BlueYoshi

[color=teal]I watched the Zatoichi movie the first day that it came out in cinemas over here in the UK. Nothing about the actual story turned my attention to the film, plus I hardly knew what it was before seeing the movie poster, but the fact that it was a 'Beat' Takeshi film was an incentive of its own to see it. It's a very typical Ronin type of film where Ichi just travels around with no intention of going anywhere in particular, he just happens to save who ever is in peril while he's at it. Zatoichi was an extra ordinary film, as the director wanted to merge it with an anime-esque look. Hence how the blood is. Granted that this method did allow for a lot more gruesome battles and deaths, but for a show that has a name to live up to I didn't think it was necessary. Admittedly, I thought I could see where the story was going from a mile away, and I was right, however, with Takeshi knowing that he?s going to approach a predictable story line, he decided to twist it around once more, so in a way it's not all that obvious. Zatoichi was made upon a personal request from an old lady who wanted to see the series in its prime again, which generally gave him the motivation to go with it. He had to go about things in his own way, like giving Ichi blonde hair, and circulating part of the plot around a transvestite Geisha. In a way, Takeshi kind of added some essence to it overall by making it more demonstrable than the usual blood-fests that they are. It's almost your typical superhero adventure, too. The hero will always win against the thugs, but will have some difficulty with the leader or head, which is exactly the case with this Zatoichi movie. There are perilous occasions, but most of the time you'll be seeing Ichi?s opponent's blood fly. I can only imagine anyone taking interest in Zatoichi if they've actually got some background on the initial idea of it, or are at least into the genre it's based under. I liked the film though, it's not worth buying and you won't feel the need or urge to watch it a second time, but primarily it's a scratch above the rest of today's Samurai/Feudal Japan movies.[/color]

[quote name='Heaven's Cloud][color=indigo]A tattoo is [b]not[/b'] a form of self expression unless you personally give yourself a tattoo. For example, if I paint a picture, I am expressing myself. If I pay someone else to paint a picture for me and tell them what I want to be painted, that is not self expression. This is the same redundancy that I point out to every tattooed person that whines about pop stars not writing their own songs.[/color][/quote] [color=teal]That's a good point and I know what you mean, but your statement can't be true under all circumstances since expressionism and symbolism are two very different things. My older brother wants to get a very small tattoo of the Chinese Yin and Yang symbol on the back of his left foot, and wants me to get the same thing but on my right foot. He merely just wants to create a tangible symbolic statement that shows who we are, but I believe that he can show it in some other non-painful way, heh. Personally I don't want it, but the fact that he narrowed the position of the tattoo down to the back of the foot made me reconsider; after all, who's going to look at the back of my foot? If you ever saw the film Scarface where all of the Cubans have tattoos on the webbing of their right hand thumb, then you'd know where I'm coming from. A tattoo can mean anything; expressions, symbols, codes, or nothing at all.[/color]

[quote name='ChibiHorsewoman][color=darkviolet']I read another summer vacation post and got to thinking about what a strange child I was. Then I got to thinking about how I'm a strange adult because I still watch cartoons, and anime and well, I color in coloring books. Then I started thinking about childhood memories that I have, the really strange ones.[/color][/quote] [color=teal]Heh, I'm the complete opposite of you and Queen Asuka. At the age of seven I would give assemblies about political issues in school, I knew the effects of smoking in detail, how badly drugs screw with your brain, and [i]a lot[/i] about weapons and the military. Most of that is clogged up now and I don't think it's ever getting out again. Anyway, my childhood memory was in Primary School. From when I first started, and all the way to year three I had long hair that would reach my hips... everyone use to call me a girl and throw me out of the boy?s toilet whenever I was in there. Not a problem though, after having had my hair cut for the first time in ages I went back into school the next day where I was expecting a hoard of rants about my new look, but man was I surprised. Apparently, everyone wanted to befriend me and the leader of that group was jealous, as he was use to being the centre of attention, so he picked a fight with me. I kicked the crap out of him so bad that he didn't want to be in my colouring group because he was so scared. :D Things were pretty sound in school after that, so there's just the one memory for me, thank god.[/color]

[color=teal]They're fine; I'll stick with the ones you made. They're what I was expecting and they look really great. No text necessary thanks. I like the way that you've pushed Mr. Blonde's face to the side on the avatar, that looks really cool. Once again, good job James, thanks a lot. ^_^[/color]

