Author Topic: HAY GUYS HAVE YOU SEEN THIS THING (Forum Shout Out Thread Thing)  (Read 419139 times)

CADmonkey

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Re: HAY GUYS HAVE YOU SEEN THIS THING (Forum Shout Out Thread Thing)
« Reply #135 on: July 06, 2014, 11:47:37 AM »
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If Michael Haneke had a slightly less ironic appreciation of the term “funny games,” he might have cooked up something a little like “Borgman,” a sly, insidious and intermittently hilarious domestic thriller that is likely to remain one of the most daring selections of this year’s Cannescompetish. More disquieting than explicit, this eighth feature from Dutch writer-helmer Alex van Warmerdam, who also features memorably in the ensemble, strikes a familiar note in its allegorical punishment of the entitled upper classes, but the execution is sufficiently inventive to mark the pic as a challenge worth accepting for adventurous arthouse distribs.

For the sake of descriptive economy, it’s tempting to classify “Borgman” (named for its oddly passive-aggressive chief villain) as another entry in the increasingly popular subgenre of the home-invasion thriller, but that would misrepresent the film’s more complex premise. “Home inveigling” or even “home infection” would be closer to the mark: Many of the most horrific domestic violations in this story occur with the permission of the family under threat, lending a Pinter-esque slant to van Warmerdam’s slow-burning narrative.

A cryptic opening sequence isn’t rendered any less so by later events. As an unidentified man swallows a pickled herring at his kitchen counter (clarifying, if nothing else, that we are most certainly in the Netherlands), a priest-led manhunt is taking place outside. The apparent target, middle-aged, lank-haired Borgman (Jan Bijvoet), is rudely awoken from a nap in his sophisticated underground shelter, and beats a hasty retreat with his similarly concealed cohorts.

Seeking refuge in suburbia, Borgman rings the doorbell of wealthy married couple Marina (Hadewych Minis, excellent) and Richard (Jeroen Perceval) and politely asks to use their shower. When Richard, understandably befuddled, refuses, Borgman’s calm refusal of this refusal aggravates Richard into a violent physical attack, one that crucially puts him on the moral back foot with his wife for the rest of the film.

Guilt-stricken and oddly aroused by this implacable stranger, Marina ends up secretly sheltering him in one of their large estate’s outhouses; it’s not long, however, before he’s creeping about inside the house and endearing himself to the couple’s three preteen children, who assume he’s a kind of shaman. Which, indeed, he might well be: His next trick is winning an unwitting Richard’s approval by bumping off the family gardener and masquerading as a new one. When his fellow travelers arrive to assist with the re-landscaping, it’s clear some family remodeling is in the cards, too.

It’s at this point that the film, after initially flirting with a more whimsical tone, takes a decisive turn for the macabre and never looks back. The weight of suspense then shifts to the inner-family dynamic, as Borgman’s crew begins subtly playing Marina against her increasingly paranoid husband. Not that the film feels particularly bad for Richard, who is made rather unsubtly to represent everything that’s detestable about the One Percent (or higher Dutch equivalent): Refusing to hire non-white household staff without diplomas, he barks at his wife, “We’re from the West; it’s affluent. That’s not our fault.”

In a sleek technical package, production designer Geert Paredis’ modern, warmly textured but uninvitingly spacious family house reps a significant asset to the drama. Editor Job ter Burg limits the film’s most violent jolts to a handful of brutal dream sequences, but horror-film rhythms and imagery are wisely kept to a minimum elsewhere. Instead, this is the kind of film that finds droll pleasure in the sight of dead heads setting in buckets of cement.

-GUY LODGE, VARIETY

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Flawless P

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Tim

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Re: HAY GUYS HAVE YOU SEEN THIS THING (Forum Shout Out Thread Thing)
« Reply #137 on: August 02, 2014, 11:59:58 AM »
This is a classic "can someone gets the lights - we had a good run but now it is over" story.

Steampunk Ferret Costume Contest.

http://www.oregonlive.com/west-linn/index.ssf/2014/07/steampunk_ferrets_to_west_linn.html

trinite

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Re: HAY GUYS HAVE YOU SEEN THIS THING (Forum Shout Out Thread Thing)
« Reply #138 on: August 11, 2014, 12:21:11 PM »
Here's a review of a book that put me in mind of Ross's interests in unusual places:
Unruly Places: Lost Spaces, Secret Cities, and Other Inscrutable Geographies
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/review/unruly-places/
Check out the Technical Difficulties Gaming Podcast!
http://www.technicaldifficultiespod.com/

clockworkjoe

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Re: HAY GUYS HAVE YOU SEEN THIS THING (Forum Shout Out Thread Thing)
« Reply #139 on: August 11, 2014, 09:46:41 PM »
Here's a review of a book that put me in mind of Ross's interests in unusual places:
Unruly Places: Lost Spaces, Secret Cities, and Other Inscrutable Geographies
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/review/unruly-places/

