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A big chunk of Neill Blomkamp's District 9 follow-up, Elysium, screens at Comic-Con! Quint is very happy with what he saw!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. The best one-two punch of Comic-Con 2012 so far was the back to back Looper and Elysium presentations. Especially since these both came after of Total Recall’s panel where Len Wiseman very wisely stated that he had this brilliant idea to showcase a city in a sci-fi film that has built up instead of out. God, if only Fritz Lang or Ridley Scott or Luc Besson or George Lucas had that same epiphany!
Yes, I’m being snarky, but to use a very good British word that isn’t all that common over here, Wiseman came off like a twat on the panel. I’m sure he’s a super awesome dude and didn’t think about half of the things he said before he said it, but it seemed like every time he opened his mouth he said something that made me roll my eyes. Whether it was the above back-patting for something that is already in 85% of the world’s science fiction or him talking about how different his Total Recall is to the Schwarzenegger one right before showing a 6 minute sizzle reel filled with slick, but hollow action sequences interspersed with callbacks to the Verhoeven film, from the PG-13 version of the three-tittied prostitute to entire lifted lines (most of which are from the trailer) to a fake-out as a heavyset woman with red hair and an orange jacket (two weeks… tttwwwoooo weeeeeeekkkksssss) goes through a scanner that sets off an alarm, only to have it revealed that Colin Farrell is the dude behind her with a glithcy hologram face!
I may be biased against Recall, I’ll admit that. Len Wiseman is one of my least favorite big budget filmmakers working today, but I like the cast (yes, even his wife) and I think there’s a way to reboot Total Recall and give it a new identity (see what I did there?), but as usual this one just seems to be very slick and depressingly middle of the road. It looks like a musclehead, in a fit of roid rage, smashed Verhoeven’s Total Recall and I, Robot together.
So, seeing Looper follow it up was a breath of fresh air, but before I devote some time to that film I wanted to get Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium out of the way first.
Outside of that creepy still of Matt Damon wielding that big-ass gun we’ve seen virtually nothing on this film. Until today. Blomkamp showed a good chunk of the film in a sizzle reel format, explaining the set up of the film, giving us a taste of the tone and a feel for Matt Damon’s Max.
Basically the footage sets up that Earth is a giant shithole (surprise surprise). Over-polluted, over-populated… you know, the dystopian ideal… Very dusty, very District 9 feeling (in a good way, not in a “I’ve already seen this” way).
Just outside of Earth’s orbit is a man-made sanctuary with all the best scientific and medical minds called Elysium that looks like Stanley Kubrick’s Halo. It’s a Ringworld that rotates under machine power, very much reminiscent of the 2001 ships and it’s gorgeous. I have to wonder how much, if any, of what Blomkamp intended to be in his Halo movie made its way here.
The footage began by showing us these two contrasts and then showed us that the promise of a better life for those on Earth is a mega lie. As with everything, the super rich get all the benefits and the poor that scrounge up enough to move on up get blown away by a missile system while they think they’re on their way to paradise.
Damon plays Max, a worker bee type. The first bit of footage we see of him is him sassing a security bot (think a mean combination of the good boxing robot in Real Steel) on his way into work and getting the shit kicked out of him. He’s works on a robotic assembly line and an accident on the job gets him locked into a room with a toxic amount of radiation.
When he wakes up, he finds out he has 5 days to live and knowing the only place that could possibly cure him is Elysium he sets out, determined to find a way up there.
He’s hired to steal a device from William Fichtner’s character and that will pay his way to Elysium… of course, Fichtner’s character is an Elysium big shot, so Damon can’t just go get him in his puny 100% organic form. No way, Jose! He has get his crazy exo-suit you see in the above picture, which was shown being installed in a surprisingly bloody and horrific operating scene. We’re talking skull pieces removed and computer parts jammed in kind of wrongness.
I thought the set up was showing a whole movie about Damon tracking down Fichtner, but that seems to happen pretty early on in the story, actually. They get to him, get his device and Jodie Foster, up on Elysium, doesn’t like that and calls for backup assistance.
That assistance comes in the form of what I can only describe as a homeless ninja assassin played by District 9’s Sharlto Copley. This dude wears a ragged robe with a hood, like a Hobo Jedi, and fights with a katana sword… Copley is kinda nuts here, full beard, crazy eyes and some unexpected technology (there’s a scene where Damon has him dead to rights, fires his big gun and Copley activates some kind of crazy force field). It’s pretty clear that Damon is outmatched by this guy.
In fact, he’s always way in over his head it seems. There were bits of Damon ripping off a guard robot’s head with his new powerful exo-suit, a passing ship firing little hockey pucks out that attach themselves to somebody firing on the ship, then explode into a bloody mess, a ninja star thrown into somebody’s chest (“it’s only a flesh wound!” then boom, more splatter, and a few scenes of Jodie Foster’s crazy accurate South African accent as she shouts orders from her little neat and tidy office up in paradise.
From the footage I saw, the tone, feel and sense of politics at play very much sets Elysium as a tonal and spiritual follow-up to District 9. I’d almost call it a sequel in a Sergio Leone sense. You know that the Man With No Name Trilogy doesn’t really work as one cohesive storyline, but it reuses actors in a familiar landscape and that’s what this felt like. Huge production value, hard political sci-fi and tons of splattery gore.
On the panel were Blomkamp, Copley, Foster, Damon and producer Simon Kinburg. The footage was the main focus, but they told some fun stories, including one involving Damon having to lie under a truck full of pigs in the second largest dump in the world (in Mexico City) where there was a ton of dust that was comprised almost exclusively of fecal matter. A helicopter hovers above, looking for him, and when Blomkamp wanted the chopper to get lower to the ground they swapped out Damon for his stunt double who had to deal with all the fecal dust PLUS the urine of the terrified pigs that were freaked out by the chopper being so close.
The cast also fawned over Blomkamp, Fosters saying she wished she had directed District 9 and Damon said that after he saw D9 that he would have said yes to being in anything Blomkamp wanted him to do, with or without a script.
Both Copley and Blomkamp gave heartfelt thanks to Comic-Con, which they both marked as huge turning points for them when they screened the film here.
Copley even said we needed to put pressure on Blomkamp and Peter Jackson to get a sequel underway because he wants another job!
One of the audience questions brought up Team America, which Damon called “my best performance!” After laughing, he said he thinks Trey Parker and Matt Stone are brilliant and he'd love to legitimately work with them some day. He followed that up by saying that when he’s approached by those autograph collector guys that camp out and spring a folder of stills on him, he signs way more pictures of the puppet than of himself. Jodie Foster added that’s one of her favorite movies.
So, to sum it all up: the footage looked as good as I could have hoped, the effects were outstanding even in their unpolished form, Damon was really bringing it and the universe while recognizable isn’t just a plain retread from District 9.
If you only need a nudge to get super excited about that movie, consider me nudging the heck outta ya’ right now.
