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[what must soon take place]

I am getting flash backs here to my Northern Irish protestant upbringing filled with Hal Lindsay's takes on Revelation, implanted micro-chips and war against the soviet union.
Revelation is a strange book. There is a very good chance that it wasn't aspiring to be prophetical in any futurist sense at all with its application directed entirely elsewhere.

Hal Lindsey is likely totally correct in his interpretation of some eschatological matters, but that's another story... onto the main event, to quote verbatim (NIV);

The Revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

So exactly which part of the above doesn't "aspire to be prophetical in any futurist sense", Prodigal dude?  I love ya dearly and the back-and-forth we've had over time, but if you don't mind me saying so, I sometimes wonder why you even bother calling yourself a Christian at all... do you believe the Bible is inerrant, infallible, and divinely inspired?  If not, you're not a Christian, period... the others on this forum I'd expect the usual nonsense from - the blind leading the stupid basically - but you always were a voice of sanity and reason even though I strongly but respectfully disagree with you on many matters, political and spiritual, if you call yourself by someone's name, it's reasonable to believe in that person's doctrine, no?

God bless you Prodigal my friend, I hope our paths cross one day, and to everyone else here, well... whatever, haha, see y'all in the funny pages...

The sooner we all have our DNA taken at birth and a mirco chip inserted into us the better

Who says that day is far away - http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/cebit-quarter-of-germans-happy-to-have-chip-implants-5590 - it always begins with "the public good" being served until it doesn't, but by then it will be too late!  Of course, an elderly Jew on the isle of Patmos prophesied all this back in 95-96 A.D. so we shouldn't be too surprised... funny how a book many consider to be obsolete and outdated can both keep up with and predict current events so accurately!

I think Reverend Tim Lovejoy put it best; "IT'S IN REVELATION(S), PEOPLE!!!"

"Hear the words I sing,
War's a horrid thing,
So I sing sing sing...ding-a-ling-a-ling."
                                           
                                         Pvt. S. Baldrick



Words of wisdom indeed... 'nuff said.

This is how all quagmires begin... the road to Hades is littered with endless good intentions!  World War I was a mistake, the Suez Canal crisis was a mistake, Vietnam was a mistake, Iraq was a mistake, and getting involved in a bloody civil war in the Middle East that has already far-reaching repercussions... well, what could POSSIBLY go wrong there!?

If you're going to send brave young men and women (let's not forget the ladieesss!) to fight, to bleed, to push a button, or even to die, there needs to be three main and very clear objectives;

1)  The reason for intervention, and why and/or how it affects our territorial sovereignty and/or national security.

2)  The objectives of intervention and a clear exit strategy under variable and differing circumstances.

3)  That our armed forces are properly and sufficiently equipped and prepared for all conditions, circumstances, and scenarios as much as can be predicted.

Anyone think Obumma and 'Dave' have met or will meet these conditions...?



*** sound of chirping crickets***



Argument over.  Sorry Syrian rebel dudes, you're on your own...

I think it's pretty heavily implied Gandalf (like Alan Moore) knows or at least suspects the score and he explicitly states that he does not want Smaug to side with the enemy.

You're right about that Joe, Gandalf clearly suspects something sinister is afoot in the supposedly-abandoned old fortress by Mirkwood... but only after Radaghast draws his attention to it, and certainly after the latter wizard shows the Nazgul blade recovered during an encounter in that ruined fortress.  But I don't think at this stage, he's aware or even suspicious that it's [spoiler]a re-emergent Sauron[/spoiler], at least on a conscious level.

That teaser trailer is a thing of beauty, yes the digital imagery is more noticeable and prominent inn this adaptation, but a good story is a good story, and The Hobbit  is an exceptional and enduring story, so I'm hoping for the best on this one...

[specifically]

The white council subplot comes from one of the appendixes of Lotro where Gandalf explains that his reason for taking part in the Dwarves quest was to ensure that Smaug was out of the picture so Sauron couldn't ally with him.

Was that specifically mentioned in the Return of the King appendices, I don't remember reading that particular point in there?

