A frolic in Cambodia

[greatwhitenorthchick]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
I saw "Ice Age" for the 76th, 77th and 78th times. Santa may abscond with that DVD when he visits later this month.

Whenever my sister is sick of a dvd, she tells her kids that she sent it to me because I really wanted to see it. Apparently her kids buy that because they feel like I shouldn't be deprived of such an experience. You could try that kind of trick instead of making Santa out to be a thief.

[SlaveNoMore]

Tyrone Slothrop
I saw "Ice Age" for the 76th, 77th and 78th times. Santa may abscond with that DVD when he visits later this month.

I made it through the first 2 hours of "Heaven's Gate" - barely.

Then even I - having waited years to finally sit down and watch this despised/loved/misunderstood ego-trip film for myself - had to turn the fucker off.

Superb cinematography alone can often carry a bad film. Not a 4 hour one.


"Chronicles of Riddick" was a hell of lot better than I expected.

[Alex_de_Large]

Target has the answer.

spree: link to item on Target.com

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Bad_Rich_Chic
Incidentally, I also saw Galaxy Quest this weekend

We found ourselves watching that movie Friday night solely because of the aforementioned Alan Rickman. Then we came to our senses and went to bed.

[Alex_de_Large]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
"Chronicles of Riddick" was a hell of lot better than I expected.

I agree. "Pitch Black" rocked, but I expected Chronicles to really suck. Though it was nowhere near as good as PB, Chronicles held its own rather well.

[dtb]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
Huh. If you could go back and do it all over again, would you teach your kids that DVDs can only be rented and watched once per rental?

Not if the movie is "Elf". I laughed so hard when I saw that movie yesterday, I could barely breathe. Thinking about it later, it was still hilarious.

Then again, back in the day (it may have even been the original Yahoo board...), I recommended "Kingpin" as a very funny movie, and let's just say it didn't exactly receive unadulterated plaudits from the viewers.

(Abomination seen not five minutes ago: its'. I need smelling salts.)

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by ThurgreedMarshall
Okay, what is this?

I've heard of it. I've never read it and don't even know what it's about. Someone explain it to me and then tell me why I should read it.

There was a group in college that swore by it, but since they called themselves "Druids" and met in the woods late at night and wore cloaks all the time (and were otherwise completely fucking paigow), I didn't take an interest in it.

Somebody break it down.

TM

Well, anything's gonna sound stupid when you say it with that attitude.

I'll leave the breakdown for RT, et al. I read it years ago and thought it was great stuff, but have managed to forget most of it since.

The druids are weird fuckers, I agree, but reading too much into them is kinda like deciding not to watch the Matrix because of running into the twits wandering around in black leather talking incessantly about how cool the Wachowski Bros are.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by ThurgreedMarshall
Okay, what is this?

I've heard of it. I've never read it and don't even know what it's about. Someone explain it to me and then tell me why I should read it.

There was a group in college that swore by it, but since they called themselves "Druids" and met in the woods late at night and wore cloaks all the time (and were otherwise completely fucking paigow), I didn't take an interest in it.

Somebody break it down.

TM

I read it for the first time in summer camp when I was 14 or 15 years old. It's probably the definitive British sci-fi parody out there. (Terry Pratchett takes the fantasy genre and does the same thing with it, though his Discworld series has turned into a massive undertaking. And if you're going to explore Terry Pratchett start with Good Omens (jointly written with Niel Gaiman), and then just pick up any Discworld novel and have fun.)

The geeks generally LOVE Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, partially because it makes fun of them but mainly because it's so damned funny. The basic plot is that, due to some screw ups in the intergalactic planning office, Earth is destroyed in order to put in a new superhighway. Arthur Dent, a hapless Brit, happens to be friends with Ford Prefect, who is really a researcher for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. HG2G2 is sort of a travel guide/ worst case scenario handbook/almanac with all sorts of useful information with a nice cover that says "Don't Panic" on the front (frankly, it sound a hell of a lot like the internet, though I guess that really wasn't around in 1978.) Ford has been posing as an out-of-work actor while he's been updating Earth's entry (formerly "harmless," now "mostly harmless." Yes, I know it's a sickness that I remember these sorts of details.) Ford gets Arthur off of Earth at the last second, and they wander around the Galaxy trying to figure stuff out in the company of Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ford's cousin and President of the Universe (he has two heads and three arms); Trillian, a human woman who also managed to escape; some mice; and Marvin, a very depressed android.

Originally, the story was a BBC radio cast, then the novel, then a BBC TV show and now a movie. Apparently each version changed a little bit.

I think it's a damned funny book. There's some hysterical social commentary therein, and the characters are great. (Especially Zaphod and Ford). The geeks are the most likely to pick it up, because it's a sci-fi spoof, but I don't think that you have to be a geek to enjoy it. I probably missed a lot at 14 years-old when I first read it, though I've been looking to try a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster.

You did know I was a geek, right?

ETA: but I'm not at the Dr. Who or Red Planet level of geekdom. I leave that to the professionals.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
Huh. If you could go back and do it all over again, would you teach your kids that DVDs can only be rented and watched once per rental?

I don't mind seeing Thomas the Tank Engine or Finding Nemo over and over and over and over again. Or Wallace & Gromit. Ice Age is peculiarly grating, perhaps. Ray Romano's mammoth I don't mind, but I would remove John Leguizamo's larynx with my bare hands if I meant it never had to hear Sid the sloth again. Oh, the horrors of mechanical reproduction!

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally posted by dtb
I recommended "Kingpin" as a very funny movie, and let's just say it didn't exactly receive unadulterated plaudits from the viewers.

While Kingpin as a movie is average, everything Bill Murray does/says in the final bowling scene is priceless. The look(s) on his face, his unbelievably funny hair, "the Big Ern is finally above the law," etc....

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick
Whenever my sister is sick of a dvd, she tells her kids that she sent it to me because I really wanted to see it. Apparently her kids buy that because they feel like I shouldn't be deprived of such an experience. You could try that kind of trick instead of making Santa out to be a thief.

Having introduced the idea this year that Santa would like port left out along with the cookies, I think we will not also make him a thief. Perhaps Ice Age will simply disappear in the Xmas tumult.

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally posted by Gattigap
The druids are weird fuckers, I agree, but reading too much into them is kinda like deciding not to watch the Matrix because of running into the twits wandering around in black leather talking incessantly about how cool the Wachowski Bros are.

Your school's druids must be different from my school's druids.

TM

[SlaveNoMore]

Tyrone Slothrop
Having introduced the idea this year that Santa would like port left out along with the cookies, I think we will not also make him a thief. Perhaps Ice Age will simply disappear in the Xmas tumult.

Stick "Swingers" or "Animal House" in the DVD case.

This way, after they've watched it 98 times or so, they'll be at least 5-6 viewings up on all of their other friends once they get to college.

[evenodds]

I reread Hitchhiker's Guide a couple of months ago. I was trying to read it aloud to the OM, since he had never read it, but I couldn't stop laughing. For some reason, he found that irritating.

Howdy, y'all. What did I miss?

[andViolins]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Hitchhiker's recap

You forgot the towel.

aV