What is the Last Film You Watched? - Part II

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I make my own luck.

[Morlock 11]

Well, you must, if you find it in a movie as unremarkable as Poltergeist.

I saw The Empire Strikes Back and Return of The Jedi, and found myself rather uninvolved. Empire is more flawed than everyone says it is, and Jedi, while certainly being the dumbest and most infantile of the three, has it's good spots. Reall,y I didn't care all that much, since I was too busy paying attention to the scores. Maybe I never liked any of the movies, it was the score that kept me there the entire time?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

There'sh more to the moviesh than jusht the shcores!

[A24 4,331]

I saw The Empire Strikes Back and Return of The Jedi, and found myself rather uninvolved. Empire is more flawed than everyone says it is, and Jedi, while certainly being the dumbest and most infantile of the three, has it's good spots. Reall,y I didn't care all that much, since I was too busy paying attention to the scores. Maybe I never liked any of the movies, it was the score that kept me there the entire time?

Could it be that the Prequels are better? Could this be the beginning of a big turnabout in how we perceive Lucas' work? Or could it be that the worldwide Star Wars craze is finally over now that the Transformers have landed? Is the new Raiders film doomed because it carries the name Lucas? Will Lucas take Spielberg with him in his downfall? Will I wear a Harry Potter baseball cap from now on?

Alex - philosophizing about the future

[Neimoidian 14]

I think I - like Morlock - pay more attention to scores than to the plot or the characters when watching Star Wars. I know these movies so well that they don't surprise me anymore, nor excite me the way they used to some years ago. Recently, I was even going to watch the entire Saga, but then I just lost my interest and decided only to listen to the scores. Now I am wondering if it means I am simply too old for these flicks?

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

I'm also losing interest in these movies. But the music in them is like good red wine , it's getting better.

[Morlock 11]

That's an odd post to come from you, Alex. Does this besmirching of Lucas's original legacy offend you so? I was not aware you felt so strongly about the matter.

[A24 4,331]

That's an odd post to come from you, Alex. Does this besmirching of Lucas's original legacy offend you so? I was not aware you felt so strongly about the matter.

Huh? It doesn't offend me at all. I just was experiencing a vision of a possible future where the almighty Original Trilogy has lost its appeal. Maybe the walls are already coming down around Star Wars as we speak. It would only be natural. The once reigning Wizard Of Oz is also no longer a big favorite with today's audiences.

Alex

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Could it be that the Prequels are better? Could this be the beginning of a big turnabout in how we perceive Lucas' work? Or could it be that the worldwide Star Wars craze is finally over now that the Transformers have landed? Is the new Raiders film doomed because it carries the name Lucas? Will Lucas take Spielberg with him in his downfall? Will I wear a Harry Potter baseball cap from now on?

Alex - philosophizing about the future

Could it be that Morlock is simply an idiot?

Stefan Cosman- philosophizing about the bloody obvious.

[Red 75]

I haven't seen the films in a while, but there will always be a special place in my heart for them.

I don't think Star Wars will ever truely die, but audiences change with the times.

[Morlock 11]

No, Star Wars is simply not that great. Great for the late 70's, really stuck it to the suffering artists who were making 'real' films, but there isn't all that much in Empire to make it great. It's not great story, story-telling, character development......great visuals, great feel, great music, but it's just not enough.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

A knife, a gun, something we could kill him with?

[Morlock 11]

Hey, 50 reasons The Empire Strikes Back is great. I'm listening, and very open to suggestion. It's a very likable flick (not too great pacing wise, but still).

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

A rope...I'll settle for a pen knife at this moment!

[Morlock 11]

I have a pen-knife. It has an Ewok on it. Cutest pen-knife you've ever seen.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I give up.

[Ollie 1,059]

I gave up a long time ago.

[A24 4,331]

No, Star Wars is simply not that great. Great for the late 70's, really stuck it to the suffering artists who were making 'real' films, but there isn't all that much in Empire to make it great. It's not great story, story-telling, character development......great visuals, great feel, great music, but it's just not enough.

In defence of the movie, the characters conquerred the globe with their story. Today the characters and their adventures are still imbedded in the mind of millions of people. Mission completed, I would say.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

That much is certain.

[Ollie 1,059]

But it's too old Alex, that makes it dated and unacceptable to today's audience.

