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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Syriana (2005) in Movies
Aug 14, 2019
Oil, is perhaps the most precious natural resource on the planet and also one of the most controversial. It powers industry and the economies of many nations, yet the regions that contain the largest amounts are often the most unstable, and this instability often results from the influences of the very nations that purchase the oil.
It is a tenuous situation where buyer and seller are wary of one another and at times regard the other as a necessary evil. The money paid for the oil has made suppliers and handlers rich and powerful, but many on the outside of this privileged circle believe that greed has caused both sides to lose focus on what is most important for the people of their nations.
In the film Syriana viewers follow the paths of different people from various walks of life who for the most part do not know one another, yet are all linked by the same cause, oil.
There is the C.I.A. agent Bob Barnes (George Clooney), who spends time in locales such as Iran and Beirut eliminating threats to national security.
A lawyer, (Jeffrey Wright), who is caught in the middle as he attempts to find, and if need be eliminate damaging material that can prevent a pending merger between two oil companies.
There is the grieving energy analyst Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon), who deals with his loss by siding up with a powerful Prince, (Alexander Siddig), even at the alienation of his family.
There is also a displaced Pakistani worker who after losing his job when a Chinese company acquires the refinery where he worked, falls in with a group of radicals with a militant agenda.
The above is just a small sampling of the characters as there are numerous business, political, and Middle Eastern citizens who all play very prominent parts in the story.
The main focus of the film is not only to illustrate the connectivity between the characters but to show how politics and big business influence policy in oil rich nations and how through secret deals, political intrigue, and treachery policy in and towards the same oil producing nations are set into place and maintained.
While this is not much of a shock to people who follow the news, it is the way that director Stephen Gaghan uses ordinary and in some ways unremarkable people to tell the story and how it affects those who deal with oil.
Even those who are supposed the big players are often simply being played by forces outside their control in a world where reality and perceptions are often miles apart. The complex nature of the story is actually a model of simplicity as cause and effect, as well as the ability of big business to influence lawmakers is what drives the film.
The cast is strong especially Clooney and Siddig who make their characters sympathetic while at the same time captivating. The contrast of the men who are a Prince and an agent, yet whose destinies often cause them to walk along the same paths is amazing.
Syriana is an amazing film that is so complex in its simplicity. The basic message is very clear, yet the layers that must be uncovered like a tangled web of lies in telling the story is a far reaching journey that will shock and anger most viewers.
Some may find fault with a so called liberal agenda to the film, but politics aside, Syriana is a very captivating and entertaining film that makes you think.
It is a tenuous situation where buyer and seller are wary of one another and at times regard the other as a necessary evil. The money paid for the oil has made suppliers and handlers rich and powerful, but many on the outside of this privileged circle believe that greed has caused both sides to lose focus on what is most important for the people of their nations.
In the film Syriana viewers follow the paths of different people from various walks of life who for the most part do not know one another, yet are all linked by the same cause, oil.
There is the C.I.A. agent Bob Barnes (George Clooney), who spends time in locales such as Iran and Beirut eliminating threats to national security.
A lawyer, (Jeffrey Wright), who is caught in the middle as he attempts to find, and if need be eliminate damaging material that can prevent a pending merger between two oil companies.
There is the grieving energy analyst Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon), who deals with his loss by siding up with a powerful Prince, (Alexander Siddig), even at the alienation of his family.
There is also a displaced Pakistani worker who after losing his job when a Chinese company acquires the refinery where he worked, falls in with a group of radicals with a militant agenda.
The above is just a small sampling of the characters as there are numerous business, political, and Middle Eastern citizens who all play very prominent parts in the story.
The main focus of the film is not only to illustrate the connectivity between the characters but to show how politics and big business influence policy in oil rich nations and how through secret deals, political intrigue, and treachery policy in and towards the same oil producing nations are set into place and maintained.
While this is not much of a shock to people who follow the news, it is the way that director Stephen Gaghan uses ordinary and in some ways unremarkable people to tell the story and how it affects those who deal with oil.
