I think the reason the media didn't go apeshit over the all female cast is because of the same reason I didn't even notice it WAS an all female cast until Mike mentioned it. The characters are written like humans, not like stereotypical female roles. This is the example of true equality. It's not forced, it's not a gimmick, it's not a marketing scheme, the fact that it's all female doesn't matter to the movie. I love it!
headsgrowback Who would've thought that you don't need quotas and token roles for human beings? Next thing you'll know, people will be cast according to their ability.
kenway leviathian it's "let's make sure we hire a minority or a woman so we don't look unequal. Let's ignore anything about ability and just look at their race/gender to make sure we look as equal as possible." It's "Look everyone! We have a black gay woman leading our film! Look at it! Look at it!" It's when people focus so much on looking like they aren't racist or sexist, that they become racist or sexist. It's the corporate equivalent of "I'm not racist because I have friends of a different color."
There's an interview with Natalie Portman where she's talking about the bear scene and how great it was to have something physical to react to and know that everyone was reacting to the same thing instead of all imagining different things/not knowing the end result. I couldn't help wondering if she wasn't throwing a little shade at the Star Wars prequels. Lol.
@@GuadalupePicasso That wasn't Disney's marketing. That was LucasArts Marketing. A mistake many people make is thinking that Marvel STudio's and LucasArts are the same thing as Disney. They really aren't. Disney is much more draconian and about making money otherwise it's sleeping and it expects it's subsidiaries to do their thing and make the parent money. It only wakes up and steps in when they really mess with that. which is why Disney didn't respond until after the mess that was 8 and altered how things were being released by LucasArts after that. Sony as a parent company is actually much worse because it's very different. It expects it's subsidiaries to become just like it and meddles in what they do constantly to the point that they are forgotten as anything but Sony and it's the rare subsidiary that manages to keep it's own identity and way of doing things.
Well if it was Disney they would have gender swapped literally everyone and still called it a feminist movie even if the main characters would now be men...
i mean the fact that mike didn't have a serious answer tells a lot about how good this film is. if you make a scifi movie and mike can't immediately go "they did it better in this episode of star trek" you've done something pretty special
The climax was so strange and surreal that I couldn't look away from the screen. The visuals combined with the sound design/music made it one of the coolest experiences in a theater I've had recently
I was just thinking that I'll take this type of climax no-dialogue no action sequence that had my eyes glued to the screen for 15 minutes over some action schlock Marvel end game fight sequence any day of the week
The death where one of the characters just silently turns into a plant was one if the creepiest scenes in general. It was so...quiet. So much restraint.
I believe the interview scenes with Lena were used to make the audience initially believe she made it out. If you notice she has a tattoo of an 8 - it could also be seen as an infinity symbol or even as cells splitting - on her left arm. However during the flashbacks she had no such tattoo. Anya - the crew member that went crazy - however did have a tattoo of an 8 on her left arm which can be seen during several scenes while in the shimmer. I think this meant that the Lena we saw was actually a composite of all five of the women that went on the expedition, it took pieces of all of them, just like the bear took Shepard's voice.
I went in knowing there are jungle cats that mimic the cries of baby monkey's to attract adult monkey's so I just assumed that was due to DNA mutations until they started talking about her voice being the only thing that "survived". Silly me. It was magic all along.
@AnotherOne No, she did make it out. Remember that scene early on where they're sailing on a boat? Lena scratches her left arm in the exact same place where the mark appears later on. She has a big red, itchy mark. That's what turned into the tattoo later on, just like it did with the wall guy. Watch the Alt Shift X video for a more complete breakdown of the movie. The author of the book the movie is based on watched it too and recommended it in a tweet. I would link both the video and the tweet, but I'm on mobile. But just search Annihilation Alt Shift X and it should pop right up.
It’s the symbol of ouroboros (I believe it’s spelled like that?) that’s basically a snake continuously eating itself, stuck in a cycle of self destruction like we humans are, to keep consuming ourselves from the inside out in the same way, not learning from our follies, yet not truly perishing. A metaphorical annihilation of our being, not a physical one, thus playing into some of the themes of the movie.
@@sarahtonin4727 it was surprisingly good, much better than I expected, but I still feel like annihilation made a better colour out of space adaptation than the actual colour out of space movie despite not being one.
@@therope340 I thought it was weird that they didn't recognize that it was mold on the walls, and that the guy basically turned into mold (maybe the writers were playing last of us? lol) but beside that, they didn't really draw any connotations from lovecraft, first off, and second, specifically, from Color out of Space. Literally everything that happened in the shimmer is a Color Out of Space reference. The plants, the animals, the energies. The BODY HORROR. I just watched this movie because of this review. Good movie if you're a Lovecraft fan.
Sheer terror from that thing. It was twisted and hair-raising. If the demonic has a mysterious side and if the mysterious has a demonic side, it's the sort of sentient phenomenon I'd expect to find there(s).
I'm a trucker and I did not hear about this hitting the theaters. But seeing your guys's review, one of the few times I did skip the spoilers and I actually bought the movie and saw it first. Then came back to finish the review Another one of many movies I may have never seen without RLM shining some light on it
Arrival Budget: $47 million Box office$203.4 million Annihilation: Budget: $40-55 million Box office: $42.9 million Only got a theatrical release in the US and (China I think for some weird reason). Plus of course we all know box office numbers aren't the end of the story. There are also the home media and streaming incomes that will be accruing for years to come. Annihilation was a brilliant movie, but it didn't do badly because "people are dumb and wont go to see a smart movie". It didn't do that well because it got a limited release and fuck all marketing. Apparently because the studio didn't have any faith in it. Even though it was the same studio which distributed both movies. Place the blame where is should lie; on the shortsighted executives and suits at these companies.
Imagine if they took Forest Gump, made him a girl, and told her to just improv the whole time and completely shit on the source material while going "LOOK AT HOW INCLUSIVE WE ARE."
Completely enjoyed Annihilation. It was dark, gritty, weird, creepy, beautiful, ugly, intelligent and deserved to be treated far better by the studios.
Well intelligence in this context is sort of relative. Layered might be a better word. On the one hand, you could just watch this movie completely straight and not think of any of the metaphors. But it gives you some neat things to chew on: the glass of orange juice in the last scene between Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac for example isn't transparent like water so there's no diffraction present which will serve as the mechanism by all the darkness that comes later--that's kind of poignant. There's the novel monster design of the bear that has the consciousness of a woman's last dying moments grafted onto it it's vocal chords. There's the fact that the whole movie can sort of be viewed as a metaphor for cancer which is fairly bleak for a mainstream scifi film. Just a few things off the top of my head. It's not a Thomas Pynchon novel or something, but it's certainly a thoughtful film. Compared to any recent Marvel movies--it's clearly a bit deeper than most stuff out there right now. I'm genuinely curious, what are some examples of films you would consider "smart?"
I agree the previews made it look like another dumb action schlock of a movie. But I also think it transcends Horror too, though. It's certainly not your typical Scream-type horror. It's really just a unique movie, and the previews sucked at doing it justice
I'm reminded of 'The Descent' which is a great genre movie with an all-female cast without it being some awkward reaction to/cynical exploitation of; the culture war.
It's a dang good movie tbh, and one I've rewatched at least a dozen of times. Way better than Annihilation in every regard, and without any big lead actors like Natalie Portman to pad the sales.
I never even realised how diverse and how it features basically all strong women before this. This movie is with out a doubt how you should have women in film. it just felt natural and i never even questioned anything brilliant
If you put scientists in a film, they should try to act rationally instead of being completely dumb. Like standing guard at the base of a tower, with a light pointing in your eyes. And then when something comes close, they all come down from the tower.
Well, show me one rational human being who lost his children, is depressed, wants to kill himself & dies of lung cancer while his brain gets totally screwed by hyperaliencancer. I'll wait.
After this and Blade Runner 2049 I can't help but think that big budget films of "real" quality will be few and far between. I guess I can't blame producers for not making them when audiences by and large don't seem interested. What a pity for the rest of us.
chaosmos24 plenty of movies we consider classics now didn't do well when released. this isn't new. the flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long. the great movies of our time may only reach mass appeal or appreciation a decade from now.
chaosmos24 Those two movies also happen to be the only two movies I've seen in theaters, out of at least ten thousand, that gave me permanent hearing damage. Really makes me want to see more hard sci-fi.
