Annihilation (2018)

[obriensg1]

When I was 21 in the summer of 2009, I got laid off. It was very frustrating and I dressed up nicely and went collecting and filling out applications from all the stores at a trendy mall I thought I'd want to work at. Finally, I was exhausted and figured I'd go over to the theater and catch a $5 matinee of 'Angels and Demons'. About halfway through the film it started looking like a Grindhouse production. It was all scratchy and shaky. After the film I went to Guest Services and complained. The manager on duty seemed confused and went in the back. I heard a guy sheepishly say "Oh, the print did get dropped and unspooled a bit. Must have taken some damage on that reel". She came back out with 2 free vouchers which I used the following weekend to see "Pixar's UP" in 3D with a friend, which would have cost me over $30.

A week later, a Disney obsessed manager in a job interview just wanted to talk about that film and she and her husband's upcoming trip to Disney World and then she hired me into a job I worked at for the next 4.5 years hahaha.

[mikeinvegas7]

Saw this tonight, and enjoyed it immensely. I'll probably try to catch a second showing in a week or so.

I don't get the big deal about the ending either. It was fitting for the genre.

[Jumpman]

This thing killed me. It will remain in my top ten for 2018....

[rocknblues81]

Originally Posted by Underworld54

I watched 3 reviews and all 3 say the ending brings the movie down tremendously.

Oh god.... Not again. I wasn't a fan of the ending to 28 Days Later or Sunshine.

[imsounoriginal]

Originally Posted by Underworld54

I watched 3 reviews and all 3 say the ending brings the movie down tremendously.

The ending is gonna make or break it for people. I really liked it.

[bowlingbilly10]

Originally Posted by shrex

7pm showing at my theater was cancelled due to technical difficulties

Guess u can say your screening was annilated? I’ll show myself out

[Makarov]

Huge fan of the book, unfortunately the movie let me down honestly. My favorite scene from the book is not in the movie even though its critical to the name of the book... and the characters and dialogue weren't nearly as good. Some of it was eye roll inducingly bad. The expedition in the movie didn't act like scientists and instead more like horror movie cliches.

Great effects though...

[tezster]

Maybe this was an error by a misinformed staffer, but I'm 99.99% certain that the official Netflix Facebook page answered YES when someone asked whether the movie would be available in Canada on March 12th.

Of course, now I can't find that post... I should've screenshot it.

[ArrestedDevelopment]

Really need to watch this again to form some adequate thoughts lol. Loved the visuals and sound design. The last 20+ min were super trippy and quite reminiscent of

[Show spoiler]Under the Skin

.

7/10

[KuroJohn]

Saw this tonight, very happy I did. No it won’t be for everyone, neither was Ex Machina. Be surprised if I’m more engaged at the theater this year than I was tonight.

[Predatorix38417]

Originally Posted by shrex

7pm showing at my theater was cancelled due to technical difficulties

That happened to me last summer when I went to see The Hitman's Bodyguard opening Thursday night at a Atmos theater, projector froze before the previews started and after 20 minutes of waiting and complaining (the staff was unaware until people got out complaining), they offered to give out refund passes and allow us to see the next showtime which was in another hour in a regular theater. Most people got a refund pass and went to see Annabelle Creation which was playing right next door instead, but I waited it out.

[MikeScott]

For those who went tonight was there anyone else in attendance? I would love for it to be able to crack double digits this weekend.

[The Great Owl]

Five stars.

After a lighthouse is struck by a meteor, the surrounding coastal marshland is being engulfed by a translucent rainbow-colored canopy that is referred to by scientists as the “Shimmer.” The area around this constantly-expanding entity has been evacuated and quarantined by the government for study, but none of the people who have entered the Shimmer have returned. One year after Kane, a soldier played by Oscar Isaac, ventured through the Shimmer curtain with a military team, his biologist wife, Lena, played by Natalie Portman, continues to grieve in his absence. When Kane enters their home one day without warning, Lena is overjoyed. Something is not right about him, though, and he responds to her questions with coldly vague answers before slipping into a coma.

