[QUOTE=Equipoise]
Whatever, I saw it the day after opening during an afternoon show and it was sold out. Our experiences don’t matter though. The movie made 70 million dollars in 3 days. Obviously a lot of people went to see it.
He’s still a bitch.
[/QUOTE]
And he’s still my friend, so shut the hell up unless you know him personally. He may whine about movies but he’s one the most generous and forthright people I’ve ever known.
[QUOTE=tiger lily]
FWIW, IMDb trivia says that all the principal actors underwent a heavy-duty training regimen before shooting began, so that they could all looked ripped. Gerald Butler talks about his own training here a bit.
Carry on.
[/QUOTE]
No doubt, but it’s pretty common in Hollywood these days to highlight muscle definition (they even do it for actors hitting the red carpet) to make it stand out more. In some of the shots, the abs stood out just a bit *too *much to look completely natural. It’s no more odd than the body makeup, eyeliner, or aforementioned body waxing, though, just an amusing observation.
No, Equipoise, the fellow you mentioned may be bitchy, but all he did was disagree with you on this movie. No reason to call names.
(I’ve also had to stifle my laughing during movies that others around me were taking seriously - “Memoirs of a Geisha” comes to mind.)
I can’t comment on the movie - I found the comic - oops - graphic novel too boring to finish. I know it’s not a movie for me.
[QUOTE=Cuckoorex]
Great heroes protect the innocent - the spartans endanger all of Greece. Watching a heroic battle means you connect with the heroe’s fight to save something - I didnt laugh when the Cave Troll fights the Fellowship of the ring (I laughed out loud when Leonidas fights the Persian giant-Troll) - it was wonderfull to see the hobbit team work together to survive - to reach a larger goal - to make it to the next challenge - Strider is a HERO - sacrificing his life for a greater dream- Leonidas is a warmongerer who prizes his idiology of death over the salvation of his peoples life. The spartans are the least free people ive ever seen - forced to fight - and mentally enslaved to see and seek only death.
The only true motivation the film gives us is the village burned to the ground in the beginnging and the child who says they came like wolves. But this would have never happened had Leonidas’ pride not brought Persia down upon him over “earth and water”. I suppose thats like saying WW2 would never have happened if Hitler didnt invade Poland - but I for one would never want to watch a movie about Hitler being a hero for the motherland in his last stand against the allies as they invaded Berchtesgaden and Hitler’s mountain-top hideaway. That movie would suck.
[/QUOTE]
I don’t really see a reasonable way to pin the invasion of Greece on the Spartans. The Persians were going to invade no matter what. When the messenger shows up in the beginning of the film, Leonidas points out that Athens has already refused to surrender and intends to fight. What was offered to Leonidas (repeatedly) was the opportunity to join the Persians willingly and act as their spearhead in the subjugation of the Grecian penninsula. Leonidas may be a warmonger, but he neither initiated nor provoked the Persian invasion. The only influence he had over that decision was wether he was going to abet it, or resist it.
Hey Equipoise, I don’t think you’ve said bitch enough yet.
[QUOTE=Cuckoorex]
And he’s still my friend, so shut the hell up unless you know him personally. He may whine about movies but he’s one the most generous and forthright people I’ve ever known.
[/QUOTE]
Well if you didn’t want him coming off sounding like a bitch, you shouldn’t have copied and pasted his bitchy review into this thread. Let him post his own bitchings. Besides, being generous and “forthright” doesn’t preclude one from being a whiny bitch.
[QUOTE=anamnesis]
Hey Equipoise,
[/QUOTE]
You could also call him by his real name, Zack Snyder. 
[QUOTE=well he’s back]
No, Equipoise, the fellow you mentioned may be bitchy, but all he did was disagree with you on this movie. No reason to call names.
[/QUOTE]
All I did was call him bitchy, which you just did too, and I don’t care if he likes or dislikes the movie, that’s his business, but he crowed about laughing out loud all throughout the movie. I don’t care if it’s 300 or Titanic or The Godfather, if it’s obviously a serious movie, and you find what’s on-screen laughable, leave. This is not your fucking living room.
[QUOTE=well he’s back]
(I’ve also had to stifle my laughing during movies that others around me were taking seriously - “Memoirs of a Geisha” comes to mind.)
[/QUOTE]
Yes, but did you laugh out loud and then proudly tell others that you disrupted the movie for the people around you?
[QUOTE=well he’s back]
I can’t comment on the movie - I found the comic - oops - graphic novel too boring to finish. I know it’s not a movie for me.
