Ways the Dark Knight could be improved

2008-08-13T17:42:00.003+01:00

Realism?

1. The bank raid

The school bus just happens to break through the wall at the exact
moment that the last remaining bank robber is holding a gun on the
Joker. How is everything so perfectly choreographed that the robber
ends up in the exact spot he needs to be to get hit by the bus? Not
realistic at all. Then, the school bus drives out of the bank at the
exact right moment to join up with a huge procession of other school
buses! And there just happens to be a space for the bus to enter. For
this to happen, everything from the beginning to the end of the raid
would have to happen with split-second precision and timing with no
room for error.

Impossible, as there are too many variables at play. For example,
the gunshot-toting bank manager. That was unforeseen and put a crimp in
their plan. Yet despite this, everything *still* runs like clockwork. I
also disliked the way the Bank robbers explained the plot as they set
up the raid, talking about who gets a cut and about the Joker. Was this
necessary? This kind of ‘hey folks, this is what’s happening!’ dialogue
plagues the whole film. Another prime example is when Ramirez tells
Gordon about the Joker card with three sets of DNA. Gordon responds:
‘The Joker is trying to tell us who he’s targeting’. Well, no *beep*
That is OBVIOUS.

2. Other bank raid nonsense

i) Why was the alarm that can disable the entire security system of
the bank on the roof - the easiest place for would-be criminals to get
at it?

ii) Why abseil onto the roof from across the street? This is the
least inconspicuous way to get into the bank?! Furthermore, breaking
that window would lead to glass showering down onto the street, which
would attract attention, would it not?

iii) Where are the Bank’s
security guards?

iv) At the beginning of the raid, there are screaming
customers everywhere. Near the end of the raid, the customers have
mysteriously disappeared. Where did they go? Running off into the
street to alert the cops?

v) Are we to believe that The Joker’s mob
commandeered an entire fleet of school buses and that’s why everything
was done with such precision?

3. Scarecrow scene

Batman jumps from the top level of the parking structure and lands
on an escaping SUV. What happens? The SUV is crushed AND the impact of
Batman makes it stop. GIVE ME A BREAK! Batman is only a mere mortal. He
would have bounced off the car and would have made a minor dent at
best. He was only about 50 feet up, yet when he lands *on his legs*, he
is somehow strong enough to crush the entire roof of the vehicle!

4. The Hong Kong section

Overblown and overwritten. There are simpler ways to grab Lau and
bring him back to the US. Why grab him in his office building?! Does he
live there? I think not. Batman could’ve nabbed Lau *far easier* at his
residence/on the street/in his car etc with less personal risk and
expensive planning.

5. The Rachel/Dent/Wayne triangle

I hated the fact that Rachel was in a serious relationship with
Dent yet she still kissed Wayne on the balcony at that party. This made
me lose respect for her character because she is basically cheating on
Dent. Rachel is supposed to be this strong, moral woman with
inalienable principles, yet she cheats on someone she clearly loves.
The triangle didn’t need to be written this way; it would have been
better if Bruce went in for the kiss and Rachel pulled back.

6. Commissioner Loeb’s death

Right at the moment Gordon arrives with news of the threat, Loeb
decides to have drink, and dies right at the moment Gordon is figuring
out where the DNA could have come from. Okay, it’s possible but it’s
just so contrived! Let’s assume that Loeb only found out about the
threat when Gordon arrived. How ridiculous is this?! Surely if the
Police Commissioner’s life is at risk, you want to let him know
*straight away* just in case something happens? Gordon should have
phoned Loeb and filled him in. This is just logical behavior,
especially in the cell-phone age.

7. Bruce’s party

How does Bruce know of the triple threat to Dent/Loeb and the
judge? There is no way he can know. If Gordon was going to call anyone,
he would call Dent on his cell-phone to let him know, would he not?
Dent has to have one, surely?! Batman is set in the cell phone age so
the idea that Dent doesn’t have one is ridiculous. Also, Bruce was at
the party with everyone else, so the chances of his listening to a
police radio are slim at best. Besides, what would prompt him to be
listening to police radio broadcasts in the middle of a party? On top
of this, he manages to get to Dent and hide him seconds before the
Joker appears. How convenient!

9. The Joker crashing Bruce’s party

Why wait till Dent is at a party in Bruce Wayne’s penthouse *after*
announcing to the world that Dent is a target? Of course, the whole
thing is set-up so that the Joker can throw Rachel off the roof. This
could have been written in a far more realistic way. People will argue
that the Joker is an attention whore - okay, I can accept that to an
extent, but it seems like a hell of a lot of trouble to go to find Dent
when if he really wanted to kill Dent he could have done it in a far
easier manner.

10. Rachel and Batman falling off the roof

I can just about buy the fact that the fall was broken by Batman’s
wings, but come on! No sign of any injury to Rachel? She wasn’t even
winded. Ever so slightly beyond the realms of possibility I feel.

