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Battle for Terra came out in 2007, hardly last summer. Speaking of Battle for Terra, did anyone else think Avatar was a rip-off of Battle for Terra? Humans try to destroy nature-loving aliens, only to fail, despite over-whelming firepower?

With an environmental message undoubtedly borrowed from FernGully.

Battle for Terra came out in 2007, hardly last summer.

Speaking of Battle for Terra, did anyone else think Avatar was a rip-off of Battle for Terra? Humans try to destroy nature-loving aliens, only to fail, despite over-whelming firepower?

Is your name Max Cohen by any chance?

[Al Bundy] Boobies.. boobies.. boobies.. BOOBIES!

    Actually, right from the show

[Al Bundy]: Boobies. Boobies. Boobies. Boobies.

[Kelly comes downstairs; all but Al stop]

[Al Bundy]: Boobies. Boobies. Boobies. Um... Hi, Pumpkin.

[Kelly Bundy]: You know, I haven't heard anybody chant that word since me and my girlfriends were standing around when this old guy in this Dodge drove by... Ew, Daddy!

Oh don't worry, they're doing a lot more than just implying a Deadpool movie.

I just watched a movie called Food Inc. It was disturbing / eye opening at the same time. Rather depressing actually. It goes over a brief overview of the US food industry and touches a little on the Monsanto company.
Please check it out http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1286537/
After watching it, I had to rewatch just to truly absorb all the info.

Watch Food Inc.

Monsanto is an evil, cunt business.

Nothing that Monsanto does comes as a surprise to anyone who has seen "Food, Inc.". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1286537/

the problem with GMO crops is that they can't be contained. a farmer doesn't have to plant monsanto's corn or soy beans for them to start growing in their fields.

and to anyone who says "i will just avoid eating corn and corn products".... good luck. almost every product in the grocery store either contains corn or ate corn.

And this one. And this one.

And this one. And this one.

Thank you Superman for throwing that Hydrogen bomb out into space in 'Superman 2'. We're all potentially doomed by your stupidity and lack of knowledge in the realm of physics and astronomy. I expected more out of a super hero.

Not exactly on-topic, but this kinda reminds me of how excited I am that James Cameron is directing the Battle Angel Alita movie. It's a world where cyborgs are common, and normal humans are exactly as squishy as they should be when manhandled by a cyborg. Like getting partially decapitated when a cyborg knocks off the top half of someone's skull. I really hope he keeps that aspect, it would necessarily mean an R rating, but if anyone can include that kind of realistic violence without making it seem over the top (as I think some of the comic panels do), it would be him.

I loved the anime version of "Battle Angel Alita"; the scene before she fights the guy she beat before and he shreds the dog is just heart-rending for me. It's gory and violent, yes, but it gets the point across that humans (and animals) are squishy and the world of Alita is harsh.

That aside, they got James Cameron? The same guy who directed "Vietnam in Space"? The same guy that directed Pocahontas" (er, I mean "Ferngully")? And "Titanic"? Ick. I think I'll skip the live action version of Alita.

Not exactly on-topic, but this kinda reminds me of how excited I am that James Cameron is directing the Battle Angel Alita movie. It's a world where cyborgs are common, and normal humans are exactly as squishy as they should be when manhandled by a cyborg. Like getting partially decapitated when a cyborg knocks off the top half of someone's skull. I really hope he keeps that aspect, it would necessarily mean an R rating, but if anyone can include that kind of realistic violence without making it seem over the top (as I think some of the comic panels do), it would be him.

I loved the anime version of "Battle Angel Alita"; the scene before she fights the guy she beat before and he shreds the dog is just heart-rending for me. It's gory and violent, yes, but it gets the point across that humans (and animals) are squishy and the world of Alita is harsh.

That aside, they got James Cameron? The same guy who directed "Vietnam in Space"? The same guy that directed Pocahontas" (er, I mean "Ferngully")? And "Titanic"? Ick. I think I'll skip the live action version of Alita.