Even those who are supposed the big players are often simply being played by forces outside their control in a world where reality and perceptions are often miles apart. The complex nature of the story is actually a model of simplicity as cause and effect, as well as the ability of big business to influence lawmakers is what drives the film.
The cast is strong especially Clooney and Siddig who make their characters sympathetic while at the same time captivating. The contrast of the men who are a Prince and an agent, yet whose destinies often cause them to walk along the same paths is amazing.
Syriana is an amazing film that is so complex in its simplicity. The basic message is very clear, yet the layers that must be uncovered like a tangled web of lies in telling the story is a far reaching journey that will shock and anger most viewers.
Some may find fault with a so called liberal agenda to the film, but politics aside, Syriana is a very captivating and entertaining film that makes you think.
Ross (3284 KP) rated Marvel's The Defenders - Season 1 in TV
Aug 15, 2019
Starts well, fades away into pure meh
The coming together of some lesser names in the Marvel universe (though I feel sorry for Daredevil being pigeonholed here, well done Affleck!) was exciting. The Defenders for me was the goal, with so much to watch first, two series of Daredevil, one each of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and then Iron Fist. Sadly, that dreadful series of Iron Fist really pummelled me into near-submission. So I didn't start Defenders with the excitement I had hoped to.
The series starts well, setting up interactions between each of these characters and sewing the seeds of the plot that was to come. But that plot really turned out to be quite dreadful and clichéd (cabal of powerful rich pantomime baddies looking to take over the world/harness mystical powers in a ... wait for it ... hidden underground lair).
Luke Cage and Daredevil were not enough to rescue this plot or the series itself from Iron Fist's toxicity. The action scenes are now so boring, it really is just a room full of people punching each other. Go back to that iconic corridor action scene in Daredevil where he single-handedly takes out numerous people at pace, and then compare to this, which is him just hitting and being hit repeatedly over the space of a few minutes. While large scale combat scenes like that must be really hard to choreograph, I wish they had showed less of it and focused more on character development and plot.
By the end I was slightly energised for Daredevil series 3, but have opted instead for The Punisher.
The series starts well, setting up interactions between each of these characters and sewing the seeds of the plot that was to come. But that plot really turned out to be quite dreadful and clichéd (cabal of powerful rich pantomime baddies looking to take over the world/harness mystical powers in a ... wait for it ... hidden underground lair).
Luke Cage and Daredevil were not enough to rescue this plot or the series itself from Iron Fist's toxicity. The action scenes are now so boring, it really is just a room full of people punching each other. Go back to that iconic corridor action scene in Daredevil where he single-handedly takes out numerous people at pace, and then compare to this, which is him just hitting and being hit repeatedly over the space of a few minutes. While large scale combat scenes like that must be really hard to choreograph, I wish they had showed less of it and focused more on character development and plot.
By the end I was slightly energised for Daredevil series 3, but have opted instead for The Punisher.
Gitchegumi (28 KP) rated Dungeons and Dragons in Tabletop Games
Jul 21, 2019 (Updated Jul 21, 2019)
Can be intimidating to get started (1 more)
Materials are expensive
Make believe for grown ups!
Dungeons and Dragons is what I like to call a game of make believe for grown ups.
Rather than running around the playground pretending to be heroes and making up the rules as you go, you sit around your table with a baseline of rules and develop a story with your friends. This game is a highly social experience as there is no requirement for boards and pieces. Everything happens in the minds of the players and dudgeon master (the person who moderates play sessions).
Dungeons and Dragons excels in its ability to create memories for a group of friends who enjoy playing together. I still talk about some of my favorite adventures with friends decades later. There is great potential for developing rich stories in which you and your friends get to play the heroes.
While there is potential for “home brewed” content, that is, content that is completely made up and written by the people running the campaign, Wizards of the Cost also generates fully developed campaigns. This is great for people who feel they aren’t creative enough, are too intimidated, or don’t have enough time to make up their own content. These adventures are very well made, so well that even seasoned home brew players will enjoy them. They go into great detail about the background of the story of the situation so as to help a dungeon master adapt when they players derail the adventure.
All together, this is a great game to tell a high fantasy story staring you and your friends.
