Posted April 7, 2014
into Movies by John Birmingham
I usually come out of a Marvel film surprised at how much it impressed me. Not at how much I enjoyed myself, which is a given, but rather how much more than a comic-book-come-to-life the movie seemed to be. Perhaps that’s just because I haven’t read enough comic books recently.
The rust and corrosion eating away at Iron Man’s soul, the weight of expectation crushing down on Thor, and now the sense of anomie and rootlessness which frames Steve Rogers second life in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Comics long ago abandoned the simplistic moralism of early Superman, of course, but big screen cinema still loves a black and white dichotomy. Especially in the realm of superheroes and supervillains.
For me, it was the emotional complexity of Cap’s resurrection which provided the depth for all of the action sequences driving TWS. I very much enjoyed the discovery of his friendship with Sam Wilson, the veteran/counsellor and the way the script used this to explore the issue of Roger’s temporal dislocation.
I don’t want to go into plot points, because I know there’s lots of people haven’t seen the film yet and Marvel borrowed enthusiastically from the post-Bourne playbook of story mechanics. Suffice to say, I’ll happily watch it again when it becomes available via legitimate digital distribution channels everywhere.
If you want to talk plot and character revelations in the comments, however, feel free, with appropriate SPOILER WARNINGS.
"I’ll happily watch it again when it becomes available via legitimate digital distribution channels everywhere" I am so going to use that phrase in future. With of course all credit to the original source.
w from brisbane mutters...
Posted April 7, 2014
On the related topic, some might have seen a retweet of Bette Midler's tweet on 4 Apr 2014.
@Bette Midler @Spotify and @Pandora have made it impossible for songwriters to earn a living: three months streaming on Pandora, 4,175,149 plays=$114.11.
S.M. Stirling is gonna tell you...
Posted April 7, 2014
Which is why I buy all my music at full price.
Murphy ducks in to say...
Posted April 8, 2014
What Stirling said, per books.
On the other hand, this hypocrite is presently listening to Pharell's Happy on Spotify.
There is only one thing that bothers me about SHIELD in general.
Where do they get their funding?
A Nimitz class carrier is nothing to sneeze at in terms of cost, complexity and time to construct. The follow on Ford class is even more complex, costly and has a longer lead time. These helicarriers, I suspect, are built after the events in NYC circa the Avengers. So figure a year and a half to two years for THREE of them?
Further, they seem to be crossbred with the Lexington Class carriers pre-World War II.
The kid in me loves the helicarriers but the guy who does some of the research around here is scratching his head going, "How is that possible?" Black box MacGuffins like the ARC reactor and Stark repulsor technology take you only so far.
That being said, I did enjoy the journey Steve Rogers takes through the story. A stranger in a strange land doing things he is uncomfortable with makes the hard call with the help of a few of his friends. In that respect, I did enjoy the film.
I believe, "Where do they get their funding?" covers my overall concerns.
Sudragon mumbles...
Posted April 7, 2014
Wasn't there a line in 'Armageddon' about this? Something about $4000 toilet seats?
Murphy mutters...
Posted April 8, 2014
I'm still trying to figure out why the rovers had gatling guns in that movie.
In fact, I want to know why Hollywood, when they are at a loss for a plot says, "I know, gatling guns, fuckahs!!!!"
Respects,
Murph
On the Outer Marches
Sudragon would have you know...
Posted April 13, 2014
Because:
Ever since Richard Gatling's 1861 invention, the rapid-firing rotary gun has had a special place among BFGs. Because it's basically the gun equivalent of a chainsaw, there is an undeniable attraction to a gun which can produce high enough rates of fire to cleanly trim hedges, cut down trees, or, in the case of the GAU-8 Avenger, cut tanks in half. Just imagine what they do to human flesh.
No they didn't :( I was thinking that in the MCU they could have really made a Cap cartoon series in the 1960's and have Steve encounter it ansd the theme song, perhaps at the museum exhibit about him LOL
Black Widow - Born according to the released shield files in 1980.
Said she was trained by the KGB - which became the FSB in 1991 or so.
They should have just said "Trained by the FSB"
S.M. Stirling mutters...
Posted April 7, 2014
Funding:
Y'know, just before WWI, the British Imperial General Staff requested a doubling of the number of machine guns in every British battalion, and a reserve to replace losses in the event of war (and more heavy artillery.)
Lloyd George, who was then at the Treasury, denied the request on the grounds that the British public was heavily overtaxed. At that time, only people making more than about 1000 pounds a year, equivalent to about $250,000 now, paid substantial income tax, especially if they had children.
After 1918, Lloyd George had the barefaced effrontery to recount how he forced the reactionary military brass to accept more machine guns, when in reality they were clamoring for every one they could get. This should not surprise anyone who knows anything about Lloyd George, who was a brilliant but utterly corrupt and dishonest man who lied reflexively and with vicious bitchery whenever he thought he could get away with it.
Politicians spend the money on stuff that's more popular in peacetime, and then when the balloon goes up soldiers pay for it in blood.
(BTW, the stuff about Haig and the others not understanding modern weapons is complete crap. Haig was an enthusiast for new technology, demanded every machine gun and heavy artillery piece he could get, loved tanks as soon as he saw them, and badgered London continually for more aircraft. Kitchener in 1914 bluntly told the Cabinet that the war would last at least 3 years and require mobilizing millions of men, profoundly shocking the "frocks" who'd expected a limited-liability naval war. The British commanders weren't usually geniuses, but they -were- usually solid, intelligent professionals. They were simply confronted with a situation that didn't -have- any good solutions.)
Murphy puts forth...
Posted April 8, 2014
One problem with the mythology versus reality (not helped by historical revisionism) is that many present day history professors avoid matters military like the plague, preferring instead to focus on social history.
Worse, if you try to teach military history in a standard survey course you find that there is considerable resistance to the material because they've been taught over and over and over again that, "War is bad, evil and we don't learn evil things."
So instead we focus on the lives of fishmongers, skirt makers and other unsundry bits of social history.
Or to put it another way, most of the military history I know I've had to acquire on my own through my own research without mentorship.
Anyway, if there is rampant ignorance about Field Marshall Douglas Haig out there (and I confess to skimming the wiki entry on me after I read your post, Steve) it is part in parcel due to what passes for history classes today.
""War is bad, evil and we don't learn evil thing" so is disease but I don't see calls for doctors to take it from th curriculum in medical schools.
