m_s0

Interstellar I'm very much interested in (I highly doubt they'll deliver that scientifically accurate movie as I've read they've intended to try, but still), Transcendence I'm curious about (hopefully Depp won't be playing Jack Sparrow AGAIN). It's difficult to tell whether, say, The Machine will be any good, but just in case I won't be expecting much.

Tobar said:

I'm actually quite interested in Edge of Tomorrow. A mix of Starship Troopers(the novel) and Groundhog Day? Yes please.

And I bet that one will end up being the most bland movie on the list. Yes, even more so than that Divergence thing.

Godzilla will probably end up being a complete disaster. I'm not excited for it at all at this point.

MrBrown said:

m_s0 said:

...

May we finally get a proper release of the OOT in 2014.

 Produced by Santa Clause himself, delivered by the Easter Bunny... sure...

Transferred and restored by Satan Disney. I don't mind an unholy alliance of rabbits and creepy unshaven fat guys if that's what it takes to get it done.

Yup.

May we finally get a proper release of the OOT in 2014.

CO said:

AntcuFaalb said:

Fang Zei said:

I stopped posting there the moment everyone lept to Lucasfilm's defense after they announced they were putting 1993-quality transfers on frickin' dvd.

Did anyone there make ridiculous arguments like "It's 1970s film quality! You can't ask for any better!"?

 The saddest lines were from TFN'ers who tell OOT fans regarding the 2006 OOT Non-Anamorphic DVD's:

"You are getting what you deserved now, since you have disrespected him for years now.  Just remember Lucas said these versions don't exist, so you should be lucky you're getting anything!"

Statements like that always seemed odd to me since we were all SW fans?  As much as I don't like the Prequels, I would always support a release of the Original PT movies if Lucas decided to change those movies too.  I never understand why TFN'ers cared if Lucas decided to release the OOT versions, since they were Special Editions fans anyway?  As a SW fan, I wouldn't have a problem if Lucas released a Boxset of the OOT, '97, '04, '11 versions like Bladrunner, that way any fans of any version could be happy. 

Very strange people over at TFN, but I would love to talk to them personally and see if they are just circling the wagons for Lucas or they actually believe the BS they say.

 You just don't get it, do you?

You live by The Lucas, you die by The Lucas. You do not question The Lucas.

Also this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p2BjhSEnNI

Blade Runner is pretty much how such releases should be handled. You want your film? Here you go, pick your poison, compare to your heart's content. And here's a truckload of commentaries if that's not enough. And hours of extras. And a bunch of deleted scenes. For a reasonable price. And if you don't want all of that here's a cheap "barebones" version with just The Final Cut and a mere 3,5 hours of extra content included.

Scott doesn't like the narration and the happy ending (I'm not a fan either), but he acknowledges that the theatrical cut is out there and that some people prefer that version. There's five different cuts included in the set, and this is a movie that tanked when in was released.

I love me some ships on strings.

That trailer thing looks kind of crap, but I've never been a huge fan of Mythbusters. I like the premise, not so much the format and the way it's handled. My biggest gripe is either have more content instead of reiterating the same thing over and over and over and over again, or just keep each episode short (30 minutes or so would seem perfectly fine) so watching it doesn't feel like a complete waste of time. That's a complaint I have against most modern TV, though. I get why this is the case, but it's really annoying nevertheless.

/semi-coherent mini-rant

Good to hear you're still alive :)

As they've always been, though I'm not entirely sure about F:T. That one was "protected" by a simple cd-check, I think.

TV's Frink said:

I have to sign up?  That's not free.

It's free, unless you count the time. You get two good games (possibly two of the best crpgs out there, if not the best crpgs out there) and piece of crap in exchange so it's still worth it overall.

Tobar said:

Many have speculated this is Interplay's parting shot at Bethesda as soon they'll be losing the publishing rights to those titles to them.

It's worth noting that it's Interplay in name only. It's a pet peeve of mine.

Basically both sides are losing here (Herve and Bethesda) so it's definitely a worthy cause and I recommend everyone to take part.

bkev said:

skyjedi2005 said:

ShinZon as Blofeld.  Wow.

He's actually quite good in the Nolan films I've seen him in, more than just Batman.  To be honest I think he'd be a strange choice but I'd be down with it if he played it straight like Telly Savalas, as Jaitea suggested.

 Both of you need to watch Bronson right now.

statto said:

I'm a huge Star Trek fan going back 30 years, and I honestly think Star Trek fans in general have given JJ too hard a time over ST and STID.

The biggest criticism seems to be that there's too much crash bang wallop and not enough moral introspection and ethical debate. The problem with that is that all the best Trek films (II, IV, VI, VIII) have been action oriented, and (with the exception of Nemesis) all the worst ones (I, III, V, VII, IX) have been the character pieces.

Leave the ethical debates for TV episodes, but when you're doing a blockbuster movie I want to see where all the money has gone. Not only has JJ done this with both of his Trek movies, but there has also been nice chemistry between the characters.

