OFFICIAL NEWS * THE OFFICIAL * JJ ABRAMS THREAD

It's not the only notable film he's done... bros. bloom is also excellent. He's fantastic with characters & story. I'm not sure why you'd think Looper was mediocre... I've never seen a film where a guy starts disappearing before his own eyes due to someone mutilating his past self. That was pure genius... to my knowledge... the best time travel death ever. & I'm not even a fan of time travel movies.

What I think makes him interesting is that he's capable of doing both artsy films & sci fi.

 

I just want to say I don't know much about JJ, and I don't consider myself a Star Wars expert. I just genuinely enjoy the story.

Good VS. Evil, love, family, redemption, Sci-Fy, interesting characters, intergalactic battles, fight scenes, cheering for the underdog, and some spirituality.

I am pleased w/ what he did & am thankful to him & Disney to keep the story going. It is just SO much fun!

 

The same thing was said about George Lucas .

 

The one big difference being that Johnson knows how to get performances out of actors!

 

I hear you. Like I stated, I enjoyed Looper. I personally liked the film...it just isn't one I have an urge to go own and rewatch. I have not ever seen Bloom...and haven't even heard anyone talk about it.

I just get extremely curious when I see this cult-like backing of Rian Johnson when there isn't a whole lot out there to back him up. I don't doubt he'll do well...just in my eyes, it seems like there is a cult support behind him is because they hate JJ with some unreasonable passion, or they are jumping on a bandwagon.

Please, don't take my words as hate or pessimism. Like I have said, I think he will do a great job...
I don't know much about Looper's filming process...but I know that a lot of the sets and 'effects' were incredibly well done, which seems like it will make Star Wars look great...It just seems odd to me, the mass amount of support he is getting, and many people betting that he'll do better than TFA or the OT.

...but I may be simply confused because I don't care what is "better" or "worse" I just want things to be "as good as" and not out of place...and JJ did that well...and I feel like Rian Johnson will do just as well...not to mention the outside support that will be available to him, and the actors involved that are about to become legends.

 

That was prior to the fan base having the power of the interwebz to do a proper "anal-sis" of his work. Rian's career cannot hide behind the era of print media and doesn't. We know what we're getting with this guy.
I'm not saying he won't lay a turd; JJ kicked a lot of cans into Rian's movie. But this movie is in capable hands.

 

This is the kind of answer I needed, I think...and it wasn't even in response to myself.
Thank you.
Like I've previously stated....I think he'll do a great job...

But your reasons is probably exactly why people have faith. He hasn't done tons of films...None of them were steaming turds. None of them were phenomenons...but it means he has a lot of potential, a lot to prove, and a lot of support.

And....at least he isn't Michael Bay...omg..could you imagine a Megan Fox Rey? Sorry....I wouldn't have seen SW with her...her incessant mouth breathing gives me anxiety.

 

Yeah, like how JJ a said that he left it up to Arian to dig the hole .

 

Bloom is a very different kind of film... sort of a romance meets film noir but in a bright, colorful way. The movie is very charming... it reminded me of Amelie but a bit darker.

I own Brick as well... I wasn't as big of a fan of Brick. That was supposed to be his critical acclaim film, it just didn't click with me. But I can see why it attracted an audience.

As for the cult following... the thing I'll say about him is that all his films are different... very different tones. I've just observed over the last year/ watching his movies that He's an intelligent guy & that he brings that intelligence to his films & scripts. So we have no idea what to expect with 8, & that excites me.

& then there's Trevarrow... I do think in some ways "Safety is not Guaranteed" resonated more with me than "brick"... but Jurrasic World pretty much not at all. Between the two... I do like Trevarrow's humor more though. The part where the guy was gonna make out with the girl at the end but then she's like "no" was pretty funny & unexpected... I could tell he was mocking that cliche end hookup that happens in all other blockbusters.

The cult following might have something to do with Yedlin as well... I can tell he's something special as well from interviews.

 

Don't know if this has been pointed out, but check out the episodes of Breaking Bad Rian's done. He directed arguably the best episode in the entire series. Literally sitting at 9.9 on IMDB. It as also been hailed as one the greatest episode of any TV show. So... I have a tad bit of confidence in Rian Johnson.
Yes, it was the writers who came up with it, the actors who delivered it but it is the director that makes it all come together.

 

Not really...TV Directors are far less relevant then on Movies...I cant give a director nearly as much credit coming into a hit show that was routinely great tv, with writers who have been doing it for seasons and actors who been playing the same roles for seasons...that is not really equivalent to writing and directing where most of your actors have played their role 1 or 0 times. Directors are basically plug and play in TV.

 

New interview with Abrams:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/awards-chatter-podcast-jj-abrams-853171

 

After watching re-watching Star Trek and Star Trek into Darkness, I think JJ did a better job with those than TFA: probably because I expected too much from Star Wars the Force Awakens, but those two films seem to have a much better "flow" to them than TFA.

