Alright well I know there's a SW II thread...

[Crothian]

The script is smart, and the actors are quite good in their role: it is a way to show how WAR truly is for people who are living it in their homelands, and how the western democracies fulfill their role as "defenders of the peace". It is bittersweet, with an inevitable end that i will not spoil.....

Try to find it, it truly worth all the efforts to!

And may i suggest you an older movie, that No Man's Land reminded me. It should be made something like six years ago. It is a french movie by Matthieu Kassovitz. The original name is L'haine (The Hate): one of the my best movie ever.

Steven McRownt

The movie is different then what the trailers sold it as. It was a much more serious piece then I was expecting. It was very well done. THe script, actors, everything was nicely put together. I also like the greyness of the characters. There really is no good or bad, just people trying to do what they are their to do.

I haven't seen or heard of L'haine. It's hard to get foreign films in columbus, especially older ones. We do have one theatre that plays only foreign/ independant films but it's not close by me.

Another great film that not many people have seen is City of Lost Children. Just a random thought of another good none Americian movie.

 

[Steven McRownt]

I am glad to hear (uhm..read) that you liked No Man's Land, it's truly something DIFFERENT from all we're used to see.

Another great film that not many people have seen is City of Lost Children. Just a random thought of another good none Americian movie.

Yeah, it's a good one, i completely agree. Of course i am not an european fundamentalist (after all i am here, isn't it?) and i do appreciate big movies a la SW,Matrix, and above all LOTR (but even American Beauty or A Beutiful mind merit a mention here! ). But i think that there's is a barrier that don't let you arrive some good movies made here. Apart from someone who won Oscars or Goldenglobes or the like, and even them are difficult to find for you, no matter if it's Columbus or Chicago or NY (i have friends there who complain for the same things): the italian LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL won many Oscars in year 2000 (if i remember well the year) perhaps too many, but it's a good movie indeed.

Just another suggestion: there's an australian movie, produced by an Italian (that's why i could see it) it's name should be "And he died with a Felafel in his hands" or it is the straight translation to the italian name. Perhaps it is simplier to find it, dunno. But again it worth it, i can assure you.

Steven McRownt

 

[hellbender]

Re: NO FAIR!

I have seen episode 2 twice so far and didn't see the Matrix Reloaded trailer at all. In fact I started to believe I just imagined that it was supposed to be shown.

The same trailer is up at www.thematrix.com . However, it was nice to see on the bigscreen. The trailer and movie helped cement my decision to get Spycraft and not buy into the Star Wars rpg. And this is sad to me, I was a huge Star Wars fan when it came to science fiction movies, and have lost the magic with these last two offerings.


hellbender

 

[Welverin]

Re: Re: NO FAIR!

The same trailer is up at www.thematrix.com . However, it was nice to see on the bigscreen. The trailer and movie helped cement my decision to get Spycraft and not buy into the Star Wars rpg. And this is sad to me, I was a huge Star Wars fan when it came to science fiction movies, and have lost the magic with these last two offerings.

Thanks for the link, but why didn't I think of checking there my self?
More comics are on the way, woo-hoo!

To bad you feel that way about the new movies, luckily for me I don't feel the same way.

 

[hellbender]

Re: Re: Re: NO FAIR!

Thanks for the link, but why didn't I think of checking there my self?
More comics are on the way, woo-hoo!

To bad you feel that way about the new movies, luckily for me I don't feel the same way.

No problem on the link. I wish I didn't feel the way I do about the last couple of SW movies. I really was into Star Wars until the Phantom Menace and I don't go to movies that I think I won't like, I wanted this one to be better and I truly wanted to like it. I don't dislike the movie for big flashy reasons or to be trendy, I just thought it was all rubbish and like I was let down, but hey, it is Lucas' vision, not mine.

hellbender

[edit-spelling]

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

Re: Re: Re: Re: NO FAIR!

I wish I didn't feel the way I do about the last couple of SW movies. I really was into Star Wars until the Phantom Menace and I don't go to movies that I think I won't like, I wanted this one to be better and I truly wanted to like it. I don't dislike the movie for big flashy reasons or to be trendy, I just thought it was all rubbish and like I was let down, but hey, it is Lucas' vision, not mine.

Out of curiousity, what do you feel is missing or wrong? I'm curious because I've only met 1 or 2 people who have disliked AOTC for honest reasons, and they weren't Star Wars fans to begin with. Honest dislike from a fan is not something I've seen yet.

Personally, I hold strongly to the idea that the movies simply can't stand up to 20 years of people writing their own "perfect" backstory. That and the fact that we're 20 years older. My god-son wants to BE Obi-Wan Kenobi, EXACTLY the way I wanted to BE Luke Skywalker in the early '80's. And taking his mind off dinosaurs for more than 4 seconds is NOT EASY, let me tell you.

