Cordeos

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    1563

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Cordeos

  2. Posted

    I watched the 2011 film last night so I now have the book, miniseries and film all fresh in my mind.

     

    Some thoughts below

    Spoiler

    I found it interesting that the mini-series totally dropped the scenes with Jim and Roach at the school. It's probably the least critical part in terms of the broader story so it makes sense. Interesting that the film spends some of its more limited time with it.

    The one thing I really miss in the 2011 film is the sub-plot from the book where characters keep thinking they are being followed, but then deciding or pretending they weren't. The miniseries makes it pretty clear that Jim is the one following them. The book makes it more obscure, but since I had seen the movie first I knew who it was. I wonder what I would have thought had I read the book first. I like the being followed subplot because it pairs well with the self deception where everyone knew Haydon was a mole but no one is willing to admit it.

     

    Overall I liked the book the most and thought the mini-series was the weakest, since it doesn't really do anything the book doesn't. I like the style of the 2011 film, but still prefer the more robust story told in the book.

    .

  4. Posted

    59 minutes ago, Chris said:

     

    As a piece of film I prefer the 2011 adaptation (unsurprisingly, as it's one of my favorite movies). However, I think Alec Guinness is a significantly better Smiley. Oldman as Smiley is almost a cipher working as the engine at the heart of the dismal machinery of the film; I think it works extremely well. Guinness as Smiley, on the other hand, is actually playing the character of George Smiley, elder spymaster, and he's fantastic.

    He is definitely a perfect old British man.

  5. Posted

    2 hours ago, adamthomas1994 said:

    How are you guys finding the 2.3 update?

     

    I've really enjoyed it so far, not withstanding the connection issues I've suffered due to everyone slamming the servers 😂 

     

    Multi-crew is so slick to use although I did have to manually keybind all the controls for the gunner position.

    I haven't had a chance to do multicrew yet and don't currently have a weapons loadout that makes sense with it. I did enjoy naming my ships and customizing my character though.

  6. Posted

    2 hours ago, Jake said:

    Yeah, fair enough - for instance, the scenes with Anne are an example of scenes which have more specific meaning and which your brain can apply knowledge of backstory if you have read the book, but it seemed like a super deliberate choice by the director to not include that storyline in the film. If one considers "it contains more information about the plot" an improvement by default, reading the book would be an additive experience that might "improve" the movie for you, but I definitely don't hold an opinion like that* and think the film did a great job at choosing which scenes to include, which plot to include, and had its own good reasons for it. For their purposes, I think having less worked in their favor.

     

     

    *I'm not saying you do either, Cordeos! This post is a thought that is an offshoot from what you said, not intended to be at odds with it.

    No worries :)

    I do have a distinct memory of being confused about many details of the film, they were mostly cleared up by watching it again later, but I do prefer to have confusing elements explained. I am currently watching the miniseries, its a much more direct translation of the book into film. Although it did make some changes to the order in which the story was told. I will probably always prefer books to films because they are not as limited by run time or budget, but I can see how a more succinct or stylized version can be more appealing.

    Side note, I found that of the Smiley books I have read so far I enjoyed Tinker the most, I wonder if its because I already had a relationship with it through the film and miniseries. I also want to check out the film version of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.

  7. Posted

    This issue has reminded me of my fear of buying electronics peripherals on amazon. It is almost impossible to tell if you are buying a real OEM cell phone charger or if you are buying a knock off. I now only buy explicitly 3rd party products because manufacturers are far less likely to impersonate Belkin than they are with Apple and Samsung.

    Similarly on steam when I see a game with less that great graphics I have no way of knowing if its a thrown together scam or a great game by someone who doesn't have the skill or resources to make it pretty.

  9. Posted

    1 hour ago, Jake said:

    I don't think the book is required to enjoy the film at all. They share plot/characters/setting/theme - in that way it's obviously a very faithful sounding adaptation - but it communicates them in ways wholly different from the book. The Harry Potter films at their worst feel like visual companions to the film, like the set of color photographs bound into the middle of a biography or historical story book for children to give them something tangible to picture as they read along.* 

     

    I think the Tinker Tailor film is an exercise in giving the bare minimum pieces needed to see the shape of the puzzle and trusting the audience (and Smiley) to see the rest for themselves in their minds eye (and to be saddened and frustrated that what they see can never be objectively shown and made plain in the light of day). If that sort of thing isn't satisfying to you, you probably won't be very satisfied with the movie (or the book, or most of Le Carre's other writing from that era).

     

     

     

    * I find this super disappointing in the case of the Harry Potter movies because the books are so visually evocative on their own! The aesthetic and tone they pump out infect kids dreams and imaginations so potently, a pure visual rendering on film is totally not needed. Those movies are a huge quandering of opportunity 95% of the time.  