11. Fingerprints on the bullet sequence

This doesn’t make sense because the fingerprint would be on the
*shell casing* not the bullet itself! The bullet is encased in the
shell-casing, which is discarded (along with fingerprints) when the
bullet is fired. Furthermore, Bruce arrives in the room and finds those
men tied up at the exact moment the shooting is going to take place.
How convenient.

12. Commissioner Loeb’s funeral

We’re expected to believe that with hundreds of Cops around and
ridiculously tight security that the Joker managed to worm his way into
the Police honour guard?! Didn’t anyone notice the guy with the huge
scars on his face? Granted, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility,
but with everyone *expecting* some kind of assassination attack and the
Cops on alert, it’s just laughable that this could take place.

13. Gordon’s faked death

Why would you put your family through the worst trauma imaginable
when they were not even at risk?! Gordon says he faked his death
because his family was at risk but this is utter nonsense. Why? Because
the Joker thinks Gordon is dead. If he’s dead, he’s not a threat ergo
his family is not at risk. Even if Gordon thought his family *could* be
at risk, why not just get them out of the city and the state and into
protective custody? Surely this is better than making them think he was
dead?

14. The Gotham chase

Someone please explain exactly how a multi-tonne truck flips over
so easily after snagging on some metal wire?! It’s a great action
set-piece but once again it’s let down by bad writing in my view. Also,
Batman has such prodigious control over the Bat-bike that he can
execute a perfect 180 turn at speed using a wall as leverage, but when
he’s charging the Joker he loses all control and flips the bike?! The
Joker fires a bazooka missile at the SWAT van carrying Dent. If not for
the tumbler getting in the way and taking the hit, Dent would have
died. Again, this is all apparently part of the Joker’s fiendish plan
to…get caught.

15. The Joker’s escape

The Joker is Gotham’s most notorious and wanted criminal, yet they
leave him *uncuffed* and guarded by a single Cop?! And of course, the
Cop just happens to have a suspect temperament, which the Joker
manipulates. If the Joker is in a locked room, why would there need to
be a Cop inside the room with him?! Also, why was there no one
stationed outside guarding the room? We can surmise that there wasn’t
anyone guarding because if there was a fight going on, surely the guard
would have heard it from outside? Again, everything happens at exactly
the right time. All this is dependant upon having a single cop guarding
the joker inside the room who loses his cool, allowing the Joker a
chance to escape. And of course, the guy with a bomb in his stomach
just happens to be captured and in jail at the exact time the Joker
needs him.

16. The idea that the Joker ‘planned to be caught’

After Rachel dies, Gordon is angry at himself and says ‘he wanted
us to lock him up in the MCU’. So, let me get this straight: the
massive chase scene through Gotham which culminated in Gordon capturing
the Joker was really part of the Joker’s grand scheme as he ‘planned’
to get caught?! The Joker even explained *at length* that he was not
someone who planned things, yet he is apparently the greatest criminal
tactician that ever lived!

17. Reese revealing the true identity of Batman

So, Reese goes on TV and says he’ll reveal the truth about Batman.
Meanwhile, the scene is intercut with the Joker in a warehouse burning
his half of the mob’s cash. Then, *in the very next scene*, the Joker
is calling into the TV show and threatening to blow up a hospital if
someone doesn’t kill Reese! How does the Joker go from burning money in
a warehouse, to finding a TV, watching the show then calling up with
his hospital threat in a matter of hours?

So, if the Joker decides to blow up a hospital in response to
Reese’s TV ploy, how does he and his mob manage to rig the place with
gas canisters and explosives *in broad daylight* without being seen?
Come on! This is beyond ridiculous. And it’s not about suspension of
disbelief, it’s about not treating your audience like morons. There is
*no way* on earth that in this day and age of heightened security that
an entire hospital could be rigged to blow in broad daylight and no one
saw a thing! The entire building was pulverized – imagine the amount of
explosives and petrol canisters needed to do that kind of damage. And
again, what’s going on with the timeline? The Joker is burning money;
somehow finds a TV to watch; calls in and threatens Reese; wires a
hospital and visits Dent all in the space of the same day and seemingly
within a few hours?

18. Sal Maroni’s confession

After Gordon visits Dent, Maroni just happens to be in the hospital
*right outside Dent’s room* and just happens to have an attack of
conscience and tells Gordon where to find the Joker?!

19. Harvey Dent’s turn to the dark side

For a start, the whole Dent story should have been saved for Part 3
instead of just being crammed into TDK. There wasn’t enough time to
develop his fall into evil; it all happens in about 5 minutes. For 90
minutes, Dent is portrayed as this morally upstanding man of principle,
but Dent goes from crime fighting golden boy with a an unshakeable
dedication to doing good to a psychopathic murderer, and worse -
potential child-murderer - in the space of 24 hours. Why? Because his
girlfriend dies and he becomes disfigured? No, wait - it’s because the
Joker - as well as being the greatest criminal tactician that ever
lived - is also the greatest psychologist that ever lived, and a few
lines of his cod philosophy at Dent’s bedside is enough to tip him over
the edge and into child-murderer mindset.

