ysbreker

Movie/TV recommendations

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FIREFLY IS FUCKING AWESOME.

Sorry, just had to say that. I just re-watched the whole series, then the movie, and fell in love all over again. Man, I want to spend more time in that world. When are BioWare going to buy the license and make it happen, already?

Time to buy this.

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Yes, the above is a paradox, but I'm not sure it's possible to have any time travel stories that don't feature paradoxes, but at least the Terminator's is a subtle one: A time travelling man, has sex with a woman and impregnates her. Is such a thing possible? Well, no, not really; the future the time-travelling man came from isn't the same future he leaves behind: There's an extra person in it.

Actually, recent physics theories suggest that constructive paradox (closed loop as Reese->Connor) are entirely possible. It's only destructive paradoxes (eg shooting your own great grandfather, or what Skynet was attempting) that run into problems, being either impossible or unravelling the universe.

The point is that Connor was always Reese's son. Their was no point in causality where he was not Reese's son. It helps if you think of time not as a stream, but as a map (all the points already exist).

Fun!

Also, Firefly is indeed excellent. I try to put off re-watches as long as possible to make it more fresh each time. I think the time is approaching when I will have to introduce it to the girlfriend.

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Still some of the best outtakes as well. You could totally tell that they had a lot of fun making that series.

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Still some of the best outtakes as well. You could totally tell that they had a lot of fun making that series.

I have a friend who worked on it, and all the stories of "it was SO much fun" are absolutely 100% true. Everyone was truly gutted when the show was cancelled, even the crew.

Thank god we got the movie...

Dan, my ex and I fell in love with it the first time around at the same time. Not sure if you've had previous experiences, but Firefly is definitely a show that she can love, too. (Heck, even my ex's parents loved the show -- and her Dad hated any American TV show as a rule.)

mKYFNsnO-tc

Edited by ThunderPeel2001

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Actually, recent physics theories suggest that constructive paradox (closed loop as Reese->Connor) are entirely possible. It's only destructive paradoxes (eg shooting your own great grandfather, or what Skynet was attempting) that run into problems, being either impossible or unravelling the universe.

.

Well, I'm sure most actual science about time travel would kill most scifi time travel. But we have to just accept the rules it gives us and accept that.

I'm sure at some point in one of the movies either with Reese or John they do point out the fact John knows Reese is his father when he sends him to the past; which just brings up more questions.

But again, it's not hard science or even close to it, just accept the rules it gives you and hope that the fiction doesn't go against itself.

Judgement day was on August 29, 1997; after T2 it wasn't; but to Reese it was 1997, so they did change something.

Really I am more bothered at the fact that a super computer who can time travel only sends one thing at a time years apart. Why not just send a few terminators back, and why do it a decade apart. You already had one terminator in the past, just keep sending it back to right after the first one dies and Reese is dead, that way it's open season on Sarah.

But really it's just a cool movie, as long as it fills what needs to be filled and explains it in a logical sense within it's own universe, I'm happy.

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Dan, my ex and I fell in love with it the first time around at the same time. Not sure if you've had previous experiences, but Firefly is definitely a show that she can love, too. (Heck, even my ex's parents loved the show -- and her Dad hated any American TV show as a rule.)

If she doesn't she's gone ;)

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Oh yes, Firefly.

The greatest show ever that never got the chance to be a long show because of some insane and damn ass tv company executives.

I have to re-watch it this summer, and I will introduce it to my wife who has never seen Firefly or Serenity.

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I've lost faith in Whedon since then. I have a feeling if the show had lasted, we'd be reminiscing of the great first season that later seasons failed to follow.

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Holy shit. You guys have to see this.

One guy did this. He painted it using oil on glass.

Holy shit.

v1EbNvHDxbA

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I've lost faith in Whedon since then. I have a feeling if the show had lasted, we'd be reminiscing of the great first season that later seasons failed to follow.

