Cool News
Regarding the recent casting rumors about ANAKIN and a fella named Jesse Spencer...
Several websites over the past 2 weeks have been stating that Jesse Spencer, an Australian young actor, had been cast as Anakin in the upcoming two Star Wars films. I was holding off on this one, and was contacted by his publicist this morning with a letter stating that "any rumors about Star Wars Episode Two are not true," regarding Jesse... So just stay calm... we've got a long ways to go on this one.
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Then a junebug on my shoulder says he thinks I
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I assume that any Australian cast in this role would have to tone down his native accent. Its already somewhat confusing with Jake Lloyd's American, James Earl Jones' quasi-British and Sebastian Shaw's British accents.
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If anyone's interested he plays Billy Kennedy in a show called Neighbours. There's a picture of him over at dh. Imagine a poor man's DiCaprio and you're on the right lines.
And I was already having a bad day. -
I think I may have forgotten to mention that he's also a crap actor.
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I hate 'Neighbours', I hate 'Billy Kennedy'. I will refuse to watch this film if this second rate, half pint, pretty boy a'hole is in it. There, feel better already.
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Yes, it is. But's it's soooo funny watching it. I just watch it to get angry cos i hate about 75% of the characters. And its shown TWICE a day on weekdays on BBC1.
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since when has anyone in a star wars film had to act
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It makes sense in a lot of ways. He's got the Anakin look, the age, the girls love him, and the draw. I mean, he IS a good actor. No, I did not like Titanic. But every cool actor has been in something awful. Malcovich, DeNiro, Irons, Depp, Dylan. He loves Star Wars and would probably try to invest himself in this character after seeing what happened (or what didn't happen) in Ep1. I certainly don't want Spencer, Vander Beek, or Nathan Hammil. If anyones got a better idea lets hear it.
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If this guy is going to be Anakin they might as well cast DiCaprio, I would rather have DiCaprio, i'm sure he's a better actor!
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seriously though, i can't get a grasp on who should play anakin. a lot of it is finding a fair-haired actor who's 19-25 and good. all i know is that whoever they bring into the role needs to have a dark edge to his character. i mean darth vader is going to come out of this kid. i didn't even see a hint of evil in jake lloyd and i wanted to and i think i need to see in the next picture, in the next anakin. i hope lucas realizes this. maybe dicaprio would be the choice because i think he's proven (pre-titanic) that he's an actor that can pull off the ambiguious soul of anakin skywalker which will have to be shown in the next two episodes.
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I am from Melbourne,currently in London, where young Jesse films "Neighbours", a daily soap and I believe this is a load of ****. His acting ability is a little limited to say the least(fart acting?) and surely there is a better choice out there. He would have trouble getting the US accent down unless is was changed in a interesting plot-device. I have seen the lad in real life( at a urinal in a cool nightclub) and he is almost a foot shorter than me. I am 6 ft 2.
Come on guys, lets get a little more imaginative here. This would do no end of good for Mr Spencers ego. -
Jesus Christ mate!!!
What's next?...Rolf Harris as Boba Fett??.....Dame Edna as Mon Mothma??!?...? -
Sabres...Everybody needs light-sabres!!....?
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Why, oh why do people like Uncle Cracky insist on typing these retarded missives on talkback? You go along, reading a review or something, when suddenly someone chimes in with poetry or song lyrics they just pulled outta their ass. Well, I guess it's not as bad as the COMPLETE morons who insist on typing, "I'M FIRST!!!" Oy.
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C'mon people, stop bellyachin' over this guy. The point of the article was that Jesse Spencer will NOT be Anakin.
As for DiCaprio, yeah, everyone hates the pretty boy, but I dunno...as it sinks in I'm not certain it would be a bad idea.
On to acting, well there has been a long line of just plain bad acting in all of the Star Wars films, but it's always been more of the 'overacting' type. Phantom Menace, while I still don't think its something to be shunned and hated, had to much.. er 'underacting' I guess. Everyone was to emotionless and dull. Qui Gon wasn't too bad, and Palapatine was really cool. And a lot of the aliens and stuff wherne't bad either, but the main characters where all a little to stoic. I hope this changes in the next film, especially since we're laving the royal and noble atmospher behind for the wastes of a small, little known planet called Tatooine. -
Now that we're past the lead in, everything has been set up to start the story off big time. There really wasn't a 'war' in Menace. It was all peacetime bickering, legal loopholes and beuracratic bull$#!%ing. In Episode II everyone goes to war, the clone wars. Less pussyfootin by the villains, more violent takeovers, twists and followups to everything that was started in Menace.
I'm not saying we should get our hopes up as high as most people did for Menace, like someone said thats how even the best movies get ruined. Everyone was so hurt that Lucas didn't make THIER prequel.
But I think all those who say Lucas sold out, betrayed them and killed thier first born child need to chill a little, take a few deep breaths and sit back, relax and put thier mind on something else before the next two films are finally out. -
get an unknown for Annakin, please! im not against Leo because he's a pretty-boy, im against him because whatever he does, he's Leo...he'll never be Annakin. The reason why the first trilogy worked so well is that Mark Hamill IS Luke, more than any othe actor embodies any other iconic role. Because he's no one else. Until RAIDERS came out, Harrison WAS Han. Fisher IS Leia. Jones IS Vader. These people were never that famous (especially Hamill, the lead) before the film so it didnt distract from the fantasy to see then in it. Seeing Liam Neeson and Samuel L Jackson as Jedis is distracting. Seeing Leo as Annakin will kill the entire fantasy. He's waaaaaaaaaay too fucking famous. Get a nobody. Or Wes Bentley. AND GET A DIFFERENT DIRECTOR!!!!!
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...get an unkown. Maybe Leo could do it, but we'd all see Leo. Samuel L Jackson stood out like a sore thumb in that movie, not because he's a bad actor...but because he's Samuel L Jackson. I think of Mark Hamill, I think of Luke Skywalker. I think of Luke Skywalker I think of Mark Hamill. Thats partly why his acting career spiraled into oblivion (yeah, some people scream he was a horrible actor, and he was in the first Star Wars, but he got a lot better towards the end. And his voice acting is amazing.).
But anyways, yeah. Hopefully Lucas will find a decent unkown to play the role. When I look back I want to think of Anakin, not DiCaprio. A good point we all tend to forget. -
Episode 4 weak....? What...granted when you compare it to Empire it may pale a bit...but how can you say it's weak...oh well to each his own...On the David Lynch thing...I'm a huge huge fan and am glad he did not direct ROTJ...it's not for him and he knew that....Spencer? He looks like he could fit the part plus more importantly he looks like the type of kid who would have sex with Jar Jar...And you were all wondering why Jar Jar is in the 2nd one? It's a love story rememeber.
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I really can't tell what the hell that means. One of the main problems [and there are far too many to list here] with Episode I was there really wasn't a god-damn thing started! The movie was an insult to anyone with half a brain and desire for a somewhat sensical story from the opening frame onward. So far the only things I can see as threads that continue to the next one are (A) there is a bad guy out there, (B) Amidila and Annakin want each other, (C) Annakin is special, he might be the Chosen One despite that no one mentioned that concept in any prior film. It took that fool Lucas two and a half hours of my time to tell me that?!!? However, seeing as how he's already made 3 Star Wars films before this one: WE ALREADY KNEW ALL THAT! So he wasted a part of my life rehashing shit he beat into our heads twenty years ago! What a fucking moron...
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Paul Hogan as Uncle Owen?...?
Somebody please stop this Aussie madness!!!
Nothing good has EVER come out of Australia.
Apart from Kylie.
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Please,....somebody tell me everything's going to be alright......please....help..me....got..to.......hold.....on...got....to.....have..........faith....
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You theorists are all so wrong. SO wrong. You can't see the forest for the trees. Won't you all be surprised when it's revealed that Anakin is going to be entirely computer-generated for the coming two installments? He will look somewhat like Lara Croft with a dopey 80's rat-tail and a strong Asian accent, perfect for repeating "Ah-mee-dah-lah!" over and over again. Bwah hah ha! Mark my words! This just in: Sidious will have a new apprentice in Episode 2 named Darth Algar who will be so entirely cool and vicious that he will only be allowed 7 seconds of screen time before he gets knocked into the firing engines of a landspeeder.
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Well, friend, you completely missed the point of Episode _I_.
See that roman numeral 1? It's there 'cause ya see this was the first chapter in a huge 6 part story(unless Lucas does change his mind and make the 3 sequels).
In the original trilogy we knew Palpatine was emperor. It never tells you in the movies how he did it, it was the books that told us he was once a senator that took over a weakening goverment. But even there it didn't give us all the details, and for people who didn't read those books, mostly the younger generation, this had to be addressed right off. Where better to do it than CHAPTER ONE.
In the original Trilogy, Lucas told us the story of an evil empire being brought down, a father being redeemed by his children and a galaxy coming together for one final conflict.
In this new trilogy Lucas is telling us where exactly that empire came from, how the father whent down the dakr path and where his children came from.
No one knew Luke and Leia's mom was a queen. No one knew exactly how Palpatine had seduced Anakin to the dark side, for that matter no one knew how Palpatine had become so acquainted with the dark side. Too many people expected Lucas to do everything in one damned movie, leaving NOTHING for the next two in the trilogy.
Episode 1 set up Palpatines election as chancellor and told us how he got there. Episode 1 gave us a brief look at Anakin's childhood in slavery and perhaps a little look into the bits of hate that would grow until he was overcome by the darkside.
In episode 1 we get to see how the Jedi Council first meets Anakin and decides not to train him for fear he could be strayed to the dark path, but then on the dying wishes of a respected Jedi Master allow the boy to be trained by a young ObiWan Kenobi.
And if your heart didn't skip a beat with a grim smile on your face as Queen Amidala spoke the words 'Congratulations on your election, Chancellor', the one line that holds the message 'The bad guys won' you missed it all.
It wasn't a bad story, and it was a great start to a longer story which we saw the end of in Episode VI. Unfortunately it's only the opening to a larger story. Much like 'Empire' wasn't a complete story in itself (my parents tell me there was a LOT of the same kind of dissapointment with Empire that there was with Menace. An incomplete story that just sets things up, a villain that is hyped way up in the minds of the viewers, but then only has one or two lines, but after Jedi came out it all worked. Also stuff like the whole 'chosen one' bit wheren't mentioned in the later films, but then again they didn't need to be. No one mentioned Vader was Luke's father in 'Hope', no one mentioned the Emperor was a Sith. All these things built up to one complete story as time whent on.
Plus, there are all the little things. Did anyone else notice that Qui Gon didn't fade away into nothingness when he died? Yoda did, ObiWan did. A mistake? No, George Lucas side that it's something important that will come up in the next two films. What else will we see? Maybe there' other things in Episode 1 that we missed? Well, we have two more films. This isn't the original trilogy with one possible one shot as the first part and then a continuation and a conclusion. This trilogy concludes with the lead into Episode IV and the start of the originals. Everyone seems to forget that. -
Heh, good to see some people still have a sense of humour about these things. ;)
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Well shit, thats a whole new kettle of fish then ain't it?
Anyways, if you've finished reading my last article (I should be doing articles instead of posts! Harry, call me. We'll do lunch.)I pointed out what was set up, and it's all there if you care to watch the movie again. All there and then some. I had a LOT of problems with how this movie was directed, but I'll spare you the details unless asked. Acting I won't bother mentioning because Star Wars has never had a history of good acting.
The story in Phantom Menace was good, so if that's the basis of your argument there's nothing I can really say to you. Like Empire it was a set up, Empire's story by itself was non-existant. It relied on Hope for an introduction and Jedi for a conclusion. Empire was all run and go from the beginning. Introduced a few new characters and lined up all the soldiers so Jedi could knock them down.
And all I've read from old articles, seen on TV and heard from parents and older friends I know who whent to see Empire when it came out all say that the same complaints came up. People said it was a bad story, the end sucked, the acting was horrible and it ruined the franchise. But everyone came back for Jedi and years later it's all good and Empire is considered perhaps the best film in the trilogy.
Heck, the very same complaints I'm hearing about Darth Maul are the complaints my parents told me everyone had about Boba Fett when Empire first came out.
As for Lucas being an idiot and a bad writer? Well, you've sunk your own argument by saying Empire was a great movie. Do you know who wrote that? Do you know who created Star Wars? It wasn't Steven Spielberg, I'll tell you that.
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Um. Radd, that would be all well and good, if they weren't already three Star Wars films! I know this one was called Epidode I, but you can't deny the existence of the three previous films, and seeing as how the story is supposed to be an epic, it is obvious they aren't meant to be watched in sequential order. For those of you unfamiliar with an epic, the story begins "en media res", or in the middle of things, and then, at somepoint fills in the backstory. It was a literary device used as far back as 700 BC to create tension in the story. Hence, Episode I was supposed to build upon information you already learned in the previous THREE installments, by filling out the details of their character development. The story could have been clear and concise because we already know quite a bit about the Star Wars Universe and its inhabitants. Rather it was a muddled, confused, pathetic attempt at saying anything other than BUY THESE PRODUCTS. It introduced ridiculous and disastrous concepts that, if anything took away the charm of the three prior films. Why no mention of Midi-cholorians? Why no mention of the Sith? Why no mention of the Chosen One? Why no mention of Qui-Gonn Jinn? These are all ideas that would have been relevant to Episodes IV, V, VI and if they weren't included there they certainly should not have been introduced in Episode I. Lucas obviously fails to understand the nature of storytelling; rather than really building upon what we already know, he chose to go off in new directions that offset what develops in the next three episodes. But what do the fan-boys say? Wait for the next two, trust us, Lucas said it will all be better then! That is an absolute cop-out and when the next two suck as much as this one did, I'll be there to tell you so because it is overwhelmingly obvious to me that Lucas hasn't the slightest clue where he's actually going with this, or even where he's been...
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I live in England where Neighbours is very popular and I have to say that we could do worse than to employ Jesse Spencer in the role of Annakin. He looks like an older Jake Lloyd and is not a bad actor either. Oh and for the record...neighbours is awful.
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Or the point in this case, my whole article described why this movie whent back and did what id did, and HOW it filled out and developed the situation.
Lucas is used to starting things in the middle. He did that with A New Hope, he and Spielberg did that with the Indy Jones movies. It's how he's used to doing things. Now he's trying to go back, fill in the holes. As for denying the existance of the previous three movies? No, he can't, but this trilogy isn't JUST for those of us who have seen Hope-Jedi. It's also for those just getting into Star Wars, in fact the biggest complaint floating around has been that it relies to much on the other movies existances. As for character developement? This goes far enough back that we have mostly completely new characters and a starting point to develope the other characters. This ins't a novelized epic of old, it's a series of movies for the moviegoing generations.
