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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Social Hooper McFinney's RPF Bar & Grille 7.0 - "Keeping blind people away from Priuses one step at a time"

Discussion in 'Role Playing Forum' started by Thok, Apr 3, 2010.

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  1. Ramza

    Ramza Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2008
    The rationale is plain enough to one with sufficient observational powers. In addition to the obvious tactical merits awarded by its river-like designs...

    [​IMG]

    ... it has cinnamon sugar swirls on every bite.
     
  2. RampaniLives

    RampaniLives Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2012
    Kudos to you Sir Ramza! Your impeccable use and combination of observational skills and intellect have earned you top prize! Please accept this solid gold box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch!

    *Whispers* Also, don't eat it. It's made of gold!
     
  3. Saintheart

    Saintheart Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2000
  4. Ramza

    Ramza Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2008
    Just as planned.
     
  5. Mr.Krypton

    Mr.Krypton Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Sep 20, 2012
    Django Unchained: 7.6/10

    So I went to see the film because of dicaprio and foxx. I generally am never impressed with Tarantino films, but he does make some of them enjoyable. The storyline, as my girlfriend put it, was a simple "guy goes to rescue damsel in distress." And honestly, despite me disagreeing with her at first, that's exactly what it is. The movie is badly paced as the beginning took an hour to get started and the climax took an hour to close with about 30 minutes of actual character growth and story development to take place. (It did not take place.)

    The violence was over the top and gory enough that people noticeably had to look away in disgust from the film. I personally felt that it was avg in Tarantino films but did begin to wonder why the movie was being released Christmas Day if it had so much blood and violence in it. Either way it's hard to describe the action scenes as enjoyable or exciting, more like glorified badassery from the main characters.

    The redeeming part of the movie was dicaprio, foxx, and waltz. They were all dynamically amazing and flawless. Django is simple and is a man on a mission and foxx played him as exactly that but to a point that made it hard to not like the character or become fully involved in where he was going. Waltz was hilarious as dr. King schultZ and satisfied the "quirky intelligent badass" character that are, at this point, seemingly necessary for Tarantino films. But dicaprio impressed me most of all. His character is brutal and ruthless and this is all without shooting anyone or holding a gun at any point in the film. He's scary and intense, flamboyant and elegant, he's just flawless in this performance.

    Movie worth going to go see, not for the lighthearted, but if you're a fan of good acting definitely worth the penny.
     
  6. Saintheart

    Saintheart Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2000
    I find Tarantino's films a pain in the ass to watch, honestly. The whole time you're sitting there your brain is bouncing between two concepts: "This movie is actually not that interesting, what am I missing," and "This movie is aimed at film literati, and I have to watch Sam Peckinpah's entire back catalogue in order to understand why the dude with the bad mustache is named Errol." I really don't get most of his films in the way I really don't get high conceptual performance art. Tarantino strikes me as film's most successful recycler, making collages out of discarded Big Mac packets with the tomato and mustard stains wiped all over them and saying the original Big Mac was brilliant, that one bite took you back to a simpler, more beautiful childhood. And the stupid part is that most of Hollywood seems to nod its head and agree with him.

    I mean, B movies can be great, just ask any long-suffering horror fan of the twenty-odd crap films he has to sit through before running across a little gem like John Carpenter's The Fog, but if you like B movies, why not just make the freakin' B movie and not make us suffer through the pretence otherwise? Make the friggin' movie and let it speak for itself, don't make a consciously bad movie and then ask the audience to rationalise it. B movies shone through despite the crappy production values. Tarantino seems to think if you take similarly bad production values it'll somehow generate the same shine. No. No, it does not.

    For full disclosure, I've only watched three Tarantino films: Pulp Fiction and the two Kill Bill "volumes". Every idiot with a camera has gone on to ape Pulp Fiction in some way, of course, and I have a deep, dark, gnawing suspicion that in some way we have Tarantino to thank for Lady Gaga's existence -- but looking back at the film again now there just really isn't that much going on in there. It's the Gangnam Style of film. Show me someone who actually watches the film repeatedly in the way, say, people rewatch Casablanca. Or Star Wars. (Come to think of it, if you're rewatching Pulp Fiction a lot there's probably something wrong with you anyway. Unless, of course, you're forced to watch it because you're a film student, in which case there's something horrendously wrong with you.)

    Similar with Kill Bill, which I really, really wanted to like because I'm a sucker for martial arts films. But the direction is just horrendous across both, the story drags like a queen in Las Vegas when it isn't taking leaps of logic that would make Wittgenstein actually kill himself, the violence really does add nothing in parts, and Uma Thurman is completely unbelievable. I just don't get it.
     
