What Constitutes A Newbie

[FranchiseJuan]

I was just wondering as I was reading the SVCD guides, what constitues a Newbie. I have been encoding DIVX for about 6 months, and in that time I have encoded over 80 movies. I can do 1 and 2 disk rips, using Xmpeg, GKnot, or manually with each tool seperately. I can do MP3 or AC3 rips. Each of my rips are two pass, and have all the install files and an auto run, chapters, DVD menus and sometimes multiple languages, and sub-titles.

So I would not consider myself a Divx newbie at all. But would you say that I am a SVCD newbie? Or am I a semi experienced person that could pick up SVCD in a short time?

And if I am reading a guide or attempting a method that is "Definatly not for Newbies", should I try an easier method first?

Perhaps I just have too much time on my hands, but I would like to get your thoughts.....

[Ookami]

It really depends on the view.

You may laugh, but I consider myself to be newbie here (altough I'm longer in the DVD backup scene than most of the folks here, but, IMO, knowledge is everything *grin* )...

In my view, you are a SVCD newbie, because you've no experience in making SVCD. And how long you need to learn something depends on many things, like: motivation, time, the quality of the guides, wanted results...

A example, if a MSCE certified person starts for the first time using Linux, is he a newbie? In my opinion, he is.

Cheers,

Mijo.

[FranchiseJuan]

Thanks Ookami for the reply. When I posted this, I was not sure that I could get a reply. I graduated from university with a minor in philosophy, so sometimes I think of the strangest things.....

I agree with your comment about motivation about learning. I guess when I asked the question, I was thinking about parts of the guides, FAQs and other parts of this site, contain comments like "Newbies Stay away", or "Definatly not for newbies", and I was thinking how only a few short months ago, I was your typical Flask user - that is if it crashed, shout expletives at the computer and get frustrated. Now I can make a Divx rip with my eyes closed (almost) and have helped some other people get started with their encoding.

Yet when I see those remarks about newbies, I always think "does this include me?". While I am proud of my Divx rips, I am always looking for a better way of encoding, and more features, and would like to encorage more people to do their own rips, and grow the community...... I don't really know where I am going with this, so I will stop there and write more another time....

[rmatei]

Well, if you have enough confidence, you can attempt any mehod since the guides will walk you through it. IMHO the knowledge that you'd need to follow hard guides successfully is more on the lines of universal video concepts, so you can understand explanations.

[mikeathome]

Hi,

a newbie will become a lazy lamer when he did not try the search button before asking questions (over and over again).

I consider myself a newbie on all encoding issues.
And I feel proud about it!
Why, well I've already grey hair (from age ;-) and the Newbie status somehow shows that I am still willing to learn.

mike

[wmansir]

You'll get up to speed much faster with SVCD than divx, for mainly 2 reasons:

1. you've done divx, so you know many of the tools and probably all the concepts with converting video.

2. SVCD is much quicker to learn because it's so limited. There is only video codec and one audio codec, and very few tools. You don't even have to worry about finding a good resolution, because you don't have any choice in the matter.

Once you learn the tools all you have to do is decide how many disc you want to use on a movie, and it's pretty much automatic. (I'm not talking about the actual process, unless your using dvd2svcd, but as far as decisions go). unless you get into making menues and stuff it should be old hat.

[FranchiseJuan]

I was just thinking that the more "all in one" a package is, and the more it hides from the user, the less newbie friendly it actually is. This comes from the Medievil Idea that "the more freedom you have, the less actual freedom you have".

Consider this: I am new to encoding and I have decided to encode Divx 4.12 using Xmpeg. This is how I got started in Encoding. Now I read some guides, and do all the settings according to the guides, but then after what I thaught was a floorless setup, due to one thing or another the encoding does not work. Now I am confused, and I try it all again. After a few times of not working I think it all too hard and give up.

Now If I take a more difficult method: I use Gknot, and I learn all the setting for all the tools that goes into GKnot. It takes alot longer to learn to do my first encode, but it worked the first time and the quality was really good.

