TrueGentleman

If we're thinking of the same doc, that's only an outline-style planner, not something that can be imported into Mission Architect except by a lot of copy-pasting. (It's also a shame that cohoma.exe is on hiatus - the most recent build works well enough for building missions on the old scale but can't read files generated by the current Mission Architect.)

Is this about the 90s Seattle grunge rock group Nirvana's second album, "Nevermind", right? It's definitely not about that other thing of the same name from 1989, is it? This topic is so ambiguous.

/signed.

Also, the trash-cans-falling-down-stairways sound of MM robots walking could use some dampening (this is especially annoying as ambient noise when running errands - and I'm thinking of my own Mastermind). Thanks,

Hum. That's what I get for not checking the test server sub-forum.

Good points. Wasn't Operation: Rusty's Blanket an important covert operation to monitoring the mysterious and important ORB device, though? And isn't his current gig with Sphinx (Sphinx!!) more suitable for his talents?

The closest I've seen Brock get to revealing regrets was when he was warning Hank off joining Sphinx (Sphinx!!) as trainee, although that could have been because Hank has a false sense of his own immortality since he can't remember how many times he's died and had his memories uploaded into a clone. (The Venture Bros. canon does get complicated, doesn't it?)

Contrast Brock's stoic confidence (or is it resignation?) with T.S.'s constant vacillation between conceited egocentricity and abject self-loathing. In any case, I'm looking forward to catching up on this episode when it airs online.

How is Brock Samson a failure at what he does? He has more than a few regrets ... but failures? I think Hammer and Publick are going to have to illuminate a side of Brock we haven't really seen so far.

Studio 55 has a special entrance to Pocket D that any Praetorian can use (so that's Clubber and Monitor Duty available).

While I don't hold that a contemporary mainstream version of Green Lantern ought to slavishly replicate a Silver Age comic's art direction, the "glowing bio-organic" look has become pretty clichéed in science fiction movies and TV these days.

I'd rather that the movie's art department try a clean, sleek version of the battery along the lines of that award show's prop:

Sure, why not? Jackson is an absolute master effects technician. If he can do for 3D what he did for mo-cap dramatic performances and CGI crowds, maybe the technology can be cinematically justified. (Besides, with a $500M total budget, the two-part movie will need all the help it can get at the box office.)

Meanwhile, Jackass 3D has earned $50M its opening weekend, with Red in second place at $22.5M. That should keep Warren Ellis happy.

I also found Monsters and Aliens kinda fun, but for movie with a cast like that, I expected so much more. (Pixar, just to continue derailing this thread, rarely features actors that convince me I must see their movies, but afterward, I'm continually amazed at the outstanding performances they get from their casts.)

Gah.

While Pixar's movies may have a sense of underlying melancholy that DreamWorks' lacks, your hypothesis misses out on Pixar's emphasis on dynamic couples (and groups). The Incredibles and Toy Story might give Mr. Incredible and Woody slightly more screen time than the other characters (although I'd really like to test that). They aren't titled "The Adventures of Mr. Incredible" or "The Story of Woody the Toy Cowboy" for a reason. The movies don't belong to the optimistic, forward-looking Buzz or the growing-up-suphero Incredible Kids either, though. The titles overtly say where Pixar unites heart and vision.

Contrast this with DreamWorks' movies, which definitely tend to favor a single character's story in their construction.

But that formula doesn't center on WALL-E's emotional appeal: a brave little robot cheerfully fulfilling his function in a wasteland (until he finds love, of course). The audience supplies the sense of sadness, which, I'd argue, is how Pixar gets away with the film's hopeful, happy ending.

In any case, much as I hope to be at least entertained by Megamind, I doubt critics will be discussing its emotional landscape at any length.

I should add that I'm not suggesting Pixar's plots are all astoundingly original. Besides the obvious Seven Samurai-meets-Three Amigos storyline of A Bug's Life and automative Doc Hollywood of Cars, The Incredibles is clearly a Fantastic Four pastiche. But even if originality is overrated - just ask Bill Shakespeare - DreamWorks' movies have a rote sameness about their construction that makes me look forward to Megamind slightly less than the story and cast would have me.

• Toy Story - While Woody fears being replaced, Buzz is quite happy to be a space-age figure (it's being a toy that he needs to get used to).
• Finding Nemo - The widowed father is over-cautious, but he's not a relic or even feeling over the hill in any way (and this leaves out the son's story arc).
• The Incredibles - Although Mr. Incredible can be fairly accused of being overly nostalgic, Mrs. Incredible has lost her sense of self (Elasti-Girl) by focusing on the mundane day-to-day world. It's the intersection of their character arcs that makes The Incredibles such a great film - and that's not even counting their children's.
• Wall-E - The protagonist is not sad about his past at all. The irony that WALL-E is quite satisfied with his existence in a post-apocalyptic world makes the robot love story between WALL-E and EVE that much more poignant.
• Ratatouille - The protagonist isn't aged or a relic - he's a young rat. His kitchen scullion friend is a young man with little attachment to his past, the truth of which he has to discover over the course of the film.
• Up - At this point, it sounds like you're retroactively applying this film's plot as a template.

This isn't to say that Pixar doesn't have an in-house perspective on life and the world, but the same can be said for other great cartoon studios in their heydays, e.g. Disney and Warner Brothers (but not DreamWorks, unless pop culture references count as a weltanschauung). If anything, Pixar consistently relies on double acts and contrasting pairs in their plots.

There is of course a school of literary criticism that claims there are only a few archetypal stories, but this isn't that kind of thread.

Good grief, yes.

Come again?

1. Two characters from different backgrounds form a friendship despite initial rivalry. (Toy Story)
2. Seven Samurai/The Magnificent Seven is remade once more, this time with insects. (A Bug's Life)
3. Two office friends must decide whether their jobs are worth it when a little girl enters their lives. (Monsters, Inc.)
4. A father must embark on an epic journey across the ocean, while his dispossessed son learns to take on adult responsibilities. (The Odyssey, I mean, Finding Nemo)
5. A husband and wife rekindle the spirit of adventure in their marriage, bringing their family closer together in the process. (The Incredibles)
6. A stranded hot-shot city slicker falls for the charms of a sleepy small town. (Doc Hollywood, I mean, Cars)
7. A young hero braves familial and societal disapproval to pursue a creative dream, with the assistance of a friend who suffers from the lack of one. (Ratatouille)
8. Charlie Chaplin is a post-apocalyptic environmentally friendly robot... in space! (WALL-E)
9. An old man makes one last try to fulfill an ambition he's held since childhood, which is complicated by a young boy tagging along. (Up)

As for Megamind, haven't we already seen CG animated movies on the topics of redeemed supervillains and superheroes with mid-life crises? DreamWorks isn't exactly renowned for originality, but here's hoping for some new twists and fewer pop culture in-jokes.

Indeed.

Meanwhile, Sony has coyly issued a "no comment" response on the Wrap's scoop.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Father Xmas Also I hardly call Jackass 3D mainstream unless mouth-breathing idiots are now considered mainstream.

You said it, not me.