16-Color Movie Contest IV

Sneaking this in right at the end of first quarter: a new 16-color movie contest.

Movie Contest I
Movie Contest II
Movie Contest III

As always, what follows are scenes or depictions from various movies that DTMan Forum's Paul and I drew with only 16 colors.  Your job: figure out the movie.  The first person to post correct answers in the Feedback thread gets all the mad props and the word of your choice to your mother, or another family member of your choosing.

You can be obvious and just post guesses, but I will only say whether you are right or wrong... I will not say which movies were right or wrong.  But then you give your answers away to everyone else... unless you deliberately post a few incorrect movies to throw anyone else?  Play Survivor-style.

Anyway, here they are... again, submit submissions in the Feedback thread.

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12. 

Movie Review: V for Vendetta.

I first heard of the "Natalie Portman gets shaved bald" movie several months ago, and thought it sounded interesting, but I didn't figure I'd ever make a serious attempt to see it, either because or in spite of the fact it was from the Wachowski Siblings, creators of The Matrix sequels.

On TV I started seeing commercials during which English Parliament and Big Ben get blown up.  "Interesting," I thought.

Then the various conservative bloggers I frequent started criticizing the movie weeks before it opened, claiming the movie was preaching that it was "OK" to commit terrorist acts.  I wasn't so sure about that opinion.  By strictest definition the American Founding Fathers could be considered terrorists, even though in my opinion their actions were justified; before they committed acts of any type of disobedience they thoroughly warned the powers above them.  In writing, even.  Signed with their real names.

But then on a recent V commercial I head the following line uttered:

I knew right then I would need to see it opening weekend.

Now, I tend to review things holistically; the technical merits of the film are often reviewed side by side with my mood at the time, and what I suss to be the intention of the filmmakers.  I tend to review films on what they are supposed to be, and whether or not they achieve their goal.  Because of this I often miss plot holes and sometimes glaringly obvious problems with the film.  Due to its complexity that may be the case with this movie, but I liked it.

The main protagonist - and the only way to describe this bomb building, anti-authoritarian is as the protagonist - is a man who was horribly, illegally, secretly maimed by a young, fascist English government approximately in approximately 2025.  The people are controlled by total and complete government authority.  The government owns the newspapers, and television media, the entertainment personalities, and the Gestapo which enjoys raping young women caught on the streets at night after 11pm curfew.  

The man with the mask plans to enact his vengeance... play out his vendetta... against the government which wronged him by bringing about a revolution.  The movie shows his struggle to "wake up" the people of England and realize that the way things are is not the way things are supposed to be.

Now, I don't know the politics of the Wachowski siblings.  I don't care and I've managed to avoid finding out.  The "Supreme Chancellor" in this movie... basically the dictator of England, does a lot of things the left accuses President Bush of doing.  The left may actually believe this.  If the Wachowski's are lefties, maybe their intention is to parallel Bush with Hitler without making it obvious.  I don't know.  Anyone with above average intelligence, though, understands that the situation in America today is nothing like the one in this movie in England, nor are we even very close.  I get irritated with pure-fiction movies that try to pretend they are non-fiction.  The Day After Tomorrow, Jarhead, and Fahrenheit 911 come to mind.  This movie, though, has no more reflection to today's world than Blade Runner had.  It's a dystopian what if story.  So it doesn't irritate me.  I will discuss specific points one by one in the spoiler thread.  

In a nutshell, good movie.  You can't see the strings.  Lefties will find lots of parallels between the situation in future England and present-day America, but intelligent people will see it as what it is: the fact that government exists to serve the people, not vice versa.  To the righties claiming that this movie glorifies terrorism, I say that this movie's protagonist never purposely targets civilians, fights for open and honest government, and gives plenty of warning before he blows up a civilian target.  This is exactly the opposite of present-day terrorists.

Good flick.  Eight and a half crates of tea in Boston Harbor out of ten.

Spoiler discussion thread.

Non-spoiler discussion thread.  (Violators will be prosecuted.)

Sigh.

Was out in my front yard today doing a prolonged landscaping dealie, way up next to the cul-de-sac.

My black neighbor has family in town. I don't know where they are from, but I saw when they pulled up and saw dew (doo?) rags and heard gangsta rap. But I try not to judge people by such things. When I was a young computer programmer some of the straight-laced white people I worked with thought I was a satan worshipper because I listened to music by "Tool" and "Nine Inch Nails" and "Stabbing Westward."

Anyway, out front today. The visitors' 3 kids are playing in the cul-de-sac with bikes and skateboards not far from me. They look to be between the ages of 3 and 5.

Every other word out of their mouths was "fuck" and they said over and over... I don't know if they were reciting a song, or what,.... "Tell that white boy to get the fuck out!" and "Don't fucking tell that white boy nothin!"

Ah, kids. 

Self Entitled Busybodies.

Seven in the AM today, feeding the baby, nothing is worth watching on any of my 200 cable channels, so I turn on the Today Show.

