ARRIVAL: Nominated for 8 Oscars including Best Picture - NO SPOILERS PLEASE

[Eug]

I wouldn't say that I go out of my way to make sure other people know it isn't a good movie. A thread on a forum is one thing.

For me, I'm angry for two reasons.

First, this movie had amazing potential to be great. But it stopped there. Two thirds through the movie they shit the bed and just said "fuck it, lets take the easy way out" and then did. "Mind fuck for the sake of mind fuck" is stupid, period. They could have ended that movie a hundred ways that don't fit into the "mind fuck" paradigm and I'd have been thrilled with the movie.

Second, and far more importantly for me, this had real potential to bring real sci-fi back into prime time; to be the start of something other than marvel dc super bullshit ironfisting shitheads. Those of us that yearn for old-school Star Trek, for example and are vomiting in the streets over ST: Beyond - epically let down by what should have been pure sci-fi cinematic greatness - are pissed off by this. A nonsensical non-sci-fi ending to an otherwise pure sci-fi movie is a great swirling fuck-you to the genre as a whole. "We don't give a damn about sci-fi. We just want money." Fuck. That.

So IOW you didn't like the ending because it wasn't Star Trek?

I mean I like Star Trek and all, but I didn't expect an old-school Star Trek ending and I am glad it didn't have one.

And if we're talking old school Star Trek I'd have to say one of the bigger let-downs for me in sci-fi was the ending of ST: The Motion Picture.

Meh, I liked the ending.

Me too.

 

[cbrunny]

So IOW you didn't like the ending because it wasn't Star Trek?

I mean I like Star Trek and all, but I didn't expect an old-school Star Trek ending and I am glad it didn't have one.

And if we're talking old school Star Trek I'd have to say one of the bigger let-downs for me in sci-fi was the ending of ST: The Motion Picture.



Me too.

not what i said. but you go ahead. keep rubbing that hard on you have for this movie.

 

[ViRGE]

So, Arrival has surpassed $95 million domestic. Not sure if it will make it to $100 million, unless there is some post Oscar nomination bump. It's currently at $160+ million worldwide.

Speaking of the Oscars: Arrival is set to get 5-7 Oscar nominations, and maybe win 1 or 2. The Oscar nominations will be announced next week. It won't get nominated for Best Original Score though, because it got disqualified.

How on earth do you get disqualified for a Best Original Score Oscar?

not what i said. but you go ahead. keep rubbing that hard on you have for this movie.

Easy, buddy. There's no reason to be nasty here.

 

[Eug]

How on earth do you get disqualified for a Best Original Score Oscar?

Parts of it are not original, and the Academy says the voters can't be expected to know which parts are original and which parts are old stuff. Interestingly, it's original enough overall for some other awards, but not original enough for the Oscars.

Arrival disqualified from Oscar for Best Original Score because it's 'diluted' by old music

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released a list of 145 films that will be eligible for this year’s Oscar for Best Original Score. That list doesn’t include Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic Arrival, which has an original score by Jóhann Jóhannsson.

The decision to disqualify Arrival was unanimous, Variety reports, due to the fact that it contains some borrowed music, including pieces of Max Richter’s “On the Nature of Daylight,” that are played at pivotal moments at the start and end of the film. The Academy’s music branch says most voters can’t be expected to differentiate between these unoriginal pieces and Jóhannsson’s work. That decision is in keeping with an eligibility guideline that says a score can be disqualified if it’s “diluted by the use of pre-existing music.”

While the decision is understandable, it’s a bit of a shame — Arrival has a stunning score that’s also integral to the film’s broader sound design. Jóhannsson has been nominated for the Academy Award twice before, for his work on Villeneuve’s Sicario last year and James Marsh’s The Theory of Everything in 2014.

Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea, which has a mostly original score composed by Lesley Barber, also features several classical music compositions and was disqualified on the same basis. When reached for comment via email Barber told The Verge, “In the making of this film, our director decided early on to use certain pieces of music from the classical repertoire as part of the music blend in the film. While I understand that this might be confusing to Academy members in their consideration of what is mine, it was obviously not the basis upon which music was chosen for the film. While I accept the Academy's decision, I also support my director’s decision to use these pieces and I’m also very proud of the substantial contribution (referenced correctly in many reviews) that the original score made to the film as well.”

 

[ImpulsE69]

those aliens were ugly af. how can anyone think of them in a sexual way?

Well..when you need a helping hand....

 

[ViRGE]

Parts of it are not original, and the Academy says the voters can't be expected to know which parts are original and which parts are old stuff. Interestingly, it's original enough overall for some other awards, but not original enough for the Oscars.

Huh, I had no idea. Thanks for the info.

