What Did You Watch? 2016-03-27 (Sunday)

[Ubiquitous]

I watched:

TMC UNDERGROUND:
"Smithereens". The study of a teenager struggling to succeed as a new-
wave singer in New York City.

TMC UNDERGROUND:
"Border Radio". Film-noir style tale of an L.A. rocker who runs away to
Mexico after stealing money from a crooked club owner and leaving
everyone in the lurch.

THE INTERNET RUINED MY LIFE:
Exploring the unexpected perils of living in a social-media obsessed
world, this unscripted series tells real-life stories of people who had
posts, tweets or status updates backfire on them in an unfortunate way.
•#CancelColbert The Internet gets its panties in an uproar after a
Korean woman whines about an oriental joke made on Colbert. Why do I
get the feeling this woman is a joy to live with? </sarcasm> I'm not
excusing the online reaction, but from what little we saw, she sounds
like she has a stick up her butt and a racial chip on her shoulder.
•#TerroristTourists Once again, was there more to this story of a
stupid kid texting something stupid before his trip to America? What
did he say was in his suitcase that shouldn't have been there?

THE INTERNET RUINED MY LIFE:
More victims of the Internet.
•#FoodFight A chef posts some nasty things after some SJWs post bogus
bad reviews on a restaurant site b/c it serves foi grois. I cannot take
a side in that one.
•#Gamergate I heard about this from someone on FB at the time it
happened and had no clue what he was talking about at the time. No, I
didn't care enough to research it.

THE INTERNET RUINED MY LIFE:
•#PissOlympics Some guy outrages the Internet after posting a photo of
him pissing on some nachos at work. Apparently "Anonymous" got in on
the act. What? The obvious issue aside, did he really pretend to piss
on those nachos or was that a desperate attempt at damage control? I
know they asked him on a lie detector, but those things are notoriously
inaccurate.

SUPERMAN 4: THE QUEST FOR PEACE

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ATLANTA:
Part of of three reunion. *yawn*

BAR RESCUE:
"Back to the Bar: Meathead-to-Head". Jon revisits the Dirty Rooster and
moderates a dispute between two rival bar owners in Houston. Wow...
this show has jumped the shark with the studio audience and antics for
this follow-up show! I'm not surer where to begin!

What did you watch?

--
On this horrific day of terrorism when 9 Americans were wounded, Pres
Obama took-in a baseball game and had a great time.
Take THAT, ISIS!!

[Obveeus]

On 3/28/2016 5:30 AM, Ubiquitous wrote:

> What did you watch?


CUCKOO: The first episode of the second season of this UK series.
Awhile back there was a discussion here about TV shows that got rid of
main cast members...even the title cast member and this second season
starts off by doing exactly that as CUCKOO (adam Samberg) is exited from
the sitcom in favor of Taylor Lautner (somewhat illogically playing his
son). The two characters are similar in that both of them are annoying
idiots. The two characters are different in that Samberg's character
was a druggie slacker while Lautner's character is basically a male
version of KIMMIE SCHMIDT. The show also downgraded the daughter
character as actress Tamla Kari was replaced by actress Eshter Smith.
Overall, lead actor Greg Davies continues to tower over everyone else in
the cast as the comedian trying to carry this sitcom.

IP MAN: The 2008 Chinese martial arts film that spawned several
sequels. This film has an 8.1 rating on IMDB with over 150,000 ratings.
That number seems a bit high to me. This film felt like a product of
the 1950s film industry, retelling a WWII story in a way that serves as
propaganda. In theory, this film is 'the true story of'...but you can
be sure that there is very little truth to be found in anything put on
screen. Still, if you like films with clear good vs. bad guys and moral
lessons and John Wayne style leads that are simplistically portrayed as
being better than everyone else, this is probably a film you will enjoy.

[Obveeus]

On 3/28/2016 10:04 AM, Obveeus wrote:
> On 3/28/2016 5:30 AM, Ubiquitous wrote:
>
>> What did you watch?
>
>
> CUCKOO: The first episode of the second season of this UK series.
> Awhile back there was a discussion here about TV shows that got rid of
> main cast members...even the title cast member and this second season
> starts off by doing exactly that as CUCKOO (adam Samberg) is exited from
> the sitcom in favor of Taylor Lautner (somewhat illogically playing his
> son).

Side note: Eternal-September is not propagating again today. I was
hoping that the end of Easter would solve that condition, but perhaps we
have another week to go? Do they have 'spring break' over there?

[anim8rfsk]

In article <UBI20...@dont-email.me>, Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net>
wrote:

> SUPERMAN 4: THE QUEST FOR PEACE

The copies of that they were showing are absolutely beautiful, and dear
God is it an amazingly horrid film.

--
Join your old RAT friends at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1688985234647266/

[BTR1701]

In article <anim8rfsk-7D4A3...@news.easynews.com>,

anim8rfsk <anim...@cox.net> wrote:

> In article <UBI20...@dont-email.me>, Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net>
> wrote:
>
> > SUPERMAN 4: THE QUEST FOR PEACE
>
> The copies of that they were showing are absolutely beautiful, and dear
> God is it an amazingly horrid film.

