Testy Area 51 (1 Viewer)

[Steve Christou]

Not the best photo to get one all tingly and excited about the new film I admit. Is Shia meant to be his son in the new film? Will he be taking over the reins (and whip) in future editions? Does anyone care?
There's about 8 films on that list I don't know anything about, I should turn in my film geek badge.
Watched Verhoeven's Black Book, good film, reasonably engrossing, not one I want to watch again in a hurry. Personally I prefer Verhoeven's sci-fi output, but than I'm a sci-fi fan, always was, always will be, science fiction takes precedence. I was looking at some artwork the other day depicting a futuristic city and I got a little sad knowing I won't be around to see such sights. Damn. Born in the wrong friggin' century. :frowning:

 

[ChristopherDAC]

I was looking at some artwork the other day depicting a futuristic city and I got a little sad knowing I won't be around to see such sights. Damn. Born in the wrong friggin' century. :frowning:

Why do you think I'm seriously trying to found a city on the Moon? Back in '68, Arthur Clarke wrote : It is strange to think that, within the next few years, any amateur astronomer with a good telescope will be able to see the lights of the first expeditions shining where no lights could ever be, within the arms of the crescent Moon. But it never happened. We seem to be stuck in some kind of limbo, not in the past anymore, but not in the future either. If you like, it's the world Heinlein wrote about, the world of Old Man Harriman and Noisy Rhysling, of Space Terminal and Luna City, that's the real world, and we're living in a kind of shadow. I think the reason so many people turn to video games, "virtual reality", Second Life, what-have-you is that reality itself isn't satisfactorily real.
My mother (who celebrated her 11th birthday on the night Apollo 11 touched down) is really burned up about how the future everyone was waiting for never came.

 

[Steve Christou]

The Luna Project, Chris? If it were to happen would you go and live on the moon? LunaCity or Lunacy?
I suppose a permanent base on the moon is inevitable seeing as it's our closest celestial neighbour, it's just a shame Arthur C. Clarke, 90 this december, won't be around to see it happen. And I want to see a manned mission to Mars before I shuffle off this mortal coil! [wipes tear]

Here I am with Sandra on our Martian holiday, staring at a pyramid-shaped mountain. At the top left are the tiny moons Phobos and Deimos (Greek for 'fear' and 'panic').

 

[Ruz-El]

When I saw Christous last post show up in my mail box, I was really hoping it was going to be a picture from "Robinson Coruso On Mars" with the monkey.
I never got into the space thing. I could care if we ever travel out into space again, and I really doubt that we have UFO and little grey men buzzing around earth. I do like the sci fi movies though. Maybe I just hate the earth and like to see monsters attack it XD
Indy 4 looks and sounds like a big joke. And judging by the leather jacket in that picture, I'm guess this one takes place in 1977, judging by what looks like medal studs on the front of. Indy Jr. must be into Judas Priest. And is it really Shea Labouff or whats his name? Cause he's a little too pansy to pull of "adventure hero".

 

[Elizabeth S]

Only about 3 films on that most-anticipated list which really interest me -- "Dark Knight" (surprise!), "Iron Man" and "I Am Legend".

Going to try to fit in "Michael Clayton" and "Across the Universe" this weekend. I had a pass to a preview screening of "We Own the Night" last night but gave it away -- hate going after work and waiting in line for 2 hours. While I like Mark Wahlberg, the trailer for this film looks so cliche. . .

 

[Ruz-El]

I saw the trailer for that "Across The Universe" and thought it looked pretty decent. Let us know how it goes. I have no idea what "michael Clayton" even is.
That new Whalberg flick looks pretty good. Last I saw of his was "Shooter". Most of the entertainment of that one was me bugging my friend that all that talk of snipers needing to figure out the wind and that was a bunch of bullshit. He's big into watching army documentaries and spy stuff, so it really got under his collar. XD

 

[Ruz-El]

and still thinking about indy 4, what the hell happened to Half Pint or Short Round... whatever the Asian kids name was in Temple Of Doom? Why not have him as a 25 year kung fu master who calls up Indy for some help, and sets the series up for chop socky adventures?
I'd pay to see that!

 

[Steve Christou]

Robin's son Caruso on Mars? Is that the musical version Russ?
Whatever did happen to Short Pint? Being a child actor must suck, as soon as you've grown a bit no one wants you anymore. Is that Sixth Sense kid still around? Dakota Fanning?

Only about 3 films on that most-anticipated list which really interest me -- "Dark Knight" (surprise!), "Iron Man" and "I Am Legend".

Elizabeth a Batman fan, naah it can't be... oh wait, Christian Bale of course. A former child actor who's still in demand and getting more and more popular each year.
Speaking of Bale we saw a fantastic western this evening, not sure if it's been mentioned in Testy before, 3:10 to Yuma it's called. Russell Crowe stars, you may remember him from the Sam Raimi western The Quick and the Dead, he spent most of that film handcuffed too. Bale is the good guy rancher determined to get captured outlaw Crowe on that 3:10 train to Yuma for a fistful of dollars. But Crowe's gang of killers ain't gonna make that easy for him. Fantastic shootout climax, an effective music score by Marco Beltrami, one of the best films of the year. 5 out of 5.

 

[Ruz-El]

3:!0 was pretty darned fine. I actually preferred the remake to the Glen Ford original. I really want to see the Brad Pitt Jesse James one with the really long title. A bunch of it was shot in my city of Edmonton in our Fort Edmonton Park. I wonder if they used the ol' Schoolhouse where I shot an adaptation of Camus "The Guest" for grade 11 english?

