Quickie Fu 135
Sit back and get jiggy with tonights Quickies:
First up, jamiemccarthy sent us
a Magic 8-Ball that claims to be operated by Legos.
And if you're into those remote control legos,
Paddy noted that there is new stuff on the lego website.
Todays stranges item comes from Chris Henesy
who sent us official NASA procedure for Viking Raids.
Michael Van Vertloo sent us linkage to a webcam from the 6th floor of the Texas School Book Depositoryso you conspiracy theorists can keep an eye on it.
Bogatyr noted that there now is actually a website selling stuff from the matrix. No, not the minigun, but sunglasses and stuff.
tj2sent us linkage to an interview where George Lucas blaims the internet for Jar Jar sucking so badly.
Mike sent us a page that tracks Strange things sold on ebay.
Finally, markhb sent us
a Washington Post
profile of Marc Andreeson
where he talks about assorted things, and even plugs Slashdot as one of his favorite sites (thanks Marc!)
And finally, to bookend this Fresh block of quickies,
harb sent us lyrics to
the classic (cough) Will Smith Song "Men in Black" for Linux geeks.
You miss the the point, too. (Score:1)
Any classic 'kids' show has two faces: the slapstick and silly kiddishness, and the subtle adult side. Hence you have shows like the Flintstones that are silly and adult at the same time. It appeals to BOTH audiences because the creators know that along with the kids watching the show, there are the adults (the parents) watching as well.
Lucas ignored this and gave us something I doubt even a 5-year old would have enjoyed. Jar Jar was WORSE than insulting.
As for Star Wars being a 'kids' flick, think about this: yes, I was a 'kid' when the original Star Wars hit the theatres in the '70's. But you know what? I can still watch Star Wars today without being embarrassed. It was a good flick with broad appeal, without targeting ONLY ONE AUDIENCE. Contrast that with the Phantom Menace...I won't watch it again, and in 5-10 years time it will look EXTREMELY dated, due to the narrow childish-only focus. The Phantom Menace will NOT go down in history as a 'classic', I guarantee you.
Why should we watch it through a 'child's eyes'? I'm an adult, not a child. I've seen the original Star Wars through a child's eyes and an adult's eyes...it's still a great flick. The Phantom Menace was pure product-oriented tripe. As an adult, I'm damn embarrased by it.
And one more thing: when making a movie, especially a SEQUEL, you should keep your original audience in mind. Most of us Star Wars fans were kids in the '70's. Lucas ignored us, big surprise. Contrast that with the guy making the Lord of the Rings movie. He has gone on record stating that he hasn't forgotten about the crowd that grew up with LotR when it was insanely popular...the 60's crowd. If Lucas were making LotR I'm sure it would be a chewed-down CGI-ridden Care Bears meets the Telly-tubbies experience.
Re:Viking Raiders (Score:2)
bold stand (Score:1)
I had a lot of respect for Lucas before Phantom Menace. After seeing the movie I saw that he could make mistakes. After reading that comment about toys, I realize that he can be a complete idiot. Maybe it's just me, but every time he opens his mouth I feel less and less like seeing the next movie when it comes out.
Re:Actually... (Score:1)
The trade federation aliens whom everyone accuses of sounding Japanese didn't sound like real Japanese either (and as a native speaker, I should know).
But what they did most definitely sound like is the Hollywood stereotype of Japanese, that irritating fake Asian accent used over and over in movies and sitcoms by non-native speaker actors. (Geez, isn't there a single native speaker of Japanese in the entire Screen Actors' Guild??) There's no way an accent like that is natural to the actor (because no one really speaks like that), nor could it be coincidental.
I'm not going to jump to conclusions that Lucas is racist, or is trying to ridicule an ethnic group, but to deny that the accents (both Jar-Jar and the trade feds) were deliberate and to pass it off as coincidence is just disingenuous.
And as for the rest of the interview, man, what a whiner!
8-ball page is fake. (Score:1)
the 8-ball page. Exactly. The same look to
the images too. I think it's a fake mockup.
