C3PX

I find the Rifftrax version of the HS gut splittingly funny, I'd would definitely rather watch that than the PT.

Though the "PT" or "HS" thing is really one of those, "Would you rather eat a bowl full of dog snot, or a bucket of earthworms" sort of questions. I'd rather not have to participate in this sick sort of game if I don't have to.

Axia, you haven't seen the HS since the 70's? Wow, you really need to get a hold of a copy and give it another chance. Maybe it isn't as bad as you remember it... maybe it is worse...

skyjedi2005 said:

Drout's class i would say is unorthodox however because he also teaches a course on fantasy and J.R.R. Tolkien.  The literary elite have done their best to keep Tolkien off the Syllabus on the university level because he was a linguist, and a fantacist and not the proper kind of thing to teach.  They only wanted realism expressed and did not want to add fantasy.  They slowly added Science Fiction and Fantasy and resisted it all the way as literature proper to the student.

Actually, I remember my university had an entire course devoted to Tolkien. I suppose it depends on the university, but it is not at all uncommon to have these sorts of courses at universities as electives. Most universities have several handfuls of fluff classes courses to pad out the course schedule, and give students plenty of things to choose from when filling their elective requirements.

xhonzi said:

C3PX, I can't believe you hate the Matrix movies that much.  I know a lot of people really hate the sequels, but generally liked the first one.  I feel bad because I've always seen you as a friend and "one of the good guys" here at ot.com. 

Now I must destroy you.

Actually, can you just tell me whether you liked the first Matrix before seeing the sequels?  Because, if association has brought your opinion down, I can totally dig that.

The first Matrix movie is the only one I have sat the whole way through. I was subjected to bits and pieces of the second film, and barely survived it with my sanity intact. I haven't seen any more of the third film that a film clips and trailers, but considering the fact that friends of mine who loved the first two films and thought that they were the epitome of intellectual storytelling also felt the third one was disappointing... well, I don't even want to think about how incredible awful that film must be.

So no, the first film wasn't brought down by association for me, I really hated it from the first time I saw it. I felt it was way over rated, incredibly silly, and pretty pointless. I especially love the end where Neo flies up into the screen before the credits roll, really cracks me up. One of the lamest moments in recent sci-fi history.

Vaderisnothayden said:

Critics and university courses have all sorts of silly ideas about films and shouldn't be paid attention to. There's a lot of pretention going on about The Matrix. Another cyberpunk film which gets a lot of pretentious reaction is Bladerunner. The setting is good and Harrison Ford is good, but that's about it. The film doesn't work very well and is terribly disappointing. It's even worse with the director's cut making Deckard a bleedin replicant, which is NOT what Harrison was playing.

Octorox said:

Vaderisnothayden said:

Critics and university courses have all sorts of silly ideas about films and shouldn't be paid attention to.

And surely you know better than the experts?

I agree with Vaderisnothayden's comment on university courses, I don't feel that they should be completely ignored, but I don't think they should be given more credit than they deserve, as they often are. These sorts of things are all very subjective, so it is kind of funny to have an "authority" stand up and say this work is far superior to that work, when you will invariably be able to find another "expert" with just as good of creditials in the same field who will say the exact opposite. Though when a work is relevant to its field, you can't really deny it. While many English majors and literature people worship him, I am not all that fond of Shakespeare, but I cannot deny the significance of his work and the importance of studying it.

I hate when people compare The Matrix with Blade Runner. Blade Runner may not be as fantastic as many of us fans make it out to be, but at least it has a clearly defined message. The Matrix on the other hand is one confusing mess, and it is not confusing because it is deep and complex, it is confusing because it is trying to pretend to be deep and complex. Follow the white rabbit! Red pill or the blue pill? I know Kung Fu. Whoa! It reminds me of the kind of "profound" pot smokers generally experience. Pure rubbish. But it sounds deep, and it looks cool, so it must be something truly great.

TheBoost said:

(ever notice how in "Firefly" there's all these Chinese influences in the culture, but no Asian people at all?)

