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Children of Men!!!!!


elfdude

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I'll jump off of the band wagon, and go ahead and say that I did not enjoy this movie.

It was confusing as hell, and tried too hard to combine senseless violence with uber chick flick undertones.

Plotless in the extreme, and characterized by extreme monotony, they should have named this A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Future.

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I'll jump off of the band wagon, and go ahead and say that I did not enjoy this movie.

It was confusing as hell, and tried too hard to combine senseless violence with uber chick flick undertones.

Plotless in the extreme, and characterized by extreme monotony, they should have named this A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Future.

I thought a plot was a series of events. And most movies are a series of unfortunate events, otherwise it's a feel good movie, of which this movie most certainly isn't. It's an author's opinion of human nature on an impending end, how people deal when they don't have a future.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0307279901/ref=dp_proddesc_0/103-3699955-3258210?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

Amazon is pretty good at giving excerpts, I think with most novels turned movie, you're going to find that the book is a lot better. But I'm all for this movie, didn't find it confusing and didn't see any uber chick flick undertones, but I can certainly see why people didn't like the movie.

WC

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Plot:

Also called storyline. The plan, scheme, or main story of a literary or dramatic work, as a play, novel, or short story.

As defined by dictionary.com, a plot is the plan/scheme that a story follows. That doesn't mean that it is a series of disconnected and irrelevant events.

*SPOILER*

Man's kid dies.

Man witnesses big explosion. (Act of Senseless Violence I)

Man finds out wife leads a resistance movement against the government.

Man is asked to do favor by wife.

Man goes off with Michael Caine to smoke weed.

Man agrees to do favor, in return for large sum of money.

Wife dies, new leader of revolution takes over, is hostile toward man. (Act of Senseless Violence II)

Man finds out wife died at the hands of new leader of revolution. (Inane "Plot Twist" I)

Man agrees to uphold favor, because he's a "good man." (Chick Flick Undertone I)

Man experiences many conveniently located obstacles on the way to complete favor. (Basis for movie)

Just when man is about to complete favor, is stopped by the rebel group from before. (Inane "Plot Twist" II)

Government ends up saving man from rebel group via a firefight. (Inane "Plot Twist" III and Act of Senseless Violence III)

Man ends up dying from gunshot wound. (Act of Senseless Violence IV)

Baby named after man's dead kid. (Chick Flick Undertone III)

It's a lot of irony, and a lot of conveniently located twists and turns. This movie closely resembles the remake of Poseidon, where things conveniently keep happening in order to cause the movie to stretch out for 2.5 hours (anyone who's seen this will know what I mean).

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I don't want to turn this into 'you're wrong, I'm right thing' and I'm not agruing that you should like the movie. You don't like it, that's cool. But I don't understand your whys for the life of me. I didn't find the movie confusing at all. I didn't find that any one event was just senseless (minus the ping pong ball stunt, they had already established whatever that hoped to, my guess is a pull straight from the book). Any movie can be broken down to be just as simplistic as your description of this movie.

Children are born.

Children are seperated.

Son becomes a farmer.

Ship gets attacked (Senseless act of violence)

Pets escape ship.

Son finds new pets.

Pet runs away. (Inane "Plot Twist")

Son get's attacked by natives (Senseless act of violence)

Son get's saved future mentor (Inane "Plot Twist")

Son's step family dies. (Senseless act of violence)

Son gets attack at bar (Senseless act of violence)

Son meets brash, but good hearted, anti-law character. (Chick flick undertone?)

Party gets attacked (Senseless act of violence)

Anyone not know the movie yet?

Evil Government blows up daughters home. (Senseless act of violence)

Son's party sneaks into government base to save daughter. (Chick flick undertone?)

Mentor attacks Evil president to save friends. (Chick flick undertone)(Senseless act of violence)

Brash, but good willed person leaves. (Inane "Plot Twist")

Son groups with daughter, attacks evil government base. (Chick flick undertone)(Senseless act of violence)

Brash, but good willed person returns to save the day.(Inane "Plot Twist")(Chick flick undertone?)

You really haven convinced me that all movies aren't exactly like that. A series of events that play out to make the movie last till the end. Otherwise, what the hell am I watching? Am I paying ten bucks to watch a 20 second intro, and then credits?

WC

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Movies that aren't like that, just looking through my collection:

Kill Bill

The Prestige

V for Vendetta

Elf

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Lord of the Rings

I'm not saying that movies are not supposed to be a series of events. I'm saying they're supposed to be a COHESIVE series of events that are RELEVANT to one another.

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Oh, Shrek was very solidly put together in my opinion. It has more right being on that list than Elf.

And somehow I think it would be very, very easy to dissect Kill Bill as a series of contrived plot-moving sequences and otherwise senseless acts of violence.

PS: Just watched the trailer for this movie, and yes, it looks very very good. Wish I had a theater with easy access around here.

