Yeah, just because the US did bad stuff means that it shouldn't try to protect itself from potential Soviet spies with lots of connections to people with knowledge about nuclear weapons. That makes a lot of sense.
Through a scientist friend of mine, it's recently come to my attention that the biggest offender in EM-wave emission is the Sun, by far. We must publicize this finding so that the governments of the world can begin working on a way to reflect all of this dangerous radiation before it reaches the Earth. With any luck, our children's children will be free of all electromagnetic radiation, and be able to live long, cancer-free lives.
The script (and acting) this time around is even more piss poor. You'll be begging for "Muppets in Space" as the atrocity unfolds.
Ebert, who gave Episode I three-and-a-half stars, gives Ep II a measly two stars. For comparison, he gave The Scorpion King two-and-a-half stars. He even claims the special effects look bad.
I've seen it. It's pretty bad. It's not even just "bad for a Star Wars movie." No, it's plain bad. On the other hand, at least it makes Episode I look good in comparison.
You ought to read Ebert's review. Not only does he trash the dialogue and plot (easy targets), he even says the movie's special effects look bad. Ouch.
Also, I presume you call your cat "Mittens" because his paw fur is colored differently. Upon closer inspection, you may find this not to be the case. Heroin addicts often wear gloves to hide needle pricks, tracks, and infections caused by dicreetly shooting the heroin between their fingers. This method was famously used by the late Layne Staley, among others. Perhaps your feline is engaging in similar junkie activity.
Star Wars Episode II -- Attack of the Clones finally got its press screening yesterday afternoon. The anticipation level was high, what with Spider-Man breaking box-office records this past weekend.
Star Wars is the franchise of franchises. People are fanatic about it. There's almost no way to live up to the expectations.
So let me tell this right away: Fans love Clones; critics are not so hot for it.
Why do fans like it so much? I think part of it is just seeing George Lucas' latest chapter in the saga up there on the screen. The die-hard cultists are just so pleased that they can live with the enormous faults: hideous dialogue, bad plotting and infomercial-grade acting.
I liked a lot of Clones, especially the second half, and I predict that the big-money climax will bring audiences back for second viewings.
WARNING: There are spoilers from here on out. AND HERE IT COMES: Yoda is the star of this Star Wars.
Ironically, Yoda is no longer even a puppet. He's digitally enhanced. But when the Gandhi of the Star Wars epic engages in a light-saber duel he literally saves Episode II from quicksand. It's remarkable, and I recommend he be nominated for best supporting actor.
One of the reasons Yoda's performance comes off as so strong and human is because the humans in Episode II often seem artificial. The worst offender is Hayden Christensen, playing the teen-aged Anakin Skywalker.
I know Christensen had his fans from Life as a House, but in Clones he is more wooden than a tree. He has no screen presence and his delivery of the dialogue -- granted, it's made up of forgettable, banal lines -- is deadly. Looking scared to death, Christensen makes his way through Clones as if he's on a building ledge and trying to get back inside.
Natalie Portman doesn't do much better. Acceptable in Phantom Menace as Padmé Amidala, Portman kind of sleepwalks through Clones. Like Christensen, she seems to be on some kind of automatic pilot. The part is invested with no wit and little emotion.
Is this a couple capable of such great love that a classic story will spring from their loins? Unlikely. We know as little about these people as we knew in Phantom Menace; even Anakin's visit to see his mother is a waste, and Portman's disinterest in the whole business doesn't help.
There are some actors up to the job of making Clones worthwhile, though. Samuel L. Jackson gives it his best shot as Mace Windu and Christopher Lee is the perfect balance of evil and snarky as Count Dooku. Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker make our old friends C-3PO and R2-D2 as ingratiating as ever, but again the character development is dependent entirely on knowing the rest of Star Wars.
Nothing new is offered or introduced, no new plot twists or revelations. Clones just pushes along to make way for Episode III, which will eventually lead back to Episode IV and the story we already know.
What's completely missing between this droid and this robot, as well as among the humans, is any jauntiness or sense of fun, camaraderie or purpose. The first installment -- now known as Episode IV -- lived because it echoed the loose, almost improvisational feel of the Saturday morning sci-fi reels of the '40s and '50s.
Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia were descendants of Flash Gordon and friends -- you could feel it. Humanity oozed from them, even in the most preposterous situations.
Flash, Dale Arden and Prince Barin were the models for the original Star Wars characters. Dr. Zarkov, Flash's advisor, and Ming, Flash's nemesis, rounded out the cast and became indelible figures. (Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe is available, by the way, on DVD from Image Entertainment. I highly recommend checking it out.)
George Lucas was smart to pattern his main characters after these people. But this second generation of Star Wars characters all sound like Keanu Reeves delivering a soliloquy from Hamlet. Alas, poor Star Wars, I knew it well.
