*** ARRIVAL *** (Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, dir. Denis Villeneuve)

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Justin2010
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12:14a, 11/12/16
AG
Saw it tonight, and honestly I was underwhelmed.

Maybe the story just didn't do it for me.

It felt in the mold of contact... But I thought contact
was a much better movie.
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Philip J Fry
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1:24a, 11/12/16
AG
Really enjoyed it. Probably my favorite movie of the year so far.
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redeyeone
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5:51a, 11/12/16
AG
I saw yesterday and have to say I was really underwhelmed as well. I didn't know anything about the story going in. I thought the first 2/3 of the movie was very slow and boring. The end just didn't make up for it.
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schmendeler
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9:44a, 11/12/16
AG
Not sure how you can think it was boring. The whole concept was fascinating. How to initiate exchange of information with a completely foreign entity? Do you like sci-fi normally?
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redeyeone
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In reply to schmendeler • 10:19a, 11/12/16
AG
Yes I really enjoy sci fi movies in general. I just found my self yawning and nodding off, it didn't seem all that interesting. Maybe I was tired. I was very excited to see this after reading about it on here. Afterwards I was left with a kind of "meh" feeling.
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FriendlyAg
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In reply to schmendeler • 10:44a, 11/12/16
schmendeler said:
Not sure how you can think it was boring. The whole concept was fascinating. How to initiate exchange of information with a completely foreign entity? Do you like sci-fi normally?


I agree the concept was fascinating, but I don't think the story was there. I never really felt like earth was in danger. I didn't really feel like main character had to overcome anything real. A bomb happened to randomly be loaded in there one day and then she randomly got invited into the big alien ship alone where she magically got super powers to communicate.

So the whole point of the story was we need someone that sees the future in order for us to not fight each other? Mmmk. That's a warm and fuzzy moral, but humans will forget and fight over something else. We all have too many differences. If the theme was that words matter, I agree. However, that doesn't mean the execution of the movie was without flaw.

I felt it had the same tone through out and I never really felt any build up to climax and no real resolution. I didn't breathe a sigh of relief at the end because I wasn't afraid for anyone the whole movie.
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Sex Panther
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In reply to R0GUE • 11:01a, 11/12/16
AG
R0GUE said:
Sex Panther said:
Ag Since 83 said:
Question for someone who has seen it:

What was the line right after the theory about lightning strikes? Something about 1980?


Jeremy Renner was hypothesizing why the ships landed where they did and said, "the only other thing these 12 locations have in common is that they each had a #1 hit on their charts from Sheena Easton in 1980... in other words, we just don't know." ...Just kind of a joking way of saying there's no rhyme or reason to it that we can figure out


That reminds me.

I totally missed the line where Forrest Whitaker tells Amy Adams' what the other linguist answered in regard to the Sanskrit word for war, as the sound fx were too loud. Someone mind paraphrasing?


The other guy said "an argument" and Amy Adams said it can also mean, "A desire for more cows"
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Sex Panther
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In reply to CorpsAg11 • 11:10a, 11/12/16
AG


Quote:
Maybe i misinterpreted this part but i thought they were saying that Abbott was about to bring death upon humanity, and Louise getting the Chinese to stand down is what saved humanity.

The aliens were in no way a threat to humanity. Abbot died/was dying either due to something unknown, or as a direct result of the bomb

The aliens were there for the sole purpose of trying to help humanity evolve and understand their language

The language was the "weapon" which wasn't really a weapon, the translation was closer to a "tool"

"Use weapon" --> "Offer/use tool" i.e. The aliens were giving humanity a gift. Amy needed to use it to understand how to make the Chinese back off and see what the aliens actual intentions were.


They did this because they need humanity's help in 3,000 years. It's not important what for. But they were friendly.



Also how long do we have to go before we can take off spoiler tags?
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TCTTS
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In reply to Sex Panther • 12:12p, 11/12/16
AG
I was honestly surprised spoiler tags lasted this long. I think it's safe to just go ahead and discuss freely. In general, my vote is Saturday/Sunday of opening weekend. People who are curious can get Friday reactions, but then all bets are off after that point.

Either way, seeing it in a few hours and can't wait...
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LCE
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2:00p, 11/12/16
AG
Boring.
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MrPlow2010
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3:44p, 11/12/16
AG
I thought it was entertaining but I thought Prisoners and Sicario were better. I had high expectations for Arrival and thought beforehand this was gonna be the best of the three.

