Nick1Ø66

@Andy, have you seen Hawk the Slayer? If not, given you’ve already worked your way through Sword & the Sorcerer & Deathstalker, it needs to be next on your list. Dwarfs! Giants! Magic swords! And yes, that’s Jack Palance as Darth Vader.

No Palicki? Well damn. She’s…fantastic. But I’ll take more Orville no matter what. Make it so, Seth.

After Basterds, Hateful Eight is my favourite Tarantino. Though I was disappointed with Django.

Absolutely phenomenal film, and my personal Nolan favourite (even if the denouement falls into a bit of Spielbergian sentimentality). Highly recommended in IMAX.

The problem with her is the screaming.

That's what Spielberg said.

Indeed. I know certainly there are Indians who may not have appreciated the portrayal (notably the Indian government at the time), and, well, fair enough. But frankly, most of the people I've seen take great offence at this film haven't been Indians, but rather the usual sort who are eager to take offence on behalf of someone else. I think it's just as silly to expect that Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom be a complete, and accurate portrayal of Indians as it is to expect The Godfather to be a complete and accurate portrayal of Italians. I grew up watching wuxia films but I never thought every Chinese person was a martial arts expert who spent their days fighting. The great Amrish Puri (Mola Ram), put it best... "It's based on an ancient cult that existed in India and was recreated like a fantasy. If you recall those imaginary places like Pankot Palace, starting with Shanghai, where the plane breaks down and the passengers use a raft to jump over it, slide down a hill and reach India, can this ever happen? But fantasies are fantasies, like our Panchatantra and folklore. I know we are sensitive about our cultural identity, but we do this to ourselves in our own films. It's only when some foreign directors do it that we start cribbing."

To George's credit (words which have never passed Chen's lips), he did the same with the Prequels. Love them or hate them, he didn't simply try to remake Star Wars.

Temple of Doom has really grown on me. I've come to appreciate it more over the years, and judge it on its own terms rather than as a sequel to Raiders. The opening musical number, and the entire opening scene in fact leading up to the plane escape in particular, is fantastic. It's certainly not in the same league as Raiders, and while I personally prefer Crusade, I'll give TOD points for originality and taking a risk. It's also one of those instances where a reappraisal makes the film look better in comparison to more recent entries in the series. I've also come to like Willie Scott more, and now actually find her less annoying than Marion. As to whatever sensitivities people may have developed regarding this fun flick over the years, to paraphrase the brilliant Stephen Fry, "You're offended? Well so f*cking what"?

Hmmmm. This is the type of UFO story I can see later-day Spielberg telling...he's often spoken about how, when he made CE3K, that version of himself would have flown away on the Mothership, but later in life, as a husband and father, he said he wouldn't. So I always thought it would be interesting to see a film about Roy Neary returning to Earth after decades away with the CE3K aliens (i.e. ET). I mean, the guy had a wife and kids and essentially abandoned them, and it would be interesting to see how he, and they'd, react to his homecoming and how he'd adjust to life on a completely unrecognizable Earth. Dreyfuss is probably too old for the part, but you could recast for a younger Roy Neary (proving Einstein right).

Featuring another excellent performance by Karen Allen!

Er…Karen Allen in The Perfect Storm?

Phenomenal film. Not only does Hollywood not make films like this any more, I've pretty much resigned myself that they never will again.

But even if that's true, there's still nothing to be gained, and certainly something to be lost, by watching The Hobbit first.