Annihilation (2018)

[Fancyarcher]

My review of Annihilation - https://dailyuv.com/feed/946220?location=norwich-vt

[Mulder]

Damn guys this was fantastic. Easily one of the most unnerving and scary films in ages. Loved the effects work and how personal the story was. 

[aabattery]

I dig it. One thing confused me though.

 

Spoiler

Why would someone cheat on Oscar Isaac?

 

[MrPink]

4 hours ago, aabattery said:

I dig it. One thing confused me though.

 

  Hide contents

Why would someone cheat on Oscar Isaac?

 

 

Had the same thought, but everybody just loves Romily in Interstellar is my only guess.

[Goffe]

I laughed when Lena started observing the white little creatures with pink crystal horns in the forest while a soft cue played in the background. Shit was so eye-rolling my god.

[Mulder]

4 hours ago, Goffe said:

I laughed when Lena started observing the white little creatures with pink crystal horns in the forest while a soft cue played in the background. Shit was so eye-rolling my god.

You hated another movie? wow the surprise of 2018 already

[Morieris]

This movie had me, as the kids say, shook. I was shaking like a leaf throughout a good chunk of it. 

 

The TvTropes (I know) page had some good theories, my favorite being

 

Spoiler

Cass' consciousness being split and thrown into nearby creatures (& I just realized that the pair of deer were probably intended to be her and her daughter) as she died & Lena giving the ..... thing near the end her own self-destructive tendencies bc she knew it was mirroring her.

 

On 3/6/2018 at 11:40 AM, HerediTele said:

http://www.vulture.com/2018/03/annihilation-movie-depression.html

 

Hm. I can see something in this.

[Dementeleus]

1 hour ago, Morieris said:

This movie had me, as the kids say, shook. I was shaking like a leaf throughout a good chunk of it. 

 

The TvTropes (I know) page had some good theories, my favorite being

 

  Hide contents

Cass' consciousness being split and thrown into nearby creatures (& I just realized that the pair of deer were probably intended to be her and her daughter) as she died & Lena giving the ..... thing near the end her own self-destructive tendencies bc she knew it was mirroring her.

 

 

Hm. I can see something in this.

 

I love what you said about Cass. I didn't pick up on that but I love that interpretation. 

[cookie]

That bear was fuckin' scary. Don't know about that ending tho.

Edited March 13, 2018 by cookie

[The Panda]

Lots of thoughts on this one.  I need to see it again.  But I definitely liked it.

 

A lot of stuff to process.

 

My big takeaway, that bear was terrifying af.

Edited March 18, 2018 by The Mad Panda

[The Panda]

On 2/23/2018 at 3:53 PM, Trolltastic Tele said:

Yeah, personally I felt it was more about how easily we -- as humans -- self-destruct and self-sabotage ourselves in a lot of ways (some minor and subtle, others devastating and destructive). There are so many ways to interpret the ending, though. I saw some very interesting tweets from people who suffer from depression and they felt it very powerfully spoke to what they struggle with every day. That's a perspective I wouldn't have had.

 

The book is very different (including the ending), so I encourage you to read it if you're interested (it's great!), but it won't provide answers to the movie.

The theme that resonated for me was the idea of self-destruction.  Partly how self-destruction is a method of preservation, creation, cycling, error, impulse, or just a method to feel something.  It also played off more as a take on mental illness to me than humanity as a whole.  Each character self-destructs but does it in their own way.

[The Panda]

Also, I initially was annoyed that the scientists would go in without any protective gear and touch things without gloves, etc.

 

Upon retrospection, it plays into the theme of humanity being self-destructive.  These were all people who demonstrated this self-destructive compulsion, so I think it plays into the thematic structure of the film.  Not to mention, everything in the movie is rather lucid anyways.

[Jake Gittes]

I was really impressed with the original novel as this prolonged subjective experience of an encounter with something that exists on a level genuinely above human. It's withholding and vague and unstable and claustrophobic and incomprehensible in ways that only increase the sense of mystery and terror. 

