Uni

"Crap" would probably be the best term for it. It uses Windows Vista (insert "crap" here as well), and I'm just using good ol' Internet Explorer. - Uni

After putting my two cents in on the Superman post, I couldn't resist popping in to say "hi" to the rest of you. It's great to see the boards are still alive and as active as ever (210 pages of posts on the General Discussion board, fercryinoutloud!). I should've come back sooner--at the very least, I should've given my report last year after seeing the Colorado Symphony Orchestra do an evening of John Williams music. The conductor (I forget his name, doggonit--I don't have a program close to hand) had been a violin player in the recording sessions for several of Williams' most famous scores, including Jaws and Close Encounters. It was kinda wild, seeing a man whose instrument lent its voice to some of the music I love most. His choice of music was excellent as well. A couple of years ago I put together a recording of the Williams pieces I would perform if I ever had the privilege of conducting a concert of my own. It was too cool to see this guy lay out several of the same pieces, and in much the same order. (Best of all: he started with the theme from Superman, just as I would, and--just as I would--he finished with "Adventures on Earth" from E.T.) He had another rare treat for us, too: "You Are the Pan" from Hook. Not only is this a great piece of music, but as he explained, it was one that only Williams himself ever conducted. He had never made the rights available to anyone else for public performance. This guy went to Williams and asked specifically if he could perform the piece just this once, for just this one concert. Williams gave him the go-ahead. It made for an extraordinary few minutes; you can't help but tear up when you're blessed to be present for something like that. Anyway, I've got a bit more time on my hands than has been the case over the past few years, so I'll try to check in a little more often. One quick question, though: as I'm scrolling down through the posts I'm getting cut off before I reach the end of each page. (Right now, I can't even look at my own post on the Superman thread.) Is the website having a problem, or is it something wrong with my own damnable machine? (My money is definitely on the latter.) Good to see you guys again. - Uni

It's been two or three years, but all it takes is one Superman post to suck me back into the maelstrom. . . . Couldn't have said it better. Some might say the film's growing a bit dated, but I think that only adds to it timeless charm. "We're in the pipe, five by five. . . ." - Uni

Well....it's taken a mindless, meaningless, and totally addictive game like this to draw me from my long silence. I've missed you guys.... I couldn't resist. I don't have any way to post a pic, but I'd like to make a contribution anyway, if it's all right with you guys. Clear back on page 3, Joe posted a pic of a T-shirt proclaiming a "dubious flirtation" with toxic waste. Alex was the only one to take a shot at it (and it was a pretty bad one, too....The China Syndrome? Are you kidding? ). After that, no one even tried, and Joe never brought it back up again. The correct answer: Real Genius. You shoulda showed the slippers instead. ;') - Uni....who doesn't have time for all these shenannigans....

This is a tough one, since the worst B-graders are so bad they're funny, and therefore have some redeemable value. For lack of a better analogy (though I'm sure there is one), it's akin to the idea that you can't prosecute children as adults; their either too ignorant or just plain stupid to know better. If I were forced to choose one from this category, however, I'd have to go with one called--well, I can't remember the exact name, but it was something like The Thing with Two Heads. Even the title was inept, since it wasn't a "thing" at all, but the head of an small, old, white guy slapped onto the shoulder of a large black dude. I was horrified, yes, but not in the way the filmmakers clearly wanted me to be. I couldn't reconcile myself to the idea that they actually, seriously believed they were creating something dramatic. However, none of those movies are as infuriating as a film that has the budget, the expertise, and collective experience of a studio picture in its resource pool. These are the people who should know better, dammit. And the stakes are even higher for movies adapted from great original material. On that note, I'll have to agree with Neil. Battlefield Earth could have--SHOULD have--been a great flick. It would take an effort of will to screw that one up. My thanks to John Travolta for his extreme effort in this case....(I am reminded of what Crow said at the end of another B-grade gem, Space Mutiny: "You could strap a camera on the back of a very stupid box turtle with an extremely busy schedule for two weeks, and you would've gotten a better movie than this one.") In any case, Neil, I'm glad you read the book. It still ranks as a favorite of mine. - Uni

