Kill it !!!! Kill it !!!! Make it die!!!!!
Thank you ever so much Hollywood for once again dipping into the well of great movies from my childhood and remaking them. This can only be due to utter contempt for your audience and no shame. Gotta fund that champagne and coke lifestyle. I would like to say this is due to a lack of original ideas in Hollywood, but alas that really isn't the case. Original ideas are killed every single day in Hollywood. And if any independent company decides to use one for a film outside the Hollywood system, they kill it with the MPAA.
I don't even want to touch the Batman reboot already being talked about, even BEFORE THE FUCKING DARK KNIGHT RISES IS FILMED!!!!!!!!! Yeah not gonna touch it, I am out of blood pressure medicine.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
The 2012 Election
Well the religio-TeaBagger-Rethuglican stupidity continues and you know what it will make for both a hilarious and yet sad election.
Newt Gingrich has thrown his hat into the ring and had this to say about why:
"I have two grandchildren: Maggie is 11; Robert is 9," Gingrich said at Cornerstone Church here. "I am convinced that if we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America, by the time they're my age they will be in a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists and with no understanding of what it once meant to be an American."
If ever there is a truly facepalm worthy statement, that is it.
And lest we forget the other theistard considering a run, Michelle Bachmann .
You know what, I am not as scared as most Americans should be. If either of these two gets elected, I can always run back down here to Costa Rica.
Newt Gingrich has thrown his hat into the ring and had this to say about why:
"I have two grandchildren: Maggie is 11; Robert is 9," Gingrich said at Cornerstone Church here. "I am convinced that if we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America, by the time they're my age they will be in a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists and with no understanding of what it once meant to be an American."
If ever there is a truly facepalm worthy statement, that is it.
And lest we forget the other theistard considering a run, Michelle Bachmann .
You know what, I am not as scared as most Americans should be. If either of these two gets elected, I can always run back down here to Costa Rica.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
I have known about this for a while now
But I always thought, nay hoped, it would die in development hell....but apparently not and they have gone ahead with casting the Akira live action movie.
Fuck you Hollywood, fuck you very much.
Fuck you Hollywood, fuck you very much.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Atheists have our own little parables to
And it's not just Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" either.
I just finished reading Terry Pratchett's excellent novel, "Nation". And it is one of the greatest atheist parables since the aforementioned Pullman series. While it is for young adults, adults will enjoy it as well. The story takes place in an alternate Earth during a time similar to our own late 19th century, and concerns a young man named Mau. At the beginning of the tale, Mau is returning to his island Nation after being on a separate island where boys are sent to become men. During his return a giant tidal wave swallows tosses his canoe around, a canoe he made as part of his coming of age ritual. The wave drops him off on his people's island where he discovers he is the only one left, as the wave has killed every one on the island. Unbeknown to him the wave also shipwrecked a young aristocratic girl, who is only 139 people away from the British throne, and, because of her father holds an interest in all things scientific. After burying his dead people, he and the girl begin to interact, and survive together. I'm not going to go into all the plot details, read it yourself, I implore you. The crux of the story though is Mau's rejection of his peoples belief and patent acceptance that everything is the will of the god, and that "the gods did it so who are we to question" is a common answer to tough questions and inquiry into any phenomena, like the great wave. One of the great quotes in the book comes towards the end, where a descendant of Pilu (one of the characters, who joined Mau's new Nation and was from another island, which had a similar culture to those of Mau's people) is quoting Mau when asked if he believes in god (in this case the people of the Nation believed in a god called Imo) and his reply is "Imo made us clever enough to work out he does not exist"
This book just left me with a case of the wows. I cannot recommend it enough.
