Slashdot Mirror
Review: "Scream 3"
As a half dozen characters point out in "Scream 3," the thing about a trilogy is that, unlike a sequel, anything goes - anybody can live or die, because the third element of a trilogy is really the last.
In a way, that conceit is one of the things that makes this movie work so well. It's funny, at points chilling, and at the same time oddly touching, as the movie is basically saying goodbye to itself and, for the moment, the genre.
This "Scream" isn't quite as well written as the first two (the producers switched writers), and it's definitely time to move along. The idea of the movie-spoofing-the-genre-spoofing-the-media-portrayal-of-the-genre is so apt it still works, but we sort of get the point already. By the end of the movie, you might be getting a bit restless, not because it isn't well done, but because it's well done for the third time and in much the same way. In a way, that's sort of the point. It's time for a new vehicle to spoof ourselves, our darkest fears and our techno-culture obsessed lives. In each of the "Scream" movies, it's neat to watch the evolution of the cell phone, from a communications device to a central character. That's smart movie-making, especially given the audience.
"Scream 3" is still great fun. Anyone who guesses the ending should come forth and say so - it's nearly impossible. This series is one of those rare cinematic occurrences - a horror trilogy that's run its course but which will still be sorely missed. I'd give it a 7 out of a possible 10. What about you?
Most of JonKatz' writings have at least some bearing on tech issues, even when the focus is solely on their social effects.
What does "Scream 3" have to do with anything? Is Slashdot desiring to "expand its horizons" and now become a "popular culture discussion site"?
It is good to have, and keep, focus.
Jon, your movie reviews are interesting. They have nothing to do with geeks, but you have to realise movies don't have to be about us in order for us to enjoy them. It doesn't have to always rely on the dark turmoils of a society ravaged by techno-capitalist opportunists drowning the voices of the technological wizzes set to push humanity towards its next level of socio-economical nanotech greatness.
you have to be a genius to guess the ending
Myself and friends had the ending figured out about 25-30 minutes into the film. It was pretty formulaic. And after we guessed, all the Return of the Jedi references gave it away completely.
What about you?
/is/ taking our messages to heart and is trying to be an active member of the community?
If i see another JonKatz article that ends in the phrase "What about you?", "What do you think?", "Talk among yourselves", I will SCREAM, and the funny thing is...it's the biggest gripe i have against the man...it just seems....patronizing somehow. Other then that...i find it intresting that JonKatz posted a movie review....maybe he
It's a horror movie. I didn't feel the urge to see it.
I'd just like to point out that the MPAA is responsible for the fact that we wont see this film in the UK for another couple of months.
Its not as if it needs subtitles; its not as if logistics is a serious problem in this day and age: so why oh why, in the first months of the 21st century haven't we got synchronous releases?
Thankyou very much MPAA!
Ripping an new rectum in the fabric of spacetime.
Step back.. think about what you're posting..
Scream 3 has NOTHING to do with Slashdot. NOTHING. This isn't IMDB.. you're not Siskel, and Ebert's dead. I'm not normally one to bitch about the lack of relevence of Slashdot stories, but this is just rediculous. Maybe we should just be able to moderate Katz' stories. Wait.. better idea.. I think there should be a vote on every article Katz wants to post.. he gives us the title, and we get to vote on whether it gets posted, and how many words he gets to post it with. That should keep him in check.
//Phizzy
"Most European technology just isn't worth our stealing," -- Former CIA chief James Woolsey, referring to Echelon
I was glad to see one of my favorite up-and-coming actresses in Scream 3. Parker played the actress playing courtney cox's character. Although Scream3 is a little more mainstream than her other stuff, it provided good exposure. Allow me to recommend SubUrbia and Basquiat, as well as *almost* everything else imdb lists in her credits.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
You thought the movie was okay? Are you joking? That movie was HORRIBLE. It wasn't even written by the dude that wrote the originals, (Kevin), and it seems obvious to me why.., they left a window to the others open. They saved all of the original cast that were still alive, its totally bogus! I'm sorry, but every scream movie that Kevin wrote were pretty good, but if you go to this movie, you are giving money to the studios for the worst theater experience of your life. This movie hands down sucked. Unlike its predecessors.
... to include "Please comment to this post by clicking on the Reply link below" to the end of _your_ post.
(Sorry for the seriously lame humor. Its way too early in the morning. I do agree with you.)
:)
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
I found Scream 3 to be a lot better than the second one, and maybe as good as the first one. It had a lot of hilarious scenes, funny guest-appearances and, as we expected, was quite witty in general.
Of course, some things still don't make ANY sense. For example, why would Sidney really want to live out in the woods, all by herself, after she's been through the first two movies? At least she got a gun, now...
Oh, and we should mention that Seinfeld's Puddy had a role that was perfect for him! Now I can see him do The Tick for real!! :)
-- "Tradition is the illusion of permanence."
Yeah, they're good slasher movies.
Yeah, they reflexively look at the genre in an ironic way
This is supposed to be clever and origonal
Wes Craven's New nightmare was good and, much as the origonal elm street defined black comedic slashers created a new breed of self refernetial reflexive horror films
The Neverending story did it way before (although the only horror was the kid...)... Nuff said!
But then again I am the person who thought Blair Witch was generic, unscary badly acted tripe. So what would I know
As for Scream 3, it may be a good rflexive slasher, but Elm street 3 was a good slasher, albeit a tired one because it was an old and used formula. From what I have seen I will probably enjoy scream 3 but come out with an empty feeling as if I have seen it all before...
Roll on scream 6 when they parody the parody of media looking at a film of a parody of a horror parody being looked at by the media.
Working for the (other) man
I thought it was priceless. Oh well.
Surely some other people have watched and enjoyed Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Dogma.
It turned out the way I thought it would, but after three of these it gets predictable. It was kind of annoying because these films are all the same. The same senarios just re-written in a new day and age.
Microsoft aggravates my tourettes syndrome.
I agree I am sick of her dumbass. She must have slept with a lot of people to get this much camera time.
