Likes 1) The talk with the Indian guy in the train station. I thought the way they approached the meaning of words, as just words, and not necessarily connected with a specific meaning was quite interesting. 2) The Merovingian (sp?) - that guy just cracks me up! He's so self confident, so goddamned arrogant, it feels SO GOOD when they mess with him... point a gun at his face. And the way he speaks is so fun to listen to. 3) The way they do the diggers - how they fall through the roof, pick themselves up, and go at it again! And when one gets fried, they jump it by sacrificing sentinels! Makes one wonder though whether sentinels really have minds of their own, if they're so willing to die? 4) the Deus Ex Machina - that thing was fucking AWESOME!!! When you hear that incredible voice come from everywhere at once, shaking you in your seat in the theatre, those chills just run up and down my spine. I think they could have done a better job with the face though.
Dislikes 1) The little Indian girl. This was never explained well to my satisfaction. If they're taking her out of the Matrix, why the hell do we see her with the Oracle BACK IN THE MATRIX??? WTF?? 2) How did the Oracle come back to life after apparently DYING at the end??? 3) What the hell were they doing with Neo's body at the end??? Were they setting up a shrine? Going to cremate? What?
I know that a lot of what I will say will have been said already, but I wanted to add my thoughts on this movie.
I saw it on Saturday, and hadn't actually planned on seeing it in the theatres, because of all the bad reviews on/.
However, I certainly am glad that I did.
I am a fan of the non-hollywood all the good guys die, ambiguous ending types of movies. Especially anime, which seem to be particularly good at it!
As such, this movie was very satisfying for me.
I'll list the things I liked about it, the things I didn't like, and some points I'd like to make about where I believe the brothers were going with it.
Likes 1) The action - fighting, explosions, lots of mayhem 2) Neo's transformation at the end, where, by losing his sight, he can now truly see. 3) Trinity's death - it made sense, made me sad, but it worked. 4) The marginalization of Morpheus. Sure, he seemed wise, powerful and cool in the first two, but now, he's much more of a bit player, which seemed appropriate. 5) The failings of the Oracle. She may be able to see almost everything, but not her own future necessarily, or the future of mankind and machine kind when her own decisions come into the mix. 6) How Smith was defeated. We think throughout the scene that Neo will somehow come back and beat the shit out of him, but that's not the way it can happen. Neo is willing to make that sacrifice (more on this later). 7) The visuals - machine city, the matrix chereography and cinematography, the dock battle.
Dislikes 1) Trinity's death. It was TOO LONG! People don't die immediately after being kissed! And they usually don't WANT to be kissed! 2) The logic. Most of the underlying premise of the movie just doesn't make any logical sense at all. Humans would be a TERRIBLE battery! Not only that, but why wouldn't you kill any immediately that you let go (as a machine)? There are a LARGE NUMBER of huge plot holes. Oh well, it's still a cool concept. 3) Sentinals and the dock battle. WTF were they DOING??? Instead of just attacking all the APU's en masse, they fly around in this huge weird fucking snake thing.... not only that, but they seem to be incredibly stupid and smart at the same time... just dumb. Sure, it looked good but my god was it just shocking how stupid that scene was, as well as how much better they could have done it. I'm not going to bother to point out all sorts of different ways to do it, as it's pointless now. So is writing this, but oh well. 4) Damage - Ok... so Neo and Smith can fight hard enough to cause shock waves, and do this over and over, but neither takes any serious damage? Then... when it just goes on too long, suddenly Neo is done? Seemed strange...
There are a number more small things that I liked and disliked, but not going to bore you too much I hope.
Now I'm going to address some other issues brought up before, and things that I noticed in general.
1) Neo is Jesus Anyone else notice, while watching, how much Neo's story parallels Jesus's? He doesn't become aware that he is the "messiah" until later in life. He has acolytes (Morpheus, Trinity, et. al), believers, magical miraculous powers (in and out of the Matrix too). At the end, he has to sacrifice himself for the rest of humanity's good. There's a traitor among his acolytes (Cipher). They are even so blatant as to when he explodes with light at the end, it starts out as FUCKING CROSS OF LIGHT coming out of his chest! Don't get me wrong, I'm not a christian, but this seemed blasphemous in some ways to me.
