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Coolmodo
06:03 AM

In reply to Roland Emmerich's 8 Rules For Ending The World
They were interviewing him on German TV last night, interestingly enough he never was a big fan of sci-fi and actually preferred to read literature from the 19th and 20th centuries, such as Dostoyevsky. #2012
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MonkeyT
08:00 AM

@Coolmodo: So when did his interests migrate to the Brothers Kaboomov? #2012
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MonkeyT
11/06/09

In reply to Roland Emmerich's 8 Rules For Ending The World
Meredith, when you were writing this, were you experiencing deja vu regarding your previously published Ronald Chevalier story? #2012
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
11/06/09

In reply to Roland Emmerich's 8 Rules For Ending The World
Do you suppose he's ever said, "Ich bin ein Desaster!"?
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Edited by Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. at 11/06/09 7:39 PM

RoboBagins
11/06/09

In reply to Roland Emmerich's 8 Rules For Ending The World
Seriously Roland Emmerich is like, my Disaster Hero.

I don't always want to see a thinker, a ponderer.

Sometimes I want a reptile brain rollercoaster!

When will we see the Emmerich/Bay crossover movie: The End - Everything Blows Up - EVERYTHING #2012
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EnochLight
11/06/09

@RoboBagins: LOL - "Disaster Hero". +10. #2012
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Makidian
11/06/09

@RoboBagins: And it would have to be a mash up cast with every actor that has been in their movies, and Will Smith would have to be the lead. #2012
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MacWarrior
12:31 AM

@RoboBagins: I was sort of looking forward to Independence Bay until Roland announced he's directing :( #2012
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Dresan
02:11 AM

@Makidian: Imagine! Will Smith and Shia LaBlaBla together at last!

Oh wait... #2012
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Makidian
12:37 PM

@Dresan: They had I, Robot but Shia wasn't a huge star that was roundly hated by the internet at the time so they could lead together. For the record I think Shia is a decent actor, I hate his name but he is entertaining. #2012
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Dresan
02:29 PM

@Makidian: Yup, agreed. Just don't mention him wanting to be in Y: The Last Man 'cause I'll flip out.
:( #2012
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MonkeyT
11/06/09

In reply to Roland Emmerich's 8 Rules For Ending The World
I was reading through this and wondering "just how many of these applied to Godzilla?" Turns out, most of them. Good luck, Roland. #2012
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
11/06/09

In reply to Roland Emmerich's 8 Rules For Ending The World
Meredith... great questions, nice answers on his part (good to know he doesn't take this that seriously) but I am a little upset that you didn't ask him his position on Bongos. #2012
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PostMarque
11/06/09

@Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.: ditto... she has skillz... put i want his position on pancake and bacon strip #2012
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Dr Emilio Lizardo
11/06/09

In reply to Roland Emmerich's 8 Rules For Ending The World
Roland Ememrich's most important rules:

You don't need a script, just more 'splosions
Directors shouldn't need to direct people, just 'splosions.
'Splosions! #2012
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Kaiser-Machead
11/06/09

In reply to Roland Emmerich's 8 Rules For Ending The World
Maybe I'm alone in this, but the more gratuitously the heaps of bodies pile up in a movie, the less I actually care. It becomes akin to mowing over an anthill in your backyard. War of the Worlds had its fair share of problems, but when people got incinerated, it seemed to matter. #2012
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PendensProditor
11/06/09

@Kaiser-Machead:
You're not alone. I watched that trailer where an entire city is falling down around the characters, and I felt absolutely nothing. The world is ending and I'm bored by it.

Meanwhile when I watch Saving Private Ryan and one of the characters takes a single bullet, my stomach aches and churns with empathy.

Until Hollywood figures out that it needs to deliver some genuine feeling again, it's going to be stuck making everything bigger and bigger and bigger just to keep people awake. #2012
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Cory Gross
11/06/09

@Kaiser-Machead: Disaster porn is the ultimate excess of torture porn. The only enjoyment that can be derived from it is ignoring what it would be like to be a real human being caught in a real, horrifying circumstance like that.

This is part of what makes Gojira so incredible and its sequels, honestly, only kinda' so-so. The tragic atmosphere of it, the dead bodies, the singing children, is so unnerving because it so powerfully recalls Hiroshima. It's also why, no offense to Ray Harryhausen, the atomic warnings of Beast from 20,000 Fathoms are so tepid and forgettable.

