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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE
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TV Discussion Fisto's Disco: The LACWAC Social Thread

Discussion in 'Star Wars TV- Current and Future Shows' started by G-FETT, Jul 1, 2007.

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  1. AkashKedavra_93

    AkashKedavra_93 Moderator Emeritus star 4 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 8, 2011

    Oh, I would never reveal it. :) Avoid the Internet for "Thor 2" gossips, though. They revealed the spoiler at Comic-Con...
     
    Dark Lord Tarkas likes this.
  2. Arrian

    Arrian Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 15, 2011
    It probably won't help the misconception that Australia has a population of like 500 people but Thor (Chris Hemsworth) went to my high school and his mother was a relief teacher there. He's done well.
     
  3. anakinfansince1983

    anakinfansince1983 Skywalker Saga/LFL/YJCC Manager star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Mar 4, 2011
    Australia has more than 500 people? :eek: :p
     
    KenobiSkywalker likes this.
  4. TaradosGon

    TaradosGon Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 28, 2003

    I loved Star Trek as well. Though there were a couple things I so wish they would have done.

    1. Not cast the whitest possible actor to play as a Sikh superman (established to be Khan's case in The Original Series -- and with a name like Khan Noonien Singh...) Granted, they got Latin actor Ricardo Montalban to play a Sikh character the first time around, but this time they paid tribute neither to the Sikh character that Khan is supposed to be, nor the hispanic actor that played him the first time around. They got the whitest British guy they could find.

    They could have easily addressed this in the film by having Harrison/Khan mention that he had been surgically altered to hide his identity. There is precedent in Star Trek of characters going extensive surgical alterations, so it wouldn't feel out of place at all IMO. And what could have been a really sweet nod to Wrath of Khan would be if after establishing the aforementioned detail, they had used archived footage of Ricardo Montalban for that final shot of Khan once again in cryosleep (I'm sure that they could have easily have done it and made it look good with technology today).

    2. Rather than Khan just all of a sudden revealing himself to be bad after he takes control of the Vengeance, I wish if he actually was a decent person in the alternate universe. Spock's accusations against him as someone that wiped out inferior humans is blatantly contradicted in The Original Series episode Space Seed, in which he is said to be the best of the superhuman tyrants and that his regime did NOT have the massacres and violence of other regimes.

    While watching the movie I was trying to anticipate where they were going with it and one thing that I thought would have been a brilliant twist would have been if Spock-Prime's (Leonard Nimoy) advice had led to alternate Spock to preemptively strike Khan, causing Khan to defend himself. Spock-Prime even states that he was reluctant to tell Spock about anything from the Prime universe, for fear of it affecting the progression of the alternate universe.

    So it would have been really sweet IMO if Spock-Prime's advice backfires.

    Spock acts according to Spock-Prime's advice (that Khan is a terrible adversary) and preemptively strikes Khan, CAUSING Khan to become desperate and defend himself and become the bad guy that threatens to kill Kirk and destroy the Enterprise. That this Khan starts out honorable, is willing to sincerely enter into a partnership with Kirk to save his crew as well as save the Enterprise from the Vengeance, but only becomes bad - ironically - because Spock-Prime tells Spock that he's bad.
     
  5. Seerow

    Seerow Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 7, 2011

    Best of luck Akash. I'll cross my finger for ya.

    and I've still just seen a few movies over the summer.

    Pacific Rim - 8
    Into Darkess - 7
    Man of Steel - 4


    Folks will pair any two people who stand together on screen into a ship. Elricest -cringe.-

    Hey! Time for one of Seerow's work stories. Today some motivational stuff was put up on the wall and they are all Star Wars related.

    Thank and Close = Leia captured on the Deathstar. Then Vader represents sales. This amused me.
     
  6. AkashKedavra_93

    AkashKedavra_93 Moderator Emeritus star 4 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 8, 2011
    Thanks Seerow! :)

    I've rewatched a few films and have arrived at the following conclusions:

    Side Effects- 9.0/10

    Steven Soderbergh has always been a favorite of mine and his dark thriller does not disappoint. Tensely-paced with riveting performances, Side Effects is a film that often takes twists and turns where you least expect it. The less I say about it, the better, but this film is definitely worth checking out.


    Oz the Great and Powerful-7.0/10

    I was enthralled by the artwork at first, but overall this film is average at best. James Franco is woefully miscast and the witches do a decent job. The monkey and the china doll rescue what would otherwise have been an utter disaster. The visuals are beautiful in one shot and nauseating in the other. Worth perhaps a Redbox rental but not more.


    Iron Man 3-D-7.0/10

    The 3-D is pointless in this. While the first one was great and the second one is terrible beyond measure, this film does a decent job of redeeming the franchise but terrible directions with Guy Pierce's villain and the deus ex machina of the suits towards the end drag it down severely.


