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Cam Bert

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Everything posted by Cam Bert

  1. They went off to the fabled land of Arizona which despite being an American state may or may not speak English.
  2. First Girl! is the boat. Second is shrimp, and the third are the two blondes.
  3. Plus, with the Greek family there is a work side to it as well. I find thunderstorms to be exciting. Walks in the rain, only if voluntary. Trying to get from the station to my house on a rainy day is annoying, but if I'm at home and it starts sure sounds like fun.
  4. I get that. I mean the story is rather simple and straight forward and I think when you put that aside you can focus on the weirder aspects of the story which makes it a bit more enjoyable. For example, he's like a son to TWO families? Which one do you think he loves more?
  5. I remember when Cameron first reviewed the movie he mentioned there were only two girls in Girls! Girls! Girls! Well, need I remind us that boats and ships are female and his true love was his boat so I guess that makes it the third girl in Girls! Girls! Girls!
  6. Cam Bert

    HDTGM Classics Pluto Nash 7/12

    If it's possible could we do the following week? I usually have to work a Saturday a month and unfortunately they've been lining up with our plans. If this week is better for everybody else though I understand.
  7. If you ever meet an English person ask them about Bugsy Malone. Apparently it is much bigger there and a very common school play to do. I'm all ready for Girls! Girls! Girls! Girls! Girls! Girls! Girls! Girls! Girls! Girls! Girls! Girls! Girls! I think that was one too many.
  8. Crunchy sandwich? So one with a pickle?
  9. Cam Bert

    Episode 215.5 - Minisode 215.5

    I've had two albeit similar-ish ones and @tomspanks use to be a cat!
  10. Cam Bert

    Episode 215.5 - Minisode 215.5

    For whatever reason they tend to make it real lemony. Also, tzatziki without the dill is like rock without the roll.
  11. Cam Bert

    Episode 215.5 - Minisode 215.5

    Number 2 after hummus.
  12. Cam Bert

    Episode 215.5 - Minisode 215.5

    What? No! I didn't necessarily expect you to jump onto hummus with me but not this. Not siding with ranch!
  13. Cam Bert

    Episode 215.5 - Minisode 215.5

    Not to sell out my Blue Cheese brethren but my favourite thing to dip raw veggies in is hummus
  14. Cam Bert

    Episode 215.5 - Minisode 215.5

    Okay, how about we find some middle ground like this?
  15. Cam Bert

    Toy Story

    I think this is a fair point and it is something I often think of. Being a big comic nerd there was a philosophy that Stan Lee use to have and that is every comic book is somebody's first comic book. Meaning that a new reader can pop in at anytime, so an issue (again this is before the Michael Bendis write for the graphic novel era) should be somewhat approachable to them. I feel this way about movie sequels. Naturally you should watch them in order but a part 2 or 3 could be somebody's first. That movie should be able to stand on its own as a movie regardless of knowledge of the other parts. As much as I love the Marvel films I think they don't do this well, but they are a bit of a unique exception with their story telling structure. Anyway, what I wanted to say why I agree with you about Toy Story lying the foundation for the universe, but I come down on the other side of the question. I think if somebody had never seen Toy Story that Toy Story 3 still holds up. Now, maybe the emotional impact of it might not be as great and there are maybe a few things that aren't so obvious (I think people would be wondering why Woody is in charge). Case in point, the ending is still as effective because the movie does re-enforce this idea of Woody being Andy's favourite childhood toy. If we've seen from the start we know this and is maybe that much more tragic, but 3 goes a long way in letting the audience know that Woody and Andy do have this special bond. I do agree that 3 probably wouldn't be as successful if it wasn't a sequel, but I think the quality of the movie would be. I am genuinely curious now to hear from somebody that started with 2 or 3 and their thoughts on the matter.
  16. Cam Bert