2) Nothing wrong with Smith entering Bane. There seem to be a lot of comments having some issues with Agent Smith being able to physically transfer his consciousness into Bane's body. To me, this seemed like a very logical step, and quite possible too. I mean, after all, someone who can think like a human (he has to, to be able to anticipate human reactions), should be able to transfer himself into a human
Ah... you got caught. She never actually tells him he's not the One. She says "I'm sorry kid"... Implying to him (and us) that he's not the One. Many people got caught by this, as it's a common way of indirectly saying things in language. However, she does not ever explicitly state that he's not.
And this brings to mind Eisner in a big fedora with feathers, zoot-suit standing on a street corner. Belle, Ariele and Jasmine are standing behind him with extra makeup on and mooning for the cars driving slowly by. "Come on honey, want a date"?
OMG, I cannot imagine anyone trying to tackle the Silmarillion. I really don't believe that PJ would have any interest in trying to write his own sequel. (Is it wrong that anytime I want to write sequel anymore, I want to spell it SQL?)
In my opinion, there were some rather unnecessary changes that he's made to the films, such as removing Bombadil entirely, Weathertop, the Council, Moria and how Pippin actually alerted them, and the simple fact that he COMPLETELY rewrote the whole section on Faramir taking them to Osgiliath! I didn't mind so much that he changed Faramir's character, but taking them to Osgiliath, and then having the Ringwraith almost catch Frodo with the ring?? WTF was he thinking? By all rights, you would think Sauron would immediately bring ALL forces under his command to bear down on Frodo at the crossroads and all exit routes as well.
Damnit... I said it was my last post. I'm such a fool.
Anyone else seeing a potential strategic move by either Sun or AMD to merge/acquire/joint venture together?
Seems like it might actually be something that would at the least be good for Sun, especially if they're intent on moving into a little more of the x86 space.
Thanks for the great questions, happy to answer to the best of my ability:
1) Treatment is usually IMMEDIATE REMOVAL OF THE CANCEROUS TESTICLE. When I say immediate, I mean usually the same day you find out, or if not that day, then the next.
2) Depending on if the tumor is encapsulated inside the testicle, it may or may not have spread. What this means is that even if they successfully remove it, and are very sure that it hasn't spread, there is STILL NO WAY TO KNOW if it really has spread or not, except to do MORE surgery. The second surgery that is recommended is essentially a massive lymph node removal. These are the lymph nodes where testicular cancer usually spreads to next.
3) Normally, only one testes becomes cancerous, afaik. I didn't get into it too much with my doctor.
4) Radiation and/or chemo CAN leave you quite sterile. Usually, before doing this, if you are still interested in having children, you would, after the removal of the cancerous testicle, then be encouraged to freeze as much sperm as possible.
By the way, I'm going to plug my doctor here, because he is absolutely FABULOUS and did an absolutely AMAZING job. The lymph node removal surgery took slightly over 2 hours, which as far as I am aware, is VERY fast. My recovery time was about 3 weeks (to be at least semi-comfortable). I'm currently 6 months out from that surgery, and I'm back to normal in all ways except an 18 inch scar from my pubes to my sternum, and a half-empty ball sac.
Just curious, as I'm currently finishing reading LOTR for the 38th time. I first read it at age 9. I know, I'm a geek of course, and I truly enjoy these books every time I read them, strangely enough, the Silmarillion included.
Anyway, this whole topic is absolutely being discussed to death. This will be my last post regarding LOTR at all, as I just don't think it's worth discussing. After all, like the rest of you, nothing anyone here says will change my mind about the books or the movies.
Nagora, thanks for not outright flaming me. I was flaming a bit myself, needed a fire extinguisher to put myself out.
Oh man, I can't believe you just compared SW and The Matrix crap to LOTR!
Sorry, but I just don't see the parallels. LOTR is the most amazing story I've ever seen or heard, and is as faithfully reproduced as possible. Those other two are just marketing machines that steamroll through plot.