I think that's a bit pessimistic, I think he loved that show so much that he would have worked incredibly hard to make it work. The story in Serenity was supposed to be unveiled over Season 2 of the show, and it was a damn fine story. Also, some of the best episodes were written by other writers.

*sigh*

In another universe, things all worked out.

Since then, I'm not sure what he's done. Serenity rocked. He wrote Astonishing X-Men, which I haven't read but is supposed to be excellent. He's done Buffy Season 8, which I'm enjoying immensely. He also did Dollhouse, which I've yet to see, but which was fucked around with by Fox (the original pilot was very, very different, apparently).

Is there really a reason for people to lose faith? I don't know, but I wish he had another hit movie/TV show.

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Theatrical trailer for Scott Pilgrim is out:

8NUBVcit5VM

I almost never go into fanboy mode for anything, but Scott Pilgrim is one of the few things I can't resist it with. Luckily, the trailers look friggin fantastic.

Speaking of aspect ratios, note that when Scott Pilgrim and Patel clash and freeze in mid-air, the aspect ratio shifts from the impact, then expands again, once Scott does a reversal! :tup:

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In BTTF they skate past this problem with a wink and a nudge: Marty and Doc can remember the "old" past, but they never answer if they can remember the "new" past.

Marty can't remember the "new" past, hence being surprised at his new successful family. The Doc at the end of the film has lived through the "new" past; the only Doc that would remember the "old" past got shot to death.

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I just started watching Doctor Who. I never took anybodies advice before about watching it, because it always looked so low budget and people never really explained why it was worth watching. But it's got this great Douglas Adams feel to it, and the time/space travel provides the greatest excuse for the Star Trek style monster of the week.

I didn't want to have to watch all the back episodes to make sense of it all, but this current season was enough of a reset that it didn't matter. Also, the special effects are a lot better.

If you like Hitchhikers guide, I highly recommend you give it a shot.

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I think that's a bit pessimistic, I think he loved that show so much that he would have worked incredibly hard to make it work. The story in Serenity was supposed to be unveiled over Season 2 of the show, and it was a damn fine story. Also, some of the best episodes were written by other writers.

*sigh*

In another universe, things all worked out.

Since then, I'm not sure what he's done. Serenity rocked. He wrote Astonishing X-Men, which I haven't read but is supposed to be excellent. He's done Buffy Season 8, which I'm enjoying immensely. He also did Dollhouse, which I've yet to see, but which was fucked around with by Fox (the original pilot was very, very different, apparently).

Is there really a reason for people to lose faith? I don't know, but I wish he had another hit movie/TV show.

Totally agree, Dollhouse had a fantastic premise, but the execution wasn't great, I doubt anyone could ever pull it off without infinite (blizzard) money. Let's not forget that the thing he did before Dollhouse, Doctor Horrible, was fantastic also.

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I have the same problem you do, Hermie. I loved Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz was better and this seems to have everything I could hope for. I love the, I don't know, heartfelt (?) influence video gaming seems to have on the picture. It's not there to sell the movie to gamers.

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I have the same problem you do, Hermie. I loved Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz was better and this seems to have everything I could hope for. I love the, I don't know, heartfelt (?) influence video gaming seems to have on the picture. It's not there to sell the movie to gamers.

Well.. Hot Fuzz was more about action movies like Bad Boys and Bad Boys 2.

Shaun of the Dead was a bit about video-games.

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Ok, I think I get it guys (the Terminator thing) would it be fair to say that the time travel "makes sense" for the reason that once Reese was sent back for hanky-panky and did the deed, it basically erased the alternative past that may or may not have included a different father? Also, I was reading something on Howstuffworks.com that suggested that time travel into the past is much less likely than time travel into the future. Which (if I understand it right, which I probably don't) is maybe because the events of the past are most likely "fixed in place" but to travel into the future, you're basically moving faster than time so that you can reach the future without aging (or at least aging much), no? Unlike most of you guys, I'm hopeless at science, but I find this stuff interesting and I thank you guys for taking the time to try and explain it to me.

