[scifinoir2] Michael Bay Explains Why You Don't Need A Script To Start Making An Awesome Movie
atch some great Decepticon-on-military-satellite action from Transformers 2 http://io9.com/tag/transformers2/ , while director Michael Bay explains why you don't need to have a script when you start creating cool robot action, in this exclusive commentary clip from the Revenge Of The Fallen DVD. As you might know, the writers' strike forced Bay to start work on TF2 without an actual script - all he had was an outline by writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. So a lot of the movie's early designs and ideas came about without a real script, and when Orci and Kurtzman came back to work after the strike, Bay was able to tell them which robots he wanted in the movie. As he says in this clip, all of that pre-visualization work and brainstorming with artists actually informed the movie's script, once it finally had one. You probably have your own ideas about whether that was a good thing. Transformers: http://io9.com/tag/transformersrevengeofthefallen/ Revenge Of The Fallen comes out on DVD tomorrow, October 20, on Blu-Ray and DVD, wherever awesomeness is available. Here's what the press release says about the two-disc DVD/Blu-Ray edition: Two-Disc Special Edition DVD Blu-ray: The TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen two-disc Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround with English, French and Spanish subtitles. The Blu-ray will be presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital with English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles. The disc breakdown is as follows: Disc 1: . Commentary by Michael Bay, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman Disc 2: . The Human Factor: Exacting Revenge of the Fallen-This multi-chapter documentary chronicles the entire creation of the film and includes interviews with the cast and crew: o Seeds of Vengeance - Development and Design - After the overwhelming success of 2007's Transformers, how do the filmmakers top themselves for the sequel? o Domestic Destruction - Production: United States - Michael Bay believes in going big: Big action and big explosions. Cast and crew are pushed to the limit as they traverse the U.S. from New Mexico to Pennsylvania. o Joint Operations - Production: Military - No other filmmaker in the world enjoys the kind of military access and cooperation Michael Bay has. Here we see just how efficient our armed forces are and the awe and respect shown by the cast. o Wonders of the World - Production: Middle East - You can't really reproduce Egypt anywhere but Egypt so off we go to Giza and Luxor. o Start Making Sense - Editing - In order to turn over the massive amount of film as quickly as possible to VFX, four editors work tirelessly in a unique tag-team approach to shape the film. o Under the Gun - Visual Effects - Revenge of the Fallen features the most complicated VFX in film history. So complicated in fact that the filmmakers were unsure they would make the deadline. The DEVASTATOR VFX alone required 83% of ILM's total render farm capacity. o Running the Gauntlet - Post-Production and Release - Working seven days a week, Michael Bay and company usher the film through sound design, Digital Intermediate color-timing and a globe-trotting whirlwind of premieres. . A Day with Bay: Tokyo-An intimate and fun all-access journey with Michael Bay as he travels to Tokyo, Japan tor the world premiere of the biggest film of the year. . 25 Years of TRANSFORMERS-Access an all-new featurette celebrating a monumental milestone for one of Hasbro's most successful and popular franchises. . NEST: Transformer Data-Hub-Explore conceptual artwork created by the production for 12 of the most popular AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS from the film. . Deconstructing Visual Bayhem with Commentary by Pre-Vis Supervisor Steve Yamamoto- A series of multi-angle pre-visualization sequences allowing viewers to learn how some of the film's most spectacular scenes were created with an introduction by Michael Bay. . Extended Scenes . Music Video: Linkin Park's New Divide BLU-RAY EXCLUSIVE: . The ALLSPARK Experiment-Viewers get their chance to unleash the power of the recently recovered ALLSPARK shard on Earth vehicles. Begin by selecting and customizing a vehicle with a selection of parts and accessories. Then apply the ALLSPARK to this creation and watch what happens. Applying the ALLSPARK to certain custom combinations enables four new robot characters with special powers. If viewers discover all four, they unlock a fifth vehicle, which reveals a top secret message about the future of the TRANSFORMERS movie franchise. . NEST: Transformer Data-Hub-A database of some of the TRANSFORMERS characters that appear in the new film, offering users access to each robot's confidential file including: o Innovative 3D spin galleries of each robot o A timeline for each TRANSFORMERS
[scifinoir2] Re: What Are You Reading?
I really want to read some Neal Stephenson but I keep putting it off. I'll have to tackle it someday. Has anyone read William Gibson's post-cyberpunk work like Pattern Recognition or Spook Country? My wife loved them both but they didn't fully hook me. I'm scared Stephenson's work will do the same. On the other hand I loved Walter Jon Williams' This Is Not A Game. It's one of the most enjoyable books I've read this year. --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Bosco Bosco ironpi...@... wrote: Anathem bu Neal Stephenson and Dream Of Perpetual Motion by author's name escapes me. It's an advance copy that isn't out until next march. B --- On Thu, 10/15/09, B Smith daikaij...@... wrote: From: B Smith daikaij...@... Subject: [scifinoir2] What Are You Reading? To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Date: Thursday, October 15, 2009, 8:50 AM My semi-legendary To be Read pile is starting to thin out just a bit and it needs to be fed before it goes feral. Any suggestions? My wife has the last book of the John Twelve Hawks Fourth Realm trilogy The Golden City hanging around and I may add it to the list. I just finished an urban fantasy by Seanan McGuire called Rosemary and Rue. i liked it but I figured out the central mystery way too early and it made the book drag a bit. Plus I was hoping for something a little more gritty. I have two books waiting to be read that might fit the bill: Child of Fire by Harry Connolly. It's about a not so nice guy in debt to an even meaner wizard. I've heard it's a bit grittier than the Harry Dresden series and I'm in the mood for something similar. Next is Tom Sniegoski's A Kiss Before The Apocolypse. I first read his work in a collection called Mean Streets that featured a Harry Dresden story. The work that hooked me most was Sniegoski's story Noah's Orphans. Remy Chandler was the seraphim Remiel who gave up his glory after the last war in Heaven. He lived as a human but apart until the 20th century. He fell in love, got drawn back into the great game of Heavenly politics and had to hold back an apocolypse or three. In Noah's Orphans he is drawn into the mystery when someone kills the Old Man Noah. To say more would spoil it. I came into the middle of the series and mistakenly read the second book of the series which has some uncanny parallels to the current season of Supernatural. So now I'm finally reading the first book. So what's on your list?
