Muse by Craig Ranapia

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Muse: The High Aesthetic Line

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  • Julian Melville,

    Star Wars, which I saw at the Carlton in Hamilton when I was 7-ish, was great. But one of my all time top childhood memories is being taken to see the Empire Strikes Back at the Odeon in Leicester Square, London. Circle tickets and 70mm is inclined to leave quite an impression on a young lad! I've still got the ticket and some sort of promotional magazine from it here somewhere.

    Auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 200 posts Report Reply

  • Isabel Hitchings, in reply to BenWilson,

    I’m going out on a limb to say I thought Episode III was not so bad. I thought it was better than VI, that’s for sure. But I and II were the low point, no doubt.

    I've heard that from others but after I and II I couldn't be arsed even when it was on free-to-air telly. That said the kids are interested in the other movies and I find myself on the horns of a dilemma.

    Christchurch • Since Jul 2007 • 719 posts Report Reply

  • philipmatthews,

    when he's got his twatcock on max

    That one's sort of giving me a mental picture

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report Reply

  • Jo S,

    Just to add to the list of people who will really be looking forward to your blog Craig ...

    And I agree that I think it depends on how old you were when you first saw the movies - Return of the Jedi was the first "non-children's" movie I ever got to go to as a kid, and I thought it was amazing at the time ...

    is it autumn yet? • Since May 2007 • 80 posts Report Reply

  • Megan Wegan, in reply to Isabel Hitchings,

    That said the kids are interested in the other movies and I find myself on the horns of a dilemma.

    I have not seen the first (second) three. I have absolutely no plans to. Why sully my happy memories?

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to Ngaire BookieMonster,

    Yes, that was hilariously farcical. Not as farcical as Ewoks, mind.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Williams, in reply to Isabel Hitchings,

    My nearly-6 year old discovered Star Wars at Christmas from other kids staying with us. I felt like she'd been cheated when she started with Episode 1, that she'd missed out on what was actually a revolutionary moment in cinema.

    I wonder what her equivalent experience will be? I took her to see the Disney 3D update on Rapunzel, which she liked a lot, but still didn't seem to have have the impact Star Wars did on me. Actually, thinking back, we took her to the open air cinema in Sydney a year or so ago to see Mama Mia... that she loved.

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    Our homework assignment is to see the King's Speech before Craig's review so we can all join in the discussion. It's like a book club, only without those annoying book things.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Danielle,

    Also: racist Jar Jar. (Jar Jar : Me :: LOTR : Giovanni)

    I can understand why Jar Jar won;t get get an NAACP Image Awards in this or any other galaxy, but was it strictly necessary for the eeevil Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray to sound like George Takei with a three pack a day habit?

    “Hah, Pwin-sess Ama-da-wa, you WILL accept de-wivery of all the fake Gucci bags we can produce!!”

    Hear that noise? It is a desk crying out in terror...

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Ngaire BookieMonster, in reply to BenWilson,

    Luckily for me I was the right age that the Ewoks were just cute and any annoyance factor went totally over my head.

    At the foot of Mt Te Aroh… • Since Nov 2009 • 174 posts Report Reply

  • Lea Barker,

    I’ll be musing on how to do high-lactose melodramas well, and whether I’m just too hard on local drama.

    Sigh! Local drama! I live in an audience area of 7 million people (the San Francisco Bay Area) and there is NO LOCAL DRAMA on television. I suspect that is the case in every metro area in the US unless it's the locale of some network drama. (CSI Miami, for example.)

    So, by all means be hard on local drama, but remember you're blessed to have it.

    As for high-lactose melodrama... do you mean "high-lacrimose"ten-tissue weepies?

    My favourite television viewing these days are all K-Dramas, especially the nightly series' that usually revolve around a poor but decent-hearted couple with grown children who marry into rich families dominated by bitchy, ambitious women. Ah, the lachrymosity!

    They're produced by the Korean Broadcasting Service and remind me of the early days of TVNZ drama, such as Close to Home. Perhaps there should be a TVNZ-World like KBS-America.

    Maybe A-Dramas could become all the rage.

    Oakland, CA • Since Nov 2006 • 45 posts Report Reply

  • Megan Wegan, in reply to BenWilson,

    Not as farcical as Ewoks, mind.

    Hey! Wash your mouth out. I still love ewoks.

