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Nobel Prize Winners on Sci-Fi Flicks
scientistguy writes "In case you missed it, Harold Varmus, Nobel prize winning retrovirologist and cancer biologist, former NIH director, and current
head of Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, has written a review
of 28 Days Later
in this weekend's New
York Times. One would think
that his time is more valuably spent running important medical institutions,
searching for new cancer insights/cures, etc, but the dude's also an English lit major and has a penchant for
sci-fi. 28 Days Later
is the new flick from director Danny Boyle (Shallow
Grave, Trainspotting, etc.) about a virus termed rage
that is advertently released from a Cambridge primate research facility and
goes on to devastate much of merry old England more rapidly than the dragons
did in Reign of Fire. Although Varmus appears to go out of
his way to be even handed, it's clear that he has a problem suspending disbelief on a
topic (virology) that is near and dear to him. Reviews from
professional movie critics on 28 Days
Later have been mixed, but Ebert
and another NY
Times reviewer were into it.
Good, clean summer fun - aside from 'the scenes
of maiming, dismemberment, clubbing, shooting, bayoneting and shoplifting'."
That Ghostbusters movie was top notch!
I thought it was a sequel to the Sandra Bullock movie, 28 Days.
Jason
ProfQuotes
and the rare fact that this film was released in the UK last summer, making this rather old news for anyone in Blighty. Makes a change for us to get a film first, eh?
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'28 days later' didn't even try to be a sci-fi-horror movie.. that is, no explanations about the virus, or a long-drawn buildup to the final release (as in the Hulk). So even though, the whole idea of the virus getting transmitted to humans was insane, I didn't care. I do have some questions though.. they show this monkey being 'initiated' by showing him scenes of riots and mayhem, so I guess the rage virus is activated only if the subconscious is 'trained' by those scenes... then how come, humans go crazy within 20 seconds of being bitten?
"When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail." - Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
aside from 'the scenes of maiming, dismemberment, clubbing, shooting, bayoneting and shoplifting'."
shoplifting goes with maiming, what the..?
Jesus saves souls and redeems them for valuable cash prizes
For a mere £15 you can watch it on your region-free DVD player. Eat that, MPAA fascists!
Not only that, the DVD was out about a month ago as well.
Time the folks in the US to look-up on-line stores that ship region 2 stuff to the US!
The only thing that I found hard to believe was that anyone would be able to tell the difference between a comatose bike messenger and one that wasn't.
...isn't this a re-do of an old Charlton Heston film named "Omega Man", where a plague strikes the Earth and the infected turn into homicidal Edgar Winter impersonators? Heston plays the lone scientist who is apparently immune, and he meets a band of uninfected persons holding out against the organized night fighters.
I think I'll save $7 (diff between new movie and old rental) and just see Omega Man again.
I have something in common with Stephen Hawking...
In my opinion, the film was a wonderful Zombie film. It didn't get bogged down in trying to explain the how and why of the virus so it didn't bother me a bit. Not explaining the details also plays another role: it puts the audience into the same position as the characters. The characters don't give a flying damn about the details, they just want to survive.
The film manages to spook you but doesn't often give in to the common traps that most horror films fall into. Sure, some things are pretty obviously going to happen, but the film doesn't go for cliques(sp) which was a pleasant suprise. Of course, the differences between American and European film styles is quite clear, especially their repective attitudes towards violence and nudity.
Something else I should note was pointed out to me by my artisticly inclined friend, which was that the fact that it even made it over here to the states is a statement in and of itself. Most of their films don't make it over here for a theatrical release and are relegated to the foriegn film isle at the local rental store. The camera work is also different with some seemingly awkward angles that work well for the film. The music fits the mood of the film as well.
All in all, I highly recommend this film for Zombie film fans, and I can also recommend it to those who aren't really into zombie flicks since the plot is decent and they don't try to gross out the audience.
"They told me it was impossible. I replied with maniacal laughter." http://www.mydailyrant.com/
I'll second that... my initial response to wanting to read the review was to click the 28 Days Later link, which actually goes to the website.
I may be stupid, but pleeeease... less links?
One would think that his time is more valuably spent running important medical institutions, searching for new cancer insights/cures, etc
:)
As if people reading Slashdot had a right to criticize anyone else about not working.
My blog
Was just an adaption of the wonderful Richard Matheson book "I am Legend" which came out back in the 1950's (I believe). I personally would love to see the book put to the screen but those damned screen writers keep changing the plot so that it fits with what the studios think we want: ie love interest, more action, etc etc.
It's really a shame, since I highly recommend the book and a film of it would bring it to the masses.
"They told me it was impossible. I replied with maniacal laughter." http://www.mydailyrant.com/
The film was released in entire Europe last year.
Vincent Price's "The Last Man on Earth" released some time in the 60s-70s had virtually the same exact plotline: disease infects all of mankind, and Price is immune. Except the infected aren't zombies. They're vampires. It was a crappy movie, but somewhat affecting. So... can anyone answer this? Was Boyle merely influenced by this classic? Or is it a total rip-off?
Saw it at the cinema.
And it was wonderful in its originality of presentation and atmosphere. It scared the pants off me in certain scenes, in other words..
