First District 9 review!

[Member_of_STARS]

Choosing a score for a movie from a scale is still technically a review. It doesn't have to be a write up or a long, drawn out discussion or conversation. People are still expressing their opinions about a film when they give it any kind of score, whether they have an avenue for actually explaining the score or not.

No its not. Webster disagrees with you, especially considering that the term youre looking for is "rating". Which is what giving a score is. Reviewing is something entirely different.

But I mean, if you want to make things up just so you could "win an argument"....

because, as I already stated, I wasn't posting about the movie itself but rather your response to kev's post.

Except for the fact that you completely got my response wrong and figured it would be "cool" to go for that old "reviews dont mean anything" run and STILL try to, without realizing that were not talking about a numerical representation of peoples tastes, but rather a numerical representation of the quality of the movie. And *fact* is that movies quality is being reflected in numbers, based on emotional votes not affecting objective or observational votes.

My response was solely aimed to the first part of his post, where he said I was easily pleased and not at where he said that the movie was boring. So...

It's not my fault you apparently couldn't tell the difference.

... cool story, but perhaps take a little more time when reading posts youre going to respond with an attitude to?

It's still ultimately based on people's opinions, no matter how "objective" they may or may not be. An average score for, in this case, a movie is still no more definitive or "factual" than a single score from an individual.

Based on what logic (or lack of one)? Youre saying that as an individual, my opinion is worth just as much as lets say, a sum of 30K opinions? Now youre really stretching.

As I already said, it is affected by opinions, because that's all the scores are.

You will likely never get it, or never try to get it, but theres a major difference between an objective review (an objective numerical evaluation) or a subjective one. You probably dont know how the IMDB ratings work and you will most likely just go around in circles, still trying to prove that the opinion of 1 = opinion of 1M. So Ill try to simplify this- motional voters score neutralizes itsself and the average is an objective evaluation of the movie. Which means that people who LIKED the movie and people who DIDNT like the movie, are going to default each others votes so the final score youll get is going to reflect the movies quality compared to other movies. Not whether youll like it or not, but how well the movie is made. Thats it-

Just so you wouldnt be chasing your tail again- first part, not the second part. I didnt even adress his "opinion" because its just that.

[Archelon]

We're just going to have to agree to disagree then, because the "quality" of a movie is subjective as well. The fact that a system is based on a calculation of numbers does not make it objective when those very numbers upon which it is based are in turn based on a person's subjective opinion of a movie, or the "quality" of the movie. Just because a person's assessment of the quality of the film may be more "objective" than someone who votes off the cuff without giving it any real thought does not mean it is void of any and all personal bias or opinion.

[Member_of_STARS]

We're just going to have to agree to disagree then, because the "quality" of a movie is subjective as well. The fact that a system is based on a calculation of numbers does not make it objective when those very numbers upon which it is based are in turn based on a person's subjective opinion of a movie, or the "quality" of the movie. Just because a person's assessment of the quality of the film may be more "objective" than someone who votes off the cuff without giving it any real thought does not mean it is void of any and all personal bias or opinion.

You can disagree with me, but think of it this way- if what you were saying was true, then movies which are made for the masses should *always* have higher scores than niche movies. So Paris Hilton blockbusters should leave movies like STALKER or say... Schindlers List.

[Stars1356]

For a movie that I didn't even know was coming out a month ago, I really want to see this and heard good things about the movie.

[Dot50Cal]

I wanted to like this really bad, but for some reason its leaving a sour taste in my mouth. I'll have to view it again to find out why. Maybe its because
Spoiler:

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The prawns are just kind of..gullible/stupid, all except for the one. Its a kind of odd disconnect that I couldn't reconcile. That and the fact that the main character is a really un-likable asshole. Laughing while the prawn eggs are popping. I mean, eh, I dunno. I went in expecting a different character. His only redeeming quality is at the end when he helps the Prawn take off.

[Member_of_STARS]

I wanted to like this really bad, but for some reason its leaving a sour taste in my mouth. I'll have to view it again to find out why. Maybe its because
Spoiler:

show spoiler

The prawns are just kind of..gullible/stupid, all except for the one. Its a kind of odd disconnect that I couldn't reconcile. That and the fact that the main character is a really un-likable asshole. Laughing while the prawn eggs are popping. I mean, eh, I dunno. I went in expecting a different character. His only redeeming quality is at the end when he helps the Prawn take off.

