51

(164 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Sorry, it's not a criticism, it's a movie quote. I do that a lot.

52

(164 replies, posted in Off Topic)

"You said gritty city again".

53

(8 replies, posted in Movie Stuff)

Different strokes and all I guess, but I found The Eagle to be more fantasy-like because of the Seal people, who are equivalent to the Vikings in Pathfinder or the Wendol in 13th Warrior in my eyes.

I've not seen Agora, but have been meaning to for many years. Hopefully it'll get picked and I'll have no excuse.

54

(96 replies, posted in Movie Stuff)

Great to join at last.

Week 4 :: redxavier :: High and Low

I've suggested one of my favourites of Akira Kurosawa's outstanding collection of work. It's set in 50s Japan and centres around the kidnapping of a rich business man's son. Some might call Kurosawa films slow, but I'd argue that they are measured. Every shot and its duration all feel like deliberate choices, all contributing to telling the story, pleasing the eye and provoking emotional reactions.

55

(8 replies, posted in Movie Stuff)

Really? I think Centurion is a well constructed and reasonably authentic chase movie with interesting characters (perhaps too interesting and varied) and has surprises along the way. Meanwhile, The Eagle is a clusterfuck of history featuring a GI Joe doll going on a ludicrous adventure into the unknown of Northern Britain where he finds a pseudo-African tribe of Scots.

Having said that...The Eagle does have its moments and has a strong foundation in what is basically a mismatched buddy movie - Tatum's Roman officer and Bell's British slave. Bell is definitely the more interesting of the two, since his character arc is one of divided loyalties. He has a debt to Channing for saving him from a 'it's a Roman movie, do we have a gladiator fight? check!' scene. He effectively gains his freedom when he's north of the wall and he has an intense dislike for the Romans, so he has to wrestle that desire with this debt. It's not that Tatum's character is without merit, he starts off well. He's a determined and ambitious officer with a chip on his shoulder due to a father that disappeared with an army in Britain many years before. So Tatum arrives at a fort to take command and puts his men through their paces. He's disliked at first - he's another green officer with ambitions that will get good men killed or waste their time - but wins over his officers and the men with diligence and quick thinking. There are a few interesting battles but Tatum is ultimately injured and crippled.

Wow, this was unexpected. So he spends the rest of the story coming to terms with the fact that he's crippled and won't get to become the officer that he knows he can be, all the while developing a friendship with a slave against the backdrop of Romano-British society and diminishing Roman power.

Oh wait, that's not what happens. The second half is a road movie wherein the hero makes a miraculous recovery and takes his probably untrustworthy slave sidekick beyond Roman control to find the golden eagle standard that his father lost. Admittedly, he takes on the quest out of frustration but it smacks of cliche that he even goes on one.

There is a cool moment where, hopelessly outnumbered and being chased down, Tatum raises the recovered gold eagle and out of the mist come a band of ex-legionnaires who have hidden out in Britain under new lives. And then Colin Firth makes a speech about freedom and stuff before the climatic battle.

Other points of note:
The Romans all speak with American accents.
Did I mention that there's a tribe of painted up Scots who look like they're from a thousand years before and from another continent?
Whilst the battles are pretty good, they aren't as good as those in Gladiator and Centurion.
They somehow managed to snag Donald Sutherland for this movie.
James Cosmos is not in this movie.

In the interest of disclosure, I have a fondness for historical movies like this. There are so few of these that I will always come down as giving them more credit than they probably deserve, but still be hypercritical because, well, the Romans are wearing leather armour and that's just uncalled for.

56

(96 replies, posted in Movie Stuff)

Fantastic idea.
I'm so in, but things are pretty busy at the moment (first week of new job) so I hope it's ok to join the club in the second week.

57

(164 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I'm watching it and loving this season as well. I recommend it to everyone, but no-one ever seems to bite!

58

(1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)

TIE Fighter short film, 80s anime style.

59

(32 replies, posted in Off Topic)

screwballscramble wrote:

That's a bit much - this was meant to be a stupid debate.

I'm curious, what did you expect?

Also, playing devil's advocate usually means that you are advocating a position that you do not share, but since you admit that you don't actually like the show, it doesn't apply here. Perhaps you're thinking of troll style?

60

(149 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I distinctly remember the graphics in GoldenEye being the dog's bollocks. That game, Perfect Dark and Star Wars Podracer were the only N64 games I ever owned.

