Anyway. In addition to your post striking a very nostalgic chord; it also reminds me of a quote - at least when I heard it, attributed to Annie Liebowitz:
"Isn't it amazing? First, there was Television that was free, transmitted over the air, like magic! Now, we pay to have TV delivered to our house over a wire."
Backwards, huh?
Re:Terminator is trying to
on
Saving the Net
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· Score: 2, Informative
Terminator is trying to..excuse me RIAA/MPAA is trying to get Arnold to run for President under their banner..
Ummmm, quick refresher course in civics:
From Article II, section 1 of the U.S. Constitution:
No person except a
natural born citizen...shall be eligible to the office of President
Not a joke people..
<Dr. Evil>Rrrrrrriiiiiiiiight.</Dr. Evil>
Re:From the chewbacca-defense-book-reviews
on
Hacking the XBox
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· Score: 1
As I was watching Attack of the Clones, I was struck with how fake everything looked. All of the setting seemed unreal (particularly the droid factory planet). I would imagine they were all created digitally.
And you would imagine wrong. ILM created many a miniature for both PTM and AOTC.
Here's a google cache of a page from VFXPro (I got a 404 trying for the real page). To quote from this page:
Miniatures were incorporated into digital environments throughout the film. "When you're working entirely in a computer generated environment, the possibility for where you can take the look is infinite," said Knoll. "Whereas when you're shooting with a miniature, because it is a real physical object, you have a grounding in reality." Snow's unit employed miniatures in the sequence that takes place in the Geonosian droid factory for just that reason.
Re:Google Cache - let's engage brain this time!
on
PVR For Linux
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· Score: 1
Sigh. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.
Here's a real link this time: here you go
I completely agree with your post. I suggest, however that you move from hate to a more enlightened perspective- why hate idiots when you can laugh at them from a distance??? Both are perfectly futile as objective outlooks, but the seconds leads to lower blood pressure and fewer strokes/heart attacks/psychotic episodes.
A wonderful strategy, as long as laughing from a distance doesn't devolve into arrogance.
Remember, someone with a different P.O.V may find your attitude a source of ammusement as well. It's all relative, and it's all good (from a certain point of view, to bring in a Star Wars reference). Smugness can be really ugly.
IMUHO the truly funny thing about all of this is that anyone who understands classical science fiction understands that the relationship between Star Wars and SF is exactly the same as the relationship between N*sync and the thousands of excellent, non-manufactured musicians performing in bars and clubs across the world.
People who crave epic fantasy productions... have no modern epic fantasy productions to enjoy. Therefore they become excited by the most trite and pitiful semblance thereof, provided it is well advertised . I.E. Star Wars becomes the biggest smash hit in hollywood history, and people who should know better still worship it 23 years later. Mel Brooks understood it in 1987, yet the collective slashdot audience does not (even today, even with his help).
People who crave beautiful, passionate, exciting music** have no (readily apparent) beautiful modern music to enjoy. Therefore they become excited by the most trite and pitiful semblance thereof, provided it is well advertised . I.E. N*sync becomes becomes the biggest smash hit in music history, while Derek Dick, the greatest lyricist in the world, holds an estate sale to feed his wife and daughter. Weird Al understood it well before 1985, yet the vast majority of targets do not (even today, even with his help).
It's hilarious.
It may be hilarious; but that's life, which we know is grossly unfair. No matter, we just try to do what we can. Lamenting the glaring inequities will only give you an ulcer. Turning people on to the beauty in life is a pleasure and a gift. And, it's doing your part to help "right the wrong", so to speak.
The original SW was vain, insipid, proselytizing, and fscking annoying- a symptom of a diseased culture- if for no other reason than that there is no better alternative. With all the incredible pieces of art which have been produced in that field, in the seminal literature which both defines and accompanies humanity as we progress towards our destiny, a story about a white trash farmer's son who blows up a space station is the best we can hope for??? At least the Good Guys(tm) win.
Dude, it's a fscking movie, chill. It was intended to be entertainment, not capital-A Art. It's Flash Gordon with a better budget. And also, it is a fantasy, not sf. 2001: A Space Odyssey is sf.
Star Wars was successful because 1) it was (fairly) well done (especially in comparison with other sf films of the time) 2) it was advertised like no other film in history and 3)Lucas understood enough about human nature to know what appealed to the people he was trying to sell to. EXACTLY the same reasons N*synch are successful.
