eiyosus

eiyosus said:
Star Wars and Empire are favorites, but if I never see either again I’d be okay, since I’ve seen them so much when I was a kid

Just watched a few clips with my son, and I take it back. I’ll watch them from time to time when they release the originals. Both are so good, but for different reasons. (And he just told me Empire was his favorite SW movie, so that’s cool. And when I showed him a clip from Ep 3 (Yoda vs Emperor) he promptly got off the couch and did something else, so rock n roll).

I have so many. Star Wars and Empire are favorites, but if I never see either again I’d be okay, since I’ve seen them so much when I was a kid (I’d certainly buy the unaltered originals if they were released).

These are in no particular order, and I’m not gonna bother with adding dates since they’re from all over the years of cinema:

Barbarella - my favorite movie of all time, but I consider:
Blade Runner - to be the best sci-fi film, that is until I watched:
Ex Machina - I just fell in love with it.

Silent Running
Death Race 2000
A Boy and His Dog
Star Crash
Zardoz
The Dark Crystal
The Neverending Story
Destination Moon
Metropolis
The Brood
The Fly
The Thing
Alien
Forbidden Planet
The Holy Mountain
El Topo
Santa Sangre
The Ice Pirates
Brainstorm (Highly underrated. Check it out.)
Super
The Secret of NIMH
Sleeper
Triangle
Return to Oz
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Hellraiser
Pontypool
2001
On the Silver Globe
Galaxy of Terror
Forbidden World
The Prestige
Children of Men
Poltergeist
Battle Royal
Kotoko
Gemini
The Fall
Moon
Robinson Crusoe on Mars
The Black Hole
Time After Time
Primer
Ikarie XB-1
Cosmic Journey
Journey to the Far Side of the Sun
Planet of the Vampires
Gattaca

And there are a lot more, but I don’t have access to my movie collection, so I can’t check. Obviously I like a lot of the standards like Terminator, Inception, Gremlins, The Road Warrior, Brazil etc, but I wouldn’t consider them my favorites. If I listed my honorable mentions (Starman, anyone?) I’d be here all day.

(Skipped the last few pages as my posting bug seems to be wearing off. I predict that I’ll be back to lurking soon enough. 😛 )

John Doom said:
We’ve never actually met each other, but I consider him like a friend (but not close, since he does live in Japan 😄 ). He’s a very active follower on my deviantart page, always one of the first to share his opinions on my works as well as other OT topics like videogames in general. I don’t think he’ll get it wrong, it’s just a question about SW after all, but I guess you never know, so I’ll be careful.

I’m sure it’s totally fine. It’s more of the frequency of such questions than the questions themselves (in my opinion, at least). S’all good.

This is the kind of bickering I like on this site. I can’t tell if you all hate each other or if I’m missing out on a big inside joke.

My ex holds the opinion of, “If you think it might be offensive to me, don’t ask me about it.”

So it turns out I’m currently about 40 minutes away from imperialscum. 😛

imperialscum said:
Well I am in science/research. While Japanese bureaucracy is very strict and sometimes annoying, on the other hand it makes everything run smoothly and make people follow the rules I guess. I could set my clock based on the bus stop (let alone train). Also streets are completely clean, despite literally no trash cans, as people follow the rules and take their thrash home. I would say the annoying part is by far overshadowed by all the benefits and nice aspects. Anyway bottom line is, I absolutely love almost everything about Japan.

Oh yeah, definitely. Did you see the stuff on the news last year about how the Japanese section at the World Cup was always free of garbage after a game?

Interesting that you think the bureaucracy helps keep things running smoothly, as most of the Japanese and ex-pats I know think the opposite (everything takes forever). I’m going to guess that it probably has to do with the work environment, and that scientific research is already heavily regulated no matter what country you live in, but it may be that you just see it differently, which is great. I’ll just say that the movie Brazil hits closer to home after having to deal with that stuff.

imperialscum said:
As for Nemodians, they don’t seem much of bureaucrats to me. After all, their main thing in TPM is breaking the rules.