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Ah yes! I just watched the Dr Horrible DVD. The musical commentary is as equally as good as the main feature. Definitely worth picking up, and the ending isn't as depressing as I'd remembered, either.

Marty can't remember the "new" past, hence being surprised at his new successful family. The Doc at the end of the film has lived through the "new" past; the only Doc that would remember the "old" past got shot to death.

You will not school me in BTTF lore! Although, you just have. Didn't the rules change in the sequels? I seem to remember Jennifer remembering the 'You're Fired' bit. It's actually kind of sad that only Marty can remember what happened. His entire life erased except for him. They should have made the second movie a depressing tale of him coming to terms with it.

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You will not school me in BTTF lore! Although, you just have. Didn't the rules change in the sequels? I seem to remember Jennifer remembering the 'You're Fired' bit. It's actually kind of sad that only Marty can remember what happened. His entire life erased except for him. They should have made the second movie a depressing tale of him coming to terms with it.

I was trying not to think of this yesterday, because it started to make my head hurt, but yeah, in the sequels it goes out the window. So much so that you have weird bits like how Old Biff can go back in time to give Young 50s Biff the Almanac, yet he then returns to an unchanged 'There's something wrong with your kids!' future, where Marty, Jennifer and Doc are farcing around. It's only once they go back to 1985 that history has changed.

So it seems that anyone who has even touched the Delorean becomes unaffected by the shifts of history.

Although, I don't feel like these things are problems - time travel fiction pursues narrative over (speculative, in this case) science. So reading up on your physics, and close-analysing the representation of time in these films, will only dismantle some of the great pieces of popcorn entertainment of the last 30 years.

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I didn't want to have to watch all the back episodes to make sense of it all, but this current season was enough of a reset that it didn't matter. Also, the special effects are a lot better.

If you like Hitchhikers guide, I highly recommend you give it a shot.

Seconded; Matt Smith is an excellent Doctor, and they've done some slightly darker things with it than they've done before. Also, in the words of my workmate, Amy Pond is an angel sent from heaven. It can still be very cheesy, and I dislike that the sonic screwdriver is just a magic macguffin that seems to psychically extend his will, but it's still fun. Several people I know who've always hated Doctor Who like this season.

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Going Postal was very good, a noticeable improvement on the previous Sky1 Pratchett adaptations. The performances in particular were excellent this time around.

The downplay of the fantasy and the presentation of Ankh Morpork as an extra weird Dickensian Victorian tale was a good move.

My only big gripe is that the editing felt incredibly impatient. Understandable when trying to cram a busy novel into 3 hours, but still the comic and dramatic timing suffered badly. Few atmospheric or reaction shots lingered long enough for them to sink in. Often as soon as the dialogue ended, so would the scene.

They missed out one or two real gems from the book too; I would have really liked to see the initiation into The Secret Society of Postmen. Maybe it was filmed and will turn up as an extra. Otherwise I don't have many problems with changes to the story or simplification of characters (Groat's penchant for alternative remedies, although hilarious in print, would be difficult to pull off on screen).

I recommend it to everyone here anyway.

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I watched a movie yesterday that I didn't even know existed until it was already out of cinemas: Solomon Kane. After a story by Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan. The movie start out pretty strongly, but spiralled into pulpiness in the second half, never to recover.

It's a shame, for a while it seemed like it might have some interesting things to say on damnation, but in the end it turned out a weak plot point, a pretence for some shallow character development. I'm also throroughly bored with big CGI creatures to fight at the end of a movie. Not with the concept per se, but the execution is usually so vapid and uninteresting, it's just an obstacle, they might as well not be there for the story.

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This is actually a cause for some contention, for some odd reason, but the fact of the matter is that The Shining was shot for widescreen, with an eye on the open matte for TV showings.

Thanks. I dimly remembered something about it being shot open matte then masked afterwards or using video or something TV-related in that film his daughter made, but I didn't remember precisely what. It could explain the helicopter shadow thing, if I wasn't imagining that.

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