[Morlock 11]

In defence of the movie, the characters conquerred the globe with their story. Today the characters and their adventures are still imbedded in the mind of millions of people. Mission completed, I would say.

Mission far exceeded original goals, I'd say. Still don't make it greatest thing since sliced bread. And it still don't make it a great movie.

But it's too old Alex, that makes it dated and unacceptable to today's audience.

You're really using that defense for Star Wars???? Come on. It's not too old, or too dated (it aged very, very, well), and it seems to be quite acceptable to today's audience. It simply didn't capture my imagination at the right time. I'm a victim of my time. I couldn't appreciate what Star Wars was like at the time, and it was not imbedded in my early filmgoing experience. On it's own, out of positive context, it simply is not great.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

A ball point, or just a pencil could do it....

[Ollie 1,059]

Given some of your comments recently I find it worthless to engage you in anything remotely intelligent.

Did Steef succeed in hitting you with that shovel?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Waste of a plane ticket, considering were he lives, he'll be toast soon anyways.

[Morlock 11]

Given some of your comments recently I find it worthless to engage you in anything remotely intelligent.

For instance? I am talking about why a movie I don't think is great is perceived as such. Alex is saying people love it, it must be great, you're saying, 'Morlock is young, he doesn't like anything slower than Michael Bay', and Stefan is pointing out how I will be dying soon.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Stefan is pointing out how I will be dying soon.

Your point being?

FYI, Star Wars isn't a great film just because Alex has said so, it's great because it has persistantly captured the imagination of countless millions over the last 3 decades....just not you.

Perhaps you think it's hip not to like Star Wars, not to run with the herd?

[Morlock 11]

Fine, let's drop the topic. People love a movie, great. I was just broaching the topic to see if we can get into specifics here. I am honestly wondering what takes it to that extra level, not saying that all you people are gullible fools for liking it. It's lacking something for me, as a film. The story of the entire saga, as a whole, fascinates me. But in it's particular movements- I am wondering, what makes TESB so special?

Morlock- watching First seasons of The Sopranos

[Ollie 1,059]

The acting, the directing, the storyline, the special effects, the music...

While Star Wars was fun and entertaining Empire built upon the story and added some depth and emotion to it, which then proceeded to fall apart thanks to ROTJ.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

For me, mainly 2 things.

Darth Vader

Yoda.

Two perfectly realised characters who were never better before or since.

[Morlock 11]

Okay, so how did Jedi mess it up so badly? Aside from what they did to the Leia character and the terrible Ewoks. I don't see how it totally lost the emotion built up.

And, again, the storyline was mentioned. Our heroes are under siege, forced to escape their current base. Han and Leia go to Bespin, where they are betrayed by Lando to the Empire. Meanwhile, Luke goes and learns about the Force from Yoda. Luke 'abandons' his teachings to save Han and Leia. Han is frozen, Lando has a change of heart, helps Leia, Chewie and the droids to escape. Luke confronts Vader, finds out Vader is his father. It may be simply that the end is spoiled for everyone, but this story does not sound the most compelling. In the Luke-Yoda scenes, Yoda is the interesting one, not Luke. Same thing with the Luke-Vader scenes. And, in terms of this great epic story unfolding, this is not a terribly interesting turn of events. I don't know, it just never adds up. I don't think that it's me being anti-SW on principle, I enjoyed TESB immensly. But there's that other layer that I doubt I'll ever get, because I've lived with so much of the world that is outside of the movies.

[Red 75]

The Original Trilogy are all great films.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Actually I rather like ROTJ, despite it's flaws it's fantastic entertainment!

[Morlock 11]

I think it is made better by the prequels. Not only by being compared to such crappy films, but also Vader's change at the end. It's handled almost as badly as Anakin's change to the dark side, but the groundwork is all in there.

[Ollie 1,059]

Jedi was a warning sign of what was to come. I was disappointred with Jedi as a kid so it's not the adult speaking.

ROTJ suffers from a weak story, poor directing, poor acting, ewoks, burp jokes, Luke and Leia as brother and sister, Vader going from an evil ruthless villian to suddenly redeeming himself and everything is ok, a second death star, wasted characters.

Everything that was set up in Empire was handled poorly in Jedi.

The original concept Lucas had for Jedi was much more interesting.

