Posts made by frimmel

So did the big guy come home?

@Jermofoot:

I appreciate it, Frim.  We certainly could get into the nitty-gritty, and I believe there is enough to explain much of it, but like all movies this one requires a certain level of suspension of disbelief.  It’s not going to pass a science check, because the whole premise is monsters vs. giant robots, remember?  That’s the whole point - it’s not intended to be completely accurate on purpose.

Look we’re mostly coming at this from the same place.

I’m ignoring or otherwise going along with the fact that the two pilots are supposed to be connected yet need to talk to each other. Really, so what? Don’t care.

I do care that the giant mech suddenly has an integrated sword when earlier it seemed a better idea to use a ship as a baseball bat.

If I’m bent out of shape about the mentally connected pilots talking that’s on me. That’s me not participating and going along for the ride.

The sword thing is on them. I’m not asking how it works. I’m not objecting to them having it. I’m objecting to them pulling it out of their ass when they’ve gotten themselves in a corner. That’s the film-makers not honoring the leeway I’m giving them or even abusing that leeway and willingness to go along for the ride and cheating.

As far as I can tell we have a lot of stupid people who rail at stuff like the “techno-babble” of Star Trek now being the audience for movies. They don’t understand the “techno-babble” and fail to just identify it as the obstacle to be overcome and not all that important in specific and but through their lack of understanding or participation they think the creators cheated. They get mistaken impressions about why something was good. This opens the door for the cheating and sloppy lazy writing we’ve got in things like “Prometheus” and “Pacific Rim” and trying to pass off the expectation of good story-telling as some sort of failure to play along on the part of some of the audience.

There has become a real disconnect between maguffin and salient plot points. A confusion about what is set-up and needs to be gone along with or why did you come to see it and maintaining logic and consistency and the elements of good and long established narrative tradition in the world you’re trying to create.

We all have different tolerance levels for “just go with it” and engagement in the entertainment we watch. Lately film-makers seem to my mind to be willfully ignorant of this fact or worse- outright disdainful and cynical about it.

It is the corporate culture. They don’t care if it’s good or if we like it. They just care that lots of people see it and that it’s profitable. Junk food cinema for a junk food culture.

Here is the expectation I expect to be met.

spoilers

Giant Mech grabs a ship to use as a weapon against monster. Expectation met- Really cool cgi stuff.

Giant Mech is on the ropes and out of options. Activates an integrated sword. Splits one of the biggest monsters ever in half. Expectation met- really cool cgi stuff.

Expectation not met- Hey wait a minute… why the hell did they need to pick up the ship? Why are they messing with these big plasma cannons that aren’t always effective. Why aren’t they going to this in the first place with the smaller kaiju?

We’re not talking about trying to sort out how the sword works or picking at the drift or how they get these giant mechs walking about at all or a some other form of I’m not willing to participate in the world they’re creating. It’s cheating, pulling rabbits out of hats.

While it was cool and I went for cool, it was cheating- for any movie, no matter your expectations. And I don’t like cheating more than I do like kaiju split in half by swords the size of building.

@Jermofoot:

Basically, I feel like if you were disappointed you went in with the wrong expectations.

I disagree. My job as a viewer is not to lower the bar to the level the film-makers are capable of meeting. While I don’t disagree that as a viewer I do bear some responsibility for enjoying the movie, I do not bear the entire burden.

I’d like to add that IL is right about the score. Utterly forgettable.

I found the story a bit thin but wasn’t really going for the story. What I did go for was the effects and they were pretty impressive. Ron Perlman cracked me up and the main girl is hot and the only character I found unlikable was supposed to be unlikable. I didn’t see any bad actors just actors not really given a whole lot to work with. They all play it straight and earnestly. No one seemed to not be buying into the concept. Generally I gave a shit about them but I’m a bit of a sap for the whole “heroic sacrifice” story.

It is at least as good as any Transformers movie. The “Starship Troopers” comparison seems off. It is a pretty standard sort of monster movie and the alien motivation is pretty unexplained (you might term it maguffin) beyond they want to consume the planet.

I thought the big contraptions/set pieces they created for the pilots were pretty neat and everything had impressive scale when they let you see it that is. I’m a bit weary of the close up, lots of edits, shaky cam, lots of changes of perspective, hand held camera style of film-making. It wasn’t as bad as “WWZ” in that regard but some of it was just annoying. It no longer (if it ever did) creates a “I’m right there with them” feel. It isn’t quite the shaky cam style of Man of Steel and WWZ but doesn’t hold the framing long enough for my taste. Partially I think to try and create a the ground is shaking effect but I had trouble buying in.

However there were several “Holy Shit” moments with the effects and that was what I went for. If I were between 5-10 this would probably have been the most amazing thing I’d ever seen.

