Critics tend to be arty-farty types who prefer mysterious confusing plots that don't actually make any sense - like the
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bruce-129 — 9 years ago(November 25, 2016 09:00 PM)
Artsy has little to do with it in Hollywood it is all about money, like anywhere else.
When it comes to Science Fiction, Hollywood has always been pretty bad and unimaginative.
The good movies are few and far between because most people do not think the public cares
about realism, message, morality they think it is all about effects and violence.
One of the best Science Fictions movies to me is probably the simplest movie ever made
called "The Man From Earth" which is good because it makes you think and it's kind of fun.
This movie is one of those movies that crawls up its own posterior there is no point to it
once you realize the plot doesn't really make sense. -
Farshnoshket — 9 years ago(November 26, 2016 08:02 AM)
You're funny!
You're blaming the critics because they (most) understood the film and the possibility that in a sci-fi film things can happen which are not explainable in the world we know.
If guess by your thinking films like Star Trek, Star Wars, Avatar, Doctor Strange, Cloverfield, AI, Alien, Superman, Guardians of the Galaxy and on and on because things happen that cannot be explained.
Just because this sci-fi didn't go over the top like most of the films I just listed doesn't mean it can't bend time because it's still a science FICTION story.
And in this film no one saw into the future, but it certainly looks like you're not the type of person who can expand on the laws you already know as fact.
A suspension of belief is always essential when watching abut you already know that, don't you? -
iceblink1 — 9 years ago(November 26, 2016 08:59 AM)
If guess by your thinking films like Star Trek, Star Wars, Avatar, Doctor Strange, Cloverfield, AI, Alien, Superman, Guardians of the Galaxy and on and on because things happen that cannot be explained.
WTF?!! er, YEAH! Except for AI, Alien and Cloverfield which are all feasible by the laws of physics, and maybe Star Trek and Avatar too. But Star Wars, Doctor Strange, Superman and Guardians of the Galaxy are not Sci-Fi.
Don't you understand the difference between Science Fiction and Science Fantasy? The former attempts to play by the known laws of physics, the later allows anything really, just like in magic movies like Harry potter.
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Farshnoshket — 9 years ago(November 27, 2016 06:21 AM)
Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction dealing with imaginative concepts such as futuristic settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, time travel, faster than light travel, parallel universes and extraterrestrial life. Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations, and has been called a "literature of ideas."
By the laws of physics is time travel possible? -
iceblink1 — 9 years ago(November 27, 2016 07:56 AM)
By the laws of physics is time travel possible?
yes, but only with exotic high energy constructs like traversable wormholes or tachyons.
You can't just have the biological brain thinking differently and then see the future - it's a silly extrapolation of some sensible ideas about the structure of language wrt the direction of time, just to sound clever and appeal to pretentious arty types. Learning a new language "rewires" the brain, fine, but no biological process can see into the future without the help of magic.
The writers were clearly so up themselves with language theory and wanting to shoehorn it into their big alien story that they didn't bother checking with a proper scientist whether it made any sense.
In any case, as I said above, even if it did, the consequences are depicted very poorly and I can't understand how anyone could call this a great movie - the age of non-experts has arrived.
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Farshnoshket — 9 years ago(November 27, 2016 08:26 AM)
You have obviously built a wall and refuse to see over it.
That's fine, but don't expect anyone else to join you.
We prefer the arts and their ability to make us think outside that wall. The imagination is a wonderful thing and I invite anyone to encourage mine anytime. -
iceblink1 — 9 years ago(November 27, 2016 09:05 AM)
You have obviously built a wall and refuse to see over it.
LOL, it's always the unscientific and religious types who say that - when in fact science is the discipline most open to criticism, and in fact requires it to develop.
It is the religious and arty-farty cliques who prohibit progress by not allowing true criticism and suppressing voices that do not agree with the latest fashion so religiously beloved for nothing other than irrational reasons.
