₦airaland Forum

@ Egnite; peace to you man but back off iice. As the only normal person on God's planet earth, I only have a monopoly on normalcy so just live with it.

I don't know whether thers's a plane where you operate that allows you to overlook what obvious flaws directors/movie makers you like have or exnf up putting in their film/movie conceptions but the bottom-line is for whatever reason Ang Lee wanted to 'cerebral-ize' the Hulk, he failed. P.S. if you are a comic fan, you know the Hulk fighting dogs is anathema and an insult to the "Incredible-ness" of the Hulk. Since then Christopher Nolan, Jon Favreau and to a lesser degree Bryan Singer have shown how to handle comic-book material with seriousness without making it a drag or botching simple action scene concepts.

@ vesc: I don show, let's do the ol' timey thing!

@ iice: Missed y'all. I've seen Iron Man and it ranks second only to 'perfection' (Batman Begins),   
Took Indy 4 in too, well I loved it but it's still behind Last Crusade and Raiders in my annals. It's very competently made and all but the simple joie de vivre is kind of gone and somehow it diminishes the movie for me. Besides some continuity gaffs et al, did you catch a glimpse of the Ark from Raiders in the warehouse sequence? In the original cut I saw the Ark started burning through the crate with the U.S. flag as well, I loved that little touch!

What else is new(s)?

Hey Vesc! Are you into "classic movies" like that?

I liked August Rush. I mean I was seeing all the "pitfalls" and see everything to complain about and yet I liked it. Mainly for it's unpretentiousness as much as for its soundtrack.

iice, no mind me, the Idols thing ticked me off to bits.

On a non-movie note, I watched Idols -East Africa on Saturday, I was livid and I think I have a serious problem with people who have no business being in subjective authority over other human beings being there as judges/critics. Ratatouille had a very valid point in it's handling of the Anton Ego character and the nature of criticism of another person's work/effort/art.

Back on track: I've just seen Fool's Gold, AvP:Requiem, August Rush and am re-watching Firefly. What are y'all up to?

Hi,

Vesc, iice and all my folk, I dey hail.

Vesc, when you say best trilogies I think you may have to trim that list to just LoTR. I saw the Animatrix, I wanted my money back same as for the Matrix sequels. I was a mad fan of the original The Matrix so much so that I used to visit the website everyday and even follow the theological/psychological and philosophical, intellectual discussions that it spawned. I agree with Egnite that the movies are art. Undoubtedly. But to say the Wachowski Brothers planned that from the beginning is about as believable saying James Cameron will top Titanic.

Granted they borrowed heavily from manga/anime, cyberpunk, video games, Bladerunner-esque and alt-reality concepts and meshed them supremely but that was supposed to be the backdrop not the driving force of the movie. The Matrix as a movie worked so well because it was able to be several different things to different people; those who wanted an action movie got it, those looking for theological links found them, engaging storylines? Check! Big explosions and killer martial arts+graphics? Hi-Five!! The only flaw I saw/see in the movie is still that the kiss-off lines and dialogue coulda done with more work.

That the movie's mix succeeded and connected with audiences was due to several factors

- George Lucas blew it with Episode 1 and managed to tip us to ", see The Matrix instead.".
- Escapism in the wake of Columbine et al
- Manga/Anime was (re)blowing up in the West (Akira, Oedo etc)
- Sometimes movies that don't spoon-feed are actually welcomed in theatre.

Okay gotta stop!

Unto other things:
I just saw "I'm Not There" and it was brilliant. I think Cate shoulda walked with that Oscar!!
Finally all the cool movies for this year/summer are closer than ever.

Well that's a shame on the Journeyman thing but some of the best shows ever got axed anyway ao it's in pretty good company.

Peter Jackson is a good director as Martin Scorcese is as Steven Spielberg is. He may have less range and less time in the saddle but he's the good and the reality is even if The Lord of The Rings were the only movies he made, he'd still be revered as a great,

Like A.I. actually, didn't enjoy it and I'm not in a hurry to see it again but I liked it for it's off the wall concepts and abject sadness.

Didn't Scorcese direct the Age of Innocence or was that violent too?

