ae_productions

Lol, I said I'd be "disgusted" by any such musical choices but, judging on the choice of the leading lady as well as the looks of the cast, you can be sure they've designed this movie to be youth/mainstream friendly. They'll probably show the Thing trying to assimilate an I-pad or something...

That would be crazy since the movie takes place in 1980, and the iPad wouldn't have been invented for another 30 years.

Yeah, I get the point. They seem to be doing that more and more with movies across the board.

"...he was also charged with being the second gunman on the grassy knoll. When we asked the police how an 8-year-old boy could be charged with a crime that happened over thirty years ago, the police responded with, and I quote, 'He's very clever.'"

(Beavis & Butthead)

See, now I wish I could have discovered Anakin's fate by way of chronological story progression too. A friend of mine was lucky enough to have (well, unlucky in a sense lol) to have seen the movies in order, with no prior exposure to Star Wars. When she went to see Episode 3 and saw Anakin being christened Darth Vader she claims that she screamed in her chair, "OMG HE'S DARTH VADER?!" much to the dismay of the audience.

Lol...

That has to be in one of my books. I'm so stealing this! Ha ha! Too damn funny!

Like that flashback episode of "The Simpsons," where Homer and Marge are leaving the theater after seeing "The Empire Strikes Back," and there is a line wrapped around the theater waiting for the next showing. Homer turns to Marge and broadcasts in front of all the fanboys, "Can you believe Darth Vader is Luke's father?"

PM sent.

When it comes to selling/trading, you can never go "too crazy" with pics.

I am really digging this new Thundercats show. I told my wife I strongly felt the pilot was one of the best pilots we've been graced with for a long time. It was very tight, well shot, great characters, the pacing was excellent. It's a great time to be a thundercars fan!

Makes me excited for the Voltron re-launch.

PS - the soundtrack is full of awesome and also reminds me on some level of Mann's better work, like Heat.

-b.

I agree. It wasn't just the soundtrack that was a throwback to Heat, but the cinematography as well. The bird's eye view of LA set a pretty ominous tone, kinda like the city was almost a character itself.

PS - John Carpenter's scores were as much a bad guy as some of the characters - his music adds so much to all of his films. I hope the score in this one can capture some of that.

Speaking of THE THING score, I hope they re-release it for the new movie. I've been trying for over 2 decades to get my hands on it!

The score for the Carpenter's THE THING is simple, but so damn haunting. I remember long after I had seen the movie, that song would just randomly pop into my head.

The composer for the new film has a difficult task ahead of him. He has to try to mimic the original score, yet have it be fresh and new. A lot rides on the score. The very tone of the film will drastically change depending on what the composer does. Curious to see how this plays out.

So I just threw all order of viewing out the window and only watched Ep. III.

I'll get into watching the entire series when I get some more time off from work.

-b.

It's going to take FOREVER to get through the entire bluray set.

You have six movies.

Then two sets of commentary tracks, times six movies.

Then 40 hours of extra features.

You will need a LOT of time of work!

So cool, though. This is one of the must own blu-rays. Lots of cool stuff.

My brother who is currently working in an advertising agency with links to the film industry tells me that most studios and production companies are obsessed with the "teen demographic". So much so that any movies that from the get go are "adult only" are viewed with profound scepticism.

Titanic originally got an "R" rating by the MPAA. (Which is BS, because one of the rules for the MPAA back then was, if a woman's breasts were shown on screen, it would automatically get an R. Titanic for some reason didn't get an R, even though it violated this rule. The MPAA is a broken, hypocritical system. But that's another argument for another day...)

Back then, Jame's Cameron's Titanic was the most expensive movie ever made, and by far the biggest gamble for any studio to take. (Or technically, two studios, since another studio was brought it to share the rights and financial burden of the film).

Long story short, some strings were pulled, and Titanic wound up with a PG-13 rating.

Why?

The studio knew the only way it stood a chance of making back "some of their money" (It was thought back then that Titanic would be the biggest losing revenue film since WaterWorld), it would need the "pre-17" crown.

An "R" rating is limiting your audience. The ONLY goal (from the studio's standpoint) is to put as much butts in your seats (make as much money) as possible. Remember, movies are a business. The point of a business is to make profits. The studios were actually wise enough with Titanic to know who it's target audience was, and aimed for a rating to fit that demographic.

