Nah. Competent heroes make the monster more impressive. I want a crew that does everything right and still can't handle it because it's just too awesome.

One stupid decision is forgivable, maybe two, but constant idiocy is unacceptable.

It also helps if the characters do something stupid because of some demonstrated character flaw like arrogance or inexperience. But otherwise intelligent characters acting stupid just to get the plot lurching to the next setpiece is shit writing.

Shit writing is fine when the story is more concerned with myth and entertainment.

Why has the Superman/Clark Kent charade flown with generations of readers?

Why doesn't Batman ever just kill the joker and be done with it?

From where do the X-Men source their X logos for the costumes?

In a world low on fuel, why does Immortan Joe take such pride in his crew's gas-powered vehicles and pyrotechnics?

You've got to suspend your disbelief with a story like Alien: Covenant. When the set pieces and action sequences are this fun, none of the other stuff should matter too much. All the performances range from solid to excellent, so if you can't just enjoy the ride and some popcorn, you should maybe stop watching movies.

Nah. Totally wrong.

WHY DOES UMF WANT TO EAT THE POISON?! IT'S GLOWING FLOURESCENT GREEN!

I'm about right in the middle of Burt and trag on this one. It doesn't have to be one extreme or the other. The characters in this movie are utter morons, no doubt, and that bothered me in the first 20-30 minutes when the movie was still a standard alien thriller. But once Scott's insanity kicks in, such basic concerns faded away as I was swept away by the giddy madness of it all.

Trag, all those examples you listed are conceits. You either accept them out you don't.

Characters doing retarded shit because the writer couldn't come up with something better is not a conceit. It's poor craftsmanship.

My only problem with this movie is Crudup's face, which never ceases to make me think "That guy's an arrogant homewrecker."

What?

You think this about every celebrity though

Alan Alda makes me think "There's a man with a good heart and a good head on his shoulders." It makes his darker characters more interesting for me. Just an example.

Hey, I read that Mary Louise Parker book. I didn't know that's what that one was about.

I always thought of him as a nice handsome fella.

But hey, Claire Danes and Mary-Louise Parker is quite a resumé.

Sounds like she was a real asshole to that cab driver.

Anyway, you shouldn't let your encyclopedic knowledge of celebrities' personal lives affect your opinion of their work too much. I operate under the assumption that most of them are at least somewhat shitty people. It really shouldn't matter, unless they raped or killed someone.

Plus: look at him. Such a handsome fella.

Cheating on and leaving your 7-month pregnant wife is not far behind though.

There's a moment in Batman V Superman when Superman has been nuked and he's a floating corpse in the stratosphere and the sun starts recharging his batteries-- somewhere in the 10-second transition from skeletal cadaver to hunky Henry Cavill, there are a couple of frames where he looks exactly like Billy Crudup.

Uh I think it's pretty far behind from both those things. It's a scumbag move no doubt, but not even in the same ballpark.