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ADigitalMan

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Join date
26-Sep-2004
Last activity
14-Jun-2025
Posts
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Post
#254656
Topic
McCallum on Jar Jar & Kids before TPM came out
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/254656/action/topic#254656
Time
Originally posted by: skye_solo
#2. George Lucas is an idiot.

Gotta disagree with this one. He's a genius. Anybody who could make millions (if not billions) off of Episodes II and III, both on their own merits AND after Episode I is clearly a genius. Maybe not a film genius, but certainly a genius at business. And face it, Lucas is a genius for being a self-made billionaire when half of his major catalog includes:
The Prequels
IJ & The Temple of Doom
Howard the Duck
More American Graffiti
Post
#254242
Topic
Calling all HALLOWEEN fans...
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/254242/action/topic#254242
Time
MikeO, all that point-by-point fisking of what you PERCEIVE to be holes in Halloween shows you're missing the point. Utterly. Not trying to pick a fight, but you do realize that classic horror is full of monsters that amble slowly and still manage to catch their prey. It's not a plot fault, it's called suspense. Meanwhile, the mask helps hide the face of a fugitive with an APB out on him so he can wander about anonymously. And if you didn't get that his survival after six rounds into the chest alluded to a dark supernatural presence in him, well, we can't help you here.

I'm not even a huge fan of the film myself. I just abhorr overanalysis of fluff.

A quote from Elvira, Mistress of the Dark on today's EW.com, relevant to the discussion above:
What do you think of today's horror resurgence?
There hasn't been a movie in quite a long time that I categorize as a true horror movie. I don't consider slasher movies horror movies. There was House of Wax with Paris Hilton — but I call that a comedy. The last fantastic horror movie, I think, was The Sixth Sense.
Post
#254047
Topic
McCallum on Jar Jar & Kids before TPM came out
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/254047/action/topic#254047
Time
Ever notice how Jake actually LOOKED like he could be a 9-year-old Sebastian Shaw?

Then there was the desire when casting Anakin in II & III to look like an older version of Jake, while also a younger version of Sebastian. I remember the article distinctly though Google isn't helping me locate it at the moment.

It was nuts when they actually changed out Sebastian Shaw at the end after making such a big to-do about casting Jake Lloyd to look like him. This was another case for Leo DiCaprio. Not only is he a better actor than Hayden, he actually looked like the previous actors to play the part.
Post
#253724
Topic
McCallum on Jar Jar & Kids before TPM came out
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253724/action/topic#253724
Time
The problem is that filmmakers have, on the whole, lost the distinction between "Kids" films and "Family" films. Examples include The Wizard of Oz, most of the Classic Disney films, Superman: The Movie, Star Wars, Pixar films, Harry Potter, Robin Hood (Errol Flynn) ... those are all great examples of Family films. They have a universal appeal to all ages. They are funny at points, scary at others, and speak to the kid in all of us.

Then there are Kids films. Without making value judgements between good and bad ones, examples include Winnie the Pooh, Jimmy Neutron, The Land Before Time, Curious George, and most of the Disney films since Katzenberg's departure. Most of these appeal to the developing mind exclusively, which is why they hold little interest for adults (except where adults get to chaperone little kids to see them). Lots of them are junk food for the developing mind which is why so many of them get railed on by grown-ups.

Lucas made the mistake of trying to turn what should have been a great Family film into some kind of dumbed-down Kids film with lightsaber battles. Beyond that, he severely miscast his leading role of Anakin Skywalker with one of the worst child actors since the kid who played in Son of Frankenstein.

Ep II and III were not Family films either. The violence was ratcheted up from Ep I and therefore they required a greater level of maturity from the viewer. I'd let a five year old watch the OT and Ep I. I don't think II is really appropriate for anybody under 8 and III is probably not appropriate for anybody under 10.
Post
#253675
Topic
McCallum on Jar Jar & Kids before TPM came out
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253675/action/topic#253675
Time
Originally posted by: Go-Mer-Tonic
I don't know, I think Jar-Jar worked and was very funny. It's just the kind of humor some people grow out of being able to tolerate.

This is the best movie-related quote since somebody told me that Gandhi robbed E.T. of Best Picture because it was just some stupid film about a bald man running around in a diaper.
Post
#253045
Topic
The voice of Qui-Gon
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/253045/action/topic#253045
Time
Originally posted by: Wesyeed
I actually own the movie Next of kin for whatever reason, maybe it's to watch it and let you know if Neeson said anything in it that could be worth using... hmmm

Total hillbilly accent: "It's mine ain't it? I can go out and take a piss in the backyard if I want to."

And his accent is still a thousand times better than Bill Paxton's.

But let us now turn to Nell, where Liam says:
"Taaaayyyyyyyiiiiinnnnnaweeeeeeennnnnnnn."
Post
#252998
Topic
The voice of Qui-Gon
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252998/action/topic#252998
Time
One other bit ... as Yoda falls to the Senate floor amid Palpatines cackling, he lands hard. Suddenly, through the Force, he hears the voice of Qui-Gon advising him that he has a greater part to play than this futile battle.

Qui-Gon (V.O.): My master, you must live.

I tried desperately to have Qui-Gon say "Run, Yoda. Run." Alas, the examples of "run" that I came up with just didn't work out.

But it explains why Yoda just stopped fighting and high-tailed it out of there.

Edit: There was another line I cobbled together that was really cool, but it just sounded too piecemeal in the end"
"Sith Lords Will Not Share Your Compassion. If you let it, it will destroy you, as it almost did me."

VERY cool in concept, even closer to the script, but ultimately too funky audio-wise to pull off. A few on the board actually heard my rough drafts on these. I'm sure I still have them on my hard drive isolated from the mix.
Post
#252459
Topic
***The ADigitalMan non-Star Wars DVD Info and Feedback Thread***
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252459/action/topic#252459
Time
If she'd returned in the time of crisis to fight with the X-Men, it would have worked. But going AWOL and then coming back after the battle having not taken the cure ... it would have been a cop out.

After doing this edit, I can see why most of this was cut. But I do like the extended fight at Jean's house, the extended final battle, the prof's voiceover at the start (absolutely necessary ... never should've been cut and should have been implemented the way I did for flow) and the "mental conversation" between The Phoenix and The Professor during the fight at her house. Those four elements never should have been removed. A few other fluff scenes are nice to have in there, but those four are essential.

I haven't posted it, because I don't post or distribute. Perhaps somebody will soon though.. These things do show up in time, outside of my circle of direct influence.
Post
#252408
Topic
The voice of Qui-Gon
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/252408/action/topic#252408
Time
Originally posted by: TheCassidy
ADM actually sourced as much of Qui-Gon's dialogue as he could from the original ROTS script.

Indeed. If I'd wanted to put in just any old line from Liam's body of work, I'd have inserted "We're going to have sex in every room, including yours" or maybe "It's mine, ain't it? I can take a piss on the back yard if I want to." (For anybody wanting to scour Liam's body of work for more lines, don't waste your time with Suspect. )

But instead I did try to actually reconstruct Lucas' plot point as best as possible. The result resonates though Ben and Yoda's deaths, all the way to the end of ROTJ. If a Jedi cannot forgive oneself for what he sees as his greatest mistakes, he cannot become one with the Force and still retain his consciousness. But if you can forgive yourself in spite of the atrocities of your past (Obi-Wan, Yoda and Anakin all had them) then you may live on in the afterlife.

The whole tone becomes about forgiveness. And that is a POWERFUL message for any story.