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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
 Posted - 11/16/2009 : 19:07:24 [Permalink]
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I'm looking out for TRON II on the big screen.
(Some didn't like it but I'm one of those who thought the original was very cool.) |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 11/17/2009 : 02:04:50 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by H. Humbert
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse
The only redeeming aspect of Titanic was... eh... I don't remember.
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You don't remember Kate Winslet's breasts? 
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No... I must have fell asleep.
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2010 : 00:57:06 [Permalink]
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I haven't yet seen the big-budget, big-names 2012, but I did see a couple other 2012-themed movies this week (both were direct-to-video releases, the big-budget movie will be available to rent in March, 2010, according to Netflix).
Spoilers ahead (as if these movies could be spoiled).
2012: Doomsday (2008)
In this one, the end of the Mayan calendar coincides with the "alignment" of the solar system with the center of the galaxy, which somehow causes the Earth to stop rotating, which in turn causes all sorts of climate change, followed by massive earthquakes all over the world. Nevermind that, as Carl Sagan calculated in Broca's Brain, stopping the rotation of the planet in a matter of hours (or days) would melt it.
This is all explained by probably the most-recognizable cast member, Cliff De Young (in this film, he's clearly just phoning it in, not that he's ever been Oscar-caliber), while in a non-descript conference room at the "U.S. Geological Survey Center" in Baltimore, Maryland. Why didn't they place him at the headquarters of the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, Virginia? I doubt even the film-makers could answer that question, since this film isn't about easily verifiable facts, it's about faith.
So much God talk. Ugh. The ungodly are, of course, always wrong in this film. A point driven home when, just hours before "the end," at least two of God's defenders (in verbal discussions, that is) are raptured. And, of course, a baby is born right when "the end" occurs, and it turns out that "the end" isn't really the end, with all the second-coming implications that go along with that sort of thing.
This film includes what must be the worst CGI hailstorm ever, with a hailstone strong enough to punch through the windshield of a car and through the driver's sternum, but in which no other hailstones leave a mark on the car (in fact, when the camera is inside the car, there's no hail visible outside, through the windows). None of the CGI snow in Mexico accumulates on anything, either.
And when "the end" happens, we're treated to more bad CGI destruction all over the world, including (and I'm not kidding) the keystone of an arch in Jerusalem hanging in mid-air, Wile E. Coyote-style, for a split-second after the rest of the arch collapses away under it.
(A group called "Tiny Juggernaut" takes credit for these visual effects. If you happen to ever make a movie, skip them.)
2012: Supernova (2009)
This is a sci-fi action/adventure film without the preaching of the prior film. What it shares with that other film is the mostly unknown cast and the completely implausible plot.
In it, a supernova a mere 200 light years away poses a major threat to Earth. Now, I don't recall whether it was on Phil Plait's blog or Ethen Siegal's where I read that the minimum safe distance for Earth from a supernova would be something like 5,000 light years (or maybe it was 7,000), but let's nevermind that now.
The scientists in this film have less than four days to launch a bunch of nukes into space to create a second "shield" to accompany the natural magnetosphere, which won't be enough to withstand the supernova. The big debate in the film is whether this nuke-shield should be placed "above" or "below" the magnetosphere, since if they pick wrong, everyone dies. (And, of course, some people are against any shield at all, including a failure of a "ninja" assassin whose ki-yas are obviously lady-like but to whom people refer as "he" until the predictable reveal.)
I may need to watch this film again, unfortunately, because it includes a nifty time-table. The movie shows that first, Pluto will explode when "the supernova" hits it, and then, some hours later, the moons of Jupiter will meet the same fate. Just hours before it hits Earth, of course. But the fact that the film-makers didn't vaporize the moons of any other planet (or of Mars) suggest that they actually did some homework, here. Perhaps, given the positions of Earth, Jupiter and Pluto in 2012, an astronomer could extend the line out 200 light years and find the star that the writers purport to have gone supernova some 198 years ago.
Bad, bad CGI also appears in this film, in the form of meteor strikes, electrical storms and tornadoes which, for no apparent reason, precede "the supernova" by days. CGI lightning strikes cause small CGI fires which are sometimes fanned by breezes going opposite to the winds blowing the nearby trees around.
And instead of the producers demanding that no real damage occur to a real car during a CGI hailstorm, in this film it's a gunfight. Two SUVs driving right alongside each other, and one guy in one whips out a machine gun to shoot at the other. Not a scratch. It also appears that all of the automotive scenes were filmed on the same section of desert highway, perhaps even on the same day. Except, perhaps, for the 30 seconds during which we're treated to a scientist having no problems whatsoever driving a semi. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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ThorGoLucky
Snuggle Wolf
USA
1487 Posts |
Posted - 01/31/2010 : 08:42:46 [Permalink]
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I enjoyed 2012 even though they seemed to have consulted with Creationists for their advise on geology, seismology and physics in general.
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
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the_ignored
SFN Addict
2562 Posts |
Posted - 05/01/2010 : 21:07:30 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dude
Hey, I am a fan of SW! Sure, the movies have been kinda crappy... bbut the thing has spawned it's own highly detailed mythos! Some very good writers have taken up the story/plot chores and made the whole thing interesting.
We need Lucas to make a SW trilogy out of the Thrawn books!
But Lucas probably can't actually direct a movie that involves inticate plots and requires convincing acting.
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Get Timothy Zahn to do the screenwriting for that trilogy. Though to be really faithful, it'd take a lot more than just three movies to cover them.
Too bad that Mara Jade dies in a later series though. |
>From: enuffenuff@fastmail.fm
(excerpt follows):
> I'm looking to teach these two bastards a lesson they'll never forget.
> Personal visit by mates of mine. No violence, just a wee little chat.
>
> **** has also committed more crimes than you can count with his
> incitement of hatred against a religion. That law came in about 2007
> much to ****'s ignorance. That is fact and his writing will become well
> know as well as him becoming a publicly known icon of hatred.
>
> Good luck with that fuckwit. And Reynold, fucking run, and don't stop.
> Disappear would be best as it was you who dared to attack me on my
> illness knowing nothing of the cause. You disgust me and you are top of
> the list boy. Again, no violence. Just regular reminders of who's there
> and visits to see you are behaving. Nothing scary in reality. But I'd
> still disappear if I was you.
What brought that on? this. Original posting here.
Another example of this guy's lunacy here. |
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astropin
SFN Regular
USA
970 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2010 : 13:42:38 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dave W.
I just saw the big-budget 2012, and remembered that what has been seen cannot be unseen.
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lol |
I would rather face a cold reality than delude myself with comforting fantasies.
You are free to believe what you want to believe and I am free to ridicule you for it.
Atheism:
The result of an unbiased and rational search for the truth.
Infinitus est numerus stultorum |
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"2012": Woo, woo, W0o7!