I did have a question about Jeremy Renner's character. So is he supposed to leave Louise after she tells him that their daughter is going to die from the disease? I know it shows it in the fore shadowing scenes but it's kind of ridiculous that he would leave her after all they've been through together. They communicated with aliens and Louise decrypted their language with him. It seems kind of dumb for him to just leave when he found out his daughter was going to get sick. I feel like it could have ended with them together and nothing would have changed. It would at least been a little happier.
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schmendeler
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3:48p, 11/12/16
AG
He couldn't bear to look at or be with her knowing that she was going to die and there was nothing that could be done.

The daughter said as much to her mom. "He doesn't look at me the way you do."
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Brian Earl Spilner
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5:00p, 11/12/16
AG
Really enjoyed that.
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MrPlow2010
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In reply to schmendeler • 5:48p, 11/12/16
AG
Yea I get that but it's still kinda dumb just leaving them. It doesn't change the fact that she will die. He's just abandoning his family instead of loving his daughter as much as he could. I don't know, it just seems like the experience they had that they could work through anything life throws at them.
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TCTTS
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6:31p, 11/12/16
AG
Sorry it didn't have enough explosions for some of you, but man, Arrival is the reason I go to the movies, and why I want to make them. Holy crap. Even knowing what happens, it's just jaw-dropping at times. Yes, it's super measured and subtle, but I was not once bored. Overall, I don't know that I've ever seen hard core sci-fi like that mixed with such an emotional/human, gut-punch of an ending. To the point where I'm legit shocked this movie even got made. I seriously might see it again in theaters, and it's probably my favorite of the year so far. Denis Villeneuve can do no wrong.
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TajMaballer
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6:46p, 11/12/16
AG
First thing: Loved it! What I thought was a slow beginning instantly became incredible with the second half. Right now I put it in my top 5 for the year for sure.

I have a very minor nitpick at the beginning. How does a teacher see a big crowd of students crowded around a tv, not go over there, then go into class and then ask where everyone is? I know, super ridiculous of me to get caught up on that, but I was laughing to myself thinking about that.
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TCTTS
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In reply to TajMaballer • 6:48p, 11/12/16
AG
Ha, I literally thought the same thing. Weird choice.
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Ag Since 83
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7:37p, 11/12/16
AG
I really felt tense when they were with the aliens early - I had no idea what was coming next. I don't react that way to movies very often.

I really enjoyed how the twist made her confusion at the flash forwards look like sorrow over supposed flashbacks. Really cool to play off our perception of human emotions like that.

I don't really remember for sure, but I assume her first flash forward wasn't until her first interaction with the heptapods?
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TCTTS
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In reply to Ag Since 83 • 7:40p, 11/12/16
AG
Pretty sure the movie opened with a flash-forward, but I think it was more of a prologue kind of thing, rather than meant to take place before the arrival.
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Ag Since 83
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In reply to TCTTS • 7:41p, 11/12/16
AG
Yes I was discounting the beginning as a prologue.
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Dad
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7:46p, 11/12/16
AG
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R0GUE
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In reply to TajMaballer • 8:20p, 11/12/16
AG
TajMaballer said:
First thing: Loved it! What I thought was a slow beginning instantly became incredible with the second half. Right now I put it in my top 5 for the year for sure.

I have a very minor nitpick at the beginning. How does a teacher see a big crowd of students crowded around a tv, not go over there, then go into class and then ask where everyone is? I know, super ridiculous of me to get caught up on that, but I was laughing to myself thinking about that.


A lot of my profs at A&M and in grad school were spacey and caught up in their own thing. I could actually see that happening.
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Brian Earl Spilner
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8:31p, 11/12/16
AG
Hard sci-fi like this seems pretty hard to come by these days. I wish more movies like this were made.
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TCTTS
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In reply to R0GUE • 9:59p, 11/12/16
AG
Just had a conversation with a friend of mine and I can't believe I didn't catch this earlier, but I now actually think there's a reason they did that...

Louise was basically unfazed by the news/crowd of students around the TV in the lobby area because of subconscious, "future deja vu." Later, after she masters the alien's language and it "rewires" her brain, she can then obviously understand the past, present, and future simultaneously. And the present manifests itself as the most vivid parts of the "dream." Like when she's actually working to decipher the aliens, but it's all still a "dream" of sorts nonetheless. Hence not relating to the students, going home and taking a nap, being the only person to show back up to campus seemingly unfazed, etc. Yes, the first time around all that could be interpreted as either a teacher simply being a teacher, or still being depressed over the death of her daughter (when we thought those were flashbacks), but looking back, there's no way a movie like this doesn't make that decision on purpose.