Got a few more panel wrap-ups to deliver tonight, so keep your eyes peeled! Coming up are Looper, The Walking Dead and Paranorman!
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
Follow Me On Twitter
Readers Talkback
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July 13, 2012, 11:40 p.m. CST
how the fuck was I first?? oh yeah, all the nerds are at comic-con...
by Simpsonian
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July 13, 2012, 11:41 p.m. CST
just me here, while everyone else is getting laid by hot cos-play chicks...
by Simpsonian
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Spitting image..
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I can't stand Matt Damon...but this looks great!
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July 13, 2012, 11:55 p.m. CST
District 9 is my favorite movie since the turn of the century...
by ThulsaBoom
...high hopes for this!
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July 13, 2012, 11:58 p.m. CST
I'm here with you simpsonian, but I sure wish I was at comic-con...
by ThulsaBoom
...I'd have to go to serious lengths (pun intended) to make the cash to take everyone in my family that wants to go.
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Looper AND Elysium, so refreshing to have a few things that arent a remake, reboot, prequel, sequel, or superhero adaptation to look forward to!
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A bit populist for my tastes, but then again it's a movie and it's always more fun to cheer for the little guy than the big, nasty bigwig. Hope it's a must-see flick next year.
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July 14, 2012, 12:42 a.m. CST
Reading just now that they are even doing the fat woman in the orange jacket in TOTAL REMAKE is fucking pathetic
by Deaft0ne
and Len Wiseman is a fucking cunt. All this goddamn movie is is a $200 million+ REMAKE. In the strongest sense of the word but also PG-13 and pussified and redundant as shit. I hope this bombs HORRIBLY and Hollywood seriously rethinks remaking Sci-Fi classics that were fine as R rated films and shitting a ton of money on a modern remake and making it PG-13 does not cut it anymore. The upcoming Starship Troopers comes to mind, and fuck anyone in the ass with their Mom's dick that says the Verhoeven movie sucked. Oh, and Len Wiseman is a fucking cunt.
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also I hope to Zod that RemakeCop is a hard R.
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Fuckin rock, loved District 9 and had no doubt this would rock, sounds phenomenal!
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Premise is a bit like Battle Angel as well with the whole earth is a shit hole the best and brightest live in a city above and give he peeps below the false hope that they can one day make it there.
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and weisman is pretty much all of those things i just wanna know why there is positive buzz over movies like robocop...but not this...they are all pretty worthless regarding what bloomkamp said about the con and district 9...i can buy that. that is the sort of movie the geeks can give real buzz to. every year there are rumors that larger studios are gonna pull back and stop showing off their stuff at the con, cuz the buzz they get from the con doesnt translate to the gen public well no shit...sizzle reels that dont really match what is going on in the movie, aint enough to sell anything but give the con a good indy sci fi...and the geeks will sell it for you god...really hope the studios stick to their word this time...i really would like to go back to the con someday
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I don't know how she did it.
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...stop hiring Wiseman. He's untalented. How does he keep getting work? Guys like Wiseman, Ratner, that idiot who directed Fantastic Four, etc...why? Don't the studios get it?
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July 14, 2012, 2:47 a.m. CST
HEY FOLKS! Harry here...I'm useless, but here's a real writer with something of interest.
by Jacob Underhill
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Come on, you know which kind of jobs. But a career would be nice too.
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July 14, 2012, 4:09 a.m. CST
District 9 was kind of crappy but somehow I think this may be good
by Rupee88
It's not likely but very possible I suppose.
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July 14, 2012, 4:22 a.m. CST
re: ELYSIUM: Apartheid-y class segregation again. Hope it works second time around.
by justmyluck
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July 14, 2012, 4:22 a.m. CST
OT: check this out: http://www.oregonlive.com/movies/index.ssf/2012/07/web_comic_why_do_we_love_super.html
by justmyluck
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Only question that matters.
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Yeah I'll see pretty much anything with him in it. I'm not saying the guy hasn't done anything bad (he's actually done some godawful films...Ultraviolet, anyone?), but something about him is just manic, awesome, and amusing. Plus, he's Ken Rosenberg, the spineless lawyer from GTA: Vice City and GTA: San Andreas! C'mon!
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July 14, 2012, 5:08 a.m. CST
This actually sounds like a mix of The Island, Battle Angel Alita, and the aesthetics of District 9
by lv_426
The story/fictional world sounds a bit hard to swallow. I get that it is going to be trying to use the poor people on Earth versus the rich people in their space station good versus evil angle and symbolism. It just sounds awfully black and white and oversimplified. Oh well, I'll still check it out. Between Elysium, Looper, Pacific Rim, and the Avatar sequels, at least we have some new sci-fi films on the horizon that aren't remakes or prequels.
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July 14, 2012, 5:12 a.m. CST
justmyluck -- Elysium sounds more like a sci-fi allegory for the 99% vs the 1%
by lv_426
And immigration issues too. That is if the basic plot and fictional storyworld are not just an excuse for action and effects.
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July 14, 2012, 5:51 a.m. CST
Hey, I thought I clicked on an Elysium story...
by The_Guy_Who_Invented_Coca_Cola
...why am I four paragraphs into a Total Recall article? <P> Jesus, take some basic fucking writing classes.
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I think this is probably accurate from what I have read by crew that have worked with him.
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July 14, 2012, 6:27 a.m. CST
@lv_426: Hopefully. It just seems like this time Damon is the Prawn trying to escape the dump and get to the spaceship.
by justmyluck
BATTLE ANGEL ALITA elements definitely in there, though...good catch.
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July 14, 2012, 7:12 a.m. CST
re: Mega lie="the poor that scrounge up enough to move on up get blown away by a missile system"
by buggerbugger
That's it? That's the mega lie? Fuck me sideways into a coma of tedium. The super-rich aren't tricking the once-poor into becoming soylent green and then selling their processed remains back to the poor on Earth as cheap food or something? The super-rich of the future are clearly nowhere near as cunty as the super-rich of today.
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since that all Len really tells us about her. The man doesn't know characters for shit.
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July 14, 2012, 8:12 a.m. CST
God damnit I'm writing a story that is based around the ideas in ELYSIUM
by Autodidact
Namely that there is some orbital sanctuary and when you finally pay your way up there you find out it's more of a trap.
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That he can make a cheesy soap opera scene compelling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duM59tE9gJ0&feature=relmfu
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July 14, 2012, 9:22 a.m. CST
Have you started doing coke, Quint? Or have I just not read one of your writeups in awhile? Your prose has gained a huckersterish, "pullin' out all the stops" kind of vibe.
by PotSmokinAlien
Not that there's anything wrong with that. But remember, it's the person inside that makes you cool. It's OK to say no.
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July 14, 2012, 9:24 a.m. CST
autodidact, all stories have been told a zillion times— it's in the telling! don't let Elysium stop you from sticking to your guns.
by PotSmokinAlien
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July 14, 2012, 9:51 a.m. CST
Jodie Foster’s crazy accurate South American accent
by JumpinJehosaphat
Which country in South America? Does she have a Brazilian accent? Did you mean to type "South Africa"?