Now most of what I have to say about story and how it ties together repeats itself. Go back and read my last aticle again, it seems you didn't fully read or understand it. Either way, give it another go and maybe you'll see what I was trying to get at.
I won't blindly follow Lucas to the ends of the earth, but I for one can see where he could go with this. If the next movie or two suck, so be it. But it won't be because of what he did with this first movie. It will be how he follows through.
Again, my major complaints here in talk backs are the anti-fans who sling insults and uneducated statements that can be proven wrong in one or two sentances of fact. My 'nonsense' as you put it is backed up with reports, facts, and ideas on how things could go. Most of the talk backs I read are filled nothing more than complaints and insults with no suggestions and nothing to stand on. -
what about Sean Patrick Flannery? He already has the Lucas connection and that Aryan male thing that Ani and Luke have. He is not my favorite actor, but with Lucas' direction he might be able to pull it off.
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Harry, I have it on good authority that the lead actor from the CBS show, Early Edition is under serious consideration for the role of Anakin. Makes sense: the guy is a deadringer for Sebastian Shaw. Do you have any reports on this information?
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Dec 03, 1999 12:40:17 PM CST
it takes a rumor like this to make people realize what a good ch
by niiiice
I don't really want to get into another discussion of why Episode one "sucks" or "rocked", but to me the ill-conceived story simply seemed to fill in the time between special effects shots. As for the acting comments...good acting has never been a prerequisite for being in a Star Wars movie. Being talented used to be, at least George Lucas said in premiere something to the effect of "The first requirement for someone to work for me is they have to be extremely talented." But it looks like he threw that one out when it comes to the casting of Anakin in the prequels, he certainly did for Episode One. About this Jesse guy, never seen him so I can't comment, but weren't most of the fans pushing for a relative unknown in the first place? I thought Leo would have been a rather nice Anakin, but weren't there some rumors that after episode one and seeing some material from episode 2, felt it was crap? Or maybe thats all drivel seeing as how nothing's been written for episode 2 yet. Oh well, so what IS it that fans really want? The unknown or the star?
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I would have to disagree. I have read your previous post in detail at least twice, and I would say that I'm standing on the firm ground of close to 3000 years of story telling technique and you're standing on the obviously thin ice of Lucas's talent. I'm not throwing out insults, I'm talking about the NUMEROUS inconsistencies between the prior 3 films and this one. The bottom line is it does not start so far back that there are that many new characters to introduce. The main characters are all from the previous three. Anakin, The Emperor, Yoda, and Obi-Wan. The only character that actually needs an introduction is Queen Amadila. Those are the characters this episode should have focused on as opposed to Lucas's recent brilliant creations: Jar-Jar Binks, Qui-gon, Watto and Darth Maul. Much of what happens in the first Episodes has already been covered in the first three: such as Yoda training Obi-wan. Where was that? Obi-wan never once mentioned some clown named Qui-gon. MidiCholorians? I never once heard any mention of Luke's count or any attempt by Obi-wan to determine it. The Sith? You mean to tell me that The Chosen One who becomes Vader and the sith are first seen on EXACTLY THE SAME DAY, and that wasn't a significant enough fact to mention in the first three films?!!? Rather than wasting time with poor story ideas, bad characters like Jar Jar, and wasted attempts to create mystery ["This is the clue we need to unlock the mystery of the Sith." What mystery? He never mentioned the Sith before and now he acts like he did!] he should have focused on the story elements that would be a common thread throughout all of the films...
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Every time I come to Talkbalk, there are always a bunch of idiots who claim they love the classic trilogy mainly because Lucas didn't direct Empire and Jedi, and that he ruined Phantom because "he can't direct." Do you honestly think that I.K. and R.M. had free reign on their installments of the trilogy? Of course not. Everything was storyboarded and approved by Lucas. They were his stories. He was on set every day. He practically directed them. So when you say that Lucas screwed up Star Wars, you are proving yourself to be an unthinking, simple minded fool, because you do not recognize the fact that the whole thing is Lucas' baby. "Fincher should direct, Lynch should direct, someone else should write..." SHUT UP!! Here's a propsition for all of you out there who just hated Episode I. Don't go see the next two. I dare you. I double-dog dare you. Just ignore them when they come out. Just try to. I, for one, will not miss your whining and complaining as I enjoy the completion of the best film series of all time.
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"I should be writing articles, not posts?"??????? What the hell is that? Try running them through the spell and grammar check a few times before you make that post, your goal is to score something higher than a 2 on the grade reading level in Word. Just because you can inflate your posts and fill them with crap does not make them ARTICLES. You aren't a freakin journalist, sorry to break it to you, you're just a regular,(subpar in this case) talkbacker.
"Refer to my earlier ARTICLE" - cracked me up. I lived my exploding cheerios nightmares all over again. Now about the stupidity of your POST. Yeah, a lot of people thought Empire sucked when it came out. Why? Cause it didn't pussyfoot out and give them the usual crap Hollywood ending, it said "FUCK YOU, EVERYTHING'S GONNA END ON A DOWN NOTE". Han's gone and the Empire's back. It goes darker and deeper than the situation at the beginning of A NEW HOPE. So, going by the masses, yeah they didn't like it. But most true Star Wars fans consider it to be (one of) the best.
Now as to why PHANTOM MENACE was not good. First of all, there was no characterization at all, meaning no one gives a damn about the characters, we don't see any relationships growing, the bond between Obi Wan and Quigon or anything! The fact that the intercharacter relations in Empire were so strong allowed them to play with them and seriously test them (the reluctant princess falling for han, and then the sudden, wrenching separation). PHANTOM had none of this. Plot elements in Phantom never sank below the level of simply PLOT to spur on the story to the next effects laden scene.
And if you think there was characterization in it, you're a dumbass. Respond to this Radd: Lucas even SAID he didn't give a shit about characters and development, all he cares about is VISUAL storytelling, he even went so far as to say he thinks of star wars as SILENT FILMS, whose stories are just told through the musical score! He really needs to get a director who can work with actors (Lucas has said he can't direct actors) if he wants there to be any chemistry between his actors in Episode II. -
...for bringing some input into the argument. Yes Kasdan and Brackett wrote the screenplay, but you forget Lucas is listed in the story credits. The screenplay is taking the story and translating it into a script, and story is what we're talking about here. Lucas wrote the story for every star wars film, and wrote the screenplay for Hope and (along with Kasdan) Jedi, as well as the story. Lucas decided not to direct Empire and Jedi because he thought it was too stressful and because of personal reasons wich where taking a toll. But you completely avoid my statement that Empire recieved the same complaints and critisims as Menace. I'm not the only one to say Menace had a good story, in fact several reviews said that even though they hated the movie it wasn't because of the story. Most people's complaints are about the directing, the acting, character devlopement, Jar-Jar and the fact that the story didn't follow through right there, wich is a poor argument because it was supposed to.
We are all entitled to opinions. I don't consider you some poor sap for being lulled into not liking it along with all the other 'cool' people who love to hate Lucas. But if you are going to argue the point, at least attempt to back it up. Your point about the screenplay writers for Empire is a good start in that direction. -
I had never heard of it, and it sounds like this drek could provide a good laugh.
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Lucas conceived the story, Brackett wrote the first draft, and then died in 1978. Kasdan, under the close supervision of Lucas, his mentor, was brought in to finish the script. Here is what I believe each person brought to the work: Brackett - The rat-a-tat dialogue that was characteristic of her best work (namely THE BIG SLEEP.) Kasdan - Cut down on the dialogue, and punched up the action. Lucas - Whatever he didn't like, he changed, or had Kasdan do it for him. A collabrative effort, to be sure, but the structure is all Lucas. As for the direction, Kershner's work with the actors was obviously indispensible, which, in turn, lended the film more texture than the other installments; however, the major action sequences were all the work of Lucas and the F/X team. In any event, to say that Lucas is barely talented is an absolute joke, and obviously not to be taken very seriously. I'll admit that TPM was a shaggy dog compared to the other three (even JEDI,) but it was still a great entertainment, all of which is due to the singular vision of George Lucas.
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1. [person 1 says Episode I sucks]
2. [person 2 agrees with person 1; calls Lucas a money-grubbing hack]
3. [person 3 defends Episode I, can't understand the criticism, and doesn't see how persons 1 and 2 missed its brilliance]
4. [person 2 calls person 3 a grade-A moron; spices up the insult with cleverly placed quotes from The Empire Strikes Back]
5. [person 3 continues his rational defense of Star Wars, quotes Qui-Gon Jinn and Yoda, and gives an equally defamatory insult to person 2 in return]
6. [person 4 says Jar Jar sucks]
7. [person 5 criticizes Harry for the "Mesa loves him" incident]
8. [person 1 returns to flame person 3 even more]
9. [person 6 expresses his love of Episode I and criticizes Harry for The Haunting incident]
10. [person 7 gushes over The Matrix]
11. [person 3 becomes truly vicious; vulgarity reaches a previously unseen level]
12. [person 8 expresses his desire to boink Natalie Portman]
13. [person 9 says something to the effect of: "We all have wonderful, unique opinions. Can't we just agree to disagree/get along without these personal attacks?"]
14. [person 10 includes his resume -- hoping that some minion of Lucas reads the talkback and signs him up for the role of Anakin]
15. [person 11 makes a lame, unoriginal attempt to be witty by posting a template for the proceedings] -
Dec 03, 1999 1:24:48 PM CST
SIMPLE FACT-ANAKIN WILL BE PLAYED BY JOSH HARTNETT,everything el
by mickey rourke
Yep,forget this jesse boy,forget leo,forget joshua,and don't even contemplate van der beek.Mr hartnett has already been unofficially been given the nod,so you good people,fret no longer about WHO?,amd start to think WHY?.Well,josh has got the right look(he looks like jake Lloyd grown up,he's damn cool,he got an edge to his acting that the role needs(you'll understand after you see him playing the lago part in 'O'),he exactly the right age at 20,and damn it,he's damn tall at 6FT 3INCHES,so people who doubt he'll get the part are merely fooling their already little minds.Josh's truth is marching on...join now in his praise.
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I mean, I'm relieved, if it's true about Jesse Spencer 'cause I've read on some sites that he's moved to his home just near the location of the Ep2 set. But maybe he's gonna play someone else - Owen Lars? He's DiCaprio type, but unlike Leo we can't be sure of his acting ability. Leo had already played in a number of good indie movies by the time he was of Jesse's age, while Jesse has been only in a shitty soap. Besides, Jesse is only 5f10! (Leo is 6f btw). Ofcourse, he doesn't have to be 7 feet like Darth Vader in the original trilogy, but still it matters a bit, doesn't it? But I agree with others: Leo is a way too famous. Find an unknown! Wes Bentley is my choice - though his hair is a bit too dark. And he's guite imposing and a good actor. On the other hand, I'm afraid one's acting abilities don't matter much here since Lucas is going to direct both next episodes- the man admitted himself that he's more interested in visual effects than in directing and writing scripts. Directing is more or less ok for me, but the script... c'mon, George, why can't you find some proffies to help you and make everything comprehensible? Oh, and Mark Hamill is a good actor - if he wasn't that good in ANH it wasn't his fault anyways because 1)such was his role - just a farm kid who became a hero only at the end 2) Lucas made him play so. BTW if you don't have your own ideas as to who can play Anakin go to Searching for Anakin Skywalker Site (http://members.aol.com/Tspacerydr/anakin.html) - I've seen there at least 10 guys (and all unknowns) who fit more than sweet boy Jesse. Even Van Der Beek and Joshua Reynolds look better than him.
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Other than completely missing the humour in my posts and insistance on tossing in a few insults you've delivered exactly what I was looking for.
You point out exactly why the masses didn't like Empire at first, and yet why so many like it now.
Your points on characterization are also good. Personally I'd like to see someone else direct the next Star Wars film but I want it to be for these reasons and not have someone else entirely write the friggin movies.
Still, there where a couple characters that stood out, and I'd like to see more of. Hopefully more developed as the next two movies come.
Again, nice post. Much better than the usual crap we see.
As for Peregrin, I tell you you missed the point, and you assume I mean a different point. When I said nothing to stand on I did not mean your post. I meant the multitude of other posts wich are nothing more than insults. You bring up the age old definition of epic, wich is all well and good, and I'm not disagreeing that me and you might have been better off with a different Ep 1, but I was explaining why Lucas did this, and why he quite possibly needed to.
And with the MidiCholorians? I'm purposefully avoiding that topic on a wing and a prayer that Lucas does have something in mind for them that will tie it all up. Until then they don't exist to me, if he does mess up with them, well then I'll turn around and walk away. I'll keep my original trilogy thank you very much.
"You mean to tell me that The Chosen One who becomes Vader and the sith are first seen on EXACTLY THE SAME DAY"
Well, no. The day after actually. -
I don't post on here a lot because, believe it or not, I have better things to do. I'm not saying you guys have no lives or anything like that; in fact, I love to get involved in debates and discussions on the web. But, unfortunately, most of them turn into slagging matches. Now I, for one, don't enjoy reading the obnoxious (and downright cowardly) comments that are left on these talkbacks. I feel it is time for a few things to be set straight:
i) Jesse Spencer is a good actor. He looks right, and height is negligable. However, he is too well known to most of Britain and Oz as Billy Kennedy from 'Neighbours', and for this reason alone I don't want to see him play Anakin.
ii) Leo is also a good actor, and would bring suitable presence to the role. In his case, I don't think recognition should be a problem. Sure, the main guys in the original trilogy were unknowns, but having Ewan in Episode I didn't detract from it for me at all.
iii) The Phantom Menace isn't as bad as everyone is making it out to be. It has more going for it than it has going against it: a great musical score, fantastic special FX, brilliantly coreographed fight and action sequences, and wonderfully imaginative creatures and aliens. Everything a SW film should have, I think you'll agree. OK, so direction is not Mr. Lucas' strong point, but give the guy a break! Without him, SW would never have happened! Granted, there are a few cringe-worthy moments in Episode I (mostly during Jake Lloyd's screen time - but you have to forgive him due to his age), but remember how much cool stuff there was: the opening battle with the droids; the escape from Naboo; the Podrace; the battle with Darth Maul. These are the main ones, but so many spine-tingling moments occured throughout the film that I found to hard to dislike (who can forget the travel through the planet's watery core, or the first meeting between R2 and 3PO?). In short, the film - whilst not living up to many people's expectations - was not rubbish as so many of you claim. If you didn't like it then don't watch the next two...simple, eh?
iv) As for comments like "Tolkien would be turning in his grave", I just pity those of you whose heads are crammed with so much drivel. Even if you were established fantasy writers with bucktloads of cash, then I still might question your intelligence with comments like that. Who'se to say what fantasy should be? Isn't the whole point of it that it is fantastical (hence the name, obviously). I'm sure Tolkien would have loved Episode I, because he's creative. Anyone with half an imagination can appreciate the sweeping landscapes and amusing characters of TPM. It seems that some of you are just so far up your own arses that your brain is being starved of oxygen and you've turned into morons.
