Man, I love this show. I can’t even begin to explain how awesome I think it is.

But I’ll try…

I like the fact that I can relate to a lot of what’s going on in the characters’ lives. They’re super nerds but, at the same time, they’re trying to get girls to like them (which is how I am most of the time). Just look at my blog! Right off the bat I told you I was a nerd. Anyway, it’s pretty much awesome and Wallowitz is my favorite character.

Now if you’ll excuse me I gotta finish watching Revenge of the Sith on my iPod.

Kpop Lover just confessed to me about something—that she’s really annoyed at her roommate Ruffa, right now. As in major!!! Kpop Lover just cleaned their bathroom this afternoon before we left for a school meeting. When we arrived about 3 hours later, Ruffa was already there in the room, and the bathroom wasn’t as clean as before we left. There were slipper prints on the floor and much much worse was that the toilet was clogged and tissue papers were floating in it. Kpop Lover is so mad and annoyed right now. Who wouldn’t be? I’m just happy she trusts me enough to confess that to me. I know this may sound selfish but I am honestly glad that I am not the sole member of “I-don’t-like-my-roommate” Club.

After talking about toilet and some eewwee stuffs, we noticed how all “Star Wars” episode titles could be used to refer to the “returning poo” phenomenon (poo that comes back after you flush it). Eew!!!

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (What a menace indeed!)

Episode 2: Attack of the Clones (They’re coming! They’re coming!)

Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith (Oh no!!!)

Episode 4: A New Hope (A Star is Rising!)

Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back (This is my favorite!)

Episode 6: Return of the Jedi (Self-explanatory)

HAHAHAHAHA!!!

I know that most of these picks are fanboy picks, but that’s just the way it goes.  I’m a fanboy.  Sure I don’t have critically acclaimed films making up my list, but I don’t care.  These are the movies I liked the best from the last ten years.

10. Minority Report (2002)

Spielberg really outdid himself with this modern sci-fi classic about a crime unit which uses seers to stop murders before they happen. This is a wonderfully crafted film with some very interesting ideas inside a great chase movie.

9. The Dark Knight (2008)

I know that I see like a fanboy for including this on my list, but my higher choices will make me seem like more of a fanboy, so I’m not bothered by this. Batman Begins was the Batman movie I have always waited for, and The Dark Knight took it up a notch, creating a great atmosphere and wonderful performances along the board.

8. Wall*E (2008)

WallE may be my all-time favourite animated film. I was blown away when I saw this movie. I did not expect to fall in love with these characters and become so engrossed in the story and moral background. But I did. WallE is amazing, through and through.

7. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

Martial arts films have never reached this level of artistic and literary brilliance. This film transcended genres and languages and became one of the most emotionally gripping films of the last ten years. The cinematography was absolutely beautiful, the story was enrapturing, and the over-all style was just incredible.

6. Children of Men (2006)

Its hard for me to pinpoint what I love about this movie so much. It might be the unyielding vision of the director, the fascinating psychological ideas and questions which arise from this situation, or the intensity of the action throughout. What a brilliant film.

5. The Passion of The Christ (2004)

Mel Gibson set out to make a massive, gripping, emotional religious epic, and he succeeded in every way. The Passion tells the story of Jesus’ last day without holding anything back, bringing the full weight of his suffering and sacrifice to the screen.

4. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a major milestone in movie history. The Tow Towers, as the middle piece, suffers from certain downfalls that the middle has, yet still succeeds on a very epic and visual level. The Battle of Helm’s Deep is one of the great battle scenes, which the ongoing struggles of the fellowship held us to our seats.

3. Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith (2005)

I just can’t justify not having a Star Wars movie on this list. I am too big of a fan for that. Sure I had my problems with the first two prequels, however the third gave me exactly what I hoped for from the final installment of the Star Wars Saga. I was moved visually, cinematically, and emotionally.

2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

The final piece int he Lord of the Rings trilogy saw all of the story lines come together for one great climax. Sure there were parts which bothered me as an avid fan of the books, but the massive scope of the picture and the hard-hitting emotional punches left me awed.

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

The Lord of the Rings trilogy came onto the screen late 2001 and conquered the movie-going world. The epic scope and huge vision for these films was apparent to all who saw it. The quality of production was at the highest levels that film can reach, and Tolkien’s story and characters entranced audiences everywhere. Fellowship of the Ring is the best of the trilogy and set a new standard for movie-making which in my opinion has yet to be surpassed since its release.

I never thought I would hear these words, but New Moon passed Star Wars Revenge of the Sith in pre order sales on Fandango.com. Now we didn’t see any tents set up outside theaters, but all of this was due to the internet.

Cinema Blend Says:

And today, the balance of power has shifted entirely– Deadline Hollywood is reporting that New Moon has sold the most advance tickets in Fandango’s history, surpassing Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. It’s currently accounting for 86% of sales on the site, which is as much due to the massive appeal of the film as the fact that there’s nothing else out right now.

I would agree with them that there are no good films out to compete, but if you do head to see this over the weekend, be prepared to wait in some lines.

This would be the perfect weekend to see ANYTHING else, no lines, empty theaters, no crying babies.

Psalm 1:1 “Blessed [is] the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.”

As Christians, God has called us to a walk with His Son, Jesus. We are called to something deeper and more intense then any “religion” out there can ever offer. We are called to be like Christ, to deny ourselves, to serve others and to be in a personal, one-on-one relationship with our God. We are to do all this with a willing and happy heart.

