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vsp · 12-20-2001, 12:26 PM

Big Trouble in Little China: I bought the DVD a month or two ago. Classic cheese.

Empire Strikes Back: Sorry if I pissed in someone's teakettle by not immediately recognizing this movie's genius, but that's because I haven't personally seen the movie (or any other Star Wars movie beyond the first). I know it's critically acclaimed as the best of the series, if that's any consolation.

From my (then-around-eleven-years-old) perspective, ESB appeared to be an excuse to crank out dozens and dozens of action figures and other paraphrenalia, and I didn't get why so many people were buying into it. Twenty years of perspective since then have allowed for the possibility that ESB was a good film on its own merits, but RotJ and CERTAINLY the new flicks are strictly merchandising vehicles. ESB just doesn't interest me, that's all, much less inspire me to go out and change my religion to "Jedi".

LotR: First off, I'm likely avoiding the movie on principle strictly because I enjoyed the books too much and I know I'd pick the movie apart. From what I've heard, it's a surprisingly faithful rendition, but it also gave Liv Tyler a big role and that's death in my book. ;) (If a zeppelin crashed into the Tyler household and took out the whole clan, I wouldn't weep. Aerosmith was a good band... in 1978... and I have yet to find evidence that anything beyond Liv's surname qualifies her for acting.)

The reason Tolkien's works were so great is the level of detail he used in creating his fantasy world, and large amounts of that will be inevitably lost in the translation to the big screen. Same thing happened with Herbert's Dune.

As for the sequels... part of me does like the idea that it's being thought of as a three-part project, but part of me does recoil at the "We know part 1 will be a hit, so we'll automatically crank out 2 and 3" mentality. The idea that they'd base the design of the sequels on "breakout characters" in the first film doesn't really apply here, IMHO -- it's based on a static work that's over 50 years old, not we'll-make-it-up-as-we-go-along like the Star Wars movies. They only have so much leeway to change things before the fanboys revolt.

Sixth Sense: Didn't impress me much, especially near the end. Unbreakable was crap, PARTICULARLY at the end. If M. Night didn't have to put endings on his movies, he'd be a helluva filmmaker. ;)

Religion: has its good points. Organized religion has its extremely bad points. Devotion to the latter (rather than the former) has destroyed more lives than anything else over the last two millennia. Scientology and organized Christianity have a lot more in common than most Christians want to admit -- largely because the two "religions" have more in common than the average practicing Christian's beliefs have with either of them.

Travolta: boring actor, had one solid role in a movie (PF) that cranked his career back into high gear, has generally gone back to sucking every since.

Willis: See Travolta, though I'll give him Die Hard as well (though that was more a creature of pacing and suspense than of acting skill).

Movies that fuck with your mind: I'll take Terry Gilliam's trilogy (Time Bandits, Brazil, Baron Munchausen) for $100, Alex.

Great stupid movie: Anything Troma has ever put out.

jeff. That oughta hold me for a while...

12-20-2001, 12:26 PM	#25
vsp Syndrome of a Down Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: West Chester Posts: 1,367	A handful of replies Big Trouble in Little China: I bought the DVD a month or two ago. Classic cheese. Empire Strikes Back: Sorry if I pissed in someone's teakettle by not immediately recognizing this movie's genius, but that's because I haven't personally seen the movie (or any other Star Wars movie beyond the first). I know it's critically acclaimed as the best of the series, if that's any consolation. From my (then-around-eleven-years-old) perspective, ESB appeared to be an excuse to crank out dozens and dozens of action figures and other paraphrenalia, and I didn't get why so many people were buying into it. Twenty years of perspective since then have allowed for the possibility that ESB was a good film on its own merits, but RotJ and CERTAINLY the new flicks are strictly merchandising vehicles. ESB just doesn't interest me, that's all, much less inspire me to go out and change my religion to "Jedi". LotR: First off, I'm likely avoiding the movie on principle strictly because I enjoyed the books too much and I know I'd pick the movie apart. From what I've heard, it's a surprisingly faithful rendition, but it also gave Liv Tyler a big role and that's death in my book. ;) (If a zeppelin crashed into the Tyler household and took out the whole clan, I wouldn't weep. Aerosmith was a good band... in 1978... and I have yet to find evidence that anything beyond Liv's surname qualifies her for acting.) The reason Tolkien's works were so great is the level of detail he used in creating his fantasy world, and large amounts of that will be inevitably lost in the translation to the big screen. Same thing happened with Herbert's Dune. As for the sequels... part of me does like the idea that it's being thought of as a three-part project, but part of me does recoil at the "We know part 1 will be a hit, so we'll automatically crank out 2 and 3" mentality. The idea that they'd base the design of the sequels on "breakout characters" in the first film doesn't really apply here, IMHO -- it's based on a static work that's over 50 years old, not we'll-make-it-up-as-we-go-along like the Star Wars movies. They only have so much leeway to change things before the fanboys revolt. Sixth Sense: Didn't impress me much, especially near the end. Unbreakable was crap, PARTICULARLY at the end. If M. Night didn't have to put endings on his movies, he'd be a helluva filmmaker. ;) Religion: has its good points. Organized religion has its extremely bad points. Devotion to the latter (rather than the former) has destroyed more lives than anything else over the last two millennia. Scientology and organized Christianity have a lot more in common than most Christians want to admit -- largely because the two "religions" have more in common than the average practicing Christian's beliefs have with either of them. Travolta: boring actor, had one solid role in a movie (PF) that cranked his career back into high gear, has generally gone back to sucking every since. Willis: See Travolta, though I'll give him Die Hard as well (though that was more a creature of pacing and suspense than of acting skill). Movies that fuck with your mind: I'll take Terry Gilliam's trilogy (Time Bandits, Brazil, Baron Munchausen) for $100, Alex. Great stupid movie: Anything Troma has ever put out. jeff. That oughta hold me for a while...