Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
edited June 2018
Well, finally watched Arrival.
Not sure how to feel about that ending other than it made me hate Louise.
Conceiving a child without telling the other person that you knew they would die of a horrible disease before they even reach adulthood? Doesn't he deserve to know that could happen before agreeing to go through with it?
My father showed me Total Recall(the OG of course), and wow, that is one thoroughly twisted film.
Imagine my surprise when I saw Paul Verhoeven's name.
And for some reason I watched 50 Shades of Grey.
Yeesh, that escalated quickly. It actually is really well made, despite the questionable source material. (See also: Twilight)
The contract scene in particular was well edited.
I think the two films also have another thing in common: ditching a very talented director due to creative differences prior to making the sequels.
Total Recall had sequels?
I was thinking of the remake.
I sometimes wonder whether to watch that, for curiosity's sake (also Beckinsale). But I haven't as of yet.
But yeah, the original is twisted, but in the best ways. It's in Verhoeven's holy trinity (with Robocop and Starship Troopers), and one of Arnold's best performances as well as one of his best films.
Not sure how to feel about that ending other than it made me hate Louise.
Having a child without telling the other person that you knew they would die of a horrible disease before they even reach adulthood? Doesn't he deserve to know that could happen before agreeing to go through with it?
Thats fucking horrible.
There was nothing she could've done. It had already happened.
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Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
Not sure how to feel about that ending other than it made me hate Louise.
Having a child without telling the other person that you knew they would die of a horrible disease before they even reach adulthood? Doesn't he deserve to know that could happen before agreeing to go through with it?
Thats fucking horrible.
There was nothing she could've done. It had already happened.
Not sure how to feel about that ending other than it made me hate Louise.
Having a child without telling the other person that you knew they would die of a horrible disease before they even reach adulthood? Doesn't he deserve to know that could happen before agreeing to go through with it?
Thats fucking horrible.
There was nothing she could've done. It had already happened.
Hmm..
Non linear time fuckery. I forgot.
Continued arrival
The novel is a bit different on that respect. The death is a fall, so even easier to prevent.
Basically for her, most of her life happens at the same time. It has weird effects on cause and effect.
...And for some reason I watched 50 Shades of Grey.
Yeesh, that escalated quickly. It actually is really well made, despite the questionable source material. (See also: Twilight)
The contract scene in particular was well edited.
I think the two films also have another thing in common: ditching a very talented director due to creative differences prior to making the sequels.
The youtube channel Folding Ideas did "A Lukewarm Defence of Fifty Shades of Grey (the Movie)" that was pretty interesting to watch. (Not enough to make me actually watch the movie myself, but interesting.)
TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
edited June 2018
Death Wish '18 was a good movie, nothing more and nothing to rewatch but a worthwhile rental. It's biggest flaw is labeling itself as a Death Wish remake because they changed so much of it it could have easily just been another old action guy revenge movie which is the style at the time. Hell, you could say it's a dark Adventures in Babysitting sequel since Angel Elisabeth Shue and Vincent D'Onfrio are in it and it takes place in Chicago. All it really has to keep it connected to the original movie is Kersey's wife being murdered and turning to vigilante to get revenge as well as the ending scene with the hand gun mimic (and the detective angle, who is played by Hank from Breaking Bad). Kersey's an ER doctor here, the daughter is 18 and just shot and in a coma, there's nothing in Arizona, they up the robbers aspect to make it more like a modern thriller type movie with a big bad, etc. Everything else is changed around enough where you could have named it something else and it probably would have been received better, call it 30cc's of Lead or John McClane's Other Life or Avenging the Angel Elisabeth Shue (it would have made 200 milly with that last name alone). Willis is 80% trying in this movie for a change compared to other recent stuff, and it's actually shot and filmed rather well by Roth, and he even gets in some good practical gore in places (nothing major, just sort of a calling card that was hinted at in the trailer). I was actually surprised how well they used some modern updates to this kind of vigilante story, with Willis looking for information online and using youtube videos and there was even some well played dark humor moments with some of the death wishes, both things being on the nose just the right amount. The biggest mistake of the movie is using some bad man on the street stuff with the likes of real radio hosts such as Mancow and Sway doing their "he's a hero!/he's a menace!" JJJ rabble.