Surely the US with as long a military history as it has, been involved in so many conflicts must have dedicated, professional miltary historians?
Lulu mutters...
Posted April 8, 2014
Murphy, for a fully-rounded picture of history one probably needs to look at both (as well as others). I think there was a long period (very long: I got some it in my 1980s schooling) when history was taught as military & government only.
Murphy mutters...
Posted April 8, 2014
Lulu, you'd think but trust me, most of the historians I encountered tend to avoid it in the classroom.
Barnes, yes, we have competent military historians. They generally tend to be in the military though not all of them are. In fact, they tend to be everywhere but in a college classroom teaching their subject matter.
Damn doesn't that mean that college class rooms are missing a significant chunk of history in their history classes?
Murphy is gonna tell you...
Posted April 8, 2014
Yes.
As I mentioned upthread, there is significant resistance to the topic among students and faculty.
I had an undergrad professor who said, "Nothing important happens during the wars."
Now, maybe he simply didn't like talking about them. I have my topics that I prefer not to talk about. That preference doesn't override actual necessity concerning the coverage of a topic. For instance, I can't skip American Reconstruction in my American History since 1865 course nor can I brush it off with, "Read it out of the book."
Moreover, in survey courses, which is what most college students will take (the mandatory minimum exerting as little effort as possible in order to maintain a passing average) it is impossible to cover every valid topic in detail. So some instructors try different things to compensate.
Personally, I prefer to pick an historical figure who can serve as a focal point for a given period of history, using them as a tour guide to illustrate problems, challenges, potential solutions and conflicts. That option is not always possible with each topic but when it is an option and I use it, students seem to dial into the material better.
While this week's episode of cultural imperialism maybe offer momentary 'splodey diversion even dressed dowin the shabby rags of ennui, Samsung (not apple) have produced graphene monolayer monocrystals. This is a big deal. Perhaps not cold fusion or room temp super conductor big, but big enough.
I just realized we opened the door for a discussion that includes Jayhawkers, Bushwhackers and Redlegs but excludes just about everyone here. I deeply regret doing so. Let's not go there, shall we?
" but excludes just about everyone here" hey I may be ignorant of all the facts, details and issues. Doesn't mean I don't have an opinion on the matter on which I will carry out long, text heavy posting about.
Speaking of Missouri, I never realised that Kansas City was also known as the "Paris of the Plains". That does make me wonder what Murph, aka 'Frenchy', has been complaining about all these years. It must be a product of his innate Parisian hauteur.
Murphy puts forth...
Posted April 8, 2014
We're called that because of the proliferation of fountains, many of which often do not work.
As for French food, Aixois is worth a visit.
Respects,
Murph
On the Outer Marches
NBlob reckons...
Posted April 8, 2014
It's actually Oreganics & Washingtonians* that truly Sh!t me. Their superscillious attitude "we're so clever" "We make boeings" that grates.
*Note: the State, not the Disctrict of Columbia. East coasters are generally more humble, gracious and they have the Smithsonian.
w from brisbane would have you know...
Posted April 8, 2014
The state of Rhode Island always seems short of fans.
NBlob would have you know...
Posted April 8, 2014
That'd be because it barely qualifies as a Zip code. Whomever granted State-hood must have had an agenda.
I am shocked no one here knows that Kansas City was known as "the Paris of the Plains" due to the availability of inexpensive, but skilled, prostitutes.
S.M. Stirling swirls their brandy and claims...
Posted April 10, 2014
A joint project of UCLA and the University of Tennessee has successfully reconnected the spinal cords of four men totally paralyzed from the waist down for 2-4 years.
(They tried the new technique of four men; all four recovered showed about the same response. The program will now be expanded.)
The men have recovered sensation and mobility in the lower limbs, bladder and bowel control, and sexual function.
Not aiming this at anybody, but.... I can't see how people who enjoy the super hero genre, can disdain the fantasy genre because magic.
Those emotional complexities are also stock in the fantasy/magic genre. Those who have magic are often fearful of the ability. Struggle to control it. Get it wrong to horrific effect. See it as a curse. Can feel it's threat of absolute moral corruption. Would rather not walk across the land to fight monstrous evil.
NBlob ducks in to say...
Posted April 8, 2014
@ W. It's pretty simple;
1 There is a Maguffin (Spider-bite etc) that sets limits on the degree of superhero-ness, unlike in Magical stories where there is no *logical* limitation of powers.
2 No hobbits, sprites, elves or other punchable little F*kers.
The problem with the superhero genre is not the Maguffin itself but when they are a medium that has been running a continuous story for 70years and you have to keep inventing new ways of using, challanging the character.
Imagine fantasy telling one continuous story for 70years with the same characters and settings at times it would have to dig into the grab bag that DC and Marvel have had to resort to.
Still everyone is a scientific expert aren't they?
S.M. Stirling mumbles...
Posted April 10, 2014
Actually, no, they weren't. The principle was understood as far back as the Renaissance, and working models were demonstrated in the 1840's. The main problems were stability and a power source with a sufficiently high power-to-weight ratio, which was just engineering.
Just for kicks, I took a look at the top reviews for The Avengers, to see what America’s most acclaimed and respected cinema critics thought of Black Widow back in 2012. Bear in mind that most of these quotes are the only description of Scarlett Johansson’s performance in the entire review.
In the New Yorker, Anthony Lane wrote, “not to be left out, Black Widow repels invading aliens through the sheer force of her corsetry,” while the Wall Street Journal’s Pulitzer-winning Joe Morgenstern complained, “Black Widow spends lots of time looking puzzled or confused.”"
Hopefully Blackwidow with SJ does get a solo movie
Dino not to be confused with mutters...
Posted April 8, 2014
Seeking Female,
Intelligent, nice, likes good food, honest, good fighter.
Dino not to be confused with ducks in to say...
Posted April 8, 2014
I met her when she was a kid but she (probably)won't remember it.
Don Bagert is gonna tell you...
Posted April 9, 2014
Hey, you know that early scene with Sam where Steve has a small pad where he writes down things that he missed in the 60+ years he was on ice that have been suggested to him? I gather that the list of items is different for each country! JB - see any Australian references there? :)
Superman's morality may have been black and white in the germinal days of the 1930s, but it was black and white in a very politically progressive and partisan manner: crusading against corporations and the merchants of death and quelling endemic government corruption. All consonant with the latest Captain America movie.