20. Batman’s sonar scheme

Lucius Fox says something along the lines of ‘You took my sonar
concept and applied it to every phone in the city’. Someone explain to
me how this is possible! Given the sonar technology has to be embedded
in the phone itself (as we saw when Fox was in Hong Kong and left his
sonar phone at security), are we expected to believe that Batman has
the technology manually implanted into *every cell-phone in the city” –
a city which, incidentally, has 30 million inhabitants, according to
Fox. If it wasn’t manual, then how is this mass cell-phone scheme to be
explained?

21. The ferry face-off

When exactly did the Joker have time to rig two ferries with 100
barrels of fuel without anyone noticing? The whole idea is completely
laughable and unrealistic, with no concern for the logistics of how
something like that would be set up. Once again, for the sake of a
‘cool’ scene, the writers threw logic out of the window. But of course,
the Joker is such a genius criminal, he planned this down to the last
details (despite apparently now being a ‘planner’).

22. Batman’s sonar vision

When batman faces the Joker, his sonar vision momentarily fails and
this causes him to lose his bearings, allowing the Joker to attack.
Why?! Earlier on in the sequence, *Batman switches between sonar vision
and normal vision*. When the sonar fails, why doesn’t he just use his
own vision?!

23. The Joker overpowering Batman

After Batman’s sonar vision fails, the Joker somehow beats the crap
out of Batman and manages to hold him down with a steel bar. Given the
fact that Batman has been portrayed as almost superhuman for the
preceding two hours (including easily subduing the Joker during
interrogation), how is it possible that all of a sudden the Joker is
stronger. In Batman begins, BW takes on about 20+ ninjas and none of
them get the better of him. In TDK, all it takes to down Batman is
steel bar and couple of rottweilers!

24. Dent at the hospital

After being marked for death, almost killed and then disfigured,
why is Dent left alone at the hospital with no one guarding him?

25. Poor editing

i) How did the Joker leave the party after Batman and Rachel went
off the roof? Dent is still locked in a cupboard somewhere and lots of
party guests at risk. Should this not have been tied up with perhaps a
five second shot?

ii) The Joker taunts the cop guarding him and goads
him into a fight. Cut to the next scene, the Joker has him as a
hostage. Why cut out the scene with *how* he overpowered this guy?
Surely this would be a scene than fans want to see?!

iii) Dent and
Rachel are kidnapped by the Joker’s henchmen. Why didn’t we see it?
Again, we are just told it happened instead being shown what happened.

26. The kidnapping of Dent

It is standard police procedure to allow a senior public figure
whose life has been threatened to go to visit his girlfriend seconds
after being pursued by a madman hellbent on killing him? Is it also
good police practice to let him go without any kind of police escort.
The fact that the Joker’s vast network of henchmen were *not* captured
and may still pose a threat did not seem to matter.

27. Gordon’s negligence

i) The new Police Commissioner has the apparent foresight to fake
his own death, but he cannot foresee the possibility that the joker may
try and escape. Of course, there’s no way anyone could have predicted
the Joker might have some nefarious plan up his sleeve. After all, it’s
not like he’d planned anything up to that point in the story.

ii)
Gordon botches the security job of protecting the Mayor *big time*.

iii) Gordon allows the city’s most dangerous criminal to be guarded by
a single cop. This is after he’s gone to great lengths to capture the
Joker! And let’s not forget, at this point, Gordon is not Police
Commissioner. The buck stops with him, and the way the Joker was
guarded would have been down to him.

iv) So full of self-congratulatory bravado, Gordon just let’s Dent
leave the scene of the Joker’s capture without assigning any police
escorts, thus leading to Dent being kidnapped. v) Gordon just swallows
the ‘let’s blame it all on Batman’ idea without question, ignoring the
fact that the so-called 5 deaths could easily be blamed on any of the
Joker’s henchmen. Gordon is too busy with composing his poetic
monologue to actually think like a Cop.

28. Pointless ending

The film tries to make Batman into a mythical anti-hero with his
sacrifice at the end, but the whole thing is moot really - Batman will
be ‘hunted’ for about 10 minutes and then he’ll be Bruce Wayne again,
so he won’t be in any danger! Anyway - what has changed since the
beginning of the film? Gordon tells Dent that the official policy is to
‘arrest the vigilante known as Batman on sight’. Is this not the same
situation at the end of the film?!

29. Lau’s immunity to the effects of fire

Lau doesn’t even scream whilst he’s being burnt alive!

30. Evacuation of the hospital

If you examine how things take place within the timeframe of the
movie, it appears that entire hospital (Gotham’s biggest) was seemingly
evacuated within the space of a few hours.

i) The Joker calls into the
TV show saying he’ll blow up a hospital. This happens during the day.

ii) Seconds later, Gordon hears this and barks orders about evacuating
the hospital.

iii) A scene or two later, we find the hospital pretty
much evacuated and *surprise surprise*, Dent is the only person left!
The point here is, it’s still daytime, so the evacuation of such a huge
hospital took no time at all apparently. Not realistic AT ALL. Not even
slightly comic-book realistic.