[color=teal]Could someone please make me a RD banner and avatar? I've provided the images, and it's a pretty simple request.[/color] [url]http://shinraonline.com/board/showthread.php?t=117681[/url] [color=teal]--click on the first link on this page, ignore everything else on there.[/color] :) [color=teal]Above is the image I want on the banner. None of the red, only the grey showing the characters from left to right. Make sure all there faces are visible and parts of their suits at least from their chests. And a thin black border around it.[/color] [color=teal]The image below is what I want for the avatar. Can you please emphasise on his face, with a bit of his collar and tie showing. Full size (150x80) and a thin black border around it.[/color] [url]http://www.mattbusch.com/Mr.%20Blonde%204.jpg[/url] [color=teal]Thanks a lot.[/color] EDIT: The top link doesn't work for some reason so if you want it then PM me and I'll give you a working link. Reason being that I can't give it straight up is because I don't think this site allows for commercial URLs. OK thanks for that, James.

[color=teal]Another RPG that's set for November is Wild ARMs: Alter Code F. Media Vision are just simply remaking the original to produce a much more enhanced version that will boast better graphics, a new script, and the ability to sustain at least six party members in your team at once. Phantom Brave is the only one I'm looking forward to out of the list, I don't know if I'll be able to get Tales of Symphonia because I'm currently broke and I've got so many other things on my mind. It's definitely going to be released in the US, so at least I've got some form of a back up if it never hits the UK, problem is that I'll just have to pay more. Damn.[/color] :(

[color=teal]Yeah, Thundercats is the devil... any show that uses a theme song to manipulate little kiddies into increasing TV ratings is the devil. One I remember that I used to watch was Rainbow something, I can't quite remember the name but the main character had a zip for a mouth and was always getting told off. That's beside the point though. What I'm really trying to get at is this funny video I saw that featured Zippy and friends trying to teach the kids how to play music, and the language they used was just? "Hey zippy, shake your maracas at the same time!" "Only after I see Bob and Amy, where are they anyway?" "I think they're banging on their drums in that room. Hey come out you too!" "Hi" "Did you have fun in there?" "Oh yes, we were banging in their all night, didn't you hear us?" The worst part is that that's just a tiny extract of the whole show. If you watched it you'd be creasing, but I can't seem to find the video. Anyway, that's some example they're setting for kids, wouldn't you think?[/color]

[color=teal]Who else has noticed this guy's work, and what do you think of it? Any trademarks or patterns that you've noticed or want to suggest? Considered a master director in Japan, Kitano 'Beat' Takeshi is responsible for the existence of great international motion pictures like Boiling Point and Zatoichi. With a tendency to usually steal the lead role, the bulk of his films are Yakuza orientated, but each one is as fresh and original as the other since you can practically feel the adolescence of his work as compared to most Western movies that run along the same line, difference being that Takeshi's films manage to accomplish giving viewers the chance to see a much more brutal perspective of the Japanese underworld. Personally, I think that his most astonishing work lies in his hit movie, Brother. It was the film that marked the debut of him filming overseas; most of it was set in America where Takeshi stars as Yakuza hard man Aniki Yamamoto who's in search of his younger half-brother after having been exiled from his Yakuza clan back in Tokyo. Unlike the previous films he was accounted for, Brother actually has quite an array of a cast ethnic wise, which is a different step for Takeshi all together as he usually proclaims an idealistic view of Yakuza mobs, where every single detail is filled. Though the dialogue and acting may be corny, it's definitely something new to add to his archive, so I'd recommend this film to anyone who's interested in this field of genre, especially if it's your first Kitano Takeshi film. Another of his films, which I haven't seen yet, is Hana-bi. It's supposed to be good from what I've read from reviews, but I'd prefer the point of view from a non-critic, heh. Anyone care to help?[/color]

[color=teal]It's a fifty-fifty argument and depends entirely upon the viewer?s opinions. I've said this many times before, but Michael Madsen was the original Vincent Vega, he got held up in another audition and so couldn't make the part, it was then decided that John Travolta should take the role. It's due to the director's instincts that conjure these little facts. Obviously, actors have to look the part in accordance to their roles and other than that, they just do what directors and screen players tell them, and how to do it. That's an interesting point about the car scene since it completely reposes the fact that they are thieves, but the film can't emphasise on the heist in total, there has to be some sort of side attraction to keep viewers interested. However, you're forgetting the fact that the script is the work of the director, and granted that not anyone can pull off such a scene to his satisfaction; the way it's handled is strictly embarked so as the result is perfect--just as it is in Reservoir Dogs.[/color]

