Bill mostly sticks to the Abrahamic Religions, but gets some jabs in at $cientology, too.
That's ok, really. He doesn't need to bring up every faith to get his thesis across.
Buddhism, Sikhism, Shintoism etc. are pretty harmless, and historically, aside from being used to keep people down, Hinduism wasn't terrible (so far as I know). Aside from poor people spending their cash to feed sacred rats, monkeys, and other dumb shit like that, I don't see how it hurts too much anymore. Polytheistic religions tend to do better in this regard--"those other people's gods are real, too"--so there's less conflict for religious reasons.
Polytheism provides just as powerful motives for conflict as any other religion. Yes, the other guy's gods may be real but mine are more powerful. Just to prove it I will conquer you and in so doing I will demonstrate my god's superiority.
__________________ Old Pain In The Ass says: I am on a mission from God to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable; to bring faith to the doubtful and doubt to the faithful.
He could afford to be tolerant. By his understanding, the gods of Babylon had already defeated the god of the Judeans.
__________________ Old Pain In The Ass says: I am on a mission from God to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable; to bring faith to the doubtful and doubt to the faithful.
This was a visually beautiful film, but I don't think I liked it very much. Too much was unresolved for my taste.
One annoying part of watching with English subtitles is that, in several instances, the subtitles did not translate what people were saying. Like anything that was said in Italian, and at least once where the Doctor was replying to something. And they were real sentences, not Yes/No/etc. I'm sure it didn't make a huge difference, but missing every 14th line probably wouldn't make a huge difference either and that would still be annoying.
After hearing about and reading quotes from The Big Lebowski for years, I finally watched that Coen brothers film. Meh, the dude abides. I get strange comfort from that.
__________________
Sleep - the most beautiful experience in life - except drink.--W.C. Fields
I made the roommate buy Superman/Batman: Apocalypse. It's the latest in the direct to DVD titles produced by Bruce Timm. Despite the title suggesting that Superman and Batman are going to defend against Hell itself, this story is more about Kara Zor-El, cousin to Kal El. The most glorious thing I can say about this is that the casting director finally got Ted Daly and Kevin Conroy to voice Superman and Batman (respectively), the same v.actors who voiced them from their individual series as well as Justice Leage and JLU. (Also reprising roles are Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman and Ed Asner as Granny Goodness.)
It's a good release and I enjoyed it but not as much as previous releases. The fight scenes are as good and many are better than anything else you've seen from Team Timm. There is no reason for any of you who like this kind of thing to at least rent it. For those among us who have transcended liking anything and everything from Team Timm, and you know who you are, you should be ashamed of yourself for not already owning this and posting a review. I mean, really. (Though an allowance is made for old nerds like wei yau who has young and impressionable children - who may actually learn something, like, say, how to more efficiently bring about the demise of others - for not rushing out and buying a PG-13 rated "cartoon.")
Edit:
I also used the Netflix to watch Excalibur.
Fantastic movie. Epic on a scale that only big budget, silver screen movies can provide. Despite some goofery from Merlin, it was an example of everything that can be right about a movie. I loved nearly everything else about it. Of special note to me were the battle scenes. It was just a bunch of guys in metal bashing each other. The complete opposite of every medieval battle depicted in recent movies. Even the all too good to be true characters who could have very easily been cardboard camp had all too realistic faults that they struggled against, and even fell to.
Because of the whole fucking-a-teenager-thing, or just his acting?
I didn't know about any fuck a teenager thing. What happened there?
It's his acting, his roles, his smarmy "I'm Rob fucking Lowe so I can just write this role in. I'm devilishly handsome [Not -- Edward Cullen (and he'd know)] so everyone must like me." Meh, I don't see the talent he purports to have.
__________________
Don't pray in my school and I won't think in your church.
This was a visually beautiful film, but I don't think I liked it very much. Too much was unresolved for my taste.
One annoying part of watching with English subtitles is that, in several instances, the subtitles did not translate what people were saying. Like anything that was said in Italian, and at least once where the Doctor was replying to something. And they were real sentences, not Yes/No/etc. I'm sure it didn't make a huge difference, but missing every 14th line probably wouldn't make a huge difference either and that would still be annoying.
The Italian was the only part I didn't understand, but I'm pretty sure they didn't miss any of the German. But then I had Dutch subtitles, so they were different.
I liked that one a lot, but then I don't like endings where everything is neatly resolved in the end.
I think if I had more warning that certain pieces of the story were about to change, then it would have set better with me. For instance, :
Where did the midwife go? What happened to Karli? Where did the Doctor and his family go? It seemed like this happened all of a sudden, and this is what I disliked about not being resolved at all.
Also, I read some reviews about this after I finished watching it and thought it was interesting to consider
whether the narrator was completely reliable/objective.
Seems like most of the big players involved with Facebook were douches.