Posted April 7, 2014
into Movies by John Birmingham
Saw her yesterday in Captain America, which was awesome and which I'll write up in a moment, and she's also playing against type in some freakish horror movie where she lures Scottish men to their deaths. But I think I'll probably see her in this Luc Besson SF action/thriller first.
24 Responses to ‘Scarlett Johansson is kicking lots of arse recently’
On those endorsements I too am off to see Captain America 2. Is the title the Winter Solider is a reference to Paine's The American Crisis with the line
"The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman"?
Murphy mutters...
Posted April 7, 2014
I wouldn't be surprised if Marvel was inspired by Paine but I suspect the more simplistic reason is that he was a Cold War communist counterpart to Captain America.
I think I had seen her in a minor role before but, like for many, the first time I became aware of Scarlett Johannson was in 'Lost in Translation' with Bill Murray. The opening shot of that film was very memorable as an unconventional introduction to the relatively unknown female lead.
Posted February 20, 2014
into Movies by John Birmingham
Caught the trailer for this local apocalypse flick on Gizmodo yesterday and was kind of impressed. Some wobbly voice/over scripting at the start but it soon left that behind and promised a great looking story that might even be emiggening without a Hollywood happy ending.
I'd be shooting at Some bastard from fkn orbit, or...in a plane, they would be.....FKN CHINESE! PRC PLAN MUPPETS I THJINK!, after I got the plane into the air. Actually, no, I would have a bull bar on me ute, and every dumb fkn bastard who was being a GIT on the road and thats gunna include the retards in the right lane driving along fat dumb and fkn happy and taxi's ( cos we all hate them on the bloody road ) and I would be DTRINING INTO THEM< and somewhere along the the line..ID find a LAMBO to fkn SIDE SWIPE!
A plane would stall if you went up too high but could you use the compression wave to boost yourself into sapce and over the top? Kind of like a surfboard over an incoming wave?
Posted February 14, 2014
into Movies by John Birmingham
Dunno whether I'll go see the Robocop remake on the big screen. Seems the sort of thing I'd be likely to enjoy more on my own of a Saturday night with the wife away, the children a-bed and a couple of drinks on board.
Reviews haven't just been mixed. They've been violently at odds.
iO9, who I trust on all matters geekly loved it with an unnatural physcial love that would be illegal in Kansas. Their write up/rubfuck described it as 'a pitch-perfect, badass update of a movie that is practically legendary'. The whole thing is here, and is spoilerific in parts, although it didn't much bother me.
"Filmmaker José Padilha does a brilliant job updating this scenario for a world where soldiers are working with robots in combat zones every day. And he retains the subversive politics of the original, too. We begin with a segment from a right-wing TV program, The Novak Element, hosted by Samuel L. Jackson doing a fantastic parody of a FOX commentator...
One of the central questions in Robocop is whether Murphy truly is human by the time Omnicorp is done with him. Is here merely a robot who thinks he's Murphy? In one of Murphy's training sequences — set to the music of classic prog band Focus — we discover that when he's in combat mode he "thinks he's in control" but actually the robot is making all his moves for him. "It's the illusion of freewill," Norton says. But this movie is smart enough to get us wondering about whether freewill is always an illusion, especially in a combat situation. Are we not always, to a certain extent, just acting out orders and doing what our bodies have been trained to do?
You'll be surprised at how deep the science fictional speculation is here. The action is pretty damn fun too. And Padilha keeps us focused on the bigger political picture by including several more hilarious segments of Jackson ranting on The Novak Element."
Over at Wired, however, the Angry Nerd is, well, angry.
A good mate of mine that I don't trust with movies said it was terribad. I just have to give it a go... at least there's ONE good review. That's my excuse.
are you insane, this was written to take a 13/14 year old along to see.
But you are right I have read other divergent reviews, which all seem to universally praise the 1980s movie, though at the time I don't recall the critics being quite so effusive. We seem to be in a Paul Verhoeven remake frenzy with Total Recall and now RoboCop - can Starship Troopers be far behind?
although the loss of officer Lewis in the new film is a shame, she was my son's favourite from the 1980s movies, though the actor had the good sense to demand her character be killed rather than appear in the family-friendly (WTF were they thinking) Robocop 3.
Murphy reckons...
Posted February 14, 2014
Louis popped bubblegum in the original.
The new Lewis is a black detective and in someways, had the potential to do better. Sadly, he was never given that chance.
A lot of the human element discovery was left to Murphy's wife, who plays a greater role in the remake.
No, there is none of the satirical snark of the original.
No, there is none of the cheeseball commercials.
Yes, there is a Glenn Beck analog in the form of Samuel L. Jackson.
Yes, there is a back to the future pacification program ala Iraq, this time set in Iran.
Yes, there is a cop named Murphy who gets is ass fucked up seven ways from Sunday.
Differences? Lewis is a black male who is devoted to his partner. His wife, who looks more like the original Louis, moves to save him via Omincorp's offer. And we have Gary Oldman who, unlike Robocop's original creators in 1987, had the most humanity of all.
The film's primary flaw is that the third act was fairly weak. It came to the right conclusion but there wasn't enough emotional resonance and power built into it to carry that punch. The relationship between Lewis and Murphy post ambush could have been better developed.
Strengths? Murphy's reaction to his condition is far more nuanced and balanced than in the original. His state is rather shocking and I won't spoil it. We also see a very troubled doctor/scientist who wants to help people being manipulated by a Steve Jobs style CEO in Michael Keaton.
There are many nods to the original material, to include the theme itself.
Overall, I liked it, flaws and all. In someways I think it has more emotional depth than the original. Is it better or worse? Nah.
But. . . he's even got the sneaks and the weird clothing choices.
Respects,
Murph
On the Outer Marches
Jayanthi's Atomic Cat mumbles...
Posted February 15, 2014
Unforgivable as it is, I haven't seen the original (I know, I know, Better Half has promised to buy it for me so this will be amended shortly). So not influenced by the comparison issue, I thought it was good overall. There were some things which were a little heavy-handed or clumsy, like the advanced military robot with a very crude threat assessment system, and the arguments about the pros and cons of military robots were pretty one-dimensional - I think a Sci Fi audience could have handled some more complexity on what is a really interesting issue. The neuro cybernetics were simplified but I thought that was reasonable given how complex they would be in 'real life'.
I really loved the humor in it - I hadn't expected to laugh like that. The action was satisfying and as a girly non-fan of gratuitous violence, my sensibilities were unoffended. Great, solid cast - I particularly liked Oldman in his role and cheered when the bad guys got their just desserts. Murphy's right, the ending lost some momentum and power, but I would give this a thumbs up.