As far as if what is presented is feasible/realistic is not my concern. It's a horror/sci-fi flick, the key element being the "fi" part, fiction.
The next critic/expert, that tries to do similar analysis better remember that.
/. Where the truth
> Makes a change for us to get a film first, eh?
:)
:)
Yeah, but look at the film that you got first, then brag later.
Seriously, I saw this movie yesterday, and it's not bad. You have to be really good at suspension of disbelief, but it's okay. It's not original by any means, but it's definitely enjoyable at matinee prices.
After the disappointments that were Matrix 2 and Charlie's Angels 2, the summer movies have a lot to prove this year.
A much better summer movie is, amazingly enough, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. More willing suspension of disbelief required, but overall, a much more enjoyable movie. Surprised the heck out of me that it was a good as it was, considering the lack of James Cameron, but hey, remember that it also lacks Linda Hamilton & Edward Furlong, and that might explain something.
I can't make myself go see "Hulk" due to the extraordinarily-bad look of the Hulk CGI. *blech* I'd honestly prefer a green-painted Lou Ferrigno, thanks.
I'm still awaiting "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"...
The problem is less the number of links than the weak approach toward linking strategy, which may or may not be the fault of the editor ... well, ok, a /. editor could always repair things.
Better link-wrapping (and a little more distance between links) would help quite a bit in letting scan-readers choose appropriate references without visually inspecting URLs first.
"One would think that his time is more valuably spent running important medical institutions, searching for new cancer insights/cures, etc, but the dude's also an English lit major and has a penchant for sci-fi."
Because people who do research that is potentially groundbreaking and life saving are no longer allowed to do things they enjoy, right?
Wasn't this the same in Day of the Triffids, except everyone went blind and was eaten by vegetables?
Rated R for extreme acts of unadulterated shoplifting.
Banned in Egypt due to graphic depiction of bayoneting.
No kidding.
"The zombies hate light. Let's drive during the day to get to the military base. Hey, let's take this shortcut through this underground tunnel. I'm sure it will be safe."
"It's getting dark. Let's all sleep out in the open with a big campfire and take some ludes to sleep. Never mind that the zombies are highly attracted to flame. I'm sure it will be safe."
"The smallest drop of their bodily fluids can turn you into a zombie if it gets in your mouth or a wound. Let's set up mines and claymores around our camp. I'm sure the resulting zombie flavored pink mist will be safe."
The best part though was the implication that it would only take 28 days for a group of British soldiers to lose all discipline and go Lord of the Flies.
um, Frank left his credit card at the cash register before they left the store. And besides, everyone was dead anyway...which made the fact that he left his card kind of cool. What were they supposed to do, starve to death because there was no one alive to give the money to? Furthermore they only took necessities like food, medical supplies, and single malt scotch.
------SPOILERS---------
I'm intrigued by his basic point.
I saw the movie with friends yesterday (both with MFAs and wide and deep knowledge of film) and we agreed that 28 Days later is, in it's own weird way, a wish fulfillment.
As the review says, you always know who is infected so there is no uncertainty.
There is no latency to speak of, so it's containable.
Everything is black and white. Nobody has any real obligation to anybody else. Food is either unavailable or unlimited.
People are either wonderful and sweet or crazed maniacs waiting for their chance to (kill/steal/rape).
Now, I've gotta say, as far as it goes, it's a great flick. It has quite literally entered my dreams.
But like Star Wars, there is an underlying philosophy there and it isn't a good one.
Compare this to any of the first three Aliens movies, where ambiguity and uncertainty define every moment and this is thin gruel indeed. An MTV movie for a hot summer day.
Go, have fun, but if anybody starts quoting lines from this movie as some sort of compressed wisdom, offer to stick a long butcher knife through their chest, leaving them to die "in a heartbeat".
Rustin
Data is the lever, rigor the fulcrum, brains the force that drives it all.
When will Hollywood draw the line here!
Who cares about guns, we gotta get those MP3 players off the streets!
"Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
Omega Man was released in 1987 by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and it's about a man with a pellet gun for an arm, who subsequently battles through 10 levels to fight the evil Dr. Wily. I don't know where you're getting you information from.
aside from 'the scenes of maiming, dismemberment, clubbing, shooting, bayoneting and shoplifting'.
Shoplifting, what's this world coming to?
(appended to the end of comments you post)
Whilst we are plugging a UK film I'd also like to advertie Deathwatch.
From Amazon:
A small group of English soldiers find themselves in a labyrinth of abandoned German trenches in Deathwatch, a reworking of the classic British supernatural horror tale as a redemptive allegory amid the wider horror of the Great War. The very earth has had its fill of blood and this lost company may already be in hell: imagine the BBC TV film All the Kings Men (1999) crossed with Cube (1997), as realised by a young Ridley Scott. Only Charlie Shakespeare, an impressive Jamie Bell, is sufficiently innocent to realise the evil of the trenches is turning comrade against comrade, resulting in the gradually escalating carnage.
Ok, not entirely related to the main topic, but it's a good film and it's not often the UK actually put out a good film in a year, let alone 2 great films!
The problem with slashdot is that most of its users were bullied and stuffed into lockers as kids!
You can't call the CGI in the hulk movie bad without having seen it. They actually pulled it off quite well.