"The Remedy" & "I Don't Mind" by Ayiesha Woods

Jim Carrey turning serious was a real mixed bag for me. I really like The Truman Show and hated him serious in everything else but just for Truman Show I can almost forgive all the other flops. I generally believe the secret to longevity in Hollywood is "Don't believe the hype! Even if it's your own". And stick with good directors and forget about carrying a movie on your own "star-power". Eddie made that mistake and so did Cuba Gooding Jr and even Halle Berry/Charlize Theron too.

Keanu's pretty smart in roles that are built for him sha and Constantine rocked.

iice, finally saw Beowulf. I kinda like

Any Samantha Who/Journeyman fans?

I've been journeying a bit.

You guys good? Been a bit.

iice, I am chuffed. If they'd had guts they'da nominated it for best pic. I still believe they created the animation category to keep "live action" from being shame-faced like they were when Beauty & The Beast got nominated.

Still not too happy about Tilda taking the Oscar sha. Bourne deserved all the acclaim and really shoulda have nominations in the "big four" categories sef. D'you notice how the Oscars know a film is great but can't bring themselves to openly acknowledge it so they nominate it for "technical awards"? Remember "Speed" winning "Best Sound, "

Diabo Cody's a different kinda woman.

Eddie Murphy's career is,

Hello People! Been a bit.

Oscars? I like Daniel Day Lewis for the best actor thingy, Ratatouille (obviously), Cate (like everyone else ), Julie Christie and Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Juno & Brad Bird for screenwriting/adaption.

Well I've not really been watching much but I've seen I Am Legend (last quarter/ending=urgh!!), Juno (should take home at least one oscar); Waitress (overlooked), Michael Clayton (probably Daniel Day Lewis' potential spoiler for the oscars), on tv: Samantha Who?, House Season 4, Pushing Daises, Heroes Season 2, Journeyman (cancelled, WHY?!), started watching Atonement but couldn't continue, also listening to more naija music

Anyway how everyone been?

As with iice I can't wait for TDK but I fear Heath's getting himself killed may change the final cut we will get to see

Wall-E is looking like keeping the perfect record going for Pixar sha and CJ& looks like Stephen Chow's golden again.

Lotsa love

iice I dey o! How story? Which revisionist stories (not just movies) d'you think hit all the right notes?

Hey iice! Good to be back.

The funny thing is sometime next month someone'll drop something small and then the entire Oscar race will be blown open again but from all indications No Country's a frontrunner and the new Dylan (can-it-be-called-a-biopic?) 'I'm Not There' seems to me like this years dark horse and from a few reviews it seems the director managed to make all six Dylans integrate smoothly and it's artsy and indie too so that goes in it's favour. I think Ratatouille has a lock for Best Animation though if the Academy had been more honest with themselves they'd not've created the Animation category so it'd've been up for Best Picture as it should. Best documentary should go to Michael Moore's Sicko sha (never liked the man but this particular doc scared and moved me.

I have another one of my small questions, : What do you guys think of all the "revisionist" stuff going round? I mean things like "Wicked" on Broadway, Russell Crowe's upcoming "Nottingham" and lotsa other inverted view works?

Hiya.

Just catching up on all the fun you guys've been having since I've been away and I must say I missed a bit. Welcome D-reloaded and my one-time-brother-in-comicdom Viera.

D, you landed with a bomb o! Sam Raimi did help with the revival of the comic-book movie though Blade would have to count as the forerunner and helped Marvel like manna from heaven. His original Evil Dead was actually good and while the other sequels were more absurdist comedies, the guy try sha but you definitely cannot list him among the uber-directors. Also Superman is not lame (most of the movies were but it's all the revisionist attitudes that make him appear so) but still "Mr iice" puts them all to shame mainly because he has no superpowers and they all still fear him, that beats everything and everyone. I bought a Batman comic yesterday, I'm very proud of me, LOL

Vesc, welcome to Heroes, I really hope it was as fun for you as it was for most of us first time round.

Tim Burton's Batman was the gold standard for quite a while and I still think his opening scene with Michael Keaton's Bruce Wayne sitting pensively with a very disturbing scowl on his face bathed under a weird blue light before the bat-signal comes up (Batman Returns) still is very memorable for me. He does very artsy-gothic movies that no other director can.

Oga Akin, I hail you, good sir! Jiddah too.

