Not an Electronic Rodent (profile), 30 Oct 2012 @ 11:31am
Re: Re: What about certain genres?
Hmm I'll think about that one...
Found the example I was looking for... 1981 seems a good year to look at with Excalibur on an $11M budget and the (original) Clash of the Titans on $15M - the former especially is a great film. Vs the other 2 "biggies" of the year, Raiders of the Lost Ark on $18M and Superman II on a whopping $54M by comparison.
Oh and just for the hell of it chuck in Time Bandits on $5M vs James Bond For Your Eyes Only on $28M
Not an Electronic Rodent (profile), 30 Oct 2012 @ 11:00am
Re: Re: Re: Re: What about certain genres?
Star Wars: $11million in 1977 ($40million adjusted)
I was thinking of mentioning that one... and look how it was "improved" by throwing more money at it later for flashy special effects.. they added soo much to the story.
Not an Electronic Rodent (profile), 30 Oct 2012 @ 10:57am
Re: What about certain genres?
I remember reading an article recently that TV studios are afraid of experimenting with sci-fi shows such as Star Trek because costs are prohibitive.
I'm not convinced that's really true - I'd say it's more a lack of imagination on the part of the makers thinking "ooh it's got to have super real whooshey bangy bits or no-one will watch".
Are there any examples of good fantasy or sci-fi movies/TV shows made on smaller budgets?
Well for TV IIRC, "Babylon 5" and "Star Trek The Next Generation" were approximately contempories and a series of Bab5 clocked in at about 1.5 episodes of TNG. Certainly Bab5 was way cheaper and, though I liked both, to my mind a far more compelling watch.
Then of course there was the BBC radiophonic workshop - responsible for BBC special effects in the 70's and 80's and probably most famous for Dr Who among many others - which has to demonstrate the possibility of compelling sci-fi for the cost of some drink bottles, paint and an old quarry.
Film is trickier as there probably is less willingness of the audience to forgoe the flashy visuals, but that may well be more to do with most film Sci-Fi plots being short on plot. Hmm I'll think about that one...
Not an Electronic Rodent (profile), 28 Oct 2012 @ 9:46am
Re: Re:
and it's cisco and NOT Cisco..
Picked up a bit of net trivia somewhere did you? Yes, Cisco was originally spelt with a lowercase 'c' as an abbreviation of San Fran'cisco'. The bit you missed in your haste to try and look knowledgable was that it was capitalised in 1995.
A hasty look at Cisco's own website would show it capitalised all over the place and you'd think they'd know how to spell their own name wouldn't you?
Not an Electronic Rodent (profile), 27 Oct 2012 @ 3:34pm
Re: Re: Nice
Again, so what if the money we spend on one product means we aren't spending it on another?
Well, that's one argument I suppose, but to my mind a rather simplistic one. For a start, who's to say that the $20 (artificially propped-up) price for a CD wouldn't have been better for the economy if spent on a pair of shoes? More to the point though, is Bastiat's argument "What if the glazier is paying the boy to break the window?"
This is exactly the situation that exists now with copyright - the glazier (copyright industries) paying the boy (governemnt) to break the window (free-market price of a copyrighted work).
Quite apart from the moral dubiousness of that, effectively the goverment is saying the copyright industries are more important than other industries as well as more important than the unknown new industries that would most likely grow to consume some portion of the freed-up spendable money if copyright industries attained a natural equilibrium in a free market.
Not an Electronic Rodent (profile), 26 Oct 2012 @ 12:02pm
Re: Gov SOP Name means exact opposite of reality
The names governments give things mean the exact opposite of their reality.
Of course: "Always get rid of the difficult bit in the title – it does less harm there than in the text" - Sir Humphrey Appleby (Yes Minister - finest political documentary..uh, comedy.. ever)
Not an Electronic Rodent (profile), 26 Oct 2012 @ 8:28am
Re: Re: Re: Re: Not good enough
Woah! Woah! If you keep going like that back up the chain, you're going to eventually get to the government that allowed the hosting, electricity, etc companies to exist in their country liable for infringement! ..... oh.. wait.. um, carry on.
Not an Electronic Rodent (profile), 26 Oct 2012 @ 8:24am
Re: Re: Re:
a major lesson was that the vast majority of people were too afraid to (be the first person to) point that out
But people not talking about it didn't make the emperor any less naked, or mean that people couldn't see it.
