E.T. DVD 2 Disk Set

Lori Lancaster | October 28, 2002
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | October 28, 2002
You know, this is one of the movies from our childhoods that I never actually saw. Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only person that missed it. I just didn't see a lot of movies as a kid. I've also never seen "The Goonies" or "SpaceCamp," and I would have missed "The NeverEnding Story" if not for some teacher playing it in school one day.

Lori Lancaster | October 28, 2002
[hidden by request]

Kevin Fiore | October 28, 2002
Wow, no goonies OR space camp... what about Explorers of Krull? You were sooo deprived that I am going to pray for you and your soul, right after I am done watching this movie...

Scott Hardie | October 30, 2002
Would you still be sarcastic if I told you that I hadn't seen the Star Wars films until two years ago? :-)

Lori Lancaster | October 30, 2002
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | October 30, 2002
When I was a little kid (the age when most of us fell in love with the trilogy), my best friend was totally in love with Star Wars, and he had dozens of the action figures, just about all of the ones that existed at the time (this was 1983 or so). When we played, he got to be all those dozens, while I got to be Princess Leia and, if I was lucky, the Sarlacc Pit beast. He told me that as soon as I bought my own figures I could be somebody else. Yeah, that made me interested.

You got something to say about the UFO thing? I don't see any response. :-P

K. R. | October 31, 2002
[hidden by request]

Lori Lancaster | March 24, 2004
[hidden by request]

Anna Gregoline | March 24, 2004
E.T. is a must see, Scott. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised - it's a lot wilder than you'd think.

Only way you need to revive it, Lori.

Scott Hardie | March 24, 2004
I think I did see it when I was very little, because I remember pieces, no pun intended. But it's been sitting patiently in my queue for a while now, waiting for proper appreciation.

John E Gunter | March 24, 2004
Never saw Goonies or Explorers? Man what a sheltered life you lead.

Now, at the risk of starting a war, you didn't miss much with ET. Sure I enjoyed the movie, but it was nothing compared to any of the other movies mentioned in this thread!

Denise Sawicki | March 24, 2004
I know it's a little late in this thread to be announcing this but I haven't really seen the original Star Wars or most of those other movies mentioned, either. What can I say, my parents don't like movies so I wasn't exposed to such things until I was like 17 :P. Erm, people have shown me bits of Star Wars from time to time but I definitely never watched the whole thing. I probably saw most/all of Episodes 1 and 2 though, I dunno, it wasn't all that memorable...

Anna Gregoline | March 24, 2004
You haven't started a war, but I don't think that Goonies is on par with E.T. Difference of opinion, but I haven't seen either movie in a long while. I always thought Goonies was overrated though.

Lori Lancaster | March 25, 2004
[hidden by request]

Jackie Mason | March 25, 2004
[hidden by request]

Anna Gregoline | March 25, 2004
So, into the time machine everybody!

(p.s. What's up with all the movies lately that manipulate time? Either time travel, or backwards/out of sequence scenes, etc. I smell a thread coming on...)

John E Gunter | March 25, 2004
What I like doing is watching movies, that I saw as a kid, as an adult. You get a different perspective that way and I still enjoy them. I try to relate to the feelings I had as a child.

Course, I was told the other day that I'm not an adult, just a really big child! :-P

I pointed out though, that I'm a responsible child.

Scott Hardie | March 25, 2004
You're not a big kid, John, you're a big kidder...

Me, I already own some of the movies I loved as a kid, like "Little Shop of Horrors" and the Bill & Ted films. I would get "Willow" but I'm waiting for a DVD that includes the numerous deleted scenes. I was so tempted when I saw "G.I.Joe: The Movie" on the clearance shelf recently, but I thought, nah, I have to draw the line somewhere. :-)

Melissa Erin | March 25, 2004
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | March 25, 2004
Yes! I remember seeing it again as an adult and marveling at the cast I could not have recognized as a boy (some because they weren't famous yet) -- Lundgren, Cox, Billy Barty, Meg Foster, Frank Langella, Robert Duncan McNeill and Anthony DeLongis (from Star Trek Voyager), Christina Pickles, even old Jon Cypher from Hill Street Blues. I like to think that on some level, I knew that movie was terrible even when I was a kid. I remember thinking it would have been so much better if they had set it on Eternia.

John E Gunter | March 25, 2004
I still like Goonie Melissa! Though I can't say that I did much make-believe at recess because of the movie. ;-)

I also saw Masters of the Universe and even though it has a lot of bad points to it, it still entertains me. No it's not award winning material, but I don't have a problem with a movie if I get entertainment value out of it.

Masters is the kind of movie I can watch every so many years. But even films that I really like have some problems. Just wanting to point some info out about that comment...

In the movie Pretty Woman, which I think is a very good movie, while they are at dinner, there are numerous continuity errors. Pretty Woman is a well done movie, but you still have that kind of problem. But it's entertaining to me, one of those movies I can watch every few months or so.

The original Mad Max, though low budget has massive continuity errors. Probably due to the lack of budget, but that movie is one I can watch every few weeks. So the movie doesn't have to be some award winning block buster for me to enjoy. The opposite can be said for award winning block busters.

There are some movies that have won numerous awards that I just have no interest in seeing the first time, let alone multiple times. But I agree with you Scott, the should have left it in Eternia. I think that was a production decision where they thought they had to tie the movie to Earth or no one would go to see it.

