*** Official "PHONE BOOTH" Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Ryan FB]

OK, just saw this and a couple of nits to pick...

The laser sight. OK, to me, this looked obviously added in during post. For one, it didn't deform as it moved along curved surfaces. For another, it didn't appear on the glass when he put it on Stu (which a real laser sight will do). Also, the sniper's placement seems to be, erm, varied. He manages to put the dot on both the front of Stu's chest while he's looking from the phonebooth to the street, and also on the pimp's chest while he looks from the street to the phonebooth?

 

[Bill J]

How was the sniper able to walk away with his rifle at the end of the film if the police were already at the crime scene?

That really confused me.

 

[Seth Paxton]

The laser sight. OK, to me, this looked obviously added in during post.

I think the interaction with the hookers was my favorite part of the film.


As for Best of 2003, for me City of God is so far out in front right now that it's ridiculous. This film is nowhere close to being on that type of level, and by the end of May will not be #1 on a single film list I can assure you.

 

[NickSo]

I think the interaction with the hookers was my favorite part of the film

yeah my friends thought so too!

Anyways, yeah it was kinda odd to see Sutherlands' character walk into a middle of a crime scene, and talk to the victim while holding an extremely large bag, with police running around everywhere.

And i also agree, that the "Laser" sight was horribly done.

 

[Joel Mack]

I'm not spoilerizing this. If I'm smart enough to stay out of "DISCUSSION" threads about films I haven't seen, you should be, too.

Here's my question: after the sniper makes a big deal about the size of the exit wound ("a small tangerine"), the only guy he shoots doesn't have an exit wound at all. WTF?

Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.

 

[Paul Richardson]

Just read Larry Cohen's article on the film linked to in the first post in this thread. There is no mention of a short film called End of the Line (1996), which the IMDB seems to be calling a "version" of this film.

Does anybody know the actual connection between the two films, if any?

 

[Damin J Toell]

Just read Larry Cohen's article on the film linked to in the first post in this thread. There is no mention of a short film called End of the Line (1996), which the IMDB seems to be calling a "version" of this film.

IMDb (or, more correctly, someone who submitted info to IMDb) claims that Phone Booth was based on that film somehow. Cohen made no mention of this at a screening of Phone Booth last week. As he's said elsewhere, including that L.A. Times article, he had been working on the plot since the 1960s. The addition of the sniper was key to the plot, but Cohen says he got the idea from himself: he had used a sniper in God Told Me To.

DJ

 

[ThomasC]

Enough lies already...

So was the point of all this to get Stu to stop lying and tell the truth, giving us the message that we should all start being (a little) more truthful to ourselves and everyone else?

 

[James T]

I think the interaction with the hookers was my favorite part of the film

They're not hookers, they're escorts.

And I think the movie has a little more to do than with just the average lie. Remember the other two victims? They were using cell phones. The shooter picked the phoone booth because that was what Stu was using to cheat on his wife. The business lies were probably second on the list.

 

[BertFalasco]

Oh my God, besides the length (how long could you take this plot and extend it past an hour and a half and keep it entertaining?) I really was drawn into this movie.

At first when I saw the trailer a bit ago I was not intrigued at all but I really wanted to know how this ended and I got into it, as did my friends. I know some people that consider knowing who is the killer (you can tell by the voice in the damn commercial/trailer for God's sake) by the voice is a spoiler, I do not..

This movie reminded me very much of Se7en. It's twisted character is Sutherland and apparently thinks he is God by regulating reality by which he judges whether you are an honest good person, and justifies his killings to those standards. I do not understand the significance of him killing the pizza guy as he did nothing wrong, but the whole give away of trying to command "dirty" people (Seven: people sporting a deadly sin are not life deserving; therefore, they are killed.) pisses me off as that you let God deal with those bastards, who are you to take the role of the supreme being. On the other hand, I found it entertaining but I have seen the plot before.

I knew the ending had to be the kind that makes you say "jesus man..bastard got away.." but I wish it was more of a surprise.

Colin F. did a really good job.

That's my dick hand!!!!!

-Bert

 

[Paul_Medenwaldt]

We saw this yesterday and I really enjoyed the movie. Not as intense as I thought it would be. I think if the shooter was into making more "examples" as he did with the pimp, I think it would of been more intense and would of sucked me in further.

When the movie was finished a guy from behind us 'booed' and a couple behind me when walking out, the lady said "what do you give it a 0 or -1 out of 5".

I'm not sure what to make of those comments, but it sure didn't take away from my movie enjoyment. I chalk it up to a person who constantly needs explosions, fast cut scenes ie Mtv style.

Paul

 

[Scott Van Dyke]

Yeah Bert,

Awe shit. You done made me hurt my dick-hand.