Dot, these things are all explainable.

Among a million other (explainable) things people didnt particulaly like, Ill adress the two issues you had:

Spoiler:

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1. Prawns society works like a beehive/ anthive. Theres a queen and almost everyone else is a drone. The ship was a mining vessel and a hive, built to roam around the space for (thousands of) years. Aslong as the queen is alive, the prawns are directed and guided and their lives have a purpose. Its very likely that Christopher was a "soldier prawn" or even a "male prawn", which would explain his much higher intellect. Its not unlikely that there were more prawns like him, but how can you find them in a settlement of 1.8M inhabitants and no networking?

2. It was called an "abortion" for a reason. Its very likely that whatever was in the eggs never felt a thing, which is why Van Der Merwe did what he did without any ethical issues.

[Dot50Cal]

Spoiler:

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I get that, but I wish they went more in depth about that. Chris could have explained that to him, in some way. Heck, even the people talking in the beginning could have. But they just left it there for people to assume. My biggest complaint is that not a lot happened. The movie seemed like it was setting itself up for an epic reveal, but they just kind of plopped it in your lap: Aliens are here. And by the end of the movie, they are still here, with the slight possibility of one coming back with re-enforcements.

That one scene isn't all I'm talking about. All throughout the movie hes a total dick whos only in it for himself. He pretends to care for the Prawns, but when it comes down to it, its his self preservation that always takes precedence. I guess I was expecting someone who was a bit more sympathetic to their cause from the start of the movie.

[Member_of_STARS]

Spoiler:

show spoiler

I get that, but I wish they went more in depth about that. Chris could have explained that to him, in some way. Heck, even the people talking in the beginning could have. But they just left it there for people to assume. My biggest complaint is that not a lot happened. The movie seemed like it was setting itself up for an epic reveal, but they just kind of plopped it in your lap: Aliens are here. And by the end of the movie, they are still here, with the slight possibility of one coming back with re-enforcements.

That one scene isn't all I'm talking about. All throughout the movie hes a total dick whos only in it for himself. He pretends to care for the Prawns, but when it comes down to it, its his self preservation that always takes precedence. I guess I was expecting someone who was a bit more sympathetic to their cause from the start of the movie.

Spoiler:

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One of the key things about this movie is that it is open to theories and intepretation, a lot. Kind of like RE used to be. The thing is, theres a 1.5-2 hour limit and sufficient info was given in order to get the movies main message across. I dont really think that information was lacking, considering that sufficient ammount of it was given to get the main idea and themes across and everything else can be made sense of with some speculation. Its not supposed to make you ditch it as soon as you leave the theatre, its supposed to make you think, discuss and speculate.

As for the main character, he was one of the themes. An average Joe is usually not a likable character and everything that motivated him throughout the movie made sense. The prawns were part of his everyday routine, they were part of this world now, for 28 years, so you shouldnt have been expecting a Shawshank Redemption theme with aliens. Its one guys journey, a spineless, average, office cockhead who made a lot of bad calls and a few good ones. You have to look at most of the nonstandard (in Hollywoods terms) characters from a more realistic perspective. I wasnt rooting for Van Der Merwe, but I was pleasantly surprised at the conflicts I as a viewer was put through while watching the movie

[Stars1356]

Spoiler:

show spoiler

I get that, but I wish they went more in depth about that. Chris could have explained that to him, in some way. Heck, even the people talking in the beginning could have. But they just left it there for people to assume. My biggest complaint is that not a lot happened. The movie seemed like it was setting itself up for an epic reveal, but they just kind of plopped it in your lap: Aliens are here. And by the end of the movie, they are still here, with the slight possibility of one coming back with re-enforcements.

That one scene isn't all I'm talking about. All throughout the movie hes a total dick whos only in it for himself. He pretends to care for the Prawns, but when it comes down to it, its his self preservation that always takes precedence. I guess I was expecting someone who was a bit more sympathetic to their cause from the start of the movie.

Spoiler:

show spoiler

Yea the main character is a dick and really a a dork but at the end he shows true courage and helps Christopher survive. The one thing that I'm not sure about is how exactly did he get infected? I thought the stuff he sprayed himself with was fulid to run the space ship.