676 Reply by Invid

(130 replies, posted in Off Topic)

This is too amusing not to pass on. My sister and her hubby saw Gravity tonight, in 2D. Her verdict? It's boring, as nothing happens smile Her exact description was, about 20 minutes in you're down to one character, and you know nothing can happen to them or the movie ends so there's zero suspense. The visuals also did nothing for her, as that's just what every movie looks like nowadays.

Obviously, it's just not her kind of film smile She likes plot, and is more a destination than the journey type of person.

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677 Reply by Invid

(4 replies, posted in Off Topic)

But all my friends are on Panandscan.com...

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678 Reply by Invid

(45 replies, posted in Movie Stuff)

The audience was in 3-D, and I think that's what's important.

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679 Reply by Invid

(991 replies, posted in Off Topic)

And given the earlier rumor, and the way the BBC is being so secretive about all this, there's a chance there could be more. Damn, I'm happy. Bought both stories this morning, the first movie or TV series I've bought from iTunes.

(I'm amused by the BBC response to those in the UK asking why they have to pay to see it, as it was made with viewer money so they should get at least one free TV airing. The BBC rep said those who paid the TV licensing fee were able to watch them in 1968, so that debt is paid)

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680 Reply by Invid

(971 replies, posted in Movie Stuff)

If it doesn't involve Kirk Cameron talking about bananas, I'm not interested.

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681 Reply by Invid

(2,068 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Saniss wrote:

[regarding THE WALL)

My God, what a terrifying movie. I'm a big fan of the music album, so I watched this with a very particular state of mind. How it holds up as a movie on its own, I have no idea. But the animated parts alone could make someone have trouble finding sleep the following night. The cinematography is at times really good, and some live scenes are amazing (namely, the children being processed into a machine that turns them into faceless puppets sit at school tables).

A complicated movie for a very complex album. Fascinating.

If you haven't seen Roger Waters' current (and we all assume last) tour of The Wall, you can find a couple versions of the whole concert on youtube. I saw the tour both times it came through Buffalo. Incredible.

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682 Reply by Invid

(50 replies, posted in Episodes)

Naturally, Vidal Sassoon is famous for one thing: He did the hair for Susan in the pilot episode of Doctor Who, his first big break.

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683 Reply by Invid

(130 replies, posted in Off Topic)

bullet3 wrote:
Invid wrote:
bullet3 wrote:

If you're nitpicking physics about this movie, which is more accurate in its physics than any space movie in the history of cinema, I don't know what to tell you.

But it's because it's so accurate that people are nitpicking. You laugh at the mistakes in The Core, but this is so close you just groan over every mistake that could have been fixed with a bit more thought.

I'm fine with inaccuracies if they service the story.

So am I, although I prefer them in areas I have little knowledge in so I don't notice them smile

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684 Reply by Invid

(130 replies, posted in Off Topic)

bullet3 wrote:

If you're nitpicking physics about this movie, which is more accurate in its physics than any space movie in the history of cinema, I don't know what to tell you.

But it's because it's so accurate that people are nitpicking. You laugh at the mistakes in The Core, but this is so close you just groan over every mistake that could have been fixed with a bit more thought.

I think people complaining just had a different movie in their minds and are upset it wasn't the one Cuaron set out to make. It sounds like you may have wanted a more art-house, existential, bleak, slowly dying in space movie. I'd like that too, but that's not this movie, and it doesn't have to be. This is a roller-coaster action film about not giving up, and fighting tooth and nail to survive, it's an up-beat, intense-as hell, survival story. And I'm SUPER happy about that.

I wanted space surfing sad

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685 Reply by Invid

(971 replies, posted in Movie Stuff)

You can do it for bad comedy. Catalina Caper, for example smile I'd expect just general joking rather than a scripted riff.

