Resident Evil Apocalypse is better than women

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In this case, excellent. No wasting time. No dragged out camera zooming on a dead character. Somebody dies, on to the next scene.

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...because it, like a video game, is not interested in making you think or feel anything real.That is not a mark of a good movie, it is a mark of a bad movie....again, not that you aren't allowed to like it. You are. It just means it's a bad movie.

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Unless I'm going to see a drama, which is basically never, I don't like dwelling on scenes or long, akward silences.

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Right. The "dwelling on scenes" that allow you to really learn something about the kind of people the characters are, what motivates them, and how you relate to them and care about them.And those "long, awkward silences" that allow you to feel real human emotion. They are supposed to make you feel uncomfortable sometimes, the same way a great painting or poem that depicts something awful but true is supposed to make you feel uncomfortable.I am reminded of something that I have noticed lately when I go to certain movies; it happened in "Spiderman 2" and in "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers".Kids about your age laughing at really inappropriate moments.What the scenes have in common is they both were very intense, high-emotion scenes in which the terribly burdened main characters either almost slip into madness and despair and do an unthinkable act, or they almost die trying to save a bunch of people.When the intense, uncomfortable emotional tension ends on the screen, younger people, who perhaps have not the experience dealing with this kind of emotion, or are maybe trained through modern television to expect an immediate joke to release this tension, laugh at the next thing that happens, even though nothing about the next few lines or movements of the actors is funny in the least. The filmaker isn't letting you release the tension yet, and it seems that those youngsters couldn't handle it.

College is not reality.
SciFi is not reality.Out of curiosity, what were you hoping to learn from that class?Feminists want women to have political, economic, and social rights equal to those of men.Just because people with their own personal agendas have highjacked the movement, doesn't negate the primary premise.Just ignore the extraneous stuff and stick with the basics, which in the real world is equality.

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A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

Hey, wait a minute.You might be interested to know that the state of the art of video game storytelling has advanced way beyond Pac-Man, Schraf.While many video games continue to be excercises in reflex and response time, there's a staggering number of games now that feature writing and storytelling every bit as good as a movie.Other than that, though, you're right on. I hate seeing movies with teenagers.

I thought it was entertaining. Lots of violence and action. The movie has excellent sound, and the Special effects were good too, although at some moments I had difficulty following the action when sped up. This movie is what it promises in my opinion, anyone expecting oscar performances would be disapointed. Its just I am not as cultured living out in PO-Dunk Texas.

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"One is punished most for ones virtues" Fredrick Neitzche

Sort of true - but it's interesting the difference in culture. I notice that with lots of american films where a little bowl-head kid says something profound, people will laugh or boo. Same with those death speeches - quite common for people to shout - "just F**king die already".Spiderman 2 was a great example of that - Aunt May gives her hero speech and people were groaning and shouting "get the F**k on with it".As for RE - I go to see a movie like that for one reason, I want to see Zombie heads explode - character development? Pah!

Crashfrog adressed the first statement which is not true, and that's not necessarily the mark of a bad movie.There were portrayals of emotion; have you seen the movie yet by the way? I thought there were some excellent displays of human emotion even if they were brief; it's just that being an action movie these weren't emphasised. RE did the same thing, just didn't spend as much time on this because it's an ACTION MOVIE. Not everything has to be all sappy and fluffy-bunny, Schraf. Terminator II had only a little emotion, but that's not considered a bad movie. Not our fault if the director is unable to conjure the right emotions out of the audience. You'd laugh at a dramatic moment too if the acting really sucked. Maybe the 'tension' wasn't very tense. Just because you were on the edge of your seat doesn't mean everyone has to be excited with you. And teenagers of all people aren't particularly riveted by a fictional incident on screen when most of us had a real adventure(ie getting flipped off by a cop in our case; no joke!) on the way to the theatre!Maybe when you get older and your adventures slow down fiction seems pretty extreme, but nothing is as intense as a real life situation. Maybe we just understand that more?

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You might be interested to know that the state of the art of video game storytelling has advanced way beyond Pac-Man, Schraf.

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Oh, I know that. I am currently in the middle of Icewind Dale, loved Bauldur's Gate, etc.However, isn't the Resident Evil series just a first person shooter?That's pretty much the point I was making; that those kinds of video games are about walking around and killing things and the "story" or "plot" are unimportant.

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Sort of true - but it's interesting the difference in culture. I notice that with lots of american films where a little bowl-head kid says something profound, people will laugh or boo. Same with those death speeches - quite common for people to shout - "just F**king die already".