[color=teal]For the remaining half of 2004, fourteen brand new RPGs have been promised and set to be released within the vicinity of the time period. All vary amongst different publishers/developers and formats, but whether it will be a sequel or something fresh, the bulk of them look quite promising. Quite a few of them have already been called upon or reviewed by other members, and I've most likely posted in their threads, heh, so I'll just reveal what's been left unmentioned along with my own two cents while I'm at it. [b]Growlanser Generations:[/b] Looks solid. The fact that I've never played anything like this before makes me feel a bit more wary about it, so criticisms will lead to a lot under the influence of first impressions, but I hope I'll be able to mask that since Career Soft have been pretty persistent with their line of RPGs that tend to be quite tasteful. Probably not the best on the list, but might be worth checking out if you need a hint. [b]Mega Man X: Command Mission:[/b] I've held a personal vendetta against Capcom ever since they decided to port the Mega Man series to a 3D platform, because explorable environments don't suit this genre at all. It was the simple and basic requirements and ornaments involved with platformers that made them so great, now they're just ruined or at least not as good as before. But, Mega Man X: Command Mission may do well as an RPG for that matter, I mean, the game has a considerable amount of characters with unique abilities that could provide a nice little stepping stone as far personality and compilation goes. The character designs look blocky, and somewhat childish, but I guess it does blend well with the structure of the cel-shaded backgrounds. Obviously, it won't set standards or anything like that, but if it's anything like the Mega Man RPGs for the PSX then I urge that you stay away. [b]Phantom Brave:[/b] This is Nippon Ichi's newest piece. It resembles a little to that of FF Tactics visually, and the dynamics it pursues, like battle grid, turn based etc, are old news, and the character sprites are pretty poor, almost 2D, but I believe that's completely irrelevant in terms of gameplay and longevity, which I might add, are supposedly next level. The enemy and character AI has been turned up a notch, so you can expect a much more challenging type of battle system, and if you know anything about Nippon Ichi's products, then you'll be aware of the quality it possesses in this category. I'll probably buy it, and will definitely play it, though it looks like something that can easily be transferred over to any hand held system... PSP maybe? [b]Star Ocean: Till the End of Time:[/b] Square-Enix's response to the Phantasy Star series, Star Ocean is a pretty wild action/adventure RPG that should be available around some time in August. It'll be interesting to see how Square-Enix approaches this, as they can't be accused of producing a PSO spin-off--that'd be a waste. There were a few previous editions of the game, including a Director's Cut to be released in the US that includes new side-stories, costumes, enemies and much more. Compared to PSO, I think that Star Ocean is so much more battle-intensified; you march with a set of characters, which means more enemies, and a different array of skills and abilities at your disposal. I prefer to see it as a small sample as what the game were to be like should it hold online capabilities. A strong RPG none the less, guaranteed satisfaction. [b]Shadow Hearts: Covenant:[/b] The sequel or follow-up to the much adored Shadow Hearts just got better. A hell of a lot of new improvements and additions has been made since the release of SH, and the chemistry on the character designs look astonishing. Not only will they look great though, a lot of them, and new ones, have been upgraded with new and more specific backgrounds and goals that will align in conjunction to the overall plot-hole of the game itself. Probably not worth all the fuss and hype that it lives to be, but may be worth a test-drive before any purchase's made. [b]The Bard's Tale:[/b] While running on a Baldur's gate engine, The Bard's Tale looks a lot more than the average action RPG. It's a lot less serious than any other, I'll tell you that, it [i]will[/i] be notoriously evil amongst RPG fans amidst its release for the lack of seriousness and humour it revolve will around. It makes a change to see a game that aspires purely on dialogue and context though, even if I think it will have no affect on its final result, it will be nice to get the opportunity to witness this sort of approach. [b]X-Men Legends:[/b] Another action RPG, and despite its name, it looks to be good, but I fear Raven will just fall back on the success of other Marvel merchandise just to promote and encourage fans to increase sales. It's a squad based game that works around the same basis of Square's The Bouncer, and referring to the X-Men name and origins, it gives Raven a much more broad idea of what sort of capabilities to add, such as special powers, fighting system, and storyline. [b]Shin Meagami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga:[/b] Not much to say that differs from Nocturne, but you do get to control a demon, heh. Pretty bad idea to release both games with such a little boundary in between since there's always the short-change issue leaving you clueless on which to buy. DDS is nicely stylised but reflects nocturne in such a similar way... your best bet is to buy one or the other, but not both. [b]Suikoden IV:[/b] By slightly emphasising on the basics of its predecessor, the Suikoden series and Konami hope to maintain its current glory in those aspects, which is a good thing, but that doesn't mean that there won't be anything new to add to the dynamics. Konami have opted to introduce a new naval-battle system and want to focus mainly on the sequences of it, and so, they've decided to scrap the Trinity Sight System. I have no idea as to how they'll try and pull it off, and choosing to upgrade graphical content over gameplay is the biggest flaw of most developers today, unless its entirely for the better of course, but I don't see this working out so far. It?s a pretty huge line up, particularly that there will be a lot of heat regarding competition, but there are only a few titles there that will actually rise above the rest in standards. Anyway, any more additional information would be nice, so if you would contribute then maybe I?d have a better idea of what to expect, which brings me to my final point: Which games are you most anticipating and will be most likely buying?[/color]