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686 Reply by Invid

(2,068 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I rented, for the hell of it, Room 237, the conspiracy movie about The Shining. Got twenty minutes or so in. There was a review of the film in either Skeptic Magazine or Skeptical Inquirer, which made the interesting observation that because the film covers ALL these different people with their different views on what the movie is saying, it manages to, in fact, disprove all of them, almost as if that was the intended goal of the film. I can't speak to that, as I don't think I'll be watching more of this. The movie takes the incredibly annoying tact, at least at the start, of using clips from many movies and inserting them where you would usually show the interview footage of the person talking. Thus, we see footage of Tom Cruise looking at a poster for The Shining and going into a theater while a guy talks about when he saw the film. I'm assuming neither Tom Cruise or Robert Redford actually endorse the beliefs in this movie.

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687 Reply by Invid

(123 replies, posted in Episodes)

OK, unless the Alamo Drafthouse is charging you a few hundred dollars, I don't see your experience there as being a GOOD thing. With only three customers a showing, they'll be closing soon smile

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688 Reply by Invid

(11 replies, posted in Episodes)

I saw the 2nd and 3rd Ong Bak movies first, mostly as the setting was more interesting. The first one does seem more like a demo reel than a movie, with Jaa never really seeming in danger of losing. My only other real experience with Thai films is the 2004 monster movie Garuda. It's fascinating, not for the monster (a bird creature in a cave), but the cultural dynamic. There's a half Thai, half French female scientist, and both the Thai characters, and the movie, see her being a half breed as a horrible thing that makes her less of a human (and she seems to see their point). It's also one of the few movies where the military stepping in is the best thing that could have happened, a natural plot point in a country where they actually have official music to be played on the radio every time the Generals step in to take over the government.

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689 Reply by Invid

(2,068 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Phi wrote:

Kon-Tiki (2012)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/0b/Kon-tiki_2012_Poster.jpg/420px-Kon-tiki_2012_Poster.jpg

How does it compare to the 1950 version? I'm sure I saw that one as a kid, although whenever I hear the title I momentarily confuse it with either 'Rikki-Tikki-Tavi', or 'The Cay' for some reason.

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690 Reply by Invid

(11 replies, posted in Episodes)

I've tried downloading this a few times with my iPad, but the file is giving me "playback failed" errors. Anyone else getting this, or is it just me? Looking at the 150+ mb file on my iPad with a third party program, I see it has a run time of 0.00 minutes...

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691 Reply by Invid

(42 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Cotterpin Doozer wrote:

1. ElfQuest - Wendy and Richard Pini have been trying to get a movie version of their comic book series done for years now. I'm dying to see an animated version of this story on the big screen. I would sacrifice my other two wishes just to get this one made.

Given the comic only exists because it was easier for Richard to start his wife a comic book publisher than an animation studio, the comic would adapt easily. On the other hand, I actually have the video they let someone make in the 90's (I never bothered getting a refund when the Pini's told everyone to, so a copy actually showed up in the mail). It's so horrible it almost should stand alone as the only adaptation. (they took comic panels, colored them, then moved some sill images around them)

2. Howl's Moving Castle - Someone needs to fix the awful mess Hayao Miyazaki made of Diane Wynne Jones's delightful book. Being Studio Ghibli, it's an absolutely gorgeous film, of course, but Miyazaki butchered the story in his adaptation and the voice acting is completely off the mark in both Japanese and the English dub. The spin-off/sequel, Castle in the Air, would also be much appreciated.

Miyazaki, and the Japanese in general, have even less respect for source material than Hollywood does. Just about everything based on a Western story, even Kiki, could stand a more accurate remake.

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692 Reply by Invid

(15 replies, posted in Episodes)

It was in the itunes DIF feed, which is still working.

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693 Reply by Invid

(42 replies, posted in Off Topic)

We are at the time where most books could be better adapted as TV series, and even look almost as good. That said, and resisting the urge to name one of my own books:

1. Dragonriders of Pern- a TV series fell apart the day before they were to start filming, but I think you could do a good job adapting the first three books into films. The three Harperhall stories could be TV miniseries done between the second and third movies. Please, don't adapt any books after that smile

2. Usagi Yojimbo- an animated film based on the long running comic. Tons of story lines to choose from, and great characters.

