Gen. Andronicus

After much hesitation, I purchased Mission of Burma's "classic" cd VS. I'm trying to give them another chance, but it seems to again present to me the problem I've had with them before. I like a few aspects of their music and a few songs, however I'm struggling with seeing the big picture of their supposed great albums.

Probably not as well known as those listed and definately not a "great" ,however, Thomas Erak of The Fall of Troy is quite an impressive guitarist and he is only 21. In fact he would be my pick for best live and recorded guitarists of today's crop of rock musicians, however, I do feel Jack White should be mentioned as well.

Emo bands are millionaires in the making.

[quote name='Leofski']The odd thing about this film is that post 9/11, films that just contained images of the twin towers had warnings labelling them as possibly disturbing and no film touched the subject for a number of years. On the other hand, 8 months after the London tube bombings, a film actually has a train full of explosives blowing up a major national landmark. On the other hand its true to the comic, so I'd personally blow up the director and editing team if they'd taken it out.[/quote] WOW! I bet you're really good at dodgeball! [QUOTE=sungravy]Your argument would be a lot more valid if the source material for this movie wasn’t originally produced in the mid-80s, long before Dubya’s reign. It could be read as an “FU” to Bush, but if you want to read it that way, then it was more of an “FU to all of Government in general. But really, it’s just a comment on all of fascism., I mean, the dystopian setting, the Guy Fawkes mask, it all fits together working for more of a "theme" rather than just snubbing Bush. But anyway, movie was pretty damn good. Probably the best movie of 06 so far. Hopefully it'll set the standard for Moore adaptions and **** like From Hell and LXG will never be produced again.[/QUOTE] ... I think you missed the part in my post saying that I felt the [i]movie[/i] was [b]over-ambitious[/b]. The [i]movie[/i], not the movie's source material is what we are discussing here, correct? Just because it's based a comic written 20 years ago doesn't mean that the screenplay is not in fact, a misrepresentation. However, it would be silly of me not to realize that the movie was trying to recreate the same message of that of it's source material. I felt that that was what the movie aspired to be, but fell flat. Now, I have never read nor have I been familiarized with the comic, but many people seem to think it's great and that it has a profound message about government, similar to that of Orwell's 1984. So, forgive me if I'm wrong in assuming that the movie attempted to make a profound message about (all) government in it's recreation of the mid-1980s comic. That is my claim of what one of the movie's ambitions were. I [i]felt[/i] that even with all the movie's "themes" and stylistic differences in it's message, it still fell flat of it's ambitions because it was as if the writers still wanted to wag their middle finger at current world leaders. For me, this dates the [b]film[/b] and gives me less hope that it will have the same intergenerational connections that the comic seemed to have had. Now, about the invalidity of my arguement... All I stated was the "I" felt the movie was over-ambitious. I don't see how my own thoughts on a movie, can be invalid because the movie is based on an idea 20 years old. I could have said that I was dissappointed that the movie didn't have more rubber duckies in it. You could have replied that the original comic did not have any rubber duckies at all and you would have not invalidated my arguement deductively. Yes, your statement did have implied inductive reasoning to it but it was not enough to measure the validity of mine. P.S. I liked From Hell.

I felt that it was a tad over-ambitious. Don't get me wrong, I don't care for the current administration in the US and feel that there criticisms are well-deserved, however, the movies political message seemed a bit to localized (kind of like a big FU to George W Bush) for it's own good. It's basically the same message that you could read on the editorial page of your local newspaper, nothing profound. This affected my enjoyment of the film, and I believe will affect its future level of greatness.

I will be seeing them at a nearby city on Mar. 11th. They will be opening for the band Project 86. Based on their record label, and the fact that people are likening them to Underoath, I probably will not enjoy their music too much. However, I'm very excited to see Project 86 for it will be my first time, though I've passed up many.

[QUOTE=king_monkey]I am offended, mostly at them depicting Muhammad in such a racist manner. Rascism should not be tolerated, even if it is free speech. Free speech doesn't mean you can tell [B]complete lies[/B]. Some of those cartoons are hate crimes, that' all there is to it. [/QUOTE] How is it racist? Just because a person is middle-eastern doesn't mean that they follow the religion of Islam. The cartoons don't seem to be assuming that either. There is no Islamic race, it's a religion. Also, please explain how these cartoons can ONLY be taken as insults to followers of Islam who practice it peacfully? It is still my opinion that they were instead intended only towards the extremists, as well as towards legalisms that the certain cartoonists felt were worthy of being made fun of. For instance, the one with the artist looking over his shoulder is an example of legalistic satire. One thing that you, king_monkey seem to understand is that if people are making fun of something you believe with all your heart, than there should be no problem just brushing it off and letting what you know to be true come true. However, your attitude contridicts this idea. If you didn't read my other post please read that before replying to this one. Oh well, I know I'm not going to change any peoples minds (as if it were possible to do so on OB), but I'm okay with that.

