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What Is The Last Film You Watched? (Older Films)


Mr. Breathmask

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The Ernest films are awful B movies, but I grew up with them so they hold a special place in my psyche.

I'll admit they're hardly works of art, the dialogue can be childishly simplistic, and the comedy too silly and slapstick-like. They're all centered around the one character which is a simpleton with a heart of gold. The kind of naive and uncomplicated man you once wished you were when you still looked at the world with a sense of wonder, and bad shit never seemed to happen. When the world was still a happy place.

Still I like em a lot for what they are, worth it for Varney's expressions alone... Yes at times the man can make me well up, because he had that quality, a sort of genuine honesty and earnestness ( :D) in his eyes. In these dark days of moody, unsympathetic films, and terrible things happening in the world, he can be the perfect medicine.

In order to avoid that, which Ernest movie should I watch first, then? :)

Definitely Christmas.

Followed by Goes to Camp, or in reverse order. Then one can decide whether to watch Goes to Jail and Scared Stupid.

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Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

Now THIS was a good one! Where to start? Yoda's death was very touching, as was the story in general, especially Vader's final redemption. One of the things I really liked was that this wasn't just endless cat-and-mouse games, something was actually going on. C3-PO was as good as always. Han Solo was his sarcastic self again as well, and I'm glad Leia's character was developed a bit more. The score was very beautiful and moving at times and it's safe to say this will be my favourite film and score of the original trilogy.

Other than that, I just can't help finding Luke an utterly ridiculous character, or maybe it's Mark Hamill's fault, I don't know. When he kept repeating how Vader had some good in him, it was like claiming the South had won the American Civil War 200 years after the North won. Also, could anyone please tell me why Luke seems to be the only person who has the Force in him, who he's unique, why everything will be lost if he fails etc.? Leia is still there, so what's the big deal?

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Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Now THIS was a good one! Where to start? Yoda's death was very touching, as was the story in general, especially Vader's final redemption. One of the things I really liked was that this wasn't just endless cat-and-mouse games, something was actually going on. C3-PO was as good as always. Han Solo was his sarcastic self again as well, and I'm glad Leia's character was developed a bit more. The score was very beautiful and moving at times and it's safe to say this will be my favourite film and score of the original trilogy. Other than that, I just can't help finding Luke an utterly ridiculous character, or maybe it's Mark Hamill's fault, I don't know. When he kept repeating how Vader had some good in him, it was like claiming the South had won the American Civil War 200 years after the North won. Also, could anyone please tell me why Luke seems to be the only person who has the Force in him, who he's unique, why everything will be lost if he fails etc.? Leia is still there, so what's the big deal?

Spot on!

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Ben trained Luke a little bit, but then he died. Then Yoda trained Luke, but he died too.

So if Luke, a partially trained Jedi, dies at the hands of the Emperor and Vader, or is captured and converted... Who is left to train Leia?

Nobody. That's why it's a very big deal.

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Hang on a moment. There must be more Jedi's in this galaxy. And even if there aren't, are you telling me that only Ben and Yoda can train them? Isn't that quite a leap?

You know what's crazier? The whole Jedi/Sith thing was just a private battle and had no bearing on the Rebellion/Empire war. Either way, the Death Star would have been destroyed.

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Hang on a moment. There must be more Jedi's in this galaxy. And even if there aren't, are you telling me that only Ben and Yoda can train them? Isn't that quite a leap?

Were you paying any attention at all during your viewing of Star Wars (A New Hope) and The Empire Strikes Back, or you going to watch them after being done with Return of the Jedi?

Did we see any other surviving light side Jedi other than Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda? No.

That doesn't mean there aren't any. The now-decanonized EU, including video games, introduced dozens of surviving Jedi in hiding that come out to harass the Empire. But in the original movies, there were only two.

Okay... So the Jedi ghosts could just train Leia. But does ghost Obi-Wan ever train Luke? Nope. He points him to Dagobah and provides very useful counsel, but the films don't show any Force ghost abilities beyond simply talking. So they can't train Leia to be a Jedi.

So could a mystery unmentioned Jedi have crawled out of the woodwork to discover Leia, convince her she's a Jedi, train her, and put her in front of the Emperor, Vader, and evil Luke in the last thirty minutes of Return of the Jedi if Luke's mission failed?

Absolutely. It's George Lucas we're trying to rationalize

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But does ghost Obi-Wan ever train Luke? Nope. He points him to Dagobah and provides very useful counsel, but the films don't show any Force ghost abilities beyond simply talking. So they can't train Leia to be a Jedi.

