I remember thinking about how they got there. I thought "they must have stolen an MNU truck or something, and Chris hid in the back." Or he put Chris in a hood and shackles or something. And then I remember thinking "if they'd had to show that, it would have really slowed things down." Thinking like a writer is not always good for appreciation of other people's story experience.... As for what it's doing in box, I have a feeling this basically ushers in the Jackson era much as ET ushered in the Spielberg era. Jackson's proven he can make epics and now he's proven he can make them cheap -- deal-men will be lining up to hand him blank checks, now. *Lovely Bones* looks like it's going to be really well-done, but of the last two and next two of his movies to be released, half were/will be directed by someone else (Blomkamp for *District 9*, Del Toro for *Hobbit*). I think he's going to be putting his stamp on things for decades to come, and I like that, because he so clearly loves the stories more than the money.
On Sat, Sep 12, 2009 at 4:10 PM, cd <[email protected]> wrote: > > But really, though, if we had seen them hot wire a car, and then sneak > through the city carefully avoiding detection -- all of which could be > done -- would that have added anything to the movie? > > On Sep 12, 3:53 pm, Alicia Henn <[email protected]> wrote: > > The part that bugged me (just a little) is that the travel. When > > needed, they can walk across a busy city unnoticed until they blow up > > the side of a building, and at other times, they can't go two yards > > without catching 8,000 bullets. The keys are always left in the > > vehicles. > > I really enjoyed it otherwise. I liked the discomfort of watching the > > dweeb joke about their eggs popping in such a realistic, documentary- > > like style. I liked the transformation. > > Worth seeing in the theatre for the effects! > > > > Alicia > > On Sep 12, 2009, at 2:07 PM, cd wrote: > > > > > > > > > I agree! > > > > > And I'd add that the parts that aren't sufficently hard are reasonable > > > for the demands of a good narrative. I'm willing to accept that > > > pirates got Hamlet back to Denmark, and I'm willing to accept that the > > > fuel turns the protag into a prawn. > > > > > I'm very pleased that the movie is doing well, too. Box Office Mojo > > > estimates it cost $30million to make and has so far done $120million > > > box. So that matches trash like Transformers 2 for ROI. Good news! > > > Decent SF thriving! > > > > > cd > > > > > On Sep 12, 1:09 pm, Eric Scoles <[email protected]> wrote: > > >> I liked it a lot. I liked that the characterization was a little bit > > >> unconventional (though only a little*) and thought it was really > > >> well done. > > >> Copley did a great job creating this weak, dweeby guy and making a > > >> plausible > > >> presentation of him becoming more dangerous as needed. As SF, it's > > >> at least > > >> as well thought out as most space opera, modern or otherwise (and > > >> much more > > >> so than most). I liked the ending a lot -- I know some people hated > > >> it, but > > >> to me it did a couple of things I like to see: avoided the pat feel- > > >> good > > >> ending without being outrageously bleak; and creates a clear > > >> connection > > >> between The Character Who Changes (because we ALL know characters > > >> MUST > > >> change!) and what he was before he "changed." > > >> A lot of people seemed to me to be disappointed by what it didn't > > >> do. It > > >> wasn't a penetrating social commentary picture with lots of > > >> sympathetic > > >> alien characters interacting with humans in Very Special Moments. > > >> But then, > > >> neither is 99% of print SF. I went in expecting an action movie with > > >> culturally significant subtexts, and that's what I feel like I got. > > > > >> -- > > >> *It's very much in the 'do the right thing against his better > > >> judgement' > > >> school of anti-hero characterization (like Bogie in Casablanca, The > > >> Man in > > >> Yojimbo/Fistfull of Dollars, Han Solo in Star Wars, or The > > >> Continental Op in > > >> Red Harvest). > > > > >> On Sat, Sep 12, 2009 at 12:40 PM, Alicia Henn > > >> <[email protected]>wrote: > > > > >>> I liked it, too. As long as I didn't think about the plot too much. > > >>> It was gruesome in a lot of different ways, but good. > > >>> A damning judgement of humanity and terrific effects. > > > > >>> On Sep 12, 2009, at 11:54 AM, delancey wrote: > > > > >>>> So, I finally saw District 9 last night. I know some people (e.g., > > >>>> Nancy) didn't like it, but I thought it was great. About as good > > >>>> as > > >>>> big budget SF gets (granted: that's a kind of faint praise). Am I > > >>>> alone in this opinion? > > > > >>>> cd > > > > >> -- > > >> eric scoles ([email protected]) > > > -- eric scoles ([email protected]) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
