u2roolz

Ok, so this isn't listed on IMDB yet. I read via youtube that this is from the pilot which may have been the only episode aired?

I'm guessing this could be on BBC America? It's on Channel 4 over in the UK.

Here's the synopsis:

US comedian David Cross plays Todd Margaret, a hapless office drone who flukes his way into a top management job heading up the British division of a US multinational. All he has to do is sell a dozen container loads of dodgy Korean energy drinks before his psychotic boss, played by Will Arnett, visits in a week's time. It doesn't help that he knows nothing about the UK or selling things.

What's more, he only has one very unhelpful employee, played by Russell Tovey, to assist him. Needless to say, it doesn't go well and Todd's spectacular failure to impress beautiful café owner Alice, played by Sharon Horgan, only makes things worse.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/comedy-showcase/episode-guide/series-9/episode-1

I'm almost positive that this isn't the HBO pilot that Cross did with Odenkirk a few years ago that never got off the ground.

Also, a very famous director has an awesome cameo in the clip.

That said, I'd also like to add that I think the DVD release of Vice made some changes that hurt the film a little - adding some scenes (in particular, adding a new opening) and changing some others. I still think it's great, though. Also, I just noticed that Time Out New York put it as #35 on their best of the decade. So, I guess we're not the only ones to like it.

 

Time Out New York's Best of the Decade

 

I'm also glad to see that TONY ranked The New World quite highly ... and also that they gave some solid (top 10) props to Zodiac.

I remember when I first bought the Miami Vice dvd I noticed that the beginning was different. I never actually watched the dvd version. I only put it on briefly to see the transfer. I think Mann topped himself visually with Public Enemies. I especially loved the look of the film when there was the night time shootout at the hotel and the interior bank robberies. Something about it made it feel real by looking "amateurish". And I mean that in the best way. (having my bachelor's in film I find it hard sometimes to verbalize these thoughts, but it's got to be the HD realism vs. the film look) Also, the scenes with a lot of sunlight looked really gold and yellow and beautiful.

I also agree highly with TONY's #1 film of the decade.

Thanks Hoodoo Man, Good Old Neon & Moss!

Somehow we had a 68 degree day north of Boston in December?!

Then the movie I went to see ended up being cancelled.

Please exercise caution if you are seeing a movie's last showing on its last day. A lot of movie theaters cancel the last show, so that the projectionist can break down the film to be shipped out before midnight. The internet had the show listed yesterday?! I kind of expected this because I used to work at a movie theater, but I assumed it wouldn't happen since An Education is only 90 minutes and the show time wasn't that late at all. Luckily, my best friend ended up being around. I ended up going out the night before with friends.

Anyhoo...

The National Board of Review released their list/awards for the Best of 2009: (go here for individual winners National Board Of Review

UP IN THE AIR took home Best Film

Ten Best Films

(in alphabetical order)

AN EDUCATION

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER

THE HURT LOCKER

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

INVICTUS

THE MESSENGER

A SERIOUS MAN

STAR TREK

UP

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Five Best Foreign-Language Films

(in alphabetical order)

THE MAID

REVANCHE

SONG OF SPARROWS

THREE MONKEYS

THE WHITE RIBBON

Five Best Documentaries

(in alphabetical order)

BURMA VJ: REPORTING FROM A CLOSED COUNTRY

CRUDE

FOOD, INC.

GOOD HAIR

THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS

Top Ten Independent Films:

(in alphabetical order)

AMREEKA

DISTRICT 9

GOODBYE SOLO

HUMPDAY

IN THE LOOP

JULIA

ME AND ORSON WELLES

MOON

SUGAR

TWO LOVERS

Special Filmmaking Achievement Award: WES ANDERSON, The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Miami Vice, huh? I think you're the only other person (besides myself) that I've ever heard say (admit?) that they like that movie. Not a top ten of the decade for me, but good.

 

I need to do some serious thinking about my list too.

