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One critic begs and pleads for George Lucas to PLEASE stop already ...

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One critic begs and pleads for George Lucas to PLEASE stop already ...

Old 08-15-08, 09:34 AM
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One critic begs and pleads for George Lucas to PLEASE stop already ...

http://movies.msn.com/movies/moviesf...now/?GT1=28002


By George, Give Up!
One critic begs and pleads for George Lucas to PLEASE stop already ...

By Jim Emerson
Special to MSN Movies

If George Lucas had given up directing after his first theatrical feature, "THX 1138," we would not have had "American Graffiti" or "Star Wars" as it existed when fanatical masses were camping out to see it (again and again) in the summer of 1977. Then again, we wouldn't have had "The Phantom Menace" (aka "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace") either, so there's always a bright side.

If Lucas had given up producing (or, more accurately, "executive producing," which could mean anything from developing a project to slapping his name on an already finished film), we might have been spared "Howard the Duck," but we wouldn't have had the "Indiana Jones" movies. The seriousness of the trade-off there largely depends on whether you've actually tried to watch "Howard the Duck."

Ever since the very first (er, fourth)"Star Wars" movie, Lucas has been talking about getting back to making those "small, personal" movies he claims he's always wanted to do. But for his last 30 years as a producer he has devoted himself almost entirely to "Star Wars"- and "Indiana Jones"-related projects: "The Ewok Adventure," "Ewoks" (animated TV series), "Droids" (animated TV adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO), Star Tours (Star Wars-based Disney amusement park ride), "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones" (TV), "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" (TV series), "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones" (home video), "Treasure of the Hidden Planet" (set between "Star Wars" Episodes III and IV), "Star Wars: Clone Wars" (animated TV series, 2003-2005), "The Clone Wars" (another animated TV series), "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (2008 video game), "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (soon-to-be-released animated feature film), "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" (video game), "Untitled Star Wars TV Series" (live action, scheduled to begin in 2009). He also reportedly plans to reprocess all the "Star Wars" films with Industrial Light and Magic's Dimensionalization software and reissue them yet again in "3-D" versions.

That's not all of them, but you get the picture. After 22 years of product management, Lucas returned to directing with the unfortunate "Phantom Menace," and completed the prequel trilogy with "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith" between 1999 and 2005. Were these the "small, personal" films he'd been waiting all this time to create? Apparently not. He's still talking about an urge to get small, get personal, with his movies.

One word of advice for Mr. Lucas: Don't.

Two words: Please don't.

First of all, given Lucas' obsessive, single-minded devotion to the comic-book mythology and minutiae of what is commonly referred to as "the Star Wars saga" (we won't even go into the "extended universe"), what at this point could conceivably be more "personal" to Lucas, or offer more profound insight into his innermost psyche, than Star Wars? He directed two films before "Star Wars" -- "THX 1138" (1971) and "American Graffiti" (1973) -- and for the rest of his adult life, from his 30s into his 60s, he has committed himself to comic-book and storybook fantasies, including "Labyrinth," "Willow" and "The Land Before Time."

Secondly, Lucas' talents as a director have eroded dramatically over the years. Let's put things into perspective. Between 1971 and 1977, Lucas directed "little" movies. "THX 1138" felt like an expanded student film (which it was), set in an overexposed, dystopian science fiction universe, and is now best known for providing the name of Lucasfilm's sound design system/certification. "American Graffiti" was the closest thing to an autobiographical Lucas movie, a poignantly nostalgic ensemble comedy about the adventures of a group of teenagers on the last night of summer. Not only was it a gigantic hit (and the inspiration for TV's long-running "Happy Days"), but it was also hugely influential, triggering a wave of 1950s nostalgia, pioneering the use of the licensed-song scores (and best-selling soundtrack albums made from repackaged hits), and introducing (or at least popularizing) a technique that would be copied and parodied for years: the closing series of titles that spells out what happened to the characters in later years.

Here's the problem: After "American Graffiti," "Star Wars" was, directorially speaking, a significant leap backward. The state-of-the-art technological effects served a Buck Rogers mentality. And that was perfectly fine, because (for all the allusions to Joseph Campbell and Akira Kurosawa Westerns like "The Hidden Fortress") that's exactly what it is. Critics who actually "got" the movie in 1977, whether they went along for the ride or not, weren't proved wrong. They were proved irrelevant, shouted down by cheering crowds and Dolby zaps, roars and explosions (in the vacuum of space, no less!).

