StrangeSox

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 12:11 AM) Yes, it was a big "free for all" ending in Moscow, a super battle to end all zombie battles that they decided took away Pitt's "humanity" and made you not really care one way or the other about how all the major characters ended up or if another sequel was coming down the pike. If you noticed, they were flying on Belarusian Airlines, it would make zero sense for them to have a route from Israel to England...not for a regional carrier, they would have been going to Russia/Moscow/Belarus much more logically. I still don't get why they fought so hard for the rights to World War Z and then made a movie that had maybe a total of 30 seconds to do with the book. I wasn't expecting a retrospective like the book or to cover all of or even any of the characters, but the entire plot was thrown out. They could have followed the outbreak and panic from a different perspective than what was given in the book while still adhering to the same overall story world. Instead we get that ridiculous magic virus camouflage crap.

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 11:59 AM) Has nothing to do with weather. Animals will be animals until they are all dead or locked up. These people have no conscience. Give them all guns so the good ones have a chance. jesus christ

Because Pinochet brought free-market reforms and privatized social security!

The Wall Street Journal, now openly pining for brutal right-wing dictator Pinochet!

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jul 5, 2013 -> 09:21 AM) Intervention and colonization are different things. But lets get back to playing 'Where's Snowden'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neocolonialism 'Colonialism' doesn't refer strictly to the literal establishment of colonies by foreign powers. There are good reasons that many Latin American countries are not particularly fond of the US, and it's not because they're all the same race. That was a really, really silly thing to say.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jul 4, 2013 -> 11:11 PM) I think it was Portugal and Spain that were the colonizing forces in SOuth America, not the US, so not sure why they would have a problem with US for what THEY did. wow, seriously, go read some late-19th and 20th century history about the US-LA relationships. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-zune...i_b_127528.html

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jul 4, 2013 -> 11:08 PM) If Bolivia held up a plane with the head of Canada on it, would the US be all crazy because he was a fellow cracker? Sure, there would be the cursory accusations or condemnations in the media or the UN, but really, do we go around defending people just because they are white? Or black? huh?

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jul 4, 2013 -> 12:42 PM) So its OK for the entire Latin American world to stand by each other simply because of the color of their skin? WHy would, or should, Argentina or Chili give a rats ass about Bolivia? Just because they share the same skin color? uh, what?

lol this is going to cost you $50k+

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jul 3, 2013 -> 11:00 AM) That was a great finale, but it wasn't an "ending" to the show, in any regard...they need a solid ending. I'm looking forward too it. It was a fantastic ending to the story. Not everything needs finality and to be perfectly wrapped up. It was originally written to work as a series finale as they weren't sure if they were going to get a fifth season at that point.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jul 3, 2013 -> 09:08 AM) Breaking Bad is a great show, but if they end it like Sopranos ended, it will also suck. Show would have been perfect if it ended with Season 4. Season 5 is still really, really good, but I can't imagine being able to top Season 4's finale.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jul 2, 2013 -> 11:29 AM) The reason is pretty clear for not showing it...that way they could have the possibility of continuing it in the future. Of course, that will never happen now, but it left the possibility there. If the entire show was shot in a majority first person perspective in that the viewer was Tony Soprano, it would have made a lot more sense (think Memento, which was you sharing the main characters perspective in many ways). But the show wasn't shot that like, and the viewer was never compelled to be Tony Soprano, or feel like Tony Soprano, but as a 3rd person observer. So the only thing I can attribute it to was a "let's end it like this just in case..." Otherwise, the blackout makes no sense without the perspective that the viewer WAS Tony, and we weren't. Go read that website. They break down how, in that last scene, you do cut to a first-person POV for Tony every time the bell rings.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 2, 2013 -> 10:12 AM) I saw on Twitter yesterday "If it is July 1st, that means the Mets owe Bobby Bonilla $1,193,248.20 today... and each July 1st through 2035" So, the Mets continue to win the idiotic buyout race ha, I had forgotten about that atrocity.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 2, 2013 -> 10:17 AM) Well, with Meadow running up to the door, they also hinted that it could have just been her walking in - but yeah, there's no reason to have such a ridiculously abrupt ending without assuming the man was shot and lights out. It was just her walking in, which distracted Tony from the Members Only Jacket guy walking out of the bathroom.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 2, 2013 -> 10:00 AM) There is a pretty decent barbecue place here in town called Lucille's that will do the food on site...4 meats, a salad, and 4 sides for about $25/person...for 140ish people, I think that will put us at about $4k on the food, which I don't think is too bad. People will enjoy that more than the banquet type food, and I think people will get a kick out of watching (and smelling) them grill up all that great bbq food. Now I just have to start planning how to handle the booze situation... We had a bar through our catering service but also stocked up on our own alcohol for after 11PM