Ha! I went through the whole thread, fearing someone would get to mine before I could....but I'll be proud to be the first to make this particular confession. My guilty pleasure--one for which my wife takes endless, perverse delight in increasing my feelings of guilt--is Joe vs. The Volcano. I've always loved it, I don't care who knows it....and as God is my witness, I WILL NEVER GO HUNGRY AGAIN! I've never seen that one, but MST3K did a great number on its sequel, Boggy Creek 2: The Legend Continues.... (Crow: "The legend continues....not to be heard about by anyone.") I can only hope its predecessor did the tale more justice. - Uni....standing with Roald as another proud member of the 300 Club....

The Last Starfighter was a wonderful little sleeper from the mid-80's, lost among the debris of the endless B-grade flops trying to cash in on the success of Star Wars all at once. If I'm not mistaken, it was the first film to go solely CGI for all its special effects shots. It's ironic that the film's premise is based on a video game; that's what most of the movie wound up looking like, though its heart and humor easily overcame its chintzy digs. I've only heard a handful of scores from Craig Safan, and he seems to be one of those "stick-men" outside the bubble whose scores all wind up sounding pretty much the same but who have that one, breakout piece of work that rises above the rest of their output. Starfighter was Safan's moment of brilliance. (Its evil clone, Remo Williams, belongs on the other end of that particular scale.... ) I already knew most of the score by heart by the time I finally tracked down the disc in a collector's shop years ago. It's still one of my favorite little affectations from the period. I absolutely recommend getting your hands on the score, and not some remix or source bit that overdoes it on the synthesizer (which, admittedly, is still a little on the high side in Safan's original). Matter of fact, I didn't even know there was an extended CD from Intrada. Is it still available...? - Uni

He's ten. In a way, I think Trek is perfect for that age and the years following; much better than the ridiculous, low-production value nonsense they'll find on Nickelodeon and the like. ST can at times be a little too preachy and dated for the older generation, but those "positive values" fans always tout can't hurt for a lot of these young'uns. - Uni

Funny, the timing....I'm currently watching the run of Voyager on DVD with my son, who's grown into quite the ST fan. I remember enjoying the show at first, then growing more and more disappointed with it as it progressed. Stewdog beat me to the punch; my biggest gripe was always the fact that the ship looked the same, no matter what. Seven years down that kinda road, and the ship should definitely have looked a lot more like the Millenium Falcon than the Enterprise D. I was actually hoping "The Year of Hell" look would initiate that particular change, but as usual, they pushed the reset button at the end. Still....I'm finding a lot of good things in the show this time around. I'd have to say I'm enjoying it a lot more. Maybe it's because I haven't had the steady Trek diet I was accustomed to from the late 80's through the early 90's (and no, Enterprise doesn't count; that show's like the steady "diet" regimen of a chronic anorexic). It's definitely not NextGen, and could never measure up to DS9, but it has its positive points, enough to keep me watching and enjoying. - Uni

I'll break the current tie in favor of "Summon the Heroes." That's the one going through my head most often, at least right now. Funny--there was a time when I couldn't stand that piece, or at least I couldn't get into it. No longer, and thank goodness. Most all the others people have mentioned here are great, too. Honorable mention goes to Indy's swim to the sub, "Journey to the Island," and yes....Superman's first appearance. I'll add a couple to the list, too: the second half of "Remembering Childhood" (especially the rolling trumpets during the first iteration of Peter's Theme--wow!) always picks me up outta my seat, and "Cadillac of the Skies," the Spielberg/Williams version. Another vote, out of solidarity: I'm with you on that one, my friend. This is one that'll pop into your head at random times, followed by the requisite goosebumps. But the best of all time, I agree, has to be "Adventures on Earth." No topping that, not now or ever. On that note (heh...!): I think it's possible, yes, although I've found it much harder to listen a Williams piece to death than that of any other composer. Still, it's something to be aware of--which is why I listen to E.T. so rarely, and make it something of an "occasion" when I do. Silly as it sounds, it's become almost a sacred thing, something I don't take lightly. I guess we all honor different things in our own way. - Uni

