We are the Misfits! Our songs are better!
Mar. 25th, 2004 10:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
I watched the trailer last night, and here are my four primary impressions:
- OMG Draco looks so creepy in Snape's classroom!! He looks like he'd stalk you before killing you in your sleep, and not in a hot way.
- Overdramatic Harry shouting makes me cringe.
- Awwwwww, Harry and Hermione are sitting together in class! Hee.
- HEEHEE, Ron looking carefully away whilst Hermione grabs his hand!!
... maybe I am a bit of a trio shipper after all.
Have you ever seen Final Destination and/or Final Destination 2? I saw FD2 a couple of nights ago, and the more I think about it, the more it doesn't make any SENCE.
First, here's my disclaimer: Obviously, to be able to enjoy either of these movies on any level, you have to be able to suspend your disbelief and treat it like a GP movie. I did that for FD, but FD2 has gone TOO FAR.
The premise of FD was that Death has a design, and if you take note of the signs you can avoid it. Death was thwarted by Alex Browning, because he had one of those sixth sense moments where you do/don't do something because you have a feeling. Now, the whole Death's design thing required some suspension of disbelief, but not the sixth sense thing. That's believable enough, as there are enough real cases of such things to support it, plus intuition is a hard thing to pin down. Some of the "signs" that followed were a bit iffy, but something had gotten Alex to "see" the plane crash, so I could follow along w/ him being The Chosen One.
But they never explain, at the end of the movie, why he was able to do so. We were just supposed to believe that he could, something compelled him, etc. Okay fine, GP movie. However, they used that same premise for FD2, and I couldn't really go there again. Because now I'm like, well if that's Death's design, then who are all these people who can randomly see it and curtail it?????
I actually think I "got to know" the people involved in FD more than I did in FD2. Other than the kid who looked creepily like David Duchovny, I couldn't be bothered with anyone else, didn't really know them. Whereas in FD, while I didn't like many of them, I did know "who" each of them were and how they fit into the storyline. (Plus, pregnant women on TV/in movies tend to annoy me. I think it goes back to one of the worst episodes of XF ever, "Agua Mala.") Oh, and I also liked the main girl, A.J. Cook -- I actually think she would have been better in Ali Larter's role from the first film.
Speaking of Ali Larter -- dude, she looked awful in FD2! I mean, I know that she was partly meant to, but it was beyond that. At first I thought it was lameass how she was suddenly blonde -- surely Death would have gotten her somehow while she was dyeing her hair -- but after watching FD again she's blonde at the end (interesting choice; oh, now that they've beaten Death she has to turn blonde, because they have more fun?), so fine. Her whole character was a tragedy. To survive for that long, having to watch everyone else die, including her sweetheart Alex, and then just finally get taken by Death after all ... it's a fitting but depressing end.
The end of FD doesn't offer much hope for the "survivors," but at least you could believe that even if Carter ended up dying, Alex and Claire continued to cheat death somehow and maybe eventually beat it. Maybe in a way that they didn't even realize how. In FD2, "new life" is supposed to interrupt Death's design and wipe the slate clean. The only reason it didn't work in FD2 was because the pregnant woman wasn't originally supposed to die. So theoretically, Alex and Claire could have totally had a child, it would have wiped the slate clean, and they probably would have eventually come to the conclusion that that's what it was. Or, if they wanted to make FD2 and go the tragic route but keep Claire alive, she could have been pregnant when Alex died, then given birth afterward, saving herself -- but not realizing it.
At least that would explain how the hell she's managed to live all this time. I don't care how cautious she is -- the point of all the deaths (much more creepily/successfully done in FD, imho, w/ the exception of the airbag in FD2) is that you can't prevent them; they happen even under the most innocuous of circumstances. Anyway, so that would be explained, and it would also be a cool reveal, and appease my little shipper heart (yes, I can apparently even ship Alex/Claire). Especially because I'm :-l over Alex dying at all -- that seems the most tragic thing, imho, because of course, from the first one, you figure that if anyone's going to survive, it's him, and if he's going to die, then it'll be through his own act (like trying to save Claire), not because he got hit in the face with a brick. :-l
So going back to FD2, here are the other problems:
- The plane was supposed to kill all those people, and because of Alex, some of them didn't die. But everyone who did die was supposed to. The car crash happened anyway. It took lives that weren't meant to be taken -- doesn't that change the game? It took alternates. The only thing it did was save the people who were originally going to die -- so really, if the girl wasn't the protagonist, you couldn't exactly say she did much good. She didn't prevent the accident from happening ... she only saved herself and these other arbitrary people. We never see the people who actually died; maybe we would have liked them more!