Suicide pilots piloting two planes have practically rammed two buildings of International Trade Centre at a height of 85th storey. These two buildings are known to the whole world thanks to film 'King Kong'. That are the buildings over which the big monkey was mounting.
The buildings are seriously ruined. One of the planes blew up just after the attack. At least a dozen of storeys of the sky-scrapers are on fire.
There is no information about number of victims. More than 50 thousand people work in these two buildings, most of them were in office while the terrorist act was being committed.
According to RIA Novosti, the president Bush is informed about the catastrophe in New York. According to some sources cancelled some protocol actions fixed for the nearest future. His comments have not been received yet.
Although I would like to get unbanned so I can stop using this proxy, I'm not fishing for upmods. Obviously my recent output and sig betray me. The parent post is a trap I'm waiting to spring on responders. Be vewwy, vewwy quiet.
Just like there are doctors who ignore the Hippocratic oath, there would continue to be plenty of developers only concerned with bucks. The hypotethical oath described wouldn't do anything more than programmers' consciences do right now.
It's almost 8 months since the worst terrorist attack in recorded history, and you guys are worried about James Doohan and Robert Cringely? My *god*, people, GET SOME PRIORITIES!
The bodies of 3,000 dead people could give a good god damn about the advent of LAN parties, your childish Lego models, your nerf toys and lack of a "fun" workplace, your Everquest/Diablo/D&D addiction, or any of the other ways you are "getting on with your life".
Correction: The editors did not check their facts. The users of the site checked the story and found it to be false. The editors acted only after the users brought it to their attention.
You can't honestly expect a "new media" organization like Slashdot to have fact-checking standards as high as media pillars such as Page Six or the Drudge Report.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, just because the US did bad stuff means that it shouldn't try to protect itself from potential Soviet spies with lots of connections to people with knowledge about nuclear weapons. That makes a lot of sense.
I still wonder how those hundreds of FBI reports on conservatives ended up in the Clinton White House...
Through a scientist friend of mine, it's recently come to my attention that the biggest offender in EM-wave emission is the Sun, by far. We must publicize this finding so that the governments of the world can begin working on a way to reflect all of this dangerous radiation before it reaches the Earth. With any luck, our children's children will be free of all electromagnetic radiation, and be able to live long, cancer-free lives.
And the barcode is the mark of the beast!
The script (and acting) this time around is even more piss poor. You'll be begging for "Muppets in Space" as the atrocity unfolds.
Ebert, who gave Episode I three-and-a-half stars, gives Ep II a measly two stars. For comparison, he gave The Scorpion King two-and-a-half stars. He even claims the special effects look bad.
I've seen it. It's pretty bad. It's not even just "bad for a Star Wars movie." No, it's plain bad. On the other hand, at least it makes Episode I look good in comparison.
You ought to read Ebert's review. Not only does he trash the dialogue and plot (easy targets), he even says the movie's special effects look bad. Ouch.
Try mixing methadone with his catfood.
Also, I presume you call your cat "Mittens" because his paw fur is colored differently. Upon closer inspection, you may find this not to be the case. Heroin addicts often wear gloves to hide needle pricks, tracks, and infections caused by dicreetly shooting the heroin between their fingers. This method was famously used by the late Layne Staley, among others. Perhaps your feline is engaging in similar junkie activity.
Is this news kinda like James Doohan NOT dying?
Star Wars Episode II -- Attack of the Clones finally got its press screening yesterday afternoon. The anticipation level was high, what with Spider-Man breaking box-office records this past weekend.
Star Wars is the franchise of franchises. People are fanatic about it. There's almost no way to live up to the expectations.
So let me tell this right away: Fans love Clones; critics are not so hot for it.
Why do fans like it so much? I think part of it is just seeing George Lucas' latest chapter in the saga up there on the screen. The die-hard cultists are just so pleased that they can live with the enormous faults: hideous dialogue, bad plotting and infomercial-grade acting.
I liked a lot of Clones, especially the second half, and I predict that the big-money climax will bring audiences back for second viewings.
WARNING: There are spoilers from here on out. AND HERE IT COMES: Yoda is the star of this Star Wars.
Ironically, Yoda is no longer even a puppet. He's digitally enhanced. But when the Gandhi of the Star Wars epic engages in a light-saber duel he literally saves Episode II from quicksand. It's remarkable, and I recommend he be nominated for best supporting actor.
One of the reasons Yoda's performance comes off as so strong and human is because the humans in Episode II often seem artificial. The worst offender is Hayden Christensen, playing the teen-aged Anakin Skywalker.
