fmalover

Spuffure said:

I really hate it when people think the 1980s was the pinnacle of music and that 2010s/2020s music is the nadir of music.

It’s even worse than that.

The 1980s ended over three decades ago and yet there’s still this relentless obsession with the 1980s, particularly in pop culture, with several movies and TV/streaming shows referencing the decade in question or taking place during the decade. Worst of all is Ready Player One (book and movie adaptation), the story is set in the year 2045 but everyone seems fixated on the 1980s. It would be as if today’s youth were obsessed with the 1960s.

Seriously, I am fed up with the 1980s nostalgia that is so pervasive in today’s society. Look ahead and move forward.

When I saw Avengers: Endgame in the cinema there were a lot of kids present, who started cheering when Captain America wields Mjolnir, and erupted in wild cheers during the climactic final battle between all the MCU heroes and Thanos’s army.

I’m sorry guys, but I can’t say anything bad about a movie that has brought this much joy to children.

So I dusted off my N64 and started replaying the SotE game.

Way back in the day I only finished it on Easy and Medium. Never finished it on Hard and Jedi, and I always assumed that Jedi was the toughest difficulty setting but that’s not the case. Jedi is more of a “kill or be killed” type of difficulty, where enemies are essentially glass cannons that go down in one or two shots but do a lot of damage.

Holy shit this game is tough on Hard. I’m currently stuck on the Ord Mantell junkyard, and this is the difficulty setting is where your blaster does the least amount of damage.

The Americans’ use of the Imperial system once led to a funny mix-up when I was a kid.

My father bought me an illustrated book about marine life, and the section about the blue whale said that they can grow up to 100 feet long, however I misread that as 100 metres because I knew nothing about the Imperial system.

As an outsider, I really wish America got on with the times and embraced the metric system. I always have to pull out a calculator and convert units whenever they talk about feet, inches, yards and miles or pounds for weight whenever I’m watching educational videos.

The Imperial system also has a messed up scale. Twelve inches equals a foot, three feet equals a yard and 1760 yards equals a mile. Compare that to the smooth sailing of the metric system: 100 centimetres equals a meter, and 1000 meters equals a kilometre.

JackNapier said:

fmalover said:

Spuffure said:

fmalover said:

JackNapier said:

Albums keep getting deleted off of ITunes, which is going to force me to pirate them. Known examples are Star Wars and Robocop, as both have removed music albums.

As someone who recently spent three years without internet access (2017-2020), I can tell you this is why I’m not entirely sold on streaming services, and still see value in physical media. That’s the thing with online pirated media, you can save it to your hard drive and play it whenever you want to, whereas streaming is entirely dependent on your online connection.

There’s also region locking, which sucks like a black hole.

Also, Replace pirated media with free-license media and then we’re talking.

Yeah, region locking is the worst. I have an Amazon Prime account and there’s several movies and TV series I can’t watch due to region locking.

VPNS sometimes work.

I already have VPN, but it doesn’t work with Prime Video.

Spuffure said:

fmalover said:

JackNapier said:

Albums keep getting deleted off of ITunes, which is going to force me to pirate them. Known examples are Star Wars and Robocop, as both have removed music albums.

As someone who recently spent three years without internet access (2017-2020), I can tell you this is why I’m not entirely sold on streaming services, and still see value in physical media. That’s the thing with online pirated media, you can save it to your hard drive and play it whenever you want to, whereas streaming is entirely dependent on your online connection.

There’s also region locking, which sucks like a black hole.

Also, Replace pirated media with free-license media and then we’re talking.

Yeah, region locking is the worst. I have an Amazon Prime account and there’s several movies and TV series I can’t watch due to region locking.

Of course physical media’s main drawback is that it can take up a lot of space, another one being the environmental harm since we’re talking about disks made out of plastic. I very rarely play my music CDs these days and have digitally transferred all of them, but having them around means I have a permanent backup in case I lose my digital files, and that’s pretty much the benefit of physical media, you own that physical copy. I wish you could have the option to permanently save your media (music, computer games, movies) permanently to your PC without having to depend on an internet connection.

If anything, my three years without internet access have given me a newfound appreciation for physical media, and I lament the fact that PC games are exclusively digital downloads nowadays. That being said, nothing beats reading physical media, be they comic books, magazines, fiction novels, etc.

JackNapier said:

Albums keep getting deleted off of ITunes, which is going to force me to pirate them. Known examples are Star Wars and Robocop, as both have removed music albums.

As someone who recently spent three years without internet access (2017-2020), I can tell you this is why I’m not entirely sold on streaming services, and still see value in physical media. That’s the thing with online pirated media, you can save it to your hard drive and play it whenever you want to, whereas streaming is entirely dependent on your online connection.

JackNapier said:

fmalover said:

Stardust1138 said:

I’ve been thinking and find it to be very unfortunate that we never saw a confrontation between Anakin and Darth Maul. It would have been so emotional due to their interwoven destinies and so intriguing to see Anakin angry at him about killing Qui-Gon. Plus there’s even Darth Maul tapping into the void that Obi-Wan couldn’t fully fulfill of being a father figure. There’s honestly so much potential beyond even just these two points. I really wonder if George had held onto Star Wars awhile longer whether or not we would’ve seen a fight between them since the series was supposed to go longer than what we got. I’d like to hope so. Especially with Darth Maul being the big bad of his Sequels as it would’ve created an extra connective tissue history with the Skywalker family.