Microsoft aggravates my tourettes syndrome.
Wes Craven is an interesting guy. I like how he has played with the horror movie patterns in both these movies. He relates both to hollywood and shows the action breaking into the private world of hollywood types. In both Craven found new ways to play with the genre and give us something a little unexpected.
IMHO, as per
J:)
Oh well, no point in steering now.
Prior to slashdot, an in between a million other gigs -- katz used to write for hotwired.com. each summer he'd do a few articles where he'd go see like the 10 big summer movies and review them. i always though the reviews were fairly good.
Here's the sentence of which you evidently read only every other word:
"It's time for a new vehicle to spoof ourselves, our darkest fears and our techno-culture obsessed lives."
To SPOOF our darkest fears AND our techno-culture obsessed lives. Both of which are true.
Are you just reacting out of habit because it's Jon Katz? And what moderators thought your thoroughly inaccurate message was worth bumping up?
Not that it matters, but Siskel is the one who's dead.
For e-mail, s/DONTSPAMME/lmco/
... slow news day?
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
<RANT>
I have had it up the socket with people complaining about nearly every story on /., saying that it "doesn't belong" or isn't "news for nerds" or it isn't "stuff that matters". Last I checked, no one had defined those in a universally acceptable way.
Some things don't matter to some people. Some things do. Sometimes I care about a /. posting. Sometimes I don't. If I don't find it interesting, I can skip it, and I can even configure my account to filter out stuff I'm not interested in. WE'RE ALL DIFFERENT (tm) HERE. Why do some feel the need to decrease the s/n ratio by complaining about stories they don't feel are relevant to *their* beliefs on what's important? Imagine if the same thing happened everytime someone spammed a usenet group... <ugh>
Frankly, it seems quite arrogant to me to run around telling people in a public forum that a story posted here isn't relevant to /.'s purpose (tm) and that we shouldn't be reading about it here. We WANT to read it here to see what kind of reactions/thoughts other people "like" us give it!
The /. authors post a wide variety of topics and stories to cater to the widest possible audience of nerds. They realize, unlike others, that "nerd" is near impossible to pigeonhole and that nerd interests run a wide gamut, some of which is campy horror movies. Get off their backs, people, they're doing their job. (And, I must say, doing it well; I've never missed an important update on something *I* care about from /.. Has anybody else?)
I think my point is clear. Sorry for the rambling. </RANT>
"Honey, it's not working out; I think we should make our relationship open-source."
Thank you, good night, and godspeed. ^_^
When you're crushing a man's windpipe with your knee, you can be sure he will attempt to bite you.
Some days ago I made you all aware of the danger of the Katzbot, a middling-length Python program with enough power to destroy an entire Slashdot topic. That danger still exists, but another, more horrible danger has arisen.
A fork call has been made to the Katzbot, and now it is simultaneously free-associating and reviewing movies that have been in the theater for weeks.
I'm afraid now that we will need two squadrons of "snub" fighters - one to place a proton torpedo in the "logic hole" vulnerability of the original Katzbot, and a second to fly into the enormous, empty meta-brain of the second one and blow up the power station's cooling tower.
But it won't be that tough. I used to bulls-eye womp-rats in my T-38 back home. They're not much bigger than two meters...
Carefree highway, let me slip away on you.
Mr. Katz,
I like your stuff. I'm sad that (so it seems) the vocal minority has browbeaten you into curtailing your long posts. When I read a long post, even if it's not all well thought-out, at least I know there's a lot of thought in there to find.
These shorter posts of yours, like this movie review, seem to have one brief idea with no exposition. It's like you're afraid to let yourself go.
In the old days, you'd have gone on at length about what was good about the movie, what was bad, why you think it was written as it was, what the movie might indicate about where movies are going and where they are right now, maybe a little about the fancy gadget that plays such an important role in the film, something about the role of everyday technology in the film, and on and on just like I'm going now.
Personally, I think it sucks.
Bring back the Jon Katz we (some of us) love to hate. Bring back the long posts!
Is she in it? Does she get naked? If she is in it is she as hot as ever?
Come on, what is wrong with you guys leaving out the most important bit of info?
Eve Fairbanks says I drive a hybrid!LOL
Man, I loved that movie. Saw it twice in one weekend, with different groups of friends, just to get their reactions. I see its out on DVD now. Must get it.
--
Donald Roeber
Donald Roeber
Generating 2048 Bits of Randomness...
go see Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. At first glance this seems to be a horrible B-Class horror flick. Upon closer inspection it actually turns out to be an excellent parody of horror film conventions. There was a lot more thought put into this movie than most people realize. It starts out just like any other of the TCM movies, but ends up being copletely different than any other horror movie ever made. This movie achieved what the Scream movies failed miserably at portraying. If you have read any of Robert Anton Wilson's Illuminatus books or know about this stuff you will really get a kick out of the underlying theme present in the movie. I didn't find this movie the least bit scary (if you want a real nailbiter go rent In the Mouth of Madness), the sheer ridiculousness of the situations presented made me laugh a lot. Matthew McConaughey is excellent and Renée Zellweger shows her ample 'talents'. Serously, if want to see a great horror parody forget the Scream franchise and rent this movie.
-
It did seem as a "Scooby-Doo feat. Neve Campbell part 3" type of movie...
no nudity and no sex make scream a dull movie
--------
Oscarfish.com: tropical fish with attitude. Way t
HHGTTG went to 5 parts if I remember.
threadeds blog
I totally agree. How could someone with no talent gets that much time on the screen? You got to look 6 inches down to find out...
Review: "Jon Katz's Review of Scream 3"
a t-anonymous cowards-think-really-suck-at-slashdot"-quota-? dept.