The movie is stupid, even if the science was ok, it hides behind a few weak layers of pretentiousness and political-correctness to conjure a feeble plot that only a weak-minded fool could admire
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Farshnoshket — 9 years ago(November 27, 2016 10:26 AM)
So it does appear it's hard for you to separate your life from rating a film based solely on it's own merit? You weigh you own bias heavily with many films?
I guess that's fine, but I try to keep my bias out of rating a film.
I suppose it might be extremely hard to separate your own bias when it comes to something like someone you know suffering like that, however in a film like Pulp Fiction it seems like the only one's who suffered were criminals, except that one fat girl on the street who got shot in the leg. Damn fat chick! -
doorclosed321 — 9 years ago(November 27, 2016 09:23 AM)
Science, aka the new religion. It used to be open to new ideas and now it's fastly becoming the very thing that it help marginalise. Anyone who wears a white coat these days think they know about how things work and the plebs should just go along with it. That's probablaby partly the reason TED chiang wrote this story. He probably got sick of hearing all the dogmatic views of the scientific community, just as he obviously had with the religious community
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iceblink1 — 9 years ago(November 27, 2016 09:52 AM)
You know I partly agree with you, especially with stuff like the promotion of Climate Scientists to the most prominent and well paid positions, even though they were the stupidest group of science students as teenagers.
But in its pure form, without political correctness intervening, Science is the most true form of knowledge.
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mrwnmero — 9 years ago(November 27, 2016 08:48 AM)
Erm, based on your words, this movie is a science fiction. since it didn't introduce any new ideas, everything in the movie have been discussed "scientifically" before, the existence of aliens, getting affected by another language, even the psychological approach of every country leader in the situation. except in that last part I really think the united states would have shot first..
Nobody panics when things go "according to plan." Even if the plan is horrifying! -
mechaileh — 9 years ago(November 27, 2016 04:41 AM)
Indeed! This movie is completely nonsense.
How could she forgot the phone call to the Chinese general? Why only one woman in the entire world is able to see the future? What do the aliens left here after their visit? With all that technology they are not able to easily translate their thoughts to the Earth people?
The first thing to be considered when creating any sci-fi movie is logic. Without logic any script will be a disaster, like this one. I'm really surprised with the overall score at imdb (8+). -
RightPalmOfMaedhros — 9 years ago(December 11, 2016 03:53 PM)
But all your questions have been answered in the film, and quite logically at that. For example:
She didn't forget the phone call, for her it was all happening at the same time.
She didn't see the future. After understanding the premise the alien language works on (which she was able to do because she was one of the best linguists in the world) she was also able to see existence the way aliens do. It's a known linguistic theory, discussed earlier in the film. In her case, that meant mentally stepping out of linear time. She wrote a book about it, which implies afterwards others had at least the possibility to learn as well. She was just the first one.
Nowhere there is implied this alien technology is advanced enough for them to just translate their thoughts to the Earth people. Just because they have a fancy space ship doesn't mean they own a Babel fish. Furthermore, it is essential for Earthlings to learn the alien language so we can help them when they need us. -
The_Foxcatcher — 9 years ago(November 27, 2016 06:10 AM)
This movie has a plot which makes no sense unless you transfer to the world of Harry Potter and allow magic. Even if the nonsensical ability to see the future by thinking differently was possible, the consequences in the movie are silly - just ONE woman appears to have the ability, never mind that the the biggest event in the history of human civilization has just occurred with ALIENS VISITING, no, never mind all that, the lady goes back to a standard life, gets married and has a baby even though she knows it will die of a rare disease before adulthood.
Well said!
You summed it all up.
Retard Pussy Sinister_prig -
tommyjonzie — 9 years ago(November 27, 2016 01:29 PM)
To the O.P., I agree. As best I can tell this story is more in the Harry Potter vein (Magic) than real science fiction. Logically it doesn't compute, but tries to disguise it with mumbo jumbo plotting. Anyone with a science background would be bored silly. (But I like Amy Adams, so I guess I'll see it for her)