|
|
|
|
|
JuokasKurvas Vice Captain
|
Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 3:54 pm
Seto did not hurry as he headed out of the shrine toward the car. He hoped the spirit wouldn't be up to any of its evil tricks quite yet, but regardless he felt he needed a minute to himself. Throughout this whole ordeal he had generally been trapped around Jounouchi, Jounouchi's friends and his brother. He loved his brother, but he was not used to having so much of his time filled with people. He understand numbers and business models, he felt comfortable spending hours to days with only these things. People, people he was less comfortable with.
He climbed into the vehicle and pulled the laptop into his lap. The translation was finally complete, now to see if there was anything useful. He would probably need Jounouchi - and probably everyone else back in the shrine - to make sense of any of this in relation to their own lives. He could probably make an initial foray on his own though.
((Oye, sorry for the long pause but marking done and current chapter done (for now) and while the next couple of weeks will still be busy they won't be quite as hectic and crazed...I hope. xd
I don't know what would make Olsen look less weird, I think generally they are just a weird looking family, but weird might not be a bad thing for Wanda, though if I'm remember the post credit scene correctly she has somewhat frizzy but not curly hair. I didn't like Cloverfield, the shaky cam was TOO annoying for me, that kind of thing gives me terrible vertigo. On top of that I don't think any of the characters were likeable or well developed, I think Godzilla did a bit better with some people even if they forgot to do so with the main characters. And of course it looked a billion times better/less nauseating even in 3D. Generally though I'm perfectly fine with focusing on the human side, it's generally more relatable, but they have to be good humans then.
I agree female movies are underrepresented, and it's not that I don't want it I just knew that personally the only argument I had to put Widow over Hulk atm is that it'd be a female centred movie and it didn't feel right to rank for those reasons. I think a lot of the strong, female, minority, LGBTQ (not that necessarily all those are represented atm but generally) characters are also the bigger risk characters and it's a lot easier to make certain characters work and more importantly, to get audiences to give certain characters a chance. The more successes they have the more gambles they can take (Guardians is probably a bit of a gamble), but they just aren't going to sink superhero type money into something that's not a guarantee. So I think by push that will actually speed up the rate at which this is done (which won't happen) major portions of audiences would just have to stop seeing the safe movies, and more importantly, go to the risks. Even if the risks were terrible, even if they flop, even if they didn't do it well. Audiences have to show they'll pay to go see people try and get progress right and right now audiences have absolutely shown the opposite. I mean Hollywood sucks but it still comes down to the whole audience thing, we as a market have to change if we want products to change.
I only saw the Pocahontas sequel once and don't really remember it, but didn't care for it is all I recall. The songs were better in the first, though that's true of most of the Disney films. I don't know why people go out of their way to tan. I mean I love having brown skin usually, but I think embracing your natural pigment 90% of the time looks better than a fake colour change.
Right I was sick, that did suck but I feel an age has passed since then. It made marking a bit hellish but now that a lot of the do pile has been worked down I feel more positive.
I saw X-men last night, I really liked it...and I started writing things but I'm going to c/p them to the side because while I can't imagine you haven't seen it yet I also don't want to make the total faux pas of assuming you have and for some reason you've actually been trapped in a small cage for the past week. xd So yes, I've seen it! Discussion can ensue as soon as you confirm you have, will c/p initial thoughts into a post it note. razz ))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 3:39 pm
Sen went about getting everyone settled and situated, setting up side rooms for them to use, getting them tea, seeing who was hungry...
((I thought she looked pretty cool in the post credits scene, especially in comparison to Godzilla. She still looks kind of weird in the set photos she's been in as Wanda, and definitely has more straight, frizzy hair than curly. D: Overall the top of her head just looks too flat. I do love her outfit and figure for the role though. For Cloverfield, most of the characters weren't exactly likable to me, but they felt fairly real, and every moment of their fear and struggle was captured in a way that conveyed that fear to me. It was so primal, their survival, that even if you don't relate to them on a personal level, you can relate to their experience. It helped make the movie scarier for me.
