How old were you when you started reading the series?

[Birdhead]

Ah, but, you could have fixed so you walked downhill bot ways. So it's all your own fault.
T
PS: You guys are only 10 years younger than my Mum. That's FREAKY, because she's 50.
T

Tuibird in Aotearoa
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Chocolate lover extraordinaire...
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My mission: Bringing Maori to the world!
Spelling Freak and Typo Queen

[Kathy Li]

Damn. Meteorite beat me by two years. I'm 37. So much for my much-vaunted oldfart status.

And yeah, lemme tellya, it's freaky being at an age that's supposed to be mature and all grownup, and having your teenage memories resurrected because there are filmmakers out there the same age as you. I would've killed for a good X-Men or Lord of the Rings movie back when I was 13 (all we got were Filmation cartoons and Bakshi or Rankin-Bass). Right now is a very good time to be a teenager.

[meteorite]

Okay, darnitall, get me my dentures before I whacks you with my X-Men #94 (sucks on toothless gums noisily.)

The greatest boon to modern movies has been the advent of CGI. Prior to about the last 15 years, it would be impossible to stage something like the Battle of Helm's Deep, just because of the horrific number of extras required. Groundbreaking films in the last several years (live action ones, at any rate) have all made heavy use of computer techniques. Don't some of the special effects for a movie like Tron look clunky now? And it was cutting-edge for its time.

"Thunderbirds are GO!"

[Kathy Li]

I ain't whackin' nobody with my X-Men #94. It's properly bagged, boarded, and boxed, as an X-Men #94 ought to be.

Yeah, it was a good day when the FX guys looked at Photoshop and said, "Hey, that's better than bluescreening!" and began digitally compositing films.

And while there were plot holes the size of Kansas in X-Men 2, the cgi was cherce. And wasn't it nice to see Nightcrawler and Colossus? Be cool if the next film had a "fastball special" in it, eh?

As for Tron, well, I still get all warm & fuzzy watching it, jaggies and all. For me, the really ancient cgi memory is from The Great Mouse Detective's making-of short, where the fx guy is talking about creating all the clock tower gears in the computer, and then having the computer draw the backgrounds--still paper underneath cels--with a PLOTTER.

[Aurora]

For some reason... I need to read comics. I think its because I just finished the latest Shonen Jump and need something else now...

*mutters and goes look in stack of GNs*

[Quill]

Ack. Would have been nice to see Nightcrawler if that had been Nightcrawler. He wasn't even fuzzy! And where's Colossus' accent? And...etc., etc.

Okay, the movie's a romp. Fun to watch. But it isn't the real X-Men.

Dex Lives No, I'm not the author. I just think you should read it.

[Birdhead]

Nightcrawler's supposed to be funny? *curls up with a headache* OK, I so need to find an Xmen Comic or eight... Regardless of what my mother would say! And did Colossus (he was the steel guy, right?) di he even talk during the movie? I think he only said "this way," or something... Oh yeah, you guys noticed we have yet another wierd cartoon movie? The Hulk (I thought he was supposed to be incredible. Or are there two?) Mind you, that preview looked REALLY, incredibly, bad.
T

Tuibird in Aotearoa
Conservationist, Scientist, and proud of both!
Chocolate lover extraordinaire...
Ahahahaha, ahahahahaha, ahahahaha...
My mission: Bringing Maori to the world!
Spelling Freak and Typo Queen

[Rysade]

[Kathy Li]

Aurora: there's never a bad time for comics. If you're a BUFFY fan, you migt wanna try Fray. It's written by Joss Whedon.

Quill--I know, I know. I miss my fuzzy elf who goes bamf, image-inducer and all, too. But I think they actually did a fantastic job, and Alan Cumming was a hoot. At least he's still German, Catholic, blue, three-toed/fingered, devil-tailed, an ex-circus performer and has the same powers. And yeah, I wish Peter had been Russian, that Pyro was still an Aussie, and Kitty Pryde (not to mention Jubilee) had actually gotten her name mentioned, and that Banshee'd been there instead of Syren. [sigh]. But still. It worked. And thank god we sidestepped the whole Deathstryke/Wolverine relationship.

