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    TGGPIgnatiy Vishnevetsky
    2/24/18 3:13pm

    Stalker & Solaris both failed to scratch the genre itch for me. Ivan’s Childhood & Andrei Rublev worked much better, perhaps because I wasn’t expecting scifi. Annihilation actually does provide some scifi/horror material along with some weirdness, so it was the best of both worlds for me.

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      kirenaj1971TGGP
      2/24/18 4:53pm

      Loved Solaris (I read the book too), more meh on Stalker (was probably too young when I saw it), really loved Andrei Rublev and liked Ivan’s Childhood. Think I may have seen The Mirror too, though I can’t remember anything about it so probably not. Tarkovsky is one of those directors I have to be ready for when I watch his films; not be too tired or otherwise preoccupied. Will be a long time before Annihilation comes to my part of the world so we will see, though I had Ex Machina in my top three the year that came out...

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      Pawlkirenaj1971
      2/24/18 6:47pm

      You might like the book that Stalker is derived from, “Roadside Picnic”

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadside_Picnic

      as usual the book contains waaaay more detail about the story, good read....


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    MikeDIgnatiy Vishnevetsky
    2/24/18 11:33am

    This is simply bad timing on the movie’s part, but I recoiled at the film’s promo pict that features the assault rifle on the foreground more than the actress. It’s bad enough when movie posters show pretty women cradling handguns, but assault rifles?

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      TGGPMikeD
      2/24/18 3:14pm

      I had one problem with that aspect: Natalie Portman’s character is the only member of the group who seems to have any military experience, but they’ve all got assault rifles.

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      Frank Walker BarrTGGP
      2/24/18 5:13pm

      I don’t think it is that unreasonable that a group of people going into a clearly dangerous zone would have been given the necessary training to use a rifle first.

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    VisitortoaMinorPlanetIgnatiy Vishnevetsky
    2/24/18 10:07pm

    Call-outs to Tarkovsky, for sure... but how ‘bout an even more obscure credit-where-credit-is-due? The book Annihilation was “greatly influenced by” (partly lifted from?) J.G. Ballard’s 1966 SF novel The Crystal World, a fact missed by many book reviewers a few years back. Alex Garland, in his 28 Days Later/Sunshine period, acknowledged that J.G. Ballard was a primary influence on his fiction and screenwriting, particularly the novels The Drowned World and The Crystal World. Who else has admitted to being influenced by Ballard’s novels and several of his short stories - particularly in terms of milieu and world-building? Andrei Tarkovsky. Among all these twisted strands of DNA floating through Annihilation’s cellular core, Ballard’s is mitochondrial... it’s a shame that someone hasn’t committed The Drowned World and The Crystal World to film yet.

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      braisethesunVisitortoaMinorPlanet
      2/25/18 2:07am

      How about Garland straight up porting the alzabo from Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun into his ANNIHILATION?

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      dollymixVisitortoaMinorPlanet
      2/27/18 12:57pm

      My recollection of The Crystal World is that the concept was great but the actual plot and characters were really boring. (I think this is true of High Rise too, the only other Ballard I’ve read, so it might just be him.) That does mean somebody could probably take the setting and make some liberal changes to make a good movie out of it (although unfortunately that didn’t happen with the High Rise adaption in my opinion).

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    Yuhaddabia "Big Shot" DinjaIgnatiy Vishnevetsky
    2/24/18 9:59am

    OK, but unlike with Oscar Isaac in Ex Machina, there was never a moment during Solaris when I was hoping Donatas Banionis would bust out his sweet dance moves...

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      sumtinsumtinYuhaddabia "Big Shot" Dinja
      2/24/18 11:30am
      Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF

      Correct!

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      Yuhaddabia "Big Shot" Dinjasumtinsumtin
      2/24/18 2:35pm

      That gif is downright hypnotizing. I can’t stop looking at it....

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    The Kinja Caffeine SpiderIgnatiy Vishnevetsky
    2/24/18 10:03am

    In American sci-fi, you struggle for control of galaxy. In Soviet sci-fi, we struggle for control of...vodka!

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      MaryXmasThe Kinja Caffeine Spider
      2/24/18 2:07pm

      seriously? have you seen any Soviet sci-fi? or was this another worn and trite attempt at a Soviet-Russia joke?

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      The Kinja Caffeine SpiderMaryXmas
      2/24/18 3:04pm

      yeah, one of ‘em...

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    GoLikeHellMachineIgnatiy Vishnevetsky
    2/24/18 1:54pm

    Annihilation (the book) also owes a decent amount to Solaris (the book).

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      EmperorNortonIGoLikeHellMachine
      2/25/18 12:08am

      In that both are largely about the lengths to which people will go when faced with an insoluble intellectual problem, yes. I would argue that the threatening and potentially apocalyptic nature of Area X gives Annihilation a very different feel from Solaris, wherein the alien planet is remote, indifferent, and only accidentally threatening to anyone.

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    swans283Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
    2/25/18 12:58am

    I wanted to like it too, but some movies you just have trouble suspending disbelief for, and this was one of them. It’s inherently a kind of silly premise, and yet they have zero fun with it. Many plot holes too (why not just nuke the Shimmer? It took them three years to think to send scientists in?)

    Until the ending that is. I loved the ending for its sheer audiovisual audacity, and wish the rest of the movie had been as bold. Something tells me Garland had a dream like it and wanted to make a movie around that dream.

    Also thankfully I missed the scariest part of the movie. My friend described it to me, and thank God I did.

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      TuMannyAdsswans283
      2/25/18 4:46am

      I was wondering the same thing. 3yrs and the military didn’t think “nuke it from space?”

      Also, I saw the scary part and it will give me nightmares and movies normally don’t bother me.

      It was an alright film that wanted to be deeper than what it was.

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      punchbagswans283
      2/25/18 9:44am

      lol your solution is nuke the shimmer??

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    doctuarIgnatiy Vishnevetsky
    2/24/18 3:40pm

    Cheeki breeki, stalker. Cyka blyat!

    *hardbass ensues*

    Etc.

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    trioheadIgnatiy Vishnevetsky
    2/24/18 9:01am

    I’d like to hear from Alex Garland’s former AD.

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