• Teague
  • Teague
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  • Registered: 2009-11-07
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Topic: The Thing

Hey guys, Teague here. The Thing is a flick I had never seen before, despite its popularity among people with whom I associate. That usually either means I need to watch the movie, get new friends, or figure out a damned good reason not to have seen it. In the absence of willing volunteers or knowledge of a good argument to be made supporting my ignorance, I went for the low-ball and watched this movie like a little nancy bitch.

Down in Front, bending to your will since 1845.

(Also, because you’ll be curious right off the bat, after I introduce the movie, everyone else woo’s. Apparently all three were doing a different cutesy thing – one was gasping, one was cheering, one was doing a horror ooh – and the result is…funny.)

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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  • From: Seattle, WA
  • Registered: 2009-11-19
  • Posts: 590
  • User Karma: 13

Re: The Thing

So I threw a bunch of old DIFs on my iPod over the weekend, and as I started this one, I realized that I had somehow never listened to the episode. And at the end of the intro, I realized that I simply had to watch the film.

One torrent later, here I am, about to watch The Thing for the first time ever. Reactions to come.

Posted from my iPad
http://trek.fm

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  • From: Seattle, WA
  • Registered: 2009-11-19
  • Posts: 590
  • User Karma: 13

Re: The Thing

OK, that was pretty awesome. As I told brian, it's like the best episode of Fringe ever. I can't say I was terribly scared, but it's the middle of the day, and 80s puppet effects just aren't what they used to be.

I know this is going to break Trey's heart, but this is a film just begging to be remade (again). Give it to someone like Darabont, who really knows how to use CGI properly.

Oh, and why did Kurt Russell ever shave off that beard? He needs to grow it back, and then do a guest arc on Stargate: Universe, à la Richard Hatch on BSG.

Posted from my iPad
http://trek.fm

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  • From: Indiana, USA
  • Registered: 2009-11-23
  • Posts: 2,747
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Re: The Thing

The Thing was largely dismissed when it came out, but it has gradually grown in stature since coming out on video. DIF does a great job at looking at it critically and having fun with it.

In the last year or so, it has become one of my very favorite sci fi films. I think it's tightly written, very well acted, and uses its magic beans sparingly for some really effective scenes. The climax is a bit weak; that's where the effects of the time seem the most threadbare. They probably should have gone with a human-drama climax (tension and trust) instead of a video game level boss.

But I can't see how a remake could be better. The effects don't really let the movie down. The acting and directing carry it off, and you'd never be able to duplicate those performances. Even so, I look forward to the prequel.

Warning: I'm probably rewriting this post as you read it.

Zarban's House of Commentaries

Zarban's Website

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  • fcw
  • fcw
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  • Registered: 2010-08-25
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Re: The Thing

Meanwhile, in actual news, a team of scientists in Antarctica, attempting to see if a frozen-over lake contains long-hidden unknown life forms, has unexpectedly stopped responding....

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  • From: Van Dieman's Land
  • Registered: 2011-06-02
  • Posts: 1,357
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Re: The Thing

Saw the movie for the first time last night - while the creature effects were okay, the acting wasn't very believable. The facial expressions were so 'matter of fact' - yeah, some guy shot at us. Oh there's a weird alien creature.  And there's a ship. Whatever. The editing was disjointed in the old cheap John Carpenter B-movie kind of way. The dialogue was a bit minimalist too. I'm guess if you saw this movie at the time or were young, you'd be a big fan, but coming to it late and post-Aliens, etc, it seems it hasn't aged well. Wasn't tense (each alien incarnation died instantly from flame) and the climax was very weak.
I heard the prequel (2011) is lame.

not long to go now...

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  • Registered: 2013-04-08
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Re: The Thing

FEAR ON FILM discussion with John Landis, John Carpenter and David Cronenberg

http://i.imgur.com/uZHbpQm.jpg


Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Pass the Popcorn | BTN | Letterboxd

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  • Registered: 2010-11-12
  • Posts: 1,180
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Re: The Thing

Thread bump: I tweeted this to The Boys and thought I'd post it here too if anyone else wants to take a look at it. On this episode, at least one of the guys says he'd like to see a Wicked-style take on the the movie from The Thing's perspective. Well, this wish has been granted—Peter Watts' short story "The Things" was nominated for a Hugo Award and is bloody fantastic—both intriguing and chilling.

Last edited by Abbie (2014-06-18 02:16:47)

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  • From: Van Dieman's Land
  • Registered: 2011-06-02
  • Posts: 1,357
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Re: The Thing

not long to go now...

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