OOC Discussion

Ah, Cinematic DC... *le sigh*

I have just lost all my faith left on almost anything DC makes at this point in respect to movies. Their attempts to emulate Marvel are getting old, and they have been emulating the wrong parts when making their movies. And then Rory tells me that they are going to do it again... Where are you looking DC! *facepalm*

Seriously, they really don't get that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been quite liberal with their characters, content and all on a surface level, but have been staying true to the core character and meaning behind the source material instead, on the top of having good stories that work on movies better, because they know it's another kind of media? Just trying to remember their last attempt at a movie makes me want to... *throws down hat in disgust at stupidity*

I do really hope The Killing Joke somehow avoid the fates of every DC movie before it, but at this point I seriously doubt they are not going to fuck up one of the big pillar stories of their iconic villain. Because they don't seem to get movies.

Civil War tho? Marvel has so much credit with me right now, I'd watch it even if it was shitty, call it a fluke, forgive them and wait for the next movie. Yet all I've been hearing is praise from internet people that have seen it and know their movies and storytelling. There's only one thing left to do...

Rory wrote:Well I suppose with the whole land gone to heck in a hand basket, madness-stricken people would try to come up with the unimaginable and unconventional to lighten the load of living under their equally insane tyrants. For me, it's silliness in the people versus silliness in how the world works, the science(or lack) behind their laws and how they interact with the physical world.

I prefer silliness in the inhabitants, as long as there is some explanation or a source that drove them to it, even if it's not readily apparent and they just seem quirky. Maybe you think you know what it is, but you're wrong, and you never hit close but you can go on thinking that you're right or that it's a brilliant explanation because in turn, you're going just a little insane trying to rationalize the behavior of a person or group who lives in Voivodja.

That's what I'm going for and anything that seems silly in the world itself does have an explanation, it's just up to the players to sus out what it is. I assure you there is a method to the madness of it all. That is if you are brave and clever enough to successfully interact with the inhabitants. And remember, just because someone is crazy, a vampire, or both doesn't mean they can't help you or be your friend and/or ally. Just do what you guys usually do:

1. Meet people and figure out what they want. Use that info to get what you want.

2. Ask questions, as many as you can. Be patient enough to wade through the nonsense.

3. Don't accept anything at face value.

4. Be weary of gifts given without cause.

5. Figure out the social rules of the 4 vampire courts as fast as you can. Play the social game well and you can wield the power of the queens and kings like the huge and unwieldy clubs that they are.

6. For that matter, figure out how Voivodjan vampirism works and exploit it.

I don't see what the problem is, Javan. I just got done saying that they were going to do the opposite of what you hate with The Killing Joke.

Rory wrote:What they seem to be saying is that they are emulating the visual style of the comic to a tee, and playing completely straight and by-the-book contentwise, with a tentative R rating - probably in advance before running it by the people in charge of rating visual media, saying that they'll take a PG-13 if they can, but they'll stick with an R if that's how it has to be.

It sounds like they are saying something good, but what they are basically saying is that they don't know how to properly adapt a comic to a movie, so they are going to copy-paste the thing over as much as they can hoping to stay safe (which is... not a good thing). And they are saying that they want that PG-13 because that's what their masters want (maximum moola as fast as possible) even tho the story is basically 'Normal guy loses job and fails at becoming a comedian, wife dies, tries to do criminal act with two other real criminals to get back at workplace, criminals die from shootout with police, falls on chemical vat in order to escape Batman, becomes the mess that is Joker in the process. Years later, attempts to mindfuck a naked James Gordon with photos of his sequestered and brutalized daughter, while Batman is basically useless until Joker throws him a hint'. Oh, but if they cannot make this clearly adult-themed story work in PG-13, only then they will go ahead with a R rating.

I dunno, but it sounds like it's going to be a patchwork of a movie by the way you said they described it. And I don't doubt for a moment that it'll end up like that after the failure that is cinematic DC lately.

That was all supposition on my part from an off-hand comment they made about how the content as-is might be allowed to take the PG-13 rating, but will probably be R instead. And it's going to be an animated movie. It won't be part of the theater line-up with the previous Batmans and Green Lantern and Suicide Squad(whatever that is, August 6th) and Wonder Woman(June 2nd 2017), or with whatever studios that are related.

