CrazyOldWizard's Comments

Big Hollywood : 'How I Met Your Mother': An Ideological Character Breakdown

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:42:14 +0000

Ron Swanson is not only the best character on TV right now, he's one of the best of all time.

Big Hollywood : 2012 Grammy Awards Open Thread

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:29:15 +0000

"Whitney, I think you're death was sudden and surprising, and I'm happy for you and I'mma let you finish, but Michael Jackson had the most sudden and surprising death of all time. OF ALL TIME!"

Big Hollywood : Zombie Founding Fathers Rap Bloated Government

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:17:19 +0000

WHHHHAAAAATTTT?!?!?! OKAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!!! YEEEEAAAAAAAUUUUUUHHHHH!!!!!

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: George Lucas Thinks You're Stupid, Cable On the Decline, and Happy Friday

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:51:24 +0000

Yeah, it's never clearly stipulated if the bounty on Han is for dead or alive. I just always assumed it was live, so Jabba could take the pleasure of making Han suffer if he couldn't pay what Jabba owed him, either through physically punishing him or suffer through stealing or destroying his ship. I don't think Greedo's necessarily a bounty hunter, but specifically works for Jabba. Han knows him on sight and says he's getting ready to, "go see your boss." I think Greedo's hired muscle looking to make an easy buck. He was hoping he could take a bribe from Han. Greedo: Jabba's put a price on your head so large, every bounty hunter in the galaxy will be looking for you. I'm lucky I found you first. Han Solo: Yeah, but this time I've got the money. Greedo: If you give it to me, I might forget I found you. The implication being, give me the money you owe Jabba to keep for myself and I won't take you to Jabba right now. You can take your chances with other bounty hunters who might not be as accommodating as me. I think he was just holding the gun on Han so Han didn't try any funny business. But yes, the scene works to build up Han's character and make the final parts of the movie, where he comes back to save Luke, all the more satisfying.

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: George Lucas Thinks You're Stupid, Cable On the Decline, and Happy Friday

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:38:58 +0000

Yeah, blasters do have stun settings in the Star Wars universe. A stun blast looks like concentric blue circles being fired, like how the Stormtroopers blast Leia with a stun blast (There's one! Set for stun.) at the beginning of Episode IV while she is still aboard her ship, right after she loads the Death Star schematics into R2-D2. There was an early game for the N64 called Shadows of the Empire that takes place between Episodes V and VI, and you can pick up a stun setting for your blaster that has a similar effect.

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: George Lucas Thinks You're Stupid, Cable On the Decline, and Happy Friday

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:36:44 +0000

True, you could argue that, but in the Special Edition, the shot Greedo fires is a regular looking blaster shot. A stun blast looks like concentric blue circles being fired, like how the Stormtroopers blast Leia with a stun blast (There's one! Set for stun.) at the beginning of Episode IV while she is still aboard her ship, right after she loads the Death Star schematics into R2-D2.

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: George Lucas Thinks You're Stupid, Cable On the Decline, and Happy Friday

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:42:21 +0000

I'd have to respectfully disagree with you, at least in part. Suffice to say, I feel it changes Han's character significantly if he's not willing to fire first in self defense. And I like the idea of the addition of the Mos Eisley scenes. This was supposed to be a bustling spaceport. Obi Wan calls it a wretched hive of scum and villainy. No sense bothering with such a moniker if it's a mostly empty place with few people there. The concept is good. But as you rightfully point out, the execution is poor. Prat falls and screeching Jawas? Another instance of George needing someone willing to stand up to him and restrain his more outlandish ideas.

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: George Lucas Thinks You're Stupid, Cable On the Decline, and Happy Friday

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:30:42 +0000

The difference is that Spielberg realized what a mistake that was and has admitted that it was a mistake. His BFF Lucas could learn a thing or two from Spielly. http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/09/spielberg-re...

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: George Lucas Thinks You're Stupid, Cable On the Decline, and Happy Friday

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:26:50 +0000

I have a theory about Lucas. He decides he wants to make some changes to the original movies, scenes that he truly felt were a part of his original vision but he didn't have time or the resources available to him at the time to make them a reality. Or perhaps he had people that actually stood up to him at the time and told him that some of his ideas weren't that good and shouldn't be a part of the final cut. (God knows he could have used someone like that for the prequel trilogy films). At any rate, he makes the changes and is honestly, genuinely surprised when not everyone agrees that these are good changes. In fact, some of the fans are vehemently opposed to the changes. They make passionate, and well thought out arguments about how some changes are less than spectacular. If I had to take a guess, it probably upset him to a certain degree. But rather than be humble, swallow his pride and let his ego deflate a little, he's now dug in his heels out of spite. "They don't like the changes I've made? Well, that's too bad, because I'll never release a cleaned up, high definition version of the original movies!"

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: George Lucas Thinks You're Stupid, Cable On the Decline, and Happy Friday

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:02:43 +0000

You know, I was thinking about this today. It should never make sense for Greedo to take a kill shot at Han. There's a bounty on Han's head and Greedo only presumably collects if Han is delivered alive so Jabba can exact revenge. This especially makes sense in light of The Empire Strikes Back. Boba Fett is very concerned that Solo makes it through the carbon freezing process alive ("He's no good to me dead."). Vader even tells him to chill, that he'll be compensated if something goes wrong. The implication is that Solo needs to be delivered to Jabba alive (or successfully frozen in carbonite) in order to collect on the bounty. So why would Greedo want to fire a kill shot at Han's head? Holding a gun on him makes sense, sure. But firing a blaster straight at Han's head at point blank rage makes no sense. Whatsoever. But that's just me. Plus Han firing first in self defense makes him a total badass who doesn't take crap from anyone. And I totally agree with you about the establishing shots of Han surreptitiously drawing his blaster underneath the table.