[/QUOTE]
See, good for you! Sincerely. You know it’s not for you so you’re staying away. That’s fantastic and I salute you for that.
[QUOTE=Cisco]
You could also call him by his real name, Zack Snyder.
[/QUOTE]
It’s true, I’ve been leading a double life. Don’t tell my husband.
[QUOTE=xtisme]
I have to admit that attempting to see some connection to the war in Iraq in this movie is, to be kind, a bit of a stretch…
-XT
[/QUOTE]
Yeah! I mean, Persia was Iran, not Iraq! 
[QUOTE=Equipoise]
All I did was call him bitchy
[/QUOTE]
Saying he was being bitchy was one thing, and he would readily agree with you that he can be whiny and bitchy but you outright called him a bitch. I wasn’t there in the theater with him, so I don’t know exactly how much or how loudly he laughed. I don’t think he’s “crowing” about laughing as a way to show off, he’s indicating just how bad he thought the movie was; for him to actually laugh out loud at supposedly serious parts of the movie means that (in his opinion) the movie was REALLY missing the mark.
The reason he is so critical of the movie is because he actually has a great deal of passion for movies; he has more great films in his DVD collection than most people will ever see; he converted his basement into a home theater costing several thousand dollars; he watches at least one movie per night. When he goes to see a film and finds that it is done poorly according to his opinion, he feels insulted.
Ah, so if he has a home theater in his basement that kicks so much ass, why didn’t he wait for the DVD so he wouldn’t be laughing and potentially ruining the experience for others? Simple; he didn’t expect to find some of the scenes to be so ludicrous.
And some of the scenes really were ludicrous. 50-foot battle elephants and giant ogres and evil Persian orcs and battle rhinos and 10-foot tall Rupaul Xerxes and “Freedom isn’t really free” (yeah, it costs a hefty fuckin’ fee) and the Immortals sounding like Darth Vader…? I nearly laughed at all of those scenes as well.
Look, I hate it when people talk and laugh at inappropriate times in the movie theaters, too. Usually I end up waiting a long time to see movies so there is less of a crowd or else wait for the DVD because of that. When I saw 300 there was a guy sitting two rows behind me that was determined to show off to his girlfriend how much he knew about the graphic novel AND the real historical battle. Pissed me off. So i feel your pain, I really do. But don’t make it personal.
[QUOTE=Cuckoorex]
Saying he was being bitchy was one thing, and he would readily agree with you that he can be whiny and bitchy but you outright called him a bitch.
[/QUOTE]
He was the one who talked about having ovaries, so that was the word that came to mind. But anyway, what is a bitch other than a female dog? It’s just a word that’s lost its meaning as a true insult. I mean, I didn’t call him a goat-felching fuckwit, did I?
[QUOTE=Cuckoorex]
I wasn’t there in the theater with him, so I don’t know exactly how much or how loudly he laughed. I don’t think he’s “crowing” about laughing as a way to show off, he’s indicating just how bad he thought the movie was; for him to actually laugh out loud at supposedly serious parts of the movie means that (in his opinion) the movie was REALLY missing the mark.
[/QUOTE]
Lots of movies miss their marks with people in the audience while it’s hitting its mark with other people in the audience. The people who are enjoying it do not appreciate those who aren’t getting into it proclaiming their ire/wrath/scorn/derision out loud.
Your friend sounds like the kind of person that people who have home theaters and never go out to the movies complain about as why they never go out to the movies.
[QUOTE=Cuckoorex]
The reason he is so critical of the movie is because he actually has a great deal of passion for movies; he has more great films in his DVD collection than most people will ever see; he converted his basement into a home theater costing several thousand dollars; he watches at least one movie per night. When he goes to see a film and finds that it is done poorly according to his opinion, he feels insulted.
[/QUOTE]
So freakin’ what? It’s his opinion and others don’t share it. Some do, some don’t. If he was insulted, fine, but he should keep his opinion to himself while he’s in the theater. If he didn’t actually continually laugh out loud and was just using that as a metaphor of how he felt about the movie, he’s still a sillywit (there, that better?) because he didn’t care that people would take him literally and get on his case about it. Not about his opinion of the movie, but about disrupting other moviegoers.
And anyway, his love of movies holds no weight. I too love movies and I liked it. We have a home theater too, and over 1500 DVDs, but we still go out to the theater a lot. I saw 13 movies in the theater last week. 300 wasn’t even in my Top 5 of those, but I did enjoy it and would not have appreciated a disruption.