Now, back to The Mouth of Madness. This movie cannot be made (or translated) correctly with a PG or PG-13 rating. Nothing less than an R rating would be straying from the source material so far removed, that the film would be In The Mouth of Madness by name only. But again, studio's do NOT care for art. They care about PROFIT. From a marketing standpoint, a large bracket of movie goers for the horror genre are teens under 17. With dwindling box office numbers (if you subtract the increase of 3D revenue), studios are paying more attention than ever to trying to squeeze every penny out of a movie, even if it pisses off the over 17 fan boy audience. If it comes to making money or making the fan boys happy, the fan boys will loose every time.

It sucks, but that's the way it is.

That's not really how it works though. Say, as a buyer, my budget is $150 for a toy. Someone lists one on eBay for $125 + $25 shipping. I would purchase that toy. If someone lists one on eBay for $150 + FREE SHIPPING then that toy is equally appealing to me because either way I'm coming out of pocket the same $150. In both scenarios, the seller of the goods receives $150 and in both cases it probably costs $25 to ship the item. Both sellers made net revenue of $125. If eBay entirely did away with shipping fees that wouldn't change the budget of the buyers.

And how does this not effect sellers? Cause I'm a seller, and I'm telling you, it IS effecting us. My profit margins dropped very radically. Thank God it's not my only source of income. But I am friends with many other sellers who rely 100% on the money they make through selling. And these new changes are radically driving them out of business.

Or, is your argument solely based on the perspective of the buyer? In which case, I don't want to get into an arduous economics discussion. But you should investigate what happens to consumers over a long time line when small business becomes extinct.

Most consumers will probably play the bystander apathy card. If this is the case, then this discussion probably isn't for you.

There are certain Macross / Robotech / Mospeada toys I am looking for if you want to trade instead.

PM me with what you have!

HASBRO MASTERPIECE HOT ROD

OPENED. DISPLAYED. BUT IN NEW, EXCELLENT SHAPE. COMPLETE WITH BOX AND ALL ACCESSORIES.

$72 SHIPPED (FREE SHIPPING in USA, inexpensive Shipping overseas. Contact me for shipping rates if you live outside the USA)

*****

SOLD! MP-04 MASTERPIECE OPTIMUS PRIME. SOLD!

SOLD! $272 SHIPPED SOLD! (FREE SHIPPING in USA, inexpensive Shipping overseas. Contact me for shipping rates if you live outside the USA)

ONE WEEK DEAL ONLY!

DETAILS:

BRAND: Transformers. Masterpiece. Made by Takara-Tomy (JAPANESE VERSION). Only sold in Japan, NEVER sold in the United States. Long out of production. RARE.

MADE BY: Takara-Tomy of Japan. Imported toy. NEVER sold in the USA. Includes TRAILER that transforms!

YEAR PRODUCED: 2005-ish.

SCALE/SIZE: Approximately 12 inches tall in robot mode.

TOY CONDITION: MINT. Toy was opened and displayed on a shelf.

NON-SMOKER.

IMPORT: Yes. This was made by Takara-Tomy for the Japanese collector market. NO LONGER AVAILABLE. SOLD OUT! RARE!

COMPLETE: Yes. 100% complete with all plastic inserts, instructions, bio-card and all weapons/stand/accessories. Includes TRAILER that transforms!

BOX INCLUDED: Yes. 100% complete with all plastic inserts, instructions, bio-card and all weapons/stand/accessories. Includes TRAILER that transforms!

INSTRUCTIONS INCLUDED: Yes. 100% complete with all plastic inserts, instructions, bio-card and all weapons/stand/accessories. Includes TRAILER that transforms!

STIPULATIONS: This toy has NEVER been played with. Only displayed by a non-smoking adult collector and spent it's life on display behind a glass shelf. MINT. This is common and typical with the Takara Tomy boxes. Toy itself is in excellent collector condition. Includes TRAILER that transforms! Like many MP-04, the box has shelf wear and one corner ding. The lids have been re-enforced internally with 3M to keep the box sturdy. (You would probably never ever notice, just wanted to point this out.) The box is imperfect. The toy is immaculate. Inside the box are two white boxes. One box is written PRIME and the other TRAILER to distinguish the two apart.

Local store is a no go. They no longer carry the item.

If VALK009 finds some, get them through him. He's an honest seller and has helped me find some of my favorite pieces to my collection!

