Interesting to read how much internal resistance there was to this design and that it only survived due to the intervention of the President of Sony.
A couple of months ago, I subjected my movie group that watches ridiculous movies to Planet of the Apes, followed by it’s four sequels in subsequent weeks. There were howls of protest and anemic attendance for the first film, but people started trickling back in with “Beneath the Planet of the Apes”.
My primary reason for showing them all was because it is something I had been plotting and planning for years. Years, I tell you, as my Planet of the Apes boxset lay unwatched. This desire was fueled by my seeing “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes” years ago on A&E on a late Sunday afternoon and being sucked in, transfixed by the darkness of the film which managed to completely transcend the ridiculousness of the costumes, or/because of Ricardo Montalban.
I found that “Conquest” definitely held up for me, and if you ever planned to watch only one of the “Apes” movies, this would be it. Montalban manages to spit out the three sentences of expository dialogue needed to know what the hell is going on in fine fashion.
Like all Apes movies, it ends bleakly, with the following speech, which can’t be labeled a spoiler since the film transparently builds to this moment from the opening reel:
“Where there is fire, there is smoke. And in that smoke, from this day forward, my people will crouch and conspire and plot and plan for the inevitable day of Man’s downfall - the day when he finally and self-destructively turns his weapons against his own kind. The day of the writing in the sky, when your cities lie buried under radioactive rubble! When the sea is a dead sea, and the land is a wasteland out of which I will lead my people from their captivity! And we will build our own cities in which there will be no place for humans except to serve our ends! And we shall found our own armies, our own religion, our own dynasty! And that day is upon you… now!”
Behind Caesar is that torrent of fire from the paperback cover, and it is actually chilling, because Caesar has changed completely over the course of the film from innocent to more than willing to engage in whatever force is necessary to achieve his ends. It is the transformation of an idealistic intellectual to brutal pragmatist! I can’t say enough great things about this movie.
On a related note, the songwriting for my next album is coming along swimmingly. It will be a spiritual sequel to “The Great Directors”, with every song being named after an “Apes” movie. It will be the most depressing thing I’ve ever done. I’m treating the subject matter with complete seriousness! I’m engaging in serious kayfabe here… there will be no winking on this album. Like my recent GBA game, I expect a lot of confused looks. At this stage of my life, I think I prefer it this way.
Ebert may not know anything about video games, but he knows a lot about this, and hits the nail on the head.
My favorite bit: “Having shot Dial M for Murder in 3-D, Alfred Hitchcock was so displeased by the result that he released it in 2-D at its New York opening.”
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
I went to see Hall & Oates last Saturday, outdoors in the rain. My expectations were not lofty, and Todd Rundgren’s opening set of blues seemed a dire omen, but MY GOD WAS IT AWESOME. I mean, they started with “Maneater”. That is confidence.
Ahem. I managed to bootleg “You Make My Dreams” (via my iPhone’s Voice Memo feature, so bear this in mind) for one of my classmates, so now you can know what it is like to go to a show like this with me. You’ll hear me and my friend Melissa (who won the tickets to the show via our local light rock station by knowing the words to The Pet Shop Boys’ “What Have I Done To Deserve This”) sing along and scream like idiots. Close your eyes and taste the Arbor Mist.
Great little series of short Flash games which illustrate through play just what makes games compelling to the player… there are four of these in total.
An attempt at sane debate on illegal immigration on Facebook (which will likely fall on deaf ears)
We could argue about whether or not the laws should be ignored, and which ones, but the simple fact is that they are already ignored, and have been for some time. Just go to Home Depot and see the line of illegal immigrant labor waiting on the side of the road to be picked up for a job. We are all complicit in this whenever we buy products or services that are funded with illegal immigrant labor. This includes every fast food purchase, and probably the home you live in [NAME REDACTED].
My father works in irrigation. He’s never hired illegal workers, even though he could save tons of money by doing so. He’s managed to stay in business due to having a better service than everyone else. This works for him because the cost is generally a one-time only thing, and his word of mouth is excellent.
I’ve also worked with illegal immigrants from Mexico while digging holes with my dad during summers in high school. I’ve never met a harder worker in my life.
Here is an irony. My father has been unable to hire someone to work with him as of late, because people complain about the pay, or complain about the work, or what have you. It’s a hard job, but the pay isn’t terrible, and you are learning a trade. Yet, most people would rather not work than work hard.
As a result, my father has scaled back his business rather than rely on immigrants. He could hire two people at $5/hour and have workers who do their job or he can hire one guy for $10/hour who will complain the entire time he does it.
I say all of this not to definitively prove a point, but to merely point out that this issue is much more complex than those who propose throwing out all illegal immigrants would like to believe.
Even George W. Bush thought a guest worker program was a good idea (because he actually faced the reality of illegal immigration in Texas). Doing that in conjunction with cracking down on the EMPLOYERS of illegals rather than the illegals themselves would more effectively solve the problem than the laws currently being enacted in Arizona, which address the employer issue, but also open a huge potential for racial profiling, which is already being seen locally:
http://www.ajc.com/news/gwinnett/report-critical-of-immigration-492623.html
