Unpopular Movie Opinions: Part III

[DanTheMan]

Backdraft > Apollo 13

Matter of fact.... Splash > Apollo 13

[Kaiju]

Originally Posted by NoFro

Midsommar is a much better film than Hereditary.

Absolutely.

[jess1581]

The THING 2011 is a solid and worthy prequel and companion piece to the 1982 classic. It was thoughtful enough to be accurate towards continuity, the tone, the feel, the camerawork(good ole anamorphic scope film), the music, the cast it all works quite well to achieve a flow towards Carpenter's film, and I was happy to see the Norwegian flavor and culture on display.

Complaints of cgi is understandable, but other than the face split in the helicopter scene, the fx weren't terrible. If anything the one creature that needed to work, imo did(the two face infused beast that we see later in the 82 film). Would I prefer more practical fx to be on display? Of course, and we can blame Universal for the decision to put cgi over the other fx. Still, it was kinda cool seeing the creatures "do" more than what practical can pull off.

Complaints of having women in the cast is... just dumb. If this had been an all male cast, then it woulda been accused of rehashing the 82 film. As a prequel, you have to present randomness to make it feel like a natural progression(or regression in this case). Besides, Mary Elizabeth Winstead was great, and possessed more of a Ripley quality. Strong minded and willed, but without being showy and "badass"(unlike today's idea of female leads). Her actions and decisions came off believable and natural.

The creature being more aggressive made sense, because since this is a prequel we are catching an alien who JUST woke up after 100,000 years. Like MacReady said "they dig it up, they cart it back, it thaws out, wakes up, prolly not in the best of moods.". Only after the Norwegian incident did it gather it's strategy and plan after finding out what it's dealing with on that planet. Being more quiet, more hidden, only wigging out when it's backed into a corner and threatened.

Yes, there were similar moments in the film that echoed The Thing 82, but for the most part it is expected that certain things would occur in similar fashion considering the both camps are experiencing the same danger in the same setting. I thought the inclusion of the inability to imitate inanimate objects was clever, and I really dug the third act where they go into the wrecked spaceship.

Overall, this deserves to be embraced, and not hated on by fans. Of course it isn't gonna be as awesome as the Kurt Russell movie, but even that film was misunderstood and hated once upon a time.

[Bugg]

but even that film was misunderstood and hated once upon a time.

It don't recall it being hated or misunderstood. It just tanked at the box office because it was up against what may have been the toughest line-up of competition in movie history: ET, Blade Runner, Rocky III, Firefox, Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan, and Poltergeist were all in the top 10 the week The Thing released. Most people didn't see it until 6 months to a year later on VHS and Cable movie channels.

That said, the 2011 film seemed fine to me. It's a damn sight better than other remakes/reboots or Carpenter films like Assault on Precinct 13, The Fog, and Halloween

[jess1581]

Originally Posted by Bugg

It don't recall it being hated or misunderstood. It just tanked at the box office because it was up against what may have been the toughest line-up of competition in movie history: ET, Blade Runner, Rocky III, Firefox, Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan, and Poltergeist were all in the top 10 the week The Thing released. Most people didn't see it until 6 months to a year later on VHS and Cable movie channels.

That said, the 2011 film seemed fine to me. It's a damn sight better than other remakes/reboots or Carpenter films like Assault on Precinct 13, The Fog, and Halloween

Critically panned for being disgusting and gratuitous with its fx and having cardboard cut out characters with no depth... it was a different time.

[snipemonkey]

Originally Posted by jess1581

Critically panned for being disgusting and gratuitous with its fx and having cardboard cut out characters with no depth... it was a different time.

Yep. 1982 was all about lovable, cuddly Spielberg ETs. With the exception of Halloween John Carpenter has almost always been a man out of his time. He's always been doomed to retrospective acclaim.

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by Bugg

It don't recall it being hated or misunderstood.

It was.

[Bugg]

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

It was.

I'm not talking about critics as they hated most genre films and only represent a slim number of people, but everyone else. I was working in a video store in the 80's and everyone that rented it loved it. Similar to films like The Hitcher, Scanners, Escape from New York, Labyrinth. Plenty of box office duds that most people liked as soon as they saw them.

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by Bugg

I'm not talking about critics as they hated most genre films and only represent a slim number of people, but everyone else. I was working in a video store in the 80's and everyone that rented it loved it. Similar to films like The Hitcher, Scanners, Escape from New York, Labyrinth. Plenty of box office duds that most people liked as soon as they saw them.