[QUOTE=Cuckoorex]
Ah, so if he has a home theater in his basement that kicks so much ass, why didn’t he wait for the DVD so he wouldn’t be laughing and potentially ruining the experience for others? Simple; he didn’t expect to find some of the scenes to be so ludicrous.
And some of the scenes really were ludicrous. 50-foot battle elephants and giant ogres and evil Persian orcs and battle rhinos and 10-foot tall Rupaul Xerxes and “Freedom isn’t really free” (yeah, it costs a hefty fuckin’ fee) and the Immortals sounding like Darth Vader…? I nearly laughed at all of those scenes as well.
[/QUOTE]
Sheesh, it was based on a COMIC BOOK! What in the world did he/you expect? Of course there were going to be a lot of over-the-top things about it and it wasn’t going to be 100% historically accurate. God, go watch the Discovery Channel or something.
[QUOTE=Cuckoorex]
Look, I hate it when people talk and laugh at inappropriate times in the movie theaters, too. Usually I end up waiting a long time to see movies so there is less of a crowd or else wait for the DVD because of that. When I saw 300 there was a guy sitting two rows behind me that was determined to show off to his girlfriend how much he knew about the graphic novel AND the real historical battle. Pissed me off. So i feel your pain, I really do. But don’t make it personal.
[/QUOTE]
It’s not so personal. Read it as if it were written by someone you don’t know. I just had the same reaction reading about the guy two rows behind you.
Finally went and saw this today. Loved it, great action flick. I gotta say the LOTR stuff did bug me a bit though, there was no need for giant elephants, or giants for that matter, and the inmortals looked just like freaking orcs when their mask was taken off… all that was missing was the giant flaming vagina.
::: Moderator Interjects ::: This thread has wandered way too close to personal insults, to hijacks, and to discussions that are inappropriate for Cafe Society.
On personal insults: they are not permitted in this forum. There is a fine line, of course:
If a general statement [“Only a twit would think…”] comes first, it might be acceptable. But when one poster has just said that he/she thinks something, and another poster says only a twit would think that, then we’re into the personal insult category. So: Enough of this. You can have different opinions and different tastes without the other person being a twit.
On hijack: The question of proper behavior in a theatre belongs in a different thread. It could be in Cafe Society topic as an abstract concept.
On discussion that belongs elsewhere: The question of some specific person’s behavior in a theatre (like, let’s say for example, someone’s boyfriend’s behavior) belongs in MPSIMS or the Pit. Not here.
This thread is for discussion of the movie. Back to topic, please.
One question: Leonidas second in command was played by the same guy who played Achilles second in command in Troy wasn’t it?
For what it’s worth, Cuckoororex, I think your friend’s review well articulates the stunning illogic that ultimately ruins the entire film. He doesn’t sound like a bitch at all.
Yay, it’s safe to come back and talk about the movie! Looks like Iranians are all upset about it now too. Apparently it’s a vast right-wing conspiracy against the descendents of Persia. How else can you explain it making $70 million in three days whereas Alexander was a flop? I mean, those two movies were like, totally alike.
I wonder if [hope that] Equipoise can resist the urge to start foaming at the mouth and calling them bitches as well.
[QUOTE=dropzone]
Yeah! I mean, Persia was Iran, not Iraq!
[/QUOTE]
Zactly. I think the Iranians STILL call their elite formation the Immortals in fact…while our Iraqi buddies called their’s the Republican Guard (ironic name there…).
-XT
I think someone should tell the Iranians that the vast majority of Americans probably have no idea that Persia = Iran.
[QUOTE=anamnesis]
Yay, it’s safe to come back and talk about the movie! Looks like Iranians are all upset about it now too. Apparently it’s a vast right-wing conspiracy against the descendents of Persia. How else can you explain it making $70 million in three days whereas Alexander was a flop? I mean, those two movies were like, totally alike.
I wonder if [hope that] Equipoise can resist the urge to start foaming at the mouth and calling them bitches as well.
[/QUOTE]
You’re trying to get me in trouble with C K Dexter Haven, aren’t you?
As long as the Iranians didn’t talk in the theater, I have no concerns about them disliking the movie. It doesn’t matter to me one bit what anyone thinks of the movie.
Here are the movies I saw last week, and their rankings:
I liked all those. And then there was…
If 300 were higher I might feel like defending the movie, but it’s not and I don’t, and I don’t particularly appreciate people disregarding what I complained about and trying to make it about the movie itself.