[Master Higgins]

This week, I discover 5 of the 6 people on the Comic Conspiracy podcast have not seen Cabin in the Woods.

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Website link: http://www.comicsconspiracy.biz/
Digital comic site link: http://digital.comicsconspiracy.biz

[SerpentineZERO]

Prometheus talk? On the Comic Conspiracy? That's Geekbox stuff man. But whatever i'll listen anyways.

[kenzo]

Prometheus talk? On the Comic Conspiracy? That's Geekbox stuff man. But whatever i'll listen anyways.

That's why it's after the outro, dude.

[Roadie Brock]

Here is the link for the Prometheus article Higgins was referencing to. Only go if you have seen the movie or don't give two shits about spoliers. http://cavalorn.livejournal.com/584135.html

Prometheus talk? On the Comic Conspiracy? That's Geekbox stuff man. But whatever i'll listen anyways.

You won't get a decent conversation on The Geekbox about Prometheus. Ryan Scott thought there were plot holes. Higgins and I filled the one he thought was one and wasn't, but we haven't heard about any others.

[kenzo]

You won't get a decent conversation on The Geekbox about Prometheus. Ryan Scott thought there were plot holes. Higgins and I filled the one he thought was one and wasn't, but we haven't heard about any others.

Sorry, but Prometheus was full of more plot holes than the Star Wars prequels, and I think that's a pretty hard feat to top. It's like you've gotta try extra hard just to accomplish something that retarded.



Also for the record, I've read that blog entry, and as neat as it sounds, it's mostly still just conjecture and wishful thinking that this movie is smarter than the stupid heap it really is. And it still doesn't explain why the characters in the film act like Neanderthals instead of the crew of professionals and scientists that they're supposed to be.

[Master Higgins]

So I watched the first half of Alien last night (first time I've seen it in at least 15 years), and it's now amazingly clear that a lot of the events in Prometheus are direct riffs on Alien. Doesn't explain a fictional reason why some people make dumb decisions, but it does show why these evens happened the way they happened.

But funny enough, I was talking to my girlfriend about this, and she brought up an interesting point. When our old apt caught on fire, she was so blinded by panic, what's now a few clear steps she could have taken were totally overwritten by the need to get out once it was clear the fire was beyond her control. I think if anyone was in a very difficult position with little to no knowledge of what's going on, "mistakes" are made.

[Master Higgins]

That RLM video.

I'm not going to say there's not some Cabin in the Woodsing in this movie, but a bunch of his points are very easily answered, or worst case, are intentionally left vague. Not having every piece of a movie handed to you on a plate doesn't mean they're plot holes.

[kenzo]

That RLM video.

I'm not going to say there's not some Cabin in the Woodsing in this movie, but a bunch of his points are very easily answered, or worst case, are intentionally left vague. Not having every piece of a movie handed to you on a plate doesn't mean they're plot holes.

I don't think half of his questions are valid, since they're stuff that's either not important to the film/plot, or stuff that's probably left intentionally vague and you're supposed to wonder about (the nature of David for instance, or what caused our makers to turn on us). But that still leaves more than enough plot holes left over that are just so mind bogglingly stupid and there's no real reason or excuse for it. For instance, the two guys who get lost - just so happens to include one of the guys who brings along the spheres to make detailed maps of the place and ostensibly knows how they work better than anyone else. How does that happen? Is he in a panic when he's leaving? Yeah, but that doesn't mean he can't follow a god damned map. Everyone else was in a panic when they left a few minutes later, and they knew how to follow a map. And he's also in communications with the ship the entire time - can't someone on the bridge be like, "hey, that's the wrong way buddy"? I mean, I get that the plot demands that they die (which is honestly, a horrible reason for anything to happen in a film), but couldn't they have just had those guys willingly stick around instead of doing the cliched horror-movie thing of having the freighted guys who run away be the first ones to die? I mean, they're scientists out to explore crazy shit - it wouldn't be much of a stretch for them to willingly stick behind and then get killed.