I disagree here. The first SW movie was successful because at the time of release, there was nothing like it, and word of mouth spread like wildfire. I was 13 at the time, and by chance walked into the second showing on the day it opened. There were about 10 other people in the theater. By the weekend, there were lines around the block. Advertising didn't do that.
Lucas made his money because 20th Century Fox didn't think the movie would do any business, and much to their later regret, gave him full rights to merchandising. That, more than anything else, is the evil that George Lucas foisted on the world. He milked the tremendous surprise success of SW and its sequels for everything it was worth, much to the dismay of people who get ill at the sight of "I love R2-D2" shoelaces.
From that point on, GL knew he could make any SW movie he wanted - there would be a built in HUGE audience, and he made all the merchandising money. He really doesn't have to intentionally create characters that translate well into dolls/lunchboxes/etc. It'll just happen anyway.
N*sync, and any other boy band one can think of, are totally manufactured entities from the get go, that have demographics factored in, and are totally market driven. But, this is nothing new. The entertainment industry has been doing this for as long as people have parted with cash to escape from reality. And, that's a long time.
So, don't get all righteous about the fact that bland entertainment always eclipses art - it's always been that way. And, some of the bland entertainment is just that - entertaining. As time goes by, the good stuff sticks around, and the crap fades away into the mists of time (Don't assume that Beethoven and his contemporaries that still get performed now were the only people composing at that time, for example - we don't know the others because they weren't good enough to last).
Slashdot Mirror
Hear me, I beg - the parent post speaks true.
Anyway. In addition to your post striking a very nostalgic chord; it also reminds me of a quote - at least when I heard it, attributed to Annie Liebowitz: "Isn't it amazing? First, there was Television that was free, transmitted over the air, like magic! Now, we pay to have TV delivered to our house over a wire." Backwards, huh?
Ummmm, quick refresher course in civics:
From Article II, section 1 of the U.S. Constitution: Not a joke people..
<Dr. Evil>Rrrrrrriiiiiiiiight.</Dr. Evil>
Look at the monkey!! Look at the silly monkey!!
Sadly, no.
And you would imagine wrong. ILM created many a miniature for both PTM and AOTC. Here's a google cache of a page from VFXPro (I got a 404 trying for the real page). To quote from this page:
Sigh. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to get out of bed. Here's a real link this time: here you go
http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:sPML59TaCFEC: www.cadsoft.de/people/kls/vdr/software.htm+&hl=en
Remember, someone with a different P.O.V may find your attitude a source of ammusement as well. It's all relative, and it's all good (from a certain point of view, to bring in a Star Wars reference). Smugness can be really ugly. It may be hilarious; but that's life, which we know is grossly unfair. No matter, we just try to do what we can. Lamenting the glaring inequities will only give you an ulcer. Turning people on to the beauty in life is a pleasure and a gift. And, it's doing your part to help "right the wrong", so to speak. Dude, it's a fscking movie, chill. It was intended to be entertainment, not capital-A Art. It's Flash Gordon with a better budget. And also, it is a fantasy, not sf. 2001: A Space Odyssey is sf. I disagree here. The first SW movie was successful because at the time of release, there was nothing like it, and word of mouth spread like wildfire. I was 13 at the time, and by chance walked into the second showing on the day it opened. There were about 10 other people in the theater. By the weekend, there were lines around the block. Advertising didn't do that.
Lucas made his money because 20th Century Fox didn't think the movie would do any business, and much to their later regret, gave him full rights to merchandising. That, more than anything else, is the evil that George Lucas foisted on the world. He milked the tremendous surprise success of SW and its sequels for everything it was worth, much to the dismay of people who get ill at the sight of "I love R2-D2" shoelaces.
From that point on, GL knew he could make any SW movie he wanted - there would be a built in HUGE audience, and he made all the merchandising money. He really doesn't have to intentionally create characters that translate well into dolls/lunchboxes/etc. It'll just happen anyway.
N*sync, and any other boy band one can think of, are totally manufactured entities from the get go, that have demographics factored in, and are totally market driven. But, this is nothing new. The entertainment industry has been doing this for as long as people have parted with cash to escape from reality. And, that's a long time.
So, don't get all righteous about the fact that bland entertainment always eclipses art - it's always been that way. And, some of the bland entertainment is just that - entertaining. As time goes by, the good stuff sticks around, and the crap fades away into the mists of time (Don't assume that Beethoven and his contemporaries that still get performed now were the only people composing at that time, for example - we don't know the others because they weren't good enough to last).