The Official Movie Thread

[TechnicalBarbarity]

I think the whole

Spoiler

'rich elites living off-world with technology that cures any health issue' is supposed to be an allegory for universal healthcare maybe? Because said elites don't spread the technology to the people still on earth etc.

.. yeah that's what im pretty much thinking but i didnt necessarily see it as some sort of agenda piece lol. You cant really try to limit peoples creativity when it comes to sci-fi flicks.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

I try to avoid thinking about that stuff when i watch movies and just enjoy whatever movie i'm watching as entertainment only.

yeah same here tbh, only time it bothers me is when it's really hamfisted and truly agenda driven. I would never waste time watching a "propaganda" piece, regardless of what side it's coming from.

 

[Einherjar86]

I was into Chappie for the first half or so, but it kinda lost me. Films about AI are tough, and I felt like it went too humanist. But I should rewatch. District 9 is his best, I think.

I think the whole

Spoiler

'rich elites living off-world with technology that cures any health issue' is supposed to be an allegory for universal healthcare maybe? Because said elites don't spread the technology to the people still on earth etc.

I had a problem with the economics of Elysium.

Spoiler

If the wealthy had a machine that could cure any disease with minimal invasiveness and relative ease of access, it makes no sense that they’d withhold it from the poor. If anything, they should make them widely available to placate the masses on other things like income, housing costs, etc.

 

[CiG]

I don't mind it if a movie has a blatant agenda, in some cases it feels more honest compared to films with a more hidden agenda. The movie just has to be interesting, creative and well-made, admittedly most propagandist movies aren't. I always come back to Fury Road, it's a perfect example of a great film with a strong agenda.

SJW movies and religious movies tend to be the worst offenders, because they seem to have no idea how to write a script that isn't in direct service to a diatribe they want to make.

@Einherjar86 yeah I agree, or even

Spoiler

the more base of possibilities for the elites with the cure-all technology; sell services to the people on earth. It's strange to me that if the film's agenda is socialist, why they wouldn't have the elites act like capitalists instead of whatever you might compare them to.

It's almost like the elites are living the luxury of a fully automated utopia where nobody has to work, illness is no longer an issue and AI takes care of everything else, like a subversion of Star Trek.

You could almost flip it to say it's a anti-socialist film, if you consider that the elites have a kind of socialist utopia for themselves and don't share it, or at least capitalize on the tech to make profits, which would be more ideal for those on earth than what they did instead. I see a lot of contradictions in Elysium's economics and this might be an indication that it's not as ideological a movie as it looks on its surface.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

im just against them in general, regardless if the message is blatant or hidden. That's not why i watch movies. But again, this all come into play for me only when the movie is truly trying to be a "propaganda" piece. Dosnt bother me if a writer is drawing out some fantasy land that just so happens to be in line with some of todays political landscape or whatever.

 

[rms]

Cig/ein, why is a baseline assumption rich people actively want to improve the lives of underlings?

 

[Blurry_Dreams]

I think the whole

Spoiler

'rich elites living off-world with technology that cures any health issue' is supposed to be an allegory for universal healthcare maybe? Because said elites don't spread the technology to the people still on earth etc.

duh
it was obviously a reference to

Spoiler

the fact that what country you are in determines the quality of healthcare available in your hometown, and in the USA, people in the same fucking city have vast differences in terms of what level of healthcare they have access to depending on whether or not they have good medical insurance with medicaid/medicare being almost as bad as having no insurance at all

 

[Blurry_Dreams]

Cig/ein, why is a baseline assumption rich people actively want to improve the lives of underlings?

no
it was clearly social commentary pointing out that the rich don't give a shit about broke people

 

[CiG]

Cig/ein, why is a baseline assumption rich people actively want to improve the lives of underlings?

Not my baseline assumption at all. I said, if the film is socialist, why are the film's capitalist class not interested in using the technology to make profit from the sick back on earth.

duh
it was obviously a reference to

Spoiler

the fact that what country you are in determines the quality of healthcare available in your hometown, and in the USA, people in the same fucking city have vast differences in terms of what level of healthcare they have access to depending on whether or not they have good medical insurance with medicaid/medicare being almost as bad as having no insurance at all

no
it was clearly social commentary pointing out that the rich don't give a shit about broke people

lol no.