[color=teal]I don't want to produce yet another a cliché by saying that there is nothing special in the eyes of a celebrity, but there are different senses in which the word 'perfect' could be used. Ultimately, to our distinct knowledge, perfect is another form of flawlessness in the most positive way, but I do know what you mean Lore, and I accept the context that you're approaching. Celebrities consist of actors, singers, dancers, and popular and unusual people, and I'm sure you won't find any of them to be the least bit ordinary in the slightest--and this is what catches people's eyes about them.[/color] [quote name='Lore][size=1']"Will Smith is awesome. He can act. He can sing. He's even like a role model. He doesn't do drugs or get married ten times a year. He's like the perfect celebrity."[/size][/quote] [color=teal]Part of that statement I don't think qualifies as a suitable argument. I agree with the fact that your friend acknowledged his talent, but the second part that advertises Smith's personal life is completely meaningless regarding his career. For one, I wouldn't faint, cry, and put on a fake personnel in the presence of a celebrity just to make a good impression. I find it ridiculous and stupid, but that doesn't imply that I don't respect that person's work whatever he/she may do. Their personal life is entirely up to them. Whether or not they do drugs, smoke, drink, or abuse their wives is most likely to not have an impact on their overall performance in their field of work. Iron Mike Tyson is the perfect example to what I'm saying; he's a great athlete and a highly respected boxer, and the fact that he's a rapist doesn't change any of that. It's not as if his skills will suddenly deteriorate overnight. To answer your question though, I think that Brad Pitt is a pretty good celebrity; he's smart, toned, married, a non-smoker, and most of all he's one hell of an actor; his roles are well varied and actually has a set of morals--not something you see for most actors these days.[/color]

[color=teal]Tony Montana from Scarface is also another of my favourites. He has a very rough attitude and isn't scared to show it off no matter who he's confronting. Tony sees his view of life as primarily the only reason to keep on living, and he followed that view all the way [spoiler]to his death.[/spoiler] Some might compare him to 'lil Ze from City of God; they both behold a murderous intent and strive power amongst the vicinity of the other crime lords, but they definitely aren't one in the same to me.[/color] [quote name='Shiguru][B]Jules[/B'] (Pulp Fiction)- To be honest this like the Bride, The Butcher, or Jack Sparrow is NOT one of the best film characters. No, this is a personal favorite who was done well enough for you to like it. [/quote] [color=teal]Yeah Jules is a pretty cool character. I like the 'inner-self' attitude he has, even for a hitman it seems as if he has his own set of morals and principles that promote his self-esteem. His scene with Ringo (Time Roth) was really intriguing and had me hanging from a thread throughout every second of it. That's a good way of putting it though Shiguru; Travolta and Jackson really did work well with each other, particularly the opening scene in the car, but I believe it's not all down to great acting skills, merely just the influence of perfect directing, just like the rest of the film.[/color]

