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25 Years Ago: The Best Genre Year Ever! Part VII! Elston Gunn Remembers THE DARK CRYSTAL!

First by Superfunhappyslide	Dec 18th, 2007 05:25:31 AM
Why Not.
Damn you Michael Bay by MCMLXXVI	Dec 18th, 2007 05:32:13 AM
Damn you Michael Bay
To bad you didn't make more of these by SpencerTrilby	Dec 18th, 2007 05:44:14 AM
these '82 articles were really cool.
What a coincidence! by DerLanghaarige	Dec 18th, 2007 05:45:07 AM
I just saw that movie last sunday for the first time! I fucking love it!
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm Nice article! by pn2501	Dec 18th, 2007 05:51:46 AM
Fond memories of this one, the only film i had on vhs when our family first got a vhs player, watched it to death.
Hats off to '82 by Dr Uwe Boll	Dec 18th, 2007 06:03:28 AM
Great year, great articles. I saw Dark Crystal at the time, back when they still sold programs and had intermissions in cinema's. Muppets were uber cool and even though Dark Crystal didn't get as much love then as it seems to now there were some pretty impressive moments in the film (and the Skeksis were sick - truly brilliant villains, hardcore druid-like motherf**kers - I was always disappointed as a kid that we never got to see them doing evil shit on screen again in another film in some way shape or form).
Surely the best genre year ever was in fact... by Mr Gorilla	Dec 18th, 2007 06:16:16 AM
2005: You got Sci-Fi (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, War of the Worlds, Serenity), you got Fantasy (King Kong, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), you got comic book adaptations (Batman Begins, Sin City, A History of Violence), you got spy films (The Constant Gardener, Munich, Syriana, Mr and Mrs Smith), you got comedy (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Wedding Crashers), you got fantastic animation (Howl's Moving Castle, The Corpse Bride, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit) and you got fantastic odds and sods (Oldboy, Grizzly Man, The Descent ,Downfall, Hidden/Cache Brokeback Mountain, Trasamerica, Good Night, and Good Luck).
Muppets are cool.... by just pillow talk	Dec 18th, 2007 06:24:35 AM
My daughter (who is two) loves watching Muppets from Space..."ship down please". And when she's older, I'll make sure she ends up watching Dark Crystal as well. Mr Gorilla, the thing with '05 is, while there may be quantity of films for each genre, it's not necessarily quality. The Sci-Fi films are missed opportunities..fantasy was blah...can't argue over comics...spy films was a mixed bag for me...I wouldn't include Wedding Crashers in that. I just don't think any of those films can match up to the quality of most of the '82 films mentioned. I'm not saying '05 was below par by any means, just not quite comparable.
Pleased to see they're still going forward with the sequel. by rbatty024	Dec 18th, 2007 06:25:55 AM
It seems like a great idea. Fantasy is actually popular (so long as the Catholic league doesn't boycott it). It's time to bring back the Muppets.
Mr Gorilla has an interesting point, but... by DerLanghaarige	Dec 18th, 2007 06:27:06 AM
...I don't think that in 25 years anybody will say stuff like "Y'know, these movies 'Wedding Crashers', 'Syriana' and 'A History Of Violence' totally blew me away as a kid and I watched them over and over!" (Of course they are great, but in fact this is about childhood nostalgia and nothing else :D[Don't wanna say that childhood nostalgia is a bad thing])
So glad this is back. by Nordling	Dec 18th, 2007 06:29:12 AM
Now let's finish this year, a phenomenal one in film, right!
CLOVERFIELD = GODZILLA US REMAKE by DURANGO66	Dec 18th, 2007 06:37:58 AM

Wasnt Lila from Dexter... by TheRealSeveren	Dec 18th, 2007 07:09:47 AM
a Gelfling? Whateves...Id still fuck her.
LOOKS like Gelfling! by Osmosis Jones	Dec 18th, 2007 07:11:39 AM
SMELLS like Gelfling!
