I'd consider the movie to already have a downer ending. Our access to space has been irreparably cut off and the destruction of a fair few satellites has cut off television, GPS and telecommunication services all over the world.

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Saniss wrote:

Valhalla Rising is next on my watch list.

Best of luck with that. A film so excruciatingly bad I've developed a pathological loathing for it. I'm convinced the film is a test to see how irritatingly vague, lifeless and pointless a film you can make and still be lauded for it by some art house afficionado.

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PorridgeGun wrote:

http://i.imgur.com/WXD51pm.jpg

What an awful poster.

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Blowing it up from the inside works on everything! Asteroids, Trade Federation droid ships, Death Stars, giant bugs...

But you shouldn't even need a couple of guys - aren't there bunker missiles that essentially penetrate through several layers of the target and then explode?

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BigDamnArtist wrote:

Doing some rough fake math in my head, that ballistic would be roughly the size of a BB..maaaybe a paintball to Godzilla.

However, an oversized modern shell would presumbly be designed for maximum penetration and cause an exit wound far in excess of its entry size. It's not exactly going to be a linear calculation either. Just compare the effects of a bullet fired from a Barrett vs that of the more regular bullets, and that's just a few mms.

Of course, the bigger the bullet the better, and that's why you'd want to have a giant mecha carrying out a big gun equipped with such bullets. wink

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I liked Into Darkness much more than Abrams' first effort. I think I was just too distracted the first time around to have any fun with it. Both films are equally retarded and badly written. However, the ending of the second film really lets it down (not that the first ends significantly better).

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BigDamnArtist wrote:

I've tried rewatching it a few times over the years, I always get about 1/2-3/4 the way through season one and fizzle out. Don't get me wrong, season 1 is great, but there isn't much to really sink your teeth into on a rewatch. So I've seen most of season 1, 3-4 times.

So that's what it was! I've tried rewatching the series a couple of times and I lose interest around or before half a dozen episodes into the first series. I remember really liking the series overall though, and I couldn't work out what the problem was.

Is there a particular point (season 2, finale of season 1) that you recommend as a starting point?



I'm coming up to my annual obligatory Babylon 5 rewatch. Gods I love that series. It haunts me.

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I've not really seen much this year it seems. Or I'm one of those hopeless fellas that can't remember what came out this year.

Gravity will have to be on there. It's my top movie of the last 2 decades.

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The Lone Ranger? I can't recall anything notable about the effects in that one.

My hope is that Gravity will win, although I imagine that if it doesn't it will win for Cinematography.

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Age of Apocalypse is the X-men comics version of that inevitable episode of a TV show where the world is turned upside down and characters are essentially playing alternate versions of themselves.

I remember liking it, mainly because of Alternate Magneto and the pervasive darkness of the setting.

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(29 replies, posted in Episodes)

Yeah, their existence appears to stem mostly from exploiting Robotech and trying to get money from Macross derivatives they have no rights or connection to by bullying small companies; a court in Japan ruled about 10 years ago that the company HG bought the worldwide distribution rights from don't own the intellectual property, so they don't either. HG's response? Essentially, 'we're Americans not Japanese'.

However, they've gone much further than simply believing they own the entire franchise and blocking the sale of Macross goods, they have actually trademarked "Macross" in certain countries (including the US and UK), which in my mind turns them from being pricks to outright fuckers. Why are they allowed to continue? It's a mystery, but one assumes Big West simply doesn't see the value in foreign markets as good enough to warrant the inevitably costly legal battle and until they sort that out they'll never do business with HG. And why should they? This is a company that even tried to trademark Macross in Japan!


On a lighter note, I've just started watching the new version of Space Battleship Yamato and I'm enjoying it immensely.

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(364 replies, posted in Episodes)

True, Stargate SG-1 is much better, it lasted 10 seasons and took the basic premise of Stargate and took it in every direction possible, tTelling stories about humanity in the way the best tradition of old Trek. I liked Atlantis (which was admittedly more flash) too as well as Universe (which had an altogether different  tone that I admired).

You should do an Extended Edition on it  wink

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(364 replies, posted in Episodes)

I love Stargate, one of my favourite movies in fact. So... yeah...

Doctor Submarine wrote:

Because a History Channel documentary about Kennedy's death is about Kennedy's death, and not selling a fucking superhero movie? It's the difference between publishing a book about Kennedy on the anniversary of his death and getting an impersonator to ride in the presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in order to pitch a breakfast cereal on the anniversary of his death.

Except a small mock website that you have to go out of your way to find is not remotely like that example. And a crap History Channel documentary about Kennedy is still selling you the History Channel, commercials and all. What about a documentary or books about the conspiracy? Isn't that wholly inappropriate?

The point is that anything that comes out on or near an anniversary is deliberately being timed for optimal market penetration and we simply don't notice it most of the time.

How do we feel about the Bluray release of Stone's JFK movie?

Why it's apparently ok to exploit an anniversary to sell your documentary/channel and not your movie, I don't know.

The very concept of an anniversary is exploitative in nature.

Me too, I really loved that book.

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I love(d) Mallrats, it's funny and filled with great lines and references. Clerks and Chasing Amy are good too. However, I've not seen any of these for a long time and intend to keep it that way.

Of his later work, Dogma had a superb script but was poorly cast and directed, Jersey Girl was actually ok (helped enormously by George Carlin), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back was bad, and Clerks II was cringe-inducingly abysmal (so bad that I switched it off).

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Also watching The Michael J Fox Show, which I find quite amusing (Mr Fox is infectiously charming), and started Space Battleship Yamato 2199, a remake of the classic anime series which is pretty cool.

Last but not least, Key & Peele - which is quite possibly the funniest thing I've seen in a long time.

Good points all.

avatar wrote:

...and he's lost his ability to generate interesting new ideas.

I actually think this is the problem. He's generating new ideas which aren't in any way necessary. I really enjoyed watching the film, but if there was any one problem which I had to pick, it would be that The Hobbit suffers from having too many ideas, which inevitably pull and push it into all sorts of directions.

It's exhausting.

Faldor wrote:

Why do people write entire screenplays without even bothering to check if it's something they could film?!

I think this sort of thing happens more frequently than you might think. I'm assuming it follows the "Build it and they will come" philosophy. A quote from the article suggests that a fair few sequel scripts for Wonderful Life have been kicking about for years.

Also, in this day of the internet, many announcements probably come way too soon. I imagine 'talking to Paramount' was next on their list, but Variety probably got wind of their intentions.

I should probably get around to watching the last half of the last movie.

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The ISS turns 15 today!

The first module, Zarya, was launched on November 20, 1998.

Here's a cool infographic:
http://d1jqu7g1y74ds1.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/iss-infographic-22.png

And a highlights video:

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Trey wrote:

If you liked that one (and especially if you like shots of prosthetic injured genitalia) then you'll probably like the Millers as well.

Hey, who doesn't?

Wait, this is real? I mean, why?

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Currently watching:
- Homeland (interesting season so far)
- Castle (I call this comfort TV, also funny and smart with a bit of cute)
- How I Met Your Mother (better than it has been)
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine (makes me laugh, so far so good)
- Space Brothers (amazing anime about astronauts in training)
- Daily Show /The Colbert Report (probably more daily show at this point)
- Big Bang Theory (mostly when there's nothing else to watch)

I was watching SHIELD (agents of) but have actually fallen behind (3-4 episodes), and I may have lost the will to continue, which is ironic since I said I would keep watching it on the Extended Edition because... what else would I watch.