Many religions of the world try to mimic this approach of selfless services to others. However, they neglect the one thing that Christianity offers, Jesus. Without serving in faith and according to the guidance of Jesus, it is all in vain and will profit you nothing. It will be like restoring an old automobile to look brand new so you can show off to others but neglecting to give it an engine. It’s worthless without the one thing that will drive it. Jesus is what drives us to walk the proper path.

In the previous study, we analyzed the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly. “In the counsel” suggests a momentary and occasional use of. One would now and again consult those who did not know godly counsel. They were merely flirting with it. They were testing the waters and tasting the Kool-aid.

Now we look at the man who does not stand in the way of the sinner. “In the way” suggests one is now on the path of the sinner. They have tasted of the counsel, liked it and now are following after it. They are on the path. They have gone from occasional participation by seeking the counsel and have now moved to habitual involvement by walking the path.

A path is defined as, “a course of action or conduct”. What was once an occasional indulgence has now become a habit. They have sown an action and now they have reaped a habit. Stand alludes to being firmly planted and unmovable. You have become firmly planted and grounded in the course you are now on. The ways of the sinner are now a part of who you are. You are now firmly rooted and grounded in sin.

To be blessed of God we must never get to a point to where we become grounded in our sin. When we begin to stand in the way of sinners, we have set a course for ourselves that leads only to death and destruction and it all started with seeking ungodly counsel.

Twilight sequel New Moon rules the roost on advance ticket sales.   As of November 15, they had already surpassed the previous leader Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith.  This strong position will only increase in the next few days before release.

Fandango also reveals these interesting facts about New Moon ticket sales:

•98% say the action in New Moon looks better than the action in Twilight.
•72% plan to see the movie with a group of three friends or more.
•52% of survey respondents say they dream about vampires.

•22% are mothers and daughters planning to see New Moon together.

•10% plan to show up at the theater in costume, dressed as characters from the saga.

Hmmm … 10% will show up in costume?  That should be interesting.

Star Wars Titanium series Clone Troopers AT-APs

 Heavy fire power to support the Clone Troopers in any hot spots.

Well, over the last few weeks, I have gone back through and watched all of the Star Wars Saga.  It’s a pleasure I enjoy at least once a year.  This year I watched the original theatrical versions of Episodes IV and V, but not VI, because I currently do not own a DVD copy of it in that form.  I still hold to the feeling that Empire is the best in the Saga, and of the newer trilogy, I feel that Revenge of the Sith is the superior movie.

Next then proceeded to add to the mix, the newest addition to the Star Wars Universe in video form, Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  I have to admit, I had not watched the film (if you can call a completely CGI video a film) and failed to see it in the theaters because I had strong reservations about the whole thing.  I’m not even much of a fan of the CGI stuff Lucas did when he revamped the original trilogy.  Consequently, it wasn’t until my recent Star Wars revival that I purchased the movie and watched it.  I have to admit, I really enjoyed it.  While I cannot say that it is on par with the Saga, and certainly it is not on par with the original trilogy, it is really nice to see something new and exciting involving the Star Wars Universe.  Over the years, I have pretty much been a purist about the movies, but the introduction of the Clone Wars has changed my view.

Another result of this change is that I have also gotten on board with the Clone Wars TV series.  I cannot believe it.  After watching the movie, I craved more, so I went to the website and watched a few episodes online.  I don’t have cable TV, so I went ahead and downloaded a few more episodes from the first season and the second season.  I have thoroughly enjoyed them,  and  I anxiously await the release of the full season on DVD Nov. 3 assuming I don’t download the whole series from iTunes before then at about a 15% markup over what I would pay at Wal-mart.  How I hate Wal-mart, but what a difference!  Maybe the Itunes price will go down at release, but I still want a hardcopy.  Maybe I can get it for the same price elsewhere.  It’s still $2.oo more at amazon.com.

Actually, now that I’ve been looking at it for this blog post, it seems these prices are the pre-order prices.  Hmm, the dilemma is, should I go ahead and pre-order and pay for it on this paycheck, or wait till it after it comes out and I get my next paycheck, but run the risk of spending fifteen more dollars.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

I watched this film yesterday. And the day before. I might just watch it again today- it just edged out Revenge of the Sith for my top five spot of favourite films of all time, alongside the Godfather Trilogy (in case you’re wondering- my list is as follows: (500) Days + the Godfather for tied fifth, Magnolia + Amelie for tied fourth, Lost in Translation, Godard’s Breathless, and my favourite of all time is Casablanca; I’m a sucker for well-told narratives peppered with good lines mind). Anyway, here’s an article from the August LA Times, courtesy of blogger Lisa Fung, including a quirky dance video from the film’s stars that plays a song by She&Him, a band fronted by Zooey Deschanel (who with the talented J. Gordon-Levitt, mesmerises in this simple, odd yet memorable piece). Enjoy.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/08/500-days-of-summer-director-marc-webb-.html

One of the most resonant and visible influences on my writing can be traced to the Sci-Fi/Fantasy author known as Matthew Woodring Stover (or Matt Stover, depending on the forum).

I think this following quote just about sums him up:

When I write a book, I put everything I have into it; so the more I have, the more the books become. Some people get freaked out by them: mostly the people who believe, mistakenly, that fantasy is about escaping reality. To them I say: If you have a problem with reality, you should be spending more time dealing with your life, and less time reading popcorn fantasy.