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July 14, 2012, 10:24 a.m. CST
Exo-suits ... Bodies going splat ... This sounds like D9 Mark 2 ... Hope Blomkamp isn't a one trick pony ...
by GINGE_MUPPET
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...YOU are overrated.
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Overrated? Get the fuck out.
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Blomkamp is also collaborating with Die Antwoord, which I have high hopes for
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what he pulled off with a limited budget was incredible. scenes of the alien space station hovering over Johannesburg were incredible. the marrying of Sci fiction with Apartheid politics is in story terms is where the movie either stands or falls in the eyes of viewers. for me the end of the movie was its weak point. it was a movie without a clear resolution. I dont think there will be a district 10. Sharlto copley goes off with the aliens and then what happens. Does sharlto Copleys character die when he ends up in the aliens world. he is turning into one of them. but the viewer is kind of left hanging.
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July 14, 2012, 12:20 p.m. CST
With all the reboots, terrible and unoriginal tripe that gets made today
by atlatl
it's unbelievable that people would so easily dismiss and shit on what Blomkamp has done with D9 and his short films. Aside from Duncan Jones, and Sunshine/Children of Men, most sci fi films are shite. Give the man a little respect for what he's accomplished and will no doubt accomplish in the future.
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Combination of it and what else???
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Think you missed something, Copley's character doesn't go off with the aliens in the end, he stays on earth and fully transforms into one an alien by the end.
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July 14, 2012, 12:35 p.m. CST
Sounds a bit too similar to D9
by Turd_Is_Floating_Underneath_The_Gravy
I was hoping this guy would build on the aesthetics and approach of D9 for his second feature, instead of actually remaking it with a bigger budget. I've got a feeling that Blomkamp could prove to be a good filmmaker but within a very limited niche.
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In the thread with the still pic, I wasn't enthused. But there's enough here that sounds good that I am somewhat more excited now.
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Because that's what It felt like when I watched his movie. So far Elysium doesn't sound too different. Oh, right, those on-the-nose parallels to real world events. How thought provoking... Apparently kinetic action sequences constitutes great SciFi now. Thanks HALO, and the generation who grew with it, for dumbing down SciFi to the extreme.
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If somebody told me that I absolutely HAD to write this story, but could give it a twist, my twist would be that the super-rich orbital colony is ALSO horrible and uninhabitable, that there's nowhere to go, and that the future Straussian government conceals that fact because the only way for anyone to survive at all is for everyone to work their asses off in hopes of getting to the paradise. So the heroes would actually be villains, and the conspiratorial government would actually be the heroes - they're keeping the secret for everybody's good, and if the secret is exposed what's still left of the world will fall apart. We've had SO MANY sci-fi stories where the government / corporations / whoever is engaged in an evil conspiracy that the heroes have to defeat that I think we need a story where it's actually a GOOD conspiracy and the heroes are fucking it up without knowing it.
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July 14, 2012, 3:01 p.m. CST
Okay Blomkamp, let's give half your salary for writing this class warfare drivel to the homeless. There's your "economic equality" in action.
by Ted Knight
Yeah, it's funny. Rich actors. Rich directors. Rich film studios. All getting richer. Promoting what? Some notion of equality. The entire movie is nothing but a money making scheme. It's just that the people involved with the project likely have a twisted sense of self and probably believe they are working towards global change of some kind. That is probably a thought they have between $500 haircuts.
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July 14, 2012, 3:14 p.m. CST
This film has the exact same plot as D9
by Turd_Is_Floating_Underneath_The_Gravy
Guy gets infected by something (radiation/ turning into a prawn), so it's a race against time to get somewhere before it takes effect (prawn mothership or elysium ringworld). In order to do this he needs to break in somewhere and steal a McGuffin (black goo or device from William Fichtner), aided by an outsider (Christopher the Prawn or Sharlto Copely ninja assassin). All dressed up with shakey cam and weapons that stick to people before making them explode in bloody goo. Sorry to be down on this film before it's even released, but it does make it sound like Blomkamp is a one trick pony. But it really does sound like he just sat down one morning and opened his newspaper - 'What's on page one? Occupy Wall Street! What's on page two? Illegal immigration! Ah ha! I shall just graft these current events on to my tried and true plotting and voila!' - and conceptualized the film from there.
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July 14, 2012, 3:15 p.m. CST
stargrove why do fucked up wingnuts like you, bother going to the movies?
by walt
why dont you all just spend your pathetic days and nights...BANGING YOUR PINHEADS AGAINST THE WALL
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Sounds like a midnight showing for me! I hope Cameron still makes Battle Angel even though this movie covers some similar territory.
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did you bother reading what was shown? some of you people amaze me at how stupid you are
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July 14, 2012, 3:20 p.m. CST
turd_is_floating_underneath_the_gravy, you are seriously retarded if that is what you think the plot of d9 was
by walt
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this is addressed to all the fucktards who fapped to transformers
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July 14, 2012, 3:23 p.m. CST
walterkovacs, those were the basic plot beats of D9
by Turd_Is_Floating_Underneath_The_Gravy
Unless I somehow managed to watch a different version of D9 to everyone else. Perhaps one of those cheap knock-offs from The Asylum Studios.
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cuz you missed the point of d9 better yet...be first in line for the recall retread...ez to follow
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And it's called picking and choosing. Using ones critical thinking skills to determine if the movie I choose to watch (usually via redbox rental) is worthy of my time or if it's only a leftist kook fantasy sermon beating a political message into my skull for 2 hours. You're probably too fucking stupid to educate and think for yourself so you let a bunch of hypocritical Hollywood 1 percenters do it for you. Also you do realize there are seas of classic movies from the last century to enjoy whenever one feels the urge for a good story minus the shoehorned leftist screed. I'd suggest you try watching something from before 1977 and experience firsthand a multitude of amazing cinematic moments that may await you.
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July 14, 2012, 3:35 p.m. CST
sorry, but I loathe the Transformers movies and despise the very concept of a Recall remake...
by Turd_Is_Floating_Underneath_The_Gravy
and since your rebuttal amounted to no more than 'You criticized D9, so you're just dumb...and, and...you suck!', I'll assume (in fact, I know) that my plot summary was correct, and you have nothing to counter it with.
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but if it has a personal political bent that's complete bullshit like "income equality", while all the while I doubt these stars try to make sure the camera men or set designers made the same as they did we're free to call them out on it. Free country dude. Deal with it.
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Wow really? What movies do you enjoy then? The Twilight series?
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issues 49-96, walked right into the issue #100 spoilers and it'll be who knows how long before I pick up the collection that actually has issue #100
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wrong tb
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Good to see you embracing U.K. profanity!