I also really really enjoyed Miami Vice. I'm not sure if it makes my list for the decade though.

I haven't posted in a while, but here's my 2 cents:

 

TOP 10 MOVIES OF THE DECADE

 

1) The New World

2) No Country For Old Men

3) Before Sunset

4) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

5) Inglourious Basterds

6) Wall-E

7) Zodiac

8) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

9) Miami Vice

10) There Will Be Blood

 

Next 15:

11) Kill Bill Vol 1

12) Lost In Translation

13) Memento

14) In The Mood For Love

15) Good Night and Good Luck

16) City of God

17) Adaptation

18) Mullholland Drive

19) In Bruges

20) 25th Hour

21) Bad Santa

22) Inland Empire

23) Team America: World Police

24) The Fog of War

25) The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Amazing choice at number 1. Huge fan of Terrence Malick. I personally think The Thin Red Line is one of the best films around. Also, love the Lynch in there too.

And Before Sunset would probably be in my Top Ten too. A lot of stuff here that I agree on.

PS I need to get cracking on my list. I left off at 2001.

Thanks Analogman!

I also would like to take this time out to send a belated happy birthday to Matt(The Z) & Brianne and anyone else who has had a birthday over the past couple of weeks. (the other threads disappeared lol)

And to the people who asked me what I want for my birthday...well..let me think.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4PvdpXxXpY

ABC remains very tight lipped about any images being released for the final season of Lost.

But a Spanish tv station made their own interesting promo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C56Lgl6DorM&feature=player_embedded

It's interesting that Lost is going for the bigger picture of Free Will vs. Determinism.

This idea ties in with some discussions going on over in the New Atheists thread.

So, I never watch the Office, but they were filming at the school I teach at. On my hallway where my classroom is to be exact. One of the characters apparantly starts a reading room in the local high school, which, being Van Nuys Middle School, is neither local nor a high school. Also out in front of the school they put clumps of snow by the main entrance and some barren fake trees to make it look like winter. Of course it was actually 95 degrees. Has this episode aired yet? They filmed about a month ago. Is this an ongoing plot line? It will be funny to see what they do with it. The next day they also filmed downstairs in another hallway for Parks & Recreation. Only in LA.

Mr. Kinsley,

I think this week's episode is the one of which you are speaking about.

Take a look at the synopsis:

Scott's Tots

Michael is forced to face the music after he realizes he can’t keep a promise he made to a group of kids 10 years ago. Meanwhile, Jim starts an employee of the month program to increase employee morale.

I think it is safe to say that every year consumers need an unobtainable toy to keep them occupied throughout the holidays.

Paging Tickle Me Elmo

Thirty Odd Foot Of Grunts

The The (try repeating that for 1 minute straight. strange things happen)

U2

 

nice. especially U2

In no particular order:

(Movie news sites)

Ain't It Cool News

Box Office Mojo

Coming Soon.net

Dark Horizons

DVD Active

JoBlo.com

Collider

Box Office Numbers or The Numbers

IMDB

Apple.Com Movie Trailers

DarkUFO (Lost fan site)

A few friends' blogs

Live Nation (for concert updates)

U2Gigs (for up to the minute news)

Boston Dirt Dogs (for Red Sox trade news etc)

Hulu (for certain shows obviously)

CNN

MSNBC

Fox News (for the other views )

Wikipedia (for some hyperlinking fun)

Daily Show

Colbert Report

Facebook

(all of the above really doesn't take that long if looked at on a daily basis or every other day)

Alright, I'm kind of fascinated by what people think of the Adam & Eve story and Pandora. Bear with me I'm going to try and connect these ideas with a recent film that received some misogynistic reviews.