Strangely, I didn't notice that before. But now that I think about it, I can't remember a single Asian in the background anywhere. Huh.

Gaffer Tape said:

... contrived.

Wow, Don Gaffer, you just summed up all the characters and plot points of this entire film in one word! Most impressive.

I admited before that the movie was a lot better than I expected, and that is true. I might end up going to see this once more while it is in theaters, but I cannot imagine myself really caring to see it again in in some years time. The movie is really all action and no substance, a lot of people enjoy this kind of thing (like the friggin Matrix movies, but they are even worse because they pretend to have substance), but I for one just don't find a whole lot of value in that sort of thing. Sure, it is funny to watch a youtube video of a guy getting kicked in the stones by a horse, but how many times can you really watch it before you have seen it and it is done? This new ST film feels a lot like that, very disposable, how many times can you watch that long stream of action sequences before you get the "been there, done that" feeling?

skyjedi2005 said:

The first Matrix is considered a sci fi masterpiece of cyber punk and film noir like Blade Runner.

Yeah, that is how some feel. There are also those who think ROTS was one of the best films in the SW saga.

Yeah he did, but he had a free movie pass, so it is alright. Right?

AxiaEuxine said:

I would recast Laurence Fishburne as Mace, basically have him play Morpheus as a Jedi...ahhhh yeeeeah

Sio Bibble....anyone else, does anyone else find that guy annoying? Ric Olie too, anyone else.

Oh, dude! You just came up with the one idea that could possible make me hate the prequels more. Morpheus as a Jedi! The very thought makes me feel like tossing my computer across the room. I will probably end up having nightmares about this tonight. Believe it or not, I actually hate... nay... loathe the Matrix movies about ten times as much as the prequels. When I think about The Matrix and the prequels together, the prequels give me a warm fuzzy feeling. I'd eagarly sit through the entire PT back to back, to avoid having to watch a single Matrix film. That is how very much I absolutely cannot even begin to tolerate the mere possibility of even having the potenial to be able to stand these awful, awful, awful, awful films. Bunch of mindless tripe that totally pisses on intelligent thought in every way imaginable. The very thought of their existence offends me greatly.

Phew! Sorry about that, just had to get it out of my system. I feel much better now.

Back to the topic, I do find Sio Whatever (if he is who I think he is) to be a bit annoying, but there is so many worse things going on around him, and he is such a minor part with very little screen time, I really don't mind him. And Ric Ollie is downright awesome! Cracks me up every time. He is the much needed comic relief in that movie. Toss Jar Jar and Threepio's over the top antics out the window, we don't need them. Ric Ollie is a character that lets you have a little chuckle at the movie without completely ruining it. In fact, I think I would have liked AOTC and ROTS better had Ric been in them (okay, maybe not, but I do love Ric).

I am just finished level 4-2 at the moment, so I still haven't encountered the Lickers. I heard they were back in this game, and I can't wait to see them. Ah, I have had the Magnum for sometime now, I just never used it against the chainsaw guys, I should have though of that. I've been using the rifle to get in head shot after head shot on them, works great, but sometimes while looking through the scope they end up being closer to you than you realize and then... buzz... plop.

I remember when I got to the end of Resident Evil 4, I felt really disappointed that it was over, I guess I am in for the same with this in a few days time. :( I'll probably whip RE4 out and give it another play through after I finish this.

It is funny how you wait so long for a game to come out, and then it is finished in just a short amount of time.

I have finally gotten a chance to sit down and dedicate some time to Resident Evil 5. I am absolutely loving it. I am even feeling sad as I get closer and closer to the end. 

One thing about it I feel is prety messed up, these stupid chainsaw guys have me dying and retrying again and again everytime I encounter them. They take so long to kill, and they are fast, I get caught on a corner, take a wrong turn, or reload at a bad time and I get decapitated instantly, and end of having to try again (this isn't a complaint, I love this sort of thing, because the reward of finally beating him is so much more rewarding). Same thing for the large wolf howling guys, not only do they creep me the hell out while I am playing in a dark room all by myself at 2 am, but they are tough to bring down.