I had the whole run of SUPERMAN movies on yesterday while I was working
around the house, and I'd completely forgotten all the extra powers
Superman had back then. He could shoot some kind of energy beam out of
his fingers, he could go invisible and instantly teleport himself from
place to place, he could use his super-vision to insta-repair destroyed
buildings, and he was telekinetic.

[anim8rfsk]

In article <atropos-688561...@news.giganews.com>,

Yeah, Lester added most of those when doing his unwarranted reshoots for
Superman 2 trying to grab sole credit for Donner's work. It's one of
the reasons I really dislike Superman 2. I know people that defend it
on "well, he can fly, nobody can fly, so if he can fly, he can do
anything else too, because once you've broken one rule, you've broken
them all" grounds. Sigh.

[Ubiquitous]

Oh yeah, I watched a couple eps of THE FUGITIVE that was playing all
weekend on Decades.

[Ubiquitous]

BTR1701 <atr...@mac.com> wrote:

> anim8rfsk <anim...@cox.net> wrote:
>> Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:

>>> SUPERMAN 4: THE QUEST FOR PEACE
>>
>> The copies of that they were showing are absolutely beautiful, and dear
>> God is it an amazingly horrid film.

I recall reading an interview with John Cryer who was so embarassed that I
think he snuck out of the movie premier.

>I had the whole run of SUPERMAN movies on yesterday while I was working
>around the house, and I'd completely forgotten all the extra powers
>Superman had back then. He could shoot some kind of energy beam out of
>his fingers, he could go invisible and instantly teleport himself from
>place to place, he could use his super-vision to insta-repair destroyed
>buildings, and he was telekinetic.

I thought some of those were just creative depictions of his super-speed.

[Arthur Lipscomb]

On 3/28/2016 2:30 AM, Ubiquitous wrote:
>> I watched:

>>
>> SUPERMAN 4: THE QUEST FOR PEACE
>>
>>

Not worthy of comment.

>>
>> What did you watch?
>
>
I watched:


Once Upon a Time - "The Brothers Jones" - Backstory on Hook and his
brother. OK episode. That seems to be the problem with the season.
The episodes aren't particularly bad nor particularly good. Just sort
OK but forgettable. Next week's preview looks interesting.


Billions - "Quality of Life" - While the Federal prospector's office
licks their wounds after being outfoxed by Axe, we see how Axe is a
vindictive sociopath. In a pretty good b-story (that mirrors real life)
the Feds turn their attention to a corrupt judge.


Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders - "Harvested" - The FBI travels to India
to stop a local psycho from mutilating tourists. This show is basically
"Hostel" the series. If I keep watching this series (which is doubtful)
I wouldn't be surprised if they travel to Germany to rescue a human
centipede.


The Walking Dead - "East" - Carol continues to rival Michonne in body
counts except her kills tend to still be breathing at the time. OK
episode but overall this season seems to be a waste.


Madam Secretary - "Higher Learning" - OK episode from last week.


Shameless - "Paradise Lost" - Episode from last week. Basically another
convoluted mess of an episode.


Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (theatrical) - Caught it a second
time. I definitely liked it more this time than the first time. It
helped that I had read up on all the Easter eggs and was ready for them.
I still don't care much for Lex Luthor's portrayal. And I still found
the music to be obnoxious. However on second viewing I was better able
to notice that the truly obnoxious parts of the score seemed to be Lex
Luthor's theme so maybe that was intentional since his character was
also obnoxious. Nevertheless, it is actually a pretty good Batman movie.
Obviously it's *supposed* to be a Superman movie too but I'll take
what I can get. And I can say without any hesitation that this is a
better movie than either "Batman and Robin" or "Superman IV the Quest
for Peace". If that's not a ringing endorsement I don't know what is.

[Ubiquitous]

anim...@cox.net wrote:
> BTR1701 <atr...@mac.com> wrote:
>> anim8rfsk <anim...@cox.net> wrote:

>> > Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:

>> > > SUPERMAN 4: THE QUEST FOR PEACE
>> >
>> > The copies of that they were showing are absolutely beautiful, and dear
>> > God is it an amazingly horrid film.
>>
>> I had the whole run of SUPERMAN movies on yesterday while I was working
>> around the house, and I'd completely forgotten all the extra powers
>> Superman had back then. He could shoot some kind of energy beam out of
>> his fingers, he could go invisible and instantly teleport himself from
>> place to place, he could use his super-vision to insta-repair destroyed
>> buildings, and he was telekinetic.
>
>Yeah, Lester added most of those when doing his unwarranted reshoots for
>Superman 2 trying to grab sole credit for Donner's work. It's one of
>the reasons I really dislike Superman 2. I know people that defend it
>on "well, he can fly, nobody can fly, so if he can fly, he can do
>anything else too, because once you've broken one rule, you've broken
>them all" grounds. Sigh.

I have mixed feelings about Superman 2, but it partially depends on which
version.