"I take every failure hard. The one I took the hardest was The Thing. My career would have been different if that had been a big hit… The movie was hated. Even by science-fiction fans. They thought that I had betrayed some kind of trust, and the piling on was insane. Even the original movie's director, Christian Nyby, was dissing me." - John Carpenter

[Mikezilla3k]

This reminds, I haven't seen The Thing (1982) yet. Probably gotta fix that.

[Arawn]

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

"I take every failure hard. The one I took the hardest was The Thing. My career would have been different if that had been a big hit… The movie was hated. Even by science-fiction fans. They thought that I had betrayed some kind of trust, and the piling on was insane. Even the original movie's director, Christian Nyby, was dissing me." - John Carpenter

I don't get it... what was their problem with it?

[jess1581]

Originally Posted by Arawn

I don't get it... what was their problem with it?

Understanding a 1982 audience is extremely difficult. The Thing was too jagged a pill to swallow for them at the time. It was dark, nihilistic, hopeless, and without any endearment on top of having tons of gross out fx. What they didn't understand was the paranoia and isolation which explains the lack of dramatic depth of the characters. It's an uncompromising vision, and audiences couldn't handle it.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by Arawn

I don't get it... what was their problem with it?

You’d have to go back in time and ask, or speculate, or find thousands of people saying they liked it when it originally came out(even if they didn’t).

[SillyG]

I do not consider The Godfather Part III to be canon, and it is a stain on an otherwise near-perfect duology. I would not be opposed to buying the three films on UHD when it inevitably arrives, but I would be just as content grabbing only the original duology. The third film is okay on its own merits, but not as a Godfather film.

The worst thing about Part III, however (other than the nepotistic casting of Sofia Coppola), is that Pacino and Keaton seem to have cultivated an image for themselves post Scarface and Annie Hall respectively, and have characterised Michael and Kay in accordance with their awful new acting styles (for lack of a better term), which is a tremendous shame considering how good they both were, especially in Part II.

[Damon1281]

Originally Posted by jess1581

Understanding a 1982 audience is extremely difficult. The Thing was too jagged a pill to swallow for them at the time. It was dark, nihilistic, hopeless, and without any endearment on top of having tons of gross out fx. What they didn't understand was the paranoia and isolation which explains the lack of dramatic depth of the characters. It's an uncompromising vision, and audiences couldn't handle it.

We were so different and weird back in the before-times.
Personally, I always enjoyed the film though I didn't discover it until 1985, when we became more forward thinking and appreciated excessive gore for the art that it was.

I'm going with it being stacked up against too much mainstream competition. Horror just doesn't have wide appeal.

[playsignal1976]

Interstellar is a bad movie just like everything else Christopher Nolan has directed.

[JustinB13]

Originally Posted by playsignal1976

Interstellar is a bad movie just like everything else Christopher Nolan has directed.

I found stvn1974’s backup account!

[Jay H.]

Originally Posted by Damon1281

We were so different and weird back in the before-times.
Personally, I always enjoyed the film though I didn't discover it until 1985, when we became more forward thinking and appreciated excessive gore for the art that it was.

I'm going with it being stacked up against too much mainstream competition. Horror just doesn't have wide appeal.

The first time I watched it was when it premiered on CBS. Man, was it dreadful. I watched it again on VHS several years later and realized the TV version cut out everything! How'd they even fill the 2 hour block? (It's on the Blu-ray and I refuse to watch it.)

I loved E.T. then and now, but Universal (which also released E.T.) should not have released a scary alien film so soon after releasing a sweet alien film. Late Summer or Fall, maybe? Don't know if that would have mattered, but I'm glad this masterpiece found its audience.

[playsignal1976]

Originally Posted by JustinB13

I found stvn1974’s backup account!

Not sure who that is but I do know that I've never enjoyed a Christoper Nolan film. Every time I hear all of this hype and then after I see the film I just don't get it. Memento, Inception, Batman trilogy, Interstellar - there is something about his style I just can't stand.

[Mikezilla3k]

Originally Posted by playsignal1976

Not sure who that is but I do know that I've never enjoyed a Christoper Nolan film. Every time I hear all of this hype and then after I see the film I just don't get it. Memento, Inception, Batman trilogy, Interstellar - there is something about his style I just can't stand.

The only film of his that I really liked was Batman Begins. Inception was fun, but it really was a knock-off of Paprika.