Calvin's Canadian Cave of Coolness: Frankly I Am A Little Underwhelmed

Monday, October 9, 2017

Frankly I Am A Little Underwhelmed

15 comments:

Shlomo Ben Hungstien said...: i think i dig this trailer a bit more then you but at the same time i'm having a bit of a hard time getting hyped up for this movie given the some what mediocre nature of The Force Awakens. speaking of being underwhelmed i caught a matinee of Blade Runner yesterday. it wasn't terrible but was not really what i was hoping for.; October 9, 2017 at 9:24 PM
Cal's Canadian Cave of Coolness said...: I finally got my screener for Blade Runner from Yuri so I am going to watch it tomorrow. I hear good and bad so I have high hopes for this film. Tough when we have all these movies that carry so much baggage from our past. Star Wars suffers from that. I thought the trailer was weak from the standpoint of story and everyone's motivations seem to have twisted against their natures. I don't know if I want to see something personally complex like that. Maybe I like my Star Wars to be more good against evil with few grew areas. I don't know what I expected but it was just 'meh'.; October 9, 2017 at 10:05 PM
Shlomo Ben Hungstien said...: Apparently blade runner only made 31.3 million in its opening weekend and it cost over 150 million to make. I don't know if that makes it an official box office bomb buts it's pretty clear new audience goers aren't getting turned on to the blade runner franchise based on the sequel. I was really hoping the blade runner sequel would be to the original what ALIENS was to ALIEN. None of this surprised me after I saw the movie last weekend the sequel used elements of what made the original good in terms of sci-fi concepts but failed to fix the problems the original had as a movie going experience that made it a box office bomb at the time. Over time the movie will make its money back and will most likely have that cult following but it's not ever going to be that kick ass sequel that creates a whole new generation of blade runner franchise fans. the fan base will still largely just be made up of males in their 40s and up. I'd be very surprised if they ever tried another blade runner sequel.; October 10, 2017 at 9:02 AM
Jordan said...: You guys are crazy! The trailer throws a totally unexpected curve that unseats the whole saga, and looks beautiful and bold, and the new Blade Runner is an incontrovertible masterpiece. (Yeah, I saw it in IMAX, but still.) And people disliking Force Awakens continue to baffle me.; October 10, 2017 at 2:12 PM
Jordan said...: "I don't know if I want to see something personally complex like that. Maybe I like my Star Wars to be more good against evil with few [gray] areas." Cal, come on! The cave on Dagobah where Luke sees his own face beneath the Vader mask? Luke looking at his hand at the end of Jedi, before throwing the saber away? You don't want the gray areas?

And, Shlomo, come on, the original Blade Runner is universally understood to be a masterpiece that's ahead of its time -- are you saying you prefer when the bean-counters take over and "fix the problems" to make the stuff more commercial?

I really don't know where you guys are coming from -- it's like you want stuff to be more mediocre. Cal, I'm frankly surprised at you.; October 10, 2017 at 2:22 PM
Cal's Canadian Cave of Coolness said...: I know I know...it was my first reaction to what I saw. Maybe I should watch it again.; October 10, 2017 at 3:03 PM
Jordan said...: Watch it again! Watch it again!; October 10, 2017 at 3:15 PM
Shlomo Ben Hungstien said...: first of all Jordan, most old school Star Wars fan felt like TFA was a mixed bag or just straight up thought it sucked. it was an improvement from the pre-quels but it wasn't great. ROGUE 1 was by far the best Star Wars movie that's come out since the original trilogy and i know i'm not in the minority on that opinion among Star Wars fans both old school and younger fans.

as for Blade Runner let me put it to you this way. when they made ALIENS they took everything that made ALIEN good and added more great elements to a good continuity story line that resulted in a massively successful movie both in terms of old school fans of the ALIEN genre and the more younger casual movie goers.
the original Blade Runner was a great sci-fi story concept in many respects but as a cinematic experience it suffered from a slow paced story line and many seemingly bizarre elements that required multiple viewings to fully understand and appreciate. and it was those problems that caused the original Blade Runner to be a box office bomb when it was first released but ultimately gain cult status and the enduring fan base (which i certainly am part of)over the decades. Blade Runner 2019 wasn't terrible or anything like that but it just wasn't what i was hoping for either.; October 10, 2017 at 3:42 PM
Cal's Canadian Cave of Coolness said...: I agreed with you that Rogue 1 was fantastic and just the Star Wars movie I was looking for. Maybe my expectations of The Last Jedi are too high to ever be satisfied.; October 10, 2017 at 4:46 PM
Jordan said...: Shlomo, respectfully, you don't know what you're talking about "most" Star Wars fans, as a measurable statistical reality, liked The Force Awakens.