I wish there was more time for these... by SubversiveRusski	Dec 18th, 2007 07:45:50 AM
Because there's still so many others from this year that haven't gotten in-depth write ups like TOOTSIE, CONAN THE BARBARIAN, 48 HOURS, FIRST BLOOD, PINK FLOYD: THE WALL, QUEST FOR FIRE, ROCKY 3, even quirky stuff like CAT PEOPLE, Q: THE WINGED SERPENT and FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3 (IN 3-D). Mainstream fare too: THE VERDICT, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, MY FAVORITE YEAR, SOPHIE'S CHOICE, VICTOR/VICTORIA. Sure, not all stuff people here would write about, but man, what a year. It is the year where the 70's cinema truly ended and the 80's cinema began.
Wow, this came out that year too? by Nice Marmot	Dec 18th, 2007 07:53:52 AM
Damn I loved this movie. The funny thing was that I watched it a million times as a kid w/ no problems, but as an adult, REALLY get the creeps in some scenes. I used to be so pissed that those landstriders got killed by the giant beetles.
I own a signed copy of 'The World of the Dark Crystal' by zinc_chameleon	Dec 18th, 2007 08:32:51 AM
Signed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz, at the Palace of the Fine Arts in San Francisco, December 1982. It's written to: 'Seth'. Great layout, and fine paper, too!
This one's overrated by jimmy_009	Dec 18th, 2007 08:47:17 AM
Production design = awesome. Story = ZZZZZZZZZZ
Time to watch it again by Chaosinabox	Dec 18th, 2007 09:04:36 AM
I keep meaning to sit down and watch The Dark Crystal again...I first saw it when I was 8 years old and it SCARED THE HELL OUT OF ME!! Now that I"m older and mature, I think I can handle it.
Another love letter to 1982 by The Gline	Dec 18th, 2007 09:13:09 AM
And a fine one, 'cos it's not just about the movie but the people behind it. Jim Hensen shaped so many of us in so many ways that I think we are only now playing catch-up. (The word "muppet" is now a generic term, which I think speaks for itself.)
Any new love letters from Genndy Tartakovsky? by MurderMostFowl	Dec 18th, 2007 09:21:36 AM
A whole talkback and no one mentions _The Power of the Dark Crystal_ ?
LOVE DARK CRYSTAL... by Lord Nerd	Dec 18th, 2007 09:26:28 AM
And I can't wait to see DC2!! Brian Froud is fantastic designer. Good stuff!
Center For Puppetry Arts in Atl. by Lord Nerd	Dec 18th, 2007 09:28:09 AM
If you are near or in Atlanta you should drive down and visit the Center for Puppetry Arts. They have an actual Skeksis from the movie on display. BADASSNESS!!!!!!
My friends just won't give it a chance.... by logicalnoise01	Dec 18th, 2007 09:31:33 AM
I'm teh guy who finds to cool arthouse flicks for my friends and everytime I tell someone to watch it they turn it off after 10 minutes because they thinks it's too weird. I mean come ON! it's a simple storyline fucking amazing production quality. and yet all of my friends still watched labrynth.
Skeksis Down In Atlanta!! Link to site. by Lord Nerd	Dec 18th, 2007 09:35:37 AM
Here is a link to their site. Scroll down and you will see it. http://www.puppet.org/museum/p ermanent.shtml Just thought I'd repeat it because it's so damn cool! The actual puppet is on permanent display there and that alone is worth going and seeing.
Just bought the DVD the other day by Han Cholo	Dec 18th, 2007 09:52:13 AM
You definitely don't see work like this anymore. I have to wonder if this much planning and research goes into the sequel. But here you can just see how much love and work went into the film. The way the Mystics move around and hw they're built must have been a bitch for the creature shop techs. And damn, it looks like Froud did ALL of the artwork for the movie. Seriously, that dude is a drawing machine. Is the art book from the movie still for sale? Everything from DC was awesome from the characters to the production design to just watching the people involved working. Seriously, if I was a filmmaker, this would be the direction I would go in instead of copping out with CGI (that's a jab at you, I Am Legend).
When in line to see that movie by Knobules	Dec 18th, 2007 09:54:06 AM
I was 16. Two guys in front of me had to be in there 50's. Huge bearded dorky guys talking in a superior tone of voice about minute details of muppet elf technology. It was really quite pathetic.
