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twooffour

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8-Jan-2011
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8-Oct-2011
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Post
#482639
Topic
3 ways Marcia Lucas (then wife of George Lucas) saved Star Wars
Time

haljordan28 said:

Don't you love the way george takes credit for the killing  off obi-wan plot idea  when it was marcias all along?

All jokes aside what has happend to this man? Other than rick pitino I  can not think of one other figure who was once  worshiped and beloved and  is now  looked at  as   a pos  and  untalanted. The worst part is he seems not to care.

 

M. Night Shyamalan comes to mind ;)

 

The Ben's death thing is a funny one. Alec Guiness himself once claimed that it was his idea Lucas agreed to, because he couldn't "stand the mumbo-jumbo" anymore. Was HE being honest, or had he just gotten frustrated by the fame and hype by that point?

I dunno, but somehoe everyone's trying to grab the credit for coming up with that scene ;)

 

@Frink

The way she looks in that profile kinda reminds me of young Lucas. Not like she looked remotely manly or anything... but... you know...

Post
#482636
Topic
Star Wars could have been a modern day Iliad.
Time

Anakin didn't know Palpatine was "trying to kill Padme for 10 years". There was never talk about "killing the queen" in TPM aside from something Qui-Gon said, and the assassination attempt was never shown to have been ordered by Palpatine - Nute Gunray made the demand, the Dooku agreed to execute it.

Palpatine obviously knew it was happening, but we're not told at any point that he had already planned at that moment for her and Anakin to fall in love - and that's the real problem. It's not that Sidious is dumb, we just have no idea what he does and wants at any given point - I guess he does some sort of combination of Xanatos/Batman Gambit and Indy Ploy, but we're never told where the one ends and the other begins, and THAT's a sign of piss-poor writing (although it could've been brilliant ambiguity in a different scenario).

At any rate, Anakin doesn't know it at the time. He might've gotten a clue as soon as he's ordered to go kill the Separatist leaders, but again, never brought up anywhere. Is the "Sith lord who manipulates the senate" ever established as the Separatist overlord by the good guys?

 

 

He goes over to Palpatine's side as soon as he kills Windu - he probably realizes he's fucked himself over with the Jedi after that and there's no going back, and now he has the chance to save Padme - so he sees no other possibility than to join Palpatine.

Prior to that, there was a short conflict in him when he learned that Palpatine was the evil Sith Lord, between having him arrested, or using him to save Padmé; first he went with the former, then after that silent tower scene, changed his mind.

Make sense. Where the film failed was establishing Anakin's friendship with Palpatine and distrust with the Jedi better, so that when he decided to trust Palpatine on the Jedi's "betrayal", it came off as actually believable, not a completely random ass-pull plot device.

 

 

Palpatine only mentioned a LEGEND about some Sith lord who once could save people from death - then when he was getted face-fried, he kinda said "I have the power to save your wife from dying" - could that be construed (by Anakin) as a desperate hyperbole? I dunno. At any rate, when things have calmed down and Anakin knees before him, Palpatine basically tells the same story from before - one has discovered the secret a long time ago, and now they can try and figure it out again.

 

Whether his face got force-fried, or he let it happen on purpose, is left intentionally unambiguous, so you have no way of saying that "there's no way he could've done it on purpose".

When he got force-pushed by Yoda and showed his pants for a brief moment, I always thought it was supposed to hint at the Emperor's "vulnerability" and the fact that there's still that "man behind the curtain" of his theatralic self-display. No debate, that shot has a huge fat NARM written all over it :D

 

 

So yea, you compare the old movies to literary classics with lengthy, complex language, and you don't even understand the prequels enough to criticize these huge clusterfucks. Hey, dude... time to stop arguing for a while, okay? Time to RETIRE! You know... hang up that ooool'... hat...

Post
#482574
Topic
Star Wars could have been a modern day Iliad.
Time

WhatsMyName said:

First off, don't put down the Fett man. He's one of the best characters in the OT.

Vader was whiny in ROTS. That just killed it for me when he did the line. "NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

No sith in the movies can amount up to Darth Maul. I don't see how you can deny that he has potential.

Liam Nesson did make Qui-Gon cool. I still think it would've been cool to see more of him in the movies.

Boba Fett was NOT a "character" in the OT.

If you exclude the OT Vader and Emperor, then hey, sure, Darth Maul here might be the "best" in the PT. Although cackling Palpy is pretty awesome, too. Cartoony and hammy, but just so eeeeeeeevil!

