longshot7

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Sep 16, 2009 -> 05:18 PM) A Dream, The Watcher 2, '03 Bonne & Clyde, The Bounce, I Did It My Way, Diamonds Is Forever, Meet The Parents, Blueprint 2 are collectively better than What We Talkin' About, DOA, Run This Town, Empire State of Mind, A Star is Born, and Hate. You're right though, Jay turns 40 this year. It wasn't anywhere as good as Your Favorite Weapon, Deja Entendu(all-time favorite), or Raging. Kingdom Come had a bunch of known producers. Only one who was semi unknown was Dj Khalil and maybe one or two other producers. It had Chris Martin, Just Blaze, Dr. Dre on there. In fact, the beats were superb on that album. I also thought it was underrated, but I could see why. The only tracks that I can listen to on repeat are Lost Ones, Trouble, Dig A Hole, Minority Report(very underrated song) and Beach Chair(very very underrated). American Gangster completely lost me though. Only hot tracks on there to me are Pray, Roc Boys(And The Winner Is), and Ignorant S***. Rest of the album was trash. Jay has always been production driven to me though. I don't think I've ever heard a song with a wack beat that was good of his. He's not that type of artist and he's always ensured he's worked with the best producers. Again, where he's failing nowadays are the beats, and then trying to be witty, but most of the time failing like Blockbuster. Jay certainly doesn't need my support, but I find most of his music very boring, mostly because I don't care about lyrics. To me, hip hop works best where the music is as good as or better than the words and a lot of today's hip hop (Jay included) it seems like the music is an afterthought. I don't care about "Flow" or "Rhymes" or whatnot - just don't get in the way of a good beat or production.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Sep 28, 2009 -> 12:58 PM) I'll take a stab at this, but you have to take yourself back to 1941 and the technical limitations of cinema at the time to fully appreciate how innovative Kane was. Subject matter: The film is a thinly-veiled critique of the life and legacy of William Randolph Hearst, who was a very powerful newspaper magnate of the day, and who prohibited any mention of the film in his publications upon its release. That's a pretty daring target to satirize/criticize, and it is roman à clef at its best as far as American cinema goes. Narrative device: The use of flashbacks to tell Charles Foster Kane's story was inspired, because it allows us to see each of the contributing storytellers (Leland, Bernstein, Raymond, Susan, etc.) both as they were when they interacted with Kane and as they are in later life after his death. The duality of Kane (social crusader and idealistic newspaper publisher versus ruthless power monger and megalomaniac) is fully explored and is reinforced by the conflicted opinions that each of the main characters has about the man. The use of "Rosebud" as the vehicle by allowing Reporter Jerry Thompson to track down Kane's acquaintances, ostensibly to solve the mystery of the man's dying words is easy to giggle at as a film world inside joke, but it was genius. It did not matter at all the Thompson never figured out what Rosebud was, didn't matter that it was boy Kane's sled that got incinerated in the last scene (other than to reassert the lost childhood aspect of Kane's tragic character, with the wealthiest man in America keeping this seemingly worthless possession all those years). What mattered was that the need to solve a mystery propelled the story by giving the reporter a reason to track everybody down. Tragic Story: The idealist who loses everything he loves as a result of his own blind ambition is not a new story at the time teh film was released, but it is a timeless tale of a tragic hero that is told to perfection here. Cinematography: Citizen Kane marks the first time deep focus is used to any extent in cinema, and that is the accomplishment of cinematographer extraordinaire Greg Toland. Toland also used in-camera matte shots and also an optical printer to create the appearance of deep focus in those scenes where he couldn't actually achieve it with lighting and lenses. Layering film was done by others at the time to achieve specific special effects, while here the filmakers are doing it just to achieve the visual they want in an average scene. Additional touches like extensive use of low-angle up shots and contrasting light and shadow scene compositions were used to better effect than any other film of the day. The use of miniature models (Xanadu, the opera house rafters, etc.) were seemless to the rest of the film. Music: The use of the same theme — "There was a Man" — throughout the film but in so many different modalities was brilliant. Played vaudeville-style by a live band when he was on the campaign trail, contrasted with the slow, non-diagenic bombast at the beginning and end of the film, and performed differently according to the mood of the scene throughout was not necessary to tell the story — and it's never even noticed by 98% of the viewers. But it's one of the extremes the filmmakers went to to make a perfect film. That's it off the top of my head. Great film. Period. Great summary. The fractured narrative hinted at all the experientation that was to come in the noir years, where one way to show the fractured psyche of a lead character was to fracture the narrative- but Kane (Joseph Mankiewica was the screenwriter) did it first. Also done to great effect in The Bad & The Beautiful about Kirk Douglas' character.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Sep 29, 2009 -> 08:34 AM) I think Toland used the optical printer to achieve the oversized room, as well as the low-angle up-shot camera to include the ceilings in the shots. Including the ceilings in many of the shots was pretty groundbreaking. Most films then were shot on movie lot soundstage sets and the sets never bothered to include ceilings. In some cases on Kane, true ceiling portions were built, and in others muslin cloth was used to give the appearance of a ceiling while also hiding the microphone booms and gaffing that were located on the other side of the muslin. Yup, this is true. Doesn't get my vote for best film of all time, but it's still a masterpiece.

