Movies (recently seen)

[JJJ-thebanisher]

Actually, I'd agree that everything can be done right. That doesn't mean it should be done- merely that if it were to be done, there is both a proper and improper way. There is a right way to kill kittens- that doesn't mean I support feline infant homicide.

I, too, will do almost anything once- though I must admit my eagerness would depend greatly on both the type of movie, and the precise placement of these tingling probes...

I agree that it could be done right, but I guess I don't agree that it would be cool. OR at least not cooler than not doing it.

[Ryan_DuBois]

I think it depends on how transformed a certain thing can become before it's no longer that thing.

[Dragavan]

Saw Alice and it was disappointing... Which is sad to say since I am a Burton fan. It looked great, the 3D was done well, the imagery was fantastic, a lot of the acting was good, but it just felt empty. The story was nearly non-existent and poorly written/laid out... It was nearly the perfect example of what's wrong with doing Style over Substance.

What made it worse was that the much lower budgeted Sci-Fi Channel miniseries they did recently of Alice was nearly the same plot and MUCH better written. If they could use that story and these visuals I would have been much more pleased.

I hope burton goes back to doing his own creations and worlds again soon... Playing in other people's worlds isn't really his strong suit.

[Ryan_DuBois]

That is disappointing. I'm not a huge Burton fan, but I do value originality/creativity a lot, and thus have usually liked his films. I'll wait until it comes to college theater... or for the DVD if it doesn't get played there.

Now, for some good news! The Road DVD is supposed to get a release date on the 15th. Also, I've heard through the internet-vine that two of my favorite horror movies -- "IT" and "Child's Play" -- are getting remakes in the near future, so I'm pretty stoked about that.

And, even though this isn't a video game thread... Final Fantasy 13 just came out! Woohoo! Saw some screenshots for Fallout: New Vegas, too -- if it's on par with the last installment, I'll be satisfied.

[End Master]

Saw some screenshots for Fallout: New Vegas, too -- if it's on par with the last installment, I'll be satisfied.

Here's a trailer for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVhz3lnXYyc

They're supposed to have a "hardcore mode" where it adds more realism. You actually have to drink water every now and then to survive, ammo has weight and the stim packs don't instantly heal you.

They're actually adding a bunch of stuff, since this one is going to be made by some of the guys who did the original Fallout games, so I'm hoping the writing is at least better. I liked 3 and all, but really the main storyline and dialogue was sort of bland.

Bethesda doesn't excel at story/dialogue writing, it does a better job in the exploration and "sandbox" department.

[Ryan_DuBois]

Haha, yeah I've seen the trailer for it. It reminds me of the intro video for Fallout 3.



I hadn't heard about this "hardcore mode" yet, though. It sounds like a cool idea to me, since in the third one (which is the only one I've played), you could basically have unlimited health just by drinking water from a shitty toilet or pond and using a RadAway or RadX or whatever it was called; it didn't feel like a survival game so much as it felt like a really awesome version of "Oblivion".

And yeah, the dialogue was mostly comical at times... I'd be lying if I said I didn't initially become very interested about what happened to your father (in the game), though. I even felt a little bit sad when the Enclave guys killed him off.

Based on the screenshots for the new one, it definitely resembles Fallout 3.

[ChubbyTeletubby]

Avatar remains the best theater experience I've probably ever had.

It wasn't even that great of a movie. But so much time was taken making the CGI and 3d elements work that it BECAME a great movie.

A Prophet was awesome. It's a French prison flick. It's LOOOOONG, but worth it. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to all of you..... if you weren't such fags already.

I don't even know what I meant by that last part. Go see it. You guys are fags though. I guess that's what I meant.

[Ryan_DuBois]

The Road is coming out May 25th. I'm still excited, but a little apprehensive... I feel like this move has been deliberately avoiding me for the past two years.

[JJJ-thebanisher]

Avatar remains the best theater experience I've probably ever had.

It wasn't even that great of a movie. But so much time was taken making the CGI and 3d elements work that it BECAME a great movie.

A Prophet was awesome. It's a French prison flick. It's LOOOOONG, but worth it. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to all of you..... if you weren't such fags already.

I don't even know what I meant by that last part. Go see it. You guys are fags though. I guess that's what I meant.

Yeah, agree.

[End Master]

Saw two documentaries: Monster Camp & Second Skin, one was about LARPers and the other was about MMORPGers.

Both were interesting, but Second Skin was probably a bit more balanced since it showed the positives and negatives of stuff like WOW and Evercrack...I mean Everquest. From people meeting in real life and getting married to some guy losing all his shit playing the damn things non-stop.

Never could get into those things myself. Too much level grinding with no ultimate "end story" pay off, among other things. Boring and expensive. Give me a self contained single player game anytime.

The Monster Camp on the other hand, made the LARPers really look like a bunch of losers and granted while that's usually the general perception, the documentary didn't help change that view. (They had two guys in there that were absolutely pathetic since they were addicted to WOW on top of this LARPing stuff. One didn't have a job and just sponged off the other, and neither even finished high school. ) But probably because of this, it was a lot funnier than Second Skin.

LARPing is pretty damn silly, but it could probably be said that they're at least getting out in the open, moving around and using a little imagination. It's basically just fantasy based versions of those old guys who do civil war reenactments.

[Ryan_DuBois]

Yeah, the closest thing to an MMORPG that I really cared to play was Diablo 2.

I do think LARPing would be cool, though... Well, not cool. But you know. I'd totally do it if the opportunity presented itself (and none of my friends would find out about it). Going to something like Drachonfest would be quite an experience.

[End Master]

It would be funny to suddenly show up at one of those things dressed as a time traveller armed with a laser rifle (Super soaker), say that you're there to change the past and then start shooting everyone.

"Hey that's not in the rule book!"
"It is in my timeline!"

[Ryan_DuBois]

Haha, I was just thinking that I'd go as Waldo armed with a cane and teacup (he seems to like those primitive war environments, anyway), but the time traveler idea has some charm.

[Dragavan]

It would be funny to suddenly show up at one of those things dressed as a time traveller armed with a laser rifle (Super soaker), say that you're there to change the past and then start shooting everyone.

"Hey that's not in the rule book!"
"It is in my timeline!"

That makes me think of those jokers that show up at the Ren Fairs dressed in Start Trek uniforms.

And Monster Camp had me shaking my head at these people all the time... I mean, they were (and still are) some of the most pathetic of gamers... and I know a lot of gamers (including some of the members of the Alliance that appeared in that movie)... There are a lot of relatively normal LARPers out there, but none of them play NERO International or Alliance RPG (formerly the NERO Alliance). NERO and its offshoots are the geekiest of the already geek ridden hobby. If they wanted to show LARPing at it's best in this area they needed to show some of the local Camarilla members or the Cthulhu Live group.

The part that really got me though was the internal politics that went on. Those people even knew how to ruin a silly fun time.

[ChubbyTeletubby]

Looking for a good time? Hit up the Colorado Ren Fest.

No Star Trek fucks.

Just wenches.

If me and my crew saw some trekkies there we'd handle them.

Not even picking on 'em. We'd just put them in a coma.

Trust me. Or don't. Come dressed as Spock. See what happens.