Post
#482418
Topic
3 ways Marcia Lucas (then wife of George Lucas) saved Star Wars
Time

If Lucas has personal, petty revenge reasons behind his artistic decisions, then hey, y'know... that's the reason behind it.

Maybe the divorce emotionally traumatized him so he intentionally made the characters in the new films unemotional blankstates to piss on the audience, his old co-workers and his old feelings while making a shitload of money? not a defense of the films, but hey, a pretty cool story as such :D

 

Btw, Marcia kinda looks like Lucas in that profile shot... `^_^´

Post
#482355
Topic
Star Wars could have been a modern day Iliad.
Time

I notice somewhat of a "stopped record" effect here in this thread... hey, wasn't it about how old Star Wars was the "modern day literary classic" and how the new films are in danger of ruining that awesome reputation for future generations?

Shouldn't this thread be all about, dunno, discussions about test of time and how quality sips its way through the masses, or whatever? Why is it that 80% of all posts here are little more than good ol' "the characters are boring; overrealiance on special effects! old lucas had wiser things to say, he really should've let other people help him directing..." prequel bashing? Hasn't this stuff been said often enough already?

Smells the Skyjedi Syndrom to me... but please, do go on :D 

Post
#482353
Topic
Star Wars could have been a modern day Iliad.
Time

Quackula said:

EyeShotFirst said:

WhatsMyName said:

Qui-Gon was good, because he was unique from the other Jedi. He was his own character and really made me want to see more of him in the movies.

Qui Gon was interesting only because Liam Nesson is interesting.

That's a really excellent way of putting it.

And he was hardly any more interesting than Obi-Wan in the later two films. Why? Because Ewan McGregor is also interesting.

The fact that Qui-Gon had a different opinion from the other Jedi made him only slightly more interesting - it's not a mandatory criterion for a good mentor character, and it wasn't conveyed interestingly in TPM.

Post
#482008
Topic
Star Wars could have been a modern day Iliad.
Time

Quackula said:

For what it's worth (and I've observed that I'm not alone here in thinking this), TPM was the most effective of the prequel films, and was the only one that felt at all "Star Wars-y" to me.

Unfortunately it was also the most pointless of the 3 films. 

Parts of TPM, I agree. Although I'd probably say that, under this premise, ROTS feels "most starwarsy" to me, especially the latter half of it ;)

What is "Star Warsy", though? Is it the inescapable threat of death, pain and evil in grim, dark smoky environments hovering over bottomless pits? Is it wisecracking, bickering swashbuckler leads "indy ploying" their way through epic space adventures? the cheesy, but charmy dialogue? how about the wacky, strange robot / alien things doing strange, wacky slapstick stuff (although I must stress most of this kind of humor in the OT came from the resmblance to real life equivalents - fat robots getting tortured, loaded tired aliens sitting in a bar, etc.)?

Not sure if there's a thing like "starwarsy", or whether it's a quality worth mentioning at all - I guess it all comes down to the fact that the OT was a series of really good, charming and fun action/adventure films, and the PT (mostly) failed to imitate that by essentially pressing on the same kinda pedals.

Post
#481971
Topic
Star Wars could have been a modern day Iliad.
Time

generalfrevious said:

If the shoe fits...

What if Homer made a prequel to the Iliad and the Odyssey that was just as bad as the PT? Those two works would never have become the classics of western civilization as they are now. To be honest, at first I didn't even hate the prequels; but then I found out they were terrible movies from other people. Before that I honestly believed that these were as good as the OT. But I guess I was stupid (I hate to say this, but it took me years to realize that TPM was a bad movie). Six years after the PT and we have gone from a great film trilogy to a six-film franchise that may not even be half-good. Its now painful to watch these films, knowing what could have happened, GL took the route that was a hundred times worse than our worst fears. SW is dead, man. 

I'll be satisfied if one person agrees with me on that statement.

May I ask you WHY you thought TPM was a good movie? Just curious. I mean, did you enjoy it, or aspects of it, did you have reasons to think that way?

Post
#481970
Topic
Star Wars could have been a modern day Iliad.
Time

haljordan28 said:

I  disagree.  THe dialogue between yoda and luke in empire is poetic in my eyes and some of the best  dialogue  ever written in a  fantasy/sc-fi film.  It is philosophical  and enlightening.