I think it's up to audiences and Hollywood to change together. Hollywood doesn't want to take risks, but they'll never cash out on the rewards if they don't take them eventually. So they start with something less risky, then once they have their audience, they try the risks (like with Guardians), and see how that goes, then up the risks from there. Hollywood won't make minority movies if people don't pay for them, but people won't pay for them if they're not made in the first place. But at this point, if Marvel makes a Black Widow movie, they have such a following, and enough people that loved her in the previous movies she was in, they'd have a good chance of getting a decent turnout. Thus Hollywood influencing audience decisions, and audiences deciding, "Well, I gave Black Widow a chance because I see all the Marvel movies, and it was amazing. So I guess it's not so bad seeing movies with female protagonists. Maybe I'll give that Hunger Games series a try; the next movie is out soon so I should try to catch up before then." Obviously that is a very generalized representation of a Hollywood audience, but my point is that the film industry drives audiences just as much as audiences drive them. XD And the payoff? If audiences become more accepting of women/minority protagonists, suddenly that doubles the amount of source material an industry starving for creativity can use. So yeah, the market and the industry need to change in tandem, in my opinion. As for Black Widow VS Hulk, I would definitely prefer a Black Widow on its own merits anyway. Yes, I definitely want to see expanded representation, but Natasha is just infinitely more interesting to me than the Hulk anyway. I would take a Hawkeye movie over another Hulk too.
Granted, white people are almost never actually the color they were born with, since we tan so easily. Like I'm pale, but if you see a part of me that's normally covered from the sun, it's scary how white it is in comparison to, say, my arms. But that's natural change just from being outside a little, and doesn't look bad to me. White people are naturally supposed to tan a bit. Just not... like beach tan. Ew.
Glad you're not sick anymore. I ended up catching a cold the night I saw Maleficent (we can talk about that too if you've seen it), though I'm on the third day and it seems to be getting better now. I just really hope it's gone by Thursday when Comicon starts.
Haha, yes, I've seen X-Men. I saw it before the midnight showing even. If I ever ask if you've seen a movie, and don't say I myself haven't, chances are I have and you're free to talk about it. XD Anyway, I adored it. I thought it was the best X-Men to date. There were a couple little hiccups that bothered me (Wolverine having adamantium claws in the beginning present day even though they were cut off in the Wolverine movie, Kitty Pryde having time travel powers, Ice Man letting all the X-Men die in the final battle while he just sat there uselessly, Magneto's retarded ballpark plan at the end...), overall it was just excellent. Great character development, it fixed pretty much all the problems with the two shitty X-Men movies, Mystique finally felt like a fully-realized character after four movies, the Magneto/Xavier shipping, the battle scenes were amazing and perfectly utilized the mutant abilities... I even adored Quicksilver, who I had low expectations for given his design and how he seemed to be shoved into the movie at the last minute by casting. I still hate his design, and thought Colossus transformed, Ice Man transformed, and Warpath looked pretty bad too. Loved Blink and Sunspot though. ))
|
|
|
|
|
Kitsune Ketz Kwineight Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
JuokasKurvas Vice Captain
|
Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 11:47 am
Out of habit Seto used the reprieve to also glance at business reports and stock margins, scrolling between work and the ancient families who delved in occult style magic. He only paused when he thought he might have a link between these families and the one name Jounouchi with great hesitation had confessed a possible mortal enemy. The name wasn't right, but a genealogy search he had run alongside the translation might possibly connect this gang leader with not just one but two of these old families.
((I have had a few social kicks in the teeth lately but I don't want to let this go for weeks again when the reason is low self-esteem and again feeling like I am not wanted outside my own country rather than the usual writers block so I will respond to most of this next time - prob after my conference on Tuesday. The one thing I will say is yes despite several problems - the biggest for me being Kitty's out of left field time travel powers - I def think this is my fave X film and it fixed more than I feel it screwed up. Plus it was a lot of fun and I think that is something the franchise needs more of. I adored quicksilver and didn't think I would so that is nice. On to see if Kickass can beat Kickass's friend.