    I have seen the film three or four times now and actually just finished the book today. There are definitely a few scenes that make more sense with the more fleshed out info in the book, but I feel like the film does stand up on its own overall.

    Has anyone here seen the 1979 miniseries version? I saw it a long time ago and barely remember it. I am interested in re-watching both now that I have read all the books leading up to and including Tinker Tailor.

  14. Posted

    The new Steam program isn't about removal of games, its about doing a better job sorting games so crappy asset flips that are marginally functional don't appear with anything like the frequency that well made games from respected devs do. Digital Homicides games were only removed after the Dev started attacking people, which is very different from fans doing it.

  15. Posted

    7 minutes ago, clyde said:

     

    I don't think I'm using strawmen. Valve is getting advice from Jim Sterling on this issue. Jim Sterling did a performance that was based on the the idea that it is ridiculous to have a Digital Homicide game on Steam. So it seems like Valve is considering enforcing the types of standards that Jim Sterling has for games. If we are just talking about the game and not the actions of consumers and the developer in this conflict I know little about, there is no reason for Devil's Share to not be on Steam. It's not fraudulent in any way. I enjoyed it. It's not a swindle. Jim Sterling thought that games like this are unworthy of Steam as a platform.

    I just made a Let's Play of Devil's Share. I'll probably publish it tonight.

     

    Also what about my other examples like Magic Wand or Mountain. You think that Jim Sterling would have the aesthetic flexibility to see the value of it being on Steam? I don't have that much faith in him.

    My understanding is that steam wasn't going to remove games from the platform, simply bury bad seeming ones with algorithms unless it started getting some positive attention.

  16. Posted

    1 hour ago, riadsala said:

     

     

    That's surely going to make for a weird stand alone map? Although maybe the lore has changed enough since i played in the 90s that there's a sensible chunk of map that they can use.

    The standalone map may include races from the first two games as unplayable. I know they plan on making a world map at some point with every race on it.

  18. Posted

    3 hours ago, Ben X said:

    Okay, so is the relationship between the title and the article the crux of it, then? An article that exists solely to push people's buttons but has an accurate title is not clickbait? If dartmonkey's example article really is an article about a site full of boobs that is causing millions of people to cancel their subscription, it's not clickbait? If the title is temptingly misleading but it's a really good article, is that clickbait?

     

    The main reason I'm Deep DivingTM into this is that whenever an article on, say, RPS involving LGBT issues comes up, one of the troll accusations thrown at it is "clickbait".

    I think there are two types. Classic click bait is just a salacious headline with a mindane article. But some sites get accused of writing purposely controversial articles as a way to drive traffic. Jezebel is a good example of this, they thrive off outrage.

  19. Posted

    6 minutes ago, Gormongous said:

     

    As I said in my comment on that review, they haven't really done anything substantive about the immensely tedious and fiddly process of waging war in the game, nor in the game's insultingly arbitrary and unthematic "victory" conditions, so I'm still giving it the side eye.

    Stellaris may be one of the few grand strategy games where i am really interested in the non-war parts more than war.

    That being said my first game will be creating a hive mind species, turning them into robots and spreading borg domination across the galaxy.

    Aside from that I am excited about being able to build 'tall' because planets are for losers. Space stations are the best! It also makes becoming more powerful while trying to build a federation much more interesting. I will no longer just have to sit around and wait for an end game crisis.

  21. Posted

    3 hours ago, riadsala said:

    Any idea what the 3rd game might be?

    Based on previous statements by the team it will add Chaos Dwarves, Tomb Kings and Ogre Kingdoms as well as splitting Chaos into 4 sub factions for the 4 chaos gods. Might also have some more human sub factions. Sounds like the 2nd game will have sub factions of the previous races as well.

  22. Posted

    4 minutes ago, adamthomas1994 said:

    I've heard good things about the FDL as a combat ship. Been killed by a few in my time 😂😂

     

    I'm currently operating a Type-9 was doing some CG trade runs the last few times I've been on.

    Its a bit more of a flying bathtub than the Viper MKIII I was flying before. I need to switch from controller to my HOTAS because I think it will be a lot easier to fly with a better interface. It does hit really hard though. I put a multicannon in the largest weapon slot and it just chews through armor.

  23. Posted

    7 minutes ago, adamthomas1994 said:

    Thumbs CMDRs! Add me CMDR adamthomas1994!

     

    I take it some people still play? Looking forward to the release of 2.3? What ships are you currently running around in these days?

    I play quite frequently. I just got a Fer-de-Lance so I am bounty hunting a lot to buy all the pricey upgrades I need. I am very excited for 2.3

  25. Posted

    Has anyone here watched Boardwalk Empire? I am three episodes in now, it seems all right, but I would love to know if the show gets better or worse before I spend too much time with it. I am glad they toned down the slang after the first episode, it was a bit much.