61

(32 replies, posted in Episodes)

Completely agree with your points sellew. My usual argument is that Deckard is too human (in terms of physical abilities) to be a replicant hunting other replicants, he's weak compared to even a 'pleasure model' for instance, but your thematic argument is much better.

62

(149 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I spent most of the day playing a newish game called This War of Mine, an indie game where you contro a small group (3 to 4) of people and lead them through surviving a war-torn city where resources are limited. The game is divided into two key parts, one where have a cross-section view of your house and build, grow or craft items, feed, entertain and rest your survivors, this all takes place during the day and runs on a clock. The other part of the game is at night, where you send of your people out to scavenge for the resources (wood, medicine, components, weapons, food, cigarettes etc.) at other locations around the city (also in 2d cross-sectional form), sometimes encountering other survivors, soldiers, bandits etc.

It's an engrossing and very different game from what I usually play. Sometimes, you have to make choices about whether to help other people. Do you give up your only drugs to give to a couple of children? Do you take in another survivor who's not that useful even though that means another mouth to feed and your other guys are all hungry?

What makes this game so great for me though is how it's a game of consequences. At one location, I ventured too far and the squatters started chasing me out of it. I had a knife on me so I stabbed and killed one, then another, and then another until all those chasing were dead. This survivor then returned to the shelter, backpack full of stuff I had taken, but was completely shattered by what he had done. Not only was he broken by the experience (and therefore virtually unuseable for tasks) but the effect was felt by all his friends who couldn't believe it had come down to murder.

Very rarely does your avatar in a game come across a human being and here I was reminded I was playing with a character and making him do things that would irrevocably change him. And the guilt and remorse that I felt at making him murder other people was immense.

Anyhow, I'd recommend at least a look at a Let's Play on youtube.

63

(152 replies, posted in Episodes)

Gentlemen, it's been an honour and absolute pleasure listening to you over these last few years. Thank you and good luck in all your future projects (which I hope you'll keep us updated on when you feel like it).

Great final words too Teague, thanks again.

64

(1,649 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Just amazing.

65

(20 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I keep reading the thread title and wondering what a weird name for a project Fatigue is. tongue

I get tired of projects too. I tend to be quite obsessive and 'all in' about both projects and moods so burn out after a while. I've not discovered a way around this though so these thoughts are really helpful.

66

(2,068 replies, posted in Off Topic)

http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/Big-Hero-6-Movie-Reviews1.jpg
Just saw Big Hero 6, and loved it. I was mystified why the Lego Movie had been snubbed this year but at least the Oscar went to an equally well told animated movie. Great story and characters, great voiceover work, superb animation and great music.


Is it me, or is 'Hollywood' really firing on all cylinders when it comes to animated movies these days? Lego Movie, Big Hero 6 and How to Train Your Dragon 2 are three of the best movies I've seen lately. How is it they can make these type of great movies but appear to disappoint when it comes to live action? Do animated movies go through a longer nurturing period? Does the focus away from live action actors force a greater attention to character?

I've lived through enough of these (four attempts now) to know that the cynicism is somewhat justified. They haven't made a good alien franchise film in 29 years.

68

(2,068 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Lego Movie http://searchengineland.com/figz/wp-content/seloads/2014/02/THE_LEGO%C2%AE_MOVIE-2-600x433.jpg

Loved it. Quite possibly one of my favourite movies ever. I love the stopmotion real lego approach (right down to the fire, dust, water and smoke) and I loved the story. I think it especially resonates because I recognise myself in the dad. When I watch my nephews play, lego gets mixed up in a weird and wonderful way, and I'm sure that was the way I played. But at some point, themes and these staying separated became important. And that seems strange in the eyes of a child, why confine your imagination so?

69

(149 replies, posted in Off Topic)

XCOM is great fun and terribly addictive. I can't remember how I kicked the habit, maybe it was another even more addictive game!

70

(262 replies, posted in Episodes)

I love Blade 2, it's an almost perfect blend of action, pathos and cool. It does seem to fall foul of the rule of ninja trope (I think that's what's it called) with the reapers towards the end of the second act, but that's hardly a flaw. When it came out it was weird seeing one of the Bros (a UK pop boy band from the 90s) playing a bad guy - though he did a great job.