Re:8-ball page is fake. (Score:1)
Anyway, the 8-ball is a really cool idea.
yes.no (Score:1)
Exploding 8ball? (Score:1)
I can't help but picture the lego 8ball shaker vibrating madly and exploding in a shower of plastic blocks as the /. effect kicks in and queues up thousands of requests for wisdom.
A has been pompous ass... (Score:1)
I saw "Empire" twice. It was okay.
I Saw "Jedi" twice. Ewoks must die.
I saw "Menace" once. I never, EVER want to see it again. Ever.
After $200,000,000.00 (US) and two years of actual work (preceded by 16 years of sitting on his ass) he spews forth one of the worst movies of the year and has the unmidigated gaul to blame the Internet for the fact that people hated it?
Earth to George! The movie is a piece of CRAP! People hate Jar Jar because he's inane, stupid and the most painfully obviouse "new toy sensation" in the history of film.
Next time spend more time actually writing your damned movies and less time on the licensing contracts and you might just luck out and make a movie worth the (recently raised) price of admission.
At one time George had The Magic. Now all he has is sad, wornout slight of hand tricks.
TPM could have been a good movie (provided it was scripted and directed by someone else) but it's not.
George will get no more of my money.
Are you just an ass? (Score:1)
This may be news to you but you are aware that you can disagree with someone without stooping to insulting them and behaving like an ass, don't you?
Give it a try someday. Someone might actually take what you have to say seriously rather than just tossing aside your comments like the badly thought-through drek they are.
Re:Hype horror. (Score:1)
Re:Making a 'kids movie' is a lost art (Score:1)
If I went back to school now I'd study: History??? (Score:1)
Re:I'm sorry, but (Score:1)
Marketing (Score:1)
Especially if you get a percentage on all their toys, eh George?
TPM was one long advert for merchandising from start to finish. Who needs a story when there are billions to be made from gullible kids?
Re:side note: the cam (Score:1)
Ade_
/
Maybe we're all geniuses (Score:1)
Now there's a visionary...help develop a product that allows you to waste time in the name of future watching.
--
I believe William Shatner said it best.... (Score:1)
As I understand it, he said this after finding out from fans that one of his real-life horses gave birth, before then, Shatner didn't know himself. I believe that Lucas himself made statements to the same.
Dissing Jar Jar, R2D2, C3PO or the Ewoks just because you don't like them isn't the way to go. It would seem that people deify George Lucas or say he's great with reservations about certain plot items. I'm sorry, the movies are already made. You'll have to take them as they are or leave them. If you don't like it, I'm sure there are many other movies as good or better out there to check out. Or get _really_ good at acting, computer animation or something else useful to Lucasfilm to get Lucas's ear in time for Eps 2 & 3 (hopefully to convince him into doing 7-9!)
Re:I love the 8-ball (Score:1)
Try saving a few images with the same answer, and comparing file attributes.
Re:Actually... (Score:1)
Lucas has had a tradition of using accents to simulate a community. In the original trilogy, the imperials generally had british accents, and the rebels had American accents. So perhaps Lucas felt that this was a effective cinematic tool. Certainly the callowness of Mark Hammil's southern Californian accent resonated with me. I could really feel the disapointment in his voice when he wanted to "waste time with his friends."
What puzzles me is why the "not really Jamaican" accent of Jar-Jar gets far more attention that the Vietnamese accents of the trade-federation folks. But then, they would probably get misidentified as Japanese.
Lucas trying to save face? (Score:1)
Excuse me, but is this not the most glaring straw man argument you have ever seen? Is George Lucas trying to do a bit of PR work for himself because his baby got a lukewarm reception? Did all the net.flames make him insecure? Is he just an idiot? Who knows....
Re:Jar-Jar (Score:1)
-Dean
Jar-Jar (Score:1)
I think everything Lucas said in that interview was valid... Twentysomething Star Wars fans wanted a serious flick, and got a kid's movie. Wah. He said from the beginning that it wasn't made for you, it was made for kids. Get over it.
Actually... (Score:5)
You see, the man who voiced Jar-Jar grew up in Jamaica. He was actually using his own natural voice, with only slight exaggeration (which he deemed appropriate for a comic sidekick).