So much of what I wanted to say has already been spoken, and so much of the rest is something I mean to present at a later time in the only real tribute I know to offer (you'll know it when you see it). What for now, then? Superman: The Movie was to me what it was to so many of us who cut our cinematic teeth in the late 70's. It was the first "treat movie" to follow Star Wars--the kind where, after wearing your parents out through repeat screenings, you moved on to trying to talk your babysitter into an afternoon matinee. How many other movies could be said to have inspired a generation of kids to tie towels around their neck, run around with their arms thrust in front of them like adrenaline-accelerated zombies, and annoy the snot out of their mothers by popping half the buttons off their shirts when they tore them open to reveal that imaginary "S"? Unlike many other kid-satisfying films, though, the fun evolved with age. As we grew older, we could begin to respect the movie's cleverness, all those sly one-liners and classic double takes (brilliantly, and without a word, Reeve forever dissolved Clark Kent's legendary connection to the phone booth). Like Star Wars, like Harry Potter, the magic enchanted the adults as deeply as the children. And none of it would have been possible--not the way it happened, anyway, not the way we will always remember it--without Christopher Reeve. Ironically, he is in retrospect something of what he was in the film that made him a superstar. Looking back, we see two sides of him, two parts of the individual whole, so alike as to be unmistakably the same man yet so different that it didn't even require a pair of glasses to separate the two identities completely. Mild mannered for so long (and, interestingly, so often playing the Kentish role of writer, too, in films like Deathtrap and Somewhere in Time), he eventually discovered an alternate, and greater, destiny. He retreated for a brief time into his own Fortress of Solitude....and emerged a Man of Steel, an iconic hero for our age. He was every bit as identifiable and appreciated for it, too. I don't think Superman himself would have received so long and sincere an ovation from any group on the planet as Reeve did that first night we saw him again at the Oscars. It is the way of great men to approach life from a different angle than the rest of the world, to do things in their own order, and through their example offer the rest of us the invaluable perspective we so often lack. We love Christopher Reeve because he was just such a man. First he made us believe a man could fly....then he made us believe a man could walk. We already miss you, old friend.... - Uni

I couldn't agree more, nor put it any better than this (certainly not in so few words.... :roll:). Ebert's one of the great writers out there, and his reviews and articles make for excellent reading, even if you don't happen to agree with his opinion. Right....although there's no one who thrashes a film with as much enthusiasm, panache, or delightfully wry humor as Ebert. If there's anything more entertaining than reading one of his reviews of an outstanding film, it's reveling in one of his lambastings of a turkey. He's actually got a separate book with nothing but his scathingest reviews, great for the sheer fun of it. (It's called I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie, a line taken from his review of the painfully awful Rob Reiner movie North.) I've actually made a hobby of collecting his best lines. Maybe I'll have to post a few sometime.... - Uni

I thought it was an enjoyable book. My only real gripe was his absolute conviction that Indiana Jones was a pedophile, simply because he took advantage of Marion's crush on him when she was younger (we're never told how young she was), and because some doe-eyed smurf wrote "I Love You" on her eyelids (which, I suppose, automatically earns him a free pass to Neverland). Aside from that, it was a typical film-class approach--that is, it was more about what the author thought about the films than the films themselves. Nothing wrong with that; subjective analysis makes for good reading, too. - Uni....in the first of his six appearances in 2004....