A fitting analogy then for an equally stupid restriction - we're supposed to pretend that DVD encryption is a securing technology when everyone on the planet apart from the **AA knows otherwise whether talking about it or not.
Not an Electronic Rodent (profile), 25 Oct 2012 @ 1:17pm
Re: Another case of pre-crime
If they're able to catch the crime before it happens, what crime will they charge the accused with? Considering committing a crime? Looking "furtive"?
Ah.. there I think you miss the segue. Look closely enough at the overreaching and especially vague laws already in effect and you're likely to find you're already breaking some laws. With the mythical "perfect information" they can then simply arrest you for whatever minor laws you may have broken that they have so far ignored as soon as they begin to suspect you may do something they don't like.
Not an Electronic Rodent (profile), 25 Oct 2012 @ 9:56am
Re: Isn't the next question can you not read at all or did you just get bored after the first sentance?
Now, to be clear, I actually don't think free internships -- entered into willingly -- should be illegal (just as I don't think there's anything wrong with people volunteering to do stuff for free). But if Hollywood is running around whining about getting more people paid... it seems pretty hypocritical to then not pay people working for you.
Not an Electronic Rodent (profile), 25 Oct 2012 @ 6:08am
They missed the gotcha
The argument about better information reducing false positives is drastically flawed because it overlooks a large assumption; That the laws you are enforcing perfectly with the information are also perfect.
In a democracy the laws of the land are supposed to reflect the collective morality and best interest of the society to which they apply. For a start, that is itself an assumption that the "average" morality of the society reflects most of the people in it, which is rather tenuous anyway. But even more than that it has been shown countless times that laws are in fact most often created through the will of the most vocal or richest minority of the society whether deliberately or through misguided interpretation of "what is best for society" according to a minority agenda.
So, if INDECT's mythical nivarna of perfect information and perfect law enforcement were ever achieved what it would do is create the most perfect and totalitarian police state in the history of the world.
Not an Electronic Rodent (profile), 25 Oct 2012 @ 1:35am
Re: Re:
Your children will only benefit in the event that the work has been a massive success, and is worth republishing for the copyright holder.
But that's just disgusting! It's taking away the RIGHT of great grandchildren everywhere not to have to work a day in their lives or do anything uyseful ever. We cannot stand for that, it must be rectified. We must enact a copyright extension that dictates mandatory tithing to any artist that publishes a work!
Not an Electronic Rodent (profile), 25 Oct 2012 @ 1:14am
Re: Re: Re: Same AC as above.
If copyright isn't property, it goes to the public domain. So the one developer can legally sell the work of 20 or hundreds of developers without punishment
Well, except for that being breach of contract since one would assume it would have been done as employed work if he's workign with 19 other...
Not an Electronic Rodent (profile), 24 Oct 2012 @ 1:51pm
Re: I notice something
Because his(?) goal is to obscure anything intelligent in the comments with random, blantantly stupid assertions that others will then rant about. That's why I soooo wish the comments were properly tiered and a tree or subtree could be collapsed when reading.
Not an Electronic Rodent (profile), 24 Oct 2012 @ 10:19am
Re: Re: Re: Bloody Hell
Would certainly be somewhat ironic if it weren't faked, though doubtless it would be lost on the british (and american) politicians doing their best to make 1984 seem tame by comparison.
Oh, and it looks like you need... ahem... an E with your coffe(e) to wake you up properly :-)
On the post: Hollywood Still Resisting The Idea That Cheaper, Better Films Is The Way To Beat TV
Re: Re: What about certain genres?
Oh and just for the hell of it chuck in Time Bandits on $5M vs James Bond For Your Eyes Only on $28M
On the post: Hollywood Still Resisting The Idea That Cheaper, Better Films Is The Way To Beat TV
Re: Re: Re: Re: What about certain genres?
On the post: Hollywood Still Resisting The Idea That Cheaper, Better Films Is The Way To Beat TV
Re: What about certain genres?
Well for TV IIRC, "Babylon 5" and "Star Trek The Next Generation" were approximately contempories and a series of Bab5 clocked in at about 1.5 episodes of TNG. Certainly Bab5 was way cheaper and, though I liked both, to my mind a far more compelling watch.
