Texaggie7nine said:

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I do have to admit, at first when she asked who the girl in her visions was I thought that was her future daughter and the daughter we saw at the beginning was her past daughter. Basically that she was going to have another daughter.

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Yep, I thought the same thing. My wife thought I was stupid.

TCTTS said:

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Ha, yeah. The whole point was to trick you into thinking they were flashbacks when they were really flash forwards the entire time. Honestly surprised you liked it so much not knowing that.

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I like movies that make you think beyond the exit. I think my perspective during the whole movie as she was flashing back to her daughter as there would be something in her past that would help her today in communicating with the aliens. I can only assume that "flashback" at the beginning was only used to throw the audience off for the big surprise at the
end...and she never had flashbacks/flash forwards before meeting the aliens. It's a very non-linear film, and my brain wasn't expecting that till I walked out of the theater and thought about it a bit more.

Moral of the story, I'm gonna have to see it again.

Saw it last night and really loved it. Agree with TCTTS, it's the kind of movie I go to the movies for.

I sat there wondering how long it was taking people in the theater to make the "Renner is the dad" connection. When Adams said "If you want science then ask your dad." Is when I first suspected it. Loved the way it played out though.

I love all the little details of it. Like when she meets the Chinese leader and her earrings are Fibonacci spirals. Little things like that get me off when I watch a film. I also like that they actually had him say what Adam's said to him. A lesser movie would have copped out and just left it at "my wife's dying words". BTW has anyone posted a translation online about what he actually said?

The one line I thought to myself "Man I would have cut that" was Renner's "The biggest surprise wasn't meeting them... it was meeting you." CHEESEY!!! But then the movie totally redeemed itself immediately with Adams' line "I forgot how good it felt to be held by you." and I was literally on the edge of tears. The way each detail unfolded was brilliant and so heartfelt.

Big thumbs up!

Before the movie they played the preview for "The Great Wall", which looks like a mess to me, and as soon as it was over some dude in the back says "We're gonna built a wall." [in Trump voice] "It's going to be a GREAT wall..... and China's gonna pay for it." SMDH

Quote:

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I sat there wondering how long it was taking people in the theater to make the "Renner is the dad" connection. When Adams said "If you want science then ask your dad." Is when I first suspected it. Loved the way it played out though.

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Yeah, same. Actually I think it was when he said "non zero sum game". I think that was a few seconds before she says that?

I think it was just after. She says it's more sciency a term and Adams tells her to ask her dad. Then it goes to present day and then the next time it comes back it clicks and she answers her as she storms up the stairs.

That there was the climax of the film, and it's insane to think that the climax of the film was a mind-****. Another prime example of this movie being so great.

I was really looking forward to it, but it came out as just above average for me.

I didn't know know much at all about it going in (as far as spoilers go), and I figured out they were flash forwarding early on but didn't tie it to the language till just before the reveal.

I think it was clunky, incredibly cheesy at times, and I feel like they should have focused way more on Adams/Renner and their story.

I think it was shot beautifully, dealt with a very interesting concept with deep themes to examine, but in the end I think it got in the way of itself too much. I liked as many aspects as I didn't.

Good movie, worth the watch, but definitely not an all-timer.

.02

Saw it last night, too. Wow. Deserves all the kudos. It's one that will stay with me.

Saw it for the second time last night, this time with the wife. Still very powerful. I don't know if f anyone has said this here, but to me what stood out is the way her future visions are done. As in, to me it seems like she isn't just seeing the future in these moments, but rather she's remembering the future. Remembering the future. I don't know if that's any different to you but in my mind, there's something different about it and it makes the whole thing work. I wish I could explain it better how it made me feel. To me, this movie was the epitome of what art should be. It moved me and stirred stuff up in me and some of it I can verbalize and some I can't. It just sticks with me. No doubt the fact that I have a little girl was a big part of what tore me up.

I understand exactly what you are saying and agree 100%. Exactly the same sentiment as the "I forgot how good it felt to be held by you." line she delivers. She's reminiscing about something that hasn't happened yet... remembering the future.

Yes, that's exactly what's happening. She isn't "seeing the future" in the sense that she's seeing things that haven't happened yet. They're not "visions". They're memories of events that have, in a sense, already happened.

Just saw this yesterday and I loved it. Yeah it's slow, but to me that adds to the whole feeling of the movie. It really hits you in the feels. The aliens don't look peaceful but it turns out it was a strategy move for them, lol. The scene where she is at the ball with the Chinese leader was nails.

Can't say there was anything I didn't like.

It was an enjoyable Allen movie to watch, but the more I think on it the less I like it. Most of my issues revolve around how easily we decoded their language. Plus I just can't accept the hypothesis that learning the language changes our ability to perceive time.

It was good though. Not anywhere close to Contact, The Martian or Interstellar as far as my favorite space sci fis go.

Yea, total mind **** for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Still digesting it <24 hours after viewing. (Pardon that I'm on mobile)

*being musically inclined- the score was amazing. I made a note of his name, but I'll look it up again

*I liked Whittaker a lot! Impressive accent he had going

*the initial ship entrance (gravity corridor) was so damn cool. That's sci fi done right

*RE the explosion: now after reading the thread, this was not an order, but instead some knee jerk reaction by a couple radicals. They weren't gonna stop Amy and Renner from going back inside? Thought they would've at last mentioned "yo, we set a small bomb up, probably shouldn't..." And no real backlash afterwards? I know that would've been a pointless tangent anyway, just harpin

*trying to formulate some more thoughts/questions regarding the daughter but I'll have to see it again.

