Almighty Rod

Coffee and Cigarettes

 

A series of short stories where people sit and drink coffee and smoke cigarettes. It's hit and miss, but generally very funny. The best scenes:

- Iggy Pop and Tom Waits

- Cate Blanchett and Cate Blanchett playing her non-famous cousin (Blanchett is awesomely hot as a bogan, great acting too)

- Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan

- GZA, RZA and Bill Murray

 

It's worth watching, but is not for everyone.

As said over on TWCF, I agree with you. I really enjoyed it myself but it has to be said that Iggy Pop and Tom Waits steal the show.

Does Knightfall get a negative reaction? Azrael as Batman is a horrible idea, but it was always going to be temporary and, really, was just the DC editors showing those tedious fans who always want Batman to kill people how much damage it would do to the concept. So in a way (Taking into account how shit and contemporary the AzBat costume is as well) it's a massive fuck you to 90s Superhero comics, therefore awesome. And the story itself is written by some fantastic creators in part (Grant, Moench, O'Neil) with loads of gorgeous Jim Aparo artwork. So yeah, all the stuff up to Wayne getting his back broken is great, the stuff with Valley in the big chair is sometimes crap, but for a reason, and it ends OK.

 

Of course, they followed it up with Prodigal, which is atrocious.

Apparently so. I don't frequent many comic/graphic novel discussion sites or whatever but my friend apparently does and he commented on it before I bought part one. I think that parts one and two are brilliant, it's just the first half of part three was so bad it almost ruined the first two. There's also this huge time jump where Bruce is suddenly able to walk and has been training and such. If they're gonna sell Knightsend as Knightfall Part 3 they should at least add in some of what happened since part two.

That being said, the third one is picking up slightly at the moment. Catwoman and Nightwing are annoying as hell though.

I've always wondered why Knightfall seems to get a negative reception online. Halfway through reading the final part, Knightsend, I can see exactly why. This end novel is just awful!

The ending really hurts Unbreakable, but apparently the sequel has FINALLY been confirmed so hopefully he doesn't fuck that up as badly as his most recent film attempts.

I just finished reading Knightfall parts 1 and 2 so I have a hankering for some other unique Batman graphic novels if anyone could recommend any? Ignoring the obvious Frank Miller books.

The Spirit

Very disappointing overall. The guy who played The Spirit was great and Samuel L. Jackson had some moments, but even that couldn't save the disjointed and strange flow of the film. Some of the attempts at humour were cringeworthy and at times it seemed to go slightly in the right direction of being a cheesy cartoonish action flick, but it seemed to take itself too seriously at other points. However Scarlett Johansson was smoking hot!

I'll watch it again and give it another go but it just wasn't as good as it ought to have been. If you'd never seen a Batman film before you might like it but most people have and we know who Two Face and the Joker are so they needed to have thought about continuity from the last films. You can always bring back the villains whatever happens.

 

Yeah but they're not sequels to the Burton/Schumacher movies so there isn't supposed to be any continuity from them, only from Batman Begins. And from my personal experiences everyone I spoke to about the movie didn't know who the character Harvey Dent was and who he was going to become before they saw the movie. Most people seem to have thankfully forgotton that piece of shit Batman Forever.

 

And according to your logic if they were going to use contunuity from the last films how would Joker even be in The Dark Knight...he fucking died in the first movie!

Now now, I shall not have a bad word about Batman Forever. It is clearly the greatest Batman film ever made.

I just watched Don't Look Now and it still leaves me feeling very unsettled. Still a great film though.

Beer Money Inc.

Miz and Morrison

Jesse and Festus

The Brian Kendrick and Ezekial, if they count.

Priceless/The Legacy

Jeff Hardy

AJ Styles

Shawn Michaels

Triple H

Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels

Miz and Morrison vs. Jesse and Festus

Randy Orton pissing everyone off

William Regal being the GM from hell (including the entire Raw based around him vs. Orton...that was this year right?)