 

Love this quote from J.J. about being a reboot of ANH

“And yes, they destroy a weapon at the end of this movie, but then something else happens which is, I think, far more critical and far more important — and I think even in that moment, when that is happening, the thing I think the audience is focused on and cares more about is not, ‘Is that big planet gonna blow up?’ — ’cause we all know it’s gonna blow up. What you really care about is what’s gonna happen in the forest between these two characters who are now alone,” he added.

 

Doesn't matter how you sugarcoat it J.J. That's a third Death Star.

Still doesn't change the fact its the third Death Star we've seen.

But... but.... its a planet!

Yeah... no J.J. Still a third Death Star.

But it works in a different way, it uses the sun and...

Its a third Death Star J.J.

From a certain point of view, yes... but the characters..

Its still a third Death Star, and it explodes at the end.

But you don't care about that, you care about the characters!

I care about it all J.J.

Its a third Death Star dude, just admit it.

But....

JUST ADMIT YOU DID SOMETHING WRONG AND THE FANS WILL RESPECT YOU. STOP DODGING QUESTIONS

 

Well technically it was the 4th one. I always looked at the Trade Fedaration controlship in TPM as a death star.
Yea it dosent shoot lazers, but as a plot element its pretty much the same. A giant orb which gets destroyed by the (8 years old) protagonist from Tatooine.
Funny thing that Lucas was never really criticised for his unoriginality. I mean he was the one who started the rehash with the 2nd one. And then the miniature 3rd one. But I guess now that its Disney and JJ it needs to be hated...

 

But one of my favorite episode is also directed by RJ has the lowest rating, Fly. Everything i seen by RJ shows that he is a really good director and writer.

 

I have seen TFA six times now, and for me it gets better every single time. While in the first viewing I was just trying to take everything in, see how my "version" of the film wasn't playing out on screen, blow off the steam of 30 years of sequel expectations, and worry about who would live or die, I still totally loved it and felt like we finally got a movie that looked and felt liked the original Star Wars trilogy. Then in the subsequent viewings I was able to just relax and enjoy the movie and start to notice all the things I couldnt possibly notice or enjoy in just one sitting: the directing, editing, soundtrack, background scenes and supporting characters, specific dialogue and subtle clues to fill in the world building, story gaps, unanswered questions, or supposed plot holes, character relationships and building, etc.

Each viewing has gotten better and better the further I distance myself from what film I imagined or what background story and character actions I wanted to see. J.J.'s direction, the clever editing (especially the back and forth cutting between Finn/Poe/Rey's situations at the beginning, duality in themes (Kylo handing Han the Lightsaber vs. Rey handing Luke the Lightsaber), back and forth cues like the resistance leaders and threepio saying "we need a miracle" immediately cutting to Han and Chewie storming the starkiller weakness as a last ditch attempt with explosives, etc. The refreshing/homages to ANH now seem perfect to me, even the starkiller (introducing a new generation to the classic themes and plot of Star Wars but while still continuing the original story forward with all new characters that can take from here in new ways). The soundtrack is easily rising up to classic status each time I see the movie and listen to it online. And the lead up to Episode 8 looks more exciting to me than the lead up to episode 5 back then or to Episode 2.

Phantom Manace has tons of weaknesses (acting, extra cgi, extra exposition, poodoo humor, Jar Jar etc), yet the duality and depth in the script was phenomenal and under appreciated because of all that. While TFA has pretty much addressed those problems (acting, cgi, exposition, humor) the accusations of ANH rehashing and inherited J.J. bias is keeping many from seeing the duality and depth in the story that is gleaned from repeat viewings, Novelization, etc. TFA is in my top two or three SW (currently behind ESB, equal to or behind ROTJ, slightly ahead of ANH and ROTS, then TPM and AOTC). ANH is always going to be classic but nowadays suffers from too slow of pace first hour, limited budget and scope (compared to today), but for me TFA captures the magic of what I love most about Star Wars and updates that successful formula for modern audiences. It brings depth in multiple viewings, plus reading the Novelization, and journeying through the Visual Dictionary and expanded universe books, comics. A lot of this success can be shared with the Lucasfilm story group, Kasdan and Arndt writing, casting art department, set building, John Williams soundtrack, etc, but J.J.'s direction and vision is a key part of this. For what they were trying to achieve with this first film in the new trilogy, to me he really seems gifted as the perfect choice for this story. It left me hungry and wanting more... In a good way.

 

J.J. is a genious and achieved the impossible for this movie. We are talking about Star Wars in a positive way, have seen a great Star Wars movie, we've seen new and interesting characters and are speculating the blast out of the next movie. Star Wars is in good hands. So get recked Lucas!