Ecology on Film by Dreamfasting	Dec 18th, 2007 09:54:09 AM
The Dark Crystal is one of the movies I try to make a point of watching each year and it gets to me every time. I love the panning shots across intricate little fantasy ecologies - one of the little things that bugs me about many other fantasy movies is that they create a few fantastic creatures and drop them into an otherwise ordinary world - it's the biology equivalent of using NYC as the backdrop for an alien civilization. Of course, I must admit that when I watch it I get carried away into the world and I tend to become blind to the muppetry. There are so many interesting themes going on - identity (rediscovering one's own culture), nature vs nurture (the difference in Jen vs Kira based on which group rescued them as children), consequences of violence (Skeksis/Ur-ru). The jaw-dropping observatory, the haunting harmony of flute and voice on the river, the awesome "I don't have wings!" exchange, etc, etc ... this movie has just such a density of iconic moments. Perhaps I hit it at just the right age or the right mood or the right alignment of stars, but it still ranks high in my personal top 10 films. I sometimes wonder if dropping the opening narration might have improved the critical reception - if the audience had to work just a little harder to figure out what was going on rather than dumping exposition that frames the story in bland black-and-white save-the-world way (that turns out to be incomplete and a little misleading anyway).
1982 by konkrete590	Dec 18th, 2007 09:55:39 AM
Didn't Beastmaster come out in 82? That was a great movie when I was a kid. Havn't seen it in ages, but it probably doesn't hold up with age.
prolly the most influential film in my life by occula	Dec 18th, 2007 09:56:53 AM
in that my artwork is total froud-ish and it's still the only movie i've ever seen more than 10 times in the theatre. man i was a weird kid. but when i finally met froud i was able to tell him how he inspired me, and even though it's a cliche, that's a meaningful moment, my friends.
Yeah I love how they even created the agriculture by Han Cholo	Dec 18th, 2007 10:13:30 AM
Everything in the movie just seems alive like when they do the transition to the forest that Jen meets Kira in, the whole thing seems natural and real. To me, the greatest thing about Henson and Oz's work from Kermit to Yoda has been that all the characters they voiced and puppeted are real to me. They don't come off like puppets at all and the fact that the transition the CG has made it a dying art is a shame because of the life infused into the characters when doing puppetry is lost with the over-exaggeration of CG, case in point Yoda from ESB and Yoda from the prequels. He seems more alive in ESB than in any of the prequels, especially the scene where he's describing the power of the Force to Luke after he failed to raise his X-wing from the swamp. That scene, to me, will ALWAYS be the definitive work in puppetry because it seems like a real person and Frank Oz's genius work here is the best work I've seen.
Yeah, Beastmaster. Before Samuel L there by Grammaton Cleric Binks	Dec 18th, 2007 10:15:17 AM
was John Amost going to town with his staff, bald head, and take no crap attitude. I hated all sequels, but the original was great. Original story, creepy monsters, and Tanya Roberts. This was a 12-year-olds dream. Those bat things that sucked people up like a six-year old sucking the last drop out of a Capri Sun pack scared the crap out of me. Thing is I think they just did another beastmaster sequel a few years ago, and Marc Singer looks in real great shape for his age. And yeah Nosferatu, the ferrets made the movie. Was Sword and the Sorcerer the one with the guy from Matt Houston, or was that another sword and sorcery flick? Oh yeah Lee Horsely. I'm too lazy to look up imdb right now.
This moved scared the shit out of me... by TrumpyEatsPotatoes	Dec 18th, 2007 10:15:24 AM
when I was young. The second that old witch puppet took out her eye I ran screaming from the room. What followed was an extreme aversion to anything muppet or puppet. Sock puppets make me uneasy to this day.
HOBBIT- where's the story on AICN??? by ptindy	Dec 18th, 2007 10:31:08 AM
http://www.thehobbitblog.com/ Peter Jackson to Produce The Hobbit and Sequel! Academy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson; Harry Sloan, Chairman and CEO, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM); Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs of New Line Cinema have jointly announced today that they have entered into the following series of agreements: * MGM and New Line will co-finance and co-distribute two films, The Hobbit and a sequel to The Hobbit. New Line will distribute in North America and MGM will distribute internationally. * Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh will serve as Executive Producers of two films based on The Hobbit. New Line will manage the production of the films, which will be shot simultaneously. * Peter Jackson and New Line have settled all litigation relating to the "Lord of the Rings" (LOTR) Trilogy.