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Spiderman 2 was a great example of that - Aunt May gives her hero speech and people were groaning and shouting "get the F**k on with it".

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But didn't they understand that Peter had to hear all that, and really go throught the process of coming to the realization that he had to choose to be Spiderman?If he had said, "Oh, alright then, I guess I'll go back to my frigging difficult, self-sacrificing life as Spiderman...don't know why I ever struggled over it." after about two seconds of deliberation, wouldn't that have been a bit less believable?

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As for RE - I go to see a movie like that for one reason, I want to see Zombie heads explode - character development? Pah!

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Did you see "28 Days Later?"That movie had both.Did you watch the TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", or "Angel"?Both of those shows had both.This message has been edited by schrafinator, 09-19-2004 04:26 PM

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But didn't they understand that Peter had to hear all that, and really go throught the process of coming to the realization that he had to choose to be Spiderman?

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If he had said, "Oh, alright then, I guess I'll go back to my frigging difficult, self-sacrificing life as Spiderman...don't know why I ever struggled over it." after about two seconds of deliberation, wouldn't that have been a bit less believable?

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Sure we understood he needed to hear it - but it's still as cheesy as hell to us brits.quote:As for RE - I go to see a movie like that for one reason, I want to see Zombie heads explode - character development? Pah!

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Did you see "28 Days Later?"

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That movie had both.

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Did you watch the TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", or "Angel"?

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Both of those shows had both.

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But so what? How does that stop me enjoying a movie that is just about blowing the f**k out of the undead (and I speak as a massive angel fan)? When I go to see a film like RE - I just want lots of blood and cool shit happening.I work for a living, run my own business and am doing a PhD - it's tiring stuff. I don't always want to think at the pictures - I just to switch my brain into netural.This message has been edited by Charles Knight, 09-19-2004 04:33 PMThis message has been edited by Charles Knight, 09-19-2004 04:34 PM

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There were portrayals of emotion; have you seen the movie yet by the way? I thought there were some excellent displays of human emotion even if they were brief; it's just that being an action movie these weren't emphasised.

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Nope, I don't plan to see it. I know that this makes my opinion rather less legitimate, but it's not like I don't have a very good idea of what it's like.Did you care about any of the characters? Were there any surprises in the plot?

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RE did the same thing, just didn't spend as much time on this because it's an ACTION MOVIE.

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Well, you sure didn't describe any character development in your initial assesment of the film. All you talked about were special effects, blood, and "ass kicking".Tell me, how did the characters and their relationships with each other change over the course of the movie?

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Not everything has to be all sappy and fluffy-bunny, Schraf.

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I hate sappy and fluffy-bunny movies.Why do you think that character development has anything to do with sappiness?

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Terminator II had only a little emotion, but that's not considered a bad movie.

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What are you talking about? Linda Hamilton oozes emotion as her character. You understand a lot about her and her past, and you really, really want her to survive. She changes and learns things over the course of the movie. Her character is kind of messed up, and I completely believe that she is terrified. The actor who plays Connor is also really good, trying to teach the machine to behave himself.Man, did you ever miss the emotion in that movie.

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Not our fault if the director is unable to conjure the right emotions out of the audience. You'd laugh at a dramatic moment too if the acting really sucked.

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But that's just it. It was only the young teenagers laughing. The acting didn't suck. I think I have it pegged.It reminds me of a 9 year old child giggling uncomfortably at a kissing scene in a movie. Someone older who has felt what it's like to get and give a passionate kiss can put themselves there and relate to the scene, but a child who doesn't really understand from their own experience, but is at the age that they know that this is the kind of things grownups do, will have that inappropriate reation of giggling or laughing.

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Maybe the 'tension' wasn't very tense. Just because you were on the edge of your seat doesn't mean everyone has to be excited with you. And teenagers of all people aren't particularly riveted by a fictional incident on screen when most of us had a real adventure(ie getting flipped off by a cop in our case; no joke!) on the way to the theatre!

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Um, no.In the case of the Two Towers, it was the scene where Frodo, driven almost crazy but carrying the ring around for so long, almost murders Sam in a rage, and then colapses and says, "I can't do this."There was nothing funny about frodo saying that, but the kids giggled.In Spiderman 2 it was right after he saves the lives of all those people on the train, and he almost collapses and falls, but the people lift him up and lay him down, and that's when they giggled again.These are pivotal, intense moments in both films, and nobody but the teenagers laugh. The people older than the teenagers do not laugh, and also the people younger than the tennagers do not laugh.

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Maybe when you get older and your adventures slow down fiction seems pretty extreme, but nothing is as intense as a real life situation. Maybe we just understand that more?

