Arrival, low bar? In what universe?the constant flashbacks ruined it for me. felt like I was watching an annoying lost episode. Still liked it more than Arrival, but that's a low bar to pass.
Because the ending is a spineless disappointment, it shares that flaw with Interstellar. A smaller nitpick is that I can't stand how Denis Villeneuve shoots his characters. Almost never together on the screen and very close up, I don't know what's up with that trend but its awful.
I mean....the movie isn't really good
I agree, but comparisons here are inevitable I guess given the broad science fiction label they share.Arrival isn't really the same. Its a sci fi film that uses its setting to talk about love and loss. Its more in common with Eternal Sunshine. Annihilation is a more straight up genre flick.
The ending was built up by clever editing right from the start, it's neither courageous nor spineless, and it certainly wasn't future human ex machina. Since a lot was happening inside protagonist's head, the film needed many closeup reaction shots. And Amy Adams did a terrific job at being the warm human link binding time and people. The super-closeups in flashbacks with her daughter successfully channeled the intimacy.Because the ending is a spineless disappointment, it shares that flaw with Interstellar. A smaller nitpick is that I can't stand how Denis Villeneuve shoots his characters. Almost never together on the screen and very close up, I don't know what's up with that trend but its awful.
I think Prisoners was mediocre as well. BR a bit better but still nothing to write home about.
Well, you have convinced me.
People think that at the end we see the clone of Lena? Why? I, like most of people believe that at the end the real Lena comes out of the area and the reason why she is so strange after that is because she already has her DNA mixed with the weird thing, as she mentioned this fact earlier in the movie
i have a question, why does every single interesting and potentially great sci-fi movie have to ruin it with cringy and predictable human drama? 95% of the time it feels so forced, and always takes up way too much screentime. either it's someone's marital issues, father-daughter relationship, the loss of a child, a belly ache or whatever.. i can't take it anymore. GIVE ME MORE SCI-FI IN MY SCI-FI FFS. when i want human drama i will watch the Sopranos or something. god-damn-it.
i'm talking about Interstellar, Arrival, Gravity, this movie... it will never end, will it?
my god, when someone finally dares to make a sci-fi movie where the humans and their personal issues are not the constant center of focus, i will cry tears of joy and declare it to be the movie of the decade.
also bear scene gave me nightmares ugjhhhsd
I don't understand this either. We literally see Lena walk out while the alien clone goes down the hole, fully ablaze from the fosforus grenade.
The movie goes out of its way to show that it is the real Lena who leaves the lighthouse.
i have a question, why does every single interesting and potentially great sci-fi movie have to ruin it with cringy and predictable human drama? 95% of the time it feels so forced, and always takes up way too much screentime. either it's someone's marital issues, father-daughter relationship, the loss of a child, a belly ache or whatever.. i can't take it anymore. GIVE ME MORE SCI-FI IN MY SCI-FI FFS. when i want human drama i will watch the Sopranos or something. god-damn-it.
i'm talking about Interstellar, Arrival, Gravity, this movie... it will never end, will it?
my god, when someone finally dares to make a sci-fi movie where the humans and their personal issues are not the constant center of focus, i will cry tears of joy and declare it to be the movie of the decade.
also bear scene gave me nightmares ugjhhhsd
True, I do think it's the real Lina, but the lack of blood could be many things.It's almost impossible to create a compelling movie without "human drama". All the best sci-fi movies explore the unknown whilst having the limited human experience as the lens we see those events through.
The movie even alleviates this with Lena drinking water and placing the cup in front of camera. The same shot where Kane's glass was bloody in the beginning of the movie.
Still would not make sense the real Lena knows what the incendiary grenade is, why would she grab it and hold on to it?Edit: also there was a pretty hard cut when she passed out pressed to the door, I could see that being the point where the "switch" happened if at all.
I mean we see the real Kayne kill himself due to the mental breakdown, but I do agree it seems less likely than real her getting out.Great movie, I don't get the confusion some are having with the ending.
Still would not make sense the real Lena knows what the incendiary grenade is, why would she grab it and hold on to it?
Entertaining it for a moment, even though she admitted to being changed by the shimmer its not established in the film she transformed enough to survive being burned long enough and have the knowledge to go in the hole and burn it all down.
I mean we see the real Kayne kill himself due to the mental breakdown, but I do agree it seems less likely than real her getting out.
Mieville tried to create something completely alien in Embassytown but ended up saying later that it may be impossible for humans to create something completely and utterly alien.
Having said that, some of the stuff in Embassytown is the most surreal and alien stuff I have ever read.
All great books, and some of my favourites.Embassytown, Rendezvous with Rama, and Blindsight do great work on trying to capture the "truly alien".
True, I do think it's the real Lina, but the lack of blood could be many things.
Don't forget clone Kayne stabilised after everything burned. He may very well not bleed from water too now.
Edit: also there was a pretty hard cut when she passed out pressed to the door, I could see that being the point where the "switch" happened if at all.
i have a question, why does every single interesting and potentially great sci-fi movie have to ruin it with cringy and predictable human drama? 95% of the time it feels so forced, and always takes up way too much screentime. either it's someone's marital issues, father-daughter relationship, the loss of a child, a belly ache or whatever.. i can't take it anymore. GIVE ME MORE SCI-FI IN MY SCI-FI FFS. when i want human drama i will watch the Sopranos or something. god-damn-it.
i'm talking about Interstellar, Arrival, Gravity, this movie... it will never end, will it?
my god, when someone finally dares to make a sci-fi movie where the humans and their personal issues are not the constant center of focus, i will cry tears of joy and declare it to be the movie of the decade.
also bear scene gave me nightmares ugjhhhsd
So what's with the tattoos some people randomly got after visiting the dude with the moving intestines? She said something about echoes....
