Annihilation (2018) -- Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Oscar Isaac, Tessa Thompson, dir. Alex Garland, based on Jeff VanderMeer's book

I think, though, the movie undercuts itself somewhat. It wants to show the horrors of war, and the danger and the moral complexity of war reporting. But it also wants to show how exciting it is, and the last section is basically a thrill ride where it's totally clear who we are rooting for.

What do we think about Jessie? It seems to me that from the very start to the very end she is, without exception, a dipshit and a shithead.

― ledge, Monday, 29 April 2024 08:00 (fourteen hours ago) link

I don’t think this undercuts it — this is honest — again it’s a movie about the effects of extreme violence & how people become inured to it … this also includes a fascination with it

This thread has made me want to reread the trilogy.

Has anyone read any of VanderMeer's other work? I read Borne and Dead Astronauts and found them fascinating.

think, though, the movie undercuts itself somewhat. It wants to show the horrors of war, and the danger and the moral complexity of war reporting. But it also wants to show how exciting it is, a

I don't think it consciously shows how exciting it is. It's the nature of war films: to show the horror is to show its erotic qualities.

I agree she seemed younger but the actress is 25 or 6

― ledge

to 4

I don't think it consciously shows how exciting it is. It's the nature of war films: to show the horror is to show its erotic qualities.

― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)

jeez, idk, i was just thinking about all those old "men's adventure" magazines with nazis branding swastikas on naked young women and how completely and totally _anti-erotic_ they are

that's not to say that war films aren't erotic, it's just that it seems to be a distinctly male-gendered form of eroticism

for instance, wil hulsey's classic man's life cover "weasels ripped my flesh" is _very_ homoerotic imo

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that's not to say that war films aren't erotic, it's just that it seems to be a distinctly male-gendered form of eroticism

of course

of course

― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)

not that a lot of us lesbians (myself included) aren't in our own way _quite_ fond of smart military women. war films just tend not to present women in the same way that they present men.

I don’t see mention of it yet - and I didn’t read the books - but I thought the movie had some very strong Buddhism influence and message going on?

Annihilation itself was the - badly translated - term for Nirvana in the Victorian era.

I don’t think the movie is just going from point A to B, I think it’s about impermanence, self-discovery and enlightenment. There’s this alien force that is blending everything known in the universe together and it’s either terrifying or comforting depending on your state of mind. It’s been years since I last saw it but iirc there’s the woman who accepts it and immediatly turns into a flower statue, the video of Portman’s husband sitting in a meditative state blasted by light. Then she goes on to fight her ego.

Idk I might need to rewatch it, but I remember the Buddhist overtones were very on the nose.

Oh gosh we're conflating two different films now. Who knows where this could go... to its own thread perhaps?

Oh we have one. Okay sorry

Lol I was thinking about the similarities though.. band of intrepid good guys entering a zone of danger where nothing makes sense

Welp sorry carry on lol