[Morlock 11]

What was the original concept?

[Ollie 1,059]

It's discussed in the Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays book and I'm sure with some searching you can find it on the web, but the story was a little darker and didn't involve a second death star.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Also, Han dies, Luke and Leia are not brothers, the climax takes place at Jabba's palace (who is not a giant slug), and the Emperor doesn't appear until Episode IX.

In terms of this great epic story unfolding, this is not a terribly interesting turn of events. I don't know, it just never adds up. I don't think that it's me being anti-SW on principle, I enjoyed TESB immensly. But there's that other layer that I doubt I'll ever get, because I've lived with so much of the world that is outside of the movies.

I actually like ESB a lot because it takes this huge universe where big earth-shattering events are taking place, and uses that as a backdrop to tell a relatively small-scale story. It makes the film's universe seem that much bigger that we follow these tiny events and don't really see all the big epic battles.

Jedi was a warning sign of what was to come.

ROTJ suffers from a weak story, poor directing, poor acting, ewoks, burp jokes, Luke and Leia as brother and sister, Vader going from an evil ruthless villian to suddenly redeeming himself and everything is ok, a second death star, wasted characters.

Everything that was set up in Empire was handled poorly in Jedi.

Agreed!

[Jacob 0]

I'm irreparably biased on this one. Jedi was my favorite movie growing up, but I'm not totally immune from recognizing it's flaws however. I plan to watch the OT again soon.

Add to Mark's list that atrocious dance number.

[John Crichton 4]

Jedi is almost two movies for me: the Luke/Vader/Emperor stuff as well as the space battle is great, while everything on Endor is totally forgettable. And every time I watch it I'm actually rooting for that fireball to catch the Millennium Falcon this time.

[A24 4,331]

Babel: The first hour was pretty good but during the second halve the film tries too hard to be deep and meaningful, which seems to be a reccuring problem with this director. I did like the how the music was used, especially the Deadwood music and the great Sakamoto piece (piano, violin, cello) which is heard in the last scene.

Alex

[Morlock 11]

What's the Deadwood music?

[QMM 4]

What's the Deadwood music?

Iguazu

[A24 4,331]

Iguazu - Gustavo Santaolalla

[Morlock 11]

What does that have to do with Deadwood?

Morlock- who also only noticed that and the Sakamoto piece when seeing the film for the first time

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Jedi was a warning sign of what was to come. I was disappointred with Jedi as a kid so it's not the adult speaking.

ROTJ suffers from a weak story, poor directing, poor acting, ewoks, burp jokes, Luke and Leia as brother and sister, Vader going from an evil ruthless villian to suddenly redeeming himself and everything is ok, a second death star, wasted characters.

Everything that was set up in Empire was handled poorly in Jedi.

The original concept Lucas had for Jedi was much more interesting.

The spaceships are still pretty cool.

[A24 4,331]

What does that have to do with Deadwood?

Morlock- who also only noticed that and the Sakamoto piece when seeing the film for the first time

Oh yeah, NOW you noticed, huh?

[Morlock 11]

What does that have to do with Deadwood?

Morlock- who also only noticed that and the Sakamoto piece when seeing the film for the first time

Oh yeah, NOW you noticed, huh?

Huh? I started a thread about those two pieces when the film came out, Iguazo sounded familiar (from The Insider), and the Sakamoto piece sounded very attractive and un-Santaollala, I was wondering what it as.

[A24 4,331]

Oh, ok, I thought you said that you also noticed that it was also used in Deadwood.

The Sakamoto piece is called "Bibo no Aozora" and appears on the album 1996 (Milan - BMG). All the tracks (15 of them) are transcriptions of earlier work (mostly film music) for piano, violin and cello. It's a wonderful CD.

[Morlock 11]

I did something yesterday I do very rarely: stopped a movie in the middle. The movie was MGM's Grand Hotel (1932). Supposedly the first 'all star' movie, about people in a hotel in Berlin. After the first hour, it was going nowhere, was filled with performances typical of the time (which is to say, totally unengaging), the film just screams out "studio product!", lacking any heart or drive.

[A24 4,331]

I did something yesterday I do very rarely: stopped a movie in the middle.

That's a rule I gave up a long time ago. I find it a torture and an absolute waste of time to continue watching something that is totally uninteresting.