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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Lit Apropos of Nothing - ACKBAR IN CAPITALS - The Lit Forum Social Thread, v2.0.15

Discussion in 'Literature' started by Master_Keralys, Jan 1, 2009.

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  1. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    So. Frozen passed the one billion dollar mark today, making it the #2 movie of 2013 and the #2 animated film of all time -- and it hasn't even opened in Japan yet, which will likely result in it beating Toy Story 3 for the #1 animated film ever. Insane.

    Also I played a crazy new pen and paper RPG today, which I must narrate at some point but not tonight because I am dead tired.

    Ended up only trying one -- a xinomavro wine made by Boutari. It was interesting. I'm not sure that it's among my favorites -- it was described as tasting similar to Nebbiolo wines like barbaresco, but I didn't really feel that.
     
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  2. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    So, Amazon doesn't have an author page for John Locke. You know, John Locke, the great political theorist and writer whose ideas are central to modern democracy and the development of the world in general. No, it has no author page for John Locke that can let you easily get to all his works . . . because that space is taken by John Locke. Some guy who writes cheap trashy "novels" for Kindle and gets a lot of downloads because they're cheap and trashy. TWO TREATISES OF GOVERNMENT GETS FIRST BILLING OVER "CASTING CALL" AND "TEACHER, TEACHER (A DANI RIPPER NOVEL)," OKAY?
     
  3. DigitalMessiah

    DigitalMessiah Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 17, 2004
    I noticed that I've achieved 666 trophy points. I dunno what this means. [face_skull]
     
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  4. Point Given

    Point Given Manager star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Dec 12, 2006
    I should get around to seeing Frozen. I don't see the big deal about the song though. Everyone's freaking out about how great it is, but the Oscars rendition was okay at best.

    *Braces for Jello scorn*
     
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  5. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    I. yes, go see it tomorrow. Or else.

    II. The song is only great in the context of the film imo. Taken in isolation (ooh, song lyric!) it loses an essential part of what makes it a great song imo. The songs in this film are great because of the position they take in the narrative and because of how well they accomplish exposition and expansion in the course of the film. People like the songs as songs too (I certainly listen to them a lot) but I can totally understand someone not thinking it's that great without seeing the film. I actually get bothered when people listen to it without seeing the film *coughRCcough*

    Also, it's not actually my favorite song in the movie. That honor goes to For the First Time in Forever.

    III. Only saw some short 12 second clip of her singing during the Oscars, but I thought the movie version of that 12 seconds was better. But it's very, very different singing to a live audience than it is singing in a recording booth, and Menzel is an astonishingly good live singer (which is a hard thing to master).

    IV. Go see Frozen!
     
  6. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

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    Dec 16, 2012
  7. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
  8. Arawn_Fenn

    Arawn_Fenn Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Jul 2, 2004
    Hah! They spelled Kashyyyk wrong! :-B
     
  9. Cynical_Ben

    Cynical_Ben Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2013
    This should be true of all musicals, IMO. Les Miserable is a good example; I have friends who listen to songs from it out of context simply because they're good songs. Which I agree with. But a song written for a musical should work best in the context of the story being told; if a song is written to stand alone and then just shoehorned into the movie/play, it shows. Who out there remembers that the song The Prayer, the song done by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli, is from the movie Quest For Camelot, a crappy wannabe Disney film?

    When a songwriter goes out of their way to make one song stand out above all of the others, that's called "Oscar bait". Let It Go isn't Oscar bait because it wasn't written to stand out like it has, it was written to be the villain song of the movie. It was Idna Menzel's performance married with the context of the story and the passion of the song itself that kicked it up into the public consciousness (which is why the pop version is vastly inferior).
     
  10. instantdeath

    instantdeath Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 22, 2010
    Making my way through the DCAU, and am about halfway through Batman Beyond (which I love so much more than I thought I would). I just had to comment when I came across Henry Rollins playing himself Mad Stan. That has got to be the best thing ever.

    I mean to see Frozen the moment it becomes rentable. If nothing else, I'm very curious.

    And yeah, as someone who has actually listened to the full soundtrack but hasn't seen the film, I could easily rip the music to pieces... but I'll refrain until I see it in the context it was written for. I'm already annoyed that the movie rhymes "door" with "more" like 6 times over the span of 4 songs, though :cool:

    I'm not sure I'd necessarily agree. Annie Lennox's "Into the West" is a good example of a song that can be perfectly in keeping with the tone of its film, accentuate and enhance the meaning of the film, and still be a fantastic song in its own right (Enya's "May it Be" is an even better example, but it lost to freaking Randy Newman). While I don't believe you were trying to say this at all, I don't buy that a soundtrack has to choose between being appropriate for its film and being interesting on its own.

    Of course, I say this, but I will just as quickly argue that most award shows are meaningless, none more so than for anything music related. Don't even get me started on the Grammy's.
     
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  11. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    The lyrics aren't as good as the Disney Renaissance ones, no. I have my own reservations about their laziness with the rhymes, and their use of colloquialisms (although that's restricted to only a particular character where it makes sense with her personality).