Then of course there was the BBC radiophonic workshop - responsible for BBC special effects in the 70's and 80's and probably most famous for Dr Who among many others - which has to demonstrate the possibility of compelling sci-fi for the cost of some drink bottles, paint and an old quarry.
Film is trickier as there probably is less willingness of the audience to forgoe the flashy visuals, but that may well be more to do with most film Sci-Fi plots being short on plot. Hmm I'll think about that one...
On the post: Cisco's CEO Rips Into The Patent System & All Who Abuse It, Big Or Small
Re: Re:
A hasty look at Cisco's own website would show it capitalised all over the place and you'd think they'd know how to spell their own name wouldn't you?
On the post: Copyright: The New Mercantilism
Re: Re: Nice
This is exactly the situation that exists now with copyright - the glazier (copyright industries) paying the boy (governemnt) to break the window (free-market price of a copyrighted work).
Quite apart from the moral dubiousness of that, effectively the goverment is saying the copyright industries are more important than other industries as well as more important than the unknown new industries that would most likely grow to consume some portion of the freed-up spendable money if copyright industries attained a natural equilibrium in a free market.
On the post: Copyright: The New Mercantilism
Re: Re: Re:
Extreme Makeover: IP Edition
"Gooooood morning Congress family!"
On the post: TSA Bad At Security; Leaves Security Status Data On Boarding Passes Unencrypted
Re: Gov SOP Name means exact opposite of reality
"Always get rid of the difficult bit in the title – it does less harm there than in the text" - Sir Humphrey Appleby (Yes Minister - finest political documentary..uh, comedy.. ever)
On the post: BREIN Scores Another Victory, Making It Suck Even More To Be A Dutch Internet Company
Re:
On the post: BREIN Scores Another Victory, Making It Suck Even More To Be A Dutch Internet Company
Re: Re: Re: Re: Not good enough
On the post: DMCA Exemptions Announced; Exemption For DVD Ripping Rejected; Phone Unlocking Going Away
Re: Re: Re:
A fitting analogy then for an equally stupid restriction - we're supposed to pretend that DVD encryption is a securing technology when everyone on the planet apart from the **AA knows otherwise whether talking about it or not.
On the post: EU Surveillance Team: We Need More Surveillance To Justify More Surveillance
Re: Another case of pre-crime
On the post: For All The Talk From Hollywood About Making Sure People Get Paid, Why Doesn't It Pay Interns?
Re: Re: Isn't the next question can you not read at all or did you just get bored after the first sentance?
On the post: For All The Talk From Hollywood About Making Sure People Get Paid, Why Doesn't It Pay Interns?
Re: Isn't the next question can you not read at all or did you just get bored after the first sentance?
On the post: EU Surveillance Team: We Need More Surveillance To Justify More Surveillance
Re: Re: Re: Disagree with your last conclusion
On the post: EU Surveillance Team: We Need More Surveillance To Justify More Surveillance
They missed the gotcha
That the laws you are enforcing perfectly with the information are also perfect.
In a democracy the laws of the land are supposed to reflect the collective morality and best interest of the society to which they apply. For a start, that is itself an assumption that the "average" morality of the society reflects most of the people in it, which is rather tenuous anyway. But even more than that it has been shown countless times that laws are in fact most often created through the will of the most vocal or richest minority of the society whether deliberately or through misguided interpretation of "what is best for society" according to a minority agenda.
So, if INDECT's mythical nivarna of perfect information and perfect law enforcement were ever achieved what it would do is create the most perfect and totalitarian police state in the history of the world.
On the post: Economist's Defense Of Perpetual Copyright: It's Best To Just Ignore The Economics
Re: Re:
On the post: Empirical Data Suggests That Website Blocking Is A Useless Weapon Against Infringement
Re: Re: Re: Same AC as above.
On the post: Empirical Data Suggests That Website Blocking Is A Useless Weapon Against Infringement
Re: Re: The old "ineffective so do nothing" ploy.
On the post: Empirical Data Suggests That Website Blocking Is A Useless Weapon Against Infringement
Re: I notice something
On the post: Mr. Bean: We Must Be Allowed To Insult Each Other
Re: Re: Re: Bloody Hell
Oh, and it looks like you need... ahem... an E with your coffe(e) to wake you up properly :-)
Next >>