Won't see Malifecent in theatres probably but do want to see it so will prob look for it at the end of summer. I did only notice today that while it came out in April in the US Occulus comes out here next weekend. Though prob won't go see it solo and no horror fans this side of the pond. Maybe, we'll see.
Mkay the rest on Wed, sorry about that just yea, bad week.))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 9:48 pm
Once they were all safe and settled in, Jounouchi began growing impatient, as well as a little worried over Kaiba. He announced that he was going to go check on him before heading outside, going up to the vehicle. He couldn't see inside, so lightly knocked his knuckles against the window.
((Anything I can do to help? If you want to talk about it in more detail at all, you're welcome to do so here or PM me if you prefer.
I agree that the fixing way outdid the few screwups. And it was a lot of fun. Surprisingly fun, given the depth of characters and seriousness of the plot. I honestly thing Evan Peters has a better 'look' for Quicksilver than Aaron Taylor-Johnson, but the latter's design is far superior, and I still think Whedon is going to write him better. It's one thing showcasing his powers perfectly and making him absolutely hilarious in DoFP. It's another thing giving him some real development with being captured and experimented on, and having the deep relationship he does with his sister. I think Avengers will handle that well; Elizabeth Olsen already said she and Aaron's roles were 'closer' as brother and sister than as husband and wife in Godzilla. XD
I wouldn't be too worried about Maleficent. It was pretty terrible, so you're not missing out on much. It started decently enough, but quickly plummeted as the movie progressed. That's interesting Oculus is only coming out now in the UK. I think that kind of thing usually happens duel to when they think they can do best in the box office in each individual country. Japan usually gets movies last because their summer vacation starts later than most other countries.))
|
|
|
|
|
Kitsune Ketz Kwineight Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
JuokasKurvas Vice Captain
|
Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 8:42 am
Seto jumped a bit at the unexpected sound, rolling down his window slightly until he saw that it was Jounouchi, at which point he just opened the door and allowed him into the back of the limo. 'Have you finished filling everyone in already?' Seto asked, surprised to have company so soon.
((Thanks for the offer, but atm just trying to force myself to have a positive perspective and spend time with positive people.
Thus far I'm not sure how I feel about the look of the Avengers Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, but again, waiting to see how it goes. Trying not to think about it too much either way as I don't want to be coloured by my own expectations. I heard Maleficent did well financially (at least in the first weekend) but yea I didn't have high expectations for it. A live action 'darker' retelling of a Disney film is already a bit lazy, putting in the perspective of a different character and 'twisting' what we thought was the 'truth' only makes it slightly less agitating.
The big reason for different release dates has to do with subtitling/dubbing films, which is the big reason why many countries get American/English films well after the fact, but also why the UK and Australia usually have similar release dates to the US as that's not an issue. Also the UK wouldn't have a different holiday period than the US, and a holiday period would probably not be at all beneficial to the horror genre in any way. Usually lighter/fun/family films are pitched for the relaxing and warm summer months. Other factors are things like competitor release dates in a region/nation, planning around things like Golden Globes/Academy Awards in terms of where you want your film to fall and availability of marketing. I think the other big thing on a national basis are factors like censorship and ratings. Some countries ban or label films more strictly than other countries and that process sometimes delays a release. The UK has a higher tendency to ban horror films as obscene, and I'd guess potentially they'd also wait to see how a film reviewed/played out in the US before deciding if they want to screen it in their own country. The final factor I could think would also be national releases, I honestly can't say I'm as aware of British films that don't really market outside of the UK (as I don't watch TV and generally follow American horror blogs) but I guess they might push a film that conflicted with something else they were doing. So yea, there are tons of reasons but it's still strange as I really don't think censorship concerns are going to apply to this film.
Mkay, barring another unplanned mental break down I shouldn't poof too much until July when I'm attending a conference in Reading for a few days.))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 2:50 pm
"Yup." Jounouchi nodded, hopping into the vehicle and sitting on his knees on the seat, "How's it going on your end?" he leaned forward to try to get a peak of the computer screen.