...): Read more and post your own review:
n g-the-Jon-Katz-portrayal-of-life is so apt it humors me, but we sort of get the point already. By the end of the movie review, you might be getting a bit restless, not because it isn't well done, but because it isn't well done for the zillionth time and in much the same way. In a way, that's sort of the point. It's time for a new vehicle to spoof ourselves, our darkest fears and Jon Katz's techno-culture obsessed life. In each of the Jon Katz movie reviews, it's neat to watch the evolution of nothing, from poop to a central scatological theme. That's smart movie review making, especially given the audience.
from the can-we-apply-this-article-to-the-daily-"things-th
Jon Katz's review of "Scream 3" is a perfect example of wasted bits and bytes on a neat nerd news portal site that has nothing to do with lame cinematic trilogies. It's asinine, creepy, and slightly poopy, IMHO. And you don't have to be a genius to guess the ending ("What about you?", "What do you think?", "Discuss this amongst yourselves.", etc
As a half dozen Anonymous Cowards point out below, the thing about a Jon Katz review is that, unlike a typical slashdot article, anything goes - nothing has to make sense and irrelevance is the norm, because the third element of a Jon Katz review is really the first.
In a way, Jon Katz's conceit is one of the things that makes this movie review work so well. It's funny, at points chilling, and at the same time oddly touching, as the movie review is basically saying goodbye to itself and, for the moment, the genre.
This movie review isn't quite as well written as the first two (Jon Katz switched spell checkers), and it's definitely time to move along. The idea of the movie-review-spoofing-the-slashdot-article-spoofi
Jon Katz's review is still great fun. Anyone who guesses the ending should come forth and say so - it's nearly insulting. This series is one of those rare journalistic occurrences - a horror that's run its course but which will never be sorely missed. I'd give it a 0 out of a possible 1. What about you?
-- ken williams
Over here in the Netherlands I've found the releases vary even more than the UK. I've seen films that took another couple of months to reach the UK, and as for Star Wars.. I swear it was almost 6months after the UK.
:), they're usualy the same price as over the net, and more often than not arrive quicker too.
As for DVD importing... a local shop here imports Region 1 DVDs (a nice shop.. all it sells are DVDs
Ever noticed how films released all over the world at once only seem to be flops? (Psyco remake, The Avengers.. etc). Personally I always wondered if they do it so "word of mouth" doesn't kick in before it hits a country.....
--
May contain traces of nut.
Dammit.. I even asked someone about that because I wasn't sure.. ah well.. you can't win em all.
/Phizzy
"Most European technology just isn't worth our stealing," -- Former CIA chief James Woolsey, referring to Echelon
I still refuse to spend money on any movie produced by a member of the MPAA. If I was going to make an exception to my boycott, it sure as hell wouldn't be for this movie.
I think everyone needs to shut the hell up and go do something productive. If you don't want to read the article then don't read it. To some people it may be interesting to see what people think of the movie. As for you idiots who claim what does this have to do with linux .. well hate to fscking break it to you but not everything on slashdot revolves around linux. Get a damn clue people, people are free to say what they want, if you don't like what they have to see, move on.
What does Scream 3 have to do with News for Nerds? This is hardly Stuff That Matters.
Then why are you even reading this article, let alone posting to it? Some of us here have a slightly broader circle of interests than just Linux you know.
Good point, your absolutely right, I should have said the Ley-Idiots 21st century :).
;)
I hope you will go and watch 2001 a space oydessey on December 31st this year; that one will be re-released synchronously and in internation 70-mm format
Ripping an new rectum in the fabric of spacetime.
You forgot:
God: Does he exist?
Linux or 2000: Which is better?
Why ESR got it wrong.
Why patents are good.
Oh, God I could go on for ever...
What's wrong with sensationalism? It looks good and it get's the vengence ouf of people. I think that it really can't hurt. Besides tell me exactly how it gets responses if everyone hates it?
Slashdot social engineering at it's finest
Then why are you even reading this article, let alone posting to it? Some of us here have a slightly broader circle of interests than just Linux you know.
I think the poster is pointing out a series of what psychologists call personality types and various circles of interest. People like Ned Flanders usually don't go off riding on their motorcycles and cause a mess of trouble on Sundays and people who are technologically inclined usually don't care about various actors and "entertainment" news unless it is science fiction or something to do with technologically interesting subjects.
If you like Scream fine but could someone please mention why this was posted and say not perhaps various political news? How about the newly elected president of Indonesia? Middle East peace talks? What about some issue that affects technology? I just would like some concrete proof and answers.
Slashdot social engineering at it's finest
Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy currently has 5 books....
The Self-made Critic on Brunching Shuttlecocks had a review of Scream 3 a little while back. His conclusion was that, although all the evidence pointed to the fact that this movie ought to have sucked, in fact it ended up being, well, fun.
As for my own opinion, needless to say, Scream 3 fails one of the prerequisites of a good film: it relies on too many popular culture references. Lasting films are self-contained, and if they have to lampoon something, it's a universal aspect of human nature or some such. Just look at the Princess Bride, for example. It's timeless, except for the opening scene where Fred Savage is playing the nintendo game "Bases Loaded". Some things are best left out, but clearly Scream 3 isn't aiming for that.
"If one is really a superior person, the fact is likely to leak out without too much assistance" -- John Andrew Holmes
I'm a big Kevin Smith fan(dogma, chasing amy, clerks, mal rats) and i was told that J/SB were gonna be in screem 3. So i just had to go.
I stayed for the whole movie, and it turned out to be not to bad, tho the high point was difiently Jay and Silent Bob's cameo
Gorfin
My problem with the story is that, generally, Slashdotters are at odds with the MPAA (witness the NY, CN and CA lawsuits. I believe that _Scream 3_ is distributed by Miramax. While Miramax is not listed as a member on the MPAA.org website, I haven't traced their corporate geneology to see if a parent company is. At any rate, Miramax's web site does mention that Miramax movies are available on DVD.
My problem is that this review tacitally endorses the movie and record (this though indirectly) industry. These companies are one of the biggest threats to OSS. Why support them even indirectly?
Cheers,
Slak
Sweet JESUS! Doesn't anyone have a sense of humor? LIFE REQUIRES LEVITY. So one stupid article is slightly off topic. If you aren't interested, don't read the damned thing. If you think stuff should be posted on Indonesia, middle east peace talks, etc. here's a novel idea. Why don't you submit it?!
