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Han Solo VS Indiana Jones

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Post
#135668
Topic
Superman Movie
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/135668/action/topic#135668
Time
Originally posted by: Darth Simon
I think this movie will be alright. Im still concerned about the plot and having it follow the original 2 in sequence. But I think it should make for a decent film at least...should minimumly be better than most of the recent crap, and the other 'flop' comic book films that have been released.

-Darth Simon


Comic book movies are being blamed for ruining Hollywood, but I think that's because a lot of recent superhero films have been bad, so it's not just that they're comic book inspired films, they are badly done comic book inspired films. And a badly done comic book film is just as unpleasant as a bad regular film revolving around romance, absurd humor or badly conceived regular drama.
Post
#134818
Topic
The Things We Hate And Love Thread .
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/134818/action/topic#134818
Time
Originally posted by: bad_karma24
Originally posted by: Darth Chaltab
Originally posted by: Han Solo VS Indiana Jones
I hate listening to Bryan Singer's self-promotion for himself and his misbegotten Superman Returns.

"I identify with Superman. I am adopted, I am an only child, and I love the idea that he comes from another world, that he's the ultimate immigrant. He has all these extraordinary powers, and he has a righteousness about him."

Other Singer bites I hate -

[About Superman's costume for 'Superman Returns']: "I always had the general idea of the suit. With X-Men, although they had extraordinary powers, they also had physical weaknesses. The suits were for protection as well as costume. Superman is the Man of Steel. Bullets bounce off him, not the suit."

[Talking about casting Brandon Routh as Superman/Clark Kent in the new Superman film]: "I was always dead set on casting an unknown. Brandon embodied the character the best - his acting talent, physical presence and personality."

"Superman has always been about Lois Lane, Superman and Clark Kent and this love triangle between these three people who really are only two people."

This kind of crap just annoys the hell out of me.



Other than the first one, what is wrong with these soundbytes? I can see how the first one seems sickeningly self-righteous.



Yeah, I'll have to second this. The first one kind of annoys me, but I don't see what's wrong with the other ones.


I guess I'm just dead set on hating the new film and any quotes/sound bytes that come from its director.
Post
#134800
Topic
Elric of Melniboné
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/134800/action/topic#134800
Time
Anyone familiar with it? My own knowledge of the Elric of Melniboné character is quite limited, but Wikipedia seems to have a healthy amount of info on him.

Elric of Melniboné (IPA /m?l'n?b??ne/) is a fictional character created by Michael Moorcock.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Elric is an introspective, haunted and treacherous anti-hero. A direct antithesis of Robert E. Howard's Conan, he was strongly influenced by the character of Monsieur Zenith created by pulp author Anthony Skene and Kullervo from the Finnish epic Kalevala. Moorcock's character of Elric is a doomed hero based heavily upon Scandinavian mythology, a person whose actions lead to ruin, and ultimately death.

Instead of a mighty thewed barbarian warrior who fights his way from obscurity to achieve fame and power, Elric is a frail, sickly albino, a highly educated and cultured emperor who abandons his throne. Whereas the conventional fantasy hero rescues fair maidens from evil wizards, and defends his country from invaders, Elric (inadvertently) slays his true love, is himself a powerful wizard, in league with the Chaos lord Arioch, and leads a successful invasion against his homeland of Melniboné. He is a complex character, prone to self-loathing, brooding and despair, compelled to adventure by his own dark fate rather than a desire for riches or glory.

His official name is Elric VIII, the 428th Emperor of Melniboné, a servant of the Lords of Chaos. Unlike his fellow Melnibonéans, who are decadent and cruel, mostly devoid of sentiment and the gentler passions, Elric is plagued by his conscience, has modern sensibilities and is very curious of the outside world. Melnibonéans are somewhat like elves---but more like the amoral Ska in Jack Vance's Lyonesse books than J. R. R. Tolkien's majestic peoples---and "Elric" is a form of the Norse Ælfric which means elf ruler.

Elric is the tool of his evil, sentient sword Stormbringer, which is itself a parody of the normal sword-and-sorcery hero's weapon. In Stormbringer, the sickly Elric finds the energy he needs, but at a terrible price – Stormbringer feeds on the souls of those it slays and gives part of their life force to sustain Elric. Stormbringer is willful, and by no means under Elric's control:

This sword here at my side…
Keeps calling me its master, but I feel like its slave
?"Black Blade" by Blue Öyster Cult
As an embodiment of the Eternal Champion, which mainly takes the form of a champion of law, Elric of Melniboné is torn between his ancestory and his destiny. As a result, while the saga progresses Elric’s allegiance turns from Chaos towards Law. He eventually comes to represent a balance between these forces as he develops a hatred for all gods, both of Law and Chaos, for their manipulation of mortals. At the end, Elric's hopes for a world without gods to make a misery of human lives results in his death while attempting to bring such a world into being.

