Arrival (Denis Villeneuve)

[Ezee E]

IMDB

[Ezee E]

Oh boy. For the first half of this movie, it's as tense as ever, and so atmospheric. This is what you'd hope from a Ridley Scott trailer pretty much. The latter half is still very good, and I have to see it a second time to fully decide what I think, but I think it goes into Nolan-territory a little too much. But it's so atmospheric throughout the whole thing that I don't mind it.

[Henry Gale]

IMDb / Wiki

[Henry Gale]

Phenomenal.

Not sure how to even start talking about this without getting into deep third act territory, but just.. wow. Only thing I'll say is that I'm not sure I've ever seen a movie so extraordinarily correct some of its perceivably rote elements and then use those same things to elicit such strong, ethereal emotion.

Villeneuve has played with the form to best shape his narrative motives in the past, but this takes things to a new and stunning level entirely. So glad I saw it at TIFF but now kinda bummed I have no way of seeing it again for two months. And not just because due to Rush seating issues I missed some stuff at the beginning of it.

EDIT: Shit, sorry. Forgot about Ezee's thread. Got overly excited.

[Skitch]

Can't wait.

[Henry Gale]

This might sound like a bit much, but of all the weeks for this to come out, I feel like it's perfect in terms of being genuinely powerful enough to feel a little better about humanity and the world.

Can't wait to see it again.

[TGM]

I thought this was pretty good, [

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even if I did call the "twist" about a half hour before it was revealed. Also, anyone else think back to that closing spider shot from Enemy when she looks up at the couch and sees the alien sitting there?

Only thing I'm a little confused about is the aliens motives? They gave them this non-linear sense of time as a "gift", but was it ever explained why? If so, I think I might've missed that.

]

[Ezee E]

Liked it more the second time.

[Melville]

I thought this was pretty good, [

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even if I did call the "twist" about a half hour before it was revealed. Also, anyone else think back to that closing spider shot from Enemy when she looks up at the couch and sees the alien sitting there?

Only thing I'm a little confused about is the aliens motives? They gave them this non-linear sense of time as a "gift", but was it ever explained why? If so, I think I might've missed that.

]

[

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They tell Amy Adams that they're helping humanity so that humanity will help them in return in 3000 years.

]

[TGM]

[

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They tell Amy Adams that they're helping humanity so that humanity will help them in return in 3000 years.

]

I appreciate this. This actually finally occurred to me while thinking about it yesterday. Just happened to forget that particular exchange immediately after the movie.

[Izzy Black]

BEST movie of the year. But then again this is the only movie I've seen in 2016.

[DavidSeven]

I doubt I'll see a better movie this year.

Conceptually immaculate, thematically relevant. It moved me a lot more than I expected it to. Handles its big themes as well its human ones. Beautifully crafted. It's a gorgeous, haunting film. Villeneuve deserves a lot of credit. This could've easily devolved into maudlin hack-work in the wrong hands. He handles it with the right restraint and justifiably goes big when the film earns it. My praise for the film cannot be overstated. This is landmark stuff for Villeneuve.

[Spinal]

This was exhausting. Seriously tense and thought-provoking throughout. I like that ultimately it's not really a film about how we might communicate with aliens so much as a movie about how we might better communicate with each other. Beautiful work all around.

[Watashi]

Agree with David and Spinal. Beautiful film. Though any film that bookends with Max Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight" is my cinematic catnip (also used effectively in Shutter Island). I hate how the media is selling the film with "you won't believe the big twist!" Stop that shit. This is not a twisty film. The reveal is more cathartic rather than "gotcha!" This is top-tier sci-fi up there with the greats like The Day the Earth Stood Still and Close Encounters.

[Morris Schæffer]

I wish this movie was already here in Belgium. Villeneuve is one my fave helmers, he seems on a hot streak right now and what seemed like a dreadful idea years ago, is quickly becoming something mouthwatering to look forward to. That would be Blade Runner 2049.

edit: which reminds me, i should watch Incendies, the one that put him on the map.

[Spinal]

I hate how the media is selling the film with "you won't believe the big twist!" Stop that shit. This is not a twisty film. The reveal is more cathartic rather than "gotcha!"

"You won't believe the big twist .... if you weren't paying a whole lot of attention in the first 90 minutes of the movie."

[Ezee E]

"You won't believe the big twist .... if you weren't paying a whole lot of attention in the first 90 minutes of the movie."

Shoot, the first line spoils it.

[Morris Schæffer]

edit: which reminds me, i should watch Incendies, the one that put him on the map.

Don't wanna start a new thread. Incendies, which I just finished seeing, is probably one of the best 2010 movies I have seen. There's some coincidental stuff at the end, but the cumulative emotional impact is is nonetheless profound.

[transmogrifier]

I didn't like Incendies much. The stupid ending ruins all.

[Morris Schæffer]

I didn't like Incendies much. The stupid ending ruins all.

It's not sitting well with me either. I mean what are the chances of such an ending?! Still movie is great for 95% of its runtime.

[Henry Gale]

Liked it more the second time.

Totally agree. And I loved it the first time. Where the emotional wallop hit me like a series of waves at the end the first time, this second time, knowing how everything falls into place, I was pretty much (happily) a mess from the very first shot. (And then of course again at the end, because 'tis the cyclical nature of the film's language.)

Shoot, the first line spoils it.

Fun fact: Due to some seating-change issues with my screening at TIFF, I didn't actually get to hear the first line the first time I saw it! So there actually was some less overt hinting and more clouded mystery to it all for me in my first experience with it without that particular dialogue in my mind.

[Ezee E]

Ha. For me, the first time I watched it, I thought [

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the daughter was from her past for quite a while.

]

[number8]

This is what you'd call a zeitgeist movie.

[Pop Trash]

[

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Structurally, has there ever been a movie that had flash forwards presented as flash backs, until more information is parsed out by the viewer to let us know these are actually flash forwards in time? Personally, I've never seen that device in cinema (or tv) and I've seen a lot of films over the years.

]

Good movie. I have to mull over it to decide just how good it is.

[Watashi]

I mean, LOST was famous for doing it.