Red Letter Media Reviews (Plinkett & Half in the Bag)

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I enjoy both the prequels and the prequel reviews.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

9 minutes ago, Selina Kyle said:

I enjoy the prequels

 

Even on lithium?

[Will 2,215]

8 hours ago, Selina Kyle said:

I enjoy the prequels.

 

Seriously? If so, I currently share your position. Maybe I'll start hating them like a normal person after watching them some more. But for now I don't really have a problem with them. 

 

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I love them. There. I said it.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

You are dead to me!

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Still alive!!

[crocodile 8,017]

 

Karol

 

 

[Will 2,215]

Just finished the TFA review. Loved it. 

 

I'll admit that the pizza phone sex bit had me laughing so hard I had to pause the video for a little bit. 

 

I know some have said its cliched but the George Lucas impression is pretty great.

On 10/3/2016 at 1:42 AM, BloodBoal said:

Is he still using that dumb voice of his?

 

The voice is one of the best parts!

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

When I was recovering weeks ago, I gained control of the TV one night after everyone else went to sleep and, out of nowhere, Attack of the Clones was on cable. Suddenly, it all came back to me. I realized I had every shot, every line of dialogue, every note of the score memorized in my brain. I love it, aside from the edit at the end of the lightsaber fight. They're just Saturday matinee popcorn space flicks.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

In a way I hate Irvin Kershner for setting such a high standard in the SW franchise, no-one else was able to match his movie.

[crumbs 14,317]

Lucas hates him too for creating such a masterpiece, so you're not alone.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I hate Disney for straying from Lucas' vision, removing the Fox Fanfare and still not releasing the theatrical versions of the OT or the Ewok movies.

[crumbs 14,317]

29 minutes ago, Selina Kyle said:

I hate Disney for straying from Lucas' vision, removing the Fox Fanfare and still not releasing the theatrical versions of the OT or the Ewok movies.

 

Sadly, the OCN (original camera negative) prints of the original trilogy were apparently destroyed when Lucas spliced in all the Special Edition rubbish.

 

Almost as soon as they secured the brand, Disney undertook a 4K remaster of the original trilogy in the highest available quality (the Special Edition prints, so a version with all the DVD and Bluray changes discarded, as these were made only to the Lowry HD remaster circa 2003-04).

 

I can only assume Disney's plan is to splice together the original theatrical versions from multiple sources, using the SE prints as their starting point then replacing the SE changes with scans from a lower-quality 35mm copy.

 

As for the Ewok movies, I'm expecting 3D conversions by Christmas 2018.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

There are other things in the SE that I fear might sneak into a new original "unaltered" trilogy restoration. They're very subtle, but once you've seen them, you can't unsee them, and I think only very few people have noticed them.

 

In the original films, often a static shot would remain a static shot, but an SE revision of that static shot would have a new slow zoom-in. These active zooms were all over the prequels, and Lucas developed a fetish for them that was as bad as his obnoxious dissolves. And for the sake of "consistency", he added them in places in the old films.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I like Sebulba in TPM, but what the fuck is he doing in Jabba's Palace? Ugh.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Maybe they were throwing him a retirement party.

[Brónach 1,302]

On 10/3/2016 at 6:31 PM, Sharkus Malarkus said:

I think he's advocating a middle ground.

 

Yes please. TFA has problems about interactions between the new characters. We don't see Poe and Rey interact, for example, and the trio spends a lot of the time separate. In a way, the older characters are preventing a natural development of the new ones where they are together, like in the original film.

 

Within this, the film doesn't dare to pair characters, and both that or the "THIS MOVIE IS VERY HETEROSEXUAL" attitude become symptoms of flawed character writing.

[Will 2,215]

The vodka bit after the "crowd reaction" to Plinkett's non-politically-correct "black who doesn't want to shoot a gun" joke has been the one making me laugh really hard today. 

[Will 2,215]

I love how Plinkett is forced to grudgingly admit that the prequels did have a few good things about them, namely, being made not by committee with the purpose of making money but for the purpose of fulfilling the artistic vision of one man -- and the love stories (who would ever have thought he'd say anything good about this?!)

 

-------------

 

JJ's Fan Service 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Plinkett for President!

[crocodile 8,017]

The prequels were essentially indie films done by an auteur with a vision. That is exactly what makes their failure so painful.

 

Karol

[BloodBoal 7,538]

23 minutes ago, crocodile said:

The prequels were essentially indie films done by an auteur with a vision. That is exactly what makes their failure so painful.

 

You really ought to read this: http://www.starwarsringtheory.com/

[crocodile 8,017]

Have you deen this yet?

 

 

Karol

[BloodBoal 7,538]

I'm not sure if I had deen this before, but I definitely hadn't seen that before.

[Will 2,215]

Just noticed this, and thought this would be a fine thread for it:

 

"Lyrics to a song" are often cheesy/corny/awkward when you actually think about them. 

 

[BloodBoal 7,538]

If that's the best excuse he can come up with for his poor dialogue, then he should have made the Prequels as musicals.