One of the little news stories they were covering was the scourge of the "McMansion," a derogatory term for any new house bigger than X square feet, X being whatever number the person in question has in his mind is more house than someone "needs."

They had various people complaining about McMansions, including the neighbor of a person who was building an eleven thousand square foot house on a newly-purchased 11 acres.  The neighbor woman said, and I'm doing my best from memory, "People shouldn't be allowed to just buy up property and do whatever they want on it.  They are building this huge house, and I'm getting screwed."  I believe this was taking place in New York (state).  Or some other northeast state.  "New England area" is sticking in my brain.

What-ev, comrade.

How is it that this is America, yet the people who think themselves most enlightened are the ones criticizing everyone else for their free, personal choices, be it owning an SUV, living in the suburbs instead of the city center, or building whatever sized house they want?

Advice. 

“Enjoy the journey because the ending sucks.” –Leisher 

What I mean by that is everything we do, from life itself to achieving goals to relationships, all have a beginning, middle, and end. We all seek to live our life to the fullest, but do we really ever succeed? Do we really even know what it means to do that? 

I have finally come to realize this important lesson in life. Unfortunately, I learned it the hard way. So I’m telling you to enjoy each and every journey you go through in life. Do you think any of your personal relationships are going to end well? Do you think watching your team win a championship ends with pure happiness? Do you think achieving a goal feels great forever? 

The answer to all those questions is no. People die, get divorced, slowly grow apart, etc. The excitement from seeking a championship begins the fade immediately upon that championship being won and even gets annoying when the, desperate for any kind of controversy, MSM starts to overanalyze the whole season. Achieving a goal feels awesome for a brief moment and then fades immediately as you have nothing more to look forward to with that goal. 

Sure, you can set new goals and thus go on new journeys, but the moments of “happy endings” last mere seconds. The journeys are the true meat of what your life is all about and what you should focus on enjoying. So stop thinking about how happy you’ll be when you’re married or when you have kids or when you’re rich, etc. Think about how good you have it now this very second and if you’re reading my words, you DO have it good. 

Think about it. You have the time, energy, and resources to surf the web and read ramblings like this one. Even if you’re dying, going through a divorce, lost your job, whatever you still are here which means things could be worse. 

“Life is what happens when you’re making other plans.” 

Anyway, everything about reaching the end of a journey sucks. Picture the long distance runner who finally wins a marathon. He spent years training at something he really enjoyed. He probably met lots of people whom he now calls friends. He improved his health. He most likely gained fame. Now picture him winning the marathon. He achieved his goal and will enjoy the moment of triumph the fleeting celebrity, but it will be gone before he blinks. Sure, he may begin a new journey, if he’s lucky, but now the odds are he’ll be more likely to fail. 

My point is that win, lose, fail, succeed, find love or live alone, all journeys have a definite ending and even if it’s a happy one, it only lasts a moment. The journeys leading to each ending is where you will find true happiness. Enjoy your journeys.  

“You have been and always will be, my friend.” 

Goodbye Josie. I love you.

The Cycle of Stupidity.

High school geography: not just countries and borders and governments and cultures, any more.

Now it includes teaching rampant anti-Americanism, disinformation, and outright ignorance of extremely simple, fundamental concepts.

At least up until recently in a high school in Colorado.

"Capitalism is evil.  Bush is like Hitler.  Israelis are the real terrorists."

If you have 15 minutes, listen to the audio of the class the student taped (Audio).  About 10 minutes into the rant the student making the tape starts asking very intelligent questions trying to point out why the teacher is wrong... the teacher answers the questions with, basically, "well in their point of view, America are the terrorists, and that is a valid view in and of itself."

Oh yeah, he also describes spraying pesticides on coca crops in Columbia as "America using chemical weapons in Columbia."

There is a lot in my brain that I wanted to put down in this post, but I'm still playing the lecture and everything this idiot says just pulls up three different responses in my brain of why he's wrong.  There's too much for me to process.  

This guy has an extremely flawed view of reality.  This guy should not be allowed to teach children.  He has been put on administrative leave until the issue is sorted out... hopefully that doesn't mean just until the media shitstorm dies down.

I have a lot of respect for the student who is sticking to his guns against the ravings of this lunatic GEOGRAPHY  teacher.  The only remotely good thing about this teacher is that in spite of his lunacy, he does not attack the student for challenging him.

Have an opinion you'd like to express?

Overland High School.

We're all being duped.

For years I have been exposed to crazy conspiracy theories that claim the government, not Islamic fundamentalists, were behind 9/11.  Crazed wackos shouting to all that the government was out to control the world, with George Bush being ridden by Dick Cheney in the vanguard.   I always blew these people off... I figured you didn't need to find bogeymen in your own government when there were plenty of bogeymen beheading people for their own version of Mohammad's Funniest Home Videos.

And lately we have the brand new president of Iran claiming to the world that the Holocaust never happened.  