 

[gorb]

I thought it was great

 

[Eug]

Arrival is set to get 5-7 Oscar nominations, and maybe win 1 or 2. The Oscar nominations will be announced next week. It won't get nominated for Best Original Score though, because it got disqualified. So, what are the possible nominations?

Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actress
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Film Editing
Best Sound Editing

Wow. Gold Derby and The LA Times are predicting as many as 10 Oscar nominations for Arrival.

http://www.goldderby.com/article/2017/arrival-oscar-nominations-amy-adams-denis-villeneuve/
http://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...r-nominations-predictions-20170123-story.html

In addition to the above, they are predicting Oscar nominations for:

Best Production Design
Best Visual Effects
Best Sound Mixing

The pundits are still saying they really only expect it to win one award though, and that is for Best Adapted Screenplay, but that is most definitely is not a lock since Moonlight is high up on most people's lists too.

I'll just stick with my original prediction of 7 noms, which now seems conservative.

 

[Eug]

Nominated for 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. However, Amy Adams did NOT get a nomination for Best Actress.

Best Picture
Best Director
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Production Design

I agree with the comments out there. Given that Amy Adams gave an excellent performance which basically is the entire movie, and the movie got nominated for Best Picture, it's odd that she didn't get a nomination herself.

Interestingly, Amy Adams was briefly listed there on the Academy website as getting a nomination, but then was removed:

Hmm...

Oscars apologize for Amy Adams, Tom Hanks website flub

Deadpool didn't get any nominations either. Meanwhile Suicide Squad managed to get one, but that was for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

 

[cbrunny]

I am legitimately surprised.

 

[Pulsar]

Nominated for 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. However, Amy Adams did NOT get a nomination for Best Actress.

Best Picture
Best Director
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Production Design

I agree with the comments out there. Given that Amy Adams gave an excellent performance which basically is the entire movie, and the movie got nominated for Best Picture, it's odd that she didn't get a nomination herself.

Interestingly, Amy Adams was briefly listed there on the Academy website as getting a nomination, but then was removed:

Hmm...

Oscars apologize for Amy Adams, Tom Hanks website flub

Deadpool didn't get any nominations either. Meanwhile Suicide Squad managed to get one, but that was for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

Deadpool was an incredibly good movie, but the Oscars will never reward a movie with that style of theme. It's too below their "tastes".

 

[Eug]

Weird. After the Oscar nominations haul, the studio changed the movie release to include 8 minutes of extras. It sounds like they basically adding Blu-ray extras to the theatrical release. I'm not sure that will get them over the $100 million domestic mark though, esp. since they didn't really advertise the rerelease at all, and the movie is in so few theatres now, because it's been out almost 3 months now.

On the heels of receiving 8 Oscar® nominations for the acclaimed film ARRIVAL, Paramount Pictures is re-releasing the critically-acclaimed and award-winning film in theatres across the country this Friday, January 27. The re-release will include exclusive bonus footage featuring thought-provoking commentary and a behind-the-scenes look from Director Denis Villeneuve, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and other cast and filmmakers. The bonus features, which can only be seen in theatres, shed insight on the filmmaking process and creative vision behind the story. The film has earned over $170M globally since November.

In addition to its Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, the AFI, PGA, WGA, SAG, Critics Choice Awards, and National Board of Review have lauded ARRIVAL. The film’s star Amy Adams recently received the National Board of Review’s Best Actress award, Palm Springs International Film Festival’s Chairman’s Award and was honored by the 2016 Gotham Independent Film Awards with a career achievement honor.

It says the extras are only available in theatres but I'm thinking that's just because the Blu-ray isn't out yet. It comes out on Valentine's Day.

 

[WelshBloke]

Deadpool was an incredibly good movie...

Deadpool was OK. It was moderately funny and not shit, which for a super(anti)hero film is about as good as its going to get I guess.

I really enjoyed Arrival in a way that I wasn't expecting to. Excellent film!

 

[Eug]

Weird. After the Oscar nominations haul, the studio changed the movie release to include 8 minutes of extras. It sounds like they basically adding Blu-ray extras to the theatrical release. I'm not sure that will get them over the $100 million domestic mark though, esp. since they didn't really advertise the rerelease at all, and the movie is in so few theatres now, because it's been out almost 3 months now.

Ah, so the expanded the theatre release hugely. Maybe along with the Oscar nominations they thought it might be a popular Valentine's season movie or something. It was below 200 theatres last week, but now it's up to over 1200 theatres again.

Deadpool was OK. It was moderately funny and not shit, which for a super(anti)hero film is about as good as its going to get I guess.

I really enjoyed Arrival in a way that I wasn't expecting to. Excellent film!

Yeah, I too thought Deadpool was just OK. I wasn't too impressed it as a superhero movie overall, but I did like Ryan Reynolds sarcastic sense of humour and delivery. For some movies it gets a bit much, but somehow it worked for this movie.

