That's nothing to regret: that's a good romantic partner litmus test.
Movies you regret showing to people?
- Thread starter The Borgified Corpse
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That's nothing to regret: that's a good romantic partner litmus test.
Well met, m'lord! *curtseys*
I haven't been active since 1998, but I think it's fair to say that for most who give a significant amount of time to that organization and leave, it still never really leaves you, not completely. I kept my costumes and nef, and am currently packing to move... and my old copies of Tournaments Illuminated are going with me. I even found my old Elf Hill Times Songbook a couple of weeks ago.
But yeah, some people were a bit too much into authenticity. I don't mean those who wanted to make tangible things for themselves to be as authentic as possible, but then some of them started ragging on me because my costumes were either cotton, polycotton or manmade fabrics, and I made a few of my accessories out of plastic canvas (I figured out how to adapt a smaller pattern into an adult-sized headdress - the kind with the floaty veils attached; while I never wore that to an SCA event as it didn't fit my persona, I did wear it to a couple of SF conventions and people liked it).
So one night the Seneschale and her husband took me aside and said they were tired of hearing people from other branches complain about my costumes. They knew I'm not much for sewing with fabric, so they offered to make me a wool cloak.
It was nice of them, but there's a huge problem, and the reason why none of my costumes had any wool content: I am extremely allergic to wool. When they said, "We'll line it" I told them it wouldn't help - my allergy is so severe that I can't even touch it, let alone wear it for extended periods of time. So authenticity had to go out the window for that, because extreme itching, red rashes, and pain just aren't worth it. And that's a reaction that happens immediately, not after extended periods.
So I had to remain an inauthentically-dressed Viking. Oh, well. At least part of my persona's backstory involved Constantinople, so I could always claim I preferred exotic fabrics for my clothing, and that's where they came from.
Actually, our branch embraced some of the "most people consider this out of period, but let's find a historically valid reason why it's okay" discussions. Our shire was based in the New World, so when I autocratted a feast for the first time, I did a bit of research and discovered that yes, we could serve chocolate, bananas, and a few other things most other groups didn't do. One of our feasts was Aztec-themed (we had a member who decided to have an Aztec persona). Turkey in chocolate sauce is something the Aztecs ate, we tried that, and it went over very well. It's not traditional SCA feast fare, but it is in period, and the "Authenticity Police" didn't have any valid reason to complain.
I try not to, as there are things I like or love that other people can't stand, and some of those are for reasons of authenticity, like the aforementioned production of Camelot. I noticed the mistakes right away, but Camelot is basically a musical fantasy based on a myth, and the important thing is the story itself and the music.
It took me quite awhile to warm up to the remake of Man in the Iron Mask. I love the Richard Chamberlain version, and find the newer one... too modern, as in the younger characters look like they stepped out of the glossy magazines, instead of being real people (it's the female characters mostly I had a problem with). But I loved the Musketeers - Jeremy Irons made that movie watchable for me, as well as some of the others.
Yes, it did have more of a modern vibe, but consider that the "3-M"s were absent: Merlin, Mordred, and Morgan. I found that very refreshing.
It was a different take on a traditional story that's been done over and over and not very creatively. This movie was about Lancelot, exploring him as a person, rather than a mythic, albeit flawed, hero. And I'll confess: I enjoy Richard Gere movies.
This movie is special to me for another reason. I used to do PR/media liaison for the local SCA branch, through a variety of ways... one of which was to stick a little note in the public library's copy of Murder at the War, by Mary Monica Pulver (it's about a murder that happens at Pennsic, a RL annual SCA event; one of the characters is a detective in his mundane life and has to figure out whodunnit, as his wife is one of the suspects). The note basically said, "The Society for Creative Anachronism is a real non-profit educational organization with branches in many cities worldwide. To contact the local chapter in Red Deer, call (phone number) and ask for (my name)."
We got some interest drummed up because of that note, and one of the results was that when First Knight came to one of the local theatres, the manager asked if we would be willing to put on a demo of fighting, costuming, etc. We could put up a display in the lobby and do a fighting demonstration at the front of the theatre before the movie started. In return, we would get to see the movie at no charge.
So we got into our costumes, put up a display, and some of the guys did a fencing demo before the movie started (heavy fighting wasn't possible, as the floor would have been damaged when people fell on it). Our part of the evening was well-received, and we enjoyed the movie.
We do a family movie night most Sundays at my parents (in their mid 60's) with some of my siblings. Every week we rotate between who chooses the movie.
