Totally Random
08 Dec 2014 19:37 - 08 Dec 2014 20:36 #7590
by Valence
Replied by Valence on topic Totally Random
Last time I went to the cinema was to see Ghostbusters! 
But I too watched Prometheus the other day, for the second time, and it didn't get any better than the initial desperate disappointment. All the hype promised a profound existential story like Bladerunner or 2001 and all we got was not a prequel to Alien but a remake of Alien ... without the suspense.
Its problems reminded me a little of David Lynch's Dune. Lynch initially had four hours of footage which he reluctantly cut to a three hour movie. Then the studio slashed it to two hours for no other reason than to shorten it to fit in more screenings per day. The end result was a mess that made no sense, not even to fans of the book who knew the story.
And although I don't know about its production or who had Final Cut, Prometheus does feel the same.
SPOILERS!
It's as if half the film is missing and all the story was cut in favour of action/effects. The characters behave without any coherently explained motivation (David poisoning the annoying man. Why??), important plot points are announced rather than being discovered (we know the engineers want to destroy us because David tells us. How does he know? How does he speak their language?) and then there's the old guy played by Guy Pearce in make up. Why not use an old actor? When a young actor is cast in this kind of role it's usually so we can see the younger version in flashback. But there are no scenes like this in the film. Were they cut out? What did they explain? Also there are two characters on the ship (I don't know their names) that don't have a single scene between them. Were they cut also? It seems silly to hire two actors for no role whatsoever.
It's not a bad film, it's just an utter mess.
That's not to say that there isn't some badness though. Namely the bit where the woman cuts an alien out of her stomach, staples herself back together and then runs around as if only suffering from mild cramp. And then there's Idris Elba! What IS he doing?? And he was so accurate and authentic in The Wire!
In the Trans-Atlantic Poker Game of Bad Accents... "I'll see your Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins and raise you Idris Elba in Prometheus."
"Hmm, I'll match your Idris Elba. And raise you Indiana Jones pretending to be a Scottish Lord" (Av kom to see thee tippistries. Ye dee hiff tippisrrrrries, din ye?)
"I'll take the Scottish Indy and give you Clive Owen in ... well, anything"
"Fold!"
But I too watched Prometheus the other day, for the second time, and it didn't get any better than the initial desperate disappointment. All the hype promised a profound existential story like Bladerunner or 2001 and all we got was not a prequel to Alien but a remake of Alien ... without the suspense.
Its problems reminded me a little of David Lynch's Dune. Lynch initially had four hours of footage which he reluctantly cut to a three hour movie. Then the studio slashed it to two hours for no other reason than to shorten it to fit in more screenings per day. The end result was a mess that made no sense, not even to fans of the book who knew the story.
And although I don't know about its production or who had Final Cut, Prometheus does feel the same.
SPOILERS!
It's as if half the film is missing and all the story was cut in favour of action/effects. The characters behave without any coherently explained motivation (David poisoning the annoying man. Why??), important plot points are announced rather than being discovered (we know the engineers want to destroy us because David tells us. How does he know? How does he speak their language?) and then there's the old guy played by Guy Pearce in make up. Why not use an old actor? When a young actor is cast in this kind of role it's usually so we can see the younger version in flashback. But there are no scenes like this in the film. Were they cut out? What did they explain? Also there are two characters on the ship (I don't know their names) that don't have a single scene between them. Were they cut also? It seems silly to hire two actors for no role whatsoever.
It's not a bad film, it's just an utter mess.
That's not to say that there isn't some badness though. Namely the bit where the woman cuts an alien out of her stomach, staples herself back together and then runs around as if only suffering from mild cramp. And then there's Idris Elba! What IS he doing?? And he was so accurate and authentic in The Wire!
In the Trans-Atlantic Poker Game of Bad Accents... "I'll see your Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins and raise you Idris Elba in Prometheus."
"Hmm, I'll match your Idris Elba. And raise you Indiana Jones pretending to be a Scottish Lord" (Av kom to see thee tippistries. Ye dee hiff tippisrrrrries, din ye?)
"I'll take the Scottish Indy and give you Clive Owen in ... well, anything"
"Fold!"
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08 Dec 2014 20:38 #7593
by Digital Dave
Nice list, and the same reasons I refuse to go to the movies anymore. Couldn't tell ya the last time I enjoyed going to see something and not have some of these occur. ... Sadly, I too also saw Prometheus but honestly, can't even recall much of it? Didn't really like it, so I guess that helps in slowly erasing it from memory.
I get sketchy around pencils! ...
Replied by Digital Dave on topic Totally Random
I dunno about kaz, but here are some suggestions:
- Using their cellphones during the film (the phones appearing as bright lights in the cinema and distracting from the actual screen)
- Telling their kids what everyone is saying and what's happening
- Talking loudly - or talking at all sometimes (though I've certainly done that too if only short comments, not whole conversations)
- Eating noisily and making noise with candy wrappers or when opening soda cans
- Kissing noisily (I don't usually go to romantic movies but sometimes people get started before the movie's begun, regardless of whether it's action or fantasy or whatnot)
- Kicking the row of seats in front of them (because the people in that row can't feel anything anyway, right?)
