Watch Everything and Still See ONLY What Is Good

Under discussion:

Romeo and Juliet  (1916)

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl  (2003)

The Lord of the Rings [Film Series]  Production Year

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest  (2006)

In short, because they have to think about every little thing in a movie. As one said himself, 'Every little thing has symbolism in a movie, so you have to write-in every-little-thing.'

And it's interesting to hear about every little thing, just in case (being a dork who hasn't yet 'made it big') you missed the symbolism put in some little-thing, or you forgot how one big symbol (like the entrance of a key character, etc.) ties into a prequel-manifestation of that symbol.

In both Dead Man's Chest and Curse of the Black Pearl, the writers' DVD-commentary told you how the movies referenced past pirate-movies and/or -history. I noticed in Chest (and maybe in Pearl a little) the writers also pointed out the OBVIOUS things ... 'Ooooh, this is where Elizabeth betrays Jack.' ... 'Ooooh, Will tried to make a deal with the devil here.' ... ... ... And I'm thinking, 'Did you see "Romeo and Juliet" and kinda suppose that the two kids might`a liked each other a little? Did you have to inform all of your friends that that was what your guess was?'

Dude, we're watching the 'writers'-commentary' here to hear the stuff we didn't figure out on our own; main plotline stuff, if we didn't perceive that before, was badly written!! Believe in yourselves a little more, you dorks!

As for the movie itself, it was beautiful! Not only was it the amalgamation of all the contributing imaginations involved, but--unlike Lord of the Rings--it was MORE than a collaborative interpretation of one man's writings! It drew upon the knowledge (both creative- and historical-) of each contributor for its pure-source (rather than just for interpretation).

Under discussion:

Stay Tuned  (1992)

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Season 01  Production Year

Stay Tuned with John Ritter, Pam Dawber, Jeffrey Jones, Eugene Levy and the super-hot Heather McComb, was an excellent actors' workshop. Maybe making the time-passages seem real would've made it 'scary' or something, but making them as they ended-up (five hours to figure out how to move a a room-built-on-ice?) just made the writers seem inadequate.

It's not so unbelievable as to fit into Mystery Science Theater 3000 (as I said it was on some social site before I realized what "MST3K" stood for), and it is not targeted at kids (who would probably like most of it, save one reference to John Ritter's role in Three's Company ... which the writers could have cheesily retitled [but didn't] "Three Sixes Company," to fit with their other cheesy retitles: "Dwayne's Underworld," "Silencer of the Lambs," "Three Men and Rosemary's Baby," "Driving Over Miss Daisy," etc.)

But Warner Brothers and Morgan Creek probably only gave James G. Robinson enough money to shoot as much as he did. If they were decent film-companies, they would have given James G. Robinson an ongoing blank-check; but I guess James G. Robinson hadn't "earned their trust" ... Warner Brothers and Morgan Creek probably looked at the script or -idea, said, "Okay, James G. Robinson, we'll give you x-thousand dollars," and James G. Robinson probably ran out before marketing-expenses could begin---let alone before he could add any 'realistic time-passing'-footage.

But, if you've got a dozen extra bucks and/or some empty time to fill, Stay Tuned won't leave you too brain-dead.

Under discussion:

Made in America  (1993)

The Matrix [Film Series]  Production Year

It might not have been such an empty story 13-14 years ago (did they have the moving picture back then too? lol)--when 'racial equality, etc.' was hard-hitting stuff (just like "we're all part of THE MATRIX" probably doesn't shake anyone as much as it did when first 'revealed')

 ... heck, it's possible that some writers would burst into spontaneous-ejaculations at seeing Whoopi Goldberg and Ted Danson in the same frame. The idea of both those actors parenting the same child probably wore them out! leaving them feeling like the job was done after just setting it up.

But the writers could have made all the 'finding out things about blood-types and sperm-bank records' more interesting than 'I called a guy up there,' 'I tested my blood-type at school' and even more-interesting than 'I hacked into the labs records while Will Smith (behind a shut door) donated to the bank.'

Oh, `93: back when you were a 'hacker' if you could type more than fifteen wpm....