    Star Trek Into Darkness 3-D-8.5/10

    Not as elegant and sharp as the first film, the sequel of J. J. Abrams's reboot is a thrilling ride nevertheless. However, Uhura doesn't have much to do, Khan is white and a villain (while another take would have been smarter), and the carnage in San Francisco is completely unnecessary. J. J. Abrams can make a smarter film. The 3-D on the other hand was well-done. Really good but not great.


    The Great Gatsby-8.5/10

    The parties were of course classical Baz Luhrmann. The performances were very well done, with special praise to Leonardo DiCaprio's Jay Gatsby and Elizabeth Debicki's Jordan Baker. A bit of the nuance and subtlety of the times was lost in this adaptation and the framing device of Nicholas Carraway being the author of The Great Gatsby felt flat.


    Frances Ha-9.0/10

    Greta Gerwig's drama is a hidden Indie gem. The performance from Greta is nuanced and powerful while the direction and storyline never stagnates into boredom. It is cute, it is powerful, and it is a film that everyone should see.



    Much Ado About Nothing-9.0/10

    Joss Whedon's efforts at Shakespeare are tremendously unique. Shot at his own house, their is a sense of tremendous intimacy within the film, a bizarre quality that is imbued within every shot. A bizarre and intriguing experience that must be experienced as intimately as possible.


    This is the End-8.5/10

    A hilarious effort, the apocalypse comedy is handled rather well. The humor may not always work but the cast is reliable and Emma Watson knocks it out of the park in her bizarre turn. Worth the laughs, definitely.


    Man of Steel 3-D-7.0/10

    The first half is far superior to the second. In fact, I would have to say the Krypton sequences are by far the best, helped by great performances from Russell Crowe and Ayelet Zurer. The quiet parts really help bring a gravitas to Superman, and Henry Cavill's performance is noteworthy. Amy Adams is great as Lois Lane and the supporting cast is a strong backbone. However, there is really no necessity to smashing each other into buildings for an hour straight. It is quite desensitizing to see such blatant, sort of thoughtless carnage. And the editing could have been much, much better.


    The Bling Ring-8.0/10

    Emma Watson steals the show in Sofia Coppola's directorial effort of portraying a band of Los Angeles teenagers who robbed celebrity homes. Unfortunately the script isn't as strong as the performances, even though there are a lot of memorable quotes from it. While there is a third-person narrative, there isn't nearly enough critique to make this a viable direction in cinema. It's as Sofia is interested in observing, but never going beyond that.


    Despicable Me 2-8.5/10

    A strange film, the voice cast is great, especially Steve Carell, and the minions are possibly the cutest things ever animated. The plotline is a unique take and the animation is remarkably good for a $75 million budget production. And the guacamole hats nearly stole the show in which scenes they were present. The script could have been stronger, though, some portions were weak.


    World War Z 3-D-9.0/10

    While the film and the novel only share the title for the most part, this zombie flick is really tense and gets the blood pumping. It's a smart take on zombies and the films handles the fast tension and the quiet tension in their respective first and second halves of the film remarkable well. Brad Pitt is reliable and the supporting cast does their job well. The 3-D is excellent, especially in the Jerusalem sequence.


    Pacific Rim D-BOX 3-D-9.0/10

    Guillero del Toro and a massive summer flick? Yes! The battles between the Kaiju and the Jaegers were phenomenal and experiencing them in D-BOX seats was a thrilling experience. Visual effects were great and the variety in the battle sequences was refreshing. The daylight sequence with a child Rinko Kikuchi was appropriately terrifying. While the performances were great, the human element was the weak link in Pacific Rim and its megastory. Nevertheless, this was a great film and an epitome of summer entertainment blockbusters.

     
  7. Circular Logic

    Circular Logic Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 3, 2013
    TaradosGon

    Absolutely agree with your points regarding ST:ID. Regarding your second point, I do think that it's interesting that they tried portraying Khan in a more morally ambiguous light early in the movie, but that proved to be a deception and it was quite obvious that he was the film's intended Big Bad from the get-go. I kind of like your idea that he should have been painted as a decent person in-universe, perhaps a benevolent dictator-type if you will, but instead it was painfully clear in the film that he was absolutely in it for selfish reasons, i.e. dominance of the Augments. It's also interesting to note that the timeline might have been altered, but the Eugenics Wars of the late 20th century still did take place, so theoretically Khan should have been the same character as he was in Space Seed. I suspect that Admiral Marcus' own war-mongering ambitions might have contributed to further augmenting (no pun intended) Khan's savagery, but at his core it is clear that Khan is evil.

    If that wasn't perfectly clear in the beginning, after he does this you know there truly are no depths to his ruthlessness:
    [​IMG]

    Basically what I tell my alarm clock when I have to get up really early.
    But a good movie nonetheless, I really liked Abrams' re-imagining of the Trek franchise.
     
