WELCOME to the Messageboard for the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival and Marathon!!
FULL LINEUP! Note Order: THE MATRIX in 35mm! ONE MILLION YEARS BC in 35mm! LAPSIS, READY PLAYER ONE in 70mm! DREDD, MAD MAX, PREDESTINATION, TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN (aka INVASION), UPGRADE, ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS, DEEP BLUE SEA in 35mm! and BLAST FROM THE PAST. Plus! A bonus surprise! And, of course, Duck Dodgers! More to come
SF MARATHON INFO LINKS
SF/49 Official Information Page Click here
Reactions to 2024's SF/49 lineup? POST here
>List of ALL Films that have played the Marathon. Click below
Click here for The History Of The Marathon/Festival

The Next Marathon will be held Presidents' Day Weekend 2024 at the Somerville Theater.
It will be preceded by the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival. For ticket info: www.Bostonsci-fi.com


  Welcome, Guest. Please Login or Register
   
  HomeHelpSearchLoginRegister  
 
 
SNOWPIERCER from the Director of THE HOST (Read 9677 times)
Jul 13th, 2014 at 11:52pm

L.A. Connection   Offline
YaBB Administrator
SF Rocks

Gender: male
Posts: 1767
*****
 
I'll do a longer review at some point. Suffice it to say, it's up there with EDGE OF TOMORROW amongst this year's better Sci-Fi films - go see it!

It's common knowledge that Harvey Weinstein  tried to cut 20 minutes from SNOWPIERCER - but, why this haphazard release? One of the best reviewed films of the summer (94% on RT -- and it IS quite good!), Sci-Fi action, stars Chris Evans & Tilda Swinton and in English. But, they are still rolling it out slowly, and now have announced they are rushing it to VOD. Fine, great, I'm happy that folks too busy to go see a movie in a theater can watch it on their iPhone. But, why the 2nd tier movie theaters? In Hollywood, it's only playing in Hollywood at a boutique Sundance theater with tiny screens. On the Westside, it's at a rundown 3rd rate multiplex in Santa Monica. The kind of place that was sorta state of the art...in 1989. The box office is closed, so you have to buy tix at the concession stand. There's a big rip in the screen that has probably been there since Bill Clinton was President. No stadium seating, of course, but the first half of the theater has no slope at all so you get a bunch of heads in front of you blocking part of the screen (thankfully, 98% of the movie is in English). And, they still have a Cineplex Odeon decoration on top of the building - a chain that has been long defunct domestically!

In Boston, I hear it opened at the Brattle and the 2nd screen at the Coolidge. Really??

THIS is the kind of release they have in mind for a prestige release???!! Rubbing it in further, Weinstein even dumped it out on his own Radius sub-distributor. Geez.


...
 
IP Logged
 
Reply #1 - Jul 14th, 2014 at 1:10am

Lile   Offline
Full Member
SF Rocks

Posts: 196
***
 
I've heard good things about this movie, I do not understand why they would want to bury it.
 
IP Logged
 
Reply #2 - Jul 14th, 2014 at 1:34am

L.A. Connection   Offline
YaBB Administrator
SF Rocks

Gender: male
Posts: 1767
*****
 
Lile wrote on Jul 14th, 2014 at 1:10am:
I've heard good things about this movie, I do not understand why they would want to bury it.


Some theorize that part of it is 'retribution' for the battle over final cut. Still, yeah, isn't it in their own interest to maximize profits?

I know in L.A., that similar movies have made a lot more money by playing certain theaters. The Sundance in nice and new, but the "big" house holds like 50 seats. And, really, the Brattle, for a big modern day Sci-Fi action piece?!! No disrespect, but, it's a venerable old revival house.
 
IP Logged
 
Reply #3 - Jul 14th, 2014 at 1:26pm

Frank   Offline
God Member
SF Rocks

Posts: 541
*****
 
It is playing at the AMC in Framingham.  That is where we caught it.  A terrific film and it is also on VOD where I will probably watch it again for $7.00. It certainly deserved a much better release.
 

I bring you peace. It may be the peace of plenty and content or the peace of unburied death.
IP Logged
 
Reply #4 - Jul 15th, 2014 at 8:34pm

Lile   Offline
Full Member
SF Rocks

Posts: 196
***
 
Went out and saw Snowpiercer. Loved it. Maybe we could see it at next years 'thon.
 
