Sundown

Yeah, China, all lousy stuff. Like the Yamato 1/48's. -Al

While Private Ryan was "historically accurate" only in the beginning scenes (it wasn't, exactly, since the actual Normandy beach assault took much longer than it seemed to portray), the rest of the movie is simply a hypothetical "what if", based on policies the US Army had at the time, and based on certain figures with similar situations. If you were looking for a movie that was a strict historical account of WWII, SPR isn't that movie. That, however, doesn't make it a bad one... even in the eyes of vets who actually lived all that before them onscreen. Regardless of whether the actual mission was plausible, the movie still executed it with moderate believability. If you want something more genuine, I'd recommend Band of Brothers. Amongst the best if not the best WWII portrayals in quality and magnitude. But then again it might not be up your alley, since Spielberg oddly, again had a little something to do with it. Yeah, common mistake here... Tom Cruise does bear uncanny resemblance to Will Smith. They do both have two eyes, two arms, and have acheived bipedal mobility. Wait... oh yeah, I remember all those futuristic weapons in Last Samurai. And the hot chicks! And man, you'd be surprised how hi-techly armed sports agents, 19th century boxers, bartenders, and pool sharks are. Assumptions, especially wacky ones, are the fault of the one assuming. Spielberg might actually do the book vague justice, and Cruise is skilled enough to pull it off. Whether one personally likes Cruise or Spielberg is a totally different matter. And if both turn WotW into something moderately different from the original book, I don't care, as long as the movie is in itself good. You... backed a movie directed by Paul Anderson. Enough said. It's not possible to make remotely the same mistake, unless WotW was being directed by him. That's like laying a turd and putting it in your mouth, then warning folks about the dangers of eating. -Al

Well, yeah. But from the sort of spam in my inbox, someone seems to think otherwise. -Al

Err. Clothed, and otherwise. She's rumored to be doing a nude scene in Resident Evil, but that ain't why I'll see (or at least rent) it. Honest. Actually, I'm not a big fan of my favorite actresses going buff... screwy as that makes me. Roy, there are folks who already pay much more than 10 bucks to see even a few minutes of that sort of thing. -Al

Cross overs and remakes get panned only because the people assigned to do them are known to suck. AvP is an idea that fans love. The hate is over who was responsible for the flick and how it turned out. And people.. well... by golly... like Spielberg. Go figure. The dissapointment in the megathread isn't because people hate the idea. It's because they love it, and it wasn't given due justice. Um. Okay. And a mostly plotless dino-CGI-vehicle endears itself when said films here don't? I'd wager your opinions regarding this list says more about your particular and unique taste in movies than Spielberg's inability to make a good one. Give me visceral WWII and more Jones anyday. -Al

Or out of costume, for that matter. -Al

At this rate, I'm actually looking forward to this. Lucas is cornifying his own creation, and adding and changing bits that previously had deeper meanings he somehow seems unable to see. But then again, he wasn't always directly responsible for those bits in the original films, and I suppose it plausible that he's missed them, as ironic and incredible as that seems. -Al

Err. Ruin everything? Good Steven Spielberg movies since Jurrassic Park? Lemme think. Schindler's List? Saving Private Ryan? Amistad? Catch Me If You Can? Minority Report wasn't all that shabby, either. You know, raping a classic is one thing. But making alterations and still have it be entertaining and interesting in its own right is another. Unless you consider Orson Well's radio play raping of the original source material. The 1953 film is a "butchering" of the original novel, too, unless you believe that somehow it's perfectly okay to alter a 50 year old classic 50 years ago, and somehow it's not okay now. My bet is that given Spielberg's track record, War of the Worlds will at least be watchable. Let's not confuse Spielberg with Paul Anderson here. *Eyes thread tagline* Oh, we just did. -Al

I call BS on the article. If the movie was made to appeal to fans of the original Jaguar game or even arcade game, fans of said game would be able to get into an R-rated movie by now. It's not a cop out. It's a calculated grab at teen and pre-teen kids who have heard of the concept and might like the premise, knowing that grown-up Alien and Predator fans would come along for the short and underwhemling ride. It's not a movie made for them, however. It's a wonder that Paul Anderson still has a job... but it's probably because his Brit Accent somehow gives him more credibility while making his claims and pitches and somehow gets him taken more seriously than he deserves. And because for some weird reason, his movies make money. The latter really needs to stop, if we're to rid his scourage from modern cinema. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that I'll have the will-power to deny Mila Jovanovich in Resident Evil 2. I could watch her all day, whether it be spouting lousy dialogue... killing zombies... dressed... undressed... taking a bath... taking a dump... vaccuuming... plucking her eyebrows... flossing her teeth. Whichever way. -Al