Great Sci Fi flick

exp said:

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It was an enjoyable Allen movie to watch, but the more I think on it the less I like it. Most of my issues revolve around how easily we decoded their language. Plus I just can't accept the hypothesis that learning the language changes our ability to perceive time.

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This was one of the things that, predictably enough, was explained much better in short story form. Decoding both Heptapod A (the spoken language) and Heptapod B (the written language) required a lot of physical demonstration by Louise and Gary/Ian in combination with the whiteboard. The movie didn't show much of that.

Heptapod B changes perception of time because the author using it has to develop the ability to create the entire thought/sentence simultaneously. It's a reflection of how the heptapods think and perceive time. In learning how to write it and think in Heptapod B, Louise begins to be able to perceive time like they do. It's fiction in this case, of course, but the basic idea of written language "rewiring" the brain has been hypothesized before.

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2010/11/how-reading-rewires-brain is an example.

Yeah and I guess the tablet demonstration of her "creating" sentences word by word to create the total circle detracts from the notion in my mind that she's really forming full sentences in real time.

In any case. Just fiction and enjoyable none the less.

exp said:

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Yeah and I guess the tablet demonstration of her "creating" sentences word by word to create the total circle detracts from the notion in my mind that she's really forming full sentences in real time.

In any case. Just fiction and enjoyable none the less.

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I agree with that. Translating sci-fi concepts from written source to the big screen is always a crap shoot. I think Arrival does that well enough to get the point across without making the movie too complicated to follow.

Finally saw it. Loved it. Want to go see it agin.

Haven't listened yet, but this just showed up in my podcast feed (I use Overcast):
The Incomparable: 328: Panspermia, but for Clothes
https://overcast.fm/+kMY4qP70

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We deconstruct and reconstruct the recent release "Arrival," staring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker, and based on a story by Ted Chiang that we discussed nearly 300 episodes ago. There's praise for the story's restraint, quiet tone, beautiful scenes of solitary obelisks in remote cow pastures, and realistic portrayal of its main characters. We also enter a spirited debate about the film's sci-fi plot mechanism, the way its aliens (and alien language) are portrayed, and the morality of a choice that one character may - or may not - have made.

Host Jason Snell with John Siracusa, Glenn Fleishman, Aleen Simms and Joe Rosensteel

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Here's the link for show #32 if you're interested:
The Incomparable: 32: The Story of Ted Chiang and Others
https://overcast.fm/+kMaJXnJU

cr0wbar said:

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Yea, total mind **** for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Still digesting it <24 hours after viewing. (Pardon that I'm on mobile)

*being musically inclined- the score was amazing. I made a note of his name, but I'll look it up again

*I liked Whittaker a lot! Impressive accent he had going

*the initial ship entrance (gravity corridor) was so damn cool. That's sci fi done right

*RE the explosion: now after reading the thread, this was not an order, but instead some knee jerk reaction by a couple radicals. They weren't gonna stop Amy and Renner from going back inside? Thought they would've at last mentioned "yo, we set a small bomb up, probably shouldn't..." And no real backlash afterwards? I know that would've been a pointless tangent anyway, just harpin

*trying to formulate some more thoughts/questions regarding the daughter but I'll have to see it again.

Great Sci Fi flick

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Ehhh... That's a stretch.

We saw the movie this weekend. Thought it was great. Not as great as Interstellar, but still excellent. There were some plot holes as mentioned on this thread, but I'm willing to give those a pass because the whole premise seems like it would be very difficult to fully explain in a 2 hour movie.

Bottom line: would watch again.

I want to stretch you

cr0wbar said:

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I want to stretch you

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TCTTS said:

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Is this a memory or from the future?

"This is 40?"

In all seriousness, I saw this again over the holiday, this time a lot of family, and my sisters in particular were absolutely wrecked after it was over. One of them just had a baby girl a couple months ago, so it really hit home for her, but man, they were both ugly crying for like 10 minutes after the movie. Every line they recalled (especially "I'm unstoppable.") just made them cry even more. I seriously haven't seen that kind of reaction first hand since Titanic or The Notebook. Everyone really loved it, though, and couldn't stop discussing it the rest of the night. It's going to take a lot to top this as my favorite movie of the year.

My wife didn't see it with me as she's not big into sci fi, but I think she'll enjoy it when she does.

Dang, I've seen the movie twice now, but there's a Q&A screening Saturday night at my local theater with Adams, Villeneuve, and screenwriter Eric Heisserer. Already have tickets for a Q&A screening of Jackie with the director at roughly the same time, at the same theater. Mine starts 30 minutes before, though, so maybe I can sneak in for the Q&A after...

Having a daughter I can absolutely say that enhanced the emotion of the movie and I could absolutely understand both Renner and Adams views on her choice at the end.

I have a feeling your report back of the Q&A will need to go in the Focus thread.