For what it's worth, there was a story about The Social Network on NPR this morning. They claimed that, in real life, Mark Zuckerberg is almost exactly the opposite of the way that he's portrayed in the movie.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dingfod
After hearing about and reading quotes from The Big Lebowski for years, I finally watched that Coen brothers film. Meh, the dude abides. I get strange comfort from that.
The Coen brothers are really hit-or-miss as far as I'm concerned. For instance, I love O Brother Where Art Thou?, but the strongest reaction I can muster for The Big Lebowski is complete indifference. I'd rather watch paint dry.
I watched it in the theater when it first came out and was bored out of my skull. Years later, after hearing over and over and over again what a great movie it was, I rented a copy. I figured that surely I must have missed something the first time around. Nope. It was just as pointless and boring the second time around as it had been the first time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BrotherMan
I made the roommate buy Superman/Batman: Apocalypse. It's the latest in the direct to DVD titles produced by Bruce Timm. Despite the title suggesting that Superman and Batman are going to defend against Hell itself, this story is more about Kara Zor-El, cousin to Kal El. The most glorious thing I can say about this is that the casting director finally got Ted Daly and Kevin Conroy to voice Superman and Batman (respectively), the same v.actors who voiced them from their individual series as well as Justice Leage and JLU. (Also reprising roles are Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman and Ed Asner as Granny Goodness.)
Tim Daly and Kevin Conroy also voice Superman and Batman, respectively, in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. As a bonus, Clancy Brown returns as the voice of Lex Luthor and CCH Pounder voices Amanda Waller. If you haven't seen it yet, it's well worth viewing.
Quote:
I also used the Netflix to watch Excalibur.
Fantastic movie. Epic on a scale that only big budget, silver screen movies can provide. Despite some goofery from Merlin, it was an example of everything that can be right about a movie. I loved nearly everything else about it. Of special note to me were the battle scenes. It was just a bunch of guys in metal bashing each other. The complete opposite of every medieval battle depicted in recent movies. Even the all too good to be true characters who could have very easily been cardboard camp had all too realistic faults that they struggled against, and even fell to.
Excalibur is one of my all-time favorite movies. The scene in which Arthur and his knights are riding to their final battle as the land comes to life around them brings goosebumps every time ...
Cheers,
Michael
__________________
“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
Tim Daly and Kevin Conroy also voice Superman and Batman, respectively, in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies.
And, unlike Steven Colbert, Kevin Conroy is not "too important" to parody himself. He voiced the hilarious "Captain Sunshine":
Quote:
Excalibur is one of my all-time favorite movies. The scene in which Arthur and his knights are riding to their final battle as the land comes to life around them brings goosebumps every time ...
But compared to the Kurosawa Original [Tm.--Ed.]?
Seriously, aside from being a fantastic film, I had a chance to meet Nicole "WOAH! LIKE LIGHTENING! Yes, That's It" Williamson and get my copy of the film autographed. I did get to see Helen Mirren and have a poster--with Ian McKlellan signed. I also got to meet Terry English who did the armor and, of course, the swords.
I feel it is a very misunderstood film, for example:
Everyone bitches about Dean Keaton Uther not removing his armor when he dances the heavy fantastic with Cornwall's wife. Indeed. That is the point: Uther is a dunder-head. He would not BOTHER to remove the armor, he just wants to rape her.
I recall the Twins of Fail Siskel and Ebert blathering about the "Tarnex" used because the armor was so shiny in the beginning. Yes! Sort of like a . . . fairy tale? And . . . you know, dumbasses, it gets, like "rusty" as things fail? You know . . . symbolism? But I forgot: you both loved Return of the Jedi.
Tim Daly and Kevin Conroy also voice Superman and Batman, respectively, in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. As a bonus, Clancy Brown returns as the voice of Lex Luthor and CCH Pounder voices Amanda Waller. If you haven't seen it yet, it's well worth viewing.
I did see that and I guess I am just so accustomed to hearing their voices come from those characters that I didn't think to note it then.
I thought Williamson's "goofery" was an asset to Excalibur, not a liability. The only portrayal I didn't care much for was Lancelot's -- I thought he was horribly overwrought.
And fuck me, I actually agree with DocX for once on a cinema topic. Not about Siskel and Ebert being "Twins of Fail" , but they did miss the point about the armor.
The Big Lebowski is one of the few Coen Bros. films I sat through without wanting the 2 hours of my life back. Granted, I've never seen O Brother, mostly out of Coenhate.
__________________
"Her eyes in certain light were violet, and all her teeth were even. That's a rare, fair feature: even teeth. She smiled to excess, but she chewed with real distinction." - Eleanor of Aquitaine
Re: Seen Any Good Movies...?
Ah yes, India, that bastion of social and religious harmony.
Re: Seen Any Good Movies...?
, but they did miss the point about the armor.
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Linear Mode