Well yeah but it used to be that a lot of great movies would do well in theaters also. How many really great films did well in theaters in the last 10 years? I don't know if it's different overseas, like Mike said, but in the US it seems like a combo of things working against real 'kino' movies doing well in theaters: the relative low cost of good effects making it possible to do great 'effects driven' interesting movies and shows on a Netflix/TV budget, the increase in the amount of quality TV shows due to increased outlets with more creative freedom; perhaps that the types of people interested in movies like Blade Runner and Annihilation are also less interested in the 'theater experience' and would rather stay home. And so on.
Why count Blade Runner 2049 as a good film? That piece of shit is not even fucking mediocre, its a goddamn waste of time and is not even close to as good as the first. Hell, the first was not even that amazing, 2049 doesn't even compare to the title of a good movie.
I saw that scene like 3 days ago and something about it just makes me feel like i'm in danger whenever I think about it. Its like a primal fear I just can't scratch until I preoccupy my mind with something else.
I've had that "heeellppmeeee" as my notification sound on my phone since I saw the movie. Still manages to catch me off guard from time to time when getting a text lol
I thought the fight scene between Portman's characters and the alien copycat thing was also incredible. You could practically feel it crushing her at one point. The whole movie has great atmosphere.
If I wanted my kid to see a good movie I would take him. He might not fully get it at a younger age, but with time kids can learn to appreciate good movies!
I rented this movie from RedBox. Totally worth it. Plus, the extras included on the DVD are excellent. You get to see some really good behind-the-scenes footage and making-of footage. Lots of practical effects and almost zero greenscreen. I bet after the Star Wars prequels, this was a life-changing breath of fresh air for Natalie Portman.
@@frankmerker630 I don't understand why people are talking about the movies she made when she was 11 like that's her entire film history. She's been in like a hundred movies since then, many of them small indie character pieces.
God damn it... I just saw this movie on Amazon and hearing about the poor sales, I immensely regret not watching it in theaters. It is amazing, the best movie I've seen this year. I know one attendance wouldn't have made an impact, but it literally hurts my heart that I wasn't able to support this movie during one of the most important parts of its release.
i feel like this movie was killed in the marketing. this is Just now when im hearing about it. i hate missing good movies in theaters because studios wont spend to market them.
Yeah he was pointing out how this was already a commercial failure by the time of this review. So smart movies can’t make money anymore and is hurting the creative art form of cinema
@@fluberchuberayy2479 because to some people's surprise many of us don't see people as race or sex over their other characteristics. The fact that they're women is as important as their eye colour or their height to the plot or the marketing. Aka, it doesn't matter at all so there is no reason to notice it. Maybe they all have brown eyes too, who cares?
@@fluberchuberayy2479 Probably just meant that he didn't see it as an "AlL fEmAlE lEaD cAsT!!!111!" As in he recognised that they were women when he was watching the film, but not that that was somehow important to the film. I say this because the penny didn't drop for me until I noticed someone else say the same thing.
Some creatures can create mineral deposits, such as mollusc shells or SKELETONS. Not a huge stretch in this film for some new twist of DNA to cause some creature to start making crystal trees
I saw Annihilation on a whim when I decided to do a double-feature at my discount theater. I can't remember the first film I watched, but after the first one was over and exited the theater, I walked right back to the ticket line and saw that Annihilation was about to start. That was $3 incredibly well spent. I really enjoyed it! It was weird, creepy, intriguing, heartbreaking, and tense. I was mesmerized and terrified. I liked it, but I also was scared of it and I loved it. It had been such a long time since I felt those too emotions together about a movie. Inside the bubble was both beautiful and horrific. It was amplified nature. Nature in real life is both beautiful, and terrifying. This movie is like a gorilla, beautiful and intelligent, with a capacity for empathy and emotion; but terrifyingly deadly and will kill you if you make the wrong move or get too close. I'm so glad I watched it and it even made it onto my rewatch list.
I didn't love Annihilation (like I had hoped) but I appreciated how it tiptoed into Cronenberg territory, and became something like a modern Lovecraftian tale. Kind of reminded me of Lovecraft's "The Colour out Space" (and it's 80s film adaptation THE CURSE), what with the meteor falling to Earth, resulting in the mutation of nearby flora and fauna. Worth seeing once!
Yeesh. Tell me how you REALLY feel. hahaha. You can't help but at least point out that Garland had a little inspiration from Cronenberg, but yeah, in no way is his latest up there with the likes of Scanners, The Fly, The Brood, etc.
Damn, that Lovecraft comparison is actually really interesting (he's getting a lot of shoutouts these days). Lovecraft did the whole "weird religion with supernatural gods" thing, and Annihilation is doing the "weird science with supernatural existences", in keeping with the times. It's actually a pretty direct evolution, with all the ambiguous, unknowable motives and nature. Thanks for that! I'm gonna be chewing on it for the next few days.
This situation is very similar to another smart, sci-fi horror movie that was shunned by mainstream audiences. The Thing was released in June 1982, going up against big, family-friendly blockbusters like E.T. and was buried in the theaters. It later became a cult classic after it was released on video. I could see this movie going the same route.
These two are pseudo intellectual doofuses that think they know everything because they watch a lot of movies, and know a thing from a film school. They’re an easy watch when you agree with them, but when you don’t, or they contradict themselves, it’s pure cringe.
I honestly feel like slow is really hard to get right. blade runner brings me to tears because i don't care about what is happening, but 2049 I am invested for the whole movie because it sets up its characters so well imo.
It's a little sad because I went and saw this in the theater last night and there were about 20 people there. About 5 were asleep at the end, one walked out because of the super intense loud noises towards the end at the lighthouse, and there were some older people around me saying "what just happened, what just happened" meanwhile I'm thinking about how it's one of the better movies I've seen in a long time. Companies don't take risks on movies anymore. When they do, even if the movie is absolutely amazing, it will still go down in flames a lot of the time because people treat movies like a treat for any audience. TV shows are where risks are being taken because everyone understands that not literally every show has to appeal to literally every single human on the planet, and I wish movies would re-adopt this philosophy.
Exactly that's what I'm saying. Studios need to understand that people like you (not hating here) might not be into this kinda thing. Marvel/Disney and a few other companies have basically gone down the road of saying if 90+% of people can't watch a movie with varying degrees of enjoyment (ultimately the importance is on if they pay) it's not worth making. I think they could've downsized the budget on this slightly. Maybe not had so many all star actors, maybe something else, but it wouldn't be hard to make a nearly identical movie to this a success for a niche group. Movie companies by and large basically just treat niches like they don't exist anymore, and that's a shame because some of the most amazing and classic movies of all time were once considered niche.
Naalith no the reason annihilation was a failure in marketing. The reason paramount sold it to Netflix because were in financial problems. Paramount movies from last year have a lot box office bombs, and few broke even. Paramount had a power shift this year, and old executives formed the previous year want reshoots, and their ones sold it to Netflix. Annihilation were released in Canada and China. Weird that you and other redlattermedia fans are blind sheeps that mike and jay mock star wars fans and another nerd fanboys, so ironic.
Studios don't take risks because budgets are huge now. They play it safe to ensure a return on investment. This movie isn't amazing nor has mass appeal. Nothing to do with piracy either.
In case you two care, I live in germany and when I took a girl out to see "The Killing of a Sacred Deer", the entire cinema was full at around 1 am on a Sunday.
When she encounters the entity at the end is one of the most striking scenes in cinema. It struck that cord of terrifying uncertainty and fear of the unknown that hasn't been done well since Alien '79.
This is literally the only reason I've even heard of this movie and five minutes in I decided I needed to go see it before I watched this episode. I saw it today and I loved it but all the theaters around here literally have one showing a day of it max and I'm lucky I was able to find one that actually fit my schedule. I think more people would have seen this movie if they fucking knew it existed.
Shh. Let the Yanks continue believing Brits are somehow all refined (even the Guy Ritchie wisecracking gangster types) and not mostly complacent, unsophisticated drones.