I know there are a number of people who disagree, but I just couldn't let it go.
I had cancer. Thank God they were able to cut it out. I can't stress enough the importance of getting your ass to the doctor if you even suspect something is wrong. All you young men out there, listen up. Testicular cancer is MOST LIKELY to strike between the ages of 25-35. Also note, 98% of ALL masses detected in testicles are cancerous. In other words, when fondling yourself, if you notice anything weird at all, especially anything hard, get yourself checked by your doctor ASAP. Also note Testicular cancer is one of the fastest spreading cancers, but also the easiest to cure, IF it's caught early enough.
It's so nice to see that governments and police forces are finally able to catch up to these kinds of spammers and criminals to get them out of my damned inbox. I almost wonder if it wouldn't be cool for a Internet task force to be developed, completely divorced from any government that would try to track these kinds of people down and turn them in to local authorities. Any volunteers?
Only one problem with your last statement. Vietname wants to join the WTO, in which case they have to essentially mirror the same laws as other nations in the WTO, some of which relate to copyright. As such, they couldn't do that.
Slashdot Mirror
What a doofus, I'm replying to myself...
Some more things:
Likes
1) The talk with the Indian guy in the train station. I thought the way they approached the meaning of words, as just words, and not necessarily connected with a specific meaning was quite interesting.
2) The Merovingian (sp?) - that guy just cracks me up! He's so self confident, so goddamned arrogant, it feels SO GOOD when they mess with him... point a gun at his face. And the way he speaks is so fun to listen to.
3) The way they do the diggers - how they fall through the roof, pick themselves up, and go at it again! And when one gets fried, they jump it by sacrificing sentinels! Makes one wonder though whether sentinels really have minds of their own, if they're so willing to die?
4) the Deus Ex Machina - that thing was fucking AWESOME!!! When you hear that incredible voice come from everywhere at once, shaking you in your seat in the theatre, those chills just run up and down my spine. I think they could have done a better job with the face though.
Dislikes
1) The little Indian girl. This was never explained well to my satisfaction. If they're taking her out of the Matrix, why the hell do we see her with the Oracle BACK IN THE MATRIX??? WTF??
2) How did the Oracle come back to life after apparently DYING at the end???
3) What the hell were they doing with Neo's body at the end??? Were they setting up a shrine? Going to cremate? What?
And... how do programs have babies?
I know that a lot of what I will say will have been said already, but I wanted to add my thoughts on this movie.
/.
I saw it on Saturday, and hadn't actually planned on seeing it in the theatres, because of all the bad reviews on
However, I certainly am glad that I did.
I am a fan of the non-hollywood all the good guys die, ambiguous ending types of movies. Especially anime, which seem to be particularly good at it!
As such, this movie was very satisfying for me.
I'll list the things I liked about it, the things I didn't like, and some points I'd like to make about where I believe the brothers were going with it.
Likes
1) The action - fighting, explosions, lots of mayhem
2) Neo's transformation at the end, where, by losing his sight, he can now truly see.
3) Trinity's death - it made sense, made me sad, but it worked.
4) The marginalization of Morpheus. Sure, he seemed wise, powerful and cool in the first two, but now, he's much more of a bit player, which seemed appropriate.
5) The failings of the Oracle. She may be able to see almost everything, but not her own future necessarily, or the future of mankind and machine kind when her own decisions come into the mix.
6) How Smith was defeated. We think throughout the scene that Neo will somehow come back and beat the shit out of him, but that's not the way it can happen. Neo is willing to make that sacrifice (more on this later).
7) The visuals - machine city, the matrix chereography and cinematography, the dock battle.
Dislikes
1) Trinity's death. It was TOO LONG! People don't die immediately after being kissed! And they usually don't WANT to be kissed!
2) The logic. Most of the underlying premise of the movie just doesn't make any logical sense at all. Humans would be a TERRIBLE battery! Not only that, but why wouldn't you kill any immediately that you let go (as a machine)? There are a LARGE NUMBER of huge plot holes. Oh well, it's still a cool concept.