It was his Star Wars novel, Traitor, that got me hooked.  I honestly do believe that no one writes for the Star Wars saga better than he does, and that one of his greatest works is the novelization he wrote for Star Wars Episode III:Revenge of the Sith.  A book he wrote with the authorization and input of George Lucas, no less, even though many of us fans are of the opinion that the book outdoes the film in showing the Fall of Anakin Skywalker and the Rise of Darth Vader.

I think there’s something to be said about Stover’s work.  It has an honesty about storytelling.  His tales always seem to reflect the innate humanity of his characters, regardless of them being heroes or villains.  Everyone has a perspective that you can appreciate, no matter how despicable their actions might be.  And he has a certain poetic flair that… well, read the endings for both Revenge of the Sith and Blade of Tyshalle, and you’ll understand.

So, Matt, if you ever read this, many thanks and may your pen or keyboard never falter to churn out page after page of glory.

—

Here is a quick list of his works:

Iron Dawn (1997)
Jericho Moon (1998)
Heroes Die (1998)
Blade of Tyshalle (2001)
The Real Flash Gordon (2001)
Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Traitor (2002)
Star Wars: Shatterpoint (2003)
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Caine Black Knife (2008)
Star Wars: Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor (2008)

—

Stay tuned for the next installment, when I discuss the great Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing and those classically quotable lines in A Few Good Men!

This is the Scriptorium, signing off!

The politics of Star Wars are interesting.  The philosophy, though? 

I was watching Revenge of the Sith the other night, a tense and moving film filled with individuals in conflict.  Obviously Anakin is torn between what he wants and what he fears.  Padme loves Anakin but can’t believe who he’s become.  Obi Wan has to fight evil, though it is manifest in his pupil and friend.  The Jedi want to follow the Jedi-way, but evil is too powerful to be left alive that long. 

The prophecy, about the “chosen one”, is the one common theme in all of the movies.  Anakin is to restore balance to the force.  Balance is just the half-full way of describing this tension.  As Padme lies dying, she tells Obi Wan that there is good in Anakin.  Luke repeats this in Return of the Jedi, and ultimately, appealing to this shaft of goodness is what saves the galaxy. 

While I watched a few nights ago, Anakin Skywalker’s seduction by the Dark Side, I laid a finger on something that has always bothered me, a fundamental difference in philosophy between George Lucas and I.  For Anakin, there is no going back.  He never repents for what he has done, even at the end of Episode VI.  In Episode III, after disarming Master Wendu, leading to his death, Anakin’s whole being looks like he wishes he could repent.  “What have I done?” he cries out.  As though unable to control who he is or what circumstances limit him, the young Jedi hates who he is becoming yet boasts in it.  The wickedness in him is just as important, just as valid, as the good.  In the end of the story it is not a turning from his identity that causes the change, but the resurgence of a different part of his character. 

That is a hopeless, gnawing life.  The truth is, Anakin wasn’t good.  Neither was Darth Vader.  Goodness could only really come by acknowledging the wrong, and turning from it to something truly good outside himself.  Without that, there is no forgiveness, no redemption.  Without that, good versus evil is ultimately irrelevant.  Which matches the philosophy of the Jedi, who claim that “only the Sith [bad guys] deal in absolutes.” 

To God be all glory,

Lisa of Longbourn

I had some good responses to my earlier post, and I’m going to assume they were because of the cinema visit, not the couple having sex in it, and tell you about other cinema visits. Until a year or so ago, we never went to the cinema unless we had free tickets, but our local paper, The Stockport Express, stopped offering them, so we had to resort to Orange Wednesday (241). Sadly, The Stockport Express is no longer our local paper, having been forced to relocate its office to the mother ship in Manchester, after hundreds of years (or possibly hundreds of months; I wasn’t paying attention because I was scouring the paper for offers of free cinema tickets) at the same premises. I’m not saying you can chart the paper’s financial decline from the day the people of Stockport had to start spending their hard-earned dosh on cinema tickets instead of newspapers, but I can do the maths as well as anyone who failed it at O Level….

There was the time we went to see 50 First Dates. By ‘we’ I mean me and Tory Boy and five of his friends, for his fourteenth birthday. I was ordered to sit at the back, alone, and not acknowledge any teenage boys I might know personally. This gave me the opportunity to watch – and hear – a girl three rows in front, who had a mobile that kept going off. After the fourth time she decided to mute it, but we all knew when she got her calls because she kept getting up and sneaking noisily out of the cinema to carry on conversations so short she’d finished by the time she got to the door and was going back to her seat when it would presumably ring again, because she would swing around to go out again, finish, and swing back. We were all dizzy from watching her but no-one had the bottle to tell her to sit down or get lost. She looked mean. The only other disturbance was when two lads came in about fifteen minutes after the start of the film. They were as quiet as mice, even when they were escorted out thirty minutes later for not paying to be there. Still, it was better than the first time Tory Boy was allowed to go to the cinema with just his friends, and was mugged.

I paid full price for the boys and me to see Revenge of the Sith when it came out. Definitely the best of the first trilogy. Or is it the second trilogy?
I’m always confused because the second trilogy came first and the first trilogy came second; or is the first trilogy the second trilogy and the second trilogy the first trilogy? And don’t you wonder if the Ewoks were modelled on George Lucas? He certainly looks like a large one in the interview that precedes the first trilogy (which is the second) in my first-ever issued video of the first (or second) Star Wars Trilogy.