The trailers and commercials certainly DO look bad. They look worse than the worse parts of the movie, IMO. I don't really know why they put crappy shots in the previews, but they did.
Since most Zombie films I have seen were set in America, it was interesting to see one set in a nation where personal firearms are rare.
It is a lot scarrier to watch someone nervously waiting with a baseball bat (why not cricket?) for a group of zombies to close with them than it is to watch someone picking them off with a rifle or shotgun as they approach.
Now what all shoplifters should do is start blaiming that movie on their behavior.
The Nobel winners are going to hate the movies because the movies inevitably get the facts wrong, that is why most /.ers hate a vast majority of computer/tech related movies, because they can not suspend disbelief. But I do have to admit, NMAP in Matrix:Reloaded (which BTW was awesome, I don't care what anyone says) was pretty freaking cool.
I hate sigs.
"microbial plagues have displaced nuclear winter in the public's mind as the way the world will end. "
There have been movies about this for a great many years, and probably a book or two.
"Wouldn't it be better if we could confine AIDS and Ebola to Africa and SARS to Hong Kong, and then return to repair society once the microbial damage was done -- done, of course, to others and not to us?"
Of Course it would. He seems to imply some insidouse plot of genocide, when in fact containment of a virus the can cause an epidemic like the one in 28 days is key for others to survive. It doesn't mean we should ignore them while it happens. Of course we should help the victimes, anyway we can. If not for humanitarian reasons, then as an opportnity of how to survive if it should get out of containment.
It is difficult to know in the midst of all the immediate terrors of "28 Days Later" what Mr. Boyle meant for us to think about such things. But it is one of the strengths of his accomplishment that it makes us think about them at all.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
You never hear about this one. Christian Bale had difficulty acheiving "suspense of disbelief" with his human actors, but the dragons and fire were some of the most beautiful CG work I've ever seen.
...
sry i dont now if how i can use browser for writign. So what is teh best linuks to use for making teh movie.?
Once the video stream is recovered/decrypted ( via DECSS or its ilk ), you can re-encode it in whatever format you wish... digital formats such as .mpg, divx, .vcd, whatever, or if you have the proper analog hardware, drop it out as RGB, NTSC, PAL, or whatever suits your fancy if you can implement the interface.
If you pop the DVD into an NTSC player, you will get the video delivered in NTSC format... it you pop that same DVD into a PAL player, you get the same content, but delivered in PAL format... etc.
I do not believe there are PAL or NTSC disks themselves; NTSC, PAL, SECAM, whatever are just the analog format the digital video is converted to so that it can be sent it to the monitor...
Anyway, thats the best of my understanding... please append my comment if I am in error.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
...for those that haven't seen it yet. You really need to put "WARNING... SPOILER" in that post. This movie is as good or better than Dawn of the Dead which is my benchmark for Zombie flicks. Pays homage to it too.
Good, clean summer fun - aside from 'the scenes of maiming, dismemberment, clubbing, shooting, bayoneting and shoplifting'.
I give up. What can be more fun than scenes of maiming, dismemberment, clubbing, shooting, bayoneting and shoplifting?
The power of Christ compiles you!
Wow. It's a NY Times story, but someone finally figured out you can use the Google affiliate link to skip all the free reg hoo-haw. I think that's a first. Been waiting for that ever since the account generator stopped working.
Please keep it up!
"A much better summer movie is, amazingly enough, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. " You have got to be kidding... You just negated your first sentence.
The lack of microbial verisimilitude in "28 Days Later" may surprise viewers who recall the vividly accurate depiction of heroin withdrawal in Mr. Boyle's popular "Trainspotting" (1996).
Myabe, just maybe, because heroin withdrawal is a reality in that it can be seen/studied/pondered upon relatively easily, compared to microbiology?
Maybe because such correctness in the film would both reduce/limit its effect on the thought processes it causes/initiates and because it would have required a big budget?
/. Where the truth
well, at least it beats resident evil........
Now, I'll have to go see this if it includes Bayonetting. As I don't know jack about retroviruses, I now have an excuse to go see 28 Days: to critique the thrust, the slash and of course, the buttstroke to the head.
T3 caused a bit too much suspension of belief too. Like the scenes where the female 'Terminatress' seemingly 'hacks' into systems by just inserting her probe like finter into them - looked like the director was trying to find an easy way out by giving her powers that were very convenient in every situation. Also the scenes where she blasts things in her way by just pointing at them.. why then would she have to run after John Connor and his girlfriend when she could have just blasted them from afar?
"When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail." - Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
Sorry, but I had to mention those two as they are important milestones in this genre.
Of course, it seemed to me we've trashed this subject to death long ago, and properly so. I saw nothing in 28 Days other than a easy way to pass a couple of hours.
By the way, thanks you to all those who provide and share the media. Truly, you fuel the fires of freedom. Now that I'm no longer forced to pay excessive profits for inferior products, I enjoy movies so much more.
By the way, the IMAX version of The Matrix Reloaded was the revolution, did you miss it?
ps. Dear Mr. Director, we need an IMAX "cut" cause those six story close ups are, like, way to close.
Words to men, as air to birds.
T3 was a waste of money. Definately a rental. The CGI in the Hulk is great. Go the see the movie and be amazed.
