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The NUMBER 23!
- Thread starter Cinemaman
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L
LastSunrise1981
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My friends mother was talking about it since she was born on the 23rd of this month and plans on seeing the Number 23.
Somehow I have a feeling that this film will be great. Jim Carrey, from the looks of things, seems to give a very good performance and the pictures come off as quite creepy too. It'll be very interesting to see how it fares since Reno 911 opens on the same night.
So is the Number 23 an actual book? I'm curious because I seem to remember someone mentioning that it's a book.
Somehow I have a feeling that this film will be great. Jim Carrey, from the looks of things, seems to give a very good performance and the pictures come off as quite creepy too. It'll be very interesting to see how it fares since Reno 911 opens on the same night.
So is the Number 23 an actual book? I'm curious because I seem to remember someone mentioning that it's a book.
black_dust
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That featurette was really cool 
but that jeresy numbers things was abit crap, someones gotta have the number. but the december 2012 was cool
but that jeresy numbers things was abit crap, someones gotta have the number. but the december 2012 was cool
terry78
My name is Stefan, sweet thang
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LastSunrise1981
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Meh, I don't care what they say. I'll still check it out on opening night.
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<H3>Quint cracks open NUMBER 23!!!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with my thoughts on NUMBER 23, the thriller from Joel Schumacher starring Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen and Danny Huston.
I wasn't all that familiar with the 23 legend, but I'm familiar with a similar one developed by Stephen King in the Dark Tower books. He uses the number 19 in very much the same way. Addresses, dates, license plates, etc, all adding up to 19.
I think everybody agrees the concept of a number seeming to control your life, signs hidden everywhere in your day to day, is an interesting one. The word on the film before I got to see it wasn't stellar, but I had hopes that this was the good Joel Schumacher, the one that made TIGERLAND, FALLING DOWN, THE LOST BOYS, DC CAB, etc. I liked the look of the trailers and the cast... and the concept. So surely it couldn't be bad, right?
And it really isn't. It's messy and the last reel could easily ruin it for a lot of people, but just like the 20 minutes of flashback explanation in SILENT HILL didn't ruin that movie for me, the reel of narrated "this is the big twist" footage didn't ruin NUMBER 23 for me. It might have made it a film I don't particularly care to revisit, but it didn't keep me from enjoying the 85% of the movie that worked.
The film is about an average guy, a loving husband and father who spends his working hours as a dog catcher. A connected series of events conspires to keep him from picking up his loving wife, a cake-maker, on time, which causes her to wander into a used book store where she's drawn to a beat up book called NUMBER 23 by an unknown author. Jim Carrey's character begins to read the book and gets caught up with the lead character, who is both radically different and creepily similar to himself.
So begins the spiral of obsession that we've been asked to join.
Carrey is likable as the lead, a person we genuinely don't want to see go crazy. Surprisingly, they don't turn Madsen's character into the cliche terrified housewife as she watches her husband get more and more lost in his own world.
One of the reasons I liked the look of the trailer became apparent when the rather cool opening credits sequence was rolling and Matthew Libatique's name came up as Director of Photography. I recently briefly met Libatique when visiting the production offices for IRON MAN, but he's Darren Aronofsky's guy, having shot PI, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM and THE FOUNTAIN as well as INSIDE MAN for Spike Lee. He's worked with Schumacher before on TIGERLAND and PHONE BOOTH, both movies looking great. So does NUMBER 23.
There's lots of interesting visual tricks used when Carrey is reading the book. We get to see what's going on in his mind, how he pictures the story as he's reading. It's a little Gilliam-esque, with pieces falling into place and a kind of washed out quality.
Everything worked for me until a certain scene at the end of the movie. I even like the big "twist," and the red herrings leading up to it, but there is just that "let's explain it all now" 20 minutes that I really didn't like.
So, from me... it's recommended as a matinee or discount theater ticket. It's worth watching and worth watching on the big screen to see Libatique's work, but it's a flawed film.
Okay, got another review to pump out before I concentrate in earnest on my packing for the New York Comic Con. Be back with my opinion of David Fincher's ZODIAC very shortly!
</H3>
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with my thoughts on NUMBER 23, the thriller from Joel Schumacher starring Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen and Danny Huston.
I wasn't all that familiar with the 23 legend, but I'm familiar with a similar one developed by Stephen King in the Dark Tower books. He uses the number 19 in very much the same way. Addresses, dates, license plates, etc, all adding up to 19.
I think everybody agrees the concept of a number seeming to control your life, signs hidden everywhere in your day to day, is an interesting one. The word on the film before I got to see it wasn't stellar, but I had hopes that this was the good Joel Schumacher, the one that made TIGERLAND, FALLING DOWN, THE LOST BOYS, DC CAB, etc. I liked the look of the trailers and the cast... and the concept. So surely it couldn't be bad, right?
And it really isn't. It's messy and the last reel could easily ruin it for a lot of people, but just like the 20 minutes of flashback explanation in SILENT HILL didn't ruin that movie for me, the reel of narrated "this is the big twist" footage didn't ruin NUMBER 23 for me. It might have made it a film I don't particularly care to revisit, but it didn't keep me from enjoying the 85% of the movie that worked.