Re:If I went back to school now I'd study: History (Score:2)
As for why its harder for people with other degrees to break into computer science its mostly because before your resume is even looked at by a hiring manager or a technical person its pre-screened by a person trained to look for buzz words. They usually look at academic credentials first.
and.. (Score:1)
IMO, The big thing that bugs people about TPM is that they grew out of the target audience. It's a sad fact that most forms of entertainment don't grow up with us. Silly-ass saturday morning cartoons were a hard thing for me to let go of, but I eventually did. Some people are just going to have to get over Star Wars. According to its Creator, "it is a kids movie". We simply shoudn't be watching it..
But dammit George, you could have warned us.
Re:Meesa Jar Jar Binks (Score:1)
That Chewy was never hated should tell you something. The first three movies all had characters with "child appeal": Chewy in the first, Yoda in the second, and the Ewoks in the third. OK, the Ewoks get some ribbing, but for being cutsey, not for being stupid/insulting. Chewy was the pilot of the MF, and must have been rather competent considering all the mishygosh they had to get through. Yoda's first appearance made him seem vaguely Jar-Jar like, but that was a *ruse*! A Jedi master can, in fact, sound like Grover from Sesame Street and be a muppet but still strike one as incredibly wise. The Ewoks managed to beat up the much larger and more "advanced" Storm Troopers by being *intellegent*! They tripped up their flyers, they outflew them, and in general kicked their collective ass.
Jar-Jar, however, was neither intellegent nor competent. He bumbled his was to a high position (bombast general), simply by being in the wrong place at the right time. He was comical without being amusing, clumsy, and in general a fool. Sure, he has kid appeal, ask any 4-5th grader. However, because he was a bumbling fool, he added nothing to the movie.
Note, however, that the gungans as a race were actually decent fighters and people; I liked Boss Nass and the general. This despite the fact that the only reason they didn't die by the thousands was an all-too-serendipitous shot.
Brynn
Re:WHOA - GO LUCAS! GO LUCAS! GO LUCAS! (Score:1)
Becker storms into Reggie's, yelling over his shoulder at the driver of a car blasting rap music loud enough to be heard from blocks away. He then proceeds to complain about his neighbors, who cook on the sidewalk. Finally, an asian driver dings Becker's car, which, of course, sets Becker off even worse. In the meantime, Becker engages in the usual acid-tongued banter with Reggie and The Newsstand Guy. What Becker didn't know was that a newspaper columnist overheard the whole thing, and then wrote a scathing column about a loud-mouthed bigot he encountered in a diner.
The episode builds up to a confrontation between the columnist and Becker on a radio talk show, where Becker launches a rant that could have been ghost-written by Dennis Miller, slamming Political Correctness and catches the columnist proving Lucas' point. (Took a while to get here; hope it was worth it.) When the columnist assumes that the sidewalk-cooking neighbors are Puerto Rican, Becker points out that he doesn't know what ethnicity they are, and never offered any description, except for their cooking preferences.
The best part of the rant is when Becker points out that most of the people who advocate PC thinking are actually perpetuating the stereotypes they're trying to dispell. He used that to set up the Puerto Rican killshot.
Granted, a sitcom script is a rather contrived arena for such debate, but the point was driven home well.
Keith Russell
OS != Religion
Not the accent (Score:1)
Agreed: the accent wasn't a big deal racism-wise. Actually, I couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable at times because it sounded so much like some kind of a racial stereotype (whatever it actually was, since he's so clear that wasn't Jamaican), but I didn't think it was really offensive. At least not that way.
No, my problem was more that, whatever the accent was based on, it was just so damned annoying! I probably disliked Jar-Jar somewhat less than most -- some of his scenes were kind of cute, or even a bit cool (Qui-Gon grabbing his tongue) -- but for the most part, it just positively grated on my ears. At times it was literally painful.
Lucas seems to be aware of the real issue, and he mentions it briefly, but he uses the racism thing to cover it up:
"There is a group of fans for the films that doesn't like comic sidekicks. They want the films to be tough like Terminator, and they get very upset and opinionated about anything that has anything to do with being childlike."
I'd say that's just about right, though it's not quite fair to us: there's a difference between "comic" and "childlike", and there's yet another thing called "just plain annoyingly silly". Also, I for one didn't want it to be quite like Terminator -- more somewhere in the middle, like, maybe, exactly the way it was, but without Jar-Jar.
