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Post by Jarlaxle on Jan 31, 2007 23:41:12 GMT -5
Yes, that's the one I saw. Reviews and awards for movies are given away like cheap candy. I prefer to be my own judge of what's good. As strange as it seems, I wouldn't mind seeing it. Its been a while since I've seen a movie, and a fantasy movie at that.
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Post by buttonpresser4815 on Feb 3, 2007 17:14:01 GMT -5
My local paper gave that a 10 out of 10. I read that its about a Spanish girl during WWII who lives in two worlds, that of the monsters of her own creation and of 1945 fascist spain.
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Post by Raistlin Majere on Feb 5, 2007 22:36:12 GMT -5
I had wondered why there were men in (Nazi) uniform in the previews. From the initial look of it, the movie looks very bizarre, but they must be doing something right to get the response they've recieved, it is even being compared to the Lord of the Rings--high praise. Has anyone ever heard of the book series His Dark Materials? I have read the first book in the three-book series, and it wasn't terrible. (But not phenomenal) I heard from an addmitedly unreliable source that it is going to be made into a movie, which seems to be the shifting norm for fantasy books these days.
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Post by buttonpresser4815 on Feb 6, 2007 11:53:44 GMT -5
It seems that is the pitiful case for most books these days. The value of the written word is degenerating into entertainment for the masses. It seems that most books are written today with the intention of being turned into movies. With my writings, I will try to focus more on a book than the movie element. A new movie called sunshine is coming out. I saw a preview for it. It doesn't look very good. Science Fiction movies of today rarely are, except for Children of Men, and that is no longer in theatres sadly. I still haven't got the chance to see that yet. I am hoping extensively for Fahrenheit 451, which releases in Wednesday or Friday. I will probably see it Friday. I have a feeling it won't be very successful but be critically praised, probably due to the subject matter and the low amount of advertising. I haven't see any previews for it in theatres or anywhere else. I am confident of its capabilty, however, because of the director. I saw one the movies he directed recently, The Green Mile, which was very critically acclaimed. Anyway, I've heard of His Dark Materials, but I am not exactly sure what it is about. Could you fill me in? And I thought it was a seven part series. I've also heard that it is the antithesis of the Chronicles of Narnia.
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Post by Raistlin Majere on Feb 7, 2007 22:17:09 GMT -5
Truth be told, I have only read the first book of His Dark Materials, and even then it was some time ago. I am currently re-reading it, though, among other books I am reading. It is only a three-book series, not seven, as you may have heard. As to it being the antithesis of Chronicles of Narnia, I could not say, not having read the whole series, and the ones I did read are many years behind me. I could summarize briefly the events of the first book here or by PM, or a Wikipedia article might serve you better, as a detailed summary by me would take quite a long time. I could do it, of course, if you wanted, but it would naturally be more time-consuming than reading a Wiki article. In a few-word review, the first book (The Golden Compass) is not bad. It has many original fantasy elements, some that work, some that don't.
On a different movie note, I'm sure you've all seen the previews for the movie Ghostrider. Feel free to contradict my opinion on the movie to-be, but from what little I can tell from a movie's preview, this one looks, in a word, terrible. The premise-- "In the presence of evil. . . He will become 'the rider' . . ." and all those little gag scenes that are supposed to be funny to the average moron, they're everywhere in the previews. As to a plot, I can hardly comment on that, seeing as how there appears to be none. In most movie previews, especially Marvel comic adaption movies, there is a 'villain' or whatever word you wish to use. This one appears to have no antagonist, no real plot, only special effects. I know nothing of the character himself, but it seems that practically anything today with pages is translated into movie frames, usually with limited success.
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Post by Jarlaxle on Feb 7, 2007 23:16:17 GMT -5
I would tend to agree with you Raistlin. Based on the previews, I see this as a movie with no real plot. Just a random guy who is undead, is on fire and rides a bike... big deal. I would also agree with your lack of antagonist point. If anything, Ghost Rider could be an antagonist, but there doesn't seem to be any opposition for him at all. All it seems to be (based solely on the previews) a compilation of gags with a Marvel twist.
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Post by Raistlin Majere on Feb 9, 2007 22:14:03 GMT -5
What annoys me the most is the scene where a reporter is asking some gothic-looking, fat, and seemingly stupid girl about Ghostrider, and she trails off into some long-winded explanation that is intended to be funny, but does not even come close. Not to mention how different all the trailers are: Most of them cast the movie in a 'look at me, I'm teh witty movie with special effects, noobs welcome'. Another will try to clean up that mess and try to cast it in a dramatic, epic light, and it simply doesn't work, as if they don't even have clips they could use for it.
