Now, my question is, do you think this is a problem of directorial vision versus studio sales projections? I know that's not something easily gauged, but do you think a Director's Cut might solve some of the problems?
It's hard to imagine a director's cut could fix this. It would mean a reworking on the last half hour of the film.
As for whether this was the director's failing or the result of pressure from the studio, well, there's no way to know that yet.
The oil spill has me strangely tongue-tied too. I feel I could rant forever on it, and every photo of oily marine life I see makes me upset enough to feel physically ill, but I just can't seem to find the words appropriate for the level of devastation, so I say very little at all. It boils inside me all day, every day though.
I saw a comedian say, given the mess in the Gulf, every time he sees someone in the grocery loading their cart up with bottled water, he wants to punch them in the neck. I don't know if he was just trying to be funny, but I really do feel that way. I feel dirty when I need something that comes in plastic or comes from a great distance. Maybe, if it's even possible for anything good to come of this mess (and I doubt it), more people will be more aware than ever of what and how much they consume.
A disappointment, but still a disappointment well worth seeing. I'm so glad to hear it's still worth seeing. I'm having a tough weekend and the only thing I've been looking forward to is sitting in a dark and
( ... )
I feel dirty when I need something that comes in plastic or comes from a great distance.
This is a sane reaction.
Maybe, if it's even possible for anything good to come of this mess (and I doubt it), more people will be more aware than ever of what and how much they consume.
I wish I believed this would lead to anything good, to any substantive change. But I don't. Too many people have too much invested in everything staying just the way it is, no matter how many cataclysms it costs the world.
Victor's greatest sin was not "playing god," but failing to be a good parent.
I really, really wish I could bring myself to see Splice, because I loved the concept of Dren, and I loved that the film and its director understood this about the Frankenstein story and made it about a mother and daughter. But as to how it ends (which I am very glad I found out about, because I can't bring myself to sit through that), and what Cat Valente said about the story leaving nothing about Dren except the horrible things she did, without context or explanation? Yeeeeah.
And I find I can't stop ranting about this. Disappointment makes me a ranty mcmuffin. Because I loved the concept and it kills me that it was handled the way it was.
what Cat Valente said about the story leaving nothing about Dren except the horrible things she did, without context or explanation?
Thing is...I'm not sure that's true. Certainly, the film fails to take full advantage of the opportunity to explore the character, and to try and understand the character. But I don't think it's fair say the film's entirely devoid of any attempt to communicate to the audience the motivations behind Dren's actions. If that were true, the whole Frankenstein thing would never have shown through so clearly. It's clear that Dren is confused, angry, reacting to abuse, acting on her/his own distinctly inhuman biological urges, and so forth. It's just all that gets lost at the end.
I look around me every day and see nothing but plastics... from the objects in my purse, my refridgerator (including the refridgerator itself), and my medicine cabinet, to the signs on stores, traffic lights, air conditioning, beauty related products... I think our society would not exist as we know it without plastics, which come from the oil industry. We can try to counterbalance this consumption by re-using what we have, recycling etc. The oil well in the Gulf was there in the first place because there's a demand for crude oil to supply us with all of our everyday needs. But the average person doesn't have the resources to go down and make the blown-out well stop leaking oil. It's in the power of the super-rich to do this and I'm panicking because none of them is accomplishing the work. What's in it for them to leave things like this? I wish you would write about your opinion concerning the gulf spill. It's eerily quiet & upsetting. i think the silence is because we all know this is the end of the world.
i think the silence is because we all know this is the end of the world.
I think you're right. Though, we're talking "not with a bang, but a whimper." This is another nail in the coffin.
I wish you would write about your opinion concerning the gulf spill. It's eerily quiet & upsetting.
I'm trying. But between the daunting process of putting my thoughts on the matter into words, and the dread of having to hear the chorus of offended idiots, it's hard to bring myself to do it. I am tired.
I think our society would not exist as we know it without plastics, which come from the oil industry. We can try to counterbalance this consumption by re-using what we have, recycling etc.
Recycling and reuse will never solve the problem. Recycling is rarely efficient and reuse leads to increased exposure to toxicity from outgasing. The only solution is the radically scale back our plastic consumption, using plastic only when necessary, when another material will not suffice.
I found Splice to have a bare handful of intriguing moments, but for the most part it was little more than a SyFy Channel Original movie with slightly better FX. I liked it better the first time I saw it, when it was called Species and the bioneered chick was hotter. Dren just looked like Björk with a tail.*
The thing that bothered me most about the script was how clumsily the science was handled. I know, I know, the science isn't exactly relevant to the story, but still...even I in Pulp Mode find it hard to swallow the idea that you could just mix up a bowl of various genes from different species, pour the batter into an autowomb, and have a completely viable new species of abhuman kickin' around the lab in a day or two. If it was that easy, I'd have a friggin' army of casowary/human Velociraptor Soldiers cookin' in my basement right now.
*That said, I think Björk might very well have a tail in real life. She just...looks like she ought to have one.
The thing that bothered me most about the script was how clumsily the science was handled. I know, I know, the science isn't exactly relevant to the story, but still...even I in Pulp Mode find it hard to swallow the idea that you could just mix up a bowl of various genes from different species, pour the batter into an autowomb, and have a completely viable new species of abhuman kickin' around the lab in a day or two.
Yes, the science was often ridiculous. I just didn't see the point in harping on the obvious. You might as well complain about the science in Frankenstein.
I liked it better the first time I saw it, when it was called Species and the bioneered chick was hotter.
Though there are notable parallels between Species and Splice, the latter is an infinitely better film, on every level.