[color=teal]Those are really creative, I think. The lizards look awesome, and that Dragon holder thingy is a bright piece in your collection... looks more like a dinosaur though, heh. Let me stress to you something about the mallet: It's for display only, okay?[/color]

[color=teal]Well, ChibiHorsewoman, you haven't really said how your husband likes his RPGs, so I'll just run down a definitive over view of the best buys to my knowledge. In terms of compatibility, you'd want to aim for a more mediocre designed type of game like the Breath of Fire series, or Pokemon even. They're simple to play and durable right down to the core. Plus, you'd spending more time actually playing than finding yourself in the menu mode enhancing your magic and stuff. You can get BoF at a pretty hefty price, too, which is always a good place to start. Action RPGs like LoZ and the Phantasy Star series just feature your character running around and slashing your enemies as you build up your stats, whilst you pursue the objective of the task you?re on. They're simple but fun. However, if you're looking for slightly more than that, then games that emphasises on both aspects would be Golden Sun, Golden Sun 2, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, and Shining Soul. These offer more strategic elements to gameplay, so there will be a lot more planning before hand. The fact that these are games that concentrate more on an aligned and well-based story line means that you'll be dealing with more dialogue than action, so I'd suggest this category of games to the more patient type. FFTA, even if it's a much more narrow version of its predecessor, is most applicable to this spot since most of the time you will find yourself in your clan menu switching jobs, and buying and replacing weapons/armour. It gets really repetitive as you progress. Finally, there're the adept games that require quite a bit of background knowledge. Obviously, it'll be hard for anyone to get a firm grip on them straight away, as it is for most RPGs, but you might want to avoid them until you're a little more experienced. Primitively, you'll be getting the whole package here on the basis of the genre, so presumably Dragon Warrior III is what you want. It's rare to find these types of games for the Gameboy though, particularly nowadays where it's all about graphics... :rolleyes: All in all, your best bargain is with the first type that I mentioned, but to be honest, I'd just settle for LoZ: A Link to the Past as most of you will probably agree, heh.[/color]

[color=teal]I remember having an Atari... but I don't ever remember playing it o.O Having cassettes for games was always kind of cool though; they were so cheap that I managed to fill up a whole sports bag of them. But regardless of that, my first console was the SNES, and the first game that I owned was the Super Mario World that came with it. I use to get freebies off my friends before I could afford one of my own, heh. I never had the luxury of owning a NES, and I don't have access to a credit card so I can't buy one online. The only place I actually remember seeing it was in a Computer Exchange in London... but that was years back.[/color] [quote name='DDG][font=Arial][size=1][color=darkslateblue]the first game I played on the demo disc was some kind of war game (not sure what it was called).[/color][/size'][/font][/quote] [color=teal]Lone Soldier? That game was [i]sweet[/i] man.[/color] :p

[color=teal]Yeah, but they aren't really comparable since one's a poem and the other is a short passage. The Angel/Demon one is still a solid piece, though. Nice use of adjectives there and I like the character representations CrH. By the way... I know what the first poem symbolises. ~_^[/color]

[color=teal]The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in my eyes is definitely one of the slickest and funniest comedies I've ever seen. It does sometimes subliminally gives us views on minor black culture and common ordeals that blacks would tend to go through, but the show is still great, and I personally feel that that's the reason for its stunning success nationwide. It was in 1990 that The Fresh Prince aired for the first time and continued to keep on rolling up until 1996 where the show came to a conclusive outcome. I'm glad that it [I]actually[/I] finished though, unintentionally leaving it to cliff hang would've caused a lot of fuss amongst viewers having to see a fully developed story having to go to waste. I can't help to feel how The Fresh Prince managed to kick-start Will Smith's career in such a positive way though, this certainly isn't a gift given to most actors and stand-ups and is considered a rare opportunity. Seeing as Will Smith derived from a comedic background, I would've expected him to portray this image for the rest of his career, but I was obviously wrong here since he managed to pull off the role of a fugitive with Tommy Lee Jones consistently on his tail in Enemy of the State quite well. Each and every character that ever appeared on scene in The Fresh Prince was fully developed. Will Smith admitted that all he had to do was "be himself" in name and personality--and it worked. The whole family also persist on that fact, and I think it worked like a charm. For a family being brought up in the Bel-Air community, they're all individually different in personality; Carlton's the school boy, Hilary's the heavy spender, and Ashley is more ghetto-like. Granted that they feat different attributes and such to each other, but the way they blend into one another it's as if they are all one in the same. Even the special guest characters were funny, and all they had to do was be themselves. It's an affective tactic if you ask me. The episodes ranged from stupid to funny to hilarious to serious, and each category was adapted well on the basis of the cast (besides the stupid one, heh), with the funny episodes showing off the antics of Will in pursue of any set goal, and the more serious type that get uncle Phil into a lecturous attitude towards Will's behaviour. Current trends are also noticeable, like Will's views on Carlton's height and Phil's weight, these were sustained until the very end of the show and add up to slowly bring in the hilarious-classed episodes. Some may even compare The Fresh Prince to My Wife and Kids, but they're extremely different alike. Granted, they are both based around an African-American family, but the themes divide well away from each other. Will is shown struggling to live up to the expectations of his uncle in a light-hearted comedic story, while My Wife and Kids merely symbolises a typical family household, with the occasional dark-humour added every now and then. I noticed that the quality of the spoofs and such in The Fresh Prince started to decline from when Will graduates and onwards, it got repetitive seeing him and Lisa arguing and making up all the time, but none the less I have no other complaints about it. Great show.[/color]