3) Sentinals and the dock battle. WTF were they DOING??? Instead of just attacking all the APU's en masse, they fly around in this huge weird fucking snake thing.... not only that, but they seem to be incredibly stupid and smart at the same time... just dumb. Sure, it looked good but my god was it just shocking how stupid that scene was, as well as how much better they could have done it. I'm not going to bother to point out all sorts of different ways to do it, as it's pointless now. So is writing this, but oh well.
4) Damage - Ok... so Neo and Smith can fight hard enough to cause shock waves, and do this over and over, but neither takes any serious damage? Then... when it just goes on too long, suddenly Neo is done? Seemed strange...
There are a number more small things that I liked and disliked, but not going to bore you too much I hope.
Now I'm going to address some other issues brought up before, and things that I noticed in general.
1) Neo is Jesus
Anyone else notice, while watching, how much Neo's story parallels Jesus's? He doesn't become aware that he is the "messiah" until later in life. He has acolytes (Morpheus, Trinity, et. al), believers, magical miraculous powers (in and out of the Matrix too). At the end, he has to sacrifice himself for the rest of humanity's good. There's a traitor among his acolytes (Cipher). They are even so blatant as to when he explodes with light at the end, it starts out as FUCKING CROSS OF LIGHT coming out of his chest! Don't get me wrong, I'm not a christian, but this seemed blasphemous in some ways to me.
2) Nothing wrong with Smith entering Bane.
There seem to be a lot of comments having some issues with Agent Smith being able to physically transfer his consciousness into Bane's body. To me, this seemed like a very logical step, and quite possible too. I mean, after all, someone who can think like a human (he has to, to be able to anticipate human reactions), should be able to transfer himself into a human
Ah... you got caught. She never actually tells him he's not the One. She says "I'm sorry kid"... Implying to him (and us) that he's not the One. Many people got caught by this, as it's a common way of indirectly saying things in language. However, she does not ever explicitly state that he's not.
Hm... I think you could combine a lot of these for more effective list:
A beowulf cluster of natalie portman petrified droids covered in hot grits that reads Slashdot aloud
I'm actually expecting to see that potentially in the SE of TTT.
After all, I believe there are scenes from that section already included that I know... so why not that?
Who modded this up as funny? Insightful, informative, sure..... but FUNNY?
And this brings to mind Eisner in a big fedora with feathers, zoot-suit standing on a street corner. Belle, Ariele and Jasmine are standing behind him with extra makeup on and mooning for the cars driving slowly by. "Come on honey, want a date"?
OMG, I cannot imagine anyone trying to tackle the Silmarillion. I really don't believe that PJ would have any interest in trying to write his own sequel. (Is it wrong that anytime I want to write sequel anymore, I want to spell it SQL?)
In my opinion, there were some rather unnecessary changes that he's made to the films, such as removing Bombadil entirely, Weathertop, the Council, Moria and how Pippin actually alerted them, and the simple fact that he COMPLETELY rewrote the whole section on Faramir taking them to Osgiliath! I didn't mind so much that he changed Faramir's character, but taking them to Osgiliath, and then having the Ringwraith almost catch Frodo with the ring?? WTF was he thinking? By all rights, you would think Sauron would immediately bring ALL forces under his command to bear down on Frodo at the crossroads and all exit routes as well.
Damnit... I said it was my last post. I'm such a fool.
Me three and a half
Anyone else seeing a potential strategic move by either Sun or AMD to merge/acquire/joint venture together?
Seems like it might actually be something that would at the least be good for Sun, especially if they're intent on moving into a little more of the x86 space.
Hehehe - I actually used "Thank God" as an expression, as I am actually an atheist myself.
What other expressions would be appropriate? Thanks for the fish?
Thanks for the great questions, happy to answer to the best of my ability:
s p?site=0059
1) Treatment is usually IMMEDIATE REMOVAL OF THE CANCEROUS TESTICLE. When I say immediate, I mean usually the same day you find out, or if not that day, then the next.
2) Depending on if the tumor is encapsulated inside the testicle, it may or may not have spread. What this means is that even if they successfully remove it, and are very sure that it hasn't spread, there is STILL NO WAY TO KNOW if it really has spread or not, except to do MORE surgery. The second surgery that is recommended is essentially a massive lymph node removal. These are the lymph nodes where testicular cancer usually spreads to next.
