E.T. is a stuuupid movie........

[Gray_Area]

I don't recall seeing this since perhaps it being on cable in the early to mid 80s. I saw it as a kid in the theatre. Back when I obviously didn't know ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. The acting was still superb, though. And Gerty is as cute as ever.


Of course, the music is the mutated child of Superman (you know Williams did Superman), Empire Strikes Back, and Indiana Jones. ('78, '80, '81.)

[hypernova]

I didn't like it as a kid, and I have even more disdain for it now.

[Gray_Area]

I, like pretty much everyone else, was totally sucked in and moved by it as a kid. I even cried when E.T. died. It's an okay story idea. The writing was really bad.

[ChadTower]

I'm pretty sure I read a few years ago that it was originally going to be a horror or thriller.  It came off awkwardly when they adapted the movie on the fly to a childhood adventure movie.  You can see all of the standard horror pieces in it like that whole "what is that noise?  It's outside... by the shed... let's send one kid out there alone to check it out..." sequence.


The Universal Studios E.T. ride in Florida is dated in tech but still really, really cool.  I'd hang out in that building all day if they'd let me.

[mcseforsale]

My 8 year old (girl) just found this movie about 6 months ago and can't get enough of it.  Being a huge 80's BMX guy, there's some interesting history regarding the Kuwahara's and some of the riders lurking under those costumes, so I don't mind.  Overall, much better than some of the crap Sci-Fi stuff that came out back then.

AJ

[Ginsu Victim]

I saw it twice in its original run, once during the re-release, own the DVD, and own the soundtrack. It's still a great movie.

The 2600 game, however....

[wp34]

I have not seen ET recently but remember really liking it as a kid.  Conversely I didn't care for Goonies back in the day but watched it recently with my youngest and really enjoyed it.

[koolmoecraig]

E.T. is a great movie for it's ability to bring me back to my childhood.  It's also a pretty damn good film.  Perfect? Naa but neither is Star Wars.  By the way, get the Blu-Ray.  It looks amazing and contains a ton of great extras including this audition by Henry Thomas.  At the end you can hear Speilberg say "OK kid you got the job."  Pretty cool.

[Howard_Casto]

Of course you guys can't appreciate it as adults... it's a KIDS MOVIE.  I think it holds up rather well and is a damn fine film, but watching it now is kind of like watching the live-action tmnt movies again.  The jokes that I thought were hilarious weren't... some of the cooler characters are actually Jar Jar Binks, ect...

There are very few children's films that kids can be watching 30 years later and still enjoy. 

E.T. is a classic. 


Also you guys like Jurassic Park right?  Well a lot of the stuff done cinematically in JP were first tried out in ET. 

[lordnacho]

I, like pretty much everyone else, was totally sucked in and moved by it as a kid. I even cried when E.T. died. It's an okay story idea. The writing was really bad.

SPOILER!!!!!   

Man I could go for some Reeces Pieces right about now.

[Ginsu Victim]

By the way, get the Blu-Ray.  It looks amazing and contains a ton of great extras including this audition by Henry Thomas.  At the end you can hear Speilberg say "OK kid you got the job."  Pretty cool.

That's also on the DVD.

[koolmoecraig]

Another thing that's great is that Spielberg apologized messing with the original by adding scenes and swapping the guns for walkie-talkies.  I'm sure now that Disney owns Star Wars it's only a matter of time before they release the un-messed with original trilogy.

[Howard_Casto]

Another thing that's great is that Spielberg apologized messing with the original by adding scenes and swapping the guns for walkie-talkies.  I'm sure now that Disney owns Star Wars it's only a matter of time before they release the un-messed with original trilogy.

If one still exists.  Lucas starting messing with those films literally a month after their debut. 

[ChadTower]

I'm not even sure why people care about that at this point.  There are a million versions of the movie out there in a million formats and a million more fan edits.  At this point the "unmessed originals" are just raw material for editors.

