None of that's unprecedented in the animal kingdom. There are species of toad in the genus Bufo that have psychotropic venom. The endoparasitoid fungus Cordyceps unilateralis alters the behavior of its host before the host dies from the infection. And Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan that's believed to be linked to a variety of behavior-affecting organic brain disorders. It's not much of a leap to say that a parasitic infection could cause pica-like symptoms.

(Pro tip: If you're squeamish, or just don't feel like being plagued by nightmares for several weeks, it might be best not to google any of the shit I just said.)

Last edited by Jeffery Harrell (2010-10-28 15:07:06)

Zombies who try to eat your brain despite being fully conscious and aware of their actions, but unable to resist the compulsion.

Oh. Right. Shit. Never mind that, then.

Oh, and by the way, since it apparently was missed for the second time, (I tried in the live chat, Teague left the room. I tried in this thread, you all started talking about Alice in Wonderland porn), YOU GUYS SHOULD TOTALLY DO 'CLOSE ENCOUNTERS'.

Teague, kindly explain yourself.

I don't recall why I don't like it, I didn't like it when I saw it growing up, then years later I revisited it to see if my opinion had changed and it hadn't, and that was so long ago I don't remember why I felt that way then.

Spielberg did believe, at the time. Since then he's changed his position. I don't have the exact quote but it's on the CLOSE ENCOUNTERS Blu-Ray BTS documentary, and he says something very much akin to Randi's own sentiments, to the effect of:

If this were a real phenomenon that was only rarely caught because stills and motion picture cameras were rarely owned by non-professionals, then as more people got cameras we should see a matching increase in the amount of photographic and video evidence. But instead we've seen just the opposite. Nowadays everyone has a camera and most people have video cameras, and we almost never see UFO imagery anymore. As a result, though he would like to, Spielberg no longer believes that we are being visited.

I saw it at the New Bev not too long ago (no one ever comes to see old movies with me), but it was the extended cut or some such. I was amazed to see all these additional scenes from Truffuat's and the government's point of view that completely destroys the suspense of the gas mask scene and AND show the INSIDE of the spaceship at the end. Amazed I tell you, amazed.

Another good choise would be Frank Miller's The Spirit. It is a weird mix of slapstick and trashy noir, yet it somehow works, surprisingly (I was expecting a giant failure).

Spielberg now says that the reason for Roy abandoning his family was because he didn't understand the implications, not having had a family of his own. He now says that, were he to make the movie today, Roy would never have done that.

However, I think it works very well dramatically. Roy's whole arc is about obsession, and him leaving his family without notice is a great way to address it. The movie ignores the family, just like Roy does. Roy is the protagonist, and if the audience feels bad about him leaving his family, they can't be happy about Roy making it to Devil's Tower.

Now that you guys did Monsters, will you do Skyline?  Another low budget sci-fi movie financed completely by its directors.

Okay, it's a comedy - but a bittersweet one. How about the cult movie SLC Punk? It features a compelling performance by Matthew Lillard as a punk rocker in mid 80s Salt Lake City, Utah. It's an independent film that breaks the fourth wall in various ways. Plus it has Michael Goorjian looking like Deniro in Taxi Driver as well as Til Schweiger as an intense drug dealer. There are some serious themes - so much so that many don't regard this as a comedy at all.

P.S. Just in case someone has submitted this movie as an option I apologize. I looked for a search feature I promise.

Last edited by insideoutcast (2010-11-06 02:59:34)