Of all the directors currently active, I think only Chris Nolan would have been a better choice (and I don't think they could have gotten him anyway as I don't think he'll want to commit to something like this after Batman).

I don't think the quality of these movies is governed by whether they're action-oriented or not.

But I also think that beyond The Wrath of Khan these movies aren't very good and past IV they're absolute garbage. TMP is barely a movie, but I still find it interesting.

Warbler said:

The World lost a great man and a great leader.   Its too bad there aren't more people like him.

R.I.P.  President Mandela.

This reminds me of:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sJ_lOgXuH8

Harmy said:

I found STID waaaay more entertaining than ST2 - ST2 was a better written film in terms of internal logic of the plot, there's no denying that but I was pretty bored watching it and after all the hype of a lot of people saying it was the best ST film, I was quite disappointed.

I think, to me, the Abrams' ST films are so entertaining, because they have very well written dialog between the principle characters. This is also why my favorite old crew ST movie is ST4 - like Abrams, I'm just not a big ST fan and I like these films, because they are less Star Treky. This, I think is the principle problem why the opinions on the new ST films vary so much, the hard core ST fans are disappointed, because it's not really Star Trek, where as people like me are happy for the very same reason :)

I am bored to death by action movies which aren't character-driven. That's why I enjoy The Wrath of Khan more every time I watch it. I don't care about stuff blowing up if I don't give a damn about who's blowing stuff up and/or who's getting blown up. It's really that simple. Action should be used with restrain, otherwise it completely loses its impact. Without drama there's no story and without a story there's no movie, maybe a light show at best. ST2 is easily the most entertaining (and by far the best) Star Trek movie to me.

The funny thing is, ST2 was Star Trek made by (Nicholas Meyer) and for people who weren't fans of Star Trek. Hence the submarines in space angle and all that. It's the same idea as with ST 2009 and STID, except that I feel the audience isn't treated like drooling morons by The Wrath of Khan. As a member of said audience I appreciate not being treated like a drooling moron ;)

As far as directors go I find Abrams pretty unremarkable overall. The lens flares really are the most distinct feature of his movies up to this point and that's very telling.

You know, when he was announced as the director for Ep VII I thought the movie was in fairly good hands. After watching STID and thinking it over again, I'm no longer so sure for a lot of reasons. I also think that unless he evolves as a filmmaker he might become a (profitable) punchline very soon, but that's another discussion.

One question about STID that bugs me is this: how much control did Abrams have over the movie? Because if he didn't have any, not all hope is lost. For instance, the cop-out ending felt like it was tacked on because the real ending didn't go well with test audiences, and this would explain the weak set-up as well. At least that one. Then again, if that's how the movie was intended, Ep VII is likely going to suck pretty hard (which won't prevent it from being infinitely better than the PT, but, again, that's a different matter).

Ah, speculation.

Jaitea said:

Looks like Harrison might get his end of the deal

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/JoshWildingNewsAndReviews/news/?a=91111

J

 Here we go again.

Ryan McAvoy said:

Suggestions for actors?

I'm gonna start with a man who has set out to conquer every pop-culture franchise one by one, Carl Urban...

Yup, Urban would be perfect. Really good actor, plenty of charisma and he's an actual screen presence which I find is very rare these days. But that would be a smart casting choice so I wouldn't count on it.

vacuum said:

the storyline made no sense but it was very entertaining.

Harmy said:

^This.

I have to disagree here. It was much better than the 2009 reboot, but I didn't enjoy it at all. It was essentially a safe, braindead rip-off of Star Trek 2 in which everything that's been ripped off worked to the detriment of the movie because of the way it was handled this time around. On top of that, what's been altered and added was geared strictly towards the cheap seats and just not good enough. You don't get to have a (highly dramatic) reveal with no surprise, and the set-up was inept to the point where you didn't even need to know about ST2 in order to not get surprised. That bugged the hell out of me.

I'm fine with a few subtle callbacks, but I'm not fine with what effectively constitutes almost a feature length clip show. Plus I've got a lot of problems with the script for that movie aside from what I've already mentioned. Mind you, script-wise ST 2009 was equally bad, if not worse, but there wasn't a lot to it. If you're aiming higher (and they did aim higher with that whole "Kirk isn't ready" business), you need to up your game. Abrams and co. didn't up their game, hence the movie actually feels inferior to ST 2009, even if it's actually not.

ST2 had a theme supported by its narrative. STID craps all over its supposed theme with the narrative, because $$$. I agree that safe in the case of Star Wars would be an improvement at this point, but keep in mind that the PT is the lowest possible bar you could set for a movie and there is such a thing as "too safe".

Darth Lucas said:

I don't get the hate for Abrams.  So far he's proven to be a fantastic director.  The hate toward his Star Trek films are mostly do to them being not exactly true to the spirit of Star Trek (and lens flares, but I seriously doubt he'll do that for SW), but that's because he isn't a Star Trek fan, whereas he is a HUGE Star Wars fan.  And really, if you look at the plot of Star Trek (2009) and the overall styling of the film, its basically Star Wars set in the Star Trek universe, with Kirk playing the same sort of role as Luke, Pike as Ben, Spock as Han, Uhura as Leia, and Scotty and the little alien dude (don't know his name, sorry) as C-3PO and R2D2.  He knows what he's doing guys.  Plus Kasdan is writing, so we have an amazing writer, a really good director, most of the principle cast assumed to return, and John Williams returning to do the music.  I think it's safe to say our beloved franchise is in good hands.

