 The Best Movies For Sr, Ok TV shows too... |
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 Jan 1 2008, 04:10 PM
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#26
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Prime Runner  Group: Members Posts: 3,577 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Gwynedd Valley PA Member No.: 1,221  |
:silly:
Jeremiah's having a little lie down now. |
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Jan 2 2008, 09:58 AM
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#27
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 124 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,812 |
The Unit I agree, is superb. I am a Michael Creighton fan so I disagree that Rising Sun is a bad book, but it is certainly a bit dated.
Speaking of things like The Unit (which everyone must see for, at the very least, non-shadowrunner shadowrun games), a fantastic movie is Spartan. It was written by the same guy who writes the script for the Unit, David Mamet. Some may think this is not a good thing, but try the movie anyway. Works well as a shadowrun game as well, with the twist half way through and a good ending. |
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Jan 2 2008, 10:14 AM
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#28
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,326 Joined: 15-April 02 Member No.: 2,600 |
Spartan is a good flick. The first half hour moves like gangbusters, in a way, the rest of the film can't keep up.
Mamet had a heist film a few years before, called Heist if I recall, that was pretty good. I saw it with some friends who thought it was too slow (it came out about the same time as the Robert DeNiro flick that was pretty similar), but it had a great cast (Sam Rockwell, Delroy Lindo, Gene Hackman, Ricky Jay) and I liked it a lot. (Danny DeVito was good too.) The Untouchables was good too. Mamet's done a lot of good work. The Spanish Prisoner. Speaking of Kevin Costner (sort of, anyway), I caught a snippet of an old movie of his with Anthony Quinn and Madeline Stowe, called Revenge. That's a grim, quasi-western that had its moments. |
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Jan 3 2008, 08:39 AM
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#29
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 640 Joined: 8-October 07 Member No.: 13,611 |
Actually, he doesn't write that many of the show's scripts. Eric Haney seems to have gotten more writing credits in the last two seasons. That said, virtually everything he does is excellent. This partly explains why he is such an arrogant dick. Spartan is probably the best example of his employment of various devices common to his work, especially foreshadowing, plot twists and an absolute bare amount of exposition. He did an interview with Charlie Rose, and another which I could swear is on The Unit page at CBS.com where he is discussing how he came up with the idea. He had been writing or directing or both for The Shield, which is where he met Shawn Ryan. At some point, he read Haney's book--which is a great read, btw--and worked with Haney on Spartan. Honestly, Val Kilmer's character is a stand-in for Haney. Then the three ended up creating The Unit. The Unit, btw, has employed several plots and their skills and MOs are still being taken from or based on Haney's book, especially the training scenes. [ Spoiler ] BTW, speaking of SR films I know a lot of people tend to mention Ronin. David Mamet did an extensive uncredited (well, under a pseudonym) rewrite of the script (you can easily tell what he added). I think it's easy to suggest almost any film or project by Michael Mann or, while I personally don't like many of his movies, William Friedkin. Mostly it's because they've done a ton of the research for you in terms of accuracy in the situations in which their films take place. It's useful to note that you get a lot out of the director's commentaries for when they note what gets changed (like Friedkin having to slow the end knife fight way down for drama's sake). |
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Jan 4 2008, 03:08 AM
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#30
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
Dead Man starring Johnny Depp.
He's an accountant who is moving to the small industrial town of Machine for a new job only to find that his confirmation letter arrived too late and he's already been replaced. He meets an Ex-hooker who is trying to sell paper flowers in front of a saloon but instead ends up being accosted. Long story short - they have sex, her ex-boyfriend is crazy, and he ends up shot and on the run for a double murder that he did not commit. He's rescued by a Native American who believes that he is the reincarnation of 18th Century poet William Blake and a great "killer of White Men". Depp's character, who has no idea who William Blake is, takes to the role that his companion gives him. "That weapon will replace your tongue; you will learn to speak through it; and your poetry will now be written in blood", his companion tells him. He does elevate killing to an artform as he treks toward the Pacific ocean. And it's a Western. |
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Jan 4 2008, 03:28 AM
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#31
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
I remember that one. Very strange movie.
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Jan 4 2008, 11:08 AM
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#32
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 216 Joined: 6-August 03 From: Polish Ghetto Member No.: 5,342 |
Damn, another movie topic.
Admins / mods - please, wake up. Merge all movie threats and pin it at the top of board... Same with Shadowrun like music. TIA |
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Jan 4 2008, 11:26 AM
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#33
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
Or not! :please: New threads and new members could possibly mean a fresh angle or new outlook on things. I don't see how it hurts to let people make a thread about movies or music every once in a while. After all, if a thread really bothers you, you don't really have to click the link, do you? |
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Jan 4 2008, 12:06 PM
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#34
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 216 Joined: 6-August 03 From: Polish Ghetto Member No.: 5,342 |
What is wrong in keeping all movie related posts in one topic? I don't suggest to delete it, or close it - just to merge topics on partucalar object in one place (if movies and music subject are so popular why not pin it on top of this board)?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as i know, some funny man, erm regular forum user always hijack and discussion goes OT. Or it's end as a flame. (I do not want neither of this - we can continue via PM) Another movie/music threat on dumpshock is similiar to the Memento character - but we are not goldfishes that forgets what happened 3 seconds ago.