My only real issue with Splice is that it had so much potential for dealing with the rights and responsibilities human bioneers must face when interacting with sapient chimeras...but every time it brought up one of those moments, it disposed of them in a quick little soundbite of hackneyed dialogue (i.e., "It's not an experiment...it's a mistake"). You can still have monster chase scenes and interspecies nookie and offer a more in-depth film...unless, of course, you're dealing with Hollywood. Splice would've made a much finer sci-fi novel by, say, Dan Simmons or Octavia Butler--authors who have experience in handling such material--but, instead, we get Adrien Brody poking Uplift Björk.
Still, you're right: Splice is handled a lot better than Species--but Natasha Henstridge is a few thousand times hotter than...that French chick who played Dren. Natasha Henstridge, though, did not have a tail and prehensile feet, which are always things I look for in a woman.
It had so much potential for dealing with the rights and responsibilities human bioneers must face when interacting with sapient chimeras...but every time it brought up one of those moments, it disposed of them in a quick little soundbite of hackneyed dialogue (i.e., "It's not an experiment...it's a mistake").
Yes. This was the central problem. The script was, for the most part, atrocious.
Comments 16
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Now, my question is, do you think this is a problem of directorial vision versus studio sales projections? I know that's not something easily gauged, but do you think a Director's Cut might solve some of the problems?
It's hard to imagine a director's cut could fix this. It would mean a reworking on the last half hour of the film.
As for whether this was the director's failing or the result of pressure from the studio, well, there's no way to know that yet.
Reply
I saw a comedian say, given the mess in the Gulf, every time he sees someone in the grocery loading their cart up with bottled water, he wants to punch them in the neck. I don't know if he was just trying to be funny, but I really do feel that way. I feel dirty when I need something that comes in plastic or comes from a great distance. Maybe, if it's even possible for anything good to come of this mess (and I doubt it), more people will be more aware than ever of what and how much they consume.
A disappointment, but still a disappointment well worth seeing.
I'm so glad to hear it's still worth seeing. I'm having a tough weekend and the only thing I've been looking forward to is sitting in a dark and ( ... )
Reply
I feel dirty when I need something that comes in plastic or comes from a great distance.
This is a sane reaction.
Maybe, if it's even possible for anything good to come of this mess (and I doubt it), more people will be more aware than ever of what and how much they consume.
I wish I believed this would lead to anything good, to any substantive change. But I don't. Too many people have too much invested in everything staying just the way it is, no matter how many cataclysms it costs the world.
Reply
I really, really wish I could bring myself to see Splice, because I loved the concept of Dren, and I loved that the film and its director understood this about the Frankenstein story and made it about a mother and daughter. But as to how it ends (which I am very glad I found out about, because I can't bring myself to sit through that), and what Cat Valente said about the story leaving nothing about Dren except the horrible things she did, without context or explanation? Yeeeeah.
And I find I can't stop ranting about this. Disappointment makes me a ranty mcmuffin. Because I loved the concept and it kills me that it was handled the way it was.
Reply
Thing is...I'm not sure that's true. Certainly, the film fails to take full advantage of the opportunity to explore the character, and to try and understand the character. But I don't think it's fair say the film's entirely devoid of any attempt to communicate to the audience the motivations behind Dren's actions. If that were true, the whole Frankenstein thing would never have shown through so clearly. It's clear that Dren is confused, angry, reacting to abuse, acting on her/his own distinctly inhuman biological urges, and so forth. It's just all that gets lost at the end.
Reply
Reply
i think the silence is because we all know this is the end of the world.
I think you're right. Though, we're talking "not with a bang, but a whimper." This is another nail in the coffin.
I wish you would write about your opinion concerning the gulf spill. It's eerily quiet & upsetting.
I'm trying. But between the daunting process of putting my thoughts on the matter into words, and the dread of having to hear the chorus of offended idiots, it's hard to bring myself to do it. I am tired.
I think our society would not exist as we know it without plastics, which come from the oil industry. We can try to counterbalance this consumption by re-using what we have, recycling etc.
Recycling and reuse will never solve the problem. Recycling is rarely efficient and reuse leads to increased exposure to toxicity from outgasing. The only solution is the radically scale back our plastic consumption, using plastic only when necessary, when another material will not suffice.
Reply
The thing that bothered me most about the script was how clumsily the science was handled. I know, I know, the science isn't exactly relevant to the story, but still...even I in Pulp Mode find it hard to swallow the idea that you could just mix up a bowl of various genes from different species, pour the batter into an autowomb, and have a completely viable new species of abhuman kickin' around the lab in a day or two. If it was that easy, I'd have a friggin' army of casowary/human Velociraptor Soldiers cookin' in my basement right now.
*That said, I think Björk might very well have a tail in real life. She just...looks like she ought to have one.
Reply
Yes, the science was often ridiculous. I just didn't see the point in harping on the obvious. You might as well complain about the science in Frankenstein.
I liked it better the first time I saw it, when it was called Species and the bioneered chick was hotter.
Though there are notable parallels between Species and Splice, the latter is an infinitely better film, on every level.
Reply
Still, you're right: Splice is handled a lot better than Species--but Natasha Henstridge is a few thousand times hotter than...that French chick who played Dren. Natasha Henstridge, though, did not have a tail and prehensile feet, which are always things I look for in a woman.
Reply
It had so much potential for dealing with the rights and responsibilities human bioneers must face when interacting with sapient chimeras...but every time it brought up one of those moments, it disposed of them in a quick little soundbite of hackneyed dialogue (i.e., "It's not an experiment...it's a mistake").
Yes. This was the central problem. The script was, for the most part, atrocious.
But I just never saw Natasha Henstridge's appeal.
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