- learn mathematics - shoot dope -
That's a very sweeping statement about what people who read /. like and dislike. While I personally am a big fan of both science fiction and technology I do have other interests which interest me equally. I'm sure there are plenty of other /. readers who also have interests outside of these. Just because these are the only things that interest you doesn't mean everyone else is the same.
If you like Scream fine but could someone please mention why this was posted and say not perhaps various political news? How about the newly elected president of Indonesia? Middle East peace talks? What about some issue that affects technology? I just would like some concrete proof and answers.
Why was this posted? Why not? There seems to be plenty of comments about this film already, and, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this site meant to be about discussion? If absolutely no-one was interested as you claim then there wouldn't be any posts to this article. And as for concrete proofs and answers well you won't find any in this kind of discussion - people's opinions and thoughts aren't really subject to this kind of analysis.
So you don't think this sort of thing should be posted here on /.? Fine, don't read it. No one forced you to read this article, go through the threads and reply to a post. In fact if you object so much, why are you reading it?
You did know that Courtney Cox, Neve Campbell, and Jenny McCarthy are in it? Hotties are definitely news for nerds.
If you're not getting your "serious news" fix here, just start clicking away, you'll find it someplace, probably quicker than you can complain about it.
--
+&x
*Scariest voice possible* "Do you like scary movies?" I, for one, enjoy them quite a bit.. Perhaps you're too wrapped up in your sterotypical, "I am a geek, I may not have PATHETIC entertainment such as the general
masses enjoy.", bullshit, but hey, it's fun. ~neeko
I can enjoy things to but as a whole I would rather watch a good factual or at least intriguing film rather than people acting stupid and getting brutally slaughtered. If anyone even tried to attack me with a knife I think that the proper Miss Manners approach would be to take a long range projectile weapon and use it liberally but hey that's just me in this case.
Slashdot social engineering at it's finest
odd choice for a movie review. scream 3 came out ages ago (in the US anyway). the main point of a review is for people to read it before (duh! :) )they see the movie and surely almost everyone who wants to see it has seen it by now?
stay frosty and alert
Funky, I was going to stay out of this one until I read this comment... most geeks I know do dig horror flicks big time. In fact, I'm a horror film fan, and I've been having a hard time finding good horror movies lately... the "big" productions are dull (Scream, H2O, ...) and the ones that aren't, are not horror films but psycho thrillers (Sixth Sense, 8mm, Blair Witch Project, ...). And the little productions, which are usually good horror movies, are not so easy to find, and some of us despise VHS.
Seriously... I like to see some T & A and a lot of gore in my horror films.
When was the last time we were given such a visual treat!?
yes.
But that seems to be the way slashdot works. I submitted something last week (unworthy and little cheesy), and it said there were something like 189 submissions queued before mine. 189! I don't know how many were redundent, but I am curious what the typical turn around time is for an article. This seems like a statistic that could be added to a story at the header. I'd like to know. Just for curiosity's sake.
I'd also like to see a 10 second counter at the top of the page that display's the number of times a page was requested in the last 10 seconds or so.
But, alas, the request has gone unheard or unacknowledged.
cheese
Its the Katz factor:
sigh
Incidently, can we get a picture of Cat Five from userfriendly to be the icon for a john katz story?
--locust
You did know that Courtney Cox, Neve Campbell, and Jenny McCarthy are in it? Hotties are definitely news for nerds.
While I'd agree with you there 100%, I think he's still about 16 and very touchy about his True Linux Geek status, which is obviously null and void if he admits to having anything to do with things which aren't Linux or SF :)
Of course if he's not 16 then that's scary, because every post I've seen him make in the last month or so have been similar BS...
P.S. I personally prefer Sarah Michelle Gellar than the above mentioned, but I suppose they'd have to do ;)
Don't like the movie? Fine. Don't think the topic is right for /.? Fine. But why attack the author? Neither of the other two posters were attacked.
Jon wasn't as wordy this time, perhaps he's trying to address a running complaint. The Fantasia piece was quite lengthy. No complaints.
Maybe those vocally opposed to reading Jon Katz articles should just put one of those handy-dandy 'liberry filters' on their computers since they can't seem to escape the psychological vortex created by his writing. I'm sure Jamie has some contacts for anyone wanting referrals.
What amazes me is that some of the 'Jon Katz has no business here on our techno/nerd/geek playground' crowd are also some of the same folks who vented bile when filtering software was discussed for libraries. I would think those too weak to use their own brains to filter--'Oh, there's a Katz article, I'll skip that'--would welcome a software tool to do it for them.
Don't worry, Jon. You just hang in there.
Love, Mama Katz
--
As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.
dd if=/dev/random bs=MAX noerror | another_katz_post.pl; echo
"What do you think?"
that look about right? It's not in python, but just as effective...
"It's tough to be bilingual when you get hit in the head."
WTF, after they sent freaking storm troopers to harass our fellow programmers, have tied up our resources (time and $$), and are threatening our rights to Fair Use, you people are going to give them money!!!! WTF???
And Katz, who I normally tolerate can have outspoken opinions on the evils of the MPAA then go and review their f**king products, giving them publicity on a well visited board???!!!
If you people think we are ever going to make a change in this god-forsaken nation, then you have to actually do something, not just whine about it.
I've had to make repeated arguments to my wife about why we cannot go to the movies for the past couple of months. I'm doing my part, and I will continue to. I actually believe in the issues and discussions going on here.
WTF???!!!! /RANT >
<
Arrogance is Confidence which lacks integrity. -- me
Ever taken psychology? Ever actually noticed that people have things called majors that group them into various camps on the basis of what they do and do not like. Just because a person follows this very natural and very human mode of analysis dosn't mean that they are stupid of juvenile (what you inferred from that "he's 16" theory.