I think we're pretty much saying the same thing. I just wouldn't put Alien or Aliens in the gorefest category, not by a long shot. The memorable scenes pulled no visual punches... but what added to their effectiveness was their careful use-- quick cuts here and there, tastefully placed. The movies showed stuff that disturbed more than anything else you've ever seen, and those images were so effective that they only needed to be shown for a few seconds to stay with you for years. A real Aliens or Predator movie done justice at least requires a few of these key scenes. I guess I didn't consider the gooey hive scenes by themselves "gore" per se, and most of them were shot in darkness for effect. But they were definately money. -Al

That's assuming a lot, given Signs. Exactly. Or if he's bent on a surprise, for once, make a film that can resolve well enoughon its own-- that doesn't even need the surprise to be a decent flick. Then pop it in at the end, for shock value. Like Identity, Momento, or Primal Fear. The audience'll feel they got an extra something out of the film. It beats banking only on the twist, and having them feel duped. But this assumes that Shamalayan can write a complete and resolving movie without twists. Which has yet to be proven, even 4 or 5 mainstream movies into his career. -Al

The movie's premise sounded awesome... and was actually suspenseful for about an hour. Then it went into corny mode and fell short of the darkness I was expecting. Maybe it was just because Sam-Neil-supposedly-possesed-by-Hell looked like he'd been sleeping on a barbeque grill, and I was mostly distracted by my hunger for a hot dog. -Al

If I remember correctly, neither Alien, Aliens, nor Predator were quite the continual gorefests you're describing. It had extremely disturbing but very judicious use of imagery... the directors all knew to keep the gore to (what would be considered today) a modest minimum in order not to jade the audience, and then use it in full shocking value in key select scenes. Less is more, and I'm thinking more liberal use of blood and guts in those films would have lead to a quick desentisization and lost most of its effect. I give you Starship Troopers. While the movie isn't nearly in the same sub-genre, the effect of the excessive gore works against taking any of the action scenes seriously. Instead of being horrified, you just start wincing painfully and chuckling to each kill. But I suppose the theme, pacing, lighting, writing, and music all had something to do with that too. But PG-13 leve AVP? The hell? -Al

Sara never did the lean-rediculously-off-balance-defying-gravity move in the series either. But that's not stopping her here. -Al

*cackles* I see Villiage People. Priceless. But to be fair, I still think it's one of Shamalayan's better efforts as a whole. Sixth Sense was great for what it was. Unbreakable was okay, somewhat unsatisfying, but fun for me as a comic fan. Signs was a huge letdown with a contrived ending that screamed of trying too hard to be a Shamalyan flick for a movie that could have been much better otherwise... even more of a dissapointment since I love a good UFO invasion/X-Files-esque pic. Now the Villiage was actually coherent as a movie, and made the parts in the middle make more sense, where one could go back and spot the hints and bits of foreshadowing and reinterpret the elders' thoughts and actions after the ending was revealed. There's more meat to it than Signs, I say. I'm guessing that it's being less well received simply because people are tired of his "formula", and pretty much had enough with Signs. I do think it's a more solid and coherent picture than the rest of his other movies, Sixth Sense excluded. Shamalayan needs to watch Momento, Unusual Suspects, and Primal Fear to understand again what a good surprise is. It's one where the audience thinks they know all the pieces, and that the story's been laid clearly before them-- that the story could resolve without the surprise and that everything appears in plain view-- before the twist is released on them. But I'm betting if the Usual Suspects was made by Shamalayan and released today, it would get some degree of panning, just because the audience is expecting some sort of twist and wouldn't be amused by it as much as they would be annoyed. Best thing Shamalyan could do for his movies is to start taking his name off of them, so his films get watched without expectations and preconceived notions. But that means he needs to start taking himself out of his own films, or maybe hire Kumar to play "him". -Al

Hey! I actually like that movie concept!! Fox should have hired you instead of that hack Paul WS Anderson! I'd pay money to see that any day rather than see the kiddified train wreck that AVP has turned out to be. You like that movie concept because it's just Aliens redux set after Aliens with a crappy ending attached. And because at least these aliens aren't afraid of water. -Al