I think that's about all I have to say. Sorry for the length of the post, but I had to get all of my thoughts out in one go because I most likely won't be posting back (unless, or course, anyone is up for a fight...only kidding). Most of you guys are fine and play nice, but those who don't - and you know who you are - it's not clever, so grow up. If you're going to slate a film, at least give coherent reasons rather than those of a dissapointed ex-fanboy who'se so bitter because he realises Lucas is not the god he once worshipped.
Peace everyone, out.
Si -
I find myself agreeing with most of what you have to say lately, but you can't seriously think "Return of the Jedi" was better than "A New Hope." ROTJ is clearly the weakest part of the series with only about 25 minutes worth of decent material (primarily the scenes with Vader, Luke, and the Emperor). Also, David Lynch IS a much better director than Lucas, but his miserable adaptation of "Dune" is no match for "A New Hope." Finally, I don't know why you're so hyped up about "Mulholland Drive." Don't you think Lynch would eventually get bored and leave it to die in the hands of less talented underlings (a la second season "Twin Peaks")?
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Neighbours basically repeats itself every 3-4 years and has a new set of teenages. This actor is the worst of the bunch. This guy cannot act, please if there is a god in heaven do not give him the role of Annakin. If you think that Di Caprio looks like a man-boy you have got to see this guy. By the way how are they going to get round having an obviouisly back man's voice for Vader if they get this Austalian pip squeek.
by the way this guy does pantomime In England all the time.
Please let this rumour die because if it is true, this film will stink before they start filming.
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Gee, I never got the memo stating as such. Suggestion: watch JAWS again, realize that he was filming this while higher-ups at Universal were calling for his head, the mechanical shark was not working, and one of his principals (Robert Shaw) was drinking himself to death. And he still turned out one of the greatest adventure films of all time (right up there with TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE and GUNGA DIN.) His genius may be less evident today (why did he ever think that bookending device was a good idea in SPR,) but the man has earned the plaudits and awards bestowed upon him, even if he did receive them for the wrong films (Oscars for JAWS, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS and, especially considering their competition, RAIDERS and E.T. would've been justified.)
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I'm not disagreeing with anything you said, just wanted to bring up one point...
"we all know direction is not lucas' strong point, give the guy a break"? Hmmm, stick toothpicks under my toenails and have me kick a wall if I'm wrong, but for a DIRECTOR, wouldn't it be pretty damned debilitating to have DIRECTION as a weak point? And its also pretty crippling for a film to have its direction as a weak point too, right? You're right Lucas created Star Wars, but alot of writers relegate their creations to directors and screenwriters to transit them to film. But I really do agree with you, Star Wars is his creation, he has the right to do whatever he wants with it, question is does HE know whats best for it? The obvious answer is yes, but is it the real answer? -
..After seeing that episode one was such a pile of STEAMING DOG CRAP!!!! Honestly, Lucas pretty much almost ruined Star Wars for me with that dungheap of a movie 'Episode One'.
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First off if you believe that the action scenes are as brillinatly choreographed and the characters are as wonderfully imaginative as you claim then it is your head that is filled with drivel. Imaginitive? I don't think I've ever seen such a collection of stock situations and stock characters in my entire existence. Guys waving laser swords around swatting down pathetically immobile and poorly designed robots is hardly my idea of brilliantly choreographed. Not to mention the poorly executed slam cuts from long shots of CG robots to close ups of crappy plastic models! This problem plauged the entire film. As for the ending fight with Darth Maul, that entire room was almost identical to a death match level in Duke Nukem 3D which came out how many years ago?!!? Come on, we all saw better choreographed fights, and better filmed action in The Matrix. In fact you can watch better and more imaginative stuff every week on Hercules and Xena! The space battles were just as bad. Return of the Jedi. Lost in Space. Starship Troopers. All on a level far above both the effects and the filming on that count. Wildy imaginitive aliens? Are we talking about Jar Jar Binks? Are we talking about those ridiculous Ambassadors? Are we talking about Watto? Everyone on of their personalities and characterizations were totally derivative, uninventive, annoying, and just plain boring. Are we all forgetting the debacle over Lucas's use of stereotypes?!!? How may I ask can a character be wonderufully imaginative and simulaneously confused with a stereotype from our own world? [Furthermore, if Lucas is so creative, why did every alien have the same leathery skin, just in a different color?] And this problem didn't only plaugue the characters, it smothered their races as a whole. The Gungan race was so poorly conceived it is frightening. They live underwater, but fight with slings?!!? They have submarines [not to mention the horrible sub sequence when the big fish eats the little fish -- TWICE! There's genius!] and deflector shields and obviously advanced technology, but they go to war on dinosaurs?!!? Please you have got to be kidding me. I agree with AgentCole, Tolkien would absolutely be turning over in his grave with the absolutely horrible name Lucas gives to his beloved fantasy. How do I know? Read his essay "On Faerie" where he describes in detail the major elements of fantasy. There is more fantasy than just making up bullshit...Lucas failed on nearly every single count!
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...no one has suggested Edward Norton for Annakin? He's perfect. I mean, he's a guy, and he can walk, right? Sign him up! And if Lucas had a brain in his head, he'd get Andrew Walker or Kevin Smith to write the script. Couldn't you just picture Jay and Silent Bob in a 'Star Wars' movie? Hilarious! And of course, we'd need to find a role for Bruce Campbell. Hmmm...maybe he could take over for Ian McDermid. The guy's old and could pop off at any time. Also, everyone knows that the 'Star Wars' movies are all dark, dank, gritty exposes on the human condidtion. Therefore, only one person could direct this...and that person is David Fincher.
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You forgot to mention Wes Bentley as Anakin's best friend and sidekick jedi buddy, Eyeblo Gotes.
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Fuck everybody. I saw it 7 times, and loved everything about it, except Jar-Jar. Fuck you, psuedo-purist's. It's a fantasy movie, not fucking Citizen Kane.
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A bit curious, so I went to find out for myself just what this guy looks like, found a picture of him, follow this link to see some: http://www.ymshomepage.com/today/spencer.html
(Please note, I do not frequent the yms page, I followed the link off of the imdb).
Since I must say I've had the dubious but perhaps not so unique distinction of never having seen Neighbors, I can't comment on his acting abilities. From what our English and Aussie friends say, we can expect overall badness. But please guys, I urge you fellow fans! Have faith in Lucas! Remember, casting Anakin in the prequels is the most important part, and casting is not easy! There must be hundreds of qualified actors that test with George, he will patiently sit through thousands of almost-Anakins, waiting for the PERFECT Anakin....and when he finds him , he will strike gold he will find ANAKIN himself, just like he did for the first preq----OH GOD NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -
That Kubrick, the mentor in this relationship, did not seek Spielberg's approval is not really telling of how he felt about his work. In fact, Kubrick initiated their contact after admiring the underappreciated 1941, which most critics considered a creative, as well as financial, flop. Kubrick wasn't always kind to Spielberg's output (to wit: his infamous put-down of SCHINDLER'S LIST, as noted by Frederick Raphael,) but he did value his opinion, which is, as you know, a courtesy he extended to very few people. Would he be rolling in his grave over A.I.? Probably, because it was his baby, and only Stanley knew what he wanted, but, regardless, that's all rumor at the moment. I'll consider the dilemma when it becomes fact. Oh, and Spielberg *sometimes* directs two films a year, but even that can be misleading. Anyone who worked on the production will tell you that he was only present on the set of THE LOST WORLD for key sequences; however, forcing the sequel into his schedule certainly hurt the quality of AMISTAD, and he has admitted that. Give the guy credit for being one of our greatest entertainers, and don't be so quick to shift all the credit to his cinematographers. All of his signature visual motifs were the product of his imagination alone; a fact that has *never* been disputed.
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Dec 03, 1999 3:28:23 PM CST
Today's Niiiice Quote of the Day, brought to you by Shaithis77!!
by niiiice
"Episode One is a great movie" - wow, what a zinger! Actually, I couldn't decide between that one and "Fuck everybody. I saw it 7 times", I think that it'll pretty much have to end in a run-off today folks. Shaithis, if you're going to say something that so totally defies logic, at least post some more convincing arguments than "fuck everybody", which, though effective in some cases, doesn't really tell us much about your opinions. Pretty ironic how at the end you mention Citizen Kane. Seems like the whole last end of your post is justifying why it's NOT a great movie ("its fantasy, not Citizen Kane") and making excuses for it. So basically you argued against yourself. Good job, keep the ball rollin! That's your tail you're chasing, tiger.
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Relax, people, you're taking it all too seriously. TPM sucked? Who cares for your opinion? You may deny it, but Lucas made the SW series for kids and teenagers, and this movie isn't an exception, only it's even more childish than others. Most of you were kids when watched original trilogy for the first time - and no doubt you didn't mind such things as some bad acting and lines which even the original trilogy had. You hate Ewoks? I bet most of you liked them in childhood. You think Empire is the best part? If you ask any kid what's his favourite SW (as I did with my little movie trust me, it'll be Return of the Jedi - just because it has a happy end. ALL the children I know like TPM. Tastes may differ while growning up though and probably they won't like TPM that much when they're adults but i'm sure they won't bash it so much because it was one of the greatest moments of their childhood. My advice to all TPM bashers: if you saw TPM only once go and watch it again, maybe you'll have a better opinion. I know a lot of people who hated TPM at first but after seeing it once more found it more than just acceptable. Personally I is unfortunately too old to miss its faults but it's a SW movie... I think you should stop calling him a sell-out and be grateful instead that he's doing the prequel trilogy at all. He's got a lot of other things to do, believe me.
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The point of my earlier post is that in these Talkbacks, there seems to be a lot of fanboy fantasy going on along the lines of dream directors and cast lists. My point was not to say Lynch or Fincher is a better director than Lucas or the other way around. My point is that Lucas is an artist creating a story, and the story is his alone. It is a very popular story, and one about which everyone holds his/her own opinion, but for any of us to think that we know more about Star Wars than its creator is simply wrong. Let me use another story as an example. It is obvious, judging by our user I.D.s, that Agentcole and myself are Twin Peaks fans. I loved the first part of the series, but I do feel that Lynch and Company lost their way, and feel strongly that the movie, FWWM, was inconsistent and betrayed much of what I loved about the series. Am I happy about it? NO. Amy I going around saying, "Fire Walk With Me would have been so cool if Fincher/Spike Jonze/Stanley Kubrick/David Lean/Steven Spielberg/John Carpenter/Ed Sanchez/Alan Smithee (you get my point) would have directed it. Lynch, along with Mark Frost, is the creator, and as such, knows best his artistic vision for the piece. I don't have to like what he does, but for me to say he messed it up because he doesn't know how to write/direct/cast would be idiotic. It would be stupider for me to say that I know more about his creation than he does. There are things I would have liked to have seen in Twin Peaks that I didn't. There are things that I hope to see and experience in the next two Star Wars installments, but either way, it is up to Lucas as to what he includes. So, my point is, debate the merits of the films as you see fit, but don't insult Lucas. He gave us Star Wars and will continue to give us Star Wars for the next six years. That is not a light commitment. If you don't like what he is giving you. Don't go see the next two.
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leo has a dark side... leo can act... we don't need to risk the force with an unknown... the only problem is that i heard from a good source that he's a crackhead.
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AgentCole: "Twin Peaks" should never have gone on long enough to have a 3rd season. It should have been a 15 to 20 part mini-series. You can only string the mystery and kookiness out so long before it wears thin (David Kelley take note). And it didn't help to have Mark Frost telling the audience that the identity of the killer would finally be revealed at the end of season one. That's a recipe for losing your audience. Except for the Lynch-directed episodes, the second season was mediocre at best. That asshole soap opera actor who worked in Horne's Dept. Store brought the show to its knees with every appearance. The subplots with the demonic boy, David Warner, and the mayor's not-at-all sexy wife were a total distraction. And why did they have to keep killing off the original characters every 5 minutes? As I recall, Lynch went off to make "Wild at Heart" and a TV documentary series called "Real People" or something while "Twin Peaks" was on the air. So while he might say he wasn't BORED with show, his actions indicate that he was fully engaged either. Yes, there were some tiny inconsistencies between the series and "Fire, Walk With Me," but I can barely remember them. Something along the lines of Waldo the bird being in his cage instead of biting Laura. Oh, by the way, you're way too hard on Tarantino. He's done some good work, even if it's not totally original.
mrbeaks: It really makes me sad to think that Kubrick actually liked "1941," one of the worst pieces of shit I've ever seen. And I hate the way Spielberg tries to make himself look like a more serious filmmaker by cozying up to gods like Kurosawa and Kubrick. The only Kurosawa films a man-child like Spielberg could understand would be the character-less action films like "Seven Samurai." Anything with human drama like "High and Low," "Kagemusha" or "Ikuru" would fly over his head. Spielberg is a genius as far as editing and cinematography, but he's clueless regarding performances. And don't cite "The Color Purple" or "Schindler's List." They're overrated. Lucas writes pretty good action plots, but he, too, hasn't shown a lot of aptitude for character development since "American Graffiti." -
1) 1941 is really silly, and not everyone's cup of tea, but that USO dance contest is a marvel of editing, choreography, and sheer invention. I've always felt, based on the strength of that sequence, that Spielberg should've attempted a musical. 2) Didn't cite COLOR PURPLE, or SCHINDLER'S (except to illustrate Kubrick's opinion of it,) and wouldn't if I were naming his best. 3) Spielberg might prefer SAMURAI and, say, YOJIMBO, but they're more his style. Don't fault the guy for not being an intellectual. 4) TWIN PEAKS, IMO, ran out of gas after they killed of Leland Palmer. The show got progressively weirder and less coherent, forcing me to check out. I did, however, like FWWM. If anything, it sustained a tone of eerieness throughout that kept me feeling uneasy for hours after it was over.
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AgentCole you obviously haven't seen his previous work before he did that crapfest called Titanic. He played a junkie in Basketball Diaries and was nominated at 19 for playing a retard in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. I'd say he is pretty decent actor.
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God damn it, this kid's the only one for the role. He's good-looking, cool, and got some real edge to him. He's also held his own with Hopper and Nicholson, while making Snipes look like a terrible actor. I can just picture this guy being one badass JEDI, just as I can see his face when I think of Anakin going to the dark side. He was so badass in Blade, he was by far the best thing about that very kick ass movie. Plus, this is one boy who could stomp on pretty boy Leo's face. We need edge in this role, not feminine charms, so Stephen Dourff is perfect for Anakin. Oh yeah, he also does resemble that little Lloyd kid if that matters at all. Alas, though, Stephen may be a little short for the role if Vader's actually suspose to be 6'5'' or so. If not Dorff, though, I hope to see a no-name in the role. Come on people....TELL ME YOU SEE IT MY WAY.