That's not entirely accurate. In Return of the Jedi, the ghost of Ben Kenobi bumps into vines and sits on a log.

Maybe Ben never planned to train Luke after his failure to train Anakin, but rather introduce him to the Force and start him on his journey.

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But does ghost Obi-Wan ever train Luke? Nope. He points him to Dagobah and provides very useful counsel, but the films don't show any Force ghost abilities beyond simply talking. So they can't train Leia to be a Jedi.

That's not entirely accurate. In Return of the Jedi, the ghost of Ben Kenobi bumps into vines and sits on a log.

Maybe Ben never planned to train Luke after his failure to train Anakin, but rather introduce him to the Force and start him on his journey.

What I mean is that no Force ghost is ever shown handling a lightsaber, arming a training remote, riding in Luke's backpack, or lifting an X-Wing. If you believe that Leia could be trained by a ghost strong enough to merely move vines and sit on logs, while her brother would fail getting the best of the live training, the Emperor likes your style.

Kenobi indeed planned to train Luke because he tells him as much. "You must learn the ways of the Force if you're to come with me to Alderaan." that was divulged before knowing the Lars were dead. Yoda hadn't been invented at that point.

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The Ernest films are awful B movies, but I grew up with them so they hold a special place in my psyche.

I'll admit they're hardly works of art, the dialogue can be childishly simplistic, and the comedy too silly and slapstick-like. They're all centered around the one character which is a simpleton with a heart of gold. The kind of naive and uncomplicated man you once wished you were when you still looked at the world with a sense of wonder, and bad shit never seemed to happen. When the world was still a happy place.

Still I like em a lot for what they are, worth it for Varney's expressions alone... Yes at times the man can make me well up, because he had that quality, a sort of genuine honesty and earnestness ( :D) in his eyes. In these dark days of moody, unsympathetic films, and terrible things happening in the world, he can be the perfect medicine.

Won't argue with you there. Varney's physical comedy is hilarious, but it's sort of like enjoying Troll 2. It's so bad it's good.

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Godzilla (2014)

Okay, this was pretty good. Gareth Edwards has a wonderful eye for visuals and he does a wonderful job with the build-up and keeping the audience wanting more of the titular character. The human characters are hit-and-miss, like Aaron Taylor-Johnson's blank cipher. Some really indelible cinematic images (some teased in the trailers) and the finale is wonderful -- and while the film is a definite financial success, I felt it deserved to make more. Alexandre Desplat's score plays wonderfully in the film itself.

I don't know if Edwards will top himself with the 2018 sequel, but I am definitely looking forward to Rogue One now.

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Edwards knows the art of restraint, but I've heard that Warner/Legendary has taken the criticisms of Godzilla's screentime to heart, which means Edwards will probably be under pressure to show him off more amd avoid the teasing cutaways that characterised the first film.

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Edwards knows the art of restraint, but I've heard that Warner/Legendary has taken the criticisms of Godzilla's screentime to heart, which means Edwards will probably be under pressure to show him off more amd avoid the teasing cutaways that characterised the first film.

The cutaways did get annoying though. If Edwards minimizes those and add 10-15 minutes more Godzilla action, it'd be just fine with me. The criticism you mentioned about people wanting more Godzilla action annoys me a bit, were they expecting wall-to-wall action? Edwards took the right approach.

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I thought the movie was a feast of visual awesomeness. Like Godzilla's official entrance shot within an airport terminal, where the monster is established left of frame, the domino effect with the exploding planes cause the camera to slowly pan to the right, people screaming, and then the massive foot swings right of frame and thunders down to the ground, and the screaming stops. The movie is filled with cinematic moments like that. I'm not hung up about the main character as much as others. He's there to be our eyes on the ground and our navigation through the movie. Could they have spent some more time on his character? Absolutely. But that one thing doesn't override the overall experience for me.

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I thought the movie was a feast of visual awesomeness.

I count only one scene and only because its style deviated from the rest of the movie. I've said it before but if the movie dared to be more like that one Ligeti scene I would have been a fan.

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That scene was one of the most powerful moments of tension and build-up I've seen in a modern blockbuster. Not sure where Edwards got his influences for moments like that, but for a relatively directorial rookie, he has a real dramatic flair.

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Yeah I didn't get the sense of lacking characterization at all. I was surprised since that was so talked about. It's not that it *was* rich in depth, but it didn't matter at all that it wasn't. The only thing was Desplat overplayed the reunion at the end. Too sweeping, and unearned. That's my only complaint.

