| Author |
|
makebase
Raving Fan
Joined: May 10 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 66
|
| Posted: November 08 2004 at 5:03pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Finally, someone answered the question about the TMBG/Star Wars link. I knew about the PT video (I've had Direct from Brooklyn since it originally came out on VHS [and The Videos 1986-1989 on laser disc for a while {even though I don't have a laser disc player--but that's neither here nor there}]). I was just wondering if anyone could point it out and perhaps point out any other Star Wars-related references.
As far as the GL gripe goes, I more or less agree with King Weed. The movies are his babies. He's got the money to do whatever he wants with him. If the masses really didn't appreciate it, they wouldn't keep buying the goods.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
chadd
Raving Fan
Joined: June 30 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 58
|
| Posted: November 10 2004 at 11:27pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Hi,
>My personal opinion is that George Lucas recieves too much
>criticism for reworking his movies, and his movies recieve too
>much criticism for "sucking."
Well, I agree with you on one point -- the movies themselves should not receive any criticism for sucking. It's not their fault, it's Georgie Boy's.
Liken Georgie Boy to a major league pitcher. He gets hired by a big ball club in 1977 and pitches like a machine. He pitches with style, he pitches new funky curveballs, and he knocks em down. Three up, three down. Like a machine. He pitches no-hitters one after the other, leads his team to the World Series, and he pitches the team to a win. Then, after one miraculous season, he takes a few years off from baseball. The game misses him, but they figure he'll be back. Then the few years turns into ten, and the ten into 20, and it's obvious that he's retired for good. After nearly 30 years of retirement, he announces that he will return to the mound. What is your reaction? You laugh yourself sick, of course. You cannot retire from an occupation (dentist, pilot, fireman, architect -- you name it) for 25 years and expect to step back in with an A-game. If you have an ego the size of Georgie Boy's double chin, I suppose you might THINK you could pull off something great, but Georgie Boy was fooling himself all along. Hence, Episode I and Episode II. I won't say anything about Episode III, but I have NO expectations for the movie. Don't even know if I'll go and see it. I know Star Wars kooks from childhood that say they're not even MILDLY excited about Episode III, and no one can blame them.
I can't say whether the new Star Wars movies get "too much" criticism for sucking. All I can say is that they suck. Manifestly, now. They're bad. We all know it, but it's like pointing out that your sweet little grandmother just let a gigantic, rippling fart at the Thanksgiving table. It's hard to do, but it can be done. Grandma cut a fart, people. GRANDMA CUT A FART.
>What bothers me more than one filmmaker wanting to refine
>HIS OWN movies, is other filmmakers who remake classic
>movies into garbage. Or the filmmakers whose movies are
>contributing to the moral degeneration of our society. There
>is greater evil to fear in Hollywood than George Lucas.
Ahh, but you see? With your own argument you tacitly include Georgie Boy in with all that is wrong with Hollywood. Sure, there are directors who've pee'ed on the occupation of Film Director far more and with more gusto than Georgie Boy. And sure, they are, as you say, "HIS OWN" films. However, let me give you another analogy to illustrate my point of view.
I am walking to the library one cold day. The library is 3 miles from my house, and there no good bus routes on the way. You see me trudging along and offer me a ride. Thanking you, I get into YOUR OWN car, and off we go. It's a nicely appointed car -- warm, comfy, quiet, smooth. You didn't have to give me a ride, but I'm awfully glad you did, and I'm enjoying the ride for its own sake. Then a funny thing happens. After three-quarters of a mile or so, you pull over and say, "Okay, hop out, this is as far as I'm taking you." Hmm! What can I do? This is YOUR OWN car, so I get out. Now, do I have a right to be angry? I think I do. You say, "Hey I took you almost a mile -- that's a mile you'd have had to walk." My answer is, once you offered the ride, you took on a responsibility. It might be a weak responsibility compared with other social contracts, but there is a responsibility there, nonetheless. If you offer someone a ride, take them to where they would like to go.
Georgie Boy is the driver. He picked us up and then dropped us off a few blocks later. He didn't follow through. In fact, he insists on driving us back and forth over the same ground for hours and hours, which is infuriating. The least he could do, since he KNOWs he is not a world-class director any longer, having taken WAY too much time off, is turn the driving over to someone capable. But he couldnt' do that. His neck just keeps on growing and his ego grows even faster. He has burned not one, not two, but THREE opportunities to finish up the Star Wars mythos with crashing success -- all he had to do was let someone else actually MAKE the films. He did it with Empire, he did it with Jedi. Why not Episodes I, II and III? At LEAST let someone else direct III! For love of Yoda, please! Nope. The Neck is running things.