It killed me to pay full price for cinema tickets. You could hear my purse groaning as it disgorged the £11.50. I should have paid an extra 50p for a family ticket and grabbed a kid off the street. I hate paying full price for anything. Not enough to haggle, of course; that would be embarrassing. That’s the Hub’s department. We were at a boot sale once and I bought a denim jacket for 50p (the Hub having knocked them down from a £1); I tried it on for fit and said, ‘Oh, I might as well wear it.’ It then occurred to me that I ought to wash it first but I was embarrassed that I might embarrass the seller by inadvertently accusing them of being dirty flea-carriers although of course I would never have bought it if that was the case but I then had to wear what might have been a dirty flea-carrying denim jacket rather than embarrass a complete stranger and myself.

Sometimes, the problems arise before we even get to the cinema. There was the time Spud Bud was going to see Madagascar with Spud’s Friend and Spud’s Friend’s Mother. He had a tantrum because he didn’t want cereal for breakfast, and then had another tantrum because I gave in and made toast for him and he felt he ought to have been force-fed the cereal if I was any sort of mother at all (not his actual words, but I could interpret his glares). He then took himself off to bed to punish himself for being naughty, and I had to insist that he get up to go out to the cinema. If he doesn’t buy a hairshirt by the time he’s fifteen I’ll be very surprised.

Just occasionally, the embarrassing things happen elsewhere, like the the time I saw an RSC production of Les Liasons Dangereuse in Johannesburg about nine years ago. A very good friend treated me and another friend of hers to tickets. It was absolutely brilliant, had the original ending and was only slightly spoiled by the other friend whose name escapes me, saying of the John Malkovich character (can’t remember his name now; Vicomte de something) in what she imagined was a whisper, but as the theatre was almost empty and we were sat on the front row must have been audible to the cast who, thankfully, manfully ignored her, ‘ Don’t you think he is HUGELY f***able?’

My suggestion: if you want to enjoy a film, don’t go to the cinema with me or any member my family.

© Tilly Bud and The Laughing Housewife, 2009

I’ll give it props. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince reigns supreme being the largest midnight opener with $22.2 million. This beats the original records from The Dark Knight’s $18 mil and the 2nd place Revenge of the Sith’s $17 mil. It also stomped out the largest grossing midnight box office champion of the year, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, with its $16 million. This movie could possibly destroy all domestic records with that kind of showing or perhaps just everyone showed up last night? Who knows. The domestic 5 day record is still The Dark Knight with $203.8 and in 2nd place Revenge of the Fallen with $201.3 million. Could Mr. Potter triumph over all? Go to the theaters and maybe it will happen………

Ünlü sinema dergisi Empire‘ın okurları arasında düzenlediği “bütün zamanların en iyi filmleri” anketinde ilk sıraya başrollerini Tim Robbins ve Morgan Freeman’ın paylaştığı Esaretin Bedeli (Shawshank Redemption) adlı film yerleşti. Stephen King’in “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” adlı öyküsünden Frank Darabonht’un uyarladığı film, karısını ve sevgilisini öldürmekle suçlanıp ömür boyu hapse mahkum edilen genç bir banker ile cezaevinde tanıştığı siyahi arkadaşının öyküsü üzerine kurulu.
Empire Dergisi’nin 20 bin okurunun oylarıyla belirlenen 201 film arasında Toy Story en sevilen animasyon film seçildi. Türkiye’de Oyuncak Hikayesi adıyla gösterilen bu film 45′inci sırada yer aldı.
Bütün zamanların en iyi 201 filmi anketinde en çok yapıtı yer alan yönetmen ise Steven Spielberg. Sinemanın dahi çocuğu 11′inci sıradaki Jaws, 15′inci sıradaki Kayıp Hazine Avcıları, 34′üncü sıradaki Jurassic Park, 35′inci sıradaki E.T ve 46′ncı sıradaki Schindler’in Listesi adlı filmleriyle yer aldı.

