The All Things Alien Thread

11thIndian

New member
ResidentAlien said:
I should qualify by saying that he (and Lucas) are excellent businessmen. That's where they excel. Certainly don't think either man is a great filmmaker though.

I'd be inclined to agree with you more in regards to Lucas, but even then...
I think both men where great directors in the early years, when they were young and hungry- and still just directors. AMERICAN GRAFFITI, STAR WARS, DUEL, JAWS, CEO3K, RAIDERS... A director might be lucky enough to make one of those films by simply surrounding themselves with the right people- but luck doesn't come that often. Movies are like ships, you can have all the right crew, but if you don't have a good captain- you're either going to end up lost or on the rocks (or both).
 

commontone

New member
Yeah, even if he just isn't your cup of tea, to say Spielberg "got lucky a few times" is pretty ridiculous IMO. Plenty of fine actors who've worked with him think he's brilliant, actors who've worked with all the best directors (John Hurt is a recent convert). Are these people all idiots? I don't think so.

Sometimes his melodrama and sentimental side is a little too much for me to handle; he's shown more restraint recently, but he often pushes it to the max. But sometimes it's just magical, like the last half hour of Close Encounters. Even if you don't like that side of him, though, he is widely acknowledged as a technical master. From a craft standpoint, he is almost peerless.
 

IrishLuck1980

New member
So Steven Spielberg got lucky? Wow. That's one hell of a lucky streak he has. So Jaws, E.T., Indiana Jones, Poltergeist, Back to the Future Trilogy, Jurassic Park, etc... were all right place, right time, right people? Right...

And don't get me started about George Lucas. As much as a Original Star Wars Trilogy fan I am, I still believe Star Wars was a fluke. In no way was it a masterpiece. And I cannot abide all the "Official" documentaries on Star Wars where George Lucas basically pats himself on the back the whole freakin time.
 

indyfan85

New member
I think aliens would be great in an indiana jones movie, you guys think it sounds cheesy but there have been several movies that gave a grim & dark perspective on aliens, how about 'Fire in the sky'? Or 'signs'? Has anyone here played the game Deus Ex?

I personally hope that this movie will be darker than the previous jones movies, like the second one.
 
IrishLuck1980 said:
So Steven Spielberg got lucky? Wow. That's one hell of a lucky streak he has. So Jaws, E.T., Indiana Jones, Poltergeist, Back to the Future Trilogy, Jurassic Park, etc... were all right place, right time, right people? Right...

And don't get me started about George Lucas. As much as a Original Star Wars Trilogy fan I am, I still believe Star Wars was a fluke. In no way was it a masterpiece. And I cannot abide all the "Official" documentaries on Star Wars where George Lucas basically pats himself on the back the whole freakin time.


Hahaha, Jaws. Poltergeist. Jurassic Park!?!?! AHAH. And next you're gonna try and convince me that Schindler's List was anything more than exploitation.
 

commontone

New member
ResidentAlien said:
And next you're gonna try and convince me that Schindler's List was anything more than exploitation.

Oh, I'm sure they had a grand old time filming that four-story pile of burning corpses. I bet between takes Spielberg was planning what to do with his royalty check, predicting the opening weekend gross, laughing over this film he was making to "exploit" the story of the attempted extermination of his own race...
 
commontone said:
Oh, I'm sure they had a grand old time filming that four-story pile of burning corpses. I bet between takes Spielberg was planning what to do with his royalty check, predicting the opening weekend gross, laughing over this film he was making to "exploit" the story of the attempted extermination of his own race...

Another one suckered into mass-mania. And I bet you're gonna tell me Haggis' Crash (notCrash) was a touching and meaningful portrayal of a racism pandemic in America.

Malarkey.

Big cast, big budget, big director, shallow script that only sought to manipulate the audience for the sake of an Oscar. Same as notCrash. Godawful films.
 
Bullwhip said:
Called it. :)


You called nothing. I have no pretension toward my own skill. I'm entitled, as is anyone else, to formulate a viewpoint toward a certain film or a filmmaker's output. Many do that without any background in film; I have background and have supported my claims which is more than most Spielberg worshipers can do. Relying on the old "well it won an award" or "it made a lot of money" excuse means nothing if the film itself is garbage. If you can't back up the film itself, then you've got nothing. All you predicted is that I have a film education. I have in fact nearly completed my film degree. That doesn't make my point any less valid as you suggested. But nice try.

And to Irish... I haven't made up my mind on the film. I'm still very open minded. But I have decided what I do and do not want to see in an Indy film. Little green men is chief among them. Will I give it a shot? Sure... but I'll be skeptical, highly skeptical. What's the worst that can happen? It'd take a miracle for it to be worse than Last Crusade. But what if it is? Oh well. It's just a mainstream Hollywood film; nothing groundbreaking. All I want out of it is to be entertained like I was as a child.
 

Johnny Nys

Member
Actually it's not a bad thing to expect the worst. Because you know what happens when you have high expectations? You know what happens when you go see a movie everybody's is talking about how great it is? When you see it, it doesn't look so great anymore. It doesn't fulfill that promise of best movie of the millennium. Over the years many movies have surprised me. Movies I wouldn't ordinarily watch, thinking they would be trash. With that mindset, they turned out okay and sometimes even excellent. I never go see a movie thinking, "Oh yeah, this'll be good!!!"

Personally, I don't want to see any aliens in this new Indy movie, for several reasons. One: aliens and Indy just don't go together. Indy has always been about magic, power of the gods, mysticism. If such things turn out to be of alien origin, it kind of diminishes its impact. Two: the last couple of years alien movies always bring up a "been there, done that" feeling in audiences. At least audiences here in Belgium. Shyamalan's "Signs" was a disappointment. The second half of "The Forgotten" with Julianne Moore was complete rubbish. You could just as well make another movie about an asteroid heading toward earth or tornado's haunting the plains of Kansas. Aliens have had their five minutes of fame and even with a new twist, audiences will STILL think, "Oh no, not aliens AGAIN."
 

loganbush

New member
Another one suckered into mass-mania. And I bet you're gonna tell me Haggis' Crash (notCrash) was a touching and meaningful portrayal of a racism pandemic in America.

Malarkey.

Big cast, big budget, big director, shallow script that only sought to manipulate the audience for the sake of an Oscar. Same as notCrash. Godawful films.

Speilberg asked not to be paid on that project. He's Jewish and feels very strongly about the Holocaust. You sound alot like Clinton.
 

commontone

New member
ResidentAlien said:
Another one suckered into mass-mania. And I bet you're gonna tell me Haggis' Crash (notCrash) was a touching and meaningful portrayal of a racism pandemic in America.

Malarkey.

I thought Crash was "decent" at best. It was outrageous that it won an Oscar over those other films. Its message was ham-fisted and way too obvious. I can see, your perception of me is pretty off :rolleyes:

Schindler's List is in an entirely different league from Crash...no comparison.
 

AHegele

New member
Crash and Schindler's List ain't the same ball park, ain't the same league, ain't even the same sport. - jules.
 

tnswman

New member
thebacklot said:
Your shtick is getting old, sir. Along with the; "behold the power of the search function" replies.


You people need to realize wha tthis website is and take your drama elsewhere.. The Mods do not need to let this place become just like the rest of the message boards out there.
 
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