 

OK. Adam & Eve. Eve is offered fruit from the Tree of Knowledge from the serpent. She takes it and eats from it. I'm sure anyone at that point would eat from it, since it was the Tree of Knowledge. I guess the problem with it is that certain groups use it to put down women. I know that one woman named Eve is not indicative of any other woman's actions, but let's play along. What if Adam was offered the fruit first instead of Eve? Would he have accepted it? I think he would have. He did accept it when Eve offered it to him. Then he blamed her and she blamed the serpent. So I guess my question is "what is the big deal with her wanting to gain knowledge"? Curiosity? I'll get to Pandora in a bit. I know that I'm not the only one who sees the irony and beauty that Eve is the one to eat the fruit first and she is also herself a creator of children. It's almost really empowering if you think about it. She has eaten the fruit and can bear children. Of course, God banished them from the garden and then Adam lives for over 900 years? On a side note I came across an interesting site that claimed that liquified gold can bring about an extended life. (I won't get into who came here to mine it ) Anyways, it seems that this story kind of put women in their place for the course of history.

 

Pandora's Box. Pandora is the 1st woman in Greek mythology. Pandora opens the box or a jar against Zeus' wishes. She opens it out of curiosity and not malicious intentions. And much like in Adam & Eve, evil is released into the world. She closed the box after seeing what she unleashed onto the world and hope was left lying at the bottom of the box. Were these myths created to blame women for evil? I think there's more to it than that. In both situations the woman was tricked it seems. The jar was a gift given to her from Zeus. The fruit was offered by the serpent.

 

SPOILERS:

The Box. ( a remake of an old 80s Twilight Zone)I don't think anyone saw this film. I remember going onto the IMDB to read what people thought about it. I remember one woman was furious that the film was misogynistic. The premise: In 1976 a creepy disfigured old man shows up to this couple's house with a box. If they push the red button they receive a million dollars. And one person that they don't know will die. The husband has serious reservations about the man and the box. His job promotion is also in jeopardy. He doesn't want to push it. The wife wants to push the button because she wants to pay for her son's tuition and figures it will help them out in the long run. She is a school teacher. She pushes the button.

 

This is where the woman on IMDB got pissed. She was upset that a woman was portrayed in this light again as in Adam & Eve and Pandora's Box. In this instance I see things a bit differently. I felt that it was that woman's maternal instinct to provide for her son and family that made her push the button. Also, it may have been her frustrations for having the salary of a school teacher and not something more due to the times in which she lived. The fact that someone else will die is huge, but keep in mind that it was 1976 and people were less connected for obvious reasons. Still it's no reason for someone to have to die, but it does create interesting moral questions and dilemmas.

 

But as the film went along you noticed that it seemed to be women that pushed the button. Hmm. Interesting. I guess being a guy I can be upset that that man wouldn't want to receive a million dollars to provide for his family. Especially since his promotion didn't come through. He seemed a bit passive on the decision almost like you could say Adam in the Garden. Where was Adam in the Garden? Was he not wandering around? Was Eve the one wandering around the Garden because she was curious?

 

I will say that The Box is a psychological philosophical religious thriller. It's pretty obvious that the red box is an allusion to the fruit in the Garden of Knowledge. So is the mysterious man. He could be the devil or something completely different.

 

I won't spoil the ending of The Box, but I just wanted to know what people felt about these stories. And if anyone has seen The Box did they feel similar and ask questions.

Women – religion (Eve, the apple, you know the rest)

I'm bumping this up since Good Old Neon brought this ^ up. Since I don't remember every single teaching in Catholic grade school or high school, I was wondering how that particular story is told.

I don't remember what angle my religion teacher took in the 80s. And I'm quite curious how this is taught nowadays. I suppose I could Google it but I'd rather hear what other people have to say.

Plus, I assume Good Old Neon is blaming women's mistreatment on the Adam & Eve story. But from what I posted above it could be seen in a different light. I'm just not sure if it's taught that way in certain places.

Edit: To clarify I'm beginning to question myself as to when I started to see this story in the negative light as a kid/teen.

