Testy Area 51 (3 Viewers)

[Steve Christou]

LOS ANGELES - Kilted bagpipers inspired Sean Connery to perform an impromptu jig on the Kodak Theater stage as he accepted the American Film Institute's highest honor.
"I had no idea this was such a big deal," the 75-year-old actor said as he was presented with the organization's 34th Life Achievement Award Thursday night.
Connery was as cool and composed as James Bond as he thanked the celebrity-studded crowd, but at times during the two-hour praisefest, he looked almost misty-eyed.
Directors George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, and actors Andy Garcia, Harrison Ford and Mike Myers were among those who feted the Scottish star.
I've walked in your cinematic footsteps," said Bond successor Pierce Brosnan. "My dreams have come true in large part thanks to you."
Myers, wearing a kilt and a tuxedo jacket, lauded Connery for inspiring the popular Austin Powers character. "Of all the iconic, superstar Scottish actors of the last 50 years, Connery is definitely in the top five," Myers joked. "Women want to be with you and men want to be you. I'll admit it, I have a man crush."
Lucas, who cast Connery in 1989's "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," said he "nearly had a heart attack" when he learned of the actor's retirement. He said he is dreaming up ways to kill off Connery's character in the franchise's fourth installment. "You're one of a kind," Lucas said.
The ceremony, which also included a videotaped tribute from the newest Bond, Daniel Craig, will be broadcast on the USA Network on June 21.

And about time, Sean is a living legend, an icon. I want to see this show, hopefully it'll get shown over here too.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060609/...sean_connery_8

 

[Joe Fisher]

So who's everyone cheering for in the World Cup? Being as my family are all ex-pats from Scotland and England, and Canada performed in it's typical manner, I have to side with England this time.

Even though I find Soccer as exciting as paint drying or grass growing, I always find time to watch the world cup matches.
Being that my family is from the host country and grandma still lives there, GO GERMANY!!!!

 

[Steve Christou]

Germany? Gaah! [spits] I hate Germany! [Sandra belts Steve, Steve falls off chair] I mean I love the Germamens[Sandra tries to strangle Steve] just 67 years ago [nngg] the the Germanians invaded Poland... [uurgh!] 60 million people died as a result of World War II fer chrissakes[aaaah! Sandra grabs Steve's cajones] Okay I give up Germans are nice peaceful people, I love em! Phew that was close, I must stop mentioning the war. GO ENG-ER-LAND!
60 million deaths is a mindnumbing figure but checking Wikipedia that terrible event is beaten by the Black Death. 75 million people died between 1347 and 1351, 34 million in Europe, a third of the population!! One of the reasons given for the pandemic were a catastrophic famine, hunger and malnutrition resulted in weakened immunity plus the fact Europe and Asia were infested with billions of disease-ridden rats and that's one era a time traveller won't be interested in visiting I'm sure.

 

[Steve Christou]

http://www.stardestroyer.net/Nemesis/Pictorial-1.html

 

[Ruz-El]

LOL! nice find there Steve!

 

[Steve Christou]

Any of you Eastern-Action fans seen The Promise yet? Russell? Jim? Haggai?

 

[Ruz-El]

I haven't seen it. It sure does look purty tho'. Lot's of flying around, I suspect. :frowning:

 

[Steve Christou]

Yep, well this one's more of a fantasy, sorcery, curses, spells etc, but it's gorgeous to look at, no Zhang Ziyi though. I thought she was a prerequisite in this sort of thing.

 

[Joe Fisher]

Any guesses as to what film these shots are from? Have a nice night all.

 

[Steve Christou]

Joe, at first I thought it might be Attack of the Clones. But wrong ratio and I don't remember that 2nd shot in Clones.
Does the film's title begin with a - Z -? Something to do with a board game?

 

[Zen Butler]

Alright Stevo, have not seen The Promise but by those screenshots I want to...................Shit, not available on Netflixer.

 

[Joe Fisher]

Alright Stevo, have not seen The Promise but by those screenshots I want to...................Shit, not available on Netflixer.

Zen,
it just hit theaters here in the US on 05/26/2006 and judging by the lack of theaters showing it, it was a very limited run even though it was a national release. I can't find a theater within 40 miles of my house that is playing it right now.
Plus the US showing of "The Promise" has been trimmed by a slim 26 minutes from the original Chinese release.
Oh Steve. Good guess on the shots.

 

[Steve Christou]

Guys I have to warn you that The Promise is no Hero or House of Flying Daggers, but still enjoyable as a fantasy spectacle. To make it as spectacular as possible they utilize a lot of CG effects in the film, some of the effects are iffy and a few are downright cringeworthy, but it all somehow fits in with the overall mood of the film. On the plus side The Promise is packed with stunning eye-pleasing visuals.
You know I still haven't got round to watching Seven Swords and I've had it for ages, or Jet Li's newest Fearless. I keep forgetting, I've got the memory of a goldfish.
Joe, your image didn't show up, instead there's a mouse holding a sign saying www.funfilesandsmile's.com. Or is that what you wanted us to see?

