Down in Front: - This week, SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD.

I haz not seen it. Might get around to it someday. Might not.

 

Bad.

 

YOU WATCH YOUR MOUTH

 

Yeah. That stuff was way ahead of its time.
Like Casablanca with sketchy dialog. and the guy getting the girl.

 

But while Casablanca aged pretty well... Tron did not.

 

This week, The Karate Kid.

 

I don't really have anything especially interesting to add to the thread, but I know I like it when people say nice things about stuff I've done, so I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed the TRON commentary. I wasn't able to listen to it three weeks ago because... I hadn't seen TRON. But after finally finding a high quality copy that DIDN'T cost all the money I've ever had, and giving it a watch, I was psyched to hear what you guys had to say about it. And glad to learn that I wasn't the only one who didn't think it was necessarily a GOOD movie, even if it's an important one, and you guys had some interesting stuff to say on that matter. So props.

Though I DO have to subtract points for calling Raiders of the Lost Ark a 1982 film (and shouting down the CORRECT year) and not knowing that ET was another big 1982 film... that was actually released in 1982...

On a completely unrelated note, I DID listen to the Moby Dick commentary despite note having seen the movie, and I really enjoyed it. But I'm getting the movie from Netflix today, and I'm looking forward to watching it, and then watching it again with the commentary. It's cool that you guys got to talk about a movie that two of you actually worked on, and... well... The Asylum always makes for a very specific sort of good time.

 

Just got my copies of Moby Dick 2010 and T4(bluray) from Amazon, so as soon as that check clears you guys are invited to supersize your next meal, on me.

 

Sixth Sense, eh? Hey guys, remember when we liked Shyamalan? We couldn't pronounce his name and crap and Haley Joel Osment had a long and prosperous career ahead of him? Good times, man. Good times.

[takes a swig]
SAY MOON SPIRIT ONE MORE TIME, SHYAMY. SAY MOON SPIRIT ONE MORE TIME.

 

This week, Iron Man.

 

I'm on that one!

And so is Jake.

But mostly Jake.

 

Hate to be that guy, I know you hate it too, but Jake was a little off in his summary of Fox and Marvel's relationship. Fox never owned Marvel as whole...they bought the film rights to certain characters and franchises (X-Men, Fantastic Four, Daredevil/Elektra). They also weren't responsible for the Hulk (that was Universal) and several other Marvel films (Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Man Thing, Punisher etc).

However, there was a second Punisher film that might interest Jake as it was far more dark, gritty, brutal and violent than the Thomas Jane version, called Punisher Warzone.

 

War Zone's alright. It's as weird as it is violent.
But yeah, this is one of the reasons we're mad at Fox right now, is that X-Men has beenn a downward spiral since Singer left, and it's only going to get worse, they killed the potential of a Daredevil franchise (and forced them to release the theatrical edition compared to the so-much-better director's cut), let the Fantastic Four series die off despite it's financial success and pretty much mess up everything they've touched, whereas Marvel Studios on it's own has done the two Iron Men, Incredible Hulk and is working on everything Avenger-related, and the consensus is that they're headed in the right direction. I basically want them to have control of all their characters, but the studios that got the rights during the post-X-Men rush are holding on tight.


So yeah.

 

This week, Return of the Jedi.

 

Came to this one 'cause I was told a few of my observations would be given air, was not disappointed.

- So there's four Fan Films forumgoers commenting on the rancor keeper and NOT ONE of you points out that it's Ernie "Hardware Wars" Fosselius?

- I'm going to be a pedant and point out that, yes, it was (probably) a foregone conclusion that there be a scroll at the beginning of every episodes. The point of the scroll wasn't _just_ to deliver exposition, it was to evoke the Flash Gordon serials and their ilk. I mean, I guess they _could_ have ditched the scroll for ESB onward, but.

- Unrelated to anything, but I feel like talking about it 'cause you're discussing Leia as a Jedi: When I was young and stupid I wrote some Star Wars sequel fan fiction. I had Leia as a Jedi, of course, and the big finale of Episode IX was a big ol' lightsaber duel between Leia and Darth whatever-I'd-come-up-with. For some reason my young mind never quite comprehended how awful that would be on film. Think of it. A fifty-year-old Carrie Fisher doin' back-flips and crap.

- For whoever wondered how to spell what Chewie says: read the ROTJ novelization. (It's very good, just... you have to enjoy a somewhat, um, grand writing style.)

- I like the comparison to "Heat". Very astute. I like those kinds of scenes.

- "All ships follow my dog Lando" needs to become some sort of meme.

- All right Teague, did you actually just confuse Molotov and Kuleshov, or is this a running joke I'm not aware of?

- Is it sad that I knew EXACTLY which shot you were talking about on "that's a weird way to hold a saber", and I wasn't watching the film alongside the commentary?



Finally: It says a lot about Marquand's role in this film, to note how little you guys mention Marquand. (And you guys mention him a _lot_ more than the official DVD commentary!)



Rick McCallum loves you!

 

I did confuse Molotov and Kuleshov.

I never said I was smart.

 

Hey, neither did we!

Member/moderator of a Star Wars fanfilm forum.
It's not sad, it's expected.

 

Only because it isn't. At least not on-camera, though he dubbed the voice of the guy crying.

A nice bit of trivia it is, but we're not gonna catch all of 'em.

 

This week, Spider-Man 2.

