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Arts & Entertainment / Re: First Look at Ben Affleck's Batman

« on: March 27, 2016, 01:08:31 AM »

I thought Snyder's direction was terrible. The tone shifts are entirely his fault, the excessive images he uses to trick people in to feeling, particularly the one used in your spoiler, are all style, no substance. He does not give you any context for a Batman who brands people and executed en masse (this is also the terrible scripts fault). I thought the Doomsday sequence was the best part because they stopped trying to tell an epic story and just told a story.

None of the character's actions were as thoughtful or intelligent as you would hope from the subjects and Jesse Eisenberg made every acting mistake you can.

I had really low expects and it failed every one of them.  Anyone who likes this movie deserves their fate.

Aren't the jarring tone shifts the script? The cape joke and the "LOL IS SHE WITH YOU???" joke are both the result of a shit script.

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: First Look at Ben Affleck's Batman

« on: March 26, 2016, 11:44:11 PM »

It was pretty bad, I feel that the RT score is spot on. There's so many problems, from the run time, to the excessive plot elements they've shoved in, to jarring tone shifts. I think the biggest problem is the weak script, a lot of the things characters were saying had me rolling my eyes, a good example of which is the Lex, Clark and Bruce scene that was spoiled in the trailers. The first Man of Steel had this issue too, where entire scenes were effectively trailer shots and felt very weird when placed in the context of the movie itself. Snyder's direction really isn't that bad besides all the grim-dark going on, it's Goyer they need to do away with. The whole thing would've benefited from throwing away the Doomsday/JL sequence and focusing on BvS, with a hint of the JL formation in the end. The only compelling part was the BvS struggle, but it's over far too early and far too quickly. It's pretty stupid how it's resolved as well, with Batman not murdering Superman because he loves his mummy.

I also think it's pretty humorous that they effectively ignored all of the criticism surrounding the destruction scenes in MoS, instead choosing to double down on it. Oh, and Batman straight up executes dudes in this, because it's a serious movie for seriously serious people.

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Just Watched

« on: March 22, 2016, 05:44:12 AM »

I'd agree that 2 seasons is enough. I don't really want it dragging on, and it would go out on a high note.

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Just Watched

« on: March 21, 2016, 04:28:06 AM »

They totes one-upped season 1 on the 'single shot' action scene in this season. Just great.

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Announcements / Re: New forum theme available

« on: January 09, 2016, 09:19:00 PM »

Nice job. So much better on mobile.

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Just Watched

« on: January 08, 2016, 04:03:32 AM »

What's bad is both your opinions.

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Virtual Reality Headsets

« on: January 07, 2016, 01:10:20 AM »

($140 for international)

Motherfucking what?

That's before taxes, too. A lot of Euros, Canucks and Aussies are very not happy with the whole deal.

Some were reporting total costs over $1,000 AUD upon checkout lolololol

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Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: ISIS and the Middle East

« on: January 06, 2016, 11:54:31 PM »

Ah yes, an accurate pic of the T-50's tendency to catch fire.

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Virtual Reality Headsets

« on: January 06, 2016, 11:39:58 PM »

($140 for international)

Motherfucking what?

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Star Wars ep 7 (with spoilers)

« on: January 05, 2016, 08:39:42 AM »

I kind of feel like it should be pointed out that unless Luke's training took half an hour we couldn't have possibly seen it in its entirety.

This whole line of arguing comes from me defending Rey and her ability to beat Ren, despite being less trained with a saber.

Ren was severely injured and too angry to properly concentrate. That's why he lost.

Yes, that's the side of the argument I took.

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Star Wars ep 7 (with spoilers)

« on: January 05, 2016, 07:21:30 AM »

I kind of feel like it should be pointed out that unless Luke's training took half an hour we couldn't have possibly seen it in its entirety.

This whole line of arguing comes from me defending Rey and her ability to beat Ren, despite being less trained with a saber.

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Star Wars ep 7 (with spoilers)

« on: January 05, 2016, 06:55:41 AM »

It was, but there were gaping plot-holes, mostly to do with the bad guy and his motivations -- why he waited twenty-odd years to attack Vulcan, etc

Off topic, but wasn't he waiting for Spock? Not a plot hole.

You guys realise that training in the movie-verse basically means understanding the force better, right? Not actual lightsaber training. Luke never used his saber once on Dagobah.

Incorrect.  In the movie, Luke used his light saber against Darth Vader in the tree cave.  Also, in the book version, Yoda tosses a bar into the air for Luke to cut into as many pieces as he can.

The tree cave wasn't real, you numpty. Besides which, the purpose of the saber was as a plot device (to reveal luke's face). Also books are not canon.

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Star Wars ep 7 (with spoilers)

« on: December 22, 2015, 09:44:48 PM »

She also had zero force training yet mind controlled a storm trooper within minutes of even learning she could. 

To me this is just a plothole.  Or she's a force prodigy and needs no training.  Which to me is stupid.

That's not what a plot hole is Dave. That's like saying obi wan talking to Luke in 4 was a plot hole. A legit plot hole is how did po get back to the rebels?

But let's say the Jedi don't do saber training.  Let's say it's uncoordinated movements that you do while sensing.  Completely untrained.  So you know that your opponent is going to swing from above.  What do you do?  Block would be your instinct, but do you know how to effectively block or even counter attack?  The force can tell you what's coming but it can't tell you how to react to it.

This would be the difference of a fist fight between a black belt and a normal, untrained guy with the force.  Can he see that kick coming?  Sure.  And his instinct will be to do something.  But the black belt will have a much better chance of anticipating his actions and having a counter attack ready.  You can predict his attacks, but how do you defend yourself against them in such a way as to avoid what he anticipates?

