Post by Akbar Le Grey on Dec 31, 2007 2:49:09 GMT -5
December 31st – January 6th.
Editor-in-Chief: Akbar Le Grey.
Contributors: Libitina, tim, Robert, Sixteen, PJ, Dismay, Willis.
Published by 667er Publications, ltd.
A subsidiary of the 667er Group.
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How fast it has passed, this year of doom. The year many predicted would see the collapse of 667, and an eventual erosion of it dregs. The year we weren’t we weren’t supposed to survive.
But we did. And we had a pretty captivating time throughout. And so, 667, the magazine that has served you for so long presents its first ever Top 10 Stories Laugh, reminisce, emit a rawr or two – just have fun while perusing this by-no-means-completely-exhaustive list.
THE TOP 10.[/u]
10.
The Penthouse – Viewed with suspicion at first, this addition has now become very popular among the masses.
9.
The return we never had.
8.
Sam and A. meetup! – Awww. (:
7.
The 667 Factor 2007 – and its winner, Libitina. – A grand old tradition that we’re happy to see still has some people dedicated enough to organize and participate in it.
6.
[url=http://the667er.proboards23.com/index.cgi?board=archives&action=display&thread=1198451378[/url]The 667er Archives.[/url]
5.
The enigma of the co-admin – And we still don’t know who it is yet, so we have something major to anticipate in 2008.
4.
dragongirl & tim- arrival, break-up and everything else. You know you love them. Or him, at least, since he’s far cooler. [there are far too many stories about them to link just one]
3.
Nightingalesbain – a real bane.
2.
Bye, bye, miss tyrannical adolescent. – What a great start to the year.
1.
Trancy. – You guessed it. Read about it here.
So, we’ve had our little list. Feel free to PM with suggestions and lists of your own, which we will publish in our next issue. Even if it was a bit slow at times, 2007 was another year of amusing survival for 667. Here’s to plenty more.
- Akbar Le Grey.
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new article from tim
hot of the press
tim here reporting for dutys did you know that tacos originated in Mexico? i am not doing a lie on you so i am not pushing your leg. so maybe mister you had better known this facts because let me tell you that they are my most happiest thing and no buts about it. you might be saying now hold the phone time you told me that your most happiest thing is chritmas break but that is almost over so back to school rats darn it all and ba hum bug! because i went to some restauraunt of mexican people with my happy family and i ate a taco and it was love at first bite! we are celebration because i win the perfect attendants award at my school again wow that is great to be sure if i say so myself. the only bad happen was when i split my orange juice because i ate something that was so spyce that i knocked itover and it fell on my mom and got so angry tim what the devil are you doing and then my dad says you are causing a seen to her and she says some kind of mean thing to him that i do not know. but that is okay tacos are still my most happiest thing. when it comes to eating tacos, i eat the most of them. this is not a fib so dont even think about it.
also listen please do not bother to me about doctor love he made a stop in florida to have some even more fun. wow he is one lucky guy. so he does not home yet but maybe you can send some question to me and i will call him at his hotel so he can make your love needs fixed.
- tim.
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rantings related to Real World Sydney.
I was tentative coming into this season. Real World Denver was the best season I had ever seen, with my favorite cast member ever, Brooke. All the new people seemed like unlikeable mageees. Fortunately, I was completely right about that, because this show is so dramafully great. Everybody hates everybody! Like, even more than usual! So at first, Parisa liked Dunbar but he was a jerk to her. Then we found out that Dunbar is a jerk to everybody, including his real girlfriend when he cheats on her with Ashli. I thought I liked Parisa for a while, but she got in fights with everybody and was just pretty cocky about it all. However, she did get rid of the least likeable person in real world history by getting pushed by Trisha. I don’t exactly know the facts, but this might be the first season with 2 people to leave. Shauvon also left because her boyfriend was an ass and made her choose between the show and him. Ok, who else. Kelly Anne and Cohutta are both sometimes likeable, except Kelly Anne is kind of mean sometimes. Issac is my favorite guy. I loved when he just left for a few days after having a vision of a black bird from his former acid trips which shows somebody he knows died. In short, this season is close to over but it’s so exciting and is by far surpassing expectations.
- Willis
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Libitina: Hello, and welcome to another riveting edition of our tips.
Fantine: *yawn* We could use a nap, really. And we're reading the last book in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
Libitina: She's a little crabby. Anyhow, our most important tip of the week: Don't blow up Benazir Bhutto. It's just not nice.
Fantine: Yes, remember that whole bit about Archduke Ferdinand?
Libitina:...Yes, Fantine, we do. Second tip: Naps. They're grand.
Fantine: You're such a lazy twit.
Libitina: Be that as it may, ahem. Here's a really great tip: Listen to the tune If the Rain Must Fall by James Morrison. It's brilliant.
Fantine: This is especially handy if your brother is singing some rap or hip hop or something.
Libitina: Especially if it's my brother.
