[QuickTidal]

polishgenius, on 27 September 2017 - 02:21 PM, said:

Someone thought it'd be a good idea to adapt Jeff VanderMeer. This is going to be so strange.

It's not QUITE what I pictured while reading the book series, but it's actually quite close. Portman is a solid choice to lead the team.

Interestingly no shots of the stairwell/upside-down-tower they spend so long in.

Also, was the border of Area X always an actual physical wall of "magic" (for lack of a better word) in the books? I thought they just felt weird as they crossed it, not that there was anything physical to see.

Anyways, I'm in. Loved the books.

[polishgenius]

QuickTidal, on 27 September 2017 - 02:54 PM, said:

polishgenius, on 27 September 2017 - 02:21 PM, said:

Someone thought it'd be a good idea to adapt Jeff VanderMeer. This is going to be so strange.

It's not QUITE what I pictured while reading the book series, but it's actually quite close. Portman is a solid choice to lead the team.

Interestingly no shots of the stairwell/upside-down-tower they spend so long in.

Also, was the border of Area X always an actual physical wall of "magic" (for lack of a better word) in the books? I thought they just felt weird as they crossed it, not that there was anything physical to see.

Anyways, I'm in. Loved the books.

I don't recall there ever being an actual description of the border. Certainly in the first book they don't enter directly, they get hypnotised and wake up already in the area.

Spoiler

I recall there being hints throughout that somehow, even though it has a physical presence, Area X isn't a true physical area. Like the first entry, just looked it up and they wake up but the Biologist looks back and sees a glowing door shape, and those are a feature later on too as if where one enters and leaves is immaterial.
But I'll have to reread it because my memory of the series is for some reason not that strong.

[QuickTidal]

Honey Cups, on 27 September 2017 - 03:54 PM, said:

Not knowing a single thing about this my take is that it looks weird as fuck

That is a good take. It IS weird as fuck. But OH so interesting. Book 2 I found especially amazing.

[polishgenius]

Hey QT you should give Infinite Ground by Martin MacInnes a try. It's not usually placed by publishers and marketers into our little ol' SF ghetto but it's a book with quite a similar vibe to Area X. I haven't finished it myself yet (so I can't guarantee a stuck landing), but that's only because I found it so weird and creepy I had to put it down for a bit.

[QuickTidal]

polishgenius, on 27 September 2017 - 04:23 PM, said:

Hey QT you should give Infinite Ground by Martin MacInnes a try. It's not usually placed by publishers and marketers into our little ol' SF ghetto but it's a book with quite a similar vibe to Area X. I haven't finished it myself yet (so I can't guarantee a stuck landing), but that's only because I found it so weird and creepy I had to put it down for a bit.

Cool. I'll look it up.

[Silencer]

Honey Cups, on 28 September 2017 - 12:42 AM, said:

Some Avatar news hit today. I think we have a thread but I'm being lazy and not looking. I ll spoiler it I guess.

Spoiler

a bunch of kids have been cast as Jake and what's her faces offspring so we are getting a timehop

The scripts for 2-5 are already fully written.

Does anyone even want any of these films? What a waste of time and money. *sigh*

[worry]

Yah Cameron wrote them on toilet paper last time he had diarrhea.

[QuickTidal]

Silencer, on 28 September 2017 - 02:21 AM, said:

Honey Cups, on 28 September 2017 - 12:42 AM, said:

Some Avatar news hit today. I think we have a thread but I'm being lazy and not looking. I ll spoiler it I guess.

Spoiler

a bunch of kids have been cast as Jake and what's her faces offspring so we are getting a timehop

The scripts for 2-5 are already fully written.

Does anyone even want any of these films? What a waste of time and money. *sigh*

You know, a few years ago I might have agreed hard with this...but now I'm not so sure. Sure it has to contend with the resurgence of the very movie franchises it filled the gap for (Aliens, Star Wars ect.) now...but I think it's actually been long enough that these will function well as long sequels. If Cameron can nail the story (something he's hit and miss at), then I could see these succeeding again with the masses.

Moneys on them flopping I'm sure...but a small part of me is at least intrigued to see what he puts on the screen for them and if they pass muster.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 28 September 2017 - 12:27 PM, said:

Silencer, on 28 September 2017 - 02:21 AM, said:

Honey Cups, on 28 September 2017 - 12:42 AM, said:

Some Avatar news hit today. I think we have a thread but I'm being lazy and not looking. I ll spoiler it I guess.

Spoiler

a bunch of kids have been cast as Jake and what's her faces offspring so we are getting a timehop

The scripts for 2-5 are already fully written.

Does anyone even want any of these films? What a waste of time and money. *sigh*

You know, a few years ago I might have agreed hard with this...but now I'm not so sure. Sure it has to contend with the resurgence of the very movie franchises it filled the gap for (Aliens, Star Wars ect.) now...but I think it's actually been long enough that these will function well as long sequels. If Cameron can nail the story (something he's hit and miss at), then I could see these succeeding again with the masses.

Moneys on them flopping I'm sure...but a small part of me is at least intrigued to see what he puts on the screen for them and if they pass muster.

And it doesn't hurt that big dollars were put into the theme park which is supposedly impressive.

