Star Wars: The Force Awakens (12/18/15)

[YoNoSe]

 

[Spartan Rex]

As a kid I of course watched ANH dozens of times in the years after its release but I can't see myself rewatching Awakens again any time soon.

 

[K07]

As a kid I of course watched ANH dozens of times in the years after its release but I can't see myself rewatching Awakens again any time soon.

Yeah. When you don't feel compelled to buy toys from a movie it's probably not worth rewatching all that often. Yet I feel compelled to visit this thread because it's always on top and STAR WARS.

 

[automaton]

no need to reply in this thread... this dude has it covered.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/matt...-awakens-the-rise-of-idiot-/10153163095086277

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

As a kid I of course watched ANH dozens of times in the years after its release but I can't see myself rewatching Awakens again any time soon.

Did you like Crylo Ren? I think he has potential, despite being an emo Vader wannabe.

 

[Spartan Rex]

Did you like Crylo Ren? I think he has potential, despite being an emo Vader wannabe.

Nah, didn't like Kylo either.
When u have Han Solo as your dad, Luke Skywalker as your uncle along with Chewie bouncing you on his knee as a toddler and u still turn into a dark side loving homicidal ass then it's on you and not your families fault. I suppose in the following episodes they'll shed more light on Kylos fall but I can only believe given Luke's experience he was watching Ben like a hawk. Now what might be a good way to go with this is that Luke did in fact detect the bad seed early, did what he could but ultimately had to give him the boot. Ben resented this and Snoke steps in like all good opportunistic Sith Lords and says "They resent and are envious of your power so let me complete your training (insert sinister cackle)" Perhaps Leia and Han got upset with Luke a little that he gave Ben the boot and hard feelings set in. Which causes the band to break up. Like the Beatles, still love each other but go their own ways.
It just seems logical at some point that Luke would've set his nephew down and given him the cautionary tale of one Anakin Skywalker.
It really does feel like theirs a moral retardation gene that runs strong in the Skywalker family and it seems to skip every other generation.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Nah, didn't like Kylo either.
When u have Han Solo as your dad, Luke Skywalker as your uncle along with Chewie bouncing you on his knee as a toddler and u still turn into a dark side loving homicidal ass then it's on you and not your families fault. I suppose in the following episodes they'll shed more light on Kylos fall but I can only believe given Luke's experience he was watching Ben like a hawk. Now what might be a good way to go with this is that Luke did in fact detect the bad seed early, did what he could but ultimately had to give him the boot. Ben resented this and Snoke steps in like all good opportunistic Sith Lords and says "They resent and are envious of your power so let me complete your training (insert sinister cackle)" Perhaps Leia and Han got upset with Luke a little that he gave Ben the boot and hard feelings set in.
It just seems logical at some point that Luke would've set his nephew down and given him the cautionary tale of one Anakin Skywalker.
It really does feel like theirs a moral retardation gene that runs strong in the Skywalker family and it seems to skip every other generation.

That's interesting. I'm not sure that Crylo's parent's were there for him, hence why he tells Rey that his dad wasn't good...or something. I don't remember, but he got all emotional and whinny about it.

Maybe he felt abandoned by his father when Han and Leia separated. His parents even talk about that in the film. Just as many kids of single mothers in the inner city are easy recruits for gangs, maybe Snoke exploited Ren's longing for a father figure. Which is the very thing he also sensed in Rey when they were connected by the Force (and why Snoke ordered Ren to bring Rey to him). It's like a teen novel

 

[Khev]

Forbes Welcome

Walt Disney DIS -0.86% sent out an “It’s official!” press release Wednesday at around 4:30 p.m. PT, but in case you need hard confirmation, Wednesday’s $6.2 million gross for Star Wars: The Force Awakens has indeed pushed the Walt Disney film past the $760.5m domestic gross of James Cameron’s Avatar.J.J. Abrams’s sci-fi sequel is now the biggest grossing movie ever in America — if you don’t adjust for inflation, the 3D bump and the IMAX/PLF bumps. For the first time in 18 years, a James Cameron movie is not at the top of the charts, and for the first time in forty years, a film not helmed by James Cameron, George Lucas, or Steven Spielberg is the biggest movie ever in America. It really is the end of an era.