So why is it that so far every boss has been painfully easy? On RE4 whenever a boss fight came up I'd almost dread it, I'd realize a boss battle was coming, and I'd brace myself for quite a battle, and IMHO RE4 always delivered on that. I just beat Irvin, and I really thought the guy was going to put up a fight, but I had him down in less than five minutes and without needing to use any health idems. I am sure the boss battles will get harder, but this is pretty lame for a little over halfway through the game. It is not that the difficulty over all is too much, I am finding the rest of it plenty challenging, just wish the bosses were tougher.

I am with Chaltab, I typically can't stand movie tie-ins. I don't just dislike them on principal, I dislike them because they are typically extremely generic sub-par, quickly thrown together pieces of crap. If a movie tie-in is good, I'll have no problem giving it a go. But that is pretty rare.

I've actually wanted to play Wolverine's Revenge (starring mark Hamil as the voice of Wolverine) since it first came out. I remember it had fairly decent reviews, and running around as Wolverine clawing at people sounds like a lot of fun. Now that game is extremely dated, and I have still yet to play it.

Running around as Wolverine clawing people to death still sounds like a lot of fun though. I might check out Origins sometime.

Octorox said:

but he wrote the scripts for the OT as well, didn't he?

No.

I am also not a EU hater. I have often come on here and talked about bits of it I have liked.

You're telling me to chill out? I promise you, I am as chill as they come. If I were any more chill, you'd have to thaw me out.

I think you need to chill out, Axia. You seem to take this stuff rather personally. I reassure you, it isn't personal. No one here thinks less of you for liking the PT/EU. We were not even really bashing the EU in this thread, we were just making a few jokes about it.

I think unknowns were the way to go. And I actually really liked most of the prequel casting. I think Natalie Portman is a decent actress, very beautiful, and worthy to be the mom of Leia. I can't think of any one I would rather have as Padme than her, it is only that... eh... can't get into that, because I don't want to break the rules...

Ewan McGregor was great as Obi-Wan, but under used in The Phantom Menace. He was good enough in the other movies from a looks and ton standpoint, but...

And for Palpatine, who better than the guy who played him in Return of the Jedi? But again...

I also really liked the idea of Samuel L. Jackson playing a Jedi master...

Liam Neeson was downright awesome as Qui-Gon...

Who better to voice Yoda than Frank Oz...

Terrence Stamp as Cancelor Valorum, freakin awesome! Who could possible complain about having Stamp in an SW movie, geek dream come true.

Christopher Lee in a Star Wars movie, seriously, this is some exciting stuff, but...

The only character I'd call into question are Hayden and the guy who played Jango. I haven't seen Hayden in anything else, but I am not so sure he was actually all that bad for the part either, I think the break down was elsewhere..

They could have cast just about anyone else in the role of Jango, like an orangatang for example, or someone with down syndrom, and it would have been a vast improvement. My ideal Clone Trooper template/Boba Fett template/Boba's father would beyond a doubt be Michael Biehn (come on, you all know it would have been awesome). That is always the sort of face I imagined behind Fett's mask.

You know, with the exeption of Jango, I actually felt the casting on the PT was damn near perfect, for the main characters at least. It was probably the absolutely best part of the PT, in my opinion.

Might just be me, but I am thinking the problem with the PT isn't in the casting, but that it lies elsewhere, somewhere... elusive...

Thanks for sharing.

Yeah, I have to admit. Though I was against it before, once I found myself having to put up with how annoying Kirk is in this film, I loved every second of him getting knocked around by Spock. I can forgive most of the flaws in this film, but obnoxious Kirk is something that just won't let me enjoy it. I just can't stand his character.

Oh, but that black shirt he was wearing through much of the film with the Starfleet insignia, I want one of those. That was a cool shirt.

To say a few good things about the movie, I really liked the new uniforms. They managed to make them feel more modern, and yet still strongly resemble those from TOS.

lordjedi said:

Honestly, I have no problem putting limits on people that receive welfare, but if you want to have 14 kids and take care of them all yourself, go right ahead and do it.