Yes, I get it, muslims hate jews.  Big shocker, there.  "Tolerance and peace, yaddah yaddah, but the jews dont count because we hate them.  And westerners.  And women.  But we're cool with everything else.  Oh yeah, cartoonists."

But holocaust denial is too much for a rational person to accept.

Nobody can be that crazy, and really mean it.  Therefore,

IRAN DOES NOT EXIST.

IT WAS INVENTED TO SCARE THE UNITED STATES TO PAVE THE WAY FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO TAKE CONTROL.

WE'RE ALL BEING DUPED.

DON'T LET THEM FOOL YA.

OH NO.

"Theories die when their supporters do."

Know what the difference between scientology and mormonism is? About a hundred years.

Mormonism and islam? Approximately eleven hundred years.

Islam and Christianity? Approximately seven hundred years.

Christianity and the Hittite god Gozer? About eight thousand years.

Every one, with the possible exception of Gozer who everyone knows is real, was invented out of whole cloth in order to get people doing things The Right Way... which ever way the founders wanted.

My money is that in 100 years scientology will be as accepted as mormonism, islam, and christianity are today. Just takes time for people to forget the insanity and lunacy at the beginning of the religion.

And then it causes problems. One could say that the founders of these religions are directly responsible for the atrocities done in their name. Don't start a club if you're going to let crazy people join it and fly your flag when they do crazy things. And don't expect understanding when you do nothing to stop them, or even call them out after the fact.

Terrorists don't just plan train station bombings and then slip between dimensions where they can't be found to plan their next attack. Somebody knows. Somebody is funding them.  Where's the outrage?

I'm starting to think that maybe Islam really does need a Mope (Islamic version of the Catholic Pope).  Somebody (and you know it'll always be a man) who can steer the ship, be the face of the religion, and set straight once and for all what is and is not acceptable.  Sure it wouldn't be perfect; nasty things are still done by Catholic leadership, obviously... but at least there would be some sort of moral rudder.  Of course, it would never work if the Mope came out and said, "OK people, let's get this trans-continental caliphate going!"  The only path that doesn't lead to major conflict is one which eschews violence and conflict.  I don't see Islamists (ISLAMISTS, not regular Islamic people) walking this path at the moment.  The Islamists are currently the only voice from this religion that anyone hears.  Planes crashing into buildings and calls for genocide over a cartoon are loud voices.

Hey... Jesus is the #2 prophet in Islam, and he says turn the other cheek.  So turn it, fuckers.  

State of the Union, 2006.

I didn't watch Bush's SotU speech last night, nor have I seen a transcript, nor have I been exposed to any commentary about it yet, today.

However, this morning I walk into the room and the Today Show is on, and John Kerry is speaking. It was about 12 seconds before I got to a remote and changed the channel. In that 12 seconds, John Kerry said (something to the effect of), "...and Bush said he had a plan to reform Social Security. I had my own plan, and his plan was so bad it was even rejected by the Republicans in congress...."

Basically, he is gearing up for his 2008 run by continuing his losing 2004 platform of "everything that guy just said is bullshit."

Hey... can I get me some fresh ideas, here?

Happy MLK Day.

One of the few (only?) Federal Holidays dedicated to a single person.  (Not sure if Columbus Day counts.  It celebrates the discovery of America.  I've heard.)

Anyway, Martin Luther the King.  Had a bunch of excellent ideas about how everyone should be equal and color blind and brothers.  His "I have a dream" speech usually still brings a tear to my eye, if I'm in the right mood.

His legacy lives on.

 I'm sure if MLK were alive today he'd support Nagin's wish for a chocolate New Orleans.

Hey, imagine this:

Found ignorance.

1.  Welcome to the new year, and the 7th calendar year of my sharing of my stupid thoughts on the internet.  I started so-called "blogging" back in 1999 from South Dakota with "Casa de Smartass," a 5mb website using my dial-up ISP's user web space.  There used to be an archive page to that site (going back to January, 1999), but it was lost in the move to dtman.com in 2000.  There aren't many web journals that can be traced into the last millennium.

2.  A few days ago I saw all over the media about Wal-Mart's evil, racist DVD recommendation system on their internet sales site.  When one would purchase a DVD the system would recommend similarly themed DVDs to the purchaser; a semi-intelligent method of asking, "you want fries with that?"

The controversy started when it was reported that when one purchased the old Planet of the Apes television series on DVD, they were also recommended "black themed" DVDs, such as a retrospective on the life of The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior.  For some reason there was uproar, and Wal-Mart apologized.

This is where I get confused.  Planet of the Apes was about social inequality.  In the activist 1960's Charlton Heston, arguably one of the most famous actors of his generation, made a movie in which white people were enslaved and abused and treated as second class citizens as enforced by the State, with their own "white's only" Jim Crow laws, except in reverse (Jim Seagull?).

A sci-fi movie that was a thinly veiled indictment of social inequality compared to the life story of a man who dedicated his life to ending social inequality?  Preposterous; racism!

I don't see the racism here, and I submit that anyone who does is racist himself.