As I recall, that was written by Tolkien after the fact, in fact, quite long after the fact; The Hobbit was published in the 1930's but that particular line from Gandalf didn't appear in print until Tolkien's posthumously published Unfinished Tales in 1980... but if I'm wrong I stand corrected!  This could also explain why in the new film adaptation Gandalf clearly does not yet know that [spoiler]the Necromancer is a re-emergent Sauron[/spoiler], something he will obviously discover at a later point.  Peter Jackson and co will not and indeed CANNOT use this plot point because they don't have the rights to the aforementioned Unfinished Tales, and considering what a crotchety old git Tolkien's son Christopher is (he virtually disowned his own son for giving the thumbs-up to Jackson's adaptation), the chances are between zero and absolute zero they would be granted these rights had they pursued them, meaning they can't use Gandalf's aforementioned tactic in the new films short of a (further) lawsuit from the Tolkien estate.

Despite being a good 20 minutes too long, I've come to enjoy An Unexpected Journey a lot more than on my first viewing, and I'm looking forward to The Desolation of Smaug a great deal considering the material they have to work with on this one... and I too think this one will end with [spoiler]the showdown with the aforementioned Smaug over Lake Town [/spoiler]which is both a logical and suitably climactic point to end the upcoming second installment, and leading nicely into There and Back Again (the third and final installment) wherein the emotional, personal, and political aftermath of that climactic event will be the main driving narrative, leading up to the [spoiler]Battle of Five Armies[/spoiler] and most probably the [spoiler]siege of Dol Guldor[/spoiler]... in other words, still a lot to look forward to!

You must be hawking those old screenplays for Shoreline Entertainment :

Ha ha, I knew I'd heard it before somewhere, cheers Joe dude, but I think there's a blog with that name as well, must have been hovering in the back of my memory somewhere, still though, it's a pretty good name for a Dredd sequel... or would a sequel have to have a title with a variation or spin on the titular character's name?

There's no way they'll EVER get remotely close to $60m for the sequel, if it ever happened, that number was quoted by Alex Garland of which was needed to go the epic treatment, but a more stripped-down and lean Dredd sequel without Chopper, Satanus, the whole Origins backstory, etc, and without 3-D could be done for around $40m... it might be bloody tight but it could be done!

I'm personally not a great fan of the Cursed Earth storylines, never found them particularly interesting, the Big Meg always was the focal point of any of the best JD storylines, whether they be epic or one-shot, but it would make sense from a narrative perspective in regards any sequel to expand Dredd's world to explore the wastelands outside the boundary walls of the city...

... oops, meant 28 Weeks Later  there, ...Days... was obviously Sir Daniel of Boyle, and after THAT Olympics opening ceremony, keep 'im the hell away from Dredd, 'nuff said.

We all know the right title for a sequel

If there is to be a second one (and we all hope and/or pray there will), it should be titled Dredd Reckoning and go with the Cursed Earth story angle (and no bloody 3-D this time!), that way it could be done for about $40m... you have Cape Town and Jo'Burg for the scenes set in the Big Meg and the neighboring desert wastelands of Namibia for the Cursed Earth scenes, plus a return to the hallowed soundstages of Cape Town Studios for the set-based work!

Once Mr Garland is finished on Ex Machina, get going on the Dredd sequel... with the guy who directed 28 Days Later in the director's chair this time!

I too watched it that week of the Olympics, although I disagree that it's what you said it was, was it the sequel mini-series you were watching, V: The Final Battle, in which case I would partly agree with your assessment, it's clearly inferior to the original eponymous two-part mini-series, which remains for me one of the very best sci-fi allegorical dramas of recent years (flaws notwithstanding).  V's creator/writer/director Kenneth Johnson left the sequel mini-series early in it's development (after mapping out the basic story outline) because Warner Bros were being overly tight with the budget and wouldn't give Johnson the money to do it right... hence why he walked rather than make a compromised version! 

And I agree about Michael Ironside being a real highlight of The Final Battle, but it's still a pity that Kenneth Johnson didn't get the requisite budget to remain on his creation, it clearly would have been better than how it turned out (which is still pretty good), and more akin in style and tone to the original mini-series - darker and more somber - but that still doesn't detract from just how good a piece of sci-fi drama the two-part original was and still is.

Lastly, if you want a great new series, grab the Season One box set of Person of Interest, hands down the best thing on telly right now... and proof you don't need either bloody violence, excessive profanity, or overt sexual content to pull off a first-rate drama.

I did notice the grainy noise in several scenes in the cinema - I assumed that it was an effect of the 3D camera. I'm disappointed to see it transferred onto the Blu-Ray version as well. 

