Miscellaneous Movie Musings the Sequel

[alphabassettgrrl]

I guess I loved the cinematography in "Woman in Black" too much to notice plot holes. I decided to let the pop-ups stop scaring me, since they don't contribute much to my enjoyment, and the overall creepiness of the house was much better.

Probably going to see "Snow White and the Huntsman" tomorrow night. Not expecting much, but maybe it will surprise me.

[Alex]

I didn't even get to the point of noticing plot holes as no plot had happened yet.

Just something about the tone and pacing of that opening left me saying "this is just going to make a long flight worse."

Lani and I were pretty negative no Snow White and the Huntsman. It is hard for me to point at anything specific that was bad (though Stewart really isn't meant for that kind of role and anything build on the premise that she is more attractive than Charlize Theron is obviously flawed) but it didn't come together at all for us.

[Snowflake]

Originally Posted by Alex

I didn't even get to the point of noticing plot holes as no plot had happened yet.

Just something about the tone and pacing of that opening left me saying "this is just going to make a long flight worse."

It was very slow to start and a slow crawl to the finish

[Strangler Lewis]

I really liked The Woman in Black. Beyond the obvious plot holes of people remaining for decades where there's a deadly supernatural menace so that we can have a horror movie, I didn't see any obvious plot holes--other than Daniel Radcliffe failing to use his wand to stop the whole mess. I also think the ending had something of a twist, which, if it actually existed, I suppose I can say I saw coming, but it was still fun.

[flippyshark]

Prometheus was something really gorgeous to look at. Truly stunning. It left me pretty cold otherwise. I only found one character at all engaging, that being the android played by Michael Fassbender. (Not a spoiler. He's identified as such right up front) He gives an appealing performance, in spite of a confused screenplay that left me unsure how I was supposed to react to his character.

Spoiler:

Was he evil? Just following orders? Following his own agenda or someone else's? I have no idea!

The movie wanted me to swallow a pretty enormous faith pill. I would have been more amenable if the token skeptic hadn't been a smug, dismissive asshole, who early on gets a single line of dialogue to express what is really a very reasonable doubt.

Spoiler:

Honestly, why would our creators go to such lengths to make it look like Darwinian evolution really happened?! Also, once the protagonist's pet theory turns out to be undeniably true, (and before all the nasty stuff starts happening) nobody acts jazzed about it. Only one guy mentions that their discovery is the most significant in the history of science, and he sounds kind of annoyed by the fact.

So, sense of discovery and wonder FAIL.

Also, the movie's twin missions of being speculative, mystical sci-fi, and also a graphic prequel to an established horror series sit very awkwardly together.

Noomi Rapace is really put through the emotional wringer here, and she's up to the challenge, but I was so disconnected from her story, her valiant acting efforts were in vain.

Spoiler:

Also, is there a less believable recovery from trauma in the history of cinema? "A machine just sliced me open, pulled out an enormous squid fetus, and stapled my midsection back together, but I'm good to go, really."

Charlize Theron's character could be edited out of this movie without making a single bit of difference. A one-note bore.

All that said, I'll watch this again when it hits Blu-ray. It really is stunning to look at, with some memorable icky bits.

[mousepod]

Hated Prometheus. I agree with flippy's criticism's and then some.

Damon Lindelof brought us the last season of Lost, which basically said, "You know all those tantalizing mysteries we've been tossing around for half a decade? We're not going to answer them. Asking the questions is enough."

People defended that move, and now he wrote a crappy Alien prequel that does the same thing. Will there be "answers" in the next two movies? (turns out this is the first of a trilogy.) Who cares? He gave moviegoers Alien: The Phantom Menace (by way of Star Trek V). Screw him.

Spoiler alert: don't believe the lies that Ridley Scott floated about the plot. It's all hack work. If you think know what I'm talking about, you're probably right.

I'm looking forward to hating Lindelof's Star Trek script, too. Let the franchise-killing continue.

[Alex]

I didn't hate it. I also didn't think there were a whole lot of unanswered questions but I don't know if that is because I saw answers others missed or I missed questions other people saw.

As for the connective tissue with the Alien movies, I don't really care. I'm not a huge fan of Alien, liked Aliens enough but not enough to see it a second time and the rest are trash.

It was pretty. It moved along ok. It dealt in generally well established cliches of science fiction without breaking any new ground or asking any new questions (I'm fine with not answering questions if the question itself is interesting enough). If this is part of a trilogy I'l sure I'd see the next one but won't particularly be waiting for it.

That said, not a great movie for someone who had abdominal surgery a few days ago.

[Alex]

Though on reflection the biggest unanswered question may be:

Spoiler:

Why did they put Guy Pearce in fifteen pounds of mediocre aging makeup instead of just getting an actual old person.

I guess it did embed the notion that he really would be saved by the aliens and they needed a young actor under there.

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by Alex

Though on reflection the biggest unanswered question may be:

Spoiler:

Why did they put Guy Pearce in fifteen pounds of mediocre aging makeup instead of just getting an actual old person.

I guess it did embed the notion that he really would be saved by the aliens and they needed a young actor under there.

Spoiler:

I assumed that was part of the somewhat over the top homage to Kubrick's "2001 A Space Odyssey". The look of Guy Pearce, his room on the ship, etc...

[mousepod]

Actually, the reason that

Spoiler:

they used Guy Pearce under the makeup was that there were scenes shot with him as a young man. Why they used ****ty makeup is anyone's guess.

When I talked about unanswered questions, I'm referring to the basic internal logic of the film. I have no problem with crazy story lines in any movie, but when the the film acts important by addressing "big questions", then I'd at least like for there to be something there for me to hold onto.

The problem with Prometheus for me is that it presents plot points as major revelations without really revealing anything. It plays more like the B-grade horror movie than it is rather than the A-level science fiction film it purports to be.