The metacritic/rotten tomatoes scores are very high (81 and 100 at the moment). Tentatively optimistic?
You don’t have to be worried. It’s really, really good.
Is it already out? I thought it wasn’t being released until the 11th.
It’s not out yet. I saw it at Fantastic Fest.
I didn’t like it at all. Ultimately way too maudlin for what should have been a story about the mind-blowingness of first contact. It is, however, further proof that Villeneuve is quite the visual stylist. Solid production design, cinematography, and effects.
-Tom
I thought about taking the family (8, 12, wife of indeterminable age and middle aged man) but I’m concerned the young one may get bored if its all talking alien…
The 12-year-old would also probably be really bored.
-Tom
I’ll be looking forward to the podcast, or whenever you get into more specifics on that, especially since you’re an Interstellar apologist.
Both kids loved Interstellar. How does it compare? (Yes, I’m really trying to convince myself to take them).
Generally, they both aspire to be grown-up sci-fi. While Interstellar has more of crash-bang-whallop stuff – there’s nothing in Arrival as viscerally exciting as the sequence with Mann – it’s also crippled by Nolan being so thuddingly literal. When he should have gone for visual poetry, he actually has to have Matthew McConaughey literally, physically go backto realize he has no place back home.
Which is not to say Arrival is some kind of Under the Skin art movie, it just never ties itself up in a way where it has to make that choice.
On a more plotting/thematic level. Hurrrghh. Short version: Arival works, Interstellar doesn’t. This is super hard to talk around, and since basically noone has seen it yet, while vague, and it might frame things in a way you don’t want to know going in, I’ll spoiler it:
Interstellar and Arrival both share a very similar plot device. On a thematic level, I think Interstellar’s use of it is pretty muddled (and, depending on how much about Nolan you read into it, kind of self-exculpatory), Arrival’s use of it is super on pointl. Tom obviously thinks the point it’s making is maudlin. I think it’s beautiful.
It’s interesting that you bring up Interstellar. It never occurred to me to compare the two for any reason other than they’re both sci-fi. I guess they’re also both about characters with daughters. With whom they have relationships across time.
But whereas I feel Interstellar is just a story about the courage of explorers who have to leave home, Arrival is, uh, about , uh, well a gotcha plotline gimmick because aliens.
That said, holy cats, it’s doing great in the review aggregates, so what do I know? I honestly expected it would be getting a critical drubbing.
-Tom
OK, let’s get into this. SUPER FUCKING SPOILERS DON’T YOU DARE CLICK THIS IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOVIE
[spoiler]
For me, the crux of both movies are the stable time loop. Thematically, what are they expressing?
In interstellar, well, its kinda confused, but mostly it’s that he was right to leave his family; everything will inevitably turn out alright in the end, and it will always turn out alright. (Insert projection about Nolan justifying his being away from his family due to making movies here.)
In Arrival, Amy Adams can see across time. She can see her life life spanning forward, with her daughter. A daughter that inevitably dies. And she chooses to have her anyway, because the joy is worth the tragedy. And Jesus fuck, in this darkest of timelines, is it ever worth saying; life is worth it for those moments of joy, even if it inevitably ends in tragedy[/spoiler]
Well, the Interstellar script wasn’t written by the guy who spends months on set making movies. Interesting theory, although I’m not sure how you figure “everything turns out alright in the end”. He has sacrified his life with his family for the sake of humanity. Basically, the same thing every explorer since Odysseus has done.
As for Arrival, yeah, that’s my takeaway too. A facile observation that it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. But with aliens. I wonder if the better point of reference might be Contact?
-Tom
That facile observation also applies to Joel’s “Okay” at the end of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It’s all about the delivery, and for me, they’re about as effective.
As for Interstellar, the thing that triggers him going out into space and saving humanity is…himself going into space and saving humanity. We’ll inevitably save ourselves. Which, even though I find it a placating but unsatisfying handjob of a message, could be fine if it wasn’t for the “let’s physically, tediously recreate the end of the Searchers even though he can acually see across space and time at one point” delivery.
Show me on the Arrival poster where Interstellar touched you.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is an interesting contrast. That movie didn’t spend 90 minutes masquerading as a movie about aliens to make a statement about the human condition. Hi, Contact! Furthermore, Eternal Sunshine was written by Charlie Kaufman. Arrival was written by the guy whose sequel to The Thing answered the burning question, “Why was there an axe in the wall?”
-Tom
I really loved this, and I hope to hear more from Tom about why it didn’t connect for him on the podcast. I thought the sci-fi and the personal levels of this film worked together beautifully and were both effective.
And jeez, I’m so glad I didn’t see the trailer either. What I think was the first preview trailer would probably be acceptable for the average movie goer, but the full trailer hit so many specific and important events in the film it made me angry when I watched it after seeing the movie.
So anyway, Denis Villeneuve still has my attention for anything he works on.
The absence of antagonism and the emotional restraint (in all but the last act) made it pretty slow, but the production was wonderful – cinematography was outstanding, and the music was cool too.
I think this was also the movie to convince me that Amy Adams is marvelous. I know she’s gotten a ton of good press, but prior to this movie I had her on a lower tier of Hollywood redheads. No longer!
I have a question…
I have yet to see this movie. Excited to see it. Will go tomorrow night. I don’t care about spoilers but please post in spoiler tags so that others are not affected.
My question:
Can someone explain to me how time is relative? My head is hurting trying to understand this… if I was an alien in this movie how can time possibly be relative for me as an alien to experience it? Is it like a restaurant menu where I can “order” any time line that I want to see / experience? I don’t understand the concept of how it can be practically implemented. What is the “rule book”? Thanks