Tobar

This was my response to that show:

Hey Jason and Jimmy,
I have to say I'm disappointed by your reaction to that New York Times interview with Lucas. More specifically your jumping on this bandwagon of hating on those who don't agree with everything Lucas has done and lumping everyone into a single category. To me, I see Star Wars fans as divided into four distinct groups. First you have the mega-fans who love everything Lucas has ever done and believe he can do no wrong. Second you have the absolute haters who have given into their anger and just trash the man. Third you have those that love Star Wars but disagree with some of the things done in the special editions BUT wouldn't care one bit about the special editions if the theatrical editions were released alongside the special editions instead of being abandoned. The Fourth group, the luke warm, are those that like Star Wars but it's not something they ever really think about.

The fan editing community and those rabid bile spewers you see infesting the likes of twitter are two totally separate entities. Fan edits are done for a number of different reasons. Some were disappointed with the prequels and want to try and improve them. Others that edit say the OT have no problem with special editions but at the same time don't agree with all of the changes that have been done in the official versions either. Just because they decry certain changes doesn't mean they condemn the idea of a special edition as a whole. This isn't an all or nothing proposition. Only Sith deal in absolutes. Ultimately, this fan divide wouldn't exist if the original theatrical editions were released alongside and in comparable quality to the special editions because then everyone could have what they want and there would be nothing to cause this friction.

I doubt I'll ever hear back from them given the lack of response to my last letter but I figured I should at least give it a shot anyway.

I think the beginning of this show pretty much sums it up. =/

I knew the day would come when the idea I've had floating around in my head since 2002 would finally be of use. Right around the time when Attack came out and Ben Burtt was doing interviews for the film he was always happy to talk about how he achieved this sound or that sound but for some reason he never wanted to talk about how he did the sonic shockwave sound during the Geonosis asteroid scene. It was always pretty obvious to me and I've wanted to do this or see this done.

Basically, to me those sonic booms have always sounded like the opening to the Boys are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy. Here's the sound effect in the film. I always thought it would be funny to hear the lyric "The boys are back in town" faded in and out after every sonic boom. =P

Act of Valor (2011)

Saw an advanced screening of this Thursday. Overall I liked it. It was basically Modern Warfare the movie but a good one. The acting was terrible but seeing as they weren't actors but real active duty Navy Seals that's forgivable. Where this film really shines is the action and boy did it deliver. It's a little slow to start as they try to establish what it's like to be a Seal and how that affects your family but once it picks up it gets interesting.  Ultimately it's a tribute to all Navy Seals while also being a nice two hour recruitment poster.

The Rick McCallum interview on Collider is packed. He goes into a little of everything like how ILM was so busy with other projects they had to use a bunch of different studios around the globe to get the effects done. There's also this:

 

Do you think we’ll ever get the original trilogy and the prequels without any changes on Blu-ray, or is it never gonna happen?

McCallum: I would have to answer that officially it’s never gonna happen, but you never know with George. It’s one of the constant things that—let’s put it this way, it changes always. You never know.

Yeah I mean personally, as I’ve said many times on the site I have no problems with George changing the films, I just think it would be great if he would release the originals and that way everyone could have it, but that’s just me.

McCallum: I know, but I understand that completely. It’s just a question I can’t answer. Obviously I have my own personally feelings, I hope that he does it, but I don’t have major arguments with him about it. I think that’s a decision he has to come to on his own as time comes by.

 

I think he did...

I'm both amused and astounded.

I'm sure the number crunchers around here will get a kick out of this. Geek.com got a hold of a budget breakdown for Star Wars and estimated how much it would cost to make today.

jabbo5150 said:

Before someone else says it ;)

The color of that thing in the hallway (Is that a light?) looks more green on the LD than on the DE 2. Dunno how accurate the LD is though

Yeah they're definitely supposed to be green. I found the image overall too yellow but some shots did look nice. The lightsaber does bother me though, in this scene I always remember the blade being basically white with maybe a hint of cyan here or there but never it being consistent.

It's official. This thread....

DominicCobb said:

Still can't figure out why Leia would be a Republican. Alderaan is a peaceful planet.