 

I was listening in on this one live well into the first half until I had to leave.

Not to be a jerk, but it's Spidey. I'm very sensitive in this area right now.
I gotta say, it might've been nice to have someone who liked the movie in your group, considering how much praise it got upon it's release. As much as I usually like Dorkman's "what the movie probably should have done" segments, they weren't working for me this time. (Though, I did laugh at whoever talked about "perpetual".)
When Teague tried to ask the chat "So what do you like about this movie?" I couldn't even provide a decent answer because the movie was being ruined in my head. And I love that movie. For a life-long Spidey fan, just watching him swing through the city, let alone the Doc Ock battle sequences, are nothing short of breath-taking. They nailed it, especially considering all the examples we've had of just how bad a superhero movie can be.

Except for the pizza sequence. It was funny the first time, but that was about it.
And I don't get why Raimi re-nerded Parker. That was a little odd, too.

However, I can't even count how many things they got right. The biggest one I think people know about it the mask in the trash can. "Spider-Man No More" is one of the early stories I read in "They Very Best of Spider-Man" TPB. They even improved on scenes in that. For example, Spidey's "Oh yeah, I'm only Parker now" moment in the issue is hearing a news report on the radio about a crime and as he reaches to change he remembers he threw the outfit out. The movie's version, with him witnessing a kid getting beat up in an alley hits a whole lot harder. If they were going to change anything, I'd take out the fire scene and replace it with the original ending where he saves an old man from a mugging on a rooftop. Guess who the old man reminds him of?

Anyway, Doc Ock's origin was spot on, tho the science he was working on was modernized. MJ's hair was orange instead of red, but Kirsten did okay aside from falling prey to the same indie cred-seeking costume designer as Maguire. Harry's fall to Goblinhood was a bit abridged, but understandable. Aunt May, Doc Connors, Betty Brant, JJJ, everything and everyone felt like old issues of Spidey on the screen.

Really, it wasn't until 3 where I started having serious issues with the series. 2 is just good superhero fun that also takes it's time when talking about the guy under the mask.

 

That perspective obviously has its voice, it wasn't necessary to voice it more just for an artificial sense of balance.

Also, I was supposed to be the one in the group who liked the movie. But then I watched it again and I couldn't sustain that.

I'm reminded of people who laugh at edgy comedians or a show like South Park suddenly deciding that they've gone too far when they find themselves in the crosshairs. (Oops, I mean surveyor's mark.) I've been that guy, so I get it.

Otherwise known as seeing our point.

You know, I sort of envy you. When I've got a property I've loved all my life, I sometimes wish I could just sit back and be glad they made a movie at all, rather than seeing all the seams. I can't help it though. It's like a weird form of synesthesia.

 

Nice to see a honest perspective at this film.

Can I also add that the film was apparently very close to including a scene like this in the final cut?

 

Oh, let's be fair, I'm sure that the people who love the movie are honest about that. You mean a critical perspective.

 

Doesn't mean I agree with it. [crosses arms, pouts]

Right, it's for that reason I sometimes forgive Marvel films a little bit too much. After the first viewing, you can't touch it. I'm so geeked out, there's no way you can convince me what I just saw was a bad movie. I liked Spider-Man 3. A LOT. I hate it now, but Venom, dude. VENOM. Holy frak, the fights in that movie were awesome.

Except for Elektra, X-Men 3, Wolverine and the Blade sequels. I knew those were bad right away. Well, after the first couple of scenes for Elektra. It actually had a pretty solid opener.

That sounds like you're saying so long as the costume looks good and the action and style are reminiscent of the source material, that should be good enough to pass the adaptation test? Under that guideline, you're right, most of them pass. I wouldn't say they're perfect. Blade, Elektra, Catwoman and you could even argue X-Men (watch the fantastical, space-travelling, time-hopping, evil mastermind-plotting sci-fi 90's show compared to the near-future movies) are really different in setting and/or tone.

I think dialogue and plot are important to this also. The comic films I hate the most were because of bad writing. In SM2, the main story of Parker struggling with a dual life and having such a hard time of it that he gives up the hero gig for a while is sold really well. Could they have done it better? Probably, but hindsight is 20/20. They could've done it a lot worse, as Bacon164 shows.

The reason the garbage can shot stood out to me is because in 2004, there really weren't a lot of iconic moments perfectly duplicated. A DC expert might be able to give us some from Superman or Batman, but I really give SM2 a lot of credit for that. Daredevil had a couple also; the most notable being the opening shot of him crouched around a cross. Though, this was from a comic cover only a couple years earlier and even then the shot wasn't as perfectly replicated as SM2. The very next year, we get Sin City and then soon after Zack Snyder starts doing his thing, showing that you could spend almost an entire movie doing shots straight from a comic. The main difference is those were graphic novels, not a 40+ year running series, but the point still stands.

That's pretty much why I like Superman Returns. There's a few good moments and a lot of weird ones but overall, that is just one really, really pretty movie that understands where it came from.
That plot probably would've stood up really well in the 70s, but the modern audience wants a whole lot more. However, have you ever read any Superman comics? Those things are just freakin' ridiculous. Most of what we're seeing in Returns is film nostalgia, not the comics books.

 

This discussion reminded me that I LOVE Daredevil. Great movie. I don't get all the hate it gets.

Ben Affleck is a total bro.


No profanity.