Apparently it was viciously anti-Canadian.
I wanna see Argo! It looks like just the kind of relatively smart popcorn movie I am in the mood for.
Popcorn looks like brains, but it isn't smart.
I am also horrible with faces and I'm starting to get worried people from Asia will think I'm not paying attention to them because I never remember who they are. Maybe I can get a card that says, "I don't recognize white people either."
Netflix has a streamable biography of Googoosh that's very interesting. Low production quality (interviews and old clips), but the subject's worth a little extra work to pay attention to.
2: I really enjoyed it. Suspenseful to the point where I was pulling myself out of the movie and reminding myself that I knew everyone made it out.
There was a chase scene near the end where I got confused and started rooting for the Revolutionary Guard, but it was still good.
(I wouldn't recommend it to anyone in the middle of trying to quit smoking. Lots of meaningful puffing smoke at people.)
4: If you were Bloomberg you could hire a very empathetic face-recognizer to follow you around.
6.1: Damn, LB, how 'bout a spoiler alert next time? Not all of us know "history."
Argo was very enjoyable! I have certain kinds of faces that won't stick in my head, so I never recognize Alan Arkin in anything. One year a friend and I watched the Oscars and every time the camera lingered on Joan Allen in a "this person is important!" way, I'd ask who it was. Eventually my friend started making fun of me. And in fact her name apparently won't stick in my head either because I just figured out I mean Diane Lane, not Joan Allen.
(Okay, I actually couldn't remember Alan Arkin either. But that was different -- not so much not recognizing him, but recognizing him in "Right, it's that guy, the old guy with the great voice who's good in everything." He was excellent.)
I've just started going up to people and saying, "Dave*, right?" so they'll tell me their name.
*Or whatever.
What subtlety of meaning do I intend to convey by putting an entire comment in parentheses? Beats me!
You made me wake up the guy in the next office.
He's probably just not sleeping well because he's constantly on edge, thinking you're going to walk up and yell "Dave, right?!"
It is a bit alarming for him since I'm responsible for his job evaluations.
Now I'm imagining Moby filling out eight different evaluation forms, each one marked at the top: "Dave 1", "Dave 2", etc.
I like everybody in the office to know they sink or swim as one.
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Ugh, I think I fucked up a pre-date SMS. Was running a plan by her (drinks and then dinner) and then "whatever we feel like doing afterwards", which I meant as in, go to yet another bar, or catch a movie, or whatever, play it by ear, but I'm worried now it may have been taken instead as, "and then starts the sexy times wink wink". This is a first date. Am I being paranoid?
I thought I'd be better at this at this age.
|>
To clarify, send another SMS suggesting something specific, like a movie or a dirty sanchez.
She may have a question mark in her head, but anyone worth dating will still give you a chance in person.
9: I also have some famous names that refuse to stick. Once a year, or so, I used to find myself racking my brain to remember Billie Holiday. I finally named one of my cats after her. Problem solved!
but anyone worth dating will still give you a chance in person.
FWIW, a friend and I met her and a friend of hers in a bar last weekend, and we were out having a good time till the wee hours. Definite chemistry and mutual attraction, so there's that.
when did it become not ok to imply sexual things via SMS?
Just be sure there's no chance she thinks you are your friend.
Situation is back under control, you guys.
What did you do? Tell her you definitely didn't want to have sex with her?
Just watched the trailer - not sure I would have recognised Affleck. So much of his normal face is forehead and chin, he looks very different (better!) with them covered up.
The captions on movie posters (and BlueRay jewelcases) typically scramble the order of the staring cast vs names of same.
31: Why do they do that? Halford?
32: make you look at the poster longer?
It all goes back to Steve McQueen and Paul Newman.
I think it's about trying to precisely calibrate who got more prominent placement in the poster. If the names are in the same size type, and the pictures are equally sized as well, the one on the left is unambiguously better placed. If actor A has the picture on the left but the name on the right, then it's a better argument that he's got equal placement with actor B.
That convention of misaligned captions precedes the era of mouse-over text.
TvTropes: a) they do not care.
b) the text and pictures were composed by different people at different times
Quota:
The text order was negotiated by the actor's agent to list their guy first no matter what.