Rather than running around the playground pretending to be heroes and making up the rules as you go, you sit around your table with a baseline of rules and develop a story with your friends. This game is a highly social experience as there is no requirement for boards and pieces. Everything happens in the minds of the players and dudgeon master (the person who moderates play sessions).
Dungeons and Dragons excels in its ability to create memories for a group of friends who enjoy playing together. I still talk about some of my favorite adventures with friends decades later. There is great potential for developing rich stories in which you and your friends get to play the heroes.
While there is potential for “home brewed” content, that is, content that is completely made up and written by the people running the campaign, Wizards of the Cost also generates fully developed campaigns. This is great for people who feel they aren’t creative enough, are too intimidated, or don’t have enough time to make up their own content. These adventures are very well made, so well that even seasoned home brew players will enjoy them. They go into great detail about the background of the story of the situation so as to help a dungeon master adapt when they players derail the adventure.
All together, this is a great game to tell a high fantasy story staring you and your friends.
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There's plenty of letters and journals preserved regarding royalty, aristocrats and other rich and famous people but less about more ordinary people. OK, so most of ancestors would have been peasants/yeomen who would have been unlikely to be able to read, but every so often something does turn up which throws some light on our understanding of what we might consider to be more ordinary people. The Paston letters are one famous example and the story presented in the book is another discovery along the same sort of lines.
Our story begins in India, with William Jackson, who will be the father of our 'profligate son'. It is while in India that he meets his future wife and several other influential connections. A major incident here also has an impact on this William's future. The Profligate Son of the title is the son of this William Jackson, also called William Jackson, just to confuse the issue! Jackson senior had returned to England and was a reasonably wealthy man of the new middle classes. He had, however, made his fortune in trade and was keen for his only son to receive a good education and go into the law - one of the gentlemanly occupations at this time.
Unfortunately, William was not particularly interested in a good education, but far more interested in pursuing what he considered 'gentlemanly' pursuits - being idle and frivolous, drinking conspicuous amounts and consorting with women of easy virtue! In spite of the admonitions of his father and the pleadings of his affectionate mother, William continued into a downward spiral - resorting to forgery and deception to gain what it really seems he believes he was entitled to. The Georgian world, in some ways not dissimilar to modern days, was largely built upon trades-persons extending credit, which allowed William to get away with so much. We follow our anti-hero through various prisons and courts until he is finally transported to Australia. I find it most amazing that he never seems to repent of what he has done and really seems to believe that there has been a miscarriage of justice against him!
This story has been preserved through the writings of Mr Jackson, the father, and the letters between various family members which have been preserved for all this time. an interesting insight into the seamier side of Georgian life - and perhaps a lesson for people in these times who are too apt to live upon credit!
Our story begins in India, with William Jackson, who will be the father of our 'profligate son'. It is while in India that he meets his future wife and several other influential connections. A major incident here also has an impact on this William's future. The Profligate Son of the title is the son of this William Jackson, also called William Jackson, just to confuse the issue! Jackson senior had returned to England and was a reasonably wealthy man of the new middle classes. He had, however, made his fortune in trade and was keen for his only son to receive a good education and go into the law - one of the gentlemanly occupations at this time.
Unfortunately, William was not particularly interested in a good education, but far more interested in pursuing what he considered 'gentlemanly' pursuits - being idle and frivolous, drinking conspicuous amounts and consorting with women of easy virtue! In spite of the admonitions of his father and the pleadings of his affectionate mother, William continued into a downward spiral - resorting to forgery and deception to gain what it really seems he believes he was entitled to. The Georgian world, in some ways not dissimilar to modern days, was largely built upon trades-persons extending credit, which allowed William to get away with so much. We follow our anti-hero through various prisons and courts until he is finally transported to Australia. I find it most amazing that he never seems to repent of what he has done and really seems to believe that there has been a miscarriage of justice against him!
This story has been preserved through the writings of Mr Jackson, the father, and the letters between various family members which have been preserved for all this time. an interesting insight into the seamier side of Georgian life - and perhaps a lesson for people in these times who are too apt to live upon credit!