Influential New Yorker critic Pauline Kael wrote: "Maybe the only real inspiration involved in 'Star Wars' was to set its sci-fi galaxy in the pop-culture past, and turn old-movie ineptness into conscious Pop Art. And maybe there's a touch of genius in keeping it so consistently what it is, even if this is the genius of the plodding. Lucas has got the tone of bad movies down pat: you never catch the actors deliberately acting badly, they just seem to be bad actors, on contract to Monogram or Republic, their klunky enthusiasm polished at the Ricky Nelson school of acting." But while Kael recognized that the movie was "synthesized from the mythology of serials and old comic books" -- "THX 1138" began with an actual trailer for a Buck Rogers serial -- generations of "Star Wars" fans had no idea what she was talking about.

But even the quaint pulp zippiness of the early Star Wars trilogy was completely overwhelmed by digital artificiality by the time of the prequels. Returning as writer-director for the first time since "Episode IV -- A New Hope" , Lucas seemed dwarfed by the intricate mythology he had created. He dutifully carried out his mission, but with the evident enthusiasm of a battle droid mindlessly going through preprogrammed motions. OK, so Kaboo Wingtang was a Plebian Underlord who lobbied for excessive trade tariffs. Not even Lucas seemed to care, but he felt obligated to include the information, like a fifth grader cramming his book report with irrelevant plot details. (I don't think there's a Plebian Underlord named Kaboo Wingtang -- I could be wrong -- but that doesn't matter. But the trade tariffs do kick off the whole saga.)

Lucas' return to directing only confirmed what had been apparent for many years: He's a mogul, not a director.

"I've enjoyed 'Star Wars' enormously," Lucas told Wired magazine, "but it's great to be able to look forward to projects that I've wanted to do for a long time. I get to go back to what I was doing before this big thing happened." That was in 2005. Nobody believed it then, either.

By 2008, Lucas was telling The New York Times that "Star Wars" kept distracting him from writing those other things he wanted to write. Just when he thought he was out, it pulled him back in. Like a black hole. Still, if anyone could afford to make whatever movie he wanted, even if it's only for himself, it's Lucas.

"Maybe it ends up in a festival somewhere," he said. "Maybe it ends up in half a dozen theaters around the country for a couple weeks." Then again, in reference to his friend (and longtime executive producer) Francis Ford Coppola's "little, personal movie" from last year, "Youth Without Youth," Lucas asked the Times rhetorically: "Did you see it? Uh, no. Did you even know it came out?" Clearly he remains ambivalent about self-expression on a less-than-intergalactic scale. As the Times headline proclaimed, Lucas was "Free to Follow His Heart Right Back to 'Star Wars'."

But let's say, for the sake of argument, that Lucas did come up with something more personal than Luke (christened after his own high school nickname) Skywalker. His last film to acknowledge adult concerns (adult sexuality, adult emotions) was "THX 1138," co-written with sound designer Walter Murch and directed when he was 26. Any signs that he has grown up since then? Or did Kael's description of those who were hailing "Star Wars" as the film of the year apply even more so to Lucas' arrested development, which "goes way past nostalgia to the feeling that now is the time to return to childhood"?

Think of it this way: Do you want to see Jerry Bruckheimer's "small, personal" films? Michael Bay's? Rupert Murdoch's?

George: Stick to the moneymaking, which is what your empire does best. Leave the moviemaking to somebody else.
Old 08-15-08, 09:45 AM
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I want to know whose holding a gun to this guys head and making him watch all of Lucas's previous and upcoming films. Let Lucas be and let him make all the movies he wants (big or small). If you don't like him, don't watch his movies. Yes, chances are anything he comes out with will be complete shit. Then again he may make something as good and memorable as American Graffitti.
Old 08-15-08, 09:49 AM
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Originally Posted by Goat3001
I want to know whose holding a gun to this guys head and making him watch all of Lucas's previous and upcoming films. Let Lucas be and let him make all the movies he wants (big or small). If you don't like him, don't watch his movies. Yes, chances are anything he comes out with will be complete shit. Then again he may make something as good and memorable as American Graffitti.
That's the thing though, anytime you see a movie with characters you love is being made you're going to want to see it. It is considered canon so it is the direct continuation of said story.