I know Christensen had his fans from Life as a House, but in Clones he is more wooden than a tree. He has no screen presence and his delivery of the dialogue -- granted, it's made up of forgettable, banal lines -- is deadly. Looking scared to death, Christensen makes his way through Clones as if he's on a building ledge and trying to get back inside.
Natalie Portman doesn't do much better. Acceptable in Phantom Menace as Padmé Amidala, Portman kind of sleepwalks through Clones. Like Christensen, she seems to be on some kind of automatic pilot. The part is invested with no wit and little emotion.
Is this a couple capable of such great love that a classic story will spring from their loins? Unlikely. We know as little about these people as we knew in Phantom Menace; even Anakin's visit to see his mother is a waste, and Portman's disinterest in the whole business doesn't help.
There are some actors up to the job of making Clones worthwhile, though. Samuel L. Jackson gives it his best shot as Mace Windu and Christopher Lee is the perfect balance of evil and snarky as Count Dooku. Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker make our old friends C-3PO and R2-D2 as ingratiating as ever, but again the character development is dependent entirely on knowing the rest of Star Wars.
Nothing new is offered or introduced, no new plot twists or revelations. Clones just pushes along to make way for Episode III, which will eventually lead back to Episode IV and the story we already know.
What's completely missing between this droid and this robot, as well as among the humans, is any jauntiness or sense of fun, camaraderie or purpose. The first installment -- now known as Episode IV -- lived because it echoed the loose, almost improvisational feel of the Saturday morning sci-fi reels of the '40s and '50s.
Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia were descendants of Flash Gordon and friends -- you could feel it. Humanity oozed from them, even in the most preposterous situations.
Flash, Dale Arden and Prince Barin were the models for the original Star Wars characters. Dr. Zarkov, Flash's advisor, and Ming, Flash's nemesis, rounded out the cast and became indelible figures. (Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe is available, by the way, on DVD from Image Entertainment. I highly recommend checking it out.)
George Lucas was smart to pattern his main characters after these people. But this second generation of Star Wars characters all sound like Keanu Reeves delivering a soliloquy from Hamlet. Alas, poor Star Wars, I knew it well.
Suicide pilots piloting two planes have practically rammed two buildings of International Trade Centre at a height of 85th storey. These two buildings are known to the whole world thanks to film 'King Kong'. That are the buildings over which the big monkey was mounting.
The buildings are seriously ruined. One of the planes blew up just after the attack. At least a dozen of storeys of the sky-scrapers are on fire.
There is no information about number of victims. More than 50 thousand people work in these two buildings, most of them were in office while the terrorist act was being committed.
According to RIA Novosti, the president Bush is informed about the catastrophe in New York. According to some sources cancelled some protocol actions fixed for the nearest future. His comments have not been received yet.
Although I would like to get unbanned so I can stop using this proxy, I'm not fishing for upmods. Obviously my recent output and sig betray me. The parent post is a trap I'm waiting to spring on responders. Be vewwy, vewwy quiet.
You're already forced to follow the DMCA. It's United States law.
Not sure if it's the worst but it's gotta be close. Definitely running out of themes.
Just like there are doctors who ignore the Hippocratic oath, there would continue to be plenty of developers only concerned with bucks. The hypotethical oath described wouldn't do anything more than programmers' consciences do right now.
If you haven't seen it, it's new to you! (TM)
It's almost 8 months since the worst terrorist attack in recorded history, and you guys are worried about James Doohan and Robert Cringely? My *god*, people, GET SOME PRIORITIES!
The bodies of 3,000 dead people could give a good god damn about the advent of LAN parties, your childish Lego models, your nerf toys and lack of a "fun" workplace, your Everquest/Diablo/D&D addiction, or any of the other ways you are "getting on with your life".
Correction: The editors did not check their facts. The users of the site checked the story and found it to be false. The editors acted only after the users brought it to their attention.
You can't honestly expect a "new media" organization like Slashdot to have fact-checking standards as high as media pillars such as Page Six or the Drudge Report.
Do you think he's consciously avoiding wearing red shirts?
when Shatner goes, it will be a glad day for fans of both acting and science fiction.
A dark day for unintentional humor, though.
The writers of Enterprise have their own term for waking up the audience: "turning the Vulcan headlights on".
Isn't there some better way to learn about cool people like this guy before they're likely to die?
Never heard of Star Trek before?
I'm sure that 99.99% of these people use the Web, so it would be really cool to thank these people for all they've done for technology.
Yeah, I wonder where we'd be without Scotty's major contributions to the study of dilithium crystal recalibration...
Apparently you're not the only one:
"ThreeHamsWillKillHim writes..."
He's dead, Jim.
It's too late. Anyone who's against a European superstate with cameras one every corner should've voted for Le Pen.
Taco, I never knew.
Neither did I, but I can't pretend to be surprised.