    But yeah, I said something like this on a fb post where I was explaining why I preferred Frozen over The Wind Rises as the best animated film of 2013 -- I see Frozen as a "total art work." That is, it's not just a fun story that I like, it's not just stellar animation, it's not just great songs, it's not just an important message: it's all of those together. It's not a perfect film, but it's a film that uses its medium to its fullest to hit every level of its audience. Something like TWR is artistic and thoughtful like the Miyazaki oeuvre tends to be, but despite my appreciation for the film I think Frozen came together better. It's why I like opera, because it also has all those elements. If Broadway musicals are like this too, I should look into them: I traditionally look askance at musicals because I see them as "stories with songs interrupting them" as opposed to "stories with songs woven into them" like opera or Frozen, but it's possible that I've just had my opinion colored by bad musicals. I've certainly never seen Les Mis, which seems to be well appreciated by a lot of folks I know.
     
  12. instantdeath

    instantdeath Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 22, 2010
    Very solid reasoning, to which I can only really respond to once I've actually seen the movie. I also really need to see The Wind Rises. I think I've mentioned this to you before, Jello, but you really need to check out Grave of the Fireflies. My personal pick for greatest animated film of all time, and not just because it's ultra depressing (I like fun stuff!)

    My experience with Broadway has been rather mixed. I haven't seen any of the classics, save Jersey Boys which I enjoyed the hell out of (some might also call Hairspray a classic, to which I would say you're so, so wrong), and the ones I've seen I've been have pretty much an equal chance of being a really fun experience or a really miserable experience. For Broadway, I find there's no in between. My favorite has definitely been Young Frankenstein, because Mel Brooks, and I shamelessly loved The Book of Mormon. Strangely, I find my least favorite parts of Broadway shows are the musical segments; save for Jersey Boys and The Book of Mormon, they're almost always cringe inducing. It's the opposite of my opinion on opera, where I appreciate the music, but would generally much prefer just listening to it than actually going to an opera and watching the boring stage direction (not to mention having to dress up, which is something to be avoided at all costs. I dislike fancy clothes, which I'm fully aware in these parts is enough to qualify me as the Anti-Christ :p)
     
  13. CooperTFN

    CooperTFN TFN EU Staff Emeritus star 7 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 1999
    That's not even in the top five reasons.
     
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  14. instantdeath

    instantdeath Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 22, 2010
    I would actually love to know those reasons, if only to better play to my strengths.
     
  15. AdmiralWesJanson

    AdmiralWesJanson Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    May 23, 2005
    You mean purchasable, right? :p
     
  16. instantdeath

    instantdeath Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 22, 2010
    Well, it's purchasable now. I'm tempted, but I'll just end up regretting paying $20 for a digital movie.
     
  17. MercenaryAce

    MercenaryAce Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 10, 2005
    [​IMG]
    I know officially forgive this meme for existing. Because this...this is poetry in motion.
     
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  18. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
  19. Mia Mesharad

    Mia Mesharad Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    Just out of curiosity, are you watching Batman Beyond before or after Justice League during your watchthrough?

    I don't know if I'd say it's the greatest animated film of all time, but it's certainly in the running for the saddest movie of all time, in my book, animated or live action. That movie is just...awful. Hell of a story, incredibly potent, but damn...
     
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  20. TrakNar

    TrakNar Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 4, 2011
    Finally plowed through Shadow Over Innsmouth. It had its good points, and then it had an ending that just draaaaaaaaaagged. Next on the reading list of Lovecraft I need to force my way through like a snowdrift? The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.
     
  21. anakinfansince1983

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

    Registered:
    Mar 4, 2011
    This made me absurdly happy. Probably happier than it should have.

    At the book fair I'm running this week: nonfiction for kids, with a Star Wars theme.

    [​IMG]

    There was a science fair book too, with experiments with ice using a Hoth theme, and "make a lava lamp" using a Mustafar theme.
     
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  22. CooperTFN

    CooperTFN TFN EU Staff Emeritus star 7 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 1999
    Why would Artoo and Threepio know anything about our galaxy?

    Unless...

    :eek:
     
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  23. DigitalMessiah

    DigitalMessiah Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 17, 2004
    They used the Century Eagle to fly back through the time warp to Earth?

    Or they hitched a ride with ET.
     
  24. blackmyron

    blackmyron Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Oct 29, 2005
    Possibly one of HPL's most personal works, which is probably why he didn't publish it in his own lifetime. It also ties together most of his early "Dreamlands" fiction and in a way brings it to a close.
    You can play a (sort of) sequel to Shadow of Innsmouth on the PC, called Dark Corners of the Earth. Interesting, if a little flawed. (You could also play the pen-and-paper adventure it's based upon, if you're inclined)
     
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  25. DigitalMessiah

    DigitalMessiah Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 17, 2004
    ESCAPE FROM INNSMOUTH

    I didn't notice Lovecraft discussion was going on since I sporadically read this thread. :(
     
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