Amentep

Personally I think those Obsidian concepts that cropped up some time back about a time travel science fiction game were actually early stages of Avellone's time machine, which he's clearly successfully made with the help of funding from Obsidian's other founders. When the concepts got leaked, Obsidian created the "game" concept to explain the artwork so people wouldn't realize they're now in control of all time and space.

You right, that's more of an enigma. Unless the teahouse is more modern than what they are saying ? There's actually more than one path up the mountain; the government has closed off some paths because they're dangerous and created safer paths which may not correspond to the original paths the makers of the temple took. There are settlements all up the mountain and a Taoist/Daoist shrine was located at the base, so more than likely they shifted supplies through the settlements in stages. I'd guess - I don't know for sure...

Illusion of change, I guess. The fans know the owner/management have done SOMETHING, even if it means nothing.

Dracula wore a cape, or is he exempt because everyone was wearing cloaks and capes? Started reading Dark Horse's Brain Boy. So far so good. I'm liking how DH is putting together its heroric characters, a bit of the old (Ghost, X), a bit of refurbished old (GA Captain Midnight, SA Brain Boy, SA Skyman) and some totally new (Occultist). Also digging Hickman's Manhatten Projects and East of West (the latest issue of the latter waiting for me when I catch up with Brain Boy).

agression and frustration rise when people have unequal access to/experience of hedonism - and when you start deciding when, where and how much hedonism people are going to have...you're back where you started with regulating fun stuff.

Reed discovered that their powers are slowly killing them convinces the other to take their kids on a tour of the universe under the guise of letting their kids experience the vastness of reality but in truth so he can search for a cure. So the magic bus trip was motivated, I think. Turns out, their powers were killing them because of an alternate universe Fantastic Four that sent their powers to 616 in order to bring the FF there to defeate their Dr. Doom (who having taken the kingdoms and powers of Annihlus and Kang is now known as Doom the Annihilating Conqueror, in control of time, space AND the Negative Zone). Anyhow he invented a device that allowed him to return for Illuminati meetings (they're currently fighting the collapse of the multi-verse by destroying alternate earths that incur onto the 616 earth). Meanwhile in the 616 Universe Scott "Ant-Man" Lang, Jennifer "She-Hulk" Walters, Medusalith "Medusa" Amaquelin Boltagon and Darla "Ms. Thing" Deering are running the Future Foundation when the 616 Doom teams up with...Annihlus and young Kang (fresh off his stint as Iron Lad from Young Avengers). So the two stories kind of tie into one another. Anyhow Hickman's Fantastic Four was awesome (and I believe post-dates WWH) and I'm looking forward to James "JSA" Robinson's take in a few months. RE: GOG - I don't think the current title is a shadow of the previous title personally. Dropped it, then some friend insisted it gotten better, I picked it up and found it to be the same and dropped it again.

While drinking in a graveyard. She was a punk and her group was going to party in the graveyard. Didn't seem odd in context (or it didn't in the 80s, at least).

Duck Season!

On my current rotation of shows I watch, Batman: Brave and the Bold, Thundaar the Barbarian and Dragons: Riders of Berk are all there. I recently finished Monsters vs Aliens first set of episodes and need to go back to watching the Perils of Penelope Pitstop. What can I say, I never really stopped watching kids cartoons...

Define "weird time" for boob flashing? Besides, IIRC Trash was doing a strip tease anyhow - or am I forgetting something. Still sounds inheritly bad. Well I imagine anyone looking for something hewing closer to the source story will be put off, that's for sure. I treated it as a fantasy movie loosely based on the 47 Ronin story, so probably am more forgiving.

I've read that Keanu isn't meant to be the major player in the movie and now won't watch this. Maybe when it eventually hits Channel BT if I have nothing else to do. It was reshot / edited so that Keanu became the main character. Previously it was supposed to be the Japanese actor as the main protaganist. Supposedly, now the movie sucks hard. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/47_ronin/ 11% used to be 0% A guy on reddit said he worked on the film, and said he saw the old cut of the movie by the producer or director. However, as mentioned above, the studio wanted Keanu as the main guy. The producer or director was fired, and the movie reshot. In doing that, the reddit guy said it became a shell of a movie. IMO, whether it was originally intended or not I can understand why the production thought it necessary - Keanu's part - a love story - seems designed to give a hook for audiences who don't give a flip about Samurai honor and to mitigate negativity felt by the death of the protagonists. For my part they should have let audiences judge it on its own as it was intended (assuming it wasn't intended this way) but I can understand the producer's fears.

The issue is not retelling the story. It's how stupidly Hollywood does it. That's why i used equally profoundly stupid scenarios like a movie about Julius Caesar, set in ancient Rome, but starred by an all-japanese cast. While Throne of Blood and Ran were based on Shakespeare, they completely changed the setting and threw out everything except the basic plot-points. See the difference? But...47 Ronin is set in Japan with what I believe is a mostly Japanese except Keanu (explained in story) and the westerners on the outer islands (Dutch?) that appear in the single sequence when the lead Ronin goes there (to recruit Keanu - explained in the story) Which is a bit more like if Japan had done a movie about Julius Ceasar, set in Ancient Rome, filmed in Budapest and staring a mostly european cast except for one of the two male leads who is a period explained Japanese national or something.

York is a good actor; I can't think of a film I thought he was bad in (even if the surrounding film wasn't so hot). Logan's Run is, IMO, a pretty good film. On an unrelated note, to clarify, I didn't think Keanu was moronic but the romance was in 47 Ronin (a missed apostrophe there). He actually does pretty decent in the role, I just think the romance itself doesn't work.

Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (2013) - Pretty good. A bit more lively since they got the explanations out of the way. People upset about stuff being added or subtracted will find more here to dislike, but I can divorce myself from the books. The Curse of the Black Parrot (1941) - interesting who-dunnit (and a bit how'd they do it) involving an art forger and a fake (or is it?) cabinet, and some international intrigue. Good use of makeup to hide the villain and an interesting central mystery. A bit stage-bound feeling (which isn't surprising, given that its based on a stage play) Logan's Run (1976) - An interesting 70s sci-fi film that stuffs up the ending (the logic of it falls to pieces, alas) but is otherwise pretty darn good. Also made back in the day when non sexual nudity was still allowed in a PG film (although there was more shot in the "love shop" which got hacked to bits to keep the PG rating and it shows as the sequence doesn't make a lot of sense). Whispering Ghosts (1942) - Milton Berle is miscast as a radio star/mystery solver forced to go to the scene of an old crime to solve a long unsolved murder. And while often in watching old movies you have to be able to accept that there were some unpleasant/repugnant attitudes of the time, here Berle's acerbic delivery combined with the period's treatment of minorities leads to a pretty unfortunate and unwatchable relationship between Berle and his assistant, played by Willie Best. 47 Ronin (2013) - A weird mixed up story; part historical story and part utter fantasy version of the tale of the 47 Ronin. You can tell that Keanu Reeves (somewhat moronic) romance plot exists primarily to try and make the film appeal to western audiences where the tale of samurai remaining true to their duty to their master despite his death (and the likelihood of their own death). It wasn't a bad film - the villains are quite hiss-able, but I can't help but feel there was a better film in here. The Phantom of Crestwood (1932) - A woman who has been "friendly" with several business men decides its time to "retire" from the life of entertaining; to do so she decides to blackmail three men - including banker Priam Andes - at a gathering at a ritzy ranch home of the Andes family. Also there are Priam's sister, his son and his son's fiance - who happens to be the blackmailer's sister. Also there are the blackmailer's maid, the blackmailed men's wives and a mysterious guest who seems to have an interest in the blackmailer. Pretty good who dunnit that plays pretty fair with the clues and manages to be interesting throughout.

I think Tom Laughlin had a response you could have considered

We also lost Joan Fontaine and Tom Laughlin this weekend.

Tale is right - the Kickstarter was a free-to-play iOS / Android game and they wanted $450,000 for meeting their limit. I believe they were partnered on this with Jet Set Games. It was cancelled.

It wouldn't surprise me. I mean, I doubt any garage band that happens to cover a song in a bar has licensed said song. It might depend on if they record the song and look to sell it, compared to just covering a song during a live show. Technically, if you perform it you're supposed to pay the rights. How often ASCAP et al get out to the local dive to check if the performer is covering the Big Bopper is an unknown. The thing about publishing something, though, is it become a big stationary target. A local University library got into a big fair use lawsuit that lasted quite a few years over how much they could post for educational purposes to their website and still be within Fair Use.

I've actually seen Zardoz several times... ...doesn't seem to have hurt me beyond my penchant for dressing in a red diaper with black go-go boots on.

You have to admit, it is the most poignant and thought-provoking movie to ever feature Sean Connery, Charlotte Rampling, a giant floating stone head and a Webley-Fosbery automatic revolver.

Hmmm, the computer/console might be a better analogue to the guitar. The game is probably the song. Though bands certainly cover other songs a lot. If a cover band becomes big, do they owe anything to the original artist? I've always wondered that. If the music is in copyright, then they're supposed to be licensing the rights to the songs (this would cover cover bands and tribute bands and possibly Elvis impersonators who do song performances of Elvis' songs but not parody bands who are doing original parody songs, obviously).

Or if you take a random book off the shelf, tear out the pages and rearrange them into Finnegan's Wake you're not a writer. Each play through is still using the creations of other people - just as MST3k uses the same to create their RiffTrax and such. A guitar is an instrument. But if you use that guitar to cover "Stairway to Heaven", record and publish it I guarantee you'll be hearing from some lawyers.

"Know what I mean? Know what I mean? Nudge, nudge. Wink wink. Say no more!"

Er... I don't think we're disagreeing. Perhaps I wasn't clear. To clarify my two paragraphs I submit the following two: It makes no sense to protect an endangered species at the expense of stopping a solution to a problem that will, in the end, kill the endangered species just as surely as damaging their habitat and kill a whole lot more besides. While the best solution is one that would, ideally, allow the endangered species to survive AND build the viable energy alternatives, if that solution doesn't exist...well Spock was right, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

It might seems a short sited view in some respects to preserve an endangered species current habitat when radical climate shift would probably decimate its habitat just as much as a bulldozer (as ecologically fragile creatures wouldn't stand global warming if it is really "a thing"). On the other hand, the best solution would be one that preserves the habitats and reduces the carbon emissions I guess. I worry, though, that those best solutions are going to be at best limited and at worst impossible.