TV/Movies Megathread

[viper37]

Yeah. The plot and characters and themes were all terribly managed in virtually every area. I am not the biggest star wars fan or anything so I am not mad about it but damn I just do not get the decisions made in that series.

I mean a war between robots and clones? Who the fuck thought that would be compelling? A war where all the combatants are completely expendable. OH THE TRAGEDY.

Military officers and Jedis aren't clones or robots and they aren't expendables

In any case, the war is often fought on populated worlds, causing a drag on resources and civilian casualties.  Given the diverse nature of alien races in the Star Wars universe, if you want a credible army, there's not much choice of having an artificial standard imposed, here the droids for the less populated secessionist South and the Clones for the richer industrial North.

The idea was good.  How it was done though, is an entirely other matter.

The progression from Anakin Skywalker, sweet young boy to Darth Vader is a good idea, but how it's done in the movies, despite some hints in the 2nd episode, you'd swear it happened in the space of 5 minutes, going from saviour of the Republic to killer of children.  The moral ambiguity was all lost.  The kid wasn't a really good actor to begin with, it was just made worst by the silly writing of Lucas.

I would have skipped half of the first movie and merged it with part of the second to make the first movie.  Than show us the real progression of Anakin Skywalker toward Darth Vader, his intense desire to see things done right.

Clone Wars had better stories, but due to it being a kid's show, they can't really portrait Anakin as the evil he will become, they can't really show us his progression toward that.

[Valmy]

Oh yeah I was really worried for the jedi and the military officers. I think the whole idea sucked ass.

But even if it didn't to some people the point still stands: everything was terribly managed. Nothing worked for me. Not one character was handled well, not one theme done right.

Anakin needed to go from sweet boy to super badass hero to bombastic villain. Instead he went from whiny unlikeable boy to borderline psycho asshole to lame villain. He was never written to be a compelling protagonist. I know people blame the actor but holy crap nobody could have made that work. There are a nearly infinite number of ways this could have been done better so sure suggest away. And yeah I am not surprised at all the kid's show told better stories. How damning is that?

[KRonn]

After watching that Star Wars spot, youtube autoplayed a trailer for the Huntsman sequel, which pretty much looks like Frozen updated for the Twilight crowd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwtklzynPKA

Having seen Snow White and the Huntsman (and loved it), I had to look up the plot synopsis of this on Wikipedia to make any sense of that trailer. Not a good sign.

I also liked the first movie but the prequel/sequel appears to be quite different. I do like some of the cast though, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, Theron and Chris Hemsworth.

[Syt]

Well, in Clone Wars they strive to give many clones distinct personalities, and different looks (hairstyles, tattoos, decals on armor etc.). Though it's up for debate how realistic that is. Though I guess it makes sense that if everyone else looks like you you try to differentiate yourself from them.

Well you can see why they felt the need to do this, the movie handed them something boring and poorly thought out and they had to turn it into an interesting series. Pretty bad when your filler series needs to spice up your blockbuster space opera.

The series fleshes out the characters much more. Seasons 1 & 2 were not so great, though there was the occasional highlight. If you want some story examples without delving too deeply, you can check out the reviews over at SF Debris (on the right hand side there's a section for Clone Wars).

http://sfdebris.com/videos/animation.php

[viper37]

Oh yeah I was really worried for the jedi and the military officers. I think the whole idea sucked ass.

heartless monster!

But even if it didn't to some people the point still stands: everything was terribly managed. Nothing worked for me. Not one character was handled well, not one theme done right.

I never said Lucas was a genius
I just said I liked the initial premises.  And some of the concepts.  How Palpatine managed to grab power was very well done.  How the Republic transformed itself into the Empire was very well done.  How Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader was the worst part of the movie because you literally have to guess it yourself from material not in the movie (and that wasn't Lucas' intentions).