Thoroughbreds, moer liek Psychopath and Sociopath BFFs m i rite, was great and really channeled a Chan Wook Park vibe throughout. It's not as good as any of his movies but for a directorial debut from some guy some where it knows how to be a slow burn thriller that doesn't hold your hand. Great acting across the board since it hinges on two and at most five people, really good camerawork with lingering shots and great use of music (outside of using Ave Maria which along with Amazing Grace and Danny Boy and Hotel California should never be played ever again for a decade), it really knows how to make you just the right amount of awkward or lost in a scene without the film being p-word and then later on it covers the bases. The teens feel just the right amount of perceiving themselves to be so smart thanks to their upbringing but never that fake Hollywood pontificating teenager schtick. The trailer was a bit misleading because it's not as upbeat as shown, like an imitation of The Bling Ring or something, and I liked that the story didn't go a direction I was expecting as cheap out to justify the premise, but the way it's set up it knows how to correctly play with the audience entering these scenes we're shown for a few minutes. I thought Yelchin's appearance in the movie would alter the film and hinder it but it seems they filmed everything they needed with him before he passed, and this is a great movie to end his sadly short career on. Super recommend it, Taylor-Joy and Cooke are two of the best upcoming actresses and Paul Sparks plays a great step-dad, let it get some strong legs on the rental front to encourage more of these movies. Third best movie of the year so far behind Paddington 2 and Deadpool 2.
The biggest mistake of the movie is using some bad man on the street stuff with the likes of real radio hosts such as Mancow and Sway doing their "he's a hero!/he's a menace!" JJJ rabble.
To be fair that's a realistic bent to a movie like that, in real life people in the media would comment/react on vigilantism. And a lot of people would not like a Punisher walking around killing people, he's not Spider-man.
Just popping in to tell everyone that Hereditary was amazing and you all should see it. It thoroughly creeped us out.
Toni Collette should win an award for this movie. All of the awards.
Steam: Spawnbroker
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Element BrianPeanut Butter ShillRegistered Userregular
hereditary is a movie that uses sounds to tell you what's happening so you can't escape by closing your eyes
you know what that thunk means
you know what that banging is
you know what that buzzing is
you know what that screaming is
you know what that repetitive shhnk shhnk shhnk is
you know what that clicking sound is
they're able to use natural, visceral, cringing sounds in the movie instead of overwhelming music to draw out the horror and once something begins the sound tells you it's happening even if you look away
...And for some reason I watched 50 Shades of Grey.
Yeesh, that escalated quickly. It actually is really well made, despite the questionable source material. (See also: Twilight)
The contract scene in particular was well edited.
I think the two films also have another thing in common: ditching a very talented director due to creative differences prior to making the sequels.
The youtube channel Folding Ideas did "A Lukewarm Defence of Fifty Shades of Grey (the Movie)" that was pretty interesting to watch. (Not enough to make me actually watch the movie myself, but interesting.)
Not sure how to feel about that ending other than it made me hate Louise.
Having a child without telling the other person that you knew they would die of a horrible disease before they even reach adulthood? Doesn't he deserve to know that could happen before agreeing to go through with it?
Thats fucking horrible.
There was nothing she could've done. It had already happened.
Hmm..
Non linear time fuckery. I forgot.
Continued arrival
The novel is a bit different on that respect. The death is a fall, so even easier to prevent.
Basically for her, most of her life happens at the same time. It has weird effects on cause and effect.
The movie also does a poor job explaining
the idea of how aliens experience time. In the short story it's not non linear, time is dictated by linear events. Just aliens and the protagonist experience time like one would look at a whole picture you see every stroke that makes up the picture all at once. Not, as people would see it, each stroke slowly creating the painting and only at the end piecing it all together. The aliens explain the reason they came to earth as "to see, to observe", the protagonists sees her life and the consequences as choosing the whole outcome, even knowing all of the twists and turns. In her words, "am I maximizing pain or joy" implying even knowing what she knows, she is choosing that life to maximize she knows not what, but to maximize it none the less
This is one story I don't think could ever be successfully translated to film without the tricks and confusing things they pulled to try and make it understandable without long monologues and maybe long expository scenes. But then again, I've loved that story since it first came out years and years ago.