Fantine: LOLZ if you take crap and then take out the c, it's rap, and crap is what rap is!
Libitina: LOLZ.
Fantine: That's enough.
Libitina: So, moving on. I definitely wasted this entire vacation week.
Fantine: She wasn't feeling well. Wimp.
Libitina: And where's the tip in this? If you're wasting your life, at least read. Especially read Per Nilsson.
Fantine: He's Swedish!
Libitina: Another tip from Mr. Nilsson: The Swedish work for "duck" is "anka".
Fantine: Kind of like Paul Anka, but for the fact that he is not a duck.
Libitina: Also, I reckon that on Gilmore Girls, the dog's name is not Paulanka, as in a strange female variation of Paul, but rather, Paul Anka.
Fantine: And never ask your brother what sort of thing to say as a tip. He'll only advise to say 'always be nice'. Exciting, isn't it? Inspiring? Thought-provoking? I certainly thought so.
Libitina: Learn to play the ukulele.
Fantine: It's grand. We hope. We ordered one today. *crosses fingers*
Libitina: You don't have fingers. That must mean that we have reached the end of logical tips. Be like Fancy/Tragedy, have a good new year, and merry belated Christmas.
Fantine: Until next time,
Libitina: farewell!
- Libitina.
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SIXTEEN’S SECTION
Cinema Review "I Am Legend"
I went to see the new Will Smith movie, I Am Legend last night. Overall, I did enjoy it.
So the premise is that a cure for cancer has been found in the year 2009 and people worldwide are being treated with this "good virus". However, it all goes horribly wrong as they gradually become much less humane. The film is for the most part set in 2012, with flashbacks from Smith's character Robert Neville, who is the last man alive.
I was skeptical going into the cinema, expecting nothing much from the movie. I was pleasantly surprised by the time it was over. The main character was played very well and it was hard not to connect with him as he is the only human we see for the most part. The story wasn't dragged out as I was expecting; it was actually fairly short. The ending was well chosen and thankfully had as little "schmaltz" as I could have hoped. There were a few things I thought were wrong, however. Mainly, why do films these days over-use CGI? The infected humans would have been much more effective if they were actually humans! To compare it with another similar film I saw recently (30 Days of Night), the vampires in 30 Days... were much scarier than these computer-generated attempts. Legend fails on this point since all I could think about was how much better it could have been. Also, I'm not that familiar with New York City, but I don't understand in the slightest how a cornfield could grow there purely because people haven't been around to prevent it. The length of the film was surprisingly short but I think that this was a good choice as anything else would have been filler material.
My Rating: 3 and a half stars. Loses points for pointless CGI and shortness.
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DVD Review "Big Nothing"
I insist that you rent Big Nothing. It stars Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) and David Schwimmer (Friends). It's better that you go in knowing nothing about the film. Suffice to say that if you have a dark sense of humour (which I'm sure most 667ers do) and a medium-term attention span, you'll really enjoy this one. I think I'll leave it at that, but honestly, check it out as soon as possible.
My Rating: Absolutely 5 stars. Get it!
-Sixteen.
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Sweeney Todd[/u]
reviewed by J.
When the geniuses of Stephen Sondheim and Tim Burton merge, there's probably going to be a good result. At the very least, the result—in this case, a movie version of Sweeney Todd—will be an enjoyable movie with good music.
Sweeney Todd is a tale of vengeance, obsession, class struggle, and a myriad of other things. But on its surface, it's the story of a barber who, after being sent away to Australia on a hyped up charge by Judge Turpin, returns in the hopes of reuniting with his wife and now teenage daughter, Johanna. Unfortunately, his wife had been raped by Judge Turpin. After the traumatic experience, she had poisoned herself, and their daughter had become the judge's ward. This does not bode well with the titular demon barber, who sets out to murder the judge. After some complications, he vows revenge against the entire uncaring world, with his accomplice Mrs. Lovett, who bakes his victims into meat pies for profit.
This movie is not fun for the whole family. For one thing, “Borat” (or, Sacha Baron Cohen playing Sweeney's short-lived rival, Signori Pirelli) visibly abuses adorable orphan waifs. Later on, he gets his head violently bashed in and his throat graphically slit. That's just the first of many instances of explicit throat-slitting action. Instead of cutting away from the violence so that Johnny Depp can play the tormented lonely misfit, the audience sees what he really does. It's a lot harder to find him sympathetic or relatable in the movie than on the stage.
The movie was quite faithful to the Broadway show. Some songs were cut, only a few were completely ruined (“God That's Good” was butchered to the point where they just should not have kept it in.) “The Judge's Song” was also cut. The song, in which Judge Turpin flogs himself for lusting after Johanna, adds another layer to the character of Judge Turpin instead of leaving him as a one-dimensional villain. The job in the movie is undertaken by some bits of dialogue and acting by Alan Rickman to show that Judge Turpin really does love Johanna.
In short, it borders on greatness, but don't bring people who get squeamish, or who like things that are amazing.
