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News & ArtsMonday, November 24, 2008
Film Last Night in the End of the World
Posted by Paul Constant on Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 4:23 PM
Last night I saw The Quantum of Solace at the Cinerama. I agree with Jen Graves' review of it, although I think I liked it a little bit better than she did. (The action scenes were really fucking choppy, though! Why the hell can't directors make an action scene that makes sense anymore?) Anyway. That's not the point. The point is that before the movie, this teaser trailer came on:
So it's for an awful-looking movie called 2012 based on that hooey about how the world is prophesied to end in 2012. In the middle of some (admittedly impressive) SFX shots of the ocean pouring into the Himalayas and destroying a temple, these words appear on the screen, in title cards:
How would the world’s leaders
(pause)
prepare six billion people
(pause)
for the end of the world?
And there's a huge dramatic movie trailer pause and then the answer comes up:
They wouldn’t
The theater was very, very quiet, but a few rows ahead of me, in a very quiet, earnest voice, a young man said aloud:
"Obama would."
And everybody laughed, probably because most of us were thinking some variation of that thought. Right now, before Obama takes office, it's like we're in a post-apocalyptic-thought world. He'll save us from anything. I hope we'll remember what this feels like a year and a half from now. It's a pretty amazing thing.
1
It is amazing. Every time I read an article that says something to the effect of 'when Obama's president' I just start smiling
3
Yay. I get to do one of those 'i was there too' comments. And add some extra value with remark that the Obama quip was well-timed, didn't come off as too rehearsed and was met with a hearty laugh from most plus the required second round from people asking "What did he say?" and then laughing.
On another front, it appears Cinerama, like the rest of theaters in city, is now staffed by only 3 people. Watching the children workers run back and forth between their posts was heartbreaking.
On another front, it appears Cinerama, like the rest of theaters in city, is now staffed by only 3 people. Watching the children workers run back and forth between their posts was heartbreaking.
4
The action sequences in Quantum of Solace were a mess, nothing like the awe-inspiring crane scene in Casino Royale. The whole movie felt like a bridge; it didn't stand alone as a film. I had read the lukewarm reviews, but I was still disapponted.
I don't know much about the mythology, but multiple people have told me that the world is ending on my 29th birthday: 12/21/12. I'm inclined to agree.
I don't know much about the mythology, but multiple people have told me that the world is ending on my 29th birthday: 12/21/12. I'm inclined to agree.
5
It isn't about Obama *saving* us from everything, its about Obama telling us the truth about the challenges we face; something he has said over and over that he would always do, and something that those who know him well say we can expect of him.
We can't hope to solve anything if our leaders pretend nothing is wrong.
We can't hope to solve anything if our leaders pretend nothing is wrong.
6
I hated Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland was a snoozefest. What made producers think Forster would know how to direct an action film? Whatever his weaknesses with action sequences, Nolan's work was actually interesting enough to merit his being handed the Batman franchise.
7
I was at that showing. I giggled.
I liked QoS, it was better paced than Casino Royale. It was also 100% gadget free (except for future-y cellphones and computers, which don't count). Yes, the action scenes are very shaky and jump, you have the Bourne movies to thank for that.
I liked QoS, it was better paced than Casino Royale. It was also 100% gadget free (except for future-y cellphones and computers, which don't count). Yes, the action scenes are very shaky and jump, you have the Bourne movies to thank for that.
8
The action sequences in Bourne Ultimatum were so choppy and blurry that they actually gave me a headache and made me nauseated; I eventually had to fast forward past some of them.
9
I totally posted my last comment about the Bourne Ultimatum before I saw Trouble's comment. Glad I'm not alone.
10
how much water would be needed to flood over the top of the himalyas? let's assume an average pass there is 5 km above sea level (about 16K').
510,065,600 km2 x 5 km = 2,550,328,000 km3 additional water. just maybe there's less than that in all the unmelted glaciers & ice caps? the earth will end when the sun cooks us.
510,065,600 km2 x 5 km = 2,550,328,000 km3 additional water. just maybe there's less than that in all the unmelted glaciers & ice caps? the earth will end when the sun cooks us.
12
that would be some killer surfing.
i'll probably see this movie, but can we all agree that after 2012 everyone has to stop with the end of the world predictions? first it was 2000, then 2001 to adjust for faulty calenders, then 2008 (which could still happen i guess), now we all have to wait for 2012 to see if some retard guessed right. it's stupid.
i'll probably see this movie, but can we all agree that after 2012 everyone has to stop with the end of the world predictions? first it was 2000, then 2001 to adjust for faulty calenders, then 2008 (which could still happen i guess), now we all have to wait for 2012 to see if some retard guessed right. it's stupid.
13
first - last wednesday night the same thing happened at the cinerama - whaaaat? yup, someone made the obama comment and lots of laughs. so many of us are in a better mood after this election...even the apocalypse can't bring us down.
secondly:
WORST
BOND
MOVIE
EVER
!!
it was awful and i mean, really awful. blah!
secondly:
WORST
BOND
MOVIE
EVER
!!
it was awful and i mean, really awful. blah!