Contents [hide]
1 Characters
2 Books
3 Music
4 Adaptations
5 References to Elric



[edit]
Characters
Mabelode is a fictional demon portrayed as a Lord of Chaos in the Elric saga written by Michael Moorcock. In the novels, Mabelode was described as being "faceless", and as the "King of Swords".

Arioch, Lord of the Seven Darks: One of the mightiest Dukes of Hell and a Chaos Lord. He is the perennial patron of the Melniboné emperors and is responsible for much of their sorcerous powers and long rule. He finds Elric to be one of his sweetest servants, as Elric's moral dilemmas provide him with much sport. However as the series progresses, Elric becomes more bane than boon.

Cymoril: Elric's cousin and consort. He hopes to one day make her empress. She above all tries to understand and help Elric, but like the Melniboné subjects he rules, she too has difficulty in understanding Elric's motivations and would have him rule as the emperors of old with no concern for any but himself.

Dyvim Tvar: Lord of the Dragon Caves. He is Elric's main ally and advisor. A true Melniboné, he lends no weight to any thought of deposing Elric, as it is the emperors prerogative to act and do as he pleases. His main responsibility and personal love is the care of Melniboné's most destructive weapon, the dragons. It was on the backs of these beasts that Melniboné attained and maintained her empire and they are the most feared and respected weapons on earth.

Jagreen Lern: The Theocrat of Pan Tang. He is the leader and mighty sorcerer of Pan Tang and is chosen by Chaos to lead their armies in conquering Elric's plane. He is ultimately given all of the Chaos Lords' powers in his fight against Elric and the minions of Law and Balance.

King Grome: King of the earth elementals. He is very selfish with both his aid and what he considers his ship. He was also a co-producer of "The Ship which Sails over Land and Sea", and is responsible for the magics that allow the ship to move over land as if it were in water. He viciously disputes King Straasha over ownership of the ship and has vowed to take possession of it, if it ever were to be used in his realm of the land.

King Lasshaar: King of the air elimentals. He rules the wind giants and can summon up great storms. He is able to aid Elric in his final revenge on a troublesome sorcerer.

King Straasha: King of the sea elementals and bound by age old pacts of service to the Emperors of Melniboné. His aid is sought and given on several occasions to Elric. He is also the co-producer of one the most legendary of artifacts, "The Ship which Sails over Land and Sea". He provided the necessary magics for ocean travel and along with King Grome owns the ship.

Moonglum of Elwher: Adventuring companion to Elric. He and Elric share many dangers and rewards together. The most steadfast and loyal companion of all the Young Kingdom humans Elric encounters. His final deed allows Elric to complete his fated purpose.

Myshella, The Dark Lady: A great sorceress. She fulfills the task set to her by the Lords of Law, which is to tend the Castle Kaneloon as its mistress. She must also find heroes strong enough to withstand the forces of Chaos and thus create new lands on Elric's plane. She plays a part in several of Elric's adventures using her mighty sorcery and mechanical flying steed.

Queen Yishana: Ruler of Jharkor. She presents Elric with several problems/adventures and openly covets his company and power. Her selfish desires are the root of several of Elric's problems but she also has been known to aid him from time to time, and becomes an important ally to help defeat chaos.

Rackhir The Red Archer: One of the Warrior Priests of Phum. He was cast out of his order for disagreeing with their patron, Duke Arioch. He and Elric travel and adventure together several times throughout the series.

Sepiriz: Captain of the Fates. He and his nine brothers are representatives of Fate and are tasked with bringing about the will of the Fates in preparation for the end of an age.

Terarn Gashtek, Flame Bringer: An eastern barbarian ruler. His sudden attack upon the west from across the Weeping Wastes takes them completely by surprise. He vows to rule the whole world but ends up settling for far less.

Theleb K'aarna: A human sorcerer of the Pan Tang isles. After being displaced as queen Yishana's advisor and chief sorcerer by Elric, he seeks revenge and uses sorcery to hinder several of Elric's plans. However, in the end he reaps the whirlwind of Elric's wrath.

