Annihilation

This is a new trailer for a 2018 movie, Annihilation, starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Natalie Portman:

Annihilation (2018) - Teaser Trailer - Paramount Pictures

I think it is made by the same director who gave us Ex Machina. Great science fiction movies are a rarity, so I hope it isn't a turkey.

 

I've got this on my radar too.

 

Seeing this at a Friday afternoon matinee and I will report back after I see it. Though, early reviews have been very good to great.

 

I really enjoyed it. Interesting mix of horror and sc-fi. Portman is fantastic. I'll be interested to see how this does at the box office. It has elements of action that will appeal to mass audiences, but the sci-fi elements may be a bit obtuse for some. It offers no neat answers or resolves.

 

I do too, but not because of the director (Ex-Machina bored me to death, only Alicia Vikander saved the movie), but because of Natalie Portman as I think at his point of his carrier and being such a good actress she won't accept a bad project.

 

Not being released in the UK in Cinemas but it is on Netflix for free in a few weeks time (13th March I think).

 

Sounds kind of like it borrows the basic premise of the book Roadside Picnic and movie Stalker - ie, an unknown alien event affects a region in such a way that the rules of physics and nature no longer apply - and applies it to an action movie.

 

Just got back from it with 3 other people. 2 people absolutely hated it (one person hates sci-fi in general and the other usually likes sci-fi but thought this was the worst movie he's seen in a very long time.) The third person thought it was alright. As for me, I probably liked it better than the rest but still wasn't great, especially the framing of the storytelling. Too many flashbacks and flashforwards via dreams and interrogations (kind of similar storytelling to Arrival in that aspect.) Definitely was a slow moving picture and was obtuse with no answers and resolves. Basically, what was the purpose of the whole thing happening? And of the course, the very ending before credits roll are open for interpretation regarding Natalie Portman's character. Now that I think about it, the same 3 people who saw this movie with me were the same 3 people who saw Arrival with me and they felt about each the same way.

I thought the special effects were very good and Natalie Portman was good in her part (I was even expecting her to break out in song and dance via SNL digital short with Andy Samberg.) Oscar Isaac felt wasted in his role and Jennifer Jason Leigh's portrayal of her character came across as a heartless/emotionless B**** (though, that was probably intended.) Tessa Thompson and the other actresses were decent enough, were just along for the ride, and not really necessary.

Exactly.


In conclusion, if you liked Arrival, you might like this movie but that is no guarantee. At least Arrival was thought-provoking; this one was not.

 

I've read both Roadside Picnic & Annihilation and yes, the premise is very similar but the execution of the novels is quite different. From what I've read about the Annihilation movie they've changed the structure of the novel a fair bit but I can see why they had to. A lot of the novel's creepiness comes from how the protagonists feel about Area X, hard to show onscreen. And a lot of the action movie stuff has been added and featured predominately in the trailer. Hopefully we'll see much less of that in the film.

I read the novels (Southern Reach trilogy) when they first came out in 2004 and recently reread them again. Boy, I missed a lot of stuff the first time around. Actually enjoyed them a lot more the second reading.

 

Dang, that's too bad. I was hoping the movie could somehow recreate the feel of the book and have some sort of mass appeal. Now, mind you, I haven't seen the movie and probably won't for a while. The nearest theater is a 100 mile round trip and it isn't playing there (re Woody Allen, the food was terrible and such small portions) As far as no answers, the book is the same. The next two novels fill it out a bit, answer some questions but still leave a number of things unresolved.

 

I considered seeing this, but too many reviewers are complaining they couldn’t understand it (unlike, say, Arrival). So, despite enjoying Ex Machina, I’ll pass...

 

Well, I would ignore such reviewers. Just saw it, and it's fantastic.

My group of five moviegoers all thoroughly enjoyed it (that includes a couple of oldsters like me, two twenty-somethings, and a late teenager)

 

Saw it Friday night and didn't like it.

 

Just checked out a short review, and this paragraph at the end has me interested in seeing the movie:
Movie Review: Annihilation

Non-definitive endings really seem to hack off the general movie-going public, but I have no problem with them. I like that the producer who had final say stood his ground and refused to make the movie more commercial.

 

There’s at least one critic complaining Annihilation isn’t freaky enough — that the filmmakers seem to be striving for a 2001 level of trippiness, but fall short by explaining too much of the weirdness. In other words, the movie should have been even more vague.

 

I guess that's one opinion. Another would be while a good film should be able to stand as a work of art, when making a $40 M movie, the filmmaker accepts some responsibility of making it commercial enough to possibly make a profit. So yes, Alex Garland included a lot of exposition and the "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite"-esque moment was that - a moment, not 14 minutes of beauty. While I agree with the critic as it explains too much, I never felt it was so dumbed down t0 effect my enjoyment of the film. The only thing that bothered me was they set us some of the exposition with obvious leader lines - "Well, that's odd..." kind of lines that told the audience to pay attention. I could do without those but I was along for the ride.

There's enough dialog and observation to understand the what is causing the anomalies. It's the why that's not concretely explained, which could drive audiences crazy. Maybe it's explained in the other novels but I didn't need an explanation, I just accepted the behavior.

I saw it in a group of seven. It was four likes, three dislikes.

 

IMDb 8, Rotten Tomatoes 87%, and Metascore 80 as of this morning. Very highly regarded for this type of film is my conclusion.

 

Headed out to see this at an early matinee Tuesday. Got an "A" in the local rag plus son and his wife saw it and loved it.

 

Not sure if anyone here has read J.G. Ballard, but I felt a touch of his influence at play here.

I also thought of Apocalypse Now / Heart of Darkness.

... and The Bible.

 

David Ellison is a Pitt who doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground when it c9mes to films. I think Rudin at least knows what works.

 

I enjoyed the ending. Sure beats the typical Hollywood BS. One reason why I live late 60s early 70s American cinema plus the earlier French New Wave.

 

That should have said putz. Didn’t notice my spell check Changed it.

 

I can’t imagine me wanting to see a movie with this title.

 

I didn't know this was from the director of Ex Machina. Now I'm not excited.

 

Really that was a fantastic film. One of the best of that year.