Is somebody finally going to write one for ROCKY III... by timryanokane	Dec 18th, 2007 10:39:04 AM
...Or am I going to have to slap someone with my balls?
HOBBIT - AICN LATE AGAIN!!!! by wildphantom07	Dec 18th, 2007 10:41:51 AM
Biggest news of the year and they're last to break it
Sam Raimi is directing with Jackson Producing by skycrapper	Dec 18th, 2007 10:43:25 AM
That's awsome!
Raimi? by wildphantom07	Dec 18th, 2007 10:45:43 AM
Who says? the press release doesn't name a director just yet
Raimi by skycrapper	Dec 18th, 2007 10:47:56 AM
It's just speculation at this point but someone at coming soon reports it.
Found out about Henson's death the same way by bluebottle	Dec 18th, 2007 10:53:24 AM
I was in grade 9 math, and I overheard someone say, "Sammy Davis Jr. died... and so did that puppet guy." I asked the guy who he meant, and he said "The Kermit the Frog guy". I didn't find out for sure until I got home and saw it on the news. A sad, sad day. I'm eating cheerios.
yep, disappointing that this site has nothing on the hobbit. by Bunger!	Dec 18th, 2007 10:54:59 AM
gurp.
Hobbit by Bob X	Dec 18th, 2007 10:55:47 AM
Talk about dropping the ball, AICN...
I thought Harry was best mates with Jackson? by wildphantom07	Dec 18th, 2007 11:00:11 AM
should have got the word on this first! I found the big story on empireonline!!
Seriously - I come here looking for the Hobbit by Reynard Muldrake	Dec 18th, 2007 11:00:17 AM
and realize we should all be writers for this site...
Hollywood Reporter > The Internet by Quin the Eskimo	Dec 18th, 2007 11:01:17 AM

Hollywood Reporter > The Internet by Quin the Eskimo	Dec 18th, 2007 11:01:19 AM

And I don't want Raimi... by Reynard Muldrake	Dec 18th, 2007 11:05:16 AM
I pray Jackson also decides to direct...but I have a sour, Spider-Man 3 flavored taste in my mouth still. And I know that was probably due to mountains of studio pressure...but guess what, The Hobbit is going to have a lot of the same, and you need Jackson's cahones and monster established Oscar winning rep to maintain his vision...which is why I'm glad he's Exec. Producing for sure...pretty much like directing...
PETER JACKSON IS DOING THE HOBIT by erichaislar	Dec 18th, 2007 11:06:43 AM
THEY JUST RELEASED A PRESS RELEASE!!!! http://www.cinematical.com/200 7/12/18/breaking-peter-jackson -to-do-the-hobbit-and-a-sequel /
erichaislar by Reynard Muldrake	Dec 18th, 2007 11:07:31 AM
easy tiger, read before you post.
Pete obviously knows who he wants.... by wildphantom07	Dec 18th, 2007 11:09:25 AM
This seems obvious if you think about it. We'll find out shortly I'm sure. I'm sure AICN will be the first to let us know when it breaks - ummm yeah
You're a Hard Hobbit to break - Fran Walsh to direct by darthbauer	Dec 18th, 2007 11:16:53 AM
Me thinks this will be like the Wachowski brothers and V for Vendetta, where Jackson will actually get another name to direct (maybe his wife Fran Walsh) but he'll actually do most of the work. Fran if you remember directed many of the scenes in the trilogy (if you listen to the director's commentary) and some of her scenes were the best for sure. There's no way Peter is gonna let some guy take the ball and run an entirely different direction. Due to legal obligations Peter can't officially direct because he on these other two movies, but believe me He and Fran will indeed direct this and they'll just give the credit to someone else. This is so fantastic!!!!!
Every thread to be taken over by Hobbitt talk... by JimCurry	Dec 18th, 2007 11:35:58 AM
cuz this site's too slow to get on the damn ball..