I give example: I joined the discussion on one of previous movie topic. Why? I don't know all the good SR related movies, and I hoped that in next posts someone will mention something worth watching. Well, topic is probably dead right now - and I wont be informed about one of dumpshockers opinion about Gene Generation - why? "No gravedigging" (good movies are not newspapers - they are not publish daily) rule and "we allow to clone topic" rule. Great. So maybe RSS to know what's new on DS board (maybe I'll be lucky and this exemplary Gene Generation post will appear in my reader)? Yeah, right - Google Reader can't find Feeds matching ""forums.dumpshock.com/"" :( And movies are just example. This post has been edited by mattness pl: Jan 4 2008, 12:08 PM |
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Jan 4 2008, 12:19 PM
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#35
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
I really like when people take a shot a someone and then continue on by saying they don't want flaming, and are willing to continue discussion via PM. Have a nice day. |
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Jan 4 2008, 01:35 PM
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#36
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 216 Joined: 6-August 03 From: Polish Ghetto Member No.: 5,342 |
Sorry, movies fans. I wanted to sent this as PM, but don't know how.
English isn't my first language - maybe something was lost in translation. I didn't want to be offensive. I was just honest. Maybe only I have problem with spreaded data on DS forum. I just asked a question "can that be organized in other way and if not why - not enough people to moderate" or "it's cool right now" and all I just expected an answer. But, well, I'm just foreign Shadowrun fan. And as a fan I care about Dumpshock. And fellow dumpshockers :) I didn't want to take a "shot at you", Fortune, or neither of DS team. I just wrote down how it look from my point of view. If you felt touched, well... I really wanted. Maybe in English my previous post is impolite - maybe I should use somewhere "please, sorry" or "I don't want to be rude, impolite" but after retranslation it doesn't sound offensive. If it is - I'm sorry. Now I just shut my big polish mouth (EOT). Sorry for OT |
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Jan 4 2008, 02:28 PM
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#37
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Immoral Elf Group: Members Posts: 15,247 Joined: 29-March 02 From: Grimy Pete's Bar & Laundromat Member No.: 2,486 |
There are lots of topics related to Shadowrun that arise again and again on Dumpshock. If we made each recurring topic a Sticky, then the whole front page would be full of them alone. If we don't, then where do we draw the line on Stickies?
Each time a topic comes up, there are usually some different participants involved, and sometimes even different ways of looking at things, even after years of discussing the same subject over and over. I don't see why it is so offensive to you that there is a new discussion of an old topic. If you haven't had a chance to receive an answer to a previous question on the subject (which is the impression I got from your previous post), then this would be another chance for you to gain satisfaction in that area, which I would think is a good thing, and not something to complain about. I really think Sticky threads are unnecessary, and even undesirable, except possibly in the case of Admin-type threads. |
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Jan 4 2008, 03:55 PM
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#38
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...and Squinky's art thread as he has done a lot of work on Missions. :grinbig: [/Derail] |
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Jan 4 2008, 07:20 PM
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#39
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Free Spirit Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,950 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Bloomington, IN UCAS Member No.: 1,920 |
I'll admit I am one of thos who get tired of seeing a movie thread every month. Every 3 or 4 months at the most seems plenty. I do think Movie threads should be started at least once or twice a year as there are constantly new movies being released, usually in 2 seasons - summer and holiday.
In addition to new movies that relate to Shadowrun, I like hearing about obscure gems. I usually try to track them down through my public library system. Believe it or not, Boondock Saints fits this category. As I listened to a commentary track, I learned the movie was supposed to open about the same time as the Columbine HS shooting and got yanked, and almost buried and forgotten. Maybe someone will take some initiative and compile an alphabetized list of all past movies (and comments) from previous threads, then when a new Movie thread opens, instead of just posting past links, they could post the actual past movies and comments. A list like this that could be added to would be a nice resource. |
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Jan 4 2008, 07:33 PM
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#40
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,174 Joined: 13-May 04 From: UCAS Member No.: 6,327 |
but I like the feeling of l33tness when I one up the newbies by posting the old links of Shadowrun movies! ;) Actually a list of of everything mentioned to date with a comments sounds good. hmmm... |
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Jan 6 2008, 04:05 AM
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#41
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
I'm going to throw El Topo into the bag.