Based on what looked like a promising trailer, I chose Sorry to Bother You. Plus I enjoy Lakeith Stanfield in "Atlanta" and hey, Danny Glover AND Tessa Thompson. Watch the trailer. Looks fun, right? Then read the full synopsis. Trust me. It's not the same movie AT ALL.
I was literally sweating and anxious midway through the movie when things got WEIRD, completely regretting my choice, my mother eventually just left "to finish the laundry". We joke about it now, but I have been MUCH more thorough in my movie night research since then. It was an awful experience to say the least.
Based on what looked like a promising trailer, I chose Sorry to Bother You. Plus I enjoy Lakeith Stanfield in "Atlanta" and hey, Danny Glover AND Tessa Thompson. Watch the trailer. Looks fun, right? Then read the full synopsis. Trust me. It's not the same movie AT ALL.
Full frontal in your face horse-man (hybrid) nudity is not family fun.
I was literally sweating and anxious midway through the movie when things got WEIRD, completely regretting my choice, my mother eventually just left "to finish the laundry". We joke about it now, but I have been MUCH more thorough in my movie night research since then. It was an awful experience to say the least.
Well met, m'lord! *curtseys*
I haven't been active since 1998, but I think it's fair to say that for most who give a significant amount of time to that organization and leave, it still never really leaves you, not completely. I kept my costumes and nef, and am currently packing to move... and my old copies of Tournaments Illuminated are going with me. I even found my old Elf Hill Times Songbook a couple of weeks ago.
But yeah, some people were a bit too much into authenticity. I don't mean those who wanted to make tangible things for themselves to be as authentic as possible, but then some of them started ragging on me because my costumes were either cotton, polycotton or manmade fabrics, and I made a few of my accessories out of plastic canvas (I figured out how to adapt a smaller pattern into an adult-sized headdress - the kind with the floaty veils attached; while I never wore that to an SCA event as it didn't fit my persona, I did wear it to a couple of SF conventions and people liked it).
So one night the Seneschale and her husband took me aside and said they were tired of hearing people from other branches complain about my costumes. They knew I'm not much for sewing with fabric, so they offered to make me a wool cloak.
It was nice of them, but there's a huge problem, and the reason why none of my costumes had any wool content: I am extremely allergic to wool. When they said, "We'll line it" I told them it wouldn't help - my allergy is so severe that I can't even touch it, let alone wear it for extended periods of time. So authenticity had to go out the window for that, because extreme itching, red rashes, and pain just aren't worth it. And that's a reaction that happens immediately, not after extended periods.
So I had to remain an inauthentically-dressed Viking. Oh, well. At least part of my persona's backstory involved Constantinople, so I could always claim I preferred exotic fabrics for my clothing, and that's where they came from.
I dropped out in the mid-2000s I think. Part of it was that the the-ban on same-gender royalty had started to really get under my skin, especially when you coupled it with the fact that a lot of SCA events used churches for site spaces, which left me uncomfortably wondering what exactly my site fee was ultimately being used for.
Mostly, though, I started to feel that the people in my local group by and large wouldn't bat an eye if I dropped out...a lot of the people I was closer to had already stepped back for one reason or another...and it turned out I was pretty right about that. Ironically in the past year or so I've friended a few localish SCAdians on Facebook, but at the time, I think I got one email expressing any concern that I'd be stepping back, and that was from someone who mistakenly thought I was the group treasurer. The historical recreation was fun, but for me the draw was the social connections, and without those, and coupled with my other concerns, I just couldn't remember what I was doing with the group anymore.
I do still have my garb and various paraphernalia, though we won't discuss whether I could still fit into it. (coughs)
The group here, at least at the time I left, was significantly pro-Viking and otherwise pro-early period. Meanwhile I'd started in college in a group that was late period, so you had a Spanish courtier circa 1572 hanging out with mostly-Vikings. Great. I don't think they meant for it to happen, but there was at times a sense that if you had a 'non-conformist' persona than things were harder for you. I also think some areas of the SCA do have a significant divide between fighters and non-fighters. Basically, I just never figured out how to "break into" the group here...or if I did, then as I said, most of my connections subsequently left anyway.
The local group also had a troubled history involving a period where they'd been a barony only for things to get out of hand, so they retreated back to being a shire...this was before my time...but the old guard had evidently been so traumatized by the whole thing that they'd become fiercely anti-bureaucracy. I suggested we have business meetings quarterly rather than annually, and even noted that that might make each individual meeting less significant, and I'm pretty sure people held it against me for years. I ran for Seneschal on a couple of occasions and lost to do-nothing officers, which also pushed me away from wanting to try.