((Alright, well the offer still stands if you just end up needing to get stuff off your chest.
I still don't care for Avengers Quicksilver, mostly because I don't like the hair and beard. The outfit is a little douchey, but douchey has always suited him, and it's a clever way to keep the essence of his comic outfit. For Scarlet Witch, I adore the outfit and think it suits what she would wear as a civilian if she weren't always going for more Romani-based fashion. Only thing I don't like is her hair as well. I think it would look way better curly, especially with Olsen's slightly weird face. And Maleficent was hardly dark at all. They took all the darkest parts, then multiplied them with music and atmosphere for the previews. It was very corny and campy. I thought the preview's representation of the movie, though stereotypical, were far better than how the movie actually ended up.
I'm not sure if subbing/dubbing is really has that huge of an impact; a lot of times American-made movies are released in non-English speaking countries (usually Spanish-speaking) before they're even released in the US. I think they get enough time to do it during the post production 'wait period' that movies seem to always get. But yeah, everything you listed has an impact I'm sure, especially the competition with other releases. Oculus was nowhere near as gruesome as a slasher movie, but it definitely did have some fairly gory parts.
Okay, sounds good. ^^))
|
|
|
|
|
Kitsune Ketz Kwineight Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
JuokasKurvas Vice Captain
|
Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 3:20 am
Seto frowned, a bit suspicious that Jounouchi was able to not only get through their story so quickly but also deal with any questions, Honda in particular must have had a million. He thought he'd be heading back in with a resolved plan, not more standing around nonsense which seemed the most likely case if Jounouchi had already walked out. Shrugging it off though he turned the screen toward Jounouchi and started outlining the possible familial outlines that would tie their potential number one suspect to this shikigami.
((Thanks.
It is def the beard that I am not liking but if the character comes off well I can get past the look. Thinking back on what you said about Olsen saying they were closer in this than in Godzilla I laughed a bit now that I am in a better mood. I mean I would hope so because they were a pretty cardboard couple in that. But hey she was clearly cheating on him because that kid looked like neither of them. wink
I hate when trailers are more promising than the film. I felt that way about 9. Amazing trailer, kind of didn't deliver the film I expected though.
I looked up factors for delay when I was wondering about it coming out later and sub/dub is always the top of the list, I think it is a bigger deal with Asian countries though where the languages are so different. I mean especially with horror which has such a fast turnover these days there isn't much post-production time with franchises that don't have gaps in ideal time of year to film vs ideal time to release. Res Evil 6 is announced and is in script draft stage but is still due out in Sept which seems too quick to be believable but guess we will see. There are a lot of horror film festivals in Spanish speaking countries so with that genre it is probably about the market aimed at, but couldn't say on all genres, though things like rom coms are almost always US first.))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 1:25 pm
"...s**t." Jounouchi murmured as Kaiba outlined his findings to him. He looked slightly paler, really hoping it wasn't Hirutani, but pretty sure at this point it was. Hirutani was dangerous. He was crazy, dangerous, and ruthless, and Jounouchi was starting to wonder why he didn't suspect him more from the beginning. Of course he would be the guy to try something like this.
((Haha, oh god you're right. XD I never even noticed that the kid didn't look like him. The quote from Olsen also cracked me up because there's also always been so many incestuous undertones between the twins in the comics. In Marvel's main alternate comic universe (the second-most prominent one), they actually are in a relationship. Haha, the other day I sent Karma a text, "Hey Pietro, what's your favorite dating site, ancestry.com?"
Yeah, I felt the same way about 9. Oh, and Where the Wild Things Are! And Watchmen, though I did like that one still...
Ah, I see. Yeah, that makes sense with the Asian countries. Haha, Resident Evil 6 is just going to suck, so I'm not surprised that they won't have much time to work on it. But anyway, also noticed a lot of big Blockbusters come out earlier in Spanish-speaking countries.))
|
|
|
|
|
Kitsune Ketz Kwineight Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
JuokasKurvas Vice Captain
|
Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 10:41 am
'Of course even if it is him that still leaves several unanswered questions, such as why I'm being targeted as well,' Seto pondered aloud.