El Topo begins with the titular character, a badass Man in Black, riding through the desert on a horse with his seven-year-old son who is naked (which is how we can tell that the kid is a boy). El Topo orders his son to bury his favorite toy and a picture of his mother. Eventually, they come to a town whose inhabitants have been slaughtered by bandits. A lone survivor is badly injured and begs for death. El Topo gives his gun to his son who puts the man out of his misery. Long story short, he leaves his son at a monastery and runs off into the desert with a woman who convinces him to kill the Four Masters of the Gun. He learns Hindu and Buddhist philosophy from the first three before killing them by cheating while the fourth denies him victory through suicide. He's then shot be his female companions and rescued by deformed cave-dwellers to whom he becomes a Christ-like messiah. |
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Jan 6 2008, 04:23 PM
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#42
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Prime Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,577 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Gwynedd Valley PA Member No.: 1,221 |
More than movies, books can be good too, not just sci fi cyber punk. I mean if we trot out Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep or We Can Remember it for You Wholesale they'll see it coming but a lot of the pulp detective stories provide great plots, lots of twists turn and back stabs.
The Big Sleep or Maltese Falcon are too obvious but the other works about Sam Spade or Philo Vance or even Robert Parker's Spenser are good sources. |
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Jan 6 2008, 05:29 PM
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#43
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 199 Joined: 16-September 03 From: Massachusetts Member No.: 5,625 |
Another author who's really got great caper-style books is Donald Westlake. He also writes under the pseudonym Richard Stark. If you've ever seen Mel Gibson's "Payback", it's based on one of his Stark books.
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Jan 7 2008, 04:04 PM
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#44
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 640 Joined: 8-October 07 Member No.: 13,611 |
The Director's Cut is infinitely better than the theatrical version.
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Jan 7 2008, 06:39 PM
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#45
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...incorporated this style into my last campaign. Kinda threw most of the players off though as it requires far more legwork than action. Also, Magic tends to kill a lot of the mystery and intrigue when one can get together with a couple other mages and do a ritual locate or send a watcher/spirit off on an astral search. Personally though, I still like the feel & hope to give it a go again sometime. |
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Jan 7 2008, 11:56 PM
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#46
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,326 Joined: 15-April 02 Member No.: 2,600 |
And I think the Maltese Falcon is the classic MacGuffin style adventure.
As far as Hammet goes, Red Harvest is tough to beat considering Kurosawa stole (or "borrowed") the plot for Yo-jimbo, from which Sergio Leone stole (or "borrowed") the plot for A Fistful of Dollars; Last Man Standing returned the plot to its bootlegger, gangland roots but gave Kurosawa the "Story By" credit, and the Coen Brothers Miller's Crossing was a much more faithful adaptation, but didn't credit any of the source material. (I guess we call that a homage.) |
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Jan 8 2008, 03:13 PM
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#47
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Prime Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,577 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Gwynedd Valley PA Member No.: 1,221 |
A lot of those 1930's pulp detective stories get around that with dead bodies. For example sure a ritual turns up the location of the Maltese Falcon. But if you remember the film starts with Spade's partner being murdered. Just knowing where the object is doesn't clear out the field of competition. Other stories for example have the detective showing up at a site and finding the contact dead. The Thin Man starts as a missing person but [ Spoiler ] but it is complicated by the number of people lying and the fact the missing man's ex-wife keeps inventing stories on other people to try and set then up.(OK putting a spoiler in about a 70 year old novel but it's good.)More recently in Spenser novels, In Hugger Mugger he's hired to protect a race horse, but the real crime is no one is going for the race horse, but it is a set up to murder the horse's owner. In Bad Business he is hired to get proof infidelity on the part of a corp exec, but the exec is murdered to prevent him from revealing that the company is seriously insolvent.(It was En-Ron with blood shed and set in Boston.) In Hundred Dollar Baby he is hired to protect a brothel from mafia moving in on it, but when you cut through the drek it seems the Madame is in bed with the mafia and is actually trying to double cross her investors AND the mafia is planning on double crossing the Madame. This stuff can be a bitch to juggle but if done well, and I have seen it done well, it has all the double crossing back biting any SR runner could want. Yes there's more leg work in these but it gives more room for role playing and character development, with a goodly number of thugs sprinkled about the |
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Jan 8 2008, 04:06 PM
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#48
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 640 Joined: 8-October 07 Member No.: 13,611 |
Only if magic works one-way, which it doesn't. And in a SR game if it did then something is grossly out of whack. |
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Jan 8 2008, 05:01 PM
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#49
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,537 Joined: 27-August 06 From: Albuquerque NM Member No.: 9,234 |
Your mage isn't part of an initiation group that will offer assistance? Why not?
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Jan 8 2008, 05:27 PM
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#50
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...I did quite a bit of that, and the players seemed a bit frustrated as they felt they were hitting dead ends (pun somewhat intended). Of course I couldn't give much more when perception tests were missed. Also this is the kind of thing better to spring on a group that has played for a while and developed their characters some already. The other failing was that I was still using 3rd ed as the plotline didn't fit with the post crash timeline and there wasn't enough source material to go on yet (really didn't feel like writing a bunch of gear and vehicle stuff up from scratch) I'm currently planning to convert everything to the 4th ed ruleset, a bit of an undertaking, but with Augmented out and Arsenal coming soon (hopefully) now I feel it could work. It would still be set in 2062. Though I'm still not keen on how magic in 4th ed. tends to seem even more powerful (particularly against mundanes), and the rules about wards vs. ritual search/targeting. Kind of kills one of the main plot elements of the campaign. |
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