No, I've never taken psychology but by fiancee did at university and I used to read a lot of her papers. OTOH she was doing mainly neuropsychology rather than social psychology, which she felt was mainly a load of crap. But anyway, being a thinking person who has eyes and can notice I'm at least entitled to have my own opinion about things, even if they're wrong :)
When you talk about majors what are you talking about? I'm not being sarcastic, I'd just like some clarification.
I would say that a surer halmark of a 16 year old is a person who trys to lust ( in this case a stronger or more appropriate word than want to have or get ahold of) after some actress to no avail but I guess your definition of maturity is different than mine.
I don't know whether you've ever noticed this but most men find women attractive and tend to notice attractive women. I can't honestly say that I've ever sat there are lusted after SMG to the exclusion of all else, nor does she fill my every waking thought. I just think she's very good looking, that's all. Last I heard there's nothing abnormal about that.
Snoochie Boochie Noochies !
,Collect the whole set !
The Scream Series relly didn't do it for me the way
Nightmare or The People Under the Stairs did.
I might have to see this just because they are in it
Jay & Silent Bob's Official Website (Kevin Smith's production company) is here http://www.viewaskew.com
Fly, Fatass !, Fly
- Save The Whales
Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion, you must set yourself on fire.
I can't speak for all geeks, but I myself rather enjoy good horror films. However, I do not consider the Scream series to be good horror films. They are nothing more than big-hype, big-name-actor, junior-high movies. There is no real thought put into making them. What is a good horror film? Sixth Sense was awesome. Very few movies actually cause my jaw to drop. Jacob's Ladder is an oldie but a goodie. Poltergeist is a classic. Evil Dead 1, 2, and 3 are classic (if somewhat cheesy, but that's part of the appeal). Hellraiser 1 and 2 were excellent. All of the movies I've just listed required actual thought on the part of the directors and script writers and actual ACTING on the part of the actors. Several were low-budget, but so what? The quality of a movie has nothing to do with its budget.
Not only do I agree with the above posters comments, but I'd like to point out that the slashdot people (probably) judge the success of a story by the amount of discussion in prompts. If you ignore crap stories they will go away. If you post to every crap story saying "this is crap" and then people reply saying "no its not", "yes it is", "stop complaining", "stop complaining about the people who are complaining" and so on, then that is a discussion, and therfore, a popular story.
Take a look at the hall of fame, and see what's popular by this metric.
ThadThad
Jon's taken a lot of flak over the time I've been reading /. for writing useless junk. People filter out his stories, critique his writing, and hurl some pretty vicious insults, all of which I consider to be the kind of unnecessary, near-rabid behavior Linux Zealots are well, if generally falsely, known for.
/. should know it's okay if news is a little slow and there's not much to post. Anything is better than this filler.
However, the fact that this article is even posted is just sad, no matter who wrote it. The editors and submitters to
Jpowers
-jpowers
-jpowers
At the end of the film, he dies.
-- Life wouldn't be this fun without Kenny.
Every geek I know personally would do Neve Campbell.
Above and beyond that, I think many people are attracted to mystery for the intelligence factor - can the audience solve the crime before the characters in the story do? While Scream itself may have been classed as "horror", it is as much of a mystery as Agatha Cristie's work (albeit with a lesser pedigree).
Nothing worth doing is worth doing today.
Who are the "people like us" on this site?
:P )." That fact is self-evident. That's why I also think whining about "This isn't News for Nerds" is kind of pointless.
Your statement that we're all different is wonderfully tolerant and inclusive. The problem is that, as a whole, slashdot isn't tolerant and inclusive.
I see the group mentality of slashdot as somewhat closed minded, sometimes insulting, and very often arrogant. Go back and read the article on running Linux on an S/390. One of the first and most highly-rated posts basically said nothing more than, "I think mainframes are obsolete." A huge portion of the article explained the amazing things that modern mainframes can do and why they are still relevant.
Nevertheless, someone who probably has no experience with modern mainframes -- whose entire computer world consists of x86 boxes with maybe the odd Sparc or Alpha -- runs as high as a 4 for spouting a pretty uninformed opinion that happens to be shared by a lot of "people like us". Personally, I don't want my misconceptions reinforced. I want them blown away. At their best, the posters and editors on Slashdot can do this.
It's silly for me to say, "I agree Slashdot's editors can post whatever they want (shareholders permitting
But I think that Slashdot, both its editors and participants, needs a big dose of criticism now and then. The group-think and self-congratulating gets pretty thick around here sometimes. Rob, JonKatz, and Co. *are* capable of posting articles that could rightly be considered "offtopic", "flamebait", or "redundant" and I don't see the harm in pointing out when it happens.
Hey, it's still a pretty cool site anyway.
Save the whales. Feed the hungry. Free the mallocs.
It's actually a T-16 skyhopper. Luke is playing with a model of one when C-3PO is getting his oil bath in SW:ANH.
If I'm not mistaken, Miramax is owned by Disney, the first company listed on the mpaa website...
-- Dr. Eldarion --
What would be cool to see is the queue itself. How about a slashbox for the queue?
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
This signature contains text from the worlds funniest signature.
_________________
rooooar
I'm a little shocked that so many people found the ending in this surprising. With about 45 minutes to go both me, my date and the friend I went with knew without a doubt who the killer was. The give away was totally and completely obvious in all of our opinions. All one needs is an understanding of how things work in these movies and you'll pick up on it too. I wish I could explain what it was but I don't want to spoil it for any of you that haven't seen it yet. If you want to know feel free to e-mail me.
Cheers.
Save the whales... Collect the whole set.
at least its short.
I know many of us are wondering why this review appeared on slashdot. Yes, it's weird that this movie has been out for weeks, but it does fit into what Jon Katz thinks we want to read... Katz's oft-repeated claim is that "geeks are in love with pop culture."
Scream 3 is one of those movies whose main attraction is its "pop culture" references, so clearly Katz thought it would have wide "geek appeal".
Of course, the movie was vacuous and they never got better than the freshness of the humor and self-deprecation of the first one.