WWE No Mercy

WWE Wrestlemania 24

WWE Great American Bash

WWE Night Of Champions

Randy Orton

The Brian Kendrick

Chris Jericho

Randy Orton

Chris Jericho

Shelton Benjamin

Matt Hardy

The Brian Kendrick

Kevin Nash

Booker T

Umaga vs. Jeff Hardy from Raw in January

Undertaker vs. Jeff Hardy from Smackdown a few weeks ago

MITB at WM24

Big Show vs. The Undertaker at No Mercy

Smackdown Scramble at Unforgiven

Matt Hardy vs. Edge from Smackdown the other week

Matt Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin at Great American Bash (I think)

Vladimir Koslov

Dolph Ziggler

Ted DiBiase Jr

Manu

Kizarny

Would THE Brian Kendrick count?

Anything with Santino, Miz/Morrison/Festus or a Mexican mariachi band.

Edit - Forgot Miz/Morrison's rap against Cryme Time.

Edit 2 - And TNA Impact failing miserably within the first week of release.

Edit 3 - And Orton punting Batista. And Kendrick winning the WWE title in the scramble. And Jericho winning the title at Unforgiven.

Ricky Ortiz

Braden Walker

Sonjay Dutt

Michelle McCool

Candice Michelle

I'd like to say it was the usual over-hyped Kubrick mess

 

Which Kubrick films in particular are you referring to here? I'm not looking to string you up, I've only watched a couple of Kubrick films myself. I was just curious.

In particular it's A Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Oddessy. Full Metal Jacket is good during the training scenes, but ends up falling apart as a whole. I can barely remember Eyes Wide Shut but I think that was another one.

 

I quite like Spartacus and Dr. Strangelove though.

 

I watched A Clockwork Orange in my early teens, so can't really remember it. I remember thinking it was a bit weird. I will watch it again at some point.

 

Full Metal Jacket is one of my favourite films however. I always view it as 2 mini films, and admit the first part is the better/stronger part. But I still enjoy the whole film and think the second part is better than some war films.

I do think that maybe some of Kubrick's work will be more appreciated on multiple viewings, but I really can't bring myself to sit through A Clockwork Orange again. May give Full Metal Jacket another whirl though.

Full Metal Jacket and A Clockwork Orange work for me, Full Metal Jacket starts with totalitarian control and then switches to anarchy while the opposite is true of A Clockwork Orange.

 

I have to be honest though, I can accept the accusation that Kubrick films are boring and plodding but to suggest that they are nothing but totally controlled in their direction, I think that's what you meant by the 'Kubrick mess' term, is patently absurd.

Mess may have been the wrong word, I just used it as a substitute for "rubbish" or whatnot.

I'd like to say it was the usual over-hyped Kubrick mess

 

Which Kubrick films in particular are you referring to here? I'm not looking to string you up, I've only watched a couple of Kubrick films myself. I was just curious.

In particular it's A Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Oddessy. Full Metal Jacket is good during the training scenes, but ends up falling apart as a whole. I can barely remember Eyes Wide Shut but I think that was another one.

 

I quite like Spartacus and Dr. Strangelove though.

 

I watched A Clockwork Orange in my early teens, so can't really remember it. I remember thinking it was a bit weird. I will watch it again at some point.

 

Full Metal Jacket is one of my favourite films however. I always view it as 2 mini films, and admit the first part is the better/stronger part. But I still enjoy the whole film and think the second part is better than some war films.

I do think that maybe some of Kubrick's work will be more appreciated on multiple viewings, but I really can't bring myself to sit through A Clockwork Orange again. May give Full Metal Jacket another whirl though.

I'd like to say it was the usual over-hyped Kubrick mess

 

Which Kubrick films in particular are you referring to here? I'm not looking to string you up, I've only watched a couple of Kubrick films myself. I was just curious.

In particular it's A Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Oddessy. Full Metal Jacket is good during the training scenes, but ends up falling apart as a whole. I can barely remember Eyes Wide Shut but I think that was another one.

