Things in the comic-book loving world are slow and there is nothing to talk about… for the next few hours anyway.
Feel free to talk about whatever strikes your fancy. Whatever has popped into your pretty little head, either in general or at this very nanosecond.
Talk about whatever you want and if there’s anything useful in here, we can do a special weblog, or talk about it in the podcast.
Here’s what I’m thinking about at the moment:
- If you told me a few years ago that there would be a Reno 911 movie I would have not believed it. I am really looking forward to it.
- I have to admit, I don’t feel bad about enjoying 24, but I sometimes worry about the consequences of its popularity.
- I was pumped to see 300, but after seeing the season premiere of Rome this past weekend I am positively giddy.
- And how frakkin’ good is Rome?
If I am alone in my thoughts and these do nothing for you, start posting!
This thread shall hereby support multiple discussions on multiple topics.
So says DOOM!
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Some rights reserved.
On 24 does it cross the line sometimes? Yes
In life is the line crossed sometimes? Probably. It’s not on TV
Does the right thing happen in the end or at least the best case scenario? Yes in both cases.
I think that what 24 highlights the difficult nature of all of these decisions. Is waterboarding OK? I don’t know. If the consequence is another 911 style attack? I think probably so. I’m actually glad that I don’t have to make that decision.
I think that 24 makes a case for the difficulty of these decisions rather than a case for torture. Are there instances where it’s shown to work? Yes. Are there instances where it’s shown not to work? Yes. Are there instances where Jack can’t break someone? Yes. Are there instances where it’s applied to the wrong person? Yes for instance Audrey Raines in season 5. So I think it’s responsible because it shows those things too.
Is this a heavier topic than usual? Yes
Reno 911? What about the next Remo Williams movie or Kevin Smith’s Fletch?!
Is forcing someone to watch the Reno 911 movie torture? Probably
What no Police Academy 32?
In regards to 24, I agree with you..I love the show but just this morning I was listening to Keith Olbermann discussing the consequences politically of a show that sends the message that torture will get answers. I don’t always agree with him but it got me thinking.
I haven’t watched the premier of Rome yet. I’ve got it on my dvr. Probably watch tonight. Season 1 was great
That’s it! The truth is out! Fred is really Robert Evans!
(Wow, that’s obscure)
i would’ve got away with it too if it wasn’t for you meddling kids
I dont like Reno 911 even though i liked watching the state episodes on my sisters computer. 24 is good and my dad love the first season of Rome. I dont have HBO any more so il probley watch it through netflix
THey should have a warning at the beginning of 24 like they did before Jackass:
W A R N I N G
THe stunts and activities you are about to see were not performed by professionals. In fact, no one was hurt, injured, or gave up crucial terrorist information to Kiefer Sutherland. Real life government agents please do not attemp any of the stunts or activities on this show unless you are in fact Keifer Sutherland.
I mean, is this the direction we’re headed?
I mean, is this the direction we’re headed?
Apparently.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/01/doomsday_clock_.html
Also, I have a topic:
Best comic book video game? Has there ever been a good comic book video game? Will there evere be a good comic book video game?
Spider-Man 2 and Ultimate Spider-Man are fantastic video games.
Justice League Heroes, while not a great game, is a lot of fun.
Conor, that link is awesome – and when I say awesome I mean completely depressing and yet somehow still entertaining. Not because of the article itself, but the comments that follow. If I wasn’t typing, I’d be speechless.
To add, ultimate alliance was also fairly great..aside from the poor re-play factor (meaning after you clear..it leaves little to desire) and the fact I accidently released the legacy virus..oops..
For the sake of argument, let’s say that this is an actual standard, rather than an arbitrary thing decided by people on whatever criteria they imagine.
Doesn’t the specter of terrorism, Iranian, and North Korean nuclear armament only make the decisions I posted about above only more difficult?
Is this the direction we are headed?
In a country where people will sue at the drop of a hat, isn’t any wonder that this is the direction we are heading? There is a common comment that you hear about Americans when you visit other parts of the world and that comment is that we are a “low context” society. Luckily, I have a very bright wife who could explain this to me. It basically means that you don’t have to tell people in other countries at the end of the advertisement for the Superman costume that doesn’t give you the ability to fly. That is simply understood. If little Pierre or Angus (insert your geographically specific name of choice here) chooses to try and fly out of the window just because he has the new Superman costume, that’s just a way to thin the herd. However, in this country if that same commercial ran without the warning and little Billy was stupid enough to try and fly, his parents would then sue the manufacturer becuase they should have anticipated that little Billy would be that naive to think that he could actually fly.