I will say neither of the groups I was in had any real 'everything must be authentic!' leanings, thank God. That was only ever limited to certain individuals.
Mostly, though, I started to feel that the people in my local group by and large wouldn't bat an eye if I dropped out...a lot of the people I was closer to had already stepped back for one reason or another...and it turned out I was pretty right about that. Ironically in the past year or so I've friended a few localish SCAdians on Facebook, but at the time, I think I got one email expressing any concern that I'd be stepping back, and that was from someone who mistakenly thought I was the group treasurer. The historical recreation was fun, but for me the draw was the social connections, and without those, and coupled with my other concerns, I just couldn't remember what I was doing with the group anymore.
I do still have my garb and various paraphernalia, though we won't discuss whether I could still fit into it. (coughs)
The group here, at least at the time I left, was significantly pro-Viking and otherwise pro-early period. Meanwhile I'd started in college in a group that was late period, so you had a Spanish courtier circa 1572 hanging out with mostly-Vikings. Great. I don't think they meant for it to happen, but there was at times a sense that if you had a 'non-conformist' persona than things were harder for you. I also think some areas of the SCA do have a significant divide between fighters and non-fighters. Basically, I just never figured out how to "break into" the group here...or if I did, then as I said, most of my connections subsequently left anyway.
The local group also had a troubled history involving a period where they'd been a barony only for things to get out of hand, so they retreated back to being a shire...this was before my time...but the old guard had evidently been so traumatized by the whole thing that they'd become fiercely anti-bureaucracy. I suggested we have business meetings quarterly rather than annually, and even noted that that might make each individual meeting less significant, and I'm pretty sure people held it against me for years. I ran for Seneschal on a couple of occasions and lost to do-nothing officers, which also pushed me away from wanting to try.
I will say neither of the groups I was in had any real 'everything must be authentic!' leanings, thank God. That was only ever limited to certain individuals.
Not exactly, but there were several times when I dragged other people to brand-new movies (that I hadn't seen yet) insisting they'd be the greatest thing ever, and we all regretted it. One was Dungeons & Dragons (2000) (... and I convinced my entire D&D group to go with me). Another was Watchmen.
It hadn't even crossed my mind, actually. I just felt that overall, it felt more like a straightforward action movie set in Camelot with less character development, and one thing that really irked us was Richard Geere's outfit, which seemed way modern for the time period. But the swordplay was pretty good, I thought.
My parents like musicals. I had never seen it but I thought they liked "Moulin Rouge"
Five minutes into it it was so boring we decided to stop watching it.
Five minutes into it it was so boring we decided to stop watching it.
I was pretty young when my older brother convinced my mom and dad that the movie Lifeforce was just rated R for violence (being a space vampire movie). I don't remember but I supposedly helped sell the idea.
We saw it in a drive in theater. It was a little awkward once it became clear that the vampire woman was naked through most of the movie.
We never lived that one down.
This reminds me: One evening in the early '80s my family was leaving the city library. There was a drive-in close by and something was playing. My little brother said "There was a cartoon naked lady on there!" "No there wasn't! No way!" I said. But he was right, the movie was Heavy Metal, which I saw years later. I didn't think a drive-in could show nudity where the general public could see it, especially where I lived which was a very religious and conservative place. But apparently the Supreme Court had ruled that localities couldn't prohibit it.
When I was in middle school, I brought my taped off of Cinemax copy of Howard the Duck to a sleepover birthday party.
How many strokes did they get from A Knight's Tale?
What did you think about the 1991 version of Robin Hood with Patrick Bergin & Uma Thurman? I don't know enough about history to know, but I had a history professor in college who said that it was one of the few medieval movies to get women's costumes right. He said that most women in medieval movies look like they're ladies from the Italian Renaissance, not medieval England.
Well, yeah. I don't know much about the middle ages but I've done enough theatre to know that it's not about authenticity. It's about getting to look good enough to convey the right idea.
Assuming that you're going by the theatrical version and not the alternate version with the post-apocalyptic ending, does that movie even establish what year it's set in or that it's even on Earth and not some alternate fantasy dimension?
Istanbul, not Constantinople.
I'm not trying to be pedantic. I just wanna get the song stuck in your head.
Wait, 3M? I knew it! I knew that abominations like scotch tape & post-it-notes could only be created through sorcery!
What are your thoughts on The Cotton Club?
I didn't see Dungeons & Dragons until many years later. Even then, I only suffered through it because I heard that Tom Baker was in it. If I'd realized that it was only one short scene, I probably wouldn't have bothered.
