Shinmaru

*brings thread back from the dead* Magic! Couldn't resist after watching episode 17 of Revolutionary Girl Utena. Just links because my screencaps are big, and they suck. [b]Name:[/b] Shiori Takatsuki [b]Source:[/b] Revolutionary Girl Utena [b]Status:[/b] Former best friend of Student Council Member Juri Arisugawa (who I will probably post about at some point too >>) -- [spoiler]Her turn to evil for five minutes in episode 17.[/spoiler] Man. Moe levels went up by, like, 5,000 percent, haha. She went from being [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/Shiori3.gif][b]pretty cute[/b][/url] (and dressed like Joan Crawford if she were a schoolgirl lol) to [url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/Shinmaru/Shiori1.png][b]ridiculously hot[/b][/url]. I approve of this turn. -- Her evil sneer.

Dunno. The light novels haven't reached that point yet, so the anime certainly won't get to it for a while. I assume she would still hang around Haruhi and her crew though.

Been playing [b]Rock Band[/b] like crazy -- mainly to master finger tapping so that I can actually make it through the harder solos. I can finally make it through the "Highway Star" solo without royally screwing up, which is nice because it is my favorite song in the game. Yay! This morning I was systematically beating all my crappy high scores in Hard mode. Fun times. :)

I'm through episode six right now. I don't think the show is amazing, but it's pretty funny and cute, so I'll keep on the train. Hope the stories become more engaging, though, because right now it kind of feels like the show sleepwalks through the stories. At least it's funny enough for that not to be much of a problem at the moment. :P

Episode 44 is mainly a recap episode, although there are some cute moments with Amu and Rima, some funny stuff with Amu and Utau fighting and Nikaidou being super suave. Biggest story development is [spoiler]Kairi leaving for home -- but not before confessing his love for Amu. Awwww. I'm going to miss him. He really grew on me and became one of my favorite characters.[/spoiler] I wonder if Miki's melancholy is going to continue? That would be sad -- Miki is my favorite Chara in the series. She's so wonderfully snarky.

Ah, warms my heart to see this thread still going. :catgirl: [quote name='ChibiHorsewoman'][color=#993ff]So you can mention movies already aired that you've watched on DVD too right?[/color][/QUOTE] If I am understanding you correctly, you're asking if you can count movies you've seen in theaters that you then watched on DVD, correct? Yes, you can, but don't list it twice as separate movies, obviously. You can post about it more than once, especially if your opinion has changed about the movie in question. [b]Paths of Glory[/b]: GREAT movie -- immediately leapt into my favorites list. I agree with guys like Roger Ebert who write that you can feel the anger as Stanley Kubrick is filming this. The one battle scene is maybe the most horrific vision of war I've ever seen in a movie. It's not nearly as bloody and graphic as [b]Saving Private Ryan[/b], but the visuals and especially the use of sound transform war into a living, breathing monster. It's legitimately frightening, whereas many war movies have that mixed with a sense of being in awe of the action (which unfortunately comes with the territory). [b]Gangs of New York[/b]: Not as good as many of Martin Scorsese's other brilliant movies, but a good Scorsese movie is still better than what 99 percent of filmmakers could produce. Leonardo DiCaprio is as good as expected (is any actor on a bigger roll than Leo right now?), and I absolutely need to see more of Daniel Day-Lewis. His accent slips a couple of times (and he sounds like Daniel Plainview from [b]There Will Be Blood[/b] when it does lol), but most of the time he is such a fearsome, intense presence onscreen. [b]Five Easy Pieces[/b]: The movie that turned Jack Nicholson into a star and kicked off the '70s (perhaps the greatest era of American movies) with a bang. Jack plays the type of guy people are used to seeing him as -- an intense, snarky individualist with a violent streak that shields his fear and loneliness. I was pretty impressed with how well the movie mixes the emotional parts with the hilarious parts (plenty of movie lovers know the chicken salad scene, but the funniest part to me is when Bobby and Rayette (Karen Black) pick up two hitchhikers, and one of them rambles on for several scenes about [i]the[/i] most bizarre ****). The movie doesn't pull any punches with the ending, either, which is pretty sad. [b]Perfect Blue[/b]: I like this more than [b]Paprika[/b], which doesn't have an engaging story to go along with the amazing visuals. The basic story is a pop idol becomes an actress, which angers some of her fans -- one in particular is a dangerous, obsessed stalker. People begin dying, and the world starts slipping away from the actress, who is dealing with this along with her insecurities about her career change. Like Paprika, the lines between fantasy and reality are heavily blurred, especially near the end. It adds a lot to the excitement and intensity of the story. Movie Count: 45 (Live Free and Die Hard, Time Bandits, The Hustler, Black Dragon (Miracles), Hollywoodland, Blood Diamond, Animal Crackers, Marie Antoinette, Inside Man, The Fountain, Tombstone, Jurassic Park (Rifftrax), No Country for Old Men, Juno, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Rifftrax), There Will Be Blood, Rize, Born Into Brothels, Eastern Promises, Gone Baby Gone, Hard Candy, The Matrix Reloaded (Rifftrax), Hot Fuzz, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs, Phone Booth, The Dark Knight, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Predator, Ratatouille, Renaissance, Pretty in Pink, Scanners, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, Stop Making Sense, The Killing, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rifftrax), Voices of a Distant Star, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Amadeus, Touch of Evil, Paths of Glory, Gangs of New York, Five Easy Pieces, Perfect Blue)

