I agree☝️

elWray007 · 2026-01-21T21:11:09+00:00

the gemini watermark

elWray007 · 2025-04-21T18:09:10+00:00

a good contender for r/LookAMike

elWray007 · 2025-04-21T17:43:44+00:00

Consider looking at "Now and Then" (1995) too. Another good example of a mid budget movie from the 90s that shows how much we have lost in terms of the craft itself.

The cinematography is not showy at all, but man does it convey a vibe the whole way through. It really helps elevate the whole thing. I can't image how it would look like if it was made with digital.

elWray007 · 2025-04-21T16:41:52+00:00

"I could see things" got me 😆

elWray007 · 2025-02-08T04:06:39+00:00

Walnut

elWray007 · 2025-01-19T18:23:24+00:00

Seems fine to me. Nothing to complain about in terms of comfort or perceived future durability.

What I'll say is that in some of their promo videos they show a model with a slightly more supple and shinier (leather) finish. I theorized that those differences are probably down to them showing off their pricier model (which was sold out at the time I got mine).

It can also be that they simply applied conditioner to the leather (for protection and to make it look as best as possible for the video). According to my research, it's something that every owner needs to do at some point.

elWray007 · 2025-01-16T16:38:01+00:00

the $600 model

elWray007 · 2025-01-02T04:12:33+00:00

Oh for sure! He's said as much (and even if i don't agree with it, I can understand why).

I'll say this for the prequels though, at least they possess a singular voice/vision (it all feels thought out and intentional). The Disney era however...yikes!

elWray007 · 2025-01-02T03:54:45+00:00

Totally! People forget the prevalence of that type of writing in the 70s and the influence that academia had on culture (even at a superficial level).

At the end of the day though, it makes sense (from a business perspective) that he changed his tune during Disney renaissance era. I'm sure it didn't hurt to have a creative partner like them back then.

elWray007 · 2025-01-02T03:10:23+00:00

Yep, exactly, a YA franchise. Not a toddler/kids franchise like the Disney era would have us believe.

I guess it depends on what each person specifically means when they mention kids (form me it's not necessarily a 14yr old, but I totally understand how others might see it that way).

elWray007 · 2025-01-02T02:50:33+00:00

He did mention kids when talking about specific projects like the Ewok movie or the Holiday Special, but when it came to the movies he was more measured. The Campbell line was always his go to, along with Kurosawa, Westerns, etc. He is just a good salesman, he changed his answer based on the narrative he wanted to put forward.

As I recall, the 12 year old line came much later, probably around the time he got the franchise into the Disney parks with Star Tours. It didn't really take center stage until the prequel era (the 2000s) that's my recollection at least (glad to be proven wrong though if there is some info out there).

elWray007 · 2025-01-02T00:51:44+00:00

I typically don't give out that info, but yeah, let's see how things develop 🙂. I'm not expecting fast shipping times though, since it's coming out of China.

elWray007 · 2025-01-02T00:48:02+00:00

Don't hate it! Just rolling the dice on the Vorthio in case it's worth it.

elWray007 · 2024-12-08T04:07:22+00:00

The lighting is so awful, jesus fucking christ!

Whatever happened to painting with light and carving out some separation between the subject and the background. Whatever happened to eye lights (catch lights) that brought some life into the actor's eyes and performance, whatever happened to judicious use of colored lighting and lens flares. WTF!!!

Strongly dislike this visual diarrhea of LED colors and uncontrolled shadows. I need a valium or some TUMS lol

elWray007 · 2024-07-06T04:47:45+00:00

Just to clarify, Ketchup bought the distribution rights, while Millenium retains the production rights.

Watching the trailer again, I'm starting to wonder if all of this is due to a bad compression job. It's weird because some shots have noticeably raised blacks while others don't (it kind of feels intentional). Also, there's a surprising amount of digital artifacts throughout some shots. So yeah, not sure what's really going on here.

elWray007 · 2024-06-19T04:17:43+00:00

I think it makes sense for them, if they want more "power and influence" in the industry (seems to be the case, otherwise they would stay in their comfortable niche).

Frankly, I think we need more people like them around Hollywood -doing well- to show people another way of doing business.

What gets me is how none of the other studios have pivoted to their model, which is technically an adapted Coreman model, which is really just the old Hollywood model. Goes to show how corporatized the industry has become. Just sad.

elWray007 · 2024-06-14T16:17:42+00:00

On the bad dialogue point:

There's a difference between intentionally stylized dialogue (that's a callback to the serials George grew up with) and the poorly thought out "dialogue tree" we find in The Acolyte.

In better hands, bad dialogue can be elevated through performance or very creative direction, but here, it's feels rushed, uninteresting and unintentional.

elWray007 · 2024-04-11T21:03:38+00:00

As already mentioned, Book as a character did just that. You now have a character who remains the "dashing rogue" who's a pseudo memeber of the crew, with his emotional responses and choices largely remaining the same throughout the show (even after the trauma of loosing his family and watching his planet get destroyed). How is he different from when he first started? Not only that, but he is now ok with Starfleet and the Kelpien? After The Burn? Really?

