[Aptorian]

Erhrmm.. . I enjoyed bright.

[Tsundoku]

Alternative Goose, on 04 April 2018 - 10:34 AM, said:

Erhrmm.. . I enjoyed Bright.

Your Honour, the prosecution rests.



Disclaimer: I haven't seen it.

[QuickTidal]

Alternative Goose, on 04 April 2018 - 10:34 AM, said:

Erhrmm.. . I enjoyed bright.

And I'm in the middle. I thought it began strongly and lost its way half way through...but I stand by it being a cool premise that can be further explored in interesting ways.

[Aptorian]

QuickTidal, on 04 April 2018 - 12:37 PM, said:

Alternative Goose, on 04 April 2018 - 10:34 AM, said:

Erhrmm.. . I enjoyed bright.

And I'm in the middle. I thought it began strongly and lost its way half way through...but I stand by it being a cool premise that can be further explored in interesting ways.

This was my assessment as well. It's definitely flawed and flounders towards the end. But the fact that they did a relatively successful attempt at bringing urban fantasy to the big screen (well, the Netflix) meant a lot to me. I hope they improve with the sequel. I want more orc/wizard buddy cop stories.

[QuickTidal]

Alternative Goose, on 04 April 2018 - 12:53 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 04 April 2018 - 12:37 PM, said:

Alternative Goose, on 04 April 2018 - 10:34 AM, said:

Erhrmm.. . I enjoyed bright.

And I'm in the middle. I thought it began strongly and lost its way half way through...but I stand by it being a cool premise that can be further explored in interesting ways.

This was my assessment as well. It's definitely flawed and flounders towards the end. But the fact that they did a relatively successful attempt at bringing urban fantasy to the big screen (well, the Netflix) meant a lot to me. I hope they improve with the sequel. I want more orc/wizard buddy cop stories.

For sure. And I like Will Smith a lot, so that helps.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 04 April 2018 - 12:58 PM, said:

Alternative Goose, on 04 April 2018 - 12:53 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 04 April 2018 - 12:37 PM, said:

Alternative Goose, on 04 April 2018 - 10:34 AM, said:

Erhrmm.. . I enjoyed bright.

And I'm in the middle. I thought it began strongly and lost its way half way through...but I stand by it being a cool premise that can be further explored in interesting ways.

This was my assessment as well. It's definitely flawed and flounders towards the end. But the fact that they did a relatively successful attempt at bringing urban fantasy to the big screen (well, the Netflix) meant a lot to me. I hope they improve with the sequel. I want more orc/wizard buddy cop stories.

For sure. And I like Will Smith a lot, so that helps.

All fair points, but at the end of the day it was sitting on a shelf without a distributor to get it into movie theatres and Netflix picked it up for relative chump change. That's a gross simplification to be fair, but i believe accurate. Netflix is picking up movies and tv series' that the 'big boys' networks and distributors are rejecting, slapping 'Netflix original' on them, and using the obvious opportunity its own medium presents to market these things and hope the audience will be content with 'good enough' rather than good or great.

I'm not saying its a bad move by Netflix - they need lower cost content to hold eyeballs between seasons of their bigger productions like OitNB, ALTERED CARBON, etc - but it reflects a move to produce or support mediocrity and attempt to pass it off as a superior product.

[Aptorian]

Abyss, on 04 April 2018 - 01:31 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 04 April 2018 - 12:58 PM, said:

Alternative Goose, on 04 April 2018 - 12:53 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 04 April 2018 - 12:37 PM, said:

Alternative Goose, on 04 April 2018 - 10:34 AM, said:

Erhrmm.. . I enjoyed bright.

And I'm in the middle. I thought it began strongly and lost its way half way through...but I stand by it being a cool premise that can be further explored in interesting ways.

This was my assessment as well. It's definitely flawed and flounders towards the end. But the fact that they did a relatively successful attempt at bringing urban fantasy to the big screen (well, the Netflix) meant a lot to me. I hope they improve with the sequel. I want more orc/wizard buddy cop stories.

For sure. And I like Will Smith a lot, so that helps.

All fair points, but at the end of the day it was sitting on a shelf without a distributor to get it into movie theatres and Netflix picked it up for relative chump change. That's a gross simplification to be fair, but i believe accurate. Netflix is picking up movies and tv series' that the 'big boys' networks and distributors are rejecting, slapping 'Netflix original' on them, and using the obvious opportunity its own medium presents to market these things and hope the audience will be content with 'good enough' rather than good or great.