I'll take a stab at that. The ultimate goal of a site like /. is to provoke discussion. Thanks to the hundreds of posters who have have taken the time to post a message like "Why is this News for Nerds?" every time they aren't interested in the topic, these posts seem to generate just as much discussion as more on-topic posts.
If people would save their comments for the posts that they are interested in and have something to say, then the powers that be would be much more likely to notice. Hey, that last Katz movie review only had 3 comments... lets not bother with the next one.
It seems to me that there is room for /. to be different things to different people. I don't have to be interested in every story and it doesn't have to cover everything I want it to. It doesn't owe me anything.
just my 2 cents
Don't believe Slashdot should carry movie reviews?
I've seen all sorts of debate on the meaning of "News for Nerds, Stuff that matters", here's your complete, very limited hassle solution. Don't thank me, it's been around for awhile.
At first I must admit, I cannot stand one word penned by the hand of Jon Katz. No matter where I've read anything he has written, whether it be Wired, /., etc, Jon Katz (IMHO) is merely a leech of a journalist. Just so you know, I filter Katz out on my account, and happened to click on the headline while browsing themes.org. I feel the need elaborate on an already well discussed (and off topic for this story) issue because it seems that Rob (or whoever) has yet to do something about it.
/. disk space, and annoying some moderator by posting off topic? Well, because like my opinion, it doesn't really matter. When will anything we say here matter? When the people who run this place start taking us seriously.
/. the only way to get what you want is to boycott for it. I don't just mean filter Katz, I mean stop reading slashdot all together. Otherwise, shut your holes.
Now not to say I don't like the man himself, and this isn't a slam on his writing (even though I don't like it), but the one thing I must point out is that Jon Katz is horribly out of place. Sure, he is a "tech writer" or whatever you want to call him, but he knows very little about the subject matter on which he writes (yes, I know its been going on for ages). Is it to much to ask for someone who has actual technical experience? Does anyone honestly believe that merely knowing how to write makes a person fit for covering any topic as an authority?
I will even go so far to say that Mr. Katz isn't even a bad writer, he can get the point across elegantly (most of the time) and can even write a decent review every now and then (*cough*). The fact that he makes a habit of using exessive and brown-nosing verbage (Read: hype) when imparting his wisdom to the world is what makes him so annoying. He reminds my alot of a "suit".
All that being said, there is a place for Mr. Katz in this world (even if alot of ACs don't think likewise), I just don't think its on slashdot. As far as "News for Nerds" goes, Jon Katz should have never been allowed on the site. Jon Katz isn't a nerd, nor can he accurately write for or about them.
Realize that my opinion doesn't really matter, I'm merely sharing it. Why doesn't my opinion matter? Because of that second part of the slogan, "Stuff that matters (to Rob)". Rob (for some strange reason) liked Katz enough to give him an account, and all the AC flame in the world isn't going to change that.
So now we have a paradox.
Now I must contradict myself. Above I say that "Rob must do something about it", yet that won't ever happen, and really, even after saying so, deep down I don't care. It doesn't bother me that much, I'll keep filtering Katz just like always, and Katz will continue to make the small crowd of suits who saw "That slashdot thing" in a trade mag feel like someone still cares. Why did I bother to post this? Wasting my time, your time,
So flame Katz to the ground, be my guest, it won't change a thing. Talk is cheap, if you guys want Katz of
Enough said.
--
AdamX
"A witty saying proves nothing." -Voltaire
katz-spoofing-geek-genre-spoofing-journalist-criti c-waste-of-time-movie-review
pronoblem
It seems to be ages since I saw a film or read a book and couldn't guess the twist at the end. Call it arrogance if you like (I'm sure some of you will :) but they all seem obvious to me. Even the last few Iain Banks novels I've read seem linear. The only tv show that does it for me now is Jonathan Creek. Can any /.ers recommend some books/films with incredibly twisty plots? Does scream3 have as cunning an ending as JK says?
Sure, Movie reviews are cool once in a while.
But, A This movie came out months ago.
B The movie sucked.
C The movie has little/nothing to do with News for Nerds, News that Matters
If you want to do movie reviews, PLEASE at least do current ones.
CSG_SurferDude
LongTail SSH Brute Force analysis tool is here!
The problem with Scream 3 is that not even a genius could guess the killer. The film doesn't provide any actual relevant clues and the characters aren't developed enough to reveal any authentic motives.
Not to mention after all that foreshadowing about how anything could happen (main characters dying, main characters as the villain, etc.) because it's the finale...but the only surprising thing is they don't bother to follow through with any of their promises. The movie plays just like any other sequel.
Yes.. anything that is NON OSS sucks. Pepsi.. closed source.. Classic Coke.. closed source.. Jolt.. Closed source..
This is so fucking stupid! "I'm not going to see a movie because it has a soundtrack." or "This movie will be released on DVD, so I'm not going to see it" Christ, I'm not saying your views are pointless, they are just lame. And yes that is my view on it, and you may see it as lame as well.. but for crying out loud. If you like a movie see it! So what if it has a soundtrack, don't buy it. So what if the movie will be out on dvd, don't buy it! You can still see it in the theaters... you're not supporting the the soundtrack, your not supporting DVDs..
God its like if its not open source its bad.
"It's not like your minds are as open as the source you love..." - Me to the majority of Slashdot.
For Christ's sake, why isn't Don Knotts dead yet!?
Miramax shares its parent company, Buena Vista, with Disney, so it is, albeit indirectly, involved with the MPAA. As for why support them even indirectly, it's beacause movies are *fun*! I want to be entertained, so I'll gladly pay my $7 to go see a good movie, or my $30 to own a good movie- they provide a great service, and I pay for it. If they then start telling me what I can and can't do with the DVD I paid good money for, that's where I get off, and go download DeCSS.
"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" -Salvor Hardin
I'm not saying that closed source is bad. I'm an avid Coke drinker. I play lots of video games written for a certain closed source operating system.
The problem is that Disney gets money from the soundtrack, DVDs, VHSes and theatre tickets. Review's like Mr. Katz's might entice people to see the movie.
