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The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

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Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#91

Post by mandmandam »

metalliqaz wrote: post #67
guyzero wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

54% of [US] adults have a literacy below a 6th-grade level - https://www.thenationalliteracyinstitute.com/post/literacy-s... Not surprising that books like this succeed.

Agreed. People just can't read. I think this is one of many upstream causes of the current political landscape. When faced with reading a corporate financial statement, any laws, scientific papers, municipal budgets, or even an article in WSJ or The Atlantic, people are unable to proceed. So a defense mechanism comes up: "it's all just lies, anyway." Then they go and find a tweet or watch TV.

I'mma go out on a bit of a limb here, and say that even the people who can read often 'can't read'. Many people who 'can read' only read things in one of two particular bubbles, colored either blue or red.

This has resulted in a population which is terrifyingly disconnected from reality, and yet utterly certain of their own beliefs; beliefs which have been worked into the core of their self-identity by the magic of political kayfabe. "The GOP believes Corona is from a lab, so it must be wrong" ... "Trump will genocide Gaza worse, so voting for someone arming an internationally condemned genocide is good and practical actually", etc.

Out of the small subset of people who really can read, and think for themselves, there is only a small number of them who can communicate their ideas effectively (and only to people who can at least sorta read at a 6th grade level). And the number of those people who have any power to amplify their voice is too depressing to think about for long.

... And yes, the Age of Resistance ties into this in many ways. The Skeksis are seen as strong, maybe even benevolent leaders by most, who are very far from any levers of power and aren't getting very well informed. Meanwhile, quietly (at first), the life of the small people is being drained...

Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#92

Post by trentnix »

Kipters wrote: post #42
icu wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I was upset at Altered Carbon being cancelled. It was very good. I've been hoping a video game studio picks up the rights and makes a good AA or AAA game. I sadly didn't find Altered Carbon: Resleeved as good as the main series.

IMO only the first season was really good, while the second one was very bad, I almost wish they had cancelled it after the first instead.

The first half of the first season was absolutely great. It went downhill quickly when his sister showed up. By the end of the season, it was awful.

Season 2 is simply forgettable.

Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#93

Post by kouru225 »

the_af wrote: post #74
sleepybrett wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mononoke and Spirited Away specifically feel like they have several 'extra' acts that make them seem longer than they are. Though looking back at both I'm not sure what I'd cut.

I wouldn't cut anything. They "just work", it's just that they don't follow a conventional structure. I don't want them to follow familiar patterns. Yeah, you guessed it: two of my favorite animated movies!

Ngl the idea that the average commenter is thinking about how to make changes to Miyazaki's two best movies is so funny to me. It's like your average tourist walking up to Van Gogh's Starry Night and being like "I dunno I think I would do it differently."

Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#94

Post by kouru225 »

sleepybrett wrote: post #54
kouru225 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Miyazaki stated that he was trying to break everything he knows about story structure with Mononoke. Last time I saw it, it became clear to me that it’s almost impossible to fit into any story structure and it’s just one giant crescendo to the end. More like a minimalist music piece than anything.

Mononoke and Spirited Away specifically feel like they have several 'extra' acts that make them seem longer than they are. Though looking back at both I'm not sure what I'd cut.

While you're at it why don't you tell me what parts you'd cut from Citizen Kane, Hamlet, and the Mona Lisa.

Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#95

Post by ultimafan »

the_af wrote: post #75
icu wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're a sci-fi and/or a fantasy fan I really recommend watching the original film and the prequel in that order and make your own mind up. I was young when the original came out so I found it good but scary. I felt the prequel was excellent and it left me wanting more. These days I feel a lot of my youthful nostalgia has been vandalised for a quick corporate buck. Probably the worst has been Willow on Disney+. Th…

> There are so few examples of good follow-ups to nostalgic media. The only other example I can think of is Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017). I know this is controversial, but I disliked Blade Runner 2049. It feels made by someone who just didn't get Blade Runner and was both copying it mechanically in parts, and improvising unfaithfully in others. (Coincidentally, I liked Arrival but the changes Vill…

I feel the same way about Villeneuve's last few movies, I don't think it's that controversial, I've had some people agree before. He seems to be very good at visual, audio effects, 2049/Dune both looked and sounded absolutely great at parts. But the writing, dialogue and respect for the source material is absolutely subpar, Dune part 2 was especially laughable and bad enough that the first time I tried to watch it I walked out halfway. It seems to be a trend in movies/shows that regardless of how alien the setting is everyone talks like how someone in Hollywood THINKS intellectual teenagers imagine themselves talking like when they've had several hours to think of a witty comeback to some situation. Too much snark, too many quips, too many jokes,it's like the idea of a movie taking a silly or absurd concept seriously for more than a minute without baiting a laugh from the audience is something to be embarrassed about.

Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#96

Post by sleepybrett »

kouru225 wrote: post #93
the_af wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't cut anything. They "just work", it's just that they don't follow a conventional structure. I don't want them to follow familiar patterns. Yeah, you guessed it: two of my favorite animated movies!