Sorry for the silence, just came back into "civilization" but prior to that I actually had written an extra-long post written out and everything and I actually thought I'd posted it but somehow I didn't and that ticked me off to everything.

Next year is going to be bumper for Iron Man/Batman fans etc

Oscar season's coming again, any frontrunners? Guys, over to you.

Kevin Costner as a director's pretty good though. I think he did good especially on Dances With Wolves.

Part of my problem with sequels that were not originally planned is that they constantly need to reinvent the characters as they were in the first parts, e.g int PoTC Miss Swann's transformation from "posh" to two-faced minx that battles seasoned pirates easily with swords is just out of the blues and Jack going from rascally with a good heart to back-stabbing "illegitimate/unknown-father" defeats his original charm/appeal. Now this is not a PoTC-only problem o! D'you guys remember how hard the Agents were in The Matrix? Everybody used to run from them and only Neo could even take them on but at the start of Reloaded, he even says they're upgraded and still they were easy to take on even by those who were not "The One". I personally think the best thing about Reloaded was the P.O.D. song on the soundtrack, LOL

If Heath was trying to take on Jack and he'd fail. But from all indications he's playing it straight closer to how Scarecrow was played by Cillian Murphy but more psychotically deranged.

The Wolverine & Magneto movies I think may actually be at pre-production or even production level by now. Never saw the animated Tekken but I still consider the Street Fighter II manga to be the ultimate game to movie translation, so far.

I'm with iice, I always thought of Bond as smooth and deadly. Craig is a little too burlesque for me but then I'm a guy so maybe it works for the female Bond fans, ?

iice, d'you do music at all? What kind?

Hey Vesc.

<deep breathe> POTC:DMC was a good movie like you said but as a sequel to CoTBP? Haba! I actually went and rewatched CoTBP again and I really think they fell into the "law of sequels" trap i.e. make it darker and increase the frequency of everything you heard the fans liked about the original. Part of the beauty of the original was that "Captain!" Jack was supposed to be playing second fiddle but ended up with the whole caboodle, that subversiveness was part of the charm and then it was funny, both ha-ha and cerebral funny, it didn't talk down to you but it didn't dumb itself down either and if after the way Barbosa was painted in CoTBP you can accept he can ever work with Jack or even be remotely "good" then ,

M:R was a slap across the face. All the high hopes and they give us 100 Agent Smiths? A war is coming and an orgy was the best way to prepare? Right! Now I may have been so pissed at that because coming off the back of LoTR:TT where there was a virgil for the impending battle for survival and even children were being recruited to fight in Helm's Deep I felt the humans in Zion were plain suicidal.

"James B(l)ond(e)" is fine but Jason Bourne will kill him in a blink.

American Gangster will rock maybe not as hyped and I definitely don't like the angle they marketing it and tying it to modern hip-hop culture et al but come Oscar time, it will be named in a few places though.

Powermap. you are welcome.

I don't really do much scripting as a rule since I'm less "ha-ha-funny" and more "The Simpsons/Firefly-type-funny" so if you think that's what you need just lemme know.

Is the work full-time or is it more like contributory and also is the pay-off a one-off or do royalties accrue?

Holla back

Keywords being "have to"? Of course you don't "have to" get married either to have sex or children. Besides the word "bastard" is more of a description than an insult (at least in it's original context).

Marriage is a choice and mainly because of it's exclusivity more than any other reason as in
- Have sex exclusively with one person
- Have children exclusively with one person

etc

My dad's not a very rich person but he told me something. He said you don't have to get married and only you can decide for yourself whether to or not but one day you'll be older 40-50-60 and you'll see what you've missed and how different it could've been and that you had no real excuse to've not done it.

P.S. Don't knock adoption especially if you can't do it yourself.

Hi. Sorry for the absence but you guys seem to've done fine regardless,

I saw The Seeker yesterday and I totally agree with iice, they should just can mediocre movies that don't/can't pull their weight but one thing that made me kinda step soft is that some kid may watch that same movie and be totally blown away. LOTR was never actually written as a children's book, The Hobbit and The Chronicles were but admittedly in the translation to screen most directors don't mine the book for it's essence and show that. If you'd told most of the LOTR fans that there'd be so much left out and other things changed prior to the movies coming out, they'da freaked but somehow Peter Jackson got it as in "really! got! it!" and the rest is cinema-perfection. No other Trilogy stands as high and chances are none other will.