31. Maroni’s miraculous recovery

Batman throws Maroni to the street from 3 stories up. We hear the
crunch as he lands feet first. Literally a day or so later, Maroni is
walking easily with just the use a cane. No plaster cast or anything
like that.

32. Dent and Maroni crash

Dent has Maroni trapped in his car, and instead of shooting Maroni,
he kills the driver of the car, causing huge crash?! Half of Dent’s
face is melted off and he must be in serious pain, yet he decides the
best way to further his goal is to cause a car crash in which he could
conceivably be killed?!

33. The Joker’s philosophy

As the Joker explains to Dent at the hospital, he doesn’t have a
plan. He goes into detail about how he detests people with plans and
how he’s all about chaos and anarchy. But wait, everything in the film
completely negates his character because the story paints him as the
greatest criminal tactician and planning mastermind that ever lived!
For him to control *everything* to such a degree and have everything
work *perfectly * with no mistakes, despite lots unforeseen events
taking place, means that he must have planned everything to last
detail. This is the reasoning of those defend the Joker’s apparent
omnipotence, but it conflicts with his own philosophy! I’m sorry, but
this is terrible writing.

34. The Scarecrow

Ridiculous treatment of the character after BB. made him into some
weak caricature. When he stepped out of the van wearing the scarecrow
mask, it just seemed out of place. And his dialogue was lame. Cut out
the whole section and get on with story already. It was imperative we
see that scene but not important to see how the Joker escaped the
party/Dent and Rachel being kidnapped?

Why so serious? : Review of The Dark Knight

2008-07-29T15:02:00.001+01:00

Let me start off by saying I liked the film.

That's right, I liked it. In my opinion, "like" is a long way from "love", and "love" this film, is something I did not.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Nolan, and I DID love Batman Begins, I just didn't think this film was worth all the hype, it's a great sequel, but that's all it is.. A sequel.

Most people seem think this film is something huge, something amazing, something that outshines all Batman films to date, I can honestly say I disagree. This film is worth a watch, and worth the money, but I don't feel it's quite the movie of the decade, the year, or even the summer.

PLOT

One GREAT thing about this film, is it's plot. As with all the Batman films, it has a rich heritage and the director has put his own swing on the tale. The plot itself is equal to, if not slightly better than that of the '89 Burton adaptation of the Joker's story.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Call me a fool, but it didn't live up to Batman Begins, some of the shots were badly placed and the cuts were just too damn short, leaving the tense-o-meter a step too high for what is always just going to be a comic book story at heart.

DIALOUGE

They were trying too damn hard for "quoteability factor", and not nearly hard enough on character building. This is a Batman film! People aren't looking to reference the damn thing in their next presidential speech! Some of the dialogue was REALLY forced, and very cringe-worthy for much of the film. The sequence at the end was the only part that was truly great, Gordon's final "Dark Knight" speech to his son, that's where the great quotes really work well, not mid-sentence during a meeting between two criminal leaders in a warehouse.. It doesn't really work.

MISE EN SCENE

Not much to say here, clue's in the title. Unless your screen is well backlit, prepare for squint-city.

SOUND

The sounds in this movie were great, as was the score. A couple of peices were too casual when they could have easily been given more shock factor with the aide of the score, the famous "pencil" trick, and the few coin-flips. Instead they seemed to resort to using fast-cuts in the wrong places, which are never as effective as a good strings section.

EFFECTS

One thing they didn't hold back on. Some great special effects in this film, but some naive audiences seem to forget it's the AFFECT of the movie, not the EFFECTS.

EMOTIONAL VALUE

It didn't quite hit me in the heart the way Begins did, it seemed to try and be an emotion-run film, but it really didn't work for me.. It's hard to describe, I felt something, but I was very "aware" this was an action film. Even the deaths and drama, still didn't match up to the feeling Batman Begins gave off, at no point in this movie did I feel over-run with any kind of emotion, besides the initial weird-ness of seeing a dead man on screen in the film that killed him, but you can get that from Enter The Dragon, or The Crow - it's nothing new and exciting.

Final Verdict : The Dark Knight, whilst being a slightly-higher-than mediocore Action flick, really does not live up to it's predecessor, and certainly does not deserve it's current "#1" slot, on the IMDB top 250. I'd say if the third is just as good, it'll make a decent set, but it's not a great film in it's own right, in the way Batman Begins was.

6.5/10

The "Yes Man" Trailer. EXCLUSIVE

2008-07-28T19:20:00.003+01:00

Trailer for Pixar's "UP"

2008-07-28T19:20:00.001+01:00

Penn & Teller discuss Scientology

2008-07-28T19:19:00.001+01:00

EXCLUSIVE Watchmen Trailer

2008-07-28T19:18:00.003+01:00

Terminator 4 Trailer

2008-07-28T19:18:00.001+01:00

What will life be like in 1999?

