Mr. Seven

The Green Hornet

Being unfamiliar with the character I must ask; is he meant to be a totally unlikeable prick? Or is that just Seth Rogen being a total asshole? Either way this film absolutely sucked. Waltz was a non-event and there was an odd, flat tone throughout. Jay Chou was fun, that's about it.

Did we all get, 'Hey mate, sorry for being a bit of a knob. I'll be better now, thanks for your support' PMs from him? I told him not to PM me again and he went psycho.

Soap stormed off in amazing fashion.

Nah, he's just on the list of people you just don't like just because, along with ebb. dopper's awesome

By that logic, they're just on the list of people you happen to like. I'm sure you could give reasons as to why you like them, just like I could give reasons as to why I don't. Ohnowaitidon'tlikethemjustbecauseok.

No, he's absolutely not.

Ah he is though. There are many examples which escape me at this moment in time, so I'll go with two notable ones:

1: Taking the trouble to procure a John Cena t-shirt so he could pose standing atop it like some shit crimefighter because JOHN CENA IS TEH SUXX

2: Reading a copy of your book while at a TNA show during a Jeff Jarrett match to illustrate how apathetic he was to Double-J. Witty.

Both Gold sections need serious updating. I sent a bunch of noms into the mods before (can't remember who specifically) and a good few of them got added in. Follow my lead people.

Nah, dopper's a humourless dickhead. Don't be like him.

Also, re: what Ebb just posted: I'd say he did see that coming. I know I did. Just because you have little imagination doesn't mean it's implausible for others to think ahead and realise what they're watching before it's all explained for people like you.

Sorry blud. Are you gonna go see it? I'd be interested in your reaction.

You are aware that there already are about eight spin-offs focusing on that guy, yes?

Might be nice if they create an original idea in the sequel.

See, until that last line, I was thinking, 'Ah, no need to crucify the guy, it's just his opinion', but now? Fuck you.

It's an excellent work. The closing mini-speech at the very end really, really hits me harder every time I hear it.

Not having that. He's great in the right role. Tom Cruise is awesome too.

Gentleman.

What's wrong with Colin Farrell?

Does anyone have a link to a decent mp3 download of Lesnar's theme? I keep getting shitty ones, and yes, I want to strut around like a boss with it in my ears.

The rumour is that Chili Dog has made it unbearable. I can only speak for the time he wouldn't shut the fuck up about his sketch comedy which was, indeed, unbearable.

He has indeed beome awful, but is there not a case to be made for him as one of horror's great directors?

He's decent, yeah. But I find him to be a likeable screen presence in general.

Slightly related: On the subject of Joss Whedon, I quite enjoyed this summing up of his style from another board. I'll say that I think Angel is a really underrated show that evolves brilliantly as it goes along, but - might be wrong on this - pretty sure Whedon was one of many contributors to it than it being his complete baby. Anyways:

Here's my problem with Whedon: his characters are largely just the same voice, that voice being Whedon. The repeated criticism of Diablo Cody's characters all talking in the same heightened quirky way goes double for Whedon; there's not a line out of Buffy's mouth that couldn't also come from Captain Mal.

 

 

 

He also has a stock group of characters that he simply re-fits and re-dresses over and over, which gets annoying when people try to position him as some sort of savant of the written word. Quick, what am I talking about: a group of sassy, reluctant badasses (whether they know it or not) must deal with an external, supernatural/alien threat all while constantly bickering amongst themselves in a witty, sassy manner and pointing out to us, the viewer, how silly all this supernatural/alien stuff is. This is all to highlight how much like a dysfunctional family they are. A female character will demonstrate how strong and independent she is by kicking a dude's butt (or threatening to).

 

 

 

Did I just sum up:

 

 

 

a) Buffy

 

b) Angel

 

c) Firefly/Serenity

 

d) Atlantis: The Lost Empire

 

e) Titan A.E.