I just finished reading Terry Pratchett's excellent novel, "Nation". And it is one of the greatest atheist parables since the aforementioned Pullman series. While it is for young adults, adults will enjoy it as well. The story takes place in an alternate Earth during a time similar to our own late 19th century, and concerns a young man named Mau. At the beginning of the tale, Mau is returning to his island Nation after being on a separate island where boys are sent to become men. During his return a giant tidal wave swallows tosses his canoe around, a canoe he made as part of his coming of age ritual. The wave drops him off on his people's island where he discovers he is the only one left, as the wave has killed every one on the island. Unbeknown to him the wave also shipwrecked a young aristocratic girl, who is only 139 people away from the British throne, and, because of her father holds an interest in all things scientific. After burying his dead people, he and the girl begin to interact, and survive together. I'm not going to go into all the plot details, read it yourself, I implore you. The crux of the story though is Mau's rejection of his peoples belief and patent acceptance that everything is the will of the god, and that "the gods did it so who are we to question" is a common answer to tough questions and inquiry into any phenomena, like the great wave. One of the great quotes in the book comes towards the end, where a descendant of Pilu (one of the characters, who joined Mau's new Nation and was from another island, which had a similar culture to those of Mau's people) is quoting Mau when asked if he believes in god (in this case the people of the Nation believed in a god called Imo) and his reply is "Imo made us clever enough to work out he does not exist"
This book just left me with a case of the wows. I cannot recommend it enough.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Oh and before i forget
It wouldn't be St. Paddy's day without the Pogues
Now I could rant about how St. Patrick subjugated Irish tradition by replacing the traditional pagan faith there with a Roman based one, after all the "snakes" that he drove out were really the pagan priests and priestesses. But if that didn't happen we might not have the Pogues and other great Irish folk music...so um hooray for religious persecution (?)
Now I could rant about how St. Patrick subjugated Irish tradition by replacing the traditional pagan faith there with a Roman based one, after all the "snakes" that he drove out were really the pagan priests and priestesses. But if that didn't happen we might not have the Pogues and other great Irish folk music...so um hooray for religious persecution (?)
Red Dawn Remake
Oh man Hollywood you suck balls, for serial.
I don't even want to get into the fact that you are about to release a remake of the classic Red Dawn. One of the greatest, cheesiest, jingoistic right wing paranoia fantasies of the 80's, which despite my left leaning self holds a sacred place in my heart for fueling many prepubescent right wing paranoia fantasies of my own. That is bad enough. No what makes it even worse is now they are shoehorning an unrealistic enemy into the movie, and trying to play it with a straight face. Now don't get me wrong, while I definitely do not believe China is any kind of threat to us (they make too much money off of us, you don't kill the cow that shits gold, that's the saying right?) China is by far a more plausible nemesis than North freaking Korea. I mean Faux Newz (the "z" is cause it's extreemly fair and balanced) fear mongering aside, North Korea could send it's entire population (including children) to take over the US and would fail miserably because we outnumber them 13:1, and I can guarantee you they have nowhere near the military hardware or technology despite their recent nuclear testing. South Korea, yes they are a threat to South Korea, and perhaps Japan, but not the US.
Why can we not leave well enough alone? Why do we have to besmirch the memories of great movies? And then to pile on insulting the average American movie goer with this crap........ok maybe it's not an insult, I have seen some of the more popular movies and their grosses....yeah the majority of the movie going public are morons. I should have realized that when the second Bayformers movie made a shit ton of money despite itself, enough money to warrant Bayformers III: See You On the Dark of the Moon.
I don't even want to get into the fact that you are about to release a remake of the classic Red Dawn. One of the greatest, cheesiest, jingoistic right wing paranoia fantasies of the 80's, which despite my left leaning self holds a sacred place in my heart for fueling many prepubescent right wing paranoia fantasies of my own. That is bad enough. No what makes it even worse is now they are shoehorning an unrealistic enemy into the movie, and trying to play it with a straight face. Now don't get me wrong, while I definitely do not believe China is any kind of threat to us (they make too much money off of us, you don't kill the cow that shits gold, that's the saying right?) China is by far a more plausible nemesis than North freaking Korea. I mean Faux Newz (the "z" is cause it's extreemly fair and balanced) fear mongering aside, North Korea could send it's entire population (including children) to take over the US and would fail miserably because we outnumber them 13:1, and I can guarantee you they have nowhere near the military hardware or technology despite their recent nuclear testing. South Korea, yes they are a threat to South Korea, and perhaps Japan, but not the US.
