love

Poll

Which is your favorite?

Mission Impossible III
9 (17.3%)
Star Trek
18 (34.6%)
Super 8
12 (23.1%)
haven't seen any
0 (0%)
don't like any
5 (9.6%)
Star Trek Into Darkness
2 (3.8%)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
6 (11.5%)
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 52

Author Topic: Abrams, J.J.  (Read 9498 times)

mañana

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Re: Abrams, J.J. - Director's Best
« Reply #10 on: June 14, 2011, 12:38:11 PM »
Standardized rules are for the birds. Just use your discretion and include any TV work that seems significant enough to you, the poll maker. Not that it really matters, but I'd probably have voted for the Lost pilot had it been an option. Just out of curiosity, is the Twin Peaks pilot on the Lynch poll?
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MartinTeller

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Re: Abrams, J.J. - Director's Best
« Reply #11 on: June 14, 2011, 12:38:38 PM »
They're certainly more worthy of inclusion than Darabont's short film The Woman in the Room, which is like including someone's episode of The Twilight Zone.

I didn't know anything about it except it had its own IMDb entry and didn't indicate that it was part of a TV series.  Is it part of a series?

FroHam X

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Re: Abrams, J.J. - Director's Best
« Reply #12 on: June 14, 2011, 12:41:58 PM »
I don't think the Abrams pilots should be included. Mostly because as well-directed they are, their power has more to do with the potential for more rather than something genuinely complete.
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1SO

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Re: Abrams, J.J. - Director's Best
« Reply #13 on: June 14, 2011, 12:50:40 PM »
The Woman in the Room aired on television (can't remember the program), but was an independent Short Film first, ultimately released on DVD.

And Fro, those pilots were just as complete, just as open-ended and just as awesome as his Star Trek reboot. Heck Super 8 may be the only thing he's done that didn't have potential for more. In fact I didn't see where they could go after the Alias pilot, but Star Trek was like a great pilot for a series with nothing but potential.

Bill Thompson

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Re: Abrams, J.J. - Director's Best
« Reply #14 on: June 14, 2011, 12:51:14 PM »
I don't think the Abrams pilots should be included. Mostly because as well-directed they are, their power has more to do with the potential for more rather than something genuinely complete.

I think pilots can be judged on their own merits. I'm able to look at the pilot for Babylon 5 both as the beginning of Babylon 5, and as a movie, a not very good one mind you. I think it depends on the pilot, some are clearly just TV episodes, while others are TV movies.

MartinTeller

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Re: Abrams, J.J. - Director's Best
« Reply #15 on: June 14, 2011, 12:55:24 PM »
Isn't grey area fun?  Once you start trying to draw lines, all kinds of sticky questions arise (to 1SO, I would ask: what about subsequent episodes of Lost or Alias? Why are we singling out the pilot?).  I say just leave it to the discretion of the poll creator.

Given that Woman in the Room began as a short film, I'm inclined to leave it in the Darabont poll.  Even though no one's likely to vote it.

FroHam X

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Re: Abrams, J.J. - Director's Best
« Reply #16 on: June 14, 2011, 01:03:46 PM »
And Fro, those pilots were just as complete, just as open-ended and just as awesome as his Star Trek reboot. Heck Super 8 may be the only thing he's done that didn't have potential for more. In fact I didn't see where they could go after the Alias pilot, but Star Trek was like a great pilot for a series with nothing but potential.

That's not true. Star Trek had a story with a beginning middle and end. And really, would you count the whole Pilot of Lost, both parts, or just part 1? And why NOT count the other episodes of Alias and Felicity he directed? Maybe we should include the the pilot episode of Undercovers?

Maybe we should also count the first episode of Columbo for Spielberg? And maybe throw in the episode of Marcus Welby MD he did.

If your criteria is that Abrams' pilots should be counted just because they were exceptionally good pilots, with cinematic qualities up the wazoo, then Joss Whedon should be able to count The Body and Hush and Once More With Feeling. And maybe he can also get credit for the Business School episode of The Office, which was amazing. And then Rian Johnson should get to claim Fly from Breaking Bad. Or do those not count because they were not pilots and were not written by those directors? But wait, Whedon did write The Body, and it's totally a Whedon mini-movie. And Spielberg didn't write most of his movies, so maybe we should only count Close Encounters for him.

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mañana

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Re: Abrams, J.J. - Director's Best
« Reply #17 on: June 14, 2011, 01:09:45 PM »
Maybe we should also count the first episode of Columbo for Spielberg? And maybe throw in the episode of Marcus Welby MD he did.
Sure, if the poll maker wanted to, why not? My guess is they wouldn't bother but the consequences of this can of worms isn't quite as dire as you suggest. Not that I really care, I just keep posting because I don't want lunch to be over.  :)
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FroHam X

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Re: Abrams, J.J. - Director's Best
« Reply #18 on: June 14, 2011, 01:15:29 PM »
Maybe we should also count the first episode of Columbo for Spielberg? And maybe throw in the episode of Marcus Welby MD he did.
Sure, if the poll maker wanted to, why not? My guess is they wouldn't bother but the consequences of this can of worms isn't quite as dire as you suggest. Not that I really care, I just keep posting because I don't want lunch to be over.  :)

Cans of worms are always dire. They are messy and gross and the worms get all over the place. If ever you come across a can of worms, for the love of god, do not open it.

But yeah, I don't really care all that much. And if you want to include Alias and Lost pilots, I still wouldn't vote for them over Star Trek. I think people mostly remember the Lost pilot for its opening 20 minutes, and forget that the rest of it is just a really good episode of Lost like any other, and not as good as many.
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1SO

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Re: Abrams, J.J. - Director's Best
« Reply #19 on: June 14, 2011, 01:19:49 PM »
It starts with the Pilot for Alias (known as "Truth Be Told"), which also has a firm beginning, middle and end. Running 66min, it was directed as a stand alone movie so that if the series wasn't picked up they could release it on DVD. His other pilots were only 42minutes, but not Alias or Lost (which was filmed together as 1 movie, totaling 82min.)

Yes, Lost is much more open-ended, but so is Fellowship of the Ring. It establishes drama, character and conflict better than most theatrical features.

I personally agree about Joss Whedon's extraordinary television work, but I also agree that it's a grey area, because they're not feature length and require knowledge of what's come before and after. Like I said, these decisions should be on a case by case basis and in the case of J.J. Abrams, Alias:Truth Be Told and Lost:Pilot deserve to be part of the poll.
« Last Edit: November 14, 2013, 06:41:23 PM by 1SO »