I loved the movie, and I don't want to be too critical, but he seems to be using some sneaky tricks here: as pointed out above, when fielding racism charges, he dwells on Jar-Jar's accent but doesn't mention the Federation guys' (I'll admit, I would have said Japanese. I stand corrected. Sorry), which would be a bit harder to defend. Also, he ignores the real point of the criticism -- he dismisses the racism thing, saying in effect, "Besides, they're just saying that because they don't like him." If you ask me, the whole point is that we "just" don't like him. This is interesting, though:
"The movies are for children but they don't want to admit that. In the first film they absolutely hated R2 and C3-PO. In the second film they didn't like Yoda and in the third one they hated the Ewoks... and now Jar Jar is getting accused of the same thing."
He makes a good point in the first sentence -- it's his movie, and his is the official word on who the target audience is. I guess we're just jealous that he's making movies for little kids instead of for us. I don't know about the rest, though: I always liked R2-D2 better than C3-P0, I always loved Yoda, and I never thought too highly of Ewoks. I'm not sure what the point is -- that we keep asking him to stop using annoying characters, but he keeps doing it anyway? I thought that was our point.
David Gould
It really *is* a Magic 8-ball (Score:2)
GL forgetting who made him rich... (Score:1)
such a rich man get the films they waited
16 YEARS for? I seem to recall in the
pre-TPM days someone from Lucasfilm saying
that the new movies would be darker and more
mature.
PS one of the reasons I dislike
the jar jar thing is that I could not understand
what it was saying.
Re:eight ball rules... honest mother (Score:1)
Szo
I love the 8-ball (Score:3)
-S. Louie
Re:Hah, George wants to make toys cheaper (Score:1)
This is the same George Lucas who wouldn't let theaters show his film unless they banned discount coupons for his movie.
Dunno which Legos, Linux, or Star Wars toys are better at expanding kids' minds. Heh heh.
--
QDMerge [rmci.net] -- data + templates = documents.
Re:why jar jar sucks so bad (Score:1)
I remember hearing somewhere that Lucas admitted after ROTJ that the ewoks were only in there to increase marketing and the sale of little furry toys. I wonder if^W^W^W the same thing is true of Jar Jar.
Someone (maybe me) should write a jar jar-izer along the lines of the Elmer Fudd-izer and the Redneck-izer.
"Meesa read slashdottem all de time fang you very mush. Meesa no like slashers dotters slagging off Lord Lucas of George, heesa creator of all good fings and much fun."
Yoda & Jar Jar (Score:1)
>that. In the first film they absolutely hated R2 and
>C3-PO. In the second film they didn't like Yoda and in
>the third one they hated the Ewoks... and now Jar Jar is
>getting accused of the same thing."
What the heck?
I never hated Threepio or Artoo, and Yoda was my hero for years. And fscking George Lucas walks along, tells us they were supposed to get kids to see the movie.
Yoda is a JEDI MASTER, not some kind of clumsy freak creature who can't even talk. He's as full of wisdom as Jar Jar is of shit!
And go see the trailers, do you think they are targeted at an audience of CHILDREN? As somebody already said, the guy is about to forget who made him rich!
--
"The use of COBOL cripples the mind.
Its teaching, therefore, should be
Re:GL forgetting who made him rich... (Score:1)
The people I hear constantly bashing this TPM all seem to be forgeting one very important thing: The Star Wars films have always been, are now, and hopefully will always be targeted primarily at children. I think many of the hard core fans who were dissapointed by the film walked into that theatre expecting a movie aimed at 20-30 year olds: that was a very silly assumption to make.
I saw the first Star Wars film when I was 6. Over the next few years Star Wars was a major part of my life. Is everyone trying to say that Lucas should simply deny a new generation of young children the same pleasure _we_ had at that age seeing those films?
Is TPM a little "kiddie" at times? Yes of course it is. Does that make it any different than any of the other films? No, it doesnt. Its the same formuala Lucas has used for the Star Wars films since the beggining - quality, _family_ entertainment. I got over the Ewoks.....I think I can learn to live with Jar Jar too.