On Ben Affleck's movie, it seems to be a hit with quite the number of people. It would seem bland/limited actors make great directors.

I know you guys may want my head for this but I truly think POTC and The Matrix had only one actual movie each and two "Nigerian Films" as sequels.

Daniel Craig as Bond, hmmm well as long as they keep it more Bourne that Roger Moore era Bond, I'm all for it. Loved Goldeneye shaaaaa,




Okay, on the "complicated" thing I'd said earlier years ago: I started watching this new show "Chuck" and while it's a good show I generally had ascribed more cerebral affluence to it than necessary. It's supposed to be a spy-comedy type show. And I watched the 3rd or was it 4th Episode and I was really let down my the enforce clumsiness of the lead and the hiding behind the old chestnut of saying "it's complicated, " and that unnecessarily prolonging either a conflict or starting one.

hiya,

I'm really dashing so this'll be really short. @iice/vesc: I'm really sorry to hear you've been under the weather for a bit even if it gave ample excuse to watch as many movies as you did

If I hear the line ", it's complicated, " in any movie/show again, I might just flip, I'll explain later.

Just popped in to say I love you guys,

Welcome back iice!

Funny, I served in a village where the water was so hard that you could dissolve a packet of detergent and not get enough foam,

I'm a big Nicholas Cage fan when he's not looking like he's a wet puppy or half-dead so The Rock and Con Air pass. They are some of my favourite movies ever sef. He royally shot himself in the foot with the Wicker Man thing, it was a remake they'd tried to "Americanize" and they also made it too PC as in politically correct to be any use. Nic Cage as Superman? Thank God for that missed opportunity

I actually got a gift of a Boondocks dvd but I'm yet to get into it. Sounds like it could be a blast based on all the love you guys are showing it.

I never saw the Silent Hill movie but I hear its cinematograpy/atmosphere/art direction was off the hook. (Man I need to start hunting some of these movies I missed over the last three years)

I actually didn't know about Jackie and Jet's beef but as long as it's over that's really cool. I do believe Jet will win a Razzie long before Jackie sha///LOL

Is anybody excited about the Justice League movie that's being casted?

@vesc/iice did you ever play Resident Evil 4?

iice's on the money, Superman is Kal-El, his dad is Jor.

Heroes and House M.D. are back on air, yay!!!

Hola
I didn't specify just father but mentors also. In Kinsey he was a researcher and if you remember the very first scene/act, he was mentoring. He occasionally takes the odd role like Schindler's List and/or Leap of Faith type too.

Guys, Love NYSC while you can. You'll kinda miss it when it's over.

What I meant was his appearances in some movies like Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, Batman Begins, Kingdom of God, Kinsey et al. These movies have him playing the role of a mentor to a young person and he ends up being a flawed one, for example in The Phantom Menace, he was repeatedly warned about Anakin but he still insisted on taking him on; in Batman Begins, he was trying to groom Bruce Wayne to his twisted sense of justice and Kingdom of God has him as a failed/absentee father/mentor figure,

iice, akin, vesc, thanks for the hitbacks.

It would seem QT's gotten a handle on handling multi-star projects. I loved the multiple stars in Disney's The Lion King, somehow Shark Tale didn't do it for me. Christopher Nolan seems to be getting used to that too as evidenced by his Batman Begins and The Prestige. Personally I believe in the battle of the magic movies of last year between The Illusionist [has anybody else seen this?] & The Prestige, The Illusionist won.

like iice said, X-Men 3 & Superman Returns are both good movies but they coulda been so much better in the hands of other directors, they ended up with me thinking about the best way to get my money back from the cinema guys without getting a black-eye, LOL

Have you guys noticed how Liam Neeson seems drawn to [flawed?] mentor roles in the last 10 or so years?

Batman Begins "cast sample list"

Christian Bale
Liam Neeson
Michael Caine
Ken Watanabe
Tom Wilkinson
Rutger Hauer
Morgan Freeman
Cillian Murphy
Katie Holmes
Gary Oldman
Linus Roache
Mark Boone Jr.

