Stuff.

[camrogers]

At first glance: cheesy. In aggregate: brilliant. Gives Me Hope.

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Completely artificial French popstar Josh Gosfield. Gibson says she looks the way he always imagined Molly Millions. Now that he mentions it, same here pretty much. I never, ever, ever imagined her as Liv Tyler. Or Haydn Christiansen as Case. Was hoping this latest attempt at filming Neuromancer had been stillborn like the others. Looks like not. Might pretend it was. For the rest of my life.

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Russian kid killed by exploding chewing gum. After dipping it in explosive.

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Of interest to the web-savvy and those who admire them: 10 Web Trends to Watch in 2010.

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First audiences rave about Avatar. Fingers crossed. What I find telling is the one viewer toward the end who comments that he'll probably like it less once he has time to think about it, but loves it now. Which is what happened with Episode One. Test audiences - high on the sense of having been taken to the bosom of their idol and ambushed by camera crews - raved, only to find enthusiasm withering by the time they hit the car park.

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For a long time I've been interested in the historical truth behind the life of Jesus Christ, but never got around to properly reading Josephus or any other historian who was in the area at the time. Nonetheless, this article intrigued me and I'll get around to reading it when I've got the time.

Comments

[drjon.livejournal.com]

Josephus only mentions as an aside a person who might be the Yeshua ben Yosef we think of as Jesus Christ. He only mentions him three times. And the scholarship is pretty conclusive (outside of Xtian scholars) that at least two, and possibly all three, of those are later additions (an unkind person would say "forgeries"). No-one else contemporary mentions Yeshua.

Read Josephus. But don't read him for this.

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

There are two other historians who operated at the time, and for the life of me I can't remember who they were.

The best conclusion I can draw based on what triangulation is available (and what little I've read) is that the person we know as Jesus Christ was, actually, a fairly naive country lad who wound up being used as a scapegoat/stalkinghorse/meatshield by the anti-Roman activists of the Escariot. Does that sound about right to you?

[drjon.livejournal.com]

I can't draw a conclusion: I'd need some good evidence, and I don't think there is any.

My suspicion is that there might have been a Nazarene Rabbi Yeshua ben Yosef at around that time, but his life would have borne almost no relationship to that described in the New Testament gospels, which were almost certainly (due to their note-perfect riffing of Pagan Gnosticism of the time) teaching stories developed by a syncratic Grecojudaic Gnostic Mystery Cult in the area, later hijacked by its own outer fundementalist-literalist church and stripped of its Inner Mysteries.

I am also firmly of the opinion that focusing on a belief in a literal Historical Jesus is the best and easiest way of avoiding the positive elements that the philosophical doctrines and teachings Christianity has to offer, and creating a violent, destructive monster.

I do actually think you're right about two other contemporary writers, now I stop to think about it, but I also seem to recall the credibility of their intext references being soundly shot down in flames as later "additions" as well--but those books are in a pile here somewhere right now. When they surface, I'll consult.

But as I said, do read Josephus.

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

I love the internet. That was great.

[drjon.livejournal.com]

Not as great as Josephus.

Also, I don't explicitly mention that the above is the deranged ranting opinions only of an Agnostic Gnostic, and can be safely ignored if you can find someone who Knows What The Fcuk Of Which They Speak. If you want to dive in, The Jesus Myth by Freke and Gandy is hated and despised by all the right people, so I'd recommend that as a starting point.

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

Well the first author is off to a flying start with a surname like that.

[stabarinde.livejournal.com]

I always leaned towards the idea that he was an insurgent freedom fighter, wanting to unite Jew and Gentile in uprising against the Roman occupation.

A fiction, quite likely, but a more entertaining one than the usual. :)

[kalinichta.livejournal.com]

At first glance: cheesy. In aggregate: brilliant. Gives Me Hope.

I read about four pages of it this morning and was crying like a girl.

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

Unexpectedly cool, innit?

[greylock.livejournal.com]

It's certainly a super antidote to FML.

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

I dont know what that is and I probably prefer it that way.

[greylock.livejournal.com]

FML is Fuck My Life.
It's probably the original, humanity being what it is.

[ashamel.livejournal.com]

GMH was explicitly created as an anti-FML.

What little I've read of FML seemed fake anyway.

[greylock.livejournal.com]

I thought some of the GMH we take too. *shrug*

[ashamel.livejournal.com]

Such are the iniquities of the world.