[A Friend]

In article <ndbu95$hnd$1...@dont-email.me>, Ubiquitous

<web...@polaris.net> wrote:

> anim...@cox.net wrote:
> > BTR1701 <atr...@mac.com> wrote:
> >> anim8rfsk <anim...@cox.net> wrote:
> >> > Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>
> >> > > SUPERMAN 4: THE QUEST FOR PEACE
> >> >
> >> > The copies of that they were showing are absolutely beautiful, and dear
> >> > God is it an amazingly horrid film.
> >>
> >> I had the whole run of SUPERMAN movies on yesterday while I was working
> >> around the house, and I'd completely forgotten all the extra powers
> >> Superman had back then. He could shoot some kind of energy beam out of
> >> his fingers, he could go invisible and instantly teleport himself from
> >> place to place, he could use his super-vision to insta-repair destroyed
> >> buildings, and he was telekinetic.
> >
> >Yeah, Lester added most of those when doing his unwarranted reshoots for
> >Superman 2 trying to grab sole credit for Donner's work. It's one of
> >the reasons I really dislike Superman 2. I know people that defend it
> >on "well, he can fly, nobody can fly, so if he can fly, he can do
> >anything else too, because once you've broken one rule, you've broken
> >them all" grounds. Sigh.
>
> I have mixed feelings about Superman 2, but it partially depends on which
> version.

I liked Christopher Reeve, but the first movie is much too long and is
schizophrenic to boot, with the first half being so ponderous and the
second verging on the kind of farce we saw in the BATMAN 66 series.
The second film is a little too long and doesn't make much sense in
places. Worse, the final fate of the three Kryptonian villains is left
unclear, thanks to poor cutting. There's also this: I saw the second
film in a theater, back when it was first released. Up came the scene
where Superman gives up his powers so he can be with Lois, and from the
front of the theater came a voice saying "I wouldn't give up *my*
powers for no damn bitch." There was applause and a lot of laughter.

One day they'll do a really good Superman film -- or, at least, I hope
so. Maybe they should spend less money and more time on these things.

[anim8rfsk]

In article <ndbu95$hnd$1...@dont-email.me>,
Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:

> anim...@cox.net wrote:
> > BTR1701 <atr...@mac.com> wrote:
> >> anim8rfsk <anim...@cox.net> wrote:
> >> > Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>
> >> > > SUPERMAN 4: THE QUEST FOR PEACE
> >> >
> >> > The copies of that they were showing are absolutely beautiful, and dear
> >> > God is it an amazingly horrid film.
> >>
> >> I had the whole run of SUPERMAN movies on yesterday while I was working
> >> around the house, and I'd completely forgotten all the extra powers
> >> Superman had back then. He could shoot some kind of energy beam out of
> >> his fingers, he could go invisible and instantly teleport himself from
> >> place to place, he could use his super-vision to insta-repair destroyed
> >> buildings, and he was telekinetic.
> >
> >Yeah, Lester added most of those when doing his unwarranted reshoots for
> >Superman 2 trying to grab sole credit for Donner's work. It's one of
> >the reasons I really dislike Superman 2. I know people that defend it
> >on "well, he can fly, nobody can fly, so if he can fly, he can do
> >anything else too, because once you've broken one rule, you've broken
> >them all" grounds. Sigh.
>
> I have mixed feelings about Superman 2, but it partially depends on which
> version.

Agreed

[anim8rfsk]

In article <ndb4g5$fh9$1...@dont-email.me>,

I don't get Decades. :(

[Adam H. Kerman]

KASW-TV 61.2 broadcast

[anim8rfsk]

In article <ndcdgi$96s$2...@news.albasani.net>,

But the COX doesn't pick it up, and I don't get OTA here. Coulda
watched it at Mom's ...

[Dimensional Traveler]

Time is money.

--
Privacy IS Security

[BTR1701]

In article <ndbj78$75a$1...@dont-email.me>,

Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

> Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (theatrical) - Caught it a second
> time. I definitely liked it more this time than the first time. It
> helped that I had read up on all the Easter eggs and was ready for them.
> I still don't care much for Lex Luthor's portrayal. And I still found
> the music to be obnoxious. However on second viewing I was better able
> to notice that the truly obnoxious parts of the score seemed to be Lex
> Luthor's theme so maybe that was intentional since his character was
> also obnoxious. Nevertheless, it is actually a pretty good Batman movie.
> Obviously it's *supposed* to be a Superman movie too but I'll take
> what I can get. And I can say without any hesitation that this is a
> better movie than either "Batman and Robin" or "Superman IV the Quest
> for Peace". If that's not a ringing endorsement I don't know what is.

***SOME SPOILERS***

I really don't know why there's all this hate for BATMAN/SUPERMAN. It
was a perfectly decent comic book movie.

Did I walk out raving about how awesome it was? No. But then again, I
didn't with THE AVENGERS, either.

Was I entertained for two hours? Yep.

Was the plot decent? Yep.

Were the SFX top-notch? Yep.

Were the performances decent? Yep, with one exception.