    Episode 215.5 - Minisode 215.5

    Typical Ranch-ist attitude
  17. Cam Bert

    Toy Story

    So basically as I said to me if you want to point to the fault of the AFI Top 100 the easiest example of what is wrong with it all is Toy Story. Now I should say, I like Toy Story. I think it's a good, not wholly original, story with some at the time state of the art visuals. However, if I want to watch a Pixar movie, if I want to cry, if I want to entertain a child, etc. Toy Story is not going to be the one I pick. If I wanted to show somebody who's never seen a computer animated film, it's not the one I would show. This doesn't make it bad but it makes it confusing as to why it's on this list, because I bet the majority of people feel similar. The simple answer is if you ask any of the critics or filmmakers who put it on the list the answer will be "When I saw it in 1995 my mind was blown! The use of technology was incredible." These say nothing about the actual movie itself. However, I think there are four main areas in which this film raises questions about the whole list and what gets on it. So I'll break it down bit by bit. A. ) The first film in the series represents the whole series/movement, regardless if it is truly the best. So the AFI has a few movie series on its list. You have Indian Jones, Star Wars, Jaws, Lord of the Rings, Psycho, etc. and other films like Snow White that aren't actually part of a literal series but the first in a line of something. While some of the series like Jaws and Psycho are clearly diminishing returns in which the first cannot be topped, others like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings are debatable. We've had the Lord of the Rings discussion and we had some of the Star Wars one in here already, we know there is contention to which one is the best. With Lord of the Rings, Return of the King was the big award winner and Two Towers is the most critically praised. However, the first film in these series set the tone for what the movies were. It established the technology to achieve the visuals. It made the look and tone of what to follow, and therefore the first film in the serues is included regardless if it truly is the best. However, with Toy Story clearly nobody considers the first the best. The 100% Rotten Tomato score was discussed but 2 achieved this feat as well and Armond White was the only thing holding 3 back. If you go to any ranked list of Pixar movies parts 2 and 3 are often higher than 1. They expand on the story and the world and find new stories and often more complex stories to tell. To default to putting Toy Story on the list over 2 or 3 is another example of "Well, this film represent the Toy Story series" but on top of that it is also ticking off my second point. B. ) The first is always best and nothing else is considered unless you are a well known or respected name One of the things you'll read about Toy Story is that it is the first fully computer animated feature film. That's impressive. I remember being impressed as a child as well. However, I might have been more impressed if not for a year early I was watching Re:Boot. Re:Boot for those not in the know was the first fully computer animated TV show. Now, the level in quality between the two is different. Then again with one they are working on a 90 minute movie and the other 12 episodes of a weekly series. I only bring this up to point out that Toy Story wasn't miles ahead. Animation was moving in that direction. Pixar themselves had made short films. Tin Toy was talked about and then of course Luxo Jr. People in the animation world had seen these and with the push of computer visual effects in movies the animation world was moving in that way anyway. So yes Toy Story got the be the first feature length film to be entirely computer animated, but that's a historical note, not a stamp of quality on the film. Do you know who the first fully computer generated character in a live action film was? It's Jar Jar Binks. Now, if you are into animation and that you can look at the technical skill that went into making him. However, is he the best computer generated character? No, because people don't care so much about the skill that made him, they care more about his annoying character, accent, stale humor, etc. So if we can look past it there, why not here? As discussed the people in the film are a bit of nightmare fuel. They couldn't do it and it shows. So if humans are so hard, shouldn't we praise the first one with good looking humans more? The fact that it was it's first of it kind kinda of puts the blinders on people. It makes a film important but that doesn't necessarily make it the greatest. Basically, it is easy for us to divorce "first" from "greatest" when the end product is clearly lacking. However, for something like Toy Story and many other films on the list when the end result is actually good but not perfect it gets harder to separate first and greatest. I fully predict Avatar to be on the next AFI list. A lot will be said about it's 3D technology, but that's because it's James Cameron and made money. They're not going to go back through the history of 3D schlock just "this was the first digital 3D film that started a multiyear trend." Again, being first doesn't make something great in and of itself. C. ) "Cultural importance" and actual pop culture impact are often different If you think of an animated film these days the first thing that comes to mind for most is a 3D computer animated movie. For the large majority of animated films in America that is the way these days. Now it's easy to say that's because of Toy Story but is it really? This is where things fall into a bit of the "what if" game territory. If Toy Story was a failure would have animation gone back to traditional 2D? Probably not. As I said, the trend wheel was already moving on this. If Toy Story wasn't a success the next or third one would have been. Pixar did start out grossing Disney animated films, but this also coincides with the end of the Disney Renaissance. However, if you want to talk about Box Office gross the real story is with Pixar's 5th film Finding Nemo. Until The Incredibles 2 last year, Finding Nemo (adjusted for inflation) was the highest grossing Pixar movie. It was a true phenomenon. Also between those film there was another very successful computer animated franchise starting movie called Shrek that came out. Now, to we attribute all that success to Toy Story and saying it "kicked off the trend of computer animated movies" is a bit misplaced. Yet, going back to my second point it is easy to point to the first of something and be like "All this because of that" whether the connection is fully there or not. How about pop culture? Yes, the characters are known. Then again, most Disney characters are. If you want to look at merchandising, the Cars movies are king there with Toy Story barely making a blip. Award recognition? Special achievement Oscar, but no best picture. It's sequel Toy Story 3 did get one so again feeding back into point A. I guess what I want to say is if the film is really culturally important we should have had movies trying to ape it and scenes that are parodied. We get beloved characters and a catchphrase but those things are par for the course in most Disney movies. Now take something like Die Hard that inspired so many knock off film, mimicked scenes, etc. and is so well known and accepted in our culture that the phrase "Die Hard on a/in a..." is accepted and understood short hand. Die Hard to this day referenced, Toy Story references not as much. Which of these films had more of an impact? Toy Story to me didn't do anything more so in effect culture than any other animated film. Tying back to point B, it gets a lot of create for paving the way for future computer animated films, yet if it was truly impactful movie it wouldn't just be the technology it would be the film itself. D. ) Token genre representation This is going to be brief because I'm tired and a lot of this I covered in the other points. When thinking of movies for the AFI 100 there is almost a check list of things that need to be covered. Need a silent film, check, need a comedy, check, need a horror, check, okay good let's get back to real movies. The form this takes circles back to point A of just picking one film to represent a larger thing. Film is a wide array of things, and comparing a comedy against a drama can be like apples and oranges. Yet at the end of the day the drama is seen as legit while something a bit more genre is seen as a specialty. To touch upon point C animated films are a huge part of our culture. Many of us grew up in an era of yearly animated Disney films. We watched Saturday morning cartoons. It's part of our culture and the history of film. So what do we get? Snow White and Toy Story, the first 2D and the first 3D. These are huge genres with many films to choose from, but going back to point B, it's the first so it's the best and point A "what we mean by this is, all Disney animated films are great." It is a bit of just short hand ease of recognizing something as important to history of film but still treating it as a side thing and not giving it real though. I'm sure if I tried I could make this points better and there is still a lot rattling around in my head. As I said I see these four point as the major flaws of the whole AFI List and to me Toy Story has so much in it that speaks to these points to me. To see Toy Story on this list just reads as a bit lazy. It feels like you wanted to put a type of film on without having to think about it. Up, first fully computer animated film to be nominated for best picture with a huge cultural impact (how many times has the opening few minutes been referenced) seems like a logical choice but it came out after the list was made. Does that mean it'll replace Toy Story on the next list? I doubt it. As time goes on I hope it will be replaced with another film, but the fact that Snow White is still on the list leaves doubt in my mind.
  18. Cam Bert