Better Half and others tell me this movie is 'much less violent' than the original. As a result I suspect I may not like the original as much when I do see it.
JBtoo has opinions thus...
Posted February 14, 2014
Abby Cornish is in it, so it can't be all bad. Is it possible to 'spoiler' a remake?
Tickets were purchased for me - so seeing it tomorrow - otherwise I probably would have waited until DVD.
While you are waiting Birmo - go buy Dredd on Blu-Ray. (though you may want to perform your own assessment as to whether or not Birmo Jr is ready for that level of violent splodey (and the splodey is violently awesome))
Murphy has opinions thus...
Posted February 14, 2014
This film is not Dredd but Dredd is worth the money (says the fanboy who has a copy on his iTunes). Get Elysium while you are at it as well.
Birmo Jnr is a big fan of The Expendables. He can probably handle Dredd.
Murphy has opinions thus...
Posted February 14, 2014
I think for true explodey goodness on Valentine's Day, you have to go with the Chemrail in Matt Damon's Elysium.
Respects,
Murph
On the Outer Marches
Blarkon would have you know...
Posted February 14, 2014
Okay, well don't say I didn't warn you about graphic splodey.
Matthew K puts forth...
Posted February 15, 2014
#MakeaDreddSequel
I second this motion. Such explodey, very baddies, much dystopian. Wow.
I'd have loved a Dredd film when I was his age, instead us fanboys kept the faith all through films like Robocop cherry picking Dredd for the subversive vibe and uncompromising ambiguous helmeted protagonist and were then rewarded with the Stallone film. *Sigh*
I assume it might have had something to do with the fact that a lot of the 2000ad crew seemed to have very left of centre views so negotiaitions with Hollywood might well have gone the same way as with Alan Moore. Moral of the tale is that if you stand on ideological principle too much you'll get frozen out of the process altogether and end up with less influence over the product.
That said Verhoeven did a good job of the first one and I am intrigued... But I don't see the NEED to remake R.Cop. Probably get this on DVD or summat
Lobes has opinions thus...
Posted February 15, 2014
I was quite impressed by Dredd. It was a lot more faithful to its 2000AD origins than the Stallone abomination.
I'd watch a sequel for sure. Theres such a wealth of stories in the Dredd universe.
I hated Stallone's Dredd. I am using the word "hate" here about a movie. I watched Dredd on Netflix on a whim, and loved it.
ShaneAlpha has opinions thus...
Posted February 15, 2014
I watched Dredd in 3D at the cinema when it was released and have the 2D blu-ray. If you can, watch the 3D version, the slo-mo sequences in 3D are unbeleivably gorgeous.
I wasn't sure about Karl Urban going into it but he seriously nailed the character despite the differences between this cinema world and the comic original.
There is a sequal comic due for release shortly called "Dredd:Underbelly". So, yeah, nice one there Karl. :)
If they are able to get financing for the next movie you can expect the Dark Judges storyline. With hopefully the best Dredd line ever.
I liked both Dredd movies. The art direction, set decoration and costumes of the first one were brilliant. The director Danny Cannon did well with what he had, excellent editing too. It was just a bit too hackneyed when it came to hollywood stereo types, the funny sidekick etc, thrown in kiss at the end. But it looked like the comics I liked as a kid. cheesy overblown, super bright colours. The second one I liked too alot, I bought the bluray and watch it a fait bit. It was great on the big screen. But it lacked the sarcastic humour, except maybe the vagrant crushed by the security door, If they did one with Chopper the sky surfer I would be in 2000ad fanboy heaven. a nemesis the warlock tv series ala game of thrones would be super too,
As for robocop I might wait until it comes out on dvd. (or maybe a $12 bluray) Movies are a bit too expensive to be dissapointed in.
pi would have you know...
Posted February 21, 2014
#MakeaDreddSequel
It really has to be done. That movie was a dead-set instant classic.
Went and saw it. Enjoyed it. Wasn't staggeringly great and not something, like Pacific Rim, that it pays to see in a cinema.
Different film from the original.
I suspect because parts of the dystopian humor of the first isn't as funny because we're either living it, or it's looking like its coming anyway. The cartoon capitalists of the original are more nuanced in this one. I suspect that's driving some of the negative reactions here - its hard to laugh at the idea of the government handing over the capacity to kill to drones when it's already happened.
Jayanthi's Atomic Cat has opinions thus...
Posted February 16, 2014
I think the human operators are still in the loop though for final kill authorization now though, is that still the case? Is there any legislation about re having to retain them? I've only read papers recommending such lego be put in place (amongst other recommendations) but haven't followed up further.
S.M. Stirling mumbles...
Posted February 18, 2014
Saw it today. Not bad, not nearly as good as the original, and soooooooo Hollywood-bubble-land in its general outlook.
Mixed feelings, we watched the original 1 & 2 yesterday on DVD. I'd agree with a lot of the other opinions here. Some interesting ideas, a bit weak on humour & in the final stage the writers got lazy & could have done better.
I missed the female Lewis character & Abbie Cornish didn't do much other than sniffled and parade around as a jeans model. I was trying to figure out WTF she was in there for & in the end decided it was probably just for product placement. Maybe I'm miffed because of the lack of strong female characters but given the number of other nerdy bespectacled womenfolk in the audience I'd say I'm not alone.
The original Lewis was a force to be reckoned with (remember the scene when Murphy first laid eyes on her in R1?) whereas Abbie Cornish looked like she spent her days applying eye shadow to her face & Mr Sheen to the coffee table.
Definitely worth seeing, but I'm left wondering what might have been if Joss Whedon had written it.
The movie is a comment on the social pressures for women to remove all hair producing follicle areas except on the head. All the actors in the movie do not have the eponymous 'beaver' and it juxtaposes the lack of hair leading to a gruesome bloody death . . . . . or something.
Was it the seventies or eighties where we got a whole trailer trash full of schlock films? Has the genre been recreated/reinvented or did it never go away?
The pontoon bit reminds me of that Creepshow short - the raft (i think) by Stephen King? For some reason that freaked me out.
