{"id":8513,"date":"2019-02-01T00:11:09","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T06:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/?p=8513"},"modified":"2019-03-22T00:58:56","modified_gmt":"2019-03-22T05:58:56","slug":"2-good-movies-annihilation-downsizing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/2019\/02\/01\/2-good-movies-annihilation-downsizing\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Good Movies: Annihilation &#038; Downsizing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Last night I watched <em>Annihilation <\/em>on Hulu, then <em>Downsizing <\/em>tonight. Two good movies! Back to back! You care about that, right? <\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Saw both on Hulu, which has been worth it, I&#8217;m surprised to say&#8211;but only if paying the extra $50 or so\/year for no commercials. And speaking of surprises, I&#8217;m not used to watching 2 good movies back-to-back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why are they good? Craftsmanship, I suppose. They must have started as compelling stories, and throughout thousands of decisions made by myriad personalities who assembled to produce works of entertainment over multi-year timeframes, no one screwed the process up too badly. Many choices were well made. It&#8217;s above average, and it must be why directors get so much credit&#8211;it&#8217;s difficult to guide a cargo ship to port, but someone&#8217;s got to steer it&#8211;and there&#8217;s only one steering wheel. Yes, there were tugboats and navigators and radio communications, but we need a single point to focus our praise or blame. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Signs &quot;The Alien&quot; 2002 movie scene\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aIhnqkXWSR8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>I look like Swamp Thing but moisture kills me.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Annihilation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>What&#8217;s good? This movie is weird. Not just a lame attempt at supernatural, as sci-fi often does. It exhibits smart takes on scientific principles from fields of biology to electromagnetism, but not in an eye-rolly way&#8230; remember in <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"M. Night Shyamalan's &quot;Signs,&quot; (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Signs_(film)#Plot\" target=\"_blank\">M. Night Shyamalan&#8217;s &#8220;Signs,&#8221;<\/a> a race of aliens figured out interstellar travel but didn&#8217;t know they were visiting a planet covered in a poisonous molecule (H2O) found commonly throughout the galaxy?  This movie isn&#8217;t that silly. For example, a strange biological phenomena is explained as &#8220;refraction,&#8221; like of light through a prism, but in this case, DNA through &#8220;the Shimmer&#8221;; a name for the environment inexplicably extending for miles around a swampy lighthouse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" data-amp-noloading=\"true\" data-amp-lightbox=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANNHILATION-PEOPLE-PLANTS-1200x675.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8691\" srcset=\"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANNHILATION-PEOPLE-PLANTS-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANNHILATION-PEOPLE-PLANTS-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANNHILATION-PEOPLE-PLANTS-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANNHILATION-PEOPLE-PLANTS-1696x954.jpg 1696w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANNHILATION-PEOPLE-PLANTS-848x477.jpg 848w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANNHILATION-PEOPLE-PLANTS-730x410.jpg 730w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANNHILATION-PEOPLE-PLANTS-365x205.jpg 365w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANNHILATION-PEOPLE-PLANTS.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>There&#8217;s a part I&#8217;m sure was inspired by the &#8220;zombie ant&#8221; phenomena recently discovered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3255\" height=\"1633\" src=\"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANNIHILATION-ZOMBIE-SPORES.png\" alt=\"ANNIHILATION - ZOMBIE SPORES\" class=\"wp-image-8692\" srcset=\"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANNIHILATION-ZOMBIE-SPORES.png 3255w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANNIHILATION-ZOMBIE-SPORES-150x75.png 150w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANNIHILATION-ZOMBIE-SPORES-600x301.png 600w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANNIHILATION-ZOMBIE-SPORES-1200x602.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3255px) 100vw, 3255px\" \/><figcaption>ANNIHILATION &#8211; ZOMBIE SPORES<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"737\" src=\"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANT-ZOMBIE-FUNGUS.jpg\" alt=\"ANT - ZOMBIE FUNGUS\" class=\"wp-image-8693\" srcset=\"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANT-ZOMBIE-FUNGUS.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANT-ZOMBIE-FUNGUS-150x108.jpg 150w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANT-ZOMBIE-FUNGUS-600x432.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>ANT &#8211; ZOMBIE FUNGUS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scientificamerican.com\/compound-eye\/most-zombie-ant-photographs-are-upside-down\/\">https:\/\/blogs.scientificamerican.com\/compound-eye\/most-zombie-ant-photographs-are-upside-down\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyway, this movie keeps its weird alien vibe the whole while and doesn&#8217;t have some wonderfully upbeat message tacked on at the end (looking at you, <em>Arrival<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If anything, it just gets weirder and weirder until the incredible lighthouse sequence. It&#8217;s horrific and unnerving but also original. I&#8217;m not going to spoil it with images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Downsizing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"426\" height=\"597\" src=\"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/THE-INFORMANT.jpg\" alt=\"THE INFORMANT\" data-id=\"8685\" data-link=\"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=8685\" class=\"wp-image-8685\" srcset=\"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/THE-INFORMANT.jpg 426w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/THE-INFORMANT-107x150.jpg 107w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 426px) 100vw, 426px\" \/><figcaption>THE INFORMANT<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/WE-BOUGHT-A-ZOO.jpeg\" alt=\"WE BOUGHT A ZOO\" data-id=\"8686\" data-link=\"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=8686\" class=\"wp-image-8686\" srcset=\"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/WE-BOUGHT-A-ZOO.jpeg 450w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/WE-BOUGHT-A-ZOO-150x150.