One of the reviews I read said the cynics need not apply and I’d agree with that. Don’t expect to much and you might not be let down. Not a disappointment but it is not redeeming the summer movie going season this year.

I’ve enjoyed many of Guilermo Tel Toro’s films and given the big pile of “meh” that has been the summer movie going season this far I’m going to give it a shot. I’m feeling a bit like a gambler on a streak of bad luck who is starting to make bad decisions that will only continue the bad luck though.

I’ve seen some reviews where they talk about it being a “whole” movie and not just some sort of installment or set-up and that the story seems to hold together.

Part of me is still the little kid that loved Ultraman and it is least a sort of original story so what the hell.

@Sundown:

Also must thank frimmel for your many thoughts, strategies and questions answered about BotB on these boards. Others of you, too. Your contributions here have greatly enhanced my BotB experience. I might not have gotten over that initial hump without them. Thanks!

sorry tldr; needed to get those off my chest   :-)

You’re welcome.  :mrgreen:

@Gargantua:

What exactly do you mean by “meat space female”?

lol… don’t get me wrong - I have an idea, but I’m curious if it was the same as yours lol…

Well I do mean what Jermo says but we’re probably on similar lines about the other meaning if you thought I didn’t want any confusion with the ummmm… town bicycle?

If you know actual real life meat space females willing to play A&A with you chances are good that you’ve already seen them naked or that you’ll see her naked soon enough. Strip A&A or not.

@Gargantua:

@frimmel:

Frimmel and Grace Kelly vs. Ingrid Bergman and Veronica Lake.

Is that “strip” axis and allies you’re playing? ;)

Nope. Pretty sure I’d already be incapable of concentrating on the board.  :-)

Frimmel and Grace Kelly vs. Ingrid Bergman and Veronica Lake.

I would not be disinterested in such a series. Are we talking straight up dramatizations or something more on the lines of “Dogfights” or “Battlefield 360?”

They tried to make it both for tablets and more traditional PC’s and ended up making no one happy. My first experiences thus far have not been positive. Luckily I only have to use it on a PC that I do very limited things on and have no IT responsibilities for.

You can’t use supplies if an enemy unit is in the hex even if the supplies are still on your side of the front line markers.

Per Krieghund here only about half way down the front page of this forum: http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=26366.0

Well, Empireman, Commander mode makes a return in BF4.

More BF4 news and links.

The new COD has dogs. BF4 has falling skyscrapers (near the end at about the 5:18 mark of the first vid in the second link.)

@Gargantua:

Just got an update on Bear.

He’s going for his MRI now, and whilst under the same anesthetic, they may proceed with Surgery TODAY.  I still have no information as to what this means financially, all the details are still being worked out.

Please - please keep him in your thoughts and prayers, and thank-you for coming along this journey with us.

It should save some money. One of the biggest expenses when my cat had surgery was the anesthetic. The vets fees for her expertise were pretty reasonable but the meds and tests just sucked up all kinds of loot.

Hope everything went well.

@Imperious:

It says in the paper that they guarantee any money awarded to me.

Seems like the way to go then. Especially, if the show ponys up and then handles collecting the award from the loser. Plus you’d get to collect expenses for traveling to the show even if they’d be minimal since you’re close.

It simply doesn’t sound like the best course for your legal action. I’m also not sure that it is a dramatic enough case to end up televised (it seems likely they film a lot of cases that don’t then get picked.) It also sounds a bit too technical for the show.

Unless by appearing on the show you can be assured of payment. The way it sounds the writ would be akin to making a point in craps that never craps out but also may never come in. By appearing on the show are you increasing your chance of being paid quickly? And if so why would the defendant agree to also appear?

The short-term military gains are miniscule compared to the long-term damage that the targeted killing program causes. In the place of one slain leader, new leaders swiftly emerge in furious retaliation for attacks in their territories. And with each strike, it becomes ever easier to belong to a militant group in the region where your tribe lives.

As Khaled Toayman, a young Sheikh from Marib and a son of a Yemeni member of parliament told me, “We are against terrorism and we seek to live in peace and dignity like anyone else in the world. I don’t hate America or Americans. I just want to know why my relatives are killed.”

In my visits to the areas affected by drone strikes, I observed an increasing sentiment that America is part of a problem and not a solution, something that is hard for diplomats to feel while living disconnected from Yemenis in the emerging Green Zones of Sanaa. In Yemen, it’s impossible to win a war with drone strikes where basic services and human needs remain unmet. For a loaf of bread, you can push a hungry, desperate and angry young man to fight for al-Qaeda, possibly regardless of his ideological beliefs.

An interesting take on drones.