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You're a teenager.You think you've experienced real life.You still live with your parents who are responsible for you. What makes you think you have experienced all that much "real life"?Let me tell you something, Grasshopper.The adventures get realer and realer the older you get, and some of the ones I've experienced are not ones I would wish upon anyone.Your life is sheltered right now, as it probably will more or less be for another5 or 6 years, or more.This message has been edited by schrafinator, 09-19-2004 05:09 PM

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I work for a living, run my own business and am doing a PhD - it's tiring stuff. I don't always want to think at the pictures - I just to switch my brain into netural.

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Did Spiderman 2 tax your brain? Does Angel tax your brain? Did the Matrix or X-Men movies tax your brain? Or, were they more fun because the characters and writing were really good?Anyway, I guess it's a personal taste thing. I get very anoyed very quickly if the movie I'm watching doesn't have interesting characters, is sloppy with the plot, etc., and lots of repetative explosions, car chases, zombie explosions etc. get very boring very quickly if there isn't a good story or characters I care about around.I actually find it rejuvinating and stimulating to watch a movie with real characters and a real story and real emotion that I can feel along with the characters.Anything poorly done just pisses me off and is a big yawn.

I think you're confusing it with something else. RE is perhaps the quintessential third-person survival horror game; as a result, it's very plot-driven. It's not as well a crafted example of storytelling as other games in the genre, like the Silent Hill series, but it definately set an example that was copied very closely for an assload of knock-off games. Well, gameplay is always the most important consideration of a video game. They are, after all, supposed to be fun. If story was more important, they'd be movies. I mean, if you took the character leveling and squad combat out of Baldur's Gate, you'd have a fairly boring movie, don't you think?Unlike a movie that can be both good and unenjoyable - I doubt anyone would claim that they "enjoyed" the Passion of the Christ - a video game must be fun before it can be good. That, unfortunately, puts some limits on artistic endeavor in video games.

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Did Spiderman 2 tax your brain? Does Angel tax your brain? Did the Matrix or X-Men movies tax your brain? Or, were they more fun because the characters and writing were really good?

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That's like asking if my coffee was as nice as a piece of cheese cake.This message has been edited by Charles Knight, 09-19-2004 05:46 PM

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Or, were they more fun because the characters and writing were really good?

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Were they? you tell me.

I'm sorry if I irritated you at all, but your reaction here has forced me to reveal my true identity ...or, at least a part of it. Oh of course not, real life has nothing to do with losing your dad to a horrible disease exactly one month after your birthday and two after his while UCLA sits on its ass and does nothing as it had since two years ago when he was diagnosed. Just an everday teenage problem. Sorry, but I don't live in a graveyard, or if you mean biological parents I don't live out of the country and probably in some central american prison, thank you. I'm sure you have; I only wish you'd consider that maybe I've had some hardships too.But please, tell me about real life after you see what's left of somebody getting shot in the face near a pool that you were swimming in a week before that. Look, I've already spilled the beans way more than I should to a public forum that anyone can see, but you really need to stop making such sweeping generalizations about strangers. How many sheltered teens do you know? I can count maybe three, and those are the kind that don't know what a joint is and wonder where the stork keeps all the babies.And now for some relaxing discussion Yes, I cared about lots of the protagonists; at least 80% of them died. There were two plots twists that caught me off guard. because that's the fun part! Lighten up and enjoy the show here! As for emotion, there was a lot of fear and one character showed a bit of courage before she was completely devoured when up until that point she was a complete coward. Oh, and near the end there was a very touching scene that turned a bad guy into a good guy, and there was only a minute or so of 'awkward silence' before he sided with his true love, revved up his gattling gun, and starting pumping lead into a bunch of loser villians! Now THAT's how you do romance in movies! No I didn't, I noticed it. But at the same time the emphasis was in the click-click-boom category. I didn't laugh at that scene. But after the movie my friend commented on what a wuss Frodo was and how Samwise looks like one of our fellow wrestlers(has since graduated). And he does; the resemblance is TERRIFYING.But the point is that I didn't laugh; those teenagers were either messing around(and that's bad?) or really stupid. The latter's not their fault either.Look, the movie thing's in good fun, but don't go telling complete strangers that they don't know what life is like. That's not only insulting but it's also a statement based entirely on assumption, something you tag people on every chance you get. Please practice what you preach and we can all get along.

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Wanna feel God? Step onto the wrestling mat and you'd be crazy to deny the uplifting spirit. http://www.BadPreacher.5u.com (incomplete, but look anyway!)