That kind of thing happens a lot in that film - where people break character and do stupid/inexplicable things because the b-movie horror plot demands that it happens. I can only imagine that's why Charlize Theron dies the way she does - because the plot demanded a chase scene with high stakes. But the execution was fucking retarded. You mention how being in a panic can excuse a lot of dumb behavior, and I agree - to an extent. But let's break down this scene:

• Both Charlize Theron and Science-Lady are running away from the space ship rolling at them like Lard Lad just bowled his donut in their direction during a particularly bad Halloween episode.
• Charlize Theron is running ahead of Science-Lady - as she should be. We've already had her physical fitness clearly established in the unthawing scene where everyone is puking their guts out like punk-bitches, and Theron is cut and doing pushups like a fuckin' G through the sickness.
• Science-Lady trips first but has somehow has the excess time and presence of mind to slowly roll to the side to get out of the way while the ship is (one would assume thanks to a little thing called physics) is rolling at them faster than when Theron inevitably trips.
• I want to point this out again Science-Lady - highly irritable and irrational throughout most of the film - has the presence of mind to do the right/smart thing, even though she's running on pure adrenaline (plus whatever crazy drugs she pumped into her system before heading out to see the Architect). Oh, and don't forget her horrific body violation which has left her with a fresh cesarean which completely cut through her abdomen and core-muscles. Again, this is the person who decides to do the right thing, not the clear-thinking, unflappable, intelligent, survivalist Charlize Theron.
• Charlize Theron - the only character who displays a modicum of rationality and intelligence through the film (and the only one who seems to listen to their better instincts about danger - thus the quarantine scene), can't come to the same conclusion as Science-Lady - and even though she'd had much more time to react to this scenario than Science-Lady, she continues to run in a straight line. And when she trips, she doesn't do the same thing (which Science-Lady does without a second thought), instead she sits and waits for the thing to horrifically crush her.
• Again, this is Charlize Theron - the only person to demonstrate any appreciable survival instincts, and was able to get off the crashing Prometheus while putting on a complicated space suit in a matter of seconds, somehow can't react to this thing that rolls at them a lot longer than she had time to put the suit on - and it's not like she's being given a split second to react to this rolling ship, the scene goes on and she's running from it for a good minute.
• Even when doing the right thing, the space ship still topples over onto its side and crushes Science-Lady - which should have killed her too, but she's inexplicably left unharmed (because the plot demands it) whereas Charlize Theron is inexplicably dead (because the horror-cliche demands it).

Again, I know exactly why she died - because the plot demanded someone die in a chase scene, she was the only other character left besides Science-Lady, so it had to happen, right? Wrong. Why couldn't you have brought along one of the stupid, no-name bridge officers and let him get squished? Nobody would have had a second thought if Asian-guy gets squished (except the Asians in the crowd - but who cares about them?). Or what about the Captain? All of a sudden, his place is on the bridge and he has to go down with the ship - but he had no problem abandoning his post earlier in the film to persue a booty-call and leave his away-team without any support (and thus conveniently leaving nobody to witness them get horrifically killed). And if you really wanted Charlize Theron to die in a chase scene, you could have simply had the Architect chase her around for a little bit on her crashed life-boat: which would have ultimately made for a much more satisfying and meaningful death scene. Instead of inexplicably breaking her character (i.e. making her stupid and having her do stupid things) they could have thrown in a bit of irony where the life-boat - the only purpose of which was supposed to save her life in the event of a catastrophe - ends up being her grave.

[SerpentineZERO]

Good points.

I just thought it was an alright movie as a thriller horror movie but I was really hoping for more.

[Roadie Brock]

That RLM video.

I'm not going to say there's not some Cabin in the Woodsing in this movie, but a bunch of his points are very easily answered, or worst case, are intentionally left vague. Not having every piece of a movie handed to you on a plate doesn't mean they're plot holes.

I don't think half of his questions are valid, since they're stuff that's either not important to the film/plot, or stuff that's probably left intentionally vague and you're supposed to wonder about (the nature of David for instance, or what caused our makers to turn on us). But that still leaves more than enough plot holes left over that are just so mind bogglingly stupid and there's no real reason or excuse for it. For instance, the two guys who get lost - just so happens to include one of the guys who brings along the spheres to make detailed maps of the place and ostensibly knows how they work better than anyone else. How does that happen? Is he in a panic when he's leaving? Yeah, but that doesn't mean he can't follow a god damned map. Everyone else was in a panic when they left a few minutes later, and they knew how to follow a map. And he's also in communications with the ship the entire time - can't someone on the bridge be like, "hey, that's the wrong way buddy"? I mean, I get that the plot demands that they die (which is honestly, a horrible reason for anything to happen in a film), but couldn't they have just had those guys willingly stick around instead of doing the cliched horror-movie thing of having the freighted guys who run away be the first ones to die? I mean, they're scientists out to explore crazy shit - it wouldn't be much of a stretch for them to willingly stick behind and then get killed.