"Was it the seventies or eighties where we got a whole trailer trash full of schlock films?" what do you mean 70.80s have you seen the movies that Syfy are making?
ah, no. But i don't remember a scifi channel back in the nineties when paytv was taking off (but my memory could be a bit sketchy over that period . . . ). A mate and I have a running conversation spanning decades about how there wasn't much in the way of scifi/fantasy stuff being made for tv (or movies for that matter) so you had to take what you got. Glad the genre is getting more attention now though. I guess the scifi/fantasy nerds have been growing up getting jobs and disposable income and providing a profitable market. All that D&D back in the seventies/eighties corrupting young minds eventually paid off! : )
Unfortunately i have an issue with the format that pay tv offers so i'm going to miss a lot of that stuff.
Had a look and youboob has the short "the raft" in it's entirety. Hilarious. Although the story has good pedigree - original written by Stephen King and the screenplay by Romero
NBlob would have you know...
Posted February 12, 2014
<b>@</b>Simon, I read everything Mr King published in Australia up to the Dark Tower 2. Of all the creepy & the cooky only The Raft & Apt Pupil actually scared me. "Her hair, her hair was in the water." Its probably all in how he ended the sto
Wait a minute. This is clearly a rip off of the French silent classic Castors Faim (1926) directed by the great Albert Capellani and starring Alla Nazimova. I am not going to like this cheap, tasteless remake.
@Simon- Do Aussies have access to Netflix, Amazon video or the other online video services like CinemaNow, Vudu, Flixter and Viewster? Most tv shows go on Netflix or Amazon within a year of their debut, so pay tv isn't necessary anymore.
A woman's college in Pennsylvania got so annoyed with crude jokes at its expense that its name 'Beaver College' was changed to 'Arcadia University.'
where did this take place...BADGER FKN CREEEK in TASSIE..MAP OF THAT IS!...fkn hell JB. LIKE...WTF MAN, you smokin shit or fkn what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i don't know why but this topic just won't get out of my head. I translated a review of this movie from a french site using the ol google translate. Results = hilarious
"In film, the zombie kitchen all the sauces. But if there is one that had never tasted, it is the special beaver. In Zombeavers our friends rodents literally fart a lead to become bloodthirsty beasts."
@Barnesm- Thanks for your response. Do you know why? I'm surprised since, AFAIK, these services are available outside the US. Was some law passed in Oz or the US? Wikipedia says Netflix is "available to viewers in North and South America, the Caribbean, and parts of Europe (Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom)"
It's only indirectly about laws. IP explotiation rights contracts are typically negotiated to apply to specific regions. Traditionally the companies that hold the rights for the Australian market have enjoyed a special capability to charge more. It goes back to the earliest days of British settlement, when you could negotiate exclusive contracts with shipping companies and easily create and maintain monopolies over wholesale and distribution networks. Historically the Australian market has just treated this as part of the cost of doing business and sucked it up. And being part of the environment, the situation would even have been basically Pareto efficient.
It doesn't just apply to IP of course - we still currently pay more for Apple and Dell hardware. But it's especially interesting with IP because the traditional arguements, that Australia is a long way from anywhere and has a small population really are not tenable.
Anyway, it's no surprise that rights-holders are reluctant to relinquish their competitive advantage and the extra margins you can make by keeping the Aussie market a bit captive. Nice little earner for them. It means that companies like Apple, Amazon and other big multinational content distribution networks have a challenge when negotiating access to a market like Australia's. It isn't insurmountable -- obviously, since we can get content from the iTunes store, Apple has found a way. But even the likes of Amazon have stumbled in this space and their attempts at localising are pretty clumsy. And so far Netflix have not found it to be worth their while to fight their way though the IP jungle that surrounds Aus.
Don't you so much as dare to disparage Sharknado by comparing it with this beaver movie. Sharknado is a cinematic masterpiece featuring complex and subtle dramatic irony. And Tara Reid. Who is hot. And not that bright. Which means she might go for a guy like me.
Posted December 22, 2013
into Movies by John Birmingham
Took the kids in to see this today, and went with very low expectations. I didn't mind the first Anchorman, but I didn't love it either. It struck me as maybe half a dozen decent Saturday Night Live sketches strung together with more of a thematic link than a narrative one. Appropriate really, since the period in which it was set, the 1970s, was something of a high water mark for sketch comedy cinema. Think Flying High or The Kentucky Fried Movie. Actually, don't think about The Kentucky Fried Movie. It's sort of undermines my whole high water mark thesis.
But Thomas wanted to see the Anchorman sequel, probably because of the amazing job Will Ferrell has done injecting it into mass consciousness over the past couple of months. I let him rent the first movie on iTunes the other day and being an eleven-year-old boy, he loved it. So, what the hell? I figured I'd go with him.
I owe Mister Ferrell an apology for ever doubting his comedic or sequential chops. It is rare of course to encounter a sequel that surpasses the source material and it is all but unique when the source material wasn't that strong to begin with. So little interest did I have in this movie I even broke my own rule about reading reviews before seeing it.
Most of the reviewers seemed to get a few chuckles and consider it worth dropping your dollar for the big screen experience. Most reviewers are morons. This is a really, really good film. It far exceeds both the satiric and narrative vision of its forerunner, working at a number of levels both as a comedy and as a deconstruction of the malaise of the modern news media.
It's funny. Let's just get that settled up front. It's really fucking funny in its particulars, the hundreds of little jokes peppered through the script, and it's funny in the metanarrative of Ron Burgundy's redemption as a harbinger of civilizational decline.
American humor is often critiqued as loud and brash, two-dimensional, as being all tip and no iceberg, but only by morons or a certain type of cultural commentator from the UK, or wishing they were from the UK. In Anchorman 2, Ferrell and his ensemble cast give us a master class in writing and performing comedy with wildly different layers of meaning, intent and sophistication. From Steve Carell's absurdist shihan, Brick Tamland – a tour de force of post-Python silliness which reaches sublime heights in his double act with Kristen Wiig – to Josh Lawson's channeling the animal spirits of Rupert Murdoch there hardly seems to be a school of larfs which doesn't get a look in.
None of this would lift the sequel above the original were not for the obvious care Farrell and Co. have taken with the larger story. This was what I didn't expect, and it's what brings all of the jokes together for an unexpected payoff. Anchorman 2 is not just a scarifyingly talented comedy troupe working through some highly polished zingers. It is a savage takedown of the dumbing down of the electronic news media. This could have been a worthy and ultimately woeful exercise in finger wagging but never once does the script even veer in that direction. The cold cruelty of the judgment is all the funnier for being delivered without potentiousness or fake sentimentality. Not that Burgundy simply reprises his role as a giant joke vending machine this time around. The final triumph is that he manages all of the above while Ferrell's much loved cult creation goes on a genuine hero's journey.