[greylock.livejournal.com]

Test audiences - high on the sense of having been taken to the bosom of their idol and ambushed by camera crews - raved, only to find enthusiasm withering by the time they hit the car park.

The difference? Cameron is a director's director. His bad movies are few and far between. Even Titanic is a solid, enjoyable movie. I could live without ever having to see it again (maybe if Jack and Rose are cut down substantially) but it was not awful -- THAT song aside.

That said, he has not made that many movies.

Re: Neuromancer cast

[yamakasi.livejournal.com]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Re: Neuromancer cast

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

Tell me about it. It's like watching looters.

Re: Neuromancer cast

[damien-wise.livejournal.com]

Tyler as 3Jane could work. As Molly, no.
Haydn Christiansen can, as they say, go suck a fuck.

Simon Pegg noted that much word-of-mouth and even some "reviews" on the net of "Avatar" aren't worth much if the writer hasn't watched the film.
Then he saw the premier and love it. Said this review nails things: http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=133552

Re: Neuromancer cast

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

3Jane was always meant to be the sexy-librarian/oblivious-sociopath type. Always saw her as a kind of flawless-but-bland European beauty. Tight, conservative hairstyle. Simple, unflamboyant-yet-hideously-expensive knee length ensemble.

Then again, maybe I'm channeling Rachel from Bladerunner. Actually, yeah, I am.

Re: Neuromancer cast

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

OK, going by that review I NEED to see this in 3D. The iMax near the city must be doing that, surely.

Re: Neuromancer cast

[greylock.livejournal.com]

Come with us. We're getting the old LOTR gang back together.

Re: Neuromancer cast

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

Hey, that sounds fun. Are you planning on being here for it?

Re: Neuromancer cast

[damien-wise.livejournal.com]

BYO cloak and offworld jungle strength mozzie-repellent. :)

I'd like to see it in 3D, if only to see how far Weta have pushed the art and science of CGI.
Trying not to get caught-up in the hype and think that this film should live or die by its script and performances, not flashy effects or 3D gadgetry.

While IMAX is an impressively large screen and does the "So huge it's immersive"-thing, it's double the price of elsewhere and the sound is muddy. While I'm griping about IMAX, its projector drops the resolution for 3D, and on such a large screen some people get really bugged by the pixellation. YMMV.
Most suburban megaplexes around Melbourne how have a few 3D projectors. I saw "Coraline" in 3D at my local cinema (Chadstone) and it was quite pleasant.

Re: Neuromancer cast

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

My friend James was griping how he was James Cameron's bitch. He spent two weeks moving all that gear in. Cinemas all over town got upgraded for Avatar.

Re: Neuromancer cast

[stabarinde.livejournal.com]

His tweet on departing the theatre was; "Game changing". GMH . :)

On the other hand, Popbitch reports that Guy Ritchie commented on departing the premier that it was nothing to worry about. But then, Guy Ritchie is an idiot.

Re: Neuromancer cast

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

I suspect Guy Ritchie may be processing rage on several fronts.

Re: Neuromancer cast

[greylock.livejournal.com]

Unless Guy Ritchie can (a) please old school Holmes fans and (b) not make a movies that sucks balls, I strongly suspect the only noises I want to hear from the director of Rock'n'rolla and Castaway are "glub, glub, glub" as the drowns in the neartest urinal of bad talent.

Re: Neuromancer cast

[damien-wise.livejournal.com]

I consider myself a bit of a Sherlock Holmes fan. Jeremy Brett's portrayal was the best, and I'm also fond of Basil Rathbone's version. Tom Baker plays Tom Baker in "The Hound of the Baskervilles".

If you have any doubt that the new film will be anything but a dumb action-fest, it's a Joel Silver production with his buddy Hans Zimmer bashing things together in 3-4 time like a demented chimpanzee to make the soundtrack.
The trailer looks dire (and why does it re-use the same "yoik!" stunt over and over?). Guy Ritchie's only good work was "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels".
Oh, and they've already announced a sequel -- <sotto-voce>franchise!</sotto-voce>

Re: Neuromancer cast

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

Is it out already then? if not, announcing a sequel seems premature.

Re: Neuromancer cast

[greylock.livejournal.com]

Guy Ritchie's only good work was "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels".

'Snatch' was quite entertaining. Admittedly, it was the same thing as 'Lock Stock', but he's used that trick several times now.