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Unknown (2011). Not really sure what to say about it. I liked it very much in the beginning, but then when it became clear it was gonna be the Bourne Identity all over, I lost interest. The major difference, however, is, that this film does contain a noticeable and fine score. In the end though, the relationship between the taxi driver and the protagonist has no clear resolution, and I find the idea of a spy suddenly saving his intended victim utterly ridiculous. The assassination was, of course, not justified to begin with, but I wonder why a man who clearly had some justice in him chose to become a spy like that in the first place, unless comas and accidents can completely reverse your personality. Oh well, I've watched worse.

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The Bourne Legacy was on TV yesterday. I still can't understand how that film went from fairly good (love the Oscar Isaac part) to unbelievably bad. It's like the last hour or so is a totally different movie made by other people (probably those responsible for Knight And Day). The Manila part was a joke (okay, the wolf part earlier on in the movie was a joke too but still watchable).

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The Manila part

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The Oscar Isaac part AKA The cabin in the woods part

Alex

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Just watched the Star Wars trilogy on Laserdisc. It's been exactly ten years. Forgot how much they tinkered with music in those. The Imperial March concert arrangement was tracked in three times in The Empire Strikes Back. Glad they changed that for the SE. This one change I can wholeheartedly support.

Karol

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Just watched the Star Wars trilogy on Laserdisc. It's been exactly ten years. Forgot how much they tinkered with music in those. The Imperial March concert arrangement was tracked in three times in The Empire Strikes Back. Glad they changed that for the SE. This one change I can wholeheartedly support.

Three times? I've (unfortunately) not seen the original versions since before 1997. I only remember Aboard the Executor being replaced with the concert version (and that wasn't changed for the SE). What are the other instances?

I watched ROTS, the only prequel I could stomach before moving on to the OT (SEs, out of necessity) in anticipation of TFA. Last time I watched the prequels in order, ROTS (which I'd only seen once before) seemed bad, but not all that bad. But without TPM and AOTC in direct comparison, it made a considerably worse impression than last time. I still think it has its (few) moments, and I like how the design converges towards the OT, but there's not much more positive to be said about it. The score as it is in the film also lacks a noticeable narrative, what with all the tracking.

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Just watched the Star Wars trilogy on Laserdisc. It's been exactly ten years. Forgot how much they tinkered with music in those. The Imperial March concert arrangement was tracked in three times in The Empire Strikes Back. Glad they changed that for the SE. This one change I can wholeheartedly support.

Three times? I've (unfortunately) not seen the original versions since before 1997. I only remember Aboard the Executor being replaced with the concert version (and that wasn't changed for the SE). What are the other instances?

Yeah, Aboard the Executor (as you say) and then two transitional fleet shots before the bounty hunter scene and Needa's demise.

How does Star Wars feel after a decade? It's actually surprisingly entertaining, if somewhat stodgy. I appreciate how "prototype blockbuster" it feels. Feels almost like a myth it was supposed to be, even moreso these days than it did in the 1970's.

Karol

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Precious

I hate to say this, but I saw drama like this in high school. Thankfully it's not taken to the extreme Lee Daniels does here, with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'Nique are pretty good though.

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Monty Python and the Holy Grail

I saw this in the cinema last night at a special showing for the film's 40th anniversary. Seeing the movie on a huge screen for the first time, you can't help but notice how un-cinematic this movie really is. It's simply shot, it's constantly fighting its tight budget in the visual department, but it's still hilarious. I don't think there was anyone in the audience who hadn't seen the film yet, so there was a lot of constant chuckling from people expecting familiar jokes in between the good laughter from the actual jokes. It's amazing how rapidfire this movie actually is with its jokes and gags. It's fantastic and it was fun to see it with a large audience.

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Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Some random thoughts:

1. What the hell is up with the accent of Padme when she is impersonating the Queen? And I thought Queen Elizabeth had a plummy accent.

2. Jar-Jar needs to die in a very, very painful way indeed. I suddenly love the E-Woks, the Wookies and the sand people.

3. Broken grammar I no like, movie makes to watch annoying. To that place teachers send over (Yoda?)

4. The score: OH MY GOODNESS! I finally heard Duel of the Fates in its appropriate context. Fantastic!

5. Some of the parallels between this film and the previous trilogy seem totally forced like the end celebration, the Qui-Gon burial scene etc.

6. Which OST tracks do I need to combine with the Ultimate Edition to have all the released music?

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Forming a complete version of the TPM score is far, far more complicated than just combining those two sources; There was also a ton of extra music released inside video games that people have ripped out. There's a million complete fan edits you could download.

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