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Topics - TordelBack

#61
Film & TV / The Departed
11 October, 2009, 12:01:29 AM
Okay, I'm late to the party as usual, but The Departed was on Film 4 tonight... Cor blimey, I enjoyed that!   The[spoiler] rat on the balcony at the end might have been a misstep, and i did spend the last 15mins waiting for Marky Mark to put in his inevitable appearance[/spoiler], but otherwise, great stuff.

And now the repeat of TV Burp is on!  It's not often I have reason to be this thankful for TV.
#62
General / The end of TB Grover
24 August, 2009, 10:11:54 AM
Happily working my way through the Casefiles, and near the start of Volume 10 something caught my eye.  'Attack of the 50ft Woman' (Prog 492) appears to be the last strip under the pseudononymous T.B. Grover byline.  The following story 'The Dead Ringer' (Prog 493) features Wagner/Grant in the credit box instead.

What caught my interest was the nature of the Dead Ringer story itself:  a tale of two very different men, turned into one 'new' person by nefarious bodysnatching surgery, finally separated back into their constituent parts by Dredd.  Metatextual shenanigans like that are one of the things I love about 2000AD.
#63
Off Topic / Whatever happened to Andrew Rilstone?
22 July, 2009, 07:19:57 PM
Anyone know?  I find I miss his blog quite a bit, although I didn't agree with him a lot of the time he's a very funny, and erudite, man.
#64
Film & TV / Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
20 July, 2009, 12:04:32 PM
Declaration of Interest:  I am a Potter fan, and Half Blood Prince is probably my favourite of the books.

Bottom line:  Enjoyed watching it, but  felt dissatisfied by it as a movie.

Can't trust the spoiler tags these days, so SEVERE SPOILERS FOLLOW:


SPOILERS FOLLOW


SPOILERS FOLLOW


SPOILERS FOLLOW


Hmmm.  An odd installment.  Most of what makes it to the screen from the book is very well done indeed, but unfortunately many of the best bits don't.  Additional scenes take up time at the expense of unfortunate omissions, and those omissions undermine the point of the rather clever plot.  

For example, the film spends a great deal of time following Malfoy in his efforts to fix the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement. However, when he finally succeeds in creating this secret access into the school, the Death Eaters just stroll on through, have a chat, break some windows and leave again by another route, making it all rather pointless.  

Similarly, chief werewolf Fenrir Grayback shows up in superbly scary makeup, hangs around in a few scenes and leaves.  Because the Bill Weasley and Fleur subplot has been jettisoned, and no mention is made of his relationship with Lupin, his presence is a complete waste - he doesn't even get to turn into a wolf, which is surely a breach of contract.   Leaving Bill and Fleur out of it not only leaves Fenrir (and Mrs. Weasely) nothing to do, it also deprives the movie of the book's much-needed bittersweet ending.  Add to that the lack of a climactic battle for Dumbledore's Army, and the omission of a gala funeral for Dumbledore himself and the end couldn't be any more downbeat.  

Other omissions were more sensible - cutting down time given to the origins of Voldemort, barely referring to Sirius' death - kept things moving.  On the other hand, when a movie has it in the title, even two seconds on why Snape calls himself 'the Half Blood Prince' would have been welcome.

I don't expect books to translate to screen without huge compromise and invention, but I do expect the key points to survive, or at least the result to make sense of what it presents.  This doesn't really manage that, and I wonder what someone who wasn't familiar with the book would make of it at all.

My other main problem with it:  aside from two scenes (the underground lake, and Fred and George's shop) there's no new visuals at all - everything looks as it did before, indeed we're almost back to dull Chamber of Secrets territory, which is shame.

There is however a lot to enjoy.  Jim Broadbent's Slughorn (while looking and sounding nothing like I imagined him) is a great creation, and he and his Slug Club gets a satisfying amount if screen time.  The treatment of Draco Malfoy is  a bit of a revelation, his actor's otherwise-incongruous maturity being used to great effect to turn him into a haggard and rather sympathetic loner.  

There's a very wise focus on the familiar boarding-school antics of Hogwarts, since this is the last time we'll see the school in anything resembling its normal state.  It's just shame the visual design of the school seems so stale at this point.  On the other hand, the corpse of Aragog is a wonderful model (although I'd have liked some indication that he was ailing, and maybe a reminder of who he was).

Daniel Radcliffe has actually become a pretty likeable actor, and the relationships of the three principals work well, even if the various rival love interests (other than the solidly understated Ginny) are played as walk-ons from a Carry On movie.  The humour is simple, but generally works.  