Now I would assert that the more options and more complicated an encoding method is, the more newbie friendly it is. What do you think of this line of thinking....

[Bugs Bunny]

>Now I would assert that the more options and more complicated an encoding method is, the more newbie friendly it is. What do you think of this line of thinking....

I think you've taken too much philosophy ahahah..

Tao, isn't it?

[Ookami]

> I think you've taken too much philosophy ahahah..

Is this too much?

The path is the way.

or

"Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people's approval
and you will be their prisoner.

Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity."

Can someone translate this to DVD backup? Like:

"If you use a bitrate that is too high
the movie will not fit on the CD's.
If you filter too much
the picture quality will suck.
Use too much hacks
and you will not have time to enjoy the movie.
Do like Joe Average
and you'll use Xmpeg.

Turn on _enter name of your favorite prog_, then step back.
The only path to a perfect backup." :D

or some Zen:

Mu (Ku!?) . Hihi...

Now a serious note.

Before all of you taoist's etc. jump on me. I read the writings from Lao Tse, Chuang Tzu etc. several times and still enjoy it. I never make fun of the religions itself, only of dogmatic and fanatic beliefs (wich,IMNSHO, no real religion had, in the starters, it has always been added later for other purposes).

Interesting thoughts, FranchiseJuan , never looked it from that perspective.

But if someone wants to stay a newbie, and still want to do the job (KISS principle)?

Cheers,

Mijo.

[BlackSun]

I am a perpetual newbie :) :p

[Bugs Bunny]

Whoa.. Ookie dude iz a philo.. Philo Mijo.. HAH! Nah I still like Ookie better.. hmm better be careful wot I sez or Ookie might lay some Confucius on me EEEK!

>Is this too much?
>The path is the way.

YES OF CORSE IT IS TOO MUCH! What you expect normal blokes to do, HOOF IT?! Hey dis be 21st century and first thing blokes will want to know is.. WHERE IS NEAREST RENTAL CAR AGENCY! I would like a fast automatic with GPS and in-dash TV and naked dancing girls on the backseat.. Then I'd like for some of these geek blokes to show me the way COMPLETE WITH 3D MAPS AND DRIVING DIRECTIONS! YOU EXIST ONLY TO SERVE MY NEEDS! HOBNOB, PRONTO!

..well it sure seems like that way anyway, considering some of the uppity snots asking stupid questions in here.. if ya don't give em what they want to hear then they get their dander up and cuss ya out.. hah may be I've been on here too long.. or may be it's because Doom9.org is getting..MAINSTREAMED!? ARGGGHHH! SAY IT ISNT SO!

>"Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people's approval
and you will be their prisoner.

>Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity."

Oh dude you are hitting below the belt.. only thing I can recite is from my Avenger comics.. I SAY THEE NAY! ..you know with the hammer and lightning bit.. Oh wait I think I can recollect a poem or two from my Mutant Ninja Turtles collection.. OK gotta dig that up and GIVE AS GOOD AS I'VE GOT!! Huff!

>Before all of you taoist's etc. jump on me. I read the writings from Lao Tse, Chuang Tzu etc. several times and still enjoy it.

Geez dude you are too deep fer poor uneducatid Bugsy.. I only read comics and Harlequin romance novels.. HAH! No actually I am stepping up in the world and am reading some sci-fi now.. umm I like.. Alfred Bester! Hes a funny bloke..

>But if someone wants to stay a newbie, and still want to do the job (KISS principle)?

Hah that ones easy! You get somebody else to do it, of corse! Preferably for free!

[Ookami]

Originally posted by Bugs Bunny
Whoa.. Ookie dude iz a philo.. Philo Mijo.. HAH! Nah I still like Ookie better.. hmm better be careful wot I sez or Ookie might lay some Confucius on me EEEK!