 

[arg]

Loved once upon a time in hollywood, brilliant dialogue and acting by Leo and Brad. Some critics say it was too long and had a few useless scenes but they’re idiots, every scene has purpose and contributes something. Tarantino is no doubt a great director

 

[Einherjar86]

Cig/ein, why is a baseline assumption rich people actively want to improve the lives of underlings?

Not my baseline assumption at all. I said, if the film is socialist, why are the film's capitalist class not interested in using the technology to make profit from the sick back on earth.

I also wasn't suggesting that Elysium's wealthy have a desire to improve the lives of the poor. I'm saying it doesn't make sense that they completely restrict access to advanced medical technology when they could charge people to use it (as CIG already said).

Spoiler

Extending this even further--if the technology is (by all appearances) easy to use, minimally invasive, and requires minimal to no professional oversight (regular citizens use the machines on their own, no need for medical professionals), then it doesn't make much sense why they're not only unavailable to the poor, but unaffordable. The strategic thing to do is make the machines available and affordable in order to divert attention away from other social ills (e.g. poor quality of life, shitty housing, shitty wages, etc.).

Take the impetus for the plot of the film: Matt Damon's terminal radiation poisoning. Rather than tell him he's fired and going to die, it would make more sense to let him use a machine for free, make him feel he's in debt to the ruling class, ensure his continued labor and dedication, and nip any rebellious tendencies in the bud. The entire plot of the film could have been avoided if the wealthy elite had just put Damon in one of their magic healing machines. The premise leads to inconsistencies in the film's sociopolitical perspective.

 

[mutantllama]

Surprised no one has posted this yet, but a picture from the upcoming Color Out of Space movie.

 

[Einherjar86]

In my mind, I'm imagining a mashup of Annihilation and Mandy--and I'm loving it. We'll see if that's what happens...

 

[Blurry_Dreams]

Spoiler

Extending this even further--if the technology is (by all appearances) easy to use, minimally invasive, and requires minimal to no professional oversight (regular citizens use the machines on their own, no need for medical professionals), then it doesn't make much sense why they're not only unavailable to the poor, but unaffordable. The strategic thing to do is make the machines available and affordable in order to divert attention away from other social ills (e.g. poor quality of life, shitty housing, shitty wages, etc.).

Take the impetus for the plot of the film: Matt Damon's terminal radiation poisoning. Rather than tell him he's fired and going to die, it would make more sense to let him use a machine for free, make him feel he's in debt to the ruling class, ensure his continued labor and dedication, and nip any rebellious tendencies in the bud. The entire plot of the film could have been avoided if the wealthy elite had just put Damon in one of their magic healing machines. The premise leads to inconsistencies in the film's sociopolitical perspective.

changing the movie in the way suggested in this spoiler could easily be used as a plot for a completely different brand-new (and possibly awesome) sci-fi movie

 

[RadicalThrasher]

Spoiler

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

last night...

Hated this movie back when it first came out. Still think its pretty much shit but it does have a few cool scenes, especially the hallway laser one ...

Spoiler

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

This is what Richard Stanley, currently barricaded away in Portugal putting the finishing touches on Colour Out of Space, had to say in a FB thread:

The alien, unknowable, essentially Lovecraftian circumstances of the production dictated a total break from any of my previous collaborators, either in front or behind the camera - a challenge certainly to work without friends or previous relationships to fall back on - essentially performing without a safety net - but that’s the nature of the beast. One cannot hope to penetrate a labyrinth by moving in a straight line and it is only by rising to these challenges and life’s constant curveballs that we create our best work. The completed film will be unveiled to the public on September 7th - nor do I doubt the audience is in for an experience unlike anything they could possibly imagine, in dream or nightmare. Come one, come all...

 

[challenge_everything]

Surprised no one has posted this yet, but a picture from the upcoming Color Out of Space movie.

It would be nice to have a decent Lovecraft movie for once ffs

*I like Reanimator but it's hardly true to the source material

 

[Anom@nder Rake]

now watching

 

[Bloopy]

brilliant dialogue and acting by Leo and Brad

I liked that side of it but Tarantino's 'alternate history' irks me. It's as if his thing now is just lifting scenarios from the past and bashing adolescent fantasies into them. I found the ending jarring and difficult to process because it deviates so suddenly.