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><figcaption>WE BOUGHT A ZOO<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I must have watched the trailer for this on Hulu and was swayed enough to watch the feature, because I wasn&#8217;t going to. I like Matt Damon, but when he Buys a Zoo or Informs, I&#8217;m not usually interested. And this looked like that to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"635\" src=\"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/MOVIES-DIRECTED-BY-ALEXANDER-PANYE-1200x635.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8687\" srcset=\"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/MOVIES-DIRECTED-BY-ALEXANDER-PANYE-1200x635.png 1200w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/MOVIES-DIRECTED-BY-ALEXANDER-PANYE-150x79.png 150w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/MOVIES-DIRECTED-BY-ALEXANDER-PANYE-600x317.png 600w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/MOVIES-DIRECTED-BY-ALEXANDER-PANYE.png 1206w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m not really a movie buff, so I didn&#8217;t automatically know director Alexander Payne directed <em>Sideways <\/em>and <em>About Schmidt<\/em> also. 2 great movies. I knew he&#8217;d directed <em>The Descendents<\/em> because of <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Matthew Lillard telling a humorous story about it on a podcast (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/armchairexpertpod.com\/pods\/matthew-lillard\" target=\"_blank\">Matthew Lillard telling a humorous story about it on a podcast<\/a>. And when I watched this movie I started remembering how much I liked <em>The Descendents<\/em>, which is weird because it shouldn&#8217;t be very relatable: guy who&#8217;s part-heir to owning half of the most paradisiacal Hawaiian island has troubles&#8230; trouble in paradise. Is there a more annoying trope? Probably. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"675\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/THE-DESCENDANTS.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8688\" srcset=\"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/THE-DESCENDANTS.jpg 675w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/THE-DESCENDANTS-101x150.jpg 101w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/THE-DESCENDANTS-600x889.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><figcaption>THE DESCENDANTS<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>So how&#8217;s this for relatable: Guy decides to be one of the small fraction of humans who safely&#8211;but permanently&#8211;reduce their size to a few inches tall to live less expensive\/lower consumption lifestyles. But I was right there with Damon&#8217;s character: it seemed like the best decision for quality of life! Still, this is a story, so there must be conflict, and for starters, his wife bails on him before she shrinks, but after he irreversibly shrinks. She gone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"657\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/DOWNSIZING.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8689\" srcset=\"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/DOWNSIZING.jpg 657w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/DOWNSIZING-99x150.jpg 99w, https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/DOWNSIZING-600x913.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 657px) 100vw, 657px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>What&#8217;s good? Because of the conflict we get to meet Christopher Waltz&#8217;s character, who makes it fun, and Hong Chau&#8217;s character, who makes it amazing, as a movie should feel about 6-inch-tall people (and you, the viewer, are one of them, so enjoy the wondrous perspective). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s a clip of the most amazing monologue I&#8217;ve seen in a movie. It made the movie for me, so if you haven&#8217;t seen it, don&#8217;t watch it here out of context. If you have seen it, enjoy again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&#039;Downsizing&#039; Clip - Ngoc Lan Wants to Go To Norway (Brilliant monologue by Hong Chau)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BoTDCd24L9Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p> Currently at 49%, this is another movie that reminds me how the Rotten Tomatometer is worthless as a predictor of entertainment quality.  Critics weren&#8217;t nice to this movie, but Payne does what he&#8217;s done in other films: take something that should only be unrelatable or boring and make it compelling and memorable. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I think we can all agree: &#8220;Big Momma&#8217;s House 2&#8221; is the best movie of every year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","inline_featured_image":false,"kt_blocks_editor_width":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[312,90,359,297,101],"class_list":["post-8513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rants","tag-entertainment","tag-humor","tag-opinion","tag-science","tag-streaming"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":5,"label":"Rants"}],"post_tag":[{"value":312,"label":"entertainment"},{"value":90,"label":"humor"},{"value":359,"label":"opinion"},{"value":297,"label":"science"},{"value":101,"label":"streaming"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANNHILATION-PEOPLE-PLANTS-1200x675.jpg",1200,675,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Kris Bunda","author_link":"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/author\/kris-bunda\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":5,"name":"Rants","slug":"rants","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5,"taxonomy":"category","description":"Posts focusing on off-topics, tangents, rascals, etc\u2026","parent":0,"count":32,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":5,"category_count":32,"category_description":"Posts focusing on off-topics, tangents, rascals, etc\u2026","cat_name":"Rants","category_nicename":"rants","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":312,"name":"entertainment","slug":"entertainment","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":312,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":6,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":90,"name":"humor","slug":"humor","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":90,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":11,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":359,"name":"opinion","slug":"opinion","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":359,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":297,"name":"science","slug":"science","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":297,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":4,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":101,"name":"streaming","slug":"streaming","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":101,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ANNHILATION-PEOPLE-PLANTS.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1NcZe-2dj","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8513"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8698,"href":"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8513\/revisions\/8698"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}