The Campaign Builder's Guild

Quote from: CYMROAhh, but those movies suck, so who cares? ;)

I thought they were quite good myself, especially the Two Towers.

Quote from: Wrexham3

Quote from: CYMROAhh, but those movies suck, so who cares? ;)

I thought they were quite good myself, especially the Two Towers.

 :ill:

I have much higher standards. ;)
Too great a departure from the book, both literally and thematically for me to enjoy them.  
I have rarely seen such bad adaptations.  I felt like the screenwriter had not even read the damn trilogy.  So sad that for the money they pumped into this series, it was so weak, nay even lame.  
Given the choice, I would rather watch the old Rankin and Bass cartoons.  At least their director did not falsely claim to have improved the original.
Peter Jackson sucks.  In my opinion.

I liked the LotR movies, though I knew they were a large departure. I've been losing length on my attention span year by year, and at this point it's just better for me to watch the movie and enjoy that even when I know they leave out a lot and change some things.

On a semi-related note, I actually can't even watch the movies anymore unless it's the extended versions with commentary on.

Quote from: CYMRO:ill:

I have much higher standards. ;)
Too great a departure from the book, both literally and thematically for me to enjoy them.  
I have rarely seen such bad adaptations.  I felt like the screenwriter had not even read the damn trilogy.  So sad that for the money they pumped into this series, it was so weak, nay even lame.  
Given the choice, I would rather watch the old Rankin and Bass cartoons.  At least their director did not falsely claim to have improved the original.
Peter Jackson sucks.  In my opinion.

I really liked the LotR films because they were such a departure from the novels!  Tolkien was a brilliant imaginist but (only IMHO) he tended to overwrite everything so that his sentances became clunky.  Also I found his black-and-white morality simplistic.  Unfortunately, for the purist, it would have been impossible to bring Tolkien's epic to the screen verbatim.  The films turned out to be an excellant compromise, and are much better paced than the novels.  I was actually suprised I enjoyed the 'Two Towers' film so much as its the book I least enjoyed (the boring middle bit).  But that's only my 2 pence worth.    

Just heard the 'Watchmen' film might be back on the cards.  Now that is serious literature.

Is 'Watchmen' a comic?  Never read it.  Speaking of watching things, I got all hyped up about Night Watch when it came out, and thought it was shit.  Would have made a great miniseries, but not a movie, and the notion that there could be two more of them fills me with dread.

I saw The Departed last night.  It's dialogue, it's characters, it's music and cinematography... then the understated ending that nevertheless nails you right in the lovesack.  POWERHOUSE!!!  Plus, Jack Nicholson.

'Nuff said.

And I know this movie doesn't actually exist, but a Paradise Lost movie would pwn so much ass.  I know it's crazy to even think that Milton's magnum opus could be made into a movie, and it probably can't, but allow a young fool his fantasies...

As far as LotR is concerned, I loved the movies and hated the books.  Tolkien made me yawn throughout the entire 'epic', while Jackson only made me yawn at the very end.  The movies were not like the books, and I am very thankful for that.  It's imporant to judge film adaptations based - at least in part - on their unique merits, and LotR had plenty so long as you were hanging out for a hack-fest.  Which I was.

And for all of their successes, those movies aren't (IMO) the best evidence of Jackson's craft, nor is King Kong.  Some of his earlier splatterhouse was deliciously outlandish: Bad Taste and Braindead were a real romp, whist Meet the Feebles was wildly perverted and The Frighteners was simply entertaining.  His greatest credit, however, is not as a director, but a screenplay writer.  Jackson co-wrote Heavenly Creatures, earning himself an academy award nomination.  'Course, no-one remembers that, or probably even knew in the first place...

His most renowned work has been interpretive rather than original, sure, and that'll continue.  He's executive producer for the Halo movie(and planning three games for the franchise), interested in a Hobbit adaptation, and planning The Lovely Bones, which, in light of his skilful directorial technique (and dedication to his craft) as well as his success with Heavenly Creatures, aught to be a blast.

If you hadn't noticed by now, I think Jackson is the shiz.

Oh yeah...

And Brokeback Mountain.  That movie pulled my heartsrings far more than Crash, even though the latter won the Academy Award.  Is Crash a "better movie"?  I don't know, but regardless, I found Brokeback Mountain genuinely moving, while Carsh was compelling, but didn't stay with me when the credits rolled.

And lastly: Uwe Boll is trying to get the rights to Half Life!  Heck,he's already got the rights to Far Cry and - gasp - Postal.  Surely a sign of the End Times! (I mean it - we're all doomed...)

I forgot 12 Angry Men (the '54, '57 and 97 versions).

There are plenty of movies about lawyers and criminals, but so often we neglect the essential element of our judicial system that is the jury.  This movie captures the humanity of the process of deliberation, as well as highlighting its fundamentally finite and fallible nature.

It reminds us how tenuous our freedoms - and indeed our very lives - can be when put in the hands of twelve angry men.

One of my faves.

In addition, another Alice and Wonderland movie would be shweet, but with much more Rackham in its imagery and tone.

Quote from: Salacious AngelIn addition, another Alice and Wonderland movie would be shweet, but with much more Rackham in its imagery and tone.

My favorite Alice movie is the one with Red Buttons as the White Rabbit and Telly Savalas as the Cheshire Cat.

And on the tangent of Savalas:

Kelly's Heroes! Great war flick!

Just watched 'Airplane' tonight.  My vote for the funniest film ever.