[color=teal][center]"War is hell... but peace is ******* boring."[/center] Despite having owned this film for months now, I finally had the chance to watch it yesterday. The premise is conceptually unique, though I have no idea if the military is taken to the limits that Buffalo Soldiers displays. Obviously not the [spoiler]stoned tank operators...[/spoiler] but you know. Basically, Ray Elwood is your typical derelict; after getting caught stealing a car, he's given the choice by the Judge to spend either six months in prison, or serve three years in the army. In the hope of fulfilling his boredom, he willingly chose he army. Set in a US army base in Germany, Elwood, accompanied by friends who he met inside, get into all sorts of trouble. I saw this as a slightly different twist to most films that contemplates army life, it's obviously a little more extreme than Stripes, but it just comes to show how charming manipulative people can be, no matter where they are. Besides the latter, the plot [i]is[/i] a cliché. With the story revolving around drugs and practically anything that can be sold in the black market, I feel that the setting--an army base--is just a front to distract viewers from seeing the reality of it, even if some events that led to the film's outcome could have only been pulled off because of it. Buffalo Soldiers isn't you ordinary drug-retail film regardless of it being a cliché, that's for sure. It's eccentric view on what may actually occur in the military enlighten us with a combination of a hint of black-comedy and the repetition of certain known military aspects, particularly the mediocre structure of it--the simplicity of it is really the fruit of its success, I think.[/color]

[color=teal]Coincidentally, two of my favourite characters are played by two other actors I think are awesome; Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) and Mr. White (Harvey Keitel) from Reservoir Dogs. Mr. Blonde was a brilliant character, one who was so simple that almost anyone could have executed his style as a heartless villain with an interest to inflicting pain, but Madsen set the standards for these types of roles. The scene where he [spoiler]mercilessly tortures a cop and douses him with gasoline[/spoiler] became legendary and many other films and directors have tried to use those sorts of violent scenes as a basis of promoting a certain character's humanity, where respectively some have failed, and some have succeeded. The method of it tends to fluctuate, but personally I feel it's all down to the director's imagination, pretty much reducing the actors making them irrelevant or meaningless. I'm starting to notice that Tarantino's films revert to psychotic or violent characters one after the other, as he's very specific in fitting trademark props and distinct signs in his movies. Practically the main cast from Kill Bill demonstrate their killing abilities quite well, as do John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction--they all sustain the ability to kill or harm others without hesitation. Not a luxury we all have, heh. Mr. White, on the other hand, is the complete opposite of his co-worker Mr. Blonde. His sophisticated and well-thought plans add up to direct your attention to what sort of a person he really is--well organised, and very precise. To say the least, he resembles Winston Wolfe from Pulp Fiction incredibly. Mr. White however, reveals his sanity by showing sympathy in the killing of innocent people, for example, when he let out a howl at Mr. Blonde for [spoiler]going on a kill-crazy rampage, and his comments towards the poor black girl he shot dead[/spoiler]. It suggests that he will only kill if he is left no other alternative, which he proved after[spoiler] totally unloading on the two cops tailing him and Mr. Orange.[/spoiler] A different and unique breed of character in total. Winston 'The Wolf' Wolfe is just... bizarre, though. But that's what's striking about Pulp Fiction, the levels of bizarreness. He's very cunning, but at the same irritating in a different kind of way, though you're drawn towards the movie more and more due to his asperity; very demanding and protocol. I thought of his scene in Pulp Fiction as intriguing, even if it was a small slice of the whole movie, but none the less he was the glue of the crew--talent was indefinite, no doubt. Moving on, the only reason I thought Uma Thurman was so great in Pulp Fiction was that a supporting actor, John Travolta who played Vincent Vega, accompanied her throughout their entire scene, and him being the great actor that he is obviously was a major positive angle. Incidentally, I wouldn't blame her previous attempts in films on her; it's more of a result of crappy directing. She was on scene for almost 100% of the time in Kill Bill and managed to pull off a stunning performance cinematically and with her smooth dialogue. I can't help but wonder how the restaurant scene would've ended up if Michael Madsen had gotten the part for Vincent Vega though... but I guess we'll never know, heh?[/color]