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I liked the Phantom Menace. I thought 'Fire Walk With Me' was dumb. Woody Allen is god. Thank you.
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Dec 03, 1999 4:53:58 PM CST
The Crazy Mad Elite Club: Or Some Various Ramblings From A 19 Ye
by kubrick
Isn't it odd. Folks, listen to me and learn a thing or two.
Just at the start of January, Jeffrey Wells writes an article on Mr.Showbiz about ho Episode 1 will be seen as one of 1999's biggest disappointments and Harry goes on to say that Wells is wrong and his article is based on opinions and not facts, that he brainfarted and will not hesitate for a second calling him on it this May.
People on TALKBACK also agree with Harry and talk of how great Episode 1 and how it can't miss and how George Lucas is a great filmmaker, a god.
A few months later, when Stanley Kubrick died everybody felt sorry for him (the Talkbacks all mourned him and praised him for making such great movies.
There's also an article in Entertainment Weekly by film critic Owen Gleiberman who called him a great director and told of how 2001 is still the grandest of sci-fi movies. Harry on the news of his death says a film god has died and no longer walks among us.
Later, there's an article in Esquire Magazine, where Tom Carson says comparing Lucas and Kubrick isn't like comparing apples and clockwork oranges but Lucas is as much a perfectionist as Kubrick and takes his time just as long to make a movie. Carson goes on to praise Lucas whose movies he says don't seem the least it calculated and have had a great effect of popular culture and are more loved by most people.
On the subject of Kubrick, Carson decries him saying 2001 is a cop-out, how pretty much every movie he made was bad. That he ruined actors such as Jack Nicholsn and Ryan O' Neal's career and how the only okay movie he made was The Shining. Says he hopes Eyes Wide Shut will live up to the hype and give us some sort of kick in the body. He says maybe the two films should have switched names and how the release of EWS upon Kubrick's death is something he would have hated.
Flash forward to May, when Episode 1 is released and is panned by critics such as Anthony Lane of The New Yorker who says "What do we call this? Crap! Say it loud! Crap!" and says he wanted to like the film but says he knew it would disapoint and blames Star Wars for ruining movies (the first movie wasn't even good) and the cause of bloodless wars in Kosovo.
Entertainment Weekly gives it a film review grade of a B- and on EW's Hot Topic, critic Ty Burr says the film failed to live up to expectations and another EW employee says The Mummy is a better film than Episode 1 and another says how they won't see Episode 1 if Jar-Jar is in it.
Heated discussion rage over the film and whether it was good or great or okay or was just plain bad. People don't want to see Leo DiCaprio as Anakin but
according to an article on Eonline, Lucas gave DiCapiro an early draft of the Episode 2 script for the part of Anakin.
DiCaprio says it's the worst thing he has read and says he is dissapointed in Episode 1.
Another article reveals at a party most Lucasfilm employees working on the new prequels say they know what the new material is and say it's bad, doesn't live up to the original saga.
Salon.com offers 10 reasons why people should not see The Phatom Menace. Meanwhile, everybody on TalkBack is complaining how much they hate Jar-Jar Binks and how cool Darth Maul is. Most members of the public and critics say Empire is the best film as directed by Irvin Kershner and
not George Lucas.
People on Talkback have similar thoughts and suggest other directors should do Episodes 2 & 3
such as David Lynch and David Fincher. Like most critics they hate the film and on TALKBACK blame Lucas for ruining
Star Wars...but by the end of 1999, the movie has been seen by many people over and over again enough to make it 1999's biggest box office hit. Yet, when mentioned on TalkBack, people are quick to say how much they HATE, HATE, HATE it.
Later, Kubrick's new film Eyes Wide Shut is released and while some like it (Roger Ebert who also liked Episode 1)...most people hate it. It's called misgonistic, the acting by Cruise and Kidman is panned as is the film's lack of sexual content. Many people on TalkBack agree saying the emperor is wearing no clothes...the film makes money but not enough as predicted and is seen as a bomb.
An article on Eonline says David Geffen rightfully walked out on a screening of the movie in the middle of it. There are reports of people asking the manager at their movie theatre for their money back. EWS becomes the butt of jokes with cartoons in The New Yorker. Even film critics like Joel Siegel and Jeffrey Lyons hate it.
It fails to capture the critical acclaim his early films did and fails to develop a cult following with the audience (whom get restless early on at a screening and laugh at inappropriate moments in the movie and give it a grade of an D/F. The film gets
a C by Owen Gleiberman and later
a C- review by Lisa Schwarzbaum.
Then later, David Fincher's movie The Fight Club is released and everybody on TalkBack says how great it is and it dies a quick death at the box office (the movie gets a grade of D+ from Entertainment Weekly and Ebert gives it two stars).
Earlier on, David Lynch's movie The Straight Story is released and everybody says how wonderful it is and it too is a bomb at the box office with not many people seeing it (Ebert loves it, and EW gives it an A- but Anthony Lane hates it
and Richard Farnsworth who stars in it is considered to be up for an Oscar nomination).
Then in late November, Tom Carson writes again in Esquire an article about how movies Dogma and South Park are all hype and no payoff when it come to mocking religion and goes on to praise the deceased
sitcom, Secret Diary of Desmond Pfiffer and the movie Drop Dead Goregous for successful comedy. Carson in an earlier article published near October writes about how Being John Malkovich is the last great film of 1999.
Being John Malkovich is released to critical acclaim (it gets an A in EW, Ebert gives it four stars) but David Denby (whom Carson in an article about Tina Brown, decried Denby as not being a thinker, not very smartc) at The New Yorker says in his review that it's good but some critics who call it a masterpiece may be off judgement a bit. Is this Denby's jab back at Carson ? Carson did
jab Pauline Kael in a article about her in EW and Kael similarly in an interview dissed both
EW and Premiere magazine.
David Denby himself is under heat by Jonathan Rosenbaum who mocks him for saying Saving Private Ryan blows every previous WWII film out of the water and says he was wrong in his negative review of EWS's weak and inaccurate vision of
New York City.
Just this November, the new James Bond film is released and gets mixed reviews (mostly negative) and people say the movie is out-dated and needs to go in a new direction...but despite this complaining, the movie is a box office hit.
But before that movie came out
both Blair Witch Project and
Austin Powers:Spy Who Shagged Me are released on video.
The films were praised as great (Slate.com's film critic David Edelstein praises the new Austin Powers movie, calling it better than anyone could imagine) and
the best ever in their genres
(Peter Travers of Rolling Stone says Blair Witch is scarier than hell and a writer at EW in a Hot Topic says it lives up to the hype of being the scarriest movie ever made). But on home video,
people decry Austin Powers 2 as re-using too many old jokes and being a self-indulgence and Ty Burr of EW in his column gives it a grade of a D.
Blair Witch Project is released on video, also but it too receives scorn. People go on TalkBack to complain how poorly it was made and whine that it was overhyped by the Internet and not scarry at all...hardly a great film.
Salon.com prints an article which says the Internet and more specifically Aint-it-Cool-News run by Harry Knowwles is responsible for the overhyping and praise of
The Blair Witch Project.
There you have it, folks.
Whine, praise, complain, love and hate and the history of movies in 1999 pretty much all summed up.
On another note, Tim Burton's new and 1st horror film is panned by some critics & liked by others but in the face of Bond, manages to become a hit.
To me, with Sleepy Hollow,
Tim Burton continues his winning streak of being one of my favorite filmmakers having made not a single bad film. All other films he has had an involvement in having also been entertaining.
I eagerly await Tim Burton's
new film. I see Sleepy Hollow
and it is quite good if not
a masterpiece as I had hoped for.
Whoever Lucas chooses to be Anakin in Episode 1, I will be pleased with and I will see
both Episodes 2 & 3, having been very pleased with Episode 1.
Lucas's story for Star Wars has been great in the last 3 films
(Jedi, New Hope, Empire) and
I hope he will continue his streak of cinema wizardy.
Thanks Kubrick for directing
2001, and Dr.Strangelove, two of the greatest most profound experiences I have ever had
at the movies. EWS wasn't great but wasn't bad. To me it's okay, kind of good. The word, "interesting" is a perfect word
for this movie.
Favorite sitcom maybe be
Mystery Science Theater 3000 and
I loved the finale, it was great.
Blair Witch and Austin Powers both had their moments of movie magic. The Straight Story is
a wonderful film and I hope
one day to see Mulholland Drive
as a TV series and not as a
mini-series as ABC is planning
to show it as (Lynch dislikes
the idea of ABC doing it as
a mini-series and hopes nobody sees it).
Haven't seen The Fight Club but
I will when it comes on video and I'll see Drop Dead Goregous on video as well, I guess.
I'm not a big fan of Kevin Smith having read his script for Superman, I was very dissapointed and couldn't see what all
the hype was about. But I will probably go see Dogma anyway.
Never saw Secret Diary of Desmond Pfiffer on TV and have no regrets about it. The premise of the show just didn't seem very funny or interesting to me. As for the racial issue with the show, TV is about entertainment and it's not real life and if you don't like it, don't see it. Many other critics besides Tom Carson pointed this out, such as Ken Tucker who
wrote a B+ review of it for EW.
Didn't see what the fuss there is about not having enought guts to mock religion. Movies are about entertainment and not personal message movies. If you want to make a personal statement about what a fraud religion is, go on
TV and start a cult to renounce
all religions.
South Park was fun and the songs were the funniest thing about it and should but probably won't win
an Oscar for best musical score.
I thought it was good but not great (the movie seemed like
a big-budget adaption of the TV episode "Death" which had a similar plot about censorship and the entertainment industry).
Personally, my favorite
animated cartoon TV show changed into a movie will always be
Transformers:The Movie, a favorite guilty pleasure on mine (I hope to get my own copy this Xmas).
Sixth Sense and Iron Giant were all very good. The Pokemon TV show is enjoyable and the movie version
was okay. The new James Bond film was intriguing and okay to watch with equals parts bad and good.
The final episode of Home Improvement was good and the
finale of Melrose Place was okay and didn't see the final episode
of Mad About You (I used to kind of like the show but over the years I came to loathe it).
I still don't own a DVD player and Lucas can take his time with releasing the Star Wars trilogy on DVD. Lucas wants the best DVD ever and it'll be great first DVD for
me when I buy it (since I will probably own a DVD player by 2006 because then VHS may be out of
place and no longer working).
I don't agree with Tom Carson's opinions in Esquire but I always find him wonderful to read and he does like the holiday movies
A Christmas Story and Scrooged which I too greatly enjoy (even if he hates It's A Wonderful Life). Plus, it is very nice to know I'm not the only one who thought
Pleasantville was a better film over Saving Private Ryan.
Ebert still is an okay, good film critic in my eye and often gets a bad rap which he doesn't deserve. If you need proof of how good a writer of criticism he is just read his written reviews. I don't
always agree with him and have at times despised his opinions on
certain movies but still take his opinion into consideration about the movies.
I've had a like-dislike relationship with EW for a long time and perhaps always will but
I still read their magazine and find their opinions fun to read.
Both Jonathan Rosenbaum and
David Edelstein and Anthony Lane
and David Denby are fine movie critics in my book, but I still
think Pauline Kael was the best
film critic ever. Nobody was better at praising or disliking movies. She was and is a great writer of film and how it effects the culture around us.
I don't know and couldn't give
a care who Tina Brown is. Harry
runs a great website but I wish he'd get the Aint-it-Cool-News movie forums up and running again. Salon.com is okay and don't agree with all their articles but their film critics, Michael Sragow and Charles Taylor are always worthwhile reading even if I don't alway agree with them and their opinions.
Jeffrey Wells is somebody whom
I may not agree with but I think
the columns he writes are very good and always insightful about
what's happening in entertainment.
I also enjoyed Edward Margulies'
columns at MrShowbiz when he took
over for Wells (who left to write his columns at Reel.com) and was
sad that he died.
I hate racism, sexism, bigotry and those people who practice it. hate people hating each other and mocking one another because
I believe we should try to forget our differences and just try to get along with each other for what we have in common.
The Internet is a great place
to be on and thanking you for listening to me and I hope I have not offended anybody with my writings and if I have, I am deeply sorry about it.
As for the Internet being a tool for hyping movies, all I say is when a movie is released, even a movie with the biggest most hugest hype by the Internet can be seen
as a dissapointment. It's not
about the marketing of
the product but the product itself.
Well, those are my thoughts and
feel free to disagree and agree with me.
"Goodbye on the isle of Capri!"
-
Dec 03, 1999 4:54:04 PM CST
The Crazy Mad Elite Club: Or Some Various Ramblings From A 19 Ye
by kubrick
Isn't it odd. Folks, listen to me and learn a thing or two.
Just at the start of January, Jeffrey Wells writes an article on Mr.Showbiz about ho Episode 1 will be seen as one of 1999's biggest disappointments and Harry goes on to say that Wells is wrong and his article is based on opinions and not facts, that he brainfarted and will not hesitate for a second calling him on it this May.
People on TALKBACK also agree with Harry and talk of how great Episode 1 and how it can't miss and how George Lucas is a great filmmaker, a god.
A few months later, when Stanley Kubrick died everybody felt sorry for him (the Talkbacks all mourned him and praised him for making such great movies.
There's also an article in Entertainment Weekly by film critic Owen Gleiberman who called him a great director and told of how 2001 is still the grandest of sci-fi movies. Harry on the news of his death says a film god has died and no longer walks among us.
Later, there's an article in Esquire Magazine, where Tom Carson says comparing Lucas and Kubrick isn't like comparing apples and clockwork oranges but Lucas is as much a perfectionist as Kubrick and takes his time just as long to make a movie. Carson goes on to praise Lucas whose movies he says don't seem the least it calculated and have had a great effect of popular culture and are more loved by most people.
On the subject of Kubrick, Carson decries him saying 2001 is a cop-out, how pretty much every movie he made was bad. That he ruined actors such as Jack Nicholsn and Ryan O' Neal's career and how the only okay movie he made was The Shining. Says he hopes Eyes Wide Shut will live up to the hype and give us some sort of kick in the body. He says maybe the two films should have switched names and how the release of EWS upon Kubrick's death is something he would have hated.
Flash forward to May, when Episode 1 is released and is panned by critics such as Anthony Lane of The New Yorker who says "What do we call this? Crap! Say it loud! Crap!" and says he wanted to like the film but says he knew it would disapoint and blames Star Wars for ruining movies (the first movie wasn't even good) and the cause of bloodless wars in Kosovo.
Entertainment Weekly gives it a film review grade of a B- and on EW's Hot Topic, critic Ty Burr says the film failed to live up to expectations and another EW employee says The Mummy is a better film than Episode 1 and another says how they won't see Episode 1 if Jar-Jar is in it.
