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Messages - Jurisprude

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1
Movies and TV / Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
« on: July 22, 2009, 10:37:28 PM »
I disliked the book because of harry's mindless obsession being right, though i did enjoy the film, but 2 points of the movie bugged me, malfoy doesn't have crab and goyle trailing him in the guise of girls nor do they show the memories of voldemorts uncle

If anything, I was most disappointed that they gave short shrift to the final battle in Hogwarts - could have been some excellent cinematic moments there ...  hopefully some things get added back in for the DVD.

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Movies and TV / Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
« on: July 15, 2009, 03:02:01 PM »
Just saw it.  Quick thoughts on the new Harry Potter film:  Have to say that I thought it was very well done.  I haven't read any of the books since the last book was published, and hadn't seen any of the films since the previous one was released.  So Harry Potter has not really been on my mind until about 2 days ago when I realized this movie was coming out. 

The director had a very sure grip on the movie, striking a very balanced tone between drama, tension, comedy, and teenage angst.  The movie could have used a bit more action, especially at the end as the whole death-eaters-in-the-school was a particularly gripping action sequence in the book.  The acting all around was excellent, particularly Jim Broadbent as Slughorn - he was fantastic.  And this was probably the first of all the HP movies that I enjoyed Ron - both the character and the acting.

All in all this film was a great way to revisit the Potter world.  My wife and I will probably go back and read books 6 and 7 again.

3
Movies and TV / Re: Avatar
« on: June 30, 2009, 08:08:05 PM »
I've been an avatard for a while, and so I've been trying to follow the movie info since it was first announced, and I have to say I'm midly impressed so far.  I'm sure that this movie is just going to cover the first season.

A great person to follow to get information is http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/.  She worked on the cartoon series and one of her journals links you to a WHOLE BUNCH of the old animaters on devart.  Plus, some of the fan art (is it fan art if they were part of the animation team for the actual show?) is funny.

So will it be a planned trilogy then? following the plot of the TV series?

Too bad we have to wait until summer 2010 to see this.

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Books / Re: Best "Classic" Fantasy/Sci-fi
« on: June 30, 2009, 07:57:22 PM »
You almost have to put Lord of the Rings in its own category, everything else competes for second place.

5
The whole Uhura/Spock thing did take some getting used to ...

I thought Zachary Quinto did a great job though.  The acting all around was good; especially liked Simon Pegg as Scotty.  Prompted me to go out and rent "Run Fat Boy, Run", a fun little British indie (?) flick staring him, Hank Azaria, and Thandie Newton.

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Movies and TV / Re: Avatar
« on: June 29, 2009, 07:22:08 PM »
any links to the movie trailer anywhere?

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Everything Else / Re: What is your favorite type of Soda?
« on: June 26, 2009, 08:05:58 PM »
Sunkist all the way baby.

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Movies and TV / Re: Avatar
« on: June 26, 2009, 07:56:21 PM »
Sorry to bump back to the top, a show that is done and gone for quite some time, but I came across this thread and have to show the love for Avatar.  Major fan.  A show that my kids and I both can thoroughly enjoy.  Fantastic idea for a show and wonderful execution.  Great characters, character development, character arc, storytelling, themes and moralizing, and on and on.   And the finale was superb.

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Movies and TV / R.I.P. Pushing Daisies
« on: June 26, 2009, 07:50:20 PM »
A show that was brilliant and clever and underappreciated.   A breath of fresh air in the landscape of primetime.  Sorry to see it go. 

10
Movies and TV / Re: Eragon
« on: June 26, 2009, 07:46:31 PM »
not to pile on, but casting my lot in with the rest of the "Eragon=bad" camp.  The sad thing is, I actually read Eragon on the recommendation of an acquaintance before I had read any of WoT or any Brandon Sanderson, and I kind of liked it.  Then my wife and I read Eldest together about the same time we started in on WoT, and there was no comparison.  I was so bored with Eldest by the end of it, and some of the writing was literally eyeball-rolling-and-groan-inducing.  Although we have a copy of Brisinger I haven't been able to bring myself around to reading it. 

And the Eragon movie was patently awful.

11
I missed this during the first free go-round, ended up buying it from iTunes.  Love it.  Love showing the opening scene/musical number from part 1 to random people and seeing their reactions.

12
Movies and TV / Re: Coolest movie scenes of all time
« on: June 26, 2009, 07:37:54 PM »
The entire opening montage from Raising Arizona (along with several other scenes from that movies). 

All of the fight scenes from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

The first 40 minutes or so of Wall-E.


To name a few ...

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Site News / Re: Introduce yourself - right on!
« on: June 26, 2009, 07:30:02 PM »
Hey.

Former sci-fi/fantasy-reading-music-nerd in my high school days, now masquerading in the real world as an attorney, husband, and father of 5.  Recently got turned on to the Wheel of Time, plowed through all of the books at a pretty good pace, and learned about B.S. completing the series, then to his website, then to this website, then to free e-copy of Warbreaker which I thoroughly enjoyed.

From Sandy, Utah originally and currently, with stops at Brazil (2-year LDS mission), Provo (BYU undergrad and JD), Cincinnati (M.A., M.B.A.), and Cedar City (working at the Utah Shakespearean Festival [it's the best! go buy tickets!]) in between.


14
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Official Gathering Storm Cover Impressions
« on: June 26, 2009, 07:23:14 PM »
Agree that the cover art for this is just awful.  I haven't paid all that much attention to the other covers, the only one that stands out is Path of Daggers, the rest I would categorize as either mediocre or not good.  I remember thinking that on the Crown of Swords cover Rand looked different than on the other covers ... kind of like a skinny version of Stephen Baldwin (ugh).  In general the other covers seem very passive (i.e., Fires of Heaven, Lord of Chaos).

Thinking back to the cover art of the fantasy series I read as a kid, I remember really enjoying the original Shannara cover art from the first couple books.  I was not a fan of the original Belgariad artwork.  The Dragonlance artwork was pretty good, even if the books were just okay.  I think that the Xanth artwork was more hit than miss.

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Brandon Sanderson / Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« on: June 26, 2009, 07:08:42 PM »
***** SPOILER ALERT *****

Why are "the current crop of Hallandren gods . . . so much more erratic than their predecessors"? (as thought by Dedelin, ebook pg. 31)

I know that we get this idea more fleshed out later in Lightsong's interactions with Allmother, but is there ever an explicit explanation as to why the current crop of gods has become more selfish and "erratic" than their predecessors?  Is this just a natural outgrowth of a mature socio/economic/theocratic society that is beginning a downward slide, or could there be other explanations that fit in line with the underground Pahn Kahl/Bluefingers plot to bring down Hallandren?

If the latter, I would theorize that as part of his overall plan to incite war between Hallandren and Idris, Bluefingers employed a strategy of coddling the Hallandren gods to the point that they did not care about the Hallandren people, thus introducing a potential element of unrest into Hallandren society.  The parts of Bluefingers' plan that are explicitly mentioned in the book include swaying/bribing the various priest factions to increasingly argue for war with the Idrians, while at the same time fomenting the Idrian underclasses in Hallandren itself.  Could it be that an implied part of his plan also included subtly pushing the Hallandren gods toward more indolence and self-absorption?

Maybe there are more clues in the various Lightsong musings, but I haven't gone back looking for clues yet.

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