Michael Gambon gives a really great last hurrah as Dumbledore, and the almost unbearable scene at the lake is carried off brilliantly, even if it borrows too much visually from Gollum and the Dead Marshes.

Maybe it'll all make more sense as the first installment of the Horcrux Trilogy.


#65
Film & TV / Ice Age 3
12 July, 2009, 04:23:36 PM
Not bad! Took our 3-yr old to this for his first proper cinema outing (non-3D version, one thing at a time, eh?), and we all enjoyed it hugely.  I had been waiting for Up, but it was pissing down today and I was completely knackered so a few hours in a dark room seemed essential.


MILD SPOILERS FOLLOW:

[spoiler]The nut-loving Scrat (formerly the main draw for me) is sadly relegated to an unimaginative romantic subplot, but the rest of the ever-expanding cast get lots to do running away from not-very-scary dinosaurs (don't ask) while extoling the virtues of community, friendship and family.  Simon Pegg puts in a likeable turn as a cross between Jack Sparrow and Captain Ahab, and there's quite a few good gags and cultural references.  A pterodactyl-based aerial dogfight is particulalrly good fun, while an apparently  carnivorous ankylosaurus seems unnecessary.  [/spoiler]

Most critically, the Boy was rapt throughout, and completely silent bar a few shouts of glee.  No obvious trauma was inflicted by "the hugest telly in the world!".

For some context, I enjoyed Ice Age 1 a lot, disliked Ice Age 2 ( apart from the Scrat sequences), love dinosaurs and loathe Ray Romano.  It's obviously a cynical summer sequel of a movie, but it moves along and has a neat wrap-up, and everyone except poor mother-to-be Elli gets to do a bit of character development.

With all that in mind, I 'd recommend it for those squaxx with young sproglets.

#66
Off Topic / The Snip
05 July, 2009, 11:05:03 PM
No, not a sequel to the Spurrier/Elson hymn to motherhood that was The Scrap, but instead possibly the oddest request yet for the Hivemind:

Any of you gents had a vasectomy?

With a second sprog imminent, I'm satisfied that I've contaminated the human gene pool quite sufficiently, and think it's about time I took over responsibility for keeping my swimmers in check.  The internet is predictably terrifying, a quick survey of my male friends reveals no jaffas, so I turn to you, the hivemind for life-changing anecdotes. Pros?  Cons?  Horrid tales of woe?
#67
General / Where did she go? WAY out.
03 April, 2009, 12:44:52 PM
My natty Space Facts calendar for Tuesday just gone informs me that the Tarantula Nebula is actually in the Large Magellanic Cloud, 180,000 light years away - given its apparent size in the sky I find this incredible (not that I've seen if for real myself, never having been Down Under).  If memory serves, doesn't Halo wax lyrical in Book 1 about the Clara Pandy getting ou all the way to the LMC, and her desire to do the same?  Looks she was already there.
#68
Out of respect for the real issues on the RIP thread, I didn't post formal notice there, but my beloved cathode-ray TV died suddenly last night. Once the nightly purveyor of such highlights as Babylon 5 Season 4, French films with nudies in, The Big Lebowski and Primeval Season 1, it had lately fallen into a decline marked by incessant rewatching of the 'Sizzles is missing' episode of Charlie and Lola, disturbing Freaks sequel Ballymory and the insipid Third and Bird.  It rallied in its last days with a satisfying Jungle Book marathon, but finally succumbed halfway through the second episode of No. 1 Ladies Detevtive Agency, so in many ways its passing was a mercy.  I'll remember it in happier days (1997-2009).  

All this leaves me with a problem.  One glance at various online catalogues and I'm a caveman adrift in a futuristic wonderland when it comes to the Nu-Tech of LCD and Plasma and HD and what have you - I just want a TV!  What the sneck are these things?  And what does the hivemind recommend for a smallish room and modest means?  

Quickly now, another night of this and the wife and I will have to start talking to each other, or possibly decide to clean something. There's not a moment to lose.
#69
Books & Comics / PVP: Ombudsmen
04 March, 2009, 05:51:14 PM
PVP has its ups and down as webcomic, but I'm really liking this:

http://www.pvponline.com/2009/03/02/ombudsmen/

The second episode is pure genius.
#70
Off Topic / Artificial Dissemination For Idiots
03 February, 2009, 10:31:12 PM
A query for the bloggers and websiters amongst us.

