BobDylan

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 10, 2007 -> 03:11 AM) No, but there's a difference between not liking a movie because the acting blows, the plot makes no sense, or the story in general just isn't good enough entertainment to be big-screen worthy. It's another thing to not like a movie because it's not politically correct enough for the current time. This is what this guy said. The movie popularizes war and death and they were far too masculine so its a bad movie. This is the BS type of review that is ruining hollywood. It's this political correctness crap that continues to curb our freedom of speech. And I never said anything about this guy not having a right to say what he wants to about the film. All i'm asking for is some relevant criteria to judge the film on. Arguing that the directors didn't correlate the movie to modern times is ridiculous. It's an f'n movie. It's not supposed to be about modern times. And I saw the movie tonight and thought it was badass. It's not a film you go see to find the meaning of life, but it was an awesome visual representation of a mythological event that happened in the distant past. If you don't bring in the BS political crap of modern times you would see the brilliance of the film. If, however, you have a stick shoved up your arse like this reviewer did, you'd have a problem with it. I'd argue that Hollywood is already in ruins because the standards aren't high enough.

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 8, 2007 -> 10:37 AM) I don't trust Roussaeu....I think she's one of them. It's plausable. She stole Claire's baby, she had all sorts of odd materials that aren't likely to have lying around...where would she get batteries and sniper rifles? But I think something happened in her history at the Others camp that made her leave. Though, she questioned Sayid heavily and thought he was a member of the Others. If she was ever at their camp, she'd probably know Sayid isn't them, let alone that he didn't have Alex? QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 9, 2007 -> 12:16 PM) exactly. Which is why its even stranger. I think it's obvious the "Hostiles" aren't the Others. But the Hostiles are everyone else on the island that just happens to get there somehow. But that's just what I think.

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 9, 2007 -> 04:50 PM) http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/....300/index.html I haven't seen the movie yet (will do so tonight at the IMAX on Navy Pier), but this is exactly what's wrong with movies today. This tool bag gets his voice heard by the movie execs and the art of making movies suffers. There's a reason why the movies the last few years have been complete crap. They follow this douche-bags way of thinking. And to be fair, I might hate it. But I can guarantee I won't hate it because the director hasn't compared it to our time. Or that the director failed to appreciate that being in a war-weary time we shouldn't be celebrating death and destruction brought upon by war. And of course lets hate the movie because the directors forgot to include gays! Oh the tragedy! And of course, I love the little hit on Western civilization. We're so messed up, aren't we? This guy is everything that's wrong with our society. It's an f'n movie. It's supposed to be unrealistic. Some people enjoy the movies because it takes you to a different world. This is precisely why I'm excited about seeing this movie. You've got it all wrong. You know what's wrong with the movies? People give them 10/10 ratings because they see a cool trailer where some guy yells (and is overracting quite extremely) "THIS IS SPARTA!" before they actually see the movie. You're bashing this guy for making comments about a movie he's seen. Yet, you, who has not seen it, is saying, "It's not going to do this, or this, or that," and praising the s*** out of it. Um, excuse me? Having not seen it, how exactly do you know there aren't parallels drawn to today's world? The guy who saw the movie seems to disagree with you. And, well, since he's actually seen the movie, I'm going to trust his insight more than yours. But, hey, you know what? Who says I have to listen to him. I can go see the movie and disagree with him after I see it myself, no? You know what's truly messed up in our society? When you basically tell this critic that his American freedoms are invalid because it's "an f'n" movie. Yet, you, who has nearly no knowledge on the movie, are allowed the rights he's not? Give me a break, man.

And we're closer to more answers...

Is it just me, or are the Blackhawks missing from that list?