I want no part of knowing when I am to die. It would consume my thoughts until the time it actually happened, which would totally ruin my life.

I wrote in Associated Press style so much in college that I do it without thinking now. It is actually driving me up the wall right now, because I am interning at a Los Angeles Times newspaper, and Times style has quite a few breaks from AP style. It hurts to use "%" instead of "percent." :( I always make sure all chairs are pushed in when I leave a room. It's not so much a compulsion as something that is common decency.

[quote name='Lunox'][font=trebuchet ms]I'm also excited for tennis, because I love Federer. He may not be #1 anymore but I really hope he wins the gold this year. [/font][/QUOTE] Roger Federer won a gold medal in doubles today, but he's long been eliminated in singles -- he won't even play for a bronze. I like Federer, but Rafael Nadal won me over during their Wimbledon match, so I'll be rooting for him to win the gold (especially since Fernando Gonzalez beat James Blake). Besides tennis, I've definitely paid attention to men's basketball. The USA team put a whipping on Spain today, 119-82. LeBron James has been a beast during the Olympics. Every time I think he can't get better, he somehow steps it up another level -- it's unreal. Good to see Dwyane Wade back in top form, too. And I am also loving that Chris Paul and Deron Williams are getting big minutes. :) I definitely think they are the favorites to win the gold now, but there are still tough teams left to play. I hope the U.S. team gets to play both Argentina and Lithuania in the medal round. Those would be some good games. I've been trying to find video of the Jamaican sprinter, Usain Bolt, who apparently slowed up a bit, looked behind and then celebrated before finishing, and he [i]still set the world record in the 100-meter dash[/i]. That is unbelievable.

[quote name='Korey'][FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Ah and did anyone see Blake upset Federer? I think after the Olympics, the pro circuit of Tennis is gonna be much more interesting. With Federer losing to Nadal and then here, I wouldn't be surprised to see the men coming after Federer more agressively to take his spot.[/FONT][/QUOTE] I saw it. HUGE victory for James Blake; pretty cool that his first victory against Roger Federer came during the Olympics. Good for him, too. He hit some AMAZING shots in that match. A Blake/Rafael Nadal final for the gold medal would be awesome. Blake would at least have a shot since it's not being played on clay, haha. I've been trying to keep up with the USA basketball team, but the games are always played way too early for me. Sucks because I was REALLY looking forward to the USA/Greece match, but oh well. USA/Spain on Saturday is a can't miss game for me. Thank God it's on at a more decent time, haha. Spain plays very well together, and Pau Gasol/Jose Calderon are a good center/guard combo, but if the U.S. can keep its strong defense going, then it can take this game without too much trouble.

