HeartlineTwist

Finished Phoenix Wright: Justice for all again last night. Finished the first game last week. All to lead up to me finally getting to play Trials and Tribulations, which I started last night. The first case, which I am still playing through, has been a very good surprise thus far.

Words cannot describe how badly I want this game. But I don't have a PS3 or a 360. My friend/roommate from college has one, but I will buy a PS3 before school starts back up. So I hope to God you guys are still playing this in August.

It sucks because del Toro would have been perfect, but I can't blame him. Six years is a long fucking time to commit to a movie (or in this case, movieS) or a single project.

Is anyone watching the prelims on Spike? I ask because of a humorous moment a few minutes ago between the first and second round when the censor misfired and let "fucking" make its way onto TV. It was glorious.

Heartline -

If you're getting a Slim PS3, I'm 99% sure they do NOT come with an HDMI cable, but do not throw down $40 on overpriced Monster Cable shit when you can get one on Amazon for $0.99.

The bundle as a whole sounds pretty decent if you can take off the HDMI cable, and from the first list, you definitely should get LittleBigPlanet.

Thanks Zero and others =D

I'll knock the cable off. It was optional. Should I replace it with the Sony headset or just leave that alone for right now? Or go for a cheaper headset?

$500?! Ouch. Is that cheap or expensive for over there?

Here a 120gb console in the shops is about $280. 250gb is about $330.

Control pad about $60. Games $50-$60 or so. HDMI lead comes as standard in the boxes I'm sure...

$500 for everything I listed, including sales tax and shipping. I priced out the components individually and the bundle still beats it. $500 is cheaper than the individual components by about $17.00, and I'm not sure if Wal-Mart will honor the "online price" in stores.

I'm pretty sure I'll end up getting this, though, but I'd love an opinion on the game I should choose from that first spoilered list.

You can buy a new HDMI cable off eBay for under $5 (there isn't any difference between an off-brand cable and Sony's cable or a Monster cable).

Well, I already have one that's offbrand that's not being used for anything essential (it's currently attached to the BluRay player that got bundled with my TV.

The HDMI cable was an optional thing that added $40, but I could just switch that for the headset for the same price, or just ditch both things all together and save that amount.

I need some advice.

I really want a PS3. I have a nice Sony Bravia HDTV, but my current HDMI cable is shitty.

I can get (from Walmart), a bundle that includes:

-A 120GB PS3

-A second wireless controller (Sony)

-Two Games (One from each list)

-An HDMI Cable (Sony) or Bluetooth headset (Sony)

All for $500 (shipping, tax, everything).

EDIT: Just realized that the nearly $40 shipping cost plus the fact that most of the games on the first list are $30 bucks at most means I could buy a new, full priced game for that cost alone.

Are the 120 GB consoles good enough? From those lists, I'm mainly eyeballing Red Dead Redemption and Little Big Planet. I'm pretty set on RDR, but I'm open to being talked out of it. Is the bundle worth it?

List One (Spoilered for Huge)

-Bioshock

-Fight Night Round 4

-God of War Collection (First and Second)

-Grand Theft Auto IV

-Little Big Planet

-Metal Gear Solid 4

-Midnight Club: Los Angeles

-Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

-MotorStorm

-NHL 2K10

-Ninja Gaiden Sigma

-Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

-Resident Evil 5

-Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution

-Ski Doo Snowmobile Challenge

-SOCOM: Confrontation

-Street Fighter IV

-The Bigs 2

-Oblivion

-UFC Undisputed

-Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

List Two (Spoilered for Huge)

-Alien vs Predator

-Battlefield: Bad Company 2

-Bayonetta

-Borderlands

-Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

-Darksiders

-Demon's Souls

-Dragon Age Origins

-Fallout 3

-FIFA Soccer 10

-Final Fantasy XIII

-God of War III

-Heavy Rain

-Just Cause 2

-Killzone 2

-MAG

-Sports Games (abbreviating for sanity)

-MotorStorm: Pacific Rift

-Red Dead Redemption

-Resonance of Fate

-Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

-White Knight Chronicles

-Yakuza 3

-Tekken 6

-Assassin's Creed 2

I want this game really bad, but I am without an XBOX360 or a PS3. I haven't bought a game console in a while, so I'm thinking about a PS3 to go nicely with my HDTV I got last February. This would definitely be a game to get when I get around to it, but unfortunately, I'd have to wait until like August, and I bet all of the fun will be over already =(.

Glad to hear it's so good, though.

