Arrival
Last night I saw Arrival with Amanda and Dave. You should too. It's brilliant. Based on 'Story of Your Life' by Ted Chiang, which I have not yet read, but am a little hesitant about now having heard an interview with the screenwriter (it's very different), it's a brilliant small, intimate scifi about Louise, a luinguist played by Amy Adams, recruited by the US government to assist th the interactions with one of twelve ovular ships that have landed across the globe. Mild spoilers follow. The problem is this small, intimate scifi cost $47 million and has only made $35 million worldwide so far. There is a perfect version of this movie that cost 20-30 mil, which would be profitable by now. You need an Amy Adams. The whole thing rests on her shoulders, but unless Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker are working for scale they're gone. You could shoot the whole movie in a house, tent with some computers in, in a jeep or on a scissor lift in a field and a single set. Cheap huh? Just don't skimp on the cinematographer. They didn't. You don't need to see the aliens. You could literally do it with a lamp, smoke and some cardboard. I'm not even joking. You don't need all that zero G hair. The 'ship in sky over stock footage cities' is a cheap as chips so can stay. You could hack into some of the larger 'epic ship exterior' shots, maybe just keep that first one with the awful crowd work. Obviously my concern is that if these types of movie* don't work as a financial proposition, we don't get them. And we really need them as they are awesome. And they should be cheap. *Under the Skin, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Children of Men, Predestination, Primer, Gattaca and Code 46. All films that use science fiction to explore smaller, more personal themes and take place in mostly the real world. Or something close that you can film on location.











