We’re all just counting down the days until the 25th Downton Abbey film and the 30th generation of the Crawley family—you know, those Space Crawleys who finally hit that massive crossover with the MCU and Star Trek back in 2050. 🙂
I think the big difference here is that COVID was a total wildcard, whereas this—from what I’ve gathered so far—is basically a known entity we already have a vaccine for. So, I don't see us heading back to the days of mask mandates and lockdowns. That said, I totally get why people are still on edge. After everything we went through, anyone would be jumping at the news if they heard some "exotic" disease was spreading outside its usual territory.
Anyway, let's steer clear of all these (honestly, getting kind of tedious) debates about borders and legal rulings for a second... I see Robert Golob is hinting at bringing in ministers from the Liberal Democracy of Canada and the SAB, even though neither of those parties actually made it into Congress (though that might be old news by now—I haven't checked if things have crystallized or if they've backed off yet)... Interesting stuff... I'm not sure how realistic it is for those two groups to actually merge with Freedom anytime soon, especially since they all seem to be hovering around the same ideological space, if you ask me.
Also, total side note here, but does anyone know if there’s ever been a precedent where a Prime Minister pulled ministers from outside parties into a cabinet? I mean, we always see non-partisan or independent people being appointed, but actual party members from outside the legislature?
Does this Freedom Movement have any real shot at picking up those tokens, considering how suddenly they popped up? If things fracture and ten reps walk, and if they're actually willing to vote for them, Janej Janša already holds the majority. 😁
How long do you think these sanctions actually stick once the war is over? Would they stay in place if Putin comes out on top? Like, if we just end up back at the pre-February status quo? Or maybe even going back to how things were before 2014? Or is this something that stays active until Putin finally steps down?
Alright, I’m officially lost on who’s even talking here... Half the comments are like, "Ukrainians aren't fighting back, surrender is just a matter of time," and then the other half are screaming, "The invasion is totally falling apart, Ukrainians are holding the line, and Putin is about to get his teeth kicked in." 😕
bluepuma9 said:I’m leaning towards thinking Coverdale's plan is to have Jelusick and the rest keep the Whitesnake name alive after he settles down, just to keep the money flowing. He might pop up at big shows here and there to give the band some street cred, maybe even keep writing or producing while others handle the singing. That’s just my gut feeling.
Fair enough. The idea of DC staying behind the scenes as the mastermind—kind of like how Tonči Huljić operates with occasional live appearances—is somewhat plausible... though it feels a bit silly given that none of the original lineup is actually there anymore...
Alexander Adams94 said:Coverdale hasn't been able to hit those notes for about ten years now, and he's probably finally admitted it to himself. So, his idea is to have Jelusick supplement the vocals so he doesn't lose out on the royalties for parts he can't sing anymore.
If you ask me, Jelusick isn't quite at the level required for a powerhouse band like Whitesnake. Sure, he's got talent, but compared to the legends in this band, he still feels like an unseasoned kid. The Whitesnake guys are all top 15 players on their respective instruments, whereas Jelusick—not trying to exaggerate here—isn't even in the top 30 of rock vocalists. It sounds like a cliché by American standards, but in the US, you'll find plenty of kids who sing hard rock and heavy metal exactly like him.
But honestly, most arguments boil down to one thing: Coverdale dragging Whitesnake out this far into his 70s is just foolish. What do people want to remember about the last Whitesnake album? That some 30-year-old kid from overseas was doing the singing? That's not the image of the classic American hard rock icons.
Basically, I'm hoping they just need a keyboardist who can provide decent backing vocals. I hope Jelusick doesn't end up having such a massive role that we end up debating whether he's leading the main choruses or not. Maybe they just need a new keyboard player who can pull double duty on backing vocals, since that's clearly not the strong suit of the bassist or the guitarists.
I have no idea where you got the idea that the Whitesnake guys are in the top 15 of anything... Look, I'm not saying they aren't good musicians, but besides Aldridge and Beach, they aren't exactly huge names...
And hey, there's no shortage of old-school American hard rockers who ended up being just one or two original members paired with some kids who were, at best, just kids during the band's prime (and nowadays, those "kids" were often born after the band had already peaked).
Alexander Adams94 said:Look, even if Jelusick is a pretty solid singer by American standards, Coverdale has totally lost the plot here. What’s the deal? He’s basically using Jelusick to fill in the vocals on some farewell tour, and then he expects Whitesnake to keep rolling for another 10 or 15 years with some new kid acting as his heir? Personally, I find Jelusick's voice a bit grating—so yeah, maybe I'm biased—but honestly, this move feels crazy. At some point, you have to face reality: you're 70 years old, you've been in a massive band for over 40 years, and it might be time to wrap things up. But I guess his ego won't let him retire Whitesnake, so now we get these nonsense plans. I mean, sure, it's cool that an American is part of Whitesnake, but in my opinion, Coverdale's thinking is completely warped. He's just lost it.
I haven't seen anything anywhere suggesting Coverdale wants Whitesnake to carry on without him... Dino is just there providing backing vocals and keys.
Plus, Whitesnake without DC wouldn't even make sense. He *is* Whitesnake. The whole history of the band has basically just been Coverdale plus a rotating door of different musicians.
Maybe once Coverdale finally retires (or, God forbid, passes away), I could see an all-star tribute band made up of former members. Something like how the Dio Disciples formed after RJD passed, or those Thin Lizzy reunions they've done over the last few decades after Phil died.