Heated discussion rage over the film and whether it was good or great or okay or was just plain bad. People don't want to see Leo DiCaprio as Anakin but
according to an article on Eonline, Lucas gave DiCapiro an early draft of the Episode 2 script for the part of Anakin.
DiCaprio says it's the worst thing he has read and says he is dissapointed in Episode 1.
Another article reveals at a party most Lucasfilm employees working on the new prequels say they know what the new material is and say it's bad, doesn't live up to the original saga.
Salon.com offers 10 reasons why people should not see The Phatom Menace. Meanwhile, everybody on TalkBack is complaining how much they hate Jar-Jar Binks and how cool Darth Maul is. Most members of the public and critics say Empire is the best film as directed by Irvin Kershner and
not George Lucas.
People on Talkback have similar thoughts and suggest other directors should do Episodes 2 & 3
such as David Lynch and David Fincher. Like most critics they hate the film and on TALKBACK blame Lucas for ruining
Star Wars...but by the end of 1999, the movie has been seen by many people over and over again enough to make it 1999's biggest box office hit. Yet, when mentioned on TalkBack, people are quick to say how much they HATE, HATE, HATE it.
Later, Kubrick's new film Eyes Wide Shut is released and while some like it (Roger Ebert who also liked Episode 1)...most people hate it. It's called misgonistic, the acting by Cruise and Kidman is panned as is the film's lack of sexual content. Many people on TalkBack agree saying the emperor is wearing no clothes...the film makes money but not enough as predicted and is seen as a bomb.
An article on Eonline says David Geffen rightfully walked out on a screening of the movie in the middle of it. There are reports of people asking the manager at their movie theatre for their money back. EWS becomes the butt of jokes with cartoons in The New Yorker. Even film critics like Joel Siegel and Jeffrey Lyons hate it.
It fails to capture the critical acclaim his early films did and fails to develop a cult following with the audience (whom get restless early on at a screening and laugh at inappropriate moments in the movie and give it a grade of an D/F. The film gets
a C by Owen Gleiberman and later
a C- review by Lisa Schwarzbaum.
Then later, David Fincher's movie The Fight Club is released and everybody on TalkBack says how great it is and it dies a quick death at the box office (the movie gets a grade of D+ from Entertainment Weekly and Ebert gives it two stars).
Earlier on, David Lynch's movie The Straight Story is released and everybody says how wonderful it is and it too is a bomb at the box office with not many people seeing it (Ebert loves it, and EW gives it an A- but Anthony Lane hates it
and Richard Farnsworth who stars in it is considered to be up for an Oscar nomination).
Then in late November, Tom Carson writes again in Esquire an article about how movies Dogma and South Park are all hype and no payoff when it come to mocking religion and goes on to praise the deceased
sitcom, Secret Diary of Desmond Pfiffer and the movie Drop Dead Goregous for successful comedy. Carson in an earlier article published near October writes about how Being John Malkovich is the last great film of 1999.
Being John Malkovich is released to critical acclaim (it gets an A in EW, Ebert gives it four stars) but David Denby (whom Carson in an article about Tina Brown, decried Denby as not being a thinker, not very smartc) at The New Yorker says in his review that it's good but some critics who call it a masterpiece may be off judgement a bit. Is this Denby's jab back at Carson ? Carson did
jab Pauline Kael in a article about her in EW and Kael similarly in an interview dissed both
EW and Premiere magazine.
David Denby himself is under heat by Jonathan Rosenbaum who mocks him for saying Saving Private Ryan blows every previous WWII film out of the water and says he was wrong in his negative review of EWS's weak and inaccurate vision of
New York City.
Just this November, the new James Bond film is released and gets mixed reviews (mostly negative) and people say the movie is out-dated and needs to go in a new direction...but despite this complaining, the movie is a box office hit.
But before that movie came out
both Blair Witch Project and
Austin Powers:Spy Who Shagged Me are released on video.
The films were praised as great (Slate.com's film critic David Edelstein praises the new Austin Powers movie, calling it better than anyone could imagine) and
the best ever in their genres
(Peter Travers of Rolling Stone says Blair Witch is scarier than hell and a writer at EW in a Hot Topic says it lives up to the hype of being the scarriest movie ever made). But on home video,
people decry Austin Powers 2 as re-using too many old jokes and being a self-indulgence and Ty Burr of EW in his column gives it a grade of a D.
Blair Witch Project is released on video, also but it too receives scorn. People go on TalkBack to complain how poorly it was made and whine that it was overhyped by the Internet and not scarry at all...hardly a great film.
Salon.com prints an article which says the Internet and more specifically Aint-it-Cool-News run by Harry Knowwles is responsible for the overhyping and praise of
The Blair Witch Project.
There you have it, folks.
Whine, praise, complain, love and hate and the history of movies in 1999 pretty much all summed up.
On another note, Tim Burton's new and 1st horror film is panned by some critics & liked by others but in the face of Bond, manages to become a hit.
To me, with Sleepy Hollow,
Tim Burton continues his winning streak of being one of my favorite filmmakers having made not a single bad film. All other films he has had an involvement in having also been entertaining.
I eagerly await Tim Burton's
new film. I see Sleepy Hollow
and it is quite good if not
a masterpiece as I had hoped for.
Whoever Lucas chooses to be Anakin in Episode 1, I will be pleased with and I will see
both Episodes 2 & 3, having been very pleased with Episode 1.
Lucas's story for Star Wars has been great in the last 3 films
(Jedi, New Hope, Empire) and
I hope he will continue his streak of cinema wizardy.
Thanks Kubrick for directing
2001, and Dr.Strangelove, two of the greatest most profound experiences I have ever had
at the movies. EWS wasn't great but wasn't bad. To me it's okay, kind of good. The word, "interesting" is a perfect word
for this movie.
Favorite sitcom maybe be
Mystery Science Theater 3000 and
I loved the finale, it was great.
Blair Witch and Austin Powers both had their moments of movie magic. The Straight Story is
a wonderful film and I hope
one day to see Mulholland Drive
as a TV series and not as a
mini-series as ABC is planning
to show it as (Lynch dislikes
the idea of ABC doing it as
a mini-series and hopes nobody sees it).
Haven't seen The Fight Club but
I will when it comes on video and I'll see Drop Dead Goregous on video as well, I guess.
I'm not a big fan of Kevin Smith having read his script for Superman, I was very dissapointed and couldn't see what all
the hype was about. But I will probably go see Dogma anyway.
Never saw Secret Diary of Desmond Pfiffer on TV and have no regrets about it. The premise of the show just didn't seem very funny or interesting to me. As for the racial issue with the show, TV is about entertainment and it's not real life and if you don't like it, don't see it. Many other critics besides Tom Carson pointed this out, such as Ken Tucker who
wrote a B+ review of it for EW.
Didn't see what the fuss there is about not having enought guts to mock religion. Movies are about entertainment and not personal message movies. If you want to make a personal statement about what a fraud religion is, go on
TV and start a cult to renounce
all religions.
South Park was fun and the songs were the funniest thing about it and should but probably won't win
an Oscar for best musical score.
I thought it was good but not great (the movie seemed like
a big-budget adaption of the TV episode "Death" which had a similar plot about censorship and the entertainment industry).
Personally, my favorite
animated cartoon TV show changed into a movie will always be
Transformers:The Movie, a favorite guilty pleasure on mine (I hope to get my own copy this Xmas).
Sixth Sense and Iron Giant were all very good. The Pokemon TV show is enjoyable and the movie version
was okay. The new James Bond film was intriguing and okay to watch with equals parts bad and good.
The final episode of Home Improvement was good and the
finale of Melrose Place was okay and didn't see the final episode
of Mad About You (I used to kind of like the show but over the years I came to loathe it).
I still don't own a DVD player and Lucas can take his time with releasing the Star Wars trilogy on DVD. Lucas wants the best DVD ever and it'll be great first DVD for
me when I buy it (since I will probably own a DVD player by 2006 because then VHS may be out of
place and no longer working).
I don't agree with Tom Carson's opinions in Esquire but I always find him wonderful to read and he does like the holiday movies
A Christmas Story and Scrooged which I too greatly enjoy (even if he hates It's A Wonderful Life). Plus, it is very nice to know I'm not the only one who thought
Pleasantville was a better film over Saving Private Ryan.
Ebert still is an okay, good film critic in my eye and often gets a bad rap which he doesn't deserve. If you need proof of how good a writer of criticism he is just read his written reviews. I don't
always agree with him and have at times despised his opinions on
certain movies but still take his opinion into consideration about the movies.
I've had a like-dislike relationship with EW for a long time and perhaps always will but
I still read their magazine and find their opinions fun to read.
Both Jonathan Rosenbaum and
David Edelstein and Anthony Lane
and David Denby are fine movie critics in my book, but I still
think Pauline Kael was the best
film critic ever. Nobody was better at praising or disliking movies. She was and is a great writer of film and how it effects the culture around us.
I don't know and couldn't give
a care who Tina Brown is. Harry
runs a great website but I wish he'd get the Aint-it-Cool-News movie forums up and running again. Salon.com is okay and don't agree with all their articles but their film critics, Michael Sragow and Charles Taylor are always worthwhile reading even if I don't alway agree with them and their opinions.
Jeffrey Wells is somebody whom
I may not agree with but I think
the columns he writes are very good and always insightful about
what's happening in entertainment.
I also enjoyed Edward Margulies'
columns at MrShowbiz when he took
over for Wells (who left to write his columns at Reel.com) and was
sad that he died.
I hate racism, sexism, bigotry and those people who practice it. hate people hating each other and mocking one another because
I believe we should try to forget our differences and just try to get along with each other for what we have in common.
The Internet is a great place
to be on and thanking you for listening to me and I hope I have not offended anybody with my writings and if I have, I am deeply sorry about it.
As for the Internet being a tool for hyping movies, all I say is when a movie is released, even a movie with the biggest most hugest hype by the Internet can be seen
as a dissapointment. It's not
about the marketing of
the product but the product itself.
Well, those are my thoughts and
feel free to disagree and agree with me.
"Goodbye on the isle of Capri!"
-
AgentCole: You are right on several counts. Leland's death episode was a great non-Lynch episode, and there were other great moments in season 2, e.g. David Duchovny in drag. And Maddy's murder episode freaked me out big time (don't remember who directed that one). But some of the other material in season 2 sucked. Nadine gaining super strength and having an affair with a high school student??? Utter crap!!!
By the way, mrbeaks, wasn't there a ghastly musical number in "Temple of Doom"? That's not Spielberg's bag, baby.
You're also SO SO right that it was pure madness for Anakin to have invented C3PO.
Buzzman: Leo can act, but he's just physically wrong for the role. -
Agent- You've done your title a disservice, and you should be reprimanded. What the hell is the matter with you boy? How can you have Agent Cooper as your moniker and not like FIRE WALK WITH ME????? I love that movie. It's like all of the crazy shit from the TV series remolded into...."something wonderful." There's no other way to describe it. Of course, I can understand if you were just disappointed not to see Sherilyn Fenn. We all were, believe me, but this doesn't rob FWWM of its brilliance. Oh yeah, I'm not throwing my support to Agent Cole either. I agree with a lot of what he's saying, but I'll give Lucas some slack becuase he's helped mold every child in America's frickin' imagination. For this, I'll let Ep. 1 slide, in hopes that the next one will ROCK.......and star Stephen Dorff as Anakin, of course. Oh yeah, does anyone else think Moira Kelly was actually an improvement over Lara Flynn Boyle. I love Lara in The Practice and Happiness, but TP was not her best stuff. Oh well, as a great person once said, "MY LOG DOES NOT JUDGE." Thus, neither shall I.
-
Ghastly dance number in 'Temple of Doom'?...Maybe you're just not able to grasp the musical genius of Cole Porter.
-
I didn't like the dance number because it was BORING like the rest of the movie. And it had Kate Capshaw in it like the rest of the movie. So fitting that a non-actor's director like Spielberg would marry such a talentless actress.
-
Being that it's my least favorite of that particular trilogy, I remember very little about that opening number (haven't really *watched* TEMPLE OF DOOM in years.) Nowadays, I don't know if Steve could do a musical justice, but when he was younger (before TEMPLE OF DOOM.....) who knows?
-
There's an actor in Wright State
University's theater program who's
been fencing since he was 7. He
got flown out to audition as
Anakin.
I'd say the Lucasfolks are taking
their time and casting the net
widely. Luckily, there are a lot
more competent young male actors
than young boy actors....
-
That was a stellar summary of the year in film and an excellent cross-section of your personal taste. I'm just not sure why I felt compelled to keep reading it. I do appreciate the spirit of your call for peace and love of all our fellow humans.
-
Edward Furlong as Anakin, make his hair blond, give him some blue contacts and he is there.
...and...
has anyone read the first four drafts of starwars4-hope? well I have, and Lucas can't write very well. Sorry. -
Agent Cole, turn up your hearing aids. I did not say I do not like FWWM, I said it was inconsistent and betrayed much of what I loved about the series. Let me explain. The series was about the TOWN of Twin Peaks and the people and spirits who lived there. The movie is about Laura Palmer and the hellish existence she went through in the last seven days of her life. Fine, but I wanted to see what Sheriff Truman, Ben Horne, Josie Packard, Catherine Martell, Pete Martell, Big Ed, Nadine, etc. were doing as well. Most of these people interacted with her the last week of her life and were crucial to the story. He left them out and substituted a lot of repetitious material instead. I'm thinking specifically of the scene in the bar with Laura, Ronette, and Donna (I thought Moira Kelly was terrible) which gave us little more information about Laura. She was a tormented soul. We get it. More mythology, please. I know, I know, he filmed a lot more footage, and I can only hope that we see a Special Edition DVD containing the full film...But what was all the stuff about Chet Desmond and Keiffer Sutherland's characters investigating the Teresa Banks murder. I think that was nothing more than a plot device to get Cooper into the film. (No, I will not give up my name. He's the best character ever on network television.) I think you are missing my point. True, I do not love the film as much as the series (by the way, good call SAC COLE about ABC making Lynch/Frost reveal the killer's identity. The show faltered after that and only recovered when it was too late)BUT...Despite the fact that I don't love FWWM (I do like quite a bit of it) I am not bashing Lynch as a hack, or an untalented director/writer/whatever. This is what is happening here with Lucas. He didn't give everyone the movie they wanted, just as I did not get everything I wanted out of FWWM, but that is my own fault for going in with pre-conceived notions of what I expected. I can appreciate the film as A DAVID LYNCH FILM, but not as part of the series. The same thing is happening with TPM. I happened to have loved the film, I think that's obvious. I plan on going to see it again this weekend. I know many of you didn't. I think that it is because you went in with preconceived notions, much like myself with FWWM. That's fine, and perfectly valid. Just don't say Lucas' heart isn't in it, or he's talentless, or he can't direct. He wants to make these films. He has a story to tell. If you didn't like the first part, don't go see the next two.....By the way, the fact that Waldo remained in his cage REALLY bothered me.