I got to meet Jim Hensons wife and some of the puppeteers last m by majortom25	Dec 18th, 2007 12:09:44 PM
Last may here at the cinema arts center they had a special jim henson weekend. His wife was there, 3 of the puppeteers (gonzo,elmo, and another sesame street one). We got to watch the dark crystal, Some of the very early commercials and we even got to see Time Piece and the cube. Also Jim Henson did so much for the movies. He was very talented and I am stil lsad that he died in 1990.
'84-'85... BEAT THAT! by Emperor_was_a_jerk	Dec 18th, 2007 12:17:26 PM
In '84-'85 we had: Gremlins, Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the re-release of ET, Back to the Future, Goonies, Explorers... yeah. that is a tough lineup to beat! And WHO do almost all of those movies have in common?!
MEGAFORCE OWNS THE 80s!! by classyfredblassy	Dec 18th, 2007 01:20:53 PM
We need more people like Ace Hunter in the world.
Dreamfasting... by BurgerTime	Dec 18th, 2007 02:28:00 PM
...I completely agree. Just a feast for both the eyes and mind, which is damn hard to find these days. AND it was made at a time before CGI, so you know there aren't going to be any dead-eyed creatures, digitally flattened mattes, massive-animated battle scenes or sloppy shake compositing. Real sets, real creatures and real props that all perfume and texture the world and anchor it in a solid existence. Magic.
Dark Crystal's score by Staldo	Dec 18th, 2007 02:29:17 PM
the music score for The Dark Crystal was awesome as well, like smoking a giant doobie rolled by the Lord God. It was rather like the orchestral score for the movie Heavy Metal, except the visuals were grand enough to fit with the sound.
awesome movie. so underated, Henson was the man. by THE_ONE_MAN_GANG	Dec 18th, 2007 03:27:14 PM

When Henson died, I felt like I lost a friend by Moonwatcher	Dec 18th, 2007 06:01:09 PM
I remember watching Kermit doing "Glow Worm" on the Ed Sullivan show; I was 27 when DC came out, and I loved every minute of it. What a talent he had; sometimes nice guys do finish first.
I remember seeing this by buffywrestling	Dec 18th, 2007 07:24:21 PM
in the theater between E.T screenings. I prattled on about Gelflings for awhile after that and remember being freaked out by the essence sucking sequence. Good movie and going back to watch it again, it doesn't lose any of it's magic.
one downside by Staldo	Dec 18th, 2007 07:44:23 PM
I thought the story was archetypal and I can't think of a moment that wasn't visually interesting aside from the Podling village and the creatures that the skeksis and the mystics became when they combined (the UrSkeks?) looked nothing like either of their seperate halves, basically they looked kind of slapped together and if I recall, a lot like Warriors of Virtue(never heard of Warriors of Virtue? good, pray this is the last you hear of them)
a thought about CGI. by Dreamfasting	Dec 18th, 2007 10:51:21 PM
I think Pixar successfully demonstrates that CGI itself is not the problem as they manage to create performances that evoke a certain empathy that even live actors often struggle to attain. Personally, I find it's hard to focus on both the physics and the emotion of a character at the same time and although I know nothing about how these things are made behind the scenes, I often imagine staff meetings with five techs figuring out the composition of textures and muscle dynamics and one person worried about the facial expressions, causing the physics/emotion priorities to get skewed.
BOO-shay, BOO-shay, BOO-shay... by Osmosis Jones	Dec 18th, 2007 11:08:43 PM

Megaforce by Dr Uwe Boll	Dec 19th, 2007 02:49:29 AM
It's been quite a while since I've seen this 80's "gem". Isn't it about due for a Michael Bay remake. Megaforce action (if you dare): www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqCb_9 ubQ1U
I have some love for the film and all... by Lemming	Dec 19th, 2007 05:08:21 AM
but it had it's problems. The narration was so arduous and long at the beginning. I didn't remember it from being a kid, but bought it recently on DVD and nearly died of old age during it.
