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  #1  
Old May 24th, 2018, 02:29 PM
Total Noob Total Noob is offline
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Star Wars

Why is Star Wars a thing? Is it because our society is in decline?

I watched the three original films on a big-for-the-time tv all on the same day in about 1993, and had no idea what was happening or why. If there was some kind of continuous plot or perhaps a moral to the story, I couldn't identify either.

OK, I was a grown up at the time, and the CGI was pretty impressive, but other than the robots and ships zapping each other with ray guns, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot was going on?

Fast forward about 23 years and there's a TBS marathon with the second round of movies, and the one that is on is the one with Natalie Portman and some 12 year old kid shopping/fighting for aftermarket space ship parts on some desert planet. It may have been 1999's The Phantom Menace, but what the title has to do with the one sentence plot line is a complete mystery.

I could hardly believe any movie, much less than a big budget blockbuster, could possibly be more insipid than the original three, but there it was.

Is the Donald Trump phenomenon linked to the dumbing down and de-evolution of our culture? Does a movie have to be fast and furious or have its origins in a comic book to be popular as escapism? Or is it the other way around, ie, nobody understands anything more sophisticated than comic books anyway, and that is our level as a culture?

Is real life now so burdensome for real people that no one can expect to prevail in life without super powers, phaser weapons, or Death Stars?

I must say this: my son's high school is very, very dumbed down from the dumbed down level it was in my day. Due to No Child Left Behind -- in which teacher pay is linked to test results -- it seems like 90% of what he covers in class is test prep, and that at least 20% of school involves pointless (and sometimes bull****) assemblies, projects, and unfortunately, active shooter drills. I'm pretty sure he didn't learn anything on any topic that wasn't likely to appear on the test. No ethics; no home economics or shop class; no interpersonal skills; no penmanship. Nothing that makes you a better person rather than a better test resulter.

And we're lucky. While my son's travel team was on the field, I heard kids from another school arguing about whether the Civil War was fought in the 19th or 20th century. Those kids were learning nothing at all.

Except when the next Star Wars film is dropping.
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  #2  
Old May 26th, 2018, 06:17 AM
Buzz Buzz is offline
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If you are unaware.. the order of release is important....

Episode 4, 5, 6 .... then 20 years later... Episode 1, 2, 3 .. then 10 years later.. Episode 7 and the rest....

If you started watching at Episode 1.. no wonder you think it sucks...

Star Wars, when released in 1978 (episode 4) was exceptionally ground-breaking. It was the first future-based sci-fi film with a big budget that didn't look like cardboard and string. It was an EVENT at the time. Remember this was BEFORE streaming, DVR, DVD, and before even VHS. You HAD to go to a theater to see it.

So anyone around 40 years old or older remembers it. It's a very fond childhood memory. If you don't remember 1978-82.. you just won't understand. It was a cultural phenomenon like nothing ever seen before. Star War (Episode 4) was really the first ever "block buster" film.

Every film after Episode 4 in 1978 has been a "cash grab" to try and get in on the success. Episode 5 and 6 did a decent job of trying to be good films as well.. and they largely succeeded. All others have been, well, at best mediocre. Lucasfilms was just out of ideas and tried to relive past successes by releasing the pretty awful Episodes 1-3 films in the late 90s/early 00s.

Disney purchased Lucasfilms in 2012. So, everything from Episode 7 on are all Disney films, not Lucas films. And Episode 7 was really just a Disney remake of Episode 4-6 in a single film rather than 3 - I mean the story parallels are unbelievable.

Sure today there's nothing new, original, or amazing about the same CGI crap you see in every film being made. The movie industry seems focused on moronic "popcorn" for the masses or "stuffy" pretension for the critics. But one should realize the reason every film has that same CGI crap in it is because the original Episode 4 of Star Wars did it first and broke brand new ground in terms of CGi. Without the original Star Wars, there just wouldn't be the technology in films we see today.

So Star Wars is, in effect, to film making special effects what Shakespeare is to playwriting, or what Henry Ford is to automobiles, or Elvis or The Beatles were to Rock and Roll... certainly not the first to do the thing, but absolutely the clear catalyst for the modern age we see today.

In short..... Star Wars is a thing because it WAS a thing... and some people have a hard time letting go.

Now what all this has to do with Trump, schools, no child left behind, and "dumbing down" of America.. I have no idea. You seem to be pulling a rabbit out of your a... well.. out of somewhere.
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  #3  
Old May 28th, 2018, 10:24 AM
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The Dude The Dude is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Buzz
Star Wars, when released in 1978 (episode 4) was exceptionally ground-breaking.
To me BUZZ the only star wars is the orginal 3 movies which are insanely goregous! (I dont recognise anything else)



BEST 3 part movie ever made! (Have them on VHS)

1) Official 1982 20th century fox release
2) Recorded from analogue cable (USA Network) in 1995
3) Recorded from analogue cable (HBO) in the 80s
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  #4  
Old May 29th, 2018, 05:34 PM
Buzz Buzz is offline
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I've seen them all except the new "Solo".

Episode 7 was decent, but again, it really mirrors Episodes 4-6 a GREAT DEAL. Which is why it did well - told really the same story to a new generation while using new characters so as not bore older generations.

I also thought Rogue One was decent (set in a time between episodes 5 and 6 basically - getting the location of the Death Star to Leia).

The others.. meh... And I will NEVER watch Episodes 1-3 again. Saw them once.. which was too much
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  #5  
Old May 29th, 2018, 09:39 PM
Total Noob Total Noob is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Buzz View Post

If you started watching at Episode 1.. no wonder you think it sucks...
Paying attention, I did say that I watched the "original films ... in about 1993" which means I did so six years before the misnamed "Episode 1" dropped.