One more thing -- "refine" his own movies? Refine!? Please. Cleaning the negs, that was great. Remastering the sound, fine (sounded like they just amped up the high end to me, but okay, whatever). But pasting in a few cheesey, clunky scenes via CG is not refinement. The word you're looking for is not "refined," it's "overwrought."
I don't fear Georgie Boy. I disdain him. Georgie Boy is not evil. He's insipid (which can be worse). Too much criticism? Too little? Eh. I've said my peice, along with most other Star Wars fans and ex-fans -- Georgie Boy's cancelled interviews and defensive press releases are evidence enough that he knows how people feel. My opinion is that he simply doesn't care, and that's his choice, of course. He's making Jar-Jar movies for his kids at this point. If I could bring a gigantic special effects lab to bear for the entertainment my kids, I'm sure I would. But I wouldn't expect anyone else to dig it. Georgie Boy: I don't dig it.
Okay then,
Chadd
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
The Unknowable
Administrator
Joined: May 09 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 133
|
| Posted: April 27 2005 at 12:17pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
So Chadd, do you have your midnight showing of Revenge of the Sith tickets Yet? 
nothing but love for you man. I enjoy every one of your posts, i might not agree with each of them, but i enjoy them nonetheless. I hope to see more of them in the future.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
King Weed
Administrator
Joined: May 09 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 111
|
| Posted: May 09 2005 at 6:02pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Too true. Many people that tell me all the faults of the SW prequels can't wait for the next one. That's kind of like a cinematic bulemia, isn't it? Vomit out the film, and then go pay to see the next one. No one's making you get back in Lucas' vehicle.
__________________
If you talk metaphorically, there's no bigger weed than me.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
makebase
Raving Fan
Joined: May 10 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 66
|
| Posted: May 24 2005 at 11:51am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Okay, now that we live in a world where the saga is complete, I'd just like to say I was not disappointed by Revenge of the Sith (though there wasn't much chance I was going to be, biased as I am and all). And, to bring this back to TMBG, let me warn you: if you close your eyes, Darth Vader is naked.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
The Unknowable
Administrator
Joined: May 09 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 133
|
| Posted: May 24 2005 at 3:01pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
http://www.tmbw.net/wiki/index.php/Lyrics:Santa_Cruz
it took me a few googling seconds to find your reference, makebase.
and I agree, there was nothing disapointing about Episode III, it rocked. (yes i am just as biased as makebase)
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
chadd
Raving Fan
Joined: June 30 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 58
|
| Posted: July 22 2005 at 8:09pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Hi,
Been a while, maybe even long enough for everyone to forget the smothering hype that accompanied the release of Revenge of the Sith. I've still got a sore back from trying to avoid being crushed. My thoughts:
Episode III was adequate. I like the fact that there was no picnic scene in it, that was nice. I liked seeing Haydn Chistensen wobble ridiculously, Frankenstein-like, off the Darth Vader operating table, though I would have liked it better if Sidious had cried, "It's uh-LIIIIIIIIIIVE, it's uh-LIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!"
But hey, you can't have everything.
I will freely admit that Ep. III was the best of the three, but everyone knows that's not saying much. In fact, most of the hype was predicated on the fact that Episode I and Episode II are lame. In other words, if you boiled the hype down to it's essential message, it loosely translated into this: "Come see Episode III! This one is actually good!"
Rocked? Episode III rocked? It didn't do anything like rocking. It didn't even jam or get it on. It began, it ended. It was much better than two other lame movies. So, perhaps it rocked by comparison -- compare it to two movies that suck and one might say it rocked. But compare it to two movies that sincerely rock (say, "The Matrix" and "Return of the King") and it seriously sucks.
Just like episodes I and II, Ep. III suffered mightily from casting problems -- why why why o why Haydn Christensen!? Does anyone here have a hook heavy enough to suspend disbelief long enough to believe that the Darth Vader of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back is really Haydn Christensen underneath? Piffle! If Darth Vader of A New Hope was the Anikin Skywalker of Revenge of the Sith, instead of Vader saying, "You are part of a rebel alliance, and a TRAITAH! TAKE HER AWAY," he would have meweled "You lie! You're a lier! I hate you! I'll kill you! Yes I will! I'm powerful! I have a powers!"
