JadedSkywalker

I watched Cry Macho. It was just okay. It wasn’t anything grand and it is far from Eastwood’s best. But i couldn’t hate it because he is such a legend.

But it wasn’t a tenth as good as The Mule, or Gran Torino.

I also watched both versions of Dune. The 2021 was very good and it ended just as things got interesting. But it was all setup. The 1984 was bizarre, wooden acting/ no charisma for Paul Atreides. It was like two separate movies jumbled together. Still would like to see the version the director wanted. I noticed Chani was played by Sean Young, but if i blinked i wouldn’t have noticed her because she is barely in the movie.

I did notice something i never noticed before though that Paul Atreides was ripped off for Anakin Skywalker, its even more apparent reading the novel. Especially the prequel version of Anakin being the chosen one/savior.

Added Force Awakens 4K.
Added Project A-KO Perfect Disc Laserdisc Japanese release first pressing with insert and OBI.

I’m loving both Foundation and The Wheel of Time. But no Foundation is very much not faithful to the books. Its still more faithful than I, Robot with Will Smith which has 0% to do with the book.

The Shannara TV show was alright but they didn’t get the numbers they needed to keep the show running. Also not faithful except in spirit to the books. Most things aren’t adapted faithfully that includes the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. Adaptation is very much creating something anew for a different medium.

Sometimes they stray too far from the source like the last seasons of GOT.

I’ve always had sort of a soft spot for Phantom Menace. I like the underwater city, the pod race and the duel of the fates. I liked Obi Wan. I liked Qui Gon, i didn’t hate Anakin in it like other people did. I liked Padme leading her people in secret as her handmaiden. I didn’t mind the slapstick of Jar Jar or him playing the fool/sidekick.

For me its the most enjoyable of the prequels.

The Original Original Trilogy.

The first Two Brian Daley Radio Drama’s.

The Novelizations of the original trilogy.

I watched Solo a Star Wars story it was difficult to sit through. Well intentioned but poorly shot and lit. And the movie is all over the place. It can be fun in places. But i still have the unmistakable feeling the leads were miscast. The supporting players are excellent. Still feels like a fanfilm with a kid playing Han. And not actually Han. Should he have played Harrison i’m not sure. But it just doesn’t come off right. Maybe it was on purpose to make him Smug and unlikable.

As many of the targets the film tries to hit and misses i still would have liked a sequel. The film is all setup and there is no payoff.

Sequels in general are almost never as good as the first entry and usually their biggest sin is they are a remake of the first film in some way or form. Or they destroy the goodwill of the first entry, do things that aren’t in the spirit of the original film.

Honestly the Godfather 2 and Empire Strikes Back don’t make those mistakes but a lot of franchises do.

I’ve never seen a third entry i thought was better the the first film in a series ever. And almost never better than the second with few exceptions.

Even the best of the third films in franchises like Return of the Jedi, aren’t that good. Fun and enjoyable if you aren’t looking to be critical and nitpick. But great entries in their own right, stand on their own. Hardly.

Return of the King is an isolated case being better than the Two Towers but not better than Fellowship of the Ring.

I think ROS was Imax digital and 3D. And no 70mm film prints. So it was only in liemax.

I got ROTJ PAL. Its the only one in the PAL zone to have a better transfer than the NTSC releases.

That Deliberate creative decision stuff was a hilarious excuse for the messed up audio on the 2004 DVD. But they then messed up the 2011 blu rays as well but didn’t claim it was a deliberate creative decision.

When you had frozen grain, fake added digital grain because they automated the DVNR and ROTJ had a worse and softer image on the Blu than on the HDTV broadcast. and even worse colors than before. I despise Lowry and everything they have “remastered”. They messed up James Bond and the Star Trek films they worked on as well.

The Reliance scans are just Lowry under a new name, but they are a mixed bag at best. Good detail in places, destroyed in others. Someone should take away the automated DVNR button. But i suppose the Maclunky edition is the best official release of the Special Edition we will ever get.

Thankfully i’ve seen 4K83 and 4K77 and i’m happy with them. 4K83 is so good you’d almost think it was an official release.

Got Star Wars Maclunky Edition 4K for 13 bucks, Empire 4K for 20 and Jedi 4K for 13. All with Blu-Ray and digital copy, a good deal. Walmart matched the Amazon price but they actually had them in stock.

I like almost everything about Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Except for the Aliens and the fridge scene. I felt like the ending was a great way to end the series and bring it back to Raiders with Indy and Marion getting married.

The cgi looks fake as hell in places though i wish they could fix it but it isn’t the end of the world.

I liked the father/son dynamic, it was far from perfect though. It was kind of half baked like they were trying to do the Last Crusade relationship Indy had with his father again.

John Williams score is fantastic. Ford is great. The hate this movie gets is insane.

Took advantage of the amazon sale on Star Wars 4K discs. Got Last Jedi for 12 bucks. And Rise of Skywalker for 19.

I haven’t seen Earwig and the Witch, the 3D really didn’t interest me. Goro Miyzaki did direct Up on Poppy Hill which i very much liked. But he also directed tales of Earthsea which i haven’t finished watching. He directed Ronja the robbers daughter which was cgi animation and a tv series which i also haven’t seen.

Star Trek log 2. Its the entire second season of Star Trek TOS in a massive Japanese boxed set. I couldn’t pass it up so many good episodes.

I was thinking of getting Jedi Knight II and Jedi Academy on PS4.

I wonder how they hold up.

Over the years there have been preservations of the tracks here and elsewhere. Some bit perfect and some not, but i don’t have them.

Wish they were on the 4K releases. The stereo mixes were left off.

And i also wonder how faithful the 7.1 audio is to the original 6 track mixes.

Its the reason i haven’t retired my laserdiscs and i dread when my player breaks.

Everything but VI is theatrical on laserdisc except for the tv extended star trek 1.

Treks 1-5 are very good digital LPCM.

I just watched Star Wars again and Return of the Jedi. Waiting for 4K80 to be able to enjoy Empire in good quality without all the horrible changes in the 2020 Special Edition, or the bad colors of the Eastman prints that seem to be every version available.

A New Hope goes back to The Art of Star Wars which was published in November of 1979. But no it was never the title or subtitle of the real shooting script. It was the Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills. Saga I. Star Wars. Shortened to Star Wars and there was no Episode IV at all period until 1979. The film itself wasn’t recut to episode IV until 1981.

Generator by Foo Fighters.

I won’t see it til it is on blu ray or digital whichever is cheaper.

Paramount plus isn’t for me. I have the Blu ray steelbook for season 3 and i’m fine with waiting.

Did anyone save the film cel scans that website appears to be gone. I wanted to see reference on what the Empire Strikes Back 70mm scans looked like.

I’m reading both the books on the making of return of the jedi, the one from the 80s and the one by Rinzler. And i’m going to reread the novelization, and the comic book adaptation and listen to the radio drama.

Filmmaker is a brilliant documentary by Lucas.

I also saw George Lucas maker of film which is from 1971 and shows a man with a keen intellect.

I respect Kamiyama and Aramaki but i still haven’t seen season 3 and 4 of SAC. The change from 2D animation to 3D that looks like a PS2 cutscene was jarring. Its the same reason i’m having trouble getting into Blade Runner Black Lotus.

Added another copy of Return of the Jedi first issue pan and scan Japanese release with OBI, still in shrink but not sealed. OBI is very nice. Jacket is nice and clean. Original Dolby Hype sticker is still on it.