IntenseDebate - MidKnight

14 years ago @ Big Hollywood - 'Hunger Games' Book Tr... · 0 replies · +1 points

At least one publisher is notorious in SF circles as "that bunch of right wing militaristic wackos" - Baen.

Despite the fact that they have a self-professed (and damned smart) Trotskyite on board as one of their main authors. Despite the fact that they are the only publisher that seems serious about giving out free samples (entire books!! Unencumbered by DRM!) - though oddly they do it because it makes them money.

14 years ago @ Big Hollywood - Barack the Vote: MTV C... · 2 replies · +3 points

I remember the last election, even people who weren't paying attention to the MTV stuff, but were young enough to have seen earlier rock the vote campaigns, were talking about "Ba-rock"ing the vote.

Meh.

While we're making "rock" puns, let's refer to an obscure animated movie from the 80's, and ask if perhaps our current president, if he stays in, will "Ba-Rock and Rule?"

14 years ago @ Big Hollywood - Frank Miller's Occupy ... · 0 replies · +1 points

FWIW - the uplift and Brightness Reef stories, his involvement in the foundation prequels with Bear and Benford, and even the Postman were fantastic stories (don't get me started with the movie... ugh)

His analysis of what was wrong with Star Wars I and II are also worth reading.

The guys position on anything politically related is not subject to the same intellectual rigor he applies elsewhere. Effectively the opposite.

14 years ago @ Big Hollywood - Frank Miller's Occupy ... · 0 replies · +1 points

Actually - there ARE real criminals on Wall street who cozied up to power for special favors. The Tea Party hated them as well. That's why in some ways OWS and the TP are two sides of the same coin. One side supports more government intervention and control of lives and money, the other side wants a decentralized power structure that is incapable of feeding big business what it wants - special favor. But of course, those people wearing funny old-period clothing, waving flags, NOT defecating on police cars, and often leaving the place cleaner than they found it were the REAL crazies.

14 years ago @ Big Hollywood - 'L.A. Times': Hollywoo... · 0 replies · +2 points

I agree with you as to why Netflix is being squeezed.

That said, the genie is out of the bottle.

Lastly, as "cheap" as bandwidth is, even given our rural and geographic issues, it should be a hell of a lot cheaper, for a lot more of it.

14 years ago @ Big Hollywood - 'L.A. Times': Hollywoo... · 0 replies · +1 points

Take a look at star command, the fan-made "star wreck", or even the freddiew youtube channel for just what you can do on almost no budget and a lot of sweat...
http://www.starwreck.com/
http://www.starcommandseries.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/freddiew

14 years ago @ Big Hollywood - 'L.A. Times': Hollywoo... · 0 replies · +4 points

But in a lot of cases, commentary is now being left out of the DVD versions unless you pony up even more for the "special editions."

I like the commentary on most, but it's still enough of a crapshoot as far as actually _adding_ to the film that I'm hesitant to spend more for that.

14 years ago @ Big Hollywood - The Death of Coherent ... · 0 replies · +1 points

BHD is definitely an example of shaky-chaos done right. So, for that matter, is District B13. Go find the opening free running scene around and through and over the buildings.

14 years ago @ Big Hollywood - The Death of Coherent ... · 0 replies · +1 points

I'll say that I utterly agree with the overall thrust of the video essay, BUT...

I don't think the "chaos" was overdone in the Dark Knight, in Inception, or in Blackhawk Down.

If anything, the movie made it easier to track who was doing what where than the books... and the treatment, while letting you know both what was going on, AND how the people involved felt, was brilliant.

Transformers left me numb.

It's not the frenetic cuts, it's the fact that the cuts are all visual noise and don't tell you what's actually going on that's the problem.

Well, that and the shaky camera work on black swan literally made me nauseous - and I'm not normally susceptible to shaky cam.

14 years ago @ Big Hollywood - Conservative-Empowerin... · 0 replies · +1 points

If you're more in a dark wave mood (think crunchier Depeche Mode) without the life-sucks nihilism, check out the Cruxshadows. Citadel and Winterborn from Ethernaut (themed on the Trojan War), Sophia, and last but not least, Eye of the Storm are very conservative -themed calls to arms. To fight for what is right, nobility, never giving up, and never giving in to despair.

Other recommendations by them would be Immortal and Quicksilver, but those are less overtly themed.

I fully second the mention of Rush elsewhere in the thread.

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