Disqus - Latest Comments for Monsterbeard

Re: First Trailer For MORGAN Is Not As Mysterious As It Thinks It Is

Monsterbeard — Wed, 25 May 2016 18:35:51 -0000

While I agree responsible science seems to be pretty lacking in film, I think it's interesting to turn the idea on its head. In real science haven't we had a few moments of "foolish children jamming bread knives into electrical outlets"?

Before the first atomic bomb, weren't scientists worried there was the possibility that it would ignite the atmosphere?
And before CERN activated the Large Hadron Collider, wasn't there a small possibility it would create a miniature black hole that would swallow the earth?

Actually, come to think of it, Ghostbusters does a pretty good job of responsibly handling the proton packs. Egon is relatively certain they will work as intended but still issues some pretty strong warnings. Like most scientists attempting something new.

Re: Washington is renaming the street outside China’s embassy after jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo — and China is furious

Monsterbeard — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 18:44:52 -0000

This is a really interesting point, but I'd actually argue that sovereignty is a joint illusion all countries share until it's no longer beneficial. Despite FARA, we shouldn't be under any illusions that China also have subversive agents within the US. We push each other's sovereignty until just short of retribution (hopefully) because it gives us an advantage against one another.

I think the problem here (and the reason that the media doesn't mention Liu Xiaobo's NED connection) is that his "subversive activity" is the promotion of democracy in China. To me, that's a noble goal. I'm equally horrified by protesters being arrested here in America (the Occupy protests come to mind), so obviously there is some hypocrisy in the government's response.
But, just as I want those protestors to go free, I fully support whatever peaceful means that can be used to bring freedom to China.

The governments make the laws and control the sovereignty. But they certainly shouldn't control us.

Re: Got Any Questions About SCREENWRITING 101?

Monsterbeard — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 01:06:38 -0000

This was a really great reply! Thanks for going into detail on everything (except maybe Thor's bathing habits (lack thereof)).

Permit me one more question, whenever you have a chance: Have you ever tried Polyphasic Sleep (http://en.wikipedia.org/wik... I ask because you seem to tweet at odd hours and you also seem incredibly busy.

Re: Got Any Questions About SCREENWRITING 101?

Monsterbeard — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 11:38:04 -0000

1. Is Hulk a vegetarian?!

2. What is Hulk's favorite whiskey? I'm a big fan of bourbons, particularly Woodford Reserve, which is my go-to for "Treat Yo Self" whiskey. But other times I lean toward Knob Creek and Bulleit bourbon.

3. Speaking of habits getting out of hand, do you still play poker? It sounds as though poker was much more of a income grind (removing all the fun), but did you ever feel like your poker habit was hurting your life in any way. I'd be surprised if the answer was yes, as you seem like the kind of Hulk who is cerebral enough that you wouldn't ever stop calculating poker even when trying to make it fun again, but who knows.

4. Hey, the book is really great. Really great. You have a manner of explanation and writing that have really opened my eyes in the past year(ish?) that I've been reading you. And the book is all of that put together in an easy to access package. So thank you for taking the time to be a teacher. It means a lot to me, and lots of other people too, clearly!

5. Who is the worst person in the Avengers house with whom to share a bathroom? I'm guessing Tony does a lot of time-consuming preening.

Re: Dread Pirate Roberts, Cyberspace’s Answer To Walter White, Busted

Monsterbeard — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 18:35:37 -0000

I have a weird question for you: When you're commenting on this site about using Silk Road, are you doing so through Tor? I mean, if you're someone who has visited an illegal site, is it just standard protocol for you to ALWAYS be anonymous online, or is it only when you're curious about the site?

I ask this because I am fascinated by the whole Silk Road thing and Tor and the deep web.

Re: Film Crit Hulk Smash: A SHORT NOTE ON WHY THE EMMYS ARE NONSENSE

Monsterbeard — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 14:03:45 -0000

This stuff is good to know. Despite my frustration with some of the results, its really amazing to look at a category and have no earthly idea who I would choose myself either. I mean, the actor and actress categories were just astounding! How are you going to choose?!

We're still living in a golden age of television and shows continue to break my brain with how good they are! I like that in my head I can give an Emmy to every one of my favorite shows, even when they're competing in the same category. And my vote counts the most because its the only one!

Re: Film Crit Hulk Smash: THE AGE OF THE CONVOLUTED BLOCKBUSTER

Monsterbeard — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:17:42 -0000

I think Lincoln embodies all three! And yes, I have to say you're right.

Thanks for the conversation too, it's really refreshing and really made me think!

Re: Win a special Mountain Dew & Doritos Xbox One Promotional Package

Monsterbeard — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:13:42 -0000

Can I say Destiny? Mmmm, Destiny. Doritos Destiny...

Re: Film Crit Hulk Smash: THE AGE OF THE CONVOLUTED BLOCKBUSTER

Monsterbeard — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:08:19 -0000

Well, because of how the characters react. Primer uses a plot device to start things, and then we watch the characters dealing with the consequences. I think when we're criticizing "plotty" movies, we're criticizing the fact that the movie is driven solely by the convenient happenings (Kirk gets kicked off the Enterprise to a planet where lo-and-behold Old Spock is hanging out. And Scotty! The characters are being carried by the plot, rather than the plot being carried by the characters.