As for Donald Trump, I was pretty clear there too. The list of box office results is shown here http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2017. Of the top 25 films of 2017, only 4 had a reasonably serious live action subject: Dunkirk, Get Out, The Greatest Showman, and Wonder. Everything else was a cartoon, derived from a comic book, or was a fantasy (including Fast and Furious sequel and a Pirates of the Caribbean sequel).

Excuse me for Chris Pratt, The Rock, Chris Hemsworth and Gal Gadot hardly being Marlon Brando, Orson Welles or Kathrine Hepburn in terms of quality in the face of special effects.

What I'm saying is that our schools and our entertainments have now demonstrated that we stopped being a thinking society. We surround the lowest common denominator; the scenario that takes the least amount of brain effort to complete. Hence one Donald Trump.
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  #6  
Old May 30th, 2018, 01:55 AM
Buzz Buzz is offline
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Well.. if you waited, or weren't old enough until 1993 to see Star Wars you missed out entirely. I wouldn't expect you to get it then. That's like Penicillin being discovered in 1928... but you decide to wait until 1950 to clear up that infection you have. Still works, but without the novelty, it's "just another thing" which seems unremarkable. By 1993 the CGI born of Star Wars had proliferated considerably into the movie landscape.

I won't disagree about the growing "Idiocracy". I hardly think films are an indicator of that though. There are great films released every year.. they may just be not "box office smashes" due to smaller distribution. I mean, you can HARDLY call "the Great Showman" a non-popcorn film. It's a musical.. that's not a "thinking" film. Box office just shows the people willing to pay $20 for an uncomfortable seat and people talking around them, that's all.

What about Book of Love, Alone in Berlin, Split, The Big Sick, A Dog's Purpose, American Fable, Personal Shopper, Aftermath - just to name a few... there were a ton of non-animated, non-comic book films released last year. Many people, like me, prefer On Demand or streaming rather than sticky theater floors. Not to mention to overall financial savings by avoiding theater pricing.

Trump wasn't elected because people are "dumb". To make that correlation kind of makes you an egomaniac and pretentious. I mean, calling all his supporters dumb merely because you disagree with him, doesn't paint you in a good light.

I do NOT support Trump, never have... and I did not support Hillary either.

Trump was elected because people are tired of the status quo shafting them. Trump's appeal, to me, seemed to be more about "something different" as opposed to the "same old Washington people". I know a few people I was surprised to learn voted for Trump... they aren't "dumb" people. What they are is tired of the government voting themselves pay raises while lowering public services. Now, naive to believe Trump on the campaign.. yeah probably.. but not "dumb" by any means. Not everyone is familiar with the "New York Shifty Con Artist Salesman" persona which is Donald Trump. Those that are see through his bull**** instantly.
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  #7  
Old June 1st, 2018, 02:03 PM
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The Dude The Dude is offline
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Well the election was stolen Buzz so Trump would win...... He didnt really want to win I read......
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  #8  
Old June 1st, 2018, 04:02 PM
Buzz Buzz is offline
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It wasn't "stolen" the messed up Electoral College, which is out dated and no longer serves its intended purpose, gave it to him... The same way they gave it to Bush in 2000. Difference is Clinton didn't fight it like Gore did.

What gets me.. is WHY do we have a 2 party PRIVATE party electoral system? The DNC and RNC are privately owned for profit companies. They are altruistic in ANY goal either of them has.

This countries political system is so out of whack blaming it on Star Wars is just insulting. You may as well blame it on the Care Bears.. or Teletubbies... or vaping... or the color bleen!
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  #9  
Old June 1st, 2018, 05:41 PM
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Miz Miz is offline
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Eliminating the Electoral College will take an constitutional amendment which requires 3/4 of the states to agree.
It is unlikely the smaller (less populated) states will agree so that's a non-starter.
However, I think a problem with it could be eliminated and that's not allowing the states to mandate a winner-take-all system.
Two states allocate their electoral votes on the basis of the popular vote. Get, say, 50% of the popular vote and the candidate get 50% of the electoral votes, he rest handed out proportionally.
Only two states do it that way now. In all the others, get more votes than any other candidate and you get all the electoral votes, no matter how the vote was split.
Change them all to proportional and the electoral result should more closely match the popular vote.
As far as Star Wars, I've never watched or read any science fiction for the plot. I watch and read science fiction for the technology of the future, the special effects and to see if the writer(s) can develop an alien species that is truly alien, not just a variation of humans. Mostly they fail at the last one.
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  #10  
Old June 4th, 2018, 03:41 AM
Buzz Buzz is offline
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I realize it would take and amendment.. doesn't mean it shouldn't happen.

In today's age every vote can be counted. There are no longer farmers and ranchers living 10 miles from the nearest voting booths.

Admittedly the biggest issue with the Electoral College is that those individuals can sell their vote. There a was a news story for the 2000 election about one California Electorate doing just that - marketing his vote to the highest bidder. How that's legal and permissible is unimaginable to me, but well.. first amendment I guess, not matter how unethical it was.

I frankly don't see why the popular vote COULD be the vote. It makes no sense to have 2 counts.
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  #11  
Old June 4th, 2018, 07:47 PM
Appzalien Appzalien is offline
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If you want to have s good laugh, search for the Star Wars parody Hardware Wars. Written by Ernie Fosselius (and others) back in 1977, this hilarious parody will certainly give you a few giggles. I especially liked the Wookie Monster but the silly special effects are just that, silly. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll kiss 3 bucks good-by. There is also a newer special edition but I haven't seen that one yet.
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