tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021263316818540022.post7301274096360627486..comments2023-05-10T05:20:20.250-07:00Comments on Trans-Atlantic Throwdown: Trans-Atlantic Throwdown Episode 5Trans-Atlantic Throwdownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05124989800799647896noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021263316818540022.post-35202446329123965452011-02-02T21:43:43.550-08:002011-02-02T21:43:43.550-08:00Clearly I'm posting as I listen so I'm spa...Clearly I'm posting as I listen so I'm spamming the comments, but the world cup being left off of people's consciousness at year's end... Well, I think overall it left a bad taste in my mouth. As euphoric as Donovan's stoppage time goal was, and I watched the replay a hundred times, there were too many unpalatable things about the tournament this year. The hand-ball circumstances behind Ireland being kept out of the tournament, after which, when video-refereeing is suggested to FIFA it is outright denied. What followed was one awfully refereed game after another, with two American goals disallowed for no valid reason, Mexico losing a game due to a goal that violated the offside rule, an English goal against Germany that crossed 2 feet into the goal but was not seen by the linesman and so didn't count, on and on. <br /><br />Then the final, which was the worst World Cup final in memory with a record 14 yellow cards, one awful tackle and hammy crying victim after another. <br /><br />The South African venue had promise but was marred by corruption (There were huge townships, impoverished slums, near a lot of the venues, and despite FIFA's claims that it would bring prosperity to South Africa, their solution was simply to evict all the residents out of sight of the highways...)<br /><br />And finally the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups... 2022 came down to the USA or Qatar. I'd have been delighted with a 2022 USA venue, it would be perfect on every level, and could be the final legitimizing push to make soccer compete on an even playing field with other US sports. Instead, FIFA give it to Qatar, a country the size of Wales with 110ºF summer heat where you can be executed for homosexuality (locals will be executed. Foreigners, as 14 of them found out last year, will merely be publicly flogged / whipped, then deported.) We may as well have given the World Cup to North Korea.<br /><br />So I think it's FIFA's obnoxious antics that keep the World Cup from being a fond memory for some this year...Daniel Philip Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01065611527627233269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021263316818540022.post-71135469399920477242011-02-02T21:29:31.352-08:002011-02-02T21:29:31.352-08:00Also, future historians will point to "Like a...Also, future historians will point to "Like a G6" as being the high point of our civilization. It works on conceptual levels the human mind is not yet capable of grasping, I mean think about it, the Gulfstream VI jet isn't even FLYING yet. It's still on the damn drawing board!<br /><br />Also, Far East Movement are the first Asian American band to make it to the Billboard Top 10 (for a song that only features guest vocals from a non-Asian American, so... I dunno what to make of that), much as I'd have loved Utada Hikaru to have made that milestone.<br /><br />Okay, I'll stop myself before I start discussing Asian pop music...Daniel Philip Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01065611527627233269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1021263316818540022.post-86683396778768899802011-02-02T21:01:38.099-08:002011-02-02T21:01:38.099-08:00Hey, "iDan" here, glad to see the new ep...Hey, "iDan" here, glad to see the new episode online,<br /><br />As for my movie list, yeah the ordering could probably use a shake-up (easiest fix would be to switch Shutter Island and Inception's places). Also one caveat would be that due to delayed release dates for a lot of films in Ireland, anything that gets released in the USA for "oscar season" tends to land in Ireland late December or January. So when that list was written, Black Swan, The King's Speech, and True Grit weren't yet released in Ireland (I've yet to see Black Swan or True Grit but from what I hear they'd be shoe-ins for any top 10 list.) Also not yet released was Sylvain Chomet's The Illusionist, which might have earned animation a second slot on my list (as an animator myself, the medium needs some love, and for whatever reason I can't bring myself to fall in love with Toy Story 3 the way everyone else has.)<br /><br />Frank is right, though, in that 2010 didn't actually seem to be a very significant year for films. If it were a crop of films like 2007, a film like "The Ghost Writer," as well made and worthy a film as I think it is, wouldn't have made a top 10 list. It's not that I ever felt like I was scraping the barrel with this list (I'll defend any film's inclusion, if not its order on the list) but let's just say that I cheated somewhat by including Un Prophete thanks to its delayed USA opening date, because it was in last year's oscars. <br /><br />As for Inception, its ordering was probably a bit harsh. I think being within the top 3 would have been more fair in retrospect, but as excellently conceived and assembled as it is, I think it does strain under some of its own internal logic. Also, and Patrick has gotten my spiel about this before, Inception gets a lot more interesting is it's viewed not as a film about dreams, but about the act of filmmaking (Just google a picture of Chris Nolan and ask why he cast Leo as the "director" of the dreams, and that's only the beginning)<br /><br />I don't want to come across as defensive at all, I'm grateful you guys featured it, and I can totally understand the Husband Points™ frustration at Scott Pilgrim, just giving myself the excuse of release dates for leaving off Black Swan and its contemporaries.<br /><br />And if you think City of Life and Death would be rough to watch, I saw it in the cinema at 1 in the afternoon on a sunny Sunday, ALONE. I walked out of a black and white film about one of the most horrific events of the 20th century, alone, into the still-sunny late afternoon and tried to keep it together for the rest of the day.<br /><br />And on a final note, Patrick does a fantastic Henry Rollins impersonation. <br /><br />Keep it up guys, looking forward to the next one,<br /><br />DanielDaniel Philip Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01065611527627233269noreply@blogger.com