Emmerich's "destruction of humanity as an aesthetic pleasure" (to paraphrase Walter Benjamin's essay on facism) is also tepid, for the same reasons. The whole friggin' planet blows up but nobody "real" dies. Or aliens blow up everybody and we're just supposed to cheer on the happy Americans who swept into the power gap *grumble* #2012
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
11/06/09

In reply to Roland Emmerich's 8 Rules For Ending The World
You forgot Godzilla. That was the biggest bomb of them all... #2012
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Jeremy Tapsell
11/06/09

@Jrsy Devil's Advocate®:

We shall never forget. #2012
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ManchuCandidate
11/06/09

In reply to Roland Emmerich's 8 Rules For Ending The World
So when the apocalypse does come, will we bitch it wasn't exciting enough? #2012
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Anekanta - Go Play!
11/06/09

@ManchuCandidate: Imagine how disappointed you're going to sound when you tell your great grandchildren how the city took forty years to completely flood; not at all like the CGI tsunami you saw in that movie way back when.

Then your great grandchildren will ask you what a movie is.
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Edited by Anekanta - Go Play! at 11/06/09 3:59 PM

Sunshineyness
10/23/09

In reply to How The Army Used Love To Create Psychic Warriors
I'll echo everyone else- looks pretty cool and funny.

Although now I've got "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" stuck in my head... #themenwhostareatgoats
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AshThePirate
10/22/09

In reply to How The Army Used Love To Create Psychic Warriors
I need to see this. #themenwhostareatgoats
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Harrison_Bergeron
10/22/09

In reply to How The Army Used Love To Create Psychic Warriors
"Based on one journalist's account of a real military project" -- It was never a real military project, the movie and book are based off the ideas of one nut job that were never accepted or sanctioned by the army. Jim Channon wanted to create the "First Earth Battalion" which would be comprised of what he called "warrior monks" and wrote a field manual for the structure and training of this unit. Needless to say it was not well received by any of the Army brass and was never given any serious thought. They had no use for a force that would pacify the enemy with "positive vibrations" so they kept on turning out bad ass killing machines instead. So instead of putting "based on a true story" in the trailers, they should put "based on a real crack pot's scribblings which could have been a reality in bizarro world."

Still want to see it though, looks hilarious.

Here's the text of the Earth Battalion handbook: [ejmas.com] #themenwhostareatgoats
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BIGE1312
10/22/09

@Harrison_Bergeron: I checked out the field manual. Interesting read to say the least. Thanks for sharing. #themenwhostareatgoats
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Jonny_eh
10/22/09

@Harrison_Bergeron: I'm reading the book the movie's based on and it's pretty clear to me that the author is aware that most of this stuff probably didn't happen. The movie is definitely fiction based on the raving lunacy of the people interviewed for the book.

To help illustrate your point, consider that most of the kooks interviewed for the book are regulars on Coast to Coast AM. Ya, 'nuff said. #themenwhostareatgoats
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Byronotron
10/22/09

@Harrison_Bergeron: quite the opposite actually, they gave that stuff a lot of serious thought. not neccessarily the "warrior monk" stuff but Mk-ultra and mk-delta were heavily funded for almost ten years. #themenwhostareatgoats
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Harrison_Bergeron
10/22/09

@Byronotron: Psychological warfare is very different from a what was put forth in that manual: "using positive vibrations, carrying "symbolic animals" of peace—such as baby lambs—into hostile countries, greeting them with "sparkly eyes," and then gently place the lambs on the ground and give the enemy "an automatic hug."
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Edited by Harrison_Bergeron at 10/22/09 2:42 PM Harrison_Bergeron was starred

Byronotron
10/22/09

@Harrison_Bergeron: Oh hah. Yes. That is very different. #themenwhostareatgoats
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Conrad
10/22/09

In reply to How The Army Used Love To Create Psychic Warriors
Mostly they used LSD to create psychic warriors. #themenwhostareatgoats
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drewbacca35
10/22/09

In reply to How The Army Used Love To Create Psychic Warriors
I saw this movie at TIFF and it is a complete joy. Ewan McGregor has probably two of the best lines of dialogue of the year. I wrote up a review over here: [www.rowthree.com]
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