@ ROY:

"...sellers who try to bypass the fees by charging buying extra for shipping?"

This is true. A small percentage of buyers do try to do this. However, punishing 100 good sellers because 1 seller is abusing the system is not very wise business sense. Nor ethical. You do bring up a good point, however, and I don't have the answer. But punishing EVERYONE for the actions of a select few should NOT be the answer. If anything, set rules in place to prevent this from happening.

@ JENIUS:

"...I think going to a no shipping cost model is probably the best thing eBay can do. Everything should have to be free shipping. Theoretically this would just mean that people would bid more on every item and still end up paying the same amount and then eBay could just have a flat rate based on the final bid."

Yes, this makes sense. To everyone but the sellers.

Let's be blunt. Ebay claims they are making these changes to benefit buyers. But nothing could be further from the truth. This is about making money. Overcharging for shipping labels, charging for insertion fees, then final value fees, then charging for shipping fees benefits NO ONE but eBay. This is nothing short of greed. I think this business model will become more typical as the modern economy begins to crumble. But that's another gripe and off subject.

FedEx, UPS and USPS surely do not offer free shipping to the sellers. With the prices of gas, supplies and shipping rates increasing, and eBay forcing sellers to ship for free, forces sellers into a very uncompromising situation. As noted above, making 20 - 30% profit is a typical profit margin for small business owners. But with forcing free shipping, and the other "stealing" eBay is doing, sellers profits will drop to 8 - 12%. So, not only are sellers making far, far, far less money, they're now having to pay 100% of shipping fees on the backend. I don't think anyone will be able to survive if you take nearly 60% or more of their total revenue stream away. And that is exactly what is happening now.

In short, we will see a vast majority of small business owners fail. That will create a marketplace where no one wins.

Unless there are some rapid changes soon, we're in for some rough times ahead.

Looking to buy? Or sell? EBay is NOT the place.

There are THREE UNETHICAL TACTICS eBay is doing now to screw their sellers. You need to be aware of this BEFORE you sell on eBay.

The first, and least offensive (but still screwing you royally) is...

Ebay is working on putting a cap on EVERYTHING you ship. The eBay shipping cap forces sellers to charge LESS than what the item actually costs to ship. Why do this?

To draw more buyers. Ebay is competing with such sites as Overstock and Amazon. This new cap is a tactic to get more buyers to come to eBay.

In fact, eBay is trying to force sellers to offer free shipping on everything. This way, eBay thinks they'll lure more customers, their stock goes up, and they can take showers in gold.

DO NOT print shipping labels either. Guess what? Ebay is now skimming money from sellers who print shipping labels through Pay Pal. It's another eBay con. True story. Try shipping a box to anywhere. Go to "print a shipping label" from Pay Pal. Write down what the price is. Then go to the US Post office (or UPS or FedEx) and see what they actually charge to ship that item. Guess what? There is a discrepancy there. I contacted eBay and asked if they will refund the overcharges for the shipping labels. The reply I got, "um, no, we don't do that."

What does this mean if you sell?

You are out of pocket for shipping. For example, I am trying to sell an Xbox bundle. The lowest shipping quote I got was Fed Ex ground, and they were charging $30.00 to ship. The US Post Office? $75.00. (Apparently, if the box is over a certain size, the rate goes up. The larger the box is, the more the USPS penalizes you. Rule of thumb for sellers, small boxes, ship the US Post Office. Big boxes, ALWAYS go UPS or FedEx). Anyhow...

Ebay would not let me charge any more than $15.00 USD to ship this bundle. That is 1/2 of what it actually costs to ship. So, I had to pay the difference out of pocket.

But the fun doesn't stop there.

This is the thing that eBay is now doing that is just highway robbery.

Ebay is now CHARGING sellers on the backend...for SHIPPING.

You get charged an insertion fee to list your item. Once it sells, you get another final value fee. And now, there is a third fee. For shipping.

If you charge money to ship an item, eBay now collects a percentage of what you charge to ship. Regardless if you are ALREADY FORCED TO PAY OUT OF POCKET TO SHIP.

In other words, not only is eBay FORCING sellers to pay out of pocket for shipping, AND now eBay is charging sellers a percentage for their shipping fees too!

Rates have gone up. In other words, you are paying more than 2 and 1/2 times MORE to sell the same item that you did last month. AND, you are OUT OF POCKET on shipping.

