I just finished watching..........................

[THE QUEEN!!!]

Star Wars Episode II

uggggggghhhhhhh!!!! killlllllllll meeeeeeee!!!!!!

Pretty good riff considering Bill wasn't there. (He's my favorite). Funniest when they say what I was thinking, like how bad Hayden is (how on earth did he get cast? the other choices must have been terrible!) and how conveniently her outfit gets torn so her bare midriff shows. Funny stuff.

The reason why Hayden sucked so bad?  Because Lucas is a once-great-but-now-shoddy director.  Compare Natalie Portman's acting range and talent to what she delivered in the series.  It's the director's job to make a great actor shine.  I'm sure they're all very capable actors.  Lucas just thought he could direct actors the same way he could direct his special effects people.  Coincidentally, I'm finishing up Episode I.  I'll be back here soon to report.

I've never been into Natalie Portman either---before Star Wars, that is. After Star Wars I hate her even more.
And I have trouble believing Hayden's awfulness is purely Lucas's fault. He couldn't deliver one single line in the film where I believed him, and that's the actor's fault--i.e. it's not a "good" performance by Ewan McGregor, but I at least believe him sometimes. Plus I've never seen Hayden in anything where I even believed him for a moment. Ugh. Shudder.

[THE QUEEN!!!]

Star Wars Episode II

uggggggghhhhhhh!!!! killlllllllll meeeeeeee!!!!!!

Pretty good riff considering Bill wasn't there. (He's my favorite). Funniest when they say what I was thinking, like how bad Hayden is (how on earth did he get cast? the other choices must have been terrible!) and how conveniently her outfit gets torn so her bare midriff shows. Funny stuff.

The reason why Hayden sucked so bad?  Because Lucas is a once-great-but-now-shoddy director.  Compare Natalie Portman's acting range and talent to what she delivered in the series.  It's the director's job to make a great actor shine.  I'm sure they're all very capable actors.  Lucas just thought he could direct actors the same way he could direct his special effects people.  Coincidentally, I'm finishing up Episode I.  I'll be back here soon to report.

Heck, even Christopher Lee occasionally gave a bad performance in these movies. Listen to his line reading when he first walks in when Obi Wan is captured. Really, really bad.

I think some actors are more dependant upon the director to give a good performance. Some can be good regardless of what they're in, but some clearly suffer with a bad director.

The fatal flaw in the whole prequel series is that everyone trusted Lucas to know how to direct a Star Wars movie.  I mean, take a look at the fly-on-the-wall documentary on Phantom Menace.  The only one to ever question him was the editor, who was basically just pointing out the elephant in the room.  But now I'm just regurgitating what that 70min review dude said (but, man, did he hit the nail on the head with that).

They trusted him, eh? NO WONDER!!!!

Another thought. The originals are fantastic because of post production--the great editing, the relatively innovative and good-for-the-time effects, but especially that great music that makes the film seem bigger, more important, and more expensive than it is. But what saved it in the first place, i.e. the reason the raw footage could be edited into a classic, was the great CASTING. That was his fatal flaw. The other thing, to me, is that he made the originals because he really wanted to, and he made the prequels for the money. Motives matter. And, another thought, the originals are fun and funny, but the prequels take themselves way too seriously. Anyway, those are my theories in a nutshell.

[stansimpson]

Star Wars Episode II

uggggggghhhhhhh!!!! killlllllllll meeeeeeee!!!!!!

Pretty good riff considering Bill wasn't there. (He's my favorite). Funniest when they say what I was thinking, like how bad Hayden is (how on earth did he get cast? the other choices must have been terrible!) and how conveniently her outfit gets torn so her bare midriff shows. Funny stuff.

The reason why Hayden sucked so bad?  Because Lucas is a once-great-but-now-shoddy director.  Compare Natalie Portman's acting range and talent to what she delivered in the series.  It's the director's job to make a great actor shine.  I'm sure they're all very capable actors.  Lucas just thought he could direct actors the same way he could direct his special effects people.  Coincidentally, I'm finishing up Episode I.  I'll be back here soon to report.

I've never been into Natalie Portman either---before Star Wars, that is. After Star Wars I hate her even more.
And I have trouble believing Hayden's awfulness is purely Lucas's fault. He couldn't deliver one single line in the film where I believed him, and that's the actor's fault--i.e. it's not a "good" performance by Ewan McGregor, but I at least believe him sometimes. Plus I've never seen Hayden in anything where I even believed him for a moment. Ugh. Shudder.

I haven't seen any other movie with Hayden in it (though I hear Shattered Glass is very good).  I've never had a strong opinion about Natalie Portman, until I saw Closer.  It's such a dark, dirty and wretched story... but she totally deserved her Oscar nom for that role.  She's also quite impressive in Leon: The Professional as his 11-year-old sidekick.  So I hafta belive Lucas (and his persistent green screen) has a strong role in their poor performances.  Having said all that, I can only imagine Hayden's range is as deep as Robert Pattison's.  

Another thought. The originals are fantastic because of post production--the great editing, the relatively innovative and good-for-the-time effects, but especially that great music that makes the film seem bigger, more important, and more expensive than it is. But what saved it in the first place, i.e. the reason the raw footage could be edited into a classic, was the great CASTING. That was his fatal flaw. The other thing, to me, is that he made the originals because he really wanted to, and he made the prequels for the money. Motives matter. And, another thought, the originals are fun and funny, but the prequels take themselves way too seriously. Anyway, those are my theories in a nutshell.

