[ SECRET POST #3332 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3332 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


__________________________________________________



02.
(David Bowie)


__________________________________________________



03.
(Great British Bake Off for Sports Relief, Ed Balls)


__________________________________________________



04.
[Pokemon]


__________________________________________________



05.
[Star Wars: TFA]


__________________________________________________



06.
[Damian Lewis, Dick Winters, Band Of Brothers]


__________________________________________________



07.
[Daughter of the Lilies]


__________________________________________________



08.
[David Eddings]


__________________________________________________



09.
[Sengoku Basara]


__________________________________________________



10.
[JJBA]


__________________________________________________



11.
[Men In Black I, II, III]
















Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 022 secrets from Secret Submission Post #476.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

05. http://i.imgur.com/TMQGmSY.png
[Star Wars: TFA]

[ninety6tears]

...Sure. I mean, the one thing that really stands out to me about the storytelling is the immediate momentum of the new relationships and the narrative suspense of wondering how they will come together and/or reunite and/or fill or break out of certain expected molds, combined with the easily accessible older characters tying into that in a way that doesn't feel too indulgent. And those things rely a lot on the chemistry of the characters whose rushed relationships would have really sank the story, I think, if they weren't believable, as well as the previous investment in the old characters, etc. IMO it could have been as much of an awkwardly uninspired rehash as Star Trek Into Darkness was without those elements and without a lot more investment in fine-tuning whether the nostalgia is being balanced with anything fresh, but that doesn't mean I thought that balance was perfect, as much as I love the idea of the story being cyclical in subtle ways.

[dancingmouse]

It seems like people are looking for something that isn't there in Star Wars, like the answers to the universe.

It's a fun space adventure. People just need to take it as it is and stop trying to find Jesus in the grilled cheese.

[nightscale]

+1

I enjoyed it, but it was not some masterpiece of cinema, nor was it utter trash. It was just a fun movie.

[(Anonymous)]

It seems like people are looking for something that isn't there in Star Wars, like the answers to the universe.

Yeah you need the Hitchhikers Guide for that.

[(Anonymous)]

I know right? But it hits on a lot of universal themes which is what makes it mythic in proportion, especially for a so called popcorn flick.

[(Anonymous)]

It is an objectivly good movie for what is has accomplished for women in Scifi. The same reason Mad Max was a good movie. The same reason Jessica Jones is a good tv show. It doesn't need to be any more than that. I kinda think you're either a snob, or you have some particular opinions on women if you really demand more from a piece of media to be considered good.

[ypsilon42]

Are you being serious?

Because being feminist and being good from a storytelling perspecitve or a film making perspective are some vastly different things?

[(Anonymous)]

I disagree.

I'm a woman but I identified far more with Leia in ANH or Padmé in TPM than I did with Rey in TFA.

In particular, I found Padmé's story in TPM, of having to save her people and understanding that she had to take action herself to be far more well realized than Rey's story in TFA.

[(Anonymous)]

Seriously?

[(Anonymous)]

"You must hate women if you expect standards"

Mkay sure.

[deird1]

I'm happy to say I don't rate my enjoyability of movies by how feminist they are.

[ninety6tears]

Nooope. No, don't agree. If you're a good writer you write three-dimensional characters, including the women and other minorities, but progressiveness doesn't just magically equal quality. Case in point, I actually thought Jessica Jones kind of sucked.

[(Anonymous)]

goddamn FS falls for some stupidly obvious trolls

[(Anonymous)]

Is this the same anon who's always going on about how "important" it is that every woman watch JJ?

[kallanda_lee]

You know, the story isn't ground-breaking, but there's a lot of blockbusters that have worse stories (at least this is very classical hero's journey stuff, not imaginative, but consistent).

I feel like star Wars is getting a lot of criticism for it just because it's so high profile and people expect so much of it.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't mind classic stories but what bothered me about TFA was that it was so referential to the original trilogy and so similar to those films. I feel that drawing inspiration is good but it should be from other, diverse sources rather than self-referential.

[ypsilon42]

I think you are.... right?

It's funny because I really liked the movie and I would never have put it like this. But now, that you said it, I wouldn't say the movie has particularily good writing. Personally, I don't think it's that bad either? It's just mostly mediocre with some good moments and some plot holes and quite a bit to much recycled elements from episode IV. (And before anyone complains, yeah I got that the recyling was intentional to bring us back to the beginning and set up parallels, but that doesn't change that it felt a bit repetative, at least imo.)

[tree_and_leaf]

I think it would be fair to say that TFA has good enough writing. It's strong on other things, which means it's still a very enjoyable experience over all. If the writing was really bad, then the movie's other good qualities (engaging acting, fun world building, etc) probably couldn't redeem it - look at the prequels.*

* OK, the prequels are also hampered by Hayden Christiansen's complete lack of charisma, and the fact that he and Natalie Portman had very little chemistry, but I still think the main problem was that the writing was distractingly bad.

[cbrachyrhynchos]

No, it's not all "opinions." Storytelling and writing are crafts with techniques that can be honed with practice, discussed, and critiqued. We can say that TFA had moderately good pacing on the plot beats, fair dialogue, modest character development for its constraints, and a nonsensical maguffin to push the characters forward.

We can also discuss whether that nonsense supports or undermines the central problem of setting up the climatic lightsaber duel. If you're going to break the rules it needs to be in the service of something, and not just to be edgy.

[ypsilon42]

Well, to a certain extent it is?

Of course their are rules; there are a lot of conventions in writing and film making (and really in all art forms) and they exist for a reason. But at the end of the day personal opinion always matters and it is not just a question of right or wrong. Otherwise there would be one single perfect story that followed all the rules and was beloved by everyone.

[(Anonymous)]

I like this secret cause it could have almost any franchise movie behind it as the subject. Like yes. Everything is opinions. Everything is all opinions. Reality is subjective and time isn't real.

[scrubber]

You are right anon, as J.J. Abrams continues to now know how to make a good movie.

But the next movie has a new director!!!!!!!!!

I have high hopes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[a_potato]

From the perspective of storytelling/writing, I think it gets some things right and some things wrong.

Finn and Rey are introduced well, in that their early scenes inspire curiosity and hint at fertile backstories. The Millennium Falcon and Han both enter the story in believable ways, and this is bolstered by the fact that we aren't given the complete story behind why things are the way they are. The pacing at the start is also very good. There are hints and teases and hooks.

But about halfway through, it kind of loses that. The suggestion that Rey is connected to a bigger whole is too abrupt, as is Finn's attachment to her. And Rey is so, so powerful, powerful enough that she should have been unconsciously doing things with the Force for years, and we just don't see that. I would have liked a scene where something weird happens and she's confused but shrugs it off, and I would have liked a scene where she and Finn have more of a moment than, "OMG we both did a thing and we didn't think we could do it and gosh, wasn't it cool!"

...I don't know where I'm going with this. I guess I half agree with you? I thought the movie was fun, a lot more fun than the prequels, and I'm optimistic about the next two. But I also think a couple of tweaks could have made it a lot better.

[diet_poison]

So much of that is not objective, though.

In fact "I found it entertaining" is about the least objective statement you can make on a piece of work.