This is topic 8 Mile in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 11-08-2002, 02:40 AM:
It's gritty, it has the beat and it has a good story. This film to me is the Saturday Night Fever of todays generation. Believe it or not but Eminem can act. Now you might think that he is just acting like himself in real life. If so, he is doing a damn good job at it. You can feel the emotion he is going thru. Kim Basinger plays his dead beat mom. Who plays the trailer park trash to a T. No job and relying on winning at bingo to put food on the table.Where in Saturday Night Fever Travolta relied on his dancing, Eminem must rely on his rapping. Only problem is he has stage fright. But he does have his friends and a big challenge to make it on his own. I don't want to get into a lot of detail here to prevent spoilers. Even if you don't like Eminem or this type of music see it for the charachters that are behind it. I give this film ***1/2 stars out of four.
Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 11-08-2002, 02:55 AM:
Excellent Movie, Even if you HATE eminem you should see it because it is just a reel good movie. I heard that it tracked reel well so it might have some legs. (It tracked at a 14 and to put that in perspective LOTR 2 is tracking at 16)
Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 11-09-2002, 12:21 AM:
Where do you guys get this "tracking" information? Our H.O. put out a memo last week about it tracking better than HP2.. What are these tracking numbers and how does the 'tracking' service come up with them? I'm sure that screenings are a big part of it....
Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 11-09-2002, 01:34 AM:
Well... According to the studios there is no such thing as Tracking. I would imagine if there were such a thinf that basically it would be a system where the studios determine how popular a movie is going to be. I am not sure how they would do it but I am sure that promo screening would be a big part of it. The studios would probably not want the theatres to know about the tracking numbers because then they might be less likely to play lower tracking films. Sometimes though people in theatre chains become friends with people at studios and reports could get dropped in fax machines by mistake... That might be what happens if there were such a thing. 
Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 11-09-2002, 01:53 AM:
They could take in account hits that are made on the web site or do surveys and and acumulate the information from those. They also do special screenings and take surveys at those. But that is really a whole other topic. I do know that it is selling out quickly at our theater.
Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 11-09-2002, 02:03 PM:
Tracking has to do with how well test screenings scored. The higher the number, the better you should do at the box office. However, a higher tracking number is no guarantee that success is on the way.Studios run test screenings on any completed film, and if numbers come back low, they go back and make changes as to where the audience got lost. Another test screening is had and they go from there. Once a high number is achieved, they go with it.
The tracking number will have absolutely nothing to do with grosses by the way. Some of the highest grossing movies had horrible tracking numbers, and some low grossing had super high ones. It really all depends on marketing strategy these days.
8 Mile, which I plan to see today, should do very well.
Dave
Posted by Daniel Boisson (Member # 1027) on 11-09-2002, 11:19 PM:
I just saw it. Very good film, I'd suggest that everyone go see it. I'm not really a big eminem fan, but he, and most all of the actors did a great job. It was well shot and everything.I saw it at a local AMC and the presentation had much to be desired. There was a huge dark line down the middle of the screen, I think it was on the actual screen, plus the volumn should have been a little louder. I underestand the scratches in the first few minutes of the film as I overheard an usher explaining that they were running the same print in two theatres.
Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 11-09-2002, 11:44 PM:
Just saw it at the Carmike 12 in SLC, Ut. Excellent presentation and the sound was superb!!! Pretty good for a five dollar cinema...Excellent show. I really loved it. I plan on seeing this one another time or two. It truly moved me, and it was very funny as well. This kid is a true talent.
Dave
Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 11-10-2002, 12:16 AM:
That's not a parking garage, that's the Michigan Theatre! Appropriate for the Motor City, the theater was converted into a parking garage ... leaving most of the plaster work in place and there's still a balcony with seats! 
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 11-10-2002, 06:04 PM:
11/10/2002, 12:20PM, Regal Cinema World 8, Eugene OR, #4, digital sound. Attendance about 50. Excellent presentation. The sound was cranked up, which helps this film to work.On the one hand, 8 Mile is very skillfully crafted. I'm talking everything: screenplay, direction, cinematography, sound, and acting. It's involving, it tells an interesting story, the characters are well-drawn. All the elements of a good movie are there and everything works. On that level I liked this a lot. Oh yeah, Kim Basinger is great as trailer-trash. 
On the other hand, 8 Mile is very coldly calculated to make a film star out of Marshall Mathers, I mean Eminem. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that. Happens all the time. But the Rabbit character seemed so tied in with the "real" Eminem/Marshall Mathers that this was like watching a slanted biography. A biography with a strong agenda they didn't even bother trying to hide: Make a sympathetic hero out of Eminem. Mission accomplished I guess.
Disclaimer: Going in, I despised rap music, and I also knew virtually nothing about Eminem except general awareness of the criticism he gets for his lyrics and also that performance with Elton John. After watching this, I would say my opinion of rap moved up from despising it, to merely disliking it. See, the film worked some kind of magic on me, as its makers intended. 
It will be interesting to see if Eminem's subsequent films can maintain this high standard. He needs to choose his future roles carefully...
Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 11-10-2002, 08:44 PM:
Glad to see you slowly coming on board the eminem train.I think that to say that this film was specific to make eminem a star is understating a very true fact. However, with an academy awardwinning director at the helm, it had a much greater chance to succeed as entertainment and less likely to be viewed as a vehicle for mr. mathers.
