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Originally posted by speechjew:
2. 4th edition Force of Nature. I'd assume it would be like riding on The Incredible Hulk.

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2) About a month ago in Newsweek, Roger Ebert wrote an article expressing the opinion that compelling audiovisual storytelling, as a medium, seems to be largely shifting towards television and away from films. His argument being that films are becoming more and more expensive, as well as harder and harder to consistently turn a profit on, fewer great films are being made in favor of paycheck-making blockbusters a la transformers. And at the same time, television seems more willing than ever to experiment, as the domain of compelling television series has opened up not just to pay channels like HBO and starz but cable channels like AMC. As someone who seems to follow film and the industry quite a lot, what are your thoughts on the matter? Personally I think Ebert is full of **** on the whole, but in this case I'm inclined to agree.

3) What are your top 3 favorite television shows, and why?

4) What are your top 3 favorite books, and why?

5) What are your top 3 favorite artists/bands/musicians, and why?

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Originally posted by CubFan81:
Why 4th Edition instead of Alpha/Beta?

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Originally posted by LA3:
If you had a dream job what would it be?
In your opinion what is the best color in magic and why?
Do watch television at all?
One is one thing you would fix to help our sagging economy?

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- Dream job would sports talk radio. I'd be paid to sit around and talk about sports and watch sports. What could be better?

- The best color has to be blue. Counters and control. Although the most worthless magic card ever made was blue. Look up the Ice Age card "Snowfall."

- Do I watch TV? Hmmm, well the shows I currently watch new episodes of are: South Park, Futurama, Fallen Skies, Law and Order SVU, Archer, SNL, and I've seen every episode of the simpsons, seinfeld, King of the Hill, and probably many more. I love television as a post-modern art form. I've gone back and watched DVD's of Animaniacs, and it's a post-modernists dream come true.

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Originally posted by mattw:
I'm curious about your occupation. 5 pin or 10 pin?

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Originally posted by speechjew:
- Dream job would sports talk radio. I'd be paid to sit around and talk about sports and watch sports. What could be better?

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Are you one of the "clones" that enjoy listening to Jim Rome?

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Originally posted by Bugger:
1) Top three favorite films, and why? (apologies if this has already been asked in some form, if it has feel free to repost)

2) About a month ago in Newsweek, Roger Ebert wrote an article expressing the opinion that compelling audiovisual storytelling, as a medium, seems to be largely shifting towards television and away from films. His argument being that films are becoming more and more expensive, as well as harder and harder to consistently turn a profit on, fewer great films are being made in favor of paycheck-making blockbusters a la transformers. And at the same time, television seems more willing than ever to experiment, as the domain of compelling television series has opened up not just to pay channels like HBO and starz but cable channels like AMC. As someone who seems to follow film and the industry quite a lot, what are your thoughts on the matter? Personally I think Ebert is full of **** on the whole, but in this case I'm inclined to agree.

3) What are your top 3 favorite television shows, and why?

4) What are your top 3 favorite books, and why?

5) What are your top 3 favorite artists/bands/musicians, and why?

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1. I answered about a top 10, but I'll give some reasons about my top ones.

The 5th element: Is anything poorly done in the movie? Luc Besson is brilliant, and I love his cross editing technique (like when Zorg and Leeloo are talking about the case of stones at the same time). Lots of great actors, and while Chris Tucker is overly ostentatious, his character compliments the others perfectly. Plus it's a sci-fi action/adventure that doesn't rely on special effects.

The Dark Knight: Has any film EVER bucked convention of what a genre should be? Superhero movies should be campy and happy, where the hero always wins, right? Chris Nolan spat in the face of that idea, and made a huge leap of faith by casting Heath Ledger as The Joker. And what I LOVED about Ledger's Joker is that there was no origin story. His character was absolute, with no overriding back-story that influences his actions. Like he says to Harvey Dent, "I'm an agent of chaos."

The Muppet Movie: You saw it when you were a kid, and you enjoyed the songs and the puppets. If you go back and watch it again, you understand the greater themes, like stalking and attempted murder, and you get more of the jokes (what kid is going to get a Hare Krishna joke?). I'm ecstatic for Jason Segal's version due out in November.

2. I think that's full of crap. For every "Sopranos," "Game of Thrones," "Breaking Bad," or "The Simpsons," there are hundreds of shows that last 4 episodes before getting cancelled that are absolutely abysmal. Look at Comedy Central. You know how many swing-and-misses they had before they landed on Colbert after The Daily Show? At least a dozen.

Broadcast TV and basic cable are being killed in terms of quality (as the last 10 or so emmy's have shown), and when a show on a major network (ABC, NBC, etc) becomes a hit (Lost, Heroes), they usually go out with a whimper, not with a bang. The Sopranos is about the only show to end in the last 5-7 years that ended at its strongest point. Once TV execs have a hit, they milk it dry.

In TV you can take more risks, as the cost/reward is much less than a full-length feature film. And that's why there's so much failure.

Films are still the premier art form of the last 50 years and for the foreseeable future. 500 years ago it was painting, 100 years ago it was the novel, and now it's film. Yes, lots of poor films are made. The appeal of a 4X-10X return on investment is awesome. The one movie that comes to mind over the last few years with a big budget and was artistically created is Inception. But then again, Nolan is probably one of the top 3-4 directors in film today (Fincher, Arnofsky, Scorsese, and the Coen brothers can all make a claim to that title).

I think the compromise would be a return to the mini-series. Don't you think the last season of Lost or Heroes would have been better if told over 6-8 hours instead of 25?

So to answer that question, I think the quality of paid-TV shows (HBO, Showtime, etc.) is getting much better, but no TV show will ever top a movie in terms of "audio-visual storytelling."

*Phew!*

3. Favorite TV shows? South Park is #1. Like I said before, I love post-modern media. The combination of social commentary along with 9-year olds who have an "MA" rating is brilliant. Most people can't get past the crudity they resort to to see the 2nd and 3rd levels, but it's an incredibly deep show. The entire show is like an R-rated New Yorker cartoon.

The Daily show. It's brilliant, wry, crude when it has to be, knowledgeable, and above all else, it's honest. Nothing Jon Stewart shows is a lie. The nay-sayers of the show will say it's leftist propaganda, but it's not a news show. He's reporting how the other news outlets report the news, or how idiotic the "newsmakers" are.

Those are the only two shows that I have to catch new episodes of as soon as I can. Here's a short list of the rest: Colbert, Archer, King of the Hill, Tosh.0, and plenty more.

4. Favorite books: Heart of Darkness. Chillingly philosophical and psychological, it's also the basis of one of my favorite movies, Apocalypse Now.

The Gospel According to Biff: Christ's Childhood Pal. It's a 100% fictional account of what happens to Jesus from age 7 to age 30 (you know, what's left out of the bible) as told by his resurrected best friend, Biff. Not many books make me actually laugh out loud, but this is one of them. The funniest book i've ever read. Well-researched and respectful, but still crude enough (can you see a theme developing here?).

And third, Belushi: A Biography. John Belushi is one of my idols, and I learned so much about him from that book, as told from his friends, family, and co-stars.

5. Favorite music/bands/etc.

Guster. They have meaningful lyrics, are always experimenting with new instruments and styles, and are just awesome. And before you ask a follow-up question, they can best be described as a "light alternative" band. Wherever you'd classify REM is where you'd classify Guster.

Led Zeppelin. I can listen to "Over the Hills and Far Away" over and over and over and over again and never get tired of it.

The Blues Brothers. They re-invented the traditional R&B scene in the 70's, 20 years after it was thought to be dead. and also, see Belushi, John.

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Or, did you just forget about those speechjew?
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Joz - can we ban Leshrac for not fixing the Chrome PM issue?

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Originally posted by choco man:
Are you one of the "clones" that enjoy listening to Jim Rome?

Personally, I can't stand him when his show comes on at work. He brings in interesting and varied guests, but his constant use of slang is idiotic.

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Rome is a douche. He's not a personality or a reporter, he's a facilitator. He doesn't have opinions, he's a tool of ESPN to present their agenda.

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Originally posted by joz:
Dr. Who, Firefly, Star Trek: TNG/Original > everything listed above.

Or, did you just forget about those speechjew?

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I think the compromise would be a return to the mini-series. Don't you think the last season of Lost or Heroes would have been better if told over 6-8 hours instead of 25?

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Have you watched any British television series? While the model for American television series is to produce somewhere around 24-26 episodes a season, British series often are in the 8-12 episodes range - compare the British "The Office" to the American "The Office". The Brit verson ran for two seasons of 6 episodes each plus the Holiday special, while the US version is going on its 8th season, and the second season was 22 episodes long. Similarly, seasons of the UK's "Coupling" are far shorter than any season of "Friends".

Do you feel this is a better model for television series in general to follow (South Park proves that US series can follow this model) or do you think this should only apply to special mini-series?

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The 5th element: Is anything poorly done in the movie?

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Chris Tucker. Do you think that the movie would be better if someone, anyone else were in that role?

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For every "Sopranos," "Game of Thrones," "Breaking Bad," or "The Simpsons," there are hundreds of shows that last 4 episodes before getting cancelled that are absolutely abysmal. Look at Comedy Central. You know how many swing-and-misses they had before they landed on Colbert after The Daily Show? At least a dozen.

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Do you think that Ebert is forgetting the fact that movie studios in the past used to crank out tons of films (mostly bad) going back through the entire history of film and critics like him have the luxury of viewing the past through rose-colored glasses and exclaiming that the process is sullied now, or do you genuinely think that on average, the quality is lower now?

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Report rules violations.

Do you feel this is a better model for television series in general to follow (South Park proves that US series can follow this model) or do you think this should only apply to special mini-series?
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Well South Park does roughly 16 episodes a season, and they split the season up by 3-4 months. But comparing an animated show with little continuity to a show like Rome, or Lost, or Game of Thrones, where it's a linear storyline, is apples to oranges.

People also watch a lot more TV in the US than in Europe.
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Chris Tucker. Do you think that the movie would be better if someone, anyone else were in that role?
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Nope, I felt he was great. A lot of people don't like him in it, they think he was too flamboyant, but that's the point. He's a cross between Howard Stern and David Bowie.
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Do you think that Ebert is forgetting the fact that movie studios in the past used to crank out tons of films (mostly bad) going back through the entire history of film and critics like him have the luxury of viewing the past through rose-colored glasses and exclaiming that the process is sullied now, or do you genuinely think that on average, the quality is lower now?
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That depends how you define quality. Visually, stories are told better now because directors can do anything they want. Poor movies start with poor concepts (Who's Your Caddy?), poor scripts (Green Lantern had 4 co-writers - always a bad sign), or poor acting (Rob Schneider). If more effort was put in at the earlier stages from an artistic standpoint with less studio input (Spiderman 3, for instance?), the quality and aesthetic value of big-budget films would go up a ton.

Again, I use Inception as a big-budget movie that was conceptualized by Nolan from start to finish. He had to delay it for 9 years, but in that time he proved he can make movies, (The Prestige, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) and therefore earned the opportunity to make Inception.
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How do you think that producers should balance churning out tons of bad shows that should be killed quickly to make room for newer, better ones with the fact that many classic series actually landed with a whimper in their first season(s) before taking off and becoming a big hit? Could there be another Seinfeld or Cheers that is moved to Friday due to initial low ratings and cancelled into oblivion?
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I'll admit I know a lot, but the intricacies of show selection elude m

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Originally posted by nderdog:
No more questions please.

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