Hell, I can see it now. Ripley returns, waking up in a sleep chamber, being told that she was the sole survivor of the encounter at LV-426, and that she's lost her memory due to her shuttle's crash. Gets briefed by way of showing her her own logs... emphasis on how she hated Ash. Flashback Alien footage of Ash's severed and milk-bleeding head for effect. She's teamed up with more Marines and the obligatory android, and sent again to some other planet with known Xenomorph presence to hunt the buggers down. Ripley voices concern about android. Largely ignored, no surprise. Ripley despondant. Team lands. Motion tracker goes nuts. Obligatory scene with Marines and Ripley battoning hatches and hiding in some basement, with eerie sounds of Aliens pawing around overhead. Poor focus on Alien sillouettes for "suspence". No one actually dies, much to the audience's dissapointment. Some dialogue. Android acts creepy. More dialogue. More tension over android. Great but meandering acting. Audience gets impatient and starts eyeing watches. This goes on for about an hour. Then aliens show up. Hilarity ensues. Marines die. Ripley survives. Final encounter between Ripley and Queen causes her to be cut!-- spewing out... white blood. Surprise. Ripley was an android herself all along. Random, confusing ending. Aaand fade to black. Why was a clone android of Ripley sent with the team? Who knows, who cares. It doesn't matter. The whole movie is just contrived and convoluted setup for a Shamalayan surprise ending. Haw haw. The audience is left wondering WTF, as theater staff sweeps the floor and shoos them out, most of them perturbed and all short 10 bucks. -Al

I'd try, if I had a Mao to speak of. *cries* And it'd be nice to have a Mylene to keep Basara upright too. I don't like using the tacky stand and thus, he keeps tumbling off my shelf onto the floor, where I occasionally find him every few days, amputated at the knee. But Basara annoys me, so I actually take a measure of sick pleasure every time it happens. -Al

Not sure if the paint would be affected, since Sara's legs seem unpainted and cast in flesh-toned plastic. I was planning only on dipping her legs in less-than-boiling water, but the idea's still freaky, since she's not that easily replaced. Maybe some blue-tack will work... but it annoys that she can't stand proper out of the box, especially since it doesn't seem to be just me. It's almost as if one of her legs is shorter than the other. She's gimpy. =P Was kind of hoping a Mao figure would help to support her somehow, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Plus, getting hands on a Mao would be even more difficult and costly than any other solution, even if I manage to fark Sara up completely. -Al

Okay, I've got this problem with my CM 2 Sara figure. I for one cannot get her to stand up straight. Her feet don't quite fit right into the footprint indentations on her stand, and she just sort of leans off to the side. I know she's supposed to lean a tad, but the figure seems to be off balance, and over the course of a few minutes after setting her up straight, she'll be tipped over much farther than she's supposed to be. Leave her alone for a day, and she's canted over at nearly 45 degrees. Frustrating as hell for a figure that comes in a set I paid 75 bucks for. Wondering if anyone has this problem with theirs, and if they'd found a fix for it. I'd briefly considered boiling her, setting her straight with some sort of support to hold her upright, and allowing her to cool again... but I'm kind of hesitant to do this on the single figure of that type in a box that costs, again, 75 bucks. -Al

Not to mention the directors, the scriptwriters, and some of the actors. (Sebastian Shaw being removed as the idealized force image of Anakin comes to mind.) The more I think about it, the more I wonder how much Lucas actually had to do with the things that made Indiana Jones cool, and how much of it was actually Speilberg's. I'm guessing silly bits like Shorty was entirely Lucas's doing. -Al

I'm glad I'm not the only one who caught the connection. Okay... It's a travesty to alter old films... but it's perfectly alright to hack up something that's part of film history, that fans still love in its original form, then make the original version difficult to access... so long as you're the credited visionary. I see how that works. The quote does explain a few things however. His adoration of the Stooges explains for the evil that's Jar Jar and the mostly-lame slap-stick he's been sneaking into the Original Trilogy. To be fair though, he is consistent here on one thing. He's against the viewer having a choice. -Al

*Sigh.* "Transformation" in Christian lingo... refers to a particular change in heart and character, something that's gets worked out between that individual and God, the Holy Spirit, the Son, and so forth, if you believe in that type of thing. It has about um... zero to do with being some puppet for the earthly and often fallible human institution, and according to certain perspectives, it is often those really "transformed" that ruffle things up for a given church or religious establishment. The ad was merely attempting to be clever and hip, using language that holds a certain and particular meaning to particular Christians. I know religious cynicism's all fun and comfortable, but at the very least understand the references and meanings before maligning and twisting them into something more easily mocked. It takes a capable mind to approach all ideas with respect, and it takes a capable one to evaluate all beliefs in fairness. Pointing, laughing, and making cynical assumptions don't require such sharp faculties, however. -Al EDIT: Added original quote replied to.

Sue folks for actually being curious and being proactive in their Macross interest. Ahem. The "Funny Chinese" isn't a fan-custom or a tossed idea. It actually appears in "Love Drifts Away" in the TV series, and is precursor to the Elint in DYRL. -Al

Actually, due to perspective, the other booster simply seems hidden by the nose of the Valkyrie. Even if the booster was actually missing, if it were drawn, it'd still be mostly or completely obstructed. -Al