Neat! Added to my wish list/things to read in the future

CADmonkey

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Re: HAY GUYS HAVE YOU SEEN THIS THING (Forum Shout Out Thread Thing)
« Reply #140 on: August 23, 2014, 08:26:36 PM »


Japanese Artist Hand-Crafts Intricate Three Dimensional Paperscapes

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Japanese artist Katsumi Hayakawa’s “Paperworks” exhibition explores the impression of architectural density through delicate three-dimensional installations. The intricate sculptures were all hand-crafted piece by piece out of paper and glue, creating an awe-inspiring assemblage of multi-layered urban conditions at different scales.
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Mr. Purple

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Re: HAY GUYS HAVE YOU SEEN THIS THING (Forum Shout Out Thread Thing)
« Reply #141 on: August 27, 2014, 07:14:16 PM »


Japanese Artist Hand-Crafts Intricate Three Dimensional Paperscapes

Quote
Japanese artist Katsumi Hayakawa’s “Paperworks” exhibition explores the impression of architectural density through delicate three-dimensional installations. The intricate sculptures were all hand-crafted piece by piece out of paper and glue, creating an awe-inspiring assemblage of multi-layered urban conditions at different scales.

I'm torn on this one.  On the one hand, "Yay intricate folded city that looks freakin' awesome."  On the other, "Those weren't folded from squares, and EVERY purist knows that 'glue' and 'blasphemy' are synonyms!  This is NOT origami!  Raaaaaaage!"

Gonna compromise and say  "Awesome sculpture work.  That's amazing, and I bow to the sculptor's skill.
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CADmonkey

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Re: HAY GUYS HAVE YOU SEEN THIS THING (Forum Shout Out Thread Thing)
« Reply #142 on: August 28, 2014, 06:44:00 PM »
origami!
...

That word doesn't appear anywhere in the article I linked to.
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Gorkamorka

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Re: HAY GUYS HAVE YOU SEEN THIS THING (Forum Shout Out Thread Thing)
« Reply #143 on: September 17, 2014, 11:25:42 AM »
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Mr. Purple

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Re: HAY GUYS HAVE YOU SEEN THIS THING (Forum Shout Out Thread Thing)
« Reply #144 on: September 17, 2014, 07:09:06 PM »
origami!
...

That word doesn't appear anywhere in the article I linked to.

The photos are of paper that has been folded, glued, and placed to replicate intricate cityscapes, all the more impressive that this was done entirely by hand and without the use of folding machines.  As origami is an art form involving folded paper, I saw paper that had been folded in the photos and immediately thought of my preferred method of expression via a paper medium.

As an avid folder, and an origami purist, my personal milieu is for the folded paper to start as a square and end as a square with folds in it; please understand that my use of the word "origami" was directed at what I had hoped this could have been. I am in no way demeaning these amazingly intricate hand-made papercrafted cityscapes, as I find them beautiful and really well done.

I am merely stating that these are not the art form I had hoped they were.  My apologies for my words earlier, I did not mean to mislead, demean, offend, or in any other way take away from these masterpieces.  I am merely saddened and displeased that I walked into the museum expecting to see an exhibition of watercolors on canvas only to find that that the paintings were oil-paint on paper.
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Tim

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Re: HAY GUYS HAVE YOU SEEN THIS THING (Forum Shout Out Thread Thing)
« Reply #145 on: September 18, 2014, 05:08:01 PM »
Methinks it is time for someone to run a dirty world game involving chimps.

http://www.americanbazaaronline.com/2014/09/18/chimpanzees-born-killers-says-new-study/

Tim

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Re: HAY GUYS HAVE YOU SEEN THIS THING (Forum Shout Out Thread Thing)
« Reply #146 on: September 23, 2014, 12:12:08 PM »
This seems relevant to Mr Payton's interests.

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CADmonkey

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Flawless P

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Re: HAY GUYS HAVE YOU SEEN THIS THING (Forum Shout Out Thread Thing)
« Reply #148 on: September 29, 2014, 02:34:59 PM »
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Know_That_Voice

While this wikipedia article is woefully short, the documentary is great. John Dimaggio did a great job on this one, if you are a fan of voice acting like I am.

Especially if you envy the skill to high heaven.

I would highly recommend watching this at least once, maybe twice. It's on Netflix instant stream now as well so it's even better.

I might be bad at doing voices in my games but this really does give you some insight into how to come up with memorable voices.
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Kamen

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Re: HAY GUYS HAVE YOU SEEN THIS THING (Forum Shout Out Thread Thing)
« Reply #149 on: September 30, 2014, 12:17:45 PM »
What Flawless P said. I Know That Voice is fantastic and if you're a fan of animation or video games you owe it to yourself to watch.