Good Grief. - Charles Brown
Whatever happened to watching a movie for entertainment? If I want facts and details, I will watch Discovery or The Learning Channel. If I want to be entertained I'll go watch a movie. Sometimes we tend to overthink stuff.
Good Grief. - Charles Brown
After the disappointments that were [...] Charlie's Angels 2 [...]
How can one possibly be disappointed in that movie? I haven't seen it, but I saw the first one which means I couldn't possibly be disappointed in the second. The first one was pure and utter shit. Pure hollywood crap -- and this is given that the movies tries to be fluff. The worst big-budget movie I've ever seen. I had to take two breaks in the middle of the movie to gather energy so that I could get through it, that's how horrible it is.
That's saying something, because I managed to watch Druids without having to resort to taking pauses, and trust me, that "movie" is awful. Not as awful as Charlie's Angels, but quite horrible. If you don't know it, it features Christopher Lambert and Max von Sydow. You can probably imagine the horror?
Thanks for listening to my rant.
Belief is the currency of delusion.
When I first saw the ads talking about a virus and seeing the people turn, seconds from contamination, into bloodthirsty maniacs, I thought "Oh, so its flash-rabies, big whoop".
Rage is the french name for rabies.
The rabies cure was found by a french man.
And from Webster's:
Main Entry: 1rage
Pronunciation: 'rAj
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin rabia, from Latin rabies rage, madness, from rabere to be mad; akin to Sanskrit rabhas violence
PS Anyone trolling with the usual, boring, old crap about french surrender, wich is automatic anytime france or french is mentioned will thereby prove their lameness.
You can't take the sky from me...
Which is not to say that movies can't ever stretch reality to fit. In point of fact, they pretty much have to, because that's the only way to fit a reasonable story into 90 to 120 minutes of narrative. I have no problem with this, as long as they don't through out the rules every time they get inconvenient. When an SF writer works that way, it's not "suspension of disbelief" it's just ignorance and/or lazyiness.
It seems to me that Vamus is at pains not to be judgmental about these issues. If you read his review without being so defensive, you'll note he title's his review: "Virus as Metaphor" and praises the movie for the social issues it tries to raise.
When Vamus points out the scientific flaws in the movie, he's not being pendantic or spoil-sporty. He's just helping to educate the public as to some serious scientific issues. A very appropriate thing for a Nobel laureate to be doing.
(When it came out in Belgium).
Bloody great movie, mate, a remake of John Wyndham's Day of the Triffids only wiff cockney vampire zombies. Bloke wakes up from a come, finds himself all alone in London on a grey monday morning. Not a bleedin' soul. Stumbles into a church, gets attacked by a bunch of howling crazy red-eyed winos, and saved by a duo dressed in tank glasses and leather. The film only gets better and better, exploring some serious themes in a generously superficial manner: the individual against society (what bleeding society, they're all dead!), sexism (army squad saves hero and ladies, then tries to kill hero and rape ladies), abuse of power (same army squad) and armageddon (play with fire, get burnt).
Actually it was a cool movie, going lightly on the monster makeup and relying heavily on the viewer's own imagination. It may be too subtle for the US market, clearly a UK film, dry and sharp. Think of it as the film as the sequel to Resident Evil, without Milla Jovovich but with an equally sexy Naomie Harris.
Ceci n'est pas une signature
Either that or it was a subtle critique of the Bush administration's use of fear of biological terrorism to justify it's foreign policy.
Most of the points Varmus makes about the movie also apply biological weapons. These include points include the time required for the the organism's replication, the difficulties of transmission and the idea that the world is already under constant biological attack already (many times the number of people killed in 9/11 die every day of preventable biological diseases).
I would imagine that Varmus has to be pretty constrained in his critique of the government if he wants them to continue giving him money. If he didn't he'd probably be like: "Hey idiots! Quit beating up the Middle East and get real about stopping the biological organisms that are actually killing people right now!"
I didn't see a single electric thing in the Supermarket. The cash registers were off, as was the refrigeration. There were no electric lights in sight either, although it was quite bright inside - perhaps they were catching a good angle of sunlight?
Tim
Omnia vestra castrorum habetur nobis.
It makes a helluva lotta sense to have the screen refresh rates ( or harmonics thereof ) very close to the power line frequencies so that the visual artifacts generated by the beat frequency between it and the ripple of a poorly filtered ( i.e. cheap linear ) power supply would not be quite so noticeable.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
In the beginning the protagonist is walking through an abandoned London and then running from some Infected and Godspeed You! Black Emperor is rocking out in the background with "East Hastings."
Tim
Omnia vestra castrorum habetur nobis.
I'd figure if you thought they were that important you could at least get their titles right. :)
Charlie's Angels 2 disappointing? What did you expect? It delivered:
* Women in various states of undress
* Said women shaking their groove things
* Explosions and wire-fu
* No pesky plot to distract you
Admittedly, John Cleese was wasted, though his acceptance of his daughter's real job was somewhat priceless...
C'mon, going into that movie expecting ANYTHING redeeming was asking too much.
(And the car wash for the final credits - excellent!)
