I didn't like Kill Bill vol. 2 until I rewatched it a couple of years ago. I guess I just wasn't in the right mindset back in 04 for a talkative, slow movie.

But I did like the Star Wars prequels and the Matrix sequels until WAYDM pointed out their errors.

Holy fucking crap!
You did that in A WEEK?

TEACH ME YOUR METHODS, MASTER!

Hey, that's me, Faldor, Owen, Saniss, Jimmy B and Dorkman!

A house I lived in way, way back, had that too. Two bedrooms connected via storage space. It was cool, because both bedrooms were mine(only child at that point), so I'd go to sleep in one room, feel like sleeping in the other, and moved across them without ever knowing. My mom must've been so pissed at me, she never knew which room I was in when it was time for school!

I always dreamed about having secret pathways in my ultimate manor sort of house. Thick walls with paths inside, to fuck with guests.

Is he the type to be offended if I put on a thick, Russian accent?

Episode 52 - Summer movies of 2014!

We did a little throwback, and threw in a cool new theme. ..Which is actually the first draft for WHOISH! part 2, but since the guy making it had to drop out, I felt it should be used at least somewhere.

Also, anniversary update:

We've decided that Monday, April 28th seems like a good date. 10pm my time(GMT+1). If anyone wants in, we'll be recapping the year, and throw in some other surprises, but we'd like to have all of you in it, if you can

Time flies. We'd like to have as many people as possible in this one, so let is know if you're interested.

Desolation of Smaug.
5-6/10.

I'm one of the people that were able to separate An Unexpected Journey from LOTR and enjoy it as a separate thing, based on a short, but enjoyable childrens book. I took it for what it was, and gave it a lot of leeway in terms of impervious hobbits, horribly made CG orcs, and even the out-of-place necromancer. I even managed to not cringe at the "TO BE CONTINUED" shot of Smaug that didn't make any sort of sense, continuity-wise.

HOWEVER.

People all over told me the second film, The Desolation of Smaug was an improvement on everything, and a much better film in general.

Where, exactly, is that so?

Where do I even begin?

Gah.
I was looking forward to watching it. Blu-Ray, 5.1 surround, 50 inches of glorious viewing, dim lights, popcorn, the whole damn shebang!
But then the film happened, and I found myself being angry most of the time. And I don't mean with the movie, I was just downright ANGRY. As in I wanted to punch something.
I'll admit that most of what happened in the film has burrowed itself deep inside me, and I hope I don't have to remember any of it, but I'll try and pinpoint what I thought was wrong with it.

Now, keep in mind that it's been a week, and I've suppressed most of it, so the actual beat of the film, and the order of the scenes is completely scrambled, but here we go.

Martin Freeman as Bilbo works for me, but also not. He's a much more light-hearted character than in LOTR, and while this obviously is a younger, more frivolous character, he's a tad too accepting in the tasks he's given. In the first film, he thinks long and hard, as a hobbit should, on whether or not he should partake in the journey, but in the second film, he's suddenly very okay with facing a dragon, and not at all like he was in the first. While this is basic character progression, he's a different man entirely too fast, and as far as I'm concerned, his arc is already over, leaving me riddled as to what will happen in the third film/act.

There are too. many. goddamned. characters.
Sure, in the first film, we suddenly had Elrond, Saruman and Galadriel introduced to us, but as watchers of LOTR, we already knew who these were, and had no issue remembering their names, as opposed to the too many dwarves already. Now, before you go on saying anything related to the amount of dwarves, I've read the book, and tried to keep up, but I never remember who's who, and I'm already okay with this. I'll just accept that. But then there's Radagast. Obviously, being a huge Doctor Who fan, I'm well aware of Sylvester McCoy, so this, again wasn't an issue.
But then he returned for the second film, if only for a short while, while Gandalf was off somewhere to do something dangerous. IIRC, this material is all Silmarillion stuff, and I'll allow it, if only for movie-making purposes, but it's also misplaced in an otherwise ridiculous kids-movie. Radagast isn't the issue, however. The wolf/bear-animorph, Bard, Legolas and Legolina, Thranduil, Stephen Fry and his Squire, as well as The Necromancer, Smaug, and FUCKING SAURON, on the other hand, is.

If you're gonna continuously add in characters that are seemingly of importance, make me remember them. I don't remember the names of half these characters, and I don't care for less of them.

Having played some LOTR games, I knew that there was something called black arrows, but these were available as power-ups for men of Dale, and were shot from standard bows, so I had no idea that they were basically meant for Ballistae.
Fuck it, I'll allow it, but only because someone out there is more fluent in Tolkien-lore than I am, and it's probably how it actually is.

BUT WHEN YOU HAVE AN INFINITE ZOOM OF SAURONS EYE FIGHTING GANDALF YOU FUCKING LOST ME, JACKSON!

*sigh*
And don't even get me started on the two GoPro shots.

That's a really good point, Zarban. Countertops. I think I can even get that off of work for a good price, too. We sell kitchens there too, so getting one shouldn't be difficult.

Drew, I'm renting, so mounting a desk to the wall isn't really an option.

Zarban: BIG, not ridiculously tiny.

You might be onto something here.