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Inquisitor772 x Penny Arcade Fight Club ChampionA fixed point in space and timeRegistered Userregular
I saw First Reformed today. Spoiler-free review:
Meh. I think I'm just done with these kinds of movies. The execution is there but it has all the subtlety of a bat to the head. Everything from the plot to the 1.37:1 aspect ratio screams what it's trying to do. If you watched this without knowing that Paul Schrader made it, I feel like it wouldn't go over nearly as well. It's one of those things where I think everyone is just happy that it has a coherent message and isn't a dumpster fire so they're giving it a pass.
No joke though, Ethan Hawke is amazing in this film.
Book Club is a very predictable romcom that coasts almost entirely on its top-drawer cast of certain ages; and actually gets away with it at least part of the time, with some very bawdy moments and a handful of laugh-out-loud bits. Worth it if you like the cast (Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen, Candice Bergen, Jane Fonda, Don Johnson, Richard Dreyfuss, Craig T Nelson, Andy Garcia, etc, etc), who are all on charming form; the script is sometimes quite sharp but the plot only does what you would expect it to and nothing more. Watchable froth.
Based on only the movie she seems to be able to affect change in the present with future knowledge yet still chooses to never tell her daughter that she will die young.
I went to see some other new release(Solo maybe) at an early showing, and there was basically a parade of 70+ year old women straight from one theater, across the concession area, to the bathroom - like a line of gray haired ants. I knew what was playing in that theater before I even looked at the signage.
Based on only the movie she seems to be able to affect change in the present with future knowledge yet still chooses to never tell her daughter that she will die young.
She doesn't experience time linearly any more.
And what doesn't make sense about her not telling her daughter that she will die young? That'll go over great!
Based on only the movie she seems to be able to affect change in the present with future knowledge yet still chooses to never tell her daughter that she will die young.
She doesn't experience time linearly any more.
And what doesn't make sense about her not telling her daughter that she will die young? That'll go over great!
It's just very cruel and seems to be out of character for her.
PSN: Canadian_llama
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Inquisitor772 x Penny Arcade Fight Club ChampionA fixed point in space and timeRegistered Userregular
Based on only the movie she seems to be able to affect change in the present with future knowledge yet still chooses to never tell her daughter that she will die young.
She doesn't experience time linearly any more.
And what doesn't make sense about her not telling her daughter that she will die young? That'll go over great!
It's just very cruel and seems to be out of character for her.
It is perfectly in-character. The movie itself isn't linear. Those first scenes where she is detached from everyone and we assume it is because she just lost her child? All of that happens at the start, before everything else. The movie is just using cinematic language to imply something that gets explained and subverted later - no, she isn't a mother in mourning, she's just a generally detached person.
You're also assuming that the main character has agency. My personal opinion is that by becoming unstuck in time like the main character does, they no longer have any agency or ability to make choices. They are a detached and passive observer of their life. The choices that are made have been predetermined, it was always going to be that way.
So claiming that Louise is not that kind of person because it seems cruel doesn't make sense. She is that kind of person because it happened.
It's a chicken-and-egg problem, but I think that's also part of the point. We aren't meant to understand because time doesn't work that way for us, only for her and the aliens.
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
I hate to ask, but in for a penny in for a pound: are either of the 50 Shades sequels worth seeing? They look like they just went into straight generic romantic suspense territory. "Oh no, he's got SEEECREEEEEEEEETSSS!"
What it made me realize is I should probably watch the Before Trilogy which he brings up in comparison at around the 15:30 mark as an example of how to write actual couples dialogue and conflict.
TexiKen on
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
That Lukewarm Defense clip summarizes my feelings on the first movie pretty effectively. They almost turn a garbage story into a competent film. Almost.