Lucas is only a genius in how he leaves lots of holes to be exploited by other, more talented writers and directors

[Valmy]

Anyway all I am saying is the Abrams only has to clear a very low bar. I am remarkably tolerant of sci-fi and fantasy crap. I even enjoyed that bloated Hobbit trilogy. So Star Wars...don't fuck it up completely. Just kind of fucking it up is all I am asking.

[Barrister]

Well, in Clone Wars they strive to give many clones distinct personalities, and different looks (hairstyles, tattoos, decals on armor etc.). Though it's up for debate how realistic that is. Though I guess it makes sense that if everyone else looks like you you try to differentiate yourself from them.

Well you can see why they felt the need to do this, the movie handed them something boring and poorly thought out and they had to turn it into an interesting series. Pretty bad when your filler series needs to spice up your blockbuster space opera.

The series fleshes out the characters much more. Seasons 1 & 2 were not so great, though there was the occasional highlight. If you want some story examples without delving too deeply, you can check out the reviews over at SF Debris (on the right hand side there's a section for Clone Wars).

http://sfdebris.com/videos/animation.php

Yeah the latter parts of Clone Wars are actually kind of compelling.

[celedhring]

I have always meant to try and watch that or Rebels, but it seems to me I'll have to go through a lot of kiddie stuff (which is fine, I'm not the target audience) in order to get to the parts I will find cool.

[viper37]

I have always meant to try and watch that or Rebels, but it seems to me I'll have to go through a lot of kiddie stuff (which is fine, I'm not the target audience) in order to get to the parts I will find cool.

that is an accurate description of the shows, yes.  There are some very good parts, but lots of it is aimed at pre-teen/teen boys.  But, that is not much different than the prequels

[Syt]

Well, yeah, it's not Shakespeare. That said, there's some rather dark stuff in it, and it doesn't generally mind killing characters, so it's not too kid friendly. It's probably more on the level of shows like Gargoyles or Batman in terms of maturity.

[Malthus]

I have always meant to try and watch that or Rebels, but it seems to me I'll have to go through a lot of kiddie stuff (which is fine, I'm not the target audience) in order to get to the parts I will find cool.

that is an accurate description of the shows, yes.  There are some very good parts, but lots of it is aimed at pre-teen/teen boys.  But, that is not much different than the prequels

Isn't *all* of Star Wars basically aimed at that audience? 

[Savonarola]

The Garden of Eden (1928)

Corrine Griffith is living in Vienna, but dreams of being an opera singer, so she runs away to Budapest; because that's where opera singers go to make it big.  Budapest.  Anyhow the "Opera Company" the opera company she was invited to sing at is actually a sleazy cabaret.  She goes on stage to sing in the Puritan dress, but it's a setup and everyone can see her nude silhouette.  After that she's invited by one of the patrons to a "Private meeting," which goes largely how you'd expect.  Both she and the wardrobe lady, Rosa end up getting fired and Rosa invites her to go with her on vacation.  It turns out that Rosa is actually a baroness, who spends her entire pension for two weeks at a high end resort in Monte Carlo.  That's what Hungarians do.  Just trust me on this.  Anyhow while in Monte Carlo Corrine is pursued by two men, who are nephew and uncle.  Hilarity ensues, similar to an episode of "Threes Company," but in the end true love wins.

[Barrister]

I have always meant to try and watch that or Rebels, but it seems to me I'll have to go through a lot of kiddie stuff (which is fine, I'm not the target audience) in order to get to the parts I will find cool.

Clone Wars is the kind of show I put on when I'm doing something else (like cleaning up or doing dishes).

Though Malthus is exactly right - it is no more and no less kiddie than anything else Star Wars.  The age it's aimed at isn't pre-schoolers, more like 8-12 year olds.

[Valmy]

Isn't *all* of Star Wars basically aimed at that audience? 

You would never know it with all the political mumbo jumbo and forced love stories in the prequels.

[Malthus]

Isn't *all* of Star Wars basically aimed at that audience? 

You would never know it with all the political mumbo jumbo and forced love stories in the prequels.

Come come. Are you telling me that a debate over interplanetary trade privileges isn't stellar children's entertainment?