I've long owed Stefan my thoughts on the second film; I've just never gotten around to putting them all down. Maybe that's for the best, 'cause I picked up the EE yesterday (just like you, Rogue Leader--only 25 tamales! ). The comments in this thread have intruiged me, and I want to give the film a chance to offer its full testimony, with every scene in place as it was intended, before rendering final judgement. Gimme a couple of days, and I'll see if I can't put something together for you, Steef.... - Uni

Neil's done an outstanding job....but then, I never had any doubts he would (if for no other reason than his being the most frequent frequenter of the chat room for at least the past three years....). Thanks for everything, friend. - Uni

Tragic news. Michael Kamen brought a wonderfully classical air to many of his works, which do rank as some of the best of the last two decades. He was a true Rennaisance man. Robin Hood was my first exposure (consciously, at least) to his works, followed by another period score that was nearly as good: The Three Musketeers. The second piece on that album--I think it's entitled "D'Artagnan"--is a magnificent example of both the classical feel and the kinetic power he brought to his music. I don't know of any other composer in the ranks right now who could present the precise millieu he was able to accomplish. We'll miss you, friend.... - Uni

I've always considered Alien a masterpiece....and I don't throw that word around lightly, either. ;-) I never could really get into Carpenter's The Thing. It was all schlock & shock, doing its best to both gross the audience out and fascinate them with the effects (which, I have to admit, were pretty dang nifty). Maybe it was the beginning that soured the rest for me; any movie that needs a comic-book voiceover to set the scene and introduce the characters is taking the lazy way out, never a good sign. But you're right about something else, Joe: the original Nyby The Thing is absolutely one of the best B&W sci-fi films of all time--one of the best B&W's of any genre, really. Years before Spielberg perfected the art of having multiple conversations taking place at once in a scene, Nyby made it look easy. That film has fantastic dialogue (and corollary performances) for a piece that came from a period replete with drama that was too scripted and wooden. - Uni

Had to play.... Brilliance and stupidity.... Things hidden in plain sight.... The Problem of Power.... Fire and ice. - Uni

I'm looking forward to this one. It was my favorite John Grisham novel....for about a month, maybe two, until I read his brilliant The Rainmaker. Still, Jury was an excellent read (one I've always wanted to experience again, but there are always too many books ahead of it.... ). - Uni

How's this for coincidence? The very moment I was reading your post, my best friend swung by my place and dropped off a copy of the original graphic novel! Freaky. This film hasn't come out here yet and while I'm sure I'll end up seeing it, my hopes are not high... Nor should they be. Your opinions of popular literature have impressed me enough to be sure that, if literary characters really spoke and acted like they do in this film, you and I would have a lot fewer books to recommend to others.... :? - Uni

Yeah, but my wife pulled a Sensor Override. She wanted to see it, thought it would be "fun." She tried her best to get into it and just be entertained, but try as she might, even she couldn't hide her disappointment. I didn't make even the smallest attempt to hide mine. - Uni