Yyrkoon: Prince of the realm and Elric's cousin. He is next in line for the throne as Elric has no male heir. He is greatly concerned at Elric's behavior and takes all of Elric's brooding and philosophical talk as a sign of weakness. He yearns for a return to more traditional emperors and secretly plots Elric's demise. Y
Post
#134449
Topic
The Things We Hate And Love Thread .
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/134449/action/topic#134449
Time
I hate listening to Bryan Singer's self-promotion for himself and his misbegotten Superman Returns.

"I identify with Superman. I am adopted, I am an only child, and I love the idea that he comes from another world, that he's the ultimate immigrant. He has all these extraordinary powers, and he has a righteousness about him."

Other Singer bites I hate -

[About Superman's costume for 'Superman Returns']: "I always had the general idea of the suit. With X-Men, although they had extraordinary powers, they also had physical weaknesses. The suits were for protection as well as costume. Superman is the Man of Steel. Bullets bounce off him, not the suit."

[Talking about casting Brandon Routh as Superman/Clark Kent in the new Superman film]: "I was always dead set on casting an unknown. Brandon embodied the character the best - his acting talent, physical presence and personality."

"Superman has always been about Lois Lane, Superman and Clark Kent and this love triangle between these three people who really are only two people."

This kind of crap just annoys the hell out of me.
Post
#134454
Topic
Maciste - Long forgotten strongman hero of silent Italian Cinema
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/134454/action/topic#134454
Time
Maciste
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bartolomeo Pagano as MacisteMaciste, or Machiste (pronounced ma-CHEES-tay) is one of the oldest recurring characters in cinema. He cuts a heroic figure throughout the history of the cinema of Italy, even if the movies that feature him are unlikely to win many awards.

The origin of the name is a bit of a mystery. There was no Maciste in Greek mythology or history. The word machiste, however, means "macho man" or "mâle chauviniste" in French.

Maciste made his debut in the 1914 Italian silent movie classic Cabiria. To compare with another character who has been portrayed in many films, Maciste first appeared on the screen in the same year that Tarzan made his début in print. There have been at least 52 movies in which Maciste appears.

Maciste is also the name of a reflective meta-knowledge based software system by Jacques Pitrat. See e.g. his paper "Implementation of a reflective system" (Future Generation Computer Systems, volume 12, 1996).

Contents [hide]
1 Cabiria
2 Bartolomeo Pagano's Maciste films
3 Revived in the 1960s
4 In comic books
5 Influence on Mussolini?
6 List of Maciste films:
6.1 The silent era:
6.2 The sword and sandal era:



[edit]
Cabiria
The silent film was a story about a slave who was involved in the rescue of a Roman princess from an evil Carthaginian king who plotted to sacrifice her to the cruel god Moloch. The film was based very loosely on Salammbo, a historical novel by Gustave Flaubert, and had a plot and screnplay by Gabriele d'Annunzio.

Maciste's debut pretty much set the tone for his later adventures. Typical plots involve tyrannical rulers who practice vile magical rituals or worship evil gods. Typically, the young lady who is the love interest runs afoul of the evil ruler. Maciste is a super-strong guy who must rescue her. There is often a rightful king out there somewhere who wants to overthrow the evil usurper. There is an obligatory [[belly dance] scene. There is often an evil queen who has carnal designs on the hero.

These films, then, could be set in settings from Mongolia to Peru, from Egypt to the Roman Empire. His life story, or his origin in ancient Carthage, did not prevent him from appearing in any setting from classical antiquity or modern times.

[edit]
Bartolomeo Pagano's Maciste films
As a character, Maciste had two distinct moments in the spotlight. The first was in the Italian silent movie period, in which the original Maciste from Cabiria, the muscular actor Bartolomeo Pagano, starred in a series of at least fifteen sequels over the period from 1915 through 1926.

The Pagano Maciste films established the character as someone who could appear at any place and at any time. Some of the earlier ones, made during World War I, had the distinct flavour of propaganda, and cast the hero in the role of a soldier. Later films in the series return to fantasy, but the fantasy was not always mythological. Maciste appears as an Olympic athlete, in contemporary settings, or in the afterlife. His character and his plots remained consistent in whatever setting; he was a populist Hercules, using his physical prowess to overcome the evil ruses of effete aristocrats and authority figures.


Bodybuilder Mark Forest played Maciste in this 1961 film.[edit]
Revived in the 1960s
The character was revived in the 1960s. In 1959, Steve Reeves' Hercules, an Italian production, created a minor boom in Italian dramas featuring American bodybuilders in vaguely mythological or classical historical subjects. The actual mythology was frequently pied to make up the improbable plots. Maciste was a frequently recurring hero in these films. This sword and sandal fad continued for about seven years, until the new fad for spaghetti Westerns took over the attention of the Italian cinema industry.