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July 14, 2012, 5:14 p.m. CST
stargrove so you just come here to spew your wingnuttery? dont...go to big hollywood
by walt
red state...hang at drudge and pound your flaccid pudd while you fantasize about giving it to that closet case right up his wrinkled ass seriously sick of you fucks there isnt a single positive thing any of you have done for the planet...not fucking one best tech, best art, best everything...created by liberals all you fucks do is complain about the liberal bias in their work well make your fucking own....and watch it fail oh wait...you own am radio...hahahahaha...fuck off
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July 14, 2012, 5:19 p.m. CST
turd_is_floating_underneath_the_gravy plot points are not plot beats
by walt
is the character in this movie changing...or dying? seriously...dont want to argue...dont see the fucking movie but you really had no clue what d9 was about you and stargrove the wingnut fuck, should get a room and compare who is the bigger dumbfuck and i didnt think d9 was all that deep or impressive...just very good for an indy scifi but bash him, so the guy who couldnt even graduate from jc gets more movies to do..so he can keep making money and keep kate the semi actress, happy
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July 14, 2012, 5:37 p.m. CST
stargrove did you enjoy "Atlas Shrugged: Part I" ?
by where_are_quints_hobbit_set_reports
What a refreshing and superior anecdote to leftist filmmaking that was!! Seriously: How weird, that a film built around the dull and sociopathic dogma of the free market failed so terribly, in the free market. It's like unloved and sexually impotent men preaching about the virtues of social darwinism: a hilarious contradiction in terms
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(now I will be replaced by a non-union southeast asian talkbacker with superior english skills)
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July 14, 2012, 5:43 p.m. CST
Oh no, my clueless friend, I got D9 perfectly...
by Turd_Is_Floating_Underneath_The_Gravy
There was nothing to get, other than it was a thinly veiled Apartheid allegory and a race against time for the main character before he turned into an alien (whose kind he had previously patronized and looked down on - oh, the irony!). And yes - plot points ARE the same as plot beats. Let's not argue semantics, ya giant pecker. You actually something's different in Elysium because the character is going to die, as opposed to change? It has the same basic plot function and fits into the same basic plot framework. The differences are cosmetic. It might have a slight bearing on THEME, but not on PLOT. Back to the kiddie table with you. The grown ups would like to have an adult conversation.
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July 14, 2012, 5:55 p.m. CST
turd_is_floating_underneath_the_gravy, did district nine CRASH AND BURN?
by where_are_quints_hobbit_set_reports
'cause that's what I'm hearing.
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It was a bit too good and too successful for that. But Elysium stands a very good chance of CRASHING AND BURNING, now that I think of it.
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July 14, 2012, 6:17 p.m. CST
According to Stargrove, I guess only poor filmmakers can make movies about class inequality.
by D.Vader
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demanding I fuck off to another site... just knowing I raised the blood pressure of a raving control freak buffoon like yourself with zero tolerance from another perspective is reward enough for frequenting here. So, the best of everything in the world was created by liberals? nothing positive was EVER created by anybody other than a liberal??? haha wtf?! are you 12? Who said I was interested in right wing bias in films? I hate obvious shallow preachiness of any stripe that compromises the characters or the story depth. daddylonghead, I haven't seen Atlas. Maybe it sucked, maybe it didn't but, "dull and sociopathic dogma of the free market"? What a leftist fool you are. Blomkamps industry is the private sector. It uses the economy of free markets so they can A) fund their movies and B) make a comfortable living. Films you love daddylonghead like Transformers are successes due to capitalists and the producers behind it. waltkovacs maybe you and daddywhatever should learn more about basic economics and world history in between creating every single positive thing for the planet.
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And I know youre a huge James Cameron fan. But come on, everything you said about D9 is the kind of argument the critics of AVATAR tossed your way during those fights.
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July 14, 2012, 6:41 p.m. CST
stargrove name one thing created by or improved upon by a wingnut fuck
by walt
not 12...been around for awhile you know these internets you are on? created by the moonbats you love to hate bite me wingnut fuck
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July 14, 2012, 6:42 p.m. CST
I didn't care for transformers, although I torrented it to watch with rifftrax.
by where_are_quints_hobbit_set_reports
Basically I just exclusively view Li'L B youtube videos. Those are the only films free of contamination by leftist hollyweird ideologues and their communistic biases
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July 14, 2012, 6:44 p.m. CST
atlas shrugged failed because evil liberal hollywood refused to promote it
by walt
im sure that stargrove also hates chaplin for while chaplin started out poor, he became wealthy, while making comedies about class differences how dare he good thing they kicked his ass right out of the country
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I'm not sure specifically what you're referring to. For the record, I actually liked D9. But the political commentary in Avatar was more generalised than the one I see in D9 (and especially, from the description, in Elysium). Cameron wrote it almost ten years before the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan; it just happened to be nice timing and fit beautifully. It's directness was by mere happenstance, not jumping on a bandwagon. If you're referring to my criticisms of the basic and repeated plot structures, then I didn't really have a problem with the plot in D9. It just seems to me to be kind of redundant to use it again in Elysium. Cameron made Terminator and Aliens as his first two real movies, and although you could tell they had the same voice behind them - same design aesthetics, dark 'tech noir' atmosphere, intense action style, strong female protagonists - they were two completely different stories. He followed through and built on the style established in Terminator with Aliens. And while you can criticize the basic plot of Avatar as being an all too familiar template, I don't recall Cameron having ever used it before or rehashing it from one of his OWN previous movies.
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Do you think the movie making establishment will step aside to give these starving artists their opportunity? Why do the same actors and directors get all the jobs? Blomkamp already had a shot now give somebody else a turn.
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as far as i can tell, and i could be wrong, only one major scifi writer was a wingnut, and that was heinlein it looks like they are gonna do starship troopers straight, this go round....lets see how it sells cuz heinlein saw that novel as a glorification of us military policy...he really believed that one should not have all the rights of citizenship, unless one served
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July 14, 2012, 6:55 p.m. CST
the internets I'm on were created by the jackbooted corporatist thugs in the U.S. military waltkovacs
by Ted Knight
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July 14, 2012, 6:57 p.m. CST
Yes the pseudo-ecological crap in Avatar was awful
by where_are_quints_hobbit_set_reports
I won't defend anything about that movie. I thought it was on the level of the second transformers film.
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"... you can criticize the basic plot of Avatar as being an all too familiar template..." Which IS what everyone did and what everyone has done. It matters not how familiar a story is, its in the telling of the story that matters is my point. I thought it funny that you would use the same tactics as those you once argued against.
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July 14, 2012, 7 p.m. CST
Avatar on the level of Transformers 2?
by Turd_Is_Floating_Underneath_The_Gravy
Oh, laawwd. Daddylonghead, proof that you're a complete dingbat. Although that was painfully evident before now. After all, you praised the hell out of Source Code. Tell me...did Avatar CRASH AND BURN?