-
Dec 03, 1999 6:44:09 PM CST
Am I the only one who read the 4 rough draft scripts for SW4?
by da bond
I am going to mention the first four drafts for the first SW movie again. Lucas alone wrote these four drafts in the 70
-
I loved, lived and breathed the original SW flicks, and after seeing PM, I know why. I WAS A CHILD. I was sooo excited for Ep. I, and was I ever fucked in the ass on that one! C'mon, you didn't think you werer in trouble in the first minutes when JarJar says "Exsquease me"? A Friggin' Wayne's World reference has never been a cool thing to use, MUCH LESS so in 1999! I still believe PM was ruined for me because one month earlier I saw Matrix, which at least treated me like an intelligent adult, and was REAL sci-fi, not candy-coated crap. Keep on Braying about "oh, the lightsaber duel was cool at least"...c'mon! that and the pod race do not a good movie make. Matrix wasted all SW movies, and the upcoming two sequels, if done right, will totally waste Lucas' crap. I grew up, Lucas didn't. And TO HELL with his greedy home video plans too!
-
I'd just like to say, Jesse Spencer is honestly not that bad an actor for his age and looks-wise would make a good Anakin. And those who say he shouldn't be considered because he has starred in Neighbours is absolute rubbish. Everyone has got to start somewhere. Remember Guy Pearce anyone? He too was in Neighbours years back, left the show and turned up in Hollywood in LA Confidential and proved what a good actor he was. I just wish George Lucas would hurry up and announce once and for all who is going to play Anakin instead of everyone making such big deals of the numerous casting rumours. I don't care who plays Anakin as long as he does a good job (the only actor I don't want is DiCaprio).
-
You should be writing articles? For who... a Jerrys Kids newsletter? Ever hear of a cliche or non-sequitur? Your posts are filled with them. Juvinile ones at that. How dare you critique the content of other peoples posts. Sounds to me like you tailor your opinions according to what cliche or non sequitur you think best sounds woven into to them. Here is an example, and I quote: "This ins't a novelized epic of old, it's a series of movies for the moviegoing generations." What the hell are you talking about?! WAT A DOUCHEBAG!
-
He waited until he checked with the publicist!
Just kidding Harry,
Keep the Faith! -
(Sigh...) Alright, folks...Here goes...my first SW rant.
EP1...
Ok -- I have decided as I think we all should to give Lucas the benefit of the doubt here. If you watch Ep4 and forget the other 2 (ESB and ROTJ) -- it's kinda bad. Boring start, esoteric conversations, strange people, bad monsters...some cool action sequences, some strange references to "The Force." So, if we all saw this now (again work with me in this vacuum I've created) I think we'd collectively say, uh...Check please. Much in the same way we are all a little let down by Ep1. Seriously, C3P0 and Chewie are kinda dumb characters, a little, I dunno, Jar Jaresque, if you will. Ep4 is open to massive mockery and ridicule, more so then Ep1, I feel. And yet, at the time, audiences love it, we love it -- probably due to the state of the art effects, the cinematography, the music, etc. BUT and this is a Jabba sized but - the follow up ESB is a much deeper experience, and ROTJ adds even more to the whole arc of the story.
Now back to Ep1 -- I think it's best we trust it. But you're saying -- "With this blast shield down I can't see a thing" how can I like the next two or "forgive" Lucas for this? Well, again, you must believe. Lucas set us all up for this epic and he has to actually finish it before we can condemn him to the sarlacc. Give jar Jar a break. Give Anakin a break... Let's just wait until the credits roll on Ep3 and we watch Obi wander in to the desert with Luke wrapped in swaddling clothes before we call anything Lucas comes up with crap.
If it sucks -- I'll be the first at the wailing wall...but I have a feeling George and his fat little neck have more of a grip on this then we know.
Now -- on to casting/directing chores --
I don't want Leo for one reason...and many of you have pointed this out -- He is Leo. It's too much, too familiar. I don't think this Aussie will do either and that's based on talent. I think Lucas'll surprise us here, honestly. I think Lucas should hand the megaphone off to someone else too -- but not some auteur because then it's again too familiar.
One thing I think Lucas does have a problem with is the whole video/dvd situation. It's a little much. But I'm not sure if its greed or insecurity or what, but burn those DVDs now. I mean c'mon George, like we all won't buy it again if you add an extra camel fart at the pod race. -
Dec 03, 1999 11:35:23 PM CST
Man, should I even bother trying to get back into this discussio
by niiiice
Go away for several hours and you come back totally lost.......ah, what the hell, here goes. Does anyone remember watching Star Wars special edition on tape, they run that "Making of" stuff before the movie. Isn't there a segment where Lucas says something to the effect of "special effects shouldn't be the story, they should accentuate the story." This was the single line that made me beleive he wouldn't screw the pooch royally on Episode One. But I think in the 15 or so years since that footage, he's been quite impressed by all that computer technology that I think his giddiness has swept him off his feet. Episode 1 gave him the chance to test alot of the things he had in his mind, I think now that he has a clear of idea of exactly what he can do, he can use the effect more in moderation. Not that he can't use a little (or alot) of help in developing the characters, especially seeing as how the next film is a relationship film...
-
Anybody but this teen idol faggot
-
Dec 04, 1999 12:14:30 AM CST
Well, it's obvious that THIS movie is going to suck the BIG one!
by darthjoe
Chris O'Donnell for Anakin and Barry Sonnenfeld will direct. I know this for a FACT.
-
If TPM hadn't been a Star Wars movie it would have been cheesier than rotten 7-11 nachoes. I was excited to hear back in '97 that George Lucas was looking at Luc Besson and David Fincher as possible second and third prequel directors; now I wait in apprehension for May 2002 for my hopes and dreams to be shattered again. It wouldn't matter if Lucas gets the greatest cast together in the next movies; he wouldn't know what to do with them anyways. He should do us a favour and bequeath the Star Wars rights to Tim Burton, then be executed by having people pummel him with Jar Jar merchandise.
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After Episode II, its going to have one hell of a sore ass if Lucas screws it up. Eight ways, huh? Also, did anyone pick up that special collector's edition of Premiere for Star Wars, where they interview Lucas? Thats where he admits he hates characterization and even plot development basically, all he wants is VISUAL VISUAL VISUAL storytelling....damn then go write picture books or something. By the way, about your Jar Jar prophesy, Lucas at this point probably feels he would be giving into the fan's demands by killing off Jar Jar in the second one. I always thought it best just not to have him in it at all. Personally, I think he's saving it for the last film, remember he said it would be a real downer, could this be partly because of the death of Jar Jar??
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JJ Gites, so when you refer to Jar Jar's death in Episode II....is that what should happen or is that what Lucas is going to do or both? Personally I think he should be cut down by Anakin himself...sort of the first thing Anakin does after he's crossed over to the dark side...heheheh (No, I do not actually think this would work). My point exactly was that Lucas perceives Jar Jar totally differently (?) from the audience. Thus, since he thinks his death will have a "tragic" impact, he'll save it for the third film, which he said will be much darker, rather than put it in the middle of a love story. Just my semi-uneducated guess though.
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Well to all of you who were bellyachin' I guess this would come as releif. Personally I don't even care anymore. I think its safe to assume if the guy who finally does get it is attractive, the fanboys will start whining away. I got this off of theforce.net. Seems Jesse Spencer's publicist wrote them a letter and said that Spencer has already denied publicly being involved with this movie. So the search continues, can't wait for the next casting rumor's talkback!
-
Went back and read the news, Harry even has it that his publicist denied rumors....my bad Harry.
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TPM was flawed but still good. Jar Jar Binks is cool. Fire Walk With Me was great, as was the entire run of Twin Peaks. Spielberg deserves all the praise he gets. So does Lucas. Lucas wrote Empire with Kasdan after Brackett died. Kubrik is also dead. Eyes Wide Shut was great. DiCaprio would be a great Anakin. A New Hope is a fantastic movie, on it's own or as a chapter of the saga. Return of the Jedi was great as well. There is nothing wrong with the Ewoks.
Empire is still the best. And just so you know all this is true, E=MC2.
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ok enough with the crap australian sterotypes, theyre fucking old. no one in australia actually speaks like that, except for a bunch of fucking rednecks.
secondly, guy peirce starred in neighbours, and i'll be damned if he wasnt a fucking piece of shit actor who grew to become cool. australia has produced some cool shit over the years (such as mel gibson, russel crowe and if you havent heard of our bands then go back to your little piece of shit country, if not check out grinspoon, jedediah, silverchair etc)
jesse spencer sucks ass ok? hes about the equivelent of that blonde guy on bold and the beautiful. he has potential however just like guy pierce did. with the right chances he could pull it off.
lastly, dont get your hopes up too high for number 2. TPM sucked ass. it was some sort crap star trek film, all politics and no sci fi-ey action to be seen. lucas is a fucknut -
you know, Titanic wasn't the only movie with Leo DiCaprio (and certainly not the greatest one). BTW the acting in Titanic wasn't worse than in any SW movie - I'm afraid, even better. Anyway, if you want to see DiCaprio's REAL acting abilities watch "What's eating Gilbert Grape", "Basketballer's Diaries", even "Romeo + Juliet" - do you think it's easy to deliver Shakespeare's lines? And there was another utterance of yours which is totally fucking stupid - something about Spielberg as a director? I admit, not all his works deserve 5 stars, but, man, then you should see "The Duel". I wonder what you'll say after that. His first flick I believe but definitely worthy of Hithcock. To create such a thrilling chase out of nothing... you must be a real genious. And it's no less impressive even now!
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Agent"Ass"Cole in particular, whose reactionary ravings(!!) are fairly amusing, that your opinions are only that. So many of the criticisms against TPM can and were used against all the other films--criticisms which are mostly irrelevant anyway, considering that they don't take into account what Lucas intends SW to be--yet many TPM detractors like the original trilogy--mostly, I think, because they grew up with it. The "lack of continuity" problem, with midi-chlorians and all the rest, is a non-issue. You can watch 4-6 and not be bothered in the least that none of these things are mentioned. The dialogues just don't need them.
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Dec 04, 1999 8:14:55 AM CST
Montag606: One Rational Argument Why Di Caprio Should Not Be Ana
by rightwing dude
He's too damn skinny for the part and looks like a flat-chested girl. He's what prisonors at San Quentin would often call a "pretty boy". I could never see him as Anakin. As for who should play him, I don't know but I don't have a lot of confidence in George Lucas' ability to find a good actor to play the part. Did you guys know that the kid from "The Sixth Sense" auditioned for the part of Anakin in "Episode 1" and was turned down? Now it's very likely that he will be nominated for an Oscar in a few months, whereas Lucas chose that Lloyd kid to play Anakin, and he couldn't act if he had a gun pointed to his head. Let's hope that in the coming months ahead, Lucas displays a little more prudence (and makes a better film this time).
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it's pleasant to see a 19-year-old (like me) to write such intelligent posts 'cause half of posters here are just fucking loser. But you somehow forgot to mention Matrix - I believe it was like by both critics and general audience. On the other hand, I pretty much hate when somebody is beginning to compare Matrix to TPM or worse, with SW saying "Matrix will wast all SW films". Dude, don't ya understand that this GAP B-movie with punk Jesus Keanu will never be such a cult as SW is. It's become so popular because: 1)it's stylish - i don't deny it - these trenchcoats of them.... 2)the soundtrack is popular with young people 3)it plays with a very popular theme in SciFi now - virtual reality - the same was with space flights back in 60s and 70s. Yeah, I like the movie, but it has no less logic holes than TPM. Oh, and what about the scene where Neo is brought to life by Trinity's kiss? Where did I see it before? Sleeping Beautry vice versa? Greatest cinematographic device indeed! It does treat you like an adult. And I'm 1000% sure that the sequels would be worse - simply because we know everything we should about Neo, matrix, Morpheus and his people... First half of the movie you're sitting and wondering what the fuck this Matrix is, and what Keanu's got to do with all that - that's why it's interesting to watch - and what shall we see in next episodes...er, parts? Keanu and Carrie Ann Moss having a buncha kids? The end of Matrix, if I got it right, is sequel unfriendly - Neo stopped the program of Matrix, didn't he? So next sequels won't be about virtual reality? Or the will? If so, the novelty will be worn out, and the world of Matrix is not and epic SW Universe, that doesn't have limits for expanding. We'll see, anyway.~~~~SSZero, nice to see a familiar "face" among all these morons like AgentCole or Peregrin, hehe, you've finally stopped promoting Leo! What a great day! About Wes Bentley - his hair is too dark, but it's ok, they can change the color a bit, but the guy is left handed - it may cause some problems, unless he's gonna hold his lightsabre by both hands all the time.
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I did not know that about the Sixth Sense kid...very interesting. He would have made the perfect Anakin. Jake Loyd was just too....squirrelly.
As for this Australian guy as Anakin, great. At least it aint DiCaprio. -
Lucas stated that Jar Jar was the second most popular toy after Darth Mauls. Guess those Obi and Ani dolls aren't selling too well, and lucas needs a genuine seller to keep the franchisees happy. So you can spout all you like about homeric structure and Joseph Campbell, Toy sales is the bottom line, and while none of you may have bought Jar Jar fgures, plenty of preteenagers did. I thought that was a wicked point made earlier about how many revisions Star Wars went through before it got made. The TPM script put into production is probably a first draft!
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I found a site if anyone hasn't seen what he looks like yet. Check out:
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/9355/pics.html -
According to a bio page Jesse is 5'10' and at 20, he won't be growing anymore. Has anyone thought about Casper Van Dien? (or however you spell it) he's kind of big and can look young.
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Harry, I'm a big fan of the site! I think this is THE best we have because of your contacts and because of your originality.
Anyway, I do have a gripe though! STOP POSTING THESE STAR WARS RUMORS!!!! IF YOU HAVE SOME CONCRETE SCOOPS... THEN POST THAT STUFF. I'M SICK OF THE SAME OLD TALK BACKS WHEN IT COMES TO THIS SUBJECT. I'M SICK OF THE WHINERS WHO HAVE NO INTELLIGENT VIEWS... ONLY " LUCAS SUCKS", etc.
I'm so sick of people taking this stuff seriously. FACT: We won't know who is cast as Anakin until Lucasfilm announces it either in the trades... or through the internet. FACT: Casting doesn't start until January.
ATTN: Everybody else. You people who actually take this stuff seriously are pathetic! Do you actually think that we will find out who is cast through websites besides the official SW site!!???