I'm not saying its a bad move by Netflix - they need lower cost content to hold eyeballs between seasons of their bigger productions like OitNB, ALTERED CARBON, etc - but it reflects a move to produce or support mediocrity and attempt to pass it off as a superior product.

Bright was made specifically for Netflix as far as I am aware. Wikipedia at least agrees with me. It also cost 90 million to make, allthough I really don't understand where all that money was spent in the production.

Anyway, the point being, Bright is not just Cloverfield 3. It was a big budget, big profile attempt at changing the way big production movies are launched and consumed.

--------------

Speaking of Netflix I just watched Annihilation. What a weird film that is. I really liked it but I am not really sure what the film wanted me to take away from the experience or if there even was a meaning to that ending. It certainly deserves applause for not holding the viewers hand or trying to have mass appeal.

I think I loved every single change it made to the book series' story, except the very end. Feels like they completely change the theme and purpose of the tale.

[Mezla PigDog]

Alternative Goose, on 04 April 2018 - 07:48 PM, said:

Speaking of Netflix I just watched Annihilation. What a weird film that is. I really liked it but I am not really sure what the film wanted me to take away from the experience or if there even was a meaning to that ending. It certainly deserves applause for not holding the viewers hand or trying to have mass appeal.

I think I loved every single change it made to the book series' story, except the very end. Feels like they completely change the theme and purpose of the tale.

Hey Apt, I watched it at the weekend and enjoyed it. I haven't read the book and won't get round to it any time soon despite the film making me want to. What is the general gist and ending of the book?

[Abyss]

Quote

...Bright was made specifically for Netflix as far as I am aware. Wikipedia at least agrees with me. It also cost 90 million to make, allthough I really don't understand where all that money was spent in the production.

Anyway, the point being, Bright is not just Cloverfield 3. It was a big budget, big profile attempt at changing the way big production movies are launched and consumed...

Depending on where and who you read, it was in pre-production by a major studio that bailed and Netflix jumped in.
Not that it matters.... BRIGHT was decent enough for a streaming movie you could watch on your couch, while checking your phone, and pause whenever, where 'boxoffice take' is meaningless, but likely would have been a big screen fail.

[Aptorian]

Mezla PigDog, on 04 April 2018 - 08:00 PM, said:

Alternative Goose, on 04 April 2018 - 07:48 PM, said:

Speaking of Netflix I just watched Annihilation. What a weird film that is. I really liked it but I am not really sure what the film wanted me to take away from the experience or if there even was a meaning to that ending. It certainly deserves applause for not holding the viewers hand or trying to have mass appeal.

I think I loved every single change it made to the book series' story, except the very end. Feels like they completely change the theme and purpose of the tale.

Hey Apt, I watched it at the weekend and enjoyed it. I haven't read the book and won't get round to it any time soon despite the film making me want to. What is the general gist and ending of the book?

WARNING: Giant plot/Ending spoilers for the Southern Reach/Area X book trilogy/Annihilation movie ending incoming:

Spoiler

Well, to start the whole thing off, the books have more of a personal, existensial horror to them, rather than the more straightforward Sci-fi aspect of the film.

The books suggest and recount the wonders and horrors of Area X, where the film displays the wonders in living color.

In that sense the books are much more intellectual, philosophical and subtle - and honestly, sort of disappointing in my opinion, where as the film actually show you a more literal representation of the weird shit the "Alien entity" is doing to the zone.

But as for the ending, it's the complete opposite of the film. The film ends with the "infestation" being burned away and the threat, at least for now, being ended.

In the books, there is only annihilation - both in terms of the fate of mankind and the character's ultimate fate and personal judgement. Book 2 ends with Area X massively expanding and in book 3 it is suggested that years have passed outside the zone and the entire planet is already "terraformed" by this alien presence.

Mankind is gone and in its place something new and different will emerge.

What makes the books so different from the film is that they're much more inter-personal. It's about the character's grasp on reality and their own identity and what ever destiny Area X has in store for them. What is happening to planet Earth is actually just background noise. We're all doomed anyway, the only question you are left with is whether what comes next is hell on earth or heaven - and whether the character's can accept that.