If you've watched any of these films, you've probably seen a Maciste picture, even if the title character in the English version was not Maciste. When these films were imported into the USA and dubbed in English, usually badly, the hero was often changed to Hercules, Samson, Goliath, Atlas, or Colossus, because the name of Maciste was not widely recognised in the USA.

The biggest source of the second series Maciste films from the second cycle in the USA was the Sons of Hercules, a film series which was later made into a syndicated TV show. Best remembered for its stirring title song --- hear it once and it will never get out of your head --- films originally featuring Machiste were dubbed into a variety of Sons of Hercules pictures, with stock narration at the opening relating each character to Hercules.

One of the first films to appear in the second series was Il Trionfo de Maciste, Englished as Triumph of the Son of Hercules. Other Maciste films available in English are Terror of Rome v. the Son of Hercules, Beast of Babylon v. the Son of Hercules, and The Son of Hercules v. Venus. Many of these films are available from Sinister Cinema.

[edit]
In comic books
In the 1970s, Machiste was introduced to another American audience by being made a recurring character (under that spelling) in DC Comics' Warlord sword and sorcery comic.

What makes Maciste interesting and useful as a character is that in the movies he has no continuity from one film to the next. He is variously the son of Hercules, and the son of Samson. His tales are a series of random adventures that do not relate, one to another. Mythology became a mish-mash in his films, even more than on Xena: Warrior Princess. Free from back-story, Maciste is a perfect drop-in hero for whatever story you choose to tell.

[edit]
Influence on Mussolini?
On the other hand, some have made Maciste out to be a somewhat darker figure. The character is the enslaved embodiment of physical strength and vitality; as he travels to exotic locations, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, he does battle against Oriental decadence and barbarism, as particularly embodied in the cult of Moloch that figured in the plot of Cabiria. Some have seen in the adventures of Maciste an ominous parallel to the rise of Benito Mussolini, of Italian Fascism, and of Italian military adventurism in Ethiopia in the days preceding World War II. Mussolini himself had a small part in Cabiria.[1] Some have even suggested that Mussolini's public speaking style, parodied by Jack Oakie in Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator, was imitated from Pagano's mugging in the silent Maciste films.

Federico Fellini credited the 1926 Maciste all'inferno as the movie that made him decide to become a director.

His 1960s adventures, by contrast, are enjoyed mostly by devotees of camp, and cannot sustain such a dark interpretation. Several have been subjected to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment.

[edit]
List of Maciste films:
The following partial list will give you a feel for the variety of Machiste material and settings, and its fate when dubbed into English. This list is of the recent films.

[edit]
The silent era:
Silent Maciste films starring Bartolomeo Pagano include:

1915-Maciste
1916-Maciste bersagliere
(Maciste the Ranger)
1917-Maciste atleta
(Maciste the Athlete)
1917-Maciste medium
(Maciste the Clairvoyant)
1917-Maciste poliziotto
(Maciste the Detective)
1917-Maciste turista
(Maciste the Tourist)
1919-La Rivincita di Maciste
(Maciste's Revenge)
1919-Il Testamento di Maciste
(The Testament of Maciste)
1919-Il Viaggio di Maciste
(Maciste's Journey)
1919-Maciste I
(Maciste the First)
1919-Maciste contro la morte
(Maciste versus Death)
1919-Maciste innamorato
(Maciste in Love)
1920-Maciste in vacanza
(Maciste on Vacation)
1920-Maciste salvato dalle acque
(M
Post
#134453
Topic
The Brothers Grimm - Terry Gilliam's Latest
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/134453/action/topic#134453
Time
Has anyone from around here seen The Brothers Grimm? I've read a lot of mixed reviews of it and heard it only made $15 million, but it looked kind of interesting, certainly no worse than any of the other "blockbusters" that came out this past summer.

Terry Gilliam films, which include Time Bandits, Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas among others, can be a little much to take, but you can't deny that they're interesting in some way or another.
Post
#134139
Topic
The Things We Hate And Love Thread .
Link
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/134139/action/topic#134139
Time
Originally posted by: Nanner Split
I hate when good TV shows gat canceled. Anyone remember the live-action "The Tick" TV show? I don't, cuz it got CANCELED before I even knew it was there!!


I think the Tick is on DVD now. I saw a few episodes of it - it had some great moments and some not so great moments, but that's why you go on for more than one season: to work out the bugs so to speak. But it seems no one really knew what to do with the Tick, funny as he was.