QUOTE(Texsox @ Mar 1, 2007 -> 01:40 AM) The highest visibility company is Walmart. Their Human Resource groups do a great job of letting their employees know about educational opportunities through grants, loans, etc. They help with finding child care programs, medical, dental, and vision programs, etc. The same stuff that Lesko will sell you in a book. All these programs are designed to help bridge people from public aid to fully independent. They help the "caught in the middle" workers who were sometimes better off not working, in the sense they had handouts. Many people blame the companies that publicize these programs for not just providing those benefits. In a nutshell. don't provide those benefits, but tell you employees about the government programs they qualify for, bad. Don't provide those benefits and don't tell your employees, good. I think good is the wrong word. I think when they tell them how to go to school instead of providing it, it feels like a little bit of a "f*** you" from "the man". Not everybody is in a position where they can just go to school. If I understand correctly, soon as you're enrolled in school, they take away the governmental handouts? How's one supposed to feed a family with no job or aid? If I'm right on that...isn't Walmart in turn saying more of, "Well, you can either work your 40 hours/week here and put food on the table or go to school, lose out on your paycheck and starve until you have the education to get a better job." Plus, getting those grants and loans isn't nearly as easy as they make it sound. ...Of course, I might be talking out of my ass here. And I probably am.

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Feb 28, 2007 -> 08:56 AM) I agree that a fully human Jesus, fully engaged in all domestic aspects of human life is not something that should shake the foundations of the faith. But I think you are missing the real point for the by-the-book faithful. If Jesus rose from the dead and 30 days later ascended bodily into heaven, how could his bones possibly be in an ossuary in a tomb in Jerusalem? The same way he floated into heaven. Nobody knows how!

QUOTE(GoRowand33 @ Mar 4, 2007 -> 10:37 PM) anyone else excited for Neon Bible (Arcade Fire) to come out tuesday? It's a good album.

QUOTE(max power @ Mar 4, 2007 -> 03:54 PM) Did he screw your ex girlfriend or something? I guess I just don't see what there is to like about a movie like that. Is it supposed to be shocking or meaningful? A lot of people rag on hollywood for making predictable movies with predictable plots. To me this was no different. The thing with Hollywood, they recycle characters too. Reusing a plot is one thing, and as already said, unavoidable to a point. The characters in City of God break certain stereotypes. How many gangster flicks are seen through the eyes of a photographer? Think about the cinematography in City of God too. It's some of the best you'll find anywhere. Also, City of God is an adaptation of a novel. And just a little trivia via IMDB: "When Knockout Ned ('Mané Galinha' in the Brazilian version) kills someone for the first time, some people who live in the City of God approach him and congratulate him for the killing. The first woman to talk to him was played by the mother of the real Knockout Ned."

QUOTE(max power @ Mar 4, 2007 -> 09:11 AM) I didn't meant to simplify the plot of "city of gawd" that much. I just find it remarkably simple. Heat's plot has a lot of little twists going on in it that made the movie exciting and suspenseful to me. For example, the fact that the opposing main characters had a relationship with each other. There are more like the issues with Val's character, but forgive me, I haven't seen heat in a while. The point is, city of god gave me almost no surprises at all. In fact, the movie even tried to ruin the would be surprises needlessly, by hinting at certain things like the story of KO ned. I didn't find myself wondering 'what would happen next.' I found myself waiting for it to happen. Really, after typing that, I think character development is the what makes the movies you mentioned better than "city of god." For some reason this movie failed to generate a character who I actually cared about enough to keep my interest. There was no one for me to admire. There were no memorable characters that made the movie distinct. Carlito's Way had Carlito. Heat had several. Gangs of New York had Bill the Butcher. Scarface had Tony Montana. Those movies will stand the test of time because of those outstanding characters. Will this? I guess that is my real problem with it. That was one of the key points in making the movie. That's what happens there. It's only a matter of time (and not much time) before you die.

QUOTE(max power @ Mar 3, 2007 -> 02:40 PM) I just watched "City of God" after seeing it as #17 on the imdb Top 250 Movies of all time. I have to say, I was very disappointed. While the movie was solid a 7/10. I see nothing about it worthy of such praise. I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion of course but I am curious about why people love this movie so much. To me it was just a simple story, one that was very typical and not ground breaking in any way. The guy starts small with big dreams, gains power/takes control, gets huge, controversy happens between two groups, people die. I mean, its like the movie copied its plot from scarface. The only difference being its about life in the slums, its told by a narrator and its foreign. My ideas are some people like the movie simply because its foreign. They hate hollywood. I hate most of what hollywood has done lately, too. It doesn't make this movie a 10/10. The other thought I have is people love this movie because its lessor known. They like being in an exclusive group that knows about this movie. Anyone else see this movie? City of God takes Scarface to school in every way imaginable.