The Biologist is also a much more fascinating character than the movie one. Mainly because she's an odd, anti-social, analytical human being. A woman of few words and little empathy for other people beyond her own baser needs. She's a creature of stubborn willpower and a refusal to lay down and die, despite the fact that she probably died long ago.

This post has been edited by Alternative Goose: 04 April 2018 - 09:12 PM

[Mezla PigDog]

Sounds good. I guess the film considerably sanitised it. It did have the feel of not being entirely rounded but I enjoyed how weird and creepy it was.

Going back to the above Bright / Netflix movie discussion. I definitely have lower expectations for a Netflix movie than something I would pay to see at the cinema. I'll settle for less because I know I can walk away even though I never do and usually only watch on a whim whereas going to the cinema is an active decision. The Netflix movie model must take that into account. To that end I found Bright watchable but it's like someone asked a teenager to write a racism parable.

[worry]

What's interesting about Annihilation (the movie) is that Alex Garland only read the first book, and didn't reread it while writing the screenplay, so there's an impressionistic tilt to it, and a filling in the blanks that Garland deliberately sets out to do to create a standalone movie. So it's like the imaginations of him and Vandermeer fused together. It results in something closer to sci-fi horror (albeit quite thoughtful) than psychological horror w/ sci-fi trappings. But like I said a few pages back, I actually quite liked both conclusions.

[Morgoth]

Bachelorluver, on 04 April 2018 - 10:51 PM, said:

It’s on Netflix already?

Nope, we're just all in this cool pre-screening club that you're not invited to!

[Cause]

Thoughts on Ready Player One?

My friend liked it. I described it as soulless. The movie had endless pop culture references but they felt sanitized. Hey here are Halo Spartans because you will recognize them, not because we are trying to show how important pop culture is to shaping actual culture. I never felt that the people really cared about the cultural references they seem to worship. The tone about the pop culture is even weirder because the film ends with the message that reality is more important than video games (and books, tv shows, movies) which I think is a weird message at the end of a film dedicated to video game culture.

Otherwise a romance sub plot that develops too fast, a story of friendship that develops too fast, the death of important characters that gets glossed over

[amphibian]

Morgoth, on 05 April 2018 - 08:44 AM, said:

Bachelorluver, on 04 April 2018 - 10:51 PM, said:

It’s on Netflix already?

Nope, we're just all in this cool pre-screening club that you're not invited to!

It is on Netflix now for most international places beyond the USA. The film distribution was split that way on purpose.

[Aptorian]

amphibian, on 05 April 2018 - 11:24 AM, said:

Morgoth, on 05 April 2018 - 08:44 AM, said:

Bachelorluver, on 04 April 2018 - 10:51 PM, said:

It’s on Netflix already?

Nope, we're just all in this cool pre-screening club that you're not invited to!

It is on Netflix now for most international places beyond the USA. The film distribution was split that way on purpose.

Huh, that's interesting, I was sure I saw a movie poster for it recently. Just did a Google search and sure enough, no Cinema viewings in Denmark.

That's a shame really. The score and the psychelic visual must be phenomenal in something like an IMAX Theater.

[Morgoth]

amphibian, on 05 April 2018 - 11:24 AM, said:

Morgoth, on 05 April 2018 - 08:44 AM, said:

Bachelorluver, on 04 April 2018 - 10:51 PM, said:

It’s on Netflix already?

Nope, we're just all in this cool pre-screening club that you're not invited to!

It is on Netflix now for most international places beyond the USA. The film distribution was split that way on purpose.

Yes, that was supposed to be the joke.

[amphibian]

Yeah, I got the joke. But he's missed a lot of such jokes before, so I put an actual explanation in here to help smooth everything over.

And yeah, Annihilation is really fun on a big screen with good sound.

[QuickTidal]

I haven't watched yet, but I'm trying to distance my expectations from reading the books, and juts see this as someone's new story that grew from the first book.

[QuickTidal]

Watched LUCY.

It was fine. It wasn’t great by any stretch. It tries out high concept and just kind of blazes through it WAY too fast with a fairly unsatisfying ending. It mostly holds together on the charisma of Johansson, and Freeman.

I guess I like my super powered beings to be flawed and or have to try. John Wick comes to mind. Once she reaches 20% at like the half hour mark....no one has a chance. And that made it a bit boring.