That’s it, rant finished.
A treat on the topic of arbitrary vs real brought up by me
Napoleon Dynamite: This is pretty much the worst video ever made.
Kip: Napoleon, like anyone can even know that.
Complication breeds complication. Is there such a thing as a simple solution – especially when things like morals/politics/religion are involved?
I’ve never played Spider Man 2, but Ultimate Spidey was alright. I played both X-Men Legends games, and am in the middle of Ultimate Alliance. It gets a little repetitive, and I guess I am just jonesing for something amazing in a comic book game.
re. UA game, make a point to complete the side non-crutial missions, this is how I allowed the death of the worlds mutants (I’m sure conor shed many tears)
Complication breeds complication. Is there such a thing as a simple solution – especially when things like morals/politics/religion are involved
no and that’s the point. It’s impossible in my opinion to say that torture is always wrong. This is best illustrated by the latest 24 plotline. Terrorists have 5 suitcase nukes that they are looking to detonate in high population areas. Do you mean to tell me that breaking someone’s fingers or even stabbing them in the knee is worse than letting hundreds of thousands of innocent people die? I can’t get behind that and I don’t see how anyone can.
Couldn’t have put it better Fred.
However, some would extend this to mean that the “get them before they get you” idea is acceptable on a much larger scale, and that was more of what my previous comment was getting at.
Is there any concern that 24 is playing on xenophobic fears for ratings?
Is there any concern that 24 is playing on xenophobic fears for ratings?
I don’t think they are. It has basically been the same storyline since season one, only the villains change. Hell, last year the US President was the bad guy.
So, does Pan’s Labyrinth live up to the hype?
Last week I read Ultimate Spiderman series from beginning to present – and I did it in e-form on my computer. My first time reading so many comics on the computer. Loved the series, especially the consistency of the writing and art. I heard that the artist is leaving soon, is that correct?
Rome is awesome. It is a tragedy that HBO has already cancelled the series for its third season. It’s one of the best shows on television. The same is true for Deadwood – also cancelled by HBO. What are they thinking!!!
They are thinking that not enough people watched those shows to justify the huge budgets. Rome is the most expensive show that HBO produced, by far. Deadwood is supposed to come back in two HBO movies, though.
I’ve enjoyed 24, although…sometimes I feel my being canadien and therefor a free man, heh, and not fearing terrorist salvo’s i don’t enjoy it as much..not a bad trade I guess..I do enjoy british shows more tho
I heard that the artist is leaving soon, is that correct?
at 110
The same is true for Deadwood – also cancelled by HBO. What are they thinking!!!
To be fair, HBO didn’t cancel Deadwood. The creator and show-runner, David Milch did. It was originally supposed to last 4 seasons. During the 3rd season, Milch announced there would be no 4th season because he is making a new show for HBO and wants to focus all of his energy there. The fan outcry was massive and he eventually relented (sort-of) and stated there will be 2 2-hour Deadwood movies that will wrap up any unresolved storylines at some point in the future. They will air on HBO. At this point, there is no date set for those, nor have they begun pre-production. Who knows if they will actually ever happen.
So as far as Deadwood is concerned, the decision was Milch’s, not HBO’s.
FYI, his new show is called “John From Cincinnati”. It stars, among others, Luis Guzman and Ed O’Neill. It starts in late 2007 on HBO. Here is a description of the show – you decide if he should have given up Deadwood for it…
“The dysfunctional Yost family of Imperial Beach patriarch Mitch (Greenwood), a former surfing star who can now levitate (slightly), married to the aggressively unhappy Cissy, parents of the drug-addicted, dissolute Butchie (Van Holt), also a former surfing champ and the father himself to the talented but resentful skateboarder Shaun find their lives disrupted by the arrival of dim but wealthy John From Cincinnati (Nichols), a boarding savant who’s come to take lessons from Butchie, and Barry Cunningham from Azusa, whose personal connection to the Yost family has him returning to Imperial Beach to avenge a wrong done to him, by them, 23 years ago.”
holy crap there are 2 jackie martlings in the world
nice decision milch
Anybody else read comics on the computer?
yes
Thanks for the clarification on Deadwood.
Any of Canadian friends catch “Little Mosque on the Prarie”? The reviews say it’s hilarious.