 

[Joe Fisher]

Joe, your image didn't show up, instead there's a mouse holding a sign saying www.funfilesandsmile's.com. Or is that what you wanted us to see?

Guess I cant link directly from the site. Thank god for photobucket.

 

[Ruz-El]

So what are the screen shots Joe? At first I leaned towards "A.I. " But that Saturn shot sort of kills it.

Oh crikey, I just re-read Steve post. I think I know what it is now. I haven't seen the movie, the first one was pretty crap so...

Guys I have to warn you that The Promise is no Hero or House of Flying Daggers

That's probably a good thing in my case, as both Hero and House didn't do much for me. Hero in particular was a dissapointment.

 

[Joe Fisher]

So what are the screen shots Joe? At first I leaned towards "A.I. " But that Saturn shot sort of kills it.
Oh crikey, I just re-read Steve post. I think I know what it is now. I haven't seen the movie, the first one was pretty crap so...

And the answer is..........

I kinda liked it. Not the steaming pile of donkey turd I was expecting. I rented it more for my little brother.

 

[Ruz-El]

So it was Zathura. I really didn't like Jumanji, and couldn't believe they we're doing a follow up of sorts. I think I'm going to pass on this one. It's kinda sad that Jon Favreau seems to have fallen into the kiddie movie catagory.
I just discovered that if you hi-light a smiley it looks all sad. Poor things. Try it.

 

[Steve Christou]

Still smiling Russell, maybe mine's a defective smiley?
Anyway it's the year 1996, Kevin Smith and producer Jon Peters are discussing Superman Lives.
- An Evening with Kevin Smith -
So I sit down with him (Jon Peters) and he says "They tell me you got a take on Superman."
I tell it to him. After I'm done, he's looking at me, nodding. He goes:
"You know why you and me will do a good job on Superman?"
I said, "Why?" He's going, "You and me, we get Superman. You know why?"
I said, "No." He said, "Because you and me, we're from the streets."
Now I grew up in suburban New Jersey Never saw a black man till I was about 28.
I'm the farthest thing from the streets there are. I grew up on a street. But not on "the streets."
I'm thinking, "I'm from the suburbs, you're a hairdresser. Neither of us are from the street."
But I don't say that. I want the job. So I said, "Who would you see playing Superman?"
He said, "If I had to cast it right now? Sean Penn."
And I was like, "Spicoli?" He's like "Did you see Dead Man Walking?"
"He's got the eyes of a violent, caged animal, of a fucking killer."
And I was like, "Dude, it's Superman."
He's like, "I got some directives for you if you move forward...
...some things I want you to do and don't in the script. Three things, okay?
One, I don't wanna see him in that suit.
Two, I don't wanna see him fly.
And three, he's got to fight a giant spider in the third act."
I'm like, "Let's go back to one. When you say you don't want him in the suit... "
He's like, "Don't wanna see him in it It looks too faggy."
And I was just like, "No fags on the street, I take it."
I don't say that because I want the fucking job.
He said, "I don't wanna see him fly."
I said, "Well, the suit and flying define Superman."
He said, "Don't wanna see it. No scenes where he's flying around carrying people. Horseshit."
I said, "All right, no flying. But the giant spider intrigues me. Why that?"
And he's like, "Do you know anything about spiders?"
And I said, "No."
He said, "They're the fiercest killers in the insect kingdom. When I saw King Kong as a kid,
there's a scene where King Kong's revealed... and it's a real big moment.
I want to see that in this movie. I want some doors to open up and a big fucking spider's there."
So I was just like, "All right. I'll give it a shot."
So I went back to Warner Bros., and they said:
"We heard from him. He likes you. We're gonna hire you and move forward.
Did he bring up the spider?"
I said, "He did! He brought up the spider. Did he tell you?"
They're like, "Every day with the spider."
I said, "What should I do?" They're like, "Do it, but try not to call it a spider.
Can you call it something else?"
I was like, "Thangarian Snare Beast?"
They're like, "Go."


Well I'm so glad that edition of the Superman Saga didn't see the light of day, might have been worse than Superman IV, if such a thing is possible. Sean Penn as Supes wrestling giant spiders? I can't quite visualise it

 

[ChristopherDAC]

You have not experienced the true horror of VHS until you have projected n-th generation VHS-SLP on a 10' diagonal screen. Yes, that's one of the things I was doing this weekend. Honestly, I don't know what generation count was — I understand that PAL VHS experiences random colour reversals after 5 to 8 generations, but this was the first time I have heard of it on NTSC. At times the signal-to-noise ratio was so low that the image was not comprehensible. Some of it had been dubbed form VHS to a PC, then back out to VHS from a computer video output!
Fortunately this was only the filler material. Honestly, though, the DVDs didn't look all that great. Part of that was the omposite connexion, which is just not the way to go.

 

[Joe Fisher]

The following pic is brought to you by the "Insomniacs Association of America".