@iice, your Mars Attack example's truly one for the records. I hope your baby-attending's going good?

Hi guys, two days.

I'm a half-fan of Renee, I totally loved her in Jerry Maguire and I still think it's her best role, watching her swoon over Tom Cruise in such a pure/innocent way is heart-warming. Her versatility sha is astounding especially her accents like y'all've pointed out.

I actually saw Rush Hour 3 a couple of weeks back but I was kinda ashamed to say it until I heard more of your opinions because I frankly wanted my money back at the end but the person I saw it with loved it silly.

Funnily enough I've been following the new movies but I've yet to see the trailer for either Iron Man or Hitman. Jason Statham would've made an excellent choice as 47 though personally I'd take Vin Diesel for the way he'd fit the suit especially with his shoulders et al, . Personally I'm expecting Iron Man to do very well because of it's cast particulary Robert Downey Jr and the fact that it recognises that comic-book movies like comics should/can work on many different levels and be all things to all people [exhibit A: the ever-excellent BATMAN BEGINS], that and the fact that Jon Favreau trusts his material and didn't try to "over-modernize/update" the concept to much. On another note, did any of you see the trailer for Will Smith's Legend? It has hope.

Harry Potter vs. LOTR = Not fair!

Small Questions: Can a movie have too many big stars and still work? And which director(s) d'you think can pull it off?

The sad fact of life especially in hip-hop seems to be that the very best albums are never properly/legally released in their entire-ness. The original Pro*Pain is one of such masterpieces alongside 4th Avenue Jones' No Plan B and L.A. Symphony's Call It What You Want. I hearthily recommend you try tracking those albums down.
I include these links to give you an idea of the reviews of what I consider to be manchild at his very best.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/reviews/2006/propain.html

http://www.netweed.com/hiphoplogic/2005_06_01_archive.html#111992114673017277

http://www.rapzilla.com/rz/content/view/34/83/

http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/cdreviews/ProPain.asp

http://www.rhapsody.com/marsill/propain#albumreview

http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/cdreviews/ProPain2006.asp

The album was so delayed that it became a niche album at the end but it's worth having so holla back.

@Rapsody


www.marsill.com

www.deepspace5.com

Gotta fly but will post addtitional details later

"I got seven ways to say something different/If you’re allergic to the truth, then I suggest you keep your distance/Plug your ears and listen to the sound of a hard heart/Whose trust was pulled one too many times by these card sharks/I spark a charge that darts across the charts/Set far apart from the garbage they’re calling our art/I start a lot of controversy. Afraid that we’re dissing you?/From the big willie cats to the underground and miniscule?/Honestly, it’s anyone polluting the subliminal/If that’s you, retribution is unconditional/I’m willing to commit career suicide/If I know that it could fill all your emptiness inside/
But I’m confident that top-billing and ripping the veil/Is my job and heart throbs with all it entails/Can’t fail, found success when feet hit the trail/Dues paid? Yes ya’ll, check’s in the mail…"

"I got a strong mind. It doesn’t have to be spoon-fed/I treat my audience with respect and my dialect is interjected/Into conversations worldwide, a piece of heaven injected/Into the blind, scales fall from their eyes/It’s all to my surprise that a sound could move the masses/Take my everyday observations and press them onto plastic/Lessons automatically grabbing your fascination/When delivered into action my masters of rap relations/A revolution in music we loosen the chains that hold you/Don’t say you weren’t aware because I told you/They sold too many souls on the auction city block/Wrists slit on Wall Street, snake-eyes and risky stocks/My life hits a third shift frame of mind/I understand your struggles because they’re mine/I spit a trail for you to follow what you thought you couldn’t find/Past and present intersected inside of God Divine…"

"I’m the explicit version without the illicit cursing/I sit atop these radio-friendly missing persons/A diversion from the 9-to-5 grind that you’ve been working/
An answered prayer, we strike the match that keeps desire burning/This perverted graduating class is looking for the backdoor/It goes disco, ska, neo-soul and rapcore/Collision cracks a smile on a pile of shredded documents/There’s only so long you’ll piggyback on our accomplishments/You tried to say that it was virtue versus common sense/Guilt trip, that’s all it is, so swallow pride and call it quits/The vaulted lips can fall off with the crabs in a bucket/In a land of rusty logic and 500 dollar budgets/But I can’t believe the hype. See it’s not the way that I’m programmed/I read between the lines and fingertips when you fold hands/In five years, they’ll know what I know and you’ll have no fans/And I’ll still be making classic records as an old man…"

