy bits. 3 stars out of 5.

We find so few movies we really enjoy these days (our recent standards would be Lost in Translation, or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - both 5 stars for us).

[nirvana555]

1. Well, I loved both "The Help" and "The Descendants". I'm a movie fanatic and oftentimes movies are

so hyped that people are disappointed. I saw both of them before the hype but I still really loved them. One of my very favorite movies
of the year has been "The Artist". IMHO, the lead (I can't remember his name as he's from France and not well-known) he very well could win the Oscar.

[NRaleighLiberal]

3. No, it wasn't that with us - in fact, I really didn't hear all that much about either.

We are really pretty tough on movies - and tend toward smaller, more independent-type films with lesser known to unknown actors...our favorite period was when films like Remains of the Day, Howard's End - and before that, Out of Africa - came out.

we've really not been "wowed" in quite a long time, but that's fine - we find plenty to watch (currently enjoying Downton Abbey, also Mad Men and Six Feet Under).

One of the greatest things about movies - all arts - is that there are no right or wrong answers - it is how they hit us individually, which often doesn't follow logic.

[Tikki]

2. We saw 'Young Adult' recently...

and totally got it.



The Tikkis

[suninvited]

4. I know it is very common for people to say the book was much better

but in this case it truly was.

They rushed through it so fast it seems that if I hadn't have read the book I couldn't have figured out what the heck was going on. They changed a LOT, too.

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. My wife mentioned that some rather minor parts (the pie) were overblown,

and other more critical parts left out. I will likely read the book based on the relevance of the subject matter.

but yes, typically, great books don't translate to great movies, sadly.

[bigwillq]

6. I found it to be entertaining and enjoyable.

But also pure fluff.
Haven't read the book yet.

[2Design]

7. I thought it was an academy award winner