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as an avid fan of apocalyptic movies, i saw the extended preview in theaters of Children of Men and by the end of the preview i knew it was a movie that i might never even watch let alone rent.

violent riot scenes, general scenes of anarchy insecurity and bare primal unrest? it looked good in all of these absolutely required areas.

unfortunately the good ole fashioned feel-good bullspit "last pregnant woman who can save the world" and "the guy who can make it happen" once again these saving the dying or violent world elements, to me, killed it. there was a scene where they were all laughing and driving and having a great moment. i'm not interested in the concept of *cue movie narrator with really gritty old voice* - "and one man/woman/family/whatever can turn the tide/save the world/give humanity one last shot/whatever"

if the movie would have focused almost on the base story of how things got that way, and just focused in on the random gratuitous violence and carnage and total abandon for modern civil society and then maybe focused on a few people trying to survive and still mainly dying anyway, the movie would have rocked. and depressing/grave/etc ending to cap it off.

apocalyptic movies that did this and were awesome because of it: 28 Days Later (the "bad ending" not the "uplifting ending"), Dawn of the Dead (new and old), The Hills Have Eyes. and yeah i know people are going to say oh they sucked blah blah blah. they hardcore awesome movies because they left the viewer with the unambiguous impression of doom, no savior no nothing. of a couple even did a totally masterful job of illustrating the necessary transition of someone who grew up in a suburb and is a complete wuss, to someone who learns he/she needs to make a choice to switch on

'primal/family-defending/murderous berserker mode' in order to survive a lawless hardcore environment. especially in the Hills Have Eyes.

unfortunately market screening with private audiences and producers who have great concepts but are too scared about what naive, childlike mindsets of american audiences are receptive to are killing good movies that should be hardcore apocalyptic, not fake garbage that is just as much of a feel-good story. this is supposed to be the postmodern deconstructionist anti-hero blah blah era, why are people still addicted to naive feel-good?

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Kill Bill: a little over the top, but entertaining.

The Prestige: haven't seen it yet.

V for Vendetta: stupid retarded raping of the graphic novel. You bought this? And isn't anyone getting tired of Hugo Weaving yet?

Elf: good.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves: nice scenery and music.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(the original?): don't **** with Shredder.

Lord of the Rings: decent representation, despite the homoerotic stare downs between Frodo and Sam.

I'm looking forward to Children of Men.

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But it's the same with every character he plays. True' date=' I haven't and will not see the movie where he's a drag queen, but in those I have seen he acts the same for all his characters. The same steady pronunciation of words and melodramatic facial expressions.[/quote']

I won't disagree, simply I'm not tired of it yet. ^_~

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Kill Bill: a little over the top, but entertaining.

The Prestige: haven't seen it yet.

V for Vendetta: stupid retarded raping of the graphic novel. You bought this? And isn't anyone getting tired of Hugo Weaving yet?

Elf: good.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves: nice scenery and music.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(the original?): don't **** with Shredder.

Lord of the Rings: decent representation, despite the homoerotic stare downs between Frodo and Sam.

I'm looking forward to Children of Men.

You saw Clerks 2, too?

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as an avid fan of apocalyptic movies, i saw the extended preview in theaters of Children of Men and by the end of the preview i knew it was a movie that i might never even watch let alone rent.

violent riot scenes, general scenes of anarchy insecurity and bare primal unrest? it looked good in all of these absolutely required areas.

unfortunately the good ole fashioned feel-good bullspit "last pregnant woman who can save the world" and "the guy who can make it happen" once again these saving the dying or violent world elements, to me, killed it. there was a scene where they were all laughing and driving and having a great moment. i'm not interested in the concept of *cue movie narrator with really gritty old voice* - "and one man/woman/family/whatever can turn the tide/save the world/give humanity one last shot/whatever"

if the movie would have focused almost on the base story of how things got that way, and just focused in on the random gratuitous violence and carnage and total abandon for modern civil society and then maybe focused on a few people trying to survive and still mainly dying anyway, the movie would have rocked. and depressing/grave/etc ending to cap it off.

apocalyptic movies that did this and were awesome because of it: 28 Days Later (the "bad ending" not the "uplifting ending"), Dawn of the Dead (new and old), The Hills Have Eyes. and yeah i know people are going to say oh they sucked blah blah blah. they hardcore awesome movies because they left the viewer with the unambiguous impression of doom, no savior no nothing. of a couple even did a totally masterful job of illustrating the necessary transition of someone who grew up in a suburb and is a complete wuss, to someone who learns he/she needs to make a choice to switch on

'primal/family-defending/murderous berserker mode' in order to survive a lawless hardcore environment. especially in the Hills Have Eyes.

unfortunately market screening with private audiences and producers who have great concepts but are too scared about what naive, childlike mindsets of american audiences are receptive to are killing good movies that should be hardcore apocalyptic, not fake garbage that is just as much of a feel-good story. this is supposed to be the postmodern deconstructionist anti-hero blah blah era, why are people still addicted to naive feel-good?

loooooool, heaven forbid a movie have some parts in the movie that aren't hardcore action scenes. thats such a typical american movie-viewer point of view. and its honestly not even like that, its pretty intelligent and it is the crux of the movie, not the action scenes. I guess if your looking for awesome actions scenes (of which there are plenty in this movie) and no plot, then its not really the movie for you. if you don't like thinking during movies then this would probably hurt your head. Pick out the guantanamo references and the bosnia references and get a prize!

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