the random musings not worthy of new thread thread

[Wingspan]

i cant wait until i die and dont have to live in this sickening world

why wait? you can cop a butter joint in the johnson and stop being a head.

[PhillyPhanInDC]

Movie about Flight 93.

Some review:

United 93

By Kirk Honeycutt
Press notes for motion pictures are usually filled with dispensable, self-congratulatory puffery, but the one for the soul-searing film "United 93" contains this trenchant comment from its English writer-director, Paul Greengrass: Speaking of the 40 individuals aboard United Airlines Flight 93, the fourth hijacked plane on that day of infamy, Sept. 11, 2001, he notes that these were the only passengers and crew members on any of those ill-fated flights who knew about the other planes having been used as weapons and realized what was happening to them. "They were the first people to inhabit the post-9/11 world," Greengrass says. These were the first to react to the worldwide conflict we find ourselves in today. Within the microcosm of that reaction, Greengrass has made an emphatic political document, a movie about defiance against tyranny and terrorism.

How many moviegoers will be willing to endure "United 93"? I suspect many will, but what that adds up to in terms of boxoffice is anybody's guess. Understandably, controversy engulfs this film. Is now the right time for such a film? Why make the film at all? These are legitimate questions. No one possesses a "right" answer. But Greengrass has made not only a thoroughly fact-checked film but a film that uncontrovertibly comes from the heart.

Greengrass wants the 91 minutes United 93 was in the air to speak to our tenuous situation in a scary, riven world. A previous film by him anticipates this work. The invaluable "Bloody Sunday" (2002), shot as if it were made by a camera crew at the time, dramatized a 1972 incident in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, where 13 unarmed civil rights demonstrators were shot and killed by British soldiers. Here again he takes a hard look at a cataclysmic event to provoke dialogue.

To keep things as accurate as possible, Greengrass reportedly interviewed more than 100 family members and friends of those who perished. He hired flight attendants and commercial airline pilots to play those roles; hired several civilian and military controllers on duty on Sept. 11, including the FAA's Ben Sliney, to play themselves; culled facts from the 9/11 Commission Report; and rehearsed and shot his actors in an old Boeing 757 at England's Pinewood Studios.

Even Barry Ackroyd's hand-held cinematography, John Powell's muted, anxious score and the plane set fixed to computer-controlled motion gimbals to simulate the pitch and roll of the aircraft urge the viewer to think of this as a you-are-there experience. Yet no one really knows what happened on United 93. We have evidence from phone calls made from the plane and those interviews, but that's where it ends. And that is where an artist can pick up the story.

This is what it probably was like, and the experience overwhelms. Time passes in weird ways. The four nervous terrorists wait seemingly forever to make their move. The panicked passengers wait seemingly forever to make theirs. Helplessness engulfs us, then determination takes hold.

During these breathless moments, Greengrass cuts away to the desperation and confusion in airport control towers, the FAA's overwhelmed operations command center in Herndon, Va., and the military's unprepared operations center at the Northeast Air Defense Sector in upstate New York. For all their monitors and electronic equipment, there is a horrific, low-tech moment when controllers at Newark Airport get a perfect view across the Hudson of the second plane hitting a World Trade Center tower. No one can even speak.

In years to come, United 93 may enter our mythology in ways unimaginable. But for now, we have a starting point. "United 93" is a sincere attempt to pull together the known facts and guesses at the emotional truths as best anyone can. Then, in the movie's final moments, the impact of the heroism aboard United 93 becomes startlingly clear.

UNITED 93
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures and StudioCannal present in association with Sidney Kimmel Entertainment a Working Title production
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Paul Greengrass
Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lloyd Levin, Paul Greengrass
Executive producers: Debra Hayward, Liza Chasin
Director of photography: Barry Ackroyd
Production designer: Dominic Watkins
Composer: John Powell
Costume designer: Dinah Collin
Editors: Clare Douglas, Christopher Rouse, Richard Pearson
Cast:
Donald Freeman Greene: David Rasche
Himself: Ben Sliney
Capt. Jason M. Dahl: JJ Johnson
Todd Beamer: David Alan Basche
Sandra Bradshaw: Trish Gates
Wanda Anita Green: Starla Benford
Maj. Kevin Nasypany: Patrick St. Esprit
Jeremy Glick: Peter Hermann
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 111 minute

Who is going to see it?


Not I.

[ice grillin you]

i definitely am

[Wingspan]

i heard the director got the permission from each surviving family member. as long as that is true, and some of the proceeds go to the families in some way, i have no problem with the movie.

it's not any different than a film like Schindler's List, Munich, Hotel Rwanda, or any other historical retelling of an aweful event. some will be able to watch it, some wont.

i will probably see it, although i will probably wait to rent.

seeing this movie or not will in no way change anyone's perception of the event and the effect it had on the country...hiding from it or ignoring it will not change anything.

i would much rather the movie be told this way - straight forward, gut wrenching, and honest, than the butcher jobs along the likes of Pearl Harbor or the Titanic.

[Feva]

i cant wait until i die and dont have to live in this sickening world

why wait? you can cop a butter joint in the johnson and stop being a head.

HA!