Some of the dialogue in episode 5 goes over peoples head and they do not truly understand the philosophy behind it.

Luke - 'What's in there?"

Yoda - 'Only what you take with you"

That is brilliant.  Many people think yoda just means if luke takes a  blaster in there that means he has a blaster  but what yoda is  saying is spiritual and philosophical. He tells luke he does not need his weapons but  luke takes them anyways and he has fear and self doubt  and it is that self doubt and fear that luke takes in with him  and that is  why when he  chops off vaders head he sees his own face. The force is telling Luke that if he were to fight vader that day   it is his head that would be choped off and that he is not ready because he still has self doubt and no confidence.

 

All the lines between luke and yoda  in episode 5  are brilliant and  they mean something if you can read between the lines. There is not one instance in the PT films where jedi master and student are training and there is memorable dialogue. Not one.

When Luke fails to raise the x-wing and yoda  gives luke that speech when luke sits down is some of the best dialogue I have heard in any film period.

"Size matters not. Look at m, judge me by my size do you? and well you should not..for my allie is the force and a powerful allie it is. Life creates it, makes it grow.its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminius  beings are we  not this crude matter."

I have been drunk before and have cried   at some of the scenes  in episode 5. I know that sounds gay but hey I  was drunk.  Bottom line   is episode 5  is  pure brilliance.

ANother  film that comes to mind with  dialouge  that is  spoken in riddles of phillosophy is  wrath of khan. The  underlining story arc of that film is kirks  depression  about growing old. SPock gives krik a book for his birthday  and  kirk reads the line  when spck gives it to him and it says "it was the best of times , it was the worst of times"  Kirk ask spock if he is trying to give him a message and spock says no. When spock is paged to report to the enterprise  kirk ask him where he is going and spock says the enterprise and he ask kirk where he is off to and kirk looks at the floor  with a sad expression and mumbles "home" and walks off.  Kirk was the only  man to ever pass the kobyashi maru test and he did it by cheating becaseu it is a non win scenario test  and at the end of the movie spock gives his life so that the crew could  live and he admits to kirk before he dies that he never took the kobyashi mru test until  then and ask kirk what did he think of his solution. He had to  give his own life to beat the no win scenario and only then  minutes later  did kirk understand the meaning of spocks book for his birthday. He just lost  his bestfriend and left the funeral and mcoy ask him how he feels and he responds by saying he feels young. through out the entire film kirk is sad and depressed cause he feels old and only  till his best friend dies  does he understand spocks message and he feels young again. This sounds silly but if you get a chance to watch the film any time soon watch it with all these things in mind. it really changes the film. I didn't notice them either till i listened tio  my brothers william shatner bio tape that shatner  made and he explaisn all this.

but back to star wars  episode 5 is on par with Shakespeare in my eyes.  Shakespeare in space. It is at least the closest thing you are going to get  and the PT films had  even more potential  to reach that level than the OT did  because  there was so much going on to  build  on and build up to.  TH rise of a hero and  great jedi who is admired and loved who tragicly  is seducded through no fault of his own and falls from grace. Not because he wanted power not ebcause he wanted to save his wife not   because of anything   selfish  but because  he was seduced. That is/was suppose to be the great tragedy of it all. Everything anakin does in the PT films is done so out of being selfish.  The flaws  of  those three films are so plain and in yuor face its unreal yet so many ppl act as if they are not there or just  sweep them under the carpet for some reason.

 

 

 

That is brilliant.  Many people think yoda just means if luke takes a  blaster in there that means he has a blaster  but what yoda is  saying is spiritual and philosophical. He tells luke he does not need his weapons but  luke takes them anyways and he has fear and self doubt  and it is that self doubt and fear that luke takes in with him  and that is  why when he  chops off vaders head he sees his own face. The force is telling Luke that if he were to fight vader that day   it is his head that would be choped off and that he is not ready because he still has self doubt and no confidence.

 

Really? I've always thought what he takes with him is his "dark side" (which is never established or hinted at anywhere else in the story save for the ending - which is a demerit in my eyes), and seeing his own face in Vader's mask meant that he could BECOME LIKE Vader, e.g. after striking him down and "taking his place" - you know, what happened.

Seems pretty straightforward to me.