 

[Steve Christou]

You shot who?
So how's the Scary Movie Challenge thingy coming along Russ, how many horrors have you seen thus far, 50? 100? It's not really a challenge is it? I mean you love watching horror movies, so where's the challenge? A real challenge would be to... lets say... watch and review as many Doris Day films as you can possibly stomach? French dramas? Greek weepies? Indian musicals? A critique on Jean-Claude Van Dammes complete filmography? [wince]

If I told you droogs a few years ago that Al Gore would one day win the Nobel Peace Prize you'd think me mad, it's a strange old falling apart at the seams world.

 

[Cees Alons]

There's something odd about that global warming issue...
Everyone concentrates on the North Pole now, which indeed seems to melt down more than it used to yearly. There may even be a "passage to through the North" finally (from Atlantic -> Pacific), which was never there before since mankind can remember.
But I just read that Antarctica doesn't go along. It's ice surface seems to be larger than it ever was, an all-time record.
So what does that learn us??
Cees
(Nobel Price can now be sent directly to my home, including the money!)
C.

 

[Steve Christou]

um that the planet has actually tilted further towards the sun meaning the north pole is getting warmer while the south pole gets colder? [bites fist] where's me peess prize? Cees are you saying Al Gore got his prize for ranting about global warming but meanwhile our dear old Earth is simply going thru one of it's periodic phases? [gasps] I'm calling shenanigans! [Whatever that is.]

 

[Cees Alons]

Simple scientific question: if two polar bears are farting at full strength, and 20 penguins are doing the same: where will the local air get hotter?

(Nobel price notice can be ... etc.)

Cees

 

[ChristopherDAC]

It is interesting that historians used to speak of the "medieval climatic optimum", and Arrhenius found it a ground for optimism that the temperature of Earth might be rising. These days it is fear and gloom. Of course, the erosion of the Low Countries was most severe in the warmer period, because the Sea was higher and more active ; and in those days men had not yet built London, and New York, and all the great cities by the Sea.

If the water rises again, shall Ostia be a seaport once more?

 

[RickER]

Why did i have a google ad where i type my message? and how the hell do i get rid of it? I had to post my message, but of course i had not typed a thing. THEN i saw my blank typing canvas!
As i was going to say about the end of the world, "dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!"

 

[Elizabeth S]

I saw the trailer for that "Across The Universe" and thought it looked pretty decent. Let us know how it goes. I have no idea what "michael Clayton" even is.

"Michael Clayton" is the new film with George Clooney, Tilda Swinton and Tom Wilkinson. Clooney plays a "fixer" for a law firm who gets involved in a multi-billion dollar lawsuit while trying to deal with his personal problems as well. Clooney is excellent and just commands the screen, even though the always terrific Swinton and Wilkinson have showier roles. The TV trailers are a little misleading, portraying the film as more action oriented than it is -- it is a VERY talky film.
"Across the Universe" was very entertaining, though I enjoyed the first half much more than the war/political focus of the second half. Evan Rachel Wood is luminous, and Jim Sturgess sounds very much like Ewan McGregor in "Moulin Rouge". Some song/dance sequences work a lot better than others. It's amazing how perfectly the lyrics match the storyline -- it's as if the songs were written for the story, rather than vice versa.
I saw slightly different trailers for "Vantage Point" with both films. One of the best trailers I've seen in a long time -- looks extremely exciting, with a cast that includes Forest Whitaker, Matthew Fox, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Eduardo Noriega and Dennis Quaid. Shucks -- it doesn't come out until February.

 

[Ruz-El]

How the heck did I miss hearing about "Michael Collins"? Sound like my cup of tea. Clooney has been a fave of mine since "From Duck Till Dawn", and has pretty much done no wrong in front or behind the camera since.
Scary Movie challenge? so far so good! I'm at 55 titles so far. Crazy crazy. I do love the genre films though, so your right. The challenge comes in making my friends watch nothing but horror and exploitation when we get together.
FRIENDS : Hey we got the new fantastic four movie!
RUSS: How about we watch "The Witchfinder general", it;s just like F4!
90 minutes pass...
FRIENDS : That was NOTHING like fantastic four!
RUSS : I got mixed up, I meant the black cat...
continue all month
oh, global warming... I call BS on it. Same with recycling and such. :O

 

[Steve Christou]

"Michael Clayton" is the new film with George Clooney, Tilda Swinton and Tom Wilkinson. The TV trailers are a little misleading, portraying the film as more action oriented than it is -- it is a VERY talky film.

Hey thanks for the warning, I'll wait for the dvd.
Across the Universe I'm sort of interested because I'm a bit of a Beatles fan but thats another dvd film.
Vantage Point, now thats more like it, looking forward to that.

Russle, bought Fantastic Four Silver Surfer double disc last week, thanks to PAL speedup the film is even shorter than it was at the cinema, at just over an hour long.
Spider-Man 3 tomorrow, 2-disc region 2, that's nearly an hour longer than FF2.
I still have Poltergeist, Twilight Zone the Movie, Bram Stoker's Dracula and The Jungle Book to order.

 

[Zen Butler]

What's up droogs? I'm attending the screening of Blade Runner: The Final Cut this wednesday. I will report here as well as the movies section.

I also, loved "Across the Universe"

 

[Haggai]

Hey Zen, welcome back! I'm definitely looking forward to your BR report. I hope they get those prints touring here to my neck of the woods before too long.
I wasn't too crazy about Across the Universe. The girl is great, and some of the early numbers are pretty good, but it gets silly once the trippy stoner songs start kicking in. Though I imagine those were Zen's favorite scenes.