The Big Picture: A Disturbance In The Force Pages PREV 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 NEXT | |
I'm coming late to this, but yes it fits. Not the time travel, but the rest... Also Alias is good, like really good, you watch Alias (and Suddenly Thirty...don't judge me!) and you realise why Jennifer Garner got cast in everything for a while there in the right role and with the right director, she is brilliant. It is the Timothy Oliphant story though, seemingly great actors who only work for one character and one creative talent. Plus Victor Garber and Carl Lumbly are awesome in Alias, like Michael Ironside awesome. Middle-aged menace for the win!
Not Raimi's fault really, the studio interfered and forced him to include Venom. I guess Raimi could have walked away. Raimi wanted to focus on just the Sandman...that would have made a better film, it wouldn't have been the bloated mess it turned into. | |
See I liked it because it explored the idea that Bruce Wayne might be able to do more good for the city just as Bruce Wayne than as Batman. I thought they raised some really great points. I guess it's hard to put my finger on it but for me, what puts all of the Nolan's Batman movies above all of the generic action movies (or even good action movies) is the emotional impact it has on me. Maybe I just have an easier time connecting with these movies but every time I see any of the 3, I always feel emotionally drained afterwards (in a good way). I guess I don't mind how much Nolan deviates from the comics as much as others. I do see that as being a common complaint but I really don't mind. Nolan set out to tell his own story that is influenced by the comics. In my mind, he succeeded rather spectacularly. I can see how it could bother you though. Also, thanks for taking my jape in such a lighthearted way. After I posted that reply I thought: "hmm, maybe that wasn't the best idea." I figured I was either going to get the response you gave me or pure rage. | |
I don't think we will do a bad job but as he is directing the Star Trek movie, not sure if there will be a third, I'm not sure if he should be doing this too. Was actually hoping Whedon would get it I think he would do well on it and if not him Favreau. Also I just watched that episode of Futurama! | |
Funny, the scuttlebutt from friends that follow these things more than I do is that no one wants this gig. It's the franchise whose fans have spent 15 years bitching about an alteration of a a split second of blaster fire. It's not a project for anyone not wanting to get flayed alive for any little fault. I suppose I could go on at length about how people with no skin in the game are complaining about the "safe" choice, but I'm honestly very tired of it. Short version: not your money, company, reputation, or anything else on the line here so you don't get to get too up in arms that the people putting up the cash for this don't want to risk a flop, on endless bad press from red letter media as just about any geek movie is made with sequels in mind. This is true for everything, not just Star Wars. No, the larger issue is that we really don't know what king of story they even want to tell, hence the condemnation of the director choice is somewhat premature. Particualry for adapted projects, the choice of the director can have drastic implications. Joss Whedon for example was the perfect choice for the Avengers given his history with comedic personal interplay. He might have made an interesting Lord of the Rings, but I think the epicness would be neutered somewhat. He;d be rather inappropriate to touch something like 300, or inception, or Watchmen. Sometimes while "safe" you have to go with the director that will handle your material in the matter intended without going off on weird tangents, or missing the point. You don't need someone that's going to insist on a swing dancing number in the middle of your space opera Spider0Man 3 style, or has no idea what they're doing a la Green Lantern. I mean, no, I'm not thrilled with the choice myself having been bored to tears by just about everything he's done (particularly on TV) but he's fitting, and until script leaks show things are trying to go in a direction he's not good with, I'm willing to give him a shot. | |
Heh, looks like MovieBob called you out on Twitter:
I think he kinda missed the point with that one... | |
I'm pretty much with you here. I don't think that Star Trek was a particularly bad movie. In fact, I felt it was a middling to better action flick. It did not, however, feel like Star Trek (my big complaint) and it certainly didn't feel like science fiction. | |
Blomkamp doesn't even need 200mil. He can do an excellent job on a quarter of that. Just look at the budget for District 9. Man's a regular Robert Rodriguez when it comes to spending. | |
Well done Bob. Did a good job of not only giving my thoughts on the matter, but articulating it better then I ever could. This right here is why you amaze me from time to time. | |
"corporate blandness" translation "here, here's a live grenade, you hold onto that". There's a phrase that instantly induces rabid emotion. I don't really think that a director alone can repeatedly create the lighting in a bottle that is good art. Some are better at it, but it's still a fluke when something really good comes along. The best you can do to try and create it is to throw the best you can at a piece of art and hope it comes together. I don't think fanboying one director or another is going to help anything. They got a popular director who did Star Trek. Companies tend to do get popular directors who did related movie genres to do their movie. I don't begrudge them for that. I do however think the idea that people are actively moving towards safe and mundane entertainment is stupid. It's a bit more complex then that and it involves not only movie but also games (and probably other media but I know those two for sure). It's very wide spread and i don't think its as easy to diagnose as saying people are artistically timid. | |
I DESPISE J.J. Abrams for what he did to the Star Trek franchise. He's a hack of a movie director. His " Star Trek " was like listening to science fiction sound effects while staring into the damn sun. He shouldn't be anywhere near the directors chair let alone STAR WARS. Do you really want Star Wars to look like this ??