How would you propose doing that? Some program where the government would offer to pay to have your bits and pieces' reproductive abilities disabled? I suppose it would be okay if it was offered and not obligatory. But I'd be very uncomfortable with the government telling women they must get their tubes tied to continue receive welfare.

Yeah, at first I thought you were joking, as I intended too. Then it dawned on me that you might be serious. Then I reread it and felt confident that if Tales of the Dun Sea was real, you wouldn't be calling it a gem of the EU.

DarkFather said:

Don't talk through your ass. It is bad manners. (No offense of anything, it just needed to be said).

If you look closely at how the guy's talking, you can see where I'm coming from. Try it.

All I see is you insulting someone else because they don't hold the same views as you. I am all for disagreeing with people, but there are far more mature ways to go about doing it than taking low blows at their sex lives.

DarkFather said:

Seems to me there is an incredible amount of families out there who really want to adopt kids and give them a good life, but have to wait years and years for one, yet here we are talking about mercy killings of inocent lives so they don't have to go through life unwanted.

That's the fault of the system, not my argument.

That was my point. The emphasis needs to be on fixing the fault in the system, not on fixing symtoms and leaving the problem alone. You can waste countless rolls of paper towel mopping water off the floor, or you could fix the leaking pipe.

All I know is that I am really glad I wasn't aborted. Had my mom aborted me I'd be freakin pissed.

CompMovieGuy said:

C3PX said:

Seriously dude, you scare the shit out of me. And I am the guy who think murder should be legalized (within reason).

Well I guess some of us have extreme sides, but you know whats scary? I consider myself a very middle of the road type person ;)

Hey, what a coincidence! I also consider myself middle of the road!

DarkFather said:

 

No, it is not ignorant. Unless someone can prove to me otherwise, most abortions are due to neglectful women who have unprotected sex.

 

I think your sex life is down the hole, so you wish to put restrictions on other's sex lives in order to feel like you have company, so to speak.

Don't talk through your ass. It is bad manners. (No offense of anything, it just needed to be said).

So you want to sentence the child to a life-time hell of children's homes and foster parents? The merciful thing to do with an unwanted child who is the product of rape is to abort it, at least while it's still in the early stages of development, when it has no thought, no feelings, no dreams, or identity of its own. It is indeed extremely ignorant to not take a closer look at what that child would be going through if they were put up for adoption. An unwanted child's life isn't a bittersweet Disney fairytale. It's cold, gritty, and highly traumatic.

Yet strangely, I have multiple friends who are trying to adopt for years. For some reason it isn't an easy thing to do. One couple I know say it is their dream to adopt 14 kids, and I have actually known other couples who have done things similar to this. Seems to me there is an incredible amount of families out there who really want to adopt kids and give them a good life, but have to wait years and years for one, yet here we are talking about mercy killings of inocent lives so they don't have to go through life unwanted. Maybe it is just me, but something feels WAY out of wack here.

CompMovieGuy said:

Ferris said: No excuse EVER for abortion.

 

Except for population control, Im willing to bet that in the next 100 years that having a kid becomes state/country regulated, cause jimbo doesnt need to be the father of 16 kids and laquiesa needs to learn no matter how good it feels without a condom, when she has 8 kids already, a condom needs to be mandatory....if not sterialization

Seriously dude, you scare the shit out of me. And I am the guy who think murder should be legalized (within reason).

vote_for_palpatine said:

That's Associate Chief Fnelthr Plux of the Kalkmaar tribe. He and a faction loyal to him broke away from Chief Onf over the mistreatment of a captured Tusken from another tribe. The whole story was told in a SW short story collection, Tales of the Dune Sea, for everyone who wondered what Tuskens, Jawas, Krayt Dragons, and womp rats really did. Another pearl of modern EU, naturally.

Man, I really wanted to make something like that up last night and post it, but I wasn't feeling very creative. You hit on the the exact same kind of contrived and over explained post I invisioned. Great minds think alike. Excellent post!