3. Thieves and Kings- another comic. The creator never finished, but what's there would condense into a great movie.

Also, I think Raymond Feist's Rift War books would make an incredible TV series. Epic, in the true sense of the word, and with the characters constantly aging and exiting the story you'll get lots of cast changes so nobody ends up costing too much. Well, apart from Pug, maybe smile

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694 Reply by Invid

(123 replies, posted in Episodes)

Let us be somewhat fair, this is a case of Disney trying to find some way to revive their old practice of re-releasing films theatrically.

"OK, everyone already has this film on video at home. How can we get them to justify paying for their kids to see it in a theater?"

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695 Reply by Invid

(64 replies, posted in Off Topic)

MasterZap wrote:

Ok, whatever, wasn't the point. The point being... it's one of the few movies in a style where most people would be tempted to put in a human or two (e.g. "Labyrinth") but Henson didn't. And I'm happy for it....!

Unfortunately, it probably shares with Fantasia the fate of doing so poorly it killed the idea. Disney swore after Fantasia he'd never do a film aimed solely at adults, despite that being where he really wanted to take things, and Henson put a human in Labyrinth after the blowback from Dark Crystal. Oh, if only Dark Crystal had done well, the things Henson might have done...

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696 Reply by Invid

(297 replies, posted in Off Topic)

There's a huge explosion, causing a rift in time, and we end up back in the first episode! Perfect for syndication!

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697 Reply by Invid

(46 replies, posted in Episodes)

The Cove was mentioned a couple times, but nobody said what they thought about it (other than that it was a whole other type of movie). I had some issues when I saw it, things I think they didn't need to do to get the point across.

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698 Reply by Invid

(123 replies, posted in Episodes)

Did he make the 911 call from inside the theater?

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699 Topic by Invid

(2 replies, posted in Creations)

I just sent chapter four of "A Leader Born" off to be edited. It's a fun story, one that, for some odd reason, is drawing double my best previous audience. Weird. Anyway, in this chapter I finally managed to work in a reference to our favorite podcast...

****

    Shanna's weapons training, such as it was, came from two places. One was those re-enactors slash live action role players she had spent some time with while she was dating Frank, and for awhile even after that. Swinging that heavy broadsword had been fun, at times more so than dealing with Franks smaller personal sword. Because of such experiences, she held the sword she had with two hands, despite it obviously being meant for one. It just felt right. And light, compared to what she was used to. As the black souled creature came at her, its long sword slicing down, she swung her own up to meet it. Steel clanged on steel, her teeth clenching as her arms ached with the impact.
    The second source of her training was a pair of YouTube videos of some guys fighting with light sabres.
    She had watched those two fight over and over. One reason, of course, what that the guy with the glasses was damned cute. He was gay, yes, as she'd found out tracking him down to this movie podcast he did, but she could change that. Shanna had the half written fanfic to prove it. The other reason she loved those fights was the style. Not so much the actual light saber stuff, but what they did apart from that. The two guys, whenever there was an opening, would punch and kick each other. The idea wasn't to score style points, it was to beat the other guy however possible. Punch them in the kidney, kick them in the knee, whatever. Just win.
    Before the green guy could react to her block of its attack, Shanna kicked her foot out, catching him in the leg. She jumped back.

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700 Reply by Invid

(297 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I'm not watching the show, but reading all this I have to wonder how much better this is going to be for future viewers watching it in daily syndication. Imagine all this happening, AND YOU DON'T KNOW IT'S THE FINAL EPISODES! I had that experience with Blake's 7, where every cast change and death was a wonderful surprise. I wouldn't be shocked if the creators are putting these episodes together with that in mind, that in the future viewers streaming the show will not notice there's no next season until they get to the final episode.

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