3) Normally, only one testes becomes cancerous, afaik. I didn't get into it too much with my doctor.
4) Radiation and/or chemo CAN leave you quite sterile. Usually, before doing this, if you are still interested in having children, you would, after the removal of the cancerous testicle, then be encouraged to freeze as much sperm as possible.
By the way, I'm going to plug my doctor here, because he is absolutely FABULOUS and did an absolutely AMAZING job. The lymph node removal surgery took slightly over 2 hours, which as far as I am aware, is VERY fast. My recovery time was about 3 weeks (to be at least semi-comfortable). I'm currently 6 months out from that surgery, and I'm back to normal in all ways except an 18 inch scar from my pubes to my sternum, and a half-empty ball sac.
His name is:
John Freeman, M.D.
Nevada Urology Associates
(775) 786-3895
699 Sierra Rose Dr, Reno, NV 89511
http://www.americasdoctor.com/Physician_profile.a
OMFG! I am DYING of laughter right now. That just totally slayed me!
Thanks for that! Seriously though, I really did/have had testicular cancer, I really am cured, and I really was serious about my previous post.
I see. And how many times have you read it?
Have you read the 12 book Histories?
Silmarillion?
Just curious, as I'm currently finishing reading LOTR for the 38th time. I first read it at age 9. I know, I'm a geek of course, and I truly enjoy these books every time I read them, strangely enough, the Silmarillion included.
Anyway, this whole topic is absolutely being discussed to death. This will be my last post regarding LOTR at all, as I just don't think it's worth discussing. After all, like the rest of you, nothing anyone here says will change my mind about the books or the movies.
Nagora, thanks for not outright flaming me. I was flaming a bit myself, needed a fire extinguisher to put myself out.
The Lochnar is MINE! Give it back Bitch!
Hear hear!
Thanks for expressing so eloquently how I've felt about all the griping about "they didn't follow the book exactly, so it sucks".
By the way, did you get your handle from Heavy Metal?
No, you're wrong. This is for, and I repeat again, EE FOTR, EE TTT, ROTK. All in a row.
Actually, there is an EE print of FOTR. They're only showing it once, on Dec. 16th, along with EE TTT and ROTK. A DAY before ROTK opens!
I got tickets too... WOOHOO.
I doubt there are any left.
You know, I've heard over and over again from many different people and sources that the Silmarillion is difficult to read.
Frankly, I think it's total BS. I found it a delight to read. Hm... of course, having Asperger's might have something to do with that.
I wish I had mod points to mod this up +1 "Geekness". :)
Oh man, I can't believe you just compared SW and The Matrix crap to LOTR!
Sorry, but I just don't see the parallels. LOTR is the most amazing story I've ever seen or heard, and is as faithfully reproduced as possible. Those other two are just marketing machines that steamroll through plot.
I know there are a number of people who disagree, but I just couldn't let it go.
I had cancer. Thank God they were able to cut it out. I can't stress enough the importance of getting your ass to the doctor if you even suspect something is wrong. All you young men out there, listen up. Testicular cancer is MOST LIKELY to strike between the ages of 25-35. Also note, 98% of ALL masses detected in testicles are cancerous. In other words, when fondling yourself, if you notice anything weird at all, especially anything hard, get yourself checked by your doctor ASAP. Also note Testicular cancer is one of the fastest spreading cancers, but also the easiest to cure, IF it's caught early enough.
The treatment sucks, but it's better than dying!
I don't know, but I know they're working on transporters...
It's so nice to see that governments and police forces are finally able to catch up to these kinds of spammers and criminals to get them out of my damned inbox. I almost wonder if it wouldn't be cool for a Internet task force to be developed, completely divorced from any government that would try to track these kinds of people down and turn them in to local authorities. Any volunteers?
Only one problem with your last statement. Vietname wants to join the WTO, in which case they have to essentially mirror the same laws as other nations in the WTO, some of which relate to copyright. As such, they couldn't do that.