LOL... Confucius... Nope, I don't like quoting moralists :D . Hihi... YES! You and all of you should be careful, because.... (*drums and such noise*)

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our weapon is surprise. Surpise and fear... Fear and suprise... Our two weapons are fear and surprise and ruthless efficiency. Our three weapons are fear and surprise and ruthless efficiency.... and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope. Amongst our weapons... are fear, suprise, ruth... Amongst our weaponry are such elements as fear, surprise..." - Monthy Python (The Final Rip Off)

I wanted to make a sig out of this, but it was too big. So I finally managed to use it somewhere.

Originally posted by Bugs Bunny

>Is this too much?
>The path is the way.

YES OF CORSE IT IS TOO MUCH! What you expect normal blokes to do, HOOF IT?! Hey dis be 21st century and first thing blokes will want to know is.. WHERE IS NEAREST RENTAL CAR AGENCY! I would like a fast automatic with GPS and in-dash TV and naked dancing girls on the backseat.. Then I'd like for some of these geek blokes to show me the way COMPLETE WITH 3D MAPS AND DRIVING DIRECTIONS! YOU EXIST ONLY TO SERVE MY NEEDS! HOBNOB, PRONTO!

..well it sure seems like that way anyway, considering some of the uppity snots asking stupid questions in here.. if ya don't give em what they want to hear then they get their dander up and cuss ya out.. hah may be I've been on here too long.. or may be it's because Doom9.org is getting..MAINSTREAMED!? ARGGGHHH! SAY IT ISNT SO!


ROTFL Please, stop! I mean... Really funny (and probably true). BTW, where can I get a rental car agency that is giving me naked, dancing girls on the backseat as a bonus? Do I need to be older than 18 (or for you US guys 21)?

Originally posted by Bugs Bunny

>"Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people's approval
and you will be their prisoner.

>Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity."

Oh dude you are hitting below the belt.. only thing I can recite is from my Avenger comics.. I SAY THEE NAY! ..you know with the hammer and lightning bit.. Oh wait I think I can recollect a poem or two from my Mutant Ninja Turtles collection.. OK gotta dig that up and GIVE AS GOOD AS I'VE GOT!! Huff!


:)

Well, I could also quote Al Bundy, Slege Hammer or even Spiderman. But I wanted that everyone think that I'm wise,smart,beatiful and that I don't need the appreciation of a few thousand people I never met. Er, I thought I wanted to reply to your funny stuff, but...

Originally posted by Bugs Bunny

>Before all of you taoist's etc. jump on me. I read the writings from Lao Tse, Chuang Tzu etc. several times and still enjoy it.

Geez dude you are too deep fer poor uneducatid Bugsy.. I only read comics and Harlequin romance novels.. HAH! No actually I am stepping up in the world and am reading some sci-fi now.. umm I like.. Alfred Bester! Hes a funny bloke..


Question: Do you write for a living? If not, you should... Or you could double Douglas Adams in his biography?

Alfred Bester? Never heard of him.

Originally posted by Bugs Bunny

>But if someone wants to stay a newbie, and still want to do the job (KISS principle)?

Hah that ones easy! You get somebody else to do it, of corse! Preferably for free!

Of course... And that's what I'm hearing alot... "Hey, Mijo... I have this AVI, I want to make a VCD of it, can I keep the black bars?" :D .

I enjoy your postings, please keep it up...

Cheers,

Mijo aka "Ook ook" the Monkey ;) .

[Bugs Bunny]

>...Monthy Python (The Final Rip Off)

This may sounds strange, but I never developed a taste for Brit humor--at least, from Monty and the variety of Brit comedy shows we get here in the states. Some people find it funny, but I find it too...ribald? Hmm that isn't quite the right word. Anyway, it's an acquired taste that I never acquired. I'm not much impressed with Douglas Adams, either. I only read the first Hitchhiker book and it was OK, but didn't have the motivation to read the sequels. The Brits have a very colorful usage of colloquials, though, and I freely purloin from them. I do like a fair number of Brit authors--one that comes to mind is Terry Pratchett of the Discworld series. His use of the language is strong. It is amazing that the series has reached almost 20 volumes and has yet to run out of steam, which is more than you can say for most any other author.