Here's my point: Since Miramax is owned by Disney and since Disney is in the MPAA, and since most Slashdotters (IMHO), in theory, oppose the MPAA's decision to sue under the DCMA (enough TLAs yet?) why should Slashdot promote our enemy?
Cheers,
Slak
was pouring hot bowls of grits down the unsuspecting audience's pants !!!
Your not too far from the truth. The ending was not predictable. This is simply because it was so retarded that nobody would have expected anyone to ever do anything this bad with such a big budget movie.
There are plenty of things that are wrong with this movie. First off, it lacks Kevin Williamson, and shows in a big way. It's just not as fun to watch. Did Kreuger (heh) even see the first two movies? Secondly, some of the charactprs were only there to be played by big name actors. Jenny McCarthy added *nothing* to the movie. Not to mention the fact that Cortney Cox-Arquette looks like an elfish 8-year-old boy with cancer. The only reason I paid to get in was the Jay and Silent Bob cameo.
This should NOT have been called scream three, it's nowhere NEAR a final release. Maybe Scream 2.3 Beta.
That's certainly an appropriate form of action. But where is the MPAA getting money to pay for the lawyers in the lawsuits? It all comes down to money from its affiliates. These in turn get money from (for example):
1. Box office ticket sales.
2. Movie soundtracks.
3. Paraphenalia (e.g. Toy Story action figures).
4. VHS sales.
5. DVD sales.
All I'm saying is that some portion (albiet tiny) of your $7 goes to the fight against DeCSS and other forms of reverse engineering.
In my opinion, we have two courses of viable action:
1. Change the laws.
2. Impose economic sanctions (boycotts, sit-ins, etc.) upon those who oppose our liberty.
Cheers,
Slak
You know, mabye Katz is only posting stories on slashdot that 'rub against the grain' to see what we come up with. Perhaps it is some study in psylogical 'nerd herd' response. Slashdot almost inevatably begins talking about how they don't like it, or don't like the people who don't like it in a viscious attempt to protect their idea of how slashdot should be. It is quite intresting to read threads on any kind of story that some people think don't belong on "their slashdot" and the 'insightful' responses saying "Quit your bitching."
I don't really care weither or not this story belongs on slashdot or not. I do think that these discussions are part of slashdot in every way. A sort of cross-refrence of the community that shows people's passions, what they love, hate, and are willing to defend. Only the lowest of trolls speak out to say they hate slashdot. Its the majority that defends it by trying to protect the integrity of news, or the integrity of posts.
I have a feeling that Katz just sits back and watches with fascination...
----------------------------------------------
I don't really mind double posts on
(Sadly) Babelfish does not translate vulgar slang.
This person actually did know *some* German, jedoch muss ich diesem Iditoten mitteilen, dass er doch noch etwas an seiner Grammatik und Orthographie feilen sollte.
-- "Tradition is the illusion of permanence."
Dude - the title is "Scream", and it's more than once... I would guess it runs Windows...
-- "Tradition is the illusion of permanence."
There is way to never see one of Katz' stories again, goto preferences and then simply check the "Jon Katz" box under "Exlude Stories from the Homepage" And if you don't like movie reviews just check "Movie Reviews", I realize the instructions are complicated and it'd just be easier to bitch and moan about it, but some of us enjoy his articles and like the movie reviews.
Billy Transue
bill-transue@NOcoolmailSPAM.net
Open Source, Open Standards, Open Minds
Hey now, watch what you say about Scooby Doo! ;-> Hell, I would be a rich man if it wasn't for those meddling kids.
ACK
What the fuck are you guys smoking? This isn't news for nerds, it doesn't matter, it's been out for a while, and I certainly do NOT come here to read serial movie reviews.. especially by a professional writer.
I have to say that I agree with those who have said that there is no way to pin down exactly what is and isn't slashdot. Here are some options I thought of for things that could acurately be described as a "/. thing"
1. Things that people who visit /. want to read. /. want to provide.
2. Things that the folks who run and moderate
3. Things that get a response, and provoke interesting debate.
4. Things about technology, in the broad definition of the word.
5. Things commonly associated with the geek/nerd/tech/hacker/whatever subculture.
So, where does that leave Mr. Katz?
Right in the damn middle of what can be reasonably considered /.
Neil Gaiman wrote a story (the name escapes me) about Victorian England, it was reveiwed in the pop culture section of a magazine. When he asked why a fairy tale set in victorian England was considered pop culture, the reviewer told him "because you wrote it".
Take a look around, Jon Katz is a part of /. and things he writes are too. Because he's a part of /. so are the things he writes. Would you rip into the other writers of /. for posting something you considered off topic? /. thing?
Since when did abusing someone for being different become a
Liz
-- The quality of Doubting is rare among men, and a few choice souls are born with it. --Anatole France
Rebecca, as in the Daphne Du Maurier novel? That movie was excellent, pray and hope they never recolor it!
>Sitting around and letting people kill you or just cowering under the bed or perhaps getting a bunch of wuss friends to help you is just foolish. >That's what the local police are for. Even better that's what supposedly groups like the FBI and *gasp* even the NSA are supposed to be >for: *ponder* Local police are meant to cower under the bed waiting for people to kill them? I guess that explains the crime rates round here. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Really. Rae
Blah I can't get my sig to work, it won't fit.
If they had some decent lawyers on the side of DeCSS then we wouldn't have to worry about boycotting movies.
You could always go and rent an movie not made under the MPAAs vision, like from Australia, the UK, etc.
--- Can i borrow your Clue-Stick(tm)? I need to go beat a few people with it...
As I read, i'm usually a quiet backgrounder. But, I have to respond now. So what if a Scream 3 review is off-topic?! Hell. It's not even that far off-topic. I didn't see anyone complaining when Rob posted his Toy Story 2 review as far as I remember. All he's trying to do is give a (late) review to a movie for the people like me who can't decide which one to spend his $20 on ($15 for 2 tickets, $5 for popcorn and food after 6:00 PM).