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i didnt ask where the money came from talking the men who created arapanet
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July 14, 2012, 7:02 p.m. CST
yes stargrove and the hoverround you ride to political rallies was based on NASA technology.
by where_are_quints_hobbit_set_reports
And you glue made-in-china U.S. Flags to your sun-hat, but yet you hate foreigners. Life is so complex.
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Your first point was ridiculous and suggested that a rich person who worked to get to their position can't write a science fiction story with social commentary thrown in. That's what I called you out on. Instead of facing up to it, you're twisting the conversation. The "movie making establishment" is *always* looking for new artists and talent to continue to make movies that make money. Suggesting there's a similarity between the way the film industry works and your perceived hypocrisy on the part of this filmmaker is a bit absurd.
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July 14, 2012, 7:04 p.m. CST
no turd_, Avatar flourished, just like Transformers
by where_are_quints_hobbit_set_reports
and McDonalds
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Sharlto Copely is NOT assistance to Matt Damon. He is an antagonistic hindrance.
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July 14, 2012, 7:10 p.m. CST
But that's NOT what I'm arguing
by Turd_Is_Floating_Underneath_The_Gravy
I have no problem with D9's plot. I am cautious about Blomkamp essentially remaking it for his sophomore feature (and this is only going off the description in the above article), instead of taking his style and making a new sci-fi movie with a different plot. And if you're referring to my comments in reply to that WaltKovacs idiot, that was merely to state how I fully understood the plot of D9, since he asserted I did not, and seemed to insinuate that its plot was beyond the grasp of those of low intelligence. The plot of D9, or its themes, are not particulary deep or hard to grasp so his asinine comments made little sense. That has nothing to do with its execution, of course, as you rightfully pointed out. I could end up loving Elysium regardless, which would make all of this argument moot.
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This stuff does happen in reality, you know. Otherwise there would be nothing to inspire these stories.
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July 14, 2012, 7:13 p.m. CST
and TDK, and the Avengers, and Jaws, and Raiders of the Lost Ark, daddylonghead...
by Turd_Is_Floating_Underneath_The_Gravy
Things both good and bad can flourish, and Avatar is a happy case of the former. You little Twilight fanboy, you.
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That's what you were arguing. I was merely saying this is almost identical to what the anti-AVATAR crowd was saying. "This film has the exact same plot as Dances With Wolves!" For the record, I hope you do end up loving Elysium. That way it'd prove a filmmaker can tread over similar ground (as far as story beats go) and still entertain =)*. *Which, honestly, is what a *lot* of filmmakers do anyway, right?
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July 14, 2012, 7:31 p.m. CST
Yeah, but Cameron didn't direct Dances with Wolves!
by Turd_Is_Floating_Underneath_The_Gravy
Imagine he actually did, and then made Avatar as his follow up to it? That's what I'm saying. To be fair, there are only about seven basic plot templates anyway, if we're to pare things back to the most general level.
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You're still saying the movie sounds similar to another one =P. But I getcha.
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They're going to say this movie is depicting Americans as evil doers while justifying the actions of foregin nationals who're trying to secure a better life, who they classify as crimminal aliens.
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July 14, 2012, 8:40 p.m. CST
Sorry chaps, but Rated R movies don't make money in todays market..
by ganymede3010
Why in the hell would any studio suit slap a Rated R on a movie and lose money just to appease some nostalgic 80's kids? Prometheus made only 123 million, which is considered a box office FLOP for a franchise of this magnitude. Plus, todays PG-13 show's as much gore as yesteryears Rated R films, the main differnce is the lack of F bombs. I don't care about rating anymore personally.
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July 14, 2012, 8:49 p.m. CST
Never gave a shit about Matt Damon, but since he can take a joke when it comes to Team America - he gets my useless respect!
by Mel
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July 14, 2012, 8:55 p.m. CST
Whoever called Heinlen a nut really doesnt seem to understand him, scifi or Starship Troopers.
by some dude
It wasnt some jingoistic jerk off to the military industrial complex though if one doesnt use some critical thinking or look at what the society in the book was actually about then it might appear that way. People call it a fascist book but I think its far from it. Then again the way you guys are arguing about Avatar makes me want to back out of this thread. Avatar was a visually interesting movie and that was about it. If I was the humans I would have just nuked them and taken all their silly named minerals.
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July 14, 2012, 9:09 p.m. CST
the_hawaiian_stallion, thanks to my dad, ive read heinlein since i was a kid
by walt
i think you should read some of his interviews far from a fascist book? do you think that he was horrified by the whole full citizen only after serving? he believed that shit he supported the military industrial complex starship troopers wasnt a parody or a warning...he loved that shit
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and leave the planet uninhabitable, and the minerals unsalvageable, due to radioactive fallout.
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July 14, 2012, 9:13 p.m. CST
Heinlein was a right wing nutjob
by Turd_Is_Floating_Underneath_The_Gravy
Verhoeven got it right when he satirized that horrible book.
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his stunt double who had to deal with all the fecal dust PLUS the urine of the terrified pigs that were freaked out by the chopper being so close.
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July 14, 2012, 10:07 p.m. CST
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the AICN talkback section...
by Monroville
Jeez guys, this is a riot! Just when you think Turd is somewhat conservative, he rips on Heinlein (who followed STARSHIP TROOPERS with STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, otherwise known as the Hippie's Bible. Wiki it. PROPHETS OF SCI FI did a good show on the guy too), and then Walt mentions he read the guys stuff too and... what do you know! Didn't get it either. (Sigh) As far as Heinlein goes, it seems he has a common theme in a lot of his stories: the individual searching for meaning to the life around them. More often than not, someone takes the time to actually explain things to the character (reader) just in case they didn't figure it out on their own. In STARSHIP TROOPER's case (granted, this is just my interpretation), all Heinlein was doing was trying to explore and explain to civilians WHY the military in the U.S. was the way it was. There are plenty of times where characters are literally explaining things, which seems a bit odd until you realize what Heinlein is doing (see above). Sure, the enemy's are "bugs", but whether they are substitutes for the commie chinese/ ruskies/ whatever or just ANY enemy, the point was never the enemy but how the soldiers react to the situation and how they learn from it (keep in mind that the very first sequence in the book depicts soldiers being packed into bullet shaped pods and loaded into a gigantic double-barreled shotgun and shot into the atmosphere of the planet below). The whole aspect of people having to serve the government (which you liberal hippies seem to love and want total dominion over the individuals anyways, short of keeping you from having your paganistic good times) was the concept of EARNING your freedom, which sounds pretty reasonable to me. People are too easy to bribe and manipulate through social and entertainment programs, so much so that there needs to be a system where people UNDERSTAND what they are doing as well as the consequences. Heinlein followed ST with STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, which essentially follows the same basic premise (or theme[s]) but from a different direction. Maybe he did this to counter the "fascist" labeling he was getting, or maybe he did it to prove he wasn't simply "one note". Regardless, Heinlein was neither a fascist, socialist or hippie. He "was" what we would call an individual human being with a mind of his own.
