TheBoost

Balrogs don't have wings.

So everyone tells me that the new "Star Wars" comic out last week is the best thing ever, and not reading it means I should throw myself in traffic.

Anyone pick this up?

You know what, Philip Quast, the BEST Javert ever is only 5 years older than Crowe. With a personal trainer maybe, he could have done the movie role. He's really handsome (well, my wife says he looks like me, so I assume that's what she meant).

Takeshi Kaga is still young enough to play the part, if they don't mind a Japanese Javert who's also the Chairmen at kitchen stadium.

Something else I didn't care for. The orchestration during ...

SPOILERS FOR 200 YEAR OLD NOVEL

... Javert's suicide in the movie didn't draw the connection between the powerful link between Javert and Valjean. It's the same song Valjean sings in the beginning, because these men are both hard men who've never dealt with kindness before. The film's orchestration for the two songs is wildly different though. 

My better half bought me the soundtrack to the movie yesterday.

Russell Crowe is worse than I remember from the cinema. Monotone, drab, and he just doesn't have a bigger level to go to when the song needs it. Sometimes he fakes it be whispering, and then switching to his regular singing tone, but it doesn't work for me. 

Tobar said:

TV's Frink said:

pat man said:

Any news about this.

What a weird thing to say.

But appropriate as it's been proven false.

Oh thank god.

Keep that dude far far far far far away from Star Wars. 

Given that the ownership of the IP of the Daleks is peculiar in whatever way it is, could "Star Wars 7" be the Alliance vs. Daleks? And wouldn't that be awesome!

generalfrevious said:

I don't think Lucas cared about the little details anyway. Even the best SW movies were cynical cash grabs from the beginning. The more Lucas was paying attention to the merchandising, the more problems the movie had.

Really? Really??

Since the first Star Wars was a huge risk for the studio, and ESB was a huge risk with Lucas's own money, can't we, even at our most fan-hatred filled, call them sincere cash grabs?

And is it possible that when not caring about the relative speed of hyperdrive, Lucas just figured the FANS didn't give a damn and only cared about the story, not "this won't effect the bottom line."

CWBorne said:

The larger aspects of the PT are more often than not, simply not ever mentioned in the OT. 

 

-Warning of excess attachment to people

 

Yoda does tell Luke he needs to be able to sacrifice his friends for the greater good, and a refusal to do so leads to bad stuff. 

Luke almost goes to the Dark side when Vader plays on his feelings for his sister, those feelings themselves, not Luke, the feelings are what betrayed her. 

DominicCobb said:

Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:

  An inconsistency is Anakin telling a senator that he just killed an entire village, and the senator not having him arrested immediately.  It would be like the Newtown kid showing up at City Hall and the mayor saying "oh, that's ok, it's human to get mad now and then".

Not to keep it on this topic, but I think Tatooine is outside of the Republic's jurisdiction.

But she DID still marry him. 

CP3S said:

 

 

TheBoost said:

I'd say it's not just a matter of prettiness, it's a matter of film presence too.

WRONG!!! I mean, seriously, who wants to look at closeups of Sarah Brightman for two hours?

;)

If you look at close ups of her for two minutes you wont have a choice. That woman's eyes can hypnotize you through the screen.

vacuum said:

after all the crap about there only being I- VI and then being only special edition versions of the original films, now he just says f*ck it, do what you want with it?!

I don't think being paid $4.02 Billion is quite the same as saying "f*ck it"

timdiggerm said:

TheBoost said:

Warbler said:

you are aware Jekyll and Hyde are same guy, aren't you? 

Now that you mention it, the show does make a lot more sense now. 

Allow me to recommend you read the story, which is not overly long, by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Full text: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Case_of_Dr_Jekyll_and_Mr_Hyde

Somebody based a book on it? Does no one have original ideas any more??!

Warbler said:

you are aware Jekyll and Hyde are same guy, aren't you? 

Now that you mention it, the show does make a lot more sense now. 

Warbler said:

why do you say the first Mr. Hyde?  If Chuck Wagner played Hyde, he was also playing Dr. Jekyll.  The same guy plays both parts. 

He does??! He's even MORE amazing as an actor than I suspected!

