scumble on 1/8/2012 at 10:45
Quote Posted by Vivian
Well, you're not actually arguing, you're literally saying just shut up and accept it, but you know what I mean.
I'm not trying to get into an argument about the film. Possibly I got the wrong end of the stick with your comments. I was saying something general about arguing about film details - what is tedious is when people get far too wound up and start trading insults.
Also, this wasn't you personally - your comments were quite sensible.
I'm not sure how much more sense is going to come out of this thread at this point...
The Alchemist on 1/8/2012 at 19:06
I hope the satire in my last post was obvious. :(
Scots Taffer on 2/8/2012 at 03:25
The concept that entertainment cannot bear any level of critical scrutiny irritates the fuck out of me.
It's perfectly acceptable to have legitimate problems with massively funded, years in development, franchise behemoths that seek to have cultural significance and it's perfectly acceptable to talk about those problems.
Whilst I agree nitpicking minor issues like a medical machine's functions or a nuke shockwave is pretty meaningless as to a movie's value as art/entertainment, I think if it's a poorly paced, shoddily characterised and underwritten pile of shit - it deserves to get picked apart.
That doesn't mean "no one is capable of enjoying things".
I hated Prometheus. I was very underwhelmed by TDKR. I fucking love Breaking Bad. Why? Pacing, writing, characters, plot...
Morte on 2/8/2012 at 06:54
Yeah, I can ignore the fact that Noomi Rapace's guts should be spilling out because all that machine seemed to do was was staple her skin together. What I can't overlook is that the scene goes nowhere, which is symptomatic of how the movie's terrible plotting and thematic failures. Then there's also the character contradictions and unsatisfying ambiguities dragging it down.
Prometheus has serious narrative problems, and telling people to shut up and just absorb it on a visceral level is pointless, because those problems are precisely what prevent a lot of people from doing just that.
Sure, people might focus on the wrong details when discussing a movie, but that's because it's much easier to pick up on the individual details that are wrong, especially if you know something about the area, rather than thematic contradictions, problematic tonal shifts and plot logic.
Why does nobody nitpick the Alien's appearance in the tunnel scenes? Because the movie has a characters that act consistently and works on a dramatic level. Why does everybody and their aunt pick over every little detail in Prometheus? Because it doesn't.
Vivian on 2/8/2012 at 09:30
Quote Posted by Morte
Why does nobody nitpick the Alien's appearance in the tunnel scenes? Because the movie has a characters that act consistently and works on a dramatic level. Why does everybody and their aunt pick over every little detail in Prometheus? Because it doesn't.
Yeah. Exactly. Although I did also enjoy it on that visceral level you mentioned. The only other 3D film I've seen is Avatar and I hated the cartoony-ness of it. Prometheus was, for all it's issues, really, really, seriously good-looking.
Looks like the sequel is officially a thing now: (
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/9446063/Prometheus-sequel-is-on-its-way.html)
Um.... good? I dunno. Expecting a
sequel to make everything better is a bit, uh, optimistic?
SubJeff on 2/8/2012 at 09:50
I agree with you and Scots about nitpicking small things (which is exactly why I've defended things in this film), but I don't get what you are talking about here:
Quote Posted by Morte
Why does nobody nitpick the Alien's appearance in the tunnel scenes?
Morte on 2/8/2012 at 10:59
I was referring to this:
Quote Posted by The Alchemist
I watched Alien recently and while its still a great movie, I couldn't help but chuckle during the tunnels scare when the alien reaction was to go BOO! with his hands as if a little kid scaring his father.
N'Al on 2/8/2012 at 11:32
Now that is horror.