In Primer, they accidentally build a time machine. Then THEY decide what happens with that. They aren't just *BOP*, popped back in time, thrust into the next thing. They control their destiny. Ha. Which, I guess is to go along with Hulk's criticism of people relying on destiny. It's like that Shakespeare quote about greatness: "Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them." I'd argue that in modern storytelling, the first and the third are BORING! (Depending on your interpretation of the third). I want the man who will struggle and achieve! That's a character arc!

Sorry, blathering on. I think you can have really good plotty movies and still have the characters be the focus.

Re: Film Crit Hulk Smash: THE AGE OF THE CONVOLUTED BLOCKBUSTER

Monsterbeard — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:01:50 -0000

I'd argue that while Primer might be very much plot-based, the true excitement and thrill comes from how the characters are reacting and responding to their invention. And they morph from what we thought they were to who they are, or who their duplicates are. And that's a fascinating thing to watch. So even though it is plotty and science-y, it's also very much about these two guys and how they respond to the situation.

You could argue the same thing about Upstream Color, for that matter. There's a plot, which is then overtaken by the characters put into the middle of things.

Carruth's work is unconventional, but it isn't empty, would be my argument.

Re: Film Crit Hulk Smash: HULK VS. SPOILERS AND THE 4 LEVELS OF HOW WE CONSUME ART

Monsterbeard — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:52:33 -0000

Agreed. It is very eerie that DFW's essay can so easily fit into today's Internet culture too!

Re: Film Crit Hulk Smash: HULK VS. SPOILERS AND THE 4 LEVELS OF HOW WE CONSUME ART

Monsterbeard — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:41:53 -0000

I don't think the "out of the body" experience has to be limited to the first group, actually. My definitive "out of the body" experience was seeing the film "Traffic" and it in many ways felt like experiencing all four levels at once. At the time I didn't have a conception of a movie being like that, the way that different colors were used for different locations, the music, etc. It really absorbed my soul for two hours and when it was over it was a completely emotional and cerebral experience.

The reason I say this is because from your description I feel like I react to movies in the same way so maybe you've had similar experiences?

Re: Film Crit Hulk Smash: HULK VS. SPOILERS AND THE 4 LEVELS OF HOW WE CONSUME ART

Monsterbeard — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:36:15 -0000

The different levels are really interesting to delve into. I probably have different levels for different media even! Film and TV are generally 3 and sometimes some 4, but with books and paintings I am much more likely to be 1 and 2 and music I am almost entirely a 1! Weird!

It's also interesting to note that the intensity of each level is probably directly related to how we are experiencing the art and whether we are at that moment connected to the campfire of friends or not. I remember my first solo journey to the theater for About Schmidt and I think largely because of that circumstance, my interfacing with the film was incredibly different than had I been with friends. It was a really beautiful afternoon and thinking of that movie still warms my heart to this day.

On the other hand, had I see Fast & Furious 6 alone, I would not have enjoyed it nearly as much as I did with wonderful friends next to me!

Re: Film Crit Hulk Smash: HULK VS. SPOILERS AND THE 4 LEVELS OF HOW WE CONSUME ART

Monsterbeard — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:15:39 -0000

Oh goodness. While debating the merits of something or other in college, a film student told me that I liked movies, while she liked films. :( Yeah.

Re: The Best iPhone 5 case (so far) is the Switcheasy Tones

Monsterbeard — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 22:18:51 -0000

The Switcheasy might be nice, but it includes a $17.99 shipping cost! Maybe that's a newer issue, but it's definitely not worth the price with that kind of shipping. I'll check out the Ballistic

Re: http://monsterbeard.tumblr.com/post/1061477742

Monsterbeard — Wed, 30 May 2012 15:14:02 -0000

Completely agree! Why did they have to put that over the end of the speech like that? The applause maybe, but not while he's still talking.

Re: Not Everyone Wants To Be You: A Response To n+1’s Kent Russell’s “American Juggalo”

Monsterbeard — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:29:41 -0000

Normally I don't read your music stuff (not because I don't like it but because it goes over my head. Example: For a long time I thought Lil Jon and Lil Wayne were the same person, and it was only once I saw Lil Wayne (Weezy? Is that right?) and, observing how very different he looks compared to Lil Jon, said "What happened to him?!" to a friend of mine that I was informed that Lil Wayne is actually someone else, which is why people made a fuss about him going to jail. Because who would make a big fuss over Lil Jon, really?), but I read this because it caught my interest and I'm very glad I did, so thank you. I especially liked "(separate but equal) rap music. (No Plessy v. Ferguson-mo.)". It was quite witty and poignant and having grown up white in middle America (Sort of? I mean, upper-middle class suburbia. So let's just say white and privileged), I think it's always important for me to question and challenge what I think about other people and how I perceive them and generally I think you do a great job on your blog of bringing those kinds of observations to light and saying "this is kind of fucked up," but also saying it in a way that is humorous.