    Barriss_Coffee and TaradosGon like this.
  8. TaradosGon

    TaradosGon Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 28, 2003
    Circular_Logic

    I just felt like Space Seed got completely overlooked. Khan was a tyrant, but he was supposedly one of the most benevolent tyrants and his reign was not marked with widespread violence. Kirk calls him the "best of the tyrants" or something like that. Khan even seems to hold a degree of admiration from Kirk and vice versa. Granted he was still a tyrant, but he was no Adolf Hitler as Into Darkness seems to imply. Into Darkness just went with the notion that he was a mass murdering Nazi. Khan even tries to recruit members of Kirk's crew to his cause in Space Seed, and mentions his interest in finding a planet willing to serve him and his crew. Whereas in Into Darkness Spock accuses him of eliminating those that he considers inferior (it's implied in Wrath of Khan that he took McGivers as his wife, and she was no superwoman, and ironically the death of this normal woman is what drives him mad).

    I felt like Into Darkness just completely ignored Space Seed and was instead too busy being a homage to Wrath of Khan. And the whole thing about Wrath of Khan was that Khan's exile (from Space Seed) did not go as planned and an ecological disaster had wiped out most of Khan's group and killed his wife, so Khan's a little obsessed with revenge at that point.
    None of that happens in this continuity. He is woken up, but instead of having his entire crew awaken simultaneously (as happened in Space Seed) he wakes up alone, is abused by Marcus, is threatened with the deaths of his crew, and led to believe that they may already be dead. So rather than the "Ah, I'll take over your ship" attitude that Khan has in Space Seed (since he has his whole crew with him), I could have seen him to be more psychologically troubled and desperate. Yeah, he's blowing stuff up and killing people, but he's also been blackmailed for an unspecified amount of time with the lives of his "family." I would have liked to have seen a degree of that honor/respect from Space Seed in finding Kirk willing to help him take on Marcus, only to be sucker punched by Spock and Kirk, causing him to finally snap after being betrayed and used a second time.

    Even Khan giving a general offer for Kirk's crew to join him (as happened in Space Seed) would have been welcome. Khan by all means should still have aspirations to become a dictator, I just wish we had seen a little bit of that mutual respect (despite being enemies) as seen in Space Seed. I though Benedict did a fantastic job in acting the role, I just felt the role was too different than the one Montalban played
     
    Circular_Logic likes this.
  9. Arrian

    Arrian Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 15, 2011
  10. Dark Lord Tarkas

    Dark Lord Tarkas Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 29, 2011
    If my mom ever finds that out you better hope she doesn't get a hold of my laptop.
     
  11. Jordan1Kenobi

    Jordan1Kenobi SWC Jedi Draft Champion star 6 VIP - Game Winner

    Registered:
    Sep 30, 2012
    I've seen all of the X-Men films now, except for First Class, and I gotta say I've been missing out big time! It's such a great film franchise! I reckon the three X-Men films got better each time, and both of the Wolverine films were great.

    Here's how I'd rate each of them in order from best to worst:

    The Wolverine - 8.5
    X-Men: The Last Stand - 8
    X-Men Origins: Wolverine - 7
    X2 - 7
    X-Men - 6
     
  12. Dark Lord Tarkas

    Dark Lord Tarkas Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 29, 2011
    I like First Class the best. The trilogy is decent but I don't dig the leather jumpsuits; Kelsey Grammer as Beast is the highlight.
     
  13. Ani501st

    Ani501st Jedi Padawan star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2013
    I have started playing Star Wars The Old Republic Online for a few days. I love this game. I noticed they got inspirations from the movies and also a lot from TCW in the sets and armors and ships.
     
  14. Jordan1Kenobi

    Jordan1Kenobi SWC Jedi Draft Champion star 6 VIP - Game Winner

    Registered:
    Sep 30, 2012
    Lol, I thought Wolverine didn't suit the leather suit very well. The leather jacket is way better, but he's still really bad ass either way :p

    That's probably the best game I've ever played, it kept me busy for so long. What class did you choose to play as? I played as the Jedi Sentinel.
     
  15. Ani501st

    Ani501st Jedi Padawan star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2013
    I play a trooper from the republic, lvl 21.
     
  16. TaradosGon

    TaradosGon Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 28, 2003
    What planet does that put you on, Taris?

    I've played through the prologue of every class and think that they are all good. But I've only completed through act 3 with the Jedi Consular, Bounty Hunter, Trooper and Agent. I've got to say that Act 2 sucks across the board IMO.