Birdhead: I'm incredibly jazzed about The Hulk, simply because it's directed by Ang Lee, who is one of my favorite directors ever, and has the astonishing range to go from Eat Drink Man Woman to Sense and Sensibility to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. The relish with which he talked about putting kids and old folks into stunt sequences since all you usually see are big muscle-bound guys was charming. Plus, there should be some nice California Bay Area stuff in the background, and I'm a Cal (UC Berkeley) grad.

Rysade--you *missed* the newsreport on the tv where Hank McCoy was airing his opinion on the mutant problem? Beast was there! So, Warren's the only missing original Lee/Kirby X-guy. And yes, Wolverine first appeared in the X-Men in the mid-70s, in the aforementioned X-Men #94 when they dumped the old yellow-and-black duds and went for the new-international-flavor-lineup, and a new writer named Chris Claremont.

[Birdhead]

*snicker* Rysade, I did exactly the same thing. Only to my best friend (it's just not worth the energy for my brother. He's a lump.). Well, actually went more along the lines of "jeeze, whatta they gonna o next? taking the Incredible out of Hulk? That's worse than taking the The out of The Whale Rider (That really bugged me.)
I loved Crouching Tger, Hidden Dragon but I haven't seen either of the others.
T

Tuibird in Aotearoa
Conservationist, Scientist, and proud of both!
Chocolate lover extraordinaire...
Ahahahaha, ahahahahaha, ahahahaha...
My mission: Bringing Maori to the world!
Spelling Freak and Typo Queen

[Quill]

What amused me was remembering Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler) from GoldenEye ("I am invincible!") and Plunkett & Macleane, where he was outstanding (good movie, that, but for mature tastes; poor soundtrack).

In the area of "six degrees," Stryker's second-in-command was played by Peter Wingfield, Methos from the Highlander TV series (ick). And Wingfield was one of the GOHs at a Highlander/Babylon 5 convention in Glasgow in 1997, a con at which Ms. Duane and her husband were also GOHs.

Let me tell you, you haven't lived until you've seen someone in a Bab5 tunic and a kilt.

Dex Lives No, I'm not the author. I just think you should read it.

[Quill]

Oh, and has anyone noticed that Jean Grey is the only team member without her original code name? Not that I blame them for leaving it out. Wouldn't go over well with today's audience.

Dex Lives No, I'm not the author. I just think you should read it.

[meteorite]

They seem to be grabbing a mixed bag of characters from the entire range of the X-Men series, without regard to where they appeared chronologically, or whether they were a main or supporting mutant I think the main reason anyone showed up in the X-films was popularity. I wuld have liked to see more of the kids' powers, rather than just the cameos by Kitty and Colossus.

[Kathy Li]

Birdhead, you really need to see Sense and Sensibility. Trust me.

Quill: well, just so long as it wasn't Cumming in the Spy Kids flicks or Spice World. I just crack up every time I remember that he was the voice of Black Beauty. BTW, Wingfield also recently guested as a commercial pilot on The Dead Zone, "Cabin Pressure." And yes, never never mention Queen of Swords. I'm sure he'd much rather forget all about it.

[Birdhead]

Based on the Austen novel? I need to read it first... or have I? *mumbles* I can never remember which ones I've read. But perhaps it's not even based on that, so... I'll trust you.
Ka Kite
Tui
PS: Hey, I liked Spy Kids. Sad, eh??
T

Tuibird in Aotearoa
Conservationist, Scientist, and proud of both!
Chocolate lover extraordinaire...
Ahahahaha, ahahahahaha, ahahahaha...
My mission: Bringing Maori to the world!
Spelling Freak and Typo Queen