It would be like reading a story, getting to "Happily Ever After" at the halfway point and stopping. Completely skipping over the part where the ninjas came to town, killed the main characters, raped, pillaged and had a dodgeball tournament with the local pirates.

Alas, they're his inventions and he is welcome to wreck whatever he wants.

I like Jim Emerson, his blog is usually a pretty entertaining read.

Last edited by RichC2; 08-15-08 at 10:00 AM.
Old 08-15-08, 09:53 AM
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Originally Posted by Goat3001
I want to know whose holding a gun to this guys head and making him watch all of Lucas's previous and upcoming films. Let Lucas be and let him make all the movies he wants (big or small). If you don't like him, don't watch his movies. Yes, chances are anything he comes out with will be complete shit. Then again he may make something as good and memorable as American Graffitti.

I agree. Does this guy have nothing better to do then worry about what Lucas does with his career?

Who gives a shit what Lucas does?
Old 08-15-08, 09:58 AM
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Jim Emerson is a fantastic film critic. One of the best.

As far as "who's holding a gun to his head?", he's a movie critic, so it's his actual job (as in, what he does for a living) to watch movies. Why is this such a difficult thing to grasp?
Old 08-15-08, 10:17 AM
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Originally Posted by wendersfan
Jim Emerson is a fantastic film critic. One of the best.

As far as "who's holding a gun to his head?", he's a movie critic, so it's his actual job (as in, what he does for a living) to watch movies. Why is this such a difficult thing to grasp?
Still doesn't have to watch them. There are hundreds upon hundreds of films out every film. He can easily avoid them.
Old 08-15-08, 10:38 AM
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Originally Posted by RichC2
It would be like reading a story, getting to "Happily Ever After" at the halfway point and stopping. Completely skipping over the part where the ninjas came to town, killed the main characters, raped, pillaged and had a dodgeball tournament with the local pirates.
umm, whatever that book is... I NEED TO READ IT!
Old 08-15-08, 10:48 AM
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Originally Posted by Drop
Still doesn't have to watch them. There are hundreds upon hundreds of films out every film. He can easily avoid them.
By that logic, then why do we have any discussion of any film on this board? Just as I would go into the Doomsday thread to voice disappointment at Neil Marshall for blowing "Doomsday," why can't people who love "Star Wars" (like Emerson) voice their displeasure at Lucas for continuously ruining something fans care deeply about?
Old 08-15-08, 10:58 AM
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Originally Posted by wendersfan
Jim Emerson is a fantastic film critic. One of the best.

As far as "who's holding a gun to his head?", he's a movie critic, so it's his actual job (as in, what he does for a living) to watch movies. Why is this such a difficult thing to grasp?
Yep.
Originally Posted by BJacks
By that logic, then why do we have any discussion of any film on this board? Just as I would go into the Doomsday thread to voice disappointment at Neil Marshall for blowing "Doomsday," why can't people who love "Star Wars" (like Emerson) voice their displeasure at Lucas for continuously ruining something fans care deeply about?
Yep. And double Yep.

Lucas is the archetype of how far a film maker can fall. From being a creative film maker who knew how to entertain, to being a clownish side-show hack. He was never gonna be a Welles or Mizoguchi or the like, but he made entertaining movies way back then. He is the worst in the mainstream business today.
Old 08-15-08, 11:11 AM
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The author seems to want his cake and eat it too. He wants Lucas to stick to the big blockbusters but he trashes everything he's done in the past 20 years.
Old 08-15-08, 11:15 AM
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I think he's telling GL to quit acting like he cares about making "small, personal" films and just say he's going to milk SW until death and beyond.

