Things that I marvel at

[Lejuan]

Well, it's all going to backfire on them isn't it, as it did in 2016 in the US and with Brexit and the dominance of conservative governments in the UK. Forget about saying ''hmm, maybe we're pushing too hard on a few things or maybe we're *gulp* wrong'', they don't even have the strategic sense to stop blowing off their own feet so they can win a damned election.

We get what we deserve.

There aren't too many places that aren't losing their **** lately. World's gone crazy, bat**** f **king crazy

 

[hoodonit00]

Well, it's all going to backfire on them isn't it, as it did in 2016 in the US and with Brexit and the dominance of conservative governments in the UK. Forget about saying ''hmm, maybe we're pushing too hard on a few things or maybe we're *gulp* wrong'', they don't even have the strategic sense to stop blowing off their own feet so they can win a damned election.

We get what we deserve.

BLM is starting to go through it now as well. When they first started out a lot of people supported them. They are losing that support due to the rioting and violence that has overtaken any of the peacefulness that protests are supposed to have.

 

[ZE_501]

It?s not like BLM plans riots.

It?s unfortunate the 2 things get conflated.

While I DO NOT condone property damage and violence, in light of the situation I understand it and frankly expect it.

Human beings are dangerous territorial primates. The whole lot of us. When things pass a certain threshold things will always go very badly for everyone.

Civilization is an attempt to bypass these traits. Mixed results.


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[Lejuan]

The main problem is that left and right are incredibly polarised in the issues they see as being of highest importance. The US doesn’t look like it’ll be getting its **** together any time soon.

 

[Cicada17]

It?s not like BLM plans riots.

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[ZE_501]

[...]


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Discussions like this are why I deleted Facebook.

*backs away from the keyboard*

 

[Lejuan]

Discussions like this are why I deleted Facebook.

*backs away from the keyboard*

Memes instead of meaningful discourse. I happen to be writing a book chapter on that very topic

 

[a-dev]

I liked the Batman Returns reference though.

 

[Lejuan]

I liked the Batman Returns reference though.

Shreck as Trump caricature?

 

[a-dev]

I didn't even think of that actually I meant just for being a Batman Returns reference in general

 

[Lejuan]

I’ve got a confession to make...

I’m not a fan of Tim Burton’s Batman or Tim Burton movies in general.

Same for Zack Snyder, Michael Bay, Baz Luhrmann. I enjoy the craft but not always the style.

 

[a-dev]

After some deliberation with myself I've decided to not to cancel you at this time.

I definitely have a childhood nostalgia bias in play with the Burton Batmans...and with Batman Forever to some extent.

Haven't seen very many of Baz Luhrman's movies - just Romeo & Juliet, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby. Visually beautiful it has to be said. I quite liked Gatsby, I've watched that more than once. I think DiCaprio has a lot to do with that. He really did well to get rid of the teenage girl-crush thing and become a compelling actor in his own right.

 

[ZE_501]

Memes instead of meaningful discourse. I happen to be writing a book chapter on that very topic

What for? Your own work or as a contributor...?

I?ve got a confession to make...

I?m not a fan of Tim Burton?s Batman or Tim Burton movies in general.

Same for Zack Snyder, Michael Bay, Baz Luhrmann. I enjoy the craft but not always the style.

Burton is an interesting topic for me. I can't sit through Batman '89 anymore but I do love the aesthetic sensibility and magical realism. Blew my mind as a teenager but that's to be expected.

I understand that Batman Returns is not a well-made film; near as I can tell Burton needed someone to reign him in a bit and a tighter script, but I can watch it maybe once a year (at Christmas) and I still love it. Both for the production design and its connection to a specific time of my life...as an alternative kid who lived for music, went out 5 or 6 nights a week and dated goth girls. I can still smell the incense -- I wouldn't trade my adult life to go back to that time of youthful ignorance but what a blast it all was. Especially in hindsight. My life is better in almost every conceivable way now, but I can look back very fondly on those shenanigans. Not a bad thing I guess.

