Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

Perhaps it's because I come from a horror fan perspective, but the original Alien, whether simple of plot or not, was one of the most adventurous and original horror pieces in some time. It didn't try to be something that it wasn't, just the ramifications of being alone in space surrounded by a mystery and a real threat. What made the movie great was its attention to detail, it's creation of palpable tension, it's ability to use long silences to unnerving effect and those performances. Sigourney Weaver may well have been the find of the century. Sometimes, a great movie doesn't need a dense plot to be terrific and sometimes the more complex the plot, the less interesting it is.

Do people truly consider Alien fun? I went opening day in 1979, and found it one of the most unendurable movies I've ever seen. The production design was impressive, and I enjoyed the blue collar aspect of the characters (then a novelty in most movie sci-fi). But from the moment the creature emerged from John Hurt, I knew the filmmakers would show no restraint as far as inflicting gore on the audience. And every remaining scene seemed to consist of characters going, one by one, into rooms, while the camera slowly rotated until the creature appeared and eviscerated them. For me, the movie was like being hooked up to the black box: jolts arrived at regular intervals, and after a while I was in a constant state of anxiety awaiting the next one. I thought the black box was considered torture; how did it get rclassified as entertainment?

Aliens wasn't exactly my kind of movie, either, but at least it had an adventure plot that was more than waiting around to be eaten.

Reza wrote:

Sabin wrote:Is Prometheus fun? Because I've heard it's pretentious as hell.

Of course it's a fun ride. Total summer fare which you watch for the thrills and scares and then forget about it as you walk out of the cinema after pondering the unanswered questions for a couple of hours. No sweat as the sequel will eventually answer those questions.

You have to be a total fool to look for a deeper meaning into the mumbo jumbo the script raises. They have to come up with such nonsense in order to be slightly different to the countless other similar films that came before it.

Just so you know ALIEN is a very fucking simple movie. People land on planet, people bring alien onto spaceship, people head home, people are killed by alien, lone woman (and cat) survive by killing alien. There are no real twists and turns, except that someone turns out to be an android. ALIEN is brilliant because of the great acting and gorgeous visuals. It has a slow but steady pace of terror. It does not have anything deep to say, and pretty much everyone acts like a normal human would in this particular set of circumstances. There are no big plot holes, no pretensions. It is a great example of a lean and efficient screenplay.

PROMETHEUS is the exact fucking opposite. Ridley Scott and the studio fought over how much the film should directly connect to ALIEN, and the result was a project that feels like it was assembled by committee. Bringing on Damon Lindelof was the absolute kiss of death for this film. Think of all the bullshit that made folks hate Lost and you will have an idea of what is pissing people off about this film.

It would seem PROMETHEUS could have been almost as simple as ALIEN. Most folks already figured the Space Jockeys engineered the Xenomorphs. We just wanted to see the Xenomorphs kill the crew, kill the Space Jockey we saw in ALIEN, and have an explanation for who exactly sent the message that brought the crew in ALIEN to the planet. Three very simple moments. Yet Scott did not find that interesting, and Lindelof did not find that convoluted enough. Instead they gave us a film filled with stupid characters doing stupid things for reasons no one in the audience could understand.

Sabin, if you want to see a fun movie, watch ALIEN and ALIENS again. Those two movies are still incredibly fun, and hold up after all these years. In all of PROMETHEUS, there is only one fun/scary scene that actually got a good response from the audience. Everyone who has seen it knows what I am talking about. Other than that, the film was either boring me to tears or pissing me off.

Nope. Critics do to.

Sonic Youth wrote:

Reza wrote:However, I'll let the fan boys go into a tizzy about minor plot details and why the script was so full of potholes. I'm just not interested in going into such details. Frankly, who has the time?

I think you mean "haters", not "fan boys".

Arent the fan boys the ones who dissect films to bits?

Reza wrote:However, I'll let the fan boys go into a tizzy about minor plot details and why the script was so full of potholes. I'm just not interested in going into such details. Frankly, who has the time?

I think you mean "haters", not "fan boys".

Sabin wrote:Is Prometheus fun? Because I've heard it's pretentious as hell.

Of course it's a fun ride. Total summer fare which you watch for the thrills and scares and then forget about it as you walk out of the cinema after pondering the unanswered questions for a couple of hours. No sweat as the sequel will eventually answer those questions.