That kind of thing happens a lot in that film - where people break character and do stupid/inexplicable things because the b-movie horror plot demands that it happens. I can only imagine that's why Charlize Theron dies the way she does - because the plot demanded a chase scene with high stakes. But the execution was fucking retarded. You mention how being in a panic can excuse a lot of dumb behavior, and I agree - to an extent. But let's break down this scene:

• Both Charlize Theron and Science-Lady are running away from the space ship rolling at them like Lard Lad just bowled his donut in their direction during a particularly bad Halloween episode.
• Charlize Theron is running ahead of Science-Lady - as she should be. We've already had her physical fitness clearly established in the unthawing scene where everyone is puking their guts out like punk-bitches, and Theron is cut and doing pushups like a fuckin' G through the sickness.
• Science-Lady trips first but has somehow has the excess time and presence of mind to slowly roll to the side to get out of the way while the ship is (one would assume thanks to a little thing called physics) is rolling at them faster than when Theron inevitably trips.
• I want to point this out again Science-Lady - highly irritable and irrational throughout most of the film - has the presence of mind to do the right/smart thing, even though she's running on pure adrenaline (plus whatever crazy drugs she pumped into her system before heading out to see the Architect). Oh, and don't forget her horrific body violation which has left her with a fresh cesarean which completely cut through her abdomen and core-muscles. Again, this is the person who decides to do the right thing, not the clear-thinking, unflappable, intelligent, survivalist Charlize Theron.
• Charlize Theron - the only character who displays a modicum of rationality and intelligence through the film (and the only one who seems to listen to their better instincts about danger - thus the quarantine scene), can't come to the same conclusion as Science-Lady - and even though she'd had much more time to react to this scenario than Science-Lady, she continues to run in a straight line. And when she trips, she doesn't do the same thing (which Science-Lady does without a second thought), instead she sits and waits for the thing to horrifically crush her.
• Again, this is Charlize Theron - the only person to demonstrate any appreciable survival instincts, and was able to get off the crashing Prometheus while putting on a complicated space suit in a matter of seconds, somehow can't react to this thing that rolls at them a lot longer than she had time to put the suit on - and it's not like she's being given a split second to react to this rolling ship, the scene goes on and she's running from it for a good minute.
• Even when doing the right thing, the space ship still topples over onto its side and crushes Science-Lady - which should have killed her too, but she's inexplicably left unharmed (because the plot demands it) whereas Charlize Theron is inexplicably dead (because the horror-cliche demands it).

Again, I know exactly why she died - because the plot demanded someone die in a chase scene, she was the only other character left besides Science-Lady, so it had to happen, right? Wrong. Why couldn't you have brought along one of the stupid, no-name bridge officers and let him get squished? Nobody would have had a second thought if Asian-guy gets squished (except the Asians in the crowd - but who cares about them?). Or what about the Captain? All of a sudden, his place is on the bridge and he has to go down with the ship - but he had no problem abandoning his post earlier in the film to persue a booty-call and leave his away-team without any support (and thus conveniently leaving nobody to witness them get horrifically killed). And if you really wanted Charlize Theron to die in a chase scene, you could have simply had the Architect chase her around for a little bit on her crashed life-boat: which would have ultimately made for a much more satisfying and meaningful death scene. Instead of inexplicably breaking her character (i.e. making her stupid and having her do stupid things) they could have thrown in a bit of irony where the life-boat - the only purpose of which was supposed to save her life in the event of a catastrophe - ends up being her grave.

Did you just type all that about the death of Charlize Theron's character? And what guy follows a map?

And as for all the other crap...

Fight Vs. Flight? - Can't know until "you" are in that situation; be it fire, flood, zombie apocalypse, war, or encountering a new alien species.
Sex with Charlize Theron's Vs. Staring at a screen? - Really? This is a no brainer for a straight man or lesbian.
David's actions Vs. Ash's actions Vs. Bishop's actions Vs. Call's actions - News flash: they are all androids with programming.
Reality Vs. Movies - It's a Fucking Movie!

And I still don't think anyone knows what a plot hole is?

Good points.

I just thought it was an alright movie as a thriller horror movie but I was really hoping for more.

Fair enough, but hopefully we get an actual Director's Cut.

[kenzo]

Did you just type all that about the death of Charlize Theron's character? And what guy follows a map?

