Anyone else seen Buried?

H

harmonica44

I agree with critic James Berardinelli, that is 'unforgivably cruel' as he put it. It was so dramatic and hearbreaking, that I cried, after. Why can't more thrillers be like that? I understand why they felt they had to hire a known actor, but none of my friends have even heard of the movie, so perhaps they could have even shot it for free and it still would have gotten around. Either way it is one of the most dramatically compelling movies ever made. It's also the best Iraq war movie I've seen, if it counts as such. I was actually literally traumatized by it, and it made think, to the point where I might loose a little sleep.

In my top 20 or even top 10 best movies ever for sure. Why the Oscars never nominated this one for best picture is beyone me. Thoughts?
 
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I did really enjoy it, thought Ryan Reynolds was excellent, and the pacing was really impressive. I'd agree it probably wouldn't be in my top 10 of all time; it probably makes my top 10 of 2010.
 
I didn't care for it at all.

Character was a d!ckhead.
Had managed to alienate pretty much everyone before he got caught and stuck in a box.
Had managed to alienate pretty much everyone after he got caught and stuck in a box.

He acted like a panicky little tw@t.

How would James Bond act burried in a box?
How would (Chronicals of) Riddick act in a box?
How would Batman or the Joker act in a box?
Let me tell you I sure as h3ll wouldn't be a panicky little tw@t in a box.
I'd be vacillating between p!ssed as h3ll and laughing my a$$ off.

I'd be sending video to my email account and anyone else I knew.
But d!ckhead didn't because he was a self centered tw@t and didn't know anyone else's email account.
I hear you can send them to facebook.
I wonder if I could send one to youtube?

What was it he gave to his kid in his "last cell phone video will and testament"? (Pfft. A$$)
His clothes, was it?
F#cker. Oughtta get his balls revoked. Dumba$$.

The show was miserable.

What would Jesus do in a Box?! Ha!

And I liked THREE KINGS much better.
 
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I liked that movie.

The ending was sad I kind had a feeling things weren't going as planned but I didn't expect them to dig up the other guy DAMN!!
 
rayw said:
I didn't care for it at all.

Character was a d!ckhead.
Had managed to alienate pretty much everyone before he got caught and stuck in a box.
Had managed to alienate pretty much everyone after he got caught and stuck in a box.

He acted like a panicky little tw@t.

How would James Bond act burried in a box?
How would (Chronicals of) Riddick act in a box?
How would Batman or the Joker act in a box?
Let me tell you I sure as h3ll wouldn't be a panicky little tw@t in a box.
I'd be vacillating between p!ssed as h3ll and laughing my a$$ off.

I'd be sending video to my email account and anyone else I knew.
But d!ckhead didn't because he was a self centered tw@t and didn't know anyone else's email account.
I hear you can send them to facebook.
I wonder if I could send one to youtube?

What was it he gave to his kid in his "last cell phone video will and testament"? (Pfft. A$$)
His clothes, was it?
F#cker. Oughtta get his balls revoked. Dumba$$.

The show was miserable.

What would Jesus do in a Box?! Ha!

And I liked THREE KINGS much better.
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One of the points of the character was to do a lot of regrettable things, and those were all them, that you mentioned. Plus if you read crime stories in the news, most people do not act like James Bone or Riddick, when it comes to defeating the people trying to murder them. So it was going for a more average common character.
 
I loved it. I especially liked the ending.

In my experience, the first reaction of normal people in stressful situations is blind panic.
 
I have to give props to the team for keeping my interest thoughout. I mean, the whole movie takes place in this box! Of course, the way it turned out had me wondering what was the point of making this movie? For that reason, it is not in my top pick of anything, but I'll never forget it.
 
Scoopicman said:
I have to give props to the team for keeping my interest thoughout. I mean, the whole movie takes place in this box! Of course, the way it turned out had me wondering what was the point of making this movie? For that reason, it is not in my top pick of anything, but I'll never forget it.
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I don't get how you can not see a point really? If there was no point to being kidnapped and buried alive, then everyone has had that happen to them, would not take it seriously. Of course there was a point, just as well as any other thriller. I thought this movie had more of a point, than some other thrillers out there really. I think it should have been nominated for the best picture Oscar. They pick dramas like Traffic and Crash, etc. Nothing wrong with those movies, and they are great. However Buried had me a lot more dramatically enthralled, then most Oscar winners.
 
I was pretty much on the edge of my seat the whole time. That's enough to impress me. In fact I think I posted about it after I got home from seeing it, saying that my heart was pounding as the credits rolled.
 
A lot of love for this film!

Got to be honest though, I'm not a fan. I didn't really feel the tension that everybody else seems to have done. If anything, from what I remember, I became slightly bored.

Maybe I was in a bad mood when I watched it, so I wasn't completely in to it? I'll have to give it another go and see if I'm more impressed next time.
 
harmonica44 said:
I don't get how you can not see a point really? If there was no point to being kidnapped and buried alive, then everyone has had that happen to them, would not take it seriously. Of course there was a point, just as well as any other thriller.
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It's more of a personal opinion about how a story progresses. If a character is faced against the odds, I want to see something accomplished. The Spartans die in 300, but they accomplish something. The horror movie, BEREAVEMENT, has a downer ending, but a character continues.
Storywise, what's the point of showing me this guy in a box and he accomplishes nothing but dying?