QUOTE(RibbieRubarb @ Mar 3, 2007 -> 08:16 AM) Film is the great art form of the 20th century. It combines the drama of theatre, the visuals of a painting and the words of books. The problem is that is a highly successful art form and thus it can be compromised. I find there are equal parts of art/complete sh** all over the world. India's Bollywood film system is a fine example. It churns out great films and crap faster than the USA. Most of the great foreign films we see here are on par with our independant film system. Europe makes commerical films, too. They just don't make as many as we do and thus our ratio is higher of crap. To comment on your last quote...I completly disagree. The Hollywood production company is saving the American film. Almost all the studios have an independant arm that give greater exposure to smaller films that ever before. The blockbuster allow studios to take greater chances on smaller budgeted, risker films. There are crap films everywhere. But Hollywood seems to churn them out and whore them out for the $$$ like butter. I agree with your last statement. However, the independant films only benefit when the production companies don't step in and tell them what to do. QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Mar 3, 2007 -> 12:02 PM) Do you think good actors can also sometimes carry a film that has weak writing or directing? Yes, but it's as rare as the good American director. QUOTE(Brian @ Mar 3, 2007 -> 12:49 PM) You act like Hollywood just came about 10 years ago. It has been around for 70 plus years. Hollywood didn't ruin anything. It has had its golden age and like anything has its ups and downs. Hollywood didn't always call the shots.

Alright, I'm finally caught up. I'm not sure why people are so pissed off. This is a long running series. Over 50 episodes. And for 50 episodes, it was nothing but action, action and more action. When Sawyer and Kate got back, that was a climax. Obviously, there are more climaxes to come. But when a climax happens, things have to cool down. The energy has to be released. Through the first two seasons, hardly ANY tension was released. There were very few feel good moments, and everything was dark, death and fear. Nobody trusted anyone, Michael was a f***ing jackass regardless of his kid, and everyone worked only in their own interests. This episode was a big foreshadow moment. Hugo was presenting us, and the island hope. He presented us some smiles. He showed us that the people at that island aren't going anywhere, that it's their home and that they've accepted it. Finally. Without this episode, the island would've turned into a Civil War. Now we have some security. And more, we have the ever important character development. How about the side of Sawyer we saw? Jin learning English? And we know the numbers aren't cursed. I thought it was a great episode. I feel like episode 10 and episode 8 of season 3 are the best the show has made.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Mar 2, 2007 -> 10:05 PM) some examples? Off the top of my head? Two have already been mentioned: Nick Cave in Adaptation (Spike Jonze) and Raising Arizona (Joel and Ethan Coen). Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love (P.T. Anderson). Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, more importantly Charlie Kaufman). John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino). Bill Murray, although funny, doesn't do much ACTING in any films but Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic (Wes Anderson) and Lost in Translation (Sophia Coppola). And some no name actors? Elephant (Gus Van Sant), United 93 (Paul Greengrass), Bottle Rocket--Luke and Owen Wilson were NOTHING before this movie (Wes Anderson), and countless foreign films. I can continue going if you'd like. Hollywood has RUINED THE ART. Most American cinema is complete s*** compared to some of the film that is going on in the rest of the world. The Hollywood actor, the Hollywood production company have ruined American film.