I knew Darth Vader. Darth Vader was a friend of mine. Haydn Christensen is no Darth Vader.
And what was with General Greivous? Did he really go "Muah ha ha ha ha ha" as he was getting into that escape pod? "Muah ha ha ha ha" might have worked on my grandma, or even my mom, but I'm sorry -- I was just embarassed.
Did anyone follow Genndy Tartokovsky's "Clone Wars" serial? You know the show I mean: the Star Wars that was actually worth watching? Tartokovsky did amazing things with the Star Wars mythos, not the least of which was elevating Mace Windu to the rank of Jedi Badass. Tartokovsky also interpreted Grievous as a REAL villain, one that inspired dread and awe. Tartokovsky's Greivous is vicious, reticent, secret, and he sprinkles Jedi on his cereal at breakfast. When Greivous entered the "Clone Wars" episodes, I was actually excited about Episode III. I naively thought that Tartokovsky's vision of Grevious would make it into Episode III. My mistake -- I accidentally allowed myself to form some expectations, which I almost immediatly realized would not be met (in fact, it was when Greivous went "Muah ha ha ha ha" that I lost hope). Lucas's Greivous was kinda like Lucas himself -- sinister, yes, but in a clownish way. Lucas's Greivous is basically a souped-up stormtrooper with a comical villain vernacular.
Ironic, innit? Tartokovsky's cartoon Greivous is vital and as potent as a cobra, while Lucas's live-action Greivous is flaccid and as one-dimensional as a cartoon. And, of course, in grand George Lucas style, Greivous is killed off not with a magnificent stroke of infamy, but with a fizzle. Lucas has a hard time with villain deaths, always has -- Boba Fett ends with a belch, Maul goes out after barely making the scene, and Greivous gets... shot in the heart? You mean he reached the lofty rank of Nefarious Commander of Imperial Forces in the Greater Galactic Theater without anyone ever aiming a blaster at his chest? Huh. Musta had his lucky wookie's foot with him.
I suppose my favorite scene is the one that was missing from the end of the Yoda/Sidious fight. There IS a scene missing there, right? They're throwing those George Jetson cars at each other in the Senate chamber one moment, and Yoda is je-e-e-st about ready to kick Sidious's wrinkled fanny, and suddenly, the next thing you know, Yoda is crawling through the Jeffrie's Tubes like Georgie La Forge? Did they skip a reel at the theater I went to? So yeah, the missing scene, the one that explains why/how/where Yoda crawled into the tube, was my favorite scene because, well, that was a scene I didn't have to sit through. Maybe it will be on the DVD. Or the boxed set. Or the Special Edition. Or the new, re-mastered Special Edition.
Oh, and Sidious. ooooo -- I'm so frightened! Yeah, great make-up, master. I think that make-up job had to have been by the people who created H.R. Puff n' Stuff. Sid and Marty Kroft, was it? Yeah. Maybe Sidious can do a guest gig on Sigmund and the Seamonsters.
I could go on... but I think you understand my position. Lucas has FINALLY drawn a curtain on a filmmaking "career" that was already over in 1978, but the re-marketing, re-packaging, re-mastering, re-touching, and re-releasing will keep Lucas's progeny rich until the 30th century. Get out your debit cards, everyone!
Okay then,
Chadd
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
makebase
Raving Fan
Joined: May 10 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 66
|
| Posted: May 11 2006 at 11:31am | IP Logged
|
|
|
And speaking of re-releasing, I hear the original, undefiled, un-special editions are finally making an appearance on DVD this year. Good news for the purists.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
The Unknowable
Administrator
Joined: May 09 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 133
|
| Posted: May 15 2006 at 9:07pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I feel bad that no one has repied to chadds quarter mile reply from a year ago.
I still think Revenge of The Sith rocked. :)
and the Matrix and Return of the King they jam, and get it on, and sometimes when Im really sleepy and watch them, they rock as well.
I do agree that Grevious was much cooler in the clonewars animation than the film.
we miss you chadd, i hope to see you around these parts again sometime soon.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
King Weed
Administrator
Joined: May 09 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 111
|
| Posted: May 16 2006 at 12:43pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I read chadd's monologue and I love it, even though I disagree. This is the bane of our forum's existence. Come back users!
__________________
If you talk metaphorically, there's no bigger weed than me.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
TMBG.us - Discussion Forum : Everything Else
Topic: Star Wars Releases
Active Topics
Memberlist
Search
Help
Register
Login