While the thought was do the fans " deserve " a good movie is heavily implied I for one would have to say yes. Keep in mind we are talking about fans that buy the toys , video games , books , movies , hell even the crappy animated series just because they like the content. While yes some people will see anything they aren't the target fan base they are just looking for escapism. Thats fine by me but don't punish the fan base for it. The sad thing is thats just what the studio is doing by putting J.J. Abrams at the helm. When J.J. Abrams arrives expect a science fiction franchise to die. ( I'm not going to reply to " Quotes " ). | |
I'm fine with Abrams directing star wars. I just don't want him having a hand in the cinematography, story, art direction, music or casting. | |
Abrams is perfect for the new Star Wars movie. Disney is going to want something with tons of space battles, high drama, and lightsaber fights - space opera - because that's what sells big both here and internationally. Particularly on the "international" markets, where all manner of cultural subtleties tend to get lost in translation (not to mention that raising political issues potentially means trouble with the Chinese film censorship board). And you know what? Star Wars and Star Trek movies are at their best when they stop being so goddamned serious and just embrace the drama and cheese of full-blown space opera. It's why I enjoy Star Trek 2009, even though the plot is full of contrivances and plot holes. It's why the best and most entertaining Star Trek movie is Wrath of Khan, which is the closest that Star Trek gets to Space Opera Incarnate. I think Abrams can do that kind of film. | |
Well that's that. I am so sick of the lack of dedication to these video's Bob. Do you even watch the final version? Your accent once again comes and goes. You can't pick which you're gonna use, or you can't be assed to fix it. That's fine. I'll just stop watching in the hopes you've gone full accent or no accent. Pretty disappointing I did love your stuff. | |
In interviews, he said he wanted to bring some of that 'star wars' vibe to 'star trek'. So. =) | |
Star Wars is fantasy space opera. | |
I pretty much can't agree considering what you said about Lost. It is easily one of the top 10 best TV shows ever created. Fact. The ending wasn't so great, but that sure doesn't kill the rest of the journey. | |
Wait, you just bashed Fringe? | |
I will guess you haven't read the starwars books, played the starwars shooter/RTS/MMO. I think the star wars universe is exactly as expanded and diverse as older mythologies. Do some googling and you will find a timeline and score of characters so immense that it could literally contain ANY movie you would want to make. Sure not everything is exactly cannon but it has spawned an immense amount of content and depth. Or is that not what you meant? | |
My answer to you is this. Who the hell cares who is going to direct the movie? whant matters is who wrights the damn thing! Is J.J. going to wright it too? | |
i thought no one was going to make the stupid lens flare joke, well done :) | |
Oh and who defended Lost? Maybe the first couple of seasons sure but it turned to crap by the finale, hell many plot points and explanations were BS even for the premise.