I can see that. Maybe it’s because they’re so subservient to Palpatine that I think of them like I do, but that’s sort of typical underling behavior. As I said before, I do think they resemble Japanese in a lot of ways, but it was probably unintentional. I will also fully admit that I haven’t given Ep 1 much thought since seeing it in the theater, so I might not be remembering accurately.

I asked some friends out here if they saw the Rogue One trailer and mentioned my recent intoxicated marathon viewing of the PT, and one dude immediately brought up the similarities to Japanese people (he’s lived in Japan for 12 years), so it’s KIND OF interesting how some see it and some don’t (but only kind of, since we’re talking about Nemoidians).

Okay, I just watched a youtube clip of a bunch of Nute Gunray scenes and I’m sorry to the people who don’t agree, but I very much hear a similarity. Not really with the other Nemoidians, though, so it’s probably just how the actor did it. “What is. Going on. Down there?” uuuugh

yotsuya said:
And yes, I do believe that if you are so insistent that the Nemoidians sound Asian that you have an issue

This is way too much of an assumption. You cannot possibly judge a person’s beliefs through an internet conversation. I can only speak for myself, but you don’t know anything about my life experiences, outlook, family, etc. and I find that argument to be passive aggressive and a bit offensive.

(But I will agree that if you think they sound “Asian” that you do indeed have an issue. I think Nute sounds Japanese)

I will again insist that I only take real issue with things that help perpetuate a stereotype. I have had so many horrible questions asked to me about life in Japan, but none of them were because of these goofy alien guys. I’m much more offended at Jar Jar, Watto, and Nute Gunray being horrible characters (but Gunray is charmingly stupid after watching that clip). 😛 Same goes the other way, as I have been on the receiving end of some shitty discriminating behavior in Japan, I think I’ve become a reasonable judge of the types of things that influence people’s perceptions of a culture.

John Doom said:I know a Japanese. It may not be statistically significant, but I may try asking him his opinion on this subject.

Is this person a close friend of yours? Is this person a Japanese citizen living abroad? I would advise a little caution, as even well-meaning questions can rub people the wrong way. I’ve had random co-workers and acquaintances who’ve never talked to me before ask me stuff since I’m the token white guy, and that stuff can get obnoxious after years and years (it was usually dependent on my mood). When living in America, my ex-wife would get a little upset when asked a question like that. I don’t speak for everybody, though.

moviefreakedmind said:
seeing as how every character in the PT was quite terrible it seems like a redundant conversation.

Yeah, I need to slap myself. I’m more invested in this conversation than I ever was in the movie.

imperialscum said: As for Nomodians resembling Japanese, I have been living/working in Japan and I speak Japanese and I have never seen any resemblence.

You might have missed my post on page seven where I outlined my views as somebody who lived in Japan for a decade, but what type of work environment did/do you work in? To me it’s the infections more than the actual pronounciation, but it’s also coupled with the bureacratic nature of those guys which makes me think of Japan. I’m just interested in seeing if you note any similarities since most people don’t quite understand just how dang bureaucratic Japan is. If you don’t, no worries.

And I agree about the “Asian” stereotype being way too broad. A lot of people keep saying how the trade federation portrays the “timid asian stereotype.” Generally speaking, Chinese and South Koreans are anything BUT timid. I’d also say Japanese aren’t timid outside of the workplace.

Lord Haseo said:
As for the profanity that’s just part of who I am and I won’t apologize for it. Especially when someone is defending something I deem morally reprehensible. So fucking sue me.

http://originaltrilogy.com/announcement/Guidelines-for-Post-Content-and-General-Behavior-Or-How-Not-To-Get-Banned/id/12074

TV’s Frink said:

With some of the “experts” here, I think I prefer normal people.

Oh, me too. Definitely. I had to find a concise way to get the theme across through a thread title. Normal people are awesome.

Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve overheard, or been part of a SW conversation where somebody was trying to sound like they were an expert on some aspect of SW and you just had to bite your tongue? (or you could have corrected them. I don’t really care enough to)

I’ve got three:

In college sometime between the release of Ep 2 and 3, I overheard a conversation between two people, and one was complaining about how the prequels sucked and the other was all like “Well, that’s the story that George Lucas wrote in the original novels.” and “Jar Jar Binks was in the original book.” SSSIIIGGHHHH

Also around this time, a co-worker was talking to me about the movies and didn’t think Palpatine was the Emperor despite them both being played by the same actor because his name was never stated in RotJ (again, this was before RotS). I actually DID correct him in this case, but he wouldn’t believe me. “How do you know his name was Palpatine? You’re just making that up.” “I dunno. How do I know the braided hair on Boba Fett’s shoulder is Wookiee hair? It’s just stuff SW geeks know.” I never did get to say I told you so, since he stopped working there ('twas a theater. Free movies, baby.) It’s also funny to think that this conversation would never have happened in the age of smart phones.

And most recently (and the most head-shaking), just before the release of TFA, a current co-worker was telling me that the only reason James Earl Jones didn’t perform as Darth Vader was because he quit after a day of wearing the costume, and he said this with utter conviction. He also said Luke Skywalker was going to go dark because that’s what happened in the books, and the new Star Wars movie was based on them. Maybe if I liked the guy enough I would have corrected him, but no…not gonna go through the trouble.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with not knowing about that stuff, but I wish people wouldn’t try to sound like they do. It’s like when you go to the zoo, and suddenly everybody is an animal expert. 😛 Maybe it’s because I don’t look or sound like a typical dork, but it sure is amusing. Makes me wonder how many times I’ve bought some BS from somebody who actually didn’t know what they were talking about…

[imperialscum said:]Unless you have some record, you are just making it up.

Are you implying that all of the millions upon millions of Star Wars fans read the books and comics?

Out of every single person I have known in my personal life throughout the years, only one other read the EU stuff, and he no longer does (I cherry picked the comics here and there when DH was publishing them and read a couple of the books when I was in college), and I’ve met a hell of a lot of folks.

Scratch that, my dad used to read the comics I bought.

Also, I have never once seen a Star Wars comic on sale in Japan (not saying they don’t exist). I’ve seen a few books at used book stores, but have never known anybody who has read one.

No, but I don’t think she’s terrible.

Call me crazy, but I love Denise Richards.

I’ve looked around a bit and can’t seem to find one. I think there may have been one in the old forum…

If there isn’t one, then consider this a feature request.

Lord Haseo said:
It means that doing a back and forth would be an act in futility because even if you show empirical evidence as to what you’re talking about he’ll just deny it or say that you’re not providing an actual argument.

No worries. I don’t really care about convincing anybody. Just thought I could offer a view from somebody who might be more familiar with the accent than others. Somebody else living in Japan might not even agree with me.

Yeah, I didn’t understand what he meant either.

One reason why people might not think the accent is “Asian” (I think it sounds specifically Japanese) is because they may be judging the accent based on Japanese people who speak fairly fluent English. The accent, specifically the inflections and rhythm pretty much sound exactly like a middle aged Japanese guy who doesn’t speak English trying to speak English (it happens often in Japan).

Most Japanese in the media will have worked on their pronounciations and fluency, but everyday people obviously don’t.

I don’t even think it sounds like that fake Engrish crap I see people make fun of. It’s actually a fairly accurate “impersonation” (I don’t think this was Lucas’s intent).

I lived in Japan for ten years (and I’m visiting there right now), and yeah…those Numoidians (did I spell that right?) have quite the Japanese accent. Plus they’re kinda fishy, and they are total bureaucrats, which is what Japanese culture thrives on.

it might have bothered me if I liked the movie, but I don’t really care.

Speaking as somebody who’s lived as a minority, I usually only find racial stereotypes offensive if they can sway the way people look and think about people from other cultures and countries. I can’t see anybody watching the movie having their opinion about a certain race influenced by these stupid aliens, but I would never dismiss somebody who has a problem with them. I’m not gonna say they can or can’t be offensive to others.

Same thing with Jar Jar and Watto.

Hal 9000 said:

She went to Ireland to find Luke

I’d watch that movie.

I never said that I didn’t want new people here, nor people who like the prequels. My post was about the BAHAVIOR of some people lately.

