Topic: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

I work with an idiot that didn't understand that Battle Los Angeles and Battle of Los Angeles were two different movies.

He was raging about how he saw the movie on the Netflix Watch it Now (which was a huge clue to me what he was talking about since Battle LA isn't even on DVD yet) and was insulted that a big budget movie would look so crappy. He was telling everyone how terrible it was not to ever see it.

It took me a half hour to explain to him what The Asylum is and the term "Mockbuster". (he thought Mockbuster was what Hollywood called expensive trash movies. He was convinced Battle of Los Angeles cost 50 million dollars)

I really enjoy most of the Asylum's offerings but I know going in they are going to be quick and dirty. I'm just surprised to find out there are people who don't know the difference.

Re: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

That's adorable.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

You should have been there when i worked at Blockbuster.  We still had fullscreen DVDs back then and so many people would say that fullscreen was better than widescreen because it showed more of the picture on their TVs.  Im pretty sure everyones heard that one at least twice...

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Re: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

dkcecil wrote:

I work with an idiot that didn't understand that Battle Los Angeles and Battle of Los Angeles were two different movies.

The Asylum exists primarily because those idiots do.

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Re: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

dkcecil wrote:

He was telling everyone how terrible it was not to ever see it.

hmmmm, thats what i was telling people about the actual movie.

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Re: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

switch wrote:

You should have been there when i worked at Blockbuster.  We still had fullscreen DVDs back then and so many people would say that fullscreen was better than widescreen because it showed more of the picture on their TVs.  Im pretty sure everyones heard that one at least twice...

Oh I believe it and I've heard it far too many times. A good friend of mine used to work at Hollywood Video and he used to have all kinds of horror stories. Everything from "this dvd is broken because there are black bars at the top and the bottom of the screen" to "vhs is better than dvd because when you shut the movie off it is right where you left it".

Dorkman wrote:
dkcecil wrote:

I work with an idiot that didn't understand that Battle Los Angeles and Battle of Los Angeles were two different movies.

The Asylum exists primarily because those idiots do.

You know, it's kind of a brilliant marketing tactic. Taking money away from ignorant people.

Re: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

I have this whole thing about Hollywood video, where the level of bullshitness of any particular Hollywood Video store is directly correlated to its proximity to Hollywood.

As a store gets closer to Hollywood, the level of its bullshitness increases until it reaches its peak immediately outside of Hollywood (Burbank, for instance), before dropping off completely as soon as it arrives in the city limits of Hollywood proper.

It's not interesting, it's just something my mind came up with a long time ago and has stuck with me.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

What I love about this is that, if The Asylum had put maybe another $5 million into Battle of Los Angeles (sextupling its budget), this guy probably wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between it and Battle: Los Angeles.

I saw The Asylum movie, and it had that weird we-don't-quite-understand-how-the-military-works thing where jet pilots were too frightened to fly and had to be shouted at by a ground commander. And there was some more-or-less random borrowing from other action movies, like a crushing ceiling from Temple of Doom, a little Independence Day journeying to the mothership, some Aliens sneaking around in dim corridors, and a catsuited female badass a la GI Joe.

That said, Nia Peeples as that sword-wielding, catsuited badass was pretty awesome.

So I guess I'm the secondary reason The Asylum exists.

/Next up: Debbie Gibson vehicle Shoctopus: Electric Euthanasia
//running low on Asylum ideas

Warning: I'm probably rewriting this post as you read it.

Zarban's House of Commentaries

Re: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

Teague wrote:

I have this whole thing about Hollywood video, where the level of bullshitness of any particular Hollywood Video store is directly correlated to its proximity to Hollywood.

As a store gets closer to Hollywood, the level of its bullshitness increases until it reaches its peak immediately outside of Hollywood (Burbank, for instance), before dropping off completely as soon as it arrives in the city limits of Hollywood proper.

It's not interesting, it's just something my mind came up with a long time ago and has stuck with me.

By bullshitness, you mean the worse they get? Like the people that work in it think they are the next Tarantino?


Zarban wrote:

That said, Nia Peeples as that sword-wielding, catsuited badass was pretty awesome.

So I guess I'm the secondary reason The Asylum exists.

/Next up: Debbie Gibson vehicle Shoctopus: Electric Euthanasia
//running low on Asylum ideas

Ahhh Nia Pepples, she still looks terrific. I've been a fan of her ever since Deep Star Six and North Shore.

On a side note I wouldn't mind if Debbie Gibson starred in every Asylum film from here out.

Re: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

No, I just mean a Hollywood Video in Burbank requires me to stand outside sternly telling it "NO HOLLYWOOD VIDEO YOU ARE NOT IN HOLLYWOOD YOU ARE IN BURBANK"


...


I talk to buildings a lot.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

I worked at Blockbuster and used to love it. I mean, yeah, stupid customers suck and all that, but I had so much fun doing it. Especially when you get to fuck with those very same stupid customers.