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I will wait and see. If it is entertaining, that will be fine with me. BUT... I am getting sick to death of these endless bullshit "the rich live in this isolated, perfect environment while everyone else lives in a shit hole and revolt against the Man. YEAH!" I loved it when it was called METROPOLIS, but shit people! The Man has been re-using this plot since the 1920's! I know it usually works (people eat this shit up.. despite the fact that they kind of forget that the Rich are the ones making these movies.. which I think was brought up plenty of times above), but can we at least get a bit of a different or unique spin to it? Again, we will have to wait and see, but if I want to see DISTRICT 9 again (if that is what this turns out to be) I will save the $10 to $15 and just pop in my blu-ray of DISTRICT 9.
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Forget about nuking them. If the unobtainium is in the FLOATING MOUNTAINS (you know, the stuff that makes the mountains float to begin with?), then why don't the puny, stupid humans build their colony(ies) on the floating mountains and mine them without even having to mess with the Na'vi at all? The thing is this: there are 2 directions the humans could have taken: (1) take the place over and destroy the Na'vi, or (2) keep out of sight and monitor the Na'vi (in a correlation to how we have depicted Aliens doing with us here on Earth). The thing is that AVATAR could have been a truly fantastic sci-fi movie along the lines of ICEMAN (to the degree of trying to seriously depicting just what would happen if a primitive being came into contact with a more advanced one, being us). Instead, it resorts to the STAR WARS mode of falling back on being an action movie comic book... which, in of itself, is not a bad thing at all, if it is still entertaining. The problems begin when said movie wants to be taken seriously as well, and the writing just doesn't deliver. Such as: - Why is there only one colony? If it is established that Earth is shit (due to [snooore] the usual suspects of overpopulation and polution and [yaaawnnn].. you know), then why aren't we terraforming the shit out of Pandora and have 10 or 100 colonies with competing countries fighting for space, while the native population goes nuts (mad, scared, WTF?!?) when confronted with an ever-increasing and expanding population of space aliens? Also, why is PROFITS even an issue if EARTH IS SHIT and THE HUMAN SPECIES IS ABOUT TO DIE OFF? Money doesn't mean much if you're dead. - If Earth is really not THAT bad off and profits are still something worth backstabbing over, then what is with the schizophrenic approach to the Na'vi? Do we want to study, contact and interact with them? Do we want to exterminate/ abort/ cleanse them from Pandora so as to open the planet to non-stop mining? Why aren't the humans going UNDEGROUND and just mine UNDER the Na'vi tribal living areas? If you have technology to go the speed of light, you think you could develop some killer mining equipment that won't involve mass murdering a new alien species. - If you don't give a shit about that, then why waste the untold unobtainidollars on the Avatar project to begin with? Are you going to give them space small pox? Are you doing autopsies on "dead" Na'vi bodies to see how their bodies work and "what their weaknesses are"? - Speaking of the Avatars, if the unobtainimountains produce an energy wave that makes radar and (jesus christ) "missile tracking systems (yes. In the fucking future we have light speed but no lasers, particle cannons, rail guns, lightning guns, heat rays, microwave devices that cause the water in your skin to cook [which we have TODAY and have used off-and-on in Iraq].... just missiles and bullets)" useless, well... what can you do? Wait a minute! I know! They could use the Avatar signals and design their entire computer control systems to operate on a energy wavelength that is immune to the interference! That or just use a frikken sniper scope. - And plot wise, let's not forget that as soon as Michelle Rodriguez' character broke from the line, Quaddrich would have called back to base to have her arrested... which means "she would not have been able to break the main characters out of jail and the entire third act would not exist". Forget about whether it rips off DANCES WITH WOLVES or (more to the point) LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. Regardless of any movie I watch, I want a basic sense of logic and reason with the characters and story involved. If the villain "reads the script (THE DARK KNIGHT)" or a character comes up with knowledge or a power they never had before just to save their ass from a writer's incompetence, am I NOT supposed to give up on said story? I can I take something seriously if the writer doesn't?
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I thought it sounded like a D9 rip off/remake too. I've seen other people commenting on this on Collider. Now Turd and others. I love D9 on the most part, but Elysium seems to follow the basic formula of D9 to an amazing degree. Guy body gets messed up for one reason or another (prawn in D9, radiation poisoning in Elysium) then he must spend the rest of the movie trying to get to a very large object in the sky in order to cure himself. First by stealing something in order to get someone's help in getting to his end cure. All while themes of segregation of one kind or another play themselves out. Sure it'll have different moments and tech, but it feels like someone ripping off D9, but it is just the same filmmaker just remaking/ripping his first movie. It is quite strange, I don't recall another situation like this.
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Low quality comic con footage of Elysium here: www.strangeobsession.com
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You cannot (nor anyone else, you're not alone) classify "Prometheus" as a franchise picture when it was NEVER sold as an Alien sequel/prequel to the general public (ie, the non-film geeks). And in that light, it did pretty damn well for a brand new R-rated science fiction picture.
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A lot of your suppositions about AVATAR are imaginary "what-ifs" without much basis from the internal logic of the story. For one example, there is nothing to suggest Quarritch would have had Michelle Rodriguez arrested; there's nothing in his previous behavior which says he would have done that. Which means you're just assuming, and its an example of a *lot* of your assumptions about the world of AVATAR*. *for instance, your idea that "the human species is about to die off"? I could be wrong, but I don't remember ANYTHING that suggested this whatsoever.
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July 15, 2012, 1:41 a.m. CST
Yes a right wing nut job who also wrote stuff like Stranger in a Strange Land...
by some dude
...one of the more "liberal" books out there, and that wasnt the only one. Heinlen wrote all sorts of stories from all sorts of point of views.
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July 15, 2012, 3:31 a.m. CST
Twat isn't used much here? I wasn't aware of this...since I live in the U.S. and I have always used Twat as my go-to annoyed response to a severely annoying shithead
by wcolbert
Then again I've always used "bloody" as well. I'm not even sure where I picked it up - my family has always talked that way (and no, we didn't originate in England but rather, Estonia and Germany). Anyway, I thought "twat" was common here...and that was long before I ever heard it in movies. Don't you guys say it? But as to "building up" rather than out... I can't even think of a future setting in a sci fi film where the cities WEREN'T consisting almost entirely of massively tall skyscrapers. It's only natural, as more people are born...we run out of space, and we need to start building up. This very thing is happening in today's world. Cities in space-limited areas like Hong Kong with huge populations have virtually no choice - so most of the buildings are tall. Now, building DOWN into the Earth, to me, would be a cooler idea.
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July 15, 2012, 4:23 a.m. CST
re: "You cannot classify "Prometheus" as a franchise picture...
by buggerbugger
...when it was NEVER sold as an Alien sequel/prequel to the general public (ie, the non-film geeks).