Suicide Squad is a secret government program aimed at making use of super villains as expendable assets for suicide missions. They specifically target folks on death row and offer them a pardon if they succeed. They control the agents by implanting bombs in their heads. From a meta point of view it's a way to explain why anti-heroes like Deadshot and Captain Boomerang keep getting out of prison while letting them act in semi-heroic ways.

Just a heads up to you guys but my computer has decided it would rather not function anymore so I'm not going to be as easy to reach for a little while. If you need to contact me for any reason drop me a message here and I'll try to get back to you in a timely manner.

Ah yeah, gotta hate when that happens. I hope you get everything working again soon-ish!

May the Force be with you. Rent some movies, marathon Archer.

Speaking of marathons, I'm watching season 2 of Star Wars Rebels for the first time, and I've become consciously aware of something that's always been bugging me...

The way they bob and sway in a less-than-subtle manner when speaking, tilt their heads from side-to-side or nod them up and down in emphasis. My face was palmed and my head thrown back in exasperation. I can understand it from the kids like Ezra and Sabine, who are more liberal with the boldness of their gestures and emotive movements because they're kids(sorry, I'm a little ageist), but it's like everyone else in has Tourette syndrome and manifests it in the same way! Nobody does that, Disney!

Good on you Rory for being able to appreciate what is and isn't good animation. They do their best with what they have but they really went backwards compared to late Clone Wars.

They have also decided that Chopper now has a rocket booster under his ass, which reeks of plot convenience in it's debut deployment. Especially when he also has a wheel there that he can use to, sprint, I guess. And I'm fairly certain all of his robotic grunts are basically just grunts to the syllables of whatever he's saying, which disappoints me.

Speaking of languages and uh, accents, the Greek Mother goddess suddenly slips back into her native accent without hopping languages when speaking to another Twi'lek, which does not make sense to me seeing as she's had all this time to get used to the American accent(because I don't know what it is called in the setting). "Huh, they are speaking with an accent, I should also," says her brain. That also does not happen, or I wouldn't think it would absent of switching languages, and even then only after coming out of it to speak Basic again. Unless it's meant to provide a display of pretentiousness on her part, or spite or an intent to mock or behave insolently, it feels tacky.

That might not really be bad animation so much as bad characterization. The animators did their job: the characters talk and their heads bob, possibly as was intended. It's who intended it that needs to be less Disney about their creative direction. I say this because if it's the same staff that did the animation for late Clone Wars, it's not like they're gonna unlearn. That kind of thing becomes ingrained in you, unless you're told to do it different.

My complaint regarding the animation is mostly during action scenes: they feel too much like they're on strings. Watch two sabers clash, and see if it feels like two swords have actually just collided. The exchange is weightless - no recoil or stress or anything, like they're playing rather than fighting.

And the exaggerated bob and tilt is there all over too. In one word, the animation style feels much too theatrical, and doesn't put much stock on either subtlety or gravity, which is a major loss. You know, i wouldn't be too surprised if this was a conscious choice, as in making the visual language more kid friendly. I have that little faith in Disney, honestly.

Rory wrote:They have also decided that Chopper now has a rocket booster under his ass, which reeks of plot convenience in it's debut deployment. Especially when he also has a wheel there that he can use to, sprint, I guess. And I'm fairly certain all of his robotic grunts are basically just grunts to the syllables of whatever he's saying, which disappoints me.

Speaking of languages and uh, accents, the Greek Mother goddess suddenly slips back into her native accent without hopping languages when speaking to another Twi'lek, which does not make sense to me seeing as she's had all this time to get used to the American accent(because I don't know what it is called in the setting). "Huh, they are speaking with an accent, I should also," says her brain. That also does not happen, or I wouldn't think it would absent of switching languages, and even then only after coming out of it to speak Basic again. Unless it's meant to provide a display of pretentiousness on her part, or spite or an intent to mock or behave insolently, it feels tacky.

American is generally the Rebel accent, so Corellia, Alderaan (because Carry Fisher hated talking in a British accent and only did it for the famous "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope" recording.), etc.

British accents are the Empire accent, but more specifically the Coruscanti accent. It's why Obi-Wan and more than a few Jedi talk that way.

