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Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
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Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 7:20 am
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Iyou - I don't know what it is about Grendel that makes me love it so... Whatever it was, the book was required reading for an English class in high school and shortly after reading it, my friend and I stole a "Vote for Grendell" sign from someone's lawn and presented it to our English teacher. She thought we were quite insane. That was a good year.
Yeah, that's what I decided about Pan's Labyrinth. Anyone looking for hope will find hope. Anyone looking for despair will certainly find that. I, having been irrevocably damaged by my background in psychology, saw more schizophrenia than fantasy. It was really sealed for me when the faun appeared after a certain unpleasant plot point (spoilerific, you know) to give her a second chance. Seemed more like a necessary reaction from her than a change of heart on the faun's part. Bah, I bore myself with my adult bitterness.
Koji - Go for it! Come join the ranks of People Who Have Seen the Movie and Can Now Talk About It Like Snobs!
Last I checked, Epic Movie had a 0% approval rating at RottenTomatoes.com. That's a whole 14% less than Eragon, so I'm not too eager to see it.
I had a friend in college who was too chicken to play...oh, what was it? Some nightmarish GameCube game... It involved insanity and zombies and exploding heads. At any rate, he was too scared to play it alone ("he" being a 20-year-old college student at this point) and had to bring it to the commuter lounge to have an audience of a dozen people. It was sad.
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Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 10:06 am
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AD - Well, even if it was all her imagination, does it really matter? (Not that I'm belitting the debate between whether it was real or fantasy - I really that that aspect of the movie and the thought process it evoked.) She believed that she had a happy ending, so she did. The fact that she was able to escape from such horrible surroundings - even if it was only mental escape - is what really cemented it in as a good movie for me. whee
But then against, that's me. Ever the optimist. xd
And a big xd at the "Vote for Grendell" sign. Your teacher obviously wasn't cool enough, otherwise she would have given you bonus points for that.
Koji - Geh! You had to learn katakana by yourself?! That seems like a really big gamble on the teacher's part, because if students aren't able to make themselves remember something as fundamental as katakana, they're royally screwed when it comes to building on top of that.
But whatever works for you, I guess.
You also may want to check out JFC if you plan on taking further levels of Japanese. It's basically a Japanese flash card program that you can run on your computer - no messy index cards to keep track of. Writing the flashcard files is pretty easy too, so it's pretty quick to learn. It's positively saved me (and several trees) for the past few semesters. x_x
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Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 11:26 am
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Iyou - As I said: those looking for despair will find it. In my mind, it was her imagination, and it really does make all the difference. (Others: Do not continue reading if you have not seen the movie - you will regret it and I shall forever be a spoiler-spewing troll...thing.) The fact that she was able to escape in such a remarkable way was inspiring, but in the end it cost her everything. If she hadn't been told to fetch her brother, she would not have been followed by the captain. Her brother would have remained in the compound, where the guerrillas would have found him (I remember there being fire, but I think Mercedes was smart enough to keep them from burning the children). I don't see the rest of the outcome being much different. The troops were overwhelmed because of Mercedes' intervention, not because of Ofelia's magic. Right up until the end, her imagination merely passed the time and allowed her to deal with the horrors of her situation. And at the end, where she was speaking to the faun but the Captain saw her talking to herself, it's obvious that there really is no magic. And she died because of it.
So does it matter? Yes. Guillermo del Toro is no optimist. He's quoted somewhere as saying that children's fantasy/movies are irresponsible. He mentioned Free Willy (not by name), saying that no one should teach a child that a killer whale would befriend them, as it would probably be more interested in eating the child instead.
The only silver lining I was able to find in the movie was that Ofelia managed to escape what little life was left for her. Other than that, I never again want to see a child shot in the stomach and left to die.
...whew. That was dangerously long for a work post.
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Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 12:13 pm
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Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 7:01 pm
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Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 8:28 pm
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 8:08 am
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Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:17 pm
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Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 12:52 pm
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Koji - Glad I could help. whee I love that program, so if you need any help figuring out how to write the flashcard files or anything, just ask.
axel - Oh god... I read a different article about that, but this one definitely takes the cake. Can we say slanted media, anyone?
Some quotes I found particularly amusing:
Quote: "It is outrageous, in a post 9/11 world, that a company would use this type of marketing scheme," Mayor Thomas Menino said Wednesday. "I am prepared to take any and all legal action against Turner Broadcasting and its affiliates for any and all expenses incurred during the response to today's incidents."
Quote: Authorities vowed to hold Turner accountable for what Menino said was "corporate greed," that led to at least $750,000 in police costs.
Quote: "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" is a cartoon with a cultish following that airs as part of a block of programs for adults on the Cartoon Network. I particularly like this last one - it makes it sound like ATHF is some sort of animated porno that brainwashes people.
This does raise some interesting issues, though. I'll definitely be following this.
Edit: YES. Have I mentioned how much I love the media? Joo so funny, media. xd
I like how people are making such a big deal about how this (below) is an "obscene gesture." Now this may be just me, but... does the fact that the "hand" itself is made up of less than ten 2-bit pixels make it less offensive to anyone else? I mean, honestly. They're pixels.
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