If you want to play the “adjusted for inflation” game, The Force Awakens is actually the 20th biggest movie ever, just above Raiders of the Lost Ark ($762m) and just below The Sting and The Lion King (both of which made around $767.5m in “2016 dollars”). There are a couple things to note before we get bent out of shape about inflation. First of all, many of the films at the top of the list (Gone with the Wind, Star Wars, E.T., etc.) benefited from at least one high-profile theatrical re-release after its initial theatrical run. Many of the older films existed in a time when films ran in theaters for years and when consumers could only see them in theaters. Moreover, in the days before cable television, the Internet, Netflix, and video games, theatrical movie-going was among the only means of mass entertainment available to most consumers, give or take radio and broadcast television.

It’s easy to say “Well, The Force Awakens sold less tickets than The Sound of Music,” but there was a lot less competition for your entertainment time and entertainment dollar back in 1964. In an era when we all talk about how young people don’t go to the movies anymore, and that Americans in general don’t make theatrical movie-going a prime part of their entertainment diet as much as they did even a decade or so ago, it’s impressive, nay most impressive, that a new movie has not only become the biggest grosser ever but also become one of the most popular movies of all time in terms of tickets sold as well. That, to me, is the most stunning achievement. And of course it’s not done yet.

No, I don’t think the film is going to cross the magic $1 billion mark at the domestic box office, but that’s only a failure if you’re an idiot. The film should cross $800 million domestic sometime this weekend and end its fourth weekend of play with around $820 million. At that point it will be the fourteenth-biggest movie of all time adjusted for inflation. When it gets to $940m domestic, which at this point I’m guessing it will, it will surpass Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to become the tenth most popular theatrical movie of all time in America, and basically the biggest grossing movie of all time without any significant theatrical re-releases.

So yes it broke the domestic record because of inflation and 3D bumps and all of that. But it’s still going to be one of the most “tickets sold” successful movies of all time in American cinemas, as well as the first film since Titanic to sell 100 million tickets. Oh, and it has earned $812 million overseas as well, bringing its worldwide cume to $1.576.6 billion worldwide. So it’s got that going for it too.

 

[jye4ever]

no need to reply in this thread... this dude has it covered.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/matt...-awakens-the-rise-of-idiot-/10153163095086277

"I also think that being a contrarian **** makes people feel intelligent"

 

[Khev]

"I also think that being a contrarian **** makes people feel intelligent"

Isn't that the truth.

 

[jye4ever]

Forbes Welcome

"No, I don’t think the film is going to cross the magic $1 billion mark at the domestic box office, but that’s only a failure if you’re an idiot."

 

[pixletwin]

"I also think that being a contrarian **** makes people feel intelligent"

 

[a-dev]

We're all contrarian about something though.

 

[jye4ever]

But never go full contrarian ****!

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Yeah. When you don't feel compelled to buy toys from a movie it's probably not worth rewatching all that often. Yet I feel compelled to visit this thread because it's always on top and STAR WARS.

I almost bought a Crylo Ren figure, but then I came to my senses. I did see this little electronic BB8 toy that moves like the one in the film and you control it with a watch, so that's about the only cool piece of merchandise I've seen so far. It looks expensive though.

 

[pixletwin]

We're all contrarian about something though.

I'm not.

(sorry, couldn't resist. )

 

[Khev]

Interesting sample of Star Wars reviews from 1977. Even in the 70's Gene Siskel was a *******. Also interesting that several didn't think the visuals were as good as 2001: A Space Odyssey and also called out the derivative nature of the narrative.

A Force to Be Reckoned With

“The finest pure entertainment to reach the screen in ages! A concoction of adolescent fun graced by special effects that are in themselves, a celebration of the magic fusions of which only the movies are capable!” — Desmond Ryan, Philadelphia Inquirer

“Star Wars is a landmark film, a work of such soaring imagination that it will set standards for years to come.” — Bob Thomas, AP

“A hell of a lot of fun…brims with adventure, charm and marvels. I loved it.” — Jack Kroll, Newsweek

“Star Wars will do very nicely for those lucky enough to be children or unlucky enough never to have grown up.” — John Simon, New York Magazine

“[T]he magic of Star Wars is only dramatized by the special effects; the movie’s heart is in its endearingly human (and non-human) people.” — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

“For two hours, viewers will be caught up in pure, sweet, spellbinding escapism as a fanciful story unfolds with a whirl of dazzling special effects. Not since Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey have the talents of special effects technicians been so generously and ingeniously employed.” — Doug Smith, Omaha World-Herald

“[W]riter-director George Lucas makes a spectacular return to the screen. If anybody wondered where Lucas has been since the release nearly four years ago of American Graffiti, the answer is at hand. Star Wars is the most exciting picture to be released this year—exciting as theater and exciting as cinema. It is the most visually awesome such work to appear since 2001: A Space Odyssey, yet is intriguingly human in its scope and boundaries…. In addition to being a superbly crafted film, Star Wars is that rarest of creatures: The work of art with universal (excuse the pun) appeal. There is in all of us the child who dreams of magical beings and fantastical adventures. On a street level, Rocky fulfilled that need last year. Star Wars takes us beyond the heavens.” — John L. Wasserman, San Francisco Chronicle