Jar Jar (Score:1)
Jedi Knights think they're so smart with their
sabres and their mind tricks. Jar Jar kicked more
arse than they did and got out without a hole in his belly.
But I also think that Darth Maul about as threatening as a sunburned rabbit with explosive
acne, so what do I know.
And the sword-fights sucked. From kendo to
swashbuckling in less than two decades.
Dire.
K.
-
How come there's an "open source" entry in the
Oh dear... (Score:1)
"Better not tell you now"
[repeat question]
Will I get ********.com out in time?
"The answer is no"
Will I get ********.com out with a delay of less than a week?
"Outlook not so good"
I'm just hoping it's giving its opinion on
mail clients.
K.
-
How come there's an "open source" entry in the
big time /. effect (Score:1)
Re:If I went back to school now I'd study: History (Score:1)
You could ask the well-known linguist Larry Wall whether he have had any success in our industry. :-)
Wow! Lucas is *my hero* (Score:2)
So. George Lucas is, with no thought of the scandal and controversy this will no doubt bring down on his head, taking a firm position in favor of fun.
Yeah george, most people don't think children should play with toys. But not you. You're the exceptional hero man who thinks children should play with toys. Wow. That's really something. I suppose most people also feel it is perfectly okay to steal puppies and beat them, but you are similarly opposed to that, right?
George Lucas. Prefers good to evil, and thinks fun is a good thing for children to have. He is truly, truly truly in the minority for holding these views, but he is not afraid to voice them, so great is his integrity.
8-Ball Staying Out Of It... (Score:1)
Re:I believe William Shatner said it best.... (Score:1)
The 8 Ball is, well, K-Rad (Score:4)
I asked:
"Is x^n+xy+y^n factorable for n>2?"
I got:
"My response is no"
Thats one smart 8Ball.
Re:Viking Raiders (Score:1)
(Now watch their cached link go down, too.
Re:I'm sorry, but (Score:1)
Why is that okay?
GL Defensive (Score:1)
Has anyone else noticed this:
Try to go buy star wars action figures. What's the only figure you can find? Jar Jar.
Seems to me that everyone thought Jar Jar would be the big seller, but no one wants him. Everyone wants Darth Maul instead. Just try and find him. (marketing guy freaking out : "They want the BAD guy? The BAD guy? No they don't. deep down they really want the cute, loveable Jar Jar Binks. They just don't know it yet") eat me dude.
I'd buy Jar JAr just to blow him up (wher'd I put that M80?)
:)
-geekd
I'm sorry, but (Score:2)
Re:Actually... (Score:2)
Re:I love the 8-ball (Score:1)
Is Linux year-2000 compliant?
The 8-ball's answer:
IT IS CERTAIN
The 8-ball truly knows all.
Re:I love the 8-ball (Score:1)
i ask it a question and it answers gibberish
i asked "what is one plus one?", and the answer was "without a doubt".. not very useful at all
Re:GL blames the internet for jarjar? (Score:1)
Yup, it was. And so was the magic 8-ball. Glad I caught both of them before the slashdot effect began...
The Internet made me do it! (Score:3)
Lucas is just miffed because he gave us action figures and found out too late that we wanted a movie instead. And that we have a medium where we can express our views, rather than just shelling out for whatever the spin doctors and pizza boxes tell us to.
I don't plan on seeing the next one, unless I hear (on the Internet!) that he's delivered some interesting characters and a plot for them to participate in.
Nor will I buy any collectibles, for this one or any other.
Re:Actually... (Score:1)
If Jar-Jar had sounded French, would it still have racist undertones? What about Spanish? English? American?
Would you have been offended if Jar-Jar had sounded very vaguely like you?
What should Jar-Jar have sounded like, so as to not even risk offending anyone? A fscking automaton? Are we now to advise film-makers to make stupid/idiotic characters sound like _no-one_ at all?
Come on, people. Get a grip!
Re:The 8 Ball is, well, K-Rad (Score:1)
Jar Jar (Score:1)
I like his if anyone thought that it was racist then they are reflecting their own racism argument. Whooie. I am not sure I found it rascist so much as unimaginative anyways.