[ice grillin you]

why do people go bonkers over 911 like it was the tragedy of the century...when it happened it was definitely the biggest event in like four or five months...and since then theres been genocides much worse...oh but they didnt happen here...

the biggest event ever as lots of people would have you believe...i dont think so...we dropped an atomic bomb on hiroshima that turned an entire city into the contents of a vacum cleaner bag...tragic as it was two airplanes taking out two skyscrapers is not the worst thing thats ever happened....hell its not even as bad as the iraq "war"

watch the movie or dont watch the movie but discussing whether it should be released is ridiculous

[mussa]

these colors don't run. where's your spirit patriot!

[The BIGSTUD]

Technology out of control.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060420/ap_on_hi_te/anti_ad_skipper

New Technology May Force TV Ad Viewing

By MAY WONG, AP Technology Writer Wed Apr 19, 9:51 PM ET

SAN JOSE, Calif. - In this era of easy ad skipping with
TiVo-like video recorders, could television viewers one day be forced to watch commercials with a system that prevents channel switching?

Yes, according to Royal Philips Electronics. A patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says researchers of the Netherland-based consumer electronics company have created a technology that could let broadcasters freeze a channel during a commercial, so viewers wouldn't be able to avoid it.

The pending patent, published on March 30, says the feature would be implemented on a program-by-program basis. Devices that could carry the technology would be a television or a set-top-box.

Philips acknowledged, however, that the anti-channel changing technology might not sit well with consumers and suggested in its patent filing that consumers be allowed to avoid the feature if they paid broadcasters a fee.

On Wednesday, company officials issued a statement that noted the technology also enables the opposite: allowing viewers to watch television without advertising. The intention was never to force viewers to watch ads against their will, the company said of the technology.

"We developed a system where the viewer can choose, at the beginning of a movie, to either watch the movie without ads, or watch the movie with ads," the company stated. "It is up to the viewer to take this decision, and up to the broadcaster to offer the various services."

The company also said it had no plans to use the technology in any of its products.

Philips wanted to provide the technology and seek the patent only as part of the broader developments within the industry, Philips spokesman Andre Manning said.

I don't even think that is legal. To prevent changing a channel with a commercial comes on? Definitely not legal. Consumers are allowed to browse channels as they please. The thing they could do is not allow you to pause your DVR for 30 minutes and then fast-forward through all the commercials on the show that you are watching. I do that a lot. I'll wait to watch 24 at 9:30 so I can skip the commercials with my DVR.

[MURP]

there is always a way around the " technology. "

[Father Demon]

why do people go bonkers over 911 like it was the tragedy of the century...when it happened it was definitely the biggest event in like four or five months...and since then theres been genocides much worse...oh but they didnt happen here...

the biggest event ever as lots of people would have you believe...i dont think so...we dropped an atomic bomb on hiroshima that turned an entire city into the contents of a vacum cleaner bag...tragic as it was two airplanes taking out two skyscrapers is not the worst thing thats ever happened....hell its not even as bad as the iraq "war"

watch the movie or dont watch the movie but discussing whether it should be released is ridiculous

Many people get killed by senseless violence every day.  It's not news, nor does it cause a reaction from millions of people in this country.  If a person gets killed by senseless violence from your town, people talk about it for a day or two.  If a person gets killed by senseless violence in your neighborhood, people talk about it for days, and feel horrible for the family.  If a person gets killed by senseless violence on your street, neighbors will cook and deliver meals, offer to babysit, help with daily chores like mowing the yard, and will talk about it for a month.  If a person gets killed by senseless violence in your house, you will forever feel a sense of grief, and never stop forgetting.

On 9/11, over 3,000 people were killed by senseless violence in our house.  That's why it's a big deal to people that live in and love living in America, more so than the many other personal disasters around the world.  It's because we are a community of Americans, and the disbelief and grief caused by it will last for a very, very long time.  It's not a political thing, but a tragedy.

Stop thinking your little opinion matters to everyone else, asswipe.

[SunMo]

Stop thinking your little opinion matters to everyone else, asswipe.

what makes your opinion any better than his?  asswipe.

[Father Demon]

Stop thinking your little opinion matters to everyone else, asswipe.

what makes your opinion any better than his?  asswipe.

I don't throw mine out there 1000 times a day to prove how smart I am.  I don't need approval from an anonymous message board.

Asswipe's asswipe.

[ice grillin you]

On 9/11, over 3,000 people were killed by senseless violence in our house.  That's why it's a big deal to people that live in and love living in America, more so than the many other personal disasters around the world.  It's because we are a community of Americans, and the disbelief and grief caused by it will last for a very, very long time.  It's not a political thing, but a tragedy.

im pretty sure if a movie was made next week about katrina no one would have a problem with it...and that was a much worse tragedy...

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Obviously, Katrina only affected welfare-sucking black people, so that's why no one cares about it.  Duh.
^^YES, I'M KIDDING.  DON'T GET YOUR PANTIES IN A BUNCH.^^

But seriously, it's ignorant to underestimate the importance of either of these recent American tragedies.  Are we really supposed to value the lives of thousands of Japanese people 60+ years ago more than those of people killed within a few hundred miles of us in our own generation?

There's a reason that they say time heals all wounds.  Not many people are whining about the casualties of the Civil War anymore.  There's a good reason for that.  It was so long ago that it can't possibly directly affect anyone.

[ice grillin you]

i would never minimize the importance of 911...and thats not even close to what i was saying...i just think its going way overboard to question whether a movie about it should be released...