Go see it. You won't be disappointed. And if you are disappointed, then fuck you, you're dead to me.
I'm not much of a Ferrel Fan (oooh, new twit-tah hash-tag) but I think the only work of his that I actually enjoyed was Stranger than Fiction, which actually had some fucking depth to it. Local effects out MK-12 did all of the FX for it and Casino Royale.
Okay, I'd been put off by the mediocre reviews, but seeing as reviewers are morons and you advise that the movie is actually a multi-layered narrative on the rise and decline of the American fourth-estate (or similar) that is also brilliantly funny, then I'll try to give it a go.
And thanks for dropping in the word shihan.
Aaron asserts...
Posted December 23, 2013
Saw it last night and loved it however I disagree about part 1. It's genius but it's one that takes time to grow on you. So many little details that creep out of the woodwork. I only watch will ferrel comedies when Adam mkay is involved, without him will is a directionless man child.
Ahhh Kentucky Fried Movie - indeed a high water mark. Catholic High School Girls in Trouble is etched in my memory.
Aaron ducks in to say...
Posted December 24, 2013
The others guys is also pretty good (for that style) and did a nice message about white collar crime without it being forced. During the credits they had facts contrasting the money stolen and sentences for CEOs of Enron etc vs what a poor person gets for stealing a car.
Of the many things I genuinely do not understand, the appeal of Will Ferrell ranks Number 1. I'd rather shave a lion with a rusty razor than subject myself to one of his lame, by-the-numbers contributions to celluloid again. Let me guess - in Anchorman 2, he shouts/throws stuff/loses his temper/appears naked or topless at various points. Fkn spare me.
2 movies including "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" which is nothing like the original with Danny Kaye. I will have to see that one again and read the story by James Thurber. Great Movie, we both agreed, SWMBO giving it slightly higher than I at an eight.
Anchorman 2 was better than the first(and worth a movie ticket). Lotsa laughs, lotsa cameos and lotsa thinky. I particularly enjoyed the last 'broadcast'. Made me think of Dan Rather and words to this effect, almost verbatim from this 37 second video-
Pretty sure that my friend JB was smoking crack during the scene where Ferrell is smoking it because Mick's foreshadowing is pretty accurate. Instead of fart jokes they've graduated to some pretty low grade, tasteless jokes about race, among other things. It tries to channel the Blaxploitation vibe in a Tarantinoeseque manner and fails miserably.
My only regret during the film, aside from the frequent bathroom breaks in order to restrain the urge to pull an Office Space routine on the projector is that I didn't drink enough alcohol to pass out.
They could have improved it by focusing on the dude who has the condom bar and/or making a film where Harrison Ford's character is the lead.
Respects,
Murph
On the Outer Marches
Dino not to be confused with mumbles...
Posted January 3, 2014
Oh Murph,
This is the Country where you can sue a 'Motor Home' manufacturer for 'implying' or not explaining correctly that 'Cruise Control' does not mean Auto Pilot.
Barnesm ducks in to say...
Posted April 7, 2014
"I’ll happily watch it again when it becomes available via legitimate digital distribution channels everywhere" I am so going to use that phrase in future. With of course all credit to the original source.
w from brisbane mutters...
Posted April 7, 2014
On the related topic, some might have seen a retweet of Bette Midler's tweet on 4 Apr 2014.
@Bette Midler
@Spotify and @Pandora have made it impossible for songwriters to earn a living:
three months streaming on Pandora, 4,175,149 plays=$114.11.
S.M. Stirling is gonna tell you...
Posted April 7, 2014
Which is why I buy all my music at full price.
Murphy ducks in to say...
Posted April 8, 2014
What Stirling said, per books.
On the other hand, this hypocrite is presently listening to Pharell's Happy on Spotify.
Respects,
Murph
On the Outer Marches
Murphy is gonna tell you...
Posted April 7, 2014
There is only one thing that bothers me about SHIELD in general.
Where do they get their funding?
A Nimitz class carrier is nothing to sneeze at in terms of cost, complexity and time to construct. The follow on Ford class is even more complex, costly and has a longer lead time. These helicarriers, I suspect, are built after the events in NYC circa the Avengers. So figure a year and a half to two years for THREE of them?
Further, they seem to be crossbred with the Lexington Class carriers pre-World War II.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexington-class_aircraft_carrier
The kid in me loves the helicarriers but the guy who does some of the research around here is scratching his head going, "How is that possible?" Black box MacGuffins like the ARC reactor and Stark repulsor technology take you only so far.
That being said, I did enjoy the journey Steve Rogers takes through the story. A stranger in a strange land doing things he is uncomfortable with makes the hard call with the help of a few of his friends. In that respect, I did enjoy the film.
Respects,
Murph
On the Outer Marches
Barnesm reckons...
Posted April 7, 2014
only ONE thing?
Murphy reckons...
Posted April 7, 2014
I believe, "Where do they get their funding?" covers my overall concerns.
Sudragon mumbles...
Posted April 7, 2014
Wasn't there a line in 'Armageddon' about this? Something about $4000 toilet seats?
Murphy mutters...
Posted April 8, 2014
I'm still trying to figure out why the rovers had gatling guns in that movie.
In fact, I want to know why Hollywood, when they are at a loss for a plot says, "I know, gatling guns, fuckahs!!!!"
Respects,
Murph
On the Outer Marches
Sudragon would have you know...
Posted April 13, 2014
Because:
Ever since Richard Gatling's 1861 invention, the rapid-firing rotary gun has had a special place among BFGs. Because it's basically the gun equivalent of a chainsaw, there is an undeniable attraction to a gun which can produce high enough rates of fire to cleanly trim hedges, cut down trees, or, in the case of the GAU-8 Avenger, cut tanks in half. Just imagine what they do to human flesh.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GatlingGood
Paul_Nicholas_Boylan mumbles...
Posted April 7, 2014
I think they explained SHIELD funding in the film - something to do with ripping off the middle class.
Murphy would have you know...
Posted April 8, 2014
A pyramid scheme. That explains everything.
Barnesm mutters...
Posted April 7, 2014
Tell me they at least reprised the theme song from the marvel cartoon series from the seventies
Don Bagert ducks in to say...
Posted April 9, 2014
No they didn't :( I was thinking that in the MCU they could have really made a Cap cartoon series in the 1960's and have Steve encounter it ansd the theme song, perhaps at the museum exhibit about him LOL
Blarkon puts forth...