"I've enjoyed 'Star Wars' enormously," Lucas told Wired magazine, "but it's great to be able to look forward to projects that I've wanted to do for a long time. I get to go back to what I was doing before this big thing happened." That was in 2005. Nobody believed it then, either.
Then again, in reference to his friend (and longtime executive producer) Francis Ford Coppola's "little, personal movie" from last year, "Youth Without Youth," Lucas asked the Times rhetorically: "Did you see it? Uh, no. Did you even know it came out?" Clearly he remains ambivalent about self-expression on a less-than-intergalactic scale.
Think of it this way: Do you want to see Jerry Bruckheimer's "small, personal" films? Michael Bay's? Rupert Murdoch's?

George: Stick to the moneymaking, which is what your empire does best. Leave the moviemaking to somebody else.
Old 08-15-08, 12:00 PM
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Originally Posted by BJacks
By that logic, then why do we have any discussion of any film on this board? Just as I would go into the Doomsday thread to voice disappointment at Neil Marshall for blowing "Doomsday," why can't people who love "Star Wars" (like Emerson) voice their displeasure at Lucas for continuously ruining something fans care deeply about?
Its a different scenario. If I saw the trailer for Doomsday and thought it was good enough to see and then saw it, hated it and subsequently trashed it on DVDtalk then that would be one thing. If I saw the trailer for Doomsday, thought it looked like trash, watched it anyway and then begged Neil Marshall to stop making movies that would be another.

Yes, he is a film critic. And yes he has to see movies. But at a certain point in a film critics career he can pick and choose what movies he wishes to review. Why bash Lucas for everything he has done and then go see another one of his films? Only to review it and bash it further? Sounds pretty childish and unprofessional. Now of course there are the big releases that need to be reviewed, but this guy is talking a lot more about smaller films that Lucas wants to do.

Another example: I have yet to see The Happening. I will see it when it hits DVD. If it is as bad as people say it is then I will shut the door on M. Night. I liked his previous movies but I've seen steady decline and I thought Lady In The Water was terrible. So I'm done with him (if I don't like The Happening). I will avoid any subsequent M. Night movies until I hear strong word of mouth from his films. But I won't go out and bash the guy and beg him not to make movies anymore. Believe it or not, people enjoy it. I don't... so I'll stay away.

But I do agree with RichC2. It's hard to avoid a sequal/rerelease etc of your favorite film even if it sucks. Which is why I think many people will go to see The Clone Wars even though it doesn't look all that good. However, my point focused more on Lucas wanting to deliver projects away from the Star Wars universe.

And most importantly, by the end of the day Lucas may make a ton of shit. Then again he may make something great. We know he's capable of it.
Old 08-15-08, 12:42 PM
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Call me a weirdo, but I friggin' love Howard The Duck and I'll forever love Lucas for that reason alone.
Old 08-15-08, 12:54 PM
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Originally Posted by Goat3001
I want to know whose holding a gun to this guys head and making him watch all of Lucas' previous and upcoming films.
First, it's not clear that he's seen all of Lucas's films. Second, as a critic he may not have a choice. Not that many professional critics can choose to miss the summer blockbusters.

Originally Posted by RichC2
That's the thing though, anytime you see a movie with characters you love is being made you're going to want to see it. It is considered canon so it is the direct continuation of said story.

It would be like reading a story, getting to "Happily Ever After" at the halfway point and stopping.
I don't think this is necessarily so. Just as Jews love the old testament, but don't feel compelled to go out and buy the sequel, moviegoers can pick and choose which sequels to view. I enjoyed Alien, liked the sequels less and less and haven't had any interest in seeing AVP: Alien vs. Predator at all. I also won't be seen Clone Wars, though I enjoyed the first two films of the OT as a kid.

Originally Posted by pinata242
I think he's telling GL to quit acting like he cares about making "small, personal" films and just say he's going to milk SW until death and beyond.
Exactly so.

Last edited by Yakuza Bengoshi; 08-15-08 at 01:22 PM. Reason: spelling
Old 08-15-08, 01:00 PM
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Originally Posted by Yakuza Bengoshi
I don't think this is necessarily so. Just as Jews love the old testament, but don't feel compelled to go out and buy the sequal, moviegoers can pick and choose which sequels to view. I enjoyed Alien, liked the sequels less and less and haven't had any interest in seeing AVP: Alien vs. Predator at all. I also won't be seen Clone Wars, though I enjoyed the first two films of the OT as a kid.

.
Well I guess in the case of the Clone Wars it'd be like reading the entire book except for a chapter or two where, from the sound of it, nothing happens anyway.