İşte Empire Dergisi’nin okurlarının seçiminde ilk 100 sıraya yerleşen filmler

1. The Shawshank Redemption (Esaretin Bedeli)
2. The Empire Strikes Back (Yıldız Savaşları: İmparator)
3. The Fellowship of the Ring (Yüzüklerin Efendis: Yüzük Kardeşliği)
4. Star Wars (Yıldız Savaşları)
5. The Godfather (Baba)
6. Pulp Fiction (Ucuz Roman)
7. The Return of the King (Yüzüklerin Efendisi: Kralın Dönüşü)
8. Fight Club (Dövüş Kulübü)
9. Goodfellas (Sıkı Dostlar)
10. The Matrix
11. Jaws
12. The Usual Suspects (Olağan Şüpheliler)
13. The Godfather Part 2 (Baba 2′nci Bölüm)
14. Alien (Yaratık)
15. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Kayıp Hazine Avcıları)
16. Gladiator (Gladyatör)
17. Aliens
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Yüzüklerin Efendisi: İki Kule)
19. Casablanca
20. Back to the Future (Geleceğe DÖnüş)
21. Se7en (Yedi)
22. Heat
23. L.A. Confidential
24. Apocalypse Now (Kıyamet)
25. The Big Lebowski
26. Citizen Kane (Yurttaş Kane)
27. Reservoir Dogs (Rezervuar Köpekleri)
28. Die Hard (Zor Ölüm)
29. Raging Bull
30. Some Like it Hot (Bazıları Sıcak Sever)
31. Lawrence of Arabia (Arabistanlı Lawrence)
32. Blade Runner
33. 2001: A Space Odyssey (2001 Uzay Macerası)
34. Jurassic Park
35. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
36. Batman Begins (Batman Başlıyor)
37. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
38. Lost in Translation (Bir Konuşabilse)
39. The Silence of the Lambs (Kuzuların Sessizliği)
40. Revenge of the Sith
41. Donnie Darko
42. Amelie
43. Taxi Driver
44. Magnolia
45. Toy Story (Oyuncak Hikayesi)
46. Schindler’s List (Schindler’in Listesi)
47. Pirates of the Caribbean (Karayip Korsanları)
48. Return of the Jedi (Jedi’nin Dönüşü)
49. Memento (Akıl Defteri)
50. Almost FamousK
51. American Beauty (Amerikan Güzeli)
52. Chinatown (Çin Mahallesi)
53. Rear Window (Arka Pencere)
54. True Romance
55. The Shining
56. Ghostbusters (Hayalet Avcıları)
57. The Exorcist (Şeytan)
58. Titanic
59. Dr. Strangelove
60. Grosse Pointe Blank
61. Moulin Rouge!
62. City of God (Tanrıkent)
63. Vertigo (Yükseklik Korkusu)
64. The Princess Bride
5. Scarface (Yaralı Yüz)
66. Sin City (Günah Şehri)
67. Once Upon a Time in the West (Bir Zamanlar Batıda)
68. Gone with the Wind (Rüzgar Gibi Geçti)
69. Annie Hall
70. Seven Samurai (Yedi Samuray)
71. Saving Private Ryan (Er Ryan’ı Kurtarmak)
72. Rocky
73. The Wizard of Oz (Oz Büyücüsü)
74. Withnail & I
75. The Third Man
76. A Clockwork Orange (Otomatik Portakal)
77. Cool Hand Luke
78. Toy Story 2
79. Kill Bill Vol. 1
80. Braveheart (Cesur Yürek)
81. It’s a Wonderful Life
82. Stand by Me
83. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
84. Evil Dead 2
85. Monty Python’s Life of Brian
86. Psycho (Sapık)
87. Garden State
88. Serenity
89. Double Indemnity
90. Clerks
91. Shaun of the Dead
92. This is Spinal Tap
93. The Searchers
94. Jerry Maguire
95. Edward Scissorhands (Makas Eller)
96. Leon
97. The Lion King (Aslan Kral)
98. Superman
99. The Thing
100.The Terminator

Apparently my long-time friend and apprentice to my evil blog empire took offense at yesterday’s post about Hilary Duff post:

Why?  Because apparently I neglected to mention that, in our sophomore year of college, Shmathan and were known to sing and dance to Ms. Duff’s ode to empowering spontaneity, “Why Not?”  I was going to be all apologetic and write a nostalgic post about all the wonderful times we’ve had, but I’ve unexpectedly come down with a case of the Carly Simons.  Symptoms include fever, nausea, and betting you think this blog is about you.  I mean, really, the indignation of it all!  How dare he?  Does he not know that my blog powers cannot be defeated:

Correction: My UNLIMITED POWAAAAAH (at blogging) cannot be defeated.  

Still, I must admit that, watching this clip, I cannot help but grow a little touched.  It was Shmathan and I who relished the camp pleasure of Ian McDiarmid’s batshit insane performance in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith time and time again.  Shmathan was the one who solved the Rubick’s cube that is Jessica Alba’s acting style; and, yes, it was Shmathan who convinced me to do a crazy dance in the dorms, time and time again.  Damn you, nostalgia!  Must you be my Waterloo?  

Anywhosie, enough of that nonsense.  Now that I’ve shed my single tear of emotion, I need to touch-up my bitchface and get back to blogging like I only intend to see you next Tuesday.  And Shmathan, consider yourself spared.  This time.  Next time I’ll be considerably less favorable.  As if you could ever have the strength or fortitude to hijack my blogging for your own pety desires!  Ha!  POWAH!  UNLIMITED POW-

And thus ends today’s blogisode of Two Ridiculous Queens Who Bicker Like Old Ladies.  Tune in next week when someone throws a brandy glass for no good reason.

As an unabashed Star Wars geek and child of the 70s-80s (no comment on Michael Jackson’s death), I was thrilled and just a little disappointed in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith when it hit theaters a few years back. Although this blog post by Winterson.com is a few months old, I laugh out loud every time I read the mistranslations form the Chinese sub-title version. Winterson has updated the original post.

My favorite mistranslation: “You are a sacrifice article that I cut up rough now.”

This is my last post for what will be a few weeks; I’ll be in Sydney until the 12th which means I am missing two weeks of gaming. The group has decided to play without me for those weeks, which makes me pleased and nervous. Pleased that they will have to work out how to play without me holding their hands. Nervous as the one who will be guest GMing is nervous as well, but I have loaned her a few books and sent her a few pdfs that will help.

But I’ll get the verdict on that when I return, as right now I’m still riding the high from the last gaming session on Saturday. It was that good, and at times I felt like a film director, hence the title.

This is also the first time I will be able to post the plot I have been gambling on for the past four weeks. And I must say it paid off.