My best friend and I get to watch a movie almost every Sunday. There was not one movie we wanted to watch this past weekend. We already watched BP, and the ones that were available didn't look so good. So I was scrolling through the AMC app and saw Annihilation. I saw the trailer and immediately knew that I wanted to watch it. My friend doesn't really like sci-fi, but he said the trailer was cool. After the movie we went to the Boston Common to walk around and he didn't stop talking about how awesome the movie was, and he was telling me what the ending meant to him. This movie is really engaging, and it makes you think about self-destruction as a whole. Also he said that the soundtrack was kind of spooky. I'm glad you guys are talking about it, because not many are.
Just a little advice: try not to bring really noisy food. My friend was eating some plantain chips, and those things where loud. There are some parts in the movie where is really silent. Like you can hear people's breath lol. But it was a really good experience.
@@TheCrumpers53 Prometheus definitely had some good ideas but I feel ultimately there were a lot of problems with the execution. I always liked how the movie doesn't try to explain how things like the black good works and to the audience it's just weird and confusing, which is exactly what technology millenia ahead of ours would seem like (imagine a stone age person being confronted with modern day technology). I always found that people were unjustly complaining about that but the movie dus have a lot of other flaws and should just have been a stand-alone story instead of a tie-in with the Alien franchise. Because it ruins a lot of the mystery surrounding those movies (or at least the original)
@@skeletspook personally ill never forgive promethus for explaining the space jockey, especially in the way they did "big pasty human" lamest shit ever
"i think the first question to ask is how often do we see females in film, and we don't" is she living in some kind of alternate reality where women don't exist?
Let's face it: People like that don't actually give a shit about either women or movies. They care about looking like they care about women and movies.
Well apparently the universe she's in has neither Prometheus nor Gravity, both films that had scientist female leads and were in the top 25 for their respective release years
Mike has no respect for electric appliances, he will smash it with his bare fists as soon as he finds a way to work it into the storyline. It will be like the N64, but bigger and better, with more special effects! A ring will fly out of it! Why not?!
I was one of the maybe six people who went to the theater opening day, first showing to see this. I had read and enjoyed the books though, so that gave me a leg up on knowing the film was a thing that existed. Very different from the book, but both are excellent.
I'm super late to the party, but I cannot recommend The Southern Reach trilogy of books enough (Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance). The movie is great, the books are so unique and creepy and just unlike anything else I've read. Also, your theory about reshoots - the interview portion of the movie is basically a mega-compressed version of book 2, whereas the first book is just the expedition itself. There are some elements from the third book present as well, but there is just so much more to discover. The questions that you were asking about, the things the movie wasn't spoon feeding you, the books are full of that.
I just finished Annihilation the first book the other night. I've just started Authority. I found it to be all about ecology, the dissolution of the borders of personality & how identity is reflected & consumed by nature. It's really mysterious, though, I don't know what the thing is that's changing everything. Can't put it down. ❤
Out of the most recent film yes, but I will take that over fast and the furious any day. They also have a track record of supporting a few other worthwhile films (especially blockbusters) when the dumbass US won't
When I saw it in theaters and the movie ended, the 3 people in front of me went "Well, next time we're gonna see a movie that we can actually understand." Ugh..........You guys hit the nail on the head of the dumbing down of mainstream films.
So I suppose your part of the smart group who knows what real cinema is while those in front are apart of the mindless masses. How's the view from up there?
The view is just fine, thanks. I was more commenting on how a group of 3 people immediately dismissed a film as making no sense before even having a conversation about the film itself. Also, during horrible trailers like Rampage one of them said "Man, there's so many good movies coming out right now" so yes I do think I am above them personally. However, the rest of the theater was quiet and respectful and I'm sure most of them got something out of it, hopefully.
this film was so underated im disapointed that it slipped under the radar, and didn't get the sweet sweeet credit it deserved. Im even more disapointed with myself for missing this ol gem for so long. I hope natalie portman can forgive
I just saw Annihilation today and it was great. I've heard the books are better, but I really liked how subtle the movie was. Everything is built up very deliberately. The non-linear storytelling keeps you compelled and forces you to pay attention throughout. The bear scene was incredibly well-done. I love how much restraint there is to the scary parts. I didn't really understand the lighthouse scene, but I loved the colors and the music behind it.
"...so they go to the kino." That cracked me up, shout-out from Estonia! I wish I fit that description of an European cinema-goer, we mostly just watch the big blockbusters like everyone else, but I absolutely loved this film and it was great to watch it at home. Reminded me a lot of Stalker, which was partly shot in Tallinn. I respect the movie more because I've heard no self-congratulatory statements about it having a diverse cast, it's refreshing to just have a movie be a movie and I hope no one has called it a "thinking man's sci-fi." I can't objectively watch a Nolan film anymore, because of these stupid labels attached to films that meet normal standards of filmmaking.
Sorry for the two years later notification, but yeah fr me too. Wonder if there was a direct Stalker inspiration or it just happened to have similar aspects.
There's def a lot of inspiration in the book from 'Roadside Picnic': a strange, alien "zone" where nothing is quite right and danger is everywhere but there's a sublime beauty to everything, a peace amidst the unknown.
It's really good to see you guys get so excited about a movie. I just started watching this channel and so much of the content is good satire, but when you pull a full 180 on that and recommend something so enthusiastically it really sticks with me. This was an excellent movie and I would not have seen it without your reviews. Thanks!
@@quiroz441 i come from the year 2021 after covid and I am happy to say Hollywood is slowly dying and sadly movie theatres which I love especially the independent one near my house.
im so angry at the fact i didnt go to see this in theatres. This is one of my favorite movies of all time now, i just wish i had seen it in theatres. This movie is amazing and deserves 100 times the recognition it has now.
I drop everything I’m doing when one these notifications come. You guys are the most consistent channel on CZcams, thanks for all your hard work. P.S. Mike, lay off the sauce
I watched this film here in Germany on Netflix. If it were in Kino I would go and see it there again. So Yes, you guys are absolutely right. Great visuals and good Story/Idea. I like this film very much.
Nothing against those but I doubt those are the kinds of shows Mike and Jay would enjoy, especially when they're literally manga (comic book) adaptations. They'd probably stick to mostly seinen and even then probably just movies. Also, in regards to what you said about Avatar, it really doesn't count as anime simply because it is western. However, it is obviously at least somewhat anime inspired (I've never seen it myself) and when my friends and I are talking about anime it does get brought up fondly and compared to whatever other shows we're talking about. Also, in Japan they apparently refer to all animation as anime, no matter where it's from.
That was the first thing I thought of when i saw the weird rainbow vapor effect in all the trailers. Lovecraft also came to mind with the human bear thing they talked about. Made me think of how Wilbur from the dunwich horror was described as looking.
Yeah, the book the movie was based off of has more to do with an intelligent fungus. Colour Out Of Space seems to have had an impact on the book as well. The whole part with the hybrid bear REALLY reminded me of a lot of the bosses in Bloodborne, which makes sense considering how a huge part of that game was inspired by Lovecraft and has a similar theme of aliens warping reality.
Possibly the best example of adapting a screenplay from an "unadaptable" book. God bless Alex Garland on his unending quest to make excellent films in a time where people only pay to watch superheroes punch things.
+Chris Hill questions I ask my self every day mate. The rocks a big draw so it's understandable but I really don't get why Nicholas cage is getting work, I don't think I've ever watched a Nicholas cage movie without falling asleep.
Watching this and hearing you say movies are dying and that they are mass appeal dumbed down - you are spot on - you guys might say on Twitter that your show is “trash” but you still manage to shine a light not just on bad movies but also good - I enjoy your commentary because it’s not mainstream and is intelligent and you don’t expect me to agree with you but form my own opinion - this episode resonated with me
I've yet to see anybody mention it, but I saw influences from 2013's Outlast. Particularly the "swarm ambiance" part of that soundtrack. And the handheld digital cameras in the found footage scene. Along with a strong dose of 2007's Crysis, with the barely seen aliens subtly changing a local biosphere with some sort of mysterious shimmer/barrier.