As you can probably infer from above, I'm more of a bookworm than a celluloid junkie. Am trying to ramp up on my speedreading skills so I can crunch through more texts. It's really great that most of the books I care to read are freely available in public libraries.

BTW, I thought the Lord of the Rings movie (the latest version) was a travesty to the books, and I fully empathized with Tolkien's son that it shouldn't have been made. It's not about faithfulness to the storyline--which was actually a good effort--but the acting, the sets, the whole _vision_ so underwhelmed me that I felt sad and miserable for the entire viewing. My opinion is that the Hobbit (Rankin & Bass) was the closest to the "feel" of the its book version, followed by the Return of the King ('80 Rankin & Bass). I didn't think much of the '78 Bakshi product, although that was still a better effort than the present-day attempt. I thought Dune (the movie) stunk as well, and same with Starship Trooper.

Excuse the ignorance, but what other language do Croatians speak, aside from, uh, Croatian? Is English a big thing for you blokes as well, like in most other Euro places? What kind of movies do blokes watch over there other than the glossy Hollywood stuff? Any local indie effort?

>Alfred Bester? Never heard of him.

He's an oldie sci-fi author (in the 60's?) who was fairly well-known in his days. Has a folksy writing style that can mellow me out and get me to relax, which is probably all that I want when I read for fun. If I were reading for analytics, then it'd be somebody else.. uhmm, Asimov is always a safe bet. Books are a lot like music; there is a different author for each mood.

>Of course... And that's what I'm hearing alot... "Hey, Mijo... I have this AVI, I want to make a VCD of it, can I keep the black bars?" :D .

I'm a naturally lippy guy, so I used to be a noobie helper when I'm online. It was fun for a time, helping blokes out--you know, the camaraderie thing. After a while, the faces change and you get a lot of the shit-and-run types that treat you like some sort of free service, like what you see here. In the BBS days we had a PCR (post per call) thing; you had to post a certain number of msgs per login or you can't download files. Anyway, now I ignore all the moanings from the 1- and 2-msg noobs--unless they get annoying...HAH!

[Ookami]

Hello Bugs,

a quick reply by me (gosh, my english is really horrible)...

-British humor

Well, IMO, it all depends. I'm far from being a fan of Monthy Python but there are sketches that I really like (like the Spanish Inquisition). From the british humor I like most Rowan Atkinson, and I don't mean the mainstream Mr. Bean, but more the black humor of Black Adder...

I've started to read the first Hitchhiker book from Adams, and I like it so far.

I'm now reading my third book of the author who is still not dead (Pratchett)... He's quite good, altough his funniest thing was when I saw a interview in a PC games magazine, and he commentet the designer of the first Discworld game and such, LOL.

But my favorite humor is still (and probably will be forever), the rough American... Altough, when I take a look at the humor today, it's quite tame :D . So, I really like "Married with children", "Sledge Hammer" and such stuff. Especially "Married with children" since it has everything a man needs.... LOL

But I'm a man with hundreds of different tastes, if you only look at my audio CD collection, from Blues to Heavy metal, you can find everything there. Well, almost...

As you said in your post, it depends on the mood.

- Book -> movie

This is always hard. As these are two completly different things. A book is something "intimate", a movie isn't.

I didn't want to watch the newest Lord of the rings... I will probably watch it when it comes out on DVD.

I'm still amazed with Bakshi's version, altough it's something different than the book.

BTW, I'm waiting for a movie that is based on Gibson's Neuromancer, probably the best book that I've ever read :-) . And please, give it to some new director with motivation and not to one of those "he was good in the 70's now he's just making his job"...

-Croatia - languages

LOL... I mean, my postings are the answer. Aren't they? English is REALLY a big thing, as there is alway hard to learn a foreign language. And there are other languages that are learned in the school like French, German and a few years ago even Russian... Altough, English is pushing all other out.

-Movies in Croatia

Well, I can only speak for myself and comment what I see around me.

IMO, here you can see the same McDonaldisation (grin) like in the whole world. Everyone likes to see the new action flick with Tom Cruise, or the new sili..., erm, way of acting of some new actress.
The small movies have very little chances.