I hate to bump a dead topic, but I was thinking about starting a screenplay for a Grindhouse-style exploitation double bill. I'm going to school next year for film broadcasting, and was wondering if I should wait until I've learned more on the subject before I go ahead and start writing. It would be my first ever writing project. I'm looking into purchasing the Screenwriter's Bible from Amazon, and was also wondering if this would be a good place to learn the basics of screenwriting.

I will stand by The Screenwriter's Bible as a pretty awesome way to start out because it covers pretty much everything.

As for me, I just started writing a crime drama, but we'll see how it goes.

That article is pretty ridiculous.

According to this link, the MIB's name was Samuel in the script.

Good stuff on here! I can finally throw in my two cents! I've had to bite my tongue for far too long. Also, hopefully I can answer some of John's questions about Dharma and the "pointless breadcrumbs" that really, weren't so pointless ...

First ...

The Island:

It was real. Everything that happened on the island that we saw throughout the 6 seasons was real. Forget the final image of the plane crash, it was put in purposely to f*&k with people's heads and show how far the show had come. They really crashed. They really survived. They really discovered Dharma and the Others. The Island keeps the balance of good and evil in the world. It always has and always will perform that role. And the Island will always need a "Protector". Jacob wasn't the first, Hurley won't be the last. However, Jacob had to deal with a malevolent force (MIB) that his mother, nor Hurley had to deal with. He created the devil and had to find a way to kill him -- even though the rules prevented him from actually doing so.

Thus began Jacob's plan to bring candidates to the Island to do the one thing he couldn't do. Kill the MIB. He had a huge list of candidates that spanned generations. Yet everytime he brought people there, the MIB corrupted them and caused them to kill one another. That was until Richard came along and helped Jacob understand that if he didn't take a more active role, then his plan would never work.

Enter Dharma -- which I'm not sure why John is having such a hard time grasping. Dharma, like the countless scores of people that were brought to the island before, were brought there by Jacob as part of his plan to kill the MIB. However, the MIB was aware of this plan and interferred by "corrupting" Ben. Making Ben believe he was doing the work of Jacob when in reality he was doing the work of the MIB. This carried over into all of Ben's "off-island" activities. He was the leader. He spoke for Jacob as far as they were concerned. So the "Others" killed Dharma and later were actively trying to kill Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley and all the candidates because that's what the MIB wanted. And what he couldn't do for himself.

Dharma was originally brought in to be good. But was turned bad by MIB's corruption and eventually destroyed by his pawn Ben. Now, was Dharma only brought there to help Jack and the other Canditates on their overall quest to kill Smokey? Or did Jacob have another list of Canidates from the Dharma group that we were never aware of? That's a question that is purposley not answered because whatever answer the writers came up with would be worse than the one you come up with for yourself. Still ... Dharma's purpose is not "pointless" or even vague. Hell, it's pretty blantent.

Still, despite his grand plan, Jacob wanted to give his "candidates" (our Lostaways) the one thing he, nor his brother, were ever afforded: free will. Hence him bringing a host of "candidates" through the decades and letting them "choose" which one would actually do the job in the end. Maybe he knew Jack would be the one to kill Flocke and that Hurley would be the protector in the end. Maybe he didn't. But that was always the key question of the show: Fate vs Free-will. Science vs Faith. Personally I think Jacob knew from the beginning what was going to happen and that everyone played a part over 6 seasons in helping Jack get to the point where he needed to be to kill Smokey and make Hurley the protector -- I know that's how a lot of the writers viewed it. But again, they won't answer that (nor should they) because that ruins the fun.

In the end, Jack got to do what he always wanted to do from the very first episode of the show: Save his fellow Lostaways. He got Kate and Sawyer off the island and he gave Hurley the purpose in life he'd always been missing. And, in Sideways world (which we'll get to next) he in fact saved everyone by helping them all move on ...

Now...

Sideways World:

Sideways world is where it gets really cool in terms of theology and metaphysical discussion (for me at least -- because I love history/religion theories and loved all the talks in the writer's room about it). Basically what the show is proposing is that we're all linked to certain people during our lives. Call them soulmates (though it's not exactly the best word). But these people we're linked to are with us duing "the most important moments of our lives" as Christian said. These are the people we move through the universe with from lifetime to lifetime. It's loosely based in Hinduisim with large doses of western religion thrown into the mix.