I quite like Spartacus and Dr. Strangelove though.

Jack Nicholson looked "completely and utterly insane" from the very beginning though.

Hence the "You've always been the caretaker" line. Also, Rod, see if you can watch the documentary made by Kubrick's daughter, it sheds a bit of light on why Shelly Duvall was the way she was.

Actually...yeah that kinda makes a bit more sense now. That whole aspect where he's in the photo and that did confuse me a bit. My point still stands on the comedy aspect though.

I'll get around to that and let you know how it influences my opinion

The Shining

I'm not sure whether the amount of references I've seen have watered it down, but the film was average at best. I'd like to say it was the usual over-hyped Kubrick mess but it was just slightly more enjoyable. The main problem was that while the child actor was doing the scared act very well (making a lot of his scenes genuinely creepy), Jack Nicholson was so over the top that the majority of the film came across as a black comedy rather than a horror.

 

But that was the whole point, the character of Jack goes completely and utterly insane. Jack Nicholson played the role to perfection. If you want a toned down (but closer to the book storyline-wise) version check out the TV mini series version.

Jack Nicholson looked "completely and utterly insane" from the very beginning though. There was not one point throughout the film that Jack Nicholson seemed normal. Plus his "transformation" or whatever happens so quickly that I find the whole argument of getting to watch a regular guy turn insane laughable. And was the point of it REALLY to be a black comedy? No, or else it wouldn't be hyped up as one of the scariest films of all time. I just feel that both Nicholson and Duvall were very poor choices.

The mini-series DOES sound way better than the film, I'll have to check it out.

Question for the Dark Knight fans. Gordon says at the end that Harvey killed five people. I count the bald cop, the amazing Eric Roberts and his driver and uh, that's it. Are they including Dent himself as one of the five people killed? If so, that makes four... who am I missing?

Heath Ledger?

Anyway to actually contribute:

The Shining

I'm not sure whether the amount of references I've seen have watered it down, but the film was average at best. I'd like to say it was the usual over-hyped Kubrick mess but it was just slightly more enjoyable. The main problem was that while the child actor was doing the scared act very well (making a lot of his scenes genuinely creepy), Jack Nicholson was so over the top that the majority of the film came across as a black comedy rather than a horror. All the ghost scenes are hysterical. The bit where he axes the black guy? I had to pause the DVD because I was laughing so hard. Shelly Duvall is also waaaaay over the top to the extent that I just want her to die in the end. Also did they have to cast someone so ugly?

I'm Not There

Had I known what I was getting myself into (the film's more Velvet Goldmine than Walk The Line) and had a bit more insight into Bob Dylan then I think I would've appreciated this more. It's very arsty and if you don't have the patience to stick with something like that then this isn't the film for you. It had its moments, and a great cast with some solid performances, but it's a bit of a let down. Maybe I'll learn to appreciate it more over time, I guess. Still, worth watching for the techniques used, it's a very unique film.

The Omen (2006)

Good god it's dreadful. Really really really bad. Everything about the film is just so awful. I can't go into anymore details...if anyone needs me I'll be in the angry dome!

Watched Dark Knight again for the first time since the cinema. I still have all the same issues with it that I had before. It is a really good film, but it falls way short of greatness. I found Joker a lot less interesting this time around too. The performance of the film, by a fucking mile, is Aaron Eckhart. I'm praying all this "Harvey Dent is dead" soundbites from the Nolans is just a clever trick to keep the return of Two Face a surprise for the next film, otherwise it's going to suck.

Thank you for being like the only person to agree with me about Eckhart, Seven. I swear when I mention that I thought he stood out more than Heath I get looked at as if I just clubbed a seal.

Mind you, the Two Face character is all sorts of legendary.

I think Kev's just trying to distance himself and prove he can work outside the View Askeewniverse and still be successful.

But yeah, I'd like another Mallrats or Chasing Amy tbh.