Local indie efford? LOL. As in the last 10 years, very questionable author and projects got (and still get) help (very little, but still get some help) from the various state institutes, there are very few new good movies out there. As the movie directors are stating: "there is now scene in Croatia at all"...

In the last 10 years, I saw maybe 2-3 good croatian movies. "Nebo sateliti" from Lukas Nola was good (the first half was perfect, but author had to insert politics into it :( )... This movie got even a few foreign awards, it's english name is:"Skies, Satelites".

http://www.interfilm.hr/en/production/films/skies_satellites/data.htm
http://www.movie-times.net/cgi-local/store/commerce.cgi?product=SATELITI


-Books and mood

I agree.

-Newbies

Here take a look a this e-mail that I got today:

"High Okami,
Please advice how to get sub title on vob files
after decripting with DVD decripter ?
Thanks very much."

I will first try to guess what he wanted, answer that guess and then say to him:"Go to Doom9, read the FAQ's, read the messages in the forum THEN post"... :) . Sigh.

JEEEEEEZ! I wanted to make a quick reply... I really talk too much.

All the best,

Mijo.

[Bugs Bunny]

>a quick reply by me (gosh, my english is really horrible)...

Your English is fine, a lot better than mine when I had to learn it, and better than half of the Yanks that post online. Are you as good verbally as with written form?

>But my favorite humor is still (and probably will be forever), the rough American... Altough, when I take a look at the humor today, it's quite tame :D . So, I really like "Married with children", "Sledge Hammer" and such stuff. Especially "Married with children" since it has everything a man needs.... LOL

Yep, raunchy humor and dirty jokes and politically incorrect skits. It was good while it lasted. Do you blokes also get Saturday Night Live over there? I still do the Pathological Liar and the Church Lady routine once in a while.

>- Book -> movie
>This is always hard. As these are two completly different things. A book is something "intimate", a movie isn't.
>I didn't want to watch the newest Lord of the rings... I will probably watch it when it comes out on DVD.
>I'm still amazed with Bakshi's version, altough it's something different than the book.

I agree they (books & movies) are different mediums with different strengths. The problem comes when trying to convert a work from one medium (book) to another (movie). I'm sympathetic to the inevitable compromises--such as the 2-3 hr limitation per viewing and the need to cater to a larger mass audience--but there are limits that I'm not willing to cross. One of it is the humanization of all the creatures (other than the orcs) in LOTR the movie. It's like watching a colorized version of a black-and-white classic. Funny that we mentioned Final Fantasy just a while ago, as that technology would've been very suited to recreate the Tolkien world w/o the "pollution" of all-human characters. In that, I'm more inclined toward the animated versions of LOTR--even as badly done as they were--as they portrayed the world and its inhabitants to be closer to that described in the books. It's more than a physical thing; it's a "feel" of the place. I had never liked the Hollywood treatment of any genre other than the straight boom-boom Terminator-type action movies. An example that immediately comes to mind is the comparison of La Femme Nikita to its American rip-off. There is no empathy.

Anyway, I've heard that LOTR has garnered more than its share of supposed accolades, so am well aware that I'm in the minority in regards to judging the movie. But then, I was never one to seek comfort in a crowd.

>BTW, I'm waiting for a movie that is based on Gibson's Neuromancer, probably the best book that I've ever read :-) . And please, give it to some new director with motivation and not to one of those "he was good in the 70's now he's just making his job"...

I never read him. The cyberpunk genre is a bit too dark and cynical and nihilistic for me. I prefer lighter fare or straight hardcore sci-fi, but like you said, it all depends on the mood.

My brother is a big Asian movie fanatic, from anime to manga to chop-suey to John Woo movies. He said that Asian flicks are continually getting higher quality as well as exposure in the American mainstream markets. We like animes because of their "edgy" content. From the imported stuff that he showed me, it's the same with other genres. The difference is that their production value is much better than before, and they are successful in breaking into the American markets (American studios have a strangle hold on the distribution of movies in this country). I don't profess to know that much about it, but some of the stuff totally blew me away; it's miles ahead of the Hollywood fare. The Japanese & Taiwanese are the most polished, but the Koreans are getting there.