This is all a tactic to get sellers to offer free shipping. So eBay can take 2 and a half times more in fees from you, PLUS you have to pay for ALL THE SHIPPING out of your own pocket. Most retail shops make a 20 - 30% profit on what they sell. Now, you will be lucky to walk away with 8% profit. And FREE SHIPPING? USPS is not offering free shipping to buyers. FedEx or UPS isn't either.

This is great news if you work for eBay. Ebay employees get to use solid gold plates and silverware in their breakrooms, but you, the seller? Grab your ankles and hold on tight. Ebay is going to split you in half.

Sellers...

Beware of Evil Bay.

The "e" in eBay stands for extortion, or just evil, if you are wondering.

Go list your items for sale in the forums here.

I've seen a few of these at a local shop. Although, I was unaware they were KO'ed. Although, that doesn't really surprise me.

Let me check on prices and if they are real or KO'ed.

Off curiosity, you don't happen to have a VB-6, do you?

I feel silly doing this, cause this is his website, but still, it was a transaction nonetheless, and I'd like to leave feedback for...

GRAHAM.

I ordered 4 figures from him. Sent from Hong Kong to the USA.

The packing was excellent, and it arrived very fast. The figures were exactly as described! Thanks!

That is one sweet Thunderhammer! Great work!

Thanks TwoDucks. Is it possible to tighten up the screws again or are the ball joints becoming hopeless now?

Don't have this toy, don't mean to insult anyone either, but have you tried the old clear nail polish trick to add friction to the ball joints? In MOST (not all) ball joints you can use clear nail polish or super glue (if you're brave) to tighten those joints.

I have even seen this trick work on "stripped" plastic parts.

Damn. Were those blueprints from the RPG? If so, I have to pick those up!

I like the option sticker idea.

Steak stcker for Kakizaki LOL

Ha ha! Poor Kakizaki!

Never got to finish his last meal.

Kakizaki gots to eat!

It was more the "comical" black guy stealing donuts and stuff, and the "Ho-ho-ho, that guy just can't stop speaking Spanish even though nobody understands his crazy language" scenes.

So yeah, Yamato had none of that. Although the guy who played Saito was quite the overactor.

Bay's Transformers films were an absolute train wreck mess.

I haven't seen Battleship Yamato all the way through. But I did get to see about 20 minutes of it, and those twenty minutes alone had more redeeming qualities than perhaps ALL of Bay's films together. :-)

But my opinions aside, BOTH of these franchises were difficult adaptations. I think Yamato had it a bit easier in that department. Taking something with the source material being around for so long, with so many devoted fans, well, as Ackbar screams, "It's a trap."

You do something new, you upset the old school fans. You try to remake what has been done, you upset the old school fans. You try to do both, you just piss off everybody.

Battleship Yamato is on the top of my list of movies to watch. I commend them for making such a valiant effort. But from what I've seen, there was some changes that probably should have been made prior to filming that just weren't. Again, I've only seen twenty minutes of it.

Pure win.

Or, as Anakin would say....

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

I hope so too. I hope the design team has more freedom on the toyline, because the last time around, it didn't seem like they did.

Aaron Williamson Cameo In GI Joe Retaliation

I agree.

And from the toyline perspective, I feel the live action Joe movie kinda killed the toyline. The vehicles, the action figures, they either felt like regurgitated versions of previous toys, or just a complete, uninspired mess.

It's interesting that Abrams' Trek voided everything before it (or after, if you go by the timeline, excluding UPN's Enterprise).

There is a clean, fresh slate for a new Trek TV show. Maybe something that is a spinoff from Abram's film, but gets back to the essence of some of the older TV shows that wasn't in the Abram's films.

I always thought it would be interesting to do a Star Trek TV series told through the POV of the Klingons, or Romulans. Tell their side of the story.

Or, you can go the extreme route. Do a series hundreds of years after Voyager (which I believe was the FINAL Trek show chronologically). In that sense, you can still keep things fresh and new. But do something with it. Maybe the Earth was destroyed, and they're on the run. Maybe searching unexplored space for a new world to start over. The last of the Federation ships. So it's back to exploring, but will have the sense of danger and excitement of the newer series.

But again...that sounds a lot like BSG to me too.

In short, doesn't matter. I love Trek and would LOVE to see a new series.

There are some greats noted here.

But I love me some Art Adams. That man can DRAW.