Super weird coincidence, literally just started reading Solaris as research for a project.All great books, and some of my favourites.
Solaris (the book, not the films) is probably my number one when it comes to depicting aliens which are actually alien and will never be understood by human minds. A seemingly sentient planet-spanning ocean spontaneously giving rise to huge geometrical manifestations, apparently probes the psyches of the scientists investigating it as a response to their interactions, by conjuring up physical manifestations of their most repressed memories and experiences. Not being able to understand how or why of course frustrates their scientific mindsets greatly.
I believe Portman's character is still the original technically, but that she's had the other team members (and previous people in the shimmer) "refracted" into her, hence why she has the tattoo and her eyes are shifting colour.Just saw this today and really enjoyed it.
Kinda wish they'd gone a bit further with the DNA transforming stuff with the other characters instead of just having then go a little crazy, get mauled, or grow some plant stuff out of them. Would have been trippy to see that exploded dude transform live or have something similar happen to one if the main characters. Something like that dude transforming into the lobster alien in District 9 but even weirder.
Probably a limitation of the budget or something, but still would have been cool. Maybe I'll check out the book if it goes further than the movie does with stuff like that.
But the finale in the lighthouse was pretty incredible. Not 100% sure what happened with the psychologist team leader regurgitating the lifeform (maybe it was trying to communicate through her or something), but the vortex/engine/thingy itself was wild (wish we'd gotten to see more of it), and the duplicate monster along with the music was really amazing.
And at the end, her husband is obviously a duplicate (based on the video in the lighthouse and his personality change), but Portman's character is still herself right? Her eyes just also did the color change thing because she's just been altered by the shimmer? Or were they all duplicates early on when they lost track of time when they woke up in their tents and had apparently been in there for days with no memory of it? Or was that just their brains going wonky from the shimmer?
So many questions!
Having now seen the movie, this makes a bunch of sense.
Them constantly finding notes and video logs also gave me strong video game vibes. Should be no surprise to find out Garland previously worked on Enslaved.
My first reaction was to apologise for spoilers, but then I realised that what I wrote is pretty much the blurb you might find on the back of your copy of the book!Super weird coincidence, literally just started reading Solaris as research for a project.
Damn it's good and uncanny as hell in terms of "the truly alien"
I didn't read all of your post once i realised you were going into spoiler territory :)My first reaction was to apologise for spoilers, but then I realised that what I wrote is pretty much the blurb you might find on the back of your copy of the book!
Hope you enjoy it either way. If you want to read more of Lem on the subject of humanity's failure to communicate with the truly alien, try The Invincible, Fiasco, and His Master's Voice. I enjoyed all of them.
That was superb. Genuine sense of dread but also wonder, really amazing set design & attention to detail, good-to-great performances and an incredible finale & denouement.
I feel like we're in a small golden age for high concept SF in filmmaking atm. While they all have flaws, I've greatly enjoyed over the last few years:
Source Code
Looper
Interstellar
Coherence (if you haven't seen it, it's on Netflix & is spooky AF)
Arrival
BR2049
Annihilation
Europa Report
Moon
Ex Machina
There's been some great B-movies like ARQ & Kill Command too.
Good time to be into SF that doesn't do too much handholding, even if it does put people off.
Embassytown, Rendezvous with Rama, and Blindsight do great work on trying to capture the "truly alien".
I think it all goes back to the idea of everything having a self destructive nature. She has this stable marriage, which she chooses to upset by cheating with her colleague.What was the point of the flashbacks of her having sex with the black dude?
Hey! Watched Coherence today because of your post. Enjoyed it, thanks!
I've been trying to get this thread to discuss the tattoos but no one seems interested which is odd as I think they are both really obvious and also potentially key to understanding what's going on. Found this neat article about what they potentially mean:
http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/the-key-to-annihilation-is-in-the-subtle-tattoos
it's stated that they've tried air and sea approaches but neither worked.Edit: and if they were going to a light house, why don't send them in the sea route by boat or helicopter?
I think it could have been a better film if it didn't leave me with these kinds of questions.
Yeah Lena does mention a bruise on her arm when she's in the boat, which I'm guessing is what grows into the tattoo.
I havent seen anyone mention or explain the missing memory they have in the beginning either Their missing 3 days or so and thats why they cant get back out immediately, because they dont know the way back. I presumed that was when they were copy's, but I guess it could just be selective plot memory eraser.
I was wondered this. When Portman brings up not remembering crossing the border and the weird time gaps, I thought for sure they kept the hypnotizing plot thread in, even though I knew most of the story had been changed.In the book the head of the Southern Reach (The Psychiatrist) is a hypnotist and places them under hypnotic suggestion. Film didn't really go into *any* of that but I wondered if that was a subtle nod towards that.
You can't go wrong with Stanislaw Lem if you want utterly alien sci-fi, and stories that are trying to comprehend and understand something so truly alienI haven't read Embassytown but I will now. The other 2 book are on my top 10 SF list.
I also highly recommend The Invincible by Lem. It starts a bit slow but picks up fast.
www.amazon.com/Invincible-Stanislaw-Lem-ebook/dp/B00ILGUJEM/
and if you like that one give Fiasco a try:
https://www.amazon.com/Fiasco-Stanislaw-Lem/dp/0156306301/
In the book the head of the Southern Reach (The Psychiatrist) is a hypnotist and places them under hypnotic suggestion. Film didn't really go into *any* of that but I wondered if that was a subtle nod towards that.