>LOL... I mean, my postings are the answer. Aren't they? English is REALLY a big thing, as there is alway hard to learn a foreign language. And there are other languages that are learned in the school like French, German and a few years ago even Russian... Altough, English is pushing all other out.

Well, that's good. That means I can be a typical red-neck whitey and just speek gud olde Yankeeism when I do the tourist thing. Hey you blokes aren't much into mugging and coshing over there, are you.. oh waitaminit that's supposed to be our province isn't it, bumping off tourist bumpkins! I kept getting confused where I am sometimes.

>IMO, here you can see the same McDonaldisation (grin) like in the whole world. Everyone likes to see the new action flick with Tom Cruise, or the new sili..., erm, way of acting of some new actress.
The small movies have very little chances.

Yeah I guess the whole world is getting smaller and homogenized..

Three Burger Kings for the Croats under the sky,
Seven for the Frogs in their halls of stone,
Nine for Germs shroomed to ply,
One for the Dark Shrub in his dark throne
In the Land of Holly where the Woods lie.
One Burger to rule them all, One French Fry to find them,
One Milk Shake to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Holly where the Woods lie.

Oh well at least this isn't any worse than what Hollywood did to his work, god rest his soles (and all his other body parts too).

>Local indie efford? LOL.

Well there you go then! Divx some of it and put them onto the net. Tell the blokes you are now the unofficial distributor of Croatian flicks to the rest of the world.

>Here take a look a this e-mail that I got today:

Man, I'm surprised that you even take e-mail questions, let alone answering them. I've got more than a few years as cosysop of answering noobs, and believe me, you'll grow out of it (as will Doom9, hah).

>JEEEEEEZ! I wanted to make a quick reply... I really talk too much.

I take it then you aren't married--because if you are, I'm sure you'll be cured of your habit soon enough HAH!

[diji1]

BTW, I'm waiting for a movie that is based on Gibson's Neuromancer, probably the best book that I've ever read :-) . And please, give it to some new director with motivation and not to one of those "he was good in the 70's now he's just making his job"...

..... man, please, please, please let that be so one day. Gibson is one of my favourite authors and i think that is one of the best books i have read also. :D - still, it'd really break my heart to see a bad film based on that book tho...

hey Bugs - at the risk of sounding pathetic - man, ur my hero! ;) I swear every damn post i read of urs is witty, harsh when needed and completely on the ball - thanks for ur posts!

[Ookami]

Hi Bugs,

now I'm writing this offline, so I can write a longer reply. "Oh my god you killed Kenny!" Hehehe...

> Your English is fine, a lot better than mine when I had to learn it, and better than half of the Yanks that post online. Are you as good verbally as with written form?

Well, to be honest I've never talked in English. As a matter of fact I've never learned English too (in school I've "learned" German, quite funny as my German was better than that of my teachers). All English that I know, comes from the old C=64 text adventures, american and english movies and of course the internet.

>> But my favorite humor is still (and probably will be forever), the rough American... Altough, when I take a look at the humor today, it's quite tame . So, I really like "Married with children", "Sledge Hammer" and such stuff. Especially "Married with children" since it has everything a man needs.... LOL

> Yep, raunchy humor and dirty jokes and politically incorrect skits. It was good while it lasted. Do you blokes also get Saturday Night Live over there? I still do the Pathological Liar and the Church Lady routine once in a while.

Saturday Night Live? Nope, I only saw a few clips of it... I liked it. On the german TV I watched a few times the Mad TV series. I especially laughed at the "stupid" asian women. When mr. Starr investigated her, LOL.