not as many people are interested in message boards these days thanks to twitter, facebook, tumblr etc.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 2, 2013 -> 08:06 AM) Food was great. You guys are just seeing suburban inflation. Yup, and even then, you can have great food without blowing ridiculous amounts of money. Banquet hall wedding food hasn't been that great in my experience, anyway. One of my friends did a similar setup to what we did, a destination wedding with a handful of people and then a big backyard reception. They had a pig roast as they were doing a luau-themed party. Better than $50/plate lemon fish or chicken.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 09:35 PM) Again, you are reading out of story, real life interviews to piece together a *possible* conclusion to something that happened on a tv show, and then denying you're doing so. That's not what is going on there. Honestly, just go read it. Even if you ultimately disagree, you may appreciate some of the things going on in that episode more after it. In retrospect, it was very clear. There's nothing wrong with reading literary or film criticism after-the-fact to get a better understanding and appreciation of something, especially if you're not personally knowledgeable in picking up subtle visual and directorial clues. I sure as hell didn't pick up on it in the first watching, but it really is all there if you go back, and it's all there in the show, nothing real-world needed. Something can certainly be said for Chase making the ending too opaque for most people on a first-view and for requiring a level of attention to detail and subtly not usually required in any TV show and not previously on the Sopranos. If so many people have failed to get the true nature of the ending, then he's failed in some part in communicating that. But I still think, even on first viewing and especially now, it's a good and appropriate ending to the show.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 09:28 PM) The "website you provided" is a fanboys blog. Not a definitive Chase tells us the ending in no uncertain terms encyclopedia. yeah cool good thing I never said otherwise, but if you have no interest in reading a pretty detailed critical review of the ending suit yourself

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 09:22 PM) And none are definitive. You should buy the jump to conclusions mat he's probably selling while you're at it. I know you want to believe all this crap, but any tv show or movie that requires outside comments from the makers to come to "possible" conclusions, well, sucks. Because it wasn't part of the story. Therefore it wasn't "clear", or outside comments "over the years" from the makers wouldn't be necessary to piece together a conclusions f***ing rediculous. It's not necessary, it only confirms it beyond any doubt. The website I provided breaks down in-show clues and the artistic/direction choices that make the ending clear. QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 09:24 PM) Having to piece together out of story quotes over the years to come to a conclusion on a story is 1) bad storytelling and 2) weak as hell. that's not what's going on but I see you're in one of your "absolutely not going to budge" moods.

there's multiple quotes like that from Chase over the years. the bell on the door rings, and the camera cuts to a first-person POV from Tony. The last cut, we hear the bell ring and then it goes black. Tony's been shot, you're looking from his POV. It happens so fast you don't even realize it. edit: I first watched the series after it had already aired in entirety and knew about the cut-to-black ending. The first time I watched it, I didn't have an opinion one way or the other. It was after re-watching the series this winter and reading through that site that I became convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that Tony was shot.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 09:08 PM) Chase has never said he gets shot. Ever. As stated, you and the rest of the fans that say so are simply reaching for what isn't there. Chase left it ambiguous, and any comment he makes in "seeing it" or that "it's perfectly clear" are just as ambiguous. If it was perfectly clear, and it wasn't, this conversation isn't taking place then or now. Show me where he's outright said this and I'll believe it, until then, keep on reaching. you could bother to read the link I posted where he pulls out many quotes from Chase over the years.

David Chase didn't say there was no possible ending. As that website documents, he's said many times that the ending is perfectly clear and is there for anyone who wants to see it. Tony gets shot. In interviews over the years, Chase has expressed disgust at the fans who called for a gory ending for Tony, to show his brains on the table. He's dead, and the direction, context and statements by Chase make it unambiguous.