Affleck was actually pretty good as Bruce Wayne/Batman, and I say that
having been very doubtful when I'd heard he'd been cast.

I thought Gal Gadot was a little too petite for Wonder Woman, but
otherwise acceptable.

The movie's big misstep in my opinion was Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor.
Not only does he not physically resemble Luthor in any way (he doesn't
even have Luthor's traditional bald head until the very last scene), but
his performance was *way* off. Luthor is supposed to be a sociopathic
narcissistic genius, like Hannibal Lecter. Suave, but vicious. Charming
but deadly. Eisenberg played him as batshit insane, babbling stream of
consciousness nonsense, giggling inappropriately, hopping around the
room, facial tics, etc. I swear someone gave him the wrong script and he
thought he was playing the Joker, not Luthor.

Also pleased to see Lauren Cohan, looking gorgeous, as Martha Wayne, and
Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan) as Thomas Wayne.

I was also pleasantly surprised and pleased that the Batman/Superman
fight wasn't the whole point the of movie, and that the real nemesis was
Doomsday. The marketing people amazingly kept that out of the trailers.

I also very much liked the universe-building elements in the movie-- the
introduction of the Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg, setting up the Justice
League, the same way Marvel set the stage for the Avengers with the
standalone movies that came before it.

Unlike Marvel, however, it doesn't seem like they're bringing the TV
shows and movies all under one umbrella. With Marvel, if a movie
character (Lady Sif, Nick Fury, etc.) appears on TV-- i.e., AGENTS OF
SHIELD-- they are played by the same actor. Likewise, if a TV character,
say, Melinda May, were to appear in a CAPTAIN AMERICA or THOR or
AVENGERS movie, she'd be played by Ming-Na, not some other actress.

DC doesn't seem to be doing that, since the Flash is not played by Grant
Gustin in this flick, nor will he be playing him in the upcoming JUSTICE
LEAGUE films. (Although you only see him for a few seconds, I was not
pleased with the casting choice for the movie Barry Allen.)

One admittedly minor plot point rankled me throughout the movie--
apparently in this version of the story, Gotham and Metropolis are
literally right next to each other, with only a river separating them.
Something about that just doesn't sit right with me. I've always thought
of Gotham as a surrogate for New York City, and Metropolis as a
surrogate for Chicago-- mainly because it needs to be somewhere in the
midwest in order to be within driving distance of Smallville, Kansas.

[BTR1701]

In article <ndbjbp$7g0$1...@dont-email.me>,

Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:

> BTR1701 <atr...@mac.com> wrote:
> > anim8rfsk <anim...@cox.net> wrote:
> >> Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>
> >>> SUPERMAN 4: THE QUEST FOR PEACE
> >>
> >> The copies of that they were showing are absolutely beautiful, and dear
> >> God is it an amazingly horrid film.
>
> I recall reading an interview with John Cryer who was so embarassed that I
> think he snuck out of the movie premier.
>
> >I had the whole run of SUPERMAN movies on yesterday while I was working
> >around the house, and I'd completely forgotten all the extra powers
> >Superman had back then. He could shoot some kind of energy beam out of
> >his fingers, he could go invisible and instantly teleport himself from
> >place to place, he could use his super-vision to insta-repair destroyed
> >buildings, and he was telekinetic.
>
> I thought some of those were just creative depictions of his super-speed.

No, it clearly shows Superman standing still with beams coming out of
his eyes and the Great Wall of China re-knitting itself back together.

And the finger-laser thing was used against Zod in the Fortress of
Solitude. Again, Superman standing in one place, not moving.

[Adam H. Kerman]

Well, move the mountain.

[Adam H. Kerman]

BTR1701 <atr...@mac.com> wrote:
>Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

>>Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (theatrical) - Caught it a second
>>time. I definitely liked it more this time than the first time. It
>>helped that I had read up on all the Easter eggs and was ready for them.
>>I still don't care much for Lex Luthor's portrayal. And I still found
>>the music to be obnoxious. However on second viewing I was better able
>>to notice that the truly obnoxious parts of the score seemed to be Lex
>>Luthor's theme so maybe that was intentional since his character was
>>also obnoxious. Nevertheless, it is actually a pretty good Batman movie.
>>Obviously it's *supposed* to be a Superman movie too but I'll take
>>what I can get. And I can say without any hesitation that this is a
>>better movie than either "Batman and Robin" or "Superman IV the Quest
>>for Peace". If that's not a ringing endorsement I don't know what is.

>***SOME SPOILERS***

>Were the SFX top-notch? Yep.

This isn't something I usually listen to.

>Were the performances decent? Yep, with one exception.

>Affleck was actually pretty good as Bruce Wayne/Batman, and I say that
>having been very doubtful when I'd heard he'd been cast.

I read one reviewer who said he was surprised by how good he was.