Yes, and the point was to disect in as clear and thorough manner as possible so that any mouth-breathing detractor didn't have a single window of opportunity to pick apart what I've said based on any lack of understanding or clarity in my diction (which is what usually happens around here - get sidelined on a small side point, completely miss the big picture). You cannot explain those scenes. They depict characters acting retarded beyond all explanation for the sake of hitting the cliche-checkmarks on this terribly written plot.

And as for all the other crap...

Fight Vs. Flight? - Can't know until "you" are in that situation; be it fire, flood, zombie apocalypse, war, or encountering a new alien species.

So no matter how dumb people act on screen during a given movie, it's okay becuase we haven't been there in that situation and can't judge for ourselves. I wish I'd known that earlier - maybe the Star Wars prequels would have been fun to watch! I guess I'll never know if slaughtering a bunch of defenseless younglings isn't smart and justifiable unless I'm in that situation. (Oh wait, people face their family members having terminal illnesses all the time in this world without going on killing sprees.)

Sex with Charlize Theron's Vs. Staring at a screen? - Really? This is a no brainer for a straight man or lesbian.

The problem isn't that he persues a booty-call. The problem is the subsequent deriliction of duty. He's the Captain, ostensibily the most professional and responsible man on the vessel. Not leaving the bridge unattended is like, page one of "Being a Captain: For Dummies." You want to go chase some ass? I'm down with that. So while you're on this extremely sensitive and dangerous expedition to a completely alien world with a skeleton crew with an away team actively out in the field needing support - call and order a bridge-replacement if you're gonna step off the bridge for a while. Or be like, "hey baby, your company is paying me to man the bridge right now - how about in an hour instead when I can get off duty?" The whole point of that scene was to give those two characters a bit of extra characterization, and to give the film a convenient excuse to have the two scientists death go unnoticed. But you know what they could have done instead that doesn't make the Promethius look like it's being manned by infants? Take the already existant crazy-storm and jam up communications. Then you've got a perfectly believable scenario, and I'm not looking for the closest sharp object to slash into my wrists in the theater.

David's actions Vs. Ash's actions Vs. Bishop's actions Vs. Call's actions - News flash: they are all androids with programming.

So does that mean David was programmed by his father to want to kill his father? Did his father program him to withhold vital information about the nature of the Engineers - their animosity towards humans and how the black goop kills people? You'd think the opposite would be true - and if he's just following orders... OH WAIT THIS MOVIE FUCKING SUCKS.

Reality Vs. Movies - It's a Fucking Movie!

So, what's the point of ever evaluating any movie? What are the moral implications of Schindler's List to the lives of modern people and modern conflicts? Is Saving Private Ryan a film that's accurate to history and appropriately honors the actions of real individuals without exploiting their tragic lives for the sake of money/entertainment? Does Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country have anything important to say about contemporary geo-politics? OH, NEVERMIND - who gives a fuck it's just a movie. That's the laziest and most intellectually bankrupt argument I've ever read from you, Brock. This coming from the guy who earlier in this thread made fun of Ryan Scott for being incapable of providing a "decent conversation" about the film.

I don't know about you, but I find it a lot easier to enjoy a film when the world is sufficiently believable and the characters are interesting/sympathetic enough that I suspend my disbelief. That way, I'm more focused on the series of events, the suspense, the human drama rather than constantly getting distracted by how stupid everything and everyone is. It's hard to care about a character's wounds if they're self-inflicted through sheer stupidity. This is especially true in the Science-Fiction genre - the whole point of which is to portray believable future-scenarios. If you want to chuck reality out the window, then that's what Science-Fantasy is about. But given the director, the hype leading into this film, and the first half or so of the movie - I was lead to believe otherwise.

[SerpentineZERO]

Reality Vs. Movies - It's a Fucking Movie!

So, what's the point of ever evaluating any movie? What are the moral implications of Schindler's List to the lives of modern people and modern conflicts? Is Saving Private Ryan a film that's accurate to history and appropriately honors the actions of real individuals without exploiting their tragic lives for the sake of money/entertainment? Does Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country have anything important to say about contemporary geo-politics? OH, NEVERMIND - who gives a fuck it's just a movie. That's the laziest and most intellectually bankrupt argument I've ever read from you, Brock. This coming from the guy who earlier in this thread made fun of Ryan Scott for being incapable of providing a "decent conversation" about the film.

You know, i'm going to have to side with kenzo here. I really don't like the "it's just a movie!" response.

