{"id":1404,"date":"2007-08-18T09:51:00","date_gmt":"2007-08-18T09:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/08\/a-body-snatchers-movie-without-pod-people\/"},"modified":"2007-08-18T09:51:00","modified_gmt":"2007-08-18T09:51:00","slug":"a-body-snatchers-movie-without-pod-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/08\/a-body-snatchers-movie-without-pod-people.html","title":{"rendered":"A Body Snatchers movie without pod people?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
The New York Times<\/a><\/i> had an item on the various versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers<\/i> last week, before the newest one, The Invasion<\/a><\/i>, had been screened for the press. Near the end of the article, Oliver Hirschbiegel, the original<\/a> director<\/a> of the newest film, \u201coffered a few details\u201d about the film. Among them:<\/span><\/p>\n

There is also more exposition. And in a modification that for some will verge on sacrilege, there are no pods. \u201cIt would be too campy,\u201d he said. \u201cAudiences are too cynical.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plot is set in motion by a space shuttle crash. It releases microorganisms that, he said, \u201ccan remodel our genetic structure. So it has to do with these tiny spores. We did the research, and we know it\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pods would be \u201ctoo campy\u201d? Funny, the pods in the previous three films didn\u2019t seem campy when I watched them earlier this week (though in the case of the original 1956 film, you do have to make a few allowances \u2014 not that many, but a few \u2014 for the special effects of that time; fortunately, the actors do sell those scenes).<\/p>\n

One of the reasons the pods work so well in the earlier films is because they are so creepy and mysterious. We don\u2019t know entirely how it is that they do what they do; all we see is the results. But the new film, with its \u201cresearch\u201d and \u201cexposition\u201d, tries to make everything explicable \u2014 and as a result, it devotes too much of its dialogue to pseudo-scientific gobbledygook.<\/p>\n

In my own review<\/a>, I called it \u201coverly technical dialogue\u201d, while other critics have called it \u201cincomprehensible, 30-second bursts\u201d of speech (Chris Knight<\/a>) and \u201cdialogue that can hardly be spoken\u201d (Roger Ebert<\/a>). Meanwhile, Rick Groen<\/a> sympathizes with . . .<\/p>\n

. . . poor Jeffrey Wright<\/a>, whose sole function is to serve as Exposition Man, there to advance the lumbering plot by babbling scientific jargon at a breakneck pace. Be sure to catch him during the tacked-on and absurdly bright ending, when his words defy belief but his speedy delivery shatters the sound barrier. Jeffrey seems in an awful rush to get out of the picture, and who can blame him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So would the pods really have been all that much worse? I mean, it sounds like moviegoers still found much to be \u201ccynical\u201d about.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s before we get into the various ways that eliminating the pods from the story undermines the tension and suspense. For starters, it was very clear in the earlier films that there was simply No Going Back if a person fell to the pods: The original person died, and the pod took his or her place. But in the new film, people merely undergo a biochemical change, and once the film raises the possibility of a cure\u2026 Well, that changes things considerably.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New York Times had an item on the various versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers last week, before the newest one, The Invasion, had been screened for the press. Near the end of the article, Oliver Hirschbiegel, the original director of the newest film, \u201coffered a few details\u201d about the film. Among them: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nA Body Snatchers movie without pod people?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The New York Times had an item on the various versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers last week, before the newest one, The Invasion, had been screened\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/08\/a-body-snatchers-movie-without-pod-people.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Body Snatchers movie without pod people?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The New York Times had an item on the various versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers last week, before the newest one, The Invasion, had been screened\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/08\/a-body-snatchers-movie-without-pod-people.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-08-18T09:51:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_MwnH1kpbPRM\/RsdbnykjEBI\/AAAAAAAAAf0\/EidUEb-R1ew\/s400\/invasion-director-a.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. Chattaway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peter T. Chattaway\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/08\/a-body-snatchers-movie-without-pod-people.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/08\/a-body-snatchers-movie-without-pod-people.html\",\"name\":\"A Body Snatchers movie without pod people?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-08-18T09:51:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2007-08-18T09:51:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde\"},\"description\":\"The New York Times had an item on the various versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers last week, before the newest one, The Invasion, had been screened\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/08\/a-body-snatchers-movie-without-pod-people.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/08\/a-body-snatchers-movie-without-pod-people.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/08\/a-body-snatchers-movie-without-pod-people.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Body Snatchers movie without pod people?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/\",\"name\":\"FilmChat\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde\",\"name\":\"Peter T. Chattaway\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Peter T. Chattaway\"},\"description\":\"Peter T. Chattaway was the regular film critic for BC Christian News from 1992 to 2011. In addition to his award-winning film column for that paper, his news and opinion pieces have appeared in such publications as Books & Culture, Christianity Today, Bible Review and the Vancouver Sun. He has also contributed essays to the books Re-Viewing The Passion: Mel Gibson\u2019s Film and Its Critics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), Scandalizing Jesus?: Kazantzakis\u2019s The Last Temptation of Christ Fifty Years on (Continuum, 2005) and The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film (De Gruyter, 2016).\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/author\/peterchattaway\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Body Snatchers movie without pod people?","description":"The New York Times had an item on the various versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers last week, before the newest one, The Invasion, had been screened","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/08\/a-body-snatchers-movie-without-pod-people.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Body Snatchers movie without pod people?","og_description":"The New York Times had an item on the various versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers last week, before the newest one, The Invasion, had been screened","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/08\/a-body-snatchers-movie-without-pod-people.html","og_site_name":"FilmChat","article_published_time":"2007-08-18T09:51:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_MwnH1kpbPRM\/RsdbnykjEBI\/AAAAAAAAAf0\/EidUEb-R1ew\/s400\/invasion-director-a.jpg"}],"author":"Peter T. Chattaway","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Peter T. Chattaway","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/08\/a-body-snatchers-movie-without-pod-people.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/08\/a-body-snatchers-movie-without-pod-people.html","name":"A Body Snatchers movie without pod people?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website"},"datePublished":"2007-08-18T09:51:00+00:00","dateModified":"2007-08-18T09:51:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde"},"description":"The New York Times had an item on the various versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers last week, before the newest one, The Invasion, had been screened","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/08\/a-body-snatchers-movie-without-pod-people.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/08\/a-body-snatchers-movie-without-pod-people.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2007\/08\/a-body-snatchers-movie-without-pod-people.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Body Snatchers movie without pod people?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/","name":"FilmChat","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde","name":"Peter T. Chattaway","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Peter T. Chattaway"},"description":"Peter T. Chattaway was the regular film critic for BC Christian News from 1992 to 2011. In addition to his award-winning film column for that paper, his news and opinion pieces have appeared in such publications as Books & Culture, Christianity Today, Bible Review and the Vancouver Sun. He has also contributed essays to the books Re-Viewing The Passion: Mel Gibson\u2019s Film and Its Critics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), Scandalizing Jesus?: Kazantzakis\u2019s The Last Temptation of Christ Fifty Years on (Continuum, 2005) and The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film (De Gruyter, 2016).","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/author\/peterchattaway"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1404\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}