Having just watched Skyfall  on DVD - for the record, an insanely great Bond movie, the best yet hands down, how they'll top this is anyone's guess - the fact it was shot entirely on digital cameras (the lovely Arri Alexa) did not escape my notice, it looks absolutely gorgeous with no hint of grain... so if Dredd was also shot digitally, what's with the (at times) appalling picture quality; excessive grain, ghosting, etc!?

Joe dude, you know a thing or two about film production, care to set me straight on this one...?

Those dreadful old 1980s sci-fi shows weren't all bad: I liked the synth score on V: The Series, and the opening episode where the little girl goes off to die in a cave and the snakes all gather around her corpse while "she's changing... BUT INTO WHAT?" and a green light pulses and creeptastic music plays was a commendable attempt on the makers' part at shitting the audience up the same way that lizard baby crawling out of a lady's womb under its own power did in the miniseries, but sadly there was just too much outright shite in the series as it tried too hard to be sci-fi rather than a drama about Nazis in control of America.

Pretty much spot-on as to why V was largely a one-off deal for me, or should have been anyway; it was a social-political allegory exploring how the typical Americana community would react in varying ways in the event of a totalitarian takeover, it didn't even begin as an alien invasion drama, the villains were 100% human fascists, but NBC thought it needed more pizazz and suggested making them aliens... an inspired suggestion as it turned out, as that first scene when Marc Singer rips off the Visitor's face mask and you get a good look at what really  lurks underneath remains one of the very best scenes of modern sci-fi drama.  That first mini-series ends perfectly; all the principal characters have chosen sides in the new regime (whether it be co-operation or resistance), and although the humans have won the first skirmish the war continues, there was nothing more to say after that... it was never about defeating the alien invasion and liberating Earth, it was always a character piece about how people react to fascism and whether they accept or rebel against it!

[Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland]

I blame that fucker Cromwell, things would be a whole lot better without him in power.

As a long-time student of history, I respectfully disagree with that assessment of Oliver Cromwell's legacy.  It's precisely because  Cromwell wouldn't accept the Crown and become King Oliver I that many problems in the post-monarchy English state began, simply put, having dispatched one royal tyrant, they had no idea what to replace him with, leading to Cromwell nearly becoming a bit of a tyrant himself... and look where that led, right back to where they began with Charles Stuart's son back on the throne.

If Cromwell had accepted the Crown, ruled with both the necessary and absolute consent of both the House of Commons and Lords in all constitutional and governing matters, and had a written Constitution drawn up to effectively codify the political settlement across all three kingdoms of the new Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland - all of which was proposed and had support across most political lines of the day - history would have been very different, and for the better in my opinion...

The elections here are largely a pointless sectarian head count. The main problem for me is the parties represent either the British or the Irish, and none of them seem to give a shit about the Northern Irish, the people that actually live here. I consider myself neither British nor Irish. I'm Northern Irish.  I don't have any problems with British or Irish people, but if'n they're going to live in my country, they had best learn to behave themselves.The British/Protestant/Unionist/Loyalist community and the Irish/Catholic/Nationalist/Republican community don't seem to realize they have more in common with each other than they do with anyone across the Irish sea or south of the border.

Which is what I've been saying both here and elsewhere for years now!  Every constitutional debate in this place always seems to come down to an either-or, United Kingdom or United Ireland choice, and I NEVER hear a third choice in the mix, a very obvious and workable and indeed feasible third choice exists; an independent Northern Ireland under the Crown (either as an Overseas Territory at least or as an outright Dominion territory at most), with a written Constitution, a proper bicameral Parliament, a Governor (or Governor General if a Dominion state), a normal Left/Right political landscape, a singular national identity (Northern Irish) with accompanying passport, a national flag (the St Patrick saltire), and a national seal (the Maid of Erin harp motif currently on the Royal Standard).  And don't give me any nonsense that an independent Northern Ireland couldn't afford itself, like any small country we would cut our suit to suit our cloth, have competitive tax rates, and not have an obscenely bloated public sector, have strict welfare means tests, and a tight rein on public spending and/or borrowing... the myopia among politicians and intellectual talking heads will be the real undoing of Norn Iron's potential, not sectarianism or social division!

As for a preemptive US invasion; forget it.

That and because the last one was such a roaring success.  Oh wait...