[scifinoir2] Protests return alien' outfits to home planet
http://iijaihe.notlong.com chicagotribune.com Activists blast 'illegal alien' costume By Leticia Espinosa 1:04 PM CDT, October 19, 2009 Several well-known chain stores have halted sales of an illegal alien Halloween costume after complaints from immigrant-rights activists. The costume includes an orange jumpsuit similar to prison garb, with ILLEGAL ALIEN stamped across the chest, a green card and a space alien mask. Activists began complaining Friday when they learned the costume was being sold in stores or on Web sites of retailers including Target, Walgreen's and Amazon. The costume was priced between $27.49 and $39.99. The costume makes a mockery of the status of millions of immigrants in need of immigration reform, said Jorge Mujica of Chicago, an activist with the group March 10th Committee. Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, urged a boycott of stores selling the costume. When a corporation dehumanizes immigrants, the best thing is to stop buying from it, he said. After Target heard from activists it apologized and halted sales of the costume. It was never our intent to offend the consumers with the products we offer, a Target statement said. Walgreen's spokeswoman Vivika Vergara said the costume was never on sale in its stores and was pulled from its online store. We received feedback from customers and decided it was best to stop carrying it so it would not be subject to varied interpretation, she said in an e-mail message. The maker of the costume, Forum Novelties Inc., based in Melville, New York, could not be reached for comment. Activists also were offended by a revealing illegal alien costume for women that included a mini-dress, sleeveless top and handcuffs. Activist and Radio Arte host Tania Unzueta called the costume a mockery. She said anyone who sells the costume doesn't know a thing about the depression, anguish, pain, frustration and anger that comes from being an undocumented immigrant in the United States. lespin...@tribune.com Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune
[scifinoir2] '2012' is big business for film, big headache for academics
http://phahpao.notlong.com '2012' is big business for film, big headache for academics By John Johnson Jr. Tribune Newspapers October 20, 2009 Is 2012 the end of the world? If you scan the Internet or believe the marketing campaign behind the movie 2012, scheduled for release in November, you might be forgiven for thinking so. Dozens of books and fake science Web sites are prophesying the arrival of doomsday that year, either by means of a rogue planet colliding with Earth or some other cataclysmic event. Normally, sober scientists regard incidents of Internet hysteria with nothing more than a raised eyebrow. But a few scientists have become so concerned that they decided not to remain silent. Two years ago, I got a question a week about it, said NASA scientist David Morrison, who hosts the Web site Ask an Astrobiologist. Now I'm getting a dozen a day. Two teenagers said they didn't want to see the end of the world, so they were thinking of ending their lives. Morrison said he attributes the uptick in excitement to the fact that several items have become conflated into one mega-myth. One is the persistent Internet rumor that a planet called Nibiru, or Planet X, is going to crash into Earth. Then there's the fact that the Mayan calendar ends in 2012, suggesting that the Mayans knew something we don't. Finally, end-of-the-worlders have seized upon the hubbub about the 2012 date to proclaim that end times are drawing near. According to Rosemary Joyce, a professor of anthropology at University of California, Berkeley, the Mayans never predicted anything. Though the 2012 date is approximately when the ancient calendar would roll over, like the odometer on a car, it did not mean the end, merely the start of a new cycle. Some authors have tried to merge that idea, Joyce said, with Mayan mythology that said Earth had gone through ages of creation, each ending in a disaster. But there's no prediction, she said. They did not predict the end of the world. In such an environment, the viral marketing campaign for a movie like 2012, which encourages people to Vote for the Leader of the Post-2012 World, can seem like confirmation that the apocalypse is indeed here, rather than that a movie is about to open. A spokesman for Columbia Tri Star, Steve Elzer, said we believe consumers understand that the advertising is promoting a fictional film. jmjohn...@tribune.com Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune
[scifinoir2] Re: Michael Bay Explains Why You Don't Need A Script To Start Making An Awesome Movie
In related news, Frank Lloyd Wright said you don't need a blueprint to build a house and Julia Child said you don't need a recipe to cook French cuisine. ~rave! --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Tracey de Morsella tdli...@... wrote: atch some great Decepticon-on-military-satellite action from Transformers 2 http://io9.com/tag/transformers2/ , while director Michael Bay explains why you don't need to have a script when you start creating cool robot action, in this exclusive commentary clip from the Revenge Of The Fallen DVD. As you might know, the writers' strike forced Bay to start work on TF2 without an actual script - all he had was an outline by writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. So a lot of the movie's early designs and ideas came about without a real script, and when Orci and Kurtzman came back to work after the strike, Bay was able to tell them which robots he wanted in the movie. As he says in this clip, all of that pre-visualization work and brainstorming with artists actually informed the movie's script, once it finally had one. You probably have your own ideas about whether that was a good thing. Transformers: http://io9.com/tag/transformersrevengeofthefallen/ Revenge Of The Fallen comes out on DVD tomorrow, October 20, on Blu-Ray and DVD, wherever awesomeness is available. Here's what the press release says about the two-disc DVD/Blu-Ray edition: Two-Disc Special Edition DVD Blu-ray: The TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen two-disc Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround with English, French and Spanish subtitles. The Blu-ray will be presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital with English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles. The disc breakdown is as follows: Disc 1: . Commentary by Michael Bay, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman Disc 2: . The Human Factor: Exacting Revenge of the Fallen-This multi-chapter documentary chronicles the entire creation of the film and includes interviews with the cast and crew: o Seeds of Vengeance - Development and Design - After the overwhelming success of 2007's Transformers, how do the filmmakers top themselves for the sequel? o Domestic Destruction - Production: United States - Michael Bay believes in going big: Big action and big explosions. Cast and crew are pushed to the limit as they traverse the U.S. from New Mexico to Pennsylvania. o Joint Operations - Production: Military - No other filmmaker in the world enjoys the kind of military access and cooperation Michael Bay has. Here we see just how efficient our armed forces are and the awe and respect shown by the cast. o Wonders of the World - Production: Middle East - You can't really reproduce Egypt anywhere but Egypt so off we go to Giza and Luxor. o Start Making Sense - Editing - In order to turn over the massive amount of film as quickly as possible to VFX, four editors work tirelessly in a unique tag-team approach to shape the film. o Under the Gun - Visual Effects - Revenge of the Fallen features the most complicated VFX in film history. So complicated in fact that the filmmakers were unsure they would make the deadline. The DEVASTATOR VFX alone required 83% of ILM's total render farm capacity. o Running the Gauntlet - Post-Production and Release - Working seven days a week, Michael Bay and company usher the film through sound design, Digital Intermediate color-timing and a globe-trotting whirlwind of premieres. . A Day with Bay: Tokyo-An intimate and fun all-access journey with Michael Bay as he travels to Tokyo, Japan tor the world premiere of the biggest film of the year. . 