2008-07-28T19:17:00.003+01:00

New "Ghost Town" trailer.

2008-07-28T19:17:00.001+01:00

Ricky Gervais's 11 O'clock appearances

2008-07-28T19:16:00.001+01:00

Here's a mash up of all the shows, playlisted.

God's Odds

2008-05-10T00:31:00.000+01:00

Just a short video explaining the odds of who may be right and who may be wrong, in terms of Theists vs Atheists..

Just to save you the bother..

2008-05-09T19:09:00.000+01:00

HERES WHAT HAPPENS

NEO DIES

TRINITY DIES

L DIES

SPIKE DIES

AERIS DIES

JACK SPARROW DIES, BUT THEN COMES BACK TO LIFE

OBI-WAN DIES

QUI-GON DIES

YODA DIES

PADME DIES

BOROMIR DIES

GANDALF DIES

DUMBLEDORE DIES

EVERYONE IN EVANGELION TURNS INTO ORANGE JUICE

BAMBI'S MOM DIES

EVERY MAJOR CHARACTER IN FFT DIES

GOKU DIES

GOKU DIES AGAIN

GOKU DIES FUCKING AGAIN

GOKU DIES, THIS TIME FOR REAL, AND THEN DIES AGAIN

PICCOLO DIES

KRILLIN DIES

TIEN DIES

YAMCHA DIES

CHAOZU DIES

VEGETA DIES

CRONO DIES

TELLAH DIES

MARIKO DIES

DARTH VADER IS LUKE SKYWALKER'S FATHER

SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE

BRUCE WILLIS IS DEAD

PRINCESS LEIA IS LUKE'S SISTER

WINSTON GETS REPROGRAMMED

THEY FIND NEMO

THEY ALL WENT TO THE SAME DAYCARE

ROSEBUD IS HIS SLED

YOU JUST LOST THE GAME

WANDER DIES AND IS REBORN FUSED WITH THE DORMIN

GRETCHEN DIES

DONNIE GOES BACK IN TIME SO HE CAN GET KILLED BY THE FALLING PLANE ENGINE

MACMURPHY GETS LOBOTMIZED AND IS KILLED BY CHIEF

ALEX IS "CURED"

THE PLANET OF THE APES IS EARTH IN THE FUTURE

YOU ARE ANDREW RYAN'S SON

ATLAS IS FONTAINE

TYLER DURDEN AND EDWARD NORTON'S CHARACTER ARE THE SAME PERSON

JAY GATSBY DIES

MERCUTIO DIES

ROMEO DIES

JULIET DIES

CEASAR DIES

HAMLET DIES

TONY ALMEIDA DIES

DECKARD IS A REPLICANT

THE BOY SHOOTS OL' YELLER

JESUS DIES

HARRY IS A HORCRUX

TOM RIDDLE'S DIARY, MARVOLO GAUNT'S RING, SALAZAR SLYTHERIN'S LOCKET, HELGA HUFFLEPUFF'S CUP, ROWENA RAVENCLAW'S DIADEM, AND NAGINI ARE THE OTHERS

DUMBLEDORE WANTED THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

BURBAGE DIES

HEDWIG DIES

MAD-EYE DIES

SCRIMGEOUR DIES

WORMTAIL DIES

DOBBY DIES

SNAPE DIES

BELLATRIX DIES

FRED WEASLEY DIES

HARRY GETS FUCKED UP BY VOLDEMORT, COMES BACK TO LIFE, AND THEN KILLS VOLDEMORT

TONKS, LUPIN, AND COLIN CREEVY DIE

RON MARRIES HERMIONE, THEIR CHILDREN ARE NAMED HUGO AND ROSE

HARRY MARRIES GINNY, THEIR CHILDREN ARE NAMED JAMES, LILY, AND ALBUS SEVERUS

DRACO MALFOY HAS A SON NAMED SCORPIUS

DUBMBLEDORE DIDN'T WANT TO BE A PUSSY AND DIE FROM A CURSED RING, SO HE HAD SNAPE KILL HIM

New post-cartoon movie wave?

2008-05-05T14:25:00.000+01:00

Yes, we all saw it last time, the "Movie based on the comic" films.. X-men, Spiderman, Batman, all being high-rollers on the big screen.

But doesn't it strike you as odd that these same big-shot film and production companies are now trying to capitalize on the success of late-80s cartoons aswell?

