ST The New Rumor Intellectual Thread of Seriousness for Sophisticated Discourse

Perhaps MSW has some unreleased tidbits about the score? It seems like everything went completely dark after this bombshell​

​

​

 

I definitely want Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma to make it to Episode VIII. It'd feel like a waste of both characters if they didn't.

 

dude your avatar gives me the friggin creeps!!!


that Yoda looks..yeah...just creepy..

 

It's a cardboard cutout someone gave me so I decided to use it here...I should probably change it sometime!

 

I'm pretty certain that TFA won't be "Star Wars" in terms of cultural impact and legacy. If you're looking for a "Say hello to my little friend" iconic quote to come from it, or a significant leap in film technique, it's probably not going to happen. I listened to the podcast part and Mike Verta's POV, a very valid one, seems to be looking for the cultural significance in film and I doubt TFA is really going to make the same dent on society that the OT did. As he said, it just being a Star Wars movie isn't enough for him and I can't blame him for that. I think Star Wars fans themselves are looking for a film that does its duty to the mythos, which TFA sounds like it will.

Doesn't mean it won't be awesome, or that it can't happen. I think it sounds like a worthy successor to the OT.

 

Pah, rubbish. Second (or third?) hand comments from unnamed VFX people are

pretty worthless, IMO.

If that's the expectation and complaint (that it will be some new cultural touchstone, and failing that, not "Star Wars"), then that's a pretty high bar. No movie can live up to that. That's also the price we pay for getting lots more Star Wars: it will become somewhat more commonplace and normal to have new movies. I can live with that.

 

Yeah, and that guy doesn't exactly have the sunniest disposition on most things from the sound of the interview. Everything is "modern culture and art sucks nowadays blah blah blah".
I also doubt that the VFX artists have a firm grasp of the film anyway. They've probably only seen bits and pieces, mainly action set-pieces (which probably contain several visual Abrams-isms that they would find off-putting)

 

I tried to listen to it, but it says the file is corrupted. Did they take the file down?

 

Been lurking for years. This inspired me to respond. This dude Verta is a total JJ Abrams hater. He says he has no interest in The Force Awakens and doesn't plan on even seeing the movie because JJ "has never created a single iconic moment in his life" (paraphrasing). Which is total nonsense. At the very least, JJ Abrams created the best television pilot of all time, and the opening to Star Trek (2009) is unimpeachable. Consider the source.

 

Hmm, that sucks.

Honestly though, I probably need to have my pie-in-the-sky expectations tempered for this movie because it would be virtually impossible for even someone like Kubrick, Herzog or Hitchcock to meet my unreasonable expectations for Episode VII.

Kind of like how when someone is feeling pretty proud of themselves and starts thinking they're something special and then some large gentlemen takes issue with this and decides to rock their world with a swift jab to the nose--more often it ends up being a wake-up call of sorts.

(though I guess it's clear that there are times when it has more of a sedative effect)

 

Werner Herzog's TFA......Imagine if it was following David Lynch's ROTJ o.0

 

Stop! Stop it! Just STOP IT!

Actually, thanks for conveying this information.

However, I can't seem to download or listen to that .m4a file -- says it's corrupted.

 

I'm still hugely optimistic, despite this. I'm not expecting something with the same level of cultural impact as the original trilogy; that's all but impossible for any film nowadays. I'm also not expecting this to sync up 1:1 with what I've imagined a post-RotJ film would be like; I've been waiting for this film practically my entire life, and I've imagined quite a bit, so there's no way that's realistic. All I need is something at least on the level of Return of the Jedi in terms of quality, which I feel is reasonable enough. Anything better than that is just extra icing on the cake.

That's strange, it's still working for me. Here's the link to the main site, see if this works.

http://undressingunderground.com/post/128630282964/episode-27-mike-verta

 

IDK. This guys sounds like he's just jaded by modern film in general.

 

I don't even have to see the movie and I can say with relative certainty that there will be people who will not like it and will say things like "It's not Star Wars" simply due to their own opinions on what "Star Wars" is. We have people like that on our forums who define "Star Wars" with how Luke Skywalker is portrayed or whether or not there are flashbacks or scenes after the credits. So, to hear that someone may have said that is not surprising to me at all but at the same time in no way gives me any notion that the film will be bad.

