1,051

(21 replies, posted in Episodes)

True, though I didn't mean evil that literally. But it's interesting, I don't get the sense that the government would have subjected her to the sort of white room treatment you describe.  This isn't the British fascist regime from V for Vendetta, and most of what we know about the government and what they would do to her is told from  the unbiased perspective of terrorists who have their own agenda.

When all characters and factions are portrayed as grey, it just seems out of place to have another organisation, which is talked about in almost mythical tones, be genuinely white. We know very little about them, and what we see turns out to be a manky old boat. I don't get that 'and everyone lived happily ever after' vibe from the end.

There was a great Outer Limits episode where a woman gives birth to a child in a sterile world, I think she was also black as well, and whilst she was treated fine at first, slowly the gloves came off as people started to be people.

1,052

(21 replies, posted in Episodes)

Yeah, he's hardly passive when he steals the girl away and escapes from the farm.

But interesting point about the Tomorrow people, although my interpretation is that they aren't perfect and she will be subjected to tests and such, it's just a lesser of two evils.

1,053

(12 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I swear Lucas is doing this deliberately to annoy people. Out of all the things you can change and arguably 'fix' in these movies, he completely ignores them in favour of making completely arbitary and totally unnecessary changes.

So, George, how about you fix the fucking lightsabers and leave the door to Jabba's palace alone?

He can take his ever-changing 'vision' and shove it up his arse.

1,054

(142 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Was 'The Mist' selected and done yet? Sorry to tread on toes but I remember Trey having a great comment about Darabont making the movie because he couldn't come around to your house and punch you in the gut.

1,055

(142 replies, posted in Off Topic)

So what's still left to do now? I may be able to do one tonight.

1,056

(27 replies, posted in Episodes)

I was thinking the other day that this film probably got a lot of folks interested in becoming lawyers way back when, hell I wanted to be a lawyer after watching this. A Few Good Men is definitely up there amongst the legal dramas.

1,057

(142 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I miss that show too. Their third season is now in comic book form, but it's just not the same.

1,058

(142 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I really hope some of Trey's anti-moon hoaxers rant from Apollo 13 gets in there.

1,059

(47 replies, posted in Episodes)

Ok, so I'm only about half way in but it's kinda funny that everyone starts with 'this is so simple, there's nothing more to get' and then you end up getting things wrong. smile

1,060

(1,019 replies, posted in Episodes)

Reminds me of that episode in Deadwood where the doctor performs surgery on Al Swearegen (Ian McShane) to remove a stone, using this long metal tweezer or somesuch device.... I'm getting misty-eyed just thinking about it again.

What's just bonkers is that apparently Shatner sold his for $75k back in 2006.

Hope you get well soon Teague.

1,061

(50 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I turned off Firefly when I first watched it, because essentially I couldn't see past the goofy Western Sci-fi theme and the obvious cheapness of stealing costumes from Starship Troopers, it was the movie that actually made me come back and give it a proper try, and I'm so much the better because of it.

Sometimes with a series you need a bit of a push. If a series comes recommended I usually give it 3 or 4 episodes and if I still don't find anything to like about it I'll just give up. I might push further, depends really on the recommendation and how similar the interests are of the friend or forum poster who recommended it.

I really disliked the pilot of Babylon 5 and the first few episodes are kinda rubbish too, with a sort of chessy appeal to them. Taken as a whole the series is without a doubt the best sci-fi series ever made, and I'm judging that mostly on seasons 3 and 4 where it becomes the best tv ever. Ignorance is bliss, but sometimes knowledge makes life richer, I'd hate to think that I could be 30 years old and never have watched that great story.

I have a similar story with The Wire.

That's 3 of the best shows ever made that I could have missed. That's why I'm willing nowadays to give things a fairer try. You never know when you could be missing something really great. And you can always come back and try again, didn't care for the new Fallen Skies pilot at all, but I'll likely give it another go later.

1,062

(43 replies, posted in Episodes)

The Prodigal Son is a prequel of sorts to The Warriors Two, in that it features one of the characters from Warriors Two as a young man. Great films both, probably two of the finer examples of excellent post-Bruce Lee martial arts action from the 'Peking Opera kids' that included Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao, and both are certainly great fight films.

1,063

(14 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I like Alexander (the Oliver Stone one), though I'm not sure which of the many edits is truly the best, probably Revisited, but then I'm a big fan of historical movies and of the ancient Greeks. I love the soundtrack too, by Vangelis.

1,064

(2,061 replies, posted in Episodes)

The Brave One is a interesting twist on the Death Wish formula. I don't think it works quite as well but it's enjoyable, almost entirely because of Jodi Foster's strong performance.