The only reason I read these talkbacks is to read some great viewpoints. But when it comes to anything about Star Wars, X-Men, etc. all I read for the most part is: "It sucks". "It will suck." "Lucas sucks." "Singer sucks...." etc. etc. etc.
Try to use some intelligence people! EXAMPLE: I HATED GODZILLA!! INDEPENDENCE DAY wasn't anything special but it was cool to watch. But I will never say "DEVLIN and EMMERICH suck! They can't direct! They're losers!"
Tell us WHY you think that they suck. Put some thought into it! It's true, Lucas is more of a technical director... excuse me... THE technical director. The first SW didn't "suck" Agent Cole. It was a breakthrough. It was all based on mythical storytelling which I think was brilliant.
I'm sick of the people that have jumped on the bandwagon of "Star Wars" haters who can hardly back up their arguments... if they can, they don't. I'lll admit that there were many things that I think could have been better handled in Episode I. I'd go more in depth but I've done this so much here I don't want to be be so repetitive like all of you people!!
Unlike all of you so called Lucas haters... I (along with a select few here) can explain my views. I can see both sides, because I think objectively. But you people can only conjure up, "It sucks." "Jar Jar sucks." "Lloyd sucked."
Truth is... you all will still be in line for Episode II. If you love it, you'll hail Lucas once again like you did before Episode I. If you dislike it... well, we'll wait for the lame "it sucks" columns. Either way, you'll be in line! Admit it. Blame yourselves for hyping the film so much!
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Regarding people actually making arguments rather than opinions, I posted something similar to yours in Spiderman about 5 times, don't expect to get results. X-men, Spiderman, and Star Wars are all fanboy films, there's gonna be bellyaching every single time, my advice is: Learn to live with it, it can be fun(ny) sometimes. Face it, people still have the right to post what they beleive, that doesn't mean Harry should STOP posting news about it. If you want to read great views, there are some that pop up every now and then, but I suggest you visit some of the other board about movies fanboys couldn't really give a damn about. Oh, any by the way, there IS a certain legitimacy to things on AICN, thats why its so big now, most of the stuff aren't just purely unfounded rumors, so...don't tell Harry what he should or should not post. Anyway, here's my two cents on the story (or lack thereof) in Star Wars Episode 1. For the original trilogy, he had so much rich cultural mythology, and previous examples to draw his characters and story from: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress for example. Now with the new trilogy, he's going it alone, and that's where he's getting into problems.
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And all I can say, is "What a FUCKIN' ARROGANT bitch!" Okay, I get aggravated by the lank of "intelligent" posts, but what aggravates me even more is when someone comes along and proclaims how intelligent they are in relation to everyone else. As for Peregrin and AgentCole, at least they tried to defend their positions with arguments and not simple opinions like "Lucas SUCKS!!!" but you've displayed that you haven't come to this discussion with an open mind by the simple fact of your own beleif that you're just too damn smart for them. This is obvious in your blatantly condescending tone switching to its sickeningly sweet sucking up to SSZero: "Hehe! Hey a familiar face!". However, I found a chink in your intellectual armor. In your unfounded and somewhat whiny Matrix-bashing, you say that Matrix will never be a cult classic such as Star Wars. This is true, but only because Star Wars IS NOT A CULT CLASSIC. The vey definition of a cult classic is that a film gains a small but loyal following (guess you aren't a fuckin genius like you thought). Neither the Matrix nor Star Wars fits this description because BOTH have amassed legions of fans. What do you have to say to that, genius-child? Damn, could one of the peasants have confounded the wise old master? I think he did! And you think the Matrix ending is "sequel-unfriendly"???? Almost everyone I walked out of the theater with was saying "damn, looks like there's gonna be another one." Keanu hangs up the phone, he flies away, THERE IS NO RESOLUTION. They didn't "beat" the computer at the end, Keanu got rid of an agent, that's all. The enemy is still there. You're going to gasp when I compare it to that holy grail of yours, Star Wars, but remember at end of Episode 4? Luke blows up the Death Star, everyone celebrates? Hey, the Empire's still there. They won the battle, but not the war. The similar thing about the Matrix (and I'm not a rabid Matrix-fan) is that it can stand alone and also operate within the context of a larger story arc. Oh, and if you respond, I'm hoping for some more "intellectual" arguments than "I don't have to listen to you cause you're a fuckin idiot!"
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Please - all this crap about Spencer being on 'Neighbours' and the great difficulty it would be for him to pull off an American accent - the acting on 'Neighbours' (although it makes me cringe saying it) is better than any in a Star Wars movie, and how hard do you think it would be for Australians to do the accent? Come on - we have American TV and movies pumped up our ass around the clock! Actually there's more forms of American entertainment in this country than Australian!
One thing I will say is that everyone seems to be overlooking the whole Anakin Skywalker size / height thing. Darth Vader is over 7 feet tall, for Christ sake! Lucas should cast an unknown worth his salt, who is at least 6 feet 5. Before you say it, I know Darth's limbs and other parts are supposed to be be bionic (therefore artificially making him taller), but lets get some size behind this guy to make the transformation from Anakin to Darth convincing... -
Luc Besson directing Star Wars would be absolutely incredible. Leave Lucas to worry about special effects. Furthermore on the casting of Jessie Spencer, my first reaction wasn't a good one. I'm Australian, so 'Neighbours' has always been around me in one way or another. Yet it then occurred to me that he probably wouldn't be to bad. My only pause was whether he'd have enough depth to pull off some serious acting. But then I realised, after the last episode,
Star Wars is simply a Neighbours script and dialogue with a $100 mill SFX budget......SO long.
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If some of you think George Lucas's writing ability sucks, than I have one comment to that, Write something better! Writing something completely original is not as easy as it seems. I would love to see something truly unique instead of Terminator 3,Batman 5,etc. Most of the movies that standout in my memory made their impression with an original vision and they did it in one movie. Two of the best are Blade Runner and Dark City. Something Wicked this Way Comes deserves an honorable mention also.
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Something Wicked This Way Comes was not an original screenplay, it was adapted from a classic work by the great Ray Bradbury!!
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Jesse Spencer??!?!?!?!!!?!"?
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You wanted some intelligent respond instead of "I don't have to listen to you cause you're a fuckin idiot!"? - have I ever said such a phrase? You confused my post with yours I guess. It's not MY style, you know, though it would be probably be the simplest answer. In my previous post I honestly tried to explain why in my opinion sequels to Matrix won't be so interesting as the first installment. I guess you just missed that part, 'cause you have already got in mind "what a fucking arrogant bitch"... Ok, of course it's my fault, you know, English is not my native language and I indeed misused the term "cult"... So kind of you to show me my mistake, thanx a lot... When I said "sequel-unfriendly" I didn't mean that there couldn't be any more sequels - of course they'll make them, almost all successful Hollywood movies have at least one sequel, and besides we all know that's what Wachovski brothers are going to do in near future. I just meant that they would be far less entertaining and interesting - the Matrix still exists? Well, I saw the movie quite a long time ago and maybe I don't remember everything clearly, but what about the very last sequence, where he says he's stopped the program or something like that, tell me please, what's that suppose to mean, my wise mentor? Oh, yeah, how stupid of me, ofcourse we'll see the Matrix again, because what will then the other 2 sequels be about? We'll see again a bunch of new agents and Keanu killing them off with a single movement of his finger - isn't he a god already? No, Matrix will upgrade all the programs and the agents will be much more powerful and .... no, that's enough. You can say: so what, all the sequels are less interesting, because the novelty is worn out, etc, and such movies as Godfather 2, Empire or Aliens are just exception. But it won't work with Matrix - - in Empire we saw a lot of new terrific places and met some new cool characters, not to mention Luke's revelation about his father - and what so interesting can there be in Matrix 2? That city of theirs somewhere under the earth - how intriguing! Frankly speaking, I'll be very glad if I'm wrong, and anyway it's my intention to go wathc other Matrix installments (and SW too)with low expectations and then there's a great chance I won't be let down like it happened to many SW fans with TPM. Comparing SW and Matrix is stupid in my opinion, they represent 2 totally different SciFi branches, but of course I'm not so dumb as you think I am and I also think that we still can compare A New Hope and Matrix 1 as being both separate movie and a part of greater franchise. And I think that Matrix will never be so popular as SW, and besides it's not even so groundbeaking as SW was back in the 70s (I wish I lived at that time). Even SFX - Star Wars A New Hope was the first movie to use such great visual effects and it was one of its greatest attractions, and now neither Matrix nor even a new SW flick can surprise us. Finally, I'd like to say it's so funny when somebody says that he/she likes SW and even thinks it one of the greatest film sagas ever made he/she immediately flamed as being a SW fanatic and treating a simple movie like a "whole fucking religion". No, SW has never been a Holy Grail for me, it's not that deep and thoughtprovoking. It's a great entertainment movie and if I want to make my brain and emotions work I better read some classic books. And if we take fantasy, I really think the greates fantasy creation is "Lord of the Ring" - I hope the movie will be adequate. BTW if you're not going to calm down maybe you'll respond to me via e-mail and not thrash the talkback? You know, personally I really hate it when two persons begin to flame each other forgetting that talkback is meant for PUBLIC discussion.
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And look at all of the George Lucas ass kissers in here. PATHETIC!!!!!!
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I have to take issue with just one small aspect of what you said. "Duel" was a great, suspenseful flick the first time around, but it really hasn't stood the test of time that well. There is too much dead space with Dennis Weaver simply listening to the radio. In order to justify the film's length, they needed a B story with some dialog. Otherwise, it could have been edited down to an hour or less.
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Acts decent and looks good in the role and is tall. I think he will work actually. In these movies, as we have seen, great acting is not a must. Especially with the dialogue we saw give to great actors in the last one.
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They have these shockwave comics that move and have sound effects up at the official page. Anyone seen them? Pretty badass! But I have one question! For the Phantom Menace comic, they said they use original sound from the movie! But the voices sound a little strange...and I definitely know that they changed the droid voices ("Check it out corporal, we'll cover you.....ROGER ROGER"). What's up with that?
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RIGHT THEN !
I love star wars, and when I hear that young australian upstart Jesse Spencer is being considered as the next Anakin Skywalker, well my amigos, I feel I should say this.
I know Jesse Spencer from one thing only, "Neighbours", a show which is basically for kidz. "Billy" as he is better known is a fucking pathetic actor. Now to anybody who knows the programme on which this observation is based, and thinks that he is not given the scope to act to any potential that he may have (but he doesn't), I will say that I very recently saw an episode in which love-struck Billy was crying on his sofa, ruing his misfortunes, and to be blunt it was just embarassing, and I had to turn over. Can u imagine "Billy" trying to be emotional on the silver screen, when he is falling in love with Portman. We all know Mr Potato Head will not subsidise the film with great dialogue, and so character's expressions, the "Brando" method of acting, will be relied upon heavily if it is to emote any kind of believable interest for us.
Basically, any people (star wars fans or other) will see "Billy" from "Neighbours" as the young Darth Vader, and the film will carry with it a comical and disbelieving element, before it has even be seen. Not least for the fact that "Billy" is as was commented upon earlier, a short-arse! Okay so he looks a little like Jake Lloyd, and also like Leo, but he looks nothing like a fucking good actor. I know the folklore about Vader being cyborg-esque, with mechanical limbs, which would obviously alter appearance, but "Billy" is nothing like Vader from the originals. The change would just be ridiculous.
Second point: Every actual and potential actor/actress involved with ep2 should be contacted as of now, and no matter how much money they are being offered by Lucas, they should politely refuse unless Binks is eradicated completely. I know I am being selfish, but I don't even want to see a protracted death scene involving fuckface before the film. It is beyond a joke that Lucas (Sorry, "Mr Potato-Head"),wants the most reviled character in movie history to make an appearance in ep2. I have accepted his role in ep1 to an extent, he was a fucking useless cunt-featured alien that helped 2 jedi to get transport. So that is fair enough, but why the fuck does he have to appear in every concievable shot of the film. You know the shot where Jinn, Amidala, Anakin are walking out of Watto's junkshop, and fuckface spins around (oh my god I fucking hate it!!!!), just how many weeks did it take for that to be completed by ILM? Fucking bastard!
If Mr Potato-Head is reading this, I thought that you were waiting until technology was at a stage that would enable you to create your "magnum opus", your definitive vision of star wars, with little constraints on time or money, and artistic licence to imagine an awe-inspiring prelude to the original trilogy. So why do you sell out to the merchandise boyz? The money was the most important thing for you wasn't it, getting the proper merchandising rights before you had a script! Fuckface was the biggest sell out ever. There are a lot of faults with TPM, an awful lot, but fuckface takes the biscuit.
So ep2, tentatively titled "the next worst film in history", will expect an appearance from yours truly! Well, the film supposedly takes place ten or so years in the future, so what is the need for fuckface to be involved. Oh I know the plot now!, fuckface is secretly a fucking jedi master, "meeesa wiise jedi master". I bet that Potato-head re-re-re-re-releases the originals with added inserts featuring fuckface
A CALL TO ARMS - ANYONE WHO APPRECIATES THE STAR WARS UNIVERSE SHOULD BOYCOTT EP2, THAT INCLUDES ACTORS/ACTRESSES, PRODUCTION WORKERS, ANYONE, UNTIL TWO THINGS HAPPEN
1] POTATO-HEAD HANDS THE DIRECTING REIGNS OVER TO SOMEONE WHO IS COMPETENT, AND A FAN OF THE ORIGINAL TRILOGY
2] FUCKFACE WILL NOT APPEAR
In short, everybody should be contacted and told that they want no part with the film unless these demands are met. ATTENTION "NEWS BULLETIN" - We understand that Leo Di Caprio has adhered to our demands. Ladies and Gentlemen, the first blow has been struck! -
It's easy to slag off Jesse Spencers acting but....well....actually it's VERY easy to slag off his acting, but anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that his performance is somewhat limited to the material at hand. Case in point, "Neighbours" is not Shakespere, so if the clothes you are told to wear are crap you look crap, no matter how well you move in them.
Good actors have done bad movies and they are bad (usually) because of the material. So why can't a potentially good actor be found hidden from beneath a sticky smelly pile of "Neighbours" scripts? Bottom line is that the movie has to be put together right. Acting is important, sure, but again how many of us have seen some very fine actors in bad movies? All the brilliant acting ability in the world cannot save an entire movie if it's badly put together.
I would rather worry about the script writing, script editing and direction than who eventually plays the lead.
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It's weird what you said about Duel because for me it's one of the most thrilling flicks ever. No, I don't think it would be wise to add another line or dialogue here, because it's all about the chase and it has no actual plot and that's why it's so cool to watch. I don't agree with you that it hasn't stood the test of time, but you know, maybe we're all too spoiled now by all modern movies with non-stop action? Then even Hitchcock is not that impressive. Some moviemakers say it's MTV's fault - now almost all movies (at least made in Hollywood) try to look like music videos, and those that don't people just don't watch.~~~~~~~What???!!! Spencer is tall???!!! I believe we can call a man (at least young one) tall if he's at least 6 feet high. Spencer is 5' 10. It's middle height. And he'll be even shorter than McGregor. Yeah, Hamill wasn't tall either, but he didn't play a future Dark Lord!
