Another bad teeth performance from Daniel Day-Lewis.
I hate Andrew Lloyd Webber- and this didn't change anything.
I drove 110 miles to see this amazing film, which was shot with 70mm cameras, projected with a 70mm projector.
I am a little frustrated with George Lucas's tinkering with the Star Wars movies. I understand that Episode 4 was released with only half the effects completed, but by refusing to make the original theatrical cut available on home video, he is stealing the nostalgia from the fans who made him a billionaire to begin with. Admittedly many of his changes have improved the movies by further fleshing out the futuristic and alien worlds, but other changes are simply self-indulgent and distracting. While the Special Editions are still fun after all these years, I began to realize then that my generation's opinion of these movies is strongly influenced by our nostalgia.
The death of Obi-Wan Kenobi confused me as a kid and bothers me as a movie fan. When Obi-Wan Kenobi battles Darth Vader on the Death Star, Kenobi eventually stops fighting, raises his saber in a moment of prayer(?), and Vader swipes at Kenobi. In a long shot, we see Vader's lightsaber pass through Kenobi's (suddenly) empty cloak, which falls to the deck. Vader steps on the empty cloak, as if to confirm that it's empty.
When this scene originally played out in 1977, movieogers knew very little about lightsabers and how they work. At that point in the Star Wars saga, we had only seen a lightsaber used once- when Kenobi defends Luke in the cantina in Mos Eisley. When Vader swipes at Kenobi and an empty cloak falls to the deck, I assumed that Vader's lightsaber had cut Kenobi in half and vaporized him.
In the episodes that followed, Lucas revealed more about the Jedi and their lightsabers:
- You cannot vaporize someone by cutting them in half (see Darth Maul, Episode 1).
- Jedi's bodies can disappear when they die (see Yoda, Episode 6).
- Jedi's bodies don't necessarily disappear when they die (see Qui-Gonn Jinn, Episode 1).
My problem is that none of this is obvious from the way Lucas staged it in the movie. I would have staged it like this:
The old Jedi Knight looks over his shoulder at Luke, lifts his sword from Vader's, then closes his eyes with a serene look on his face. Vader brings his sword down, mortally wounding Kenobi. Ben falls to the deck. Vader looks down on Kenobi's dead body as his form fades away to nothingness, leaving only his cloak and lightsaber behind. Vader is puzzled at Ben's disappearance and pokes at the empty cloak.Not only would this effect have been easier to create with optical effects, but it would have conveyed the idea better: Vader kills Kenobi with his lightsaber, and then Kenobi passes on to the afterlife.
The first two acts follow the script of "Jaws" except they replaced the word 'shark' with 'volcano'...
"That's what life is - a bunch of down endings."
The marketing have away the great twist- that Gene Hackman is the President...
Wonderufl performances. Al does not overact.
"...a bunch of Muppets..."
My favorite Jim Carrey comedy.
Crazy = Oscar.
Fantastic.
Very funny, great music.
the horror... the horror...
Liked it so much, would return to see on the big screen 63 months later.
Spielberg should have done better.
Here's a look back at movies I have seen on Memorial Day weekend. I have only counted movies which I saw in the 5 days leading up to Memorial Day Monday. The film must have been released in that period to make this list:
- 1991: Hudson Hawk
- 1992: Alien 3
- 1995: Braveheart
- 1996: Mission: Impossible
- 1997: The Lost World: Jurassic Park
- 1998: Godzilla
- 2001: Pearl Harbor
- 2002: Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones
- 2005: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
- 2006: X-Men: The Last Stand
- 2007: Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End
Morally complex role for Julia makes for funny, original comedy. Cameron Diaz tries very hard to steal the movie. Why would Julia fight so hard to catch... Dermot Mulroney? I love how she starts smoking whenever her anxiety cranks up.
Two hammy actors make for less than the sum of their hammy parts. Mmmm...hammy parts...
The original still shines. Avoid the sequel at all costs.
Very funny, great music.
Dispensible.
A Masterpiece.
Like many entrepeneurial labors of love, the Keystone Cinema on Congress Street in Portland, ME was better in concept than execution. The proprietors built three or four decent-sized movie screens, and filled the theaters with very soft and cushioned seats (rescued from Lincoln Town Cars converted into limosuines). They served pub food before and during the movie. So what was the problem? The food was only OK, not great, and the service was mediocre. The waitresses used overly elaborate electronic handheld devices for placing orders- it seemed like the owners overthought the concept. Plus, the very cushy seats had large arms which made it impossible to get close to your date for snuggling. As you can see from the selection below, I only went eight times in three years: after six visits in 1997, I only attended twice more, in 1999.
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| My 25th Birthday Star Trek: First Contact |
April 13, 1997 The English Patient |
May 2, 1997 Smilla's Sense of Snow |
September 6, 1997 Citizen Kane |
October 24, 1997 The Edge |
November 30, 1997 The Ice Storm |
February 12, 1999 Elizabeth |
December 31, 1999 Being John Malkovich |
An exciting Borg adventure and my third favorite Star Trek movie, after numbers 2 and 6. | A little slow on the second viewing, but an impressive adaptation of a dense novel. | A very odd detective story, from a far superior book, as Emily is fond of pointing out. | One of my Top Ten all time movies. | Hopkins and Baldwin elevate this standard genre piece slightly above what it deserves. | Growing up in identical Boston suburbs makes the movie resound for me. I hope my parents didn't behave like this! | If I had paid attention in my History Of England course, perhaps I would have appreciated this movie more. | Bizarrely fantastic. |
I loved this movie, although I find the omnipresence of CNN anchors as the Greek chorus distracting.
Quite good. I wonder what the Ford/Oldman working relationship was like?
Dispensible.
Martin Sheen is so bad in this!
Conspiracy Theory • Maine Mall Cinema
They messed up a good ending (as usual)!
Why did I go and see this?
| Nat's Top Ten Favorite Movies It's a tough job to narrow the field to just 10, but this is pretty close: Two comedies, a scary movie, a thriller, an action-adventure, a sci-fi, a romance, a musical, a Scorsese, and Citizen Kane. Click on a face for more info. |
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I don't remember loving this movie. This was my last-ever visit to the Maine Mall Cinema. I moved to the other side of Portland, much closer to a much niver theater in Falmouth.
Love it, despite the awful feel-good ending.
Brad's first line in the film (with bad German accent): "I am goink to ze Himalayas!"
Entertaining satirical sci-fi.
An amazing, moving, spectacular film... with some of the worst dialogue ever.