---
Book(n): Utensil used to pass time while waiting for the TV repairman
I thought 28 Days Later was retarded. I didn't care about any of the characters, and the damn virus thing has been overplayed as it is. I didn't expect much, and I didn't get it.
Resident Evil was almost exactly the same movie, only set underground, and for a much better apocalyptic plot there's always Terry Gillam's 12 Monkeys...
Cool! Amazing Toys.
Right after I saw 28 days later I saw terminator III. When I saw the last scene of T3 the 28 days later line (paraphrased) "What, you got a plan or do you want to just find a hole and fuck?" rung in my head. Indeed, what a coincidence.
Photos.
In the movie 28 Days, a virus causes those infected with it to turn into killers. It turns out that there is an amoebic parasite called T. gondiithat actually manipulates the behavior of its intermediate host, the rat, to reach its ultimate target, the cat. Rats become infected with T. gondiii by eating infected beetles or worms. Once infected, the rats lose their fear of cats and become aggressive towards them and thereby becoming dinner for the cat. The parasite is then passed on to the cat where it reproduces in the cats brain but does not appear to change any of the cat's behaviours. After a time, the parasite leaves the cat via its feces where it is picked up by bettles and worms and the cycle starts again. The scary thing is that all mammals are susceptible to infection by T. Gondii, however for now it appears that the amoebas can reproduce only within members of the cat family.
So while there are infections like rabies that cause madness, it appears T. Gondii only affects the select behaviours in rats it needs in order continue as a species. There are societies where people eat cats and/or rats. I wonder how long it will be before T. Gondii evolves to affect humans?
Today's vices may be tomorrow's virtues.
The picture quality on 28 days later is so bad it's unwatchable. It's not a low budget movie (15 million) but for "artistic" reasons they shot it on miniDV, and didn't take any care with the picture quality at all. PAL miniDV can look quite good in the cinema if you take care to enlarge it correctly with good interpolation, and shoot it carefully so you don't over expose, and especially turn down (or preferably off) the sharpness control on the camera.
The people who shot this movie did none of these - or should I say, the opposite of this. They turned the bad digital sharpness full up (which makes the picture look like bad VHS) and over-exposed. The film print was obviously made with no attempt to improve the picture in any way at all.
The end result is a movie that looks so bad on the big screen it's barely watchable - and they expect you to pay real money to see it. There's no excuse for this - it's a movie that doesn't treat the viewer with respect.
If you must see this movie, see the DVD, because that's the same picture you'll see in the cinema - just many times larger....
-- oldthinkers unbellyfeel ingsoc
Hey, a movie about two guys who party themselves into amnesia is targeted at a key 18-25 substance-abusing demographic! Who's gonna believe that a famous chef (Julius Caesar invented Caesar Salad, right?) is an action hero?
It's more of a clearing up some confusion than debunking any myths....
Terry Nation once did an after-the-virus show for the BBC called Survivors. Aside from destroying civilization, the virus also allows rabid dogs to escape from quarantine. In one episode, people are attacked by these dogs, and themselves go mad, wanting only to spread the infection. Oddly enough, this never seems to happen in North America, even though rabies is endemic here.
They had a radio, and you can listen to French radio from the UK.
Trollem mirabilem hanc subnotationis exigiutas non caperet
I may be stupid for wondering this but after reading the review I still didn't get if he liked it or not.
After the disappointments that were Matrix 2 and Charlie's Angels 2, the summer movies have a lot to prove this year.
And what exactly were we expecing from Charlie's Angles 2?
"Quoting famous computer scientists out of context is the root of all evil (or at least most of it) in programming." - K
Didn't see the movie (can't stand the zombie flicks myself), but...
If the movie happened in "real life", it would take roughly a day for the rest of the world to figure out roughly what's happening. You'd see:
1. Extreme quarantine measures. There'd be a total blockade of Britain, a large, well-armed regiment blocking the Chunnel from all traffic, and escorts of air traffic. Anyone who doesn't stop gets killed. There will probably be a few infections outside of Britain, but the authorities will be rather more prone to use lethal force to deal with them.
2. After two weeks, the world is throughly scared to death. All British survivors are told they are remaining in quarantine indefinitely. Scientists discover what the plague is, but have no cure.
3. Weeks 3-6: the civilized world tries to figure out how the hell to deal with this plague. Massive military rescue operations to grab survivors, conventional military operations, and the use of nuclear weapons to contain the plague are discussed.
4. Weeks 7-9: Rescue ops are carried out against known survivor colonies. Coalition militaries (primarily NATO) take only a few casualties, mostly from equipment failures.
How would it play out in the end? I don't know. But the fact of the matter is, if it's between the lives of 500,000 people and a plague that could possibly end the world and destroy all of humanity... I know I would consider using nuclear weapons to destroy the British Isles and cauterize the remenants of the disease. I don't think I'd do it, but I'd have the option down on the table.
In extreme times, you may have to use extreme measures. They may or may not be over-reactions, but the safe side of an issue is obviously continuing the human race.
-Erwos
Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
The picture quality is not bad, it's just different from what most movies choose. As you point out PAL miniDV can look good and the look of this film is a deliberate choice. It's just a different aesthetic from what most films choose.