The conceit that the writers created, basing it off these religious philosophies, was that as a group, the Lostaways subconsciously created this "sideways" world where they exist in purgatory until they are "awakened" and find one another. Once they all find one another, they can then move on and move forward. In essence, this is the show's concept of the afterlife. According to the show, everyone creates their own "Sideways" purgatory with their "soulmates" throughout their lives and exist there until they all move on together. That's a beautiful notion. Even if you aren't religious or even spirtual, the idea that we live AND die together is deeply profound and moving.

It's a really cool and spirtual concept that fits the whole tone and subtext the show has had from the beginning. These people were SUPPOSED to be together on that plane. They were supposed to live through these events -- not JUST because of Jacob. But because that's what the universe or God (depending on how religious you wish to get) wanted to happen. The show was always about science vs faith -- and it ultimately came down on the side of faith. It answered THE core question of the series. The one question that has been at the root of every island mystery, every character backstory, every plot twist. That, by itself, is quite an accomplishment.

How much you want to extrapolate from that is up to you as the viewer. Think about season 1 when we first found the Hatch. Everyone thought that's THE answer! Whatever is down there is the answer! Then, as we discovered it was just one station of many. One link in a very long chain that kept revealing more, and more of a larger mosiac.

But the writer's took it even further this season by contrasting this Sideways "purgatory" with the Island itself. Remember when Michael appeared to Hurley, he said he was not allowed to leave the Island. Just like the MIB. He wasn't allowed into this sideways world and thus, was not afforded the opportunity to move on. Why? Because he had proven himself to be unworthy with his actions on the Island. He failed the test. The others, passed. They made it into Sideways world when they died -- some before Jack, some years later. In Hurley's case, maybe centuries later. They exist in this sideways world until they are "awakened" and they can only move on TOGETHER because they are linked. They are destined to be together for eternity. That was their destiny.

They were NOT linked to Anna Lucia, Daniel, Roussou, Alex, Miles, Lupidis, (and all the rest who weren't in the chuch -- basically everyone who wasn't in season 1). Yet those people exist in Sideways world. Why? Well again, here's where they leave it up to you to decide. The way I like to think about it, is that those people who were left behind in Sideways world have to find their own soulmates before they can wake up. It's possible that those links aren't people from the island but from their other life (Anna's parnter, the guy she shot --- Roussou's husband, etc etc).

A lot of people have been talking about Ben and why he didn't go into the Church. And if you think of Sideways world in this way, then it gives you the answer to that very question. Ben can't move on yet because he hasn't connected with the people he needs to. It's going to be his job to awaken Roussou, Alex, Anna Lucia (maybe), Ethan, Goodspeed, his father and the rest. He has to attone for his sins more than he did by being Hurley's number two. He has to do what Hurley and Desmond did for our Lostaways with his own people. He has to help them connect. And he can only move on when all the links in his chain are ready to. Same can be said for Faraday, Charlotte, Whidmore, Hawkins etc. It's really a neat, and cool concept. At least to me.

But, from a more "behind the scenes" note: the reason Ben's not in the church, and the reason no one is in the church but for Season 1 people is because they wrote the ending to the show after writing the pilot. And never changed it. The writers always said (and many didn't believe them) that they knew their ending from the very first episode. I applaud them for that. It's pretty fantastic. Originally Ben was supposed to have a 3 episode arc and be done. But he became a big part of the show. They could have easily changed their ending and put him in the church -- but instead they problem solved it. Gave him a BRILLIANT moment with Locke outside the church ... and then that was it. I loved that. For those that wonder -- the original ending started the moment Jack walked into the church and touches the casket to Jack closing his eyes as the other plane flies away. That was always JJ's ending. And they kept it.

For me the ending of this show means a lot. Not only because I worked on it, but because as a writer it inspired me in a way the medium had never done before. I've been inspired to write by great films. Maybe too many to count. And there have been amazing TV shows that I've loved (X-Files, 24, Sopranos, countless 1/2 hour shows). But none did what LOST did for me. None showed me that you could take huge risks (writing a show about faith for network TV) and stick to your creative guns and STILL please the audience. I learned a lot from the show as a writer. I learned even more from being around the incredible writers, producers, PAs, interns and everyone else who slaved on the show for 6 years.

In the end, for me, LOST was a touchstone show that dealt with faith, the afterlife, and all these big, spirtual questions that most shows don't touch. And to me, they never once waivered from their core story -- even with all the sci-fi elements they mixed in. To walk that long and daunting of a creative tightrope and survive is simply astounding.