Melissa Erin | March 25, 2004
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | March 25, 2004
John: According to the IMDb, the movie was set on Earth for budgetary reasons. It cost $17m to produce and grossed $25m domestically. That's small potatoes today... If the movie were remade now I'm sure it would cost $100m+ and tens of millions more for promotion.

Melissa: Everything I've seen with Lili Taylor in it (including "The Haunting" and "Ransom") has been improved by her presence. I just saw her Emmy-nominated X Files guest appearance, which she nailed. She's a great actress and I hope she gets more recognition before she hits middle age and Hollywood wants nothing to do with her.

Which reminds me, today's IMDb poll asks which 50+ actress is sexiest, but it omits Diane Keaton and Faye Dunaway, both of whom I would choose before any of the women listed. (I expect Sean Connery or Jack Nicholson to dominate the sexiest 50+ actor poll tomorrow.)

Melissa Erin | March 25, 2004
[hidden by request]

Anthony Lewis | March 28, 2004
Well, I just got the good news that Purple Rain is being re-released later this year (possibly this spring) as a 2 disc Special edition DVD in widescreen. Just what I was waiting for.

Oh, and "Alias" is the BEST!

Erik Bates | March 29, 2004
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | April 7, 2004
Finally saw E.T.

Anna Gregoline | April 7, 2004
(Posted also in the movie thread) You know what's interesting? How many filmmakers seem to be enchanted with the idea of being a child, how they strive to recapture that magical thinking and being. I wonder why that is - simply because it resonates with moviegoers, or do directors all have complexes?

John E Gunter | April 7, 2004
Naw, just a lot of stories to tell, and unlike you and I, a way to tell them to a much bigger audience, well and possibly make money while doing it.

Hollywood producers on the other hand, at least the big ones, want to make money and feel like they have to appeal to the least common denominator.

Anna Gregoline | April 7, 2004
Yes, but why those particular stories? There's a lot of life out there.

John E Gunter | April 7, 2004
For the same reason you like Hockey and I don't, personal preference.

Anna Gregoline | April 7, 2004
Ok, geez. I wasn't looking for perfunctory answers, I was trying to start a discussion!

Erik Bates | April 7, 2004
[hidden by request]

John E Gunter | April 7, 2004
Oh, heh and who was it that being straight and to the point was a good thing?

Start a discussion. Ok, looking at it from my point of view, since I have done some film making, my own as an armature and student and working professionally on other people's projects...

While I would probably work on other people's projects as a director, I have some stories that I have always wanted to turn into motion pictures. So I can see the interest that a director would have with wanting to make a movie.

To some extent, that's why directors work toward making the movies that they do. They find interest in a subject, whether it is their own or someone else's idea.

What they find interesting isn't always what you or I would be interested in. If you think about it, that makes perfect sense, the same concept goes toward going to see a movie. Do you really want to go see a movie you have absolutely no interest in?

That same kind of methodology works for, well, work. If you have no interest in the job you are employed at, do you really want to go to work every day? If you had the opportunity to work at a job you liked better, wouldn't you move to the new job and leave the one you disliked behind?

Plus and most importantly, while a director might be interested in a certain subject, unless he can sell the producers on that subject, the film won't get made.

Anna Gregoline | April 7, 2004
No, my point was, why the subject of childhood? Not why directors are interested in specific subjects. Everyone is.

John E Gunter | April 7, 2004
Not sure if you've ever done something like this before, but have you ever told a child a story, and told an adult a story? They don't have to be the same type of story, but who listens more intently?

So, when a director tells a story that children will like as compared to telling a story that adults will like, who will pay closer attention? Who will you feel more satisfied telling?

Personally, most children really enjoy a good story, to the point where they really don't care if you make a mistake or two while telling the tale as long as those mistakes aren't really obvious.

Adults on the other hand are always watching for you to make a mistake and are just as quick to point said mistake out. Adults really don't have the same kind of wonder that a child does, so I feel better after telling a good story to a child.

I'm not saying I don't enjoy telling stories to adults, after all, I play role-playing games for entertainment and if I didn't like telling stories to adults I'd really need to examine what I was doing. :-)

But I think that directors cater to children because children get more into a story than adults, well most adults anyway.

Anna Gregoline | April 7, 2004
True, but such films are wildy popular with adults as well. Something about this appeals to us...anyway. Just an observation.

Scott Hardie | April 7, 2004
You're right on, John. When actors are interviewed about doing voiceover work for Disney films or other kids fare that does not advance their careers or have artistic merit, they invariably say they did it for their kids. How many childless directors make children's movies? Just two weeks ago, Roman Polanski confirmed he will remake "Oliver Twist," and his kids inspired him to do it.

As for why adults like them, it's two-fold, I think. Partly, the really good children's films have universal appeal. Pixar knows it; they didn't make their billions from children alone. Hiyao Miyazaki knows it. Disney used to know it, but lately seems to have forgotten. Second reason, it's nostalgia for the movies we loved as kids. Earlier in this same discussion, we compared the merits of E.T. versus Goonies versus Explorers, and those of us who loved a certain one as children were the same ones to defend it today. In fifteen years, some adults will be picking on other ones for going through childhood without seeing "Finding Nemo." :-)

John E Gunter | April 8, 2004
But I didn't see Finding Nemo in my childhood!!!! ;-)

Anna Gregoline | April 8, 2004
No, but your kids will have.

Lori Lancaster | April 8, 2004
[hidden by request]

Anna Gregoline | April 8, 2004
That's pretty impressive, Lori - you should be proud.

Lori Lancaster | April 8, 2004
[hidden by request]