And now we have somebody using the term “SJW” as an insult. I almost want to cry. What the hell happened?

I can’t explain it any better than I did in my original post. The old trolls used to be quaintly neurotic in their own unique way, the “arguments” were usually about something nice and dorky, were resolved quickly, and contained to one thread.

I’ll end it at that, but want to reiterate that this has nothing to do with liking the prequels (I can say a lot of nice things about RotS. It IS almost competent in parts. Almost.)

And Frink, I don’t remember what the beginning and end of the picnic scene was, but I think the beginning was the part where Hayden rides a space cow, which was not good, in my opinion.

I’ll end with something positive about AotC: the one thing in the movie I enjoyed was the shot of Anakin getting on his swoop bike to go recue his mom. That’s a nice shot.

Have a good day, everybody.

My son watched TFA in the theater with my ex-wife in Japan, and I got to watch it with him last night for the first time (I bought the bluray for him before coming to visit).

He’s six, and this is how he views the movies:

Darth Vader turned bad once he put his mask on (he hasn’t seen TPM or AotC, but we skipped around RotS one time after watching the originals).

Darth Vader turned good when he took his mask off.

Fin was bad until he took his mask off.

So based on the above (very shaky) evidence, he thinks that if you wear a mask, you’re bad, and if you take it off, you’re good. So he was telling me that Kylo Ren is actually a good guy when he takes his mask off. The thing is, he fell asleep in the theater right before Han Solo bites the big one, so he was all like “No, he’s a good guy, dad,” so needless to say, he was pretty surprised when Han Solo got a lightsaber rammed through his chest.

He’s also in agreement that the first 30 minutes are the best part, which I found amusing.

He also thinks Rogue One looks great.

Writes a post asking for more civility, starts yet another tired and boring argument about Frink (it was one paragraph out of a bunch, people!)

Speaking of Attack of the Clones, when I saw it in the theater I took a bathroom break during the picnic scene and had never watched the movie in its entirety after that. A week before TFA I had a prequel marathon with the guy who sat in line with me for hours to see Phantom Menace and realized that I had never actually seen all of AotC, so the first time I saw ALL of the movie was last December. What a horrible scene. What a horrible movie.

Somebody mentioned needing a certain illicit substance to get through it. Trust me…it does not help.

I don’t really have anything specific I’d like to see in the next films aside from a bit more explanation about the First Order. If it’s done well, it’s done well.

If somebody put a gun to my head, I would say:

I’d like to see Rey have a REAL brush with the dark side. I don’t want her to turn (and I doubt Disney would want that either (but again, if it’s done well then that’s fine)), but I want to see a struggle. Something along the lines of learning the dark side in order to use it AGAINST the villains is a fun trope used successfully in the past (think The One Ring or the old Tales of the Jedi and Dark Empire comics).

I want to see Luke being awesome. Think Zatoichi.

IF Kylo Ren is redeemed (which I don’t think is going to happen), have him do it in the second film and have him survive for the third, only because we haven’t seen that yet in a SW story. But I’d much rather him stay a baddie.

I think that’s it.

Oh wait! Have BB-8 do more than just roll around. I love that little droid, but he hasn’t done a whole lot besides follow the heroes. R2 was always very active in the adventures.

As for Rey and Luke learning the force, I always took it as A) Knowing that the force exists, and B) Having the willpower and faith to use it. How many of us tried to use the force to grab a toy when we were little kids? Unfortunately, the force doesn’t exist in the real world. 😛

This is an open letter to all ot.com users:

HansiG said:
Welcome to the internet. Enjoy your stay. /b/

No, actually. Originaltrilogy.com used to be above this sort of thing.

Hell, even though I’m a lurker I now feel like I need to speak up about what’s happened to this place as of late.

As mentioned elsewhere, there has been an influx of new users over the last few months (over the last year? I dunno. I’m not gonna go clicking on everybody’s account to see when they joined) and a large portion of these new users have some questionable attitudes regarding forum behavior.