Thoughts?
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TajMaballer
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In reply to TCTTS • 10:19p, 11/12/16
AG
Hmm interesting interpretation. While that does sound incredible, I took it to show the first instance of her knowledge of language (she brings up how Portuguese is different from the other romantic languages). No better way to show this than in a classroom where it makes sense before having the government get to her. Also for that dope secret tv reveal in a classroom.

But I wouldn't put it past the filmmakers to make a conscience decision like this. This is my favorite type of movie. The ones that just sit with me. Does anyone know if Villeneuve does commentary on his blu rays?
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Justin2010
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1:14a, 11/13/16
AG
I've thought about it for a day now, and I'm still not in love with the movie.

I'm not trying to be a downer or invalidate other people enjoying it.

But I think ultimately for me what was missing was more of the nuts and bolts of the translation process. It never really explains how they even make the first step in translating the aliens language. Rather it does this big jump and all of a sudden they can communicate well. I feel like diving into that aspect would have made it more interesting for me.

I also didn't really care about the Amy Adams character that much. I like the twist of the flash backs actually being flash forwards. But I really don't feel like coming out of the movie that I know her at all. And I feel like it actually cheats her character, the more I think about it, that there were no flashbacks. Why is she so melancholy? What makes her such an expert, that the government would come to her?

The more I look back on it, the more "meh" I feel.

Again, not to discount opinions do disagree with me. I'm just sharing my thoughts.
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TCTTS
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In reply to Justin2010 • 1:47a, 11/13/16
AG
Quote:
Why is she so melancholy? What makes her such an expert, that the government would come to her?

For the melancholy bit, I may have offered explanation in my post above, should that basic idea have any merit.

As for the expert / why would the government come to her question, I honestly don't think they could have been any clearer. She helped the military/government with a translation during an international incident, essentially proving her mettle. That, and they alluded to her being one of the world's top language experts a couple times. They literally even had Renner's character reading one of her books in the helicopter.
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No1home
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1:51a, 11/13/16
Really enjoyed most of the movie, just came away feeling like there ended up not being a reason to tell the story; no point to it. While it didn't ruin the movie, that did leave me with a meh feeling after having enjoyed most of it.

FYI, the theater broke into laughter two times. Both were when a patron fell asleep and started snoring at two different points in the movie.
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TCTTS
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In reply to No1home • 2:14a, 11/13/16
AG
I completely understand people being bored at times, but I just can't wrap my head around the no-reason-to-tell-the-story complaint.

On the surface, it was about the world ultimately uniting and coming together for the greater good, and sure, that's a cliched sentiment, but considering this past week, I thought it was a very poignant and even hopeful aspiration. Just felt very timely. But beyond that, all the stuff about time and language was so fresh and cool, to the point where I actually felt like I learned a few things. That, and the way those elements helped define, drive, and underline the theme, I just thought it was all so elegant and beautiful. Overall, the movie had more of a purpose to its narrative than the vast majority of everything else that's out there.
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Bruce Almighty
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9:07a, 11/13/16
AG
Will I enjoy this more than the A&M game? I had a chance to go last night but decided to be a good little Ag and stay home.
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CorpsAg11
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In reply to TCTTS • 11:06a, 11/13/16
AG
TCTTS said:
Sorry it didn't have enough explosions for some of you, but man, Arrival is the reason I go to the movies, and why I want to make them. Holy crap. Even knowing what happens, it's just jaw-dropping at times. Yes, it's super measured and subtle, but I was not once bored. Overall, I don't know that I've ever seen hard core sci-fi like that mixed with such an emotional/human, gut-punch of an ending. To the point where I'm legit shocked this movie even got made. I seriously might see it again in theaters, and it's probably my favorite of the year so far. Denis Villeneuve can do no wrong.
This post is just dripping with condescension. I actually thought the movie was pretty good despite it having some serious flaws, but people like you are why I don't trust movie critics.... So much intellectual elitism.
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Brian Earl Spilner
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11:16a, 11/13/16
AG
This thread is about to get a whole lot more entertaining.
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Ag Since 83
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11:31a, 11/13/16
AG
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TCTTS
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11:54a, 11/13/16
AG
Oh, I've been doing this long enough to know exactly how that line was going to be received. Part of the fun at this point is riling people up, because the reactions are so predictable. I think Redstone is finally starting to rub off on me.
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Cave Johnson, CEO
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12:08p, 11/13/16
AG
They're just movies, why is everyone so sensitive around here?
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