 

[hellbender]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: NO FAIR!

Out of curiousity, what do you feel is missing or wrong? I'm curious because I've only met 1 or 2 people who have disliked AOTC for honest reasons, and they weren't Star Wars fans to begin with. Honest dislike from a fan is not something I've seen yet.

Personally, I hold strongly to the idea that the movies simply can't stand up to 20 years of people writing their own "perfect" backstory. That and the fact that we're 20 years older. My god-son wants to BE Obi-Wan Kenobi, EXACTLY the way I wanted to BE Luke Skywalker in the early '80's. And taking his mind off dinosaurs for more than 4 seconds is NOT EASY, let me tell you.

*possible spoilers for the ten people who have not seen the movie yet*


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Watching AOTC, I had problems of a different sort than I did with the Phantom Menace. And please keep in mind, I know I am not the director, and I know that Lucas is getting somewhere with all of this (I hope).

My biggest problem is with the characters. The chemistry of the original cast was great, and you cared for them. I don't feel that way with these new movies. We know Obi-Wan is not in any peril, we know Anakin becomes Darth Vader, which in a way, takes away from the action, at least for me. Amadala is too wooden for me, Mace Windu could use some more lines and action, as Samuel L. Jackson is a powerful actor. Beyond the story itself, the characters don't really evoke any sympathy to me, they don't sing out. They live or die, I am not concerned, not like with the original cast.

Lines. Ok, I have heard 'I have a bad feeling about this' enough in the first trilogy, as well as 'How rude!'. The constant rehashing of these, although minor, is grating. C-3PO's cheesy one liners during the battle seemed more inane than funny to me.

To me, the movie dashed in too many directions with too many stories developing without really going into any of them. And the Tusken Raider scene, it made me wonder if we can if little Shmi Skywalker statues to put on our dashboards. First she has a virgin birth, then she just says 'My life is complete', and dies.

An eye candy war that was neat to look at, but really got nowhere. Yoda flying about like a rabid goblin was funny, and a bit of comic relief.

And that, in a nutshell, is why I didn't care for the movie.


hellbender

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Danger! Danger!

Irritating elitest European snob detected!!

Hide your daughters and lock up the small fuzzy animals.

WOW! Even Americans can enjoy good movies even if they aren't block busters! I am amazed!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!


Steven McRownt

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

Thanks, Hellbender. While I don't agree with all of your points, I'm happy to hear intelligent arguments against the movie. Most of the complaining I've heard has been more along the lines of people simply wishing the new Star Wars movies were the Matrix. It's kind of disheartening how many people have "grown beyond" the sci-fi and fantasy source material that Star Wars is loosely based on to wholeheartedly embrace the Matrix, which is blatantly plagiarized from a lot of very, VERY bad sci-fi. At least Lucas is serving up the story he wants to tell (even when we disagree with the way he tells it). The plot of the Matrix was clearly cobbled together in order to create an excuse to have people doing kung-fu and dodging bullets in slow motion.

I much prefer the "I have a story, now I need the special effects so I can tell it" approach, to the "We have the effects, now somebody grunt out a story so we can use them" approach.

If anybody doesn't believe me about the source material for the Matrix, pick up any really bad collection of pulp sci-fi from the '50's. You'll find half-a-dozen directly lifted ideas and even snippets of dialogue in almost any of them. If the author of the Matrix was deliberately borrowing, then he at least could have had the good taste to steal from better books. I gave up that lot when I turned 9. Alternatively, I've considered the notion that they were trying to cobble together the Kilgore Trout plots from various Vonnegut books, but anyone with the wit to do that would have found a more literate lead actor than Keanu "whoa, dude" Reeves.

Whoa. Sorry about the rant. I got carried away.

 

[hellbender]

Canis:
I appreciate the fact that we can agree to disagree on the movie. Everyone is giving their own opinions, and it always benefits everyone when people can disagree in a civil manner over various topics here.

And we will further disagree on the Matrix movie, but civilly, I am sure. Although I do believe all the sources you mentioned, and the borrowed premise to be able o film the various subjects, but to me, it is a great escapist film, and I look forward to the sequel. However, I still believe the Star Wars space opera genre to be better, at least in my opinion, I am not a fan of the last two SW offerings (I know that makes sense in a roundabout way).

After seeing Vanilla Sky this weekend, I longed for a movie closer to the Matrix as a way to balance the input level. There is nothing wrong with watching a video game movie after the easter egg hunt of a movie like Vanilla Sky (or the Sixth Sense). Instead, I caught a late showing of AotC and just watched a blur that I almost took for an oversized toy commercial.

hellbender