The fine folks at Gamespot will be live streaming DICE 2012 panels and the Interactive Achievement Awards. Both events are hosted by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. There’s some really, really awesome stuff here and I urge you to watch if you can. Below are the sessions Gamespot will be live streaming and links to the video awesomeness.
(Skyrim) Todd Howard Keynote – February 8, 2012 – 6:30-7:30p Pacific
(Arkham City) Sefton Hill Session – February 9, 2012 – 10-10:30a Pacific
(Twisted Metal) David Jaffe Session – February 9, 2012 – 11:45a-12:15p Pacific
15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards – February 9, 2012 – 7:30p-10p Pacific
If you happen to catch any of these sessions, please share your thoughts on them…and also rate the speakers outfits on a scale of one to five (no halves!).
Is 1 the highest or is 5??
In what universe is 5 not worse than 1 (Star Trek 5, worse than 1).
<name the reference>
Episode 5 v Episode 1
First off, I wasn't serious.
That said, I'll still play along.
In the case of Star Wars, I feel chronological order of release is a big deal regardless of the linear path the story takes. Therefore, we'd really be comparing Star Wars to Attack of the Clones. So… I suppose it's a matter of personal perception.
The other thing I realized the other day (kind of a tangent), is that I seem to hold George Lucas to a higher standard than I do any other filmmaker. I love Wes Craven movies. But when he drops a sinker of a turd, it never broke my heart the way the prequels and Indy 4 did. In fact, I remember being in denial for a year over the suck of Phantom Menace. I damn near blocked out Indy 4. For some reason, I hold Lucas to an unfair standard.
The 90's Batman movies… I hated Forever and Robin, but I accepted the death of the franchise unlike I still can't do with Star Wars or Indy.
What I'm getting at is… Am I alone here? Am I the only one holding Lucas to an unfair standard that is basically destined to only go down considering how high my expectations of him are to begin with?
As I previously mentioned, George Lucas lost it. And by "it" I mean "the ability to make good movies". Upon further reflection, however, I am debating on wheather he ever had "it" to begin with. If you look at it from a perspective of someone that is not you, you'll see Star Wars for what it really is: a really elaborate kid's movie. It is the world's most successful cult movie(s).
I'll give you that Episode IV was good and V was great, but I'm pretty sure he started on the decline by Return of the Jedi. Fast forward to today and you have emo Hayden Christensen doing his best to play the role of a mentally-handicapped pussy and succeding.
Lucas has become complecent with technology and has crutched on it to show his technical prowess instead of actually telling a good story. Episodes 1-3 were convoluted and riddled with more plot holes than swiss cheese at a shooting range. It's almost like they tried too hard to make a deep and involving story that they ended up in the N-Universe. The first two movies (IV & V) focused on telling a universally accepted (and timeless) story accented with revolutionary technological advances in cinematic special effects. The last three he did focused on showing us revolutionary technological advances accented with the occasional story (and bad acting). Hold him to whatever standard you want, but the fact that he is a bad director now will still ring true.
Don't even get me started on the Batman films…
It's painfully obvious that the greatest on was the 1966 movie:
[youtube G4v1hAnfy1I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4v1hAnfy1I youtube]
-M
The keynotes weren't as interesting as I had hoped. Todd Howard constantly bores me and Jaffe seems to have lost his edge.
I like the Ridley Scott example and it plays into my theory.
I'm a huge fan. But, for every Alien, Gladiator, and Legend he did, he also did the new Robin Hood, Kingdom of Heaven, and the best thing to point at… Hannibal. Both Lambs and Red Dragon were awesome, Hannibal… Fell a little flat.
Yet, my heart remained unbroken.
Granted, Lucas' main contribution to Star Wars and Indy is that he wrote them. Comparing directing, acting, and writing are 3 different animals. Apples, oranges, and grapes.
The only writer I can think of off the top of my head that might possibly hurt me as much with a stinker is Aaron Sorkin. But again, completely different.
And… Peter Jackson made King Kong. You can't tell me you felt as insulted as a fan after seeing that as you did Indy 4 or Phantom Menace.
Let me qualify my Peter Jackson inclusion: I like King Kong. I have never cared for that story at all but his version was very well done and succeeded with very little dialogue in important scenes and themes. District 9 is what upset me. It was pretty stale. I'm curious to see how The Hobbit turns out since it is less action and substance really than LoTR.But yes, Lucas is the one who really hurts. That said I do not dislike the prequel trilogy. A character should have been left out of Ep1, dialogue choices should have been outsourced for Ep2, and in Ep3 there was NOOOOOOOOOOOO! but otherwise I didn't mind it. Indy 4 however…..what a waste of my time. It's rape.
Cool, we're pretty much on the same page which brings me to the question I found myself asking myself…
Why do I allow him to hurt me like that and nobody else? It can't be nostalgia as you pointed out earlier. It's not mythos because I don't get like that over other similar journeys. Lost for example, Dexter as well.
But Indy 4 especially… Was as close to soul crushing as I feel any film could get to me.
Does Lucas really deserve to be held in that light? It's unfair to anyone to have that much repeatedly expected from them.