  7. Ramza

    Ramza Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2008
    Okay, a few things:
    1. I've watched Pulp Fiction quite a few times, actually, thanks, though I prefer Reservoir Dogs. Then again, I never claimed there was nothing wrong with me.
    2. Why aren't you watching Sam Peckinpah's entire back catalogue? Really only doing yourself a disservice. :p
    3. I disagree with nearly the whole of your analysis of Tarantino's work and particularly your interpretation of his films' goals, to the point that I'm fairly certain we'd just end up talking past each other. To wit - pretty sure it's loving homage and attempting to legitimize B-films, not sending them up.
    4. Kill Bill is not a representative sample of his oeuvre, and I agree, it's mostly an overrated failure.
    5. Speaking of Wittgenstein, suicide, and art films
     
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  8. Ramza

    Ramza Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2008
    God I hate leaving something that snippy up on its own, so here's a double post featuring The Crap Ramza is Currently Reading!

    Autobiography - Bertrand Russell. Exactly what you think it is - a prominent philosopher cum mathematician cum peace activist who lived to be almost 100 managed to eke out his lengthy, detailed, and surprisingly fair analyses of his own life with maybe a couple of years left in his life, and they're utterly fascinating. It's divided into three sections, the second and lengthiest encompassing the years 1914-1944, and though I was primarily in it for the first section where he talks about his mathematical work (Russell is arguably the godfather of my field and consequently is an idol of mine), it's stayed consistently interesting well into the 1930s, which is where I've gotten to. Admittedly, the lengthy discussion of his most famous student, a certain Ludwig Wittgenstein, certainly helped egg me on.​

    Romance of the Three Kingdoms - attr. Luo Guanzhong tr. Moss Roberts. My translation is actually just called Three Kingdoms but everyone and their mother knows the other title, so I'll use that one. I'm only about 1/10th of the way through this behemoth, but it's got me feeling an excitement to plunge into the "universe" - in this case a semi-fictionalized account of historical China - in a way I haven't felt since Dune. Intrigue, conflict, and magic are the rule of the day in this one, and it's just... really good. Really, really good. Something of an uncontroversial statement when discussing a book that's been loved revered for over 600 years, but I stand by it. The translation, incidentally, is a pleasure to read, much closer to, say, Fagles' Homer than Longfellow's Dante in terms of natural structure and ease of digestion, with lots of footnotes and handy maps included. I haven't read the Brewitt-Taylor version, so no comments on comparison or accuracy, I'm afraid.​

    Introduction to Set Theory - Karl Hrbacek. It's... an introduction to set theory text. A good one, mind, I think an enterprising student could teach themselves the lower levels of the subfield with this bad boy, but I'm just reading it to shore up prior to an independent study in model theory. If you've ever wanted to impress your friends and subdue your enemies with your knowledge of large cardinals then... um, go for it.​

    Sangokushi - Yokoyama Mitsuteru. This is actually a reasonably well-known adaptation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms into comics, meaning I like it so much I'm reading it twice! The narrative is expanded upon and embellished somewhat, resulting in a fun read, though I'm biased in my assessment because I 1. enjoy the simplified style of older Japanese comics and 2. can say nothing wrong of the man who gave the world Tetsujin 28-go/Gigantor. Yokoyama's got a lot of Tezuka-like charm to his style, and his depictions of characters are broad and memorable. A great supplement to the actual novel, though the translation team (Actually just one really awesome guy) is "only" just over half-way through this 60 volume work, making him on track to finish in... 2.5 years, give or take a few months off. Oh, and my avatar is actually the Zhuge Liang (Kongming) from this, repurposed to work as a villain in a series about giant robots. Really.​
     
  9. Saintheart

    Saintheart Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2000
    1. Good grief, I totally forgot I've also seen Reservoir Dogs - shows you how much I found his films memorable. Of all those movies, Pulp Fiction included, I consider Dogs is probably the best -- because it's a B-movie. It doesn't try to be anything more. Also, I said rewatch Fiction a lot. Watch Star Wars thirty times or so and you're just made a moderator on TFN :D :D :D, admit you've watched Fiction thirty times to your significant intended other's parents and you're probably going to have in-laws problems for the next few years.
    2. It is my personal credo to never watch movies by people with funny names. :D That, and I got enough out of my Westerns with Clint Eastwood, the Magnificent Seven, and Shane. :D
    3. I actually agree with you on the intention -- that he's trying to homage B-movies and establish them as legit. My point is that he's trying to suggest there's more going on in a B-movie than there actually is. The overwhelming majority of B-movies are not art and not worth homaging, they're cheap exploitative crap where you might occasionally get a small gem from an artist who won't lie down and die in the commercial ditch. Because he's eaten so much of it, Tarantino seems to think the Big Mac actually is foie gras. It ain't (well, unless you go to a somewhat more independent McDonald's).
    4. Derp. :)
    5. Reserving comment until out from under work firewall, but it will probably be extremely funny.
     