 

f) Alien: Ressurection

 

g) Dollhouse (I'm just shooting in the dark on this one; I never watched it)

 

h) all of the above

 

 

 

It works for some people, some don't notice or it doesn't bother them, but it does me. That bother gets compounded by the fandom, which is probably the most irritating aspect of Whedon. Taken on its own, I just don't like 85% of the guy's work (individual episodes of Angel clicked with me; that show was the closest he's come to making his formula fit with me). Taken with the fandom who trumpet him as the best thing to happen to TV in the last twenty years and everything he touches is pure gold and he's the best writer of strong female characters...it's hard not to rail against that tooth and nail. I don't hate Whedon; it's just I find little to like about what he's done so far. Taken as a whole package with the fandom (and it's hard to ignore it completely when Whedon is, at times, so obviously pandering to them), things get harder to take simply as something I don't care for.

Exactly. The biggest problem with Scream is that it got a sequel, let alone three of them. That's the problem with game-changers, especially in the horror genre. If they make money, then prepare to watch your favourite new icon end up on a fucking cereal box. Look at Hellraiser. The first film (and its sequel) are completely and utterly deranged and genuinely unsettling. By the time Hell On Earth rolls around, the previously unsettling Pinhead is a wisecracking twat who was better off being in the background. You can apply that ad nauseum to Halloween, Texas Chain Saw Massacre, A Nightmare On Elm Street and countless others.

Re: Gladders: Don't get me wrong, I'm not holding up Scream as the benchmark for meta-horror and it arguably did indeed do more harm than good, but at the time it was a game-changer and a really clever commentary on Wes Craven's career up to that point. As a standalone horror black comedy in the mid-90's, it stood out for the right reasons. What followed did not. The horror genre isn't in trouble, it doesn't need a massive shot in the arm (American horror arguably does) but if it did, Cabin isn't the film to do so. And from what I've heard, Detention does a much better job in that respect.

I wasn't really aware of the claims of the Cabin In The Woods being something that redefines a genre, or as being a pivotal moment in horror's history. I can see why people would jump to those conclusions, though i'm not convinced it's revolutionary, as it is certainly a more expansive film conceptually than horror has become. I tend to agree with Whedon, he said that it wasn't about redefining a genre or breaking new ground it was about reacting to how narrow the genre has become.

 

Pre-Scream (and before I get Chuckle's angry, I bloody love Scream) you could argue that 'horror' had far much more scope, but post-Scream marketing executives from mainstream cinema studios have sanitised and homogenised a horror genre to fit in with the popular 'teen slasher' model.

 

Either way, I didn't love it because of some deconstruction of genre. I loved it because i've never been so entertained in a cinema. I'm seeing it again tonight.

That's a fair enough take. It is entertaining, but while I don't think it's terribly arrogant in what it does (unlike, say, Hostel or Elephant), I do think there is a definite attempt from the filmmakers to dissect horror genre tropes and provide a commentary on it. Again, I think it stops short of being smug but it is a little bit irritating in how knowing it all is. And again, the archetypes... I mean, the most likeable guy in the film is straight out of a fucking extended Saturday Night Live sketch. It's a credit to the actor and the character that despite coming off like a hyrbrid of Tom Green and DJ Qualls, I still rooted for him.

I like the film, but it left me a little cold. I think there's more in it to tear apart than there is to embrace.

Went to Cabin In The Woods. I enjoyed it for the most part but I don't think it's quite the genius deconstruction of the genre that it, and others, seem to think it is. Just because you point out that you're employing archetypes doesn't mean that it's highly intelligent and witty to place them in archetypical situations. Despite pulling back the curtain, it doesn't really do anything original with it. Still, it's fun, the acting is good (Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford especially), there are some good laughs and the final act is worthy just for being as mental and relentlessly nasty as it is. But it's no Scream and doesn't subvert and reinvent the genre like that did 16 years ago.

Fuck. Scream is sixteen years old. That's depressing.