25 Years of TRANSFORMERS-Access an all-new featurette celebrating a monumental milestone for one of Hasbro's most successful and popular franchises. . NEST: Transformer Data-Hub-Explore conceptual artwork created by the production for 12 of the most popular AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS from the film. . Deconstructing Visual Bayhem with Commentary by Pre-Vis Supervisor Steve Yamamoto- A series of multi-angle pre-visualization sequences allowing viewers to learn how some of the film's most spectacular scenes were created with an introduction by Michael Bay. . Extended Scenes . Music Video: Linkin Park's New Divide BLU-RAY EXCLUSIVE: . The ALLSPARK Experiment-Viewers get their chance to unleash the power of the recently recovered ALLSPARK shard on Earth vehicles. Begin by selecting and customizing a vehicle with a selection of parts and accessories. Then apply the ALLSPARK to this creation and watch what happens. Applying the ALLSPARK to certain custom combinations enables four new robot characters with special powers. If viewers discover all four, they unlock a fifth vehicle, which reveals a top secret
Re: [scifinoir2] Michael Bay Explains Why You Don't Need A Script To Start Making An Awesome Movie
I get the feeling that's how Bay works strike or no strike. He just makes a few phone calls and mentions something about car chases, and helicopters and they start the ball rolling. On Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 12:52 AM, Tracey de Morsella tdli...@multiculturaladvantage.com wrote: atch some great Decepticon-on-military-satellite action from *Transformers 2 http://io9.com/tag/transformers2/*, while director Michael Bay explains why you don't need to have a script when you start creating cool robot action, in this exclusive commentary clip from the *Revenge Of The Fallen* DVD. As you might know, the writers' strike forced Bay to start work on *TF2*without an actual script — all he had was an outline by writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. So a lot of the movie's early designs and ideas came about without a real script, and when Orci and Kurtzman came back to work after the strike, Bay was able to tell them which robots he wanted in the movie. As he says in this clip, all of that pre-visualization work and brainstorming with artists actually informed the movie's script, once it finally had one. You probably have your own ideas about whether that was a good thing. *Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallenhttp://io9.com/tag/transformersrevengeofthefallen/ * comes out on DVD tomorrow, October 20, on Blu-Ray and DVD, wherever awesomeness is available. Here's what the press release says about the two-disc DVD/Blu-Ray edition: Two-Disc Special Edition DVD Blu-ray: The TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen two-disc Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround with English, French and Spanish subtitles. The Blu-ray will be presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital with English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles. The disc breakdown is as follows: Disc 1: • Commentary by Michael Bay, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman Disc 2: • The Human Factor: Exacting Revenge of the Fallen-This multi-chapter documentary chronicles the entire creation of the film and includes interviews with the cast and crew: o Seeds of Vengeance - Development and Design - After the overwhelming success of 2007's Transformers, how do the filmmakers top themselves for the sequel? o Domestic Destruction – Production: United States - Michael Bay believes in going big: Big action and big explosions. Cast and crew are pushed to the limit as they traverse the U.S. from New Mexico to Pennsylvania. o Joint Operations – Production: Military - No other filmmaker in the world enjoys the kind of military access and cooperation Michael Bay has. Here we see just how efficient our armed forces are and the awe and respect shown by the cast. o Wonders of the World – Production: Middle East - You can't really reproduce Egypt anywhere but Egypt so off we go to Giza and Luxor. o Start Making Sense - Editing - In order to turn over the massive amount of film as quickly as possible to VFX, four editors work tirelessly in a unique tag-team approach to shape the film. o Under the Gun – Visual Effects – Revenge of the Fallen features the most complicated VFX in film history. So complicated in fact that the filmmakers were unsure they would make the deadline. The DEVASTATOR VFX alone required 83% of ILM's total render farm capacity. o Running the Gauntlet – Post-Production and Release - Working seven days a week, Michael Bay and company usher the film through sound design, Digital Intermediate color-timing and a globe-trotting whirlwind of premieres. • A Day with Bay: Tokyo-An intimate and fun all-access journey with Michael Bay as he travels to Tokyo, Japan tor the world premiere of the biggest film of the year. • 25 Years of TRANSFORMERS-Access an all-new featurette celebrating a monumental milestone for one of Hasbro's most successful and popular franchises. • NEST: Transformer Data-Hub-Explore conceptual artwork created by the production for 12 of the most popular AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS from the film. • Deconstructing Visual Bayhem with Commentary by Pre-Vis Supervisor Steve Yamamoto- A series of multi-angle pre-visualization sequences allowing viewers to learn how some of the film's most spectacular scenes were created with an introduction by Michael Bay. • Extended Scenes • Music Video: Linkin Park's New Divide BLU-RAY EXCLUSIVE: • The ALLSPARK Experiment-Viewers get their chance to unleash the power of the recently recovered ALLSPARK shard on Earth vehicles. Begin by selecting and customizing a vehicle with a selection of parts and accessories. Then apply the ALLSPARK to this creation and watch what happens. Applying the ALLSPARK to certain custom combinations enables four new robot characters with special powers. If viewers discover all four, they
Re: [scifinoir2] '2012' is big business for film, big headache for academics
