hagren

District 9

What a disappointment this was.

After Van de Merve got sprayed, I hoped for an outbreak that spreads solely amongst humans leading to a full-scale war with the Aliens, whilst my sister reckoned he'd transform into a prawn; I thought to myself "Please God don't turn this into the over-used formula where the formerly apalling antagonist turns to the other side and, eventually, into a hero" but unfortunately, my sister was right.

Incredibly sad how such an intriguing concept and these wonderful visuals (Seriously, both the CGI and cinematography were stunning) were wasted on clichés in both characters, plot arcs and music, not to mention an incredibly shallow plot and some ho-hum acting. At least I got some satisfaction out of the action sequences.

Cool accents :P

We've been thought both too, by the way (Evangelic gymnasium), but in different classes- biology and religion. Since I and I'd say most of the others saw the Bible stories as fables with some seed of truth, we never thought of questioning either God's existence or the logical and natural theory of evolution.

... I'd really like to grab this opportunity by the balls, but I don't want to mouth off until it gets a tad more solid :)

Remember to check the subtitles and dubs for double entendres.

Except o' course if it's a red-light district simulator, where I'll have to try hard to stick in one in every single sentence :P

 

I am contemplating about it,yes- or rather, I'll be after the job I'm seeking is securely in my pocket :)

 

Good luck with that, hope it works out. What kind of job is it?

I'd be a localisation tester for a video game company, ie. I'd check the subtitles and/or dubs for any grammatical, logical, structural or factual errors.

And thanks, I'd really like to grab this opportunity by the balls, but I don't want to mouth off until it gets a tad more solid :)

Can a single individual survive with around 14.500 pounds per year in Lincoln, England?

 

I'd say yes, I know people that live on similar incomes in Bath and I'm sure that Lincoln is more affordable than living in Bath.

 

Is this just a random question or are you thinking of moving to England?

I am contemplating about it,yes- or rather, I'll be after the job I'm seeking is securely in my pocket :)

Can a single individual survive with around 14.500 pounds per year in Lincoln, England?

I never knew that there are Christians who condemn wellfare. That's very un-christian when we think about the man's actions :P

Adoption's not a bad thing either- you're helping out a child that's possibly been through hell and gain a great experience along with it. I hope I never meet your kind of Christians

(Americans? British?) :P

Haha, I see, so it was only the political implications that got rid of them. I'm rather left-wing myself, so I would have had a nice chat with you why you see it that way :D

I've never been pestered by any misionaries, luckily. Most Christians I met in my life were open-minded, knowledge-seeking, cultural individuals. But I guess Hungary is special in that way.

What's bad about Jesus being a Marxist though? And what's your train of thought on that?

I do have that, too.

All the homophobia, crass ignorance of the AIDS virus, blatant shut-eye to sexual needs, pick-pocketing and misuse of choir boys paints a bad image of Christianity- and I hate that, because neither religion, spirituality or Jesus' message is about ignorance and lack of evolution, rather the exact opposite, which is why they should work more on how to unite people, not how to repel them.

What's that supposed to mean, anyway?

I hate it when religious institutions try to modernise themselves ( what, in itself, is positive), but then imitate stupid, obsolete concepts.

Awsome symphonic performance by Serj Tankian:

That's pretty pricey. We pay 3.5€ (24h) around here. Very convenient to have them directly on your phone bill :)

Which reminds me to ask: Do you get to watch films by aid of this service before- or only when they're released on home video?

I recently started to go through the episodes of the single season of "Freaks and Geeks" and am baffled that such a remarkably excellent show has been cancelled off so quickly- the acting is superb, the writing spot-on, and it always feels very relatable and believable, which I can't say of many shows.

Not to mention that the charme of the early 80s is really intriguing for someone growing up in the 90s.

My sister thought that people probably were frightened by some of the character's appeareances, but then Malcolm in the Middle sprang to mind. Or is it acceptable to feature "ordinary"-looking people in more humorous shows, but not in dramas? Or is this theory bs alltogether?

Bloc Party's song "Helicopter"- even though the lyrics are weird, playing this in Guitar Hero III is among the most uplifting and enjoyable things one can do.

That's why I put religion into quotation marks, else I would have had to produce a more complex sentence :P

You make me sick: "Religious" extremists, be it Christian, Atheist or Muslim, who taint the idea of belief and cause unneeded sorrow in the world.

Had my hair cut nearly a week ago, and have not yet shaken off the uncanny sensation of feeling my skull.

