deganawida

First trailer up!

Greg the Bunny, starring Seth Green and Eugene Levy. Oh, and Millenium gets a vote from me, as well.

I found that Winter's Heart restored some of the old Rand to life, at least in my opinion. In that book, he didn't focus on using the One Power so much, but used mainly his wits and his sword. With the taint there, and with him being hunted, he seemed to shun using saidin to accomplish his goals, which had IMO the effect of freeing his personality from the "I am made of stone" Rand that we have been subjected to since book 6 at the latest (there's a bit too much of that "new" Rand in book 5 for my tastes, though he can still be human). I much prefer Rand as a human character, rather than a demigod. Major Spoilers Ahead!!!! Do Not Read If You Want Surprises!! I don't know when the series will end. Mat still hasn't lost his eye (Odin), and Rand still has both hands (Tyr/Tew). Also, Rand hasn't lost everything yet. All these events have been foreshadowed since the beginning of the series.

Rabbit was frickin' awesome! Thorny had the worst British accent that I've ever heard, though.

I'd like to throw my suggestion in for #4: Kraven's Last Hunt.

Okay, the wife and I rented Broken Lizard's Club Dread last week (word to the wise: unless you're a DVD-phile, avoid buying the DVD, as the only special features it has is a commercial for the soundtrack). Now, I loved Supertroopers; we laughed like maniacs while we were watching that film, and neither of us generally go in for crude comedies. Supertroopers was, IMO, truly funny, which makes Club Dread such an oddball. For those who haven't seen the film, or even heard of it, it's billed as a comedy/horror flick. Now, the horror/thriller aspect I can buy; wb and I spent most of the movie playing "Whodunit?". Yet, despite the rare scene, there wasn't much comedy in the movie. Really, the movie comes off as having some kind of identity crisis; just when you are taking the plot seriously, some really bad gag comes up and ruins suspension of disbelief. Did I like the film? Yeah, it was decent enough. I got a few laughs, and had fun trying to figure out who the killer was. Was it funny? Not really, though some scenes had humor. Does it live up to Supertroopers? No way! I would have enjoyed the movie more had it decided if it was going to be a horror film or a comedy. If you're bored, rent it. If not, don't worry about it.

It was B-horror mixed with pulp action. <shrugs> I guess I have different tastes than some of y'all.

Actually, I enjoyed Van Helsing.

Well, given that they went with a relative no-name (to Westerners, at least) for Ra's, I have hope that they will be reasonably faithful to the comics. Heck, they can't get worse than Batman & Robin's treatment of Bane.

I loved how he called the Earth "mother", and how he asked it for a second chance after the coldbringer exploded. Really fit his personality and made him more interesting for me.

Do you mean the government agent aspect, or his reverance for the Earth? I liked the latter quite a bit.

That'd get my vote as well. I thought that it'd be stupid, but my wife made me sit through it once, and then I made her sit through it a second time.

Yeah, Phosphor, that's another thing that has gotten me excited about the film. We may never see a film version of The Dark Knight Returns (as it asks too many questions about society to be successful as a "super"-hero flick), but any influence it can bestow on Batman movies is A Good Thing in my opinion.

Well, it's a little early, but seeing the "Superman" thread earlier, I thought that we might as well get a discussion going about the new Batman film. Christian Bale is a pretty good actor; I wouldn't have thought of casting a Brit as Bruce/Bats, but as he's played an American in at least two other films (American Psycho and Shaft), I imagine he can pull it off convincingly. Anyway, for those who don't know, this is basically a Year One story, focusing on the beginnings of the Dark Knight's career. Some cool (to me, anyway) things in the movie: 1. The new Batmobile resembles the Battank from "The Dark Knight Returns", one of the best comic stories ever. I'm stoked about that. 2. The BBEG is Ra's Al Ghul, perhaps the greatest villain in comic book history. I won't say any more for those who have no experience with Ra's, but as a fan, I couldn't be happier. Hopefully, they will portray him correctly, and you may at times find yourself agreeing with Ra's more than Bats. With this villain, I am cautiously optimistic that this film will be more like the comics and not possess the campy feel of the TV series or the movies. Batman is a very serious character, and I hate seeing directors take this deep character and use him as a foil for the excesses of whomever they've cast as whatever villain. Comments?

The Detective is much cooler than Supes.

Ah, sorry. In that case, I'm guessing it's another Bioware cropped sidequest (BG2 has quite a few).

Well, if you confront Sunry after finding the video, he will confess to killing the Sith, but claim that you shouldn't share the evidence as that will harm the Republic. If you give the video to the judges, he's taken away for execution. However, if you just say that he is guilty and confessed to you, the trial will go on as normal, with the potential to get the best result for the Republic. Regardless, though, Sunry was guilty.

Great post, Gromnir. I'd just like to add for those who are not aware of American Indian affairs that the situation with Oglala (for those who do not recognize the name, they are Lakota Sioux, specifically the nation that had such notorieties as Crazy Horse and Black Elk) is not uncommon among Native American tribes. The Hopi recently had to vote on an initiative to allow casinos on their reservation (BTW, Gromnir, do you know if it passed or failed?), and there was a desire on the part of many Hopi to not allow such a thing. In Hopi beliefs, gambling is exploiting others and taking what one has not earned, and thus is very immoral. Yet, because the mine on their land is being shut down, they have no other possibilty for employment for their people. So, they had to choose between starving or ensuring that they are punished by their gods the way they believe they were several times before (by having previous "worlds" destroyed). What do you choose in a situation like that?

D'oh! Please don't revoke my geek status!

<Geek alert> Incredible Hulk #189 </Geek alert>

Heh, I didn't know that. What nation? Eldar, speaking of minorities, American Indians have it the worst. The Pine Ridge reservation for the Lakota Sioux in South Dakota had, in '99, a 73% unemployment rate. It includes the two poorest states in the US. In '99, a series of tornados ripped through the rez, destroying many homes. Former President Clinton became the first president since FDR to visit a rez when he offered federal disaster relief to the nation. Unfortunately, disaster relief funds have an expiration date, and many individuals, due to overwhelming poverty and no insurance, were unable to rebuild. The 1990 Census has American Indians as the most poverty-stricken minority group in the US, with more than half of all Indian households earning less than $20,000 a year. Indian children are 300% more likely to be poor than white children. Last year, Congress investigated Indian poverty, and introduced H.R. 2770, the American Indian Welfare Reform Act (for more info, go here). One interesting finding is that "Indians remain remarkably impoverished. According to the Bureau of the Census, 25.9 percent of American Indians live in poverty, more than twice the national poverty rate. The average household income for Indians in 2000 was only 75 percent of that of the rest of Americans." Oops, didn't mean to ramble on. Sorry.

Oh, that would be great! I didn't even think of the lovely Ms. Hardy, much to my shame. Including her would also be a great way to bring back Flash, 'cause he and Peter became friends after high school.

In the first movie, at the intro to the Daily Bugle, Robbie tells J. Jonah Jameson that "Eddie hasn't been able to get a picture". That Eddie would be Eddie Brock, former employee of the Daily Bugle, who, after Spider-Man solved a crime where Brock had messed up the culprit, joined with the symbiote costume and became Venom. So, there might be a Venom. There might also be a Lizard, as Peter got fired in the first movie by Dr. Connors (Curt Conners).

Oh, there are plenty (I'm married to one, so I know). It's just that some people seem to associate beauty with Nordic blondes.

Nordic babes? Reindeer?