I agree that Star Wars is a childrens movie, but saying that the Ewoks and Jar Jar are not too annoying is like saying Microsoft uses fair licensing practices. I am sure all children above the age of 7 agree. Perhaps in the next movie he can have Barney make a cameo? Maybe even have the Teletubbies show up as Jedi Knights...
Slurping away on Darth Maul Taco Bell commemorative glass,
-Modok
Re:Allegations of racism in Star Wars (Score:2)
Only reason I even caught this is I was running at -1 today.
why is he hyping this as a kids movie? (Score:1)
How are they going to put that on a lunchbox?
Lucas is full of shit. He has no artistic integrity. It could have been a real movie, but it's cartoon dealing with issues that make police dramas look cheery. JarJar is simply the biggest aspect of this flaw.
Marc AndresEn (Score:1)
newly acquired funds into a good spell checker
and a person who actually knows how to spell
people's names.
After a bunch of news items where you misspelled
all sorts of words, this time you even misspelled
Marc's name.
Which brings another point. Slashot needs a spell
check option...
KV
Re:Marc AndreEsEn (Score:1)
> prove this, but isn't misspelled not a word?
> Perhaps if it were hyphenated, mis-spelled, it
> would be... Dunno... BTW: Webster's doesn't
> count... Oxford English Dictionary only!
Is is, according to Webster. What's wrong with
Webster anyway?
BTW, in case you haven't noticed already, there
is a missing 'e' in the subject. The irony...
KV
Re:I love the 8-ball (Score:1)
Its an 8 second cycle, if it takes longer on your machine then you have time dilation.
Re:8-ball page is fake. - is not (Score:1)
If you are using Netscape or IE Macintosh you should hit Shift Reload, this usually gets your ISP to bypass their cache.
Re:You CAN make the 8 ball work under IE windows. (Score:1)
What it needs is a Java applet that will read a stream of jpeg images and display them on the screen. Ought to be 5 minutes work for someone that knows what they are doing.
Grab yourself a copy of the data stream, http://8ball.federated.com/8ball-bin/nph-nabber, (a couple lines of text, jpeg, lines of text, jpeg...) and send me the Java. I will credit you on the page and you will be loved all round the world by the destiny denied IE windows users.
I'll promise to keep the images at 320x240 if that makes life easier.
Re:Hit reload dumbassm does too dumbass (Score:1)
It works fine in IE 4.0 Macintosh. Its only IE for windows that is missing suitable support.
Now perhaps we can apologize to the gentle readers and continue the normal civilized, informed discussions which have been Slashdot's hallmark.
Re:Is this a new trend among movie makers? (Score:1)
They will learn to influence the internet opinion as well. The faked fan sites are only the beginning. In a $15million marketing budget there is plenty of room to hire 100 professional internet hype generators for a month. They can hang out on all the hot forums, channels, and newsgroups and sow the carefully crafted and orchestrated hype in the weeks before and after the opening.
Re:I love the 8-ball (Score:1)
The ball positioning is done by using the RCX optical sensor to watch the white dot of the 8 ball.
Re:I love the 8-ball - is so (Score:2)
Is so!
The spin and shake takes 3 seconds, I allow an additional 5 for settling, but it usually settles much faster. The first second of shaking is a 360 degree roll, the remaining two are jiggling back and forth through about 70 degrees, so the destiny icosahedron is already up by the glass when the shaking stops, it just has to get off the edge.
And for fingers, the 8 ball does need to get dusted now and again and sometimes when people are in front of my desk talking to me they will give it a jostle when its on an edge. Destiny assistants.
I'm glad the 8 ball could be of assistance with your, uh, question.
Re:I love the 8-ball (8ball apologizes) (Score:3)
The 8-ball cycle time can handle 400+ desitinys per hour, needless to say it is pegged. 36 minutes after slashdot posting the queue was 65 people deep, the system load went over the watchdog limit and the ever vigilant watchdog rebooted the server. Bad dog. Bad.
The 8-ball is going to start shunning people at a queue depth of 30 to protect itself.
Re:GL forgetting who made him rich... (Score:1)
The Star Wars films have always been, are now, and hopefully will always be targeted primarily at children.