[color=teal]Movies, don't make me cry--no, movies [i]can't[/i] make me cry--but when you know that certain events that take place in some films derived from true stories, it's a different story. I've never cried due to the outcome of a film or any other sort of motion picture, especially not from lame action/adventure films, but I have to admit, there been many times that that gut feeling spread throughout me, especially in the Titanic. Schindler's List was a little like that for me. It came more from a historical background, and besides it being sad and pretty brutal, I found it kind of educating too. But there's no World War story out there that won't make you condemn it, little kids being gassed to death wasn't pretty to see, neither was watching children being forced to depart from their parents. It's very gruesome in many aspects.[/color]

[color=teal]Well, we have a thread for favourite movies and TV shows, why not actors and characters? Anyway, I'm sure it'll be all right as long we state our reasons and such. Without a doubt, my favourite actor of all time is Robert De Niro. Even if he's 75% Irish and 25% Italian, it doesn't stop him from dominating the industry by his roles as gangsters in many films. Good examples are Goodfellas and Once upon a time in America, though you'd sometimes see him undertake characters who's roles slightly drift away from the usual, like Meet the Parents, which still rises above standards in the comedic sector, no doubt. It's not in many films that you'd see De Niro play the role of a total gunslinger--minus his appearances in Heat and Jackie Brown--he's very much more on the sophisticated side of things, and knows how to handle himself well. However, in the light of that, it's not often you see him playing the role of the good-guy either, with the exception of 15 Minutes, I don't think I've ever seen him portray a cop. Unlike most actors, De Niro is willing to take things to the extreme just to boost his career up a notch. In Raging Bull, De Niro spent eighteen months in training just to live up to the physical expectations to that of his counter part, Jake La Motta. After the scenes involving his boxing career, De Niro then literally beefed himself up by "eating his way through Europe", gaining a further 60 pounds just to match the bloated figure of La Motta when in his retirement. That's pretty bizarre, particularly considering that it's his life on the line. In contrast to his usual films and characters though, Raging Bull still had that mob element in it since his younger brother Joey La Motta (Joe Pesci) was partially involved with it. Okay, I've got tons of favourites, but I want to restrict myself from making this post any longer seeing as you may get put off but it, heh, so I'll just wait for some feedback before adding to the list.[/color]

[color=teal]It's a nice piece. I can see how you could have changed the banner round to lose Snake's face completely by making the lighter areas much darker, but where's the fun in that? I'm glad that you decided to move away from making an identical set actually, by juicing up the avatar you've added a much more trivial look to it than the banner, kind of in a "spot the Snake" way, heh. No problem with the wording, the G and S seem to stand out a little but it's still possesses that discrete look, consider playing around with them a bit more to produce the same affect that the M has. *tries to spot the snake*[/color] :huh:

[color=teal]Another three from the top of my head: [b]Casino:[/b] This film resembles Goodfellas in many ways, it consists of many of the actors, has that luminous gangster theme, and holds a ductile plot hole meaning you won't miss a single second. Again, based on a true story, Casino explains to the rise and fall of Sam 'Ace' Rothstein, a Jewish illegitimate casino Director who's biggest mistake in life was getting married--it all began to crumble from there. Even though the plot is looped around a Las Vegas casino, only the first half of the film is actually about that aspect, from then on the story completely shifts over to how Ace is immured by his married life. Another Scorsese classic; highly recommended. [b]The Usual Suspect:[/b] With Kevin Spacey as the lead role what can you expect? TUS is a pretty rough film that portrays the events of five men who are eventually forced into taking a virtually impossible job where death is inevitable. The mastermind behind it all is one Keizer Schoze, a Bulgarian that you're led into believing is 'crazy'. This is an incredible film, the twists and turns are mind-boggling and Spacey's end result will have you kicking yourselves. [b]City of God:[/b] Set in Brazil and based on a true story, CoG is an absolute must-see. Some have even referred to it as the 'Brazilian Goodfellas', and it's visible after seeing it for yourself. A young boy named Rocket is brought up and has lived since birth in the City of God; a ruthless town where the thug life dominates and the authorities can't do a single thing about it. The cunning thing about the Goodfellas reference is this: Henry had always [i]wanted[/i] to become a gangster, where as Rocket was left no choice, though he tried to avoid it as much as possible because of his strive to become a photographer--some may call him that little bit of light in the darkness since he completely differs from everybody else. One of my international favourites, it won't--it can?t--disappoint.[/color]

[color=teal]The first part of the Trust & Betrayal Samurai X series really kicked. There was something about the music combined with Hiko Seijiro's heroic stature that got me into it, I watched it so many times, heh. Episode 1 emphasises mainly on [spoiler]Kenshin's past, and he how was led into a bloody life full of regret.[/spoilers] Even if just an anime, it really hit me how Kenshin wanted to [spoiler]leave the mountain and his training so desperately[/spoiler] even though his master strongly objected because [spoiler]he wanted to save him the pain that he suffered for making the same mistake.[/spoiler] Other than that, I LOVE the end scene of the Betrayal part during the credits. Again, the music blending in with the fights and Kenshin's deep mediations is just too much... I'll never get tired of that.[/color]

[quote name='BlueGender][size=1][color=navy]Tyler Durden is by far the coolest character of all time.[/size'][/color][/quote] [color=teal]It's true, too. Brad Pitt's character of Tyler Durden was ranked number one in the 'coolest movie characters of all time' poll by the UK Empire magazine. Personally I think it should've been Winston 'The Wolf' Wolfe (Harvey Keitel) from Pulp Fiction, but hey, that's just one poll... Pressing on, my top three favourite movie of all time are as follows (I [i]do[/i] have more than three though): [b]Goodfellas:[/b] Truly another Martin Scorsese masterpiece, it has everything, depth, violence, humour, and it's based on a true story. It's one of the roughest thrills that you'll get out of any gangster themed movie, showing the rise and fall of Henry Hill, played by Ray Liota. Personally, I think that the film is only what it is today because of the actors involved. There was Robert De Niro as a wise, yet brutal criminal mastermind; he suited the role very well, and Joe Pesci as the young and psychotically violent gun. He won an Oscar for 'best supportive actor', which I believe he sincerely deserved since his performance was brilliant. [b]Pulp Fiction:[/b] Quentin Tarantino's finest yet, no where else will you be more drawn into a movie than Pulp Fiction. Taking many plot holes and managing to loop them all together is certainly a majestic curb that Tarantino chose for this film since it shines above the rest in many aspects. You could call it the reason as to why I found Kill Bill quite disappointing, particularly Volume 2. I know that his films are on the story based side more than anything else, but I thought Kill Bill was immensely boring, the only incentive Volume 1 held were the fight scenes, making it pretty binary, but Volume 2 just drove me completely opposite direction. [b]Reservoir Dogs:[/b] Tarantino's directive debut that takes viewers in the eyes of six total strangers who fail miserably on a jewellery store heist. Many of Tarantino's trademarks derived from this film, such as the black briefcase, the black suits, code names, and is cunningly a very inspiring and epic film. Actors Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, they were all aspiring in the film, and I don't think anyone else could've played their characters any better, a work of art. What strikes me is how Tarantino?s constant use of bloodstains on clothes, it's portrayed in most of his films, most gruesomely in Kill Bill Volume 1. None the less it [i]is[/i] an affective attribute. I don't know if I'll post more later, I have got a [b]a lot[/b] of favourites, mostly based around gangster themes and such, overall I suppose we'll have to see how it goes.[/color]