 I think I've responded to your post with my rant, heh.

Well, there's plenty of very watchable versions now and the people around here have done an incredible job with assembling those, even more so when considering what they had to work with, but the lack of an official and properly restored version of the OOT still is an issue and will continue to be an issue until such a version is released.

Klasodeth said:

Do each of those candles represent 50 years?

While we're at it, Yoda using the Force in order to lift a cake strikes me as completely out of character. Same thing here (other issues with the cover aside):

And a belated happy birthday to Zer0Squared :)

Harmy said:

Oh, while it's bumped, let me just say that I sent Puggo an email with the project files for all my corrections the same day I last posted in this thread and he's not got back to me, so I assume he must be busy with some real life stuff.

Best proof nerds do indeed have lives.

AntcuFaalb said:

darklordoftech said:

Everybody, what is your greatest fear for episodes 7-9?

An hour-long fight sequence with an older Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa leading a troop of new Jedi carrying a rainbow of lightsabers to take on a half-robot SITH MEGALORD (who has been hiding all along) with ten arms, each of which has two hands holding its own lightsaber, who is hell-bent on wiping all of the Jedi from the universe.

This reminds me of:

On a more serious note: you're not afraid that the script will consist of little more than weak set-ups for predictable "surprises", cringeworthy fan service and lifting stuff from the previous movies? That they're going to play it safe with Ep VII is pretty likely, plus you can't get more safe than that, and Abrams has already done it with that new Star Trek movie.

Tobar said:

valinkrai said:

Knight of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords has always been my favorite. I got it and Battlefront II for my birthday in 2006, and enjoyed the crap out of it. It really surpassed the first in terms of character development in my opinion, and a lot of ways, was stronger in terms of story. I can see why some prefer the original though. One of my biggest regrets is that I got KotOR spoiled. Wish I hadn't got KotOR II first. XD

You're just all kinds of turned around aren't you? =P

Have you tried the fan made update that restores a ton of the content that got cut for time?

I wouldn't recommend it. The restored content is mostly subpar and/or tedious. It's not worth it. Watch a video on youtube instead.

KotOR2, even though it's unfinished and technically quite broken, is vastly superior to the first one, which, if you ask me, was a really bland SW game with crappy combat, a mostly poor story, good twist, trademark bad Bioware writing and no evidence of actual artistry being involved in the process of making it. It was a safe product, nothing more.

In a lot of ways - perhaps due to the time constraints - KotOR2 feels like a fix-up of the first one (compare the npcs in both games, for instance). Obsidian tried to add substance to the combat (and failed, but it is a bit more interesting this time around), not to mention that the plot is smart and involving this time around, the writing is good, the characters have motivation and are... well... characters, and not whining cardboard cut-outs spewing crappy dialogue you don't feel the least bit interested in reading/listening to.

I also like how Obsidian attempted do deconstruct and play with some aspects of the rather stale SW mythos rather than taking it at face value like Bioware. KotOR1 felt like a generic modern pseudo-crpg with an expensive license slapped on top of it.

I recommend looking up how the story of KotOR2 was conceived: the lead designer basically decided to round up everything he didn't like about Star Wars, think it over and start writing from there.

All they need to do is grab a few people from these auditions for minor "parts" and they're fine. Something along the lines of Bad Guy Henchman #65*

*cut from the final movie

The funny thing is, the fans (most of them, at least) don't see this as a calculated, cynical move. To them this is Disney graciously inviting everyone to the land of Star Wars magic and wonder.

So there you go: the fans are appeased, there's news for the press when there isn't any news, and most importantly people who are going to get the parts are still going to get the parts.

I also find it funny how some of the press apparently think that boring auditions are an anomaly unbefitting of movies, especially Star Wars. Seriously, what the hell did Ms. Woodruff expect to find there? Lightsaber duels 24/7? Comradery? People not treated like cattle?

That Oculus Rift thingy with some Wookiee mods for those anime porn "games".

Kaylyn doesn’t have any empirical data backing up her theory, but she does question the legitimacy of the auditions. “It does have me concerned,” she tells me. “I’ve got to admit it.” She adds that she doesn’t want to question the auditions held in other cities, though. “Maybe the other cities are more legitimate, but I don’t know about this one,” she says. After making her case, she passes time playing a Pokemon game on her Nintendo DS.

Uh, is she supposed to be sarcastic here? Because it's pretty obvious those auditions are purely a publicity stunt. And why would only one be illegitimate? It's hardly an interesting point if it doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

It's bullshit, guys. They've got all the extras they need, and you can be sure they've got all of the "top" actors lining up for a part. Any part, for tons of reasons.