16
@12, it's the motherfuckin Mayan Calendar, not some retard! ... Unless you're being topical, but really belatedly.
18
I was lounging around in bed the other day thinking about Obama and about how much he inspires me, and I kept thinking about him, and getting more inspired, and then I would think about Obama a little bit more, and get even more inspired, until I thought really hard about Obama and about how much he inspires me that I had a huge wave of Obama-inspired inspiration come over me, and I started having the most powerful Obasms I have ever had in my life, Obasm after Obasm, multiple Earth-shaking Obasms over and over again, inspiring me so much!!!
20
The special effects may have gotten better, but that awful soundtrack music is totally Irwin Allen 1970s.
21
So. The Mayan's calendar says 2012 is the end of the world. Lets see.... hmmmm. Those Mayans? Didn't THEY go extinct several centuries ago?
I guess a society that couldn't predict the end of their own civilization couldn't possibly be doubted to predict the end of the world.
I guess a society that couldn't predict the end of their own civilization couldn't possibly be doubted to predict the end of the world.
22
@21,
I don't know about the Mayan calendar, but the Aztec calendar predicted the world would end, as a cyclical process that happens every few centuries, in 1519.
I don't know about the Mayan calendar, but the Aztec calendar predicted the world would end, as a cyclical process that happens every few centuries, in 1519.
23
@21: there are still Mayan people in Guatemala.
The Mayan calendar is a interlocking circular clock-like apparatus that just "re-sets" itself at the end of a 5126.3 year cycle. It is a grand cultural misunderstanding to believe that the end of the calendar "ends the world."
The Mayan calendar is a interlocking circular clock-like apparatus that just "re-sets" itself at the end of a 5126.3 year cycle. It is a grand cultural misunderstanding to believe that the end of the calendar "ends the world."
24
So because the Mayans didn't feel like extending their calendar past 2012 that's when the world has to end? Perhaps they just though it was a waste of time to plan more than several centuries ahead. According to my wall calendar, the world ends in a little more than a month.
25
Two comments:
1) I despise Roland Emmerich. Everything he touches turns to shit, or become more shit-caked than it was before he arrived. This movie will suck, suck, suck.
2) There's a weird disconnect right now with the movies coming out and the post-Obama unbearable lightness we're experiencing. These movies were all greenlighted a year ago or more, when the country was spiraling downward with Bush fatigue. We're still spiraling downward, but somehow something like 2012 seems comically pessimistic now.
1) I despise Roland Emmerich. Everything he touches turns to shit, or become more shit-caked than it was before he arrived. This movie will suck, suck, suck.
2) There's a weird disconnect right now with the movies coming out and the post-Obama unbearable lightness we're experiencing. These movies were all greenlighted a year ago or more, when the country was spiraling downward with Bush fatigue. We're still spiraling downward, but somehow something like 2012 seems comically pessimistic now.
28
You guys, and especially #20, can we talk for a second about the soundtrack to this trailer using the same music (if re-orchestrated) as the original trailer for The Shining, which is the single take of the hallway with the slow motion blood pouring down the elevator shaft, eeriely coinciding with the slow motion oceans pouring down the Himalayas?
Can we talk about this for a second? Because this isn't fair.
Can we talk about this for a second? Because this isn't fair.
29
I GOOGLED "2012"!
And what it comes up with is a link to INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN CONTINUITY....
"The Mayans prophesized it. Science has confirmed it. And yet, the government won't tell you a word about it. The odds of global destruction in 2012 have been confirmed at 94%. Specific preparations are being made to ensure the survival of a small population."
How do you ensure your chance at survival? WELL, REGISTER FOR THE LOTTERY, OF COURSE!
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
And what it comes up with is a link to INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN CONTINUITY....
"The Mayans prophesized it. Science has confirmed it. And yet, the government won't tell you a word about it. The odds of global destruction in 2012 have been confirmed at 94%. Specific preparations are being made to ensure the survival of a small population."
How do you ensure your chance at survival? WELL, REGISTER FOR THE LOTTERY, OF COURSE!
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
30
@28: Yeah, reusing soundtrack cues from completely different movies for trailers is bizarre, but very common. For example, when I saw the trailer for The Time Machine a few years back I noticed they were using the Stargate theme.
31
@27 New seats are cool but red color isn't as rich as the old ones. Firmer spring action means reduced knee busting. You have to really throw yourself back to thwack the person behind you now.
Also, don't say 2012 in Twitter or autobotic twitter accounts will follow you. I posted about the possibility of a streetcar being in service on Broadway by 2012 and ended up with two marketing follows.
Also, don't say 2012 in Twitter or autobotic twitter accounts will follow you. I posted about the possibility of a streetcar being in service on Broadway by 2012 and ended up with two marketing follows.
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