    As far as story goes, IMO: Agent >> Trooper > Bounty Hunter >> Consular

    Personally, I think I gravitate towards the "normal" people in the Star Wars universe, surrounded by Jedi. And I think that dynamic is more interesting on the Imperial side where the agent is subject to Sith dictators. Not merely that, but the twists are really cool and some of the decisions you get to make are awesome.

    Trooper is pretty straight forward and fun.

    Bounty Hunter is exactly like what you think being a bounty hunter is like, a collection of unrelated bounties. The story doesn't really become cohesive until the end of Act 2.

    I deleted my characters when it went free to play since I can have only two active slots and was more interested in playing through two more stories than the end game. I started a Jedi Knight and Smuggler just recently. I've only made it to Coruscant with each. Smuggler is funny (or can be), and Jedi Knight seems like it could be epic. I'm still anticipating lame second acts though.

    And the Jedi Consular... The prologue is interesting enough and Act 1 I suppose is OK. But there was nothing interesting IMO about trying to play galactic investigator/diplomat.
     
  17. AkashKedavra_93

    AkashKedavra_93 Moderator Emeritus star 4 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 8, 2011
    X-Men: First Class - 9
    X-Men - 8
    The Wolverine - 8
    X2 - 7
    X-Men Origins: Wolverine - 3.5
    X-Men: The Last Stand - 2
     
  18. SithStarSlayer

    SithStarSlayer Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 23, 2003
    First 30 minutes of The Wolverine were spot-on...

    but the rest of the movie was bantha poodoo.

    ***

    For a bloody-good war-flick, try Centurion... I filed that badboy between: Braveheart/Gladiator.;)
     
  19. Ani501st

    Ani501st Jedi Padawan star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2013
    I finished Taris at lvl 21, now I'm on Nar Shadaa. Taris was quite beautiful.
    I love the fact that we have a ship, it's a good idea as good as the act we have few companions.
    I hesitate to pick a bounty hunter but I finally decided to take a trooper because they have cool armors.
     
  20. Circular Logic

    Circular Logic Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 3, 2013
    I'm thinking about stairs. Stairs, stairs, stairs...

    [​IMG]
    Peldaños del Cañón (Ecuador)

    [​IMG]
    Stairs Elbe Sandstone Mountains (Dresden, Germany)

    [​IMG]
    Ladder via Crucis (Bermeo, Basque Country, Spain)

    [​IMG]
    The Inca Trail, floating staircases (Peru)

    [​IMG]
    El pozo de Chand Baori (India)

    [​IMG]
    Spiral Staircase in the Taihang Mountains (China)
     
  21. Arrian

    Arrian Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 15, 2011
    Staring at stairs for too long can send you into a downward spiral (staircase).
     
  22. Ani501st

    Ani501st Jedi Padawan star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2013
    Great pictures of stairs !
     
  23. Jordan1Kenobi

    Jordan1Kenobi SWC Jedi Draft Champion star 6 VIP - Game Winner

    Registered:
    Sep 30, 2012
    I've been watching and researching quite a bit of Marvel and DC lately, and my mates and I were having a few big discussions today about who we think the most powerful super heroes are. Here's what I think:

    1. Superman
    2. Thor
    3. Hulk
    4. Phoenix
    5. Magneto
    6. Professor X
    7. Wolverine
    8. Deadpool
    9. Green Lantern
    10. Iron Man

    Any other fans wanna give their opinions?
     
  24. TaradosGon

    TaradosGon Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 28, 2003
    Depends how you define strength.

    Superman would definitely be at the top of the list, or close to it. But when exposed to kryptonite, he becomes pitiful. He was "killed" (not really) by Doomsday, who seemed like little more than The Hulk. His death was predicted to then come at the hands of a villain named Khyber, who releases nanobytes into his blood. In Superman: Earth One, vol 2., The Parasite nearly kills Superman by draining his powers. Clark is so drained that he essentially experiences what it is like to be human for a time and later tells his mom how much in awe he is of people since they can be killed at any second from something like being hit by a car and how brave humans are for merely leaving their houses every day.

    So, if it's a matter of who can bench press most, then Superman is probably at the top. If it's a matter of who would win in a fight, there's several precedents that show Superman being taken down by sheer strength (from Doomsday = comparable to The Hulk); from Khyber's technology (Iron Man is also a tech genius); or from having his abilities drained by Parasite (something Rogue is also capable of doing); and then there is his Achilles heel in the form of kryptonite, in which case someone like Batman has a shot. Plus he has also been given the susceptibility to magic, which makes him vulnerable to characters like Captain Marvel (Shazam). In the New 52 comic book series Justice League of America, The United States builds its own Justice League (the JLA) as a contingency in case it ever has to deal with the Justice League -- each member of the JLA is picked to act as a countermeasure to a member of the JL. Martian Manhunter is selected as Superman's countermeasure.
     
  25. Seerow

    Seerow Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 7, 2011

     
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