“Save for Alec Guinness, the cast is unmemorable. Lucas apparently blew his entire $9.5 million budget on visuals.” — Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune

“Star Wars may be the greatest comic book movie ever made. The movie is distinguished by great imagination, astonishing technical wizardry and an almost child-like sense of real fun.” — George Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Star Wars is one of the most enjoyable movies ever made—a funny, exciting and magnificently spectacular two-hour space fantasy that leaves the audience panting for a sequel.” — Clyde Gilmour, Toronto Star

“This film should clearly establish George Lucas as a major force in Hollywood and hopefully will lead to more movies of this kind.” — Fresno Bee

“The year’s best movie. Star Wars has brought fun back to the movies and glowingly demonstrated they can still make ’em like they used to. A grand and glorious film.” — Time

“Star Wars radiates pure intergalactic corn…. Star Wars is long on air battles and computer consoles but short on people or any kind of characterization beyond the old comic book figures.” — Frances Taylor, The (Newark) Star-Ledger

“Star Wars attains the spirit of pure, golden adventure which eluded the King Kong remake largely because Lucas never spoofs the genre he celebrates. Despite the familiarity of plot and dialogue, the film is played with dead-center earnestness, and the cast speaks archaic lines without even suggesting a snicker…. John Williams’ majestic, thrilling musical score deserves the best possible sound system; but the entire film is a monument of behind-the-scenes wizardry.” — Philip Wuntch, The Dallas Morning News

“The animation and special effects in Star Wars may not be as fine as Kubrick’s in 2001, nor as perfect or as utterly convincing, but they are much more fun…. Avoiding the traps of pretension, camp, sentimentality or the ’cutes,’ Star Wars is one of the greatest adventure stories ever filmed.” — David Rosenbaum, The Boston Herald American

“Lucas’ script and his film are a warm mixture of remarkable professionalism and an ingratiating innocence that is almost childlike…. It is, all in all, hard to think of a place or an age group that would not respond to the enthusiastic inventiveness with which Lucas has enshrined his early loves. Star Wars proves again that there is no corporate substitute for the creative passion of the individual film-maker.” — Charles Champlin, Los Angeles Times

“[D]irector Lucas demonstrated a sensitivity to the human comedy in American Graffiti, and it’s a shame that he didn’t let this sensitivity come through again in Star Wars, a $9 million comic strip.” — Richard Dodds, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune

“Star Wars is like 2001. If you like it at all, one viewing just won’t be enough.” — Ted Mahar, The (Portland) Oregonian

“All the young actors bring breathless excitement to their adventures, lively performances that are counterbalanced by the thoughtful and very good characterization of Alec Guinness…. Lucas has directed this film so tightly that there is not a wasted second on screen and the editing by Paul Hirsch, Marcia Lucas (the director’s wife) and Richard Chew surely will be a contender for next spring’s Oscar…. The appeal of Star Wars is that every member of the audience can become a kid riding through space with the heroes, zapping the bad guys. It’s great fun.” — Michael Janusonis, The Providence Journal

“Is Star Wars worth all the fuss? Most emphatically, yes. Some people will smoke marijuana before seeing it. Some Star Trek fans may be placated for a while. Kids will squeal with delight. And adults who grew up sharing their dreams and joys of George Lucas will find that there is still hope for the world—and films.” — Rick B. Oppenheim, Tallahassee Democrat

“Star Wars is a magnificent film. George Lucas set out to make the biggest possible adventure-fantasy out of his memories of serials and older action epics, and he has succeeded brilliantly…. Lucas’ first feature, THX-1138, was also futuristic in tone, but there the story emphasis was on machines controlling man. But in Star Wars the people remain the masters of the hardware, thereby striking a more resonant note of empathy and hope. This is the kind of film in which the audience, first entertained, can later walk out feeling good all over.” — A.D. Murphy, Variety

“A sci-fi Oz to challenge 2001…. George Lucas began his career as a major-studio director eight years ago with a brief clip from Flash Gordon, shown just before the credits rolled on his somber, science-fiction parable, THX-1138. After taking time out from the genre to make a little movie called American Graffiti, Lucas has now come full circle, deliberately imitating the kind of space opera he loved as a child, but transforming its B-movie tackiness by adding layers of technique, humor and mythical reverberations that surely never crossed the minds of the creators of Flash Gordon. Star Wars borrows from any number of fantasy films and stories, but it never fails to make the old stuff look exhilaratingly new.” — John Hartl, The Seattle Times