I’ve seen mosque…it’s….it seems forced
Give me the URLs of some good webcomics.
ROME was a great show…I thought they weren’t doing season II for cost reasons, but I loved it as a miniseries and didn’t expect another season. I’ve never watched 24 or Lost…I seem to be alone on that. Best game I’ve played recently MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE, I haven’t played JLA…but games I’ve enjoyed for replay value HULK ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION, SPIDER-MAN 2. The SUPERMAN game, sucks. Also, recently i came across a comic adaptation of Paul Auster’s City of Glass, adapted by Paul Karazik and drawn by non-other David Mazzuchelli (Batman: year One)…Great.
Here’s the link (in spanish)
http://www.tebeosfera.com/Obra/Tebeo/LaCupula/LaCiudad/deCristal.htm
More on digital comics…
At first I didn’t dig readng comics on my computer – mainly because I didn’t like being unable to see the whole page at the same time. Due to the verticle orientation, you have to scroll from the top half of the page to the bottom half. But after readng the Ultimate Spider-man comics, I got over my hang up with it.
But this raises a question that I will just throw out – how can digital comics be made more reader friendly on a computer? What do you guys think?
I’ll offer one suggestion – reformat comics horizontally to better fit a computer screen.
I read some web comics. Mostly the Extralife Radio guy Commissioned, Mission Deep and Extralife. But if you havent seen Perry Bible Fellowship its funny in such a bad way.
If anyone knows any webcomics that arent comedy I’d like a link. Even an ongoing title would be awesome. I’m hoping that when comicspace takes off that we will see alot more.
Has anyone seen the trailer for the new Will Ferrell movie Blades of Glory? Could be the funniest movie of the year.
What are everyone’s games of the year?
Mine?
1. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (PSP) Great gameplay, great story, awesome (Ashley Wood drawn) cutscenes. What’s not to like.
2. Gears of War (Xbox 360) A very, very close second, this game has it all, so much so that i would put it right beside Halo in the upper pantheons of videogame universes.
Has anyone here seen the Ghost Rider needs his taxes done commercial? What the hell is Marvel on? I’ve looked around for a copy online but it seems as if Marvel was not happy with the version up on YouTube.
Rome is so good, I intend to grow up to be Marc Anthony. 🙂
Reno 911 just doesn’t do it for me. The State needs to just fucking come back already. 🙁
Awesome, I can’t wait for the next episodes in Rome, I loved that show and was gutted when they stopped airing it
Haven’t watched 24 in about a year or 2, gunna have to pick up the season dvds at the video store I think
Damn you iFanboy. In the past two days I’ve bought, on your reccomendation;
Preacher vol. 1
American Born Chinese
Strangers in Paradise vol. 1
Captain America: WInter Soldier vol. 1 & 2
Loving every minute of it….even if I don’t have gas at my apartment yet. Brrr. But oh well, money goes to the IMPORTANT things in life, right?
Preacher, man, BLEW ME AWAY in the best way. Gonna order the rest ASAP.
Preacher is like the greatest thing ever or at least this morning it is
I finally got to Rome last night. Holy shit that was great. I completely understand wanting to grow up to be Marc Anthony. That scene with the ok I’ll wait outside thing – the best. Also the scene with Pullo and the guys whose name I can never remember killing EVERYONE in that guys house while looking for his kids -perfect.
Robert Evans has spoken
(sorry for the new novella)
Mister S, to answer both your questions:
Best Comic Book Video game of all time so far is City of Heroes. I have been playing in the City of games(City of Heroes and City of Villains) for over 2 years now. To buy the game it is about 25$ for the new split pack(CoH and CoV)and then after the first free month you pay 13$ or so a month. I have never found such an amazing comic book game as the CoX games. First off you get to design your own heroes or villains, and the costume and power options are so vast. Once you have made your hero or villain you then enter the city (Rogue Isles for villains or Paragon City for heroes) and get busy saving the day or destroying it. The best part of the game (other than the great game play ) is the community. Untill these games I had never been interested in playing an MMorpg (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) mainly because I had heard of harrasment and other negative aspects. I have had maybe 2 bad experiences in over 2 years and those were easily dealt with. You can solo as a lonewolf hero, team up with a sidekick, join a Supergroup, and all kinds of neat things. Easily the best Comic Book game ever!