Through episodes 42 and 43 now. [spoiler]I wonder what's coming up next now that Sanjou and Utau are gone from Easter. The next target, I suppose, is the big boss himself. What does he have up his sleeve? The action in these two episodes is great -- very well animated and so fluid. Ikuto's fight with the Guardians in particular is excellent. The best part, though, is Tadase and Kairi teaming up to fight the Stay Puft X Chara Man. That thing didn't stand a chance.[/spoiler]

[b]Voices of a Distant Star[/b]: I actually watched this about a month ago but forgot to list it until now. Anyway, I liked it -- really sweet story that more than lives up to its interesting premise. Melancholy love done well always hits me where it hurts. Me = a sap to the highest degree. [b]The Treasure of the Sierra Madre[/b]: Great movie. Humphrey Bogart is the polar opposite of his screen persona -- he's greedy, paranoid and utterly pathetic in every way. The flashes of humanity he shows make his course through the movie all the more painful. Walter Huston is excellent as a crafty old man who tries to stave off gold's powerful influence but isn't tough enough to hold it off completely. Tim Holt is also really good as the youngest member of the trio, who is torn between following the old man's example and giving in to his gold lust. [b]Amadeus[/b]: Loved this soooooo much. It's a crime I didn't see it much sooner. F. Murray Abraham earned his Oscar and more in this; he perfectly balances the burning hatred and jealousy Salieri feels for Mozart with the awe and love with which Salieri views Mozart's music. Tom Hulce as Mozart is damn fun too. He's a perverted, giggling lunatic, but when he sits down to make some music, it's magic. [b]Touch of Evil[/b]: One of the last great movies Orson Welles made, and perhaps the swan song for classic film noir. Everything about this is excellent -- the direction is super stylish and not afraid to be showy with substance to back it up (I really like the use of shadows, bizarre camera angles, and especially all the intense cuts during one fight scene with Welles). The story is super pulpy, but when it's done right, there's almost nothing better than a good piece of pulp fiction that isn't afraid to get down and dirty at the lowest depths of society. Acting is generally good, too, even if Charlton Heston is playing a Mexican. :p Movie Count: 41 (Live Free and Die Hard, Time Bandits, The Hustler, Black Dragon (Miracles), Hollywoodland, Blood Diamond, Animal Crackers, Marie Antoinette, Inside Man, The Fountain, Tombstone, Jurassic Park (Rifftrax), No Country for Old Men, Juno, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Rifftrax), There Will Be Blood, Rize, Born Into Brothels, Eastern Promises, Gone Baby Gone, Hard Candy, The Matrix Reloaded (Rifftrax), Hot Fuzz, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs, Phone Booth, The Dark Knight, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Predator, Ratatouille, Renaissance, Pretty in Pink, Scanners, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, Stop Making Sense, The Killing, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rifftrax), Voices of a Distant Star, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Amadeus, Touch of Evil)

I like Johnny Depp, but I don't think he would make a good Riddler. It would turn into "Johnny Depp as The Riddler" just like Batman is "Jack Nicholson as The Joker." I'm taking the rumors with a grain of salt for now, though, because they're all coming off as random ramblings from Internet fans who are fantasy casting their version of the third Batman movie.