About 2 years ago I wanted to trade in my Dodge mini-van for a newer model. I needed something that would fit 6 people (3 in car seats) and went to the same dealership I bought the car I was trading in from. They told me I owed too much on my other van and wouldn't pay it off. Then they told me that all I could afford was a plain Jane mini-van. It didn't even have tinted windows in the back and the only "extra" it had was tilt/cruise. They were not willing to work with me at all, even though I have an excellent credit score, was a repeat customer, and was local (small town). Whatever.

 

I went to the Honda dealership and got a fully loaded Pilot, with the entertainment package and all that for about $100 cheaper a month than what I could have gotten a shitty Dodge Grand Caravan for.

 

Then I drove it through the parking lot of the Dodge dealership and waved to the asshole manager who was trying to screw me over.

LOVE IT!!!

Speaking of Woody Allen

Speaking of Woody Allen, Happy Birthday! 74 years old.

Alright, I'm kind of fascinated by what people think of the Adam & Eve story and Pandora. Bear with me I'm going to try and connect these ideas with a recent film that received some misogynistic reviews.

OK. Adam & Eve. Eve is offered fruit from the Tree of Knowledge from the serpent. She takes it and eats from it. I'm sure anyone at that point would eat from it, since it was the Tree of Knowledge. I guess the problem with it is that certain groups use it to put down women. I know that one woman named Eve is not indicative of any other woman's actions, but let's play along. What if Adam was offered the fruit first instead of Eve? Would he have accepted it? I think he would have. He did accept it when Eve offered it to him. Then he blamed her and she blamed the serpent. So I guess my question is "what is the big deal with her wanting to gain knowledge"? Curiosity? I'll get to Pandora in a bit. I know that I'm not the only one who sees the irony and beauty that Eve is the one to eat the fruit first and she is also herself a creator of children. It's almost really empowering if you think about it. She has eaten the fruit and can bear children. Of course, God banished them from the garden and then Adam lives for over 900 years? On a side note I came across an interesting site that claimed that liquified gold can bring about an extended life. (I won't get into who came here to mine it ) Anyways, it seems that this story kind of put women in their place for the course of history.

Pandora's Box. Pandora is the 1st woman in Greek mythology. Pandora opens the box or a jar against Zeus' wishes. She opens it out of curiosity and not malicious intentions. And much like in Adam & Eve, evil is released into the world. She closed the box after seeing what she unleashed onto the world and hope was left lying at the bottom of the box. Were these myths created to blame women for evil? I think there's more to it than that. In both situations the woman was tricked it seems. The jar was a gift given to her from Zeus. The fruit was offered by the serpent.

SPOILERS:

The Box. ( a remake of an old 80s Twilight Zone)I don't think anyone saw this film. I remember going onto the IMDB to read what people thought about it. I remember one woman was furious that the film was misogynistic. The premise: In 1976 a creepy disfigured old man shows up to this couple's house with a box. If they push the red button they receive a million dollars. And one person that they don't know will die. The husband has serious reservations about the man and the box. His job promotion is also in jeopardy. He doesn't want to push it. The wife wants to push the button because she wants to pay for her son's tuition and figures it will help them out in the long run. She is a school teacher. She pushes the button.

This is where the woman on IMDB got pissed. She was upset that a woman was portrayed in this light again as in Adam & Eve and Pandora's Box. In this instance I see things a bit differently. I felt that it was that woman's maternal instinct to provide for her son and family that made her push the button. Also, it may have been her frustrations for having the salary of a school teacher and not something more due to the times in which she lived. The fact that someone else will die is huge, but keep in mind that it was 1976 and people were less connected for obvious reasons. Still it's no reason for someone to have to die, but it does create interesting moral questions and dilemmas.

But as the film went along you noticed that it seemed to be women that pushed the button. Hmm. Interesting. I guess being a guy I can be upset that that man wouldn't want to receive a million dollars to provide for his family. Especially since his promotion didn't come through. He seemed a bit passive on the decision almost like you could say Adam in the Garden. Where was Adam in the Garden? Was he not wandering around? Was Eve the one wandering around the Garden because she was curious?