 

The film, which only really takes the bare-bones premise and characters from the source (which I knew going in), didn't have nearly that effect on me. What Garland does is actually bring the story down on the more recognizably human level; he gives all the characters names, backstories, and traumas, and arguably the clearest interpretation of the story is that it's about the changes people go through in their everyday lives. That's what the aforementioned backstories, the framing-device interrogation, JJL's little speech on self-destruction, the entire climax and the ending all support.

 

Which is all well and good, but, looking at it from that perspective, I think the movie doesn't do nearly enough to develop Portman and Isaac's relationship - not to mention her affair, - and is not helped by that monotonously clinical, largely humorless tone which it seems any modern science-fiction movie with pretensions can't help but fall into. There's some stuff here that carries a real charge, in particular the scene with the "bear", but mostly it alternates between visceral and ponderous in ways that made me progressively more detached from it. In terms of story, it's torn between a sci-fi horror flick with mutated monsters and crazy biology and a self-serious generic drama about crumbling marriage, and it's further distracted from said marriage and the people involved by four other major female protagonists and their differing experiences in the Shimmer. Only Gina Rodriguez and Tessa Thompson really come across as people, but then it's not their story anyway. As a result, the movie's musings on self-destruction and change are all sort of in abstract, rather than fueled by actual lived experience. It all feels inelegantly jumbled, not nearly cohesive or pointed enough to me. 

[EarlyDeadlinePredictions]

Positive

- Amazing visuals and soundtrack especially the last 20 minutes. 

- Pacing was great and didn't feel boring or slow at any point. 

- The message of self destruction and being reborn in the shimmer resonated with me. (I don't think that as twist at the end, I think Portmans character came back for real, just changed)

- Loved the world of the shimmer in general (wildlife, plants, evil bear creature)

- Natalie Portman's performance was good.  

 

Negative

- This is kind of a big one but I didn't' care for any of the other characters or performances aside from Natalie Portman. Not really memorable at all. 

- Also didn't really develop the Oscar Isaacs character at all. His side of the affair/drama just fell flat. 

 

Overall the film is very good but stops just short of being great for me. (High 7s out of 10) B+

 

Don't know why they didn't try an international release. Didn't Blade Runner and Arrival do ok overseas?

Edited March 21, 2018 by EarlyDeadlinePredictions

[Barnack]

Just now, EarlyDeadlinePredictions said:

Don't know why they didn't try an international release. Didn't Blade Runner and Arrival ok overseas?

Without knowing Netflix offer details here it can be a bit of an empty speculation, if they offered a 25-30M regardless of the domestic perf or something like that while having a major financier not having any faith on the project pushing that optin, could have been too good to pass.

 

Blade Runner did a good average release 35/65 yes, Arrival did a mediocre 50/50 domestic/oversea split, but was a bit more "America point of view" than this one.

 

Ex Machina from the same director and distributed oversea by UPI (paramount-universal parternship world distribution arm that would have distributed this) did terrible with a 70/30 split and many Sci-fi that are not space adventure/no huge draw in the lead role often do not do particularly well oversea (District 9, Her, Under the Skin even Ender Game)

[EarlyDeadlinePredictions]

11 minutes ago, Barnack said:

Without knowing Netflix offer details here it can be a bit of an empty speculation, if they offered a 25-30M regardless of the domestic perf or something like that while having a major financier not having any faith on the project pushing that optin, could have been too good to pass.

 

Blade Runner did a good average release 35/65 yes, Arrival did a mediocre 50/50 domestic/oversea split, but was a bit more "America point of view" than this one.

 

Ex Machina from the same director and distributed oversea by UPI (paramount-universal parternship world distribution arm that would have distributed this) did terrible with a 70/30 split and many Sci-fi that are not space adventure/no huge draw in the lead role often do not do particularly well oversea (District 9, Her, Under the Skin even Ender Game)

Yeah I said a while back that they might have wanted to do a full Netflix release if they weren't confident in the film. Apparently poor test screenings were the catalyst for the deal but they still went through with a domestic release and it flopped (was it worth it I'm not sure). Do they screen test internationally in big markets?