When Maul was reintroduced in Star Wars Rebels I expected his story to be this: he becomes an ally of the Rebellion who’s not trustworthy because he’s still very much a committed practitioner of the Dark Side and is only driven by his hatred of the Empire and revenge against the Emperor in particular, and he would frequently make snarky comments on the Rebellion’s lack of ruthlessness, and would naturally take a liking to Saw Gerrera, and would obviously encourage Ezra to give in to his darker tendencies, however his deals with the rebels start to rub on him and he becomes fond of them even if he refuses to acknowledge it. I would have then concluded his arc with him facing Darth Vader in a lightsaber duel, where he expresses a desire to have the duel with both of them in their prime, and Maul ultimately dies in his confrontation with Vader, realizing how futile his quest for vengeance against the Emperor was.

Instead what we got was Maul still looking to pick a fight with Obi-Wan. Seriously, what a waste.

Your version is now canon for me.

I appreciate your vote of confidence.

Stardust1138 said:

I’ve been thinking and find it to be very unfortunate that we never saw a confrontation between Anakin and Darth Maul. It would have been so emotional due to their interwoven destinies and so intriguing to see Anakin angry at him about killing Qui-Gon. Plus there’s even Darth Maul tapping into the void that Obi-Wan couldn’t fully fulfill of being a father figure. There’s honestly so much potential beyond even just these two points. I really wonder if George had held onto Star Wars awhile longer whether or not we would’ve seen a fight between them since the series was supposed to go longer than what we got. I’d like to hope so. Especially with Darth Maul being the big bad of his Sequels as it would’ve created an extra connective tissue history with the Skywalker family.

When Maul was reintroduced in Star Wars Rebels I expected his story to be this: he becomes an ally of the Rebellion who’s not trustworthy because he’s still very much a committed practitioner of the Dark Side and is only driven by his hatred of the Empire and revenge against the Emperor in particular, and he would frequently make snarky comments on the Rebellion’s lack of ruthlessness, and would naturally take a liking to Saw Gerrera, and would obviously encourage Ezra to give in to his darker tendencies, however his deals with the rebels start to rub on him and he becomes fond of them even if he refuses to acknowledge it. I would have then concluded his arc with him facing Darth Vader in a lightsaber duel, where he expresses a desire to have the duel with both of them in their prime, and Maul ultimately dies in his confrontation with Vader, realizing how futile his quest for vengeance against the Emperor was.

Instead what we got was Maul still looking to pick a fight with Obi-Wan. Seriously, what a waste.

So far the only change that really irritates me about the movie is gender-swapping Doctor Kynes. I suspect it was done to increase the female presence, but that could have easily been fixed by including the Fremen widow (Harath I think is her name) that is placed under Paul’s care.

thxita said:

I’ll see if I can solve this by the end of summer, otherwise I’ll refund the people who sent me money and we forget about Face Off 35mm all together. It’s going to be a loss for me, I won’t deny, but what else can I do. You live you learn.

I hope you do, otherwise bummer.

This 35mm scan looks so much better than the Blu-ray.

RicOlie_2 said:

fmalover said:

RicOlie_2 said:

fmalover said:

So what are you suggesting? That we abolish the sex industry altogether?

Practically speaking? No. Ideally speaking? Yes. It might be possible to eliminate trafficking without putting a stop to the industry, but I think there is something inherently wrong about objectifying human beings.

I don’t think I am objectifying anyone when porn is made for the explicit purpose of my arousal. I fully understand they are people, and if I were to encounter them in person I would simply say hello and be polite.

As for those who made a conscious decision to be pornstars and seem to genuinely enjoy their jobs, do you think they are somehow mentally damaged? Take Angela White for example. She chose the profession and genuinely loves it, or Nina Hartley, who’s been in the business since the 1980s and shows no signs of slowing down.

Your position makes sense to me, but I don’t think I fully agree with it. We may see objectification differently, but I would say that deriving sexual pleasure from someone outside of a relationship with that person inherently involves objectifying them, even if you are not seeing them as mere objects.

I don’t think pornstars are mentally damaged. I think there certainly are people who like performing sex for others. I’m just not convinced that it’s healthy for society to see sex as entertainment, divorced from any kind of personal relationship.

Well guess what, porn is outlawed in countries with authoritarian and very repressive regimes such as Cuba, China and the middle east. Does that mean their societies are better than the ones where it’s legal?

Salman Rushdie once remarked that pornography is one of the most effective ways to measure freedom of expression.

JackNapier said:

fmalover said:

RicOlie_2 said:

fmalover said:

So what are you suggesting? That we abolish the sex industry altogether?

Practically speaking? No. Ideally speaking? Yes. It might be possible to eliminate trafficking without putting a stop to the industry, but I think there is something inherently wrong about objectifying human beings.