- Sitting down in the middle of the row and then leaving twice to go pee, forcing everyone else to stand up to let them pass (or doing the same with kids, and having to take first one, then the other to the loo)
Not as annoying are the times people just don't get the movie and I'm the only one* laughing... (Or the rest of them laugh about 3 seconds later)
The ones I glare at the most are the ones kicking me in the back, the ones who talk all the time and the ones who can't put their cell phones away.
So, what did I miss, kaz?
*(or at least one of very few people)
Nice list, and the same reasons I refuse to go to the movies anymore. Couldn't tell ya the last time I enjoyed going to see something and not have some of these occur. ... Sadly, I too also saw Prometheus but honestly, can't even recall much of it? Didn't really like it, so I guess that helps in slowly erasing it from memory.
I get sketchy around pencils! ...
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09 Dec 2014 08:26 #7602
by Charlotte
Any an all misspellings are henceforth blamed on the cats.
Replied by Charlotte on topic Totally Random
Pretty sound reasoning Dom, though I still hate getting kicked in the back while enjoying my pops whizzes and bangs
In my earlier list I forgot to mention girls that scream at the top of their lungs and bursts everyones eardrums at the slightest (and usually easily anticipated) surprise...
Regarding Prometheus I didn't notice Elba's accent but found him pretty much the only reasonable character.
David being able to communicate with the aliens was explained but pretty much everything else, I agree felt like it was randomly cut and pasted together. Especially when the geologist had the mandatory freak out scene for no reason. And the biologist then chose to join him in returning to the ship - because they found extraterrestrial life (well, dead extraterrestrial life). The geologist had no interest in fossils and the biologist no interest in biology. Totally senseless that.
In my earlier list I forgot to mention girls that scream at the top of their lungs and bursts everyones eardrums at the slightest (and usually easily anticipated) surprise...
Regarding Prometheus I didn't notice Elba's accent but found him pretty much the only reasonable character.
David being able to communicate with the aliens was explained but pretty much everything else, I agree felt like it was randomly cut and pasted together. Especially when the geologist had the mandatory freak out scene for no reason. And the biologist then chose to join him in returning to the ship - because they found extraterrestrial life (well, dead extraterrestrial life). The geologist had no interest in fossils and the biologist no interest in biology. Totally senseless that.
Any an all misspellings are henceforth blamed on the cats.
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09 Dec 2014 12:41 #7610
by Banj
David infects Holloway simply to see what the black goo does.He asks Holloway what he would be prepared to do to find answers to his questions and he replies "anything and everything" which David takes as a sign that he is a willing test subject.
It's explained in the film. He has spent a long time studying ancient languages and manages to piece together what he believes to be the Engineers language. While David tells us a lot about the Engineers plan and what the surviving one says etc. there is nothing to say that what he tells us is either true or accurate.
Guy Pearce as a young Weyland was cut from the film. He originally appeared in a dream sequence that David would have been watching during the journey to the planet (like with Shaw's dreams of her father). It was removed to delay the reveal that Weyland was on board the ship instead of making it clear at the beginning. Young Weyland was still used for promotional viral shorts like the TED talk:
I'm not sure which characters you mean but it happens all the time. There have often been cases of big name actors having their entire role cut from a film.
I think it is a flawed film, but I don't think it's a mess.
I guess it depends on your suspension of disbelief. It doesn't bother me particularly. People go into hospital these days and have major surgery and are released within hours. They are also capable of incredible feats of strength and resilience when they life is threatened. In this case immediately after she performs the operation she is doped up to the eyeballs and running for her life from a dangerous alien lifeform. Later, she is clearly in pain, but still drugged. There is also nothing to tell us that the staples used don't have any kind of inbuilt healing properties and pain relief.
Youwhatty???
Replied by Banj on topic Totally Random
SPOILERS!
David poisoning the annoying man. Why??
David infects Holloway simply to see what the black goo does.He asks Holloway what he would be prepared to do to find answers to his questions and he replies "anything and everything" which David takes as a sign that he is a willing test subject.
we know the engineers want to destroy us because David tells us. How does he know? How does he speak their language?
It's explained in the film. He has spent a long time studying ancient languages and manages to piece together what he believes to be the Engineers language. While David tells us a lot about the Engineers plan and what the surviving one says etc. there is nothing to say that what he tells us is either true or accurate.
and then there's the old guy played by Guy Pearce in make up. Why not use an old actor? When a young actor is cast in this kind of role it's usually so we can see the younger version in flashback. But there are no scenes like this in the film. Were they cut out? What did they explain?
Guy Pearce as a young Weyland was cut from the film. He originally appeared in a dream sequence that David would have been watching during the journey to the planet (like with Shaw's dreams of her father). It was removed to delay the reveal that Weyland was on board the ship instead of making it clear at the beginning. Young Weyland was still used for promotional viral shorts like the TED talk:
Also there are two characters on the ship (I don't know their names) that don't have a single scene between them. Were they cut also? It seems silly to hire two actors for no role whatsoever.
I'm not sure which characters you mean but it happens all the time. There have often been cases of big name actors having their entire role cut from a film.