IP Logged
 
Reply #5 - Jul 22nd, 2014 at 7:41pm

L.A. Connection   Offline
YaBB Administrator
SF Rocks

Gender: male
Posts: 1767
*****
 
This interview with Weinstein may unveil the key to why SNOWPIERCER got dumped in 2nd rate theaters. Because Weinstein and his sub-distributor had so little confidence in how "smart" (his words) they didn't think it was worth going all out for a real theatrical release. They hedged their bet with VOD.

Here is the relevant portion of the full interview (linked below):

"Because exhibitors knew of the imminent VOD release, most top-grossing theaters in initial cities--including industry specialized exhibition leader Landmark Theatres-- were not available to RADiUS, either based on a policy of not playing releases without a minimum 90-day window, or because they recoiled at playing a film with higher appeal than any previously slated for parallel or near-term streaming."

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/exclusive-harvey-weinstein-explai...

Either way, it sucks that most folks won't have a chance to see SNOWPIERCER on the biggest nicest screens in town.
 
IP Logged
 
Reply #6 - Dec 13th, 2014 at 11:55pm

pogo   Offline
God Member
SF Rocks
Beautiful Cleveland, Ohio

Posts: 689
*****
 
Since it's increasingly unlikely that I will make it to Marathon 40, I could not resist watching it on Netflix. Just finished it 5 minutes ago.
The integral logic of the movie, the plot, the action, the substitution of violence  for rationality and ultimately, the conclusion raises this to one of the worst wastes of actors and sets that I have seen for a long time. And where did they get those furs?
Perhaps the 20 minutes cut from the movie, described above, would have improved things. I doubt it.  At least five major supporting actors are thrown away for no real reason except enjoyment of blood. A major subplot (the kids) makes no sense even though I am generally happy to practice willing suspension of disbelief.
It's sort of a techno-thriller where both the setup & the the tech make no sense and the action does nothing to make you forget that what is going is irrational.
The acting is gritty and if what the train and the actors were doing had any logic, would be fairly impressive. The sets are beautiful (sort of Giger tech)  and the blood & gore is well done (if there were any reason for it.) But even the deaths are irrational to the point that I was wondering if we would learn that some of the good guys & bad guys were robots or druggy revenants.
Movies do not have to make a lot of sense. The Escape from New York-s  about overcoming one violent obstacle after another are fine. But the huge flaws here and contradictions between what we were supposed to believe and any rationality were just too much.

 

Thars only two possibilities:Thar is life out there in the universe which is smarter than we are,or we're the most intelligent life in the universe.Either way, it's a mighty sobering thought-WaltKelly
IP Logged
 
Reply #7 - Dec 14th, 2014 at 3:31am

L.A. Connection   Offline
YaBB Administrator
SF Rocks

Gender: male
Posts: 1767
*****
 
I disagree of course on SNOWPIERCER. I think the key to enjoying it is to look at it as a symbolic piece. It's sort of A BOY ON HIS DOG on a train.

But, why can't you make the marathon this year??


pogo wrote on Dec 13th, 2014 at 11:55pm:
Since it's increasingly unlikely that I will make it to Marathon 40, I could not resist watching it on Netflix. Just finished it 5 minutes ago.
The integral logic of the movie, the plot, the action, the substitution of violence  for rationality and ultimately, the conclusion raises this to one of the worst wastes of actors and sets that I have seen for a long time. And where did they get those furs?
Perhaps the 20 minutes cut from the movie, described above, would have improved things. I doubt it.  At least five major supporting actors are thrown away for no real reason except enjoyment of blood. A major subplot (the kids) makes no sense even though I am generally happy to practice willing suspension of disbelief.
It's sort of a techno-thriller where both the setup & the the tech make no sense and the action does nothing to make you forget that what is going is irrational.
The acting is gritty and if what the train and the actors were doing had any logic, would be fairly impressive. The sets are beautiful (sort of Giger tech)  and the blood & gore is well done (if there were any reason for it.) But even the deaths are irrational to the point that I was wondering if we would learn that some of the good guys & bad guys were robots or druggy revenants.
Movies do not have to make a lot of sense. The Escape from New York-s  about overcoming one violent obstacle after another are fine. But the huge flaws here and contradictions between what we were supposed to believe and any rationality were just too much.