Actually, Reboot could use a reboot now that you mention it.

I tend to agree with you which is why I try to keep an eye out for other, interesting work being done independently. If I could make a recommendation, please check out Ink. It was released in 2009 straight to DVD because they couldn't find anybody to help them bring it to the big screen. Very interesting plot, excellent actors, etc. Also, it's available free from Hulu if you would like to watch it that way (or off of Netflix).

I really enjoyed the movie, and I'm always open to other suggestions as well.

Perhaps Raimi is too busy working on other projects.

Now, keep in mind that directors often have multiple projects that are in some form of production -- either stalled or pending development or in full swing -- but Raimi's up there with the busiest. If you consider him as both a producer and director (from IMDB):

In Development: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Shadow, The Familiars, Anguish, Untitled Sam Raimi Project, The Substitute, Sleeper, Evil Dead IV, Panic Attack, ArchEnemies, No Man's Land, The Transplants, Just Another Love Story, Burst 3D, Refuge, Monkey's Paw, The Given Day, The Dorm, Monster Zoo, The Wee Free Men and "The Taking"

And for what he's actually got in production includes The Evil Dead (2010), Dibbuk Box (2010), Warcraft (2011) and Priest (2010) where he's directing Warcraft and The Evil Dead -- two movies in sequential years. Yeah, I'd say he's staring down a rather full plate. I wish he would tackle some more original movies though like he did with Drag Me to Hell last year even though it wasn't the greatest, I'd rather see some originality and am happy he's washing his hands of a series that's run its course. But of course Sony wants to milk that cash cow ...

but sometimes I encounter a youth who says, "My boyfriend just broke up with me and now I sit in my room and listen to depressing music."

This sort of thing has been happening as long as people have been writing this stuff down. For a reference from the 80s generation, go watch High Fidelity.

Rob: What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?

Secondly, you can see this type of thing happening in ballades and chansons that were literally written hundreds of years ago. E.g. in the song Barbara Allen, the two kids both die of depression because their relationship wasn't working the way they wanted it to. Granted it's an exaggeration, but you can't say a song like that, written in 1750, doesn't reflect similar sentiments as what you wrote.

So I don't think that there's anything especially wrong with people nowadays, or that the study has really any merit, it's just our society has developed this weird idea that more and more powerful drugs are better. Even if you don't take drugs yourself, there may be some effect from all the chemicals in the drinking water, like estrogen. The only way to stop that is to reign in the medical industry, and have more powerful water quality laws.

When you screw up in the auto industry, the company faces the massive expense of a product recall. That helps to keep you honest with your engineering quality.

A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one. source

"Son, people will always try and fuck you. Don't waste your life planning for a fucking, just be alert when your pants are down." source

Minimum amount of effort for maximum amount of reward.

I remember hearing from somewhere (may have been an extra on the special edition DVD) that the Serenity movie was made to try and tie up loose ends and give the series some closure, as Whedon felt that the fans did not deserve the cancellation. I agree with the parent that the deaths were justified if you keep this point in mind. I have little doubt that if Firefly was to run the course of "normal" series, we would have seen the same character development that we saw in the movie, and probably more. It is just in two hours that there is a limit to what you can do...if the series were allowed to progress and the cast stuck around, I doubt that Wash and Book would have been killed off so quickly, if at all. One thing that I have always found disappointing (yet not really...because it was part of the mystique and allure of the character/show), was being able to figure out more about Book. From his odd credentials (how he was able to get immediate attention in an Alliance Hospital in "Safe" and helped get the crew out a few jams in some unexpected ways ["War Stories"]) and knowledge that most "pious" figures would not have or at least not be willing to exercise.