Supposedly some Asian director was recently arrested for offering to have sex with a police officer for money. First foot fetishes, now prostitution! Man, these directors are seriously breaking down the moral backbone of the US. Someone should stop them...

"In reaction to the articles, several death threats have been made, resulting in the cartoonists reportedly going into hiding and the newspaper enhancing its security precautions. " --Wikipedia I just wanted to point out how funny that was. Anyway, has anyone noticed how ambiguos these cartoons actually are? I mean , I'm not going to try and explain all of them, however, the two that I have been hearing the most about could be taken multiple ways. Here I go: The one depicting Muhammed with a bomb under his turban could possibly be saying that "Islam is based in terroism," but it's not beyond me to also think that they meant it as a joke on the people who actually believe that statement to be true. It would be similar to a cartoon of Jesus saying "Love your neighbor, unless they're gay." Most of the world seems to think that the drawings are pretty ridiculous, so it would seem that the cartoon actually WORKS best when considered that way. The one where Muhammed is "receiving" terrorists in to heaven works in a similar fashion. And actually, I find it hard to think that this one was meant any other way. It's making fun of Islamic extemists who are considered terrorists, is it not? Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but there are known cases of Islamic zealots thinking that they will be rewarded for giving up there lives in the process of being terrorists. If this is true, then this cartoon is simply stating that these extremists have worked there way all the way up to being disappointed. Hmm...

DNACRISIS is talking about a band. Scary Kids Scaring Kids is a band that said threadstarter is wondering if anyone likes. However, I think the conversation thus far goes to show that the band has a terrible name.

[quote name='James][font=franklin gothic medium']I recommend taking a look at the IGN review. It acknowledges the controversy but thankfully doesn't get caught up on such superficial issues and focuses on the film itself. Unfortunately there are plenty of people who have already dismissed the movie simply due to the subject matter.[/font][/quote] Eh, I've had problems with IGN's reviews in the past, though that's with their music reviews. I prefer FIlmThreat.com (though come to think of it, I haven't been over there to check out their opinions on this film). Most reviews I've read have said the acting was one of the films strengths.

I've actually heard some mixed reviews on this movie. True, most of the well known critics seem to be in favor of giving this movie high scores. However, multiple lesser knowns that I frequent have said that the movie starts off strong but then dwindleds off in it's last half, becoming boring and slightly cliched. Of course I haven't seen the movie so this is all hearsay, but I'm not Ang Lee's biggest fan either. Although I never saw The Hulk, I did not like The Ice Storm, and thought Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was good but it didn't spark magic in me. Despite this, I probably will end up seeing this movie sometime, then I can form my own opinion.

"'Interpretations of Tolkien,' by the Weird Al Yankovich players."

Oh yes, if anyone likes the bands Bloc Party or The Rapture, I recomend the band History (Invades). In my opinion, History (Invades)' album [i]The Structure of Precise Fashion[/i] was the best dancey art-rock album last year, beating out Bloc Party's [i]Silent Alarm[/i] by a long shot.

[quote name='Shi no Tenshi'] Portishead (everything you can get your hands on - try the album Dummy).[/quote] Supposedly there is a new Portishead album to be expected this year. Although they have been defunct for almost a decade that would be good news. I back this recomendation up as well.

[QUOTE=Linkk] 1.[COLOR=YellowGreen]Our God Is An Awesome God[/COLOR]unsure who the arist is....says Helen Baylor? I love this SONG! Sang it on my sailing trips! [/QUOTE] It was originally written and performed by the late Rich Mullins. One of the few Contemporary Christian music artists that I actually respect for his musicianship. However, you were probably listening to a "worship band" cover.

