Prometheus

[Dra508]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...=entertainment

Film critique is a funny business.

[richardp]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...=entertainment

Film critique is a funny business.

I'm a critic, and it's such bullshit that these US websites can break embargo, yet I am sworn to secrecy and threatened with a fine if I say anything other than "I have seen Prometheus".

After I screened Battleship I made a simple tweet about how Perd Hapley from Parks & Rec was in it, and was forced to delete the tweet and the site was slapped with a small fine after it, by the studio. The fuckin' politics of film critique.

[Lutz]

Anway, this looks great and seeing that I consider Alien³ a great movie and Resurrection a pretty good one, Prometheus won't be able to not wow me in some ways.

I don't know about you but the main reason I find those movies great is because we're significantly invested in Sigourney Weaver by that point. Surely the best parts of Resurrection are when she is chewing up the scenery!

I loved Scott's idea of making a Ripley movie without the alien. When you consider the kind of sci-fi universe that they are expanding here you don't really need it.

[NIN64]

I live about 15 minutes from a theatre that has 1 4K projector. If they don't play Prometheus on that screen I will be most displeased. . .

[Collin]

This is my most anticipated film of the summer. Although i've got to be honest, i've seen Blade Runner like 4 times and it's never stuck with me. I just find the pacing drawn out and the acting mediocre. Big fan of the original Alien though, and this still looks badass.

[richardp]

My screening finally arrived tonight. It's fucking amazing. It lived up to all of my expectations. Guys, trust me. There are tons of homages to the entire franchise. And as usual, Fassbender completely the stole the show for me. Also, the Space Jockey origin is basically the entire film. Go see this at midnight. You will have a fucking blast.

[Corvus T. Cosmonaut]

I live about 15 minutes from a theatre that has 1 4K projector. If they don't play Prometheus on that screen I will be most displeased. . .

Unless the feature is recorded in 4K (or better), and your theater is distro'd a 4K content file, it really doesn't matter. We have like five projectors that are 4K-capable, but because everything's scaled to 2K there's no point in emphasizing it. I don't know details on the tech being used to shoot Prometheus, but I'm gonna go ahead and say you probably shouldn't worry about it.

[dlb]

Great to hear you enjoyed it richard!

And I'm totally with you Lutz, personally I don't need any Alien in it to work as the Space Jockey and the greater frame of things did grab my instantly. The whole sci-fi aspect of the franchise is what makes it. The xenomorph and the constant threat he induces just ties the almost perfect picture together for me. Every single time.

[aggroculture]

Uh-oh getting some bad reactions through the grapevine (which means Facebook).

[Alexandros]

Uh-oh getting some bad reactions through the grapevine (which means Facebook).

Don't let that worry you just yet. It's obvious a large part of people's reaction is tied to their humongous expectations. Hell, I think it's quite possible that at best I will still be a little disappointed no matter how good this is. I bet it's probably the (apparent) departure from the standard Alien formula that alienates (heh) most people so far. If that is the case, I'm still optimistic. As Lutz and dlb before me have said, there are other things to explore in this universe than the xenomorph itself and I like the implied philosophical approach to the question of life.

I'm probably watching this next Tuesday or Wednesday, so I'll shield myself against the oncoming flood of reviews. BRING IT ON!

P.S.: Any word on the 3D so far?

[dlb]

Some people hate it, some people praise it as the best 3D we've seen yet. I guess this is the first time I'll be seeing a movie in 3D since Avatar. (Not counting the stuff I've seen on 3D TVs).

[marodi]

Uh-oh getting some bad reactions through the grapevine (which means Facebook).

Trust no one. To you, the only opinion that should matters is your own since it's your own hard-earned money you'll be spending to see it. At least, that's the way I see things. And I often found myself bored to tears watching movies that everyone else loved while I absolutely adored others that are generally deeply hated (example: 1998's Godzilla. I don't care what the rest of the world says: I love that movie and I think I'm going to watch it again today!)

And the reason I came to post here today: stay away from the Wikipedia page for Prometheus because they have the whole plot written down over there. I, being the spoiler-loving weirdo that I am, read it already, of course.

[aggroculture]

OK, I'm going to see it when the fuss has died down a little and the theaters aren't so packed. And in 2d. No IMAX, no 3d, just regular.

EDIT: thought it was out tonight (a friend asked me if I wanted to go see it sunday), didn't realize we get it a week later.

[fillow]

HOLY FUCKING FUCK!!!

Just seen this. And not even in 3D. (Ain't spoiling shit just yet, but I'll just say that Spoiler: xenomorph if definitely there)
Now excuse while I'm changing my pants.

You're still reading this post? Go buy tickets right now!

[dlb]

Basterds! All of you!

I think I could not have planned my trip to NYC more badly. Meanwhile you guys can grab an exclusive poster at midnight IMAX showings:

http://collider.com/prometheus-imax-poster/170455/

Damn you all to hell! jk...

Funny thing is I'm at the airport tomorrow. People better keep me away from a last-minute flight to the UK if it's under 50€.

[profane]

There were many 'wow moments' but I guess my expectations were through the roof, and I'm left hugely disappointed. I think there were some excellent themes in the movie that were left unused or badly executed.

