Episode 144 - Stealth

[Vladimir Poutine 62]

I forget: In the subplot where EDI decides to play out an old hypothetical war scenario, does Josh Lucas try to explain he's on a fool's errand by playing Tic Tac Toe with EDI? Because I feel like maybe one time I heard that this is an effective way to explain the pointlessness of hypermilitary aggression to artificial teenage boys who are mistakenly playing one of those war ga... uh... scenarios.

[Cam Bert 8145]

I feel as the Japan representative on this board I must point out that Jamie Foxx's claims about four being unlucky are not entirely untrue. His logic behind it may be dubious but in Japan and I believe in most east Asian countries the number four is considered to be unlucky indeed. It's not too dissimilar to the number thirteen in western society. The reason being is that the word for four in Japanese (四 shi) sounds just like the word for death (死 shi) and I believe this is the case with Mandarin, Korean, and other east Asian languages. Some places will avoid numbering floors, rooms, spaces, etc. four out of superstition. So if Jamie Foxx said "Look Captain I'm an expert on all things Asian as I will demonstrate later by randomly picking up a strange Thai woman and sleeping with her, and as a result I find four to be unlucky." that would have made more sense than the whole prime number thing.

[firsttimecallerlongtimelistenr 3590]

i don't know if you guys follow june and paul on instagram, and i hope this isnt inappropriate, but june announced today that she lost her dad during the week. i just thought i'd take a moment to send my best wishes to june, paul and all their family. i loved the moments on the podcast when june would share stories about her dad. they were always funny and always full of love. i love junes view of the world and hearing june talk about her dad i could see he was a major influence on that view. so this is just me sending my sympathies to their family and to let them know they are in my thoughts today.

[ChunkStyle 1160]

Watching Stealth made me realize this afternoon that Josh Lucas does the voice over for Home Depot commercials. I just saw a commercial and thought wait a damn second, that is Lt. Ben Gannon trying to sell me some tile!

 

Sample

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuqk3CyFzUA

[NathanGordon 1096]

It's been a bad couple of weeks for the Earwolf family; Kulap and Scott also lost their beloved Rocky last week. RIP doggo, I'm going to miss your fantastic Halloween costumes.

[DanEngler 5249]

It's been a bad couple of weeks for the Earwolf family; Kulap and Scott also lost their beloved Rocky last week.

And, not long ago, PFT's wife Janie lost her beloved step-father Bill as well.

 

We're all just trying to get through the goddamned day! Be nice to each other, people!

[Cameron H. 23786]

When the Talon crew first arrives on the aircraft carrier, they have no idea that their fourth wingman is going to be borderline sentient robotic airplane. There’s even a scene prior to their arrival where they are trying to figure out who their wingman might be. Even though from my perspective I think it’s rather foolish to not advise your pilots that the fourth in their squadron is going to be an emo, cyber- plane, I do get that things are sometimes revealed on a “need to know” basis. However, what I did find odd was, once this information is revealed to them, and they are sent up on a test flight with a fully operational, emotionally immature robo-plane, they seem to have no idea that it can talk and learn!

 

After Lucas requests EDI to report in and EDI responds, Foxx quips, “What? Well, well, well. He can talk…” What did they think was going to happen? If they didn’t know it could talk, why was Lucas asking for it to report in? What did he expect to happen? Did he think it was being operated like a traditional drone? Isn’t that the kind of thing that they should have been appraised of before flying with it? Since EDI is functionally the same exact plane they are already flying, they should already be pretty familiar with its capabilities, wouldn’t you think that in the mountains of homework they were assigned there might have had at least one chapter headed, “Oh! And By the Way, the Plane Can Talk and Think. (It also really, really likes Incubus, so watch what you say about Brandon Boyd.)”

[Cameron H. 23786]

i don't know if you guys follow june and paul on instagram, and i hope this isnt inappropriate, but june announced today that she lost her dad during the week. i just thought i'd take a moment to send my best wishes to june, paul and all their family. i loved the moments on the podcast when june would share stories about her dad. they were always funny and always full of love. i love junes view of the world and hearing june talk about her dad i could see he was a major influence on that view. so this is just me sending my sympathies to their family and to let them know they are in my thoughts today.

 

This is such sad news! My heart goes out to her and her family.

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

After Lucas requests EDI to report in and EDI responds, Foxx quips, “What? Well, well, well. He can talk…” What did they think was going to happen? If they didn’t know it could talk, why was Lucas asking for it to report in? What did he expect to happen? Did he think it was being operated like a traditional drone? Isn’t that the kind of thing that they should have been appraised of before flying with it? Since EDI is functionally the same exact plane they are already flying, they should already be pretty familiar with its capabilities, wouldn’t you think that in the mountains of homework they were assigned there might have had at least one chapter headed, “Oh! And By the Way, the Plane Can Talk and Think. (It also really, really likes Incubus, so watch what you say about Brandon Boyd.)”