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to Isabel Hitchings,

    That said the kids are interested in the other movies and I find myself on the horns of a dilemma.

    Yes, especially since it's PGR.

    Luckily for me I was the right age that the Ewoks were just cute and any annoyance factor went totally over my head.

    I suspect R2D2 is the same for me. Nowadays I can't stand cute robots*. C3PO cracks me up, though, I love the idea of having an annoying useless robot nagging you, it's so much more realistic.

    *Edit: OK Wall-E was cute, but still cool. But his story was inherently interesting.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Ngaire BookieMonster, in reply to BenWilson,

    Still liked the Jawas best though.
    Utini!

    At the foot of Mt Te Aroh… • Since Nov 2009 • 174 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    More homework for Wednesday - the awesome Steve Gray has a scathing review of Nights in the Gardens of Spain.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • recordari,

    I'm just really annoyed that I played my 'Death Star Canteen' card already this month. There must be a limit, I'm sure. Though damned if I can find it...

    Hey, this was new to me. Star Wars on Steroids.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    At the risk of sounding superior, I was 13 in 1977, and thus far too grown up to fall in love with any of them. My favourite fims of 1977 were Close Encounters, and Julia. Richard Dreyfuss was my favourite actor. Now him, I had a crush on.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Lea Barker,

    Sigh! Local drama! I live in an audience area of 7 million people (the San Francisco Bay Area) and there is NO LOCAL DRAMA on television. I suspect that is the case in every metro area in the US unless it’s the locale of some network drama. (CSI Miami, for example.)

    So, by all means be hard on local drama, but remember you’re blessed to have it.

    True -- but here's another way to look at it. I'm really enjoying Boardwalk Empire (though there was no way it was ever going to live up to the hype), but before Terence Winter joined the Sopranos he earned a living, and learned his craft, on some truly heinous shows. The churn factor in Australian, US and British TV may be painful to endure, but good things do happen.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Andre Alessi, in reply to Danielle,

    Also: racist Jar Jar. (Jar Jar : Me :: LOTR : Giovanni)

    Oh don't get me started. The Gungans were bad, but the Trade Federation dudes were genuinely horrific Chinese parodies that are probably a step beyond that old "Yellow Peril" octopus.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • Megan Wegan, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    The churn factor in Australian, US and British TV may be painful to endure, but good things do happen.

    What's the excuse for whoever makes Two and a Half Men, then?

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Robyn Gallagher,

    ‘Gay’ does not mean you whisper and act like a pussy.

    No, Steve, that's what dykes do on date night. As for the shit spray at writer Kate McDermott (disclosure: I'm a casual acquaintance): She's a better fucking writer than Witi Ihimaera, and I hope her ACC levy hasn't gone through the roof after handling such a load of tosh Mills & Boon would have rejected with extreme prejudice.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Mikaere Curtis, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    I can understand why Jar Jar won;t get get an NAACP Image Awards in this or any other galaxy, but was it strictly necessary for the eeevil Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray to sound like George Takei with a three pack a day habit?

    At least in ep IV, the WMD-wielders were British, so he's capable of spreading it around.

    The thing I appreciated most about ep I to III was the propensity of the jedi to problem-solve using light-sabres. Oh, and the fact that clones are all Jake The Musses.

    Here's the first part of a very funny review of episode I:

    Tamaki Makaurau • Since Nov 2006 • 528 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Megan Wegan,

    What's the excuse for whoever makes Two and a Half Men, then?

    Easy. Chuck Lorre worked on Roseanne, and it's Barr's fault he's a lady-hating colostomy bag, Joss Whedon, on the other hand, got over it.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Williams, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    and I hope her ACC levy hasn't gone through the roof after handling such a load of tosh Mills & Boon would have rejected with extreme prejudice.

    Is this the right time to say I liked the book?

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Stewart, in reply to Ngaire BookieMonster,

    You're not alone, I thought III was okay. Right up until the "RAARRRRR VADER MAD!" bit at the end, then my head asploded.

    "VADER MAD!" I could live with. Career options for women being reduced to Princess or Dead Mummy? Mmmm, not so much. Okay, they had to get rid of Amidala somehow, but I can think of several ways that would have fitted the character and, hmmm, previously established canon rather better, and avoided the whole "have children, die" thing.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

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