"Mountain to a mole hill, river to a stream/Make the complex simple, turn an army to a team/By any means seems like it's your only option/And a riot now resembles nothing better than a mosh pit/Oceans a puddle and a hurricane is rain/Obvious is subtle and complicated is plain/Debate is conversation and wild things are tamed/Torture's only pain and change stays the same/Terrorism, revolution, slavery, and restitution/Gotta give it all to break it up and get it movin'
Dark is transparent so we slice it with a flashlight/X’n out your circle, blow the spot like a bagpipe/Livin' the fast life, project slow motion/Just so you can get in which direction that I'm goin'/It's the common denominator love child moderator/Got a lot to say to all of y'all but I won't start till later, "

"talk is cheap, I invested in speech and raised the market value"

", Stammer and stutter through your 20 minute train wreck/my 9 to 5 is right here with or without a paycheck/your like a sure thing disconnect is a safe bet/wait a sec, just heard you hit record on your tape deck/ call your local dj make him put it on repeat, "

"Left (left), right (right) take it to the limit/give it everything you've got until you lose it or you win it/grin and bear the pain of combat/more crimes than contracts/this is business but it stretches far beyond that/monogram my name hold it deep within the sound/even if they try to ignore it, see they gon' feel it now/they try to villify we illustrate the illest style/hold my ground and i'm still a man and i'm still a child/mars ill is the standard prepare to give it all/
each song is a wakeup call and you're just pillow talk/i'm sick of ya'll mc rappers slash actors/top flight wackness all falls down and crashes/i'm the underdog passed over in your brackets/but my cinderella story is true because it happens (that's what happens)/built the future sound on the back of the classics/propain the album that now completes the hat trick - that's it (that's it)!"


More manCHILD

@verscucci. I have not doubt you'd have no problems vocalising anything you wanted to get across, you do fine writing so it'll naturally carry over, lol. P.S. I am male

On George Lucas, I don't think on any level does he come close to either Spielberg or Scorcese. He was going to be an enduring great but after the travesties that were his prequels, case closed. If you subtract them from his resumë then he's pretty good as a producer.

Francis Ford Coppolla has some stupendous great movies on his cv but since he's not active right now, I don't think he's head-head with these two.

@ Akin007 & lawyer. I ask you guys, what was wrong with Minority Report?

manCHILD

"I pop a collar when I'm breaking a neck/I'm the ace in the deck keep you placing your bets/I taste for direct quotes, tracing my steps/And Deepspace release dates are always taking your checks/Your favorite radio station's next/chasing chart space, "

"Everything is everything/it's even spelt the same/A self-proclaimed matchmaker packing up and selling fame/Imagination wrapped in cellophane/Accurate against the grain/ refuse to pass the mike unless the population felt the flames"

", the talent pool is drowning fools whose skill level is marginal/none of them can see me like Saddam's weapon's arsenal, "

Thanks for putting blushes on my very brown face with all your kind words.

Just saw Ratatouille and I definitely recommend, Pixar's perfect record is in no danger and Brad Bird's still as subtly good as he always was,

I'm with iice on this, Bourne Ultimatum really was good.

Grey's Anatomy - not a fan but I can understand it's popularity, I personally prefer House M.D. I love The Next Generation in the Star Trek annals. I've actually hated on Voyager a bit.

Ladykillers had a great things for it - Tom Hanks, the black lady, an outstanding original movie dying to be remade, the momentum/hype from O Brother, a great soundtrack, going for it but it had a lot of minuses. Marlon Wayans vulgar gangsta-rism was just one joke too far/stale. The dialogue was not as creative and the chemistry between the gang-members was not as dynamic/smooth as in O Brother, the dark humour worked poorly and they took the material too seriously.

Funnily enough I've not gotten around to seeing Taken but based on you guy's recommendations I'll seek it out. I hear the new Battlestar Galactica's good? Has anybody seen it?

On a different subject, which is the best directed Naija-made movie or tv show you'all've seen so far?