algroth

Nope, 'Marxism' in general nowadays is just a buzzterm being thrown about to encapsulate anything that is left of their beliefs. "Cultural Marxism" is just a crackpot term referring to some conspiracy about 'Marxists' pushing notions such as political correctness and what-have-you so as to destroy Western culture.

I loved that. I feel that on paper I should hate every film Vaughn has made, and simply not get along with his style... And yet I'm always caught off-guard with how creative his films are in the smaller details, the great sense of humour and sheer fun he's able to inject into them, and Kingsman is no different. I had a blast with it.

Ugh, just... No. We'll have to see how the film actually turns out, but that trailer looks as if they're merely upping the action and scale, and dumbing down the ideas and characters. What dialogue there was in it was cringeworthy, and what parallels one can draw between its opening sequence (replete with robot geisha monsters) and the original's make me really dread what I originally had some expectations for with the viral campaign. Edit: So apparently the robotic geishas are a reference to the Stand Alone Complex series? I have yet to see that as I don't watch many series in general. Either way I can't say I've enjoyed this addition in what seems to otherwise be imitating rather strictly the style/events of the original film.

A new video of Zizek on political correctness and Trump's win, which I guess is worth posting here:

I'm still not sure why people assume political correctness to be a Marxist thing. Here's a Marxist vision to it:

The village square stands quiet with the curfew still in force The streets are even clear of dogs and whores Like some evil bird of prey the scaffold spreads its wings The people build their fires and bolt their doors The mayor is giving dinner to the officers and wives His eldest son is learning how to fawn The barrack block is hushed and tense, the soldiers drawing lots Who will be the hangman in the dawn. The lot falls on a young man who has served for but a year His home is in the village close nearby He shivers at the thought of what he's forced to do next day He wonders who it is that has to die The full moon casts a cold light on the gloomy prison walls The papist walk his cell, he cannot sleep He hears the waiting gallows creaking just beyond the door He prays for he has no more tears to weep. The day begins to break, the muffled drums begin to sound A crowd begins to gather in the square The presence of the hangman in his terrifying mask Weighs heavy on the minds of all those there The colonel reads the sentence which the papist knows by heart He has failed to show allegiance to the King His crime is thus with God himself, in His name he must hang The papist, head held high, says not a thing. The jailer binds his hands and puts the blindfold to his eyes He leads him through the door before the crowd The hangman sees his victim and the blood drains from his face He sees his younger brother standing proud The hangman tries to protest but is ordered to proceed His trembling hands begin to take the strain His eyes are blind with streaming tears, he cries for all to hear "Forgive me God, we hang him in thy name!"

Manos Hadjidakis - "Dance with my own Shadow" For lovers of Greek popular music.

BG2 voice-acting was pretty darned good throughout: I'm not sure how somebody could argue against that, with the ridiculous amount of work that was put into it. Maybe a few miscellaneous characters could've been better, but on whole, quality generally ranged from serviceable to good and sometimes even great. It's a little absurd to think of just how many little soundsets for all the different types of monsters and character types they bothered to make. If I had to pick out a weakness, actually, it would actually be that some of the main playable characters...think Cernd and maybe Viconia...fell into the "merely serviceable" end of the spectrum...but because if you have them stick around for so long, it can easily get to feel like they fall below that after hearing them too much. Planescape: Torment I am less sure about, mainly because it's my impression that there wasn't nearly as much voice-acting in PST as there was in BG2, and so it's harder for me to remember and gauge it. Personally, I really liked the performance for Viconia, but otherwise I do agree (and also agree that Jon Irenicus is the best part because, as mentioned, not everyone is David Warner). Personally I did not find any of the performances there off-putting the way I did all the goofy creature growling through Neverwinter Nights 2, or some of the more forced performances of Pillars of Eternity. As for Planescape: Torment, the worst I can think of right now is Deionarra, and even with her I'm not sure it's the performance that's at fault and rather the extremely melodramatic writing instead. *Maybe* you can accuse The Transcendent One's voicing of hamming it up a bit, and Vhailor and Dak'kon's of being merely serviceable. This aside, Ravel? Fantastic. Trias? Pretty damn good. Fhjull Forked-Tongued? Very humorous and immediately likable. The Nameless One? Excellent. Morte, Annah, Nordom, Grace, Ignus? All effing great. No rose-tinted glasses here, the cast for this game absolutely nailed it.

I think Mask of the Betrayer was the best one overall in regards to voiceacting. Alpha Protocol was also good/great (Thorton himself was a bit bland but I can understand their thinking). Funny thing is that those two, along with Vampire Bloodlines (which is *fantastic* in terms of voice acting) had voice talent that were directed by one Margaret Tang. Someone needs to get a hold of her for the next games because she seems to do a great job with the actors. Agreed with Mask of the Betrayer, it definitely stands out the best in my mind. Alpha Protocol I have not yet played. Funny about the former is that I've read a lot of criticism thrown at its characters and voice acting, calling it lifeless and flat and whatnot. It was closer to the opposite to me: they frequently felt more detailed, complex and natural than those in the original campaign, and if their parts were underplayed all it did was to help smoothen out all the silly, histrionic acting that was present in the main game.

Rose tinted glasses and all that. Torment's voice acting was quite uneven and not everyone in BG2 was David Warner. I have played both again earlier this year, and did not find this the case at all. Would you help me out with some examples?

If there is one area where Obsidian seems to falter consistently, and didn't back in the Black Isle days, it is in the voice acting for me. I look at the likes of Baldur's Gate II and Planescape: Torment and their voice-acting was pretty much perfect... Yet I can't think of any game in Obsidian's catalogue where it's anywhere short of patchy. Some good performances in all of them, sure, but a myriad of horrible, forced counter-examples elsewhere. In Pillars of Eternity, for every Edér or Hiravias there's an Urgeat, Grieving Mother or Galawain. Not sure who's to "blame" here, but it is well worth looking into for future projects.

This year can go **** itself. RIP to a genius, a true one-of-a-kind talent.

Even The Professional? Was my first Besson, and was really not into it. I found it very over the top, the aesthetic aged poorly, generally I was irritated by it. Though it, Nikita and AngelA were probably the three I had the least troubles with. Any irritation I felt with this was but the slightest discomfort compared to the absolute migraines I found The Fifth Element and The Messenger to be. With this in mind, it is not that I oppose histrionic styles and what have you. I mentioned earlier that I rate very highly the works of Gilliam and Wojciech Has for example, who are if anything further out there. But their works seem imaginative and closely linked to a history and a theme being touched on in the films, whereas with Besson I just find them ugly facades for empty interiors.

As I said on the other thread, I feel it looks extremely goofy and kitschy, and to my mind I feel like I'm seeing another Jupiter Ascending in the making. But then again, I have not seen anything of Luc Besson that I've liked, including The Fifth Element. So maybe it's just not my thing.

Not sold on the trailer, to be honest. It looks pretty kitschy, and with Luc Besson on the driver's seat? Will likely pass.

Should we rename this to The 'Sidian Tyranny thread, pt 2 soon?

Not sure if it's been posted before, but it made me chuckle...

Though nothing quite like his bassist, Aston "Family Man" Barrett. Dude's fathered 41 children.

Holy necro posting, Batman!

Hey, for all we know Kyros isn't that bad... Sure, they're a world-conquering, mass-slaughtering, power-hungry tyrant, but at least they're honest about it... Right?

Well, one thing's for certain. Obsidian's outdone itself in its viral promotion for their latest game...

Did you at least hit a Trump supporter with it ? Waste of kinetic energy, otherwise! Afraid not. Would've knocked some sense into one at least.

I just smashed my phone to bits following the US election. Hoping it'll turn a less worse turn, but as it is now, I see no hope for the world.

This is depressing.

Have any reviews come out yet on the game?