The only game this reminded me of is Everything (2017), and that's only because they seemingly share similar roots from Buddhist philosophy. The major differences being that Everything goes for a mathematical abstraction instead of DNA (which is a bit more cohesive IMO) and that Everything is actually an optimistic exploration of how everyone is already undivided parts of the universe.
After seeing the first half of this Half in the Bag I went and watched this on Amazon Prime. I did enjoy it. Came back to finish the spoilers portion. Thanks for reviewing.
I think the reason the media didn't go apeshit over the all female cast is because of the same reason I didn't even notice it WAS an all female cast until Mike mentioned it. The characters are written like humans, not like stereotypical female roles. This is the example of true equality. It's not forced, it's not a gimmick, it's not a marketing scheme, the fact that it's all female doesn't matter to the movie. I love it!
headsgrowback Who would've thought that you don't need quotas and token roles for human beings? Next thing you'll know, people will be cast according to their ability.
Lol wtf is force equality lol ???
kenway leviathian it's "let's make sure we hire a minority or a woman so we don't look unequal. Let's ignore anything about ability and just look at their race/gender to make sure we look as equal as possible." It's "Look everyone! We have a black gay woman leading our film! Look at it! Look at it!" It's when people focus so much on looking like they aren't racist or sexist, that they become racist or sexist. It's the corporate equivalent of "I'm not racist because I have friends of a different color."
And ironically, the people constantly begging for this stuff are completely ignoring it.
when you do something right, people wont be sure that you did anything at all
There's an interview with Natalie Portman where she's talking about the bear scene and how great it was to have something physical to react to and know that everyone was reacting to the same thing instead of all imagining different things/not knowing the end result.
I couldn't help wondering if she wasn't throwing a little shade at the Star Wars prequels. Lol.
Rick Reason Part if it was, yes.Part puppet/animatronic and part computer effects.
And now she’s a marvel slave. She’s gonna be new Thor or something
And the Thor movies, and probably most movies she's been in for years...
Probably
@@legoman2313 this aged poorly. That was a one-off
"Annihilation" wasn't marketed as a pro-feminism film because it wasn't made by Disney.
Sony made Ghostbusters... swap Disney for Sony. Fixed.
Andrew Lee I think that she was referencing Disney’s marketing for their Star Wars movies.
Nice cringe, boomer
@@GuadalupePicasso That wasn't Disney's marketing. That was LucasArts Marketing. A mistake many people make is thinking that Marvel STudio's and LucasArts are the same thing as Disney. They really aren't. Disney is much more draconian and about making money otherwise it's sleeping and it expects it's subsidiaries to do their thing and make the parent money. It only wakes up and steps in when they really mess with that. which is why Disney didn't respond until after the mess that was 8 and altered how things were being released by LucasArts after that.
Sony as a parent company is actually much worse because it's very different. It expects it's subsidiaries to become just like it and meddles in what they do constantly to the point that they are forgotten as anything but Sony and it's the rare subsidiary that manages to keep it's own identity and way of doing things.
Well if it was Disney they would have gender swapped literally everyone and still called it a feminist movie even if the main characters would now be men...
They finally made a movie with Manbearpig
I thought the exact same thing when I saw it!
Best annihilation comment ever
Oh my god
Excelsior!!! :D
@mellowdrips That doesn't make sense. There's no such thing as a bearpig. It's half man, half bear AND half pig.
Every review needs to start with "mike what episode of star trek did this movie remind you of?"
Das Boom that's the new title of the show next year
It made me laugh so much when he said that that I had to pause the video
"Mike, what episode of Star Trek did Annihilation remind you of?"
Damn, we're getting it right out of the way, huh, Jay?
Well done Jay!
Jay is straight savage.
I laughed out loud. Burn.
that was my reaction too lol
i mean the fact that mike didn't have a serious answer tells a lot about how good this film is. if you make a scifi movie and mike can't immediately go "they did it better in this episode of star trek" you've done something pretty special
The climax was so strange and surreal that I couldn't look away from the screen. The visuals combined with the sound design/music made it one of the coolest experiences in a theater I've had recently
Indeed. I was watching this on my 7.1 surround sound headphones and it was amazing!
It’s great on a laptop on amazon prime as well (oct, 2019)
@@budakhan79 you do realise headphones just fake that 7.1 right? Its more of a buzzword so people pay extra money
I... this movie made me feel so uncomfortable and on edge, in the best way.
I was just thinking that I'll take this type of climax no-dialogue no action sequence that had my eyes glued to the screen for 15 minutes over some action schlock Marvel end game fight sequence any day of the week
The death where one of the characters just silently turns into a plant was one if the creepiest scenes in general. It was so...quiet. So much restraint.
EXACTLY. one of my favorite character deaths in recent memory. it was horrifying yet subtle
Could it even be considered a death?
@@subject1337NG Cessation of consciousness at least. For a human it might as well be death, same as brain death.
the movie was terrible, that was just something that happened to make you think it was deep.
@@4EyedAnimation thanks for sharing your very 'objective' opinion
Bring back the old computer. I want the old computer. I don't like things that are different.
New computer is replacing old computer
But hey, at least it's still the same old chairs.
All the good porn is on the old one. At least transfer the hard drive like a real vcr repair man.
Eh, I see what you did there.
I believe the interview scenes with Lena were used to make the audience initially believe she made it out. If you notice she has a tattoo of an 8 - it could also be seen as an infinity symbol or even as cells splitting - on her left arm. However during the flashbacks she had no such tattoo. Anya - the crew member that went crazy - however did have a tattoo of an 8 on her left arm which can be seen during several scenes while in the shimmer. I think this meant that the Lena we saw was actually a composite of all five of the women that went on the expedition, it took pieces of all of them, just like the bear took Shepard's voice.
Holy shit, good catch, I really need to watch it again!
It's a long time since I've seen it now, but from what I remember it wasn't an actual tattoo, but a mark symbolising that you where smitten.
I went in knowing there are jungle cats that mimic the cries of baby monkey's to attract adult monkey's so I just assumed that was due to DNA mutations until they started talking about her voice being the only thing that "survived".
Silly me. It was magic all along.
@AnotherOne No, she did make it out. Remember that scene early on where they're sailing on a boat? Lena scratches her left arm in the exact same place where the mark appears later on. She has a big red, itchy mark. That's what turned into the tattoo later on, just like it did with the wall guy.
Watch the Alt Shift X video for a more complete breakdown of the movie. The author of the book the movie is based on watched it too and recommended it in a tweet. I would link both the video and the tweet, but I'm on mobile. But just search Annihilation Alt Shift X and it should pop right up.
It’s the symbol of ouroboros (I believe it’s spelled like that?) that’s basically a snake continuously eating itself, stuck in a cycle of self destruction like we humans are, to keep consuming ourselves from the inside out in the same way, not learning from our follies, yet not truly perishing. A metaphorical annihilation of our being, not a physical one, thus playing into some of the themes of the movie.
This movie is probably the only one in recent memory that one could reasonably called Lovecraftian
Super late reply. Watch "The Colour" with Nic Cage
@@sarahtonin4727 it was surprisingly good, much better than I expected, but I still feel like annihilation made a better colour out of space adaptation than the actual colour out of space movie despite not being one.
@@gryotharian Lighthouse is pretty Lovecraftian. Funny enough Annihilation had a lighthouse as well.
@@sarahtonin4727 Color Out of Space
@@therope340 I thought it was weird that they didn't recognize that it was mold on the walls, and that the guy basically turned into mold (maybe the writers were playing last of us? lol) but beside that, they didn't really draw any connotations from lovecraft, first off, and second, specifically, from Color out of Space. Literally everything that happened in the shimmer is a Color Out of Space reference. The plants, the animals, the energies. The BODY HORROR. I just watched this movie because of this review. Good movie if you're a Lovecraft fan.
It's frankly criminal this movie doesn't get more love and attention. I'm so glad that you guys enjoyed it
The bear scene alone is worth seeing this film for.
WrecklessEating that scene was great. One of the scariest creatures I have seen in a movie for a long time.
tellus of athens 🤣 now I really wanna watch it. Lol
YES, I don't remember the last time I've been that scared of a creature in a film. Movie is great, the bear is amazing
Maybe better than the bear in A.I. or The Revenant, but was it better than the bear scene in The Shining?
