TheBoost

Well, left to right is the way we read so in a way right-to-left is viewed as retreating, or at least I was taught that in a graphic design class in colege.

IIRC the LOTR films almost always has the heroes cross frame left to right in all the films.I don't know about 'natural vs. unnatural' but it kept a sense of consistency to the imaginary geography the audience had to construct.

As for AOTC, it is true that in the OT the heroes went left to right (think Hoth) and Lucas flipped that in AOTC, perhaps for no good reason, perhaps to emphasize that the Clone Army was the start of the Empire.

Chewtobacca said:

TheBoost said: Gandalf and the Cavalry saving the day in "The Two Towers" is not a Deus Ex Machina because Gandalf left in act two to go find the characters they met in act one, to come back and save the day.

You are correct in your definition of deus ex machina.  An example in LOTR would be the Eagles coming to the rescue unlooked for at the end, as they did in The Hobbit. 

 Yeah, and the Tolk pulled that one twice. What a deus ex machanic.

The cold dead eyes of Jeremy Irons would make an excellent Thrawn.

EyeShotFirst said:

Dash Rendar from Shadows Of The Empire

Come on, this is too easy.Kevin Costner

 

 

 Yeah, if they made the movie of it in 1995!

From your lips to God's ear bro.

Cast your favorite EU character... or least favorite!

In my mind, only one man could play the massively powerful and evil Darth Bane.

WWF Superstar Dave BATISTA!!!

Baronlando said:

Lucas has always been going after the preschool/kindergarten market, the funny thing is that it never really works but he keeps trying. There was the wookie holiday special, two ewok movies, droids cartoon, ewoks cartoon, and an ocean of unsold, red-tagged Jar Jar Binks merchandise: none of it was exactly a Smurfs-type phenomenon with little kids. More trinkets is fine I guess.

 It's interesting that Lucas is SO RIDICULOUSLY SUCCESSFUL that his sideprojects and spin-offs are deemed failures if they don't reach the level of international phenomenon.

This si so far and away the best SW music video... it is a darn CRIME (pardon my language) that it doesn't have at least 200,000 hits.

It's bullpucky, and someone should do something about it!

Be forewarned, "OffTopic" is a very silly place.

Welcome aboard.

Davnes007 said:

Would a perfect example be Batman (1960's), and his utility belt?

 Beyond perfect.

DEUS EX MACHINA

This means when a problem in a story is abruptly resolved by the introduction of a new concept into the story- a new character, idea, superpower, etc.

This term is constantly abused as referring to anything that saves the day. The shot Luke makes to blow up the Death Star isn't a Deus Ex Machina, becuase it's been built up to the entire movie. Gandalf and the Cavalry saving the day in "The Two Towers" is not a Deus Ex Machina because Gandalf left in act two to go find the characters they met in act one, to come back and save the day.

R2 having rockets could be seen as a Deus Ex Machina. R2 fixing the hyperdrive in "ESB" isn't, because the audience has known for some that R2 knows about the hyperdrive.

This is especially annoying when the meaning is flipped completely, and used to refer to the beginning of a story. I've heard "That the droids end up in the hands of Luke is such a Deus Ex Machina."

 You pick a fight with a girl for the sole purpose of getting ready to storm out so you can say, "What? You think I was gonna leave without giving you a goodbye kiss?!"

xhonzi said:

0:00:00	Logos
	Alderaan is Destroyed
	Ben and Vader meet and Fight
	Ben Dies
	Ben's First Appearance
	Death Star Blows Up
	Death Star's First Appearance
	Han Returns/Attack's Vader's Fighter
	Han's First Appearance
	Heroes Leave Tatooine
	Heroes Reach the Rebellion
	Luke and Leia First Meet
	Luke Decides to leave with Kenobi/become a Jedi
	Luke Gets Lightsabre
	Luke's First Appearance
	Millennium Falcon Reaches the Death Star
	Pilots Getting in X-Wings and Y-Wings
	Vader gets in his TIE Fighter
	Vader's First Appearance
	X-Wings Approach Death Star (with Yavin in bg)
1:57:10	Credits

Here's the game.  Put the events in order and then guess the time each event starts.  The correct order is worth 10 points, and any item out of order will lose you a point.  Guess the time (the hours, minutes and seconds on the clock) each event starts.  Each time is worth 3 points if within five minutes, 2 within ten minutes, and 1 point within 15 minutes.

Times are taken from the 1977 version of the film (TR47 DVDs).

Feel free to post your answers below.  The only prize is knowing how awesome you are, so cheating is, of course, a no-no.

If you haven't created your answers yet, you probably don't want to read below.

3:00 Vader's First Appearance

18:00: Luke's First Appearance

20:00 Death Star's First Appearance

25:00 Ben's First Appearance

27:00 Luke Gets Lightsabre

31:00 Luke Decides to leave with Kenobi/become a Jedi

34:00 Han's First Appearance

40:00 Heroes Leave Tatooine

45:00  Alderaan is Destroyed

50:00 Millennium Falcon Reaches the Death Star

58:00 Luke and Leia First Meet

1:20 Ben and Vader meet and Fight

1:30 Ben Dies

1:35 Heroes Reach the Rebellion

1:40 Pilots Getting in X-Wings and Y-Wings

1:44 X-Wings Approach Death Star (with Yavin in bg)

1:48 Vader gets in his TIE Fighter

1:53 Han Returns/Attack's Vader's Fighter

1:55 Death Star Blows Up

That's all I got. I think my timing is pretty off.