This is what I was talking about. The History channel has a couple of shows that have been building on this topic. Seems like if they aren't talking about Hitler, they are talking about the end of the world on that channel. There are a bunch of books coming out soon too. On Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 7:56 AM, Kelwyn ravena...@yahoo.com wrote: http://phahpao.notlong.com '2012' is big business for film, big headache for academics By John Johnson Jr. Tribune Newspapers October 20, 2009 Is 2012 the end of the world? If you scan the Internet or believe the marketing campaign behind the movie 2012, scheduled for release in November, you might be forgiven for thinking so. Dozens of books and fake science Web sites are prophesying the arrival of doomsday that year, either by means of a rogue planet colliding with Earth or some other cataclysmic event. Normally, sober scientists regard incidents of Internet hysteria with nothing more than a raised eyebrow. But a few scientists have become so concerned that they decided not to remain silent. Two years ago, I got a question a week about it, said NASA scientist David Morrison, who hosts the Web site Ask an Astrobiologist. Now I'm getting a dozen a day. Two teenagers said they didn't want to see the end of the world, so they were thinking of ending their lives. Morrison said he attributes the uptick in excitement to the fact that several items have become conflated into one mega-myth. One is the persistent Internet rumor that a planet called Nibiru, or Planet X, is going to crash into Earth. Then there's the fact that the Mayan calendar ends in 2012, suggesting that the Mayans knew something we don't. Finally, end-of-the-worlders have seized upon the hubbub about the 2012 date to proclaim that end times are drawing near. According to Rosemary Joyce, a professor of anthropology at University of California, Berkeley, the Mayans never predicted anything. Though the 2012 date is approximately when the ancient calendar would roll over, like the odometer on a car, it did not mean the end, merely the start of a new cycle. Some authors have tried to merge that idea, Joyce said, with Mayan mythology that said Earth had gone through ages of creation, each ending in a disaster. But there's no prediction, she said. They did not predict the end of the world. In such an environment, the viral marketing campaign for a movie like 2012, which encourages people to Vote for the Leader of the Post-2012 World, can seem like confirmation that the apocalypse is indeed here, rather than that a movie is about to open. A spokesman for Columbia Tri Star, Steve Elzer, said we believe consumers understand that the advertising is promoting a fictional film. jmjohn...@tribune.com Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune Post your SciFiNoir Profile at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo! Groups Links -- Bringing diversity to perversity for over 9 years! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Black Man stars in 2nd Highest Rated TV Drama
I think NCIS has shown or proven it has become the little show that could. --Lavender -- From: Kelwyn ravena...@yahoo.com Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 5:40 PM To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Black Man stars in 2nd Highest Rated TV Drama I personally find the original NCIS surprisingly watchable. Still, I was very surprised to see it at the top of the ratings. Perhaps I shouldn't have been. NCIS is one of the rare television programs that has gone UP in ratings every season it has been on. I have not yet seen NCIS:LA. In either case, the success of NCIS:LA does not bode well for Network television. NCIS: Miami, anyone? ~(no)rave! --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@... wrote: Well, like I said a couple of weeks ago. the NCIS: LA show completely failed to engage me. I've already stopped watching. given that it's not as good as the original (which I never watched), I won't miss missing it. Sad state of affairs for TV. What's funny, though, is the end of the article calls The Mentalist an original show, but it's not: a bunch of regular cops stand around while some kind of specialist with a unique talent/perspective helps solve crimes? Try Monk, Psych, Castle and others with the same basic formula. - Original Message - From: Kelwyn ravena...@... To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2009 10:21:29 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [scifinoir2] Black Man stars in 2nd Highest Rated TV Drama Forty-four years after Bill Cosby co-starred in I Spy, a black man headlines the second highest rated drama on television. The larger issue of cookie cutter television addressed in the article below is chilling. ~rave? http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=139632 Why 'NCIS:LA' Is Getting the Best Ratings of the Season for a New Show CBS's Formula to Keep Viewers and Advertisers Happy Is Also a Sign of Trouble for Original Scripted Fare By Brian Steinberg Published: October 13, 2009 NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Every Tuesday at 9 p.m., a group of government-backed investigators helps save the nation from rogue operatives, terrorists or federal employees who go astray for any number of reasons -- all with lots of action and just a touch of humor. CBS 'NCIS: LA' If the question, Haven't I seen this somewhere before? echoes in the back of your mind, chances are you might be watching CBS, which seems to be making a concerted effort to maintain sizable audiences for its schedule by building programs with concepts its viewers already find familiar. NCIS: LA, a West Coast tweak on the original NCIS that centers on the premise above, appears to be the most-watched freshman program of the infant 2009-2010 season. For the week ending Oct. 4, about 17.4 million people watched the program, according to Nielsen; the only drama that topped it was its predecessor, NCIS, which was the most-watched broadcast show of the week (NBC's Sunday Night Football is the only thing that kept the L.A.-centered spin-off from taking second place among viewers, though ABC's Dancing with the Stars had a higher household rating than the new show). Popular with advertisers too Advertisers like the spin-off, too; according to CBS executives, the program is reaching a high sellout in the fourth quarter market for so-called scatter advertising, or ad time purchased closer to air date. Because it fluctuates based on the immediate market, scatter is taken as a good sign of a program's overall popularity with marketers. Recent advertisers on NCIS: LA included Home Depot, Wal-Mart Stores and Pfizer's Lipitor. NCIS took in around $118 million in advertising during the 2008-2009 season, according to TNS Media Intelligence. Yet the success of NCIS: LA illustrates an emerging dilemma for the biggest TV networks in the land: To keep the large audiences that advertisers demand of them, they aren't able to experiment much with new show concepts or quirky ideas. Indeed, the CW's schedule includes three hours a week of revamps of two old Fox hits, Melrose Place and 90210. One can make the argument that ABC's new Flash Forward serves up the same elements -- mystery, long story arcs, riddles -- that made its soon-to-end Lost such a showpiece, and that its new Modern Family sitcom steals its documentary-style storytelling from NBC's The Office. One might even suggest that the premise for another successful CBS show, The Good Wife, is ripped from the headlines -- making it something that already resonates with potential fans. When you think about the landscape of television today, there are so many choices -- and so many good choices -- how do you give yourself a leg up? asked David Stapf, president-CBS Television Studios, which produces NCIS: LA and the CW's Melrose and 90210 updates.