I'm through episode 41 now. Hilarious that we went 38 episodes with [spoiler]only Amu and Rima able to Character Change, but in the span of three episodes, everyone can do it. I thought Kairi's turn back to the Guardians would take at least a couple of episodes longer, but hey. His Character Change is pretty badass. [strike]STEEL SAMURAI[/strike][/spoiler]

[b]Ratatouille[/b]: Lunox said this in the favorite movies thread, but I'll repeat it here: It's amazing how Pixar comes up with these totally random stories/settings and makes them not only work but also emotionally compelling. (Well, except for Cars, and even [i]that[/i] was better than I thought it would be.) It is also insane that Pixar also somehow keeps topping itself in the animation department. It's kind of scary, actually. [b]Renaissance[/b]: I [i]really[/i] wanted to like this a lot because it looks incredible. Seriously, it's like a Sin City comic come to life. It looks sooooo ****ing cool lol. Too bad the story is kind of bungled. The premise (a futuristic cop searches for a kidnapped scientist) is similar to many science-fiction noirs, but it never really separates itself from any of them, story-wise. It just flows along and looks pretty (really, REALLY pretty lol). Plus, there's this one plot twist near the end of the movie that made me go "WTF?" and immediately hate the story. Oh well. I can still adore its prettiness. [b]Pretty in Pink[/b]: Fun movie, though definitely not up to the level of [b]The Breakfast Club[/b] or [b]Sixteen Candles[/b]. The problem is while Andie is a strong, sympathetic character, neither of the guys vying for her love is very appealing. Blane is just a doofus, and Duckie, while funny, is also a jackass. I still like the movie, however. [b]Scanners[/b]: The first relatively big budget movie David Cronenberg directed, I believe. It's OK, but not great. The premise (people with psychic powers battle for the future) made me excited, but the story's not that exciting, and the acting made me bored half the time. When exploding heads can't keep you involved, that's pretty bad. [b]Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie[/b]: Even with all the behind the scenes trouble, this is still hilarious. Tons of classic riffs, with Mike and the 'bots at the top of their game. [b]Stop Making Sense[/b]: A Talking Heads concert movie. Loved this. The energy level is off the charts, and it actually made me get up and dance to the music (true story). Anyone who loves music should see this. [b]The Killing[/b]: Interesting crime movie/film noir from Stanley Kubrick. Sterling Hayden is pretty damn good as a cool, confident ex-con who plans to pull off one last big job so that he and his wife can run off together. As expected from Kubrick, this is extremely well-made -- lots of cool framing, angles, lighting, etc. My only problem is the women aren't as interesting as the men, which is unusual for a film noir. Normally the women are so diabolical and fascinating, and while Sherry has her charms, she never grabbed me like other femme fatales have. Small gripe in the end, though. [b]Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rifftrax)[/b]: A slight, but very slight, step down from [b]Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone[/b] on first listen, but still hilarious. Plenty of hilarious joke runs. Can't wait for the other movies in the series to be riffed! :) Movie Count: 37 (Live Free and Die Hard, Time Bandits, The Hustler, Black Dragon (Miracles), Hollywoodland, Blood Diamond, Animal Crackers, Marie Antoinette, Inside Man, The Fountain, Tombstone, Jurassic Park (Rifftrax), No Country for Old Men, Juno, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Rifftrax), There Will Be Blood, Rize, Born Into Brothels, Eastern Promises, Gone Baby Gone, Hard Candy, The Matrix Reloaded (Rifftrax), Hot Fuzz, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs, Phone Booth, The Dark Knight, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Predator, Ratatouille, Renaissance, Pretty in Pink, Scanners, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, Stop Making Sense, The Killing, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rifftrax))

I think [url=http://www.empireonline.com/500/vote.asp][b]this link[/b][/url] is relevant to the topic. Empire, a UK movie magazine, is doing a online poll to determine the top 500 movies of all time. You can register and fill in your top 10. I did it with the list I posted here, of course. :)

This thread's not dying on my watch. :| I am all caught up with the releases right now. Episode 39 is pretty cool -- [spoiler]it's nice to see Tadase struggle with something and come out stronger because of it. And his transformation is pretty rockin'.[/spoiler] Can't wait to see where the show goes next!