Again, that's just my personal take. I understand that we can't have happy endings all the time, but what did this character learn about being in the box? He doesn't really make a personal journey, or arc, and I feel that a good screenwriter would have left the audience with something to take from the situation, other than a blow by blow account of
phone calls, snake, dying.

Maybe I'm harping on that point a little much. As I said, the movie was well done and kept me riveted for the whole time. However, when the end happened I reacted with "okay, whatever." While realistic, it was not satisfying as a story, for me.


BTW, I had no interest in seeing CRASH (except the one made by David Cronenberg) and I could care a less about TRAFFIC. The only Soderberg movie I really liked was SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE. I rewatched GORKY PARK and EYE OF THE NEEDLE the other day. Those are kind of soft thrillers, but I like them, as well as most thrillers from Hitchcock to MUTE WITNESS to SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. I like John Dahl's work like REDROCK WEST and THE LAST SEDUCTION. I love TELL NO ONE, DEAD CALM, RUNAWAY TRAIN and BREAKDOWN with Kurt Russell. I enjoyed the original GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO, PLAYED WITH FIRE and KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST trilogy. Just to give you an idea of the kinds of movies I like.
 
Yeah those are all fairly decent thrillers.

It is true that the main character does not accomplish anything, but I think a movie can still have points without that happening, every time.

SPOILERS BELOW:

The villains responsible for his death, have some points, as to why he was put there and make you think about some of the politics behind the Iraq war, and the people supposedly trying to rescue him have some points about it too. Plus the company insurance guy on the phone had a huge point to make about how things work, and re-evaluated my thinking on how things should be done in some situations. In a very dramatic way for me too. So even though the Protagonist didn't change anything, there were points made by the people on the other end of the phone, using the protagonist to make those points.
 
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when I first saw the title of this thread I thought it said "Anyone else BEEN buried?"


to which my answer was going to be "yes, but I dont talk about that."
 
Scoopicman said:
It's more of a personal opinion about how a story progresses. If a character is faced against the odds, I want to see something accomplished. The Spartans die in 300, but they accomplish something.
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One can say the Spartans accomplished nothing.
Fight an army, and die.

I don't remember Buried very well other than me thinking it was good. But I'm pretty sure the story was more character driven than plot driven. Maybe that's why you didn't like it?
 
TheNoob said:
One can say the Spartans accomplished nothing.
Fight an army, and die.
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But it was at the cost of thousands of Persians. What they accomplished (at least in the movie) was degrade the motivation of an opponent that was supposedly invincible and save Greece. That's pretty huge! Now WTF did Ryan Reynolds' character do? Like Ray said, he was so pissy when in that box, you didn't really like his character.


I don't remember Buried very well other than me thinking it was good. But I'm pretty sure the story was more character driven than plot driven. Maybe that's why you didn't like it?
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I never said I didn't like the movie - I said I was pretty riveted, while watching. Character driven is wonderful, but they don't do much with the character! Even Sean Penn in DEAD MAN WALKING has an arc in the hours leading up to his death. BURIED could have had the same ending and circumstances, but added a another layer to the character that enriches the viewer. I admit that would take some very good writing, but would add a lot. For the record, I liked most of the movie and thought it was effective.
 
Well The Godfather has no likeable characters, or at least none to root for, as well as a lot of other hits. So I don't think you can use unlikeable as an excuse in a lot of movies.
 
harmonica44 said:
Well The Godfather has no likeable characters, or at least none to root for, as well as a lot of other hits. So I don't think you can use unlikeable as an excuse in a lot of movies.
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I think we can draw a finer distinction on "likeable characters" between that that we respect and those that we do not.

In the Godfather, the members of the Corleone family et al all had varying aspects of dislikeableness. However, some we could respect, like Vito looking out after the family, Michael's calculating decisions, and Tom Hagen's prudent skill at achieving legal recourse and influence. While other family members we do not respect, like Connie's sycophant tendencies, Sonny's brashness, and Fredo's distorted sense of importance.

Paul Conroy was a dislikeable pr!ck with no redeeming qualities going into the box or dying with him in the box.

Gimme someone I can sympathize with even at the last bloody gasping second, not someone I'd wanna drill holes so the sand could suffocate him faster.
 
Scoopicman said:
But it was at the cost of thousands of Persians. What they accomplished (at least in the movie) was degrade the motivation of an opponent that was supposedly invincible and save Greece. That's pretty huge! Now WTF did Ryan Reynolds' character do? Like Ray said, he was so pissy when in that box, you didn't really like his character.
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I was just acting like you :( .

Scoopicman said:
I never said I didn't like the movie - I said I was pretty riveted, while watching. Character driven is wonderful, but they don't do much with the character! Even Sean Penn in DEAD MAN WALKING has an arc in the hours leading up to his death. BURIED could have had the same ending and circumstances, but added a another layer to the character that enriches the viewer. I admit that would take some very good writing, but would add a lot. For the record, I liked most of the movie and thought it was effective.
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Aside from that I don't really remember the movie, so I can't bring up any points, or say you're wrong, or right.


rayw said:
Paul Conroy was a dislikeable pr!ck with no redeeming qualities going into the box or dying with him in the box.

Gimme someone I can sympathize with even at the last bloody gasping second, not someone I'd wanna drill holes so the sand could suffocate him faster.
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Well, imagine you were trapped in a box six feet underground. I would freak out haha.
 
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