>The movie's big misstep in my opinion was Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor.
>Not only does he not physically resemble Luthor in any way (he doesn't
>even have Luthor's traditional bald head until the very last scene), but
>his performance was *way* off. Luthor is supposed to be a sociopathic
>narcissistic genius, like Hannibal Lecter. Suave, but vicious. Charming
>but deadly. Eisenberg played him as batshit insane, babbling stream of
>consciousness nonsense, giggling inappropriately, hopping around the
>room, facial tics, etc. I swear someone gave him the wrong script and he
>thought he was playing the Joker, not Luthor.

The reviewer said he fidgeted and yammered like Jeremy Davies!

[Dimensional Traveler]

I liked BvS as well. I was pleasantly surprised that all the promos
didn't spoil the entire movie and the real fight was epic IMO. I also
agree with your comments about Eisenberg.

As for how closely tied the Marvel TV shows and movies are, that is
probably because all the movies, Shield and the network Shield is aired
on are all owned by Disney. And even then consider how long its taken
them to fold Spider-Man into the MCU.

DC on the other hand has shows on two different networks and movie
rights for almost all the characters have been bouncing around Hollywood
for decades. Not as easy to pull them all together but I'm sure they're
working on it.

Gotham vs. Metropolis: I thought they were supposed to represent
different aspects of NYC. But then the comics haven't exactly been
consistent about details like what state any of their cities are in.
(This is where Anim chimes in about Smallville's major ocean port in
Kansas. :D )

--
Privacy IS Security

[BTR1701]

In article <ndcqae$fo8$1...@dont-email.me>,

You have a point about the rights, but that wouldn't affect the actors
who play the characters being consistent across film and TV. If they've
managed to secure the rights to the Flash for both mediums, the only
reason the same actor isn't playing the part in both is because DC
chooses to do it that way. There's nothing legally constraining them
from keeping the actor the same.

[anim8rfsk]

In article <ndcqae$fo8$1...@dont-email.me>,
Dimensional Traveler <dtr...@sonic.net> wrote:

Yeah, Metropolis in Kansas was an invention of the SMALLVILLE TV show as
far as I know. The classic depiction is, Metropolis is New York by day,
and Gotham is New York by night. They both have the Statue of Liberty
... But the maps of the DCU tend to put them both close together on the
East Coast. They bounce around between being New York, Delaware, and
some place in New Jersey. I'm not really sure why they want them that
close together; you'd think Superman would just patrol both, at least
during the day.

[Adam H. Kerman]

Maryland is a beautiful state.

[A Friend]

In article <anim8rfsk-2E6E4...@news.easynews.com>,

anim8rfsk <anim...@cox.net> wrote:

> Yeah, Metropolis in Kansas was an invention of the SMALLVILLE TV show as
> far as I know.

Yes, it was.

Smallville was always described as a small town not far from
Metropolis. It was the nearest big city, and both were somewhere in
the East. One early story put them both in Empire State. One of the
Max Fleischers doesn't even try to disguise the fact that Metropolis is
New York; Manhattan is one of the Metropolis boroughs.

You can add to this the early Batman stories that placed him in New
York. One even has Batman operating in Metropolis.

> The classic depiction is, Metropolis is New York by day,
> and Gotham is New York by night.

That's from Frank Miller.

[anim8rfsk]

In article <290320160000280280%no...@noway.com>,

Speaking of which, I'm still struggling to get through DARK KNIGHT 3.

[David Johnston]

Great Lakes port. Because Kansas and Illinois are hard to tell apart.

[David Johnston]

On 3/28/2016 10:00 PM, A Friend wrote:
> In article <anim8rfsk-2E6E4...@news.easynews.com>,
> anim8rfsk <anim...@cox.net> wrote:
>
>> Yeah, Metropolis in Kansas was an invention of the SMALLVILLE TV show as
>> far as I know.
>
> Yes, it was.
>
> Smallville was always described as a small town not far from
> Metropolis.

Smallville was usually described as a midwestern town while Metropolis
was usually an east coast sea port. The Byrne reboot specified Kansas
as Smallville's location and it has always been Kansas since then.

[Your Name]

In article <anim8rfsk-2E6E4...@news.easynews.com>,
anim8rfsk <anim...@cox.net> wrote:

You can't be saying Smallvile made crap up that wasn't even close to
any part of "real" Superman?? Surely you must be kidding? ;-)

[Ubiquitous]

That was intentional. The movie was written in three acts: Krypton, Kansas,
and Metropolis.

>The second film is a little too long and doesn't make much sense in
>places. Worse, the final fate of the three Kryptonian villains is left
>unclear, thanks to poor cutting.

That's because they changed directors/producers in the middle of production.
The Donner version, I think, was the original vision and basically makes the
two movies one large movie with him changing time at the end to prevent Zod et
al from escaping the Twilight Zone.

[Ubiquitous]

In article <atropos-AA77AC...@news.giganews.com>, atr...@mac.com
wrote:

I'd forgotten about that. I was thinking of the part where he
appears to triplicate himself in the Fortress of Solitude.