The film is about an average guy, a loving husband and father who spends his working hours as a dog catcher. A connected series of events conspires to keep him from picking up his loving wife, a cake-maker, on time, which causes her to wander into a used book store where she's drawn to a beat up book called NUMBER 23 by an unknown author. Jim Carrey's character begins to read the book and gets caught up with the lead character, who is both radically different and creepily similar to himself.
So begins the spiral of obsession that we've been asked to join.
Carrey is likable as the lead, a person we genuinely don't want to see go crazy. Surprisingly, they don't turn Madsen's character into the cliche terrified housewife as she watches her husband get more and more lost in his own world.
One of the reasons I liked the look of the trailer became apparent when the rather cool opening credits sequence was rolling and Matthew Libatique's name came up as Director of Photography. I recently briefly met Libatique when visiting the production offices for IRON MAN, but he's Darren Aronofsky's guy, having shot PI, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM and THE FOUNTAIN as well as INSIDE MAN for Spike Lee. He's worked with Schumacher before on TIGERLAND and PHONE BOOTH, both movies looking great. So does NUMBER 23.
There's lots of interesting visual tricks used when Carrey is reading the book. We get to see what's going on in his mind, how he pictures the story as he's reading. It's a little Gilliam-esque, with pieces falling into place and a kind of washed out quality.
Everything worked for me until a certain scene at the end of the movie. I even like the big "twist," and the red herrings leading up to it, but there is just that "let's explain it all now" 20 minutes that I really didn't like.
So, from me... it's recommended as a matinee or discount theater ticket. It's worth watching and worth watching on the big screen to see Libatique's work, but it's a flawed film.
Okay, got another review to pump out before I concentrate in earnest on my packing for the New York Comic Con. Be back with my opinion of David Fincher's ZODIAC very shortly!
</H3>
buddha182
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I saw it 2 nights ago, and you know, I thought it was a very well made, very well done movie. I don't know how people can find too much bad to say about it and I especially don't know how people can say it's boring. If you think the movie is boring, you need to go take about 10 pills of Ridalyn, cause it's pretty energetic the entire time!
If you like Jim Carrey, if you like Schumacher (does anyone?), if you like thrillers, or if you just want to see a good movie... I definitely suggest it.
If you like Jim Carrey, if you like Schumacher (does anyone?), if you like thrillers, or if you just want to see a good movie... I definitely suggest it.
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Castlewood
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they say you should eat 3 meals a day.
they say you should brush your teeth 3 times a day. (once after every meal)
cats and dogs have 4 legs.
humans have 2.
the Simpsons had 8 beings living in their home (homer, marge, bart, lisa, maggie, santa's little helper, snowball 2, and the evil bart that lives in the attic a.k.a Hugo)
There are 3 colors for basic traffic lights (in America at least...Green/Red/Yellow)
3+3+4+2+8+3=23
they say you should brush your teeth 3 times a day. (once after every meal)
cats and dogs have 4 legs.
humans have 2.
the Simpsons had 8 beings living in their home (homer, marge, bart, lisa, maggie, santa's little helper, snowball 2, and the evil bart that lives in the attic a.k.a Hugo)
There are 3 colors for basic traffic lights (in America at least...Green/Red/Yellow)
3+3+4+2+8+3=23
Apocalypso
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I suppose Carrey is lucky that writer Robert Anton Wilson died last month, given that Wilson could probably have sued him for lifting the 23 numerology schtick in whole from Wilson's ILLUMINATUS! trilogy.
Of course, Wilson's trilogy was a comedy, and Carrey isn't capable of doing those anymore.
Of course, Wilson's trilogy was a comedy, and Carrey isn't capable of doing those anymore.
BeserkerHilf
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yea, because Carrey wrote the movie and all...
do some ****ing research,
do some ****ing research,
Stringer
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I could still see people liking this movie, but one thing I cant stand is a movie that has potential to be great and blows it at the end. The twist just straight up sucked.
So yeah, basically I agree with what the aicn reviews said. BIG disappointment
So yeah, basically I agree with what the aicn reviews said. BIG disappointment
Secret_Riddle
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I almost found the movie to be unbearable. One of the worst movies I have seen in a while. It showed promise in the first half hour though.
BeserkerHilf
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saw it tonight.
i dont even know how to begin.
the random 23 sightings were cool the first 5 or 6 times, but felt completely overused after number 23.
virginia madsen sucked. god i hated her in this.
i really didn't appreciate the 20 minute explanation at the end. i love the twist itself, but for ****'s sake? 20 minutes?
i dont even know how to begin.
the random 23 sightings were cool the first 5 or 6 times, but felt completely overused after number 23.
virginia madsen sucked. god i hated her in this.
i really didn't appreciate the 20 minute explanation at the end. i love the twist itself, but for ****'s sake? 20 minutes?
CrypticOne
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Can someone tell me what the big twist is?
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