Aliens is an inferior movie to Alien ("Most" Alien fans agree). If you prefer childish GI-Joe dialogue and inferior design, photography (the original had Derek Vanlint! Case closed), music (Jerry Goldsmith vs. James Horner ripping off Kacheturian's "Gayne Ballet Suite" from 2001, uncredited, for the first of three times in his career), the lack of H. R. Geiger (who designed the Alien from the first movie and the third, but sat out the second), the violation of the life cycle as depicted in the original, and a hundred other inadequacies compared to the first one, fine. But James Cameron makes adolescent entertainments and Ridley Scott, on his game, makes visionary masterpieces.

The "enduring fan base" and "cult status" came from people like myself who saw it in the theater at the time and raved about it (along with all those critics and academics and fans who immediately saw its brilliance). If you enjoy being behind the curve, that's your privilege, but don't brag about it.; October 10, 2017 at 5:10 PM
Jordan said...: Cal, making a Star Wars movie is obviously the most difficult task in all of cinema -- even the guy who invented it could only do it two out of six times (maybe three if you push it). There are so many elements that have to come together right -- the level of imagination, design, creativity and general excellence in every shot, every frame is unparalleled. Even the closest rival in terms of sci-fi, Star Trek, isn't anywhere near Star Wars's standard.

What J. J. Abrams had to do was reset the Star Wars mantle after it had been almost ruined by its creator (who, unlike Gene Roddenberry, could not be fired and had to relinquish it willingly). Abrams succeeded in returning Star Wars to its 1977 roots, recapturing the flavor and tonality of the original. If this seems like too conservative and cautious an approach, stop for a moment and think about the stakes being played for -- isn't that the approach you or anyone would take? (The first line of dialogue in The Force Awakens is "This will begin to set things right." Begin to -- very pregnant and meaningful line -- and it's entirely fair to see that it succeeded.)

And Shlomo, I refer you to Rotten Tomatoes, starwars.com, fan sites and all the other aggregate opinion registries where The Force Awakens is among the most highly regarded of the Star Wars movies.; October 10, 2017 at 5:19 PM
Jordan said...: The entire Jakku sequence, from discovering Rey inside the (crashed! inverted!) Stardestroyer through to the Falcon's breakaway into hyperspace, is one of the most glorious, well made, passionate chunks of Star Wars ever; I'd put it up against the best moments in Star Wars, Empire and Jedi.; October 10, 2017 at 5:21 PM
Jordan said...: And John Williams was inspired to write two of the best Star Wars melodies ever: "The Scavenger" and "The Jedi Steps and Finale" (both centered on Rey, the best new character since Lando)...on the featurette on the disc, Williams talks about how challenging but rewarding those two compositions were, since the characterization was so unusually rich and interesting.

Listen to them both and remember the emotional depth of the movie (especially that final scene):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3YcCLaTnBE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUBUlKgsNK8; October 10, 2017 at 5:27 PM
Shlomo Ben Hungstien said...: Jordan, i tried to give you the benefit of a doubt at first but your latest comments here confirmed what i already suspect when i first heard from you. plain and simple you're a goddamn long winded idiot with way too much fucken time on his hands. really way too much.; October 11, 2017 at 12:00 AM
Cal's Canadian Cave of Coolness said...: Oh damn. Gonna watch it again. But if it makes Luke the bad guy then I am gonna be pissed.

Okay...it does look pretty epic upon repeat viewing. But did he have to kill his mother too? I mean really? It does look good I must confess. I want Luke to stay good though. Luke has to be the hero of this one in the end. I don't care if he dies but I want him to die a good death. A death with honor. I am owed that from this franchise.; October 11, 2017 at 11:49 AM

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