Arrival 11/11/2016

Well you can thank "Interstellar" for one thing:

‘Interstellar’ Caused Ending of ‘Arrival’ to Change; Watch a One-Hour Editing Breakdown

 

Awesome

 

A nicely made movie; not flawless or without plotholes. I thought it was a Nolanesque remake of Close Encounters with hints of Tree of Life. I liked the fact how much tension the pods seemed to cause just by being there.

 

This movie just finished playing here. Not a blockbuster enough for us to get it on release, but at least we got it.

It was under my radar but a friend suggested I see it because he wanted to hear my take on it.

I didn't know anything about it going in. Didn't even see the trailer or a single still I figured by my friend's comment it had something to do with language (I have a doctorate in linguistics), but I honestly didn't even know it was a science fiction film until I was watching it.

It reminded me of a short story by Connie Willis called 'All Seated on the Floor.' In fact, for the first 20 minutes or so, I was wondering if it was an adaptation of that.

Well I liked it a lot. I'm glad I knew nothing about it. The worst thing about this film is that I'll never be able to watch it for the first time again.

 

watched it last night and found to be very thought provoking and entertaining at the same time (not unlike interstellar).

 

i saw it last night. thought it was cool. a real thinker with a strong emotional presence.

 

I was so looking forward to seeing `Arrival' at the theater. But the mixed reviews here tempered
my enthusiasm somewhat. So I bought the Blu-ray last week and watched the film last night. I
thought it was.....okay. Sort of a `Sci-Fi Chick Flik'. I must say that I'm really surprised that it
was nominated for `Best Picture'. And it could have easily been 1/2 hour longer. Now I have to
go back to the start of this thread and read every post again.

 

I saw it recently. Whole lotta meh. The reveal is pure silliness. She knows how the rest of her life is going to unfold. So there are two ways that can go. Her knowledge of future events will inevitably force her to make different choices that will alter those future events. She knows that coming into contact with so and so person who has a cold on so and so date at so and so time will force her to avoid that person. In that type of scenario, in which she can alter the future, she can't possibly know how the future will unfold. The other possibility is that she knows how the future is going to unfold, but she had no say in the matter, no free will. She's nothing more than a drone. Of course, that knowledge alone, without the ability to make choices has already altered the future, because now she's aware of it, but of course, if she's aware of it. However, if she's aware of it, she can still open her mouth and scream when she has foreknowledge of that woman who is about to be hit by a car in the future. But she can't open her mouth, because she has no free will. Ugh.

Can somebody explain why this movie received a PG-13 rating? No cursing that I can remember. No violence. No nudity. No sex. No drug use.

 

aliens are scary???

 

I've really enjoyed this thread. A handful of regulars have provided plenty of thoughtful insight. I particularly want to cite this contribution, which I think holds a marvelous key to interpreting the film.

Since I've only watched the film once and that was a month or so ago, I can't say whether I think that the above was the intended meaning or if it's just one I find very appealing in its nuance.

As to the movie itself, overall, I enjoyed it enough to add it to my UHD wishlist (despite some shallow reviews about its visuals not "popping" in the format). My plan is to re-watch it after enough time has passed that I can give it a fresh eye (while still keeping in mind your notion quoted above). I went into it fairly blind and with expectations in check.

I wouldn't rank it with 2001 but it does make a nifty bookend to Contact -- maybe not unlike Tarkovsky's Solaris does to Kubrick's 2001. Since in varying degrees those other films are now seared onto the surface of my brain this is a fine production to add into the mix when I'm in the mood for slow burn science fiction. It'll probably take me several viewings to decide whether it's shallow or deep but that's half the fun. My guess is it's very much what one brings to it.

Like many have stated, my one significant issue with the narrative is the clunky "action" bit in the middle. It's hinted at telegraphed before it happens and then when it does occur it's so "Hollywood by-the-numbers" that I found it jarring. Still, if that was its main concession to the marketing bean counters then I'm glad it was just gotten out of the way.

 

Aliens, a little bit of violence, death...might require a little of bit of explaining by a parent to a 10 year old.

 

Excellent thinking man's UFO flick. Europa Report is another top notch science fiction movie. Probably still available streaming on Netflix.

 

I enjoyed Europa Report a lot too, although unfortunately I doubt many people are aware of it... I think it kinda slipped under the radar. Good flick, though.

 

I liked it too and there's a thread about it here somewhere. However, the pseudo documentary format only works once, at least for me. More recently, the show Mars tried the same thing and I couldn't bring myself to watch that type of program again.

 

I watched Arrival last week. Sci Fi movies are about all I watch. I give it a C+. I found it bland. No real sense of wonder to it. Would aliens really land on Earth and have no idea how to communicate with us? Or would they figure out how to communicate with us long before they landed?

 

The point was that they came here to teach us to understand their language/symbolic notation because doing so would magically make humans perceive all time at once (which of course is a silly notion), so that we may help them out in the future (which kind of becomes a meaningless concept with non-linear time).

The more I think about this film, the less I like it. It basically only works on an emotional level.

 

Just finished it and I have the same overall concerns as far as the plot goes. The non_linear memory thing just didn't work for me. It doesn't make logical sense and ultimately annoyed me, ruining all the good aspects of the film. I suspected early on that the daughter scenes might be trickery so there was no surprise when the reveal came. Watching the loss of a child always bums me out since becoming a Dad, so thats really all I got out of it. Bummed out. It was not nearly as good as I expected it to be. I honestly am surprised it got a best picture nod.

 

I like Contact but Arrival is a better film IMHO.

 

There is also the point brought up earlier that, if they are multi dimensional beings what could appear to us as language may be something more to them and alters perception on some level. It may appear as langauge to us but it might be something more.

 

Contact the film is pretty meh, but the Carl Sagan book is truly incredible.

Arrival was solid, much more interesting imo than Interstellar.

 

I felt that The film captured a sense of wonder that was missing from thr book (keep in mind I haven't read it since publication though) and captured the emotional element that also wasn't wuite as strong in the book. It's not a perfect adaptation but it is largely successful at its goals. In the case of Arrival, I feel that it does an exceptional job,of capturing the best elements of the book and bringing something new to the table as well.

As far as Imterstellar, I feel people brought too many expectations to the table and, frankly, it isn't Nolan's best work but I appreciate the ambition of the film.

 

Just saw this tonight on Blu-Ray. It was ok. I was expecting a more action packed movie.

 

i have to say, amy adams was much much better in 'nocturnal animals" than in "arrival".

 

Nocturnal Animals in general is a bit underrated in my opinion. It swung for the stars and missed occasionally, but I admire how far it stretched. The whole cast was generally great -- michael shannon in particular for me.

 

Boring. My wife and I both enjoy sci-fi but found this long, boring and tedious. We rented it through iTunes and dozed in the middle of it. A waste of $5.99 IMHO.