I was gonna say she might be a Libertarian but Alderaan has strict gun laws too. =P

twister111 said:

 

TV's Frink said:

twister111 said:Isn't that, that guy from Catch Me if You Can??? The Lutheran lawyer father guy???

*facepalm*

Why facepalm?! I'm right!!

IMDB Josiah 'Jed' Bartlet character page

IMDB Roger Strong from Catch Me if You Can character page

Same actor. I'm right. Your facepalm is invalid! Though I probably should've thought about his Babylon 5 appearance too.

 

He face palmed because how does anyone not know Martin Sheen by name? You could have at least referenced his role in Mass Effect 2. =P

Aww, cheer up buddy....

Can't wait for this release but why are they using a Millennium era design for the packaging? =/

If anything I just hope that in the subtitles they actually refer to him as Gojira. It bugged me that in the classic media release they bothered to label the film as such but then went and always referred to him as Godzilla during the film.

So a new video of Rick McCallum has surfaced where he discusses the live action series as well as the current television market. He also drops the current working title for the series “Underworld.”

Check it out.

Thoughts?

 
More info: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Underworld

I'm surprised no one has brought up or factored in the fact that Luke's aunt and uncle have been lying to him his whole life.  "My father didn't fight in the wars. He was a navigator on a spice freighter."

CP3S said:

The dance number during the credit sequence is extremely out of place too. The movie kind of leaves you in a certain state, then the nonsensical dance number pops up and destroys it. Very odd choice.

I take it you're not familiar with Bollywood. =P

Star Trek Mission's End

Wow this was great. This tells the tale of the last mission and end of the five year journey for the original crew. Very well written and an apt farewell to the original series.

The remastered TOS episodes bugged me with quite a few of their changes. I appreciated the new digital mattes but the CG ships were terrible. Should have just recreated all of the shots with real models. Probably wouldn't have been that difficult. They did recycle a lot of the same shots throughout the series. =P But yeah things like how they changed the Tholian ships to look more mechanical when the interior of their ships clearly showed an alien crystal based technology, just irked me.

So far the TNG remastered episodes look amazing and very faithful to the originals. There's also this:

Drexler, Curry & Takemura Join Remastering Project

"You heard right, this time around Paramount is bringing in a team that lived TNG as it happened. Dan, as I’m sure you know, was the visual effects supervisor on Next Gen. Unlike the remastering of TOS, this job will be 100% true to the original. Visual effects shots will not be reinvented, pulling you out of the show. What’s about to happen is truly extraordinary. The studio has saved all the original footage, and VFX elements from the good old days.. We will be recompositing them, and then outputting them in high definition. Here and there, elements have been lost, and we will recreate only those missing pieces, and with this promise: aside from looking like you had your windshield cleaned, you won’t know the difference. Star Trek:The Next Generation is Gene Roddenberry’s legacy, it is culturally significant, and we will rejuvenate the show with curatorial eyes only. Paramount Picture deserves a round of applause, and I can’t wait to dig in with my friends."

Source

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006)

The Artist was a fantastic film, definitely one of my favorites of the year. So naturally after learning that the director and the main stars had teamed up previously in a french parody of James Bond I had to check it out. This film was hilarious! What's also great is that it seems like little to nothing was lost in translation. Just a great film all around and I hear its sequel is supposed to be even better. Definitely be checking that out soon as well.

Probe?

My first thought was back to that Shatner recording that leaked a few years back.

They don't really have a staff anymore. After the recent site redesign it seems like they abandoned developing new material for the site and I wouldn't be surprised if it's run by one person at the moment. Everything that's there now is the absolute bare bones with links to fansites to do the heavy lifting.

A Face in the Crowd (1957)

Randomly ran across a mention of this film on twitter a while back and decided to check it out. I went into it only knowing the title and the star (Andy Griffith) and it was not what I was expecting at all! He plays completely against type and what a great performance it is! A terrific film.

SilverWook said:

I don't think anyone involved has a clue how to market this movie. :/

Oh I don't know about that. (Click on the What is button) =P

Alexrd said:

nightstalkerpoet said:

-Some people would like Fett removed from RotJ...

I see no reason for that to happen.

Anyway, I wonder how Ady's doing.