I enjoyed this movie. I could tell I was getting into it when the bald baby-boomer and his wife in front of me, turned around and yelled at me for brushing the back of his seat with my knee. I'm 6'7", and only did it once. I wanted to kick his ass the last half of the movie. I still wouldn't mind doing so. I had to put up with the reflection off his melon the whole time, and kept quiet about it.

This movie feels like "Speed" meets "Falling Down".

 

[Dennis Pagoulatos]

Agreed that the interaction with the "escorts" was the best part of the film. I actually found the beginning of the film to be very well done; I just felt that it didn't go anywhere with the material and chose to stay on the surface (of everything, the story possibilities, the characters, etc.) The trailer was much more impressive than the finished film for me. I don't blame Joel Schumacher for this one; stylistically, the movie is fine, and it is certainly well shot. I also agree on the bad red dot effect, really fake looking and ultimately pointless, but like I said, that was the least of the film's problems...

-Dennis

 

[Alex Spindler]

I was almost certain that the laser sight was added as an afterthought, but Colin reacts to it so much that it had to have been in the script. Couldn't they have spent $5 on a cheap pen laser? Maybe they were saving it for CGI but ran out of the budget to pay for it (leading to the seriously weak attempt in the movie).

Also agree that the hooker sequence was by far the best section of the film.

 

[rich_d]

How far is the sniper from the target?

It makes me curious because of all the discussion regarding the laser sighting.

The problem with rifle scopes is one of tradeoffs. The farther you are from a target - the greater the need for stronger optics. The farther away, the more the need for stability (i.e. tripod) to support increased optics. (Trying to maintain a view of a full moon through any handheld optics will prove that point)

If the target is 75 yards or more away - the problem (for the sniper) is not sighting the target - the problem is following a target. Therefore, a sniper's advantage is waiting for the target to come into view or for the target not to be moving.

Don't take my word for it. Go to a ball game with a pair of binoculars (a wider view than all but the best scopes). Now, watch a specific ballplayer through the binoculars. No problem at all. But try to stay with him as he moves from non-activity to doing something (like covering a base). Big problem. When you don't know what the action is going to be - following the player is very difficult. You may have to look away from the binoculars to find him again.

So, what's the point? This guy in the phone booth ducks out of the phone booth and there ain't much chance of getting hit let alone even being seen.

The laser sighting - great stuff but that is for sighting a target not for seeing a target. And it's hard to hit what you can't see.

 

[BertFalasco]

Scott, I had a confrontation too.. I was perfect in the center with my 7 fellow cronies in the perfect seat and some trick ho behind me leans in and says, "excuse me" and I knew she was talking to me but acted as though I was in a deep train of thought giving her the impression I was not listening to her and so my friend responds to her and she says "no, him" and so I was tapped and I turn around and I say "What?" (I am a really nice social person, beyond belief, I am going to be President of my highschool next year ) and I knew she was going to be a pain in the ass..
She says "Do you mind moving over one seat?" awwww hell no, you dun set me off you scurred bish.. I said "With all due respect I got here before you and I am perfectly in the center and I am not moving"..

How dare she ask me to move when I got there before her, that pisses me off, that piss me right off. ("No lloyd, no, no ,no I say we save the money for the worm farm )

 

[Tim Glover]

Just saw this film this afternoon and thought it was excellent. Call me a sucker, but I bought in to it and it was gripping from beginning to end.

So far at least, the best film I've seen for 2003.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Yeah, the laser sight has several issues in terms of practical necessity, which is why I felt its only use was to intimidate the victim. And that is why I said it was pointless to put in, cheap or otherwise.

Ferrell is menaced, he understands the threat as soon as he sees that robot get blasted. Think about the first red dot reveal, it's when Keifer says "do you know where I'm aiming" and Colin was acting to that as if it were in the script. The funny thing is that the dot is not used the whole time in that scene. At the start Ferrell already understands what Keifer is getting at, before he sees the dot.

The 2nd use is on the pimp, but again Ferrell understands the threat and will continue to understand it for every other usage.

I STRONGLY suspect this is a test audience addition or some other post production decision in which someone decided the audience's were too dumb to get the idea that the sniper was aiming at these targets (or that Ferrell would understand it) despite the use of crosshair POV shots (and his good reaction acting). There is more tension when Ferrell is left to suffer his own imagination of where the sniper is aiming at any moment.

I found that it undermined the tension in fact.

 

[Scott Van Dyke]

Bert,

Do you think the intensity of the plot helped to irritate you even more? That's how I felt. I too, was in my seat long before anyone around me sat down.

 

[BertFalasco]

Yeh Scott, I understand what you're typing and, at times, yes it was a bit too intense. This movie was very entertaining on the entertainment scale but it does nothing for me other than remind me of Se7en.

Some bits needed to slow down and not keep the less than hour and half duration pure intensity, but it's original.