- J.
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Movie of the Week: Brick
Trailer / IMDb / Rotten Tomatos Score: 79 %
So we come to Brick. I’m afraid that I haven’t been watching any new movies lately, so this classic from 2005 will have to do instead.
But it’s crazy awesome – its RT score will back me up here – and I love this movie to bits.
First the plot. Teenager Brendan Frye (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the kid from 10 things I hate about you) gets a mysterious phone call from his ex-girlfriend, Emily, who is frightened and panicky, but flees before she can get a coherent sentence in. Brendan worries about her, and tries to find out what her troubles are. These are greater than suspected, as he finds her corpse in a drain pipe 2 days later. He then sets out to infiltrate the local drug runner gang – who presumably killed her – in order to expose them to the police. In short, it’s a detective movie, in the classical style of the ‘30s hardboiled detective novels – with the one key difference that it’s set in high school (this may sound off-putting, but teenagers can be just as menacing as adults, and they do just as many drugs, if not more). This movie is an excellent example of the sadly declining genre of film noir. So if you like dark, gritty detective movies, then Brick is right up your alley. With a lead pipe. Hitting you over the head. For your wallet.
What really makes this movie so good is the dark atmosphere that the film portrays. This is, foremost, done with the help of an amazing soundtrack. I’m not kidding here. I actually scoured the internet for the soundtrack, and now, having finally grabbed it, I’m extremely happy with it. The screeching violins and saxophones are incredible. Brick uses this music to an insane effect. During the particularly intense moments the music blares out – muffling all other noises – thereby intensely focusing the audience on the images being shown. That sounds weird, but you’ll just have to watch the movie. You’ll know which scenes I mean.
The dark, moody music is only a fragment of what makes this movie great. The film style, the shots, the angles, all of it, combine to create the awesome atmosphere. There are some amazing shots in Brick – for instance of Brendan prowling across an empty football field, or through the abandoned concrete jungle of his school – which make it astounding to believe that this movie was only done with a budget of less than half a million dollars (compare with the 150 million of the latest Harry Potter film, or the 95 mil of Return of the King).
The dialogue is just crackin’. Literally. The director invented a plethora of slang and colloquialisms for his high school drug settings (not unlike the slang of the original hardboiled detective novels). In some cinemas, glossary sheets were given out explaining some of the terms to make understanding of the movie easier. While this is a nice touch, it does make the dialogue somewhat difficult to understand (I’d suggest you check out the glossary online before watching this movie. You’ll need to know, for instance, that Bull means Policeman or that Burg means Town).
But even without the zany colloquialisms the dialogue is rockin’. I’d give you an example, but it just doesn’t sound as good when written down. The softly spoken, menace-filled dialogue of the Pin, or the downright fury of Tugger’s lines just aren’t the same when you don’t hear them. Thus, as I say – every week – you’ll just have to watch the movie yourself to find out.
The acting is great. I’m rather an amateur at reviewing acting – while I can tell good acting from bad acting (a paltry trick, at best) I don’t know what makes the difference. I can do prose – A1, Higher Level English represent – but I don’t know how to critique acting very well. But it was extremely good acting, I know this. Film Noir tends to have good actors, as it’s such a hard genre to do right. Well, probably.
Great as this movie is, it, like all other movies, has its bad side. In this case, that would be the overly complicated plot. Ok, maybe overly isn’t the right word here. Watch the movie for the first time, and you’ll probably just be downright confused. I’ve watched it three times, and I’m still working bits of the plot out. Some people like this, but I’m willing to bet that most people don’t. To get the full experience from this movie, you’ll need to watch the movie at least twice, as well as read up on a bunch of stuff on the internets. The motivations and relationships of the characters are quite hard to follow, especially when coupled with the difficult-to-understand slang. So if you’re the impatient type, chances are you won’t like this movie as much as I do.
Still, the convoluted plot is realistic. In real-life, things don’t just happen in a smooth, easy-to-follow way. As in Brick, there are many players, all with different motives who are all doing and planning different things. Emily (the dead ex) is connected to a bunch of people – Tugger, the muscled right hand man – who works for the Pin – as well as the mysterious Laura, who got her into contact with Tugger – as well as the stoner Dode, her latest boyfriend – as well as Kara, who is in cahoots with Dode. All – and I do mean all – of these have their own plans, and are trying to accomplish their own goals. So be warned.
Still, it’s an extremely good movie. The music, the cinematography, the acting, it’s all absolutely fantastic. It’s so good I’d swear in order to get my point across if I wasn’t worried about getting a strike.
So this movie rates Great (watch this movie or die trying). Brick is definitely on my top bestest five movies list.
At least watch the trailer for it. Really, it’s a great movie.
Ok. As of next week, I should be back on current* movies. I plan on watching No Country for Old Men, The Golden Compass (all signs indicate it will be craptastic) and Darjeeling Limited. So I’ll probably do those in the coming weeks.
*In Australialand, that is.
- PJ.
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