- If Death's "tying up loose ends" then everyone in the world has to be part of that immediate design, because each of the people who were spared before in turn affected others because they lived. (Although I think it's a really cool idea that they were all supposed to have died already, and then Death was just going to take them all out in one massive freeway accident.)
- Some of the deaths seemed to occur because they saw it coming, and made it happen! I can think of two instances. A.J. shouting "Pigeons!" is what got the teenager to run at them and start the chain of events that killed him. Now, you could say that he would have done that even w/o their intervention, but that's not the point. We don't know that, but we know for sure that their calling it out definitely did result in his death. The other is the woman killed by the elevator -- because they called and told her she would be killed by a man with hooks, she freaked out and that's what got her killed.
Plus, I was just not buying the idea that everyone could see signs around them and prevent death. ONE GUY -- Alex -- having sixth sense, okay. But not the way A.J. Cook was getting visions, and even though I ended up liking the stoner guy, the idea that he "saw" the guy w/ hooks who would kill the lady was kinda lameass.
And like, has anyone ever heard of brakes? The pedal is right next to the one for the gas. Jesus. In every single instance when brakes should have been applied, these people seemed to go for the gas instead, so that they could continue down their wildly careening path of destruction. (That's so true of all TV shows/movies, though ... instead of braking, the drivers honk their horns loudly and insistently before mowing down whoever is unfortunate enough to be in their path.)
I have to say that the freeway accident that opens up FD2 is spectacular. It gets a bit much toward the end w/ all the cars NOT braking and going at full speed toward a blazing inferno, but all the inital wreckage was v. realistic seeming.
I know, I think too much. This was just two stupid throwaway movies. I can't help it!
OMG apparently JEM is coming out on DVD. This was one of my favorite shows as a kid. I might have to get it. Thanks to Robbie for the icon!
- OMG Draco looks so creepy in Snape's classroom!! He looks like he'd stalk you before killing you in your sleep, and not in a hot way.
- Overdramatic Harry shouting makes me cringe.
- Awwwwww, Harry and Hermione are sitting together in class! Hee.
- HEEHEE, Ron looking carefully away whilst Hermione grabs his hand!!
... maybe I am a bit of a trio shipper after all.
Have you ever seen Final Destination and/or Final Destination 2? I saw FD2 a couple of nights ago, and the more I think about it, the more it doesn't make any SENCE.
First, here's my disclaimer: Obviously, to be able to enjoy either of these movies on any level, you have to be able to suspend your disbelief and treat it like a GP movie. I did that for FD, but FD2 has gone TOO FAR.
The premise of FD was that Death has a design, and if you take note of the signs you can avoid it. Death was thwarted by Alex Browning, because he had one of those sixth sense moments where you do/don't do something because you have a feeling. Now, the whole Death's design thing required some suspension of disbelief, but not the sixth sense thing. That's believable enough, as there are enough real cases of such things to support it, plus intuition is a hard thing to pin down. Some of the "signs" that followed were a bit iffy, but something had gotten Alex to "see" the plane crash, so I could follow along w/ him being The Chosen One.
But they never explain, at the end of the movie, why he was able to do so. We were just supposed to believe that he could, something compelled him, etc. Okay fine, GP movie. However, they used that same premise for FD2, and I couldn't really go there again. Because now I'm like, well if that's Death's design, then who are all these people who can randomly see it and curtail it?????
I actually think I "got to know" the people involved in FD more than I did in FD2. Other than the kid who looked creepily like David Duchovny, I couldn't be bothered with anyone else, didn't really know them. Whereas in FD, while I didn't like many of them, I did know "who" each of them were and how they fit into the storyline. (Plus, pregnant women on TV/in movies tend to annoy me. I think it goes back to one of the worst episodes of XF ever, "Agua Mala.") Oh, and I also liked the main girl, A.J. Cook -- I actually think she would have been better in Ali Larter's role from the first film.