With Transformers being a bit hit, and a sequel on the way, it seems producers and screenwriters have found a new "gap in the market". Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is another example of this new wave, as is the new adaptation of "Thundercats". Is there a reason for this wave? Or have writers just plain run out of ideas for new films? We already have movies based-on-the-book-of-the-film-of-the-book-of-the-film etc etc etc, with a new one on the way (I am legend), and fair play to those guys, taking the effort to write a prose-based novel into a screenplay takes alot of work, but adapting a cartoon to a movie takes very little work in comparison to writing a movie from scratch.. They already have characters, character profiles, storylines, traits, and heck, even PLOTS set out for them, all they have to do is digitalise the graphics and increase the resolution (I know theres more effort than that, but its nothing compared to the work that goes into a REAL film). The way I see it, theres a few reasons "they" are reviving old comics to the big screen... Whoever "they" may be.. And here they are :

- They're trying to capitalize on dead-success (Theres a reason 80s/90s cartoons should stay in the 80s/90s)

- They're doing it for nostalgia sake (In which case they'd be pitching to a very niche market.. Doesn't seem to be the case)

- They've simply run out of ideas (In which case, they need new writers, and theres alot of people willing to get payed obscene amounts for minimal effort, and by minimal I mean minimal.. For example : A raging toaster sets out to find the creators who gave him human emotions, whilst re-uniting with his old high-school flame on the way, but has to protect her from his arch-nemisis who is an alien with a speech impediment, starring Samuel L Jackson and Paris Hilton. It's THAT easy)

- They're just lazy (Seems to be the most probable reason to me, and doesn't really require too much explanation)

So yes, that feeling of deja-vu isn't a head trauma, it's simply that the movie companies are trying to suck the loose change from your pockets that they didn't seem to catch when they shook you by the ankles as a child, and they've realized that as you grow up, you have more money and looser pockets, they also note that ticket prices increase, thus bleeding you dry and forcing you to take out a second mortgage just to see the new remake of "The Jetsons" adapted to the big screen, or whatever next really.

And don't forget merchandising, the old plastic sacks of crap that are gathering dust in a warehouse for tesco-metro somewhere in Denmark now have a new point of sale and they can give the movie company a new means of income on a lunchbox they didn't even design, but royalties are royalties, and I hope the original writers of the old series' are making just as much if not more than the big-shots "adapting" their films.

</rant>

Facebook murder rocks 'perfect little family'

2008-05-05T12:03:00.001+01:00

Englishman murdered his wife before killing himself after she confessed on Facebook she was leaving him.

read more | digg story

Top 10 Astronomy Pictures of 2007

2007-12-14T14:01:00.001Z

The Bad Astronomer's selection of the best astronomical images for the year 2007. Several of the images are simply stunning but all are worthy of a viewing.

read more | digg story

Computer Hackers Will Always Be Ahead Of The Law

2007-12-13T15:22:00.001Z

The United States Government, Playboy, Western Union, and CD Universe are just a few of thousands of businesses & government departments that have been hacked into costing over a billion dollars of damages per year and climbing. The number of hackings will continue to climb because finance & organization will keep hackers ahead of the law.

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Hot tub-sized nuke reactor could power 25,000 homes

2007-12-12T17:30:00.001Z

Encase it in concrete, truck it to a site, bury it underground, hook it up to a steam turbine and, voila, one would generate enough electricity to power a 25,000-home community for at least five years. The company Hyperion Power Generation was formed last month to develop the nuclear fission reactor at Los Alamos and take it into the private sector

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Snag Vista Ultimate For Free, In Exchange For Your Privacy

2007-12-12T17:29:00.001Z

The company's latest diabolical plan involves giving away free copies of Windows Vista Ultimate, Office Ultimate '07, Money Plus Premium, Encarta Premium or Streets and Trips -- scary, we know. All you need to do is fill out a few surveys now and then, and download a little app that lets Microsoft watch your every move for three months.

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On Sept 10th 2001 The Pentagon Misplaced 2 Trillion Dollars

2007-12-11T18:34:00.001Z

"According to some estimates we cannot track $2.3 trillion in transactions," Rumsfeld admitted.$2.3 trillion — that's $8,000 for every man, woman and child in America. To understand how the Pentagon can lose track of trillions, consider the case of one military accountant who tried to find out what happened to a mere $300 million.

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Is There Really Such a Thing as Time Travel? Creepy!

2007-12-11T18:33:00.001Z

The Philadelphia Experiment was an alleged naval military experiment in 1943, in which the U.S. destroyer escort USS Eldridge was to be rendered invisible to human observers for a brief period of time. It is also referred to as Project Rainbow.

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First Ever McDonalds Commercial

2007-12-11T18:32:00.003Z

Weird seeing this, Ronald McDonald looks pretty scary there. A vintage piece of film right here!

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What Everybody Ought to Know About Torture

2007-12-11T18:32:00.001Z

"The United States has not outlawed "enhanced interrogation" techniques because the Bush administration does not include enhanced interrogation in its definition of torture " - BBC.co.uk

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Is that a hot weather front, or are you just happy to see me

2007-12-11T17:06:00.001Z

It was a really interesting weather formation!

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Apple TV 2.0....iPhone & iPod Touch as Remote?!!