    Episode 215.5 - Minisode 215.5

    Or stuff that burger with some!
  19. Cam Bert

    Toy Story

    I don't have the time now, and I don't want to just repeat what everybody has been saying but I have had strong feelings about this being on the list and maybe this is the episode I was looking forward to the most. I will give the TL;DR of it all now, and hopefully tonight bang out a tirade but to me everything that is wrong with the AFI Top 100 is summed up with this movie being on the list. It shows that a) series/trilogies are singularly represented to stand for the franchise, b) first is always best and nothing else is considered unless you are a well known or respected name c) "cultural importance" and actual pop culture impact are often different and d) genre token representation. Should a computer animated movie be on the list? It the grand scheme if it truly is one of the best movies then yes, if it's there to just represent "advancements in CGI" then maybe because it did kill traditional animation in a way. If you have to include one, should it be Toy Story. No.
  20. Cam Bert

    Episode 215.5 - Minisode 215.5

    You can if you want but why would you? Blue cheese all day every day. Wings it's a must. Salad not a must but a good blue cheese dressing or the real deal crumbled in. Give me blue cheese all the time!* *Cam Bert is well known to have very unpopular tastes in food.
  21. Cam Bert

    Musical Mondays Week 68 Dance With Me

    http://www.kraftcanada.com/recipes/cuban-style-burrito-183902 This is the first thing that comes up I search "Cuban burrito" and the directions include putting it on a skillet.
  22. Cam Bert

    Musical Mondays Week 68 Dance With Me

    Yes! And if we build that wall it'll keep Chads like him from Cuba out of America for good. MAGA!
  23. Cam Bert

    Musical Mondays Week 68 Dance With Me

    Also this is where we need Taylor Anne's input, but I would imagine the Cuban population is no so large in Texas. I would imagine most of the Hispanic people there are from Mexico. I could be wrong. It just seemed everything was Cuban run or themed or maybe Mexican culture and Cuban culture has more overlap than I thought.
  24. Cam Bert

    Musical Mondays Week 68 Dance With Me

    YES! This was one of my problems with the movie. There was nothing this guy couldn't do or wasn't perfect at. Like he was beyond fault and even when he was being mean, which I'll get to, it was fun or cute to everybody when it wasn't. I think Raphael was not interesting as a result. He got everything he wanted and with ease, even his conflict with Kris Kristofferson almost amounted to a non-issue. My other issue, which you guys have already discussed, is he's kind of a dick. Constantly telling this kind welcoming people that he can't dance when he very well can. But it's also a horrible dickish gatekeeping thing as well. "I can dance, but what you people are doing that's judged at a professional level is NOT dancing. Trust me I'm Cuban." Then negging on Vanessa Williams about her hair and the moment she leaves just start dancing up on some rando. Then tricking her into driving him where he wants to go and a lunch with him because he has the hots for her. No. This guy is no good.
  25. Cam Bert

    Episode 215.5 - Minisode 215.5

    So this was release straight to Netflix here in Japan and was dying to watch it after hearing how poorly it did and how crazy it was. My co-worker also watched it and had many thoughts so I'll have to ask them for some C&Os as well. Also apologies to @DannytheWall I didn't realize until hearing the episode that I wrote basically the same thing as you. I had a busy week, and must have read it and forgot about it but it was rattling around in my mind.
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