And really we all know that "unmessed" really means "the state of the movies when the release date happened".  It's not like anything of that nature is ever really "finished".  It's just the latest revision prior to the due date.

[Howard_Casto]

And really we all know that "unmessed" really means "the state of the movies when the release date happened".  It's not like anything of that nature is ever really "finished".  It's just the latest revision prior to the due date.

Sure it is,  that's Lucas'  problem.  99% of the films out there, once they are released, they are done.  To use a painterly analogy he keeps blending his colors on the canvas until they turn to mud instead of letting them dry a little. 

I mean even 30 yer old films that have special "director's cut" revisions still have the original films available. 


Also I hate to say I told you so in regards to the Disney thing, but in addition to new Star Wars films they'll also be making a Han Solo film, and a Bobafet film.  So yeah Disney's squeezing the husks dry out of that poor franchise.  They are also getting the guy that ruined Star Trek to come over and ruin Star Wars as well.  So sci-fi is dead.

[ChadTower]

Sure it is,  that's Lucas'  problem.  99% of the films out there, once they are released, they are done.  To use a painterly analogy he keeps blending his colors on the canvas until they turn to mud instead of letting them dry a little. 

To the artist it's never done.  They just stopped working on it so it could get printed for distribution.  The artists will continue to see things they would have done with it with more time.  The dialog could have been tweaked, the angles or lighting, one scene could have been edited better, etc.  It's never really "done" in the artist's eyes.

Is anyone's MAME cab ever really "done"?  Or do people simply stop tweaking it until they see something else that can be improved on it?

[Howard_Casto]

Yes, for a BAD artist it's never done.  I've took many an art classs in my day and at one point I was thinking about making a career out of it.  One of the first things they drill into you is not to work your art to death.  You'll always have that feeling of wanting to do more, but you are supposed to resist that urge and let it go when you find a good stopping point. 

A mame cab is not art, it's a craft. 

[mcseforsale]

It's a hobby! 

AJ

[Gray_Area]

While E.T. did emerge from

He also thought about a follow-up to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and began to develop a darker project he had planned with John Sayles called Night Skies in which malevolent aliens terrorize a family.

it would seem to have been intently crafted.

Sci-fi has always been bad. The premise of aliens coming down in the myriad ways they do is due to a human, and particularly american, naivete about the world, physics, and possible psychology. In simpler words: fantasy is largely the vanity of the conceiver.

Secondly, a [good] story defies genre and style. A good story doesn't have plot holes and such - like 'oh I don't know how to get to the park....cos, um, mom drives me...' but the other kids on their bikes know exactly how to get there, and somehow beat them there!  Or, 'we're all wearing masks in the OR.....don't know why but we are.....but wait he's gone into cardiac arrest....and.....we can jump him....but we have to take off our masks first!' And so forth.

[Howard_Casto]

Elliot didn't know where the part was because of his explaination, he was probably one of those kids that takes a nap while in the car.  The other kids obviously did pay attention and/or they often rode to the park. 

The goverment people wore masks because of germs.  I mean considering Elliot was dying on the table for unknown reasons they kind of had reason to.  Taking off the masks was symbolic.  They were saying "I don't care what happens to me, we are going to save this kid!"  Practically of course they were getting in the way and annoying the doctors as they worked. 


ET just doesn't spell the plot out for you like other dumbed-down garbage released today. 

There might be some actual plot holes in ET, but you didn't mention any.  This is coming from a guy that picks apart every film he sees weather he wants to or not. 

If you want to see a bad, over-rated film, chocked full of plot holes, go watch the Avengers. 

[ChadTower]

Elliot didn't know where the part was because of his explaination, he was probably one of those kids that takes a nap while in the car.  The other kids obviously did pay attention and/or they often rode to the park.

I always figured Elliot was the kid who wasn't allowed to the park yet.  There is always one on every block who gets permission to wander later than the others.

[Gray_Area]

................no.  Every kid, including me, knew where the parks a mile away were, and what streets they were close to.