Yahoo!Answers: too stupid did not read
Like all things in Hollywood, billing is a complex combination of tradition, union rules, and contract negotiation. Order of billings on posters are generally negotiated by contract, sometimes as a freebie to a star who the studio is fucking over, sometimes as a free bonus to a star they want to please. But there are requirements set by the directors guild, SAG, and the WGA which is why you get a standardized format. Also, above the line/below the line is an important financial as well as ego consideration so above the line people really really want to see at least one copy of a poster where they are explicitly shown as literally above the line.
Anyhow, I'm now at the point where I never see movies in the theater (2012 in-theater total - zero, excluding two [low budget] premieres), but it is nearly incomprehensible to me that someone could see Argo and not know that it was directed by and starred Ben Affleck.
Oh, I forgot that I paid to see Brave and John Carter in the theater. So 2012 total = 2, and I am keeping the fortunes of the Mouse alive.
I can't for the life of me remember what the last movie I saw in a theater was. Tree of Life maybe?
The last movie I saw in the theater was the one where the put a mechanical tail on a dolphin and cast Ashley Judd in shirt-wearing role.
I really love going to the theater by the way. It's just generally incompatible with a lots of work/young kids lifestyle. Oh shit I guess I saw Beasts of the Southern Wild in the theater, so that's three in 2012. Aurochs!*
*Though they failed to emphasize the potential deliciousness.
I am torn about 43.2. I mean, obviously Hushpuppy would eat a lot of non-delicious stuff. But would it not be equally obvious that she'd eat the hell out of an aurochs and that grilled meat would taste better than catfood?
I saw that one because I made Lee go on a counselor-mandated date. I also saw Survival Not Guaranteed or whatever it was called on a counselor-mandated time out alone with a friend. The counselor didn't specify that I had to see movies, so I don't think she's getting kickbacks or anything. Took the girls to Brave and several IMAX things at the museum.
44.1 -- yes. I just wish the film had been followed by a PSA about how you can support the project of back-breeding Aurochs, the one bit of Nazi pseudo-science that I am totally into.
Huh, I guess I've started seeing movies in the theater again. I used to barely ever go. This year I have seen: Argo, Looper, Moonrise Kingdom (x2), Beasts of the Southern Wild, some truly terrible thing with Catherine Deneuve...surely one or two other things, not counting Film Forum even. (The film noir with Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly was surprisingly good!) And I'm supposed to go see Les Miz with my cow-orker for Jewish Christmas.
Least appealing preview: Anna Karenina. I haven't read all that much Tolstoy but I'm pretty sure lavish spectacle isn't the keynote.
Least appealing preview: Anna Karenina.
You never saw the trailer for Cloud Atlas? You're a lucky man.
I didn't. I also never read it, which officially excludes me from all conversations.
I kinda want to see the movie with the bright colors and the video games and the John C. Reillys.
49: have you heard the tie-in album?
49: because of all the adulation, I've grown to hate it (the book) retrospectively; I'm sure you understand.
I've grown to hate it (the book) retrospectively; I'm sure you understand.
It is funny to me that so many of these classic novels are about "fallen women". (Watch your step!) I have no idea how you would teach that concept to a 16 year old who went as Slutty Big Bird for Halloween.
because of all the adulation, I've grown to hate it (the book) retrospectively; I'm sure you understand.
how unfortunate.
53: I am not sure either of those categorizations fits Cloud Atlas very well.
("classic novel" and "about fallen women", that is.)
Is Could Atlas a classic now? Never read it. I was referring to the story about Mrs. Karenin and her boring husband.
Lord Jim, Moby-Dick,, and Dead Souls each center on a fallen man.
Watch your step!
I don't think Karenina's fate was due to clumsiness.
More seriously - tell her to read them and thank her lucky stars she wasn't born a century ago.
I haven't read all that much Tolstoy but I'm pretty sure lavish spectacle isn't the keynote.
I'm rereading _War and Peace_, slowly, and it starts with lavish (aristocratic salons) and spectacle (Gascon cavalry attacking mined bridges).
Maybe I can get a card that says, "I don't recognize white people either."
I swear to christ this should be printed on some of my co-workers cards. "Uh, guys? Why are you letting Leon walk away from the scene? He's a dead ringer for our bank robbery suspect description and maybe you should hold on to him." (I wish this was a fictional example)
Parts of AK are plenty lavish. The message was that the high-society lifetsyle was corrupting, but that didn't keep Tolstoy from portraying its trappings in exquisite detail.