 

Yes! I thought that in a movie set in the distant fuuuuturistic time of 'twenty-sixteen' (did I say that right?) the hurried process of testing out this new plane was astonishing. Surely there would be hours in simulators and more than a self-guided 'read the manual' before they got to "I never thought this day would ever happen./Me either, sir" (my favourite ADR line from the take-off scene). And then when the trio head up to take their test flight, they are amazingly cavalier about punctuality and process, essentially running off to the test flight with half a piece of dry toast in their mouths as though they're late for a bus. The reaction to the plane's communicating with them shows very clearly that the three of them definitely spent the night before talking about foster mothers and dancing in shower flip-flops rather than actually doing their reading. Or, maybe the point is Sam Shepard has kept everything under wraps just to get EDI off the ground, against orders? I demand a training montage, dammit.

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

 

This is such sad news! My heart goes out to her and her family.

 

Ditto to this. June's Instagram post was so heartfelt and sad: all the best to everyone.

[Cameron H. 23786]

 

 

Yes! I thought that in a movie set in the distant fuuuuturistic time of 'twenty-sixteen' (did I say that right?) the hurried process of testing out this new plane was astonishing. Surely there would be hours in simulators and more than a self-guided 'read the manual' before they got to "I never thought this day would ever happen./Me either, sir" (my favourite ADR line from the take-off scene). And then when the trio head up to take their test flight, they are amazingly cavalier about punctuality and process, essentially running off to the test flight with half a piece of dry toast in their mouths as though they're late for a bus. The reaction to the plane's communicating with them shows very clearly that the three of them definitely spent the night before talking about foster mothers and dancing in shower flip-flops rather than actually doing their reading. Or, maybe the point is Sam Shepard has kept everything under wraps just to get EDI off the ground, against orders? I demand a training montage, dammit.

 

Not to mention that they allowed a high tech, prototype thinkin' plane to go out on a test flight fully armed and operational...

 

I don't know...Maybe we just see if our little science experiment is a petulant, homicidal murder-bot before we arm it to the teeth and set it loose on the world?

[Geans 193]

Are we just going to pretend that teenage hyperviolent boy EDI doesn't rape a blimp when she won't give him what he wants?

 

That was, if I may "June" here a moment, so upsetting.

[Lando 2019]

So sorry to hear about June's father.

[BenMurray 7]

Are we just going to pretend that teenage hyperviolent boy EDI doesn't rape a blimp when she won't give him what he wants?

 

You are 100% right on that one. Pretty sure that was Jamie Foxx's influence.

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

You are 100% right on that one. Pretty sure that was Jamie Foxx's influence.

 

Oh, gross, you're totally right. The amount of times EDI said "I'm lear-ning" as though mimicking others' behaviour made it somehow not his fault. Maybe, just maybe, the filmmakers are hoping to shine a mirror back on our society in this commentary on how impressionable children will adopt the behaviours of those around them, and that EDI is just a product of our society. The natural evolution in the nature versus nurture debate. EDI is the combination of all the worst of all of us. Yeah, I bet that's what they were going for...

[Cameron H. 23786]

Far be it for me to deny a writer what was obviously an orgasmic “Ctrl+S” moment, but seriously, the dialog in the movie when Lucas and the IT guy are discussing EDI’s music collection is maybe the dumbest exchanges in cinema history. Think about it. It’s not just that “All of them” is a hammy punchline, but it starts with the IT guy saying that EDI likes to download songs. Lucas then asks “Yeah? How many of them?” I’m sorry, movie, I was under the impression that the plane was the robot. If you met someone new and they told you that they love music, what kind of cyborg would you be if you then asked, “Oh, yeah? How many songs have you downloaded? And, please...be as specific as possible.” The amount of songs is completely inconsequential! A normal human being (i.e. people not represented in this film), when in this not-so-uncommon situation, would most likely ask, “What types of music do you like?” The very good reason for this is because it might give you a little bit of insight into the psyche of the person you’re talking to, which--in the instance of being confronted by a temperamental, sentient airplane—might actually be some good information to have.

 

For example:

 

IT GUY: He downloads songs from the Web.

 

LUCAS: Yeah? That’s weird. What does he listen to?

 

IT GUY: Well, he kind of downloads everything, but he’s had Tal Bachman’s “She’s so High” on a near constant loop…

 

LUCAS: [stunned horror] Dear, God—What Hell hath thou wrought? Shut it down!

 

IT GUY: But—

 

LUCAS: I SAID, SHUT IT DOWN!!!

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ElORM9O-0U

 

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ElORM9O-0U

 

 

Ugh, spoiler is right!

[taylor anne photo 11311]

There is no shame in being an Incubus fan.

 

Hell if there was an awful movie whose soundtrack had 10 of my all time favorite songs on it and Jason ripped it to shreds and called it the shittiest music he had ever heard in his life I would probably be laughing my ass off. I would still probably come here to defend it though.