If the vision had wanted to show him that he's too trembling and uncertain to win a fight, wouldn't it have played out a bit differently? Like Luke's head getting chopped off? Basically, according to your interpretation, trembling Luke strikes down his trembling self, to show that the other trembling self is trembling and therefore vulnerable... what? But hey, you know, visions don't care about plot holes as long as the message comes across, right?! :D

Nah, going with the other, obvious one.

 

 

"Size matters not. Look at m, judge me by my size do you? and well you should not..for my allie is the force and a powerful allie it is. Life creates it, makes it grow.its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminius  beings are we  not this crude matter."

I have been drunk before and have cried   at some of the scenes  in episode 5. I know that sounds gay but hey I  was drunk.  Bottom line   is episode 5  is  pure brilliance.

 

 

So what? I've "cried" at SOAD's "Holy Mountains", or Radiohead's "Airbag", that doesn't mean those songs can compare to any classical masterpiece in terms of composition and complexity.

Again, take the lines above, then put them into context of the rest of the movie's dialogue, and compare the LANGUAGE to any of those "classical works" listed. There is no comparison, that stuff is on a whole other level.

 

The flaws  of  those three films are so plain and in yuor face its unreal yet so many ppl act as if they are not there or just  sweep them under the carpet for some reason.

We all agree the PT sucks, what does that have to do with anything?

Some people say Metallica's "St. Anger" sucks - that doesn't elevate "Kill 'Em All" (my favorite of them all) to Alkan, or "the closest we'll ever get".

Why not just appreciate SW for the awesome piece of pop culture it is, instead of trying to sell it as on par with some uber complex literary classic? 

The Han and Leia exchanges in ESB are awesome, but are they really better than any number of other "bickering love/hate leads" from other movies? The Luke/Force storyline aside, the dialogue and plot in these films is basically the one of a really good, fun adventure movie. Nothing pretentious. Nothing sophisticated.

 

Post
#481967
Topic
Star Wars could have been a modern day Iliad.
Time

TheBoost said:

generalfrevious said:

What if Homer made a prequel to the Iliad and the Odyssey that was just as bad as the PT? Those two works would never have become the classics of western civilization as they are now.

 I imagine that, much like 99.9% of all work created by all artists throughought time, the less than stellar works would have be relegated to the dustbin of history and we'd still like the "Illiad" and the "Odyssey."

 

This.

Liszt wrote a bunch of dull, boring works in his life, yet everyone somehow still remembers the awesome ones (even though there are actually little known gems scattered around everywhere).

Haydn's reputation doesn't suffer from the fact that he's best known by probably one of the dullest and blandest of his, or any compositions every written, the German national anthem.

 

If the OT doesn't stand the test of time just because the PT exists, it'll be proof that the "test of time" isn't ANY kind of a reliable indicator for quality.

Post
#480984
Topic
Star Wars could have been a modern day Iliad.
Time

Um, okay... I haven't really looked much into either Homer or Shakespeare, but come on, seriously? The works of those guys are revered first and foremost for their POETRY, and their mastery over language.

How does Star Wars with its "witty dialogue" and "cool, memorable one-liners" even COMPETE? Look at the dialogue between Vader and Luke in ESB - what delivers it is really the DELIVERY, the dialog itself is pretty much a cliché combat of relatively uninspired, derivative one-liners. Then look at those poems you cite, the lengthy monologues and verbal clashes, and tell me there is ANY comparison.

It's like saying that 50 years from now, we'll look at Metallica or Radiohead as "the new Bach" or something - just pure nonsense.

 

Saying that the "stories" of both are silly, is really just a lazy cop-out. OF COURSE they're silly. That's not the point.

Post
#480413
Topic
Is originaltrilogy.com down?
Time

TV's Frink said:

I think it's down again.  But don't worry, I'm sure when it's back up, the collars will be fixed.

I think I don't really appreciate how you basically insult all blue-collar workers by making a pun suggesting that their collars can have multiple colors - when you know as well as they do that they're always blue.

I might not be on my way of becoming one myself, thankfully, but I take these sorts of issues very seriously. Please show more respect in the future, thanks.

Post
#480382
Topic
Is originaltrilogy.com down?
Time

Warbler said:

twooffour said:

Warbler said:

um . . . dumb question . . . how could we be posting in here in the forum is down?

respect

v

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flllshllshllshlshlshlshlhrrrrrrr rl rl rl rl

weird.

 

It was a very SERIOUS commentary on this topic. The "v"s stand for our core human values and rights as serious art consumersas represented by this important site that inexplicably went down.