The rest of Burton's films I've completely outgrown but find I still love the aesthetic, although I no longer wear black all the time.

Snyder is uneven. I think he tries too hard and his films fall short of what they can be, but he commits, I'll give him that. I've seen one Bay film (Transformers) and that was more than enough.

[...] I definitely have a childhood nostalgia bias in play with the Burton Batmans...and with Batman Forever to some extent.

Haven't seen very many of Baz Luhrman's movies - just Romeo & Juliet, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby. Visually beautiful it has to be said. I quite liked Gatsby, I've watched that more than once. I think DiCaprio has a lot to do with that. He really did well to get rid of the teenage girl-crush thing and become a compelling actor in his own right.

It's definitely the nostalgia. Haven't seen Romeo & Juliet in many years, but I loved it at the time. I guess I was...23? But that goes right back to my young adulthood in the '90s and everything it was connected to. Haven't seen any of his other films.

 

[Lejuan]

After some deliberation with myself I've decided to not to cancel you at this time.

I definitely have a childhood nostalgia bias in play with the Burton Batmans...and with Batman Forever to some extent.

Haven't seen very many of Baz Luhrman's movies - just Romeo & Juliet, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby. Visually beautiful it has to be said. I quite liked Gatsby, I've watched that more than once. I think DiCaprio has a lot to do with that. He really did well to get rid of the teenage girl-crush thing and become a compelling actor in his own right.

DiCaprio's baby-face made for some really odd characters early on. I didn't believe him in Basketball Diaries even though it was a good performance.. and his Howard Hughes didn't work for me, or his Jack Dawson. The first time I really enjoyed him as an actor was The Beach. The number of great films he's been in since then has been pretty incredible - I don't know if I can get past Baz to watch his performance in The Great Gatsby though.

What for? Your own work or as a contributor...?

It's an edited volume on US politics, my chapter's about memes and how they're used by hyper-partisan groups on facebook. It's pretty depressing, I'll be very glad when it's done.

Burton is an interesting topic for me. I can't sit through Batman '89 anymore but I do love the aesthetic sensibility and magical realism. Blew my mind as a teenager but that's to be expected.

I understand that Batman Returns is not a well-made film; near as I can tell Burton needed someone to reign him in a bit and a tighter script, but I can watch it maybe once a year (at Christmas) and I still love it. Both for the production design and its connection to a specific time of my life...as an alternative kid who lived for music, went out 5 or 6 nights a week and dated goth girls. I can still smell the incense -- I wouldn't trade my adult life to go back to that time of youthful ignorance but what a blast it all was. Especially in hindsight. My life is better in almost every conceivable way now, but I can look back very fondly on those shenanigans. Not a bad thing I guess.

The rest of Burton's films I've completely outgrown but find I still love the aesthetic, although I no longer wear black all the time.

Snyder is uneven. I think he tries too hard and his films fall short of what they can be, but he commits, I'll give him that. I've seen one Bay film (Transformers) and that was more than enough.

It's definitely the nostalgia. Haven't seen Romeo & Juliet in many years, but I loved it at the time. I guess I was...23? But that goes right back to my young adulthood in the '90s and everything it was connected to. Haven't seen any of his other films.

I definitely appreciate the visual aesthetic these guys bring to their work, and in Michael Bay's case I know I'm not the target audience for most of his stuff. The Rock is one of my all-time favourite action movies. There are a few Burton movies that hit the mark for me - Beetlejuice, Sleepy Hollow, Miss Peregrine.. and his animated films. Baz Lurhmann and Zack Snyder I find unwatchable - though I haven't seen Watchmen and should make time for it. Apart from Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge and Snyder's Aquaman I literally have not been able to make it through the first act of any of their films.

