Chyll
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Posts
2009 -
Joined
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bah. I broke the frequency rule.
Nothing to see here. Move along. Move along. -
Quote:Good call.Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
I do the same with the second Highlander movie.
Nope, it is more of a poignant viewpoint, with no clearcut villainy, recrimination, or preaching at all. Actually pretty amazing as I think about it.Quote:Originally Posted by Veritech
(oh right, back to this movie. no, frak this thing. im waiting for cable. sick of movies and their "RARGH! Hoo-mans eee-vil! making money eee-vil!" hollywood morality claptrap. go see Captain America again you dirty hippies!) -
I saw this over the weekend after I got home from GenCon...
I was moderately looking forward to this movie, but had tentatively placed it on my 'must see in theater' list for the summer on principle only. I was intrigued about how they would tackle the content, but was reluctant due to no desire to have a 'reboot' or 're-imagining' of the origin classic - worried about the risk to a true favorite from my youth. After seeing this I am enthused about seeing one done at this level and with this technology.
I loved it.
I thought it was excellent in terms of fitting the PotA story. It gave respectful nods to its source, it avoided doing over-the-top things in terms of the 'how', and yet tied all the loose ends up neatly.
I also thought it was excellent in terms of just a film by itself. Likely the best I have seen all year. Yes, there seemed to be a couple of plot holes (I haven't read this thread to confirm my thoughts on those), but nothing drastic I thought. In terms of acting, I thought it was solid. Lithgow was excellent, Franco was solid if still himself, but they managed to give the apes distinct personalities and motivations that came across nicely. Well directed and paced I thought.
***perhaps some risk of minor spoilers***
(In perhaps an unintended twist, I had distinct flashes to '12 Monkeys' at a couple of points. Which I found interesting.)
And Buck is my hero. -
Numina: 5
Synapse: 44 + 1 = 45
Back Alley Brawler: 64 - 1 = 63
Manticore: 42
Positron: 40
Sister Psyche: 45
Statesman: DEAD
Citadel: DEAD -
God Emperor was excellent.
Quote:Indeed. Never read any of Brian's Dune stuff.Originally Posted by Smersh
We will, of course, for the purpose of this thread, assume that no one besides Frank Herbert ever wrote anything about Dune. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Chazzmatazz
Trimming the list of loved stories down to a mere 10 was a brutal exercise. So many honorable mentions it hurts.
Agreed, and as so many have already shared - as with everyone else I had to, painfully, leave off many works that I consider worthy by nearly any criteria. My 10 votes were a mix of material that I feel is of great and lasting influence generally or inspiring to me personally as a reader of sci-fi/fantasy:- Armor, by John Steakley
- The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E.Howard
- The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
- Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
- The Lord of the Rings trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
- House of Leaves, by Mark Danielewski
- The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss (note: I know there is apprehension with something too recent being here - and the third in this trilogy isn't even published yet - but it really is that good IMO)
- The Scar, by China Mieville
- The Vlad Taltos Series, by Steven Brust
- The War of the Worlds, by H.G.Wells
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Quote:Nicely played.Originally Posted by Smersh
Fun fact: I have read, or at least made a serious attempt to read, 111 entries on that list.
I was proud that I at least recognized nearly all.
And was happier to know I owned or read many... but did not count, and I'm sure my total would be less than 111.
*tips hat* -
Interesting conceptual analysis.
I approve on the surface.
I will quibble with the no kinetic armor side of things, however, as Energy Aura is intended to be such, and uses kinetic in the name of at least one power, off the top of my head. Perfect, or not, I think that particular 'hole' is indeed covered.
And thematically, I will say that KM/EA is pretty fun. -
I feel so.... used.
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I got the email, though I've never played the game.