The Guest Hosts will be going until at least til the end of the year. WWE is getting mainstream press for this, and Vince loves that.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 27, 2009 -> 06:02 PM) A whole 103 huh ? So what's that like 50 more posts than the shortest game thread of the year ? Yes the season is over that's the whole point of most of the let the kids play posts. I also realize the most people post in game threads while watching the game so having the Bears game on can't be too much of an excuse. That's why you have a remote control. Not when you have to go to a bar to watch the game......

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 10:36 AM) I agree with the bolded parts but not the rest. Home runs as just as important as they always were. Yes, MLB is doing a much better job of getting the roids out but it's not like the new stadiums coming out are getting considerably larger and the mound height keeps getting raised. And it's not like players are getting weaker through better conditioning programs or that scouting reports on pitchers are becoming less reliable. Also, pitching and defense is VERY exciting. A slick defensive play is always more entertaining IMO than a home run, and a 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 type of ballgame always has you closer to the edge of your seat than some slugfest. I, for one, miss the steroid era, and the steroids themselves. RIP.

I say no. He's a total cancer to a ballclun and while Linebrink sucks, he's a good teammate.

what inning was that - I have to find it on my tivo!

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Sep 15, 2009 -> 09:32 AM) I guess I don't agree with either statement here. The minority certainly rules this country. Not putting my own opinions here, but the majority are happy and fine with their healthcare, but the minority wants to change it. The majority are against gay marriage, but the minority wants it. The majority of people don't want to spend trillions on defeating global warming, but the minority wants it, the majority of people are religious and don't care that religion is a public thing, but the minority doesn't want it, etc. Of course, now you have the minority trying to convince you they're the majority, like you're doing above.

FYI, UND is still the Fightin Sioux, and the Lakota Tribe (their real name) HATES it. But the multi-millionaire who financed their recent arena put the Sioux logo on every seat in the building, so it'd be a nightmare to change it and have to replace every seat (plus other things) in the building.

QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 16, 2009 -> 10:30 AM) Vince's daughter (WWE CEO) is going to quit to run for the Senate. With that face-- he must be 200 yrs old!! linda2010.com (Incidentally, this is why it matters where you read your wrestling news)

If there are no setbacks and he keeps this schedule, he starts 9/25 at home vs Detroit and 9/30 at Cleveland as well.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Sep 14, 2009 -> 12:08 PM) Don't forget about his rambo impression when entering to his pyro. The PPV was decent. Surprisingly, Cena/Orton was match of the night. Just a shame at how it ended. MOTN was DX/Legacy, and I went into that with a major grain of salt. Good ppv on the whole. Batista is moving to SD. woo frickin hoo.