[Ubiquitous]

atr...@mac.com wrote:
> Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

>> Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (theatrical) - Caught it a second
>> time. I definitely liked it more this time than the first time. It
>> helped that I had read up on all the Easter eggs and was ready for them.
>> I still don't care much for Lex Luthor's portrayal. And I still found
>> the music to be obnoxious. However on second viewing I was better able
>> to notice that the truly obnoxious parts of the score seemed to be Lex
>> Luthor's theme so maybe that was intentional since his character was
>> also obnoxious. Nevertheless, it is actually a pretty good Batman movie.
>> Obviously it's *supposed* to be a Superman movie too but I'll take
>> what I can get. And I can say without any hesitation that this is a
>> better movie than either "Batman and Robin" or "Superman IV the Quest
>> for Peace". If that's not a ringing endorsement I don't know what is.
>
>***SOME SPOILERS***
>
>I really don't know why there's all this hate for BATMAN/SUPERMAN. It
>was a perfectly decent comic book movie.
>
>Did I walk out raving about how awesome it was? No. But then again, I
>didn't with THE AVENGERS, either.

I would be doubting your sanity if you had anything good to say about it.
The weather machine was just stupid.

[David Johnston]

On 3/29/2016 3:09 AM, Ubiquitous wrote:
> atr...@mac.com wrote:
>> Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>
>>> Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (theatrical) - Caught it a second
>>> time. I definitely liked it more this time than the first time. It
>>> helped that I had read up on all the Easter eggs and was ready for them.
>>> I still don't care much for Lex Luthor's portrayal. And I still found
>>> the music to be obnoxious. However on second viewing I was better able
>>> to notice that the truly obnoxious parts of the score seemed to be Lex
>>> Luthor's theme so maybe that was intentional since his character was
>>> also obnoxious. Nevertheless, it is actually a pretty good Batman movie.
>>> Obviously it's *supposed* to be a Superman movie too but I'll take
>>> what I can get. And I can say without any hesitation that this is a
>>> better movie than either "Batman and Robin" or "Superman IV the Quest
>>> for Peace". If that's not a ringing endorsement I don't know what is.
>>
>> ***SOME SPOILERS***
>>
>> I really don't know why there's all this hate for BATMAN/SUPERMAN. It
>> was a perfectly decent comic book movie.
>>
>> Did I walk out raving about how awesome it was? No. But then again, I
>> didn't with THE AVENGERS, either.
>
> I would be doubting your sanity if you had anything good to say about it.
> The weather machine was just stupid.
>

Deliberate misunderstanding is so funny.

[anim8rfsk]

In article <n00jbq$7g0$1...@dont-email.me>,

And rips the \S/ off his chest (and it's still there) and turns it into
a giant cellophane \S/ and throws it at a bad guy where it does ...
absolutely nothing.

[Ubiquitous]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DbTGT03Z40

[BTR1701]

In article <n00u95$hnd$1...@dont-email.me>,

Almost all movies are written in three acts. It's what they teach in
film school.

[anim8rfsk]

In article <atropos-4CA502...@news.giganews.com>,

Act 1: Chase the guy up the tree
Act 2: Throw rocks at him
Act 3: Get the guy down out of the tree

[anim8rfsk]

In article <n004g5$ah9$1...@dont-email.me>,

hee hee

[Dimensional Traveler]

Time. Actors usually are not able to be filming both a TV show and a
movie at the same time. Marvel has been having the movie actors do 1
episode appearances on Shield between movies, and even then it has been
the secondary characters not the leads.

--
Privacy IS Security

[Adam H. Kerman]

David Johnston <Da...@block.net> wrote:
>On 3/28/2016 8:50 PM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
>>On 3/28/2016 6:53 PM, BTR1701 wrote:

>>>Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

>>Gotham vs. Metropolis: I thought they were supposed to represent
>>different aspects of NYC. But then the comics haven't exactly been
>>consistent about details like what state any of their cities are in.
>>(This is where Anim chimes in about Smallville's major ocean port in
>>Kansas. :D )

>Great Lakes port. Because Kansas and Illinois are hard to tell apart.

Wrong, Johnston. I'm not re-watching those Smallville episodes, but that
sure looked like Long Beach to me, a major ocean port. I am aware that
Smallville was a Vancouver production. Perhaps that was the Port of
Vancouver, but I don't recall the famous mountains in the background
and I think it looked way too large to be Vancouver.

There is no way to substitute Long Beach, let alone Vancouver, for a Great
Lakes port. They just don't look like that. The St. Lawrence Seaway, when
it opened, was too small for the largest ocean-going vessels in operation
at the time; they've only gotten bigger. Most Great Lakes freight doesn't
leave the Great Lakes. It's mineral ore from Lake Superior or some bulk
agricultural commodity traffic.

Chicago's large harbor at Lake Calumet is mostly barge traffic. It's
impossible to substitute Long Beach for Lake Calumet Harbor.

This was so absurdly snarkable at the time 'cuz Clark was supposed to be
a Midwestern boy. All the writers had to do was make it a plot point that
Clark had to be at some major ocean-going port that wasn't Metropolis
Kansas. Then they could have used a Pacific Ocean port as a location.

[Adam H. Kerman]

Adam H. Kerman <a...@chinet.com> wrote:

C'mon; that's not an obscure reference.