 

I was thinking it was probably something like this. He probably believes JJ should have hired him as a consultant or something.

It's everyone's right to dislike any film they want. But I think it's underhanded to tell people something's no good without explaining the specific reasons why. That suggests to me he's possibly making it up.

 

Since he's a composer, I would say that something like lying about this could hurt his career but 1). it's vague enough to prevent it from being debunked 2). he's not been afraid of speaking ill of other movies/music, which also has the potential to hurt his career 3). stirring up a big controversy like this could actually get him recognition and maybe even potential scoring assignments.
Also, I find it odd that despite doing a super edit of A New Hope, he's "not really interested in Star Wars". Something seems fishy about all of this.

Even if it is true, I wouldn't think too much of it. Chances are pretty slim that Verta hangs around people with radically different tastes. From what I've heard from him in the interview and other places, he seems to dislike most modern entertainment and his friends probably do too.

All that being said, I do still like what I've heard of his music.

 

The guy was married to Winnie Cooper for a couple years.

They had a son named...Draco?

 

His interest is pretty much solely with the original film. He's stated a couple of times that The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi aren't all that important to him, for one reason or another. We have at least one fan like that on this board. It's uncommon, but not unheard of. Regardless of whether or not we end up liking the film, or even whether or not the vast majority of critics and general audience members like it, or even whether or not it's any good, I don't really think he's lying about what he's heard from certain people. Again, I'm still hugely optimistic about the film, and I don't think this is a nail in the coffin at all. It's just, like, their opinion, man.

 

What how do u even know that?

 

It's good to get a negative POV on TFA to balance out all the positive feedback we've been hearing. But then again, this doesn't tell us much except his or his friends feelings about TFA -- it's totally vague as it lacks in reasons for their feelings. So it amounts to something like gossip without details that might make it an interesting critique.

But I'm just as interested in negative views as I am positive views. Either side should have details though if they're going to come out in public and be taken seriously.

So far the positive reactions have typically trumpeted a good script. That's something of substance for us to hold on to. And we can return to it later to see if we agree with the positive reaction.

 

Sticking with a too narrow defintion of what "is" and "isn't" Star Wars enough is silly. The universe should grow and add new elements, otherwise we'd end up with a rather repetitive formula being recycled over and over. And that would be an unfortunate waste of a perfectly great galaxy where you can tell all kinds of stories.

 

I agree. But what I find problematic with someone throwing this out is when they leave their criteria vague, as though we all know what they mean by "it's not Star Wars."

But since the guy seems to love ANH, they must be fans of the more lighthearted approach (maybe?). If this chap doesn't even like ESB that much, then I doubt most people here really find much warrant (power) behind his view.

 

While I don't put much stock in it, and the dude sounds pretty anti-JJ, if we're going to throw positive comments from the likes of Drew Struzan (however cautiously) into the mix, then we also need to at least take these vaguely onboard. That said, as others have pointed out - what is and isn't considered SW is highly personal and in the end it all comes down to how each of us view it. The more purist one is, the less chance I see in someone enjoying it. @TheBPP is right though, there will absolutely be people who hate it. Maybe with good reason. Just as there will be people who love it and people in between. You only have to look at every other SW film to know that. But let's hope this is at the generally well recieved end of the spectrum. It certainly looks, sounds and feels like SW so far. And equally, how do those comments mesh with the "this is just a seen it all before rehash" POV some hold?

 

This article on MSW is broadly in line with what I believe to be the general thrust of the Vader / saber business, though I think that the 'Force battery' kiber crystals within the saber are the McGuffin. Basically JJ replacing ANH's Death Star plans with George's original McGuffin.
http://makingstarwars.net/2015/09/star-wars-the-force-awakens-the-pathway-to-unnatural-abilities/

Also, and completely unrelated, I wonder whether the banners in Vader's castle from RM's ESB concept sketches had any influence upon the First Order's banners in TFA? They could just as easily be influenced by the imagery of the Third Reich, but I found it interesting nonetheless.