I went to see some other new release(Solo maybe) at an early showing, and there was basically a parade of 70+ year old women straight from one theater, across the concession area, to the bathroom - like a line of gray haired ants. I knew what was playing in that theater before I even looked at the signage.
It won't surprise you to learn that I was accompanying two older ladies (one relative, one friend) to the movie. And though it was in one of the smaller auditoriums in the cinema, it was mostly full. This worked to the film's advantage; obviously it was made with that audience in mind, and the audience did have a right old laugh at it. It definitely made it more fun. But on its own merits, it wasn't without charm.
Based on only the movie she seems to be able to affect change in the present with future knowledge yet still chooses to never tell her daughter that she will die young.
She didn't "affect change". The circumstances for her to acquire the knowledge of the Chinese General required her to use the knowledge of the Chinese General.
Future events are only possible - or sometimes necessary - because of events in the present.
The closed loop symbols of the language are exactly how time functions for her and the aliens. She didn't tell her daughter that she will die young, because she didn't tell her daughter that she would die young. You can't "change" squat - once the meaning has been determined the pattern (past and future) is fixed.
Based on only the movie she seems to be able to affect change in the present with future knowledge yet still chooses to never tell her daughter that she will die young.
I mean I haven't seen the movie, but a general knowing the future rule is that you don't tell people when and how they are going to die.
Based on only the movie she seems to be able to affect change in the present with future knowledge yet still chooses to never tell her daughter that she will die young.
I mean I haven't seen the movie, but a general knowing the future rule is that you don't tell people when and how they are going to die.
Arrival, story spoiler
This is how the story describes it
The existence of ee will meant that we couldn’t know the future. And we knew
ee will existed because we had direct experience of it. Volition was an intrinsic part
of consciousness.
Or was it? What if the experience of knowing the future changed a person? What
if it evoked a sense of urgency, a sense of obligation to act precisely as she knew she
would?"
She doesn't just know her child is going to die. She knows her husband's reaction. She also knows exactly how and when she will die.
The movie tries to slip on a little more ambiguity about it and suffers a little I think.
Based on only the movie she seems to be able to affect change in the present with future knowledge yet still chooses to never tell her daughter that she will die young.
She didn't "affect change". The circumstances for her to acquire the knowledge of the Chinese General required her to use the knowledge of the Chinese General.
Future events are only possible - or sometimes necessary - because of events in the present.
The closed loop symbols of the language are exactly how time functions for her and the aliens. She didn't tell her daughter that she will die young, because she didn't tell her daughter that she would die young. You can't "change" squat - once the meaning has been determined the pattern (past and future) is fixed.
I guess we can't really talk about a movie that breaks causality. Because using this explanation literally, nothing she ever does can be changed. It was/Is/will be are so intertwined that nothing matters anymore. every choice has been predetermined and outcomes are known, yeah?
she did have choices in what happened. She saw the things she did because she made those choices. She made those choices with the full knowledge of what would happen because of them, but she still made them. If she had made a different choice she would have seen a different outcome.
Maybe that's just a rephrasing of predestination to be less bleak but it's how I saw the movie, and it was a movie that made me so happy that I went into the restroom afterwards and cried for about five minutes straight. So, i'll keep it.
You're also assuming that the main character has agency. My personal opinion is that by becoming unstuck in time like the main character does, they no longer have any agency or ability to make choices. They are a detached and passive observer of their life. The choices that are made have been predetermined, it was always going to be that way.
So claiming that Louise is not that kind of person because it seems cruel doesn't make sense. She is that kind of person because it happened.
It's a chicken-and-egg problem, but I think that's also part of the point. We aren't meant to understand because time doesn't work that way for us, only for her and the aliens.
And this I think is my main problem with the movie.
My understanding of the story is that the aliens come to Earth to teach humanity how to experience time non-linearly because humans who can know the outcome of their actions can affect the future. This is demonstrated by the Chinese General in the film. The repayment for this gift is supposedly they will return to Earth in the future to have humans help them. They need human help because the aliens, unlike the humans, cannot change the future even with knowledge of what will happen. My problem with the movie is that this concept is poorly shown in the film itself, which I think is because of the very passive protagonist. Because the plot points always happen to her and she reacts, her lack of agency makes her almost into an audience member for the entirety of the movie. If she were a more active character, I think the point would be clearer. To be honest, I thought the same as Archangle until I read supplementary material.