I didn't believe this when I saw that Lucas said it, and I don't believe it now. The original movie has never until this point been described as for children except by one (yes, one) of my friends who doesn't buy good vs. evil, myth, epics or the rest. The original movie is appealing to kids, certainly. But it is also quite appealing to adults. The second in my experience appeals more to adults than kids. Kids like seeing the good guys win; seeing them mutilated or frozen in carbonite (whatever the ^#^! that is anyway...) is not what they expect.
The third movie started a poor precedent. I saw it when I was still a kid, and I thought that the Ewok were annoying even then. It was far too childish and not nearly interesting enough. It had great special effects but a rotten plot (not that the first was a shining example of great writing, but it had a decent plot). TPM merely followed in this tradition. It has lost most of the great epic underpinnings and instead voices hollow forms: the monarch in disguise (ref. Henry V, the life of St. Edmund and more), the master-apprentice relationship &c. Instead of a decent character, we get Jar-Jar 'Missa Fscked in da Haid' Binks and Queen 'If I Talk Really Slowly I Will Seem Important' Amidala. Was I the only one who found the 'commendation' scene with R2D2 just a bit ridiculous?
Even given that Lucas were right, that the original movie had been aimed at children (which I doubt; adolescents I can believe, but not children), he should have realised that the target audience is still those at whom he aimed the first movie. Only it's 22 years later. Those who saw it their freshman year at college are now 40. They expected just a little bit more than hollow characterisation and neat effects (how many lines did Darth Maul have? Two? How many computer effects did we see?).
BTW, what in God's name is an elected queen? That's the point that annoyed me the most.
oh *please* (Score:2)
Hrmm...lets see...I run Linux to do all my work, but I use Windows and I need the web, its IE all the way. Quick and stable, unlike Netscape. I wish NS could produce such a product. Remeber, Slashdot is "News for Nerds." Not Linux/*BSD nerds, not Windows nerds, not Mac nerds...just nerds. Save your generalizations for #linux.
Sorry about the random harshish response, but lately the slashdot community has been very intolerant of non-Linux people. Its really quite a shame too...this forum has much possibility of people coming together to have real intellectual discussions, but instead we have trolls who think that their preferences are The One True Way(tm).
--------------------------
Re:GL Defensive (Score:1)
Mmmm...they shouldn't be so surprised about that...I mean...at least in Mexico, the movie from the original trilogy that was seen by more people was "The empire..."...and the reason most people gave back then on interviews was "it's a great movie because the bad guys win at last"
So...evil dudes sell
Vox
Re:If I went back to school now I'd study: History (Score:1)
Personally, I think most of the problems that we're seeing in the realm of IT could be solved by having techies with a more well-rounded education.
Besides, having a non-technical education does not preclude having an understanding of the technical realm. It merely enables you to bring a different perspective to the game, and may enable you to make a contribution that is radically different, rather than just squeezing a few more FPS of performance out of your video card.
Re:Viking Raiders (Score:2)
SP
The Merchandising Menace... (Score:1)
"He said: 'I wish there was a world where
nobody had to get paid and people could just
do things for free but they don't. All the tens
of thousands of people that make the toys
and the films, they all have to pay their bills
and so they demand to be paid.'"
*cough* *hack* Oh, sorry. I didn't realize that Phantom Menace Colgate (tm), Band-Aids (tm), Kleenex (tm) and Pencil Toppers (tm) were paying someone's rent. Silly me. I'll be sure to run right out and buy some more, then. Meesa thinks George needs to re-read those licensing contracts a little more closely. Where exactly does a percentage of every blessed Darth Maul (tm) pizza go, anyhow? Betcha my local pizza dude (tm) isn't seeing a piece of that pie (sorry).
Ahhhhh... mass merchandising and hype... the real Dark Side.
- m
Re:I'm sorry, but (Score:1)
GL blames the internet for jarjar? (Score:1)
With all due respect to the redoubtable Commodore, that's a misleading thing to say. Lucas blames the internet for the idea that GL is a racist for having made JarJar the way he was. He does not say "well, if people on the internet were nicer, then jar jar wouldn't have been such a crappy character." Nope, jar jar's annoyingness -- I'll admit to never having seen racism in the character -- was all GL's fault ("assuming" he had complete control), as far as GL says; it's the 'net reaction that GL thought sucked.