QUOTE(maggliopipe @ Feb 26, 2007 -> 08:50 PM) ...and Raising Arizona. He's definitely been in some decent flicks. The only good movies he's been in were powered by good writers and or directors. People give the actors/actresses waaaay too much credit. A good director can work with somebody with very little to no talent and not only make it work, but make it work great.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Mar 1, 2007 -> 10:27 AM) Based on what I've come to expect this was flat out a horrible episode. It was meh on a tv show basis but for lost this was just bad. The show is losing a lot of its luster and this is coming from someone who hasn't had that feeling until recently. They may have things spread too far out right now (so many key characters that its hard to develop them) but I'm just flat out not the biggest fan of them dedicating entire episodes to 1 or 2 characters at the most. Well, the first two season was close to 50 episodes. That's a TON of epsides. To think they could keep up a pace of close to 25 episodes with an angry dog pace is expecting a lot. I've yet to see any episodes from season 3, so I'll reserve judgement until then. But eventually I'd expected them to cool it with all the "cliffhangers". In Season 2, I was actually turned off by some of it. From the point I'm at, they've lost their guns, they've lost 3 of their most important people...there's not a lot the people at the beach can do.

I'm in, but I can't make the current draft time. I have PM classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays. Tuesday I usually get home around 9 PM, Wenesday and Thursday, around 11 PM. I'll order my draft if the time can't be changed, so no worries.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Feb 28, 2007 -> 02:02 AM) Better in what way? It all comes down to personal taste, so it's impossible to say who is better. Now for MY tastes, Radiohead is better. Ten years from now, no one will talk about Arcade Fire, make that 5 years from now. Is longevity what makes a band great?

I am officially addicted. I can't stop watching.

At AtEaseWeb.com a question is proposed... Is The Arcade Fire better than Radiohead? OK Computer and Kid A, Radiohead is better. Funeral and Neon Bible tops everything else Radiohead has done though, I'd say. Anyone care to interject? Or agree?

QUOTE(Middle Buffalo @ Feb 26, 2007 -> 09:31 PM) Anyone out there have or have a child with ADD/ADHD? I'm pretty sure my son has ADD. He's in second grade, and he has an awfully hard time paying attention and following instructions. He's always distracted, and his schoolwork is starting to suffer. No major changes or problems at home, either. In fact, he's always had this problem, so my wife and I are going to get him evaluated. What I want to avoid is a lifelong dependence on medicine. Does anyone have any personal knowledge or experience with a homeopathic remedy or a non-chemical technique to alleviate the symptoms? I kind of feel like the educational system and medical field are quick to diagnose this disorder in young boys because it has become acceptable. I'd like to find an alternative. I have ADD. So does my brother, sister and dad. One is taking prespcription medication. Just from my experience, I don't think ADD is that big of a problem (adhd is another story). I find my attention span to work for long periods if I'm interested. If I'm not intrested, my attention span might last 10 seconds. I took medications for about a year, and while I was able to concentrate better, it was still on the things I wanted to concentrate on. If there was a class lecture I wasn't interested in, I'd put my "super" brain power elsewhere until the pill wore off. The pill keeps an attention span around, but the person still has to choose what to pay attention to. I guess what I'm saying (and rather poorly) is that ADD can't be "fixed". It can be treated for hours at a time, but never fixed. The most important thing he needs to have is a good, solid work ethic. A prescription may help him build a working habit. But it's just as possible to build a work ethic without pills. I would reccommend setting strict homework rules. Set the hours when he should be doing them. If he finishes early, make him get ahead or do something else constructive. Set a few hours aside for educational purposes only. You can also check his work to make sure he's not halfassing it. The pills will help him stay focused, but I think building a routine is more important in the long run. ^^^^^^^^ Is what my parents did to me. When they were strict about it and made sure I was doing what I was supposed to be doing, my grades were better. A lot better. When they got lazy, I got lazy with them and my grades went back down the s***ter.

QUOTE(DrunkBomber @ Feb 26, 2007 -> 10:32 PM) I live less then 20 miles west of Chicago and we got dumped on. I went to shovel today and it was pretty much solid ice. How many inches? I'm in Bridgeport, the roads are icey, but the snow levels didn't get very high. It'll be esay to walk.

I guess it didn't get to Chicago.

QUOTE(bmags @ Feb 25, 2007 -> 03:44 PM) how did (insert nick cage movie) get made? Adaptation is one of my favorite movies of all time. Maybe my most favorite.

QUOTE(StrangeSox @ Feb 26, 2007 -> 12:18 AM) The producers have stated several times that there is absolutely no time-travel. I wish you hadn't told me that.