Also, like has been said by others the X-Man Legends and the Ultimate Alliance games are fun and neat as far as being able to control lots of established heroes from the Marvel Universe. Also like Conner said, Justice League Heroes is fun as well and worth buying if for no other reason than you can team up Hal Jordan with either the Flash or Green Arrow! Also there are two new games coming soon that will either be the best or super frustrating. The people behind City of Heroes(Cryptic Studios)have teamed up with Marvel Interactive Entertainment and are getting the Marvel Universe Online game ready for release later this year(2007).It is to be released on XBOX360 and PC. It will be one of the first games that Microsoft will sync between the console and the PC, meaning you will be able to play with PC users while on your XBOX360. Sounds exciting. Unfortunately they are being very tight lipped as far as what the game play will be like and no info so far on characters(established playables or player made). Also Jim Lee is said to be in charge of designing the DC Universe Online game. It is being produced by Sony(oh no!)Online and given the fact that Jim Lee’s Batman game was so bad and Sony is known for destroying their own Star Wars Online game I am pre-mourning. Hopefully for naught. As some of you know I am a DC Diehard and even when they disapoint me terribly I am still very loyal so I have high hopes.
Now as far as reading comics on the computer I do alot. In fact I have over 14 Gigs of comics. The easiest way I have found to get them is Soulseek. To download Soulseek go to http://www.slsknet.org and once you have it you can do a search for .cbr files. That is infact the only way I get to read alot of the books I want because as I have stated before on other posts, my comic shop sells out titles I like almost every week. The only way I get to read the Boys is to download it. Anyway there are also some comic companies that are getting smart and selling comics as PDF or CBR files. I think that is a smart move because you get sales with out having to pay for the publishing of each issue. More profits for them. Some people like reading them molre than collecting and we won’t mind not having a solid copy as long as we can read it. Plus the comics on your computer can’t get things spilled on them or get anykind of wear and tear so I like that aspect as well…
Oh and Spiffy, yes I saw the Ghost Rider commercial for the Tax place. Notice he didn’t talk..hehe. Either Marvel realises that Nick Cage is one of the worlds worst casting choices possible and they are already distancing themselves or Nick refused to let them use his voice. I think Matthew McConahay (I know that cant be the right spelling.. sorry) would have made the perfect Jonny Blaze/Ghost Rider. Oh well. But yea, I definately did not expect to see Ghost Rider getting his taxes done on my TV. Also thought it was funny that GR takes his check in his hand that is on fire.. a paper check… hmmm
😛
Also real quick…
I am doing a bi weekly radio show online myself now. I used to do community radio in Little Rock here in Arkansas for 3 years. I produced and hosted 4 different shows while at KABF. Three of them were during the same time period but on different nights. I had hands down the most popular nighttime show mainly because of good music and wackiness. Anyway, there are lots of ways to hear it but the easiest is to go to http://www.myspace.com/thetollyshow
It streams there and there are links to the webjay page where I host all previous shows. Hey if nothing else you can hear how crazy I really am while also getting free tunes from the likes of the Shins, Supergrass, Muse, Brendan Benson, etc. I also do a classic two shot at the end of each show that spotlights a classic band from the history of rock. This last show had Badfinger as the two shot. Each show is about 2 hours and you can skip to individual tracks at anytime. There is also the option to download each track from the account I have hosting them. Well check it out and let me know what ya think..
p.s. There is also a podcast feed.
You can enter in this for the feed:
http://webjay.org/by/thetollyshow/thetollyshow232akasuperawesometime232.xml
I really enjoyed City of Heroes for a long while, but I don’t have the fortitude to deal with the fact that leveling gets exponentially harder every time. You have to play for 79 hours to earn the powers you started playing the game for in the first place.
“The challenge is fun!” “Or, you know what else would be fun? If you gave me my goddamn powers, like right now.”
Wow, thanks tolly! That is a lot of information. I have never play the City Of games, mostly because I am wary of MMOs. Oh, and I don’t have a PC (damn Mac has no games). So that kind of puts a cap on what is available to me. I’ve heard about the new Marvel game coming out for 360 and will surely buy it the day it comes out.
I’ve heard good things about Crackdown for 360, in spite of the fact that the Halo 3 beta is included. It is not a comic book proper, but your character does have super powers that you can level up as you progress through the game.
I am thinking about starting a MUA campaign with only a single character, or maybe two. Any thoughts?
If you do I suggest Thor or Dr Strange(because of self heals and his fire can do alot of damage if slotted right). Thor seems to be the best all around though because of high hit points, heavy melee attacks, good ranged powers, and the power where he makes a twister and sends foes into the air is very handy when you get crowded by foes.