>I agree they (books & movies) are different mediums with different strengths. The problem comes when trying to convert a work from one medium (book) to another (movie). I'm sympathetic to the inevitable compromises--such as the 2-3 hr limitation per viewing and the need to cater to a larger mass audience--but there are limits that I'm not willing to cross. One of it is the humanization of all the creatures (other than the orcs) in LOTR the movie. It's like watching a colorized version of a black-and-white classic. Funny that we mentioned Final Fantasy just a while ago, as that technology would've been very suited to recreate the Tolkien world w/o the "pollution" of all-human characters. In that, I'm more inclined toward the animated versions of LOTR--even as badly done as they were--as they portrayed the world and its inhabitants to be closer to that described in the books. It's more than a physical thing; it's a "feel" of the place. I had never liked the Hollywood treatment of any genre other than the straight boom-boom Terminator-type action movies. An example that immediately comes to >mind is the comparison of La Femme Nikita to its American rip-off. There is no empathy.

Well, I agree with everything you wrote. I only think that you're too hard to Hollywood. Like a famous croatian director said... The Hollywood A movies are in fact just expensive C,D etc. movies. For the Hollywood "A movies" quality is not the most important thing, it's even unimportant (no matter what all the people are saying). A few day ago I watched the making of "Black Hawk Down". I mean, jeez, the book is probably good, but the movie. Awfull... And when I see that a (once?) great director like Ridley Scott is making such movies... Brrr... I do not doubt that the movie will be a success.

> Anyway, I've heard that LOTR has garnered more than its share of supposed accolades, so am well aware that I'm in the minority in regards to judging the movie. But then, I was never one to seek comfort in a crowd.

I would like to think like the majority, my life would be much easier ;) . BTW, when I see what movies are the blockbusters I can only shake my head... The last new movie that really amazed me was "Memento".

>> BTW, I'm waiting for a movie that is based on Gibson's Neuromancer, probably the best book that I've ever read :-) . And please, give it to some new director with motivation and not to one of those "he was good in the 70's now he's just making his job"...

> I never read him. The cyberpunk genre is a bit too dark and cynical and nihilistic for me. I prefer lighter fare or straight hardcore sci-fi, but like you said, it all depends on the mood.

I read quite a few books of him, but really like only Neuromancer. When reading the other books from him, I got this Stephen King feeling (write just to write :-) )... The first time I've read Neuromancer I was ~15, now I'm reading it for the n-th time (with 25)... It's quite amazing, I got shocked by his dark, "realistic" world.

> My brother is a big Asian movie fanatic, from anime to manga to chop-suey to John Woo movies. He said that Asian flicks are continually getting higher quality as well as exposure in the American mainstream markets. We like animes because of their "edgy" content. From the imported stuff that he showed me, it's the same with other genres. The difference is that their production value is much better than before, and they are successful in breaking into the American markets (American studios have a strangle hold on the distribution of movies in this country). I don't profess to know that much about it, but some of the stuff totally blew me away; it's miles ahead of the Hollywood fare. The Japanese & Taiwanese are the most polished, but the Koreans are getting there.

IMO, motivation is everything. If you look at the Terminator, it production costs was ~8 mil. $ (if I remember well), but it's way better than the second part. Just look at the image of the people in the shelter making a fire in a old TV. And that's "only" a action movie!

-Anime (Manga)

I only watched a few, so to be short:

Akira - first Anime I've watched (german dub), great until the funny "Akira" - "Tetsuo" shouting. And the Monster mutation thing ruined the whole movie for me, if the end wasn't so philosophical I would say average. So I'll say good. :-)

Ghost in the shell - Have this as a R1 DVD. Very good, 9 out of 10.

Ninja scroll - Horrible. I mean, just horrible. Maybe I would like it with 17 or so...

Return of Lodoss war (don't remember the name well) - Unintentional funny. I must always laugh when I hear the pronouncation of american words in animes. Liked the music.

-Other asian movies

It all depends. I liked: The Mission, Hana-bi, Lone Wolf and Cube etc. Shiri was interesting, sadly I only had a rental DVD with ~VCD quality (thumbs up to the producer, you can't make a worse worse looking DVD). The blood thing is really bothering me. It's just grotesque. Like when I watched Kurosawa's Ran. Blood everywhere. One of the few very good "full of blood" movie ,I watched, is still "The wild bunch".