« Last Edit: Dec 14th, 2014 at 5:14pm by L.A. Connection »  
IP Logged
 
Reply #8 - Dec 14th, 2014 at 5:26pm

pogo   Offline
God Member
SF Rocks
Beautiful Cleveland, Ohio

Posts: 689
*****
 
Tried to get allegorical or deeper meetings out of it, but just couldn't. And as I implied, it wasn't the blood or violence per se that put me off. I thought that Children of Men, an even  more dystopian , violent, film, given its realism, was one of the best movies that I have ever seen.
But Snow just seemed pretentious  & gory without any real meaning. Still wonder where they got those furs. Sorry to be in disagreement.
As far as attending. Was in Boston a couple of months ago. Going again on Christmas. Already have discount tickets for May. As much as I love my natal city, it's hard to rationalize another 1380 mile round trip. I'll just have to settle for attending Cleveland and Columbus.
But it's very nice that you asked.
 

Thars only two possibilities:Thar is life out there in the universe which is smarter than we are,or we're the most intelligent life in the universe.Either way, it's a mighty sobering thought-WaltKelly
IP Logged
 
Reply #9 - Dec 15th, 2014 at 12:16am

Jay Seaver   Offline
Senior Member
Somerville, MA

Gender: male
Posts: 255
****
 
Um, twenty minutes wasn't cut out of it.  The Weinsteins tried, but Director Bong held firm, and that's part of the reason why the Weinstein Company gave it a small, spiteful release on a handful of screens the same week as Trans4mers.

As to the allegory and symbolism, I don't think Bong could have been much clearer if he tried - the rich exploit and happily cast aside the poor, and even the dreams of climbing to another level are often traps, and, ultimately, the system is so corrupted that simply putting a new person at the top isn't enough; you need to scrap it and start over.

Also, I think some of your complaints are actually examples of things the movie does well:  The characters you lament as being "thrown away" would have been thrown away in a lot of movies (or maybe there would have been eye-rolling moments when everyone gets out of a perilous situation just fine), but Bong & company made you care about them in a more-than-obligatory fashion.

As to where they got the furs, you can rationalize that a dozen different ways:  Those who didn't have them died early.  The temperature didn't drop eighty degrees instantly, so it was already fairly cold when Snowpiercer left the station.  Back before they all died off, animals on the track would get brought onto the train. But, really, it doesn't matter; we're picking up toward the end of the story, and very pointedly only learning the details that actually make a difference as we go along.
 
IP Logged
 
Reply #10 - Dec 15th, 2014 at 5:45pm

pogo   Offline
God Member
SF Rocks
Beautiful Cleveland, Ohio

Posts: 689
*****
 
Jay Seaver wrote on Dec 15th, 2014 at 12:16am:
Um, twenty minutes wasn't cut out of it.  The Weinsteins tried, but Director Bong held firm, and that's part of the reason why the Weinstein Company gave it a small, spiteful release on a handful of screens the same week as Trans4mers.

As to the allegory and symbolism, I don't think Bong could have been much clearer if he tried - the rich exploit and happily cast aside the poor, and even the dreams of climbing to another level are often traps, and, ultimately, the system is so corrupted that simply putting a new person at the top isn't enough; you need to scrap it and start over.

Also, I think some of your complaints are actually examples of things the movie does well:  The characters you lament as being "thrown away" would have been thrown away in a lot of movies (or maybe there would have been eye-rolling moments when everyone gets out of a perilous situation just fine), but Bong & company made you care about them in a more-than-obligatory fashion.

As to where they got the furs, you can rationalize that a dozen different ways:  Those who didn't have them died early.  The temperature didn't drop eighty degrees instantly, so it was already fairly cold when Snowpiercer left the station.  Back before they all died off, animals on the track would get brought onto the train. But, really, it doesn't matter; we're picking up toward the end of the story, and very pointedly only learning the details that actually make a difference as we go along.

Jay,
We obviously disagree. Thanks for responding to some of my objections.
Exploitation, the oppressed climbing to another level, & systemic corruption are not allegory or symbolism in this movie, they are trite tropes, used in dozens of others. I don't see them as anything special. If you think that they are done well, as you & LA seem to, then your reaction is positive and you can certainly give them greater significance.
Of course the whole thing is allegorical, but for me so irrational that I couldn't take it.
Nice answer about the throwaways, but I still think that redshirting all along the journey up train doesn't do the job. Of course (SPOILER)

the one on one ending required it, but it was still annoying.

Nice try about the furs. Wink
« Last Edit: Dec 16th, 2014 at 1:36pm by pogo »  

Thars only two possibilities:Thar is life out there in the universe which is smarter than we are,or we're the most intelligent life in the universe.Either way, it's a mighty sobering thought-WaltKelly
IP Logged