The coloration and sharpness fit in with the movie. You really get a sense that you are watching some post-apocalpyse news item that has been put together in ad hoc fashion by a handful of survivors struggling to keep the technology working. In the recent Gulf War the choppy video footage may not have been ideal but it certainly lent authenticity to what you were watching. It's the same with 28 Days Later, the story and the presentation of that story are just more tightly integrated than most movies.
Shoplifting, by definition, infers the intent to take without remuneration. The taxicab driver leaves a (presumably his) credit card behind at the register -- a clear indication that, while humorously/morbidly conceding the inability to pay, he would have done so given the chance.
Just wanted to stick up for the good guys...
"The picture quality is not bad, it's just different from what most movies choose" - wrong.
The picture quality is BAD - actually very bad. It's technically inept. It looks atrocious. To say that the picture quality gives you "a sense that you are watching some post-apocalpyse news item" is just rubbish. A good director can make you see grit and realism while presenting you with a perfect picture - a poor director will just show you a gritty picture. It's not clever to make a picture look deliberately bad - it's a slur on the audience who payed good money to see a movie that looks worse than many student movies I've seen.
What's worse is that directorially from a picture composition point of view and editing, the movie was very well done. If only they'd take care with the picture it would have been watchably tollerable, but it never would have excused the bad plot.
It's a movie of contrasts - it's not low budget, but has a zero budget look and feel, the picture quality is bad, but composition and editing are great, the plot is bad, but the acting good. Overall it's a movie that leaves you with a bad headache and a ripped off feeling in the wallet.
-- oldthinkers unbellyfeel ingsoc
Has a quote that says something like "Nobody on this side of the atlantic owns a baseball bat to play baseball with."
Anybody else remember the scene with the doggy?
I wondered whether an allergic reaction might be the cause if the instantaneous response to "infection".
The way I figured it, the immediate insanity was a manifestation of an acute allergic response. While longer term, over a plausible time period, the aggression of "infection" was sustained by the virus, producing the same allergen internally.
My 2 cents.
Link! I need a driver program for Karma Sutra... Nevermind.
Surprised the heck out of me that it was a good as it was, considering the lack of James Cameron,
I always like to think of the first two Terminator movies being good despite James Cameron.
Steven Seagall would never play a chef. CPO Ryback was a cook. What kind of commiefaghippie are you, you don't know the difference?
A movie where the zombies run faster than you can.
Not your typical limping, sedentary zombies. More like track runners on crack.
> I always like to think of the first two Terminator movies being good despite James Cameron.
If you want to fool yourself, go right ahead. Per IMDb, here's part of his _writers_ filmography:
Titanic
Strange Days
True Lies (screenplay)
Terminator 2
Abyss
Aliens
Terminator
I think you should give the guy a damned break. He's got some pretty obvious personality problems, but so do most people as creative as he is. It seems to come with the territory pretty often.
Equilibirum is basically the love child of "The Matrix" and either "1984" or "Fahrenheit 451"-- more towards the latter, I think.
I thought the fight scenes were pretty cool and well choreographed, but that's it. I was very glad I downloaded the DVD rip instead of paying money to see it.
As far as I know, you're correct.
NTSC is basically North America, PAL (and SECAM, which is also 50Hz IIRC) is nearly everywhere else. (That's probably wrong in places, but it's a nice generalization.) Likewise, 60Hz power is mostly in North America, and 50Hz power is mostly everywhere else. I'm pretty sure it's not at all a coincidence that TV refresh rates and electric power frequencies tend to match, as you observed.
Mod down posts with a "Free Mac Mini/iPod" sig, they're spam!
The problem with the "allergic" notion is that the nature of allergic reactions is determined by your immune system. You can get different allergic reactions depending upon which part of the immune system is triggered, but they are all part of the repertoire of "standard" allergic reactions, none of which include insantity.
It looks like it from the ads, and I don't like horror movies, so I will have to wait and see it on DVD or decide from reviews...
ttyl
Farrell
CAN-CON 2019 - Ottawa's only book oriented Science Fiction Convention! October 18-20, Sheraton Hotel, Ottawa, Canada h
Don't worry, you can only see the Hulk only during the last ten minutes of the movie. The rest of the movie is only used to set up those last ten minutes.
He's educating the public. Considering the ignorance and the potential hysteria of the public, I think it's a worthwhile endeavour.
"Reinvents the Zombie movie"
"Scary as Hell"
Crack must be cheap and plentiful amongst film critics these days. There was nothing original about this movie except the lengths the studio and reviewers went to decieve the public on it's quality and originality. It's just a mishmash of standard zombie flicks in a British setting with bad film stock and worse editing. I bought the hype and got fucked up the ass on this one.
28 days later, this fucking movie finally ended...
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
You know, some of us enjoyed the fact that Schindler's List was in Black and White, even though they easily could have made it in colour.
Hell, some people (not me) even thought it made Blair Witch better because of the poor picture quality.
If you don't like it, don't watch it. It's pretty simple. There are plenty of pixel-perfect CGI masterpieces for you to see this summer.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
There's actually a few people who have survived rabies. At least some of them had the rabies vaccine, but too late to prevent the onset of symptoms. Apparently the survivors were generally insane or brain-damaged...
Tim
Omnia vestra castrorum habetur nobis.