 The Plot

 It went like this: one of the PCs was kidnapped by the forces of my Big Bad, Dark Jedi chick Tanorana Czo. This was to spur the players into confronting the Big Bad, as they had to rescue the character. However, rather than have the player doing nothing while her character was MIA, I got her to play a spy that the Big Bad had sent to lead them to her hideout and kill one of the PCs when she was revealed as a traitor. (The player didn’t turn up and I had permission to kill his character, but I’ll say a few things about character death in another post)

Tanorana’s hideout was on Umbara, which I had precious little information on so I made it into my war-torn planet with air raids. The planet was also enveloped by the Ghost Nebula, which made things nice and interesting, and spooky, on the approach. Getting out of the city involved getting a commission from the ruler to go and find his son. There was a bit of travelling, a few battles and a journey through a deserted burnt out city where I held out where the people were until the last possible moment. There was also the Sith Academy, which I played a bit like a dungeon, including a few traps like a trash compactor and a Knights and Knaves style logic puzzle—which the players actually picked the right door for despite the fact they asked the wrong question!

But there was a little more than this, this adventure had a lot more role-playing than otherwise. I’d say Tanorana was a Star Wars equivalent to an evil cleric, she did experiments on people and kidnapped Force-sensitives to study them. As she was trying to make some sensitive to the Force without being born with that ability, because that was what was done to her. She killed her creator and it drove her to the dark side.

She managed to succeed in her experiments though, with the PC she had had kidnapped.

Yes, you heard correctly, I gave one of the characters a free feat and made her Force-sensitive. It’s all done in the name of drama though, as the PC has some seriously negative back story issues with the Jedi. The fan fic writer in me just couldn’t resist.

 The Atmosphere

 I have said Star Wars wouldn’t be Star Wars without the magic of John Williams, but I really tried to out do myself here in terms of music. It was actually some of the music that inspired some of the scenes. From the Revenge of the Sith soundtrack, I got “Palpatine’s Teachings” for the lead up to the Sith Academy as it was nice and ominous and I also used “Padmé’s Lamentations” for the entry into the city. I had planned on using “The Immolation Scene” for the PCs death, but as he wasn’t there he just spluttered and died. For the final fight, I had “Duel of the Fates” which I put on repeat as it was just too short. And for the final scenes in the campaign, which consisted of a funeral in the Ghost Nebula for the slain PC, I played the track from my favourite scene in my favourite Star Wars movie “The Rebel Fleet” which is just before the credits.

Which is probably why I felt like a film director, the last scene of the campaign felt oddly stage managed. Yet is it supposed to be like that? Are last scenes in campaigns meant to have filmic elements? I am interested in comments from the more experienced.

 When I return, I will be playing and the guest GMs will be covering the second year of the Clone Wars. And then, I will take them for the final year which will end with Order 66 and the formation of the Empire. I have the music for those scenes already planned in my head.

The Produced By Conference, held for the first time at Sony Studios, gives a look to aspiring producers of where the new technology is going and how to get there. There was a diversity of angles to see from film office to new HD high-end taps to camera packages. One of the more interesting developments has been the use of computers to not just do the visual effects but to actually bring the title to pitch. Now more than ever studios and financiers want to see a visual representation of their investment and where it will go. Two specific sessions spoke to this possibility as well as revealed some interesting tidbits regarding recent developments.

The Collaborative Process of Visual Effects: From Previs To Post Previsualization is becoming an increasingly prevalent element in current film production techniques especially for large production but there is a chain of command in what each level might do. According to the panel, there are six different iterations: pre-vis, pitch vis, technical pre-vis, onset pre-vis, post vis and d-vis. David Morin, a technologist at Autodesk, first approaches the history of pre-vis. First it is sheer numbers. 49% of all box office receipts come from some sort of visual effects elements created in the computer. The percentage is up 5% from 2007. The timeline of pre-vis shows where it has come from. It was first used with action figures in a low tech version to plan the bike chase for “Return Of The Jedi” in 1983. In 1986, vector graphics were used to pre-vis for “The Boy Who Could Fly”. The next jump up  was in 1992 and involved more motion animation done by Frank Foster at Sony Imageworks for the car chase in “Striking Distance”. The flying sequence for “Judge Dredd” only two years later combined animation and the increasing propensity of vector. “Starship Troopers” in 1997 was the first pre-vis situation that was able to integrate camera movement. The big leap forward happened in 1999 with David Dozoretz in the design of the pod race as a pre-vis animatic for “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace”. “Fight Club”, the same year had sequences pre-vised by Colin Green at Pixel Liberation Front for the airline destruction sequence in which colors coded set extensions and layers. Then 3 years later virtual camera work for invisible effects was again integrated by Colin Green in pre-vizing “Panic Room”, again for director David Fincher. This is where the aspects of what are possible with this process begin.

Gale Ann Hurd, producer of “Terminator” and “Aliens”, then discussed “pitch vis”. The key she says is that in this current marketplace the reality is that you still need to pitch your product and set it up. Pitch Vis is especially good if you are working with first time filmmakers. You can show the financiers and the studio, if need be, the filmmaker’s sensibility through these animations and show how he/she can move the camera albeit in a virtual environment. She uses the example that she is currently working with a first time filmmaker who is a graphic novelist looking to make a debut as a feature director. They are working on pre-vis with a company called Image Engine who did work on “Fantastic Four 2″ to create visuals to use as a pitch for a project entitled “The Hunted”.