Speaking of goths, I never got what goths were about until a university field trip we took to Sydney in the early 90s. We were a group of ten blokes, mostly skaters into grunge and tripping on acid, wandering from nightclub to nightclub in Kings Cross. We walked into this joint that was empty when we arrived. We ordered some drinks and took a table. As people started filing in and a crowd built up we realised that we were the only ones not wearing black, hair product and makeup. One of my mates was wearing white skinny jeans and a hawaiiain shirt... the sight of him on the dancefloor rocking out to Suede surrounded by grooving goths is etched in my brain nearly 30 years later. You never know what you'll get in a Kings Cross bar. Some of the places we went into that night were pretty sketchy... but that goth club was really chilled. None of them batted an eyelid that we were glaringly out of place, and everyone we chatted to was really cool and down to earth.

The 90s was the best decade ever as far as I'm concerned... it started off with the dismantling of communism in Europe, the end of apartheid in South Africa, the break up of the USSR and the nuclear stand off... and ended when the internet, rave culture and digital consumer tech were still full of positivity and promise. The Sydney Olympics summed up the sunny outlook Australians had about the 21st century. Then 9/11 kicked off a **** couple of decades that continue to be so **** I worry whether my kids will ever enjoy their own version of the "90s"

 

[ZE_501]

[...] ... but that goth club was really chilled. None of them batted an eyelid that we were glaringly out of place, and everyone we chatted to was really cool and down to earth.

Without going into excruciating detail about the sub-culture I came of age in; we tended to used the term 'goth' ironically back then, the catch-all term 'freak' was what we preferred for a long time. Might have been a regional thing, I don't know. It was a small scene overlapping with industrial, post-punk and new wave music. At the time the crowd was generally more intelligent and very creative, full of artists, writers and musicians but of course that started to change around 1995 as the scene got bigger (whole other story). It was the most effortlessly inclusive and accepting scene I've ever encountered. Obviously we favoured a certain aesthetic but nobody cared what you looked like or wore. If you showed up to drink or dance at one of our spots and were respectful, you were welcome.

[...]The 90s was the best decade ever as far as I'm concerned... it started off with the dismantling of communism in Europe, the end of apartheid in South Africa, the break up of the USSR and the nuclear stand off... and ended when the internet, rave culture and digital consumer tech were still full of positivity and promise. The Sydney Olympics summed up the sunny outlook Australians had about the 21st century. Then 9/11 kicked off a **** couple of decades that continue to be so **** I worry whether my kids will ever enjoy their own version of the "90s"

Exactly. I remember the '90s as one long party with overlapping music scenes blurring into each other. Back then there was a club culture, long dead now and replaced by a bar scene where no one really dances anymore. I mean those places still exist, but not like before.

There's nothing worse than a grown adult holding on too tightly to their supposed glory days so I look back with great fondness, then look forward to new chapters in life and new adventures. But what a decade it was. It felt so optimistic after the shadows of the Cold War.

I think it'll be a couple of generations before we see anything like it again. Which in itself is optimistic I guess.

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

I prefer the 80’s

 

[ZE_501]

I prefer the 80’s

I was a kid in the '80s. Looking back it was very likely more fun and more *free* than being a kid now...I spent a lot of time outside, roaming the neighbourhood with my friends, riding our bikes to the park and so on...I remember the Cold War loomed over everything but there was a lot of cool stuff going on...but as kids there was only so much we could experience. Not that childhood isn't cool, it's just (obviously) limiting.

 

[Lejuan]

If I were older I might've had a better time, but the 80s for me was teenage awkwardness, bad pastels, bad hair, loads of anti-Asian racism in Oz (not helped by the Hollywood Vietnam war frenzy) and expensive air travel. Plus a bunch of personal stuff I was glad to put behind me once the 90s hit. I did enjoy bits of the 80s here and there, but the 90s for me was a decade of awesome from start to finish.

 

[a-dev]

Well....I was wrong about a thing a couple of pages back.

 

[devilof76]

Well....I was wrong about a thing a couple of pages back.

We’re in the Upsidedown. It’s to be expected.