I managed to see only John Carter and Total Recall in the theaters this year. Clearly I fucked up.
What did you think of John Carter ?
I didn't get a chance to see it, but have read the source material.
Well, apparently 1/5 of the people who saw it in the theater are regular Unfogged blog commenters. I liked it and thought it delivered exactly what a movie of its type should deliver, but my views were apparently not widely shared.
The movie John Carter sucked. I've been reading and enjoying the comics version put out by Dynamite!, though.
I went to see John Carter by myself at around 9:30 PM. Showed up ten minutes late and as soon as I bought the ticket they started running the preview reel.
The parts with the green people were pretty cool. Very Indiana Jones. Not the rest.
What I had heard was that the movie suffered from the fact that every space opera had ripped off it's major themes (I'm looking at you, Cameron) so that it felt derivative. ERB knew he was a hack, and never pretended to be anything but.
We have a nice old theater relatively nearby what we try to get to with some frequency*. Where I recently saw Seven Psychopaths which I recommend.
*But probably only every 2 months or so.
I enjoy _WaP_ as proto-space opera, which would be more embarrassing if I hadn't just read Nathaniel Hawthorne pointing out that he, like Tolstoy, was writing romance rather than novels.
Apparently this year Alan Arkin starred in "Argo" as Lester Siegel, and also wrote, directed and starred in "Arigo" as Hester Regal. Or maybe imdb is messin' with me.
64: I didn't like it. I have trouble separating my reaction to the movie from the fact that movie has made my favorite book from when I was 11 synonymous with BIGGEST BOX OFFICE FLOP IN HISTORY. I've seen much worse movies, but it was kinda leaden.
The best part of the movie wasn't in the book -- the scene that sets up the sequel. (The scene in the carriage where the thern hints at their ultimate goal -- I'm being vague in case TLL wants to watch it on video some day.)
67: The book actually has the same problem. The first half with the green men is the best part.
70 If you could point me to any space operas with anything close to the nuance and beauty of WaP I would be very grateful. I say this as big space opera fan who read the book the same sort of way the first time and adored it, even if I ended up sobbing when Prince Andrei bought it.
I am awful with faces but make up for it (sort of) by being pretty good at pronouncing names. Unfortunately this has nothing to do with actually knowing or understanding spelling or pronunciation rules, just a lot of memorization.
It DOES means that I can pull off "Chandrasekharan" and "Jacovkashvili" pretty easily, though. Granted they are both pretty phonetic.
Still, having sat through some awful high school graduations with principals who could not pronounce "difficult" names, I feel it has potential as a fallback career option.
Just before I read War and Peace for the first time, I'd read the Pliocene Saga by Julian May. A hundred pages in, I didn't see why War and Peace was supposed to be so much better. Two hundred pages in, I realized I was out of my mind to think otherwise.
73: Which time? Prince Andrei has so many deaths to choose from.
I loved AK like my favorite book but I admit I skimmed the Anna parts and concentrated on Levin gaining the world and losing his soul. I should reread it once again, this time concentrating on Anna as good guy (courage and conviction, authenticity) contrasted with Levin as bad guy.
Goddamn, it's great. Levin and Kitty are all the evils of the world wrapped in a bourgeois bow. All happy families alike? Yeah, they all suck.
I assume it's his actual death rather than the Austerlitz one, but this was a very long time ago. I was twelve or thirteen at the time.
70:That's a tough one.
C.J. Cherryh but I would say she is definitely more Romantic than Tolstoy, darker and more social-political.
But I think she, in her series, has some of the scope.
78 to 73
It is interesting to think about. I was going to say Cherryh was more socially embedded, her characters are not going back to the farm cause they have work to do.
But Tolstoy was always social, even in renunciation and asceticism.
I looked up The Last Station with Plummer & Mirren, and after reading reviews I decided it was too permeated with our current hedonist decadence to be fair to Tolstoy.
73: "Dune" if by nuance you mean really stupid plotting.
In space no one can hear you warble.
But you know, it may in the very nature of space opera science fiction to be Romantic, to believe that "Individuals can make a difference."
I think high fantasy and horror might be more in tune with the paradox of achievement and "resist not evil."
Tolkien. PKD. Even Stephen King. And this would be arguable.
What did you do? Tell her you definitely didn't want to have sex with her?
You might be surprised to learn that such a statement is not particularly helpful when attempting to advance a semi-serious relationship.