a thread for RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES w/cgi apes, yalies

as with the 1st planet of the apes the films diagnose greed/venality as basic human condition thus sort of passing the buck from specific human agents (e.g. big pharma) to "human nature"

i was kinda wondering how it will tie in, because the original film implied that the humans destroyed themselves with nukes (and didn't necessarily indicate an ape uprising occurred). wouldn't think the apes would need to use nukes for any reason other than to speed up the humans dying...

i think the producers claim this new film isn't in continuity with the first one. stepping back a bit, nuclear paranoia was a la mode in 1968, not so much now (even though the risks of nuclear conflagration. aren't necessarily much diminished). actually in the same vein although AIDS is still an epidemic, using it as "subtext" for a major film seems very 1980s or 1990s, somehow. weird how these existential fears exhibit trendlines...

yea some Apes fan nerds have indicated this plot is similar to but contradicts Conquest a bit so it is a bit in its own timeline...

another thing i liked about this film: it held the sentimentalization of the apes in check. now some was inevitable--this isn't werner herzog ca. 1970, this is a major franchise for news corp. but i think that while some anthropomorphizing was going on even before the miracle drug (esp. in the expressivity of gesture and facial expression, not to mention group behavior) it could have been much worse, and to a surprising extent the "beasts" are allowed to be beasts.

there was one moment where Caesar is sitting atop the rock watching everyone play where I expected the orangutan to kiss his hand and say "Don Corleone"....

*spoilerz*

and a map showing where the epidemic spread.

oh i totally didn't see the map somehow

it was during the credits after the first clip...it was buried underneath scrolling names.

directors are gonna start pissing people off with this 'after film' crap soon

maybe i'll keep people in the theater for the credits, paris-style.

[btw this shit == http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_aids == is k-interesting]

on another note, I did find it a little weird that a neighbor that was so OTT temperamental and high strung as the neighbor would have the patience to be a pilot.

i agree! pilots are usually pretty chill in my experience.

oh man i didn't even realize that the hard luck neighbor was the pilot

i've lost the ability to follow james franco movies about ape disaster, gonna just withdraw from society and consume only my little pony-related media now

well it didn't flop afterall

i remember loling at I HAVE TO BE AT THE AIRPORT, I'M A PILOT

chekov's aggro pilot

this was AWESOME once the focus shifted to the apes

on another note, I did find it a little weird that a neighbor that was so OTT temperamental and high strung as the neighbor would have the patience to be a pilot.

― Neanderthal, Sunday, August 7, 2011 6:26 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

to be fair, he did live next to a house with a live chimp

chekov's aggro pilot

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Sunday, August 7, 2011 7:49 PM (29 minutes ago) Bookmark

^lol

i get this image of him like getting angry at his stewardess while flying his plane and deliberately sending it into freefall to get back at her....

also lols to HOOS

also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaëtan_Dugas

― by another name (amateurist), Sunday, August 7, 2011 1:36 PM (8 hours ago) Bookmark

please refer to him as The Griddler

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ga%C3%ABtan_Dugas&oldid=420463332

wait there was a twist?

― all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Sunday, August 7, 2011 12:09 PM (10 hours ago) Bookmark

i was referring to

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

caesar talking

awesome scene imo

hell yea. I cheered in my seat.

though that was after me guffawing at Draco Malfoy boy saying Heston's line...

SPOILERS Y'ALL

you mean the 1st time he spoke or the time he gets all cozy in james franco's ear and is like 'naw, dude, i'm home'?

i guess they _had_ to show him talking, right, to set up talking monkeys in future installments.

but, chimp physiognomy doesn't allow for forming the kinds of sounds humans form, no? it would take 100,000s of years of evolution if not much more for that to happen.

bro are you for real questioning the science behind a film called RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

HA

the first time he spoke, to draco malfoy

"What movie climbed to the top of the box office this weekend? That and sports coming up after this break."

I dug this - it actually felt too short. And yes, plaussibility be damned, the "NO!" moment was the best thing I've seen in a multiplex in some time. It's been a long time since I heard a multiplex audience go that quiet.

People laughed in my viewing, though about twenty percent of the crowd had cell phones out during the entire thing. Douches.

the "NO!" moment was the best thing I've seen in a multiplex in some time

yeah this really was stunning

this was AWESOME once the focus shifted to the apes

― thick-necked and hateful (latebloomer), Sunday, August 7, 2011 8:07 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

what even happened to whats her name, she straight up disappeared

and yes the effects are stunning; all movies w/ even vaguely humanoid CGI creatures should go with motion-capture. always. I'm not sure how much credit should go to Serkis or to the animators, but, wow.

Caesar's facial expression after he grabbed dude's friend in the cell was just...lethal.

yahhh so good

i wanna see this again

http://www.facebook.com/pages/RIP-Buck-From-rise-of-the-planet-of-the-apes/157763104300170

wish they had made this in IMAX 3-d

Didn't really like this...besides one of those revelatory "oh look what they can do with CGI now" moments (now less revelatory than they used to be) there wasn't much that wasn't familiar from half a dozen fear-of-technology don't-play-god humans-are-the-real-animals blockbusters.

Followed up RotPotA by watching Project Nim, which was thematically similar but far more entertaining.

see, i liked that they wisely played down the scientific hubris angle in favor of making it a more personal story

i do need to see project nim

Armond loves it

http://nypress.com/blogs/article-22712-rebirth-of-the-b-movie.html

http://seeker401.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/four-horsemen-apocalypse.jpg

'i was on the fence about seeing this, but now armond white has praised it, i think i'll buy a ticket' - second-weekend filmgoers everywhere

armond's just setting up a heel turn down the line

just me

xp

"The now overrated Rise of the Planet of the Apes"

haha yes

the trailer for this makes it look a lot dumber/campier than it actually is

I love that it was able to play the story straight without getting too self-important, and Caesar was awesome, they were able to pull off so much only having his facial expressions to work with, which isn't really easy for CGI

These actors’ symbiosis gives substance to the film’s satirical proposition on evolution—the naturalness of Rodman's multiculti romance with veterinarian Frieda Pinto as well as with Caesar; the dangerous similarity of Rodman's hubris and his boss David Oyelowo’s greed. (“You make history, I make money!”)

oh my god

yeah that's pure Armondbot