see this is what i don't like (not that what i like is important) Star Trek and Star Wars are supposed to be different, starkly different but by melding the two what's the point (other than the obvious $$)? they're doing just enough to make them all the same without people not knowing the difference. | |
HAHAHHAHAHAHA Oh my poor sides. I can't say I'm not a little honored, this is the second time he replies to some I've said somewhere on his twitter. I mean sure, both were smug dismissals of my opinions, but you take what you can get. | |
Star Wars is most definitely science fiction. Space opera is just a subgenre of science fiction and many, many others fall into the same category (including Star Trek and Mass Effect). | |
I've been trying to form into words why i was doubtful about Abrams taking over star wars and Bob basically one UP'd me perfectly. really only a handful of directors could have handled star wars in my opinion, and i preferably would have put someone like Ridley Scott in the seat. or at the very least get the guy who directed Thor and tell him: Shakespear in Space, go for it. | |
Get off the guy's accent. Who the hell are you to dictate when he can and can't use his natural way of speaking? How desperate are you for criticism? | |
I concede that "excel" was a poorly chosen word on my part. Although I still think that the film tries out some interesting visual ideas. Contrasting different settings, such as an underwater city with a desert planet is almost as aesthetically palpable as the techno-organic contrast between the Death Star and Endor. So for all the film's faults it's not as if it was entirely without creative ideas. | |
A large ensemble of great characters like, for instance, "Lost". (Though, Star Wars, if done right, will concentrate almost totally on brand new characters while Star Trek re vitalized old ones.) I think he can do this. He may blow it. Bob mentions some names he thinks better, but they, and just about any other big name, have delivered mixed bags (especially the Hellboy director). The best point Bob makes is that this guy may leave us thinking, "wow! That was a totally C+ to B -! Not a D! But no one thinking, "home run!" But he re-sparked interest in Star Trek. That was no small feat. I hate his time travel and quantum physics stuff, but he is like the anti-Cameron. He is terrific with his characters, actors and dialogue. He may really do great in this! I've read the writer of Toy Story 3 will write the next Star Wars. A buddy of mine was dismayed thinking that just a kid movie. I insisted he watch the following and appears to have changed his mind. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escape-to-the-movies/1809-Toy-Story-3 | |
I don't think it's the fans who want the movie to be safe (though they certainly haven't shown themselves to be open to changes in "their" franchise). In all fairness, a lot of fanboys - as you've pointed out - are STILL griping about the prequels. It's understandable if Disney wants to use a director who's not bad but doesn't have any vision. That puts him on the level of George Lucas in terms of ability (face it, his action sequences were awesome), but he doesn't have the same "This is my franchise" motivation that pissed off so many entitled, self-centered twits... I mean, fanboys. I'm okay with Abrams directing it, honestly. He knows how to do action sequences, that's for sure, and that's what brings me back to the Star Movies whenever they're shown in theaters. What I'm hoping is that the writers will do a much better job than George Lucas. THAT was his major shortcoming. "Scruffy-looking nerf-herder" is why I believe the prequels were no worse than the original trilogy. | |
I agree, it is really annoying when he keeps switching accent, you would think his editor would get off their ass and catch things like that if Bob himself couldnt be assed to do it.
Did it ever occur to you that he could just talk in his natural boston accent for the whole clip instead of bouncing in and out of his standardized accent instead of just being lazy? | |
You can do that and still do a normal batman world, trying so hard to warp the fiction around quasi realty is never a good thing IMO. It has its own world no need to go out of your way to make a new one. Even more so since most of the characters 2 or 3 variations. I tend to post harsh,fast and crazed first then if anyone one responds try and explain myself in a reasonable manner. All in all Bane was just a horrible mishmash, IMO it would have not got my back up if they called im anything else. Then again Bane was some sort of master stagiest so 2 out 4(make that 5 pooky bear lulz) things is not so bad I guess.... I guess when it comes down to it I try and like the things they do but they make it so hard too. | |
Eloquent. And in my opinion, spot on. Good show Mr. Movie Bob. | |
I dunno, Star Wars to me definitely falls into the fantasy genre more. Star Trek and Mass Effect at least uses a bit of handwavium to explain their fictitious tech, but Star Wars goes full out space magic when it comes to The Force. | |
You act like bouncing in and out is two different things. I live in New England, it's much more in and out, like it is here.
The "hand-waving" is there, it's just not the focus of most of the material. I would even argue that in Star Trek and Mass Effect that the "hand-waving" is just as de-emphasized. | |
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I'd say we are pretty damn close to accepting mediocrity if not already doing it. I may be off base when I say this, but I also think it has to do a lot with geek culture becoming more accepted by the mainstream. Instead of using the newfound public eye to push the envelope, studios and some directors would rather appeal to them. Play it safe, don't do anything to scare away your new cash cows. They keep raking in the dough at the detriment of the fans who got them there.
At least that's my two cents on the matter.