((Lol, well I will be surprised if Avengers goes that route as it seems to be aiming more towards mainstream and generally incest is still rarely okay, though Game of Thrones seems to be getting away with it.
I didn't see Where the Wild Things Are because I somehow didn't see how a 20 page children's book was really going to work as a full feature length film even if it had some root interesting ideas. I can't say the trailer impressed me much though. With Watchmen I can't say I even recall a trailer I just felt it really did not do the comic justice. Everything that I had wanted to see in film version was either left out or not done well and there was a lot of expansion on bits I didn't care about.
Resident Evil 5 annoyed me because the world was getting bigger through three and then it started shrinking in on itself again until we were back in a facility the whole time. Plus all the 'not really there' characters was kind of a drag. I have no idea where Resident 6 is going, particularly if they are going to try and pretend it's the last one (draft title has 'final' in it and W.S Anderson is claiming it's aim is to be the last). I feel the 5th movie just kind of took a lot of steps backward, but yea I don't have much hope for it. Given the horror festival circuit I have a feeling Spanish countries in general just have large festival circuits for anything they'd have a market for. Though looking up kind of interesting facts on dubbing in Spanish-speaking countries that make it sound a lot easier both to air and air quickly. Also countries such as Mexico have laws that (most) films in theatre need to be shown in their original versions and are therefore only subtitled. So you would need zero time to dub it as it's not allowed. Kind of interesting.))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 12:09 am
"Hmm, yeah." Jounouchi frowned, "You've never met or heard anything about Hirutani in your life?" It was an obvious question that he was sure Kaiba would've told him a long time ago, but he asked just to be certain. ((It's only okay on Game of Thrones because they're horrible people in it (at least from the imrpession I've gotten, though I don't actually read/watch it). Good people can't be incestuous. It's like how until recently, only villains could be gay/effeminate. Even now that is still very much true. I though the WtWTA trailer was gorgeous, but that might've mostly been the song. XD This is the Watchmen trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3orQKBxiEg Actually I adore the song in that one too. Maybe good songs just get to me in trailers. Huh, that's really interesting about the laws preventing dubbing. I'm... not sure what the point of them is, but that explains the early showings in so many Spanish countries.))
|
|
|
|
|
Kitsune Ketz Kwineight Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
JuokasKurvas Vice Captain
|
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 10:10 am
'Generally I can't say I've ever followed crime in the news or low class thugs while in school, so unless there is anything else particularly of note about this guy I don't know why I would. Anything I particularly need to know about?' Seto queried hesitantly.
((I don't watch as I'm trying to read first, but with the PhD I'm reading very slowly and am only just over halfway through the second book. Trying to avoid show spoilers is a bit irritating though. There are other cases of incest besides the two main 'bad guys' (although in the books at least some things are a bit more shades of grey than bad vs good), some related to intentional monarchy practices - kind of like ancient Egyptians, keep the royal lines pure. So I think while yes in that sense it's part that you are primarily painting it as a bad trait, I think it allows gets away with it in the sense of being an alternate universe and a more primitive one at that. Ancient, medieval and even societies within the last few hundred years (and some today though not in the western world) were full of incestuous relationships, few between siblings and parent/child but even those existed. So as it's not modern it's not threatening and can be allowed.
I do remember liking the song from WtWTA but I can't recall being overly fond of any other parts of the trailer. Will try to remember to watch the Watchmen trailer when I can have sound. I vaguely feel like I have seen it but it's not stuck in my memory.
Perhaps it's to stop low quality dubs? I have no idea but that would quite likely be at least one factor.))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 3:42 pm
Jounouchi was silent for a moment, sighing to himself, "...he's just... really insane. Like I can completely see him doing something like this if he found out he could. He's got a control complex, and is willing to kill to get that control." he rubbed the bridge of his nose, "That still doesn't explain why he's targeting your though. As far as I know, he never cared about Dual Monsters or toy companies or anything like that."