First of all, I'd like to offer something of my own, and I intend no more condescension than did nja: my thanks and congratulations. There was fodder for a lot of debate in this thread, but everyone conducted themselves and their arguments with civility, intelligence, and good humor. Though I won't pretend to understand every nuance (some of your posts read like MIT professors expostulating the finer points of thermodynamic law), I thought this was a great discussion. I can see both sides; while duplication by rote can be pretty aggravating (and, as much as I do like him, I would absolutely crown James Horner the champion of that particular cause), the use and innovation of past influences is not only acceptable, I think it's warranted and even adds a certain level of deeper enjoyability. (Hey, if every piece from every score and new symphony was totally and completely original, we'd have only half as much to talk about here, wouldn't we? ) Uncovering new strata of an individual theme or motif, even if it's done in another work, is an admirable enough pursuit to make it allowable, and even encouragable. Unlike many of the rest of you, however, I can't cite music theory to back me up on this. Instead, I'll use the identical practice in another creative craft for precedence. The same thing happens in literature. There's nothing truly new over there, either, nothing that hasn't been done (at least from the broader perspective) hundreds, even thousands, of times before. But that's to be expected. In that craft, like this one, the artist learns through imitation. If his course is as parallel to his source as Horner's too often is, then people will certainly cry foul for it; but no one's going to call you to the mat if you write a fantasy wherein elves and dwarves don't like each other very much, or a romance novel in which the nice guy wins the girl's heart. Precedence and influence lay the foundation; it's up to you to make the house you build upon it unique and interesting in its own right. But don't take my word for it. Here are a few quotes from famous authors on the subject. (Take these and apply them directly to music, in light of the discussion we've been having; it's interesting to see how well they apply. ) There is no Sixth Commandment in art. The poet is entitled to lay his hands on whatever material he finds necessary for his work. - Heinrich Heine Steal! And egad, serve your best thoughts as gypsies do stolen children, disfigure them and make 'em pass for their own. - Richard Brinsley Sheridan When a thing has been said and well said, have no scruple; take it and copy it. Give references? Why should you? Either your readers know where you have taken the passage and the precaution is needless, or they do not know and you humiliate them. - Anatole France If you steal from one author, it's plagiarism. If you steal from many, it's research. - Wilson Mizner Immature artists immitate. Mature artists steal. - Lionel Trilling Great literature must spring from an upheaval in the author's soul. If that upheaval is not present, then it must come from the works of any other author which happen to be handy and easily adapted. - Robert Benchley The best way to become a successful writer is to read good writing, remember it, and then forget where you remember it from. - Gene Fowler This last I would like to dedicate to Mr. Horner and his explanation for why common themes tend to appear in so many of his works. - Uni

Saw The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen the other night, by far the most Extraordinarily Bad Movie I've had to endure since The Matrix Regurgitated. It infuriated me for precisely the same reason as M2, too: I find it intolerable that anyone could have their hands on such a magnificently imaginative premise and screw it up that badly. By the end of the film, my neck was so stiff from shaking my head at nearly every shot in the film that I half thought I might be suffering from the West Nile virus. Stupid, severely overacted characters, writing that made me certain I was watching the work of a perennial attendee of the George Lucas Screenwriter's Convention, a plot as predictable and melodramatic as a daytime soap opera, gobs more of the CGI mildew so many of us have been complaining about recently (including that most annoying new fad of shots intermittenly and inexplicably speeding up, a horribly anochronistic parlor trick for a story like this), and an ending....oh, dear Lord, the ending! Attrocious enough to make the slick of movie-theater butter coating my stomach come to a slow boil, leaving me ill for hours afterward. I think it speaks volumes about the current trends in Hollywood that the only way these children are able to cinematically represent some of the greatest personalities in all of literature is to shred them to bits and rebuild them according to the Jerry Bruckheimer Theory of Modern Characterization. They're left stripped of intelligence, coherent dialogue, logical action, and everything else that distinguished their original incarnations....but hey, they can blow up the world real good. Real good. - Uni

Ha! Good call. I love that Williams made this decision. The piece is so much fun I never want it to end, and this way it's almost like it doesn't . CYPHER Just to clarify, I did mean the comment positively; I think the compositional sleight of hand is wonderful. I completely agree. It seems like Johnny does that a lot, though, doesn't it? There are a number of big pieces, concert versions and commissioned works that have that multiple-ending feel. The first one that comes to mind is the "Mission Theme" for NBC News. Big ending....small ending....Great Big ending. But I think it's great that way. It's fun to hear him drag out a grand finale like that, kinda like how you never know how long the finale of a fireworks show is going to last. It just keeps going on, getting bigger and bigger, while you hold your breath....makes it more of a delight. - Uni....who finally reached his 300th post.

That's why I thought Mystery Men was such a scream. It took the perfect approach in satiring the goofy, brooding film noir look of the newer franchise (as well as some great pot shots at theme-based heroes and villains). In my opinion, they have yet to find a good Batman. I've always felt a total newcomer would've served the films better, someone who looked more like the Bruce Wayne of the comics. - Uni