Moments when a piece of entertainment completely lost you.

angelfromanotherpin · Thu Aug 18, 2011 12:33 pm

Grek wrote:Just saw 30 minutes or less a day ago. Was not expecting stripper tits in the first 5 minutes.

Source?

Grek · Post by **Grek** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 5:43 am

30 minutes or less is a movie. It's about a pizza delivery boy who gets forced by some criminals to rob a bank. I did not expect there to also be a topless stripper in the first few minutes of the movie.

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 7:09 pm

angelfromanotherpin wrote:
Cynic wrote:I think the first episode should have been more about integration of the two crews. Sure, you also need the standard space opera that Trek is about. But, you can at least add interposed crew trouble.
It's a prime example of the missed opportunities of Voyager: instead of taking an opportunity to make the show distinctive and interesting, they... did the other thing.

Forget the first episode, Federation/Maquis friction could have been potent dramatic fuel for the entire goddamn series.

Really, I would have been happy if half the first season was primarily about Federation/Maquis tension. Another way to do this, would beto have this friction be a subplot that is explored slowly over the seasons. This would work because we still have the standard "boldly go where no man has gone before" theme and yet add something interesting to the mix.

TOS was a great show because it at least addressed the fact that the crew members argued with each other every episode. The arguments between Mccoy, Kirk, and Spock are a great example. WHile they might not have been central to an episode or even just an aspect of fun/camp within the series, they did add depth to the series.

sabs · Post by **sabs** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 7:22 pm

The neutering of the Borg was..lame
It took Voyager from "bad but I'd watch it cause it's Star Trek" to .. "Not even worth watching anymore"

tzor · Post by **tzor** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 8:21 pm

The Borg was neutered practically on day 2. Originally designed as an absolutely alien enemy, the writers realized that it was also so totally alien as to be an enemy to any reasonable plot line.

As originally written the Borg is like a intelligent natural disaster. It has no motivation, no self awareness, it just keeps on going doing what it does. You cannot reason with it because there is nothing to reason with; any sense of self awareness is removed by the assimiliation process (eventually) folding inot a collective of a million non aware intellects all doing their functions in the collective space.

That sucks as a polt device and it's hard to hate as a villian. So they had to personalize the idea in the form of the Borg Queen. BY the time you get to Voyager, the whole BORG has been so neutered down they are just like vulcans and kilngons, just another race.

Josh_Kablack · Post by **Josh_Kablack** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 10:22 pm

Maj wrote:I have decided that the reason Hollywood pumps out so many bad horror films is to accommodate wannabe movie stars because porn isn't acceptable.

I thought it had more to do with monster movies being one of the most reliably profitable genres, especially when done on low budgets.

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 5:17 pm

So are there any good Space opera tv series?

A few qualifiers would be something that isn't Trek or star wars.

Babylon 5 is a great example of this. It does interpersonal drama, culture wars, space battles, etc..

But are there any others? The only other space operas I've seen are "Farscape", "Firefly" and "battlestar galactica (original)"

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 6:36 pm

Cynic wrote:So are there any good Space opera tv series?

Some people like Stargate. Blake's 7 is old, but well-remembered.

K · Post by K » Sat Aug 20, 2011 6:58 pm

Well, "good" is not something that gets attached to space opera that often, but you can find most of these on Hulu or Netflix.

Decent:
-The various Stargates, inclusing SGU which was kinda epic before cancellation.
-The new Dr. Who is basically space opera.
-The first few seasons of the new Battlestar.

Passable:
Starhunter 2300.
Lexx
Earth2 is sci-fi opera.
Hyperdrive. Space opera comedy better than Red Dwarf, but not by much.

Terrible, but watchable in a odd way:
Cleopatra 2525. Not space opera, but very sci-fi opera.

Josh_Kablack · Post by **Josh_Kablack** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 7:01 pm

Cynic wrote:So are there any good Space opera tv series?

A few qualifiers would be something that isn't Trek or star wars.

Babylon 5 is a great example of this. It does interpersonal drama, culture wars, space battles, etc..

But are there any others? The only other space operas I've seen are "Farscape", "Firefly" and "battlestar galactica (original)"

The revised BSG has its moments, although at times the political allegory shows through as really heavy handed. The subtle references it makes back to both the original show and Blade Runner are really well done.

