tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post965084861838404470..comments2024-02-18T08:45:16.295-08:00Comments on The Film Connoisseur: Starman (1984)Franco Macabrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-63484364804140544812010-12-06T05:32:11.511-08:002010-12-06T05:32:11.511-08:00I havent seen CHRISTINE in ages! I believe I haven...I havent seen CHRISTINE in ages! I believe I havent seen it since the 80's, I guess it's time for a re-watch on that one. It'll be the same as when I re-watched STARMAN, which I'd seen, but it felt like I was watching it for the first time all over again.<br /><br />I remember CHRISTINE being amusing as a kid, dont know how I'll feel about it now though.<br /><br />Totally agree about this movie being one of Carpenter's most daring, but at the same time I applaud him for trying something different. It might have been a desperate move in order to save his career in Hollywood, but it was a good one in my book.Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-77882744377155553312010-12-05T04:40:39.595-08:002010-12-05T04:40:39.595-08:00Yes this was certainly a departure for Mr. Carpent...Yes this was certainly a departure for Mr. Carpenter, but one musn't forget that STARMAN followed CHRISTINE, which in my view was the worst film he had made up to that point. STARMAN was a vast improvement on CHRISTINE, and in its own way is one of Carpenter's most daring films. Not since his TV movie biopic ELVIS had a Carpenter film invested so much in character.Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]https://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-83916052892607811522010-12-03T10:04:00.351-08:002010-12-03T10:04:00.351-08:00Thanks for commenting J.D.
Jeff Bridges said that...Thanks for commenting J.D.<br /><br />Jeff Bridges said that he based his performance on the jerky movements of birds, he studied bird behaviour for this role! <br /><br />It works, because he is playing an alien who has never inhabited a human body before, so he moves and acts that way, I love those scenes where he is learning to talk and move his lips. A unique performance no doubt. Bridges was nominated for an Oscar, but F.Murray Abrahams beat him to it for his performance in Amadeus.Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-76978468901990070502010-12-03T08:08:57.033-08:002010-12-03T08:08:57.033-08:00Excellent review! I'm not too crazy about this...Excellent review! I'm not too crazy about this film but I will say that Jeff Bridges is amazing in it. He manages to do the whole alien-new-to-our-culture schtick with relatively few cliched moments. He also has excellent chemistry with Karen Allen. I agree she is so beautiful in this film and her character has depth and intelligence.<br /><br />And I also share your intense devotion to BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA. Loved it when I saw it in theaters back in '86 and still continues to be one of my all-time fave films.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08164105442273577128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-35558049018459249102010-12-03T04:54:04.777-08:002010-12-03T04:54:04.777-08:00Just out of curiosity Fritz, why did you find the ...Just out of curiosity Fritz, why did you find the sci-fi elements in Starman illogical? Everything clicked to me, Bridges is an alien, he copies Jenny's husband's DNA, morphs into him, calls his bodies, then he waits for the ship, it arrives and whisks him away, back to his planet. <br /><br />Some of my favorite sci-fi elements included the morphing transformation, the scene with the metallic spaceship hovering over the dessert was cool, but of course, reminiscent of E.T. <br /><br />And what about those little spheres that he used, powerful little things they were! I loved those images where the alien holds them as they glow. <br /><br />I think what has kept Carpenter afloat as a director is the fact that his films find life on video, I mean, all his films are still available, and they continue to sell. <br /><br />The thing with Carpenters films is that they are good, but for some reason or other, they fail to connect with audiences theatrically. Audiences discover his films after they've hit video stands. <br /><br />Just look at Big Trouble in Little China, such an amazing flick, bombed at the box office yet many love it rabidly, my self included! I love that movie so much, it is probably one of the films I have watched the most in my whole life! I know it by heart, every single ' Burtonism' is engraved into my psyche! <br /><br />These little phrases that Jack Burton spews through out the whole movie pop out in my every day conversations all the time!<br /><br />I still need to see HOward Hawks The Thing from Another World, gotta write that one down. Thanks for commenting Fritz!Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-78001918934234240662010-12-02T18:54:11.715-08:002010-12-02T18:54:11.715-08:00You do a good job at making the somewhat pedestria...You do a good job at making the somewhat pedestrian Staraman sound worth a watch, Francisco. I have only watched this once and that was back in 1984 at the theater. It made for a nice date flick, but as a sci-fi film it was a bust.<br /><br />You correctly point out that it is essentially an adult E.T. clone. I’m one of those unsentimental curmudgeons that disliked the saccharine E.T.; which brought out all the worst of Spielberg’s cinematic clichés. Starman falls victim to some of the same clichés as a result. If you watch it as sci-fi, you’ll drive yourself crazy with the illogic of the film. So, you have to watch it as a straight romantic drama, which just isn’t my cup of coffee.<br /><br />The Thing is often sighted as being John Carpenter’s best film, but, although I like it, I still prefer the atmosphere of the Howard Hawk’s 1951 original better. My favorite Carpenter film is Escape From New York, followed closely by Big Trouble in Little China. Even as a fan of Carpenter’s movies, I have often wondered how he has had such a long career, as he only had the one hit, Halloween, on which he has been riding for over thirty years!Fritz "Doc" Freakensteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13209589620766485745noreply@blogger.com