I don’t think I am objectifying anyone when porn is made for the explicit purpose of my arousal. I fully understand they are people, and if I were to encounter them in person I would simply say hello and be polite.

As for those who made a conscious decision to be pornstars and seem to genuinely enjoy their jobs, do you think they are somehow mentally damaged? Take Angela White for example. She chose the profession and genuinely loves it, or Nina Hartley, who’s been in the business since the 1980s and shows no signs of slowing down.

Completely missing the point.

Please elaborate.

RicOlie_2 said:

fmalover said:

So what are you suggesting? That we abolish the sex industry altogether?

Practically speaking? No. Ideally speaking? Yes. It might be possible to eliminate trafficking without putting a stop to the industry, but I think there is something inherently wrong about objectifying human beings.

I don’t think I am objectifying anyone when porn is made for the explicit purpose of my arousal. I fully understand they are people, and if I were to encounter them in person I would simply say hello and be polite.

As for those who made a conscious decision to be pornstars and seem to genuinely enjoy their jobs, do you think they are somehow mentally damaged? Take Angela White for example. She chose the profession and genuinely loves it, or Nina Hartley, who’s been in the business since the 1980s and shows no signs of slowing down.

RicOlie_2 said:

But often it’s not. Many porn workers are not freely consenting adults, but people who have been forced into the position.

Millions of people around the world are forced into the sex/porn “industry” including thousands in North America (that web page goes over just those who contacted a certain hotline–there are likely many more).

Pornhub is becoming notorious for its exploitation of women:

• Pornhub was sued by 40 victims of Girls Do Porn;
• Mia Khalifa’s story is well-known and quite tragic;
• Pornhub has long benefited from videos of rapes and child pornography;
• Here’s another personal story.

Yes, there is probably consent involved most of the time, but enough of the time there isn’t that you never really know when you’re watching porn whether it’s consensual or not.

Beyond that, however, it objectifies women by its very nature. People used to consensually sell themselves into slavery, but that didn’t make it OK. I don’t see why it’s OK to objectify other people whether or not they consent. It’s impossible to watch porn and see the actors/performers in their full humanity, as ends in themselves and not just means to one’s personal pleasure. The same goes for prostitution. Not to mention that porn can be addictive, like anything that creates a dopamine rush, and often does create dependencies, as I have seen in several people (and have heard about in many more).

So what are you suggesting? That we abolish the sex industry altogether? What’s next? Subject all human beings to hormone-inhibiting drugs unless it’s with the express purpose of procreation?

Another reason I believe porn should be destigmatized is because once you decide to enter the world of pornography that pretty much closes the possibility of moving on and doing something else, although there are a few stories of performers who left the industry and have had successful post-porn careers, such as Sunny Leone and Sasha Grey.

I want to bitch about something, and it concerns the sex industry in general, particularly pornography and prostitution.

I am fed up with the constant shaming of sex workers as if they are lesser human beings. At the end of the day those who do porn are entertainers, and the actors in particular are consenting adults who are doing videos for our personal enjoyment. As for prostitutes, some of us want to unwind and enjoy the pleasures of the flesh and have little to no patience for seduction games.

Most of us are horny, and I think it’s time we accept that part of ourselves and not feel ashamed about it.

The 1998 Godzilla movie is pretty good. The only mistake was naming the movie Godzilla.

I’ve been wondering about the same thing.

3Maters said:

fmalover said:

3Maters said:

This still alive?

Yes. Head over to thestarwarstrilogy.com forum.

I can’t join without an invitation code. Can anyone help out? Donated to this project last year.

I just asked Williarob to help you out. I expect him to contact you any time soon.

I like this one a lot more than the first trailer. The movie still has that perfume commercial vibe to it, but now I’m warming up to it.

Still not a fan of the desaturated colours. I would crank up the colour saturation about 25%.

3Maters said:

This still alive?

Yes. Head over to thestarwarstrilogy.com forum.

Stardust1138 said:

fmalover said:

Honestly I don’t like the drab muted colour palette Villeneuve is going for.

I also don’t like the look of Baron Harkonnen as some sort of cyberpunk villain. I the book the Baron Harkonnen is described as having red hair and dressing in flamboyant, brightly coloured robes.

I’ve not read the books. I’m thinking about waiting until after I see the film as it will help prevent further expectations. That’s interesting though.

I read the book last year, and I’m currently halfway through Children of Dune.

Reading the book has killed any anticipation I might have had for the movie, because the books evoke vivid imagery in my mind that is far removed from Villeneuve’s vision. The movie looks like some sterile perfume commercial with minimalistic aesthetics and there’s a lifelessness to the way the movie looks. I think that’s one of the few things the 1984 film adaptation got right, with the elaborate costumes and baroque set design. I don’t know why so many book fans are so hyped for this movie.

I feel like other directors that would have been better suited from a visual standpoint are Tarsem Singh, Darren Aronofsky or Luc Besson.

Honestly I don’t like the drab muted colour palette Villeneuve is going for.

I also don’t like the look of Baron Harkonnen as some sort of cyberpunk villain. I the book the Baron Harkonnen is described as having red hair and dressing in flamboyant, brightly coloured robes.