Sheer terror from that thing. It was twisted and hair-raising. If the demonic has a mysterious side and if the mysterious has a demonic side, it's the sort of sentient phenomenon I'd expect to find there(s).
"WOMEN!!!
The most important thing since sliced bread!"
Mike Stoklasa, march 7th 2018
More important
Well I like fucking sliced bread, so I guess there's some truth in that
Edit: I mean I fucking like sliced bread, but it works either way
women + sliced bread = the 2 necessities in creating a sandwich
I'm a trucker and I did not hear about this hitting the theaters. But seeing your guys's review, one of the few times I did skip the spoilers and I actually bought the movie and saw it first. Then came back to finish the review
Another one of many movies I may have never seen without RLM shining some light on it
Arrival
Budget: $47 million
Box office$203.4 million
Annihilation:
Budget: $40-55 million
Box office: $42.9 million
Only got a theatrical release in the US and (China I think for some weird reason).
Plus of course we all know box office numbers aren't the end of the story. There are also the home media and streaming incomes that will be accruing for years to come.
Annihilation was a brilliant movie, but it didn't do badly because "people are dumb and wont go to see a smart movie". It didn't do that well because it got a limited release and fuck all marketing. Apparently because the studio didn't have any faith in it. Even though it was the same studio which distributed both movies. Place the blame where is should lie; on the shortsighted executives and suits at these companies.
this is true, but Arrival is a goddamn masterpiece in its own right though
Drew Rice don’t come for Arrival I will beat you up that’s my favorite movie
What's the point here? Cause Arrival was good, I preferred it massively to this film.
@@Wealthforthe99Percent I think you're faux in the head.
Arrival is excellent.
I didn't know Ghostbusters 2016 was the first movie to have women in it
Little known fact, Paul Feig created women.
Imagine if they took Forest Gump, made him a girl, and told her to just improv the whole time and completely shit on the source material while going "LOOK AT HOW INCLUSIVE WE ARE."
Eve wasn't born from Adam's rib, she was actually created by Paul Feig.
You guys just don't get itThis would have been WAY better if paul feig directed it, had it's own toyline, and ads attacking the patriarchy
Night5225 that makes so more sense now
Completely enjoyed Annihilation. It was dark, gritty, weird, creepy, beautiful, ugly, intelligent and deserved to be treated far better by the studios.
idk but for me the reason i enjoyed annihilation was because it left me feeling very unsettled
Well intelligence in this context is sort of relative. Layered might be a better word. On the one hand, you could just watch this movie completely straight and not think of any of the metaphors. But it gives you some neat things to chew on: the glass of orange juice in the last scene between Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac for example isn't transparent like water so there's no diffraction present which will serve as the mechanism by all the darkness that comes later--that's kind of poignant.
There's the novel monster design of the bear that has the consciousness of a woman's last dying moments grafted onto it it's vocal chords.
There's the fact that the whole movie can sort of be viewed as a metaphor for cancer which is fairly bleak for a mainstream scifi film.
Just a few things off the top of my head. It's not a Thomas Pynchon novel or something, but it's certainly a thoughtful film. Compared to any recent Marvel movies--it's clearly a bit deeper than most stuff out there right now.
I'm genuinely curious, what are some examples of films you would consider "smart?"
I agree the previews made it look like another dumb action schlock of a movie. But I also think it transcends Horror too, though. It's certainly not your typical Scream-type horror. It's really just a unique movie, and the previews sucked at doing it justice
Well said it was horrific and beautiful at the same time. Also loved the haunting soundtrack.
It was a stupid movie. The constant scenes back to the past was incredibly annoying and momentum destroying. It wasnt a very good movie.
Cosmic horror at its best. Such a good, terrifying movie.
I'm reminded of 'The Descent' which is a great genre movie with an all-female cast without it being some awkward reaction to/cynical exploitation of; the culture war.
The Descent was one of the best horror movies I'd seen recently!
It's a dang good movie tbh, and one I've rewatched at least a dozen of times. Way better than Annihilation in every regard, and without any big lead actors like Natalie Portman to pad the sales.
Dude The Decent is NEVER brought up when talking about female representation in film.
Dude yeah spot on! That movie mixed with The Thing and Arrival
it is a strong independent movie that don't need no viewers.
Haha, nice
This needs more upvotes
Wangus Warshalski it does need viewers, so the studio realizes that people do want to see well mad smart movies so that they make more
Actually laughed out loud, thanks.
LoL
I want "our society is doomed" to be on the back of the blu-ray box for Annihilation now.
Kevin Brown There has to have been at least one already. But blu-rays and DVDs will be around for a loooong time still
Basically Lovecraft’s “Colour Out of Space” mixed with “The Descent.” Pretty awesome cosmic horror adaptation.
I never even realised how diverse and how it features basically all strong women before this. This movie is with out a doubt how you should have women in film. it just felt natural and i never even questioned anything brilliant
If you put scientists in a film, they should try to act rationally instead of being completely dumb. Like standing guard at the base of a tower, with a light pointing in your eyes. And then when something comes close, they all come down from the tower.
Well, show me one rational human being who lost his children, is depressed, wants to kill himself & dies of lung cancer while his brain gets totally screwed by hyperaliencancer. I'll wait.
They'd send some proper scientist who is in her wits.
I didn't notice it was an all-female team until one of the team members said "do you think it's weird that we're all women on this team?"
@@asdqqweq In the book all of this is explained. Worth reading. As is why they are all female. They are not the first team to go in.
All of these "movies we need right now" will be forgotten 2 months after they came out. Great filmmaking is rewarded over time. Never forget that.
Rob Robberson I agree. I saw more amazing movies in 2017 than in any year before. You just have to know where to look.
After this and Blade Runner 2049 I can't help but think that big budget films of "real" quality will be few and far between. I guess I can't blame producers for not making them when audiences by and large don't seem interested. What a pity for the rest of us.
chaosmos24 plenty of movies we consider classics now didn't do well when released. this isn't new. the flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long. the great movies of our time may only reach mass appeal or appreciation a decade from now.
Great use of that quote.
chaosmos24 Those two movies also happen to be the only two movies I've seen in theaters, out of at least ten thousand, that gave me permanent hearing damage.
Really makes me want to see more hard sci-fi.
Well yeah but it used to be that a lot of great movies would do well in theaters also. How many really great films did well in theaters in the last 10 years? I don't know if it's different overseas, like Mike said, but in the US it seems like a combo of things working against real 'kino' movies doing well in theaters: the relative low cost of good effects making it possible to do great 'effects driven' interesting movies and shows on a Netflix/TV budget, the increase in the amount of quality TV shows due to increased outlets with more creative freedom; perhaps that the types of people interested in movies like Blade Runner and Annihilation are also less interested in the 'theater experience' and would rather stay home. And so on.
Why count Blade Runner 2049 as a good film? That piece of shit is not even fucking mediocre, its a goddamn waste of time and is not even close to as good as the first. Hell, the first was not even that amazing, 2049 doesn't even compare to the title of a good movie.
The bear should have won an Oscar. Best bearformance since Paddington.
Interestingly, created by the same people. They even gave it an "anti-paddington" name.
The best part of the movie by far was the half decayed bear that was crying out with that woman's voice... 'rrrhhheeeeelllllp!"... chilling ~!
I saw that scene like 3 days ago and something about it just makes me feel like i'm in danger whenever I think about it. Its like a primal fear I just can't scratch until I preoccupy my mind with something else.
I've had that "heeellppmeeee" as my notification sound on my phone since I saw the movie. Still manages to catch me off guard from time to time when getting a text lol
Seriously am I the only one that thought she was alive in their and wanted help?!!?!
I thought the fight scene between Portman's characters and the alien copycat thing was also incredible. You could practically feel it crushing her at one point. The whole movie has great atmosphere.
The best part of the movie by far was the half decayed bear that was crying out with Rich Evans' laugh... "eeeheeeheee!" chilling ~!
Mike's rant about how no one has seen this movie movie was soooooo good.
If I wanted my kid to see a good movie I would take him. He might not fully get it at a younger age, but with time kids can learn to appreciate good movies!