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re: "You cannot classify "Prometheus" as a franchise picture when it was NEVER sold as an Alien sequel/prequel to the general public (ie, the non-film geeks)." Well, apart from that rather blatant TV spot with the very-hard-to-ignore "Before Alien there was Prometheus" booming voiceover.
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I *never* saw an ad here in the States that said "before there was ALIEN..." or whatever and blatantly suggested this was a franchise picture. Maybe there were different tactics in different parts of the world?
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about a film like avatar and remember specific plot points and the character names involved. that film was so bleh i can't remember a damn thing about it besides the blue people and sam worthington having a twin brother.
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Yup, TV spot with a booming voice telling general audiences that Prometheus takes place before Alien. Ergo series prequel. Add that to the always-presenting "Big things (franchises) have small beginnings (prequel)" line and it was marketed as part of the Alien series. Here's a link (hopefully it works) from traileraddict. http://tinyurl.com/7lh42pz
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Good ad but that's the first one I've seen that actually made the connecting tissue obvious for the audience. Are you in the US? Did you see that on tv?
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Not to make this (another) AVATAR thread (not that it really matters), but here are some counter-counter points to your argument: ________ D. Vader posted: "A lot of your suppositions about AVATAR are imaginary "what-ifs" without much basis from the internal logic of the story. For one example, there is nothing to suggest Quaritch would have had Michelle Rodriguez arrested; there's nothing in his previous behavior which says he would have done that. Which means you're just assuming, and its an example of a *lot* of your assumptions about the world of AVATAR*. *for instance, your idea that "the human species is about to die off"? I could be wrong, but I don't remember ANYTHING that suggested this whatsoever. " ________ First, sci-fi is nothing BUT stories based on "what-ifs", but let's keep to the internal logic of the story (or more to the point, sticking with the rules the story set up for itself). Quaritch was a military officer, and a pretty hard-core one, yes? Trudy (Rodriquez) disobeyed a direct order and broke from the line (and the chief henchman was onboard her helicopter thingie). The military call this desertion, and they usually punish this behavior either by death or prison sentence. Are you telling me Quaritch would NOT have called the base and had her arrested for disobeying him, much less the chief henchman notifying the rest of the military personnel once they landed? There's not a lot to assume here, other than basic military law, much less making an assumption based on (1) Quaritch's standing as the commanding military officer of the sole Earth colony on Pandora and (2) the man was an egomaniac and would NEVER allow ANYONE to disobey or threaten his authority. Second, the whole bit of the Earth dying was in deleted scenes that I believe are included in the extended cut. Even in the theatrical cut, Sully in his new Na'vi body makes the comment: "Go back to your dying world." Which kind of indicates to me that Earth may be dying. Did you even watch AVATAR?
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July 15, 2012, 9:48 p.m. CST
watching Avatar is like watching a baseball game
by WINONA_RYDERS_PUSSY_JUICE
As time goes by your eyes slowly close and then right before you fall into a deep sleep you open your eyes and you try to stay awake again. Then in the 9th inning when the game is close your heart starts to perk up slightly and beat enough blood to keep your brain conscious.
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"Quaritch was a military officer, and a pretty hard-core one, yes? Trudy (Rodriquez) disobeyed a direct order and broke from the line (and the chief henchman was onboard her helicopter thingie). The military call this desertion, and they usually punish this behavior either by death or prison sentence. Are you telling me Quaritch would NOT have called the base and had her arrested for disobeying him, much less the chief henchman notifying the rest of the military personnel once they landed?" First off, they weren't military. They were mercenaries. Hired guards. I don't think they could really "arrest" a paid employee for not following orders. And honestly, I don't think Quarritch even saw it happen. "Chief henchman", as you call him, was also never in a scene interacting with Quarritch, so the nickname is a bit of a misnomer. I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure they never interacted. He was just a face we could root against so we saw him a few times, but he did not have a relationship with Quarritch. " There's not a lot to assume here, other than basic military law" Yeah. Except they're not military. "Quaritch's standing as the commanding military officer of the sole Earth colony on Pandora" Its not Earth's colony. Its a *corporation's* colony. Thats the difference, and I think this distinction slipped past you. Did YOU even watch AVATAR? PS, the "dying world" comment. Yeah, and earlier he said they killed all the green on the planet, but there's nothing to say humanity is dying out.
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They weren't Marines. Some of them were former Marines, but they were mercenaries working for a space mining company. And Vader is right, there's nothing about Avatar that suggested the human species was dying off. In fact I think its quite the opposite, Earth is teeming with humans and over-populated.
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they used to show in Omni magazine back in the 80s. I'm sure the source material is older than that, but could be a real visual tour de force. I loved what Blomkamp did with D9, so I'll be in line for this one.
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July 15, 2012, 11:18 p.m. CST
Elysium plot almost sounds like a 1980s Graphic Adventure Game
by Obi Wanna Cannoli
Start in Street Scene Move character towards Work building Encounter robot Have dialog with robot Respond with smart ass comment to robot Get ass kicked by robot using 16 color animation Move character into work building Scene changes to office building Move character into first doorway Get locked in room. Radiation level rising. Try to solve puzzle to open door Fail. You know have five days to live Next goal. Get to Elysium
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July 16, 2012, 12:12 a.m. CST
Anyone else kind of bummed that Elysium seems to hinge on the same twist as The Island?
by lv_426
Clones promised a chance to go to the utopian "island" via a lottery. Except the reality is they are harvested for their organs. Protagonist finds out secret and tries to escape to the wild, Logan's Run style. Elysium seems to be a flip on this. Protagonist starts in the real world and tries to sneak into the utopian world. Conspiracy is the missile system that blows up any shuttles bringing immigrants to Elysium. So in The Island, it was all done in a secret facility. Even the wealthy clients don't know where their new organs come from, that a clone of them is kept in a fancy prison waiting to be harvested. So a conspiracy on a smaller more manageable scale. Elysium just blows your shuttle out of the sky if you are en route to the 1 percenter's fancy space colony? And no one on Earth ever figures this out? Or say at least one shuttle en route to Elysium never dodged the missiles and made it back to Earth and spilled the beans? A vast conspiracy of this scale would be extremely difficult to keep under wraps. Oh, and none of the Earth people moving to Elysium made the hard decision to leave family and friends behind for a better life? Which then implies the notion that if no one ever makes it to Elysium alive, then their friends and relatives still on Earth don't worry when they don't call or email back when they get to Elysium. Back in the day, European immigrants left for the US and left family and culture behind, but still wrote back home. If all the ships that brought people across the Atlantic were attacked and sunk by the US Navy, wouldn't there have been some questioning of the whole immigration process by those in Europe and other nations? The whole premise feels really flimsy and overly simplified the more I ponder it.
