Episode 147 - Gamer: LIVE!

[OoofMaGOOF 348]

Also I really hate to belabor this point but it was so annoying Robert Kirkman kept referring to this film as phenomenal, amazing, entertaining .. it was none of those things!!

 

Oh my god "phenomenal?"

 

I'm glad I wasn't a guest alongside with him cause I might have just stared at him with a "SERIOUSLY?!" glare the whole time

[OoofMaGOOF 348]

 

I 100% agree with you! It just wasn't fun for me at all. I got about 20 mins in and quit. It's just fucking obnoxious and hateful.

 

I only made it 25. Obnoxious is actually a great word to use. "Unpleasant" also comes to mind...

 

ETA: Sorry for the triple post, should have read ya'lls reactions first and just quoted those!

[FisterRoboto 7499]

Oh, damn! I thought we lost you, man!

 

 

Welcome back!

Welcome Back Fister Roboto!

DUDE!

 

THANKS, FRIENDS!

 

I just had to take some time away to take care of some personal stuff, but I've missed you guys, and I'm happy to be baaaack!

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

Just finishing the podcast now: I have plenty to say that wasn't said, and with regular commenters dropping like flies due to the general grossness of this movie, I'll step up with a few things! First, I have to take my kids to swimming lessons, so will comment more later. In brief to start:

 

- I fully agree with the 'No Strings On Me' comment: I thought to mention it once I got done but Joel beat me to the punch. In any case: I remember when Age of Ultron used that song in the teaser trailer, it was not long after Disney had acquired Marvel, meaning this was (one of) the first crossover(s) between the two companies. I remember seeing it and thinking, "oh, we'll see Disney stuff in Marvel films now. Rad." So that sort of explains the out of context presence of the song in Age of Ultron - but how do we explain 'Gamer'? Is the song in the public domain? How else do we explain that someone at Disney must have signed off on licensing this song from 'Pinocchio' to be sung by a naked, tweaking, murderous Terry Crews immediately after killing a dude and bathing in his blood? This makes no sense to me. None. How could Disney let their song be associated with this? Tell me it's public domain and I might sleep better tonight.

 

- Second: to speak to the final point made in the podcast about how Gerard Butler will do any old film that's thrown his way, because why not - the thing to remember when watching 'Gamer' is that in the years prior to this, Butler played the Phantom of the Freaking Opera on film. What a mess that film was. But when we talk about Gerry's song and dance in Gamer, never forget that he was sad singing Erik.

 

- Finally - was there something to the fact that Terry Crews kept coming back even though Butler killed him at the end of each 'level'? Is this part of the video game aesthetic (where the film ends with 'game over') and Crews is established as a level boss that Butler has to evade to level up? He's essentially killed several times, he gets squashed by a car, shot in the foot, other ways (?), but always comes right back, good as new. Is there a video game structure here we're missing, kind of like 'Unbreakable' and its comic book format?

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

THANKS, FRIENDS!

 

I just had to take some time away to take care of some personal stuff, but I've missed you guys, and I'm happy to be baaaack!

Welcome back! I only know your name from multiple C+O on the podcast, so seeing you in the forum feels like meeting another from the HDTGM pantheon.

[RyanSz 3140]

As far as Pottermore is concerned I too was placed in Slytherin but my patronus was a Hippogriff. In regards to this movie I loved it as it was a mix of Crank with video games, though it should not have taken itself too seriously.

 

Correction

The npcs convicts were not being controlled by anyone in Slayers, they were running on a preset program which made them easy targets for players, hence why it only took suriving one match to get your freedom.

 

Questions

When Butler is shown the video of the raid on the Humanz you see Mae Whitman getting gunned down, but at the end she is driving Kyra Sedgwick around on a motorcycle. Was this an error or was there some other chick with dreads that I missed in their clubhouse? Second question is about Sedgwick at the end when she's dropping evidence off, I could have sworn she now had dreads as well so did she get into character like she did when she was hiding in Society? Final question is about Society and the rish involved, is there some sort of stop switch from a person going on a GTA rampage because they are driving cars in that area so it is reasonable to assume a person can just have their avatar plow down dozens of people.

[paulscheer 489]

Hey,

Quick last minute announcement. We want to make Tomorrow's show in Anaheim a HDTGM Costume Party. Dress Up as your favorite HDTGM movie character. This will be fun.

We'll give out prizes!

-Paul

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

Damn you Eastern Time Zone! My Phantom costume will be all for naught!

[jarrycanada 2483]

This movie sucked balls.

 

 

That Justin Bever kid really got on my nerves.

 

still no June Diane Raphael, yet she had time to do the Bitch Sesh podcast.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Hey,

Quick last minute announcement. We want to make Tomorrow's show in Anaheim a HDTGM Costume Party. Dress Up as your favorite HDTGM movie character. This will be fun.

We'll give out prizes!

-Paul

 

Fuck! I wish I could make it. I was hoping to get all of your opinions on my Mathilda May costume...

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

Okay. I have a question about the time frame.