Sorry but there is no possible way the Jedi are going to give anyone a weapon and not train them how to use it.  It's stupid and a waste.  And if they did, the Sith would capitalize on that and say "You know, if we TRAIN this guy to fight with a light saber, he'll kick the butt of any Jedi."

But they did. Obi wan and Yoda spend no time training Luke how to fence. Instead they teach him about the force and Luke figures the rest out.

Also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Anderson_%28fencer%29
The guy who did the sword fighting as Vader WAS a professional fencer AND he did the choreography.  So... yeah.

Yes, but the fight in 5 still wasn't about the fencing. That was done to make it look less retarded than the fight in 4.

Can we just say that the movie was rushed and leave it at that?

It wasn't. Abrams has stated on multiple occasions that the movie has been done for months and that the production was a very relaxed affair. Nothing about the film seems rushed either.

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Star Wars ep 7 (with spoilers)

« on: December 22, 2015, 11:06:04 AM »

We never saw luke get trained in much.  Should we assume he was only trained onscreen?

Well, yeah. There were only two Jedi in the original trilogy and both were dead by 6. Neither taught Luke to fight with a saber.

Also, Obi-wan mentions to Anakin how he needs to work on his sabering.

"If you spent as much time practicing your saber techniques as you did your wit, you'd rival Master Yoda as a swordsman."

Ah yes, one of the many stupid fucking lines in the prequels. Lucas seems to have forgotten what they wrote for Yoda in the original trilogy.

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Star Wars ep 7 (with spoilers)

« on: December 22, 2015, 09:42:23 AM »

You guys realise that training in the movie-verse basically means understanding the force better, right? Not actual lightsaber training. Luke never used his saber once on Dagobah. Only in the shitty prequels did they go full retard with the blast shield helmets and floating devices for saber training, and even that emphasizes use of the force.

I wouldn't be surprised if Kylo has zero training in lightsaber use. Regardless, it doesn't matter. He smashed Finn and nearly beat Rey while sustaining multiple injuries.

There is literally no point in having a weapon if you aren't trained to use it.
While we didn't SEE any saber training, swinging wildly is not going to solve anything.  Especially since the weapon is exotic enough that you could very easily hurt yourself using it.

They don't swing wildly. The whole point of lightsabers being specific to force users is that they can forsee blaster fire and the swings of opponents. Do you really need hand to hand combat training when you're operating with precognition? This also doesn't address my point that throughout the whole original trilogy Luke is never once taught to use his lightsaber against an opponent, even being told to not use it.

I'm fully aware of the bullshit stances that are elaborated on in the EU, but they've never been conveyed or mentioned in any of the movies. Lightsaber battles are about the characters and their use of the force, not who is the best fencer.

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Star Wars ep 7 (with spoilers)

« on: December 22, 2015, 04:18:12 AM »

You guys realise that training in the movie-verse basically means understanding the force better, right? Not actual lightsaber training. Luke never used his saber once on Dagobah. Only in the shitty prequels did they go full retard with the blast shield helmets and floating devices for saber training, and even that emphasizes use of the force.

I wouldn't be surprised if Kylo has zero training in lightsaber use. Regardless, it doesn't matter. He smashed Finn and nearly beat Rey while sustaining multiple injuries.

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Philosophy, Religion & Society / Re: "Assault" weapons, for it or against it?

« on: December 21, 2015, 08:06:26 AM »

You could buy a tank or a jet, but good fucking luck getting the insane chain of maintenance that vehicles like that require.

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Star Wars ep 7 (with spoilers)

« on: December 21, 2015, 08:03:48 AM »

I had other issues, if course. How did Rei go from not knowing how to fly the Falcon to threading it through a downed star destroyer in seconds? How did Finn suddenly know how to fight with a light-sabre? What was the point of Capt Phasma?

How did Luke destroy the death star despite never having flown an X-Wing? Finn never knew how to fight with a lightsaber, that's why he got smashed in both cases. Phasma was the Boba Fett of this movie; a cool looking character that only serves as a minor plot device and will receive more characterisation in sequels.

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Star Wars: Episode VII (cast list released!)

« on: December 20, 2015, 10:46:18 AM »

You're the only one who's defining this guy by his race, Thork.  I highly doubt that the First Order particularly cares about the skin color of its cannon fodder.

On a slight tangent, the whole clone army thing was a really stupid idea in the first place.  Yeah, the "Clone Wars" were name-dropped in ANH, so they had to work clones in there somehow, but a convenient army of disposable, identical soldiers with no lives outside of war wasn't the way the do it.  It's hard to find a more obvious example of redshirts than these guys.  We don't see any grieving families for the thousands of soldiers who die, because the clones have no families.  We don't see veterans attempting to adjust to civilian life, because the clones don't do anything but fight in the war.  We don't see the cost on society as so many people join the military and never come back, because the clones doing all the fighting aren't a part of that society at all.  And there's absolutely no self-awareness about the whole thing.  Not a single character in the prequels ever considers, even for a moment, that there might be a slight ethical concern with hundreds of thousands of sapient beings being mass-produced and shipped off to fight and die in a war whether they like it or not.  The clones are only controversial because of some boring political debate about who gets to control them.

Because they are.  There are no ethical problems.  The clones are disposable, much like droids.


What bothers me is how a clone is better than a machine designes to kill.  Precision targeting, guns built into their arm, super armor, shields, and they still suck.

It always bothered me how they were treated the same as droids despite being living, breathing humans. Even the Jedi treated them like trash.

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Arts & Entertainment / Re: Star Wars: Episode VII (cast list released!)

« on: December 20, 2015, 02:29:21 AM »

At least by the time of ANH, most stormtroopers are recruited members. When TFA rolls around, pretty much all of the clones will be dead or way too old to serve anyway.