2007-12-11T16:52:00.001Z

Apple is rumored to be close to announcing movie rentals and Apple TV is perfect platform. Add a 1TB HDD and BitTorrent downloading technology and you have the beginnings of a great living room experience. Enable the iPhone and iPod touch as a remote control for Apple TV 2.0 to replace the bogus “gum stick” remote and and they’ll surely have a hit

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TIME Magazine's 50 Top 10 Lists for 2007

2007-12-11T16:50:00.003Z

A yearbook of all the top events you've been talking about, from News to Science to Arts/Entertainment to Businesses/Tech to Sports to Pop Culture. You name it -- it's here.

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KDE 4 works well with 256 MiB of memory and 1 GHz CPU

2007-12-11T16:50:00.001Z

I decided to boot my Thinkpad X60 with "mem=256M maxcpus=1", logged into KDE 4 and set the power saving policy to "Powersave", which throttles the CPU to 1Ghz and locks it there. And then I used KDE 4 some, started Konqueror, browsed about a bit, configured a few things with System Settings, started Kopete and chatted a little.

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Tesla electric car store being built in Los Angeles PIC

2007-12-11T16:49:00.001Z

The first store from Tesla Motors is under construction in LA and we've got the first picture.

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Cool train wreck video

2007-12-11T16:48:00.001Z

two trains collide on the same track!

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New light gives off 24/7 light for 12 Years w/o electricity

2007-12-11T16:46:00.001Z

Litroenergy is a patent pending designed light source material that emits light for 12 plus years- without electricity or sun exposure! The light source is inexpensive, non-toxic, and will stay on for 12+ years (half-life point) continuously without having to be plugged into any power source.

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Watch the entire "Contraires" gig - live at the cavern

2007-12-11T16:41:00.000Z

Nazi conspiracy?

2007-12-11T16:24:00.000Z

Jackie Chan isn't fond of RH3..

2007-12-11T16:23:00.000Z

“When we finished filming, I felt very disappointed because it was a movie I didn’t appreciate and I did not like the action scenes involved. I felt the style of action was too Americanized and I didn’t understand the American humor,” Chan said “Rush Hour 3″ was no different from the first two installments for him.

“Nothing particularly exciting stood out that made this movie special for me … I spent four months making this film and I still don’t fully understand the humor,” he said, adding the comedic scenes may be lost on Asian audiences.

So even Jackie can't understand his own film? Let me tell you, if you haven't had the mis-pleasure of gazing apon this flick, DO NOT. It seems to me as if Jackie has sent a couple of hours of my life, and a few months of his, well down the drain.

If you enjoy fast-paced action thrillers, this film isn't for you. If you like anything else, this film DEFINITELY isn't for you. Its hard to describe this film in four words but let me try : "DON'T WATCH THIS MOVIE". I couldn't follow the plot, or the primary-school-black-humor, and this definitely isn't any of Jackie's best work to date. So if you're willing to fork out $20 on a DVD you'll watch once then throw away to further rip a hole in our precious o-zone, then sure, go ahead, you pompous ass-wipe. But for the rest of the world, this film is better left on the shelves.

Cause a power surge. School, Hotel, etc.

2007-12-11T16:21:00.000Z

Disclaimer:

The information in this document is provided AS IS for theoretical educational purposes only; any and all practical applications using information derived from this document is the sole responsibility of the individual exercising such activity.

Location problems:

The details provided in this document use research gleened from using UK standard plugs; as such the may be slightly different depending on the location and type of plug you are using, but the basic concept is the same.

DANGER:

The device described in this document is potentially hazardous to life and equipment, if used (which is not advised) the device should be used in a controlled environment which uses a fused breaker; if not, the device may cause a perpetual feedback loop which will result in high temperatures which will in most likelihood cause the device itself to melt and may cause an electronic fire which will fuel itself until the electricity is shut off.

Required equipment:

x1 plug for an appropriate power receptacle (cannot be a moulded type plug)

x1 appropriate screwdriver

x1 piece of electronically conductive wire

x1 power receptacle

Instructions:

Open the plug housing using the screwdriver. Depending upon your location and type of power plug there should be between two and three power terminals (metallic blocks or pins to which the power cord is connected), using the electronically conductive wire, bridge the gap between the positive and negative terminals making sure to stay away from the grounding terminal (this is why a moulded plug will never work - you just cant open them) If there is one.

In the UK the colour for the positive terminal is often red or brown, and the negative to be black but not all plugs provide a means to tell the difference. In such cases you may need to open a working plug to see what's going on, if you still don't know ask someone with electronic or DIY knowledge - anyone who has changed a plug before should know.

The device is almost finished, all that is left is to close the plug and screw it back like it was before you started.

Implementation:

Just plug the device into a power receptacle; it will cause a feedback loop similar to a power surge. This will cause the main breaker to blow its fuse which will cause temporary but harmless power outage. Be careful to use the device in a situation where the power system is actually using such a fused-breaker or the feedback loop will create tremendous heat which will most likely melt the plug and start an electrical fire - see the warning at the top of this document

Concealment:

To conceal the device, use a plug attached to a device which is in regular use such as a lamp. This will not work for very long if it uses a device in constant use as someone will eventually replace the device or plug.