 

We assume that this is set in some kind of weird dystopian future, but it's very clearly in our world, because real-world figures like Bill Gates are mentioned. Okay. So maybe a few years in the future. Add to that, that Dexter says that he had t-shirts made of his catch-phrase in 2010 (which at time of release, _was_ the near future), so we can again assume that we are sometime in our current decade. Vehicles are not futuristic, but culture seems to have gone right off the rails, so maybe it's some kind of Biff-Tannen-Got-The-Sports-Almanac parallel universe, where Dexter invented a way to bring SecondLife to life and offer it to perverts and assholes. Add to this, that when they show the crazy 'Slayer' crowds from around the world, they cut to one crowd in 'Bombay' (sic), which HASN'T BEEN THE NAME OF THAT CITY SINCE 1995, when it was officially changed to Mumbai.

 

Yet, on IMDb, in the trivia section, it clearly states that this film is set in the year 2034. There are elements to distant future like the ridiculous outfits worn in the SecondLife game, but other than that, I see nothing happening that sends us 20 years into the future. AND, Dexter talking about 2010 t-shirts means he's talking about some innovation he made 24 years ago. So, maybe that's just a continuity issue. The Closer says that no one has interviewed Dexter in 9 years, so clearly we are nine plus years after his 2010 t-shirt slogan. That puts us into the early 2020's. Closer to 2034, but still no one told the set decorators or costume people. Is this just a matter of crappy continuity or production design? Or are we in some kind of strange parallel future where we get to see where the world wound up because Dexter invented his SecondLife thing? Are we to believe that this was the pivot point on which our timeline shifted? Should Marty and Doc Brown get in their DeLorean to go back and stop Dexter to prevent this alternative timeline?

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

And while I'm at it, here's my other big question.

 

Okay, so in 'Society', it appears that this game has been around for nine years, ever since Dexter became richer than Bill Gates overnight. We only see one 'Society' setting, but the way that it's described, hundreds of millions of people play it, so I assume there are more 'Society' areas than just the one Detroit one that we see. That 'hundreds of millions' statistic is likely to refer to early adopters and people riding the zeitgeist when it first came out, much like Facebook in around 2008. Maybe Dexter sat in a big room and watched his subscriber numbers go up and up like Zuckerberg did in the Social Network. Anyway, the fact that it's been nine years since it launched and that he's moved over to the Slayer show suggests that there must have been a huge amount of user attrition over the years. The early adopters and casual users have drifted away, leaving only the hardcore and weird. It ALSO appears that users of 'Society' own their avatars. Gerard Butler's wife is played each time by Waffle Humping Whale Man, so does that mean we assume that he pays to 'own' her? In this setting avatars are limited by their physical proximity: surely these at-home players are seeing the same people over and over, since there are only a limited number of avatars in that liminal space, as opposed to, say, SecondLife, where you can log on and never hope to run into the same people twice, since geographical borders don't apply. When Gerard Butler's Wife meets Rick Rape (Peter Petrelli!) she seems to know him: he has a reputation around here, and he's known as being an asshole. Maybe that contributes to the attrition: avatars quit the game (can they do that?) and their users have no one to 'play' (this WHOLE premise hinges on a 1:1 player to avatar ratio by the way) so they stop paying. In any case. When Waffle Humping Whale Man encounters Terry Crews in the elevator licking his knife, menacing two innocent avatars who are making out, he urges Terry to kill them. But, those two avatars are controlled by other perverts at home, who are probably having a very nice evening, making out in an elevator. They own those avatars, and Waffle Humper encourages Terry to stab them both to death. Surely Waffle Humper knows how expensive these avatars are! I mean, when we go over to 'Slayers', we see Percy Jackson (wearing his Crank t-shirt) getting offered a hundred thousand euros by the flashing CumDumpster Twins to have access to Gerard Butler. But Percy turns them down without a thought, so clearly he knows this avatar is worth much more than that. But if Gerard Butler wins his freedom, what is in it for Percy Jackson? He loses his avatar, he's not in the game anymore, he has to start again. Sell your avatar Percy! In any case, if someone's willing to offer a hundred thousand euros for an avatar, that means the avatars that Terry Crews are murdering are not cheap lives. Can we have a parallel film all about the grief of those Society perverts (who knows what they're humping at home) as they have their beloved avatars snuffed out. If someone's avatar dies, do people go buy a new one? And where do they get the new ones from? is there a stable of avatars waiting to get in to the game? How MUCH are these avatars being paid, anyway? They know they're going to get raped, groped, abused, and risk death at the hands of the psychos who play these games. What's the financial model for Society, Dexter? RELEASE YOUR TAX RETURNS!

[Cameron H. 23786]

[RjIsAGod 3]

Hello all!

Just signed up to actually make a comment for the first time after listening to nearly every HDTGM.

 

The cunt hair comment refers to a cunt hair as a unit of measurement. In the trades, when dealing with a 16th an inch, typically someone with say " Its 4 & 3/4 cunt hair heavy" to avoid breaking it down to 4 and 13/16ths.

 

So when he says they are a cunt hair close, it means they are 16th of an inch close.

 

Not sure if i am overstating the obvious here, but definitely heard it plenty on site. If you are a cunt off, youre a cunt.