And, no, you read something very weird into the taking off of the masks. They took them off so that the audience could see their faces. A total Spielberg maneuver.

[Gray_Area]

But, I remember now, here's the biggest hole: E.T. dying.

None of it was explained, and the story whisks the audience away not to even think about it. It wasn't a ruse, because he got sick remember before the G-men showed up an all. Um......

[ahofle]

But, I remember now, here's the biggest hole: E.T. dying.

None of it was explained, and the story whisks the audience away not to even think about it. It wasn't a ruse, because he got sick remember before the G-men showed up an all. Um......

 
I thought it was pretty self-explanatory.  Whatever the strange physiological connection ET had to his species (the glowing heart thing) caused him to slowly die once they left earth.  When they returned and the connection was reestablished, he came back to life.

[mahkeymike]

E.T. Has nothing on The Goonies or Standy by Me.
 I did like Drew Barrymore in Poisin Ivy though.

[Gray_Area]

I thought it was pretty self-explanatory.  Whatever the strange physiological connection ET had to his species (the glowing heart thing) caused him to slowly die once they left earth.  When they returned and the connection was reestablished, he came back to life.

Hmmmm. I'd think they'dve been smart enough to genetically edit out such a dependency.


@mahkeymike: it seems everyone born from 78-84 shares your like of the Goonies. Stand by Me was a very different kind of movie.

[ChadTower]

I thought it was pretty self-explanatory.  Whatever the strange physiological connection ET had to his species (the glowing heart thing) caused him to slowly die once they left earth.  When they returned and the connection was reestablished, he came back to life.

Hmmmm. I'd think they'dve been smart enough to genetically edit out such a dependency.

Why would a hive mind want to edit out dependence?  The idea has some major advantages.

I prefer to think that he was overcome with Earth germs, anyway, and they were able to give him proper medical treatment once he got back.

[Le Chuck]

Hmmmm. I'd think they'dve been smart enough to genetically edit out such a dependency.

That's a really interesting thought.  Just how individualistic it is.  Makes me wonder if ants ponder why, if humans are such a technologically advanced species, they haven't engineered themselves to be more like ants. 

[Ond]

Yes, for a BAD artist it's never done.  I've took many an art classs in my day and at one point I was thinking about making a career out of it.  One of the first things they drill into you is not to work your art to death.  You'll always have that feeling of wanting to do more, but you are supposed to resist that urge and let it go when you find a good stopping point. 

A mame cab is not art, it's a craft. 

I'm sure both good and bad artists produce both finished and unfinished pieces or does finishing constitute a virtue of a good artist only?  Sure, knowing when to call it a day is a good thing but it's such a subjective and personal assessment.  By that I mean one persons "working it to death" is another’s "barely started".  I think somewhere in that statement about how long to spend on something is also the sage advice - Ultimately it's not about how long your cab takes to build, but about how pleased you are with the result.

Building Mame cabinets can be an art as well as a craft.

I though ET was awesome as a kid, it’s interesting to see my own kids reactions; I heard groans of derision at the heavy sentimentality.  I don't need  films all spelled out and explained to be enjoyable, ET is an alien on a planet with bacteria  away from his supporting technology - he got sick, that's all that’s needed. That said there are films that thrive on a lack of explanation (it's an artistic mystery) and others that really suffer for it i.e. shite writing.   Prometheus was laden with lousy explanations, it was disappointing. Stuff by David Lynch I've had to (happily) watch numerous times till I get my own theory together on what is/has happened.  This BTW is what good art is about - makin ya think creatively.

Also you misspelt the word class.

Can anyone tell I'm bored at work today?

[mahkeymike]

@mahkeymike: it seems everyone born from 78-84 shares your like of the Goonies. Stand by Me was a very different kind of movie.

I grew up watching cory haim and cory feldman movies. I was just naming two feldman movies from that era (goonies and stand by me). I remember E.T. being around the same time but i could be off a few years. Speaking about cory haim and feldman, Licence to drive was good aswell, and silver bullet, and lost boys.