In a desperate effort to find out what happened to her husband, Lena joins four other female scientists for an expedition into the Shimmer. After walking into the realm, these women lose all radio and cell contact with the outside world, and find themselves surrounded by eerily mutated plants and animals. When they edge closer to the lighthouse, they are repeatedly attacked in the dark by nightmarish creatures, they gradually begin to lose their sanity, and their own bodies are genetically altered. As she braves this strange territory while recalling memories of her marriage to Kane, Lena learns horrifying truths about the nature of the alien entity and about herself.

Annihilation, which is loosely based on a novel by Jeff VanderMeer, was directed by Alex Garland, who previously helmed my favorite movie of 2014, Ex Machina, and wrote the screenplays for 28 Days Later... (2002) and Sunshine (2007). Like Ex Machina, this film uses a science fiction backdrop as a reflecting pool for us to explore our own psychologies and our perceptions of what it means to be human. The end result combines the otherworldly philosophical explorations of Andrei Tarkovsky's Russian science fiction masterpieces, Solaris (1972) and Stalker (1979), with the intensely gruesome body horror of 1980s David Cronenberg films like Videodrome and The Fly. This narrative also invites comparisons to the excellent 2016 movie, Arrival, which introduced us to beings that defied our conventional expectations about the biology and cognitive makeup of alien life forms.

Those who are not well-versed in sci-fi horror cinema should be warned that Annihilation is a film that will really get “under your skin.” Most of us shudder at movies about murder or torture, but what really terrifies us to no end is the idea of becoming physically disfigured in ways that cause us to lose the inherent characteristics that define us as people. I challenge anybody not to be creeped out by this motion picture.

The visceral unpleasantness of this film takes a backseat, however, to its thought-provoking themes about the propensity of humans to act in self-destructive ways and our tendencies to cause irreparable harm to our environment. The endlessly possible scenarios of an extraterrestrial invasion are unsettling, but the undiscovered depths of our own minds can be even scarier.

I am still trying to process everything that I saw tonight, but Annihilation earns my highest recommendation as a movie that will stimulate your intellect while it sends chills down your spine.

[Makarov]

On the sound in the movie the music surprised me because

[Show spoiler]the movie has guitar over it instead of that creepy noise I was expecting from the trailer. I didn't really think the guitar fit here.

I will probably give it a second chance and see if it grows on me.

[AaronJ]

I saw this tonight and I'll be honest -- I was a bit confused. Reading The Great Owl's excellent review helped me out a lot, though. Portman was tremendous. And the film had a great feel to it. But I definitely need to see it again.

Garland definitely knows what he's doing.

[Zero_Cool]

Originally Posted by shrex

7pm showing at my theater was cancelled due to technical difficulties

I bet they forgot to validate the SEMPTE file.

Rookie mistake.

[Mr.F]

Originally Posted by rodneyfaile

I wonder when this will be on Netflix in the US.

Probably not for a few years if at all due to Paramount's deal with Epix. So this means it will be on Prime at some point

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by Mr.F

Probably not for a few years if at all due to Paramount's deal with Epix. So this means it will be on Prime at some point

The Cloverfield Paradox is also Paramount & is on Netflix.

[Lastyear]

Originally Posted by Leonidas_King

Guys, make sure you check your theater listings for this weekend. My local theater will not get Annihilation and it seems only a few select theaters around the area will. I don't think this has a Limited release to begin with, just think theaters wont support it due to the whole "17 days after release" ordeal. Although it only affects internationally I think they are also taking in effect domestic box office results which they know won't generate lots of ticket sales. They seem to think movies like Game Night which opens the same day will be more what moviegoers are looking for.

25 theaters around my area (Detroit) are getting it.

[Jumpman]

Originally Posted by imsounoriginal

The ending is gonna make or break it for people. I really liked it.

Yep.