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: George Lucas Thinks You're Stupid, Cable On the Decline, and Happy Friday

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 03:49:59 +0000

George Lucas has the right to release whatever version of the movies he wants to. But that doesn't mean I have to agree with that strategy or with the changes he makes. True, no one is forcing me to buy, a right I've reserved by not purchasing the Blurays yet. Doesn't change the fact that it's still kind of a jerk move. In my humble opinion, Lucas is a coward. I would be willing to bet if he released the original movies completely restored in high definition with the identical special features, they would totally outsell the current Bluray offerings. I know he would get my money, for a matter of fact, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Now, I can't prove this is true, but I bet George Lucas has a sneaking suspicion that's the case but doesn't want to find out. So he stubbornly refuses to give the fans what they really want because it would prove them right and him wrong.

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: George Lucas Thinks You're Stupid, Cable On the Decline, and Happy Friday

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 03:36:32 +0000

You know, I was thinking about this today. It should never make sense for Greedo to take a kill shot at Han. There's a bounty on Han's head and Greedo only presumably collects if Han is delivered alive so Jabba can exact revenge. This especially makes sense in light of The Empire Strikes Back. Boba Fett is very concerned that Solo makes it through the carbon freezing process alive ("He's no good to me dead."). The implication is that Solo needs to be delivered to Jabba alive (or successfully frozen in carbonite) in order to collect on the bounty. So why would Greedo want to fire a kill shot at Han's head? Holding a gun on him makes sense, sure. But firing a blaster straight at Han's head at point blank rage makes no sense. Whatsoever. Plus Han firing first in self defense makes him a total badass who doesn't take crap from anyone.

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: Youth Move Online, 'Bridesmaids' Takes VOD Crown, Denzel Waterboarded, and Cancel

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 23:44:47 +0000

I'm in the same boat as you. When we bought my car used, there was still some remaining subscription left. In that short month I got hooked on the format and convenience. There's just something that's pretty awesome about being able to drive six or seven hours straight and never needing to touch the dial (unless a song you don't like comes on, of course). And, they have some great, exclusive content that you just can't hear anywhere else. Like in August of 2010 they had a live broadcast from the Star Wars Celebration event, great for a nerd such as myself. And I am a big, big fan of Andrew Wilkow's show "The Wilkow Majority" on the Patriot channel, which you can't get anywhere else. Just recently, they also played through the entire new album by The Fray before it went on sale. They do this for a number of artists, I just used the Fray as an example because it was the most recent group I heard. About my only gripe is they need to make The Message Amped its own channel. The Message is contemporary Christian, but every Saturday from 11 PM-2AM eastern they play Christian Rock/Alternative/Metal and call it The Message Amped. It's also replayed on Tuesday nights. Which simply is not enough, in my humble opinion.

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: Why We Love Denzel, Streaming Advances...Again, More Wolverine

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 08:05:02 +0000

Hmmmm... that thought didn't cross my mind. I actually thought it might be something fun to go see with the wife. Then I saw that Chelsea Handler is in it. Pass.

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: Redbox Domination, Axl Rose Makes You Feel Old, Best Song Crybabies

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 07:42:29 +0000

Rusty, I've thought of your smart phone example before, and it simply blows my mind. Then I think, "If we can put men on the moon 40+ years ago with less computing power than my phone, how is it that we can't make something like a candy bar nutritious and healthy to eat?" :-P

Big Journalism : After Planned Parenthood PR Blitz, Susan G Komen Foundation Caves and Reverses Funding Decision

Sat, 4 Feb 2012 17:51:45 +0000

Yep. Take 10 identical $100 bills from 10 of your friends. Identical in the sense they're all the same style, with the same amounts of wear and no obvious markings. Ignore the serial numbers. For illustration's sake, call your friends Tom, Gina, Andy, Ella, Bryce, Sarah, Steve, Lindsay, Kyle and Lacey. Throw them all in a covered bowl and swirl them around. Now, without looking, reach in and pull out Bryce's, Gina's, Andy's, Sarah's, Kyle's or Lacey's $100 to buy booze and cigarettes, because they're cool with that. But make sure not to take Ella's, Steve's, Tom's or Lindsay's $100 because they are NOT cool with that. Good luck making sure you take one of the six it's OK with and not the other four. It's essentially the same with PP. Oh sure, they can say SGK's money strictly went to providing breast screening services. But in the end it just means more money in PP's pot, freeing up money for more abortions.

Big Journalism : After Planned Parenthood PR Blitz, Susan G Komen Foundation Caves and Reverses Funding Decision

Sat, 4 Feb 2012 17:33:15 +0000

Are you capable of lying about this?

Big Hollywood : No Joke: Roseanne Barr Is Running for President

Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:45:13 +0000

Roseanne has done the impossible. By comparison, she's made Tom Arnold look like the sane, stable, mature one in that relationship.

Big Hollywood : No Joke: Roseanne Barr Is Running for President

Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:42:07 +0000

Equally sad? Some will vote for her as a joke, as if this election ISN'T one of the most serious we've faced in our 236 year history.

Big Government : Holder Hearings: Rep. Buerkle to Holder, 'How Many More Border Patrol Agents Would Have Had to Die f

Thu, 2 Feb 2012 21:43:06 +0000

Y'know, this is the time of year many people are preparing their taxes. Actor Craig T. Nelson was on a TV program a few years ago (which one specifically I can't remember right now), but he suggested taxpayers refuse to submit their taxes. He said something along the lines of, "What happens if 10 million people refuse to comply? How would they prosecute that many people? Where would they all be held?"