I forget where I read this, but apparently [spoiler]the official Dark Knight script confirms Harvey Dent's death -- I haven't read the official script myself, so it could be bogus, but I find myself leaning more toward Harvey being dead every day.[/spoiler] I think Lunox is going [i]slightly[/i] overboard, but at the same time, she has legitimate points, [spoiler]especially if Harvey is dead. I have no issue with him transforming in The Dark Knight -- IF he is going to be used as the villain in a third movie. But the death [i]does[/i] feel crammed in. Yes, it serves the larger point about Batman's heroism, and it adds more tragedy to Harvey's character, but at the same time, I think he would have been more useful as a larger-scale villain.[/spoiler]

The best part is how the horse they use as Bad Horse actually looks like an evil horse. I still cannot get over how funny that is. (I also love Fake Thomas Jefferson. He has sinister written all over him.) Anyway, I like this a lot. My favorite song is either "On the Rise" (the duets between Billy and Penny are fantastic) or Captain Hammer's song in Act III. Every song is pretty good, though. Also, for those who were less than satisfied with the ending, the Whedons were dropping heavy hints at Comic-Con about a fourth act.

The first one that sprang to mind was the standoff at the end of [b]The Good, The Bad and The Ugly[/b]. Everything in that scene is just perfect -- the music, the way the actors carry themselves, the cuts from eye to eye (The Man With No Name's hard eyes, Angel Eyes' wary eyes and Tuco's slippery, nervous eyes). Man, if that whole scene isn't the perfect definition of epic, I don't know what is.

[quote name='takoyuki']Allamorph, people actually watch Robot Chicken? Yes, that is a serious question.[/QUOTE] Um ... yes? I know I do lol.

[quote name='Lunox'][font=trebuchet ms] [b]There Will Be Blood[/b][/font][/QUOTE] Ooh, don't know why I didn't drop this in my honorable mentions. GREAT movie, easily my favorite that I saw from last year (though I have a lot of catching up to do, as always, haha). I never got the complaints about it being all about Daniel Day-Lewis, with little story to go along with it. Yeah, he dominates the movie, but Daniel Plainview's feud with Eli is a perfectly compelling story. If the story weren't so good, then the ending wouldn't be half as amazing and haunting as it is.

[quote name='James'][font=franklin gothic medium]"I'm off like a bride's nightie" (in reference to packing up and going home for the day) "I could bite the crotch out of a low-flying duck" (in reference to being hungry for lunch)[/font][/QUOTE] These just made my day. :animesmil Um, I have no idea what random slang I use. I guess I say "totally" more than most people I know, but that's mostly because I think it sounds funny.

[quote name='Lady Aura'][CENTER][FONT="Palatino Linotype"]^^; I don't know the years that these movies were made ...[/FONT][/CENTER][/QUOTE] Haha, well, I just listed the years because I'm a loser, but you can easily look them up on [b][url=www.imdb.com]IMDb[/url][/b] if you're curious. I like Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. I checked out The Exorcism of Emily Rose from the library once, too, but I didn't have time to watch it. Maybe I'll look for it again. Hm. DeLarge: High Fidelity rocks -- I had so many people talk that movie up to me, and I wasn't disappointed in the least. Hot Fuzz is just great, silly fun. Fight Club I like but don't love, although that and Se7en gave me a greater appreciation of Brad Pitt. Haven't seen American Beauty in a looooooooong time. Don't know how I would feel about it today. The Blues Brothers is the most fun musical ever. I always have a blast when I watch it. Evil Dead II barely missed my top 10, so that should say something about how much I like it. :)