QUOTE (ChWRoCk2 @ Sep 14, 2009 -> 10:37 AM) Right, I'm not overly worried about the offense either. Didn't turn over the ball once and did not try to force anything and allowed for the defense to come on the field and make a stop. My only concern is Barbre of course and hopefully next game the O drops less passes. The offense should be fine. The defensive line did look good, I was quite pleased, I really didn't think we would generate much of a rush but we hurried up Cutler a number of times. Special teams looked pretty good on coverage as well, minus the missed field goal by Mason. Time for a banning! No positive Packer thoughts here.

A dislocated wrist shouldn't keep you out 4 months. Unless there's something else wrong, he should be back after a few games. Heck, even a BROKEN wrist shouldn't keep someone out the whole season.

QUOTE (The Critic @ Sep 8, 2009 -> 12:42 AM) VERY bad news for Brian - Lauren Williams (aka Angelina Love) may face a 10-year ban from working in the U.S. because she apparently worked without a valid work visa for her entire TNA tenure: http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/tna/3933.html You really shouldn't read the ripoff wrestling news sites, cause they don't have the reporters the big ones do. Mike Johnson of PWInsider posted this yesterday: "The following was issued to PWInsider.com today in regard to rumors that have been running rampant regarding former TNA star Angel "Angelina Love" Williams, none of which have been reported on this website: My name is Michael Klyzub of MJM Entertainment, the representative of Angel Williams. Both myself and my client have been bombarded with “News” stories and rumors concerning her situation from friends and fans alike, all or partially linked to your content. With respect to that I would like to take this time to clarify our present situation and I trust you will send this message along to your subscribers/readers. As per usual, stories found on the internet have been grossly over stated and misinformed. Effective Thursday September 3, Angel Williams performing as Angelina Love in TNA had parted ways with the company. This separation was based purely on a miscommunication of Angel Williams' present Visa Status. This in no way has anything to do with Contract Disputes or trouble with the office as has been reported. I want to stress the fact that once this Visa issue is cleaned up Angel is welcomed back to TNA Wrestling with open arms. At this time I cannot and will not address any of the other rumors that are circulating with regards to the type of Visa issues, concerns of gaining employment with the competition nor will I address any other rumors. I will say that most of what is on the internet is inaccurate and that the fans should rest assured that Angel Williams the performer will be returning to the ring in no time at all. We greatly appreciate all the fan support and look forward to having this issue resolved shortly. Thank you one and all. ~Michael Klyzub MJM Entertainment As we initially reported here on the website, Williams' release was due to a visa issue that led to the company not being able to use her. Since the responsibility for taking care of the issue was Williams' responsibility, the company opted to release her but as I reported, there was no heat towards her as much as there was disappointment over the situation. As I initially reported, if and when the visa issue is resolved, TNA sources indicated they were open to her return to the company. A lot of speculation and incorrect reports (some credited to this website) have popped up in the last few days. All I can say is that unless you've seen us write it here on PWInsider.com, put no credence into whatever is credited to this website. If you've seen it on this website, we stand by what was written." There's no 10-year-ban. She'll be back soon.

WWE signs Nigel McGuinness along to go with Bryan Danielson as their ROH raid continues.

Boondock Saints was AWFUL!!! What did you like about it, Jason? I remember laughing at it it was so bad.

QUOTE (kwolf68 @ Sep 3, 2009 -> 01:36 PM) I am guessing you did not see these bands on the same bill. Lollapalooza - ever hear of it?

I don't mind the citizenship requirement. Arnold would have made a horrible Prez anyway.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Sep 3, 2009 -> 01:59 PM) "That's what happens when you play a DH in left field" I hope Stone announces here 20 years. His honesty is ridiculously ideal. And i'm glad he takes the home team to task too. I love that quote - made it my status on FB.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 3, 2009 -> 09:17 AM) If you can throw Makowiak out in CF where he doesn't belong then you can put Q in RF. Ozzie is over-exaggerating the transition from LF to RF. Fixed it for you.

What the hell is Ozzie's problem???? WE ARE OUT OF IT. http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/artic...sp&c_id=cws

Setting ourselves up for another walkoff loss?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Sep 2, 2009 -> 11:10 AM) And having to watch it on the Twins broadcast makes it double the fun. Isn't it on WGN today?