American Born Chinese was amazing! Totally caught me off guard. Read it in about 45 minutes, and afterwords, sat there for another 45 just thinking.
Monkeys rule.
American Born Chinese? What’s that?
I knew I wasn’t imagining things! Omega Flight was a series; now it’s a mini. The author shares his discontent with this turn of events:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=9388
American Born Chinese? What’s that?
http://www.ifanboy.com/archive/weblog/comic_books_sho.html
See also: Episode 58 of the Pick of the Week Podcast.
On 24 & torture:
I can’t comment on 24 because I don’t watch the show, but in real life torture is neither morally right NOR is it useful in getting information. If I threatened to cut your fingers off or even water board you unless you admitted to me that you are in fact Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman, you would admit to it, and anything else I wanted you to say. Star Trek TNG actually did a great episode where Picard was captured and tortured, and it made the point of the complete uselessness of torture, unless you want to create a police state and keep your own population in state of terror, as opposed to fighting terrorism.
Info that Saddam had WMD’s & connected to Al Queda was based on two things (besides just outright lies): an informant that was clearly not credible with an agenda of his own, and a guy that was tortured.
9/11 could have been prevented by all of these things– adequate security at Boston Airport, where people had been saying security was bad for over a year; following up on student visas where the “students” never showed up for class over a year before 9/11 and neither school nor INS followed up; FBI agents that knew something was going to happen based on careful and diligent investigation, but were prevented from acting on their information by overly bureaucratic and careerist superiors; CIA, State Dept., and FBI simply sharing information with each other to provide airlines with a list of persons already on a terrorist watch list… and on and on. The FBI has only about 5 (yes, 5) people fluent in Arabic. It’s as big a joke as Boston Airport security. And you don’t need fancy technological solutions either like facial recognition programs — just well trained (and well paid) security staff that are efficient and well trained, who actually pay attention to what goes on around them.
24 gets lots of attention on the torture issue (more ‘sexy’?) but its a more credible show if it addresses the above points.
Torture may make for a fast moving, exciting TV show, but it doesn’t fix real life problems. That’s what we’ve had in the White House — too many TV show solutions to real life problems.
Abu Gharaib prison didn’t just torture people, it created terrorists. Innocent guys were rounded up, tortured, and then put in cells with real US hating fanatics, all primed and ready for conversion. And look what we go now in terms of practical results — nothin.
We should be infiltrating, not torturing. More Serpico, less rubber hoses. I’m with Captain Picard — torture is a barbaric and useless system best left behind.
Ok, I’ll get off my soap box now…
BTW, loved Rome I on HBO, loving Rome II after seeing 1st episode. If you love the intense alpha female noblewomen or just the political side of Rome, “I, Claudius,” the old BBC show, is highly recommended.
“Rome is so good, I intend to grow up to be Marc Anthony.”
Actually, Marc Antony is just Octavian’s meat puppet, or glorified hatchet man, or at best a temporary place holder until he takes power himself, which we see beginning to happen in Rome ll first episode. The whole Cleopatra episode proved that Octavian was the real power genius and Marc Antony out of his depth. The kid playing him is great for such a young actor, I totally buy him as a young Roddy McDowell (Cleopatra, 1963), who then became Brian Blessed (I, Claudius). Octavian used Marc Antony, waited from him to clean up after Uncle Julius’ leftover messes which sucked in Antony and destroyed him, then Octavian cleaned up and took took total power without breaking a sweat.
So does it count as a spoiler since it happened over 2000 years ago?
I can’t comment on 24 because I don’t watch the show, but in real life torture is neither morally right NOR is it useful in getting information. If I threatened to cut your fingers off or even water board you unless you admitted to me that you are in fact Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman, you would admit to it, and anything else I wanted you to say.
Well, what you are talking about is true, but isn’t quite the same as what happens on 24. I agree that torture is pointless when you have an innocent person and you are trying to get them to admit guilt (as opposed to giving you information you need). But what about when the person is guilty, and you know they are guilty, and they have information that, if known, could save an innocent person, or persons? What if they know where a nuclear bomb is located and how to disarm it and you have only 1 hour before it detonates and no other leads? The torture in 24 occurs more because information is needed, not because they want someone to admit guilt or because they need a scapegoat.
I am by no means advocating torture, but just trying to point out that there may be situations that aren’t so black and white as what you are saying.