And while we're picking nits: I think the ebay piece was a link of the day on UF recently.
side note: the cam (Score:2)
Re:I love the 8-ball (Score:1)
I wish there was more info on the mechanism on the site. I am also curious how the ball is triggered - is it done via a sensor input on the RCX, or via IR to the RCX - or some other method?
On top of this - I love the 8-Ball's surroundings! Makes me wonder what other wierd machinations are going on at that desk!
Groupthink (Re:I'm sorry, but) (Score:1)
There's no stereotype there. Just enjoy the freakin' movie.
Re:Is this a new trend among movie makers? (Score:1)
As always, blame the messenger.
eight ball rules... honest mother (Score:1)
-"Does my life suck ?"
-"My sources point to no."
-"Will I get laid next week (;-)"
-"Yes"
*Brilliant*
Re:I love the 8-ball - Non cyber version please - (Score:1)
Wrong
Re:Hit reload dumbass (Score:1)
Re:Hit reload dumbassm does too dumbass (Score:1)
Re:Jar Jar (Score:1)
One of the biggest sins a childrens author can commit is thinking he can cut corners because his audience is 'just children'. I can't believe Lucas is taking that defence.
I kind of liked Jar Jar. He wasn't nearly as bad as all the other characters taking all those cliches and plotholes seriously.
why jar jar sucks so bad (Score:1)
Re:I love the 8-ball (Score:1)
Is it really racism... (Score:1)
Besides, I get really tired of aliens with perfect English. Have you ever tried to invent an accent that doesn't sound like something from earth? I've worked on in a few time, and it almost always comes out sounding like some existing accent done poorly. No, I don't think that this is one of Lucas's failings. There's plenty else to criticize him about.
Like the fact that Jar Jar is a pathetic and non-sypathetic poor excuse for a marionette. I hate it when characters succeed BECAUSE of their faults.
Re:I love the 8-ball - Non cyber version please - (Score:3)
The settle time is too short compared to a control 8-ball, and in one of the jpgs, I saw a finger.
As a side note, IE 4.0 does not support the animated JPEG files it sends. Not that anyone here ever installed IE willingly ...
rbb
OB 8-ball story: Once, I asked it if I was going to have sex that year. (It was a slow year.) It said YES. That very night, Boom.
The 8-ball NEVER LIES!
Yeah there would: Lynx (Score:1)
Hehe
I respectfully (and completely) disagree... (Score:1)
It was an experience that I did not enjoy.
It was similar to that scene in Saving Private Ryan where the one weak-minded person gets everyone killed. Luckily THIS was a children's movie and there were fewer lives lost.
Point is: I PAID to see that movie. If I don't like it (or extremely dislike it) I have as much a right to say so as a customer of mine would to complain to me.
You wouldn't say: get really good at programming, marketing, or something else useful to Microsoft to get Gates' ear in time for Windows 2002. You would complain and complain and if MS didn't take your complaints seriously you would seriously consider the alternatives.
--Tim
That sucks... (Score:1)
Thanks to the person who defended me BTW...
Tim
--
Is this a new trend among movie makers? (Score:1)
Telerobotic Ouija Board (Score:1)
Re:Jar Jar (Score:1)
*snip*
Did you hear "kettle drums" and assume carribean music? The drums they played during the parade didn't even sound like authentic kettle drums (and I've been a percussionist for nine years).
The Gungans are playing a march, which sounds very much like a drum corp cadence.
As for the accent, Jamacians don't sound anything like that...there's was a guy I knew in high school with a Jamacian accent and Jar Jar sounds nothing like him.
This is not a flame. For the record I can't stand Jar Jar at all. He's the most annoying and worthless character out of the entire series. At least threepio and artoo were actually kind of amusing.
F.
Re:The Internet made me do it! (Score:1)
Re:GL blames the internet for jarjar? (Score:1)
trade federation guys, yeah, it was dead obvious,
but Jar Jar was just...himself.
24 kids for sale (Score:3)
Oh well, maybe a similar item will come up for bid
Meesa Jar Jar Binks (Score:3)