“Daring to be different and swimming against the tide is especially dangerous in an expensive medium such as motion pictures but the rewards can be great, if successful. George Lucas has risked his American Graffiti reputation on Star Wars and gotten away with it.... Star Wars is, indeed, a movie that dares to be different, not only in setting, but in theme at a time when imagination has surrendered to realism in motion pictures. If you don’t enjoy Star Wars, you are not as young at heart as you think you are.” — James Meade, The San Diego Union

“[Star Wars is] a disarmingly merry and technically unforgettable picture, light years in advance of any English-language movie that has opened in Washington during my tenure as a movie rater. The thing works superlatively well as comedy, suspense story and parodic commentary on the nostalgic aspects of film history. As a stunning spectacle of sound, color and technical imagination, Star Wars is a non-pareil, a movie that would merit universal attendance even if it had nothing else going for it.” — Tom Dowling, The Washington Star

“Star Wars is the most elaborate, most expensive, most beautiful movie serial ever made…. One of Mr. Lucas’s particular achievements is the manner in which he is able to recall the tackiness of the old comic strips and serials he loves without making a movie that is, itself, tacky.” — Vincent Canby, The New York Times

“Writer-director George Lucas has combined a science fiction setting of ’long ago and far, far away,’ with almost every cliché from past adventure films. To this Lucas has added a refreshing innocence and simplistic view of good and evil and succeeded in creating a film which transcends any descriptive category. It’s a film that anyone but the most incorrigible cynic will enjoy.” — Owen Long, The (Iowa City) Daily Iowan

“Star Wars will completely dazzle you. A spellbinding experience.” — Kathleen Carroll, New York Daily News

“Star Wars will undoubtedly emerge as one of the true classics in the genre of science fiction/fantasy films. In any event, it will be thrilling audiences of all ages for a long time to come.… The film is magnificent in scope, but the script and the engaging performances also add an effective human element to the totally believable technological aspects…. The technical credits are all extraordinary…. The Dolby Sound is also a major asset in that it is sparkling clear and, in the battle sequences, achieves an enveloping, thunderous pitch without any hint of distortion.” — Ron Pennington, The Hollywood Reporter

And I see that Spielberg released an ad congratulating George for having the top grossing domestic film, I wonder if Cameron will do the same.

 

[jye4ever]

I almost bought a Crylo Ren figure, but then I came to my senses. I did see this little electronic BB8 toy that moves like the one in the film and you control it with a watch, so that's about the only cool piece of merchandise I've seen so far. It looks expensive though.

You will buy me Clown....then you will take a shotgun to your loved ones....

 

[Plastic Bateman]

TRAITOR!

Spoiler

 

[GasparZizou]

Nah, didn't like Kylo either.
When u have Han Solo as your dad, Luke Skywalker as your uncle along with Chewie bouncing you on his knee as a toddler and u still turn into a dark side loving homicidal ass then it's on you and not your families fault. I suppose in the following episodes they'll shed more light on Kylos fall but I can only believe given Luke's experience he was watching Ben like a hawk. Now what might be a good way to go with this is that Luke did in fact detect the bad seed early, did what he could but ultimately had to give him the boot. Ben resented this and Snoke steps in like all good opportunistic Sith Lords and says "They resent and are envious of your power so let me complete your training (insert sinister cackle)" Perhaps Leia and Han got upset with Luke a little that he gave Ben the boot and hard feelings set in. Which causes the band to break up. Like the Beatles, still love each other but go their own ways.
It just seems logical at some point that Luke would've set his nephew down and given him the cautionary tale of one Anakin Skywalker.
It really does feel like theirs a moral retardation gene that runs strong in the Skywalker family and it seems to skip every other generation.

I thought exactly the same thing, Kylo being born super privileged makes it difficult to imagine how the hell would he turn to the dark side, but you make a great point, I hadn't think about it, and I don't think anybody has mentioned it so far either, cause everybody's too busy with "hurr haters" and "hurr contrarians" about Luke giving him the boot cause he saw he was a bitchy entitled brat from the start, so it was best to NOT teach that ****er the ways of the force, I reckon he ran away, in a tantrum or something, and Snoke found him, maybe Han and Leia didn't even have anything to do with that. Now that would make him a better character, because that would make him not a villain, but just a snotty twink being used by Snoke, I like that.