I was into crappy B-movies even then, and the store I first worked at had "Gator Bait: Special Edition". Some shitty 70's sexploitation flick. The front of the box touted that this special extended version of the film featured "the uncut and unrated prison rape scene!" As a result, every time someone brought a special edition version up to my register I'd say "Oh, man, you're gonna love this version of E.T.:The Extra Terrestrial! It's got the fully restored prison rape sequence!"

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Re: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

Dude, I don't think Hollywood Video exists anymore. I think it's time to put that little observation to bed.

Re: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

Teague wrote:

No, I just mean a Hollywood Video in Burbank requires me to stand outside sternly telling it "NO HOLLYWOOD VIDEO YOU ARE NOT IN HOLLYWOOD YOU ARE IN BURBANK"


...


I talk to buildings a lot.

lol gotcha

Stupid buildings. Now that you mention it, I used to think similarly about West Coast video. (I'm on the East Coast)

Squiggly_P wrote:

I worked at Blockbuster and used to love it. I mean, yeah, stupid customers suck and all that, but I had so much fun doing it. Especially when you get to fuck with those very same stupid customers.

I was into crappy B-movies even then, and the store I first worked at had "Gator Bait: Special Edition". Some shitty 70's sexploitation flick. The front of the box touted that this special extended version of the film featured "the uncut and unrated prison rape scene!" As a result, every time someone brought a special edition version up to my register I'd say "Oh, man, you're gonna love this version of E.T.:The Extra Terrestrial! It's got the fully restored prison rape sequence!"

Funny thing is the DVD of ET did have a rape scene. It was when Spielberg decided that the audience couldn't handle seeing federal agents carry weapons and digitally altered them to be flashlights and walkee-talkees.

Brian Finifter wrote:

Dude, I don't think Hollywood Video exists anymore. I think it's time to put that little observation to bed.

Pretty soon Blockbuster will cease to exist as well. Good Riddance.

Man I sound pissy this morning. Ok, no more posting before I have my coffee.

Last edited by dkcecil (2011-05-27 12:22:01)

Re: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

dkcecil wrote:

Oh I believe it and I've heard it far too many times. A good friend of mine used to work at Hollywood Video and he used to have all kinds of horror stories. Everything from "this dvd is broken because there are black bars at the top and the bottom of the screen" to "vhs is better than dvd because when you shut the movie off it is right where you left it".

OK, the last bit IS a valid point, one I argued even as I was one of the early DVD buyers. It's just nice being able to stop a movie, switch tapes to watch something else, then be able to come back and pick up exactly where you left off. We can now do this with digital files if you have the right player, but I really missed the feature when I switched to DVDs from tapes. Trying to listen to audio books on CD was also a pain smile

I write stories! With words!
http://www.asstr.org/~Invid_Fan/

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Re: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

Well, I don't know about anyone else but I can't wait for Transmorphers 3 later in the year....

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Re: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

Invid wrote:

OK, the last bit IS a valid point, one I argued even as I was one of the early DVD buyers. It's just nice being able to stop a movie, switch tapes to watch something else, then be able to come back and pick up exactly where you left off. We can now do this with digital files if you have the right player, but I really missed the feature when I switched to DVDs from tapes. Trying to listen to audio books on CD was also a pain smile

I never thought it was that huge a deal to skip ahead chapters, although good god I can imagine it being a huge pain for audiobooks on CD.

Btw, you totally reminded my of my first DVD player. I bought it in 97 and it was HUGE.

Re: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

I miss the video shops; browsing the isles for 5 worthwhile weekly rentals for the evening movie marathon with mates and the arguing over which to pick was the catharsis of many excellent evenings. By the third film of the night people would start crashing, there would make top-up trips to 7-11 for more fizzy drink, and we'd have called the poor bastards at the late night pizza place for yet another delivery. We don't have that shared experience anymore; people bring drives full of films, and the serendipitous moment of finding something new (that nobodies seen) is lost.

Without Blockbuster I would never have experienced Akira, or countless other films that shaped my views and tastes. Thanks to the restrictions of a physical environment and library, many of the films i grew to love were seen during those late night marathons. They probably would never have made into my Quickflix (pretend I said Netflix), Rotten Tomato-vetted queue.

Yes there were dicks who worked there, much like a real bookshop, and despite that the electronic experience pales.

<Edited for spelling. Because I am retarded.>

Last edited by Dave (2011-05-29 00:21:52)

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Re: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

I used to work in a video shop, best job I ever had.....

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Re: Battle Los Angeles vs Battle of Los Angeles

I watch a ton of stuff by recording it from movie channels. The one major drawback is not being able to see a video box cover. All you get to decide if you want to watch something (on Dish Network) is the logline.

Paranormal Activitiy
Movie. Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Amber Armstrong. (2007) A young couple move into their first new home but are disturbed by what appears to be a supernatural presence that is most active at night.
Rating: R
L, SC
Critique: ***

Who are those women? Is this a horror movie or a comedy? There's not even room for some "thrill-a-minute all-out-race-against-time laff-fest" hyperbole.

Worse, long titles are cut off, so I could never tell, for instance, if the movie was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze.

Warning: I'm probably rewriting this post as you read it.

Zarban's House of Commentaries