Source: http://lostmediamentions.blogspot.com/2010/05/someone-from-bad-robots-take-on-finale.html

The important thing I take from that is the discussion of the ending being the ending that JJ Abrams had written (started when Jack touches the coffin, ended when he closes his eyes on the island), which explains why Ben wasn't in the church and why there were mostly Season 1 Losties in there.

Dharma Food Drops:

1) Maybe they handled the food drops in a similar fashion to Daniel's test with the missile. We know there's some sort of "lag" involved with getting things through the time bubble or however it was explained. Maybe they exploited this.

2) I'd have to go back and rewatch, but there were still people in the Hatch (Desmond) that needed food, so maybe they kept dropping food for the Hatch people.

3) Did they even know the purge actually happened?

4) A Writer's Perspective: Because it'd be fucking boring having to have the survivors forage and hunt for food.

I think we got as much of an explanation of the island as we'll ever get or need when Jacob had the corked bottle of wine when he was talking to Richard. That metaphor is WAY more of an explanation than why the MIB became the Smoke Monster.

Not necessarily where I thought they were going with it, but as I think about it, I'm becoming more and more okay with the fact they did. I'm personally not bothered by what was essentially 2.5 hours of hands off as far as answering mysteries goes, but I understand some people will be.

EDIT:

It should be extremely clear when the deaths occurred, though. Christian explains it to Jack verbatim, and we see Jack die.

I'm still up in the air as to whether the current MIB is Jacob's brother or someone else (the trapped smoke monster). They appear to have the same motives such as getting off the island and Locke said during this season that Jacob "took his body". I feel like we only got half of the story about Jacob and the MIB and there is another chapter that needs to be told between the end of this episode and where we saw them on the beach in the season five finale.

I'm guessing the stuff on the beach was prior to the end of this episode though?

Actually, the stuff on the beach from the Season 5 Finale HAS to be after the entirety of last night's episode because the MIB on the beach says he wants to kill Jacob, but he has NO REASON to want to kill Jacob at any point in time during last night's episode until AFTER

Jacob beats the shit out of him and floats him into the light, thereby creating the smoke monster

My current biggest problem is that the plane is either a giant red herring, or the show is somehow going to magic that plane into being able to fly again. After all, the plane, in its landing, probably fucked up its landing gear, which would more or less screw with its ability to take off again. That's assuming that what served as an okay enough of a runway for more or less a crash landing can serve well enough for a take off.

Oh, and the fact that the plane is missing part of, if not all of, its windshield.

It answered some stuff

like

Richard being on the black rock, man in black=smokey, what the temple really is, did jacob really die, and other minor tidbits

but it also created a hell of a lot more questions

Exactly, every "answer" just raised another question:

Okay, so Richard was on the Black Rock, but what is the Black Rock, and who or what is Richard?! The guy who hates Jacob is the Smoke Monster, cool, glad we got that figured out, but who the hell is this guy?! He was just introduced in the previous episode, so we're really just answering questions with unanswered questions. The Temple is a Temple, I got that, but does it resurrect people? Is it how the island heals people? Is that really Sayid or Jacob in Sayid's body? And if the latter is the case, is Jacob a person at all, or was the guy we saw before just another shell?

Summary: We will get our answers, hold on a bit longer.

But there's not much longer to hold onto. They've got 16 hours to answer every unanswered question of the last five seasons, and probably a dozen+ more they'll raise along the way, that's a lot of loose ends to tie up. Don't get me wrong, I liked the premiere, Lost is the only show that can cocktease me for two hours and still keep me coming back for more, I'm just worried they're not going to get to everything.

I was just reading a snippet of an interview with the writers. Basically, if the characters on the show don't care/aren't affected by the mystery/question, then it's probably not going to be answered. As an example of what they meant, they said that we're not going to find out who the statue was built by. And that's perfectly fine with me. They'll tackle the big mythology questions of the show. I don't think they have an obligation to get to every little thing, though, because the fans have picked up on "things" (aka questions) that the writers may not have intended to be "things" in the first place. For example, I don't think there's an overwhelming impact on the show as a whole that Libby gave Desmond the boat. A lot of "questions" I've seen tossed around that people are wanting answers for seem to fall into that category. I'm confident they'll deliver big on the important stuff involving the things everyone was dying to know early on in the show.

Without question, the most beautiful movie I have ever seen. It's unfortunate that originality and Cameron's ability to completely change the game in terms of production couldn't have translated to an even remotely creative plot. Loads of creativity in terms of visuals, but from the moment the movie gets going, you know exactly how it's going to play out. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the movie, I'd even say I loved it, and seeing it in 3D is something that everyone needs to experience, but while it is a revolution in filmmaking, it could've done so much more in storytelling.

