I haven’t read the book, so I can’t comment on adaptation issues, but I’ll see an Ang Lee picture everyday of the week. Even the disaster of his ‘Hulk’ was visually stunning.

‘Life of Pi’ is pretty amazing. Pretty and amazing, which don’t even go far enough.

We saw it in 2D, but like Scorsese’s ‘Hugo,’ I really want to see it in 3D.

The CGI on Richard Parker is beyond belief. There are few scenes where I didn’t believe that there was a living Bengal tiger on set. Taking direction. Getting thinner.

The film is complicated on the subject of religion, but here’s my take: it’s less preaching a belief in God than a story of one character’s belief in God. There’s a line about Catholic guilt married to Hinduism that works really well for me, a lapsed Catholic. YMMV.

But the film’s imagery — Diwali, the shipwreck, the flying fish and tuna, the humpback that you may have seen in the trailer—is, as with last year’s ‘Hugo,’ what movies can do that no other art form can—make us believe that dreams can be realized.

Ang Lee is a master. ‘Life of Pi’ is a better film than ‘Lincoln’ which, the more I get away from it, becomes forgettable except for Day-Lewis’ performance, and my personal addiction to anything involving my Brevet Captain, even tangentially.

I haven’t seen anything like ‘Life of Pi’ since ‘Hugo,’ which was my favorite movie last year. Both are about the nature of story-telling, which is right up my professional alley, and both Lee and Scorsese are diving deep into CGI, 3D, digital filming. If you like film, I think ‘Life of Pi’ is required viewing.