Listening to Jonah Raydio and having them consistently shit on Incubus has given me the ability to laugh at all of it, and Jason's comments were accurate and hilarious lol.

 

Cause let's be real here, Incubus would not be my first choice in the year 2016 when you have access to all of the music ever made across the world. Hamilton and Lemonade exist right now for fuck's sake lol.

 

I think we should replace all of the music and every time EDI doesn't listen to orders you hear Beyoncé singing "Middle fingers up / Put 'em hands out / Wave em in his face / Tell him 'BOY BYE!'"

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I also would like to give my condolences to June, Paul, and their entire family. I am also a member of the Dead Dad Club and I know how hard this is. There's nothing to ever say to someone during these times to ever make the pain suddenly disappear, but it does get easier. We love you June!

 

Also shout out to Amy the Gorilla. I know she lost her mother earlier this year and she hasn't been active in a while so I want to extend well wishes out into the ether for her as well.

[RyanSz 3140]

Listening to Jonah Raydio and having them consistently shit on Incubus has given me the ability to laugh at all of it, and Jason's comments were accurate and hilarious lol.

 

Cause let's be real here, Incubus would not be my first choice in the year 2016 when you have access to all of the music ever made across the world. Hamilton exists right now for fuck's sake lol.

To be honest I'm not much for most new music, but whenever I find a song I enjoy I just download it and put it in my general playlist. These days the only real time I find something I like is if it's in a video game soundtrack or featured in a movie trailer, since terrestrial radio is god-fucking-awful. No shit, my iPod has about 12k audio files on it, and about only 2k of those are actual songs, the rest are podcasts and clips from the morning radio show that I've been listening to since middle school.

 

And also, when talking music, movies, or books, there tends to be pretentiousness whenever people talk about these two subjects in particular because there is always something "way better" or "underground that is too cool for you" than what you already enjoy. It's why I couldn't get past a couple episodes of Jonah Raydio as his tastes usually go so uber-hipster that anything else is just shit in his opinion, and with books as an English and Library Science major I have to listen on countless occasions how this book exemplifies some bullshit theory or parallels some forgotten society in history, while the general fiction or popular author I like adds nothing to the literary world. I just read and listen for enjoyment, for the most part, I don't need some heady discussion on society as I am getting off work at a prison. It's also why I read graphic novels more now as the only real arguments about those are whose powers are better or which writer to read next because comic readers are basically in the same boat in that we are all reading for entertainment.

 

On that note if you haven't read it already read The Fix by Nick Spencer, who was the writer for the Superior Foes of Spider-Man. He has the same artist from that series on this one and it centers around two bumbling, dirty cops as they try and pay off a debt to a psychotic gangster who runs a free range restaurant and appears to the rest of the world to be the prime example of a beta male. It's basically got the feel and humor of Superior Foes but doesn't have the content censorship that Marvel has as it's released under Image Comics.

[DanEngler 5249]

Listening to Jonah Raydio and having them consistently shit on Incubus has given me the ability to laugh at all of it, and Jason's comments were accurate and hilarious lol.

Imagine how I feel hearing them shit on Stone Temple Pilots who, unlike Incubus, were a legitimately great band.

[firsttimecallerlongtimelistenr 3590]

the explosions in this movie were the best thing about it. i even liked the stupid refulling one, the donut of fire in the air, it was impressively nuts ... and then there was alaska ...

 

[jarrycanada 2483]

 

Ditto to this. June's Instagram post was so heartfelt and sad: all the best to everyone.

 

He will always remember his daughter for her ground breaking cross gender role in sunshine.

 

 

I am just trying to lighten the mood a bit. sorry to hear about your lose, June. but look at it this way, life gives it and takes it away. so you lost your father but you gained a son. your father will always be with you. and will always be apart of you in mind, body and soul.

 

I am so sorry to hear of your lose.

[Cam Bert 8145]

Today marks the 8th anniversary of my father's passing and in two more days the 5th anniversary of the passing of my grandfather. It's hard but it gets easier when you think about how they live on through all the positive influences and moments they brought into your life. The best we can do to honour them is to live life to its fullest and along the way pass on all the kindness and wisdom we received from them to those around us.

 

My heart goes out to Paul and June, and everyone else who has had to suffer this kind of loss. We all love you and are there for you.

[Lando 2019]

Cause let's be real here, Incubus would not be my first choice in the year 2016 when you have access to all of the music ever made across the world. Hamilton and Lemonade exist right now for fuck's sake lol.

 

I think we should replace all of the music and every time EDI doesn't listen to orders you hear Beyoncé singing "Middle fingers up / Put 'em hands out / Wave em in his face / Tell him 'BOY BYE!'"

 

I would probably go the opposite direction and give EDI really shitty taste. EDI would either be into terrible novelty songs like Who Let The Dogs Out and Mambo #5 or 2nd tier nu metal bands like Crazy Town