Why can we not leave well enough alone? Why do we have to besmirch the memories of great movies? And then to pile on insulting the average American movie goer with this crap........ok maybe it's not an insult, I have seen some of the more popular movies and their grosses....yeah the majority of the movie going public are morons. I should have realized that when the second Bayformers movie made a shit ton of money despite itself, enough money to warrant Bayformers III: See You On the Dark of the Moon.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
One drawback to my skepticism
And no it's not that the world is a boring place because there is no supernatural cause, nor is it because i supposedly don't have an open mind (that is patently untrue, if I am provided with evidence that conflicts with a belief I have, I will reconsider my belief). The only drawback to being a skeptic is when I read or watch something fictional, I find that on occasion I have trouble suspending some of my disbelief. For example, I just finished Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. In the book's universe, which is a fictional one, there is talk of god and the devil and the entire story revolves around the Apocalypse. Now the wierd thing is, is I could suspend disbelief for the god and satan stuff, but not for the little bits of woo dripped throughout the book. This is not to say I didn't love the book, I have read it three times, I love Neil Gaiman, I love Terry Pratchett, and this book is funny and compelling and has a great cast of characters. Imagine if Douglas Adams rewrote The Book Of Revelation. But there was mention of ley lines as if they were real, and other things of that ilk that I found myself momentarily irked by, enough so that I would roll my eyes whenever I saw it. This isn't the only time this has happened. I can't watch the X-Files anymore because it's plots rely on so much debunked woo woo nonsense that I tend to get aggravated with the whole thing. And this seems only to happen in works of fiction that are set in a universe almost equal to the real world in mostly every way. For example Star Wars is chock full of unscientific speculation and woo, but I can still immerse myself enough in it to be able to suspend my disbelief because it is so obviously a fictional universe.
This affects some of the entertainment decisions I make. Take Paranormal Activity. I will not see that movie. There is nothing in this world that will compel me to do so. Ghosts don't exist ergo they are not scary. So what kind of thrill can i expect from that movie? Certainly not the same thrill "true believers" get. Maybe the characters are interesting, maybe the drama isn't all cheap scare. I don't know. And maybe this is my skepticism causing me to actually be close minded. Maybe I am being a bad skeptic.
I don't know, maybe it's not so much a regret or a drawback, I can't say I miss the X-Files, though I know I really used to enjoy the show. I just wish I could let go and take off my literal pants and enjoy something even if there are psychics and ghosts and ley lines etc.
Ah fuckit, I think I will rent Paranormal Activity, after all as a self professed skeptic, I should gather my own evidence before drawing a conclusion....but it just looks so damned boring.
This affects some of the entertainment decisions I make. Take Paranormal Activity. I will not see that movie. There is nothing in this world that will compel me to do so. Ghosts don't exist ergo they are not scary. So what kind of thrill can i expect from that movie? Certainly not the same thrill "true believers" get. Maybe the characters are interesting, maybe the drama isn't all cheap scare. I don't know. And maybe this is my skepticism causing me to actually be close minded. Maybe I am being a bad skeptic.
I don't know, maybe it's not so much a regret or a drawback, I can't say I miss the X-Files, though I know I really used to enjoy the show. I just wish I could let go and take off my literal pants and enjoy something even if there are psychics and ghosts and ley lines etc.
Ah fuckit, I think I will rent Paranormal Activity, after all as a self professed skeptic, I should gather my own evidence before drawing a conclusion....but it just looks so damned boring.
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