[richardp]

When I left the Press Screening last night there was really only a handful of us who loved it and the rest hated it. Us critics who loved it, all decided that the people who hated it, hated it because they wanted to hate it, and didn't go into it with an open mind. Which is a goddamn shame. I cannot stress how much fun I had watching it. It's not as good as Alien or Aliens, but it's certainly better than Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection.

[profane]

I don't hate the movie at all, I just fed myself with too much expectations and did enjoy the larger part of it. But in the end, whilst us friends were talking we said, no they could've done so much more with it, like they skipped on some very cool opportunities. But maybe that's for the next one?

[Vertigo]

Caught two thirds of the film tonight. The cinema closed with a freaking power cut. Just my luck it happened with the most anticipated film of my life, rather than the stupid fucking Avengers.

Very mixed feelings about what I did see, but as I'm not even sure what the enemy will be yet, I don't think I'm in a position to critique.

[Dra508]

I'm a critic, and it's such bullshit that these US websites can break embargo, yet I am sworn to secrecy and threatened with a fine if I say anything other than "I have seen Prometheus".

After I screened Battleship I made a simple tweet about how Perd Hapley from Parks & Rec was in it, and was forced to delete the tweet and the site was slapped with a small fine after it, by the studio. The fuckin' politics of film critique.

Tell me how you really feel. I remember reading some story about a similar situation, with some New York critics.

I am glad you like it though.

And no bad mouth Blade Runner peeps. Harrison Ford will never be a great actor, it was a film for it's time....

[richardp]

I don't hate the movie at all, I just fed myself with too much expectations and did enjoy the larger part of it. But in the end, whilst us friends were talking we said, no they could've done so much more with it, like they skipped on some very cool opportunities. But maybe that's for the next one?

Yeah definitely. I felt like it was left in a way where there COULD be a sequel because, Spoiler: the events in the film don't actually happen on LV-223, so we still don't exactly know what happened on THAT planet, and of course where exactly Shaw went once she took off in the Engineers' spaceship, even though we're told it was the origin of the Engineer and what she found when she got there.

[theruiner]

I don't hate the movie at all, I just fed myself with too much expectations and did enjoy the larger part of it. But in the end, whilst us friends were talking we said, no they could've done so much more with it, like they skipped on some very cool opportunities. But maybe that's for the next one director's cut?

Fixed.

TEN CHARACTERS

[Goldfoot]

I'm a critic, and it's such bullshit that these US websites can break embargo, yet I am sworn to secrecy and threatened with a fine if I say anything other than "I have seen Prometheus".

After I screened Battleship I made a simple tweet about how Perd Hapley from Parks & Rec was in it, and was forced to delete the tweet and the site was slapped with a small fine after it, by the studio. The fuckin' politics of film critique.

That seems rather excessive for something that can be found on IMDB. You shouldn't stand for that.

At any rate, I'm going to watch all 4 Alien movies this weekend, as I haven't seen any of them in their entirety. I've really only seen parts of the first one and then like a shot of a nest in the second one. I realize the latter two are generally disliked, but I'm going to watch them anyway. Then, next Friday, some friends and I are going to go see this movie. I haven't been too excited for it until recently. I enjoy pretty much any sci-fi that is done well, and Scott seems to know what he's doing. The first trailer gave me chills when I saw it for the first time, which was in a theater, so I'm sure I'll like it plenty. Plus, it will keep me occupied for a little while until July 20th.

[Corvus T. Cosmonaut]

Us critics who loved it, all decided that the people who hated it, hated it because they wanted to hate it, and didn't go into it with an open mind. Which is a goddamn shame.

What's the shame? That they're just being haters, or that you're drawing broad assumptions about why they hated it and then feeling sad for them based on that assumption?

[Jinsai]

I'm still excited to see it, even though it seems the critical reaction so far seems tepid at best
Not sure why the US release is being delayed a week though

[Goldfoot]

Not sure why the US release is being delayed a week though

The Avengers was out in other countries before here also. I'm not sure what happened to cause this shift, but I remember a few years ago when other countries had to wait weeks after a movie was released here before they could see it in theaters.

[fillow]

I read that it's not US release that got delayed, but European one got pushed one week back due to upcoming Euro 2012 football championship

[dlb]

That is something I don't fully get since some eastern european countries can see it way early (okay, that's where the upcoming soccer games are being held) and then again Germany (August 9th), Austria (August 10th) and Italy (September!!!) have to wait forever to see this. Even a soccer nation like England gets to see it this week despite of the games.

Every other summer movie was or will be here either a week before the US premiere or at the same time. Dark Knight, Snowwhite, Skyfall, Avengers etc. they all have a cinema release pretty much parallel to the US. Why Prometheus for god's sake is the only one that's got this kind of trouble is beyond me.

So bummed... really.

[Alexandros]

That is something I don't fully get since some eastern european countries can see it way early (okay, that's where the upcoming soccer games are being held) and then again Germany (August 9th), Austria (August 10th) and Italy (September!!!) have to wait forever to see this. Even a soccer nation like England gets to see it this week despite of the games.

So maybe this is a sign that you should support your team from up close! You're contenders for the cup aren't you? Go and cheer the Panzers. And see Prometheus.

[jmtd]

Mild disappointment. Plenty of questions. Ended up seeing it in 3d and not IMAX due to a cock up. 3d was done well: my revised opinion is at best it doesn't detract from a film, but I won't see another 3d movie.