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The only current actor who could handle the complexity of the role is Jake Busey, bold acting offspring of Gary Busey.
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I personally hate Dicaprio as an actor but you have to admit he would make a good Anikan. From the choices I have read about he would be the best. At least it wouldn't be some nobody that can't act. Not to doubt Lucas in his search, but come on, at least DiCaprio would suit the part.
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with more acting ability than Jesse Spencer. Being a Melburnian, I see this horrid little fucker on the tv all the time. He can't act - he makes every supermodel's effort at acting look like first rate thespians. If he is cast in ANY WAY in this film, I will personally refuse to attend (hey, I know it means nothing but I just wanted to make a grand statement)- it was bad enough when they put that annoying foetus from Home and Away in The Matrix.
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Let me remind all the knockers that Guy Pearce, Kylie Minogue and Rhada Mitchell all started out on Neighbours and look where they are now! Consider the fact that Jesse was completing school and working a full-time, high tunover series all at the same time - he's an intelligent, sensitive and very professional actor who should be at least given the chance to prove he is more than the character he played in Neighbours! I would rather see the role go to someone new and not let the industry be dominated by self important actors who think the world revolves around them! There are a lot of young and capable Australian actors who could fill the void that everyone seems to be experiencing, all within the age range too. So you've never heard thier names, I'd never heard of DiCaprio before he made his name! We are all no-ones until we aren't. His agent and publicist wouldn't dare compromise a role like this for him so of course they are denying everything! Leave him and them alone......Casting starts next year!
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I don't know if anyone has mentioned this in AICN, but I think Wes Bentley would make a terrific Anakin. He's got everything I can think of that the part might require. The dark eyes, and he was a Hell of a presence in American Beauty.
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Wow, punters get really passionate, nay PSYCHO about anything star wars dont they? Scary really. Cant help agree, Neighbours is TV sewerage and not that it necessarily implies the kid cant act, his chances arent great. As numerous posters have said, acting ability and starring roles in a Lucas film dont need necessarily to be compatible. Leo, Jesse? Who cares. lame.
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Dec 06, 1999 2:23:56 AM CST
please, for the love of all life in this universe.....
by photon_wordsmith
. . . and for the love of all life in that long time ago, and that galaxy far, far away.
Harry, please, be wrong, please, all those other sites that have reported this travesty of travesties . . .
JESSE SPENCER CAN NOT, I repeat (Boldened, underlined, italicised, ANYTHING), JESSE SPENCER CAN NOT BE ANAKIN!!!!!
I'm an Aussie (don't hold that against me), I also am a semi-regular Neighbours (the show that made Jesse semi-famous) watcher (Please, I BEG you to not hold that against me); But if this guy is Anakin, then where does it end? If Episode II is to be the love story between Anakin and Amidala; then could there be any worse choice to play the gradually darkening young Skywalker?
Few people really appreciate the magnitude to which this would utterly suck ass. I mean, this would permenantly colour how I percieve Star Wars (as it would for many others) - could anyone really imagine the imperial march being replaced with "Neighbours . . . everybody needs good neighbours . . . "
PLEASE SAY IT AINT SO!!!!! -
Henry Fool, Wes Bentley is all over talkback. In fact backlash has already begun; NIIICE said something nasty about him up above. Shame on you NIIIICE! That completely destroyed any credibility you may have established with your raving mad rants. Would Leo be so wrong for the part? This is Darth Vader we're talking about. Before he starts wearing the big black suit (at which point it will definitely not be Leo anymore) some pretty awful things have to happen to him. And who doesn't want to see bad things happen to Leonardo? Now, that's what I call entertainment. Anyway, I hope it is Di Caprio. I hope he and Jar Jar are very happy together. :P
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josh hartnett should be Josh hartnett(faculty and halloweenH2o) he would be a perfect evil anakin especially with his messy hair, everyone agree?
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OK - so there were some dodgy aspects to the phantom menace, but the best thing to do is stop taking it so seriously and just enjoy it for what it is. I for one have learned to love the movie warts and all including the terrible one-liners. Come on guys loosen up and have some fun!
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No way. No way. Billy Kennedy from "Neighbours"! hes the kid that cries every time he argues with his woman... Note to everyone: hes in a Australian soap we get over here...for god sake either cast him American (anakin) or English (darth).
From an evil Englishman (and happy).
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How about Johny Lee Miller for "anni". Van der Beeks a possible though...but not decaprio...OK...
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. . . er, or did I get that name wrong? - lets see, agentcole has never scene duel, gilbert grape, or diaries - but still sez leo sucks as an actor based on titanic. & wont see them either, cuz his buddy gave em thumbs down. & I quote the moron ..."big deal, he plays a retard in gilbert" - that might sound ez to you since you've been doing a pretty damn good job playing that part throughout the entire TB. yeah, titanic was only average to anyone but a 13 yr old girl, but dont discredit leo for it. .......... ...... AND GET YOUR wanna-be critics nose out of Kubricks ass - here, I'll say it for you, the emperor has no clothes, and eyes wide shut sucked! genius or not, the movie sucked... ... I too was disappointed with TPM, but every kid 8-16 yrs old ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. The same as previous generations loved SW as a kid - but someone already covered that.... SO GET A FRIGGIN CLUE .. . you know I M Right cuz I'm yer daddy.
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josh hartnett should be anakin, he would be perfect, hes from the faculty and H20 halloween
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I haven't seen Gilbert Grape or Basketball Diaries either, but I am a firm beleiver in DiCaprio sucking BIG TIME. So what if he can play a retarded person well? Last time I checked, Annakin wasn't suffering from any mental or physical handicaps until well into the third of the series, so who cares if he plays the greatest retard the world has ever seen? As for playing a fully functional human being, Titanic was a weak performance at best. I know it had enough depth to force a thirteen year old girl to finger herself, but beyond that the appeal was limited and very flat [although the horrendous script certainly was a factor]. However DiCaprio also sucked beyond compare in the laughable "Romeo and Juliet" and "Man In The Iron Mask," and so I'd have to say that when it comes to playing any type of tragic character [such as Annakin], he's just not the man for the job. It seems to me his appeal doesn't extend beyond pre-pubescence. Other than that I would just like to add that Eyes Wide Shut is such an unbelievable film; a deep, moving, complicated, harsh, painful, and true look at human sexuality and relationships. I truly feel sorry for those of you without the intellect to appreciate it for the masterpiece that it is; however, like other great artists and other great stories, you can't expect Kubrick's last gift to be within the grasp of everyone...
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I don't completely dismiss Leo as a pretty boy. He was pretty good in "Titanic" and WEGG, but I believe that actors in developmentally challenged roles are afforded too much slack. It seems relatively easy to get away with a convincing but rather one-note performance (WEGG, "Rain Man," "Forrest Gump"). Audience members feel too guilty about picking on someone in the character's condition to analyze the performance in detail. For my money, the best performance in WEGG was given by the mother. Quite moving.
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I know I said eyes wide shut sucked, but thats just based on what I heard cuz I didnt see it myself. . . also, I've never really seen a Kubrick film, but . . . oh....wait .... I just had an identity crises & for a moment thought I was one of those lame-ass wanna-be critics pomona, cole & peregrin who rip leo's gilbert grape & diaries performance & have NEVER EVEN SEEN IT. ha ha ha ha . . . you think you can have any credibility whatsoever? I dont think titanic/leo was that great & I dont think he'd make a good anakin either, but dont trash something you know nothing about! (wazza matter, yer 13 year old girl friend leave you after seeing titanic?) ----- and get the kubrick shite out of your eyes - I said Eyes wide shut sucked, not that Kubrick sucks. And to say anyone not liking Eyes "just doesn't understand Kubrick's genius" only proves how much YOU dont understand. Listen, Mensa-boys, cuz I'll only say it once: saying that makes you sound worse than the SW religeous fanatics. And peregrin - I hope you didnt get that id from LOTR, cuz it would be a disgrace to the character . . . .. . . . . and, yes .. .. . . . I AM YER DADDY
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All those Dicaprio haters are obviously letting jealousy seep into their judgement. People who think Leo would be anything short of brilliant in the next Star Wars film are being blinded by the fact that he is adored by screaming pubescant young girls. So what? Just beacuase young girls like the dude doesn't mean he isn't talented anymore. I have loved his work since What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Sure i still cringe when hear "My heart will go On" but that doesn't change my view of Dicaprio's talent. He should play Anakin hands down. Who else could bring in the box office and deliver the talent while not compromising the physical attributes of Anakin?
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Hey, Daddy, can't you read? I DID see "Gilbert Grape," and I said Leo was pretty good. I just don't think his performance was the greatest thing since sliced bread. And where do you get off calling other people "lame-ass wanna-be critics"? You post your opinions on this site just like the rest of us. To thatpeterguy: one problem with Leo as Anakin is that his face doesn't resemble Anakin's in ROTJ. Also, I tend to think Vader's body is primarily scarred flesh rather than completely mechanical, so that makes Leo too short and too scrawny for the role as well. Let's face it, Jake Lloyd probably wasn't a good choice to start with.
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Dec 07, 1999 3:07:36 PM CST
The only thing "IM Your Daddy" has fathered is an endless string
by peregrin
If he had actually bothered to read my post, rather than ranting as if he'd read, he would have noticed that I didn't make a comment either positive or negative about Leo's performance in WEGG or BD because I haven't seen either film. It seems he should take a little of his own advice when he states rather recklessly "dont trash something you know nothing about!" As for his response to Kubrick and Eyes Wide Shut; well I don't mean to sound like a snob, but in these tiny talk-backs what more can you say? Certainly you could go on for pages about Kubrick's indoor cinematography and the establishment of a maintained dream-state. Or you could talk endlessly about his use of color and form. How about the literal duality of the ending which metaphorically mirrors the figurative and emotional duality of our own psyche? Perhaps he'd like to ponder the relationship between reality/fantasy explored in the film? Or maybe he'd like to take a more traditional approach and think about the Victorian references to sex being synonomous with death? Or how about how the film is an expression of Freudian philosphy the same way 2001 is an expression of Nietzche? Or how about the failure of male/female relationships as a result of our own sexual shortcomings? Maybe the intense allegorical nature of the film? Perhaps symbolism would be more up his alley [masks, rainbows, circles, sex, marriage beds, death, etc.]? "Kubrick shite," yeah, I guess that's it! I think it overwhelmingly clear that "IM Your Daddy" has revealed the absolute truth inherent in my original statement that "I truly feel sorry for those of you without the intellect to appreciate it for the masterpiece that it is." It's obvious he lacks the mental muscle and critical prowess to properly pierce the dense framework and myriad themes that compose "Eyes Wide Shut;" I'd like to thank him for revealing that so readily, and I'd like him to know that despite the fact that on top of his limited intellectual capacity, his immaturity, and his need to resort to pathetic personal attacks, I'm still filled with sorrow at his inability to understand a truly incredible and unique cinematic experience. Perhaps with a lot more experience, both sexual and emotional, he'll have something to bring to the table, some frame of reference with which to understand...We can only hope...
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. . . lame-ass wanna-be critics. Your further lame-ass rantings prove my lame-ass point (wait...did that insult ME?). You can stick all the metaphoric cinematography you want up your ass & it'll still smell like shit - and Eyes wide shut will still be boring. And, nice try on the retract about gilbert grape - just sit back & shut yer hole until you've seen it. . . Lastly, thanks for another good laugh "leo doesn't look like anakin in SW so he cant play him" ha ha ha ha ha . . . what an imbecile to say that. ------- and no, I'm not everyone's daddy, but i am YOUR daddy, so ...try not to embarrass yourselves again.
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Physical resemblances don't matter, huh? In that case, maybe they should ask Whoopie Goldberg to play Anakin. I'm sure you wouldn't notice anything unusual since you can't even read our posts correctly.
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I would call it a full and total statement of support for my prior post. Thanks again for making this so easy. I don't think it would be possible for my point about IM Your Daddy's pathetic intellect to be made more clear than by using his own words: "You can stick all the metaphoric cinematography you want up your ass & it'll still smell like shit - and Eyes wide shut will still be boring." Boring? What more can you say? The man [or more likely boy] spelled it out for all the world to see. I stated earlier that I wouldn't expect such a simpleton to find the film anything but boring. My prior point was that you need intelligence, analytical skills, desire, and life-experience to fully get a handle on everything Kubrick wanted to say in EWS, and, by his own admission, IM Your Daddy is seriously lacking in those areas...
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"prove your point"? next time, why dont you just copy my post verbatim & put yer name on it. OKAY...YOUR RIGHT, Whoopie Goldberg & Samuel Jackson look just as much like anakin as leo does. Good point- intellegent as usual for the pack of racists that you are. . . Sorry that this series of TB has shown you 3 to be such ass-kissing wanna-be critics. Sorry that you all came out looking stupid. Sorry that your lives suck. but if you will listen & learn from me, you can recover, cuz I'm yer daddy.
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Dec 07, 1999 7:32:35 PM CST
. . . and nice analogy w/the "play Beethoven for a deaf man" si
by im your daddy
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You couldn't be my daddy cuz you're not even a man yet. A real man would have admitted his mistake by now. You still won't concede that you completely misread what I wrote before you launched into some hypocritical tirade about wannabe critics.
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....look how much fun you guys are having!
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I am not a great DiCaprio-Fan, but I must confess that he has got talent. And at all: Who is Jesse Spencer???
I -
I wish someone had emptied Lucas' waste basket before he had the opportunity to retrieve his initial notes on Jar Jar Binks.
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Great retort, Pomona88. I admit I'd love to see Jar-Jar meet a painful, gruesome end (early) in the next Prequel. If George meant to show us that hatefully irritating creatures are to be found all over the galaxy, he succeeded!
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Jesse Spencer is currently in pantomime in Wolverhampton, England until February. He's playing Jack in Jack and the Beanstalk.
I think that proves that this rumour is a load of s**t. -
If Jesse "Billy Kennedy" Spencer is to be in Star Wars as Anakin why not also include toad fish as his comedy side kick, sort of like a fat Ja Ja Binks. He did have a sort of Jedi mullet so he could be like a fat jedi aprentice that goofs up and makes 'hilarious' jokes. In fact why dont they go the whole hog and include Lou Carpenter as one of the Jedi Council.......AMAZING.
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To AgentCole, it is neither good crack nor bad crack: it is Speed!
What I said about DiCapio/Portman and Cruise/Kidman was only a JOKE!! Okay? And by the way, it wouldn
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