I did get a big group of people together to see Watchmen. I was cautiously pessimistic. By the end, I just ended up agreeing with Alan Moore that the material is unadaptable. I had one friend who hadn't read the book and ended up liking the movie quite a bit. IIRC, most of the rest of my friends hated it because they hated Zack Snyder before it was cool.
I can recall a few times when other people dragged me to the theater to see something I hated and I don't think they felt a single iota of shame about it. They took me to see Warcraft, not realizing that I'd never played the game and didn't care. They took me to see The Lighthouse, which was exactly as trippy as I expected. (I think it's supposed to be a subversive art movie but how subversive can it be if I'm already expecting it to not make sense!?)
The worst was when they took me to see The Nightingale. Since it's a female-led revenge movie, I figured, okay, there's probably a 50-50 chance of the main character getting raped and that will be part of her motivation. So we got a rape scene and I thought, "Well, that was unpleasant but at least it's over." Then, a couple scenes later, we got an even more graphic rape scene while her husband is forced to watch, followed by her husband getting murdered. Then, when the main villain asked one of his vile henchmen if he wanted to have a go with the woman too
, I walked out of the theater, demanded my money back, and texted my friends that I'd take the bus home. (On the plus side, the theater also gave me a free pass to another movie, which I spent on the much more wholesome 2019 Addams Family reboot.
)Oh man, I saw Dungeons & Dragons in the theater with a friend and it was...deeply disappointing. Thankfully I didn't put her up to it, but this thread has now undone years of memory repression, so I hate you all.
I've only seen the extended edition of Watchmen on Blu ray, and I'm not especially familiar with the source material. I find it pretty watchable and I guess I've never been entirely sure what the grievances are and how much of them may be due to things I'm simply unaware of.
I've only seen the extended edition of Watchmen on Blu ray, and I'm not especially familiar with the source material. I find it pretty watchable and I guess I've never been entirely sure what the grievances are and how much of them may be due to things I'm simply unaware of.
I've seen both and I feel they both have their merits depending on what kind of narrative you're looking for. Ash starts out on Earth, and the portal sends him to a place filled mostly with humans that bears a significant resemblance to the medieval time period, and there isn't really anything to clearly indicate he's not on Earth, so... OTOH, he did go through a magical portal, so who knows?
I had decided in advance that the material was unadaptable, but I ended up getting sold on the visuals. Snyder did a good job there, but I should've known better.
It's plenty watchable. But "unadaptable" means a lot of the original themes don't translate well into another format, or are easily misunderstood / butchered by the people doing the adapting. It doesn't necessarily mean the result is bad, only that much of the message is lost.
I would recommend that you read the book. It fills in a lot of details. None of them are strictly "necessary" and many of them are downright irrelevant but it's what makes the book a masterpiece whereas the movie is, at best, "pretty watchable."
As for specific grievances:
- Probably the biggest one is the ending. People like the giant space squid, so replacing it with a Dr. Manhattan frame job just doesn't feel right.
- Maybe it's Malin Ackerman's performance, maybe it's the lack of set-up, but when Laurie realizes that the Comedian is her father, it just doesn't have the same level of devastating impact that it does in the book. Maybe it's just because the book is longer, so you have more time to develop a proper loathing for the Comedian.
- With all of the slow-mo fight scenes and gory close-ups of broken bones puncturing the skin, the movie seems to fetishize the violence in a way that seems antithetical to what the book was trying to do.
- There's a very slight change to the very end that totally changes the tone.
The movie ends with that one guy from The New Frontiersman reading Rorschach's journal, starting with the bit about the Comedian being murdered. It raises the specter of someone possibly eventually learning the truth. In the book, when he starts reading Rorschach's journal, he starts with the bit about how he found a dead dog in the street, dismisses the whole thing as the disorganized ramblings of a crazy man, and the journal winds up in the trash. The movie ends on a question mark while the book ends on a note of bitter irony.
Watching Star Trek Nemisis with my friends who weren't Star Trek fans, It took a long time before i've got to choose a movie again
Watching Star Trek Nemisis with my friends who weren't Star Trek fans, It took a long time before i've got to choose a movie again
I seem to recall that I pushed for seeing NEM over Two Towers with my best friend. Ugh.
I guess that was the last time you saw your best friend?
Don't know that one. I read a synopsis online and it looks interesting. If I see it and hate it I'll be sure to return and complain so you can regret the suggestion.I think you might have meant to show her 'The Grand Seduction/Seducing Dr Lewis