RE: [scifinoir2] Protests return alien' outfits to home planet
Would that the events of 2012 could be made real... If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director? -- Charles L Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com From: ravena...@yahoo.com Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:50:48 + Subject: [scifinoir2] Protests return alien' outfits to home planet http://iijaihe.notlong.com chicagotribune.com Activists blast 'illegal alien' costume By Leticia Espinosa 1:04 PM CDT, October 19, 2009 Several well-known chain stores have halted sales of an illegal alien Halloween costume after complaints from immigrant-rights activists. The costume includes an orange jumpsuit similar to prison garb, with ILLEGAL ALIEN stamped across the chest, a green card and a space alien mask. Activists began complaining Friday when they learned the costume was being sold in stores or on Web sites of retailers including Target, Walgreen's and Amazon. The costume was priced between $27.49 and $39.99. The costume makes a mockery of the status of millions of immigrants in need of immigration reform, said Jorge Mujica of Chicago, an activist with the group March 10th Committee. Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, urged a boycott of stores selling the costume. When a corporation dehumanizes immigrants, the best thing is to stop buying from it, he said. After Target heard from activists it apologized and halted sales of the costume. It was never our intent to offend the consumers with the products we offer, a Target statement said. Walgreen's spokeswoman Vivika Vergara said the costume was never on sale in its stores and was pulled from its online store. We received feedback from customers and decided it was best to stop carrying it so it would not be subject to varied interpretation, she said in an e-mail message. The maker of the costume, Forum Novelties Inc., based in Melville, New York, could not be reached for comment. Activists also were offended by a revealing illegal alien costume for women that included a mini-dress, sleeveless top and handcuffs. Activist and Radio Arte host Tania Unzueta called the costume a mockery. She said anyone who sells the costume doesn't know a thing about the depression, anguish, pain, frustration and anger that comes from being an undocumented immigrant in the United States. lespin...@tribune.com Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune _ Hotmail: Free, trusted and rich email service. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/171222984/direct/01/
RE: [scifinoir2] Re: What Are You Reading?
B, my personal Stephenson recommendation is the Baroque Cycle Trilogy (Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World). The pirates hooked me, personally. :-) If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director? -- Charles L Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com From: daikaij...@yahoo.com Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:35:26 + Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: What Are You Reading? I really want to read some Neal Stephenson but I keep putting it off. I'll have to tackle it someday. Has anyone read William Gibson's post-cyberpunk work like Pattern Recognition or Spook Country? My wife loved them both but they didn't fully hook me. I'm scared Stephenson's work will do the same. On the other hand I loved Walter Jon Williams' This Is Not A Game. It's one of the most enjoyable books I've read this year. --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Bosco Bosco ironpi...@... wrote: Anathem bu Neal Stephenson and Dream Of Perpetual Motion by author's name escapes me. It's an advance copy that isn't out until next march. B --- On Thu, 10/15/09, B Smith daikaij...@... wrote: From: B Smith daikaij...@... Subject: [scifinoir2] What Are You Reading? To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Date: Thursday, October 15, 2009, 8:50 AM My semi-legendary To be Read pile is starting to thin out just a bit and it needs to be fed before it goes feral. Any suggestions? My wife has the last book of the John Twelve Hawks Fourth Realm trilogy The Golden City hanging around and I may add it to the list. I just finished an urban fantasy by Seanan McGuire called Rosemary and Rue. i liked it but I figured out the central mystery way too early and it made the book drag a bit. Plus I was hoping for something a little more gritty. I have two books waiting to be read that might fit the bill: Child of Fire by Harry Connolly. It's about a not so nice guy in debt to an even meaner wizard. I've heard it's a bit grittier than the Harry Dresden series and I'm in the mood for something similar. Next is Tom Sniegoski's A Kiss Before The Apocolypse. I first read his work in a collection called Mean Streets that featured a Harry Dresden story. The work that hooked me most was Sniegoski's story Noah's Orphans. Remy Chandler was the seraphim Remiel who gave up his glory after the last war in Heaven. He lived as a human but apart until the 20th century. He fell in love, got drawn back into the great game of Heavenly politics and had to hold back an apocolypse or three. In Noah's Orphans he is drawn into the mystery when someone kills the Old Man Noah. To say more would spoil it. I came into the middle of the series and mistakenly read the second book of the series which has some uncanny parallels to the current season of Supernatural. So now I'm finally reading the first book. So what's on your list? _ Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/177141665/direct/01/
RE: [scifinoir2] Michael Bay Explains Why You Don't Need A Script To Start Making An Awesome Movie
Tracey... you mean that Bay once *used* scripts? 8-O If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director? -- Charles L Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com; ggs...@yahoo.com; cinque3...@verizon.net From: tdli...@multiculturaladvantage.com Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:52:35 -0700 Subject: [scifinoir2] Michael Bay Explains Why You Don't Need A Script To Start Making An Awesome Movie atch some great Decepticon-on-military-satellite action from Transformers 2, while director Michael Bay explains why you don't need to have a script when you start creating cool robot action, in this exclusive commentary clip from the Revenge Of The Fallen DVD. As you might know, the writers' strike forced Bay to start work on TF2 without an actual script — all he had was an outline by writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. So a lot of the movie's early designs and ideas came about without a real script, and when Orci and Kurtzman came back to work after the strike, Bay was able to tell them which robots he wanted in the movie. As he says in this clip, all of that pre-visualization work and brainstorming with artists actually informed the movie's script, once it finally had one. You probably have your own ideas about whether that was a good thing. Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen comes out on DVD tomorrow, October 20, on Blu-Ray and DVD, wherever awesomeness is available. Here's what the press release says about the two-disc DVD/Blu-Ray edition: Two-Disc Special Edition DVD Blu-ray: The TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen two-disc Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround with English, French and Spanish subtitles. The Blu-ray will be presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital with English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles. The disc breakdown is as follows: Disc 1: • Commentary by Michael Bay, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman Disc 2: • The Human Factor: Exacting Revenge of the Fallen-This multi-chapter documentary chronicles the entire creation of the film and includes interviews with the cast and crew: o Seeds of Vengeance - Development and Design - After the overwhelming success of 2007's Transformers, how do the filmmakers top themselves for the sequel? o Domestic Destruction – Production: United States - Michael Bay believes in going big: Big action and big explosions. Cast and crew are pushed to the limit as they traverse the U.S. from New Mexico to Pennsylvania. o Joint Operations – Production: Military - No other filmmaker in the world enjoys the kind of military access and cooperation Michael Bay has. Here we see just how efficient our armed forces are and the awe and respect shown by the cast. o Wonders of the World – Production: Middle East - You can't really reproduce Egypt anywhere but Egypt so off we go to Giza and Luxor. o Start Making Sense - Editing - In order to turn over the massive amount of film as quickly as possible to VFX, four editors work tirelessly in a unique tag-team approach to shape the film. o Under the Gun – Visual Effects – Revenge of the Fallen features the most complicated VFX in film history. So complicated in fact that the filmmakers were unsure they would make the deadline. The DEVASTATOR VFX alone required 83% of ILM's total render farm capacity. o Running the Gauntlet – Post-Production and Release - Working seven days a week, Michael Bay and company usher the film through sound design, Digital Intermediate color-timing and a globe-trotting whirlwind of premieres. • A Day with Bay: Tokyo-An intimate and fun all-access journey with Michael Bay as he travels to Tokyo, Japan tor the world premiere of the biggest film of the year. • 25 Years of TRANSFORMERS-Access an all-new featurette celebrating a monumental milestone for one of Hasbro's most successful and popular franchises. • NEST: Transformer Data-Hub-Explore conceptual artwork created by the production for 12 of the most popular AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS from the film. • Deconstructing Visual Bayhem with Commentary by Pre-Vis Supervisor Steve Yamamoto- A series of multi-angle pre-visualization sequences allowing viewers to learn how some of the film's most spectacular scenes were created with an introduction by Michael Bay. • Extended Scenes • Music Video: Linkin Park's New Divide BLU-RAY EXCLUSIVE: • The ALLSPARK Experiment-Viewers get their chance to unleash the power of the recently recovered ALLSPARK shard on Earth vehicles. Begin by selecting and customizing a vehicle with a selection of parts and accessories. Then apply the ALLSPARK to this creation and watch what happens. Applying the ALLSPARK to certain custom
Re: [scifinoir2] Michael Bay Explains Why You Don't Need A Script To Start Making An Awesome Movie
Probably very cursory scripts and then he hires pro writers to come in and punch up the script. On Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 1:15 PM, Martin Baxter truthseeker...@hotmail.comwrote: Tracey... you mean that Bay once *used* scripts? 8-O If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director? -- Charles L Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik -- To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com; ggs...@yahoo.com; cinque3...@verizon.net From: tdli...@multiculturaladvantage.com Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:52:35 -0700 Subject: [scifinoir2] Michael Bay Explains Why You Don't Need A Script To Start Making An Awesome Movie atch some great Decepticon-on-military-satellite action from *Transformers 2 http://io9.com/tag/transformers2/*, while director Michael Bay explains why you don't need to have a script when you start creating cool robot action, in this exclusive commentary clip from the *Revenge Of The Fallen* DVD. As you might know, the writers' strike forced Bay to start work on *TF2*without an actual script — all he had was an outline by writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. So a lot of the movie's early designs and ideas came about without a real script, and when Orci and Kurtzman came back to work after the strike, Bay was able to tell them which robots he wanted in the movie. As he says in this clip, all of that pre-visualization work and brainstorming with artists actually informed the movie's script, once it finally had one. You probably have your own ideas about whether that was a good thing. *Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallenhttp://io9.com/tag/transformersrevengeofthefallen/ * comes out on DVD tomorrow, October 20, on Blu-Ray and DVD, wherever awesomeness is available. Here's what the press release says about the two-disc DVD/Blu-Ray edition: Two-Disc Special Edition DVD Blu-ray: The TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen two-disc Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround with English, French and Spanish subtitles. The Blu-ray will be presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital with English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles. The disc breakdown is as follows: Disc 1: • Commentary by Michael Bay, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman Disc 2: • The Human Factor: Exacting Revenge of the Fallen-This multi-chapter documentary chronicles the entire creation of the film and includes interviews with the cast and crew: o Seeds of Vengeance - Development and Design - After the overwhelming success of 2007's Transformers, how do the filmmakers top themselves for the sequel? o Domestic Destruction – Production: United States - Michael Bay believes in going big: Big action and big explosions. Cast and crew are pushed to the limit as they traverse the U.S. from New Mexico to Pennsylvania. o Joint Operations – Production: Military - No other filmmaker in the world enjoys the kind of military access and cooperation Michael Bay has. Here we see just how efficient our armed forces are and the awe and respect shown by the cast. o Wonders of the World – Production: Middle East - You can't really reproduce Egypt anywhere but Egypt so off we go to Giza and Luxor. o Start Making Sense - Editing - In order to turn over the massive amount of film as quickly as possible to VFX, four editors work tirelessly in a unique tag-team approach to shape the film. o Under the Gun – Visual Effects – Revenge of the Fallen features the most complicated VFX in film history. So complicated in fact that the filmmakers were unsure they would make the deadline. The DEVASTATOR VFX alone required 83% of ILM's total render farm capacity. o Running the Gauntlet – Post-Production and Release - Working seven days a week, Michael Bay and company usher the film through sound design, Digital Intermediate color-timing and a globe-trotting whirlwind of premieres. • A Day with Bay: Tokyo-An intimate and fun all-access journey with Michael Bay as he travels to Tokyo, Japan tor the world premiere of the biggest film of the year. • 25 Years of TRANSFORMERS-Access an all-new featurette celebrating a monumental milestone for one of Hasbro's most successful and popular franchises. • NEST: Transformer Data-Hub-Explore conceptual artwork created by the production for 12 of the most popular AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS from the film. • Deconstructing Visual Bayhem with Commentary by Pre-Vis Supervisor Steve Yamamoto- A series of multi-angle pre-visualization sequences allowing viewers to learn how some of the film's most spectacular scenes were created with an introduction by Michael Bay. • Extended Scenes • Music Video: Linkin Park's New Divide BLU-RAY EXCLUSIVE: • The ALLSPARK