Although I want to refrain from sounding like some cranky old man (I’m 34, if anybody is wondering), many of these new users allude to being VERY young when watching the prequel films. I had to google “/b/” and that was a reference to 4chan if I’m not mistaken, which further supports my suspicions (and more and more anime references are being used for user names). There is absolutely nothing wrong with liking what you like (that’s a general use of the word “you” which I feel the need to point out due to the fact that a majority of these new users don’t seem to understand certain things about the nuances of the English language), as long as it’s not harming anybody else, but ot.com was largly comprised of older individuals that conducted themselves a certain way over the many years this forum has been operating.

Ot.com was one of the very few places on the internet both I and others could visit with the knowledge that it would be free of, well, of the things it hasn’t really been free of lately. It’s hard to quantify, but something has been very off for a while, and only seems to be getting worse.

If people like the prequels, that’s fine, but I’m not going to hang out at my parents’ vinyl parties and try to tell them how good streaming albums from youtube is and spew juvenile insults when everybody rightly and justifiably has a problem with my attitude. Would you? Would you go to a gathering of something you didn’t like? Again, you can like the prequels, but you have to expect to meet opposition.

There is a way to discuss things in the world. Everybody has different opinions, which is one of the many things that make the world interesting, but almost every thread seems to be derailed into boring arguments lately. I can get that on IMDB. There’s a difference between interesting discussion and backhanded bickering that goes on for post after post, page after page, and thread after thread. Wars not make one great.

Taste is subjective, but myself and others on this site think that the prequels are objectively bad movies on a fundamental film making level. I love the movie Star Crash, but I’m not going to pretend that 90% of humans would find it horrible. Just because a movie has “Star Wars” in the title doesn’t give it a free pass (just the fact that people are DESPERATE to try to edit them into better movies shows the power of the name (just move on, guys! 😛 )). If somebody tells me Star Crash is shit, who am I to argue? Why let it bother me? It IS a shit movie! How in any way does somebody not agreeing with me give me the right to stoop to some of the language I’ve seen here? Again, not wanting to sound like a cranky old man, but respectable people don’t use the word “retard” or the other related insults a lot of teenagers use as an insult. I’m really sorry, but if that’s what you expect from the internet, this isn’t the forum you’re looking for. Move along.

All the heat that Frink is catching lately is just more proof of the point I’m trying to make. Frink is a long time member and contributor, and has a mean sarcastic sense of humor. An asshole? Really? A lot of users seem to be taking him literally as of late, which was never the case before.

Can we talk about the increase use of the word “fuck?” For the longest time, I thought curse words weren’t even ALLOWED here. Now every other post is fuck this, fuck that, fucking awesome, fucking whatever. I love the word “fuck” and use it on other forums, but long ago on a forum far, far away, when somebody on ot.com used “fuck” you knew they were being FUCKING SERIOUS. Hey, you wanna say fuck and shit and all that, go ahead, but if you took a look around the forums, you would have seen that this language wasn’t used often.

If you took a look around, you could have seen the behavior was different, too. Yeah yeah, it’s the internet, but just fucking behave like you would in real life, please.

This place was AMAZING in it’s film geekyness. The recent discussion about the type of camera lenses used on Rogue One is one fine example of the type of talk that once flooded this board. Many users on this forum have an insane level of film knowledge, but you are lowering the forum’s standards and diluting what was a very unique corner of the net.

Again, this is to nobody in particular. If my message insults you, if you get defensive over what I’ve said, if you think I’m attacking you, if you feel the need to explain yourself, then you know that your behavior is less than stellar. How about improving it? It might be fun!

Unless I’m missing something, I haven’t seen anyone mention the fact that the bluray will only have three minutes and 41 seconds of deleted scenes (and that’s spread across SIX scenes, the longest being 50 seconds). I’m not a big fan of deleted scenes (I’ll watch 'em once and then forget about them (I love extended/director’s cuts, though)) but that’s significantly less than what Abrams hinted at being on the disc.

As an aside, I’ve never understood why deleted scenes always seem to get the shaft. How many times has a shot that’s been featured in a trailer not been included in the deleted scenes? I can’t imagine it would cost a lot of money since they don’t have to finish them.