[Barnack]

14 minutes ago, EarlyDeadlinePredictions said:

Yeah I said a while back that they might have wanted to do a full Netflix release if they weren't confident in the film. Apparently poor test screenings were the catalyst for the deal but they still went through with a domestic release and it flopped (was it worth it I'm not sure). Do they screen test internationally in big markets?

Would not surprise me that they would have wanted that full Netflix exclusive (and maybe Rudin or someone that needed to sign off on it didn't)

 

That a good question about intl screen test, a quick search and it seem that some local distributing arm do screen test dubbed/subtitle version in their respective market to decide if it is worth it to spend a lot on marketing:

 

Sony leaked e-mail talking the movie Fury (the Ayer Brad Pitt one):

 

Abe,

 

Okay, looks like we’re set….we’ll test the film in Russia with a simultaneous translator, but forego the screening in France, and concentrate on focus groups.

 

Is there another market we want to consider testing in, or just leave it at that?

 

Best,

Nigel

 

 

Do we want to go forward with a recruited screening in France with a subtitled print in early September – previously we had anticipated late September for this screening – or go with the idea of testing material in focus groups? An email from Eric is below….he is obviously questioning the merit of a recruited screening. Does testing a subtitled print allow for a true read on reactions and a comparison to norms, given that the French audience is more used to seeing dubbed features?

 

Dear Nigel,

I know I was fine yesterday about a test screening in France, but, the more I think, the more I wonder how the conclusions of the test will help us to adapt our strategy on the movie, knowing that we open Oct 22 and that a big part of our campaign (postering in particular) will be have to be committed before the test screening.

 

 

Sharri,

If the results of the recruited screening make us more bullish about our spend in Germany, would there be sufficient time to up-weight their campaign?

 

After a couple more search do seem common to do so yes in UK, France, Russia, Germany, Japan type of markets, for example comedies will tests the dubbed joke translation and adjust them.

Edited March 21, 2018 by Barnack

[EarlyDeadlinePredictions]

9 minutes ago, Barnack said:

Would not surprise me that they would have wanted that full Netflix exclusive (and maybe Rudin or someone that needed to sign off on it didn't)

Seems that was the case....

 

 The deal also effectively signals Paramount’s lack of trust in the vision of the filmmaker it hired. According to TheHollywood Reporter, one of the studio’s top financiers, David Ellison, clashed with Garland and the producer Scott Rudin over proposed reshoots that would have changed the ending, which the director refused to budge on. Rudin had final-cut privileges on the movie, giving him control over the finished product, and he opted to back Garland.

 

So in regards to international, they got a release date in China on April 13 so we'll see how it does there. 

[dxmatrixdt]

I think it is something you definitely have to get lost in.  it feels that way chapter after chapter.  The low budget feel when they are in the forest... it seems like if they doubled the budget, you would get like a Blade Runner sound atmosphere added in with rocking visuals. & Cloud Atlas. Unfortunately for me, I felt the screenplay was watered down a bit, almost like to make the movie more understandable.  The music was fun and the ambiguity of the film, yet like the opening statement, it was something you could zone into with each chapter.  Like Sucker Punch.   Don't mind the low budget though, it added to this one.  *comparison Arrival*  It is a top notch film.  The Fifth Wave, Maze Runner, and Annihilation all got it done for roughly half the budget of Divergent 2.  However, Insurgent has the Blade Runner scope.

 

the ambition is there.  from Ex-Machina to this.  lots of colorful visuals in the surrounding environment.  Ex-Machina takes it deeper with the A.I. discussions, and Annihilation really goes forward with the visuals and you can follow the characters through this lost journey where the physical reality of plants and animals and even their own minds seem to start to become rewired from this prism.  despite the lower budget, the visuals actually make the scope of this movie seem pretty big.

Edited May 23, 2018 by Thematrixfilm

[Avatree]

Creepy atmosphere and some nice music, not much else to like though