Speaking of Ali Larter -- dude, she looked awful in FD2! I mean, I know that she was partly meant to, but it was beyond that. At first I thought it was lameass how she was suddenly blonde -- surely Death would have gotten her somehow while she was dyeing her hair -- but after watching FD again she's blonde at the end (interesting choice; oh, now that they've beaten Death she has to turn blonde, because they have more fun?), so fine. Her whole character was a tragedy. To survive for that long, having to watch everyone else die, including her sweetheart Alex, and then just finally get taken by Death after all ... it's a fitting but depressing end.
The end of FD doesn't offer much hope for the "survivors," but at least you could believe that even if Carter ended up dying, Alex and Claire continued to cheat death somehow and maybe eventually beat it. Maybe in a way that they didn't even realize how. In FD2, "new life" is supposed to interrupt Death's design and wipe the slate clean. The only reason it didn't work in FD2 was because the pregnant woman wasn't originally supposed to die. So theoretically, Alex and Claire could have totally had a child, it would have wiped the slate clean, and they probably would have eventually come to the conclusion that that's what it was. Or, if they wanted to make FD2 and go the tragic route but keep Claire alive, she could have been pregnant when Alex died, then given birth afterward, saving herself -- but not realizing it.
At least that would explain how the hell she's managed to live all this time. I don't care how cautious she is -- the point of all the deaths (much more creepily/successfully done in FD, imho, w/ the exception of the airbag in FD2) is that you can't prevent them; they happen even under the most innocuous of circumstances. Anyway, so that would be explained, and it would also be a cool reveal, and appease my little shipper heart (yes, I can apparently even ship Alex/Claire). Especially because I'm :-l over Alex dying at all -- that seems the most tragic thing, imho, because of course, from the first one, you figure that if anyone's going to survive, it's him, and if he's going to die, then it'll be through his own act (like trying to save Claire), not because he got hit in the face with a brick. :-l
So going back to FD2, here are the other problems:
- The plane was supposed to kill all those people, and because of Alex, some of them didn't die. But everyone who did die was supposed to. The car crash happened anyway. It took lives that weren't meant to be taken -- doesn't that change the game? It took alternates. The only thing it did was save the people who were originally going to die -- so really, if the girl wasn't the protagonist, you couldn't exactly say she did much good. She didn't prevent the accident from happening ... she only saved herself and these other arbitrary people. We never see the people who actually died; maybe we would have liked them more!
- If Death's "tying up loose ends" then everyone in the world has to be part of that immediate design, because each of the people who were spared before in turn affected others because they lived. (Although I think it's a really cool idea that they were all supposed to have died already, and then Death was just going to take them all out in one massive freeway accident.)
- Some of the deaths seemed to occur because they saw it coming, and made it happen! I can think of two instances. A.J. shouting "Pigeons!" is what got the teenager to run at them and start the chain of events that killed him. Now, you could say that he would have done that even w/o their intervention, but that's not the point. We don't know that, but we know for sure that their calling it out definitely did result in his death. The other is the woman killed by the elevator -- because they called and told her she would be killed by a man with hooks, she freaked out and that's what got her killed.
Plus, I was just not buying the idea that everyone could see signs around them and prevent death. ONE GUY -- Alex -- having sixth sense, okay. But not the way A.J. Cook was getting visions, and even though I ended up liking the stoner guy, the idea that he "saw" the guy w/ hooks who would kill the lady was kinda lameass.
And like, has anyone ever heard of brakes? The pedal is right next to the one for the gas. Jesus. In every single instance when brakes should have been applied, these people seemed to go for the gas instead, so that they could continue down their wildly careening path of destruction. (That's so true of all TV shows/movies, though ... instead of braking, the drivers honk their horns loudly and insistently before mowing down whoever is unfortunate enough to be in their path.)
I have to say that the freeway accident that opens up FD2 is spectacular. It gets a bit much toward the end w/ all the cars NOT braking and going at full speed toward a blazing inferno, but all the inital wreckage was v. realistic seeming.
I know, I think too much. This was just two stupid throwaway movies. I can't help it!
OMG apparently JEM is coming out on DVD. This was one of my favorite shows as a kid. I might have to get it. Thanks to Robbie for the icon!