  10. Saintheart

    Saintheart Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2000
    P.S.: I didn't think of your response as snippy, Ramza. Not in the slightest. [:D]


    Of course, you realise that Robert in Blue is now a dead man. :D :D
     
  11. Ramza

    Ramza Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2008
    Well, he's based on three dead men, so it's fitting, really. :p

    Okay, yeah, I can see that.
    That still doesn't explain the lack of Straw Dogs viewing, because if nothing else you should be able to watch the terrible remake!
    I think I'd disagree that they're not worth homaging - for better or for worse, they're out there, proliferating, and I enjoy the fact that he doesn't try to forsake the exploitative end. Those films are ultimately some kind of dark history in the saga of motion pictures, and if I've learned anything about dark histories from my Japanese toy commercials, it's that suppressing a dark history will ultimately result in an apocalyptic war between the Earth race and the moon race. TURN-X GAH. TURN-X GAH. UNIVAAAAAAASSSSSSSSU. Etc.
     
  12. Ktala

    Ktala Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 7, 2002
    :confused:
    [face_dunno]
    [face_hypnotized][face_hypnotized][face_hypnotized]

    Obviously...I am not drunk enough!!

    =P~

    Uh...yeah....
    Thats it...

    [face_coffee]
     
  13. DarthXan318

    DarthXan318 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 12, 2002
    amgds, I am up to my eyeballs in frustrating relatives, KILL ME NOW. Or better yet kill them and leave me in peace. [face_frustrated]

    ... on that positive note, Happy Holidays all! :p Hope everyone's been having fun?
     
  14. Saintheart

    Saintheart Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2000
    *blinks rapidly after being more or less force-fed through the first hour or so of ME 3*

    Yyyeah. I've been having fun. Holy crow, they throw you into this thing with little buildup. I finally got to the Citadel for the first time and finally have a chance to draw breath. Sheeez. WTF. But on first glance the ME 3 Citadel is a really nice, moody joint.
     
  15. Mr.Krypton

    Mr.Krypton Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Sep 20, 2012
    Saint's analysis of tarantino films made lol....But I also disagree. I don't think any movie besides Pulp Fiction was really great, but his movies arent all terrible, I just think they are for fans of his.
     
  16. Penguinator

    Penguinator Former Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 23, 2005
    I could go on at length about why I greatly enjoy Tarantino, but I think I'll leave it "he's divisive, and very much love it or hate it, and these films did not appeal to you, so that is that, no sense in debate." :p

    The guy is amazing, IMO, and seems to be moving past his "look at how allusive I am" phase, which bodes well in my books.
     
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  17. Ramza

    Ramza Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2008
    Still hasn't moved past his "I'm a humongous jerk" phase, mind, but that doesn't really affect his films. :p
     
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  18. spacelady

    spacelady Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 16, 2003
    Xany, I understand completely. [face_plain] Love them, but seriously? My family is mad I'm sick so they have to keep rescheduling their Christmas party. *sighs* What can you do sometimes? :p
     
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  19. RampaniLives

    RampaniLives Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2012
    ME 3: A lot of "Oh &$!%" moments followed by a disappointing ending. Though, to be honest, I haven't watched the extended ending that BioWare gave out for free. And now I just gave myself something to occupy myself after finishing Sleeping Dogs. D'oh!
     
  20. Skywalker_T-65

    Skywalker_T-65 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Nov 19, 2009
    I've played ME 3. But its the first Bioware game I haven't re-played. ME 1 and 2 I have played a lot, same with KOTOR. But I just can't bring myself to play ME 3 again. :p
     
  21. DarthXan318

    DarthXan318 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 12, 2002
    Yeah, I love love love the first two-thirds or so of ME3. Palaven, Rannoch, Tuchanka ... After that, it's a short dive off a steep cliff. :(
     
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  22. s65horsey

    s65horsey Otter-loving Former EUC Mod star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 24, 2006
    Ok I think I have recovered from the holidays (which started early for me since my mom came about 2 weeks early to visit). I still have a nasty cough but I think as long as the internet cooperates (its been on the fritz lately) I should be able to get back into the swing of things.

    *crosses fingers*
     
  23. Sarge221

    Sarge221 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 9, 2006
    I think I've given my thoughts about ME3 enough so that everyone knows my stance on it :p

    *looks up at Saint's and ramza's discussion*

    Gawd, when did the RPF become so......adult :p
     
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  24. Ktala

    Ktala Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 7, 2002
    Stares at a map someone sent me....

    Hmmmmmm



    This could be interesting....

    [​IMG]
    Gotta do some research..I dont know a few places...hehehe

    ;)
     
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  25. Sarge221

    Sarge221 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 9, 2006
    .........Eh?
     
  26. Penguinator

    Penguinator Former Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 23, 2005
    There is so much with that map I just want to rant about. :p
     
  27. RampaniLives

    RampaniLives Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2012
    Alright, that's it. Ramza, Saintheart, someone called this place *shiver* adult thanks to you two. I hereby banish you both to the playground I just had installed here (complete with ball pit!) until you become more immature! And if this adult attitude continues, I will be forced to take more drastic measures! Let's just say those measures include puppies!

    Edit: As for the map....no. Just no.
     
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