How it works:

When the device is attached to a power receptacle (power socket) the device causes a feedback loop. Upon attaching the device there is often a loud snap, crackle or pop; this is caused by an effect similar to arch welding, this actually causes in some cases the wire to be burned off and renders the device useless or more often the wire is welded to the terminals to which it is connected. More importantly, it overwhelms the power breaker causing it to flip its switch (it cant be put back while the device is still in place) [/protect]

- Shadow120

New post-cartoon movie wave?

2007-12-11T16:18:00.000Z

Yes, we all saw it last time, the "Movie based on the comic" films.. X-men, Spiderman, Batman, all being high-rollers on the big screen.

But doesn't it strike you as odd that these same big-shot film and production companies are now trying to capitalize on the success of late-80s cartoons aswell?

With Transformers being a bit hit, and a sequel on the way, it seems producers and screenwriters have found a new "gap in the market". Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is another example of this new wave, as is the new adaptation of "Thundercats". Is there a reason for this wave? Or have writers just plain run out of ideas for new films? We already have movies based-on-the-book-of-the-film-of-the-book-of-the-film etc etc etc, with a new one on the way (I am legend), and fair play to those guys, taking the effort to write a prose-based novel into a screenplay takes alot of work, but adapting a cartoon to a movie takes very little work in comparison to writing a movie from scratch.. They already have characters, character profiles, storylines, traits, and heck, even PLOTS set out for them, all they have to do is digitalise the graphics and increase the resolution (I know theres more effort than that, but its nothing compared to the work that goes into a REAL film). The way I see it, theres a few reasons "they" are reviving old comics to the big screen... Whoever "they" may be.. And here they are :

- They're trying to capitalize on dead-success (Theres a reason 80s/90s cartoons should stay in the 80s/90s)

- They're doing it for nostalgia sake (In which case they'd be pitching to a very niche market.. Doesn't seem to be the case)

- They've simply run out of ideas (In which case, they need new writers, and theres alot of people willing to get payed obscene amounts for minimal effort, and by minimal I mean minimal.. For example : A raging toaster sets out to find the creators who gave him human emotions, whilst re-uniting with his old high-school flame on the way, but has to protect her from his arch-nemisis who is an alien with a speech impediment, starring Samuel L Jackson and Paris Hilton. It's THAT easy)

- They're just lazy (Seems to be the most probable reasoning to me, and doesn't really require too much explanation)

So yes, that feeling of deja-vu isn't a head trauma, it's simply that the movie companies are trying to suck the loose change from your pockets that they didn't seem to catch when they shook you by the ankles as a child, and they've realized that as you grow up, you have more money and looser pockets, they also note that ticket prices increase, thus bleeding you dry and forcing you to take out a second mortgage just to see the new remake of "The Jetsons" adapted to the big screen, or whatever next really.

And don't forget merchandising, the old plastic sacks of crap that are gathering dust in a warehouse for tesco-metro somewhere in Denmark now have a new point of sale and they can give the movie company a new means of income on a lunchbox they didn't even design, but royalties are royalties, and I hope the original writers of the old series' are making just as much if not more than the big-shots "adapting" their films.

­­­­­

Ways the Dark Knight could be improved

Why so serious? : Review of The Dark Knight

The "Yes Man" Trailer. *EXCLUSIVE*

Trailer for Pixar's "UP"

Penn & Teller discuss Scientology

*EXCLUSIVE* Watchmen Trailer

Terminator 4 Trailer

What will life be like in 1999?

New "Ghost Town" trailer.

Ricky Gervais's 11 O'clock appearances

God's Odds

Just to save you the bother..

New post-cartoon movie wave?

Facebook murder rocks 'perfect little family'

Top 10 Astronomy Pictures of 2007

Computer Hackers Will Always Be Ahead Of The Law

Hot tub-sized nuke reactor could power 25,000 homes

Snag Vista Ultimate For Free, In Exchange For Your Privacy

On Sept 10th 2001 The Pentagon Misplaced 2 Trillion Dollars

Is There Really Such a Thing as Time Travel? Creepy!

First Ever McDonalds Commercial

What Everybody Ought to Know About Torture

Is that a hot weather front, or are you just happy to see me

Apple TV 2.0....iPhone & iPod Touch as Remote?!!

TIME Magazine's 50 Top 10 Lists for 2007

KDE 4 works well with 256 MiB of memory and 1 GHz CPU

Tesla electric car store being built in Los Angeles *PIC*

Cool train wreck video

New light gives off 24/7 light for 12 Years w/o electricity

Watch the entire "Contraires" gig - live at the cavern

Nazi conspiracy?

Jackie Chan isn't fond of RH3..

Cause a power surge. School, Hotel, etc.

New post-cartoon movie wave?

The "Yes Man" Trailer. EXCLUSIVE

EXCLUSIVE Watchmen Trailer

Tesla electric car store being built in Los Angeles PIC