SK229 by Mr Gorilla	Dec 19th, 2007 12:08:20 PM
I love your comments and agree about the heart in the films you talked about (but of course other praised films from then like Tron and Blade Runner are rather darker and more pholosophical or political)... I think this year was a stinker as far as most blockbuster entertainmnets go, but we did get, in the form of Ratatouille, a film with loads of heart and values. And I think kids now will talk with great affection about Harry Potter when they are in their 30s (parts 3,4&5...). It's not ALL bad - just most of it.
when Henson died by emeraldboy	Dec 19th, 2007 12:13:53 PM
i was devasted. in the manner of someone who just heard that thier favourite group were no more. lots of shock and disbelief, that this geniuienly nice man had to pop his clogs for no reason at all. But what i learned is that Henson never really understood that as he was the the creator or the boss, that he should have called the shots but he left that to other people. He very rarily lost it. He was like gepetto, creating characters that other people very happy for generations. Yet we know very little about him and when he did direct, he was very quiet and steve whitmire said that he learned alot under henson but when it was over there was no follow up. He didnt understand the business side of things. He died on the same weekend he handed over the muppets to walt disney. To his day his death remains mysterious. I saw a documentary to celebrate 50 years of the muppets and on it one guy said he didnt realise how ill henson was.This seems to be a big secret for some reason and wasnt he cremated? I have heard that he was a christian scientist and that accordingly all attempts to save his life were doomed. its all very odd. Notice there was no big celebration or anything and the films have dried up as has any talk of tv shows. His family have remained silent about him. They are only there to run the show. When my cousin who is in the animation business went to the muppethon there was a guy who started mouthing off and he was dragged away by security. The henson family sold the business after that and as we know fought very hard to get it back then sold the part of it again to the weinstein. They really havent done much since. They building an animation branch. As Denis Leary once said as any got an asprin, it think i have got a cold.
You can sort fo tell it was creatures first by Wee Willie	Dec 19th, 2007 02:34:27 PM
story second. The film is wonderful to look at, and I especially love the little scenes showing the wierd and wonderful environment. But the story is quite un-involving. Still, my three kids love it.
Due to legal obligations Peter can't officially direct because h by Wee Willie	Dec 19th, 2007 02:39:47 PM
That would only be true if he was working under a DGA contract, and since he'll likely be working in NZ, where they don't have jursidiction, I'm sure he'll be able to do whatever the hell he wants.
1982 and still no mention of Blade Runner? by theabusetaker	Dec 19th, 2007 02:47:16 PM
I guess everyone on here was probably too young to understand or even go to see Blade Runner in the theater.
I applaud Henson... by Hellboy	Dec 19th, 2007 03:04:31 PM
...and his talented crew for all the coolness in this movie. But I have even more applause for anyone who can get through this movie without falling asleep. I've seen the whole thing, but only in parts because it is FUCKING BORING AS HELL.
FUCK JIM HENSON! by partnerrumble@gmail.com	Dec 19th, 2007 05:22:20 PM
http://tinyurl.com/2br4mb
1981 is the best genre year, beaatches by Prossor	Dec 19th, 2007 05:32:53 PM
wheres conan the barbarian my fav 82 flick?
SK229 by kwisatzhaderach	Dec 20th, 2007 09:33:29 AM
Great post - agree with every word.
Did anyone used to read Si-Fi Universe?? by Samuel Fulmer	Dec 20th, 2007 10:27:14 AM
It was a magazine back in the mid-late 90's. I remeber just about every issue the editor-in-chief Mark A. Altman used to rave about how 1982 was the best genre year ever. Of course, I don't remember them ever actually tackling the issue head on, but they did bring it up all the time.
I remember seeing this in the theater vividly... by Playkins	Dec 20th, 2007 12:33:40 PM
I went with a little that lived next to me and his dad. The kid absolutely WAILED whenever the Skeksis were on screen and his dad kept telling him to shut up. "Bwaaaaaaaa......SHUT UP !!!!!" the whole movie.
road warrior came out 1981 by Prossor	Dec 21st, 2007 04:08:40 PM
not 82

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25 Years Ago: The Best Genre Year Ever! Part VII! Elston Gunn Remembers THE DARK CRYSTAL!

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