This much I remember from Blade 3, when it ended I was really curious to what Goyer would say about it on a commentary - it's badly cast and the writing is all over the place. I've read Snipes' attitude wasn't very professional so maybe that would explain the shift towards the Nightstalkers team.

By the way, Goyer's commentary with Snipes for Blade 2 is worth a listen.

71

(29 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Wherever possible, I'd use existing data about the big moons like Ganymede, Europa and Titan and research as much as possible into their characteristics (days, nights, temperature, orbit etc.), that way you'd be using real science but just transplanted elsewhere.

72

(2,068 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Completely agree on Aliens, it's a perfect movie for me. It managed to be just as influential to military science fiction films as Alien became to atmospheric science fiction films, which is quite an impressive achievement for a sequel. And what a cast!

I might have to listen to WAYDM commentary again, for the umpteenth time. One of the best.

73

(2,068 replies, posted in Off Topic)

That animated gif has really got me curious!

Saw two films recently that at first glance would seem worlds apart. Last week I had heard of neither and wish I could see more films like this, i.e. completely ignorant.

The Way
http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTU4MzM4NzkyOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjQwNjMzNg@@._V1_SX214_AL_.jpg
Having gone to France to pick up the body of his son who died on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, Martin Sheen sets off to complete the journey. He meets people along the way, gets into some mild adventures and comes to terms with the loss. I liked this, it was poignant and moving without feeling sentimental. I also found it relatable as I too would like to drop everything and just go for a very long walk.

Gaten Ragnarok
http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTg3MzM2OTE5Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMzk5OTI5MTE@._V1_SY1200_CR106,0,630,1200_AL_.jpg
A Norwegian film I stumbled across on Wikipedia. An archaeologist following clues from the Oseberg burial ships takes his kids with him on an expedition into the wilderness of Finnmark in Northern Norway to discover what happened to some vikings. Quite a surprise this one, I was expecting a light Jones style adventure yarn but this was really dripping with atmosphere. There are some derivative moments but it's worth a watch.

74

(40 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Phi wrote:

Saw it over the holidays and enjoyed it quite a bit, though I was definitely expecting the very end to involve Emily Blunt getting Alpha-blooded again because there is no way they survived that sequence at the Louvre as first-time mortals.

I'm confused, none of them survived Paris and both Cruise and Blunt are killed by the alpha. Tom Cruise's corpse ends up being 'blooded' by the hive mind thingey and so resets to his arrival in London (which is perhaps the magic bean too far).

75

(13 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Over Christmas lunch the topic of movie ratings and how they affect or do not affect children came up. It transpired that one of my nephews was going to be taken to see the third Hobbit movie. He's only 8 years old and so wouldn't likely be allowed in, but had seen the first two movies. His father (my brother) remarked on how violent he thought the Hobbit movies were and how inappropriate they were for children. There's a fair amount of arrows being fired into orc heads, a couple beheadings and takedown moves, most notably during the barrel chase scene. Perhaps it's ok because the orcs aren't human, but it's still technically violence.

So the topic turned to films we watched when growing up and how we saw films that were rated way above our age - Aliens, Predator, High Plains Drifter, the Carry On films, Excalibur and so on. One of my favourite movies is the Vikings, which ends in a spectacular castle battle, as do a number of Bond films. We also had watched a lot of cowboy films with John Wayne (and Eastwood) and the Heston classics. Did these films adversely affect our psyche? Is showing violent imagery to children an automatically bad thing? Children often mirror what they see, but violence is dominant in a lot of stories (Teletubbies aside perhaps) from the old fairy tales (William Tell in the story ends up murdering the bad noble) and classics to the modern cartoons. But does the cartoonish or clean violence (e.g. John Wayne movies etc.) distance children from the reality and consequence of violence? Participants don't feel pain when they're hit, they make the Wilhelm scream when an indian arrow hits, people fall down - the notion of that person no longer continuing to live is usually obscured (except for Optimus Prime).

I guess what I'm asking is whether more realism in violence, e.g. showing what happens when a sword hits someone's body, would actually show children that violence isn't a form of play.

My other brother has a 2-year old that he's been shielding from violent things to the point of obscuring the purpose of guns (in toys etc.) and not promoting play with toys which have weapons - but oddly enough, the little fella will repeatedly collide two cars together and imagine accidents. It got me thinking of whether violence isn't innate.