I will say that The Box is a psychological philosophical religious thriller. It's pretty obvious that the red box is an allusion to the fruit in the Garden of Knowledge. So is the mysterious man. He could be the devil or something completely different.

I won't spoil the ending of The Box, but I just wanted to know what people felt about these stories. And if anyone has seen The Box did they feel similar and ask questions.

Ok it's time for me to open up and then ask some questions.

I went to Catholic school all the way through senior year in high school. By the time I got to 7th or 8th grade I stopped believing and started questioning. Of course due to biases my parents felt the need to send me to a Catholic high school for a "better" education than public school. I would say I gradually went from an Atheist to an Agnostic over the course of my college years.

I used to have nightmares almost every night in my childhood. I remember they involved someone being tortured (in a jungle type setting) from their point of view. At the time I didn't question it. It was just there in my dream state. It was only until I had a young woman act in one of my short films from college that I began to have a different opinion. She told me that her brother had nightmares of being in a concentration camp. He was only 4 years old. It seems like a fairly good reason to at least question reincarnation.

Last year on September 26th I had an amazing experience. Well, that fall I was feeling pretty worn out. I questioned if I had developed diabetes. It runs in my family and I've always been borderline. So anyways I went to bed like I normally do the night before and knew that I was going to my doctor the next day. I remember being awake for about a minute and had a voice talking to me. My back was facing my door and my face was facing my pillow, so I was also facing my wall. The voice told me "that everything is going to be alright. you're not going to die." And there was more but I fell asleep. But while it was happening I had the best feeling in the whole world. Also, I felt no need for flinching over to see who was talking to me. The voice was soothing to say the least and also very feminine but not really. If that makes sense. I always heard the expression "like an angel whispering in your ear". I'm not entirely sure if that entity was communicating with me through mental telepathy or if they were talking out loud. I should also add that I've had two experiences before while sleeping where I woke up with a jolt. Almost like my heart restarted itself. One time it seemed like I saw something white (like a feather) coming into my closed eyes and then I jumped out of bed with my heart racing.

A friend of mine told me something that I found really exciting and interesting. A friend of his remembered floating down from the sky and then into his earth bound body and then looking into his mother's eyes while walking on the street. I had a similar experience. I remember waking up one day, maybe the first day that I could walk. But I remember looking at myself in the mirror. It was as if I had my first sense of self and my existence. It's also strange that that's my earliest memory.

Onto the questions that I have: (ok, I'll get to them in a bit.)

Indeed. Mr Tweedy looks rather evil with that wig. Like an evil Puritan preacher or the Quaker oatmeal guy on a vendetta.

LOL

Yeah, I would definitely shit a brick if he showed up like that on a Christmas show.

Not too shabby

No, that's the fact. Our future survival is not a fact by any stretch of the imagination, and declaring it such is stating an argument.

OK, so I'm ignorant and baseless for thinking that humanity is going to survive the next energy crisis, and that drives you nuts?

I could understand feeling hopeless over such things as oil running out. But I'd have to put my faith into people in much higher positions than me/us to provide us with alternatives.

That being said if money is behind it (obviously) along with our sustainment as a species, then I can see it happening...(edit) alternative energy that is.

On the other hand, I can easily see us facing extinction in another fashion from either a comet or disease or whatever else we can't control.

Where else would you see General Zod and Charlie Brown having a back and forth on the Energy Crisis?!

Hey! He just changed his avatar! Shit!

I honestly like your arguments better while associating them with General Zod. I mean the poor guy wasn't even there for the destruction of his home planet. Instead he was floating around space in a creepy mirror with a dumb mute and a kind of sexy goth chick. Although, it's debatable whether he was adapting by trying to conquer "Planet Houston". He could have found work in Greenwich Village.

Where else would you see General Zod and Charlie Brown having a back and forth on the Energy Crisis?!