I remember hearing from somewhere (may have been an extra on the special edition DVD) that the Serenity movie was made to try and tie up loose ends and give the series some closure, as Whedon felt that the fans did not deserve the cancellation. I agree with the parent that the deaths were justified if you keep this point in mind. I have little doubt that if Firefly was to run the course of "normal" series, we would have seen the same character development that we saw in the movie, and probably more. It is just in two hours that there is a limit to what you can do...if the series were allowed to progress and the cast stuck around, I doubt that Wash and Book would have been killed off so quickly, if at all. One thing that I have always found disappointing (yet not really...because it was part of the mystique and allure of the character/show), was being able to figure out more about Book. From his odd credentials (how he was able to get immediate attention in an Alliance Hospital in "Safe" and helped get the crew out a few jams in some unexpected ways ["War Stories"]) and knowledge that most "pious" figures would not have or at least not be willing to exercise.

And rather than starting where it left off, it should start when Agent Cooper is the older man seen in his visions.

I'd pay good money just to read the intended ending of that show. That show is high on my list of great TV, but the cliff hanger ending... it has to be one of the greatest (i.e. worst) cliff hangers to have a show canceled on, ever. That said, Kyle MacLachlan was making some noise last year about resurrecting the show on the internet in 5 minute parts. I'm hopefully, although without Lynch at the helm, it will never be the same. And I have serious questions if 5 minutes is enough time to build much story. Here is the short article, I've not heard anything new beyond it. http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0835522/

Man, forget about his Foundation series. Why not his Robot stories?

The FX work would be childs-play these days. Tell the stories that take place behind the walls of US Robotics & Mechanical Men. Susan Calvin. Their field test guys (whose names I cant recall at the moment). HUGE scope for additional stories, some intersting science-fiction, even some interesting issues on human-machine rights.

Hollywood tried, and they made "I, robot", which is basically an action movie where Will Smith takes his shirt off so that a smoking hot Susan Calvin, played by the airhead model Bridget Moynahan, can stare at his manly shoulders and learn about love.

To quote Adams: it is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike Asimov's works.

There are robots at some point.

Fear not.... William Gibson's Neuromancer movie is slated for release in 2011

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1037220/

The Blob came from a meteorite.

Ghostbusters III was actually announced already! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1289401/

If they tried to continue it, that would require getting back all the original actors (except Wash and Book since they're dead), which might not be possible.

And Nathan Fillion already has that other show.

Like District 9?

Sorry... substitute sour milk for catfood and you have Alien Nation.

(Although, to be fair, although both were based on the idea of alien refugees and subtle-as-a-brick allegories about racism, District 9 was still pretty original)

Can anyone else recommend some reasonably novel, recent Sci-Fi movies?

Try: The Man From Earth - but CGI and pyrotechnic fans should be warned that its basically about a bunch of people sitting around and talking. But in a good way.

Then there's "A Scanner Darkly" - totally unlike all the other "suggested by Philip K Dick" movies.

Then you will probably like to see a reboot of Dark Star easily the greatest sci-fi film of all time.

I know there's long been talk of making a film or television adaptation of it

http://www.themovieinsider.com/m4713/hyperion-cantos-/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1213645/

I think it's more than talk now.

Evidently this guy hasn't seen Harry Tuttle at work.

I might be in the minority here, but this request is probably more in line with gathering a list for the FBI to go contact when they need an independent contractor for something.

You've got to put in terms that Slashdot users understand.

The FBI are looking for IT Security Pros without having to send out a cop to shake down an informant during an actual emergency. Bonus points if the Security Pro has his own Command Center and is familiar with CB technology.

I might be in the minority here, but this request is probably more in line with gathering a list for the FBI to go contact when they need an independent contractor for something.

You've got to put in terms that Slashdot users understand.

The FBI are looking for IT Security Pros without having to send out a cop to shake down an informant during an actual emergency. Bonus points if the Security Pro has his own Command Center and is familiar with CB technology.

I might be in the minority here, but this request is probably more in line with gathering a list for the FBI to go contact when they need an independent contractor for something.

You've got to put in terms that Slashdot users understand.

The FBI are looking for IT Security Pros without having to send out a cop to shake down an informant during an actual emergency. Bonus points if the Security Pro has his own Command Center and is familiar with CB technology.