Grud knows you people don't need to read another word from me as long as you all shall live, but I have non-2000AD interests (a shock, I'm sure) that I have wanted to get out of my head and on to the Internet for a long time now.  Right now I badly need to be outputting something other than increasingly fruitless 'real' work, and am frustrated to see that desire sublimated into endless pointless posts on various forums - I'd like to actually do something with this urge.  I've been roughing out proposed content in text files for a while now.  Unfortunately, I can't decide how best to go about getting it out there, and in the absence of a bat flying through the window of my study I turn yet again to the hivemind for inspiration.

Without spelling out the topic, I'm looking to get an ongoing series of sort-of-travel articles out, possibly in more than one part each, based around a common theme.  They'll need a fair few photos and other images each, and would work best in some sort of organised format.  In essence, my question is:  blog or website?  And either way, which service and how best to go about it?  

While a blog seems the easiest path, to take just one example of my uncertainty, I'm pondering the pros and cons of Bishop's Vicious Imagery blog, which I enjoy a lot.  It's full of good stuff, and rewards a good long read, but I always find it hard to follow sequential posts when they appear in reverse order, so to speak.  Even searching with tags, to me it still feels like it should have been read as it appeared, rather than working as a resource where individual topics can be explored.  Now I'm not saying this is a deficiency where David's blog is concerned, because it's very much an ongoing journal.  Entries in my own proposed thingummy wouldn't be chronological, rather spatial or thematic in nature.

Any general advice from the many folk here many of whose blogs and sites I enjoy would be greatly appreciated.
#71
Games / An Ill Wind
21 December, 2008, 11:31:16 PM
QuoteFree Radical Design Shut Down

Cameron Gunn, of Resolve Partners, the administrators that have been called in to deal with the firm, said: "The company was placed in to administration yesterday afternoon.

It has been rumored that Free Radical was working on Star Wars: Battlefront III but GamesIndustry.biz reports that Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron (PSP) developer, Rebellion will be taking over.

Human misery aside, an interesting development.

Linky: //http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/homenews/185-jobs-risk-games-company/article-558753-detail/article.html
#72
Website and Forum / Coping with spam
10 November, 2008, 09:07:45 AM
Is there perhaps some sort of way we can block this increasing flow of spam?
#73
Off Topic / Work:Life balance.
06 October, 2008, 06:03:51 PM
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH.

That is all.
#74
Film & TV / Torchwood for kids!
01 July, 2008, 08:46:15 AM
While dutifully trawling the globalmegahypernet for pictures of Hannah Spearitt in her smalls, I encountered the following, regarding Primeval, including an entertaining but understandable faux pas:

"BBC Worldwide America president Garth Ancier said in a release Friday: "Primeval is a perfect addition to our successful Saturday night menu of sci-fi and adventure. Torchwood and Robin Hood have done a tremendous job at the core of our schedule, building ratings and attracting younger viewers to BBC America. We think our audience will be excited by the addition of this prehistoric thriller — one of the latest big hits from the U.K." {Emphasis mine}

Link: //http://forums.itv.com/thread/667938.aspx

While I hear good things about recent Torchwood (I'm afraid I gave up watching long ago), this does emphasise one of the problems  I had with the programme:  if you're watching Dr Who and the Sarah Jane Adventures, you're going to want to watch Torchwood with its clever swears and people giving each other special hugs.  If a sub-network president can't see that it shouldn't be "attracting younger viewers", what chance does anyone else have?
#75
Off Topic / Wedding Reading Suggestions!
20 May, 2008, 10:23:49 PM
Sweet Grud, I don't believe I'm doing this but here goes...

As mentioned elsewhere, I'm getting married Thursday, civil ceremony, small crowd, lots of nice Italian nosh, tickets to Indy IV and then hopefully some of that non-fornication sex-stuff I keep hearing about.  

We've got just one reading lined up to add to the civil ceremony minimum, a few verses from my beloved Ogden Nash's Tin Wedding Whistle ("Then grudge me not my fond endeavor/ To hold you in my sight forever /Let none, not even you, disparage / Such a valid reason for a marriage"), which I was going to ask my brother to read.  Of course, I forgot that left my bride-to-be's family out in the cold (good start, eh!), so now I need a bookend reading for HER brother.

And I'm totally stumped.  None of my old reliables are delivering the goods, not spike Milligan, not Tom Lehrer, not even The Princess Bride ("Mawage...") seems to answer.  

Looking for something funny but sincere, not too saccharine, no harm if it's nerdy, but needs to be short and reasonably easy to read.

So help me hive mind, you're my only hope!  Anything spring to mind?
#76
Prog / Prog 1586: Staked!
08 May, 2008, 08:46:23 PM
Sob, blubber, I can't believe it, I appear to have bagged the Prog thread... on a snekcing Thursday.  From my favourite comic shop, SubCity Dublin.  I'd just like to thank my agent, a rift in the space-time continuum, a sunny day for a stroll...