1,065

(43 replies, posted in Episodes)

I've grown to love Capshaw's Willie. She's a good actress playing a role that's unlike anything else out there. And what's more, I buy her character completely. She's more real than Short Round (who can somehow KO grown men with single kicks and is just way too cool and fearless for a kid).

I find it curious that a criticism of the movie is the long build up to the titular temple. This has been hailed as a good dramatic device in movies such as the first Alien movies, Predator reveal etc. Does it not work here because this is an action adventure?

1,066

(1,019 replies, posted in Episodes)

Hmm... if the prequels taught us anything, surely it was that even villains aren't born bad?

1,067

(4 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I prefer the original actually. What lets this one down a tad is the magic bean that comes out of nowhere at the end.

1,068

(1,019 replies, posted in Episodes)

WW1 Germans weren't Nazis.

1,069

(1,019 replies, posted in Episodes)

I love Temple of Doom! *does a dance*

Oopsee daisee gullee maa!

1,070

(55 replies, posted in Episodes)

Squiggly_P wrote:

You could look at the Asylums films as a perfect argument for how bad big-budget movies have gotten. They are like a mirror that removes the budget so you can see what they look like deep down inside.

Oh please, you're giving way too much credit to Asylum films and making a gross generalisation about the state of current cinema. I doubt your like for the Asylum filmography is anything but ironic. There's a big difference between a commercial product that aims to be good entertainment and falls short and an exploitive film that aims to entertain by falling short. A stupid scene or two does not mean that a film is in Asylum's league. It's not even the same sport.

And as others have said, any action scene can be distilled into a sentence! Vader duels Luke and chops his hand off. There, you've just trimmed ESB by a few minutes.

1,071

(55 replies, posted in Episodes)

Finished listening to this. I completely and utterly disagree with you guys that this is anything remotely similar to an Asylum movie. It may be so that this film happened to share that same improvisational streak that Asylum films have (but what film doesn't have a scene constructed on set?) but that's as far as it goes because GI Joe is at least watchable. It might be convoluted as hell and some things may not make sense, but to compare it to the utter drivel that comes out of Asylum? Films that are with little to no quality in any aspect (acting, directing, lighting, framing, editing, visual effects, story etc.)?

You can buy technical quality, true, skilled people and slick equipment, but that's not going to make Aslyum's films any better. It won't produce an entertaining action romp like GI Joe or any other typical summer blockbuster. Give them $100 million and they'll just make 1000 rubbish films and pocket the rest. Because that's their approach to film-making, produce a semblance of a movie and make a quick buck from people too stupid to realise they've bought the wrong DVD. Hell, even the porn industry make better films...

Say what you want about GI Joe's story flaws, but you cannot say they didn't try to produce a quality product. It looks great and sounds great because somebody cared enough to make it that way. It has some coherence despite the writers' strike because people cared enough. That's a far cry from Asylum, and that's why the comparison is so wildly inappropriate.
 
I also disagree with the argument that this nothing more than a toy commercial, no, it's a just commercial movie like any other.

Side fun fact, GI Joe has the same cinematographer as Wanted (and Transformers too).

1,072

(55 replies, posted in Episodes)

I'd rather watch this than any of the Transformers movies that's for sure. They're actually bad movies, this is just big, dumb and stupid. Flawed because of the acting and story turns, but fun.

The irony to these toy movies is that they seem needlessly convoluted. In an attempt to avoid being seen as 'simple', they resort to all this plot which makes the film inevitably trip over itself.

1,073

(20 replies, posted in Off Topic)

Yeah, go for it. I liked it alot. These sorts of character and concept-driven movies seem to be rare these days.

1,074

(62 replies, posted in Off Topic)

I think both actors are great, except I'd be inclined to have Cunningham play Stannis and Dillane play Davos. My fear is that Dillane's eyes are just too kind and sympathetic, and he usually plays characters who are morose rather than stern and that's just not Stannis. Meanwhile, Cunningham has that perfect steely look.

1,075

(75 replies, posted in Episodes)

Zarban wrote:

I'm flexible, by which I mean cheap.

It's the pulse-pounding story of an architect-surfer with awesome abs who survives a strange shark attack only to find himself drawn to the sea every full moon, where he transforms into a horrible fish monster that feasts on the blood of innocent swimmers. Can he keep his terrible secret from his buxom girlfriend by sequestering himself in their pool despite her habit of late-night topless swims? Can he regain the credit for his building design, stolen by his boss while he was recovering? Can he hunt down the strange, otherworldly demon shark that bit him before he is found out by the crazed monster hunter he has hired to help him? ONLY TIME WILL TELL

That actually sounds really good.