Re: The Desolation of Smaug pre-release thread [2] [SPOILERS]

[Mrs Figg]

nice. sounds like my kind of pad.

[Pettytyrant101]

Wasnt a fan of Signs- was like a poor rip of war of the worlds, and not anywhere near as good (compared to the book I mean, not the Spielberg abomination)

[halfwise]

it wasn't about the story at all: it was about the build up of the audience's nervousness, hitting the scream points just once.

Yes, when we first saw the alien heel disappear into the corn, I actually heard screams in the audience. And the arms reaching for the kid when the lights went on, and the flicker of the alien pacing reflected in the knife. All were done with such beautiful, precise timing. Played the audience like a fiddle.

[Mrs Figg]

I liked Signs, it was quite eerie.

[Pettytyrant101]

I think he is a better ideas man than a film maker myself- felt the same with the Village and the Happening- great ideas poor execution and cheap tricks, writing wise.
Yet I absolutely  loved Lady in the Water, his best film in my opinion.

For me a master of this stuff, like say Hitchock, I dont feel Im just being manipulated because its more skillfully done. Whereas I tend to fell watching his films they are a bit smug about how clever their twists are, and it feels manipulative and false.

[Lancebloke]

Petty.... I can see some similarities with war of the worlds... but Spielberg's version more than any other. I liked that it followed a family in the middle of nowhere rather than roland emmerich blowing the shit out of as many monuments as possible.

I thought it had quite a good atmosphere to it. There werent any twists... it was quite a simple story really. I thought the end sucked a little though.

[Pettytyrant101]

You are right about twists and Signs Lance- I was speaking more about his films in general, I should have made that clearer- like the ghost one.
For me he either relies on a big twist, that if you see it coming as I did with the ghost one it means the films largely redundant, or he has an intriguing premise with a poor unsatisfying resolution (Signs, The Village and The Happening)

I loathed Speilbers War of the Worlds- one of the most cowardly scripts Ive ever seen, and dumped Speilberg well down in my estimations.

[Lancebloke]

I dont know what other ones of his (not attempting to spell his name) I have seen to comment further.

I think Signs fell foul of the 'need' for a resolution which he decided would be a poorly CGI'd alien out for some revenge who happens to have mel gibsons post code already in the TomTom and who happens to have been 'seen' by his long decapitated wife.

I don't think the film needed that resolution. The Aliens could have just been gone with the climax being getting outside with the relevant medicine administered.

Or at least not an Alien that wouldnt look out of place in a stop animation Sinbad movie.

[Pettytyrant101]

Lady in the Water is worth a watch- I really liked it- its a nice simple modern fairytale.

[Sinister71]

At this point I will probably go to see DOS and hope at least the landscapes and Erebor/Dale/Mirkwood/Thranduils Palace look good. I may just go to see Thranduil, all the rest is just fluff.

Couldn't agree more Figgs. I'm already this far in I might just as well finish the train wreck. Personally my hopes have been shattered and I really don't think I will care for much in DOS but heck I'm only gonna spend 5 bucks to see it anyways. Even if I end up only buying a bootleg copy from the guy at the flea market I'm still only spending 5 bucks.

I refer to the Hobbit films to a friend of mine as a train wreck or a Tijuana donkey show. Something you don't want to see but can't look away either.

What's even worse is the fact that these films didn't need to be this bad, it's all the poor choices Jackson made, from the alterations of his own created middle earth making it more of a generic fantasy world to making up plot/ story lines that completely contradict the works of J RR Tolkien. How bad the films are has nothing to do with the source material but how poorly Jackson and his co-writers interpreted that material and deliberately altered it to fit THEIR image

[bungobaggins]

But that ending would take tact and subtlety both things that Jackson lacks in his film making

[Mrs Figg]

why oh why did we actually have to see the Ring being lost by Gollum, does PJ think our little brains cant cope with the book version?

[RA]

Hey Everyone! Remember Lord of the Rings?
Translated.

[malickfan]

why oh why did we actually have to see the Ring being lost by Gollum, does PJ think our little brains cant cope with the book version?

No, it's just that Jackson is a brainier Oscar winning genius so he obviously knows the story better than the fans scholars or Tolkiens family who have been ripping the shit out of him for a decade.

It's getting to the point where I feel I'd find a trainwreck more exciting then DOT (Desecration of Tolkien as I refer to the 2nd hobbit film).

  

Just out of Interest why is Norway the only country with an Emoticon?

[malickfan]

Just swung by Bree, it's as dead as my soul will be after watching DOT: Legolas and Tauriel the Magical Plank Ninja Adventures.

[Eldorion]

Just out of Interest why is Norway the only country with an Emoticon?

US and Australia also have emoticons, which I first saw on another forum I used to visit and liked. Then Norc started complaining that there should be a Norwegian one so I made it myself, which is why it looks very different from the others (since my photoshop skills are amateurish at best). I tried making British and Scottish emoticons too but I wasn't pleased with how either of them turned out.

[malickfan]

Ah Ok, I don't have Photoshop...typical the scots get their: own flag... 

[Pettytyrant101]

The Saltire is believed to be one of the oldest flags in Europe- and your Union Jack is going to look a bit rubbish when its gone!  



Or maybe this time out you wont forget about the Welsh!  

[Eldorion]

Wouldn't they use the Cross of St David for Wales in the event that they replaced Scotland on the flag?



(Source.)

[Pettytyrant101]

 Thats even worse looking! (In less you are planning on a tolitarian take over maybe!)

[Eldorion]

Yeah, their best bet is probably just to leave the Saltire on there.  Or replace it with a simple Cross of St George.  Although the St George/St Patrick version isn't that bad IMO.  The green and black backgrounds are just weird-looking, but the white background is the same as both flags and works well enough.

Another question is if they'll still use the word British as an adjective for the UK, since Britain wouldn't be a single country anymore.

[malickfan]

Just as long as we don't try incorparating Cornwall's Flag then I'm Ok.

I was actually Joking Petty no skin of my nose if Scotland goes independant, I never liked deep fried Mars Bars that much anyway...(though funnily enough the only place I've ever seen them on sale is on The Isle of Wight)

[malickfan]

In My Experience British is Often used interchangebly with English, anyway 'Oh You've got a British Accent!'-There is a big difference between say a Cardiff Accent and a Glaswegian accent, both are British accents but Neither are English. It sounds obvious but even an American Teacher I had at Seconadary School considered British and English the Same thing.

[Eldorion]

Fortunately I learned about the differences between Britain and the constituent countries before I started posting actively on the Internet, so I've spared the worst embarrassments of that sort. Although I still think it's weird that people from Northern Ireland have "British" on their passport.

[malickfan]

Then Again I had a fellow student in the same class as said Teacher who thought London was a seperate country, so rest assured even Brits get confused (although she was an utter idiot).

It's sorta the same with Puerto Rico and Washington DC-are they US states?