[crumbs 14,317]

"It's crap dialogue on purpose!" basically. Yeah, right George. Just like that monologue about sand.

 

Did anyone else hear the spiel about Giacchino in the latest Half in the Bag? That's the first time they've really discussed a film score in-depth, even if it was just calling out Giacchino for recycling his Star Trek theme note-for-note. I haven't heard Dr. Strange but is that true?

[BloodBoal 7,538]

19 minutes ago, crumbs said:

"It's crap dialogue on purpose!" basically. Yeah, right George. Just like that monologue about sand.

 

I don't like sand!!

It's coarse and rough and irritating!!!

And it gets everywhere!!!!

 

Yeah, singing it doesn't make it any better.

[crumbs 14,317]

Could it pass for a haiku?

[Jay 37,369]

4 hours ago, crumbs said:

 calling out Giacchino for recycling his Star Trek theme note-for-note. I haven't heard Dr. Strange but is that true?

 

Nope. 

[mrbellamy 6,287]

9 hours ago, crumbs said:

Did anyone else hear the spiel about Giacchino in the latest Half in the Bag? That's the first time they've really discussed a film score in-depth

 

I remember they also had a long-ish rant about James Newton Howard's Nightcrawler score.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

1 minute ago, mrbellamy said:

 

I remember they also had a long-ish rant about James Newton Howard's Nightcrawler score.

They also belittled his work as a composer in general.  And on top of that, they suggested that Trent Reznor () should have scored the film.  On another occasion, Mike called John Barry's Black Hole "one of the worst scores of all time".  

They're pretty on-point with the films themselves but their judgement on film scores is pretty janky IMO.  

 

[Will 2,215]

9 hours ago, crumbs said:

I haven't heard Dr. Strange but is that true?

 

It's certainly very similar. According to KK it's because he used the same chord progression. Also the general contour is very similar. Jilal agrees as well that they are very similar. 

 

Here's Trek...

 

 

And here's Strange...

 

 

[mrbellamy 6,287]

49 minutes ago, Not Mr. Big said:

They also belittled his work as a composer in general.

Yeah, I thought that was pretty unfair of them to pretend he was just some guy who'd only done bad romcoms. First of all I couldn't tell if they were entirely kidding and it's hard to make that joke with JNH anyway since it's not really the same as doing it with somebody like Williams or Zimmer.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Jay 37,369]

Me neither 

[crumbs 14,317]

They sound different listening to the clean audio, but the chord progressions are similar and when you layer on sound effects in the movie itself it probably blurs together.

[leeallen01 2,136]

I've only ever watched a couple of the Mr. Plinkett Star Wars reviews which I enjoyed (and of which he didn't once mention the music), but when I read that they ripped on JNH, I had to check it out.

 

Firstly, those two guys really aren't as educated about films as they are trying to appear. They confess to not paying attention to the music in films, which is the first warning sign for dedicated film reviewers. Then they openly insult JNH's effective score to Nightcrawler, which added such weight to the feeling of uneasiness and uncomfortability of Gyllenhaal's character. And some of the rock style anthems he wrote for the film made you get inside the head of Gyllenhaal and understand that he feels powerful with his insane and controlling actions. Great score. 

 

Secondly, one of them didn't even know who JNH was, and yet he reviews films for a living... And the guy who knew who he was (may have done it for comedic effect) yet I surely didn't see the comedy, when he named rom-coms and lovely cheesy comedies that JNH has done, as an example of his work and to seemingly attempt to lessen his achievements. That was just childish mockery and not comedy.

 

 

 

JNH fanboy rant over.

[crumbs 14,317]

I like JNH as a composer but I could not tell you a single thing about his score in Nightcrawler, and I really enjoyed that movie (and only saw it earlier this year) and always pay close attention to the score when watching movies.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Evidently, they're not film score connoisseurs.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

While I don't think Nightcrawler works as a score, they wrote it off way too quickly.  The incongruent tone was completely intentional.  

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Nightcrawler is brilliant and fits the movie perfectly.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

I think my problem with JNH's Nightcrawler is that it's too mellow and generic to achieve the satirical effect it's attempting. It sounds like the music you'd find under the "feel-good" category on a royally-free stock music website.  

 

[DarthDementous 1,059]

film music tends to get shafted a lot by critics and moviegoers alike it seems. such a pity considering it's a whole dimension to the film in its own right.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

If moviegoers dislike like film scores, why bother including them in films?

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

 

[crumbs 14,317]

NO! They said that's the final Wheel of the Worst!

 

Interesting that they seemingly admitted the wheel selections are rigged (they film every outcome and choose the 3 they want the most).

[Will 2,215]

These aren't the full, carefully written awesome Plinkett reviews that you want to watch over and over again, but...

 

Spoler alert: They like it less than TFA. 

 

 

 

[BloodBoal 7,538]

25 minutes ago, Will said:

These aren't the full, carefully written awesome Plinkett reviews that you want to watch over and over again

 

Such a thing exists?

[Will 2,215]

1 minute ago, BloodBoal said:

 

Such a thing exists?

 

Indeed! (well, at least I liked it a lot)