I am not trying to defend this movie, but I don't think you should be like "it was meh" unless you have seen it, or not, do whatever you want.
the lonely planet Oh no no no no, oh no no no no no no, you misunderstood. He meant Rich's speech on women in film.
I HAVENT SEEN IT
What video was Rich's speech?
~i'm begining to think these two arn't actually video repairmen . . .
We like to say repairpeople not necessarily repairMEN.... It's more inclusive.
Crawling Chaos brilliant
Stop trying to subvert my expectations!
I rented this movie from RedBox. Totally worth it. Plus, the extras included on the DVD are excellent. You get to see some really good behind-the-scenes footage and making-of footage. Lots of practical effects and almost zero greenscreen. I bet after the Star Wars prequels, this was a life-changing breath of fresh air for Natalie Portman.
she said as much in interviews
Yeah she’s pretty good in a lot of post-prequel stuff. RLM definitely hold a grudge on her performances
@@frankmerker630 I don't understand why people are talking about the movies she made when she was 11 like that's her entire film history. She's been in like a hundred movies since then, many of them small indie character pieces.
God damn it... I just saw this movie on Amazon and hearing about the poor sales, I immensely regret not watching it in theaters. It is amazing, the best movie I've seen this year. I know one attendance wouldn't have made an impact, but it literally hurts my heart that I wasn't able to support this movie during one of the most important parts of its release.
i feel like this movie was killed in the marketing. this is Just now when im hearing about it. i hate missing good movies in theaters because studios wont spend to market them.
Also, the dancer from Ex Machina also plays the Humanoid in this film.
The Asian sex bot was the only thing that made Ex Machina a watchable movie.
R. C. Christian fuck you but also not fuck you
Pierce Arner I ship her and Doug Jones. OTP.
Pierce Arner anyway, Annihilation best sci-fi movie in a long time.
You mean Oscar Isaac?
I love how Jay just lead off with the Star Trek question
At this point you may as well get it out of the way
wcr4 sorry bout my dain burnage
An otherworldly being with intentions completely unfathomable by the human mind. Thats great Cosmic horror for me
"Movies are dying."
You should have payed more attention to THIS movie. Movies aren't dying, they are becoming something new.
Something awful
Yeah he was pointing out how this was already a commercial failure by the time of this review. So smart movies can’t make money anymore and is hurting the creative art form of cinema
I didnt even notice it was 5 female leads, because they werent obnoxious about it. Loved the movie.
How do not notice 5 different women lol
@@fluberchuberayy2479 because to some people's surprise many of us don't see people as race or sex over their other characteristics.
The fact that they're women is as important as their eye colour or their height to the plot or the marketing. Aka, it doesn't matter at all so there is no reason to notice it. Maybe they all have brown eyes too, who cares?
@@92brunod I mean it's cool if u don't care about that stuff I'm just confused how he didn't realize they were women like how do u not notice thag
@@fluberchuberayy2479 Probably just meant that he didn't see it as an "AlL fEmAlE lEaD cAsT!!!111!"
As in he recognised that they were women when he was watching the film, but not that that was somehow important to the film.
I say this because the penny didn't drop for me until I noticed someone else say the same thing.
@@92brunod When people say "they don't see race or gender" they're not being literal...🤣 It's wild that you think otherwise.
The DNA of sand.
Pffft. You can't spell DNA without SAND. DUH!
That's a'moray!
Well it has a chemical composition, but that's not the same thing as DNA lol
Some creatures can create mineral deposits, such as mollusc shells or SKELETONS.
Not a huge stretch in this film for some new twist of DNA to cause some creature to start making crystal trees
It's not just DNA. It's radio waves, light, thought... It's everything. Pay attention.
Watched it last night.
Had nightmares.
10/10 would recommend.
I saw Annihilation on a whim when I decided to do a double-feature at my discount theater. I can't remember the first film I watched, but after the first one was over and exited the theater, I walked right back to the ticket line and saw that Annihilation was about to start.
That was $3 incredibly well spent. I really enjoyed it! It was weird, creepy, intriguing, heartbreaking, and tense. I was mesmerized and terrified. I liked it, but I also was scared of it and I loved it. It had been such a long time since I felt those too emotions together about a movie. Inside the bubble was both beautiful and horrific. It was amplified nature. Nature in real life is both beautiful, and terrifying.
This movie is like a gorilla, beautiful and intelligent, with a capacity for empathy and emotion; but terrifyingly deadly and will kill you if you make the wrong move or get too close.
I'm so glad I watched it and it even made it onto my rewatch list.
I didn't love Annihilation (like I had hoped) but I appreciated how it tiptoed into Cronenberg territory, and became something like a modern Lovecraftian tale. Kind of reminded me of Lovecraft's "The Colour out Space" (and it's 80s film adaptation THE CURSE), what with the meteor falling to Earth, resulting in the mutation of nearby flora and fauna. Worth seeing once!
Thanks, will try and check it out!
I'm sure that Garland would love to hear that but that piece of trash doesn't hold a candle to Cronenberg.
Yeesh. Tell me how you REALLY feel. hahaha. You can't help but at least point out that Garland had a little inspiration from Cronenberg, but yeah, in no way is his latest up there with the likes of Scanners, The Fly, The Brood, etc.
Damn, that Lovecraft comparison is actually really interesting (he's getting a lot of shoutouts these days). Lovecraft did the whole "weird religion with supernatural gods" thing, and Annihilation is doing the "weird science with supernatural existences", in keeping with the times. It's actually a pretty direct evolution, with all the ambiguous, unknowable motives and nature. Thanks for that! I'm gonna be chewing on it for the next few days.
You're welcome! Nice to know that I can occasionally offer up some food for thought! Haha!
The "guy growing out of the wall" thing reminded me immediately of The Last of Us.
@@amanibob1416 welp guess it's time to boot up the bioshock remasters
same here. Last of Us 100%
"They watch movies from 40 years ago and ask, why are we not like this anymore?"
100% me
this movie felt like watching "the thing" more than "the arrival" sad didnt got too much attention
This situation is very similar to another smart, sci-fi horror movie that was shunned by mainstream audiences. The Thing was released in June 1982, going up against big, family-friendly blockbusters like E.T. and was buried in the theaters. It later became a cult classic after it was released on video. I could see this movie going the same route.
My dad hired The Thing for my 10th birthday party. Two of my mates cried and went home, the rest of us wanted to cut our thumbs...just incase.
Grant D. Different times my friend. You’re talking thirty-five years ago.
WHY has no one mentioned Tarkovsky's "Stalker" yet?
americans don't watch European films
This. It's just Stalker for people with ADD.
Because it is too obvious, no one wants to be that guy.
Massivecarcrash thank you, thats exaclty what I thought of when watching it
It is almost like a Picnic by the Roadside (the stalker book) fan fiction to me. Kind of annoying but still a decent movie.
I got a MARVEL advert right after "Remember that part in Black Panther when they fight on the rhinoceroses?" 😂
"It's slow, intense and intelligence, and doesn't treat it's audience like idiot"
THAT'S HOW I FEEL ABOUT BLADE RUNNER, YOU FRAUDS!
Sum Gui i guess its subjective interlinked. but i thought it was great interlinked.
Blade running time 2049 minutes!
These two are pseudo intellectual doofuses that think they know everything because they watch a lot of movies, and know a thing from a film school.
They’re an easy watch when you agree with them, but when you don’t, or they contradict themselves, it’s pure cringe.
@Samuel Sandoval I just did, or can’t you read.
I honestly feel like slow is really hard to get right. blade runner brings me to tears because i don't care about what is happening, but 2049 I am invested for the whole movie because it sets up its characters so well imo.
It's a little sad because I went and saw this in the theater last night and there were about 20 people there. About 5 were asleep at the end, one walked out because of the super intense loud noises towards the end at the lighthouse, and there were some older people around me saying "what just happened, what just happened" meanwhile I'm thinking about how it's one of the better movies I've seen in a long time.
Companies don't take risks on movies anymore. When they do, even if the movie is absolutely amazing, it will still go down in flames a lot of the time because people treat movies like a treat for any audience. TV shows are where risks are being taken because everyone understands that not literally every show has to appeal to literally every single human on the planet, and I wish movies would re-adopt this philosophy.
