I think with Star Wars, in order to love is so much you had to have grown up a few decades ago when they were made. Back then, they were good movies that introduced the scifi genre to blockbuster. Hence millions of fanboys.

But by todays standards, Star Wars isn't actually that good. But they had the huge franchise already built, so the last 3 movies were hugely popular again, despite being crappy childrens movies, ala Avatar.

But I still don't know why people love them so much these day. None of the Star Wars movies would make my top 200. I do enjoy some of the Star Wars games though. 

I will say that I appreciated the older (4 through 6) episodes better, simply because of their 70s 'charm.' Reminded me more of Alien or Indiana Jones or whatever, which I did grow up with. 

Boba fete, ig-88, and dengar. <3 

and still found Eps 4 and 5 to be classics. The rest are rubbish though. 

What's the big deal with the Fetts? They both got beaten like a couple of chumps ... I thought they were supposed to be bad asses? 

We played with SW action figures when I was like 7, happily inventing spaceship stories. I also had an album for these little sticky pics that you could collect. From Return of the Jedi.

A little later I got a cassette tape with the audio from Part 4 I think? The one with the garbage press. I used to listen to that and imagine the whole movie. I didn't actually see it until much later.

Childhood memories pretty much. 

Not bad, pretty quirky sense of humor that seemed just to poke fun at a statist, overly-beaurocratic government-run society.

But then shit got kind of eerie and conspiratorial. It was still had that quirky sense of humor took on a darker more serious tone at the same time. The dream sequences have some pretty obvious and some less obvious symbols to glean meaning from, and just looks cool at the same time. I also really like the world they made, it could have been inspiration for Bioshock in places.

Apparently there are two different endings according to Pope, and the version I saw ended with (SPOILER)

the main character getting tortured until he lost his sanity, all because of a computer error. 

***SPOILERS*** obviously...

from imdb:

Gilliam had trouble with studio producers over the black ending he wanted on the film. The producers wanted a "happy Hollywood" film which eliminated (among other things) the final transition and a critical line of dialogue which reveals the fate of Jill. These changes were made, and this "butchered" version was shown on US television at least once. Gilliam threatened to disown the film, and consequently the cinematic release and all videotape versions show the film essentially as he intended it to be seen (although the US cinematic release still omitted the line about Jill).

i can see how it would have been pretty easy to edit it into a happy hollywood-style ending. only really need to delete the last few seconds, the jill line and possibly the bit where deniro's character mysteriously disappears (which kind of gave away that it wasn't all real) 

version :) 

surprised no-one in the thread has commented on this. anyone else seen it? thoughts?

it's a guy ritchie gangster movie starring jason statham & ray liotta, and starts out pretty much how you'd expect from a combination like that but evolves into something completely different; a borderline art-house thriller focusing on psychological battles with occasional spiritual overtones

i'm not sure what to think of it. it's far from perfect - too many elements got thrown into the mix and much of its message got obscured by a rather convoluted plot (plus it borrows rather uncomfortably from the usual suspects in a few places) but the closing stages were a proper headfuck, with one of the most bizarre endings i have ever seen. worth the watch if you like head-wasting films that leave you slightly confused & asking questions, but it probably would have suited a different director better (though props to guy for having the balls to experiment a little)



speaking of gangster movies starring ray liotta, i also watched goodfellas for the first time too. great fun, brilliantly made & surrounded by an air of coolness throughout; can't pick any faults with it. but it was very much a closed book, unlike the above... the end was the end, and i didn't find myself dedicating any thinking time to it afterwards. which sometimes is fine, obviously, but i've grown to like a bit of open-endedness recently... 

but Goodfellas is great stuff, not quite Godfather/II level but very close. 

Plot was ok, action was nice. But a few things really stood out ...

1) The costume design, the building architecture and the design of the "Tron virtual world" wasn't remotely derivative of any recent movies. Everything was unique.

2) Watching "the younger Jeff Bridges". Actors and aging is on track to be a non-issue in the future.

3) The 3D and special effects were incredible. The bike fight scene was A++++++.

I'm actually interested in seeing what Tron Legacy video games are going to be like. 

Haha, I just noticed Tyres from Spaced in the zombie crowd in Shaun of the Dead (when Shaun runs off the let the others enter the Winchester). Never noticed that before. 

