review: Firewall

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

reference: http://www.timewastersguide.com/view.php?id=1252

I do have to add this comment, though: anyone who thinks this is ridiculous

("Let’s think about something nice," Madsen tells her two children as they lie in bed, held hostage by the intruders, trying to change the subject from just how hard the most brutishly violent of the men just hit their father over the head

clearly doesn't have children of his own.

[Fellfrosch]

Does this movie mean we can't call him the late Harrison Ford anymore?

[Paul_Gibbs]

reference: http://www.timewastersguide.com/view.php?id=1252

I do have to add this comment, though: anyone who thinks this is ridiculous
clearly doesn't have children of his own.

Well, you're right, neither of us have kids - but we have considerably more experience caring for children than many we know who do. But we do understand the notion of trying to keep children calm in a tough situation - you'd be surprised at the extent to which we've been through something like this in real life - but it has been played more believably in films like "Patriot Games" and "Panic Room." The idea was not at all ridiculous, it was completely valid. Certainly, in  The excecution seemed forced and silly. Madsen seemed vaugely embarrased, like she was about to start singing about "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens."

Valid comment. Thanks for giving me the chance to clarify what we meant.

And yes, for now, we will stop calling him the late Harrison Ford. But if he teams up with Josh  Hartnett again . . .

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

the late Josh Hartnett?

[Lieutenant Kije]

Please forgive me if I'm bringing up an undesirable subject, but how does 3 out of 4 stars (75%) translate to 3.5 out of 6 clocks (not even 60%)?  It could at least be 4 (67%) or even more appropraitely 4.5 (75%).  Not to be too picky or anything.  It just seemed incongruous.

[Fellfrosch]

Clock translations are Skar's domain. I think he bases it more on the content of the review than on the star score itself.

[Skar]

This runs smack into the whole clock/star discussion.

Our clock scores, as I interpret them, are not really out of 6, because 6 is defined as a special case.  So I assume things are, primarily, out of 5 clocks.  That gives you a score of 70% vs. 75% for the 3/4 score.  I pulled it down instead of up because of the content of the review.

It also points up the problem we all beat on, but didn't kill, with the clock system as it stands now.  3.5 is perceived as a bad score but according to the guidelines, it's just fine.

[Paul_Gibbs]

Skar's translation of our score was dead on.

[Entsuropi]

3.5 is bad because of the movies reviewed recently, most have been 5+ clocks.

[Lieutenant Kije]

Sorry, I wasn't in on the whole other discussion.  The explanation of the six being a special case makes sense, although it's not intuitive.

[Paul_Gibbs]

3.5 is bad because of the movies reviewed recently, most have been 5+ clocks.

There are two factors to consider here: First, it took us a long time to get any kind of handle on the clock system, so some of our ratings were off. Second, those recent 5+ clock rating were for films like "Munich". Oscar caliber films that rank among the greats. "Firewall" is a fun little movie, but it's nowhere near as good as as "Munich" or "Good Night, and Good Luck".  The 5+ clock movies we've reviewed recently mostly made out top 10 of 2005. As much as I enjoyed "Firewall", I doubt it will make my top 10 for 2006.

Remember, this is how I defined the star system:

1 = Poor

2= fair

3 = Good

4 = Excellent

There's a pretty big jump from a three star movie to a four star, and I think Skar's clock rating translation reflected that accurately.

[Skar]

On second thought I figured, rather than lock the thread, I'd just delete the whole thing back to where it was still relevant to the film and questions the review raised.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

This goes back to my explanation of why the 6 clock system is problematic. 3.5 != 58% or even 70%. It's more like a C+ or a B-. The scale is not progressive and "to scale." It needs refinement of definition, at least.

[Paul_Gibbs]

This goes back to my explanation of why the 6 clock system is problematic. 3.5 != 58% or even 70%. It's more like a C+ or a B-. The scale is not progressive and "to scale." It needs refinement of definition, at least.

Actually, B- minus is a pretty accurate reflection of the rating I would give "Firewall". Skar is right. Let's put all of this behind us and get back to the business of rebuilding our lives.