[anim8rfsk]

In article <nde918$l9u$3...@news.albasani.net>,

"Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:

> David Johnston <Da...@block.net> wrote:
> >On 3/28/2016 8:50 PM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
> >>On 3/28/2016 6:53 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
> >>>Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>
> >>Gotham vs. Metropolis: I thought they were supposed to represent
> >>different aspects of NYC. But then the comics haven't exactly been
> >>consistent about details like what state any of their cities are in.
> >>(This is where Anim chimes in about Smallville's major ocean port in
> >>Kansas. :D )
>
> >Great Lakes port. Because Kansas and Illinois are hard to tell apart.
>
> Wrong, Johnston. I'm not re-watching those Smallville episodes, but that
> sure looked like Long Beach to me, a major ocean port. I am aware that
> Smallville was a Vancouver production. Perhaps that was the Port of
> Vancouver, but I don't recall the famous mountains in the background
> and I think it looked way too large to be Vancouver.

At the time, people here that should have known said it was Vancouver,
and, yes, the seaport of Metropolis, Kansas, was surrounded by
snowcapped mountains.

>
> There is no way to substitute Long Beach, let alone Vancouver, for a Great
> Lakes port. They just don't look like that. The St. Lawrence Seaway, when
> it opened, was too small for the largest ocean-going vessels in operation
> at the time; they've only gotten bigger. Most Great Lakes freight doesn't
> leave the Great Lakes. It's mineral ore from Lake Superior or some bulk
> agricultural commodity traffic.
>
> Chicago's large harbor at Lake Calumet is mostly barge traffic. It's
> impossible to substitute Long Beach for Lake Calumet Harbor.
>
> This was so absurdly snarkable at the time 'cuz Clark was supposed to be
> a Midwestern boy. All the writers had to do was make it a plot point that
> Clark had to be at some major ocean-going port that wasn't Metropolis
> Kansas. Then they could have used a Pacific Ocean port as a location.

[Adam H. Kerman]

anim8rfsk <anim...@cox.net> wrote:
>"Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:
>>David Johnston <Da...@block.net> wrote:
>>>On 3/28/2016 8:50 PM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
>>>>On 3/28/2016 6:53 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
>>>>>Arthur Lipscomb <art...@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

>>>>Gotham vs. Metropolis: I thought they were supposed to represent
>>>>different aspects of NYC. But then the comics haven't exactly been
>>>>consistent about details like what state any of their cities are in.
>>>>(This is where Anim chimes in about Smallville's major ocean port in
>>>>Kansas. :D )

>>>Great Lakes port. Because Kansas and Illinois are hard to tell apart.

>>Wrong, Johnston. I'm not re-watching those Smallville episodes, but that
>>sure looked like Long Beach to me, a major ocean port. I am aware that
>>Smallville was a Vancouver production. Perhaps that was the Port of
>>Vancouver, but I don't recall the famous mountains in the background
>>and I think it looked way too large to be Vancouver.

>At the time, people here that should have known said it was Vancouver,
>and, yes, the seaport of Metropolis, Kansas, was surrounded by
>snowcapped mountains.

Very well. I just wasn't going to rewatch to end my false recollection.

Note that I am retro-snarking Wichita for Kansas City, as the latter is
in Missouri (and Metropolis ain't Kansas City KS).

The main point is that Johnston is wrong to claim that an obviously
ocean port could be substituted for a Great Lakes port. The freight is
just too different, not to mention the lack of ocean containers.

[anim8rfsk]

In article <ndeao3$p4i$4...@news.albasani.net>,

The great sea harbor of Metropolis was lousy with containers, and HUGE
cruise ships. We were laughing about navigating those down the
Mississippi to the Gulf ...

[A Friend]

In article <n00u95$hnd$1...@dont-email.me>, Ubiquitous
<web...@polaris.net> wrote:

It's worse than that. The tone of the Metropolis act is entirely
different from the preceding two. The change is jarring and, really,
not a good thing.

> >The second film is a little too long and doesn't make much sense in
> >places. Worse, the final fate of the three Kryptonian villains is left
> >unclear, thanks to poor cutting.
>
> That's because they changed directors/producers in the middle of production.
> The Donner version, I think, was the original vision and basically makes the
> two movies one large movie with him changing time at the end to prevent Zod et
> al from escaping the Twilight Zone.

The Donner version is much clearer about what Superman is actually
doing to reverse the earthquake and reset everything. The version we
were presented with in 1978 was a complete mess on that score. People
are *still* arguing about whether Superman traveled through time to fix
everything, or if he reversed Earth's rotation, thus somehow running
the disaster backwards *without* reversing time, or maybe reversing
time anyway so the disaster undid itself.

There's no excusing the poor cutting at the end of the second film.
Are the villains dead? We have every reason to think so, but the
fuller cut shows them being led away from the Fortress by the
authorities.

[A Friend]

In article <nde9vp$p4i$2...@news.albasani.net>, Adam H. Kerman

The only thing that occurred to me was "Tahiti is a magical place," so
I'm stuck here.