Also, it’s a TV show, and not real life.
But I thought everything on tv was real! Does this mean that Alf isn’t from Melmack?
Boston, actually.
Boston, actually.
Liars!
Alf and I are from Melmack, he was active in my school’s PTA
Alf went to high school for 122 years. Poor guy. I’d eat cats too if I had to do that.
Yes, 24 is just TV fiction, that is true. What’s funny to me is that fanboys are totally in touch with that, even though people may think we are convinced otherwise. But when the (real) president of the United States outlines his ideas of foreign policy and use of the military, and it sounds like a badly thought out plot from a simplistic and childish fantasy/action/science fiction movie, then I have a problem.
“But what about when the person is guilty, and you know they are guilty, and they have information that, if known, could save an innocent person, or persons?”
Easy – if you know they are guilty, then that means you have evidence of what they did that proves it, you know who they are connected to, and already know everything, and know where to go to stop their confederates from doing dangerous things. Judged guilty by a jury is not even necessary — just plain old fashioned iron clad probable cause is enough.
The current administration’s record of using indiscriminite toture on people who are completely innocent and not getting any information whatsoever that is helpful is just too long and terrible. On the other hand, the “deprogramming” of captured Japanese soldiers by friendly appeal, building trust, and real education (without any rubber hoses) was an incredibly successful effort.
All I’m saying is that I want people in the White House who, like most people here, can distinguish between badly thought out fiction and stone cold reality. Even the most colorful of comic characters in bright colored tights always benefits from a good writer with feet firmly set in reality.
One of my favorite non-illustrated writers, Sarah Vowell, wrote an excellent article on this topic about a year ago: http://www.pekingduck.org/archives/003437.php
I’d been thinking about this torture topic a lot even before 24 came back on the air for the season. There were a few weeks of TV viewing when every show I watched (Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, even Veronica Mars) seemed to feature not just torture, but one or more of the main characters being tortured/held hostage. The experience made me really, really tense, and then I realized why and thought, “What is going on with all of us on a cultural level that we’re putting the characters we relate to in these positions? What does that say about the zeitgeist? Never mind, actually; I don’t want to know.” In that context, seeing the main character on the other end of the thumbscrews is almost a relief.
Lost did it too. “I am a torturah!”
I guess it’s good that mainstream TV is exploring this, and at least making people think about where they stand on things. I think in many ways, this is probably more effective than the news is at bringing out how one feels on the subject.
I watched Pan’s Labyrinth yesterday, and there’s a torture scene in it. I guess this torture phenomenon is not limited to the US!
Lost did it too. “I am a torturah!”
Lost! That was exactly the other one I was trying to think of. (Show goes off the air for two weeks, and I forget it exists. My wife has been advised not to leave my field of vision for too long, lest I forget I’m married.)
Lost was the one that was driving me especially crazy. I think I have control issues; characters being rendered powerless and forced to do things bugs me so much it might as well be happening to me personally. Every time Jack passed on the opportunity to punch Henry Gale or Juliet in the face I was shouting myself hoarse at the TV.
Oh, I’m aware that Anthony is only a placeholder for Octavian, but damn if he doesn’t do it with style and panache.
And no, history doesn’t qualify as a spoiler. 🙂
“Oh, I’m aware that Anthony is only a placeholder for Octavian, but damn if he doesn’t do it with style and panache.”
Too true, all the performances on Rome are remarkable; with a good script and director, actors can really turn in amazing performances. “Rome” has been very good at dealing with Marc Anthony — Was he just a thuggish, glorified hatchet man or man with leadership abilities all his own? Watch and decide for yourself, very good stuff. I love the movie Cleopatra (1963), but it’s big weakness is that it never really got a good grip on what made Anthony tick, unlike HBO’s Rome.
“I think in many ways, this is probably more effective than the news is at bringing out how one feels on the subject (of torture).”
I would say the failure of the corporate news media to really deal with the subject factually and in depth is what really leaves it to TV fiction to explore, or is that the “Hollywood Elite” masterminded by the Dark Lord of Liberal Media Bias Barbara Streisand, intent on brainwashing loyal Americans to cuddle and kiss terrorists…
my goodness, it’s nice to see the country waking up to reality lately…
Brilliant article, Jimski, I couldn’t agree more. Nice to see that not all expats in Asia host blogs for unreconstructed troglodyte commentary:
http://www.pekingduck.org/archives/003437.php