BTW, I ended up not buying the Deadpool Blu-ray because they studios pissed me off by including the Atmos track only on the 4K UHD release and not the regular Blu-ray, not even the included Blu-ray in the 4K UHD combo back.

 

[ViRGE]

BTW, I ended up not buying the Deadpool Blu-ray because they studios pissed me off by including the Atmos track only on the 4K UHD release and not the regular Blu-ray, not even the included Blu-ray in the 4K UHD combo back.

Why not just watch the 4K then?

 

[Eug]

Why not just watch the 4K then?

Don't have a 4K player, or a 4K display device, and I'm not buying one any time soon. A decent 4K player is several hundred $, and we're in the midst of an HDR format war too, and they don't display Dolby Vision HDR. It seems stupid to buy a player now that doesn't support it, when the players that support Dolby Vision (along with HDR10) will come this year.

Ironically though, the PVR I just got is 4K... but I'm not subscribed to any 4K channels.

I'll probably get a 4K UHD Blu-ray player in about 3 years after the prices come down on players with both HDR10 and Dolby Vision. And I'll buy a new 4K TV when my plasma dies. As for my projector, not any time soon, since a true 4K projector is upwards of around $10000. So probably not for close to a decade. In fact, I just got a brand new 1080p projector just a few months ago. I love it.

Sony VPL-HW45es

 

[Murloc]

how did I not hear about this movie?

Thanks for bringing it up.

 

[Eug]

how did I not hear about this movie?

Thanks for bringing it up.

It will probably be in the theatres for a few more weeks, and they've just expanded the release to over 1200 theatres in Canada and the US after the 8 Oscar nominations, but it also comes out on Blu-ray in 2 weeks, on Valentine's Day.

 

[rockyct]

how did I not hear about this movie?

Thanks for bringing it up.

I bought a $35 Oscar pass from my local Regal that will give you unlimited viewings of the best picture nominations (including Arrival) for the 10 days leading up to the Oscars. I've already seen Arrival twice during it's main run, but I haven't seen any of the other best picture nominations. Tickets are $14 at my Regal for reserved seats, so I figure that if I see three movies it's worth it. I'm sure I'll buy the blu ray (which I would be very surprised if it doesn't have the featurette shown in theaters) but I may just see it in theater again.

 

[SKORPI0]

Enjoyed this flash forwards, non-zero sum game movie. Nicely made on how humans can possibly communicate with aliens and not end up killing each other.

 

[Murloc]

I think this is a good movie, interesting concepts.

 

[twelfth]

Parts of it are not original, and the Academy says the voters can't be expected to know which parts are original and which parts are old stuff. Interestingly, it's original enough overall for some other awards, but not original enough for the Oscars.

That's a damn shame. I truly thought it was a strong contender for best score. It practically is the glue that binds the movie tighter together. The part where you start picking up on the score also going in reverse? Chills, man. That movie was truly the sum of its parts.

 

[Eug]

Happy Valentine's Day! The disc releases for Arrival are out today.

There is a 4K UHD version, but it's not a must buy, since the original movie was shot in 2.8K and the visual effects were likely done at 2K. Also, the digital intermediate was 2K. So the 4K release is a purely upscaled version. That said, this review says some of the detail and some of the HDR colour is an improvement in the 4K version.

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Arrival-4K-Blu-ray/168185/

Both releases have the same DTS-HD MA 7.1 audio. No Atmos on either disc.

However, I may still get the 4K version, even though I have no 4K hardware. Up here in Canada, the 4K version is CAD$30 or US$23, and the regular Blu-ray version is CAD$25 (or US$19.15). So the price difference is only $3.85.

BTW, Arrival was nominated for 9 BAFTA awards, but only won one BAFTA, for sound.

 

[TwiceOver]

I was really hopeful for this movie, the previews looked great, but I just didn't understand the "twist". If someone wants to ELI5 me the explanation in a PM or wrapped in a spoiler tag, that would be great.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

I was really hopeful for this movie, the previews looked great, but I just didn't understand the "twist". If someone wants to ELI5 me the explanation in a PM or wrapped in a spoiler tag, that would be great.

Spoiler: Stuff

Disregard the 'flashbacks' at the beginning which were intended to lead you to believe it happened in the past (child dying), as that is actually one of those movie 'thing happens! find out why!' moments (it actually takes place later). Through learning the language of the aliens, she learns to think as they do, which is non-linearly. She starts 'remembering' events that haven't happened yet, aka seeing the future. It's a dubious concept but they tailored it off the theory that you learn to think a certain way as you learn a language. I presumed that she truly 'understood' the language vs just 'learning the words' as her cohort did (which is why he couldn't see the future). All of the later events revolved around this. I can explain specifics if needed but that should cover it.