Posted April 7, 2014
Black Widow - Born according to the released shield files in 1980.
Said she was trained by the KGB - which became the FSB in 1991 or so.
They should have just said "Trained by the FSB"
S.M. Stirling mutters...
Posted April 7, 2014
Funding:
Y'know, just before WWI, the British Imperial General Staff requested a doubling of the number of machine guns in every British battalion, and a reserve to replace losses in the event of war (and more heavy artillery.)
Lloyd George, who was then at the Treasury, denied the request on the grounds that the British public was heavily overtaxed. At that time, only people making more than about 1000 pounds a year, equivalent to about $250,000 now, paid substantial income tax, especially if they had children.
After 1918, Lloyd George had the barefaced effrontery to recount how he forced the reactionary military brass to accept more machine guns, when in reality they were clamoring for every one they could get. This should not surprise anyone who knows anything about Lloyd George, who was a brilliant but utterly corrupt and dishonest man who lied reflexively and with vicious bitchery whenever he thought he could get away with it.
Politicians spend the money on stuff that's more popular in peacetime, and then when the balloon goes up soldiers pay for it in blood.
(BTW, the stuff about Haig and the others not understanding modern weapons is complete crap. Haig was an enthusiast for new technology, demanded every machine gun and heavy artillery piece he could get, loved tanks as soon as he saw them, and badgered London continually for more aircraft. Kitchener in 1914 bluntly told the Cabinet that the war would last at least 3 years and require mobilizing millions of men, profoundly shocking the "frocks" who'd expected a limited-liability naval war. The British commanders weren't usually geniuses, but they -were- usually solid, intelligent professionals. They were simply confronted with a situation that didn't -have- any good solutions.)
Murphy puts forth...
Posted April 8, 2014
One problem with the mythology versus reality (not helped by historical revisionism) is that many present day history professors avoid matters military like the plague, preferring instead to focus on social history.
Worse, if you try to teach military history in a standard survey course you find that there is considerable resistance to the material because they've been taught over and over and over again that, "War is bad, evil and we don't learn evil things."
So instead we focus on the lives of fishmongers, skirt makers and other unsundry bits of social history.
Or to put it another way, most of the military history I know I've had to acquire on my own through my own research without mentorship.
Anyway, if there is rampant ignorance about Field Marshall Douglas Haig out there (and I confess to skimming the wiki entry on me after I read your post, Steve) it is part in parcel due to what passes for history classes today.
Respects,
Murph
On the Outer Marches
Barnesm is gonna tell you...
Posted April 8, 2014
""War is bad, evil and we don't learn evil thing" so is disease but I don't see calls for doctors to take it from th curriculum in medical schools.
Surely the US with as long a military history as it has, been involved in so many conflicts must have dedicated, professional miltary historians?
Lulu mutters...
Posted April 8, 2014
Murphy, for a fully-rounded picture of history one probably needs to look at both (as well as others). I think there was a long period (very long: I got some it in my 1980s schooling) when history was taught as military & government only.
Murphy mutters...
Posted April 8, 2014
Lulu, you'd think but trust me, most of the historians I encountered tend to avoid it in the classroom.
Barnes, yes, we have competent military historians. They generally tend to be in the military though not all of them are. In fact, they tend to be everywhere but in a college classroom teaching their subject matter.
Respects,
Murph
On the Outer Marches
Barnesm mumbles...
Posted April 8, 2014
Damn doesn't that mean that college class rooms are missing a significant chunk of history in their history classes?
Murphy is gonna tell you...
Posted April 8, 2014
Yes.
As I mentioned upthread, there is significant resistance to the topic among students and faculty.
I had an undergrad professor who said, "Nothing important happens during the wars."
Now, maybe he simply didn't like talking about them. I have my topics that I prefer not to talk about. That preference doesn't override actual necessity concerning the coverage of a topic. For instance, I can't skip American Reconstruction in my American History since 1865 course nor can I brush it off with, "Read it out of the book."
Moreover, in survey courses, which is what most college students will take (the mandatory minimum exerting as little effort as possible in order to maintain a passing average) it is impossible to cover every valid topic in detail. So some instructors try different things to compensate.
Personally, I prefer to pick an historical figure who can serve as a focal point for a given period of history, using them as a tour guide to illustrate problems, challenges, potential solutions and conflicts. That option is not always possible with each topic but when it is an option and I use it, students seem to dial into the material better.
Anyway, Captain America was great.
And Carthage must be destroyed!
Respects,
Murph
On the Outer Marches
Dino not to be confused with asserts...
Posted April 7, 2014
So Much to say!
Will have a look at Which-50 shortly.
Missed the last post/email.
Saw a video in Canberra 1996 called "Horny Housewifes".
Credits included PJRL and N(*).
Then there's that video 'Perfeect People" by Tommy.
Where is he now?
Signing off.
Dino not to be confused with mutters...
Posted April 7, 2014
'78 Records.
Posnamo, come no?
NBlob puts forth...
Posted April 7, 2014
While this week's episode of cultural imperialism maybe offer momentary 'splodey diversion even dressed dowin the shabby rags of ennui, Samsung (not apple) have produced graphene monolayer monocrystals. This is a big deal. Perhaps not cold fusion or room temp super conductor big, but big enough.
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/179874-samsungs-graphene-breakthrough-could-finally-put-the-wonder-material-into-real-world-devices
Paul_Nicholas_Boylan has opinions thus...
Posted April 8, 2014
Bob, why do you hate America?
Barnesm ducks in to say...
Posted April 8, 2014
Its an impresive techical achievement and will chnage how tech is build in ways we can not even yet imagine.
NBlob would have you know...
Posted April 8, 2014
"Bob, why do you hate America?"
60% jealousy
30% fear
10% other
Paul_Nicholas_Boylan ducks in to say...
Posted April 8, 2014
I was kidding. I never really suspected you of hating America (just Kansas, Arizona and Missippippi).
I don't think I'll ever ask that question in jest again.
Murphy mumbles...
Posted April 8, 2014
Those Kansans did carry out Order Number 11.
Paul_Nicholas_Boylan would have you know...
Posted April 8, 2014
I thought that happened in Missouri.
Do you think there was a more immediate and effective way to respond to the Lawrence Massacre?
Paul_Nicholas_Boylan mumbles...
Posted April 8, 2014
I just realized we opened the door for a discussion that includes Jayhawkers, Bushwhackers and Redlegs but excludes just about everyone here. I deeply regret doing so. Let's not go there, shall we?