Thanks to the Clone Wars cartoon the Twi'leks speak with a French accent when speaking Basic on their homeworld. Not sure if that holds true on all their planets. I watched season 1 of Rebels but haven't kept up with it this season.

@K That's an excellent point about changing priorities. I wish they aimed higher in their presentation.

With the TV series still continuing with season 3 predicted to air later this year, I certainly hope people have been shouting at them.

The wiki says Ezra's hair is black. If it's supposed to be black, I dunno...color it black instead of blue? Just a thought. Do they think kids are blind or stupid? Also, the width of the bridge of his nose makes him look like he's supposed to be a near-human. The wiki assumes he's human, but so far we've never heard anyone explicitly call him human.

I could list more annoyances, but hey, something good: I liked the Honorable Ones episode. It manages to sympathize a certain character and add much more depth to them, which I gladly leaped upon, after all this time since the absence of a certain government official whose character almost got off the ground, but didn't really.

May the 4th be with you guys.

May the 4th.

Happy Fireworks Day!

Two months jumping the gun there, Javan.

Hey! To my defense, ship battles look like fireworks to me. Yeah... that's the ticket. Javan, you are a genius!

While we are on the subject of Star Wars it looks like we have our new Han Solo. Reports are that Alden Ehrenreich has been cast as the archetypal scoundrel for the upcoming movie about the scoundrel set prior to the original trilogy.

While I've never heard of the guy I'm looking forward to seeing someone else attempt the role. I hope he does a good job.

So I'm back from Mississippi and thought I'd share a few things I learned.

1. Life in Oxford, Mississippi is slow. You can look at all the green trees, visit William Faulkner's house and gravestone, and take a tour of Ole Miss and that's about it. The Medieval department also screens Game of Thrones on Sundays at 9 pm and provides free pizza to those that attend. The pizza isn't bad but I've definitely had better.

2. Everyone is super friendly to each other like waving at you as you drive by and you waving back kind of shit. Not saying Californians aren't friendly but a part of me kept wondering what they were selling. It took me a couple of days to adjust.

3. Quite a few rich folks attend Ole Miss and live in the nice part of town in big mansions, and they have some odd traditions. For example, they like to dress up in their finest and congregate in their town's traditional downtown area, called The Square, which is really a courthouse surrounded by a dress shop, 16 restaurants/bars, and one book store in three locations called Square Books. Each location specializes in a type of book: The main store is a normal book store, the second location specializes in used books, and the third, Square Books Jr., specializes in kids books. It's a very unique setup in my experience and I rather enjoyed the weirdness of it.

While I didn't witness this personally my sister did in her time at the university and she told me they also like to dress up for tailgate parties and serve caviar and other rich foods on tiered platters. If you don't understand why that is weird here is a picture of a normal tailgate party.

Picture:

It was some straight up culture shock for me right there.

4. We missed a lot of the famous humidity thank God, but it was interesting how quickly the weather could go from sunny to overcast/rainy and back again over a few hours. I don't regret my decision to not bother with a coat on this trip as my umbrella was always enough, but smaller folks and most women should do so as I saw many of this type shivering and such.

5. For being the Fine Arts Department, they sure don't know how to do a proper graduation. They asked everyone to remain silent while an over enthusiastic professor read off people's names as they walked the stage to get their diploma holder. Didn't play music or anything. It was so boring that I had to elbow my dad three times to keep him from falling asleep and many of the grads were texting and stuff to pass the time. They also skipped the tassel ceremony. All in all a very underwhelming and anticlimactic way to end someone's college career.

6. It's not uncommon for the student body and alumni to break out in the Hotty Toddy Chant at the drop of a hat. They'll even use the words Hotty Toddy as a greeting.



Are you ready?

Hell yeah! Damn right!

Hotty Toddy, Gosh Almighty,

Who The Hell Are We? Hey!

Flim Flam, Bim Bam

Ole Miss By Damn!

From my lazy research, consisting of asking my sister and a quick google search, it doesn't actually mean anything, it's just a thing they do to identify with and bond with the group. If you are ever in Oxford, try yelling Hotty Toddy in the Walmart. It's interesting how many people will return it. If I'm ever there again I might just try the first line to see if anyone will do the whole thing.

Hiya Kolson

Hi K. How are you?

You sold me at "look at all the green trees."