It's not a bad film, it's just an utter mess.
I think it is a flawed film, but I don't think it's a mess.
That's not to say that there isn't some badness though. Namely the bit where the woman cuts an alien out of her stomach, staples herself back together and then runs around as if only suffering from mild cramp.
I guess it depends on your suspension of disbelief. It doesn't bother me particularly. People go into hospital these days and have major surgery and are released within hours. They are also capable of incredible feats of strength and resilience when they life is threatened. In this case immediately after she performs the operation she is doped up to the eyeballs and running for her life from a dangerous alien lifeform. Later, she is clearly in pain, but still drugged. There is also nothing to tell us that the staples used don't have any kind of inbuilt healing properties and pain relief.
And then there's Idris Elba! What IS he doing?? And he was so accurate and authentic in The Wire!
In the Trans-Atlantic Poker Game of Bad Accents... "I'll see your Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins and raise you Idris Elba in Prometheus."
"Hmm, I'll match your Idris Elba. And raise you Indiana Jones pretending to be a Scottish Lord" (Av kom to see thee tippistries. Ye dee hiff tippisrrrrries, din ye?)
"I'll take the Scottish Indy and give you Clive Owen in ... well, anything"
"Fold!"
Youwhatty???
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09 Dec 2014 17:36 - 10 Dec 2014 01:14 #7612
by Valence
Exactly! That was my first impression and it seems such a clunking non sequitur (especially for a logical android) that it makes you look for another explanation.
Yes, there is a scene where he's learning a language and also later scenes of him pushing alien buttons and looking at alien graphics but this is supposed to be first contact with a new race with no previous knowledge of how they communicate. You have to have more than silent introspective revelation (even though Michael Fassbender is brilliant at it!) It' s dying for some sort of Rosetta stone scene or perhaps the discovery primer in a DNA code. Just … something!
For me at least the suspension of disbelief does extend to relinquishing all critical faculties. Although it's not as bad as that time when Jack Bauer was a heroin addict for two hours was tortured to death and then revived and came out of it all with a gentle limp.
Having had this argument before I know that people bring up the viral marketing campaign (which I didn't see) but when you have studio backing, a big budget, 2+ hours (EDIT: just checked and it IS slightly less, yet feels more) of screen time then if you can't tell a coherent contained story without relying on YouTube videos to explain the plot then I'm afraid it's a failure. And yes, I do understand that actors are often left on the cutting room floor but there's such a vacancy in the story that it draws your attention to this and makes you wonder what was in those scenes. A great film leaves you wanting more but Prometheus just leaves you wanting some.
Having said that I would like to watch the sequel if only to see if it's the film I wanted the first one to be.
And however good the character is Idris Elba's accent is horrific, especially when he "sings" Love The One You're With, I don't know how the rest of the cast kept a straight face. It goes from Texas to Dublin via Birmingham. Just weird because Stringer Bell was flawless.
And I guess I'm the only one who plays Bad-Accent Poker round here.
It always starts with Dick Van Dyke and then usually someone invokes Sean Connery in The Untouchables. But Scottish Indy always wins it for me. However the cop in Arrow is becoming a favourite.
Replied by Valence on topic Totally Random
He asks Holloway what he would be prepared to do to find answers to his questions and he replies "anything and everything" which David takes as a sign that he is a willing test subject.
Exactly! That was my first impression and it seems such a clunking non sequitur (especially for a logical android) that it makes you look for another explanation.
Yes, there is a scene where he's learning a language and also later scenes of him pushing alien buttons and looking at alien graphics but this is supposed to be first contact with a new race with no previous knowledge of how they communicate. You have to have more than silent introspective revelation (even though Michael Fassbender is brilliant at it!) It' s dying for some sort of Rosetta stone scene or perhaps the discovery primer in a DNA code. Just … something!
For me at least the suspension of disbelief does extend to relinquishing all critical faculties. Although it's not as bad as that time when Jack Bauer was a heroin addict for two hours was tortured to death and then revived and came out of it all with a gentle limp.
Having had this argument before I know that people bring up the viral marketing campaign (which I didn't see) but when you have studio backing, a big budget, 2+ hours (EDIT: just checked and it IS slightly less, yet feels more) of screen time then if you can't tell a coherent contained story without relying on YouTube videos to explain the plot then I'm afraid it's a failure. And yes, I do understand that actors are often left on the cutting room floor but there's such a vacancy in the story that it draws your attention to this and makes you wonder what was in those scenes. A great film leaves you wanting more but Prometheus just leaves you wanting some.
Having said that I would like to watch the sequel if only to see if it's the film I wanted the first one to be.
And however good the character is Idris Elba's accent is horrific, especially when he "sings" Love The One You're With, I don't know how the rest of the cast kept a straight face. It goes from Texas to Dublin via Birmingham. Just weird because Stringer Bell was flawless.
And I guess I'm the only one who plays Bad-Accent Poker round here.
It always starts with Dick Van Dyke and then usually someone invokes Sean Connery in The Untouchables. But Scottish Indy always wins it for me. However the cop in Arrow is becoming a favourite.
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