Friday Ephemeraren’t
As I’m still finding my footing after the holiday interlude, I’m afraid you’ll have to throw together your own pile of links and oddities in the comments. I’ll set the ball rolling with some competitive fashion, a wearable compass, assorted Hungarian fishing huts, the sturdy tape breakthrough we’ve all been waiting for, some declassified CIA maps, and a tediously accurate scale model of the solar system.
Play nicely. No biting.
Fred the Fourth
Thanks for you thoughts. I’d agree with your positives, but with only one of your negatives – the scenes around the archive were rather contrived. Unlike you, I found it had a lot of pace. That said, I went to see it with fairly low expectations…
What leftwing bias in academia?
https://twitter.com/niall_gooch/status/817785376500686848
did anyone else here enjoy Rogue One as much as I did?
I’ve pretty much disliked every movie I’ve seen in the last 15-20 years to the point of whereas we once went almost every Friday, I only saw two last year, The Martian (meh, ok) and Dr. Stange (unfortunately meh, but it was election night and I needed to be away from TV’s and distracted). I have especially disliked every Star Wars movie since the third one. The wife, who is no sci-fi fan, and I just got back from seeing Rogue One and both of us enjoyed it immensely. I actually had forgotten what it is like to enjoy a movie.
For calibration purposes, y’all should know that I hated “Fury Road”.
Details?
Separated at birth?
Hal, if I gave details about my dislike of “Fury Road” I would then have to provide another calibration basis, else fall into circular reference.
(That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.)
In other news:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4098332/They-Kant-PC-students-demand-white-philosophers-including-Plato-Descartes-dropped-university-syllabus.html
From the “Asians do weird things” department:
Taiwanese politician’s funeral features 50 pole dancers
I’d think having pole dancers on top of moving jeeps would be a bit dangerous, however.
I’d think having pole dancers on top of moving jeeps would be a bit dangerous, however.
I’m told the secret is to maintain a firm grip on the pole with both buttocks.
I also think I’d rather have the pole dancers before I die.
“I’m told the secret is to maintain a firm grip on the pole with both buttocks.”
.
On a completely different tack, did anyone else here enjoy Rogue One as much as I did?
I appear to have been the only one to notice that the film casts the Rebellion as ISIS/Al-Qaeda terrorists fighting the US as the occupying military Empire. I found this offensive enough that it ruined the movie for me.
By the end of the movie I was cheering for the Empire. Director Krennic was the only character I liked.
(This is aside from the many directing and writing flaws throughout the movie; I can’t exactly blame the director and scriptwriters for Not Getting Star Wars, as most fans don’t, but I would think that if you screw up as simple and iconic a character as Darth Vader then that’s not a good sign you have a good grasp of the franchise)
. . . I would think that if you screw up as simple and iconic a character as Darth Vader then that’s not a good sign you have a good grasp of the franchise)
Ayup.
I appear to have been the only one to notice that the film casts the Rebellion as ISIS/Al-Qaeda terrorists fighting the US as the occupying military Empire. I found this offensive enough that it ruined the movie for me.
I think you just might be over-interpreting some things there.
By the end of the movie I was cheering for the Empire.
I used to hang out a bit in Star Wars forums. It wasn’t unusual for big Star Wars fans to be pro-Empire. Certainly many had little love for the rebels.
Also, Star Wars fans hate Star Wars. This is a syndrome that I suffer from too. I have watched them enough to know all the ridiculousness on display — there is as little as ghastly to a person who loves Star Wars than the word “midichlorians”.
And so a small cottage industry has spawned of “Why I hate Star Wars” by Star Wars fans. http://www.indiewire.com/2012/04/no-one-hates-star-wars-quite-like-a-star-wars-fan-130016/
I will go see Rogue One. I expect to hate it.
I appear to have been the only one to notice that the film casts the Rebellion as ISIS/Al-Qaeda terrorists fighting the US as the occupying military Empire.
I had just re-watched Firefly, so I had Browncoats vs. Alliance on my mind, and I saw parallels to THAT. Also, the Empire has always very obviously been the Third Reich, not the United States, because it never pretends to exercise power in the name of liberation or other happy talk — The Empire displays its iron fist sans adornment and doesn’t care who calls it evil.
I think you just might be over-interpreting some things there.
I really don’t think I am, from the oh-look-its-Petra easter egg to the name of the main planet to casting an Arabic actor with an Arabic accent to play the Rebellion’s Captain of Intelligence to the Empire invading for the purpose of stealing their precious natural resources to the scene where the Rebels ambush an Imperial armored vehicle in the streets of a Middle-eastern-themed slum. And that’s just the parts I can describe without spoilers.
(If you’re still not seeing it, take a look at all the things they added unnecessarily to Star Wars canon, and why. Since when has the Star War universe had man-portable rocket launchers? Since they needed to make a Rebel look like a jihadi with a manpack SAM.)
No, I really don’t think I’m over-interpreting it. At all.
I had just re-watched Firefly, so I had Browncoats vs. Alliance on my mind, and I saw parallels to THAT.
Just for calibration purposes, you know the “Browncoats” are the Confederate Army from the US Civil War, right?
Have a hot take.
Diego Luna is an Arab? Or are Mexicans now “Arabic”?