God i miss those days.....

[Gray_Area]

@Chad: who says they were a hive mind?

Also, if there were any physiological question, they'dve worn suits - stupid humans do - or invoked some sort of protective tech/method against systemic insemination.

@Le Chuck: old and explored ideas -  Blood Music, Slant, Ender's Game, and others. 'Advanced' is relative. Nature is UBER-advanced: not only is what it does super-sophisticated, it's *embedded*.


@mahkeymike: ET was '82. An 80s movie, but not quite an 80s kid movie. Goonies and all that were '85 onward.

[ChadTower]

@Chad: who says they were a hive mind?

Who says it was separation from the rest that killed him?  Or germs?  Could have been anything.  Maybe he needed to get laid every day or he'd die.  Maybe he was just playing possum.  Maybe he was practicing the alien martial art of Yuck Fu.  The point is that we get to decide what was wrong with him because all we needed to know is that something was wrong.  Sometimes stuff happens and we don't get to know why.

[Gray_Area]

Chadly, you're lovable, like a little brother who needs a good NUGGY!


back @ Le Chuck: incidentally, 'individual' has no human connotation in my vocabulary. (Nor do words like 'sacred' and 'private' exist in it....erm, outside of vernaucalur at best.) Rather, I think and speak in terms of 'autonomy' and 'range of motion'.

[Le Chuck]

Chadly, you're lovable, like a little brother who needs a good NUGGY!


back @ Le Chuck: incidentally, 'individual' has no human connotation in my vocabulary. (Nor do words like 'sacred' and 'private' exist in it....erm, outside of vernaucalur at best.) Rather, I think and speak in terms of 'autonomy' and 'range of motion'.

Announcing that you have a private vocabulary is pompous and contrary to the point of efficient communication.  If you chose to ignore or have discarded the meaning for common words or ideas then how can message sent ever be message received?  The ability to comprehend the nuance of one's chosen language is something to be valued.  The feeling that one is above or apart from such notions is a mark of a sociopath, or more likely somebody trying to make himself look like he's more interesting than he really is.    

[CheffoJeffo]

The feeling that one is above or apart from such notions is a mark of a sociopath, or more likely somebody trying to make himself look like he's more interesting than he really is.   

Don't forget that whole multiple personality thing.

[Gray_Area]

Chadly, you're lovable, like a little brother who needs a good NUGGY!


back @ Le Chuck: incidentally, 'individual' has no human connotation in my vocabulary. (Nor do words like 'sacred' and 'private' exist in it....erm, outside of vernaucalur at best.) Rather, I think and speak in terms of 'autonomy' and 'range of motion'.

Announcing that you have a private vocabulary is pompous and contrary to the point of efficient communication.  If you chose to ignore or have discarded the meaning for common words or ideas then how can message sent ever be message received?  The ability to comprehend the nuance of one's chosen language is something to be valued.  The feeling that one is above or apart from such notions is a mark of a sociopath, or more likely somebody trying to make himself look like he's more interesting than he really is.    

Culture's a fun thing. It is unfortunate humans would have no identity without it. And bridle at the obviousness of this.

[Le Chuck]

Dood, I'm not angry, offended, or resentful so bridled is a poor choice of word. Go find a $4 word for "unimpressed by a narrow artificial opinion meant to make one seem engaging that fails miserably" and you'll better find a description of how "us humans" feel about your antics.

Hint: start with ennui.

[ChadTower]

Go find a $4 word for "unimpressed by a narrow artificial opinion meant to make one seem engaging that fails miserably" and you'll better find a description of how "us humans" feel about your antics.

I believe the $4 word you're looking for is the "gray area".

He's playing a role.

[wp34]

He's playing a role.

Is he interviewing for PBJ's open position?

[ChadTower]

He's playing a role.

Is he interviewing for PBJ's open position?

Is PBJ's position still open?  Or did we decide it wasn't necessary and people are picking up the slack?