Search Results for: Ren

when words aren’t enough…

When words aren’t enough…

Say it with bacon!  If only this would work with women… but in reality, it would likely result in disasterousness (which may not be an actual word, but it would be bad).  Ironically, this would impress guys.  A girl could give cooked bacon to a guy and he would think she must really like him.  (Who ever said men and women are the same?  Maybe someone should write a book similar to “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus” but include a chapter about food.  Men can relate to that, and would be more interested in reading the book.  Well, since most men don’t read, maybe it should come with bacon…)

watching Transformers 3 with different expectations

I saw Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon (the third CGI movie) in theaters recently, because I heard it had good 3D effects.  Also, I was curious to see what I’d think of it now that my expectations were much lower after being so disappointed with the first one.  (I skipped the second one, because I heard it was turrible.  Even director Michael Bay said it was crap.)

I had recently read a quote about watching a movie with the proper perspective:

If you watch a movie with a mindset that does not match the theme, you will always hate it. If it’s a kid’s movie …, watch it with a kid’s eye. If it’s a slapstick comedy that is supposed to be goofy, don’t look for intelligent humor. It may not always work, but it sometimes does. Give it a try. You may find yourself liking a movie that you didn’t before. ~ Dave Nelson

When the first Transformers movie was announced, I had such high hopes that it would build upon the backstory, update and modernize (only as necessary), and tell a great philosophical story of a civil war between sentient robots.  (There really is a great sci-fi background story, as well as philosophical topics.  The origins of Optimus Prime and Megatron can be compared to Xavier and Magneto in X-Men.  See “The War Within” for a great example.)  Obviously director Michael Bay tossed all that aside and made the story more about humans and explosions.

So with Michael Bay directing this one also, I expected:
* the humans to play the biggest role in the movie;
* the Transformers wouldn’t have much personality;
* character development of Transformers wouldn’t happen much;
* story would take a back seat to action scenes;
* lots of explosions;
* a number of action scenes zoomed in too close where you can hardly tell what’s going on.

So was I disappointed?  For those expectations, it was a good movie.  Compared to what could’ve been, it was disappointing again.  The 3D effect was well-done — not over-used or cheesy like many 3D movies have been.

The bulk of the story was between humans, which is missing the whole point. Transformers is about a civil war going on between intelligent robots.

There were some unexpected twists in the story, which is good and bad.  It made it less predictable and somewhat more suspenseful, but it was done by changing the backstory of some of the Transformers.  There are also a few plot points that are completely unbelievable.  I could go on and on about that, but you can read some on this page (with spoilers).

Afterward, one of the guys with me said all three movies had the same basic plot.  Sure some details changed, but it was basically the same thing.  He also noted that he had recently watched the G1 (original) cartoon episode that showed the Transformers leaving Cybertron, and that the cartoon actually explained that part of the story better than all the movies have.  That doesn’t surprise me at all!

Maybe the next movie will have a better story, since it will have a new director… He can keep the great action scenes and special effects and explosions, but just develop the personality of the Transformers and let them drive the story.  That way the new fans and G1 fans might all enjoy it more.

explanation of Global Warming for children

There were some good (verbal) responses on our recent post with the child-like explanation of nuclear meltdown, so today we’re going to show a video that explains what causes Global Warming.  This is a simplified version, at a level anyone can understand.  (So if you still don’t get it, you’re obviously making things too complicated.)

FYI, this is from an episode of Futurama, in case you were wondering.

explaining Japan’s nuclear situation to children

Someone sent me a video of a cartoon character named Nuclear Boy, who explains the nuclear disaster in Japan, but in a format for children.  This video (below) has captioning translated to English.  Apparently it was designed by someone in Japan, so I don’t think it’s meant to make light of the situation, just putting it in terms children can relate to, like passing gas / farting, poo, and diarrhea.  Yeah, this video compares radiation emissions to gas, and a complete meltdown like Chernobyl is diarrhea.

Just to be clear, this is not to make fun of what’s happening in Japan right now.  My heart goes out to them.  I can’t imagine what they’re going through.

This video is a lighter take on it, for children — well, also for teenagers and adults who are still fascinated by flatulence and poop.  Not everyone understands nuclear meltdown, but everyone understands diarrhea.

The name of the video translated into English is: A Nuclear Reactor Explained by Poop and Farts: Nuclear Reactor Boy’s Tummy Ache.

I’ve wondered if this is an actual translation, so I looked at the comments on the original video, and someone there translated it very similar, so it appears legit, as far as I know.