The picture quality is BAD - actually very bad. It's technically inept. It looks atrocious. To say that the picture quality gives you "a sense that you are watching some post-apocalpyse news item" is just rubbish. A good director can make you see grit and realism while presenting you with a perfect picture - a poor director will just show you a gritty picture. It's not clever to make a picture look deliberately bad - it's a slur on the audience who payed good money to see a movie that looks worse than many student movies I've seen.
You know- this comment would come off a lot better coming from someone who has directed or produced one or more internationally aclaimed movies. Coming from someone who has seen "many student movies", the comment seems a bit less insightful. Given that the movie was picked up by the US theaters a year after it was released in the UK, I am going to go out on a limb and say that your opinion is not one that is included in a professional filmmaking process.
Good point on this movie matching the demands of the times. But I would counter with the amazing run of antihero films of the Seventies.
As for "popcorn flick", yeah, as I said, I actually enjoyed it.
As for me and good stuff, I've concluded that, with all the filmmakers out there these days, there are probably tons of good complex movies being made. It's just that we simply can't keep track of it all.
memfree, where are you in our time of need?
Rustin
Data is the lever, rigor the fulcrum, brains the force that drives it all.
All of which is neither here nor there. I'm not talking about SF with an innovative premise. I'm talking about stuff which just ignores reality, and gets away with it because it's aimed at an ignorant audience. Maybe instead of Caesar meets Boone, a better example would be that SNL Skit "What if Eleanor Roosevelt Could Fly?"
So your friend is gay. It's no big deal.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/28DaysLater-112323 6/
126 good reviews, 18 bad. That doesn't seem too mixed to me.
"To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." -Stephen Hawking
What I said was "Sequel to...". Resident Evil, which was a silly movie but with a lucious performance by Jovovich, ended with her awakening in a hospital, alone in a deserted and dead city. This is where "28 Days Later" starts, and that was my statement. Probably much too subtle for the US market, I admit. Next time I will explain it slow-ly usi-in short words and many dia-grams.
Ceci n'est pas une signature
How often, people here protest that FONT 88 password on a screen are ridiculous as well as other pathetic attempt to simulate hacking by showing a maze-like quick cartoon in film ? Should not our time better be used searching for better encryption, compression, GUI, programming tricks than such critizism :).
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
Cleese was wasted? If you want to talk about wasted, you can't not mention the fact that they didn't give ol' George McFly (ok, Crispin Glover) enough to do. He stole the first film by a mile, and did well with what they gave him this time around. He kicked more ass in the couple of scenes he got than the Angels did across both movies combined.
And as much as I like explosions and daft wire work as much as the next guy, that ending was too far.
(spoilers, obvously) - Why would a few singed eyebrows from a gas explosion stop her when a headlong crash without seatbelts at over 100mph right through a wall didn't? And I know she researched how flying squirrels are able to glide, but the flying Demi Moore was just dumb. She's not Batman. The Angels aren't Spiderman. And Bats would kick Spidey's arse every day of the week and still have time for a Sunday matinee performance.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
However, even with an incubation period of 2-3 days, instead of a few seconds, there would have been no film. Travellers would have spread the plague to most if not all major travel centers before symptoms showed up.
That said, viruses and bacteria do attack different parts of the body, conceivably even different parts of the brain, so having one or more emotional/cognitive functions pegged out is not so unbelievable. The part I thought was lame, was the girl's comments about never again hearing original music. Since when did the RIAA remove the ability to sing or make instruments?
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
> Good, clean summer fun - aside from 'the scenes of maiming, dismemberment, clubbing, shooting, bayoneting and shoplifting'
... he stole a packet of biscuits from my shop! " :o)
Since when has shoplifting been lumped together with maiming, dismemberment, bayonetting and the like? "It was terrible your honour: he cut off my hand, clubbed, shot and bayonetted me, and then he...
Dog Soldiers is also a good one.
British Army unit on an exercise find themselves holed up in a cottage in a seige against werewolves.
Worth it for the cheesy Matrix gag.
Day of the Triffids was made into perhaps the worst 50s Sci-Fi movie of all time. In the film, the character of Josella was all but eliminatd, and it had a mandatory happy ending tacked on - the plants melt when exposed to salt water (I kid you not).
It was also made into a 6 part 1981 BBC TV series. It was very good, and from memory, very similar in tone to parts of 28 Days Later. The plants were a bit rubbery, but we can live with that, right?
Google brought up this episode guide
Actack the person, not the picture eh?
Go on - tell me how excellent the picture quality is, and tell me how superb the movie is and I'll tell you you're not qualified the criticise the movie because you're Steven Spieldberg.
The fact is that the picture qualit on the movie is unwatchable and looks like VHS. This isn't a "subjective" bit of filn criticism, but a quite objective fact. I've watched enough TV and movies to know bad picture quality when I see it.
I actaully saw the movie on a free preview, and was shocked at how utterly bad it was, and because no review I've read of it tells the truth about the awful picture, I'm telling slashdotters so that they can save their hard earned cash. I'd recommend that if you do wish to see the movie, you buy a DVD, because that's what you're watching in the cinema, just scaled up many times.