The Town (2010) (Extended Edition)

so-so. We (germans) had a really hard time with the voices. Muffled and full of slang. Halfway through the movie we enabled subtitles, then it was better. Car chase was nice indeed. Good use of subtle music. Weird cast for the FBI dude. Not so great ending. Won't watch it again but it is alright.

Jul qvq ur xvyy gur sybevfg? Ur guerngrarq gb xvyy gurz vs gurl qvq fbzrguvat gb gur tvey, juvpu gurl qvq abg. Fb whfg sbe eriratr? 

the theatrical is actually better, quite a bit less bloated. Although if I could choose, I would mix half the scenes from the extended back into the theatrical. 

just watched it... seems like a contender for best film of 2010. the preview doesn't really show what it's about. john hawkes is amazing in it, as is jennifer lawrence. the accents are done perfectly. garret dillahunt is appropriately slimey as usual (his "Mr W" is a friend's favourite performance in Deadwood). I'm really loving this whole modern bleak western thing (The Proposition, The Road, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood, etc). That's why True Grit was so disappointing - way too conventional. 

re: Spirit a while ago
Fellowship is by far the best LOTR movie and still one of my favourite movies... however when you realize that the whole "the hero recieves a crucial moral mission from the lips of a dying man" scene was TOTALLY INSERTED and UTTERLY CLICHE, you lose some respect for what they did. Still waiting for an R-rated historical "epic" film without good guys or bad guys, although I guess Deadwood kind of counts. 

Watched Session 9 and Easy A (gfs pick) today. Session 9 was a pretty good horror flick. Has you guessing a little till the end, which was a little anti-climatic. But good suspense. Easy A was worth watching just to see Emma Stone bouncing around in slutty outfits. 

yeah really looking forward to that, although I am also in for True Grit on the pedigree alone. 

Having just watched TRON, and feeling gypped, we sneaked into True Grit, to give The Bridges a shot of redemption. Oh you have atoned for your crimes Jeff, you have dun good this time.

Awesome film through and through. Far more visually impressive than neon lights and grids, too.

It's got a lot of praise for the characters, and that's legit. The little girl who plays the lead is a straight badass through determination alone, and I really liked how a lot of the 'bad guys' weren't all that bad really. Much nicer than the aimless evil dude in Tron.

My god this is a ramble-tastic review. I rate Tron Grit 4 light cycles / horse. 

RED (2010)

Thoroughly enjoyed this. Was a bit wary because of malkovich who I only saw super pretentious artsy weird films with, great role here. Highly recommended if you might like an action thriller comedy that does not take itself seriously yet manages to not feel silly. A bit like the nolf games. Great plot/story. 

I liked True Grit, which I saw a week before Winter's Bone, but the latter definitely seemed to have a more determined young female lead and a more badass older supporting dude. And - respect to Roger Deakins - the cinematography is better, in fact some of the best that comes to mind in the last few years.

The idea that the "good guys" know the "bad guys" and that the real difference (or difference-maker) is just external legal/financial pressure, is well-developed in both films. 

is so underappreciated. I watch some movies just because he shot them :)

Just a quick one, saw [Rec]2, they obviously wanted to make this what Aliens was to Alien. Unfortunately it doesnt really work despite a handful of very nifty moments. Most of it is down to exposition about how things came to be, and as usual, the unexplained version was much better than the explained version (which also lacks credibility). 

the unexplained in a film - particularly as it relates to threats - can be the best thing in a film. The complete lack of explanation in Alien, for example, is genius. Same with The Thing. And even for human characters, Chigurh and the Nolan/Ledger Joker are both so much creepier because their motives are, as one critic put it, "both unexplained, and beside the point."

Actually while I'm pretentiously ranting, David Simon (MacArthur award recipient and creator of The Wire) said that he went back to the Greek view of tragedy - where you just get arbitrarily fucked over - as opposed to the Shakespearean view where some character flaw, leading to a critical choice, fucks you over. He said he thought the Greek view of sheer arbitrariness was more appropriate to a world ruled by transnational, unaccountable institutions. I suspect this is why the movies I mentioned seem so profound now, whereas in the past it was easier to put a face and a motivation to the "bad guy," as much of a lie as that may have been people were more ready to believe it. 

is really the key. There is too much fetishism in modern cinema with explaining every last minute detail of stuff that doesnt really matter, at the expense of stuff that does (mainly characterisation).

As for greek v Shakespearean tragedy, I think both have their place, it really depends on what you're going for themtically and tonally, but knowing the difference is crucial.