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I am fucking excited for "Elysium." That image of Damon is pretty fantastic in a thoughtful, "makes sense" kind of way, and the hyper violent, R-rated ending that's anticipated could be fairly epic. Blomkamp is kind of incredible. He made "District 9," one of of my top 3 movies of the last ten years, for only $30 million. He's crazily imaginative, detailed, focused, and highly innovative. And despite huge pressure, he said he "won't make District 10." Yay! The track record shows he does his own thing and doesn't capitulate to fanboys or studios. He's an amazing "effects guy" too, who just happens to pull great performances out of actors, which is something you don't see much at all. And everyone says they've greatly enjoyed working with him. I tip my cap. Bring on "Elysium," baby!
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Nope, I'm not in the US, I'm one of AICN's UK contingent. I never saw that particular 'Prometheus' spot on TV - I'm guessing that's a US spot due to the mention of it being R-rated? - but I'm fairly sure that I saw something similar on one of our terrestrial stations. At the moment we seem to be being bombarded with about 200 different 'Dark Knight Rises' ads. All fairly similar to one another, but I've been seeing one or two new moments that haven't appeared in any of the online teasers and trailers.
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One that focused on a doctor telling Bruce Wayne about all his injuries, intercut with footage of Batman fighting. Oh and the doctor is played by Thomas Lennon. It was amusing.
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Is that the one where the doctor's describing the damage to Wayne's knees and kidney? If so, yeah, I liked that one. The first couple of trailers left me completely cold for some reason - but then the third (?) one, with all the tribal drumming, kicked me right in the brain. Repeatedly. Hopefully this iteration of Batman is going out with one hell of a bang.
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July 17, 2012, 4:35 p.m. CST
"and the universe while recognizable isn’t just a plain retread from District 9." WTF?
by chronicallydepressedlemming
It's not a sequel to D9 dude. It's just his next movie. Why do I need to tell you this? You're the one paid to research this stuff.
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actually, I thought it sounded alot like Battle Angel: Alita. And I mean, pretty much the exact same world.
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yeah
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Funny how they filmed some of it in Vancouver but mostly Surrey dirtiest shithole around, hah.
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July 17, 2012, 7:17 p.m. CST
chronicallydepressedlemming -- yeah, the world sounds like Battle Angel Alita
by lv_426
The big twist, revelation, conspiracy or whatever you wanna call it, sounds a lot like the one in The Island. I'm still interested in this film, but it seems to be an awfully over-the-top set up and world but then we are told how gritty and realistic it feels. Gritty paint over a superhero/comic book background doesn't equal well thought out science fiction IMO. I guess I was expecting something a bit more sophisticated from Blomkamp. Oh well, I'll just adjust my expectations accordingly when I go to see this one.
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Everytime I hear of a new movie shooting there, I can't help but blurt out, "they're filming in Caprica City!"
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Here at www.strangeobsession.com
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I felt that the films action scenes became too chaotic and the movie got too bogged down storywise at one point.
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in d9 exposed the movies budgets limitations.
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July 18, 2012, 1:03 p.m. CST
recall all the verhoven reboots, do it now get to da choppa
by nightgamer360
are you serious. can we stop with the worship of mediocrity. one of the most amazing things about orignal movies as well as verhovens robocop and total recall is the score. the total recal trailer looked as fun as a stale fart. verhoven was brilliant at making hardcore dark comedy action movies especialy at writing villan dialogue wich was dark and funny. quint stop worshiping mediocrity and go to film school. I'm looking forward to niels movie at least but wish he would just sequel district 9. sequel franchises, stop dropping scores and actors and make sure they feel like an extra 2 hours of the first movie and franchises wont tank or need rebooting. hollywood is so retarded im almost giving up. I hope someone body in 5 years decides to reboot and remake batman begins and all you rebootards have to sit and roll your eyes and suffer. welcome to the new generation of stale, unoriginal "i cant write relevant characters or score or pace movies but i can sure put in great special effects and loud explosions" movies. hollywood entertainment 1950s-1990. may it r.i.p.
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July 18, 2012, 1:15 p.m. CST
rebootards stop being pawns of hollywoods pg 13 demographic targeting system
by nightgamer360
furthermore hollywood and talentless hacks like christopher nolan and micheal gay i mean bay target audiences with a pg 13 rating so they can target 13-26 year olds with no film history just to make a buck. back in my day (cant believe i have to say this) a movie that was pg was meant for 9-50 year olds wich is why hollywood made great films, an R rated movie was made for 18-50 year olds. now it seems that hollywood has two demographics: pg 13 movies for 13-26 year obnoxious angry rebootard fanboys with no sense of humor or taste. and old senior citizen stale movies the kind roger ebert clamors about with titles like adeline eating crumpets and drinking tea.
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July 18, 2012, 2:12 p.m. CST
watching rebootards get hot for reboots is like watching fat 50 year old moms get hot for american idol
by nightgamer360
end of rant :)
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What are you talking about. Unless you just mean in visual style, Can't you give credit where credit is due? Larry Niven first used the concept in Ringworld. Years ago there was talk of a Ringworld movie. The closest we ever got was the game HALO. And since nobody else has said it yet: MMAAAAAAAATT! DAAAAMONN!
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July 23, 2012, 11:31 a.m. CST
You know which sci-fi universe got the urban look of the setting pretty close to right?
by Royston Lodge
It was a terrible series, but Tekwar got the look of the future pretty close. It was basically suburbs and low-rise business parks run amok. It's only cities with limited real estate like Manhattan, Hong Kong, or Taipei that build up. The rest of the world builds out. (The Ghost Rider 2099 comic also did a good job, by focusing on the sprawling interstate highways of the future.)
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July 25, 2012, 11:31 a.m. CST
Prediction on how long Total Remake will be in theaters: "TWO WEEKS"
by Arcadian Del Sol
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July 26, 2012, 4:12 p.m. CST
royston, yeah, but once food prices and energy prices start skyrocketing I think the "neo-urbanism" movement is going to rapidly accelerate
by kidicarus
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July 26, 2012, 4:13 p.m. CST
Also, LOL @ TekWar, I found a box of trading cards from that series as a kid, and even then they bored me
by kidicarus
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- Papa Vinyard thinks that HANGOVER: PART III was a paycheck grab for a buncha people who are already rich!! -- 212 total posts 12 posts
- Spoilery early review of MAN OF STEEL!! -- 428 total posts 10 posts
- Capone makes the case that THE HANGOVER PART III is neither a comedy nor a movie!!! -- 69 total posts 10 posts
- New trailer for Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara's upcoming western, AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS!! -- 48 total posts 7 posts
- John Ary's Video Review Of THE HANGOVER PART III!! -- 63 total posts 7 posts
- Tom Cruise Won’t Go Solo For MAN FROM UNCLE!! -- 119 total posts 6 posts
- Who is set to acquire the troubled indie Western, JANE GOT A GUN!?! -- 41 total posts 5 posts
- Jim Jarmusch's vampire flick ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE gets picked up for U.S. distribution by Sony Pictures Classics!! -- 19 total posts 5 posts