The last 3D show I went to was the Terminator 3D thing in Universal Studios, and that was shortly after it first opened, and I didn't get a head ache from that. Don't know if this newer stuff is any different.

I think 3D in general in a pretty silly and gimmicky. However, silly and gimmicky can be kind of fun in small doses. If the movie looked normal without the glasses on so that you could take the glasses off when you got tired of them and enjoy the movie in 2D on the big screen, then I wouldn't hesitate to drop a ticket price on it. I would be worth it just to see the films on the big screen again. And it would be pretty cool to see the torture droids needle juting out of the screen at you, and to experience the space battles in 3D. Just imagine debris from that blown up X-Wing, or the wing of that Tie Fighter flying at your face. The kid in me gets thrills from the very thought of it.

EDIT: Oops, just remembered, I went on the ST Experience last year, and that has a small 3D segment. Man, that ride was freakin awesome! The nerd in me was much pleased throughout. I grinned like a dork the whole time. R.I.P. ST Experience.

Janskeet said:

I say, it is none of our business what people do with their embryos. If they want to have sex like manics and have tons of babies and kill them all. I say, kill 'em all!!! Just kidding

I don't think you are kidding, I think you are serious (which is perfectly fine). Where do you really stand on this? Your first post seemed to indicate that you fully support abortion.

Also worth noting, it is only an embryo up until around the eight week point, from then on it is a fetus. 

The problem with the abortion debate is that it tends to run on two extremes. Even people who try to take a more middle of the road approached, are knocked over into the extreme by the yahoo who takes the opposing view.

You have one side where you are infringing on the woman's right if you do not allow her to kill her child any time between conception and the second it comes out the birth canal. Then you have the opposing side where it is absolutely wrong no matter what, and if it a situation arises where it is going to be the mother's life or the babies then it is still wrong.

I disagree with both of these sides. The only thing I really care about with this whole abortion debate is that people realize that it absolutely is a real human life we are dealing with. When you abort a baby you are doing just that, you are putting an end to a human life. This is not right-wing rhetoric BS, this is pure fact, regardless of which side of the aisle you are on. If you come to terms with that fact, and still think it is a fabulous idea, then good for you. Just so long as you see it as it is.

People who want to use it as a means of population control scare the living fuck out of me with their fascist line of thinking. The whole idea of killing babies for the sake of keeping our number down is pretty sick. Let's also try out mandatory sterilization for anyone who doesn't go to college or join the military by the age of 19.

Janskeet said:

Do you anti-abortionists seriously think god put everyone on this planet for a reason?

No.

What's wrong with choice?

Nothing.

I think people should have a right to choose whether you have your child or not

I think people should have a right to choose whether you get born or not.

"Pro-choice" is a painfully misleading word. It would be like if I wanted to go to your house and murder you, and you didn't want me too. I'd angrily says, "Come on man, this is MY choice. I choose to murder you and you are being all anti-choice!" Pro-choice doesn't fit, it is a dumb word to use. Where is the baby's right to choice? It isn't like the pro-choicers are all about defending everyone's right to choose, they are defending one person's right to choose when it affects more than just their life.

If you want to end the life of your unborn baby, I am totally cool with that, it is between you and your baby, and is none of my business. But I wish we could grow up and leave the smoke and mirror out of it.

CompMovieGuy said:

Im in favor of any type of population control.

Me too. Personally, I think we need to build a large number of "death camps" around the country. Each of these death camps will contain some means of disposing of a mass quantities of body in some enviromentally green way. Maybe even figure out a means to convert this human matter into some form of fuel.

Anyway, we use these death camps to flush out our prisons. Then we start giving the death penalty for most severe crimes. Rape, murder, child molestation, kidnapping, attempted murder, etc. All these kinds of offenses will earn you a 1 way ticket to the death camp, where you will be taken care of.

I think this will be a good method of weeding out "problems" from our society, while severly discouraging these kinds of crimes, as well as provide a good means of controling the population.

Don't you think we ought to keep this sort of thing confined to the politics thread?