Reasons to Hate Star Wars About my articles.
#31 Guest_guest_*
Posted 27 July 2004 - 01:14 AM
#32
Posted 30 July 2004 - 04:34 PM
Look at it this way. I'm a conservative, but during the Clinton years I most certainly relished every detail of my president's weaknesses. I can tell you there's no way in hell I'd vote for the man. does that anaology make any sense to you?
Hell yes it takes a lot of time to catch every flaw with this drivel we've been handed as the stuff of dreams. Anxiously await the next one? If Lucas quit today and nothing else was released I can honestly say I really wouldn't care. Lucas' weakness is CGI. Your faith in him is yours.
#34
Posted 15 August 2004 - 10:33 AM
Not only are these lists funny and true, but they are a revelation to me: I was shocked that nearly all these reasons are about the WRITING of Episodes I and II--dialog, plot, characters, science, mythology, etc. Because I always felt the worst flaw in these movies was not the horrendous writing, but the unbearable ACTING.
As soon as the actors start talking in either Episode I or II, I just want to run screaming. Most of the "acting" is so flat, stale, corny, unispired, and juvenile that even if these movies had been written by William Shakespeare, they would still be torture to watch.
It doesn't make sense; Neeson, Portman, McGregor and Jackson have been great in other movies. So what happened?
All I can think of is Lucas must have told the actors, "Remember, I want this to be the worst performance of your life. I want it as flat as you can possibly make it. If you absolutely MUST show emotion, make sure it's phony or childish. I can't have you outdoing my special effects or alienating any 3-year-olds."
As an experiment, I borrowed a friend's DVD of Episode II and watched it in French, with the English subtitles on. I don't speak French, but I found it a much more bearable experience without the "mannequins reading cuecards" delivery. What's more, I even detected some BELIEVABLE emotion in the French voiceover, which made me wish I could speak French.
But no matter. It's not like it would be a GOOD movie without the terrible acting, as these lists so poignantly prove. I guess we all have our favorite reason to hate these movies, and mine would be...
ACTING. Or Lack thereof.
#35
Posted 15 August 2004 - 11:24 AM
That is precisely why I believe that the writing and directing are the main culprits. These are actors who have done good, so what else would explain their performances?
Truly I believe that Neeson and MacGregor put on sterling performances in the prequels, however Christensen, Portman and others put on rather lackluster performances. Why? Because the dialogue they had to work with and the directing was way below par.
If George Lucas had devoted just a little more time to getting a good performance out of Natalie Portman, rather than making sure she was in six different dresses in every scene, perhaps her overall performance in both movies would have been better. She's a good actress, it shouldn't have been that difficult.
Anyway, guy, thanks for writing and welcome to Chefelf.com Night Life! Hope to hear more from you!
Buy the New LittleHorse CD, Strangers in the Valley!
CD Baby | iTunes | LittleHorse - Flight of the Bumblebee Video
Chefelf on: Twitter | friendfeed | Jaiku | Bitstrips | Muxtape | Mento | MySpace | Flickr | YouTube | LibraryThing
#36
Posted 15 August 2004 - 03:13 PM
- J m HofMarN on the Sand People
#37
Posted 15 August 2004 - 03:14 PM
I'm thinking of Thora Birch, who, post American Beauty and Ghost World, delivered a supremely awful performance in my favorite fantasy movie, Dungeons and Dragons. The actress who played Childlike Empress from Neverending Story did better with a similar role, and she was 11 years old and had never been in a film before. Thora Birch should have known better than to appear in that film, but having accepted a ridiculous role, she should have been able to do it at least okay. Her lame performance suggests that many actors (not Jeremy Irons, though) derive most of their acting prowess from the film they're in-- its writing and directing-- and not from their own innate ability.
#38
Posted 23 August 2004 - 08:01 AM
We aren't people who suddenly just discovered these films and were never fans of the originals and suddenly decided, "hey, I'm going to hate these films and pick on them." If that were the case, I really don't think we'd bother. There was something with those old films that was magical and captured, and now that has all been betrayed... and we're trying to find the answer.
You are not the answer. You are the problem.
#39
Posted 03 September 2004 - 06:00 AM
Very interesting point! I wonder if Portman is like that, or if she does have innate abilty, and Lucas somehow "killed" it.
When I watched Episode 2 in French (and again I don't speak French, so maybe I'm wrong, but...) it seemed that the delivery of the lines was generally much more "alive" than in the original English.
For example, when Amidala utters her immortal line, "I wish you wouldn't look at me like that. It makes me uncomfortable," Portman's delivery could hardly have been more dry...she doesn't sound uncomfortable--If anything she sounds bored! Not that I blame her. But when the French actress spoke that line, I swear I could hear some actual inflection, some convincing stress and awkwardness in the voice. I heard ACTING, dammit! And it made a difference. For me, the groan factor was relieved quite a bit, even though I still had to read that pathetic line in the subtititles.
That led me to believe that maybe even dialog as bad as Lucas' could have sounded better if it were ably "performed" instead of merely recited. When you have bad lines delivered badly, it's...well, twice as bad.
And as you say, ultimately I must trace both problems to Lucas. Why was the French voiceover better? Probably because Lucas didn't direct it. For which French-speaking peoples the world over should be eternally grateful.
Now why couldn't he have done US that favor?
This post has been edited by guy: 03 September 2004 - 06:03 AM
#40
Posted 29 October 2004 - 01:36 PM
(in every one of your points)
~ Voltaire (1694-1778)
Enjoy this Tribute to Nazism...(Mp3)
#42
Posted 29 October 2004 - 04:32 PM
umm...?
~ Voltaire (1694-1778)
Enjoy this Tribute to Nazism...(Mp3)
#44
Posted 06 November 2004 - 12:11 PM
Just discovered the "## reasons to hate SW" lists and, all I can say is; BRAVO. It was refreshing to hear someone break it off like that (as opposed to the millions of Lucas minions who merely worship him blindly)
I still find it amazing (and enjoyable) that there are so many problems with the scripts and Direction.
It will take forever to read all the posts and opinions in all the threads but...here goes!
#45
Posted 08 November 2004 - 07:44 AM
Buy the New LittleHorse CD, Strangers in the Valley!
CD Baby | iTunes | LittleHorse - Flight of the Bumblebee Video
Chefelf on: Twitter | friendfeed | Jaiku | Bitstrips | Muxtape | Mento | MySpace | Flickr | YouTube | LibraryThing