That was exceptionally good. The execution was amazing and quite frankly the final part was cryptic enough so as to not be perfectly clear to me what exactly was happening until I rewatched the portion again. So yes, while it reworks a lot of old ideas, it does so very, very well. Seems like its true precursors are Parts: The Clonus Horror and The Island, but those films are obviously quite inferior and this particular play on the theme has some very interesting layers, i.e. the implied racial component, etc.

Stylistically it is brilliant. The use of those big statuesque forms, with their perfect, white bodies and insidiously smiling faces was chilling. The Flash animation was just gorgeous. I don't think I've ever seen something so artful done in the medium.

I particularly loved the pitch perfect way in which the inescapable pull of media is used to manipulate the desires and play on the desperation of the proles: the incessant conditioning the media uses to make them feel unhappy with their lives; the promises it makes to satisfy their every desire if only they spend enough money; the constant sexual stimulation it flashes to their lizard brains in order to puppeteer their Ids -- all these things, while slightly pushed to the extreme in this feature, are instantly recognizable to our daily lives. The sense of exhaustion those characters feel in the face of it is just like looking in the mirror.

This should be watched in a double feature with the 15 Million Merits episode of Black Mirror. So far these two pieces depict, for me, what is the most accurate texture of what our daily experience with media saturation and constant, high-tech advertising is like.

#observationdeck

Hell that law could be gone now anyway, they don't tell us nothing.

(Funny enough, it's still "illegal" to spit in most places in the USA. About a decade ago a city in NY who hadn't banned it did and it caused a political race war to erupt - besides that incident though, I've never heard of it being enforced.)

Dude, I *just* bought Iron Man 1 & 2, as well as Captain America. I have no interest in owning Thor or the Hulk.

Who do you think you are? Peter Jackson? #observationdeck

Well, I figured they'd do something like this.

Doesn't mean I'm not going to buy it. #observationdeck

Well, I figured they'd do something like this.

Doesn't mean I'm not going to buy it. #observationdeck

I've seen it.

And I don't want to own it. #observationdeck

It's mostly that everything seems to be underutilized and underdeveloped. We never get a sense for what life in Asgard is like beyond everyone being Shakespearean alien-god-things, the romance happens too quickly, Loki's motivations are never properly explained, etc.

As I said, it has a lot of good moments and the actors bring a lot of the film. Hell, I even think many of the moments between Portman and Hemsworth work despite what I said about the romance and the fact that seems to be everyone's favorite part of the movie to rag on (at least on io9). I just think that it doesn't hold up to Iron Man or Captain America and I actually, in some ways, prefer The Incredible Hulk to it.

My brother and I really, really loved Thor, and I'm surprised that the few people I went with to see The Avengers hadn't seen it. And that was the only lead-in film they skipped. They were like, "Summarize it for me" and I was all "I CAN'T!" How do you get across, in a five minute synopsis, ALL THE BROTHER/FATHER ANGST, DARCY! AND HEIMDALL! And somehow explain the magic that is Tom Hiddleston, it can't be done.

It helps I have a massive crush on Natalie Portman. If Thor 2 does manage to cast Mads Mikkelsen, it will exceed the maximum beauty I could stand to see in one film and will probably burn my eyeballs out. #observationdeck

Uhm:

[wilwheaton.tumblr.com]

No surprise it starts in Florida.

#observationdeck

Dude, I LIVE in Florida.

The blood spitting thing reminds me of 28 Days Later. Like, a lot. #observationdeck

chill the fuck out. i got this.

:D #observationdeck

[gawker.com] proper has a running tally of all the weird stuff going on involving the potential zombie apocalypse.

#observationdeck
#runtothehills

Also,

a student in Maryland recently ate his room-mates Brain. #observationdeck

Hilariously enough, Les Misérables is the book I chose to read this summer as my own kind of personal challenge. I've always wanted to read it. I just bought the unabridged version and it's fucking huge. DaddyEldritch read an unabridged copy of War and Peace this winter (clearly insanity runs in my family), so I wanted to take on my own literary challenge.

I've heard of Victor Hugo, but I have a degree in Literature, so I may not count. #observationdeck

Lit degree high five! *does the lit degree secret hand shake*

I wish I spoke more languages, I bet Les Misérables is lovely in the original French. I always feel as if I'm somehow missing out if I read a translation. Have you read the original novel? #observationdeck

Sometimes depressing is okay. I have a feeling I'll slog through it for a few months in between my usual sci-fi and fantasy novels. I'm thinking, if I can finish the whole book, I'll reward myself by seeing the stage show in the winter. It's coming to my city around Christmas.

Hunchback of Notre-Dame never struck me as interesting. I think Les Misérables has more... pathos, I guess?

So, Mr Masters in Canadian Lit, any good Canadian authors I should read? You know me, books are an addiction. I'm always seeking out new things! #observationdeck

Staying in the English side of things, I recommend Plainsong by Nancy Huston, The Diviners by Margaret Lawrence, anything by Margaret Atwood, but chiefly The Handmaid's Tale, anything by William Gibson (born in the US but emigrated in Canada during the Vietnam War and wrote all his books afterwards) but chiefly Neuromancer (the first cyberpunk novel) and Kiss of the Fur Queen by Thompson Highway or Rawi Hage's Cockroach for something a bit more "exotic" (They're about Natives and Middle-eastern immigrants, respectively)

All of those are very good novels that I recommend heartily. Cockroach has a very unlikeable protagonist, though. But it is expertly written.

Awesome! I also had no idea Margaret Atwood was Canadian. The Handmaid's Tale continues to give me nightmares. And I had no idea that Gibson was technically Canadian too. I liked Neuromancer but I found it to be a little messy in some parts.

I will happily seek out the other titles. :D Thank you. #observationdeck

Yes, that was my first thought as well. Russell Crowe - NO!

But as the trailer had me in tears, I think I will be taking my musical loving family this Christmas. Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman will have to be the draw for me. #observationdeck