Ron Frankel, President of Proof, next approached the basis of technical pre-vis. The definition that they had come to structure involves a collaborative process that generates preliminary versions of shots or sequences. The aspect of cost is always of interest to filmmakers. It depends how much needs to be done. A whole film with a budget of 15 million dollars will cost about $50,000 to pre-vis. Frankel uses the example of the film “21″ which only needed certain things done cost about $4000 in pre-vis work. His prevalent example was the work he did in technical pre-vis on “World Trade Center” working with director Oliver Stone. One of the first things he did was create a 3D model of the Towers when they fell textured with photographs. It was not supposed to be referenced as a shot. It instead gave context to where the rescue workers within the film were at any given time. The moving tech-vis goes above from a moving target to show how these workers ended up in essence where they were trapped. A majority of the work was still frames of the environment to give perspective. There was a real effort for historical accuracy which acted as quite a reality check according to Frankel. He shows a shot that Oliver had him work on while they were on set in Marina del Rey where the camera pulls out over the island. The Double Negative completed VFX looked very similar to the actual tech-vis on the day. Oliver got to see it on the day so he knew what he was getting.

Alex McDowell, Production Designer most recently on “Watchmen”, discussed the essence of “d-vis” which by common sense incorporates design elements.  Design visualization tests practical and virtual locations in relation to camera. He first worked with pre-vis with Director David Fincher on “Fight Club”. Pre-vis was brought in initially to get more control over the visual effects. He used a grid to show the balance of different departments working and how the visualization allows them to function independently. The concept elements of art follow into d-vis which is congruent with set and 3D design. From here the pipeline follows into set construction and decoration. For his most recent project with “Watchmen”, the art department started off with a concept paintings. They derived this perspective from the initial pre-vis as well as distance elements from Google Earth. This helped with the initial physics of The Comedian’s apartment and how much needed to be constructed versus the amount of CGI facades that extended beyond and more specifically downwards. This d-vis also using colors allows one to see how much practical location will work and the actual cut off where digital extensions begin. D-Vis allows precise placement in terms of actual measurements. They built three city blocks in Vancouver to stand in for NY. The painting in pre-vis uses color coding which can be broken down to the crew. Another example for use of pre-vis in “Watchmen” was the Owl Ship, even though it was actually built full size (I actually did a stand up in it at the “Watchmen” junket). The CG model was done in d-vis to get director approval. The key especially when the Owl Ship was integrated into the hangar at Nite Owl II’s home base was that the concept art had to be data accurate.

Chris Edwards, CEO of The Third Floor Pre-Vis Studio explored technical pre-vis as well. Technical pre-vis incorporates a generated and accurate camera, lighting, design and scene layout. The first example he cites that they worked on was “Valykrie” where everything was scaled in a real world environment. Instead of using the actual template, they used the essence of planning out the move in the animation incorporating the perspective of the soundstage using green screen breakdown as well as camera placement and movement. The key is to place a diagramming tool that measures distance from both the top and side views. This measurement also takes into account the velocity of camera and actors at any given point. Usually this kind of tech pre-vis can be displayed in the matte box of the camera (precisely in the heads up display). The aspects of different layers of compositing can also be integrated to show the different elements at play.

Another example Edwards showed was an overhead tech pre-vis showing the swath of a camera and what it sees while moving down the street in the trailer tease elements for “Cloverfield”. Edwards also addresses post-vis in congruence. It combines digital elements and production photography to validate and aid in the footage selection process. An example he offers in this segue is from “Prince Caspian” for the Walt Disney Company. The River God sequence in that movie was going to be cut. The director had to find a way to somehow justify the sequence to the studio. What ended up being done is that the animation from the pre-vis was comped into the sequence with the live action and bolstered the studios confidence. In this instance and others, Edwards says that post-vis helps strengthen a sequence before the final FX. It also helps extensively when showing to test audiences when the final FX aren’t done. VFX producers can also use post-vis as a bidding tool and focus efforts.

Dan Gregoire, CEO of Halon Entertainment, focused his perceptions on onset pre-vis. The definition of onset pre-vis is to create a real time visualization on location to help the director evaluated captured imagery. The first interaction he had was when they were working on “THX-1138″ for the DVD Director’s Cut. They were able to do 54 set ups in one day. Pre-vis made it happen. When he was working on “Revenge Of The Sith” they had a guest director named Steven Spielberg for a couple sequences who changed the mindset of how they could work.

Dan went to work for Spielberg for “War Of The Worlds”. Spielberg has said that he could not have made the release date for “War” if he had not done pre-vis. On set Dan said there is certain things you need on mobile call: laptop, Maya, Adobe, a table, laser measure and a GPS locater integrated with a digital camera, Google maps and a roving internet connection. He also said you need one extra of everything. He jokes that on “War Of The Worlds” sometimes he had to jump an internet connection from nearby churches. Dan would travel with 1st Unit. The pre-vis on the day allowed Spielberg to make the decision to blow up the bridge which was a big set piece. Before it was simply going to be the destruction of a gas station. Pre-vis made this possible. For the final take down of the pods, Steven could not go to all the locations so they had to do virtual site scouts using pre-vis.Dan went up in a chopper and tasked the scanned footage/pictures into the sequence.