[A Friend]

In article <ndd56r$9dv$1...@dont-email.me>, David Johnston

<Da...@block.net> wrote:

> On 3/28/2016 10:00 PM, A Friend wrote:
> > In article <anim8rfsk-2E6E4...@news.easynews.com>,
> > anim8rfsk <anim...@cox.net> wrote:
> >
> >> Yeah, Metropolis in Kansas was an invention of the SMALLVILLE TV show as
> >> far as I know.
> >
> > Yes, it was.
> >
> > Smallville was always described as a small town not far from
> > Metropolis.
>
> Smallville was usually described as a midwestern town

It wasn't assigned a region at all; DC liked to keep things vague.
Smallville was a farming community not far from Metropolis which, as
you say, was a East Coast port.

> while Metropolis was usually an east coast sea port. The Byrne
> reboot specified Kansas as Smallville's location and it has always
> been Kansas since then.

Byrne specified Kansas because the 1978 film had already done so. The
film also established the \S/ as an El family symbol, which was
controversial among fans at the time. Before then, the \S/ was
something that Ma and/or Pa Kent had sort of unbelievably whomped up on
their own. (Later stories cited the mysterious influence of some
immortal universal being-thingie.)

[anim8rfsk]

In article <290320161539481714%no...@noway.com>,

Rosie: Maryland's a beautiful state.
Ben: [Looking away] This is Delaware.
Rosie: I know. I was one of the original Chinese workmen who laid the
track on this stretch. But nonetheless, Maryland is a beautiful state.
So is Ohio, for that matter. [Lights her own cigarette.]

[A Friend]

In article <anim8rfsk-EC5A5...@news.easynews.com>,

anim8rfsk <anim...@cox.net> wrote:

> In article <290320161539481714%no...@noway.com>,
> A Friend <no...@noway.com> wrote:
>
> > In article <nde9vp$p4i$2...@news.albasani.net>, Adam H. Kerman
> > <a...@chinet.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Adam H. Kerman <a...@chinet.com> wrote:
> >
> > > >Maryland is a beautiful state.
> > >
> > > C'mon; that's not an obscure reference.
> >
> >
> > The only thing that occurred to me was "Tahiti is a magical place," so
> > I'm stuck here.
>
> Rosie: Maryland's a beautiful state.
> Ben: [Looking away] This is Delaware.
> Rosie: I know. I was one of the original Chinese workmen who laid the
> track on this stretch. But nonetheless, Maryland is a beautiful state.
> So is Ohio, for that matter. [Lights her own cigarette.]

Thanks!

[anim8rfsk]

In article <290320161640129123%no...@noway.com>,

A Friend <no...@noway.com> wrote:

> In article <anim8rfsk-EC5A5...@news.easynews.com>,
> anim8rfsk <anim...@cox.net> wrote:
>
> > In article <290320161539481714%no...@noway.com>,
> > A Friend <no...@noway.com> wrote:
> >
> > > In article <nde9vp$p4i$2...@news.albasani.net>, Adam H. Kerman
> > > <a...@chinet.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Adam H. Kerman <a...@chinet.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > >Maryland is a beautiful state.
> > > >
> > > > C'mon; that's not an obscure reference.
> > >
> > >
> > > The only thing that occurred to me was "Tahiti is a magical place," so
> > > I'm stuck here.
> >
> > Rosie: Maryland's a beautiful state.
> > Ben: [Looking away] This is Delaware.
> > Rosie: I know. I was one of the original Chinese workmen who laid the
> > track on this stretch. But nonetheless, Maryland is a beautiful state.
> > So is Ohio, for that matter. [Lights her own cigarette.]
>
>
> Thanks!

:)

[Ubiquitous]

Did you mean:
Act 3: Man falls out of tree

[anim8rfsk]

In article <n00u96$hnd$1...@dont-email.me>,

No, the action here refers to the writer. If the man falls, that's
still the writer "getting the guy down out of the tree"

[Adam H. Kerman]

anim8rfsk <anim...@cox.net> wrote:

>A Friend <no...@noway.com> wrote:
>>Adam H. Kerman <a...@chinet.com> wrote:
>>>Adam H. Kerman <a...@chinet.com> wrote:

>>>>Maryland is a beautiful state.

>>>C'mon; that's not an obscure reference.

>>The only thing that occurred to me was "Tahiti is a magical place," so
>>I'm stuck here.

>Rosie: Maryland's a beautiful state.
>Ben: [Looking away] This is Delaware.
>Rosie: I know. I was one of the original Chinese workmen who laid the
>track on this stretch. But nonetheless, Maryland is a beautiful state.
>So is Ohio, for that matter. [Lights her own cigarette.]

Yes! The Manchurian Candidate! It was that weird scene (taken intact
from the novel) that Roger Ebert theorized was meant to trigger other
aspects of Marco's indoctrination. They got married soon thereafter.

[anim8rfsk]

In article <ndfdnj$e97$7...@news.albasani.net>,

:)