Exactly that's what I'm saying. Studios need to understand that people like you (not hating here) might not be into this kinda thing. Marvel/Disney and a few other companies have basically gone down the road of saying if 90+% of people can't watch a movie with varying degrees of enjoyment (ultimately the importance is on if they pay) it's not worth making.
I think they could've downsized the budget on this slightly. Maybe not had so many all star actors, maybe something else, but it wouldn't be hard to make a nearly identical movie to this a success for a niche group. Movie companies by and large basically just treat niches like they don't exist anymore, and that's a shame because some of the most amazing and classic movies of all time were once considered niche.
Graham Specter -nah. This started when online piracy became a thing. Way more remakes, sequals, prequals. Less of the risky stuff.
Naalith no the reason annihilation was a failure in marketing. The reason paramount sold it to Netflix because were in financial problems. Paramount movies from last year have a lot box office bombs, and few broke even. Paramount had a power shift this year, and old executives formed the previous year want reshoots, and their ones sold it to Netflix. Annihilation were released in Canada and China. Weird that you and other redlattermedia fans are blind sheeps that mike and jay mock star wars fans and another nerd fanboys, so ironic.
Studios don't take risks because budgets are huge now. They play it safe to ensure a return on investment. This movie isn't amazing nor has mass appeal. Nothing to do with piracy either.
I'm sorry but just calling people dumb is not fair , I took my Lil brothers after school to see black panther .
In case you two care, I live in germany and when I took a girl out to see "The Killing of a Sacred Deer", the entire cinema was full at around 1 am on a Sunday.
Texas Dice I live in Calgary and the idea of this sounds so wonderful but also so impossible. We need more of a night life :(
@@JoshNpublicgplus whats calgary? Where is it?
@@eschel2155 Calgary alberta Canada?
@@full-timepog6844 lol the eagerness with which you commented that makes me know you know what Calgary truly is
When she encounters the entity at the end is one of the most striking scenes in cinema. It struck that cord of terrifying uncertainty and fear of the unknown that hasn't been done well since Alien '79.
"It felt like a movie from the '70s, like a sci-fi movie from the '70s."
Mike confirms Zardoz as the strongest science fiction film.
”PENIS IS EVIL”
This is literally the only reason I've even heard of this movie and five minutes in I decided I needed to go see it before I watched this episode. I saw it today and I loved it but all the theaters around here literally have one showing a day of it max and I'm lucky I was able to find one that actually fit my schedule. I think more people would have seen this movie if they fucking knew it existed.
Highlight of this movie was the scarebear with the terrifying scream.
As a Brit, I'm flattered by Mike's assessment of our cinema-going audiences, but I am sad to report that they're mostly dense over here too.
Shh. Let the Yanks continue believing Brits are somehow all refined (even the Guy Ritchie wisecracking gangster types) and not mostly complacent, unsophisticated drones.
@@WK-47 You voted for Brexit and Boris Johnson. Your cover has been blown
Evolution with David Duchovney is obviously this films biggest influence
Stalker meets Evolution as I would describe it
My best friend and I get to watch a movie almost every Sunday. There was not one movie we wanted to watch this past weekend. We already watched BP, and the ones that were available didn't look so good. So I was scrolling through the AMC app and saw Annihilation. I saw the trailer and immediately knew that I wanted to watch it.
My friend doesn't really like sci-fi, but he said the trailer was cool.
After the movie we went to the Boston Common to walk around and he didn't stop talking about how awesome the movie was, and he was telling me what the ending meant to him. This movie is really engaging, and it makes you think about self-destruction as a whole. Also he said that the soundtrack was kind of spooky.
I'm glad you guys are talking about it, because not many are.
Just a little advice: try not to bring really noisy food. My friend was eating some plantain chips, and those things where loud. There are some parts in the movie where is really silent. Like you can hear people's breath lol. But it was a really good experience.
Madelin Vasquez haha I remember eating wings from Beantown Pub in AMC at Boston Common and getting away with it, but that was at Star Wars.
credits said "also starring rich evans"... I want my money back....
Good luck with that. I'm still waiting on my Pizza Rolls from these hack fraud bastards....
Rich is a method actor, he role was the new computer, but you didn't even notice.
He's the key to all of this.
This movie is what Prometheus/Alien Covenant could have been if they were done right.
I think this one had all the same flaws as Prometheus.
Prometheus and this film is how sci fi should be. It should be vague. The unknown is what makes it great.
@@TheCrumpers53 Prometheus definitely had some good ideas but I feel ultimately there were a lot of problems with the execution. I always liked how the movie doesn't try to explain how things like the black good works and to the audience it's just weird and confusing, which is exactly what technology millenia ahead of ours would seem like (imagine a stone age person being confronted with modern day technology). I always found that people were unjustly complaining about that but the movie dus have a lot of other flaws and should just have been a stand-alone story instead of a tie-in with the Alien franchise. Because it ruins a lot of the mystery surrounding those movies (or at least the original)
@@skeletspook personally ill never forgive promethus for explaining the space jockey, especially in the way they did
"big pasty human"
lamest shit ever
One of my favorite movies of all time. Sad to see it didn’t do well. Future cult classic for sure
"i think the first question to ask is how often do we see females in film, and we don't"
is she living in some kind of alternate reality where women don't exist?
Let's face it: People like that don't actually give a shit about either women or movies.
They care about looking like they care about women and movies.
Well apparently the universe she's in has neither Prometheus nor Gravity, both films that had scientist female leads and were in the top 25 for their respective release years
"DNA from the glass" - Mike Stoklasa
"Women are the most important thing since sliced bread." - Mike
Finally got around to see it. Great film, stunning art direction.
That was one of the best RLM non-joking intros I’ve heard!
please don't hurt the commodore monitor please don't hurt the commodore monitor please don't hurt the commodore monitor
Mike has no respect for electric appliances, he will smash it with his bare fists as soon as he finds a way to work it into the storyline. It will be like the N64, but bigger and better, with more special effects! A ring will fly out of it! Why not?!
Mike also has no respect for Rich Evans.
*womp-womp*
I was one of the maybe six people who went to the theater opening day, first showing to see this. I had read and enjoyed the books though, so that gave me a leg up on knowing the film was a thing that existed.
Very different from the book, but both are excellent.
I'm super late to the party, but I cannot recommend The Southern Reach trilogy of books enough (Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance). The movie is great, the books are so unique and creepy and just unlike anything else I've read.
Also, your theory about reshoots - the interview portion of the movie is basically a mega-compressed version of book 2, whereas the first book is just the expedition itself. There are some elements from the third book present as well, but there is just so much more to discover. The questions that you were asking about, the things the movie wasn't spoon feeding you, the books are full of that.
I just finished Annihilation the first book the other night. I've just started Authority.
I found it to be all about ecology, the dissolution of the borders of personality & how identity is reflected & consumed by nature.
It's really mysterious, though, I don't know what the thing is that's changing everything. Can't put it down. ❤
Asia has smarter audiences? Isn't China solely responsible for the Transformers film franchise?
Well Asia isn't only China
Chinese movies are usually pretty clever. It's just because they only allow like 5 different American movies to be released there a year
Last I looked, Michael Bay wasn't born Chinese.
Hey that's a great, sympathetic breakdown of the Chinese movie market! Cheers for that.
Out of the most recent film yes, but I will take that over fast and the furious any day. They also have a track record of supporting a few other worthwhile films (especially blockbusters) when the dumbass US won't
When I saw it in theaters and the movie ended, the 3 people in front of me went "Well, next time we're gonna see a movie that we can actually understand." Ugh..........You guys hit the nail on the head of the dumbing down of mainstream films.
So I suppose your part of the smart group who knows what real cinema is while those in front are apart of the mindless masses. How's the view from up there?
The view is just fine, thanks. I was more commenting on how a group of 3 people immediately dismissed a film as making no sense before even having a conversation about the film itself. Also, during horrible trailers like Rampage one of them said "Man, there's so many good movies coming out right now" so yes I do think I am above them personally. However, the rest of the theater was quiet and respectful and I'm sure most of them got something out of it, hopefully.
Those guys would not even understand a typical Porn plot,i guess.