Dave
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 11-10-2002, 09:15 PM:
Why would interlocking a print cause scratches? I've never personally seen any print damage caused by interlocking....(yeah, I know, offtopic...)
Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 11-11-2002, 01:31 AM:
(Ive ran 6 interlocked shows between booths and through walls of this and there is not one scratch or piece of dirt on this print. Scott you should come down to cambridge and check out my "new" old theatre!)I am not a huge Rap fan but I always liked Eminem. I think that he is very good at coming up with amusing lyrics that have a point. I really like the song from the film's soundtrack "Loose Yourself". I always enjoy cleaning theatres more when there is good credit music!
Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 11-11-2002, 12:13 PM:
If "Film Done Wrong", interlocking obviously increases the RISK of film damage. But done with care, the ability to interlock offers a needed degree of flexibility to theatres when sell-outs loom.Please be careful to "Do Film Right".
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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 11-11-2002, 07:56 PM:
This movie has been rattling around in the back of my head all day today. Even though I feel like I've been "conned" into admiring something and someone that I shouldn't, I think 8 Mile is going to make my 10 Best list for this year because it's just such a good piece of filmmaking. I never saw LA Confidential, but now I want to.
Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 11-11-2002, 11:05 PM:
Trust me when I say that LA confidential is really a treat. Dave
Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 11-11-2002, 11:41 PM:
I dont get what everyone sees in this movie.
It was slow, boring, and didnt seem to have a point, or I at leased missed it.
Everyone got on my nerves.
Sure, Kim Basinger played whit trash well, but she still got on my nerves.
The only part of this movie I really liked was the rap battle at the end.
But thats not enough to make me watch it again.
Its only enough to make we stop and watch the rap battle if I happen to be walking past it when it comes on.------------------
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Posted by Daniel Boisson (Member # 1027) on 11-12-2002, 12:11 AM:
James, I can understand your point, I did leave the theatre expecting more.....Though highly unlikely, it seemed like they were setting it up for a sequal. I guess that's how the director showed that his(eminem's) rap life is just getting started.....
Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 11-12-2002, 12:22 PM:
I never saw any sequel coming, nor did I leave expecting more. As many movies as people like we are exposed to, sometimes we go into every film expecting something. I gave that up years ago. I go in expecting nothing, view whatever movie it is from a view of nothing, and always leave entertained more than not.In this film, it is more a look into someones life than a shoot em up bang em up action film. I did hear that alot of people expected to see more rapping, as many of his fans probably expected to see a film that was more rap concert and less biography. Let's face it, biographies can be boring from time to time. However, I enjoy them, but they aren't for everybody.
I personally think that this film gives us a look into what kind of lifestyle drives people to be rappers, or to embrace that culture. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and do rate it on my all time favorites.
Not every film is made for a sequel, even if they appear to be that way. I think that the ending was fitting, watching the hero walk off into the perverbial sunset, leaving us wondering just what lies in store for him. Endings like this are classic, but not meant to derive a sequel out of it. I imagine we will see more from eminem, but it is not in his interest to make franchise pictures, but rather to move on and up, giving us different characters and different stories. He has done this with his music from album to album, so I do expect the same on the movie end.
Dave
Posted by Daniel Boisson (Member # 1027) on 11-12-2002, 12:51 PM:
Dave, good point, I was kinda expecting more of 'the eminem story.'The movie does give a great look as to what drives him, or anybody to become successful in the way he has.
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 11-12-2002, 01:10 PM:
8 Mile strives to be more than just a 2-hour rap movie starring eminem. Though there's plenty of rap in it (for me anyway), it's about the characters and their lives, with the rap thing just being the backdrop (and an interesting backdrop at that).
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 11-28-2002, 06:37 PM:
Adam, that shot of the cinema car park is just plain tragic.
Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 12-01-2002, 11:58 AM:
AMC Hamilton, 11/29, 7:15 PM show. Hall #2, attendance 100+. Small hall (8 Mile is down to 1 print) but it nearly filled up for a Friday night. Presentation a perfect "10" -- no splotches or dirt, sound perfect all the way through except for a 1-second default to SR.
Forget about the "Oscar Bait". THIS is the Best Picture of the year! Eminem makes sure to "Keep it Real" -- no need to play any cripple!
The one time the audience at the AMC Hamilton made some noise bigtime was when B-Rabbit bared his tush in the final battle.
See it -- it's GREAT!
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 12-02-2002, 05:57 AM:
Good film. I wasn't planning to see it, but am glad that I did. I'm not an Eminem fan, but, as others have said here, he actually can act, at least when he's playing himself. The casting was impressive, and the film was nicely photographed. As sad as it was to see the Michigan Theatre as a parking garage, the location was perfectly chosen for that scene.
This is a rare example of a film featuring a pop-star-turned-actor that is worth seeing because the story is compelling, not because one is a fan of said pop star. I was surprised to see that the audience for this was quite mixed; I was expecting to see it with a bunch of teenage rap fans, and was surprised to see many middle-aged couples there as well.
Picture and sound quality was excellent (Lowes Boston Common) and even the print was good (wow! a Deluxe Hollywood print that actually has shadow detail!).
BTW, check out the reflection of the boom guy in the glass window in the background when we first see Janeane (Jimmy's former girlfriend) at the auto plant.