Because the Czech riffed off of Ebert's brilliance (it comes out beautifully both when he's irked by crap or amazed by craft), I had to go to his site, to be greeted by a nice list:
Roger Ebert's top Foreign Films of 2008.
I only saw Tell No One, dogged not by reviews but by the reports of sold-out showings at the local cinemas. A foreign film, without zero-gravity martial arts, selling out? Well, it wasn't as widely distributed as Crouching Tiger, but it was popular in New York.
And, for a suspense movie, it accomplished its feat. The director takes the wheel and you're at the edge of your seat. Though as I read his praise (and agreed), I felt sad because my suspenseful moment was robbed from me. In a very empty theater (late showing on a weeknight) I sat with an old high school friend, when during the previews two ladies in their 50's or 60's sat in our row. And, they immediately started talking. I told my friend that instant that I knew they would talk throughout the movie.
Boy do I wish I was wrong about that. Not only did they intermittently break up a rather quiet, tense movie with their whispers (loud enough to determine that they were trying to piece together the plot, which movies usually do for you eventually), but they took advantage of the most tense scene in the movie (the meeting in the park scene) to whisper furiously. They must have been oblivious and perhaps a bit deaf. And I was f***ing pissed off.
So, in characteristic teapot fashion, I leaned over and hissed,
"Will you two SHUT THE F*** UP?!"
They certainly did. Too bad that my adrenaline from movie frustration was in overdrive. It was worth enjoying the rest of the movie in quiet comfort.
There are two axioms that everyone should know before going into a movie theater:
1. No one wants to hear you talk.
2. Even if you whisper, the people around you can hear you talk.
Yes, it was weird saying such vulgarities to women my mother's age, but they should know better, and that cancels it out.
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