Quote:But I've never gotten them before. What was this their first ever email?Originally Posted by Lemur Lad
*shrug* like it says at the bottom of the mail, it came because we're signed up to receive NCSoft newsletters. We're playing an NCSoft game, and that's another NCSoft game. If you only want to hear about this specific game and no others, I'd go see if there's an option for that in your account settings, or take yourself off the NCSoft list and hope for the best that you don't miss something cool about CoH. -
Numina: 17
Synapse: 39 (38+1)
Citadel: 12
Statesman: DEAD
Back Alley Brawler: 57 (58-1)
Manticore: 36
Positron: 37
Sister Psyche: 42 -
National Public Radio recently polled its followers to compile the top 100 Science Fiction/Fantasy works. They put together a really nice reading list (well worth perusing and plotting future literary acquisitions).
Well, now they are soliciting voting to narrow it to the cream of the crop.
Get out the vote! -
In brief, I agree with several of the previous posters. It is a run-of-the-mill action adventure flick, that just happens to be set in a western with some aliens. Fun rental, borderline for big screen - largely just western level action. Not sad I saw it (enjoyed well enough) just not jazzed up afterwards.
On the whole it felt like a film that fell short of its potential.
I liked the aliens: familiar but just unique enough to be interesting.
The story arc worked, pacing was fine, and acting reasonable.
I particularly enjoyed the first.... 30 minutes or so.
**probable spoilers**
Olivia Wilde's character may have ruined the movie for me. She never seemed to 'fit'... she was just there in the town without any introduction that gave her a place or reason to be there (they did a nice job doing so for pretty much everyone else). Her look was off - lady in a dress: fine; lady gunslinger: fine; lady gunslinger in a dress: odd. And then at the moment she 'died' and miraculously came back... it was a bit over the top and the other characters' reactions just didn't seem quite right. My suspension of disbelief became suspended. I never quite got over it.
The climatic battle in the canyon while Craig's character was off on his derring-do just didn't work for me. The wide to close shots and the pacing of the fight just felt... wrong. Something felt off about the timing of the fight, the speed of aliens, and the numbers involved. And couldn't put my finger on it at the time, and still can't, but that needed some more editing I think.
Quote:You know, I was flat out disappointed by the amount of screen time Ford got. It thought that this may have been one of the more nuanced characters I've seen on screen in a bit and it just didn't get enough meat. As Foam said, they missed the chance to really work the death of the native employee into what should have been a strong moment, but I think it was missed.Originally Posted by White Hot Flash
I liked the movie. The special effects were well done, the aliens and their tech were cool, and there was some good (for a cowboy movie) character growth by Ford.
I wonder if there will be a director's cut on DVD that will do the character development more justice? -
Steelclaw. Win.
Synonymous -
Quote:And an interesting contrast to the recent court decision in the UK.Originally Posted by Nericus
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=33616
In a nutshell, all evidence currently shows that Kirby was indeed "work for hire" which means Marvel/Disney owns the characters Kirby helped create in the 60's and beyond.
There a worker who created the molds for the original Star Wars helmets still had a mold and was granted permission to continue using it and selling it outside of the Stars Wars/George Lucas copyright.
Not equivalent, but interesting in relation. -
Quote:Explained is far different than vetted for opinion in advanced about the implementation.Originally Posted by je_saist
Most of the changes made to the game since NCSoft bought City of Heroes out have been logically explained, yes even the I13 revamp.
No... the reaction was and remains ridiculously over the top.Quote:Originally Posted by je_saist
Should the players have been notified about this change, say having the concept art made available to look at BEFORE the developers sunk resources into making the costumes?
For something that is this big a design break, Yes. The players should have been involved at some level.
My suspicion is that if the new costumes had been designed using references from the pre-existing costumes, there would not be such an immediate and volatile reaction to the proposed costumes.
Unfortunately, they are. All of the Paragon Studio employees are beholden to the subscribers. If the subscribers are not happy paying subscribers, Paragon Studio Employees don't get a paycheck.
<<and snip>>
- I preferred the old distinctive look.