As for the character development in the third, I had no real problems with it, though I will grant that the dialogue was noticably different in style. But I find it ironic that you complain about characters that exist only to be played by big names, and in your next breath say that the only reason you went to see the movie was for a cameo by actors you like. :)
It's actually a T-16 skyhopper. Luke is playing with a model of one when C-3PO is getting his oil bath in SW:ANH
I bet you went to opening night of Phantom Menace dressed as Yoda or Darth Vader.
Some people should really get a life. This sort of detail relating to just a movie (I admit Star Wars is a great series, Ep 1 excluded) is just going too far.
Is the a name for obsessed Star Wars fans like there is for Start Trek fans? Can I suggest Lucasites?
--- Can i borrow your Clue-Stick(tm)? I need to go beat a few people with it...
My problem with my mother is that, generally, I hate Microsoft. I know my mother knows a guy who knows a guy who works at Microsoft. At any rate, my mother uses Win9x.
My problem is that my mother totally endorses Microsoft and (this though indirectly) totalitarianism. These are the biggest threats to our freedoms today. Why support them even indirectly?
Cheers
The Typo Daemon
And we can stop listening to radios, or watching TV, or going outside and looking at the billboards with the subliminal messages that are controlled my the MPAA. And eating anything you don't grow yourself is just totally out of the question cuz the MPAA knows where you live and will poison you if you are opposed to them. We can't ever sleep either cuz the MPAA helicopters might come by and take us in the middle of the night and we'll spend hours tortured in one of their secret underground lairs.
</sarcasm>
But seriously, come off of your soapbox. Its nifty you have such a romantic, naive view of the world that you feel opposed to the MPAA, but they're a conglomeration that has their hands in everything. Unless you're gonna boycott quite a bit, stop complainin about Katz under false pretenses.
The Typo Daemon
Same thing could be said of Sony, which owns almost 70% of MPAA.
Still we support them (with adds for their new doggy robot) and Taco's adverts about his ultra think VAIO and playstation.
I call for a boycott of all sony products.
--
Hi.
I would like to know who is the moron moderator who decided that this was redundant? Do you even know what redundant means? Redundant implies that this post was duplicating what someone else had already said. This was post #3, and the first two were "first post" and "hot grits" stuff.
This is a community of free expression. Moderation is they way in which our community can separate this signal from the noise, but we must be careful not to eliminate signal we don't want to hear. Moderating something down, and claiming it is redundant when it is not, is more offensive, and more damaging then letting this post stand.
Shame on you moderator!
It was worth my 10 canadian dollars just to see Jay and Silent Bob. I love you guys!
Well, sort of...I got the right reasons for the killer but the wrong one...oh well. Actually, I should say "we"...the best way to see the Scream movies is with a bunch of horror film literate geeks who talk through their theories...about two thirds of the way through we had it figured out, for the most part.
Oh, and you forgot to mention some of the best parts, including the wonderful cameos of some of geeks favorite movie characters and actors.
-Loki
Personally, I thought they left one thing out of the trailers..
in most trilogies the third movie IS ABSOLUTE CRAP.
freedom of speech rules. go usa.
--
|-_-| . o O ( bEef!)
because I in fact DO want to know which movie to spend my money on seeing or not. If I know which movie is utterly stupid or a waste of time to see by reading the review AND the response that it gets in the forum, I consider the review helpful. The money that I save by not seeing a movie that has received a majority of negative responses/reviews, I would spend it on buying more hardware. Heck, if I had not wasted money on all the crappy movies that I've seen, I could have bought a pretty good workstation. Keep up the reviews /.!
Although I don't do the dress-up thing, I *do* enjoy the movies, and I respect people who do, especially those who correct me on minor points of Star Wars stuff. And as a convicted violent felon, I'm not always everyone's idea of a Star Wars fan. The moral - Lighten up. Surely there are worse things in this world than people who take joy from that movie - such, as for instance, the evil Katzbot...
Carefree highway, let me slip away on you.
what tha FUCK?
scream and all its mutants SUCK ASS
This is news for lamers, stuff that sucks.
At least it was short. FOr a katz piece. In fact, the shortest Ive ever seen him write. So it gets a 2/10 instead of a -50.
The scream series started with the line that it's a new kind of horror, one that doesn't make the same stupid mistakes of the ones before. They said there'd be a plot, surprises, and a new breed of horror movie.
Has it lived up to the promise?
NO! The charactors are beyond flat--they exist mostly in 1D. Plot twists are either predicted hours before, or rely of some bizzar fact that was kept from you. The mistakes of horror of the past are all there--it's an enclycopedia of horror movie mistakes.
Let me list a few of these horror movie mistakes:
- Tripping while running.
- A monster or bad guy that seems very (unrealisticly) strong or invincable. (This usually changes once it's identity is revealed or the main charactor feels empowered.)
- Throwing away weapons and running away; generally being far too defensive. (AKA - just keep running away even when you're ahead) It's OK to run when you have to, but when you have a bazooka and a tank while the bad guy has a knife, *chase HIM*! It's also important to note the scenes when the bad guy is disarmed, unconsious, and the good guys grab his knife, throw it away, and runs. Why?!
- No one is allowed to have any common sense or think rationally.
- Everyone is shocked at the sight of blood.
- We haven't decided we care for their lives before they start getting killed.
- And the fundimental law of all horror movies: a logical course of action would end the movie in five minutes.
I think that scream 3 is really a film that should only be viewed by people over around 15 or 16. The scream series so far 1 & 2 have been a verry enjoyable entertainment but people should just remember that it is a movie and their are actors which act in it and this is not real.Circumstances maybe similar but there really is no reason to block these types of films just because the wrong age groups are watching them.
The grass isn't always greener on the other side. Take the time to water your own grass and it can be just as green.
Oh really? So where exactly do all those billions of dollars movies make these days go?
If you read why I typed.. I said you are NOT supporting the DVD or the soundtrack.. oh fuckit. I'm fighting a battle that can't be won.. something along the line of falling on deaf ears...
"It's not like your minds are as open as the source you love..." - Me to the majority of Slashdot.