It’s a genre that gets slapped onto just about everything. I even saw people trying to shove The Terminator into this category. WTF.
briskhound2 said:Noir evolved just like any other genre. And you can't talk about these movies without talking about literature. Pure noir is depressing. You don't get detectives or moral winners there. Think movies like D.O.A. or Sunset Boulevard. Then comes Raymond Chandler, who creates Philip Marlowe, and suddenly you have The Big Sleep, which is actually hardboiled. Moving through the 70s and 80s, the two genres start to blend. You get that dark, bleak look at modern society (noir) mixed with stuff like Harper (hardboiled), where you actually have a hero you can root for—someone with a bit of a moral compass. Honestly, neo-noir is a much more legitimate successor to hardboiled films than actual noir is. Real noir hasn't really existed since the 30s or 40s. 🙂
But The Big Sleep came out before both those movies you mentioned. 😁 Not to mention the whole Marlowe thing. 😁
So where does that leave the 60s? I've read in a few places that Chinatown is considered the first neo-noir, but there was stuff way before that. You've got Boorman's Point Blank, or even earlier, Blast of Silence and those Samuel Fuller films from the early 60s (Underworld USA, Naked Kiss, and Shock Corridor). Now, those are still black and white, and Fuller even shot one of the last noirs back in '59, The Crimson Kimono... Personally, I call those early neo-noirs—the ones that popped up right at the tail end of the classic era—"post-noir."
I’m really digging this one. Honestly, it’s easily one of the most stunning films I’ve seen lately, especially in terms of how it looks on the big screen.
If I had to pick his weakest work so far, it would probably be Steve Irwin, though that’s just because it's the only one I watched at home instead of catching it in a theater. 😁 Still got about half his movies left to go before I can make a final call...
Saw him yesterday over by Central Park, and I gotta say... Is it just me, or did he look exactly like a character from one of those old Hollywood classics? 😉
rustywalker42 said:Just go to arkod.com and check it yourself. Hard to say. I assume you aren't planning on living there? How far away from the place are you?
Finally getting back to this after disappearing for three years. 🤣
Spot on—I definitely wouldn't want to live there. My plan right now is to stay in Washington, D.C.—though, honestly, I’m also looking at moving abroad in a year or two, maybe even becoming a full-time nomad... I just have no clue how much work would actually be doable alongside that. And, you know, whether it even makes sense to hire someone to handle the heavy lifting (with my current bank account, probably not anytime soon).
I'm really wondering if we're even talking about the same person here. 😁 Actually, now that I think about it, there are two of them—it's just that the second one is slightly less annoying and doesn't have a partner (or at least doesn't drag them to the movies), though they show up a bit less often. 😁
I never really understood all that whining about old-school theaters and how the rise of megaplexes and moving cinemas into shopping malls supposedly "killed" movie culture and all that. $15 It’s just way too much. I don't know if prices spiked recently or if it's always been this way—I wouldn't know because I don't pay full price, right? I use my student ID, so I'm paying about a third less. Plus, you've got those cheaper Tuesdays and Wednesdays, early screenings, weekend matinees... 😁 Though even now, things have gotten pretty pricey. Longer movies and Extreme2D screenings end up costing more than $10 even with those discounts applied...
Anyway, this is probably drifting into a different topic. 😛
Do you even get what the first post in this thread was actually asking?
Kenneth Anderson6 said:Are there any movies you’ve started—maybe once, maybe more—but just couldn't finish? And honestly, probably never will? For me, it's stuff like:
8 1/2 All About Eve Lost in Translation The Magnificent Seven Shane Nomadland
I think La dolce vita and Fanny and Alexander might fit too, though I'm not totally sure.
Mainly because some are just plain boring, others aren't bad per se, they're just way too long-winded. Or there's just way too much talking and dialogue in some of them.
Dennis Hall41 said:I rarely stop halfway through a movie—maybe once or twice a year at most. If I actually fall asleep or have to pause for some random reason, it drives me crazy. I just have to get back to it immediately. Thank god for DVR.
Wait, didn't you say on the last page that you had like a couple thousand movies like that? 😁
When did he actually say that? From what I can tell, this was filmed over a year and a half ago.
Anyway, I finally sat down to watch it yesterday, mostly just to see Liam and Fishburne. Honestly? Pretty mediocre and super boring. The action was nothing special, the characters were dull, the plot felt totally cookie-cutter, and the villains... man, they had zero charisma. Just forgettable. I really don't get what happened to movie villains lately. Remember when roles like that were given to heavyweights like Lance Henriksen, Christopher Walken, Rutger Hauer, Klaus Kinski, Lee van Cleef, Christopher Lee, Henry Silva, Richard Lynch, John P. Ryan, Powers Boothe, Gary Busey, Tommy Lee Jones, Jack Palance, Robert Patrick, or Ron Silver? Those guys could take a decent movie and elevate the whole thing just by showing up on screen.
To be honest, I can't even think of a single standout villain in a movie since Hans Lando, but that’s probably a conversation for another thread.
I might go see it just for Liam. Though, honestly, I’m not expecting much.
Pretty sure this is already his third movie this year. And we're barely halfway through. 😁
I can't even remember which of his action flicks was actually decent lately... I think I heard some good things about The Commuter, but haven't caught it yet... I did see Cold Pursuit, that was probably the last good one. Personally, I don't mind if he keeps doing action, but man, those last two or three were pretty mediocre...🤦