I'm pretty sure this thread has not been done in a while, and everyone's picks have probably changed quite a bit since it last happened. I am going to stick with a top 10 (and a bunch of honorable mentions because I am a loser), but you all can list as many as you care to. Go wild! 1. [b]Dr. Strangelove[/b] (1964): Everything I love about the movies is in this -- sharp dialogue, batshit insane characters, a strong story that doesn't pull any punches, and it looks incredible to boot. Hard to believe so much is packed into only 90 minutes. I'm always impressed with something different every time I watch Dr. Strangelove; right now, I am obsessing over George C. Scott's performance. The guy is nuts lol. 2. [b]The Empire Strikes Back[/b] (1980): Not that it isn't a great movie, but this is definitely a sentimental placement on my list. This is the one that made me fall in love with the movies. I saw it when the original Star Wars trilogy was re-released in theaters, and I wasn't even spoiled beforehand, so I'm a pretty lucky guy, haha. Probably what I like most about The Empire Strikes Back is the pure sense of adventure -- my favorite scene is the asteroid chase, because that is the one point in all the Star Wars movies where [i]everything[/i] (plot, visuals, music, etc.) meshes perfectly to create that sense of magic, excitement and adventure. I get chills thinking about it. 3. [b]Psycho[/b] (1960): This scared the holy hell out of me when I first saw it (I was probably about 10 or 11). Anthony Perkins ... man, I just spent five minutes trying to think of a way to construct this sentence, and I can't do his acting justice. He's utterly frightening and sympathetic at the same time; who doesn't feel for Norman Bates the first time he or she sees him? The guy's such a nervous dork. But, um, I'm pretty sure we all know how that ends up lol. 4. [b]Duck Soup[/b] (1933): It's just ****ing funny. That's it. The story makes no sense at all, and it doesn't matter, because the movie is hilarious. 5. [b]Dog Day Afternoon[/b] (1975): Out of everything Al Pacino has done, this is the one performance that grabs me by the throat and doesn't let go. He's a constant ball of nervous energy, all packed in and ready to explode at any moment. Just watching Pacino for a few seconds in this is enough to ratchet the intensity way past 11. 6. [b]Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind[/b] (2004): Joel has struck a chord with many a lonely loser (including this lonely loser :P), I'm sure, and Kate Winslet ... well, I'm as head over heels in love with her in this as Jim Carrey is. When love stories are done wrong, they are super cheesy and unbearable, but when they're done right, I'd say there is almost nothing that makes me happier (*watches his street cred plunge after writing that*). 7. [b]Grave of the Fireflies[/b] (1988): I've only seen it once, because, frankly, I don't know that I could bear to watch it again, and I don't even think it's [i]that[/i] depressing (at least not at the end, when there's at least a glimmer of hope). The ride to the end is one big, emotional gut punch, and it's so hard to take. 8. [b]The Hustler[/b] (1961): I don't know what I was expecting when I first watched this, but holy Christ is it amazing. For people worried that it's one big pool movie, know that pool is the absolute last thing this is about. It's a completely engrossing movie about obsession and destruction, and the whole thing is just devastating to watch play out. This helped make Paul Newman a star and rightfully so; also, George C. Scott is an evil, evil man. Just despicable. 9. [b]Mulholland Dr.[/b] (2001): An utter mind****, but it's one that's actually enjoyable because it's done with such style and such a great sense of mood. David Lynch is one of the few people who could craft a movie purely out of a sense of dread and actually get away with it (actually, he's made a career of it lol). 10. [b]The Thing[/b] (1982): Speaking of moods, I'm pretty sure I turn into a complete paranoid maniac whenever I watch The Thing. The special effects are also brutally effective; they hold up perfectly more than 25 years after the fact, and they make an already intense movie go into overdrive. When I die, it will probably because this movie made my heart explode. [b]Honorable Mentions[/b]: [b]Heathers[/b], [b]Young Frankenstein[/b], [b]Amelie[/b], [b]Lost in Translation[/b], [b]Ed Wood[/b], [b]Field of Dreams[/b], [b]Evil Dead II[/b], [b]The Great Dictator[/b], [b]My Fair Lady[/b] ... Um, I'll stop myself right now, because I have already taken WAY too long to make this thread. Have at it, everyone! :)