- I agree that I wish there was more linkage between new and old - for the few poor minion images I've seen
- I would have continued to play and enjoy the game regardless
- I applaud the Devs for listening to the epic wailing regarding the change and considering tweaking it
- I in no way shape or form think they have to do anything based on the noise level associated with the change
- Nor would I think that the logical conclusion is that all such drastic changes need to be approved by the player base in advance. It could be called hubris to leap to such a conclusion
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Quote:I also like the creepy robes. The over the top crazy reaction from everyone seemed a bit like it must have been a slow news day around here. Atrocity was certainly the wrong word.Originally Posted by Nalrok_AthZim
Dude, it's as if Blizzard's Gorilla suddenly vomited all over the CoT, and my favorite superhero game. I'd rather see those pieces for the players. And yes, atrocity. Leave the iconic visuals of the CoT as the visuals of the CoT. We don't need spandex-y "look at my glorious ***" mages. We need creepy cultists and robes.
And I sure didn't see all the CoT mobs in those pics (didn't go through each page if every single mob type showed up, I missed it), so I hope we didn't toss something cool with the bosses out the window in all the over-reaction for the lowliest minions and some Lts.
BingoQuote:Originally Posted by Cosmic_Herald
It is their game and we only subscribe. Perhaps they can't be stopping production etc to run by concept art with the forum base.
Schedules run tight etc ... or maybe they just want to put in the game what they personally find appealing.
/unsigned -
Quote:It was a long thread, but atrocity?Originally Posted by Nalrok_AthZim
After seeing the atrocity that is the CoT redesign, I think it'd behoove the devs to let us know if there are any other faction revamps in the works, that way this whole "OMG WTF NO DON'T CHANGE IT" fiasco doesn't spring up again when they may hit live. Thoughts?
QFTQuote:Originally Posted by TamakiRevolution
Nothing would get done in this game if they had to pass it by us every single time :P
The art team should not be beholden to vetting the community for changes. Nor should any other department. -
Numina: 23
Synapse: 34
Citadel: 28
Statesman: 1 - 1 = 0 (killing blow!)
Back Alley Brawler: 49
Manticore: 34
Positron: 34 + 1 = 35
Sister Psyche: 37 -
That looks mildly interesting, if it wasn't based on the Battleship game... of which it looks nothing like.
confuzzled. -
Time to read the forums...
Quote:OMG, that worked! OMG, I'm a *reboot*Originally Posted by Jagged
How to Tell If You Are Involved in a Nemesis Plot...
Press hard on your back upper wisdom teeth.
If your face plate suddenly pops open, you have been replaced by a Nemesis Automation.
Do not worry, someone will be along shortly to reset your memory.
Time to read the forums... -
Quote:Dang it. I got the shirt that reads:Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
*Wears a shirt*
I was part of Nemesis Plot #3,298,752,982,346
Lord Nemesis will be contacting you about opportunities in your area!
Don't panic!
I was part of Nemesis Plot #3,298,752,982,347
Lord Nemesis will be contacting you about opportunities in your area!
Panic! -
Quote:I wondered if it was something like that... never read the comics myself. Thanks.Originally Posted by CaptainFoamerang
Basically. I think in 616 Marvel he basically said he'd seen and done enough killing in the war. Not sure if they'll carry this element over for the Avengers movie.
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Quote:Confused by this. I saw Cap shooting a gun at folks with no qualms, and I don't think he looked real concerned about fatal injuries hitting people in the head with his shield or what not.Originally Posted by CaptainFoamerang
I wonder if they'll be a part in the Avengers movie where Cap refuses to kill. Could be one of the points of friction between the members.
Granted, warfare is different than a heroic streetfight....
again, I am boggledQuote:Originally Posted by Venture
Which is like asking a restaurant critic to lay an egg before criticizing an omelette. -
I think that all good, right thinking players in this game are sick and tired of being told that all good, right thinking players in this game are fed up with being told that all good, right thinking players in this game are fed up with being sick and tired. I'm certainly not, and I'm sick and tired of being told that I am.
(with apologies to the masters)