> Well, that's good. That means I can be a typical red-neck whitey and just speek gud olde Yankeeism when I do the tourist thing. Hey you blokes aren't much into mugging and coshing over there, are you.. oh waitaminit that's supposed to be our province isn't it, bumping off tourist bumpkins! I kept getting confused where I am sometimes.

Grin. Now, I'm sure that you're the "Baby*****" guy from Doom9's old ezboard forum :) . Croatia is a really beatiful country for holidays... If you live in it, it's another story. Hihi...

>> IMO, here you can see the same McDonaldisation (grin) like in the whole world. Everyone likes to see the new action flick with Tom Cruise, or the new sili..., erm, way of acting of some new actress.
The small movies have very little chances.

> Yeah I guess the whole world is getting smaller and homogenized..

Three Burger Kings for the Croats under the sky,
Seven for the Frogs in their halls of stone,
Nine for Germs shroomed to ply,
One for the Dark Shrub in his dark throne
In the Land of Holly where the Woods lie.
One Burger to rule them all, One French Fry to find them,
One Milk Shake to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Holly where the Woods lie.

> Oh well at least this isn't any worse than what Hollywood did to his work, god rest his soles (and all his other body parts too).

ROTFL, really funny.

>> Local indie efford? LOL.

> Well there you go then! Divx some of it and put them onto the net. Tell the blokes you are now the unofficial distributor of Croatian flicks to the rest of the world.

I would love to do that, only I know almost no one who knows what do to with a camera :D . And I still have to buy a firewire card. Hihi... So all, croats who want to publish a "public domain" movie, mail me.

>> Here take a look a this e-mail that I got today:

> Man, I'm surprised that you even take e-mail questions, let alone answering them. I've got more than a few years as cosysop of answering noobs, and believe me, you'll grow out of it (as will Doom9, hah).

Grin. I've already grown out of it. DVD backup is boring to me since a long time. If it weren't the capture stuff and interesting new programs I would not come into this forum anymore. I will probably retire when fu2k release his final FairUse version. :)

>> JEEEEEEZ! I wanted to make a quick reply... I really talk too much.

> I take it then you aren't married--because if you are, I'm sure you'll be cured of your habit soon enough HAH!

If I were married I would certainly not have the time to write such long replies.

BTW, for those who are single out there, did you ever tried to impress a women with "do you want me that I explain to you the process of deinterlacing?" (of course, with a R. Valentino voice) ;) ?

To reply to diji1 too:

> ..... man, please, please, please let that be so one day. Gibson is one of my favourite authors and i think that is one of the best books i have read also. - still, it'd really break my heart to see a bad film based on that book tho...

Agree. Altough I think that it is almost impossible to make a faithfull movie out of that book.

> hey Bugs - at the risk of sounding pathetic - man, ur my hero! I swear every damn post i read of urs is witty, harsh when needed and completely on the ball - thanks for ur posts!

Grin. He has certainly a great style of writing, altough you should not forget that this is the internet! He could be the main MPAA agent, here. Or he could be a 18 year old, bisexual girl from Sweden, or... You know what I mean :D .

Nice chat, y'all.

Last but not least: FranchiseJuan, sorry for making your thread into a "talk about everything, only avoid the topic" thread. Hope you don't mind.

All the best to all of you...

Mijo.

[dragoman]

I get to the end of this thread wondering "why did I read all that sh*t?"

Just kidding, fellas, it was entertaining...

dragoman

[diji1]

Agree. Altough I think that it is almost impossible to make a faithfull movie out of that book.

lol, when i think about it id say it would be impossible, i think you'd get a situation like the ending of 2001 if u have seen the film and read the book - what happened at the end of that book just couldn't be told via film. It's still a fantastic film regardless though ( and a great book also imo ). I'd certainly love to be proved wrong though... :)

Hey Bugs - PM me if ur 18, female, swedish and bisexual :p hehe .....

..... course ur right Ookami. Actually, i find ur posts a damn good read as well - u really don't speak english ? I couldn't tell, ur very fluent m8!