That being said I believe we had a whole thread on the movie, and they may have come to different conclusions.
Based on only the movie she seems to be able to affect change in the present with future knowledge yet still chooses to never tell her daughter that she will die young.
Do we really need to spoil Arrival?
Why would you tell your daughter that she was going to die young? That would be like... a really mean thing to do to your daughter. Or your Husband for that matter, even though not telling him would end up ruining your marriage. The movie even addresses this directly by asking the character about it (though in this case about whether or not she would choose to have the child, knowing she would die young) and she answers in the affirmative even knowing the entire scope of that life.
Also "not seeing time as linear" is a bad way of saying it. Rather she is seeing time as linear and isn't seeing time as instantaneous. Imagine a pencil being drawn across a page. We perceive time as the point of the pencil moving across the page. We do not see the line it creates; we only remember that the pencil was there and so must have created a line. The aliens perceive time as the line. They know that there is a point that is moving across the page to create the line and they know when it was in that specific spot to create the line.
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Inquisitor772 x Penny Arcade Fight Club ChampionA fixed point in space and timeRegistered Userregular
I don't think there's any ambiguity in Arrival. I feel like any confusion results from people making assumptions about how time and free will work, rather than taking for granted what the movie is presenting as its thesis.
A common one I generally see revolves around people getting hung up on "language changes how you think". Is it scientifically valid? Not really. Does the movie take it for granted as part of its plot? Sure. If you can't get past that and take it for what it is, then you probably won't enjoy the movie because "space ships don't blow up like that in space!"
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TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
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Conceiving a child without telling the other person that you knew they would die of a horrible disease before they even reach adulthood? Doesn't he deserve to know that could happen before agreeing to go through with it?
Thats fucking horrible.
I sometimes wonder whether to watch that, for curiosity's sake (also Beckinsale). But I haven't as of yet.
But yeah, the original is twisted, but in the best ways. It's in Verhoeven's holy trinity (with Robocop and Starship Troopers), and one of Arnold's best performances as well as one of his best films.
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Well, I mean, that's my nickname for it. I'm not sure what other people call it.
Continued arrival
Basically for her, most of her life happens at the same time. It has weird effects on cause and effect.
The youtube channel Folding Ideas did "A Lukewarm Defence of Fifty Shades of Grey (the Movie)" that was pretty interesting to watch. (Not enough to make me actually watch the movie myself, but interesting.)
Thoroughbreds, moer liek Psychopath and Sociopath BFFs m i rite, was great and really channeled a Chan Wook Park vibe throughout. It's not as good as any of his movies but for a directorial debut from some guy some where it knows how to be a slow burn thriller that doesn't hold your hand. Great acting across the board since it hinges on two and at most five people, really good camerawork with lingering shots and great use of music (outside of using Ave Maria which along with Amazing Grace and Danny Boy and Hotel California should never be played ever again for a decade), it really knows how to make you just the right amount of awkward or lost in a scene without the film being p-word and then later on it covers the bases. The teens feel just the right amount of perceiving themselves to be so smart thanks to their upbringing but never that fake Hollywood pontificating teenager schtick. The trailer was a bit misleading because it's not as upbeat as shown, like an imitation of The Bling Ring or something, and I liked that the story didn't go a direction I was expecting as cheap out to justify the premise, but the way it's set up it knows how to correctly play with the audience entering these scenes we're shown for a few minutes. I thought Yelchin's appearance in the movie would alter the film and hinder it but it seems they filmed everything they needed with him before he passed, and this is a great movie to end his sadly short career on. Super recommend it, Taylor-Joy and Cooke are two of the best upcoming actresses and Paul Sparks plays a great step-dad, let it get some strong legs on the rental front to encourage more of these movies. Third best movie of the year so far behind Paddington 2 and Deadpool 2.