Harmy said:

What are you talking about, embarrassment? I love audio books (only if they're unabridged mind you). I practically stopped reading any other way. Audio books are awesome; 

Audiobooks rock. 

I think they account for probably 3/4 of my book intake these days. Commutes and yardwork are significantly less lame now. 

Warbler said:

 

CP3S said:

That being said, as great as Crawford and Brightman sounded in that live performance, Gerard Bultler and Emmy Rossum are far, far, far more pleasant to look at.

just for that *Warbler tells Javert that he saw CP3S steal a loaf of bread* 

 

I'd say it's not just a matter of prettiness, it's a matter of film presence too.

Chuck Wagner is probably one of the great baritones of his age, a 6 foot + juggernaut of charisma on stage, and one of the first "Javerts" as well as the first Mr. Hyde in "Jekyll and Hyde." I had the privledge to see him on the first and second nation tours of "Jekyll and Hyde, " and as the Ringling Brother's Circus ringmaster, and that man OWNS the stage.

That being said, the camera does not love the guy. His powerful presence comes off as somewhat cheesy on camera, in the old show "Automan" and his occasional TV spots. 

Even in 1985, the short, slightly pudgy Colm Wilkonson would have had a tough time selling me on the dangerous, superhumanly strong Valjean under the unforgiving eye of the close-up. 

generalfrevious said:

He has made his films overlong as of late. Do you remember any films he made in the last 10 years that were under 2 hours.

 

I can say the same for Katherine Bigelow, Paul Thomas Anderson,  Peter Jackson, and Steven Spielberg, and every Marvel superhero film.  

I wonder if the net had existed back then, if there would have been lots of "wide-screen gives me a headache" and "how come no directors discuss the story telling aspects of technicolor, it's just a money making gimmick?" discussions. 

generalfrevious said:

Even RLM stated once that he isn't a "real" filmmaker and can't hold a candle to directors like David Fincher or Paul Thomas Anderson. 

 

Well, RLM sure sure is a credible authority to cite. The guy that made "Memento" and "The Prestige" isn't a real filmmaker. Gotcha. 

zombie84 said:

and then he kills the mayor. But the mayor dies saying "there's still good in him" for no real reason.

If there was a seen of a real joyous and giddy Anakin trying to figure out how to put the Ikea cradle together, while Padme paints the nursery, I think the movie would have been better.

Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda said:

 An inconsistency is Anakin telling a senator that he just killed an entire village, and the senator not having him arrested immediately.  It would be like the Newtown kid showing up at City Hall and the mayor saying "oh, that's ok, it's human to get mad now and then".

...and then the mayor marries him. 

xhonzi said:

I convinced him to sell me 2 credits to download these for me since the old tape abridgments are so aweful.

 

QFT

Akwat Kbrana said:

Looks like Scoundrels has now been released. Anyone planning to buy a copy right away, or are you waiting for the paperback release? I'd love to jump right in ASAP, but sadly I just won't have enough spare time to devote to pleasure reading for a few months at least.

Local library doesn't have it yet. Might kick down on Audible for the audiobook if I end up driving across the state this month.

xhonzi said:

 

I'm surprised no one has talked yet about the way the songs were filmed, with the actual singing performances being done on set, in costume instead of in the studio beforehand- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cDVdg7gVdg

Well, Hathaway's absolutely heart-rending rendition of "I'm So Damn Sad," done entirely in one long closeup, would have been impossible to match if she'd been lipsynching.

On the other hand, Crowe might have benefited from a few more takes to get that perfect sound in the studio. 

darth_ender said:

I've not seen it, so I cannot comment on the film itself. However, my dad is a great singer (not lying when I tell you he was once a part of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir back in the '60s). His speaking voice is certainly deeper than mine, but he can sing higher and more powerfully than I can (and while not of his caliber, I'm a pretty good and somewhat trained singer). So it is reasonable.

I learned a lot about singing by hearing various interviews with fantasy author Tracy Hickman, about his audition process trying to make it in the Tabernacle Choir.

On a side note, I wish someday a horrible fight breaks out there, just so the news headlines would read "Slobberknocker in the Tabernacle!"