#130 The infamous 'ripples in the water glass' in JP were created by a crew member plucking guitar strings attached under the dashboard. (From: 'tuomo') Prev - Next
"Rogue One" On 12/11/2016 at 5:00:39 PM, Compy01 started the thread: Early reviews suggest it's great. Myself? I'm not too arsed about seeing it, I don't really care for prequels. We all know the death star is going to blow up but the glowing reviews have me optimistic like it could be a Halo Reach style prequel. Y'know, one that shifts the attention on to another aspect of the story to give it a fresh angle.
I was also surprised when I found out Felicity Jones wasn't playing a young Princess Leia. I thought it was a great casting choice because she looks a lot like her.
That scene at the end - THAT is why Darth Vader is one of the most feared and terrifying villains in cinematic history. Because he can do THAT.
Msg #4: On 1/13/2017 at 12:58:24 AM, Pteranadon2003 replied, saying: It was wonderful and only gets better each time you watch it. Seen it three times. Pretty sure it's in my top 3 Star Wars films.
Msg #5: On 11/17/2017 at 9:20:15 PM, Ostromite replied, saying: I caved in and watched it because I was desperate for some dumbass space fantasy bullshit (haven't been able to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 or Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets yet).
It was fucking horrible. I don't like Star Wars anyway, but at least all the other movies maintained the original conceit of a schoolboy film serial like Flash Gordon or Captain Video and the lighthearted tone of a fantasy adventure story. However seriously people take Star Wars, it has always depended on the idea of an old-timey radio announcer voice saying "Will our hero rescue the princess from Jabba's palace in time?" and shit. Rogue One states its intentions by ignoring the text crawl and delivers a bland and joyless World War II b-movie set in the Star Wars universe. It's a junior high school student's fan fiction treatment given a full Hollywood mega-budget production. Absolutely worthless. I'm embarrassed I even sat through it.
Msg #6: On 11/19/2017 at 4:22:49 PM, PaulSF replied, saying: At least Giacchino wrote a good theme for Ostromite.
*re-reads post while playing*
Msg #7: On 11/26/2017 at 12:25:05 PM, Ostromite replied, saying: Ha ha. Doesn't change the fact that anyone that genuinely enjoyed this movie on the level of character or story has worms in their brain. Replies: 8
Msg #8: On 11/29/2017 at 3:26:51 AM, PaulSF replied to Msg #7, saying: In all seriousness and for an attempt at discussion that doesn't involve telling the other that they have parasitic organisms in their brain, I can meet you some of the way here. 30%? 40? This is an improvement over the usual. RO is maybe my second least favorite of the so far seven movies we've seen. I even like The Phantom Menace over RO. Maybe even Attack Of The Clones (which would make RO my least favorite; undecided).
I don't want these to remind me of some gritty war movie, no. I want pure fantasy adventure. I think much of the tone was misguided, and in a few places, Gareth Edwards' fanboy sensibility got in the way of what he was even trying to do. The last five minutes are pretty bad. That being said, I clearly liked Cassian and Jyn-Erso more than you did. Their death scene moved me; it was directed and scored beautifully to boot. They were victims of war, had a miserable life of survival, yet ultimately found some resolution within themselves by doing something selfless instead of acting out of sheer survival lead self-interest. I thought this was sharply written and visualized early on, with few words. Alan Tudyk as K-2SO was also kinda wonderful.
Like I said, 30%-40%. Overall I don't enjoy the misguided tone, Most of the characters added little to nothing, and Edwards is kind of a fanboy. I actually kind of hated the ending. The CGI Leia moment was downright embarrassing. The way George Lucas directed her opening scenes from Star Wars kept her feeling distant/shrouded in mystery. Even when you put the horrible CGI face aside, it completely botches that tone to have this lame fanboygasm moment of her turning to the camera for a smile. In these moments, I think it sucks as bad as you say. There are a few. That's the worst, and left a terrible taste in my mouth as the credits rolled.
Still liked those two characters, still cared when they died, and I still thought the visuals and action in the last half looked fucking terrific. I guess those are the worms talking.
Msg #9: On 12/6/2017 at 5:46:15 PM, Ostromite replied, saying: What is it, 2009? Why am I replying to a post on Dan's? I'll respond to a few things, but I don't want this to turn into an argument like I'm 22 years old again.
Alan Tudyk as K-2SO was also kinda wonderful.
Alan Tudyk is a fine comic actor, but what about the character of K-2SO did you actually like? What was his personality? I'm sure you've seen the Plinkett videos, so you know when he asked people to describe Star Wars characters to someone who didn't know anything about Star Wars without saying what they looked like or what their job was. K-2SO has a few decent lines, but they're not motivated by a consistent personality. He's dry, I guess, and emotionally cold, but he's a robot. So what? He sacrifices himself at the end and is "good", but where did that come from? He's just a grab bag of character traits from other movie robots: C-3PO, R2-D2, the re-programmed T-800 from Terminator 2, Bishop from Aliens, etc. It's a classic case of a character that's one-dimensional and uninspired on paper that only works because the actor can make anything sound funny, like Fred Willard reading a weather report.
I clearly liked Cassian and Jyn-Erso more than you did. Their death scene moved me; it was directed and scored beautifully to boot.
Okay, but did the scene move you because the characters were solid and worth caring about, or because it had nice music and camerawork? That's the kind of manipulative bullshit this movie (and Spielbergian-Lucasesque films in general) like to pull, tricking you into thinking Something Dramatic is happening with sound and visuals without bothering with the actual writing. Again, like K-2SO, what were Cassian and Jyn's personalities? Why did you care about them? The film offers no real characters to care about, just cheap tricks to fool you into caring about their paper cut-outs.
Msg #10: On 12/6/2017 at 11:34:48 PM, PaulSF replied, saying: Music paired with visual storytelling will always be an emotional trigger for me, so I can't deny that this may not be a significant part of it. I'm a total sucker for those kinds of moments in cinema where the words go away and all that's left are the moving pictures and accompanying music. I'm in love with it. I find it magical, when earned. In the case of Cassian and Jyn, as I said, I absolutely did feel that it gave me just enough about them to care about their end once it came. I'm not tattooing their likliness on my body, but I felt sympathetic toward them by the time that scene rolled around. We meet them in a selfish place, and then are shown actions that suggest something in them that's more appropriate to who they actually are (Jyn immediately throwing herself in harms way in an early action scene to save a frightened child, off the top of my head). That is just a big ol' opinion I don't demand anyone agree with.
K2SO was a sarcastic personality with a cynical sense of humor that I enjoyed. I don't have a deeper response to him. I liked the way he played off those two characters. Nothing particularly complex there to share with you.