Spoilers follow.

It's a mixed bag.  

DroidLife made me chuckle, but then flinch reflexively from an anticipated kick.

Dredd ends well, a good tale, beautifully illustrated and with a very confident Grennie falling back on none of his trademark elements for a whole 5 episodes.  Some great use of the Lawmaster too.

Savage, which I've enjoyed to this point, has a pretty pants ending.  I refuse to use a magnifying glass to find out who Steak Knife was.  Maybe I'm just thick.

Dead Eyes was balls-out loonyville, and I love it.  Any strip with references to John Wyndham is okay in my book.

With this episode Dead Signal has veered a little too far into Matrix territory for my particular tastes, but it twsits and turns so hard ths might not last - and I love the design and storytelling.  PJ's finest hour (to date), and pure 2000AD.

Ten Seconders suddenly gets really interesting, as Rob Williams' cryptic remarks about Vertigo and US vs. UK Comics start to actually make sense, and the plot begins to cohere at the same time.  Clear expressive art for Ben Oliver gives us a hint of what this series could have been with one hand at the drawing board - any of the contributors could have done a good job, but together they've been a mess.  Still dying to find out what happens next.

So.  My first Prog Thread.  This moment may never come again.  I'm savouring it.  Deep breath, and a painful wait for the smiley man.
#77
General / True Genius on a Friday
04 April, 2008, 01:31:27 PM
If you're chewing on life's gristle, don't worry, give a whistle, and click on the video link below.  

It's almost an hour long, and I sponged it from Ben Goldacre's blog, but it restored my faith in humanity for a few minutes at least.  It's the old horizon interview with Richard Feynman, a true genius, and magical raconteur - the Alan Moore of physics.  An antidote to the global train wreck that is the rest of the Internet.

Anyone got any other uplifting links that speak to the better part of the human condition?

Link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7136440703094429927&hl=en" target="_blank">I know how hard it is to know something.

#78
Other Reviews / America
15 March, 2008, 08:22:00 PM
Spurred by the reappearance of Total War at the start of "...Regrets", I bought and devoured the very beautiful new collection of America 1 and 2 and Cadet, which is a treat of enormous proportions, and sports a very nice Wagner introduction and the script for Cadet Part 1.  Highly recommended, a quality production and a great way to showcase McNeil's changing style, and one of the greatest Dredd tales of them all.

Now I have two questions and an observation.  

1.  In Fading of the Light we see that the Statue of Liberty has been blown up, despite Total War's earlier failure.  By who?  Was this in the prog/meg during my wilderness years, or did it happen "off screen"?

2.  Bennett claims that America died from having a piece of shrapnel from the getaway vehicle lodged in her brain.  Then in Cadet Beeny's reinvestigation of the case, we see that she was shot in the head, something its hard to see clearly in the original strip.  If it was the shrapnel that actually killed her, why didn't Dredd bring this up when Beeny observed that the Judge responsible had only received a verbal reprimand - from Bennett's account, the shot was almost incidental.  Am I missing something?  

And the observation:  I'd forgotten that America Beeny's unborn half-brother Tony had been aborted as a mutant by the Judges (at 6 months plus, fercrissakes) after a 'routine' amnocentesis test during her 'rehabilitation' after the 16 Million-cit march way back in Democracy.  I was amazed to see this connection between America, Total War and the Mutant Question right there in the original story.  Clever stuff, even if Wagner denies that he planned it that way in his introduction.
 
#79
General / Re: Newsarama Interview re 2000AD ...
11 January, 2008, 09:56:00 PM
Awwwgh, how did I end up here?  That's never happened to me before, honest love.
#80
Off Topic / OpenOffice - Pros and Cons?
16 December, 2007, 09:50:43 PM
Rrrright, I'm fed up juggling our handful of licenses for MS Office at work, but simply can't afford any more at present, so I've downloaded the Mac version of OpenOffice.  It seems dandy, and so far does everything I need it to.  On my laptop, that is.

However, I want to make sure I'm not missing anything before I unleash it in quantity on those loveable scamps I call my colleagues.  Are clients going to find sent documents readable and properly formatted?  Are spreadsheets going to play nice?   I seek the wisdom of the hivemind in this matter.

Environment is a medley of  15 networked Macs using OS 10.3.x and 10.4.x depending on age and infirmity, requirements are basically  interchangeable substitutes for Word and Excel.