The Movie Thread

vhehn,

Thanks for the rec, always looking for a really good family movie. Great cast in this one.

Dakota Fanning is like a very small Meryl Streep. She's 11 yrs old, for crimeny, look at the diversity of roles she's played.

H
 
Quote from hcour:

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

I never camped outside of a movie theater for a month waiting for the opening of a Star Wars movie, but I was a fan of the original trilogy, especially the first 2 films, now called Episodes IV and V, so I had high hopes for the prequels. But I barely made it thru the first 2 new films, Episodes I and II, and I certainly have no desire ever to see them again. I thought they were to the originals what Godfather Pt 3 was to GF Pts 1 & 2, namely an abomination.

Episodes I & II are a perfect example of a filmmaker believing all the hype he's been reading about himself for years and years and puffing his ego up so he thinks he's a "important filmmaker". Lucas, who also made the classic "American Graffiti", apparently came to believe he really had made "great films", rather than the silly fun, well-crafted B-movies w/lots of cool FX that they actually are. At the end of Empire Strikes Back, when Darth Vader says "Luke, I am your father", it was a great moment in film, not because it was profound, but because it was so perfectly foolish; we didn't recoil in horror, we smiled at the audaciousness of it: A B-movie w/a touch of Greek tragedy thrown in for a great laugh; it was like a parody of "the plot thickens..."

I really don't remember much about episodes I & II, there was so much blah blah about political intrigue and the characters and plots were mostly boring and flat. They looked great, but there was nothing to watch except the "sets" and the FX, and any hint of humanity that the first trilogy had was trashed. It seemed all backstory, exposition, to setup the payoff that we'd already seen 20 yrs ago.

So I was suprised that Sith was so enjoyable. Lucas finally stops just giving us "filler" and has a genuine plot that moves forward at a lightning pace toward its inevitable conclusion. The characters' relationships actually develop and go somewhere, as does the story and the FX and battle scenes are fun and exciting. This was obviously what Lucas was aiming for all along, and it pays off nicely, especially in the latter scenes of the movie when we finally get to see how everything that sets up the original gets to that point.

There is one major flaw in the trilogy that carries over to even the last episode, the casting of Anakin Skywalker. Actor Hayden Christensen is a pussy, he comes across as a petulant, spoiled brat. The actor simply doesn't have the charisma or power to pull off the character, it's more like Darth Vader as a kid that no one understands. As a result, when he dons the costume of DV at the end of the film, one has a hard time matching Anakin the whiny troubled-teen w/the person he's supposed to become, Darth Vader, the Most Evil Person in the Universe, w/the deep menacing voice of James Earl Jones, and it's not believable for a minute.

Some of the other actors finally get to have some fun, especially Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine, he revels in his evil, as does old B-movie actor Christopher Lee. Young Natalie Portman is already a great actress, but she's given nothing to do here except wring her hands and moan and be a plot device. I thought Ewan McGregor did an excellent job channeling Alec Guinness as the young, betrayed Obi-Wan.

Harold
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Great review. I totally agree with you about Episode I and II sucking major ass. The characters were awful (Jar-Jar Binks was undoubtedly the worst creation in movie history). The plot was brutally slow and the cast was questionable at best. Whoever cast the young Darth Vador should be banned from Hollywood. That kid was abysmal. Everytime he spoke it looked like he was reading off a cue card.

Overall, I thought they were a total train wreck and would never watch them again.
 
Yeah, I forgot about Jar-Jar. I share your contempt. (I think he was in the parade of mourners at Princess whats-her-name's funeral.)

H
 
A History of Violence is very good.
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I haven't seen it yet, but I love Cronenberg.

If you're a Viggo Mortensen fan, he played a great part in a little-seen flick called The Prophecy, before he made it big in LOTR. He plays none other than ole Scratch himself, and he's excellent. It's a great little thriller.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0114194/

Harold
 
Magna,

Thanks for the links. Interesting.

I'd have a hard time naming the "greatest films of all time". I could probably make a list of my "favorites of all time", but I don't think I could keep it under 100. I like all genres, and there are just too many good movies out there.

H
 
I did a search on harold's take on a pullback and I ended up here. So here goes. I am a huge kubrick fan and one day a couple of years ago I noticed he had another film, his first in fact .
I think it was called "The Hiest". well anyway, this film was made well before stan had any self confidence. this thing played like some 50's crime flick which of course is exactly what it was. not particularly gritty, unique or anything else. I'm not trying to be cruel to stan but if your a fan and you discover this flick,well dont get your hopes up, man. Given what came after (i think strangelove was next) it is just to painfully dull.
 
Quote from Rearden Metal:

One of the best movies of all time will come out in just a few months.

After directing Requiem for a Dream, Darren Aronofsky has put all of his time into The Fountain for the past five years.

Combine Aronofsky, a $40 million budget, and a sci-fi plot spanning a thousand years (1500 AD to 2500 AD), and you get a movie so great, I'm even willing to endorse it in advance.
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Another excellent Aronofsky film is "Pi", starring my hero,

...hit return...

EUCLID !!

:D
 
Quote from hapaboy:

A History of Violence is very good.
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I meant to see this after seeing the previews but forgot all about it. Glad you reminded me.
 
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