[jobifresh86]

Hey guys, thanks for another good episode. I don't post on here much, but I felt I had to after listening to the Prometheus talk. I felt like you guys were praising this movie way too much. You guys were talking about how much you loved all the characters, but then Ryan calls Dr. Shaw Science Lady the whole time. Besides David, there are only caricatures in this movie. Lindelof cares so little about this story that he's already moved on and doesn't plan to work on any sequel material. He asks questions he never intends to answer. I'm not a hater of his either. I really liked Star Trek and I can't wait to see the sequel, but he wrote or rewrote this movie like the first episode of a Lost story arc.

This movie deserved better. Weyland's name, the design of the Engineer's costume and his ship, and that last snippet of the proto-xenomorph are all that link this to the Alien franchise. That stuff should've been changed. It's a total cash in. Watch that first trailer for Prometheus. This movie is nothing like what they were advertising in that trailer.

With all that said, seeing the movie in 3D was beautiful and I did enjoy it. But it was nowhere near as good as you guys were talking about it.

[kenzo]

I really liked Star Trek and I can't wait to see the sequel...

Oh man, another very pretty but ultimately shallow and retarded film full of way too many plot-holes.

[jobifresh86]

I really liked Star Trek and I can't wait to see the sequel...

Oh man, another very pretty but ultimately shallow and retarded film full of way too many plot-holes.

http://www.r-word.org/

[Guillermo_DudeL]

The actual Red Letter Media review is more reasonable.

"If you're one of those people who gets that upset over this movie you should probably stop watching movies altogether."

[Mr_eX]

Prometheus is a bad movie and if you like it you're a bad person and should feel ashamed of yourself. Trying to defend it is worse than trying to defend the Star Wars prequels.

[Guillermo_DudeL]

There are worse movies than Prometheus.

[kenzo]

I really liked Star Trek and I can't wait to see the sequel...

Oh man, another very pretty but ultimately shallow and retarded film full of way too many plot-holes.

http://www.r-word.org/

[Guillermo_DudeL]

Anyone got a good pic of that Silver Surfer Mermaid guy or know what he's actually called?

[Roadie Brock]

Anyone got a good pic of that Silver Surfer Mermaid guy or know what he's actually called?

and his name is Unit

http://www.comicvine.com/unit/29-4467/

[Guillermo_DudeL]

Terrible.

[Roadie Brock]

Terrible.

Yup, that sums it up.

[isthatabear]

With all that said, seeing the movie in 3D was beautiful and I did enjoy it. But it was nowhere near as good as you guys were talking about it.

Prometheus and Avatar are the only movies I enjoyed watching in 3D. Also, all other 3D movies are too dark! I was delighted to see that the dark scenes in Prometheus were not plagued by that flaw. I hate 3D movies in general because they are almost never done right. Prometheus had good 3D and awesome scenes to go with it.

[Fade2Black]

This week, I discover 5 of the 6 people on the Comic Conspiracy podcast have not seen Cabin in the Woods.

tsk-tsk
You guys should listen to Ryan when he recommends movies* - I did.

Sorry Toby, and the rest of you who didn't see it, but I know I extended the invite to all of you when I saw it at the second-run movie theater, and it's one of those movies that once you know how it ends, a second viewing wouldn't be nearly as fulfilling. The good news is, the film is still playing at that second-run movie theater Toby mentioned on the podcast, so do yourselves a favor and go see it. And Toby, just to entice you, I will say Cabin in the Woods contains an ALIEN connection of sorts. I won't elaborate any further.

* Unless it's a flick he's already gaga for going into the movie - Green Lantern, etc. . . in those instances take his endorsements with a grain of salt.

[Guillermo_DudeL]

Unless it's a flick he's already gaga for going into the movie - Green Lantern, etc. . . in those instances takes his endorsements with a grain of salt.

Higgins it's crap like this that keeps you from getting everyone else to watch Community.

[bitblockader]

Anyone got a good pic of that Silver Surfer Mermaid guy or know what he's actually called?

and his name is Unit

I see it but I don't believe it.

[Fade2Black]

and his name is Unit

The dude looks more like an intergalactic envelope-opener than a super-hero.
Now there's an untapped market for ya.

[Roadie Brock]

and his name is Unit

The dude looks more like an intergalactic envelope-opener than a super-hero.
Now there's an untapped market for ya.

I have to reuse this image! Awesome!

[comicsanddakine]

So dope Fade!!!

and his name is Unit

The dude looks more like an intergalactic envelope-opener than a super-hero.
Now there's an untapped market for ya.