Perhaps they should just do that for the next Star Wars movie, shoot it on miniDV, make a DVD from it and play that in the cinema from a cheepo video projector. It'll give you the feel that you're watching "interstellar news" or something.
Perhaps they should make all movies on VHS so that you can enjoy the same high quality picture at home as you do in the cinema, seeing exactly what the director intended.
-- oldthinkers unbellyfeel ingsoc
You can't see the picture quality on a movie until you've payed your cash and sat down in the cinema chair. No review I've read mentions that the picture quality is dreadful, so I'm doing a public service announcement to warn you.
Schindler's List was high quality, beautiful black and white, not washed out VHS from the rental store black and white. There's a difference.
-- oldthinkers unbellyfeel ingsoc
Ebert likes it? Holy crap! Stop the presses! No, seriously, getting Ebert to like a film is as simple as sitting him in front of the screen and hitting the "Play" button. At least it became less pronounced after the departure of Siskel. I mean come on, who hasn't seen their share of previews for horrible movies boasting about their "Two Thumbs Up!" rating from Siskel and Ebert (or Ebert and Roper) like it's a red badge for courage? Movie critics are morons with laughable "opinions" that contribute little to society, other than helping others to make money off a bad product.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006LA8 4/qid%3D1057578335/026-7809571-6690832
is Region 2 encoded.
This film came out in the UK a few months back. It's basically a zombie flick, so you should ignore any scientific ponderings about the nature of viruses, and suspend disbelief.
However, this is in places an intelligent film, and worthy of good review. However, Varmus critisices the scientific implications of the film, whereas the artistic and social aspects of the film are much more insightful.
For example, the film contains a nice twist on the whole zombie-movie genre. The fact that in a post-apocolyptic world, the survivors will be the last people you want to inherit the earth (e.g. stupid young men tooled up with ridiculous firepower), is a good point, and speaks some volumes about the direction our world could go.
I picked up the DVD while recently in London, mildly surprised that I had not even heard of the movie out in California. As I watched the DVD, I thought it was essentially a modern remake of Day of the Triffids...
the "raging" infected who attack anything that moves don't actually fight between themselves until there is only one left standing (e.g. in the tunnel)? also, am i the only one who saw this: during the initial part of the movie when Jim is walking alone in London, some guy can be seen walking in the far background. I was expecting Jim to go "HEY!!" and run after him... but it seems obvious he's just someone who happened to walk into the shot.
Not really. Zombie would imply dead. It "resembles" a zombie movie but the dead aren't coming back to life.
I enjoyed the movie quite a bit.. I went into it expecting a so-so zombie movie and am happy to say that it far exceeded my expectations.
If this is Heaven I'm bailin out! I cant tolerate this ol tin-tub, so fulla trash and rats...
I just clicked the word "review"
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
They were going to call it 'withdrawal symptoms' but initial audience tests suggested they wanted continuity with the first one. Admittedly it has a harder edge to it, but heroin is a bitch to kick.
Charlie's Angels 2 disappointing? What did you expect? It delivered:
* Women in various states of undress
* Said women shaking their groove things
Said women can't shake what they don't have. They need to be taken out for a good meal.
mods metamodded as "Unfair"
> If the guy was slick enough to hook up all the
> christmas lights to the batteries, it must have
> been with a power inverter. 110v/220v lights
> won't be very bright at 12v, right?
Christmas lights are actually rated around 3 volts, with a bypass resistor in parallel to keep the string lit if one burns out. Enough 3V lights are placed in series to soak up the whole 120V, though as each one burns out, the voltage drop decreases, making the rest burn brighter. This is why the instructions (yes, they have those) say to replace any dead bulbs ASAP to prevent fire hazard/reduced bulb life/etc.
"Time is an abstract concept devised by carbon-based lifeforms to monitor their ongoing decay." - Thundercleese
Valid point - is Cameron Diaz steadily shrinking or what? Drew Barrymore, on the other hand, at least has some curves, a feature much appreciated in this neck of the woods.
(And how did we get from Nobel Prizes to Charlie's Angels?)
---
Book(n): Utensil used to pass time while waiting for the TV repairman
The short version is it sucked...
Whats up with the lousy camera work and attrocious lighting?
(Bad lighting doesn't increase dramatic tension, it's boring, cruddy to look at, and puts me to sleep. Oh, and frame jitter when doing a solo shot of an 'infected' is something a grade schooler would do for FX...)
Where were the dead people, and the dead peoples cars?
London is cleaner and in better condition than a regular day, much less after a zombie riot, what's up with that?
If the 'infected' are photophobic, why do they keep going into bright lights?
How can you not ingest food/water, and yet barf up gallons of blood multiple times?
How does a guy in a coma survive several days unattended and still have a half full 6 hour IV drip attached?
If armed only with a baseball bat, why go into an obvious den of 'infected' when you have no reason to?
A virus that replicates and totally mutates you in about 30 seconds from initial exposure?
Thats a lot of cloth and sewing to spell out HELLO when HELP or SOS are shorter and more appropriate.
Does anyone else think this was way too similar to "Omega Man"?
(And how did we get from Nobel Prizes to Charlie's Angels?)
:-)
We were defining the extreme ends of the intelligence spectrum.
mods metamodded as "Unfair"
Did you cut and past this yourself, or did mother help you?