There is also an absurdly large amount of space opera anime - some good, more bad, most in-between.

PhoneLobster · Post by **PhoneLobster** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 10:57 pm

Oooh, anime space opera? Irresponsible Captain Tylor was good.

K · Post by K » Sun Aug 21, 2011 1:40 am

PhoneLobster wrote:Oooh, anime space opera? Irresponsible Captain Tylor was good.

Cowboy Bebop is probably the only space opera anime I can suggest. The various "I drive a robot" ones are almost universally awful.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 2:08 am

If you haven't seen it, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is a singularly awesome "I drive a robot" anime.

Doom · Post by **Doom** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 4:59 am

Babylon 5 is right at the top of space opera, and FarScape is pretty good, too. There was a Babylon 5 spin-off and a few movies, not as good as the series, but ymmv.

You've pretty much hit all the ones worth a look (and Lexx is right at the bottom of the 'worthwhile' list). If you want to try some other sci-fi, Alien Nation is often overlooked, and the books aren't so bad, either.

Swordslinger · Post by **Swordslinger** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 7:00 am

K wrote: -The various Stargates, inclusing SGU which was kinda epic before cancellation.

Really? I thought SGU was terrible. It was completely aimless and I didn't like many of the characters.

Neeeek · Post by **Neeeek** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 9:28 am

PhoneLobster wrote:Oooh, anime space opera? Irresponsible Captain Tylor was good.

Captain Tylor is the only anime I own. My brother thinks it is because the title character reminds me of me.

Fuchs · Post by **Fuchs** » Sun Aug 21, 2011 12:28 pm

Tenchy Muyo is very good, apart from the Tenchi in Tokyo Series.

K · Post by K » Sun Aug 21, 2011 2:20 pm

Swordslinger wrote:
K wrote: -The various Stargates, inclusing SGU which was kinda epic before cancellation.
Really? I thought SGU was terrible. It was completely aimless and I didn't like many of the characters.

The first season is like that with pointless plots and insufferable people in pointless conflicts, but by the second season they had cleaned it up into a clean running space-opera machine.

Too little too late, I guess.

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Sat Aug 27, 2011 1:11 am

On the topic of offline entertainment:

Anyone with little kids or buying a gift for one... Steer clear of the "cool" lenticular jigsaw puzzles.

So far, I've found that for whatever reason, these puzzles tend to have little difference in piece shape, so kids can fit together just about any two pieces they want. And the lenticular images make matching one part of the image to another part just about impossible.

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Sat Aug 27, 2011 4:24 am

I hate lenticular puzzles. My kid played with it for 10 minutes and after she solved it, she just put it away. She'll pull out every other puzzle (easier and harder) and play with a million times. But her lenticular puzzles are gathering dust.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 4:25 am

So I was thinking of getting Turtles Forever but a lot of people say that that movie goes way too hard in fellating the 2003 versions of the Turtles. And that's a cardinal sin in crossovers as far as I'm concerned.

Confirm, deny?

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 4:59 am

Turtles Forever is the crossover between the 2003 Turtles, the 80s Turtles, and the original Comic Turtles, correct? Because that one was written by the same guys who made the 2003 Turtles. What exactly were you expecting, that they'd spend the whole time hating on their own creation?

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 8:04 am

Really it just plays up the grimdarkness of the comics turtles, and goofiness of the 80s/90s turtles. The '03 turtles, being less 2 dimensional, come out of looking a lot better than the others.

Juton · Post by **Juton** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 4:06 pm

With regards to Turtles Forever, it's kind of like having a Batman movie with Adam West, TAS Batman and Christian Bale's Batman all on screen at once. In comparison Adam West is going to come off as silly and Bale is going to come across as too serious, so you get a situation where the one in the middle comes off looking the best.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Sun Aug 28, 2011 4:48 pm

Juton wrote:With regards to Turtles Forever, it's kind of like having a Batman movie with Adam West, TAS Batman and Christian Bale's Batman all on screen at once. In comparison Adam West is going to come off as silly and Bale is going to come across as too serious, so you get a situation where the one in the middle best comes off looking the best.