Murphy would have you know...
Posted April 8, 2014
PNB,
1. Yes.
2. No.
3. OK.
Respects,
Murph
On the Outer Marches
Barnesm mumbles...
Posted April 8, 2014
" but excludes just about everyone here" hey I may be ignorant of all the facts, details and issues. Doesn't mean I don't have an opinion on the matter on which I will carry out long, text heavy posting about.
Paul_Nicholas_Boylan swirls their brandy and claims...
Posted April 8, 2014
I stand corrected: everybody here but Barnesy.
w from brisbane mumbles...
Posted April 8, 2014
Speaking of Missouri, I never realised that Kansas City was also known as the "Paris of the Plains".
That does make me wonder what Murph, aka 'Frenchy', has been complaining about all these years. It must be a product of his innate Parisian hauteur.
Murphy puts forth...
Posted April 8, 2014
We're called that because of the proliferation of fountains, many of which often do not work.
As for French food, Aixois is worth a visit.
Respects,
Murph
On the Outer Marches
NBlob reckons...
Posted April 8, 2014
It's actually Oreganics & Washingtonians* that truly Sh!t me. Their superscillious attitude "we're so clever" "We make boeings" that grates.
*Note: the State, not the Disctrict of Columbia. East coasters are generally more humble, gracious and they have the Smithsonian.
w from brisbane would have you know...
Posted April 8, 2014
The state of Rhode Island always seems short of fans.
NBlob would have you know...
Posted April 8, 2014
That'd be because it barely qualifies as a Zip code. Whomever granted State-hood must have had an agenda.
Paul_Nicholas_Boylan would have you know...
Posted April 8, 2014
I am shocked no one here knows that Kansas City was known as "the Paris of the Plains" due to the availability of inexpensive, but skilled, prostitutes.
S.M. Stirling swirls their brandy and claims...
Posted April 10, 2014
A joint project of UCLA and the University of Tennessee has successfully reconnected the spinal cords of four men totally paralyzed from the waist down for 2-4 years.
(They tried the new technique of four men; all four recovered showed about the same response. The program will now be expanded.)
The men have recovered sensation and mobility in the lower limbs, bladder and bowel control, and sexual function.
Rob is gonna tell you...
Posted April 7, 2014
My money will be spent on the Lego Movie. and maybe beer, and a band or maybe beer and wait for the DVD,
w from brisbane asserts...
Posted April 8, 2014
Not aiming this at anybody, but....
I can't see how people who enjoy the super hero genre, can disdain the fantasy genre because magic.
Those emotional complexities are also stock in the fantasy/magic genre. Those who have magic are often fearful of the ability. Struggle to control it. Get it wrong to horrific effect. See it as a curse. Can feel it's threat of absolute moral corruption. Would rather not walk across the land to fight monstrous evil.
NBlob ducks in to say...
Posted April 8, 2014
@ W. It's pretty simple;
1 There is a Maguffin (Spider-bite etc) that sets limits on the degree of superhero-ness, unlike in Magical stories where there is no *logical* limitation of powers.
2 No hobbits, sprites, elves or other punchable little F*kers.
Barnesm would have you know...
Posted April 8, 2014
The problem with the superhero genre is not the Maguffin itself but when they are a medium that has been running a continuous story for 70years and you have to keep inventing new ways of using, challanging the character.
Imagine fantasy telling one continuous story for 70years with the same characters and settings at times it would have to dig into the grab bag that DC and Marvel have had to resort to.
Barnesm is gonna tell you...
Posted April 8, 2014
Not so big an issue with the movies sinec they can simply choose the best stories and ignore any bits that make things ridiculous/too fantastic.
Dino not to be confused with reckons...
Posted April 8, 2014
Hey W,
Magic is sxciesez yet to be understood.
Flying planes were magic a while ago.
Still everyone is a scientific expert aren't they?
S.M. Stirling mumbles...
Posted April 10, 2014
Actually, no, they weren't. The principle was understood as far back as the Renaissance, and working models were demonstrated in the 1840's. The main problems were stability and a power source with a sufficiently high power-to-weight ratio, which was just engineering.
tqft swirls their brandy and claims...
Posted April 8, 2014
I will put this here rather than in the SJ thread preceding
http://www.dailydot.com/fandom/black-widow-reviews-wrong-captain-america/
"
Just for kicks, I took a look at the top reviews for The Avengers, to see what America’s most acclaimed and respected cinema critics thought of Black Widow back in 2012. Bear in mind that most of these quotes are the only description of Scarlett Johansson’s performance in the entire review.
In the New Yorker, Anthony Lane wrote, “not to be left out, Black Widow repels invading aliens through the sheer force of her corsetry,” while the Wall Street Journal’s Pulitzer-winning Joe Morgenstern complained, “Black Widow spends lots of time looking puzzled or confused.”"
Hopefully Blackwidow with SJ does get a solo movie
Dino not to be confused with mutters...
Posted April 8, 2014
Seeking Female,
Intelligent, nice, likes good food, honest, good fighter.
Dino not to be confused with ducks in to say...
Posted April 8, 2014
I met her when she was a kid but she (probably)won't remember it.
Don Bagert is gonna tell you...
Posted April 9, 2014
Hey, you know that early scene with Sam where Steve has a small pad where he writes down things that he missed in the 60+ years he was on ice that have been suggested to him? I gather that the list of items is different for each country! JB - see any Australian references there? :)
tqft is gonna tell you...
Posted April 9, 2014
it was too fast for me to catch any oz specific reference. There is a reddit thread devoted to this topic.
w from brisbane swirls their brandy and claims...
Posted April 9, 2014
Australia & New Zealand
AC/DC
Space travel
Steve Irwin
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
Tim Tams
Thai Food
Star Wars/Trek
Nirvana (band)
Rocky (Rocky II?)
Troubleman (soundtrack)
Paul_Nicholas_Boylan has opinions thus...
Posted April 9, 2014
You missed "cashed up bogans."
Don Bagert mutters...
Posted April 11, 2014
Thank you!
Myles Lobdell would have you know...
Posted April 11, 2014
Superman's morality may have been black and white in the germinal days of the 1930s, but it was black and white in a very politically progressive and partisan manner: crusading against corporations and the merchants of death and quelling endemic government corruption. All consonant with the latest Captain America movie.
Dino not to be confused with is gonna tell you...
Posted April 11, 2014
Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington.