Disqus - Latest Comments for Colin_D

Re: Annette Kellerman From Fantastic Fest 2014: ABCs OF DEATH 2!!

Colin_D — Sat, 20 Sep 2014 21:19:19 -0000

Not even trying to hate - but this one is even worse than the first one. Whereas in the original I found there to be a handful of entertaining stuff this was just all terrible with the exception of one or two that were "interesting".

Re: Sci-fi epicness abounds in the full trailer for JUPITER ASCENDING!

Colin_D — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 23:46:54 -0000

I really like Tatum generally speaking but for some reason his look and his personality just does not seem right for this role to me. And I am generally quick to come to his defense in nearly everywhere else. It may be that he is just generally too likable and not enough edge to him, he doesn't sell me as a 'badass bounty hunter/assassin' type fellow. I think of a Tom Hardy type actor fitting that role better. In any event, I'd love to see it be good (but have my expectations managed for much less).

Re: Elder Scrolls Online Tips And Tricks

Colin_D — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 10:47:15 -0000

Many errors in the advice above - I don't expect much out of internet journalism and I understand this was done with the best of intentions but this is fraught with mistakes. Here are just a few:

- Soul Magic can only be ranked up through the main story line; so slotting it will make no difference. I wouldn't waste a valuable slot on Soul Magic, keep that on your secondary bar and use it when you need to fill gems if you want.
- So many typos - Skyshards, not Sky Shops or Sky Shots.
- The armor enchantment suggestions is not correct if you're going heavy armor there are many reasons to enchant for magicka purposes as you'll naturally have much less magicka regen since you are not getting the light armor passives. In short though you need to be thoughtful about where you stand in relative to the soft caps - a general platitude about enchanting with health is just plain wrong.
- The Fighters, Mage and Undaunted guilds are not on the starter islands, so don't be looking for them there. They are located in the same city where you will currently be starting.

Re: Patrick Hughes to direct the remake of THE RAID: REDEMPTION, starring the Hemsworth brothers?!

Colin_D — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 12:03:06 -0000

As so many others have noted, this film without the martial arts is a close of Die Hard and more recently Dredd. And of course they will go PG-13 and neuter the visceral feel that made the film so beloved by those exhausted of the Hollywood gutless output we have today. While I am all for doing a U.S. remake I just wish that it were done right - and that means excellent fight scenes (it doesn't have to be Silat, but it has to be well choreographed and original) and pulling no punches. Further, the cinematography in the original film was a huge differentiator - straight from the Bruce Lee school of less cutting, pulling further back from the action - and I am wary that when you lose talented martial artists from the scope of the film you inherently have to resort to the more typical close up/constant cutting that plagues most of the action films today and causes them to feel so flaccid.

Re: THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY TRAILER IS HERE! What a buncha a-holes.

Colin_D — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 08:04:44 -0000

I didn't think either was particularly good but by I retain optimism here - there are many stories littered across Hollywood of directors who made a handful of mediocre films before they really crushed it. Marvel hired him on the back of the script and his directing credentials - which is to say they must have had confidence in the story he plotted as well as his directing abilities.

Re: THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY TRAILER IS HERE! What a buncha a-holes.

Colin_D — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 08:01:52 -0000

I walked away from this trailer feeling materially better about it than anything else Marvel has done thus far (most of which I have felt 'meh' about).

Re: THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY TRAILER IS HERE! What a buncha a-holes.

Colin_D — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 08:01:02 -0000

For the win!

Re: Quint interviews RAID 2 director Gareth Evans!!!

Colin_D — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 12:32:03 -0000

Can't wait.

Re: Quint interviews RAID 2 director Gareth Evans!!!

Colin_D — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 08:00:22 -0000

Not just doing fan service - but generally (realizing this is cheating), the final fight scene in the first Raid. Granted, it's 2 on 1, but it has the same principles of a 1 v 1 except the choreography is that much more impressive. And that aside, then probably the fight between the Lieutenant and the Mad Dog earlier in the film. To borrow a word used oftentimes elsewhere, he really captures the "bone crunching" aspects of it - it feels markedly less Hollywood than most (though as anyone who has practiced a martial art will agree the beating those guys take is inhuman, no one could withstand a tenth of it). Also, the derivation of Silat that some of these guys practice just translates really well to the screen.

Re: Quint interviews RAID 2 director Gareth Evans!!!

Colin_D — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 07:57:58 -0000

I really think Gareth Evans needs to get a license from Hollywood to do a big nasty action film his way, unencumbered by the studios. Considering his ability to make something like the Raid into both a cult, and relatively speaking, commercial, success I think with a substantial budget and creative license he could really smack American audiences across the face with something they are wholly unprepared for but in desperate need of. It would still be genre film to a degree, as any hard R is, but I find it impossible to think that people wouldn't welcome it with open arms as opposed to the next painfully bad Die Hard or whatever other disposable box office actioner is up next.

Re: Beautiful New Trailer for Christophe Gans' BEAUTY AND THE BEAST!

Colin_D — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 20:46:59 -0000

Does Lea Seydoux not age?

Re: Beautiful New Trailer for Christophe Gans' BEAUTY AND THE BEAST!

Colin_D — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 20:46:28 -0000

Actually looks pretty good. He'll never top Brotherhood though.

Re: SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN's Rupert Sanders to remake GHOST IN THE SHELL!

Colin_D — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 07:31:57 -0000

Agreed on some points - though it's hard to say Akira / GoS were not innovative with some of the ideas they had - just look at when both were released relative to what one might consider contemporary films dealing with similar topics. Credit where credit is due, they were by and large ahead of their time.

Now, from a plotting point of view, I agree with you that in retrospect some come across as lackluster in hindsight, though I'd exempt Akira from such a statement. It's a shame Akira hasn't been remade borrowing more heavily on the source material (comics) than the film. Having reread the comics recently they really stand head and shoulders above anything that was made in that era and largely since.

Re: SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN's Rupert Sanders to remake GHOST IN THE SHELL!

Colin_D — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 07:27:21 -0000

Or good adult anime, period? Discovering anime in that era meant cracking open GITS, Akira, Ninja Scroll, Fist of the North Star and oh so many more. Granted, a number of those were products of the 80's. I went back recently to see if anything notable had been produced that wasn't Miayazaki and couldn't find a thing.

Re: SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN's Rupert Sanders to remake GHOST IN THE SHELL!

Colin_D — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 07:24:27 -0000

Had the totally same experience. How this is getting moved forward but Akira still languishes in development hell is a mystery to me.

Re: The 30 Most Anticipated Films of 2014

Colin_D — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 08:46:26 -0000

Good article. Mentioned quite a few that are not on the mainstream media radar - kudos to having ferreted those out.

Re: Top PC Games of 2014

Colin_D — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 14:48:41 -0000

They said it was designed from the ground-up for the PC alongside the consoles, unlike in the original case. The distinction is murky, I guess.

Re: Top PC Games of 2014

Colin_D — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 14:47:45 -0000

Would have included some others, namely Dark Souls 2, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, Walking Dead: Season 2 (though the first part was released in 2013). Unlikely we will see Starcraft Protoss expansion, but you never know.

Am I the only one that has found the October - February period to be dearth of much in the way of gaming on PC?

Re: Behold The New And Very Cool Trailer For THE RAID 2!!

Colin_D — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 12:20:11 -0000

Echo that. Insanely good work - hope we continue seeing all the guys involved with these films getting more well paid work in the west (it seems inevitable, they are such a cut above what passes for action and stunt work in most Hollywood films).

Re: Behold The New And Very Cool Trailer For THE RAID 2!!

Colin_D — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 12:18:14 -0000

Why can't western movies even be in the same league?

This looks like a worthy follow up to what stands as the best action film of the past two decades.

Re: We now have the first full trailer for TRANSCENDENCE and it is insane!!

Colin_D — Fri, 20 Dec 2013 22:21:54 -0000

Sigh. Unfortunately I feel to the even slightly attentive viewer you basically now know: a) he dies, b) he is uploaded into a machine, c) that machine turns evil in some fashion and decides to destroy us, d) he can take people over by sending his chips of evil take over power into individuals, e) at the end his former love interest Evelyn is evidently forced to make a decision to end him. How much do we want to bet that at the very final moment some vestige of his humanity prevents him from killing his former love and she is able to successfully "shut him down"? I mean - for god sakes - I have watched a trailer and read zero advanced buzz and feel I can structurally outline the entire film.

Re: Trailer for REASONABLE DOUBT, Starring Dominic Cooper and Samuel L. Jackson!

Colin_D — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 17:18:51 -0000

This is one of the worst offenders for giving way, way too much away in a preview. Some of the twists in the preview would have actually been quite good to see in the film.

Re: Trailer for IN SECRET, Starring Elizabeth Olsen and Oscar Isaac!

Colin_D — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 09:20:01 -0000

And by is getting you mean already is?

Re: Trailer for IN SECRET, Starring Elizabeth Olsen and Oscar Isaac!

Colin_D — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 09:18:17 -0000

Elizabeth Olson is legitimately becoming one of the best actresses working today - and quickly. What a talent. That family seems to consistently knock it out of the park.

Re: Uphill Climb

Colin_D — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 16:29:11 -0000

Generally agree with most comments here.

The article, at least based on the general tone, seems to purport the broad failure of MOOC's. This is dramatically overblown - based on what seems like many of our experiences we can safely say they have not got it right yet - but who does in the early days.

There are reasons to think it will work - for one, for many classes the experience you get watching a video online is almost exactly the same (if not better) than the one sitting in a crowded lecture hall. Second, the article cites that most people taking these courses have bachelor degrees as a concern about the ability to really democratize education - I feel this fact shouldn't come as too big a surprise - early adopters aware of tech trends tend to be people who are fairly affluent and well educated. That says less about MOOC appeal than it does simply the nature of early adopters. Further, look at the courses Udacity and Coursera have offered - it makes sense that you'll likely need a bachelors degree (if not more) to even dip your toe into machine learning and artificial intelligence. There will still be a very real opportunity to provide courses that are widely available at a whole bevy of educational institutions but provide them from Stanford-quality professors. Courses like Thrun's own Statistics 101 or basic economics, accounting and programming courses will all likely be a hit. This will not supplant a liberal arts education - I do agree that the preponderance of people using it will likely be using it to learn something they feel can better prepare them for their desired career.

I view Thrun's change in direction for the company as more of a modest pivot than a radical shift, and while Max Chafkin is a terrific journalist I feel he overemphasized the degree to which Udacity has really altered its core business model (and accepted defeat, so to speak).

As so many others here have noted, a completion rate in the low single digits is not such a terrible thing in scenarios where the students taking the course number in the tens of thousands and have signed up without ever having put any skin in the game in the form of tuition payments. On the contrary, it's pretty incredible. It allows many people who are curious about a subject to dip their toe in the waters and get at least a basic sense for what it entails and have no punishment if we decide not to continue. Certainly, relative to where we were less than a half dozen years ago this marks something approximating a seismic shift.