The thing with AVP is that it isn't canon, it is in no way related to the first 4 movies of the franchise from a story prespective.
Old 08-15-08, 01:17 PM
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Originally Posted by Yakuza Bengoshi
Just as Jews love the old testament, but don't feel compelled to go out and buy the sequal, moviegoers can pick and choose which sequels to view.

Old 08-15-08, 01:17 PM
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Originally Posted by RichC2
That's the thing though, anytime you see a movie with characters you love is being made you're going to want to see it. It is considered canon so it is the direct continuation of said story.
Originally Posted by RichC2
The thing with AVP is that it isn't canon, it is in no way related to the first 4 movies of the franchise from a story prespective.
You mentioned canon twice so I presume it means something to you, though I'm not sure exactly what or why. Most talk of canon is just post hoc claptrap to justify sequels of dubious quality. Do you think Roddenberry had Enterprise in mind when he sold NBC on Star Trek?
Old 08-15-08, 01:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Yakuza Bengoshi
You mentioned canon twice so I presume it means something to you, though I'm not sure exactly what or why. Most talk of canon is just post hoc claptrap to justify sequels of dubious quality. Do you think Roddenberry had Enterprise in mind when he sold NBC on Star Trek?
Actually... no. It's just me trying to be a fanboy. I usually fail at it.

Last edited by RichC2; 08-15-08 at 01:22 PM.
Old 08-15-08, 01:32 PM
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Originally Posted by Goat3001
Its a different scenario. If I saw the trailer for Doomsday and thought it was good enough to see and then saw it, hated it and subsequently trashed it on DVDtalk then that would be one thing. If I saw the trailer for Doomsday, thought it looked like trash, watched it anyway and then begged Neil Marshall to stop making movies that would be another.

Yes, he is a film critic. And yes he has to see movies. But at a certain point in a film critics career he can pick and choose what movies he wishes to review. Why bash Lucas for everything he has done and then go see another one of his films? Only to review it and bash it further? Sounds pretty childish and unprofessional. Now of course there are the big releases that need to be reviewed, but this guy is talking a lot more about smaller films that Lucas wants to do.

Another example: I have yet to see The Happening. I will see it when it hits DVD. If it is as bad as people say it is then I will shut the door on M. Night. I liked his previous movies but I've seen steady decline and I thought Lady In The Water was terrible. So I'm done with him (if I don't like The Happening). I will avoid any subsequent M. Night movies until I hear strong word of mouth from his films. But I won't go out and bash the guy and beg him not to make movies anymore. Believe it or not, people enjoy it. I don't... so I'll stay away.

But I do agree with RichC2. It's hard to avoid a sequal/rerelease etc of your favorite film even if it sucks. Which is why I think many people will go to see The Clone Wars even though it doesn't look all that good. However, my point focused more on Lucas wanting to deliver projects away from the Star Wars universe.

And most importantly, by the end of the day Lucas may make a ton of shit. Then again he may make something great. We know he's capable of it.
But how are you going to hear any good word of mouth unless people, like film critics, actually have to go and see the film? If film critics could just make the decision to write off a given director, then you may not hear about the new Night movie that's really good.

I thought it was an interesting article. I haven't seen any of the animated Clone Wars stuff. I just wasn't interested, despite hearing good things about that initial series of animated shorts.

I certainly believe that there could be a really good film left in Lucas. He has the ability to tell a good tale. I would hate to write him off, but it is getting to the point where if he really is going to do something new beyond Star Wars, he needs to shit or get off the pot. Quit talking about it just to seem like you are clinging to your artistic integrity, actually do it.
Old 08-15-08, 01:37 PM
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It would be nice for Lucas to stop, but honestly who cares at this point? The damage has been done. He's crapped on Star Wars with the prequel trilogy and the Special Edition alterations and retcons. He's pissed on Indiana Jones with Kingdom of the Crystal Skull(thankfully Spielberg vetoed any CGI additions to the original trilogy). He went over-the-top with his "George Lucas Cut" of THX 1138. I'm just glad all he did to American Graffiti was insert a CGI skyline in one shot.
Old 08-15-08, 02:22 PM
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First of all, George Lucas spent all his 1980s fortune on crack. When that supply ran out, he was compelled to make new movies, and the effect of the crack explains the quality of them, to boot. That's my theory, and I'm stickin' to it. Having said that....