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Post by buttonpresser4815 on Feb 10, 2007 16:31:28 GMT -5
In my opinion, there is only one franchise out of every marvel adaptation that seems to be successful, to both critics and fans, and that is the spiderman franchise. It seems to have at least some of the elements of a good plot-the character often struggles with the context of superhumanity-and the special effects are not to heavily relied on. Other than that, the Hulk, and even the modern Superman franchises are relative failures. Unless something decent comes along, I do not wish to see any more of those kinds of movies, espicially the spoofies that are coming out lately. Scary Movie and Epic Movie are all just meant for comedy, and that makes for a a terrible plot that fails to entertain beyond occasional hilarity, and even this occasional hilarity fails to enterain many people. The film industry is degenerating into BOOM! movies and SMASH movies. Rarely, except in the case of Children of Men and The Lord of the Rings, are there any exceptions.
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Post by Jarlaxle on Feb 11, 2007 0:54:29 GMT -5
From what I understand, its not that Hollywood is running out of ideas, its just that they are reluctant to use the good ideas. They fear that the good ideas available could end up as failures and could result in a substantial loss in money. I personally think that they should take the risk and make a movie really worth watching. Take George Lucas for example. He took a huge risk because his movie was so unlike what all the others, but he created Star Wars anyway and hopped for the best, and look at Star Wars now: After many decades, it has become one of the most popular science fiction/action movies around. Hollywood should learn from that example. There are risks of failure, but if they don't make movies any better than what have made so far, then the result will be the same as a failure on a good idea.
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Post by Reno on Feb 11, 2007 19:28:36 GMT -5
You should try to relize that there isnt just one group of people called Hollywood that decides what to make Jarjar. Its not like Hollywood is the only group that determines movie making, infact, its not even a group, its kjust a city. So I have no idea where you came up with the idea that Hollywood makes movies and thinks up of idea's. Its simply a matter of funding from one place, and idea's from someone else.
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Post by Jarlaxle on Feb 11, 2007 23:21:37 GMT -5
I realize all that, but you must admit, that they are a huge contributor to the film industry,. Hollywood was meant to serve only as my example Reno.
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Post by The Rogue on Feb 12, 2007 19:11:27 GMT -5
From what I understand, its not that Hollywood is running out of ideas, its just that they are reluctant to use the good ideas. They fear that the good ideas available could end up as failures and could result in a substantial loss in money. I personally think that they should take the risk and make a movie really worth watching. Take George Lucas for example. He took a huge risk because his movie was so unlike what all the others, but he created Star Wars anyway and hopped for the best, and look at Star Wars now: After many decades, it has become one of the most popular science fiction/action movies around. Hollywood should learn from that example. There are risks of failure, but if they don't make movies any better than what have made so far, then the result will be the same as a failure on a good idea. Yeah, I've been noticing that movies suck lately. I mean, maybe 1-3 a year on average are actually good. Movies such as the Spiderman movies, the Pirates movies, and the Chronicles of Narnia. I must agree that there are no good ideas anymore, either because they don't have any or because they are afraid to use them. OUt of the list I just put, only one isn't a movie based on a book or comic, and that's Pirates, and I maybe even that is based off of something. Well, I guess there is good news in this. I won't be wasting too much money watching movies anymore.
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Post by Raistlin Majere on Feb 12, 2007 22:26:51 GMT -5
While we are on the topic of Hollywood: No, there is no group simply known as "Hollywood" that makes all the decisions, as was said. That much is obvious, but still, the people there, or rather the place many movies get their funding have a big influence on what movies get made. To put it bluntly, movies that don't meet the action standards of the makers either have to be modified or not get made at all. In that way, not only do the makers profess to know what everyone wants to see, but they have some sway over the content of the movie.
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Post by Jarlaxle on Feb 15, 2007 22:27:55 GMT -5
In addition to that, with many movies created from books or other older stories, much or at least some of the original plot and quality is lost because of those standards.
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Post by Raistlin Majere on Feb 16, 2007 22:16:31 GMT -5
True enough. Adapting a story from one method of telling it to another is not always successful. Packing a story from a book into a convenient two-hour time slot doesn't always work, and large parts of the story must simply be lopped off to fit. Not only that, but I have never really seen an actor who plays the role of a book (Or game, I suppose) character perfectly. You simply get to see the acting style of the highest-paid actor for the job.
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