It's a bit more like if the government tried and convicted everyone for murder 20 years when they turned 18 just in case they someday murdered someone. They might then feel that they did, in fact, have a right to go out and kill someone. There's a concept in law called double jeopardy, where you're not supposed to be able to be tried twice for the same crime. It should be applicable to summary judgments without due process as well. I suppose you could make the argument that, since it's an illegal punishment in the first place, being an automatic summary judgment without trial or the possibility of defending yourself, that normal legal rules shouldn't apply. So let's just throw the law out the window! Punishment all around. Everyone's probably done something to deserve it!
There was actually a movie titled _Double Jeopardy_ about exactly that. A man frames his wife for murder and she goes to prison for murder. When she gets out, she discovers that he is still alive. The premise is that, since she's already been convicted of his murder, it would be double jeopardy to be tried for it if she were to actually do it. This premise is a little shaky in the real world since the justice system is far from just and tends to shrug off unjust punishment. It's probably because it was "god's will" or some other bit of religious "all's for the best in this, the best of all possible worlds" remnant that no amount of constitutional amendments and the like can scour from the system. In any case, the legal system usually has little problem with allowing prosecutors to charge a person with multiple crimes and multiple times for the same actions. There's little chance that the second murder of her husband, in another location, under different circumstances, and at another time would be considered the same crime for purposes of a double jeopardy defense. It's even pretty unlikely that she'd get time served or any time off her sentence.
However unlikely the movie is, the idea in it appeals to most people's natural sense of justice. This is why indiscriminate or incautious punishment is a bad idea. People end up resenting an authority that is obviously doing such a bad job of administering justice and end up feeling that they might as well commit offenses if they're going to be punished either way.
I don't know, maybe if the idea that the tax goes to compensate actual creators wasn't purely theoretical people wouldn't be so cynical about it. Maybe if the money were collected by the government and fairly distributed through some sort of grant program it wouldn't be so bad. As it stands, just giving the money to an oligopolistic cartel rubs people the wrong way.

They forgot to add humans. Humans are animals too :P

Robert Rodriguez (director of Desperado) was one and got most of his money to fund El Mariachi as an experimental drug testing volunteer.

So... You are saying that you were a kid sometime between 1912 and now?

Or are you trying to say that you are Scottish?

So, that is what is the real Atomic Train!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144039/

What I want to know is, when we say "Ocean-crossing" here...

But we didn't say "ocean-crossing dragonflies" here, we said "ocean crossing dragonflies".

How do you get an ocean to cross a dragonfly? And how do you get the dragonfly to hold still while it does it?

It's like that movie about eight freaks with legs.

(Hint: tags aren't working for everyone.)

Just the vibe of the thing...

Dennis Denuto strikes again!

He's Nicholas Angel in Hot Fuzz and if he doesn't change his ways, he'll be transferred to a job "in the countryside". The question is how do you loosen up without losing focus. You don't want to become a slacker, but you certainly don't want to be a constant overachiever either. Being a slacker means you lose interest in your work, your work degrades, you get fired. Being an overachiever means you make lots of enemies among your coworkers, you burn out, you get conspired against and fired. Neither make your coworkers look bad, nor look bad yourself: It's a thin line to walk.

If’s Focker! After the great inventor Gaylord M. Foccer!

This movie is much better: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075520/

this kinda reminds me of human nature

Personally, I am waiting for the Nexus Six. I hear they are killer!

Come on... think a little.

What does large number theory, factorization, optimizations that offer 2000x speedups in this field, and specific information for desktop computers ... what is it about?

Go watch Sneakers again.

Unobtanium is gotten from Big Blue Men not Little Green Men. (BTW, it comes from a group of Big Blue Men, not the Blue Man Group.)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0403508/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1018785/

Those movies are a complete waste of time. The chick flicks from hell. Probably still more worthwhile than this book.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0403508/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1018785/

Those movies are a complete waste of time. The chick flicks from hell. Probably still more worthwhile than this book.