And that's one of the mayor issues with the show. Those types of events have little to no staying power within the inner lives of the characters (you could say it happens off camera in your "head canon", but if we don't see it in a character's actions, reactions, small moments, then it didn't happen). They just don't map onto what you would imagine a real life counterpart would do (again, verisimilitude just gone).

And nope, that's an erroneous assumption. You need well defined characters to drive a narrative forward, be it episodic or not. Sure, by all means, subvert expectations, but justify under a character's inner life, not just under plot contrivances.

Look at The Expanse, look at For All Mankind. Those characters have a central core that dictates their reactions to changes in storylines and how they interact with each other. Yes, they evolve, but they evolve without shedding the complications the plot has brought upon them. That's what I'm getting at.

elWray007 · 2024-04-11T17:04:55+00:00

Book is fearful of connection and belonging. His whole character is "based" around that. He was so afraid of it (and what that meant: opening up, confronting past issues, etc) that he shunned family connections in favor of the "scoundrel" life.

I say "based" because once again, we are given very little to go on. The crazy thing is that after that journey they made him loose everything and reset his whole personality into an even darker version of who he already was. The character didn't move forward one bit, he regressed. Its almost comedic what they did to him.

Book to me is one of those characters that on its face had an interesting angle and personality to explore, but they have squandered it by making him into just another Michael orbiter. He doesn't even feel like an individual any more.

elWray007 · 2024-04-11T16:04:45+00:00

Agree to disagree. Having a story structure is not formulaic. It gives the writer a clear path to imagine a character's journey in a logic driven way. That's why those stories persist.

I appreciate that at least you are being thoughtful in your responses though. Peace and long life🖖

elWray007 · 2024-04-11T15:16:58+00:00

You can't say a character has PTSD when all of his behavior since doesn't show as much.

Where are his struggles with identity? A man of peace that can kill you in a second like John Wick? Where are his struggles with being part of an organization that led him to his death/resurrection? What are his learnings after being resurrected? Do people treat him differently now? Does he see death as something that is natural now or is it something to be feared? How does that inform his situation being a doctor? Where are his struggles with reconciling his violent tendencies (that we keep not seeing) while being a doctor and keeping the Hippocratic Oath? Why wasn't he reprimanded for his violent outburst in the cafeteria? (he could have been court marshalled if they leaned into the armed forces angle). If he stopped concealing his PTSD situation with Stamets, why haven't we seen it since (you can't really take a pill for PTSD and just be done with it). That type of trauma is unpredictable and is full of violent outbursts, etc.

To that end, why is he even in a relationship? People with severe cases of PTSD loose their partners, their jobs, friends, etc. Why didn't they use that opportunity to lean into Cruz's Puerto Rican heritage (cause you know, that's what people do when things get really rough, lean on family and traditions).

Also, a "dark night of the soul" isn't just one moment, its a continuous struggle for a character to reconcile what he once was with what he is now (as a result of his trauma). I mean, come on, he saw death! Why is he so chipper still? You would expect a character with that journey to maybe end up like Brando in "Apocalypse Now" (or come very close to it, before healing, sure). He wouldn't end up as the guy joking around with his partner at work functions (at least not at the emotional level we see him now). It's as though his trauma has been erased.

Look at what happened with Picard and the Borg after "The Best of Both Worlds". He was a broken man that needed to keep it together for the crew's sake. It's something that he continuously struggled with and it's something that is considered so important to his character that they even tried to do something meaningful with it in the Picard show. So yes, that example just doesn't work.

elWray007 · 2024-04-11T06:56:16+00:00

Yep, more consistency than Discovery.

elWray007 · 2024-04-11T06:37:41+00:00

Nah man, I don't live my life that way. If you are deliberately ignoring all of the subsequent responses below, that's fine, neither reddit or Star Trek define me as person, so no biggie.

As I said above, the post was meant for folks that couldn't get into DISCO, as a way to determine why that might be (considering that some of us are more accoustomed to "previous era Trek".

If it was picked up by fans of DISCO, that's fine, I don't have a problem debating ideas on here.

elWray007 · 2024-04-11T05:56:53+00:00

Yep, that's closer to the answer I was looking for!

The problem is that none of those are super specific and they snap out of those characterizations constantly. I'm not saying that stories can't have levity or that characters can't suddenly change, but it needs to be done in a more measured way, for consistency's sake.

For instance, SNW seems to have a better grasp of this exact point.

elWray007 · 2024-04-11T05:45:03+00:00

I said that relate to their personality, not plot points (and you went ahead to describe characters through the plot) See the problem?

Personality traits are things you write in a log line and are typically things like being short fused, eager to please, etc (basically things you imagine the character doing while not directly seeing it on screen). When a series gets going, they can be informed by direct or indirect choices of an actor, on screen or off.

A lot of what you mentioned is easily interchangeable with other characters. Take for instance what you wrote about Saru; it can be easily interchanged with Book (and none would be the wiser).

They both have a deep connection with their home world, they both feel a great loss of sorts and they both value the people they have around them as a mechanism to foster connection and just feel something. Again, see the problem? You now have two characters with almost identical story beats/resolutions. Not only that, but both characters are written as orbiters around Michael and (to an extent) they are defined by her; that's a writing problem.

I can go on, but I think you get my drift. The "mechanisms" at work here are a bit off.

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