Ngl the idea that the average commenter is thinking about how to make changes to Miyazaki's two best movies is so funny to me. It's like your average tourist walking up to Van Gogh's Starry Night and being like "I dunno I think I would do it differently."

I have yet to run into anyone that hasn't let out a bit of a sigh when sen gets on that train.

I love the movie, I actually think Naussica is his best movie, followed by Princess. However as someone who grew up on western movies there is a rhythmic miss to these movies, a pacing that is unlike other movies. I never said it made the movies bad, just that it was, I guess strange... unexpected.

.. and like I said, looking at the movie, there is nothing there I would cut nothing that would bring it back to the expected western rhythm.

Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#97

Post by the_other »

icu wrote: post #31
donatj wrote: post #19

How strange, the most positive review I heard from anyone I know was that "It ruined my childhood" and that it let's say "craped" on the source material. Mind you these are the nicest things people said. I have not seen it nor the original film to be fair, but this is quite literally the first positive thing I have heard about it.

If you're a sci-fi and/or a fantasy fan I really recommend watching the original film and the prequel in that order and make your own mind up. I was young when the original came out so I found it good but scary. I felt the prequel was excellent and it left me wanting more. These days I feel a lot of my youthful nostalgia has been vandalised for a quick corporate buck. Probably the worst has been Willow on Disney+. Th…

I found Blade Runner 2049 painful to watch. The story is ok, but the presentstion, with its reliance on memes from the earlier film, ruins it for me. Also, the principle malevolent force is vacant and tepid. The story would have been better without him. If they’d just set it in the same world, without trying to look and sound like thenold film-but-updated, I’d have liked it… but they brought back Harrison Ford just for nostalgia, and copied loads of the shots and music. Sorry, no, they didn’t copy those things, they ‘extended” them. Copied-but-bigger. The story might have stood by itself without pandering to the entitlements of fans of the ealier film and I wish they had been brave enough to make it more unique.

Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#98

Post by icu »

the_other wrote: post #97
icu wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're a sci-fi and/or a fantasy fan I really recommend watching the original film and the prequel in that order and make your own mind up. I was young when the original came out so I found it good but scary. I felt the prequel was excellent and it left me wanting more. These days I feel a lot of my youthful nostalgia has been vandalised for a quick corporate buck. Probably the worst has been Willow on Disney+. Th…

I found Blade Runner 2049 painful to watch. The story is ok, but the presentstion, with its reliance on memes from the earlier film, ruins it for me. Also, the principle malevolent force is vacant and tepid. The story would have been better without him. If they’d just set it in the same world, without trying to look and sound like thenold film-but-updated, I’d have liked it… but they brought back Harrison Ford just f…

I need to rewatch in light of your criticisms. I focused on the film taking on the theme of what makes a human. In light of the AI developments since the film's release in 2017, and Her in 2013, I wonder a lot about the ethical issues around a slave class of intelligence.

Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#99

Post by icu »

domador wrote: post #47
icu wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're a sci-fi and/or a fantasy fan I really recommend watching the original film and the prequel in that order and make your own mind up. I was young when the original came out so I found it good but scary. I felt the prequel was excellent and it left me wanting more. These days I feel a lot of my youthful nostalgia has been vandalised for a quick corporate buck. Probably the worst has been Willow on Disney+. Th…

What happened to Willow?

I think it was objectively terrible, certainly I found it almost entirely unredeemable except for very few CGI scenes (the wizard magic wand training sequence if I remember correctly) and a very golden set piece at the end.

Disney then canned it and I'm pretty sure they removed it from Disney+ for a tax write off.

Re: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Is a Stone-Cold Masterpiece

#100

Post by icu »

ultimafan wrote: post #95
the_af wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are so few examples of good follow-ups to nostalgic media. The only other example I can think of is Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017). I know this is controversial, but I disliked Blade Runner 2049. It feels made by someone who just didn't get Blade Runner and was both copying it mechanically in parts, and improvising unfaithfully in others. (Coincidentally, I liked Arrival but the changes Vill…

I feel the same way about Villeneuve's last few movies, I don't think it's that controversial, I've had some people agree before. He seems to be very good at visual, audio effects, 2049/Dune both looked and sounded absolutely great at parts. But the writing, dialogue and respect for the source material is absolutely subpar, Dune part 2 was especially laughable and bad enough that the first time I tried to watch it I…

I somewhat agree. For me Dune: Part One (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024) had the visual, sound and acting talent, but felt like it was missing something. I'd almost say it was soulless. I think the problem was in the dialogue or how scenes we acted, I don't know. I didn't think Dune (1984) was any good, but I think that had a lot to do with the technology and film making techniques at that time.

I think the only good Dune media besides the books was the video game Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty by Westwood Studios (RIP). Without it, I think there would be no Command & Conquer and no heyday for the real-time strategy (RTS) genre.

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