I will cherish that movie always for being the first time millions of Americans have seen an uncircumcised dong, even if it was blue and cgi
To be fair that's a realistic bent to a movie like that, in real life people in the media would comment/react on vigilantism. And a lot of people would not like a Punisher walking around killing people, he's not Spider-man.
I remember learning that in the US circumcision is totally A Thing and being like, whaaat?
Toni Collette should win an award for this movie. All of the awards.
you know what that thunk means
you know what that banging is
you know what that buzzing is
you know what that screaming is
you know what that repetitive shhnk shhnk shhnk is
you know what that clicking sound is
they're able to use natural, visceral, cringing sounds in the movie instead of overwhelming music to draw out the horror and once something begins the sound tells you it's happening even if you look away
Arch,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_goGR39m2k
It's a competently made film. It just has weak material. The ending in particular was pretty great.
The movie also does a poor job explaining
This is one story I don't think could ever be successfully translated to film without the tricks and confusing things they pulled to try and make it understandable without long monologues and maybe long expository scenes. But then again, I've loved that story since it first came out years and years ago.
No joke though, Ethan Hawke is amazing in this film.
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pleasepaypreacher.net
I went to see some other new release(Solo maybe) at an early showing, and there was basically a parade of 70+ year old women straight from one theater, across the concession area, to the bathroom - like a line of gray haired ants. I knew what was playing in that theater before I even looked at the signage.
And what doesn't make sense about her not telling her daughter that she will die young? That'll go over great!
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
So claiming that Louise is not that kind of person because it seems cruel doesn't make sense. She is that kind of person because it happened.
It's a chicken-and-egg problem, but I think that's also part of the point. We aren't meant to understand because time doesn't work that way for us, only for her and the aliens.
pleasepaypreacher.net
What it made me realize is I should probably watch the Before Trilogy which he brings up in comparison at around the 15:30 mark as an example of how to write actual couples dialogue and conflict.
It won't surprise you to learn that I was accompanying two older ladies (one relative, one friend) to the movie. And though it was in one of the smaller auditoriums in the cinema, it was mostly full. This worked to the film's advantage; obviously it was made with that audience in mind, and the audience did have a right old laugh at it. It definitely made it more fun. But on its own merits, it wasn't without charm.
Steam | XBL
Future events are only possible - or sometimes necessary - because of events in the present.
The closed loop symbols of the language are exactly how time functions for her and the aliens. She didn't tell her daughter that she will die young, because she didn't tell her daughter that she would die young. You can't "change" squat - once the meaning has been determined the pattern (past and future) is fixed.
Arrival, story spoiler
She doesn't just know her child is going to die. She knows her husband's reaction. She also knows exactly how and when she will die.
The movie tries to slip on a little more ambiguity about it and suffers a little I think.
Not being snarky this just sounds like hell.
Maybe that's just a rephrasing of predestination to be less bleak but it's how I saw the movie, and it was a movie that made me so happy that I went into the restroom afterwards and cried for about five minutes straight. So, i'll keep it.
And this I think is my main problem with the movie.
That being said I believe we had a whole thread on the movie, and they may have come to different conclusions.
Do we really need to spoil Arrival?
Also "not seeing time as linear" is a bad way of saying it. Rather she is seeing time as linear and isn't seeing time as instantaneous. Imagine a pencil being drawn across a page. We perceive time as the point of the pencil moving across the page. We do not see the line it creates; we only remember that the pencil was there and so must have created a line. The aliens perceive time as the line. They know that there is a point that is moving across the page to create the line and they know when it was in that specific spot to create the line.
A common one I generally see revolves around people getting hung up on "language changes how you think". Is it scientifically valid? Not really. Does the movie take it for granted as part of its plot? Sure. If you can't get past that and take it for what it is, then you probably won't enjoy the movie because "space ships don't blow up like that in space!"
Therefore Comcast should buy Fox.
Disney can buy Lionsgate instead.
Force CBS to merge back with Viacom.
Let the entertainment wars begin. Dilly Dilly.
Enjoy having to pay a ton of money to stream anything not released by the entertainment companies that are controlled by your ISP.
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