So it is worth it, even if you feel like you are being a self-indulgent asshole, because there is this one person here who is taking something away from what you're saying and since I'm also part of Us, there is one more person slightly more self-aware than he was 20 minutes ago, and that's not nothing.

Re: marginal gloss: the final solution

Monsterbeard — Thu, 05 May 2011 21:52:53 -0000

I don't think you need to confess that. It's a wonderful stand-alone piece and made me laugh. And the writing earned the DFW comparison, not the subject ;)

Re: http://thestuffoflegend.net/post/5014663736

Monsterbeard — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:42:09 -0000

Yes, if you wouldn't mind adding Monsterbeard, linking back to my tumblr, that'd be great. Thanks. I appreciate you taking the time for me :)

Re: http://monsterbeard.tumblr.com/post/4586849109

Monsterbeard — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:47:39 -0000

Thanks Annie! I appreciate you saying so and I look forward to future Tumblr Reads in Los Angeles. Unfortunately I won't be able to attend this one, but I think you put together a great set!

Re: Sucker Punch (2011): A pre-review

Monsterbeard — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:54:27 -0000

I am tickled pink to hear Snyder “tried to avoid intellectualizing the film too much." How hard did he have to try, really? Are 300 and Watchmen OVER-intellectualized? Does he think intellectualize = non-slow motion? Or does intellectualizing mean dressing characters in normal clothing?

Re: Stanley Kubrick Week: A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Monsterbeard — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 20:15:06 -0000

Hmm. I honestly think you give it too much credit. I think everything you said IS powerful and interesting and compelling. I just don't see that in the ending of the film. From my perspective, there's no communicating any of those ideas, even if they were meant by the filmmakers. If they were, they did a bad job of examining it and presenting it to the viewer. There's no hint at the end of the film that David will have to consider these powerful ideas. Mostly I think he'll stay there forever, never moving til the end of time, pretending he and his mother are sleeping.

Re: I was wrong (as usual)

Monsterbeard — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 20:58:24 -0000

I have plenty of practice!

Re: A Year in Review

Monsterbeard — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 02:25:31 -0000

SO STRESSFUL! Is it possible all of my Black Swan distaste comes only from the fact that the movie stressed me out for every single minute? It is!

While I appreciate what you're saying w/r/t the ending of the film, I think it's equally important to recognize that our present day is NOT the greek myth day and therefore we have a right to stories that have evolved, right? Like, they can't "get" twitter and arguably we too easily "get" their heavy-handed dialogues.

But besides that, my main problem with the end of the film is that it did not feel genuine. It felt hammy and even if I had loved the entirety of the film leading up to that, I would have been disappointed. Artistic perfection is more than such a bland and direct explanation in the same way that love is more complex than emo song lyrics (despite how enticing those lyrics so often are!).

Here I could go into how I feel like our strive for artistic perfection/expression/etc is the whole reason we have to live (while not limiting "artistic" to the arts) and that while it is noble for a film to attempt the expressing of striving, Black Swan struck me as a rather ignoble and phony attempt.

But then (I cannot shut up and I'm sorry), the very fact that YOU found it powerful and with meaning means that I AM WRONG! I mean that completely! Because that is all that matters. Because this whole striving for artistic expression in its rawest form if it can touch just one person then that is enough and justified and genuine and true. And what I'm loving about these comments and this dialogue is the fact that another person's enjoyment of the film makes me appreciate it more because I cannot deny someone else's finding of beauty in it.

So, thank you, is what I mean.

Re: A Year in Review

Monsterbeard — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 02:12:56 -0000

Hmm, I think perhaps I just disagree with that assessment of Limbo. I know this means I'm disagreeing with the logic the movie has set up, but I don't think it fits within the logic set up regarding other dreamspaces (the ones inside real peoples' heads).

I will say that of all Nolan's films that I've seen (I think I've seen all but The Following), Memento is the most emotionally engaging, and succeeds on that level. For me, I think he gets so caught up in making such a technically engaging film (which he succeeds!) that the emotional side is a bit muddled. Which is really just me doing a Monday morning Quarterback argument of what I would have done differently, which is perhaps a bit unfair, as there are always things to be done differently, and my way certainly isn't better.

Now that I think of it, The Prestige does a great job of bringing out emotion, although it is a rather disturbing emotion, and there are certain parallels between Huge Jackman's character in that film and Heath Ledger's Joker, although I think again, both of their emotional responses are built out of a sort of ... trickery? I don't know. To get insanely analytical to the point where I am ridiculous: Both of them rely on the same trick that was used at the end of The Great Train Robbery, where a man pointed at the camera and shot a gun, which terrified early moviegoers. Does that make sense? Because it might not make any sense and I've decided it makes sense (Inception!) for my own benefit.

I didn't love the Switch, but I did like it. And I'll just come right out and say it: I may have cried, or at least got misty-eyed.

Finally, I am sorry for talking so long, although I am loving all of these comments. I will say that I think Nolan is incredibly talented and it's outrageous that he's only 40 and is making films that amaze people the way films are meant to, and I am very grateful for the chance to enjoy his work, however much complaining I decide to do afterward.