776

(8 replies, posted in Off Topic)

No Man of Steel? That's surprising.

Gravity is so obviously the winner. Guessing the nominees will be process of elimination. I don't see Thor, World War Z, or Lone Ranger getting in. So I'm predicting:

Gravity
Desolation of Smaug
Star Trek Into Darkness
Pacific Rim
Elysium

777

(5 replies, posted in Off Topic)

...is that a thing? Like, I've heard of Days of Future Past, so is Apocalypse a big arc in the X-Men comics? I'm really confused.

EDIT: Did some reading on the Age of Apocalypse arc. Sounds really cool. But did they just spoil the ending of DoFP with this announcement?

778

(14 replies, posted in Movie Stuff)

Yeah, I can see that. And it must be tough for a casting director to say, "Well, we have so many stars in this film already, but how am I supposed to turn down Paul Giamatti?"

779

(5 replies, posted in Creations)

This is great! Very well done.

780

(8 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I do think there will be five nominees, but I'm not sure what they'll be. I don't see those three not being nominated. The final 2 slots are up in the air, I think.

781

(8 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I think that Act of Killing, Stories We Tell, and 20 Feet from Stardom are definite nominees, and Pussy Riot, Blackfish, and Tim's Vermeer are potential upsets.

782

(8 replies, posted in Off Topic)

You think Stories We Tell could sneak in there?

783

(8 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I see them going for either 20 Feet From Stardom or The Act Of Killing.

784

(255 replies, posted in Off Topic)

That's funny, I started on Game Change week or two ago. It's a little slow to start, but I like the idea of telling the story the way they do.

I dropped it to re-read the Potter series, though.

Zarban wrote:

I agree that Ron's behavior is realistic and forgivable, and it makes him more interesting. But you can't look at the times he abandoned Harry and claim that his primary trait is loyalty. The best you can say about Ron is that Harry likes him and that's enough.

Well, first of all, two times in seven years hardly destroys that aspect of his personality. And again, the fact that he has disagreements with Harry only makes him a more complex character. It's certainly better than having him be 100% loyal all the time.

Zarban wrote:
Doctor Submarine wrote:

He also stands by Harry when the whole school turns against him in Chamber and OotP. If you like, he serves as Harry's emotional support, and Hermione is his intellectual support. Loyalty like Ron's is nothing to sneeze at, which is a point that Rowling hammers home.

Ron Weasley: loyal till end... except in 4 and 7.

The whole point of the stuff in 7 is that Ron was always going to come back. Ron says something like, "Dumbledore gave me the Deluminator because he knew I'd abandon you," and either Harry or Hermione says, "Or maybe he gave it to you because he knew you'd come back." Ron is loyal, but he's not without his flaws. It makes him a FAR more interesting character.

He also stands by Harry when the whole school turns against him in Chamber and OotP. If you like, he serves as Harry's emotional support, and Hermione is his intellectual support. Loyalty like Ron's is nothing to sneeze at, which is a point that Rowling hammers home.

I forgot how funny these books were. Most of the wittiest lines went over my head when I was younger. If the movies are missing anything (especially the later ones) it's Rowling's sense of humor.

789

(670 replies, posted in Creations)

Creepypasta is always ripe for reinterpretation. I've always kind of wanted to do a longer version of the Tulpa pasta. That one always kinda fascinated me.

Also, this is a very good recording. The story is so bad that you risked turning it into comedy by performing it so well, but you walked the line really well. Well done!

PS: I like to imagine that Jeff's mental break was caused by Randy wasting a perfectly good bottle of vodka.

Meh. I don't hate the movie magic for what it is, but I've seen them so many times that I forget how much cooler the books are when it comes to magic.

Zarban wrote:
Doctor Submarine wrote:

I think the excuse they come up with early on (during the Dueling Club stuff in Chamber) is something to the effect of, "Look, when you're in a battle for your life, it's easier to do a quick disarming spell than something really cool and inventive."

Yep, that's why I watch movies about wizards: realism.

Fair point, but the series has to have its own internal logical consistency. Also, there are eight of these movies, and there's only so many strange and original spells to come up with. Half the spells they use in the books are some variation on "knock my enemy backwards."

That episode of Alohomora with Teague and Dorkman was great. To the Transfiguration stuff, I'll add that Sorcerer's Stone contains a passage about McGonagall having the students turn a mouse into a snuffbox as part of a test. I find it existentially terrifying that you could be turned into an inanimate object.

I think the excuse they come up with early on (during the Dueling Club stuff in Chamber) is something to the effect of, "Look, when you're in a battle for your life, it's easier to do a quick disarming spell than something really cool and inventive."

Rewatching Half-Blood Prince right now. Wow is it great. Perfectly mixes comedy and horror. It's much better than I remember.

It's exactly like that example. The difference is that the History Channel is (ostensibly) trying to educate you about the event.

The difference between all of your examples and this X-Men thing is that they're all ABOUT JFK. Kennedy is the focus of all those documentaries and books. But not here. The focus here is a superhero movie.

And again, I'm not entirely opposed to using this as a plot point. It's just that using the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's death to launch the marketing for an X-Men movie is wholly different than using that anniversary to launch a book or movie that is ABOUT Kennedy.

redxavier wrote:

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.

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.


BigDamnArtist wrote:
FireFighter214 wrote:

the timing is what is suspect.

The timing is the point.

Everyone is thinking about JFK right now, it's the anniversary, History/Discovery/every station under the sun is running some sort of documentary/special/conspiracy theory doc of some sort about the assassination, museums are going ape shit with it. Of course they would do it now. They do it any other time and it gets swept under the rug and forgotten, like all of those other ones you had to go look up.

I mean, I think they got screwed because their movie is coming out next summer. Now's the time to start this viral marketing. And apparently this has been an aspect of the film's story for a while. It just feels scummy.

Books                                                        Films
1) Prisoner of Azkaban                               1) Deathly Hallows Part 1
2) Deathly Hallows                                     2) Prisoner of Azkaban
3) Chamber of Secrets                                3) Half-Blood Prince
4) Order of the Phoenix                               4) Goblet of Fire
5) Goblet of Fire                                         5) Deathly Hallows Part 2
6) Half-Blood Prince                                    6) Order of the Phoenix
7) Sorcerer's Stone                                     7) Chamber of Secrets
                                                                 8) Sorcerer's Stone

I think I'm in the minority on most of this. Azkaban isn't my favorite movie. I think it's great, but Hallows Part 1 just nailed the character stuff while maintaining a distinct, visually interesting style. Also, RIP Dobby. :'(

I also don't hate movies four and five. I think they're really fun adventures, especially Goblet of Fire. They've aged a lot better than the first two, and I think that when people look back on the series, they'll be thinking of stuff from those middle movies.

798

(2,068 replies, posted in Off Topic)

BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR

Caught up with it today. I've worn myself out talking about it on a variety of websites in the last few hours. But see it. It's a (flawed) masterpiece, and one of the best cinematic explorations of love I can remember.

I think that the website itself is really cool, and I'm not opposed to using this as a plot point in the story, but using the 50th anniversary of a major American tragedy to kickstart marketing for your X-Men movie is in poor taste.

800

(991 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Oh by the way, BBC just announced the title of the Xmas special. It's in line with the last two episodes.

  Show
The Time of the Doctor

I was really holding out for "Twelfth Night." Alas. I'm sure we'll get plenty of that come springtime.

Also, according to Wikipedia, this will be the 800th individual episode of the show (breaking up the serials into their separate installments.) So that's pretty sweet.