 

 

[greenbeard 9]

[RyanSz 3140]

As far as Butler not joining in on the dance, I too was mad that he didn't because he has quite a few moves in his dance arsenal:

 

Also, when we first really see Sedgwick during the cunt hair discussion, the topic of lunch is brought up between her and the other reporter and I for sure thought the choices they were choosing between were Iranian sushi or Mexican. I had to ask myself what the fuck that first choice could possibly be and if that was the closest thing they got to "future food," yet when I looked up the script to see if it was Iranian or Iraqi before I typed this comment, I saw that there was meant to be a pause between the food options "Iranian, sushi, or Mexican," but the actor didn't take the pause. I'm honestly surprised none of the hosts or guests caught that with how much of a focus food and eating are on the show.

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

^ And why wouldn't it be "Iranian, Japanese, or Mexican"?

[RyanSz 3140]

^ And why wouldn't it be "Iranian, Japanese, or Mexican"?

I kinda get why they would be specific by saying sushi as when someone asks if I want Japanese I think of tonkatsu or panko chicken or various other food items, yet when someone says sushi I know they want sushi. Maybe it's just me but that's how I broke it down.

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

Nobody's mentioned the puzzling moment of dialogue when Kable asks Simon "What are you, 12?" and Simon replies "I'm 17 actually, thank you." Is Kable just being sarcastic when he thinks that Simon may not be old enough for a bar mitzvah? And is being controlled by an underage teenager really that much better? What IS the minimum age to play the game? How does it correlate to the minimum age of military service? Is the minimum age lower with parental consent? Do teens get fake IDs to sneak into the game?

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

I kinda get why they would be specific by saying sushi as when someone asks if I want Japanese I think of tonkatsu or panko chicken or various other food items, yet when someone says sushi I know they want sushi. Maybe it's just me but that's how I broke it down.

 

But why wouldn't they also clarify the specific Iranian and Mexican foods available, when there are many possibilities for those as well? Even Taco Bell has more varieties of Mexican food than just tacos.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Hey,

Quick last minute announcement. We want to make Tomorrow's show in Anaheim a HDTGM Costume Party. Dress Up as your favorite HDTGM movie character. This will be fun.

We'll give out prizes!

-Paul

Dammit I wish I was there even more now. That's okay...

 

[RyanSz 3140]

 

But why wouldn't they also clarify the specific Iranian and Mexican foods available, when there are many possibilities for those as well? Even Taco Bell has more varieties of Mexican food than just tacos.

I was coming from the idea that sushi is basically its own grouping of food that people specifically go out to eat, while Japanese encompasses everything else under Japanese cuisine. You could say "hey you want tacos" instead of "Mexican" but the other person might want something else. By using sushi instead of Japanese, you're asking a person wants a very specific grouping, because sushi is one of those foods that really can be its own grouping as if its own country, sort of like asking for BBQ. Again this is just my interpretation of how I think when trying to figure out what someone else wants to eat.

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

Why aren't the boundaries of the game actual boundaries? There's a line saying that "It's restricted area. It's beyond the borders of the game. I couldn't put you there if I tried." But shouldn't the borders of the game be actual, well, borders? Like thick prison walls or the water around an island? Even the trailer for Escape from New York had to beef up Manhattan Island's physical isolation with extra security measures to make the premise work -- "The bridges are mined. The rivers are patrolled." Or it could avoid restricting the action to begin with, as in the original book of The Running Man where the contestants are free to roam the country -- subject to the full opposition of law enforcement. Or they could deliberately make the boundaries contrived, like the invisible walls in video games, as a deliberate satire. Or they could have the boundary be enforced by the nanites, like those grocery store shopping carts whose wheels lock up past the parking lot. There are many possibilities that would add to the suspense and satire of the movie, and exactly none are used.

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

What's going on with the games being controlled by Minority Report-style hand gestures in the air? Is the position of the hands being measured directly, like a theremin performer's, or is a camera image being interpreted Kinect style? Either way seems prone to indistinctness and misinterpretation. Competitive fighting games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat still rely on mashing buttons for good reason, and the precision they offer would be far more essential if actual lives were at stake.

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

I fully agree with the 'No Strings On Me' comment: I thought to mention it once I got done but Joel beat me to the punch. In any case: I remember when Age of Ultron used that song in the teaser trailer, it was not long after Disney had acquired Marvel, meaning this was (one of) the first crossover(s) between the two companies. I remember seeing it and thinking, "oh, we'll see Disney stuff in Marvel films now. Rad." So that sort of explains the out of context presence of the song in Age of Ultron - but how do we explain 'Gamer'? Is the song in the public domain? How else do we explain that someone at Disney must have signed off on licensing this song from 'Pinocchio' to be sung by a naked, tweaking, murderous Terry Crews immediately after killing a dude and bathing in his blood? This makes no sense to me. None. How could Disney let their song be associated with this? Tell me it's public domain and I might sleep better tonight

 

The songs list in the end credits includes "I've Got No Strings", but the "courtesy of" line included in every other song, is conspicuously absent:

 

 

The Nostalgia Critic has both parody and commentary grounds for claiming fair use. Neveldine/Taylor... don't.