You have to be a total fool to look for a deeper meaning into the mumbo jumbo the script raises. They have to come up with such nonsense in order to be slightly different to the countless other similar films that came before it. I was amazed at the 3-D effects (granted I'm probably the only one on this planet who hadn't seen a film in this process - I always got a massive headache so avoided 3-D), the great production design and the horror elements. Granted Aliens was more of a roller coaster ride with kick-ass Sigourney Weaver's Ripley helping it along but the cast here is not bad at all. I also liked the measured pace of the film. I'm also looking forward to the sequel. However, I'll let the fan boys go into a tizzy about minor plot details and why the script was so full of potholes. I'm just not interested in going into such details. Frankly, who has the time?

Is Prometheus fun? Because I've heard it's pretentious as hell.

Prometheus is a popcorn movie pure and simple as were Inception, Alien, Aliens and the rest of the bunch. No more, no less.....and should be seen as such. Why should it be given the importance of an Alain Resnais, a Kurosawa or a Bergman? If one is a fan of the franchise one should go see it. Who cares if it is directed by Ridley Scott or Bugs Bunny..............one watches such movies for it's ''fun'' elements.

The conversation that is being had w/r/t Prometheus' plot-holes and unanswered questions reminds me a lot about the great Inception debate a couple years ago, and honestly nothing's changed. Unanswered questions and ambiguity only matter when you're given a reason to give a shit whether or not Leo is still in a dream, and it sounds like there's no reason to care about whatever nonsense is going on in Prometheus, a prequel to a movie made thirty years ago -- which has a proven history of working never.

So, that means I won't be watching Prometheus and that means I'm probably done with Ridley Scott. The only movie he's made that was worth watching in the past ten years was Matchstick Men, an overly-directed sweet little film that was worse because of his involvement. Not that anybody was really waiting on pins and needles for my two cents but it likely won't be coming.

I was so excited for PROMETHEUS. I am not a big fan of endless sequels, remakes, prequels, or reboots...but I thought with Ridley Scott onboard, PROMETHEUS could actually enhance the Alien series. The trailer looked amazing, but maybe it should have been a clue that it did not include very much dialogue or plot points like the most trailers.
Even after the reviews came out warning us about the shitty screenplay, I lowered my expectations but still looked forward to a fun film. I should have lowered my expectations to THE PHANTOM MENACE levels. As many of the reviews have said, the visuals were strong and the acting was good, but that screenplay should guarantee Damon Lindelof never works in Hollywood again. However, given how stupid the industry is, he has already been brought on to rewrite WORLD WAR Z and will probably be given many more high profile assignments. His other major screenwriting credit is COWBOYS AND ALIENS, which should give you an idea of the level of writing you are in for on this film.
I agree with all those complaining about the ridiculous open ended questions in the film. There is a difference between a little mystery at the end of a film (2001, BLADE RUNNER, INCEPTION) and then there are just ridiculous plot holes that derail the entire movie (THE VILLAGE, and the STARK TREK and PLANET OF THE APES remakes). Apparently, many people were left confused and annoyed by Lindelof's ridiculous plot holes.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/prometheus,79947/

http://www.vulture.com/2012/06/10-open- ... theus.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ryan ... 86574.html

I only liked season one of Lost, and I didn't even like it all that much.

Thanks for the update, but it doesn't impact my dislike of Lindelof's style in general.

JJ Abrams was never directly involved with Lost after the first half (or maybe even first third) of season one. He left to begin work on Mission Impossible III. Damon Lindelof was a showrunner for the full six seasons, with JJ Abrams for a few episodes, and with Carlton Cuse thereafter.

I think you miss the point. These aren't questions that should have been at the forefront of discussions (SPOILER WARNING) like how is it possible that after millions of years of evolution, the DNA of the two races match perfectly. These aren't questions you want to leave open-ended. Were it just a debate over the nature of religion, faith and belief, I'd be fine with that, but the open-ended questions muddy all other conversations. They're also called plot holes. Lost was good until J.J. Abrams left and then a marked decline in quality followed. I liked Lost the first two seasons as well, but stopped watching in season 3.

Not all questions left unanswered are good questions.