RockMyAmadeus

That's the way to do it. Come out swingin', take no damn prisoners!

He is responses...? I don't think that's accurate. He seems more like a person to me.

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(adjusts glasses)...can someone help this poor old man see what is written here...?

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I am just saying. there is room for both mindless music (see your radio dial) and Beethoven. Each serve a purpose and have a time and a place. Both can be enjoyable. Who said there wasn't....? (Hint: nobody.) The issue was the hack job that is The Last Jedi. It's garbage. And, while it has redeeming qualities...cinematographically, it's a masterpiece...but, then, so were the Prequels...it is gross, insulting, condescending tripe...and this is the part you should understand: it's not stand alone tripe. It had a foundation that was about as strong as exists, cinematically. They only need have built upon that which was already there. Instead, they ripped the foundation to shreds, because...well...they're in Hollywood, and you're not, so they know better than you... ....right?

Well, then, that explains that! This is quite possible. I'd say "highly probable" at this point. Sorry. I am not shocked. Nor should you be, as I just said. Sorry I hurt your feelings you bitter old man! :P I may just go cry in the corner for a good hour. Are you happy now? Making an old man cry....

Heaven's no. That's why they are who they are, and that is why their work has lasted. There's more than enough from the masters to enjoy in several lifetimes. Poor Cicero...he only had Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates to draw from...no slouches, mind you, but what Cicero could have done with Shakespeare boggles the mind...

But of course! You start condescending ("bitter, old"), and you ought not be surprised when you get condescending in return. That has ever been the case...but the condescenders don't want to admit their condescension, and act shocked....SHOCKED, I say!....when they get a spoonful in return. Who is "we"...? Do you have more than one person floating around in your cerebellum...? Name one. And explain how. If you can. Agreed...which is why one ought not be calling people bitter and old sans provocation, non...?

Speaking of Picasso and knowing the rules before breaking them, consider this: It is a masterpiece of light, color, form, and anatomy. There are some slight errors in it...for example, the chair is out of proportion with the girl kneeling on it and the man standing next to it...but Picasso obviously knew the rules before breaking them and becoming the surrealist master that he was. And he painted this when he was 15!

Is there a word to describe bitter, old Star-Wars fans who are upset that they will never be able to recapture the magic they felt as children watching the originals? Ooo, contentious provocation! I love it! Let me respond by asking you a question in return: does the recognition of works that objectively violate time honored, long established rules of storytelling and craftsmanship always result in accusations of "bitterness" from those who lack the skills necessary to differentiate between good art and bad art...? Bad "art" is bad "art", regardless of the motives of the one who recognizes it as such. I'm not bitter because I recognize that Rob Liefeld makes bad "art." Are you? The Last Jedi is, objectively, bad "art." It violates all sorts of conventions of storytelling, like plot, character development, character motivation, pacing, etc. You may not be familiar with this, but in the arts, there is a concept that has often been expressed throughout the centuries: if you're going to break the rules, you first must know them inside and out. That's what Mozart did, that's what Beethoven did, that's what Monet did, that's what Picasso (who is a brilliant example!) did, that's what Hemingway did, that's what Steinbeck did, that's what Kurosawa did, and that's what Spielberg did. These men knew the rules, and demonstrated that they knew the rules, before breaking them. And they knew they were breaking them, and why they were breaking them, when they did so. But hacks either ignore the rules, or don't know them in the first place, and so have no idea why they're breaking the rules of craftsmanship, or even that they are. This leads to illogical, disjointed works that have no lasting impact on anyone, because the people who made them did not have any respect for what makes great art....or, for that matter, even passably entertaining art. The result is a hodgepodge mess of junk that makes no sense, and is little more than a vehicle for advancing the personal ideologies of the "creators" involved. In other words: propaganda. And no...very little propaganda has ever survived as great works of art. Maybe...MAYBE...Prokofiev and Shostakovich, who, while producing propaganda for the Soviets, still managed to create masterworks. If I want to "recapture the magic I felt as a child", I simply watch those movies again. Piece of cake. And old...? Since when is 46 "old"...?

I learned a new phrase this week: "subverted expectations." And I learned that it is used by hacks who neither respect their source material, nor their audience, to justify vomiting their hackery upon the world, a la "The Last Jedi."

Yeah, but one would hope that as time goes on, we as a society would expand our knowledge. The last 30+ years has seen a dumbing down of American society that is boggling and troubling. I know Canada and Australia and France and England have "fake" news to an extent, but its acceptance as fact seems far less than what we have seen from the American public (especially of late). Any time someone mentions "flat earth" I just have to wonder how someone of the 21st century lacks a basic understanding of something that was known to the ancients. I don't disagree with you, but I suspect that the reasons why would be hotly debated, were such debates possible on this board (they are not.) And it's been over 100 years in coming, not just the last 30. I've seen people I think of as having "considerably above average" intellect spout the most ludicrous, backwards, utterly-opposed-to-objective-reality things...and, no doubt, they've had the same reaction to me. When people can't agree on fundamental principles, much less the finer details, the civilization falls.When "your truth" is more important than THE truth....and, in fact, when a large section of any society maintains that there's not even any such thing as THE truth...that civilization fails. It happened in Egypt, it happened in India, it happened in China, it happened in Rome, it happened in the British Empire, it happened in France, it happened in Germany, it's happening in the US. After all...Neal Adams believes...despite all scientific evidence to the contrary...that the earth has "expanded" over the eons. Neal Adams is not a stupid man. But that's tinfoil type stuff, as we currently understand physics, both classical and quantum. Sadly, the only solution after the line has been passed is bloodshed. That's humanity for you. When we no longer have anything in common, there's nothing left to defend but ourselves.

while everyone loves to quote many other lines from this movie, this is one of my favorite scenes and one that rarely people mention. LOVE IT I relate to it, for obvious reasons.

Around the world, baby!

I mean, you're not wrong. Sure he is. This isn't new. It's just human nature. It is true everywhere, at every time, in any place where humans have been. It happened in Greece, it happened in Rome, it happened in Sumeria, it happened in Thebes, it happens in Paris, London, Berlin, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Phnom Penh, etc. It's hardly unique to America in the early 21st century.

Yeah, take that, you dumb Americans!

"This week year back from CGC" (Not a reflection on turnaround, just my slowness in scanning)

Same. Not many but no problems and all the raw books purchased through them have come back 9.8. Yes, I am very, VERY pleased that the couple of times I ordered from them, they didn't send me the junk books. I pre-ordered, so the books they sent me were, for the most part, 9.8s, with just a couple of 9.6s sprinkled in. I know several outfits that cherrypick the books, then send the drek out to customers. Not them.

I've done business with Unknown on at least two occasions, and was quite satisfied with the service I received.

It's getting weirder and weirder to see these old threads. Like watching home movies on a VCR, but you don't own a VCR....

"Meh." My review.