((Haha, first time I heard a book reader of GoT is trying to avoid spoilers from the TV show. And yeah, I wasn't under the impression that anyone in the show as pure evil, except maybe Geoffrey. But anyway, yeah, Game of Thrones has a lot of things behind it that make the incest more acceptable.
Rewatching the Watchmen trailer, I think it's also just that they show a lot of iconic scenes from the comics in glorious CGI, so that makes it really exciting too. When you don't have to worry about the narrative of the movie putting those scenes together as well as the comic did, they're a lot better to watch.))
|
|
|
|
|
Kitsune Ketz Kwineight Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
JuokasKurvas Vice Captain
|
Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 3:15 am
'Well even if Hirutani is our culprit, from what Domon said he couldn't have summoned it against both of us. For whatever reason one of us is a target and the other is a rogue choice on the part of the spirit, we just don't know why. However, I suppose if we were to split up in theory it would have to go after it's target. It's proven capable of going after loved ones, but...well I think it's probably safe to say we don't exactly fulfill that role for one another,' Seto deliberated slowly, still not entirely sure what their strategy should be.
((Joffery, lol, and yea there are actually several quite evil characters and many whose interests are selfish to the point of evil, but I don't what the show plays down. I do know they've significantly aged up the cast, which I guess also highlights the differences between what literature can get away with and what visual media (portrayed by real people) can get away with. I know some major plot points in the show that I assume are probably true for the books unfortunately, but I try to avoid what I can. I know a couple other people who were in my boat but they have had more time to read than I and have generally stayed ahead of the show. The books aren't done yet and the show is quickly catching up so not sure where that'll eventually go though.
Yea I agree, I mean what fell apart with the film was definitely the narrative and I do remember now that the trailer had me hoping for a better film than we got.))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 1:41 pm
Jounouchi went silent for a moment, considering, "...so we're almost completely sure it's after me then, specifically. Maybe it just knew that we knew each other, and it happened to target you when we went into the same coffee shop? To make things more interesting or something? Like maybe it knew we hated each other so wanted to force us into the same problem?" he frowned to himself, looking down, "I shouldn't be hanging around if it's me it was summoned against. I'm just putting you and everyone else in danger then. We thought we'd be better off working together on this, but what if that's just what it wants? Getting two targets for the price of one?"
((Lol spelling. Haha, that'd be funny if the show started doing what anime series do, making big filler arcs that no one likes.
Yeah. D: ))
|
|
|
|
|
Kitsune Ketz Kwineight Captain
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
JuokasKurvas Vice Captain
|
Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 2:29 am
'We aren't sure of anything,' Seto argued, 'all we know is there is a possibility that someone with a grudge against you has the ability to summon this thing. That doesn't rule out the possibility of others with the ability to complete this ritual, others who might rather see me tortured and executed rather than you. However, you are probably right that it is going for two targets when only contracted for one. Splitting up might tell us the primary target, or it might get the secondary target killed. Maybe Futata or someone else knows more about how these contracts work, but my guess would be that once the contract is finished - or potentially cancelled, we can hope that's an option - the spirit has to go back to wherever it came from. Now in theory the spirit can't free wander and will have to go after whoever it's been contracted to attack. It's having fun torturing us both at the moment, but if it realises it's soon going to have to focus on its contract it might just decide to take out it's 'free' target while it still has the option. I think without confirmed proof on the target, why they are targeted, potentially why this shikigami would have an invested interest in a second target and finally some sort of plan of action we aren't better off splitting up. There might be some information we'd get from a divide, but we are also risking getting one or both of us killed off that much quicker.'
((Heh, I just thought it was funny because I read it like 'oh whatever his name is, I can't be bothered to get that a*****e's name right.' That would be funny (as someone who doesn't watch the show atm, probably annoying if I did), but I think the author is involved in the series, not 100% sure on that. If he is I'd like to think he wouldn't spoil his own books but also that he'd not let the show completely derail. What I'm unsure about is if we are waiting for one more book to finish the series that will come out soon, or if there is just no way the series is going conclusive anytime soon. No idea what that will mean for the show.))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|