I hated Arrival. There must be something wrong with me. Help!

In that regard, it worked way better than Interstellar.

On this film, I must agree. Although I don't tend to mind sentimental stuff as much as most folks, this film slathered it on in giant gobs. I still like watching this flick from time to time, but man, it definitely spreads it on thick!

I don't mind sentiments at all, as long as they don't detract from the actual point of the story. Arrival did it very well [it was needed too].

Emphasis mine...

Absolutely. I feel it was a critical component that was needed to elevate Arrival above a dry, clinical examination of language and division in world politics. It does these things, as well, and really well to boot, but I don't think the film would have resonated with me anywhere near as much without the more personal components in place.

Did your read the short story? I haven't. But it seems it was written with the same time jumping and whatnot.

As an exercise in audience/reader perception, the fact that we see the character and daughter relationship from the beginning [when it's actually the ending] makes it worthwhile. It's really well put together.

I have not read the story (yet). I plan on it!

That video I posted...the fellow that narrates talks about the technique used by Villeneuve at the beginning of Arrival, and then compares it to something Hitchcock spoke about back in the day. Classic audience manipulation.

You are vile.

Have you considered that you may be Transgender?

Bruh. Amy Adam's beautiful acting and ESPECIALLY curvy nose is enough to make me be able to watch that movie over and over and over again. Seriously, rewatch and focus on her nose. So good dude.

There were some needless things on it [the bombing was... meh?], and others that weren't effective as they should have been {the international politics thing as per example]

Also a point later in the movie that makes no sense when we see the trouble of interpreting the aliens through out [so apparently all the language experts people had to do was to get in the same room as the aliens cause they are telepathic. Nice. Way to screw around].

Ha! I did focus on her nose...it's pointy! not curvy!

Yeah the bombing thing was dumb, pot boiler stuff...so was the half backed international politics, none of that was needed to tell a deeply moving story.

I liked the way the military controlled the entire area around the alien craft and had everyone there under strict guidance with plenty of security...yet, somehow Amy Adams was able to leave the military compound and head to the ship to take an alien elevator ride...I guess the military personal all had the day off.

Okay, so maybe the day I went to see Arrival I was just in a really cynical mood. Maybe it was too over-hyped and my expectations weren't met. But I sat there and found myself rolling my eyes whenever they worked with Amy Adams' story line with her daughter and at some of the more sentimental lines. I guess I was expecting more with the aliens? I don't know. I know I felt like the entire part with the Chinese general and the phone call was just a crazy deus ex machina. I feel like I must be heartless to have laughed out loud at the last line Jeremy Renner said about the best thing about the whole ordeal was seeing her not the aliens. I loved Contact, which is also if not more sentimental so I don't know what's wrong with me. I feel like I must be missing something because everyone I've talked to found it to an amazing film, possibly the best of the year. Does anyone who also did not like it have reassurance to my sanity? And for all the people that loved it, can you help me realize why the movie moved you?