RE: [scifinoir2] Michael Bay Explains Why You Don't Need A Script To Start Making An Awesome Movie
When I first saw this I thought it was a parody. Since most of us complain about the lack of story. The fact that he admits it and feels no shame is a amazing From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Martin Baxter Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2009 1:16 PM To: SciFiNoir2; ggs...@yahoo.com; cinque3...@verizon.net Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Michael Bay Explains Why You Don't Need A Script To Start Making An Awesome Movie Tracey... you mean that Bay once *used* scripts? 8-O If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director? -- Charles L Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik _ To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com; ggs...@yahoo.com; cinque3...@verizon.net From: tdli...@multiculturaladvantage.com Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:52:35 -0700 Subject: [scifinoir2] Michael Bay Explains Why You Don't Need A Script To Start Making An Awesome Movie atch some great Decepticon-on-military-satellite action from Transformers 2 http://io9.com/tag/transformers2/ , while director Michael Bay explains why you don't need to have a script when you start creating cool robot action, in this exclusive commentary clip from the Revenge Of The Fallen DVD. As you might know, the writers' strike forced Bay to start work on TF2 without an actual script - all he had was an outline by writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. So a lot of the movie's early designs and ideas came about without a real script, and when Orci and Kurtzman came back to work after the strike, Bay was able to tell them which robots he wanted in the movie. As he says in this clip, all of that pre-visualization work and brainstorming with artists actually informed the movie's script, once it finally had one. You probably have your own ideas about whether that was a good thing. Transformers: http://io9.com/tag/transformersrevengeofthefallen/ Revenge Of The Fallen comes out on DVD tomorrow, October 20, on Blu-Ray and DVD, wherever awesomeness is available. Here's what the press release says about the two-disc DVD/Blu-Ray edition: Two-Disc Special Edition DVD Blu-ray: The TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen two-disc Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround with English, French and Spanish subtitles. The Blu-ray will be presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital with English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles. The disc breakdown is as follows: Disc 1: . Commentary by Michael Bay, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman Disc 2: . The Human Factor: Exacting Revenge of the Fallen-This multi-chapter documentary chronicles the entire creation of the film and includes interviews with the cast and crew: o Seeds of Vengeance - Development and Design - After the overwhelming success of 2007's Transformers, how do the filmmakers top themselves for the sequel? o Domestic Destruction - Production: United States - Michael Bay believes in going big: Big action and big explosions. Cast and crew are pushed to the limit as they traverse the U.S. from New Mexico to Pennsylvania. o Joint Operations - Production: Military - No other filmmaker in the world enjoys the kind of military access and cooperation Michael Bay has. Here we see just how efficient our armed forces are and the awe and respect shown by the cast. o Wonders of the World - Production: Middle East - You can't really reproduce Egypt anywhere but Egypt so off we go to Giza and Luxor. o Start Making Sense - Editing - In order to turn over the massive amount of film as quickly as possible to VFX, four editors work tirelessly in a unique tag-team approach to shape the film. o Under the Gun - Visual Effects - Revenge of the Fallen features the most complicated VFX in film history. So complicated in fact that the filmmakers were unsure they would make the deadline. The DEVASTATOR VFX alone required 83% of ILM's total render farm capacity. o Running the Gauntlet - Post-Production and Release - Working seven days a week, Michael Bay and company usher the film through sound design, Digital Intermediate color-timing and a globe-trotting whirlwind of premieres. . A Day with Bay: Tokyo-An intimate and fun all-access journey with Michael Bay as he travels to Tokyo, Japan tor the world premiere of the biggest film of the year. . 25 Years of TRANSFORMERS-Access an all-new featurette celebrating a monumental milestone for one of Hasbro's most successful and popular franchises. . NEST: Transformer Data-Hub-Explore conceptual artwork created by the production for 12 of the most popular AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS from the film. . Deconstructing Visual Bayhem with Commentary by Pre-Vis Supervisor Steve Yamamoto- A series of multi-angle pre-visualization sequences allowing viewers to learn how some of
Re: [scifinoir2] Michael Bay Explains Why You Don't Need A Script To Start Making An Awesome Movie
That is because a lot of them are extremely out of touch with the movie making creative process. Making a movie is a craft that takes a combination of a lot of ingredients. You see it with people like the Coen brothers. (Hell even the Worchowski brothers isn't all that bad.) Unfortunately, people like Bay thinks that that process only takes someone to come up with an idea then cobble it together from there. They get lost in the process and forget exactly what they are doing and allow the process to guide the final outcome of the product with very little input or oversight. You see it with some artists as well. They will take an idea then outsource different pieces to put it together. Can it still be called art if something is created that way? Many jazz artists work that way. They may have specific chord changes that they want at a particular time,in a particular key signature but the rest is up to the musician and how they see fit. It works great with people that are on the same wavelength. BUT not all the time. The movie industry suffers from this because there are dozens and sometimes hundreds or even thousands of people working on a project. By the time they are doing the editing, the movie has morphed into many different versions of itself. Even the editing process becomes a part of the creative process. (If you have someone like Walter Murch editing your film it definitely will be. Apocalypse now and other films owe him big. He literally wrote the book on creative editing. ) So after Bay green lights something, he may never look at it again until the rushes or the final edits. On Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 3:38 PM, Tracey de Morsella tdli...