Finally watched original the Star Wars trilogy as well as the last half hour of the prequels. While I know now what a lot of pop culture references are about, I can only expressed a general feeling of meh.

 

 

The first two are genuinely-excellent, thrilling pulpy space adventures (although I persist in my doubtless-misguided belief that, while Empire is terrific in and of itself, the shift in tone from throwaway fantasy fun to more serious, universe-expanding space opera, is the first step down the road which would eventually kill the franchise), and the third, while badly-paced and overlong, still has enough decent moments to make it worth watching. That said, a few isolated sequences of pure awesome aside, I definitely agree that they're nothing like as epoch-definingly special as the hype would have you believe.

 

Of course, like you, I probably feel that way mainly because I didn't see them as a kid, which, in many cases, seems to be the key factor moving them from "fun saturday-afternoon entertainment" to THE GREATEST THING EVER. Which they're quite obviously not. That said, neither are Doctor Who or Star Treks II*, III and IV, which filled the same hole in my pre-adolescence as Star Wars seemingly did for a whole generation of other kids. But try telling my inner 8-year-old that, and he will fight you. With knives.

 

 

*Mind you, I would still suggest that both Wrath of Khan and a fair number of the better Who serials have vastly-better scripts than anything in the Star Wars canon. However, I'd really like to hope that this isn't a particularly-controversial opinion outside of the most blinkered corners of Star Wars fandom.

I think its the characters and art design that makes it stand out- the spaceships in particular look rather contemporary and beautifully detailed to this day. Plus, Darth Vader is still one of the best villains of all time, likewise Solo the smug, yet loyal sidekick everyone would like to have as friend.

The last film I watched was The Boat That Rocked, and dampened by small (Inglorious Basterds) and humongous (Alice) disappointments my spirits were already preparing for another crushing letdown, but I've been wronged- it was exactly the heartwarming, stereotypical yet inexplicably earth-grounded, hilariously written slice of Brit I hoped for.

Didn't expect the dramatic ending however, which caught me by surprise during my already sickening fear of mortality. (Hoffman should have died however :P)

This film also double-cements Nighy as one of the funniest individuals on this planet- by merely standing this guy has me in stitches.

All the minor characters were naturally decent as well, with brilliantly archetypical politicians provided by Moore and Davenport.

Only the somewhat repetitive and optimist portrayal of the audience (and their reactions), as well as some unpunished immorality tainted it a bit.

Recommended nonetheless.

I don't know that one :P

I agree with Mark on True Blood. It's a pulpy, asinine show with acting, writing and effects all over the place, but similarly to From Dusk Till Dawn, it's pure, unadulterated fun, albeit not as ingenious.

Still, aside from all the emotional shit that reeks of by-the-numbers-telenovelas, it's over-the-top enough to recommend. There are not many shows with Godesses that manipulate whole towns to take part in orgies and senseless violence for the sake of freedom :D The Soldiers-of-Light-sideplot was pretty hilarious as well.

Also, the music's real great, which I probably already mentioned :P

Yeah, the song coupled with all that random footage is excellent :)

Stumbled upon True Blood S1 after my sister heard about it during the Golden Globes, and even though the effects are unintentionally hilarious and the execution rather hammy at places (which almost made me lose interest during the first episodes), it's oddly fascinating in it's own way. The setting is unusual, the amount of violence and sex almost puzzling, and Sookie is, thanks to her "gift" a very compelling character- it's quite shocking how much hatred is masked behind a facade of false courtesy.

The best thing however has to be the music- haven't heard such a fittingly medieval, raw score since Diablo 2. Can't wait to see/hear more.

I didn't like the book much either, and absolutely hated the film regardless.

The plot is so horrifingly unimaginative,

 

I haven't seen the film but you didn't find the book's plot unimaginative, I hope...?

There's a plot? :P

No, Alice is very imaginative. But the second book, Behind the Looking Glass, was much more enjoyable to read, imo.

However, you have to keep in mind that the film's plot has little to do with the book; infact, there are only about 2 chapters in total that were not omitted from the film. I can tell you the main story if you want, but it is not pretty.

I didn't like the book much either, and absolutely hated the film regardless.

The plot is so horrifingly unimaginative, the visuals so mediocre that I, as rarely as it happens with me, wanted to leave the theater. And I love me some good Burton films.

Not to mention that I kept my expectations as low as humanly possible since I didn't even plan to see it after the awful trailer.

Pains me to think about how American McGee's videogame version is a billion times better in every single way and has not been greenlighted.

But hey, Red liked it, so it could be a love/hate thing as Mickey said.