Octorox said:

TheBoost said:

This comes from writers who think the villains are more interesting than the heroes. Just because they have cooler suits doesn't mean the story is really about them.

Well the Old Republic game does allow you to step into the shoes of a Sith or a Jedi so in that case neither side are really the heroes or villians

THAT my friend is the problem.

This comes from writers who think the villains are more interesting than the heroes. Just because they have cooler suits doesn't mean the story is really about them.

TV's Frink said:

Yikes!  Anyone own this?

You mean any of US, or anyone in the whole world?

I hope the answer to both is 'no.'

And on topic

CO said:

See I don't have a problem if they are honest about the target audience.  If they want to cater to the kiddies, then cater to kiddies only, and don't try to mass appeal it like the Prequels.  The Prequels have Jar Jar Binks who appeals to 5 year olds and Anakin burning up on a Volcano planet for teenagers and adults, as Lucas can't have it both ways.

"Star Wars" has adorable beeping R2D2 and Luke's Aunt and Uncle's burning corpse.

"Empire" has more R2 cuteness, Ugnaut football games, giggling backpack Yoda, and Han being tortured and Luke getting his hand chopped off.

"Jedi" has cute lil Ewoks and Luke being electrocuted.

Lucas obviously CAN have it both ways.  

I really hated "Dr. Linus."

     BEN: I'm blackmailing you creepy Principal.

     CREEPY PRINCIPAL: No. Because I'll write an unflattering letter of    
     reccomendation about Rousseau's daughter.

     BEN: Nuts! You've outmanuvered me!!!!

What a load of bunk!!

Ben had all the power. All he needed to say was, "I've altered my demands to now include you writing a nice letter about her. And go buy me a soda or I'll ruin your life and see you in jail."

That he just caved didn't show he was compassionate or anything. It showed he was a moron.

Davnes007 said:

TheBoost said:

Davnes007 said:

'Religion' is a synonym for 'cult'

Nope.

Ya.

 Still wrong.

While "religion" as a phenomenon is sometimes difficult to define (whole books have been written on the topic, I reccomened Mircea Eliade) it is not in anyway synonomous with 'cult.'

'Cult' is a very ill defined term, ususally used as a derogatory term for any convieniet 'other.' In the US at least, 'cult' is a convienient term used to bring legal pressure on new religious groups.

Certain traits tend to be involved with so-called Cult movements, which might include secrecy, a charasmatic authoritarian leader, intense indoctrination, and dificulty leaving the cult, but none of these are present in every 'cult'like situation.

So it's not a pearl of wisdom. It's just a slur.

Davnes007 said:

'Religion' is a synonym for 'cult'

Nope.

Warbler said:

TheBoost said:

Is the only path to respect and coexistance to ignore the giant Godlike elephant in the room?

well what you have us do?   Be rude to each other?  Hate each other?   War with each other?   Force the others to believe what you believe and kill those that refuse?   well?

 I dunno. I know nothing. I'm just trying to hash out terms.

I can respect another culture. Perhaps your people wear beards, or have a matrilineal socienty in contrast to my patrilineal society. Perhaps you're people like bizarre music or food, or paint donkeys to look like zebras. I can respect those differences without thinking they are necessarily negative, even while my own culture is very different.

But religion? Fundamental belief in the nature of the universe? Can we politely respect eachothers differences in that? I dunno, it seems much more difficult. Or is the only way to deal with it to afree to not talk about it?

zombie84 said:

TheBoost said:

zombie84 said:

Ah, because "Palpatine" is probably based on "Palantine" the politician from Taxi Driver, and there are all these banners and buttons that say "Vote for Palantine". :P

Or their both named after the same hill in Rome.

Just saying. The first time the word "Senator Palpatine" was ever used was December 1976, a few months after the film came out where there is a "Senator Palantine".

Pretty damning evidence.  

Ziz said:

Bottom line to me is that "religion"="procedure", not "religion"="beliefs".  What "religion" you say you follow or believe in is really just a description of how you practice those beliefs.  In the end, what different religions believe is all essentially the same.

 So, a Taoist, a Jainist, and a Rabbi walk into a bar. They all see Ziz and go "What?"

canofhumdingers said:

I can treat a person of a different faith with respect, kindness, and love all while believing his faith is completely false.  Just because I don't agree with what he believes doesn't mean I hate him or treat him poorly (quite the opposite!), or even talk poorly about his religion to him or behind his back.  I can show both him and his religion "respect" without ever agreeing with it.

So, if I read you correctly, respecting someone else's differing faith means to ignore someone else's differing faith?

 One of my coworker beleives she's going to magically vanish when God's son floats down from the sky, another believes not only will no one vanish, but that there is no god. A third believes there is no god by Allah and Muhammed is his prophet.

At least two of these people have to be wrong, possibly insane.

Is the only path to respect and coexistance to ignore the giant Godlike elephant in the room?