@multiculturaladvantage.com wrote: When I first saw this I thought it was a parody. Since most of us complain about the lack of story. The fact that he admits it and feels no shame is a amazing *From:* scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogroups.com] *On Behalf Of *Martin Baxter *Sent:* Tuesday, October 20, 2009 1:16 PM *To:* SciFiNoir2; ggs...@yahoo.com; cinque3...@verizon.net *Subject:* RE: [scifinoir2] Michael Bay Explains Why You Don't Need A Script To Start Making An Awesome Movie Tracey... you mean that Bay once *used* scripts? 8-O If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director? -- Charles L Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik -- To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com; ggs...@yahoo.com; cinque3...@verizon.net From: tdli...@multiculturaladvantage.com Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:52:35 -0700 Subject: [scifinoir2] Michael Bay Explains Why You Don't Need A Script To Start Making An Awesome Movie atch some great Decepticon-on-military-satellite action from *Transformers 2 http://io9.com/tag/transformers2/*, while director Michael Bay explains why you don't need to have a script when you start creating cool robot action, in this exclusive commentary clip from the *Revenge Of The Fallen* DVD. As you might know, the writers' strike forced Bay to start work on *TF2*without an actual script — all he had was an outline by writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. So a lot of the movie's early designs and ideas came about without a real script, and when Orci and Kurtzman came back to work after the strike, Bay was able to tell them which robots he wanted in the movie. As he says in this clip, all of that pre-visualization work and brainstorming with artists actually informed the movie's script, once it finally had one. You probably have your own ideas about whether that was a good thing. *Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallenhttp://io9.com/tag/transformersrevengeofthefallen/ * comes out on DVD tomorrow, October 20, on Blu-Ray and DVD, wherever awesomeness is available. Here's what the press release says about the two-disc DVD/Blu-Ray edition: Two-Disc Special Edition DVD Blu-ray: The TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen two-disc Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround with English, French and Spanish subtitles. The Blu-ray will be presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital with English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles. The disc breakdown is as follows: Disc 1: • Commentary by Michael Bay, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman Disc 2: • The Human Factor: Exacting Revenge of the Fallen-This multi-chapter documentary chronicles the entire creation of the film and includes interviews with the cast and crew: o Seeds of Vengeance - Development and Design - After the overwhelming success of 2007's Transformers, how do the filmmakers top themselves for the sequel? o Domestic Destruction – Production: United States - Michael Bay believes in going big: Big action and big
[scifinoir2] fake chinese goods
This website has some pics of the goods that they are selling in China right now. http://funlok.com/index.php/crazy-pics/fake-chinese-goods.html -- Bringing diversity to perversity for over 9 years! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
Re: [scifinoir2] Re: What Are You Reading?
Hey B I've read all the Gibson and most of the Stephenson. I loved everything by Stephenson from Snow Crash forward. He's very literate, well researched and intelligent. He can be a little dry from time to time. Each work explores a variety of themes from science to banking to economics to technology. He probably knows as much about the history of the computer as any human being alive. At heart of every novel is an adventure story. So while he's exploring some truly heady subject matter, he's also sailing the seas with pirates or spying behind enemy lines etc. I think my favorite is a tie between The Diamond Age, an exploration of the possibilities nano-technology and Cryptonomicon, a tale about the birth of modern computers and cryptology. I love Snow Crash and the Baroque Cycle but the other two really turned my gears. As for Gibson, I read Pattern Recognition which I found to be fun but not great Gibson. Spook Country was better than okay but not quite good. It dragged. Essentially Gibson's work is all built on the same structural mystery frame. It begins to wear a little thin in the latest trilogy. That said, I'm still looking forward to the third installment in the Pattern/Spook series. Bosoc --- On Tue, 10/20/09, B Smith daikaij...@yahoo.com wrote: From: B Smith daikaij...@yahoo.com Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: What Are You Reading? To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Date: Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 8:35 AM I really want to read some Neal Stephenson but I keep putting it off. I'll have to tackle it someday. Has anyone read William Gibson's post-cyberpunk work like Pattern Recognition or Spook Country? My wife loved them both but they didn't fully hook me. I'm scared Stephenson's work will do the same. On the other hand I loved Walter Jon Williams' This Is Not A Game. It's one of the most enjoyable books I've read this year. --- In scifino...@yahoogro ups.com, Bosco Bosco ironpi...@. .. wrote: Anathem bu Neal Stephenson and Dream Of Perpetual Motion by author's name escapes me. It's an advance copy that isn't out until next march. B --- On Thu, 10/15/09, B Smith daikaiju66@ ... wrote: From: B Smith daikaiju66@ ... Subject: [scifinoir2] What Are You Reading? To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com Date: Thursday, October 15, 2009, 8:50 AM My semi-legendary To be Read pile is starting to thin out just a bit and it needs to be fed before it goes feral. Any suggestions? My wife has the last book of the John Twelve Hawks Fourth Realm trilogy The Golden City hanging around and I may add it to the list. I just finished an urban fantasy by Seanan McGuire called Rosemary and Rue. i liked it but I figured out the central mystery way too early and it made the book drag a bit. Plus I was hoping for something a little more gritty. I have two books waiting to be read that might fit the bill: Child of Fire by Harry Connolly. It's about a not so nice guy in debt to an even meaner wizard. I've heard it's a bit grittier than the Harry Dresden series and I'm in the mood for something similar. Next is Tom Sniegoski's A Kiss Before The Apocolypse. I first read his work in a collection called Mean Streets that featured a Harry Dresden story. The work that hooked me most was Sniegoski's story Noah's Orphans. Remy Chandler was the seraphim Remiel who gave up his glory after the last war in Heaven. He lived as a human but apart until the 20th century. He fell in love, got drawn back into the great game of Heavenly politics and had to hold back an apocolypse or three. In Noah's Orphans he is drawn into the mystery when someone kills the Old Man Noah. To say more would spoil it. I came into the middle of the series and mistakenly read the second book of the series which has some uncanny parallels to the current season of Supernatural. So now I'm finally reading the first book. So what's on your list?
