Extra Credits question.

[Luke5515]

I was pondering an episode of Extra Credits that I saw a while back. I'm not sure what episode it was, but there was a brief moment where Daniel mentioned some movies stating that if games didn't start, well I'm not actually sure what the episode was about exactly which is where my problem lies, but if they didn't do something we'd never have our Blade Runner, or our... and that's where I need help. I can't remember what episode it was and after turning up a few blanks, I decided to bring it to the forums. What episode was it and what movies were they?
EDIT: And I forgot to put the conversation value. I already saw Blade Runner, and I thought it was only okay, but everyone seems to love it. Any movies that are held in high regard by most that you didn't enjoy, or thought were just mediocre? I for one think I didn't really understand all of Blade Runner. I think I missed something.

 

[BonsaiK]

I already saw Blade Runner, and I thought it was only okay, but everyone seems to love it. Any movies that are held in high regard by most that you didn't enjoy, or thought were just mediocre? I for one think I didn't really understand all of Blade Runner. I think I missed something.

Blade Runner was critically savaged when it was released, mainly because of the lack of chemistry between the two romantic leads, and for dumbing down the future setting with detective movie cliches in order to make it more "Film Noir". The Director's Cut solved the latter problem but not the former. The reason why in retrospect people like the film is because it's the first (and arguably only) decent realisation of cyberpunk in film, and also the visual effects have dated extremely well, especially in comparison to other movies from the same time period. In other words, the dramatic execution may be a bit ropey, but they sure got the visual concept spot-on.

To answer your question, I thought Shortbus was a bad film. Great at first, but the ending was ridiculously lame and ruined it for me, reducing the film from what could have been a great exploration of social issues into a moderately-budgeted porno (not that there's anything wrong with that, but I feel like the film was being dishonest by selling itself as something more than that). I won't spoil it, but then I feel like there really isn't anything TO spoil. People loved V For Vendetta and while I thought it was okay, I think the far superior Children Of Men tackles the same concepts in a much stronger, more satisfying way, making V For Vendetta look like exactly what it is - a film based on a comic book. And boy those stupid monologues were annoying. I also don't see what people see in The Big Lebowski, I thought that film was a load of absolute crap, but then that's probably because I have to deal with people exactly like "The Dude" on a regular basis so watching him wandering around being a fuckhead in that film doesn't do it for me, it just makes me think "this makes me feel like I'm at work".

Dunno about your EC question though, I obviously haven't seen that episode. Someone else will know.

 

[Luke5515]

Blade Runner was critically savaged when it was released, mainly because of the lack of chemistry between the two romantic leads, and for dumbing down the future setting with detective movie cliches in order to make it more "Film Noir". The Director's Cut solved the latter problem but not the former. The reason why in retrospect people like the film is because it's the first (and arguably only) decent realisation of cyberpunk in film, and also the visual effects have dated extremely well, especially in comparison to other movies from the same time period. In other words, the dramatic execution may be a bit ropey, but they sure got the visual concept spot-on.

To answer your question, I thought Shortbus was a bad film. Great at first, but the ending was ridiculously lame and ruined it for me, reducing the film from what could have been a great exploration of social issues into a moderately-budgeted porno (not that there's anything wrong with that, but I feel like the film was being dishonest by selling itself as something more than that). I won't spoil it, but then I feel like there really isn't anything TO spoil. People loved V For Vendetta and while I thought it was okay, I think the far superior Children Of Men tackles the same concepts in a much stronger, more satisfying way, making V For Vendetta look like exactly what it is - a film based on a comic book. And boy those stupid monologues were annoying. I also don't see what people see in The Big Lebowski, I thought that film was a load of absolute crap, but then that's probably because I have to deal with people exactly like "The Dude" on a regular basis so watching him wandering around being a fuckhead in that film doesn't do it for me, it just makes me think "this makes me feel like I'm at work".

Dunno about your EC question though, I obviously haven't seen that episode. Someone else will know.

Well thanks for the insight, although I never really got the whole cyber-punk thing. Oh well. Also I liked the Big Lebowski, but ymmv i guess. Also this is basically a bump, but one that contributes to the conversion.

 

[digiholic]

I think it was in the episode "Gamer," but don't hold me to that.

 

[BonsaiK]

I never really got the whole cyber-punk thing

Read William Gibson's "Neuromancer", that's basically the seminal cyberpunk text. While reading it, keep in mind that he didn't even own a computer or know anything about them, he wrote the book on a manual typewriter, before the Internet actually existed. Then you'll "get" it. It's a hard read because the book isn't actually all that good as far as being a story goes, but the ideas in it are what makes it interesting. You may not actually like cyberpunk stuff any more after reading, but you'll certainly at least get where it's coming from.