Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Million Dollar Hotel

This is topic Million Dollar Hotel in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 05-27-2001, 09:37 PM:

Pearl Harbor was sold out, so I saw this at the theatre down the street. It, too, sold out.

Anyway, what the hell were the critics thinking? Every review that I've seen of this has been negative, and I am at a loss to understand why. It is well acted, engaging, often quite funny, and beautifully photographed. Think "Shock Corridor" meets "LA Confidential" meets "Wings of Desire." It's an odd mix to be sure, but it actually works very well. The crowd tonight really seemed to enjoy it, despite the fact that this is a very limited release in the US and that Lion's Gate does not appear to be promoting it at all for reasons unknown. It certainly could do well in many markets, if for no other reason than that Mel Gibson is in it...

I admit that I'm a fan of many of Wim Wenders' films, including "Lisbon Story," which apparently no one else liked. I guess I personally can be moved by visuals alone, and don't demand a firm plot structure. Maybe it's a personal quirk. Anyway, I really enjoyed this film. So what if I'm biased? It's certainly not another "Wings of Desire," but it is well done and worth watching.

For what it's worth, Foto-Kem did some beautiful lab work on this title, which nicely complements the "real" scope photography (Panavision, actually).

Posted by Mitchell Cope (Member # 32) on 05-27-2001, 11:14 PM:

I haven't seen this title, but I noticed that Blockbuster Video already had this to rent on DVD. Wasn't this also the movie that Mel Gibson got in trouble with by bad mouthing it? Both of the above could explain why it's been marketed the way it has in the U.S.