Monsters

[GrahamB]

http://www.monstersfilm.com/

[Andy_S]

Concept looks great (much better than that James Caan movie in which the 'aliens' are an unwieldy analogy for African-Americans) but the 'monster" look like a giant octopus.

HR Geiger, wherefore art thou?

[GrahamB]

[Andy_S]

Just ntoed the critics' comment: "Ends with an alien mating dance of astonishing versillimitude"

Hold it.

This critic has seen an alien? And that alien was performing a mating dance?

When I read quality material like this, I realise I am a failure - an utterly useless, good-for-nothing fucking failure - as a journalist.

[GrahamB]

And get this - I'm going to the uk premiere next week, and I don't even need to write about it unless I feel the need to. Yes, you have failed.

[Steve James]

Hmm, it was in theatres on 10/29. I haven't seen ads for it here, but it seems like an ok flick --that I will probably see on Netflix. I'm not sure of how conceptually original it is, and it's unclear to me how it compares to "Alien Nation." (Btw, I never saw an analogy between the aliens in that film and African Americans. I still wouldn't, but it's interesting that some did. Well, for one thing, I think the basic "inhabitant/alien" conflict can be applied (analogically) to any situation, from Saxons/Normans, to Pilgrims/Eastern Indians, to Pioneers/Plains Indians, to Whites/Blacks, to residents/illegal aliens. As always, there is always the subtle questions of "who belongs here?" and "who can fit in?" So, any invader is an alien. And, this film "Monsters" asks the same tricky question.

"Monster" is a tricky terms, itself. It always reminds me of "Frankenstein" ... yeah, the doctor was the monster. But, that's really another subject. I wanted to say that "Planet of the Apes" was considered (by me and most of my peers) as a closer analogy for the social situation of African Americans at the time. "ET" was, for many of us, a comment on a society could accept aliens before they'd accept people who didn't look like they lived in the suburbs. Anyway, from my perspective, much changed with the Star Trek series ... not the original characters, but with the "new" mixed-race aliens species. Once there were black Kligons, the simple color dichotomy could no longer be a simple analogy. That's been for at least the last 20 years. Thus, in "District Nine", there is a clear parallel between the way the aliens are treated and the old apartheid system. However, the black people are just as "racist" against the aliens as the whites. And, then there's "Avatar" --which is Pocahontas tinted blue and given a politically romantic ending).

Which gets to the sex ... I guess I'll have to watch the movie to give an opinion on that. Sexual verisimilitude can be complicated.

[Andy_S]

Steve:

Alien Nation
Right, that was the film. I am not American; perhaps a better analogy would be Latino immigrants...it seemed to have a subtext about immigration and assimiliation, but maybe that was just me. Funnily enough, I never saw "Planet of the Apes" as being analogous to anyone much, but I saw it when I was pretty young and innocent.

Mind you, I have never looked at chimpanzees the same way again since. If they are havnig my banana, they are gong to have a fight on their hands.

And maybe this film has nothing to do with Mexico/Mexicans. Look forward to reading Barlow's review.

[Steve James]

Hey Andy,

I think it might have something to do with when and where one saw the film. When "Alien Nation" came out, "we" didn't see it as an analogy to a specific group. That's really why I asked. I agree that someone from outside the states might (naturally) see the film in terms of American issues at a particular time.

[Steve James]

Superman is/was an illegal alien. "Kal-el" ... Car-lo ... ... coincidence?

[zenshiite]

I'm pretty sure Monsters is kind of about something the US government concocted in an experiment in space on a satellite that crashes to earth and then it gets out of control and quite literally turns things into monsters.

[Steve James]

I'm pretty sure Monsters is kind of about something the US government concocted in an experiment in space on a satellite that crashes to earth and then it gets out of control and quite literally turns things into monsters.

Yeah, but how come it's always some American scientist?
That's racist.

But, the part about turning things into monsters seems like the ordinary zombie/crazy movie... er, that's if the things are people. If they are animals or insects, then they're "Them" or "Gojira." If they're minerals or metals, then they're "Transformers" or; if plants, they're "Triffids"; if bacteria (created), "Outbreak"; if (alien) "The Andromeda Strain." Okay, I won't leave out the Devil --as old as Faust. We need some originality.

[Iskendar]

I'm pretty sure Monsters is kind of about something the US government concocted in an experiment in space on a satellite that crashes to earth and then it gets out of control and quite literally turns things into monsters.

I suspect some people are confusing thus movie with District 9, which did have some parallels with Alien Nation (aliens living in ghetto's as second class citizens...)

[Josealb]

I saw it a while back. You know the type of movie that leaves you with an certain satisfaction regarding the time you put into watching it? That ends and it leaves you thinking on scenes and how the characters grew as the story went by? The type of movie that you might sit to watch it again with a friend or that you would recommend?

This isnt that type of movie.

[cerebus]

Yeah, but how come it's always some American scientist?
That's racist.

"Racist"? Maybe you mean "nationalist", Americans come in all races...

[Steve James]

"Racist"? Maybe you mean "nationalist", Americans come in all races...

Naw, I meant it. All nations come in different "races." I can misuse a concept as well as the next guy.