Annihilation - from Ex Machina writer/director Alex Garland

[Web-Head]

Seeing this Friday, looking forward to it!

 

[The Shape]

I'll either be seeing this tomorrow night or Friday night. Super pumped.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Screw you Paramount. F'd over the film.

 

[Kane52630]

Wait, what about Paramount? did I miss something?

 

[Lasirius]

Wait, what about Paramount? did I miss something?

I believe it's because they're releasing the film on Netflix overseas.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Wait, what about Paramount? did I miss something?

Yep bar North America and China its' being released on Netflix immediately following its' release. So unless it makes mega money over in China this won't make as much and folks won't see it on the big screens like Alex Garland intended.

 

[Pennywise]

Pretty awesome to hear the reviews are positive!

 

[jmc]

Screw you Paramount. F'd over the film.

More like ****ed over the director. I would never work with Paramount again if I was Garland.

 

[samsnee]

Yeah I don’t see how it makes money this weekend if most people are going to see it on Netflix.

 

[terry78]

Pretty decent reviews, though may be a tad too heady for some.

 

[samsnee]

That’s the vibe I’m getting which is why it might be better for home viewing so you can watch multiple times.

 

[Black Narcissus]

March 12th, but catching this baby on the big screen.

I'm doing a double feature of this and Mute.

 

[Marvolo]

That’s the vibe I’m getting which is why it might be better for home viewing so you can watch multiple times.

Yep. Some films are just easier to digest when the viewer can relax at home and pause and rewind when they need too. And with it being on Netflix people won't have to take a chance and pay money for a ticket to watch it.

This may hurt it's box office, but frankly, why do we care about that? Garland didn't make this film for money, it probably doesn't need a sequel, Garland was only interested in the first book, and it probably doesn't have a monster budget. With films like this and mother! the box office really shpuld not be something we are worrying about.

I would think Garland is happy this film was made, and happy that the Netflix deal ensures even more people will watch the film, and that he was allowed to release the film with the edit and content he wanted. It could have been a lot worse. It could have gotten no international release of any kind for a while, or it could have been edited by the studio to make it more "palatable" and less heady. So thank God for Netflix. If we have to choose between a wide international theatrical release of a studio edit or a digital release of Garland's edit I know which option I prefer.

 

[harlequinade]

 

[Blitzkrieg]

https://***********/YrOnlyHope/status/966135592617639936

Rodrigo Perez
@YrOnlyHope

I guess I’m allowed to say that was #Annihilation, a towering, molecularly surreal mindbender of the highest order. Its visionary ending right out of 2001. Imagine if Alex Garland was freed from Danny Boyle years earlier. We’d have so many masterpieces. My brain: ??????????

I should also say I really do love the kinetic and visceral Danny Boyle and Alex Garland films (which I know are passé to many), but this is next level 10up s**t.

https://***********/emilyyoshida/status/966134429595955202

Emily Yoshida
@emilyyoshida

The last 20 minutes of ANNIHILATION are so intense that it bent time and I’m writing this from the future

https://***********/nigelmfs/status/966129817560207360

Nigel M. Smith
@nigelmfs

#Annihilation is the most visionary sci-fi I’ve seen since AI: Artificial Intelligence. Insanely mesmerizing - and terrifying as hell. The score is next level.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Please don't post reviews as that just makes me more angry to what Paramount did. These are excellent reviews, Be glad we're getting great thinking people's sci-fi lately.

 

[Kane52630]

I believe it's because they're releasing the film on Netflix overseas.

Yep bar North America and China its' being released on Netflix immediately following its' release. So unless it makes mega money over in China this won't make as much and folks won't see it on the big screens like Alex Garland intended.

Oh.. eh.

I can't blame Paramount for experimenting... The move towards the streaming market is inevitable.

 

[Boom]

Thank God for producers like Scott Rudin. God only knows what would have happened to this movie had he not fought for it.

 

[scarlet-witch]

Seeing this on Monday!

 

[redhawk23]

Oh.. eh.

I can't blame Paramount for experimenting... The move towards the streaming market is inevitable.

They aren't really experimenting though. They are bombing out financially and desperately trying to offload movies that they don't have faith in. Cloverfield paradox was the. First. It was indeed crap.

 

[Boom]

This movie was the victim of a pissing contest between two producers.

 

[Black Narcissus]

This is still a business. Netflix comes in and writes you a check. You don't lose a thing, we would all sign on the dotted line. The director keeps the film as is and you walk away clean having not lost at the box office. Good reviews be damned. I understand the pov from Paramount.

 

[The Chris]

https://***********/YrOnlyHope/status/966135592617639936





https://***********/emilyyoshida/status/966134429595955202



https://***********/nigelmfs/status/966129817560207360

Freed of Danny Boyle? Like 28 Days Later and Sunshine were worthless huh? I think you can praise one guy without bringing down another considering the quality of the directing in those two films.

 

[jmc]

This is still a business. Netflix comes in and writes you a check. You don't lose a thing, we would all sign on the dotted line. The director keeps the film as is and you walk away clean having not lost at the box office. Good reviews be damned. I understand the pov from Paramount.

They screwed the director over though. Garland made the film with the understanding it was going to be released in theatres, and would have prepped the movie for that. Then they backtracked. This might be ok from a financial perspective, but they are not going attract the kind of talent they need by pulling these bull **** moves.

 

[CELTICPRED]

This was..........astounding. The film does take a bit to get going, but it's better for it. If you're looking for a direct adaptation of the book(s) this isn't it. I just finished the first book a couple weeks back, and I can see where Garland pulled some individual elements and used jumping off points for his story, I almost don't want to read the second and third installments because of what others have said about the story, and I would hate them to sully how I felt leaving the theater after this film.

The film echoes the first book in that it takes it's time in the beginning. Allowing you to be enveloped by the shimmer and Area X. There's a haunting beauty to it, there's plenty of time for the viewer to make their own assumptions as to what's happening in Area X before they spell it out for you. Even then that only gets you to the end of the second act. The third act is something completely entrancing, and hypnotizing. I did not want to breathe. I hate the word trippy, yet it fits, it has some of the most engrossing and engaging visuals I have ever witnessed on film. Imagine a 20 minute Tool music video.

I'm so happy. Some may feel a bit of a disconnect toward Lena the biologist and some of her motivations, but I was sold. Horrifying, and beautiful. Best way to describe the pacing would be Alien/The Thing, and instead of frenzy at the end of those films, you get a revelation that grabs you by the throat.