Tho yeah, i'm betting on floppage.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 28 September 2017 - 01:08 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 28 September 2017 - 12:27 PM, said:

Silencer, on 28 September 2017 - 02:21 AM, said:

Honey Cups, on 28 September 2017 - 12:42 AM, said:

Some Avatar news hit today. I think we have a thread but I'm being lazy and not looking. I ll spoiler it I guess.

Spoiler

a bunch of kids have been cast as Jake and what's her faces offspring so we are getting a timehop

The scripts for 2-5 are already fully written.

Does anyone even want any of these films? What a waste of time and money. *sigh*

You know, a few years ago I might have agreed hard with this...but now I'm not so sure. Sure it has to contend with the resurgence of the very movie franchises it filled the gap for (Aliens, Star Wars ect.) now...but I think it's actually been long enough that these will function well as long sequels. If Cameron can nail the story (something he's hit and miss at), then I could see these succeeding again with the masses.

Moneys on them flopping I'm sure...but a small part of me is at least intrigued to see what he puts on the screen for them and if they pass muster.

And it doesn't hurt that big dollars were put into the theme park which is supposedly impressive.

Tho yeah, i'm betting on floppage.

Good money is on floppage for sure. But maybe Cameron will surprise us?

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 28 September 2017 - 01:18 PM, said:

Abyss, on 28 September 2017 - 01:08 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 28 September 2017 - 12:27 PM, said:

Silencer, on 28 September 2017 - 02:21 AM, said:

Honey Cups, on 28 September 2017 - 12:42 AM, said:

Some Avatar news hit today. I think we have a thread but I'm being lazy and not looking. I ll spoiler it I guess.

Spoiler

a bunch of kids have been cast as Jake and what's her faces offspring so we are getting a timehop

The scripts for 2-5 are already fully written.

Does anyone even want any of these films? What a waste of time and money. *sigh*

You know, a few years ago I might have agreed hard with this...but now I'm not so sure. Sure it has to contend with the resurgence of the very movie franchises it filled the gap for (Aliens, Star Wars ect.) now...but I think it's actually been long enough that these will function well as long sequels. If Cameron can nail the story (something he's hit and miss at), then I could see these succeeding again with the masses.

Moneys on them flopping I'm sure...but a small part of me is at least intrigued to see what he puts on the screen for them and if they pass muster.

And it doesn't hurt that big dollars were put into the theme park which is supposedly impressive.

Tho yeah, i'm betting on floppage.

Good money is on floppage for sure. But maybe Cameron will surprise us?

I dunno... did he really surprise use with AVATAR?
It was a simplistic, bordering on insulting simple movie with fx that were stunning for their time. With hindsight and more/better fx, most people seem to look back on the movie with at best a fond nostagia for the visual.
Assuming we get similarly basic stories with similarly impressive fx it's hard to know whether the audiences will rush.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 28 September 2017 - 03:46 PM, said:

I dunno... did he really surprise use with AVATAR?
It was a simplistic, bordering on insulting simple movie with fx that were stunning for their time. With hindsight and more/better fx, most people seem to look back on the movie with at best a fond nostagia for the visual.
Assuming we get similarly basic stories with similarly impressive fx it's hard to know whether the audiences will rush.

His track record is more hits than misses though. Like if he can hit us with another ABYSS (Hey...PUN!!!!!)....then we might be good.

[worry]

Gerald's Game -- very good adaptation of the novel, w/ an epilogue that doesn't really work at all, even though it's from the book and works a lot better in it. It's not the typical King good book/bad ending thing though, or even something creepy that works on the page but can't work on screen. I just think the direction was great for most of the movie and sucked for the epilogue, for whatever reason. But it doesn't ruin the stuff that came before, movie's 90% really good (I mean, it's a low key story and not like a pinnacle of the genre, I'm just saying it's really effective at what it does).

[Malankazooie]

[Malankazooie]

I've issue with this list, firstly of which where is Timecrimes?! So yeah, don't jump down my throat, but thought it was topical to post, given the fact Blade Runner 2049 opens this weekend.

The 35 best science-fiction movies since Blade Runner

[worry]

Don't jump down my throat, but science fiction sucks, and everyone who likes it also sucks.

[WinterPhoenix]

Sci-fi doesn't suck in general, but Blade Runner definitely does, no idea why its so popular, I have less than zero interest in the sequel after wasting a couple of hours of my life watching the original a few years back. Also even if I did want to see the sequel out of morbid curiosity, I'm not so much a glutton for punishment as to subject myself to watching Ryan Gosling in anything!

This post has been edited by WinterPhoenix: 06 October 2017 - 01:39 AM

[Macros]

Don't you dare bad mouth one of the Ryans!

[WinterPhoenix]

Macros, on 06 October 2017 - 11:08 AM, said:

Don't you dare bad mouth one of the Ryans!

Don't even get me started on Reynolds...

[Werthead]

Quote

But maybe Cameron will surprise us?

I wouldn't bet against Cameron. Every time people have said "This is a stupid idea, this will flop, who will pay to watch this?" he's then released the highest-grossing movie of all time (or almost). He did it with T2, Titanic and Avatar. He's got to have a fumble at some point and these four movies (collectively costing over $1 billion!) may be it, but I wonder if he will do something that will blow us away.

My biggest gripe is that by committing to these movies on this scale, he's had to fob off Battle Angel Alita and his own new Terminator movie to other people again.