[quote=WHITBISSELL!][quote=Sedai]Perhaps the finest of the first contact stories? I would put it at or near the top...[/quote]To clarify, I don't think I've read all that many first contact novels to be weighing in on an all time list. But something like H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds or Niven and Pournelle's The Mote in God's Eye or even something brand new like Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary spring to mind. Again, I'm not the most qualified person to be talking to. Those are just some of my favorites.[/quote]

[quote=AgrippinaX][quote=John McClane]i got a migraine but i’ve cracked the blinds just enough for Hunter to look out. dude is enthralled with traffic. won’t play with toys but he’ll stare at trucks for hours[/quote]
Sorry to hear about your migraine. I was enamoured with fire truck toys as a kid, so he’ll be alright. :)[/quote]

[quote=John McClane]i got a migraine but i’ve cracked the blinds just enough for Hunter to look out. dude is enthralled with traffic. won’t play with toys but he’ll stare at trucks for hours[/quote]

[quote=WHITBISSELL!][quote=Sedai]Perhaps the finest of the first contact stories? I would put it at or near the top...[/quote]
[img]https://media1.giphy.com/media/AmESvRdXsHFra/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47zkhvslqfaguctblf9kz4cefr2uqdcv06anecjulc&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g[/img][/quote]

[quote=Sedai]Perhaps the finest of the first contact stories? I would put it at or near the top...[/quote]

[quote=WHITBISSELL!][quote=Sedai]Looks like Villeneuve is tackling [i]Rendezvous with Rama[/i] after he completes his [i]Dune[/i] stuff. Excellent news![/quote]YES! One of my favorite sci-fi novels. :up:[/quote]

[quote=WHITBISSELL!][quote=AgrippinaX]I think there’s a certain kind of self-serious drama that tended to be Oscar-bait in the past; these days it is, indeed, a bit more complex.[/quote]
Anyone in a wheelchair. Or twisted up like a pretzel ... in a wheelchair. Or Eddie Redmayne. Or Olivia Colman (who I actually like).

But I understand wanting to watch something like Babylon. I liked Whiplash and enjoyed First Man. Couldn't get through La La Land. But there's something sort of cynical and calculating in casting what are arguably the most glamorous and buzzworthy male and female actors as your leads. And yes, it's a film about the seamier side of early Hollywood but I think the casting invites jaundiced speculation.

Or ... and excuse me while I carry on a schizophrenic debate with myself ... the casting of Pitt and Robbie is in itself a commentary on the grim underbelly hiding under Hollywood's glitzy veneer.

I guess the only way to know for sure is to actually watch it and since there's little chance of that happening ... I'll STFU.[/quote]

[quote=Sedai]Looks like Villeneuve is tackling [i]Rendezvous with Rama[/i] after he completes his [i]Dune[/i] stuff. Excellent news![/quote]

[quote=AgrippinaX][quote=mattiasflgrtll6]I can't really tell what is Oscar bait most of the time, all I know is if the movie genuinely makes me feel something it succeeded.[/quote]

I think there’s a certain kind of self-serious drama that tended to be Oscar-bait in the past; these days it is, indeed, a bit more complex.[/quote]

[quote=mattiasflgrtll6]I can't really tell what is Oscar bait most of the time, all I know is if the movie genuinely makes me feel something it succeeded.[/quote]

[quote=Iroquois][quote=WHITBISSELL!]You don't have to choose between hating "aggressively generic franchise junk" and self indulgent Oscar bait. There's no law that says you can't hate both.[/quote]

No law that says you [i]have[/i] to hate it either. Maybe I'll watch it and hate it, maybe not, but until then...[/quote]