Try Hella. They're quite popular I believe, in fact I think that they just recentely toured with the Mars Volta and System of a Down. I also recomend Pelican, Isis*, and Neurosis* if you wish to try heavier music. Explosions in the Sky is also another good one. Roadside Monument* is a nice little mathy rock outfit from Seatle, not completely instrumental but the vocals aren't the focus. Unwed Sailor actually consists of member from Roadside Monument and is an entirely instrumental project. Another instrumental band that I HIGHLY recomend is Tera Melos. They're almost a local band, but not quite. They're sound is self described as jazz meets hardcore punk meets ambient techno. I'd just refer to it as math rock. Anyway, they're really good, and they have fantastic spirit live. They're quite a danger in fact, at least to the front row... *Band has vocals

Has anyone suggested Pedro the Lion yet? David Bazan, the mastermind behind this band, just recently dropped the band name and is now just releasing under his own name. However, there is an extensive catalogue of really good music by Pedro the Lion, so I recomend them to anyone. Their album Control is one of my top ten favorite albums.

Well, many of the songs on Doppleganger actually were originally released on their self-titled album. The only original Doppleganger track that I felt stood out was Act 1, Scene 1. However, I think that Equal Vision may have rushed them so that they had something to release... oh well... If you can find any of their Ghostship songs, I highly recomend them. I only have parts 1,2,4,5, and have heard 6 live, but they are all fantastic and I cannot wait until they release the Ghostship album.

Just because Saw wasn't scary to you doesn't mean it wasn't gory? And I was simply offering my opinion, an opinion that has actually experienced the both films. Hostel really wasn't THAT gory. I'm sorry if that dissagrees with 25 movie critics, but in comparision to many other gory films, it doesn't. The only comparision I was drawing between High Tension and Hostel was that both tried to have excessive amounts of gore. The difference between the two films is that High Tension succeeded as a horror film that uses gore, Hostel did not.

Someone mentioned The Fall of Troy. This is a band that I am absolutely excited about. Although this years Doppleganger was this years biggest dissappointment for me, I am looking forward to their Ghostship album. There selftitled cd was very good, my favorite cd of 2003, they are an extremely talented band.

Artist--Song--Album Cool Hand Luke-- One Time-- Wake Up O Sleeper Haste-- Room One Thirty Four-- The Mercury Lift The Blood Brothers-- Guitarmy-- Burn Piano Island Burn Luti-Kriss/Norma Jean-- The "Anni Hilat" Ion-- Throwing Myself Zao-- The End of His World-- Selftitled Bradley Hathaway-- The Boobie Poem-- All the Hits So Far (But Don't Expect Too Much) Cursive-- Herald! Frankenstein-- The Ugly Organ Coheed and Cambria-- The Final Cut-- Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV ... Living Sacrifice-- Symbiotic-- Concieved in Fire Trauma-- Scissors for Hands-- Solidarity This list doesn't seem very diverse to me... oh well.

Anyone whose worried about gore, this movie is far from being excessive. Yes, the gore scenes it contains are somewhat disturbing, but not anymore than Saw or Saw II. Also, this movie pales in comparision to last years High Tension, both in gore and also as far as movies go. In fact, though toture is horrible, this movie didn't really seem like a horror film at all but rather a cheesy running from the mob type action flick, [spoiler]equipped with black clad men driving black cars, chase scenes, a revenge sequence at the end[/spoiler]. It didn't help that the movie started out as a Eurotrip wannabe. Also, as was stated before there are LOTS of gratuitous boobies. Now I have a feeling that Roth was trying to use the nudity to showcase the characters care-free attitudes, consequently showing their naivety of the horrors that awaited them. Then Roth brings down the gore hammer, giving the audience an greater uneasy feeling. However, as I stated before, it fails to feels like a horror film, neither in terror nor in gore, thus this failure makes the movies boob-tastic scenes feel more like an excercise in R-rated porn. I recomend Cabin Fever over Hostel any day. I'm not much of a Tarantino fan, but I realize that his name carries a lot of wieght in hollywood. After viewing this movie, I would also like to know, why did he endorse (which seems to be all he actually does for this film) such a crappy movie?

[quote name='x_kr3w_x']Who has cd's.....dont you think everyone has mp3's?[/quote] Actually, I thoroughly enjoy purchasing and having cds. Yes, I do own an mp3 player and I do use it to listen to music, but that's only for convienence. It is a lot easier to cary around an 8 oz.(or so) machine, that hundreds of cds.

I don't understand why people don't like 'Good News For People Who Like Bad News'. Though it's not amazing, it's a really solid album from Modest Mouse. In other accounts, I really must say that 'Frances the Mute' Was probably my the crappiest release that I purchased this year. If you like it, that's great, but The Mars Volta have failed (again) to convince me of their greatness. There are some good parts, but that's all the cd is, a bunch of good parts in the midst of nothing. Sure they're all talented musicians but they don't know how to compose a cd that holds my interest. BOO.