I highly recommend you find the comparison of Avatar to Cameron's treatment/script hybrid for the movie called Project 880. With the kind of story the movie had in the treatment, I have high hopes for the inevitable Avatar sequel.

They're all good. And in my opinion...

Syd Field is fine, if a bit basic. That's the only book of his I would bother with. All of the others seem just like his original, as he includes the same examples and explains the same ideas as he did in that book.

McKee is excellent at making you understand the difference between films that come out and award winning films that come out. If you are able to understand and absorb his writing and opinion, his ideas will be the ones that stick when you rewrite...the only problem is he sheds little to no light on the format of screenwriting, which makes me believe he's hardly written anything.

The Save The Cat book is alright. There's a good amount I'd recommend over it.

For the formatting, pick up...

or

I think those have already been mentioned, but I'll throw in my two cents...

I have all three of those that you added, and I think I mentioned them. They are ALL fantastic books. The Bible is pretty good for formatting and general things like story formation. The Screenwriter's Manual helps with some formatting issues where one may be unsure of how to format. I haven't used The Hollywood Standard as much, but it seems helpful enough. These books mainly focus on the technical, format side of things for the most part, except the Bible which really helps you through the entire process.

Call me crazy, but the Na'vi were pretty small in comparison to the rhino beasts. I don't think herding them would happen. Think of it this way: if they weren't already being herded, I think it would be next to impossible to do so on the relatively short notice that they had when they were amassing their warriors, etc.

That, and I think the way that played out in the end battle helped reinforce the discovery of the nature of the planet.

3D and those nasty glasses just wash out the colors on the screen. I watched Bolt a few years ago in 3D and couldn't stand it--cute movie, but the 3D just wrecked it. I can't even imagine watching a bright movie like Up in that way.

Technicly they raise the contrast and overall brightness to save the colores.

Avatar is the only movie I've seen in 3-D that has appeared to have had the colors/brightness altered. Up in 3-D KILLED the colors.

When the dust settles, I'm afraid that others are right: While the technological/visual aspects make this film deserve any comparison to Star Wars, I don't think it will hold up story-wise as a movie after the dust settles. This film deserves a place in film history on the merits of its visuals and the technology behind them and on the world that Cameron has built, but I think that the OTHER movies that will employ this technology have a better chance as far as story goes. That's not to say that Avatar's story is outright shitty. On the contrary, it goes through its story incredibly well, but it's a familiar story. The movie was pitched to Fox as being Fern Gully in Space and that doesn't even get into comparisons with Pocahontas, Dances With Wolves, etc. But the dialogue is pretty bad in places. But those things don't detract from the movie overall. I can't wait to go see it again on the IMAX. It's really fan-dabi-dozi, and I want to see it as much as I can in 3-D on a big ass screen as it was meant to be.

Panasonic is getting ready to roll out a line of 3-D HDTVs to coincide with Avatar's home release, but it just won't be quite the same, assuming the tech pulls it off in the first place.

I cannot urge you enough if you are on the fence or even in the camp of not buying into 3-D to go see it and see it in 3-D. It's not the gimmicky shit that My Bloody Valentine 3-D and The Final Destination were. It helps to immerse you into the movie. And I will say that the film lives up to the hype it was supposed to, which was on a visual/technological level. Many esteemed film critics are acknowledging this when they review this film, and they're pretty much dead on.

It is the most visually stunning movie I have EVER seen. The story may not be the most original story ever, but unlike others, this is the only movie of its length that I haven't felt like I was watching a nearly 3 hour movie because I found it all to be engaging.

This.

Except I felt the same about The Dark Knight as well

To a certain extent, I would agree that The Dark Knight felt the same way, but I think The Dark Knight suffers from having continually compounding action to the point that the climax didn't seem like much of a traditional climax while Avatar has a very traditional climax.

It is the most visually stunning movie I have EVER seen. The story may not be the most original story ever, but unlike others, this is the only movie of its length that I haven't felt like I was watching a nearly 3 hour movie because I found it all to be engaging.

Final Destination was my first 3D movie. The 3D actually made it watchable, whereas without 3D it would have been one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Not as bad as Final Destination 3, but still bad. That could have just been the novelty of my first 3D movie though.

Please do yourself a favor and see a Disney/Pixar animated movie or Avatar in 3-D as soon as possible.