There are two beefs I have with Jim Emerson's article, and I freely acknowledge that I don't just have these problems with him. First of all, Emerson himself recognizes that Lucas's executive producer title enables him to do "anything from developing a project to slapping his name on an already finished film," and it's important to note that Lucas has only 18 directing credits; nine of them prior to "THX-1138" and none since "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith." Attacking him for the "Clone Wars" projects and the last "Indiana Jones" movie is unfair. Sure, he approved the projects and has final say, but that's like hating J.J. Abrams for "Lost" because you didn't like "Cloverfield." Emerson's complaint should be, "George Lucas, stop pretending you're ever going to put your name on something other than 'Star Wars' and 'Indiana Jones'," rather than, "Quit making movies."

Secondly, he invokes the phrase "comic book movies" several times. Clearly, this is meant in a derogatory fashion, and it irks me. First of all, none of the films he cited aside from "Howard the Duck" ever existed in comic book form. Secondly, the films he cited were all fantasy/adventure films (a genre I thought was on the "approved" list), and I noticed there was no effort to attack Jim Henson or Frank Oz for "Labyrinth" or "Dark Crystal." Cherry-picking whom to attack for films is quite unprofessional for a film critic, who damn well ought to know better.

If this guy is some kind of big deal, I certainly am not impressed by his arguments here. His best articulated attack is the quote from Pauline Kael, and it's no surprise that the woman who browbeat David Lean into not making a film for over a decade would look down upon a popcorn flick like "Star Wars."
Old 08-15-08, 02:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Yakuza Bengoshi
First, it's not clear that he's seen all of Lucas's films. Second, as a critic he may not have a choice. Not that many professional critics can choose to miss the summer blockbusters.
Miss summer blockbusters? Probably not. Miss the small movies that Lucas wants to make and that the critic does not want him to make? Possibly. Either way, he chose his profession and part of that profession is to sit around and watch movies that may suck. Watch and it and review it but don't tell a filmmaker to stop making films just because you don't like his body of work even though many others might.


Originally Posted by Yakuza Bengoshi
I don't think this is necessarily so. Just as Jews love the old testament, but don't feel compelled to go out and buy the sequel, moviegoers can pick and choose which sequels to view.
This is the best analogy ever.

Last edited by Goat3001; 08-15-08 at 02:42 PM.
Old 08-15-08, 02:39 PM
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Originally Posted by clckworang
But how are you going to hear any good word of mouth unless people, like film critics, actually have to go and see the film? If film critics could just make the decision to write off a given director, then you may not hear about the new Night movie that's really good.
Simple. The same way I've been doing it for years. I haven't read a critic review in years. I watch the trailer/read the hype and if the movie looks good to me I'll put it on my "must see" list or my "wait and see" list. The first I'll see regardless of any outside word. The second I'll wait to see the general word of mouth. I can figure that through things like the general DVDtalk consensus, box office performance* and through my social network of friends/co-workers.

*Yes, box office performance does not mean a movie is good but if the trailer/hype piqued my interest then performing well at the box office week in and week out isn't a bad thing. Of course just because it doesn't do well in the BO doesn't mean its bad either it might just be a niche market movie.
Old 08-15-08, 02:50 PM
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And how do many of those people decide to go see a film? By reading reviews or things that people have written about the movie. And if you're reading things here on DVDTalk, you're reading reviews by critics. They may not be professional critics, but they are still critics. So, essentially what you are saying is that you prefer to read reviews by people who don't get paid to do it.
Old 08-15-08, 02:59 PM
  #25  
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Apparently most of the critics on Rottentomatoes feel the same way. Here are a few reviews:

George Lucas's fixation on this saga has gone past commercial smarts into full-blown monomania. With all the money and power he has at his disposal, here he is once again fobbing the same leaden dialogue and nonvisionary visuals at us.


[Lucas] created an empire out of his own imagination and then squeezed the life out of it.


Lucas can't seem to let it go. He is like a preacher with a four-point sermon on Sunday's second service. The fourth time through point four and you've zonked out.

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