Agreed on all points.

[stansimpson]

Just left my comments for Phantom Menace...

And, A New Hope.

I liked them, but I was hoping for a little bit more out of each.  Gonna hafta revisit Ep 2 now.  And if I get some more $ soon, maybe The Dark Knight. 

[Plastic Self-Cleaning Duck]

Another thought. The originals are fantastic because of post production--the great editing.....

Lucas admitted as much.  And then he divorced her.

[stansimpson]

Another thought. The originals are fantastic because of post production--the great editing.....

Lucas admitted as much.  And then he divorced her.

Yikes!  What a way to tell someone they're bad at their job... unless, yknow, it was on completely different grounds*.


*which, if you're not picking up on my joke here, it most undoubtedly was (where's that sarcasm emoticon again?).

[Doctor Who?]

Planet of the Dinosaurs

I was expecting more

(rest period)

Dinosaurs and

(rest period)

less

(rest period)

wondering

(rest period)

around

(rest period)

and

(rest period)

sitting

(rest period) 

down

(rest period)

for

(rest period)

no

(rest period)

good

(rest period)

reason.

I was also shocked to learn that this came out a year AFTER Star Wars.

Great riff I give it a ten.

[dangfish]

Dragon Wars: D war

Well, watched this with a friend last night. I wasn't in the best shape to watch this. Been under the weather and on all kinds of cold medicine, although I got the feeling that being in a drug induced haze may be the only way to watch this film. By the end my friend claimed that he understood most of it, while I didn't have the very first idea of what the heck was going on in any of this movie. I took an instant dislike to the film when it started with a flashback. And then we entered the realm of my ultimate pet peeve: A flashback within a flashback! ( I still haven't forgiven Tim Burton for doing this in Big Tree). The boys kept me laughing enough though. Not much better than those incredibly silly and cheesy scify original films. I was surprised to see so many actors I recognized in this. Hollywood must be feeling the recession too. Can't really rate this one until I've watched it again with a clear head.

[Darth Geek]

Dragon Wars: D war

Well, watched this with a friend last night. I wasn't in the best shape to watch this. Been under the weather and on all kinds of cold medicine, although I got the feeling that being in a drug induced haze may be the only way to watch this film. By the end my friend claimed that he understood most of it, while I didn't have the very first idea of what the heck was going on in any of this movie. I took an instant dislike to the film when it started with a flashback. And then we entered the realm of my ultimate pet peeve: A flashback within a flashback! ( I still haven't forgiven Tim Burton for doing this in Big Tree). The boys kept me laughing enough though. Not much better than those incredibly silly and cheesy scify original films. I was surprised to see so many actors I recognized in this. Hollywood must be feeling the recession too. Can't really rate this one until I've watched it again with a clear head.

In HULK there was a flashback within a flashback within a photo. Yeah, it hurt us, too.

[dangfish]

Dragon Wars: D war

Well, watched this with a friend last night. I wasn't in the best shape to watch this. Been under the weather and on all kinds of cold medicine, although I got the feeling that being in a drug induced haze may be the only way to watch this film. By the end my friend claimed that he understood most of it, while I didn't have the very first idea of what the heck was going on in any of this movie. I took an instant dislike to the film when it started with a flashback. And then we entered the realm of my ultimate pet peeve: A flashback within a flashback! ( I still haven't forgiven Tim Burton for doing this in Big Tree). The boys kept me laughing enough though. Not much better than those incredibly silly and cheesy scify original films. I was surprised to see so many actors I recognized in this. Hollywood must be feeling the recession too. Can't really rate this one until I've watched it again with a clear head.

In HULK there was a flashback within a flashback within a photo. Yeah, it hurt us, too.

You mean in the new Movie?  Wow.  I missed that.  Glad I didn't notice it.  Actually, in the movie Big Tree, I believe there was a flashback within a flashback within a flashback.  Don't remember the details though.  I've done everything I could to block that film out of my memory.

[Doctor Who?]

No the new movie is The Incredible Hulk,the old movie was just called Hulk.

[dangfish]

OKay, just went to your link (which I should have done before my last post) and now see that you are talking about the first film.  I think I vaguely remember the scene now, come to think of it.

[THE QUEEN!!!]

Watched lots of shorts I love:

One Got Fat ("Hey, uh, Fractured Fairy Tale guy, we were here for the whole thing....")
Alcohol Trigger Films ("I'm gonna go against convention and say the moral is: Don't be an uptight jerk while your friends are trying to party at your parent's house")
Towards Emotional Maturity ("You went to White Anger, then to White Guilt!")
Lunchroom Manners ("Then he took some soap home for his entire 10 person family!")
Overcoming Fear ("So I threw some puppies in the water")

...and some more shorts I forgot about

[dalem]

The 2nd Matrix movie. Reloaded, I think.

Dislike the movie, but love the RT.  Poor David Cronenberg indeed.

-dale

[THE QUEEN!!!]

...2 new shorts, "Molly Grows Up" and "Teenage Drug Addict"--both hilarious, but now I need counseling.