Favorite Films

[gunswordfist]

lol at their comparison. while i have only seen the desolation of smaug and didn't like the ending and i think the last two prequels are ok (missed the 1st), smaug is better than both put together.

[talonmalon333]

I am a huge fan of both trilogies, but I will agree that Lord of the Rings is slightly better. I love Star Wars but I think some of its flaws become a bit more apparent when comparing the two. Lord of the Rings just has a level of consistency with each of its movies being excellent. When it comes to picking the best, I think any one of them could be considered the best and one of the best movies ever made, and it would be an acceptable answer. The Star Wars movies aren't quite as consistent, particularly once you reach the ending. I do like Return of the Jedi, but I feel it's completely overwhelmed when compared to Return of the King. Like, you can't even begin to compare them. I get that some people have problems with the multiple endings of Return of the King, but the trilogy really couldn't end any other way. Meanwhile, Jedi's teddy bear party is a very small and underwhelming way to celebrate the ending. And on that note, Lord of the Rings just reaches a really strong level of emotion. Just think of the dialogue between Frodo and Sam in The Two Towers and Return of the King, for example. I get that Star Wars doesn't try to be that emotionally deep, aside from The Empire Strikes Back, but perhaps that's one of the reasons it isn't as strong a story.

There's also a few other little things. For example, the acting comes up a bit short in Star Wars. Particularly in the original Star Wars, the acting is kind of stiff. And there's also the fact that I think Harrison Ford admitted to not caring as much when filming Jedi, because he's clearly not giving the same performance that he gave in Empire.

EDIT:

As for that comparison between prequels, yeah, you really can't compare the two. I won't claim to be a big fan of An Unexpected Journey (I found Desolation of Smaug to be vastly superior and of the level of quality I had expected from The Hobbit movies initially, despite some big flaws). And in addition, I have to admit that I think Revenge of the Sith was actually... serviceable. Okay, so it's not anything close to being a great film, or even an especially good one. But I just can't deny that I enjoyed it despite the plethora of issues that it obviously has. But it's clear which of those two movies is better and more competently made.

[talonmalon333]

I deleted my previous post and merged the contents of it into the post before that one. I just didn't want to have three posts in a row, on the same day.

Anyway, in response to E-K's top 10 science fiction movie list, I'm going to post my own.

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. The Empire Strikes Back
3. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
4. Star Wars
5. Alien
6. Blade Runner
7. WALL-E
8. Back to the Future
9. Aliens
10. The Terminator

I kind of cheated on #7, but the choice is certainly good enough, if you ask me.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Good list. It reminds me that I really need to re-watch 2001 and Blade Runner.

[Avaitor]

I don't know how I would make my own list, but I do know that 2001 would be quite far away from it.

[talonmalon333]

Good list. It reminds me that I really need to re-watch 2001 and Blade Runner.

Thanks. Also, I figure I should mention that, of those movies, Back to the Future is the only one I haven't seen in a while. I really need to rewatch it.

I don't know how I would make my own list, but I do know that 2001 would be quite far away from it.

How come? I actually thought you'd be a fan of that one.

[Avaitor]

How come? I actually thought you'd be a fan of that one.

I respect the film a great deal, but it is my personal antithesis of an enjoyable film.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I wasn't sure where else to post this, but since the Halloween thread went over well enough, I thought, why not try my hand at a Christmas thread. So, I want people to nominate their favorite Christmas specials, movies, short films, or even television, and hopefully we can fill up an entire month of Christmas-themed stuff to watch. If not, I'll go for a traditional 12-day list instead, but for now I'm trying for the entire month, with a maximum of 4 nominations per person, just like last time. I'll start:

1. South Park: A Woodland Critters Christmas
2. Die Hard
3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (classic animated short)
4. Gremlins
5. The Muppet Christmas Carol

[Avaitor]

For now, definitely put up The Muppet Christmas Carol for me.

But I actually had an idea for certain TV episodes, if it's okay, to do an hourlong mix from various companies or networks. Like, a combination of material from Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Disney, and Warner.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm OK with multiple entries in one as long as they are tied together by a common network or company, and don't exceed 2-hours in combined length.

For instance, you can nominate the Hey Arnold! and Rugrats Christmas Specials as a single entry, but not Futurama and some random stop motion short.

Speaking of which, I totally forgot to nominate Futurama. Hopefully somebody else will fix that for me.

[Avaitor]

Let's try these, then-

Disney-
Goof Troop Christmas
The Weekenders- "The Worst Holiday Ever"

Warner-
A Pinky & the Brain Christmas
Justice League- "Comfort and Joy"

Nickelodeon-
Hey Arnold!- "Arnold's Christmas"
Invader Zim- "The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever"

Cartoon Network-
Dexter's Laboratory- "Dexter vs. Santa's Claws"
Johnny Bravo- "'Twas the Night"
I Am Weasel- "Happy Baboon Holidays"
Sheep in the Big City- "Home For The Baa-lidays"

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Those are fine, but that puts you 1 nomination over the limit if you're also including the Muppets. Is there any one of those that you don't mind dropping?

[Avaitor]

Yeah, let's drop Warner. I've talked about the P&TB ep before (remember that?), so it's alright.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

6. Disney-
Goof Troop Christmas
The Weekenders- "The Worst Holiday Ever"

7. Nickelodeon-
Hey Arnold!- "Arnold's Christmas"
Invader Zim- "The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever"

8. Cartoon Network-
Dexter's Laboratory- "Dexter vs. Santa's Claws"
Johnny Bravo- "'Twas the Night"
I Am Weasel- "Happy Baboon Holidays"
Sheep in the Big City- "Home For The Baa-lidays"

[LumRanmaYasha]

Only 4, eh? For now I guess I'll go with these:

The Nightmare Before Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas

Cartoon Network:
- Billy and Mandy Save Christmas
- Ed, Edd, n' Eddy's Jingle Jingle Jangle

FOX:
- Futurama - "A Tale of Two Santas"
- American Dad! - "Rapture's Delight"