Dan next worked doing onset pre-vis for Indiana Jones and The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull”. Spielberg found out on this show that the key at times was control the message to all department heads especially if you are shooting at a breakneck pace. Sometimes Spielberg would come up with an idea and poeple would go right to work on it. He didn’t want people to spend money unless he was firm on the idea. Using this kind of pre vis allowed him to dessimate out information to specific people.

Roger Guyett, VFX Supervisor on “Star Trek” for ILM talked about the importance of pre vis aided by David Dozoretz who showed the pre-vis of the planet dive sequence. It is better to do these pre-vis to see if an actual sequence should be in a movie or not. For “Star Trek”, Guyett says that pre-vis took close to a year. But, for him, looking at pre-vis, the shooting criteria was different and had to be maintained. He wanted to try to do as much in camera as possible. He wanted to be able to shoot in real light and create a natural realism. During this he says that the gimble was always locking up on set so they had to keep replacing the hot heads. To add to this, he also wanted to us minimal green screen and use the sky whenever possible.

The rub was that the only way they could make it happen is that they would have to realize two locations on two sets in one location. He had to figure out a way to do the weapon platform and the ice world planet on the same location. The way he ended up doing it was shooting at a wide swath of the parking lot at Dodger Stadium where a clear horizon could be seen. JJ Abrams thought he was insane but they made it work. It was just a matter of angle the structure with the pre-vis and the green screen just right.

The sneak peak at the panel was from Marc Weigert who is the co-producer and VFX Supervisor on 2012, Roland Emmerich’s new action picture about the Mayan prophecy about the end of the world. He brought pictures showing the extensive green screen that was constructed in Vancouver for the shoot. The aspect was to have the flow of green screen on either side of a moving car for a respective chase sequence. The scene he was building up to show involves a 10.5 earthquake hitting Los Angeles. The story set up on the scene is that John Cusack’s limo driver goes to save his kids and his ex-wife and, by extension, her new husband. The pre-vis on the effects that he shows involve the question of how do you create the aspect of such an earthquake? Roland and Marc’s perception seemed to be like a big rolling wave swallowing up everything in its path. The scene itself, which was rough and seemingly had not been shown publicly before, shows Cusack running into his former house and getting his ex-wife (played by Amanda Peet) and their kids into the car just as the earthquake consumes their house. He is driving ahead of  the rolling destruction but just barely as you see houses simply swallowed by the earth. In a short piece of Emmerich’s humor, Cusack gets stuck behind two old ladies in a car who can barely see over the . He eventually drives around them but the old ladies’ car goes headfirst into a big piece of rock. The car heads on but as they turn down a street, cars from a parking garage are being thrown out into their way and right ahead of them the freeway begins to topple over sending more cars careening. Cusack accelerates as he has to clear under one part of the freeway before it completely collapses. He does so but a high rise begins to fall in front of them. There is no way around. I guess he is going in. After applause, Marc says they have 7 or so more weeks of FX work on the film to do. 2012 is being released in November.

The aspect of pre-vis speaks to the aspect of all different types of production. With a high end panel like this with past, present and definitive future experience, the real world applications to producers on this front is quite specific.

Part 2 of our coverage of the 2009 Produced By Conference will explore the intracies of motion capture and its integrations into such systems as pre-vis.

So, back in December, one of my favorite people in the world got a Snuggie and I talked about it on my blog. A few months later, The Consumerist came out with a report basically suggesting that Snuggie sucks. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO!!!

So for those of you planning to order one of these creepy, fleecy Revenge of the Sith robes, my advice is…don’t. And for those of you who are unlucky enough to own a Snuggie (specifically a sky blue Snuggie that wraps around one particular boy from Rhode Island) my heart goes out to you. Let’s hope the static electricity created by the Snuggie doesn’t ignite and set you on fire while you’re reading or playing board games with an equally Snuggie-clad date. 

By: Dukemich

I love Samuel L. Jackson(SLJ). I find his movies extremely entertaining. If SLJ is in any movie, I’ll watch it. Recently, my dad asked me the question “What is your favorite SLJ movie?” Because he’s been in more than 100 movies, I had to take some time to think about this. Keep in mind that I’ve only seen about 30 of SLJ’s movies(I’ve never seen Unbreakable), but these are my five favorite from what I’ve seen.

5. Pulp Fiction

Some people might put this at number one, but I didn’t like this movie as much as SLJ’s others. The parts I enjoy most are the scenes with SLJ(obviously). The movie has a great beginning but veers away from the most interesting story about John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson. Still it does crack my top 5 in SLJ’s greatest movies.

4. Coach Carter

This movie is excellent. It has entertaining basketball scenes as well as a great story line with a moral lesson. The story centers on a basketball team that is destined for failure and a coach looking to improve the players’ lives. *SPOILER ALERT* Even though the Richmond Oilers lose in the end, they actually turn into men and attempt to make a living for themselves by getting into college.

3. The Negotiator

The Negotiator is a tense thriller. SLJ is a cop who is framed for the murder his partner. When no one believes his side of the story, SLJ takes a few people hostage until he figures out who murdered his partner and set him up. This movie keeps you guessing until the end.

2. Basic

Basic is even more thrilling than The Negotiator. This military mystery takes so many twists and turns that you will never see the end coming.

1. Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith

Revenge of the Sith is my favorite Star Wars movie. It is definitely SLJ’s best movie. Revenge of the Sith entertains the audience with great special effects and fight scenes. It also has quotable lines and dramatic scenes.

That’s my top 5.

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