They went to watch Black Panther for the 4th time shortly after.
this film was so underated
im disapointed that it slipped under the radar, and didn't get the sweet sweeet credit it deserved.
Im even more disapointed with myself for missing this ol gem for so long.
I hope natalie portman can forgive
The best films often do.
I just saw Annihilation today and it was great. I've heard the books are better, but I really liked how subtle the movie was. Everything is built up very deliberately. The non-linear storytelling keeps you compelled and forces you to pay attention throughout. The bear scene was incredibly well-done. I love how much restraint there is to the scary parts. I didn't really understand the lighthouse scene, but I loved the colors and the music behind it.
I saw the notification and I clapped
R L MEDIA
R L MEDIA
R L MEDIA
I know what notifications are and I clapped and clapped!!!
"...so they go to the kino." That cracked me up, shout-out from Estonia! I wish I fit that description of an European cinema-goer, we mostly just watch the big blockbusters like everyone else, but I absolutely loved this film and it was great to watch it at home. Reminded me a lot of Stalker, which was partly shot in Tallinn. I respect the movie more because I've heard no self-congratulatory statements about it having a diverse cast, it's refreshing to just have a movie be a movie and I hope no one has called it a "thinking man's sci-fi." I can't objectively watch a Nolan film anymore, because of these stupid labels attached to films that meet normal standards of filmmaking.
Hello from Finland. Fancy seeing another from a neighboring country here in RLM.
As a big fan of Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker I enjoyed Annihilation a lot as a sort of modern american remake of that film
Sorry for the two years later notification, but yeah fr me too. Wonder if there was a direct Stalker inspiration or it just happened to have similar aspects.
@@willcapewell5700really should have been
There's def a lot of inspiration in the book from 'Roadside Picnic': a strange, alien "zone" where nothing is quite right and danger is everywhere but there's a sublime beauty to everything, a peace amidst the unknown.
It's really good to see you guys get so excited about a movie. I just started watching this channel and so much of the content is good satire, but when you pull a full 180 on that and recommend something so enthusiastically it really sticks with me. This was an excellent movie and I would not have seen it without your reviews. Thanks!
Cinema ISNT dying. Hollywood IS, and Good!
LMAO
Infinity War made 2 billion dollars and cost about a fifth of that to make. Hollywood is cushty, mate.
Based on your logic need for speed is a master piece since they are up to number 11 or 12.
@@quiroz441 i come from the year 2021 after covid and I am happy to say Hollywood is slowly dying and sadly movie theatres which I love especially the independent one near my house.
- Trusted you again.
- Watched it last night.
- Worth it.
It's an amazing film
@Sum Gui are you american
im so angry at the fact i didnt go to see this in theatres. This is one of my favorite movies of all time now, i just wish i had seen it in theatres. This movie is amazing and deserves 100 times the recognition it has now.
I saw it twice in theatres, and was so lucky.
Read the books!
I wish I did too but I do intend to read the source material
Seen this movie 5 times and it’s been still really rewarding to unravel the themes and character arcs
I am just here for the storyline
Genau! Wo bleibt die Geschichte von Herrn Plinkett? ;-)
You watch it for the plot?
Yes we do. Where's the next story arc? ;-)
Wait this isn't a Marvel movie... I don't care
Nicholas Reynolds lol
I drop everything I’m doing when one these notifications come. You guys are the most consistent channel on CZcams, thanks for all your hard work.
P.S. Mike, lay off the sauce
would you drop a baby
Eye Conqueror I guess it depends on who’s baby
watchmojo is the most consistent channel, they drop 500 shitty videos a day
RedLetterMediaVEVO
he can make his food as spicy as he wants YOU FFFFUCK!
If I saw Annihilation in the movies, I would absolutely cry with awe and fear. It would've been epic.
this is genuinely my favourite movie. thank you so much for talking about it.
Thanks for the endless stream of interesting conversation and background information for years. Here's a like.
I watched this film here in Germany on Netflix. If it were in Kino I would go and see it there again. So Yes, you guys are absolutely right. Great visuals and good Story/Idea. I like this film very much.
thanks so much for this episode guys!
The movie was stunning, it is sad that it is not well known :(
The soundtrack is absolutely mesmerizing.
In 10 years when every movie coming out is either a comic book movie or reboot Mike and Jay are finally gonna start watching anime
I can't wait for the Half in the Bag review of Boku No Pico.
Re:view: Urotsukidoji
What the hell is a "fake anime"?
Nothing against those but I doubt those are the kinds of shows Mike and Jay would enjoy, especially when they're literally manga (comic book) adaptations. They'd probably stick to mostly seinen and even then probably just movies.
Also, in regards to what you said about Avatar, it really doesn't count as anime simply because it is western. However, it is obviously at least somewhat anime inspired (I've never seen it myself) and when my friends and I are talking about anime it does get brought up fondly and compared to whatever other shows we're talking about. Also, in Japan they apparently refer to all animation as anime, no matter where it's from.
TheDancingElf I’d buy that, if it wasn’t made in Japan then it can’t be called anime. Well just call it Disney.
The whole thing is very reminiscent of Lovecraft's Colour out of Space.
Yes! That's my favorite of his stories.
That was the first thing I thought of when i saw the weird rainbow vapor effect in all the trailers.
Lovecraft also came to mind with the human bear thing they talked about. Made me think of how Wilbur from the dunwich horror was described as looking.
I like that one. I also really like The Temple, but that doesn't really have anything to do with this.
It does indeed.Also it reminds me on "Roadside Picknick"(STALKER)
Yeah, the book the movie was based off of has more to do with an intelligent fungus. Colour Out Of Space seems to have had an impact on the book as well.
The whole part with the hybrid bear REALLY reminded me of a lot of the bosses in Bloodborne, which makes sense considering how a huge part of that game was inspired by Lovecraft and has a similar theme of aliens warping reality.
Great film that really effed me up. That ending was intense. I honestly don’t think I could watch it again.
Possibly the best example of adapting a screenplay from an "unadaptable" book. God bless Alex Garland on his unending quest to make excellent films in a time where people only pay to watch superheroes punch things.
Lets just all remember... Emoji movie made over 200 million in the box office.
last time I clicked this fast Natalie Portman wasn't box office poison.
Economists have found that movie stars don't significantly impact box office
z beeblebrox bs
+Chris Hill questions I ask my self every day mate. The rocks a big draw so it's understandable but I really don't get why Nicholas cage is getting work, I don't think I've ever watched a Nicholas cage movie without falling asleep.
+zak rowe leaving las legas
Moonstruck
Raising arizona
Wild at hearth
Adaptation.
Come on
She got da Hollywud Rabies!
Watching this and hearing you say movies are dying and that they are mass appeal dumbed down - you are spot on - you guys might say on Twitter that your show is “trash” but you still manage to shine a light not just on bad movies but also good - I enjoy your commentary because it’s not mainstream and is intelligent and you don’t expect me to agree with you but form my own opinion - this episode resonated with me
Loved this movie. Man, you guys nailed it with the review...sorry 3 months late getting to this....
I've yet to see anybody mention it, but I saw influences from 2013's Outlast. Particularly the "swarm ambiance" part of that soundtrack. And the handheld digital cameras in the found footage scene. Along with a strong dose of 2007's Crysis, with the barely seen aliens subtly changing a local biosphere with some sort of mysterious shimmer/barrier.
Fancy seeing you here.
The only game this reminded me of is Everything (2017), and that's only because they seemingly share similar roots from Buddhist philosophy. The major differences being that Everything goes for a mathematical abstraction instead of DNA (which is a bit more cohesive IMO) and that Everything is actually an optimistic exploration of how everyone is already undivided parts of the universe.
The setting reminds me of The last of us. The fungus mutation and virus.
Shut up you fucking nom
"It's like all the video games I like"
Dear RLMmcan we please get a shirt that says "Americans Cinemas is where people go to eat Nachos and Pizza in shame in the dark."
A refreshingly great film. I watched it four times, in four consecutive days...it had a strange hold on me.
After seeing the first half of this Half in the Bag I went and watched this on Amazon Prime. I did enjoy it. Came back to finish the spoilers portion. Thanks for reviewing.