Movie, TV, Web Series, and Music Hot Take(s).

Mister Mumbler

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So, how does one even get into classical music? For most of the really famous ones (Beethoven/Bach) their time was well before recordings of music were widely available, so you end up with 1000's of different theatres and symphonies all playing the same tunes but with differences (the one that most obviously comes to mind is Wendy Carlos' synthesizer rendition of Bach numbers). Which symphonies are the best, or at least best for a specific composer, and who has the time to sift through them all for comparison?
 

Gordon_4

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So, how does one even get into classical music? For most of the really famous ones (Beethoven/Bach) their time was well before recordings of music were widely available, so you end up with 1000's of different theatres and symphonies all playing the same tunes but with differences (the one that most obviously comes to mind is Wendy Carlos' synthesizer rendition of Bach numbers). Which symphonies are the best, or at least best for a specific composer, and who has the time to sift through them all for comparison?
I was able to get into classical music because of Neon Genesis Evangelion; they used three or four famous pieces as part of the soundtrack to back key scenes. In fact all the advertising on SBS back in the day was using Ode to Joy and I won’t lie, it is a great piece of music to make stuff look epic.

So yeah I think it helps to hear the music in something you’re already enjoying or at the very least are emotionally connecting with, because it can contextualise the music for you outside of the operas they may have been originally created for.
 

Mister Mumbler

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I was able to get into classical music because of Neon Genesis Evangelion; they used three or four famous pieces as part of the soundtrack to back key scenes. In fact all the advertising on SBS back in the day was using Ode to Joy and I won’t lie, it is a great piece of music to make stuff look epic.

So yeah I think it helps to hear the music in something you’re already enjoying or at the very least are emotionally connecting with, because it can contextualise the music for you outside of the operas they may have been originally created for.
I know, I like classical music (especially piano arrangements like Claire de Lune), but what I meant was how does one go about collecting classical music? Outside of more modern composers, like Gershwin (Rhapsody In Blue is just heavenly, thank you Fantasia), most of the famous composers were well before most recording techniques were developed, and as such the arrangements we hear today might have more personality and flair added onto them by the various conductors and symphonies that play them today. I'm a weird person, in that I like to buy physical CDs when adding to my main music collection when possible (it's just nice the have a physical hard copy as backup, as well as being a nice visual cue for my collection than just an ever increasing number of bytes), but this whole slew of different symphonies with different conductors all giving their own takes on classic compositions has always held me off of adding classical into my collection.
 

Gordon_4

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I know, I like classical music (especially piano arrangements like Claire de Lune), but what I meant was how does one go about collecting classical music? Outside of more modern composers, like Gershwin (Rhapsody In Blue is just heavenly, thank you Fantasia), most of the famous composers were well before most recording techniques were developed, and as such the arrangements we hear today might have more personality and flair added onto them by the various conductors and symphonies that play them today. I'm a weird person, in that I like to buy physical CDs when adding to my main music collection when possible (it's just nice the have a physical hard copy as backup, as well as being a nice visual cue for my collection than just an ever increasing number of bytes), but this whole slew of different symphonies with different conductors all giving their own takes on classic compositions has always held me off of adding classical into my collection.
Oh shit I see what you mean now, silly me. In that case I’d just hit up YouTube for the piece in question. Listen to a few of them and eventually you’ll find a performance you like. It’s about the best advice I’ve got >.>
 

Xprimentyl

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So, how does one even get into classical music? For most of the really famous ones (Beethoven/Bach) their time was well before recordings of music were widely available, so you end up with 1000's of different theatres and symphonies all playing the same tunes but with differences (the one that most obviously comes to mind is Wendy Carlos' synthesizer rendition of Bach numbers). Which symphonies are the best, or at least best for a specific composer, and who has the time to sift through them all for comparison?
It's really a question of taste and specificity. If you just like the tune, you can appreciate most versions of it. If you're an audiophile like I man I once knew in my youth, it can be very particular. He chose recordings based on his ability to hear members of the orchestra moving in their chairs... yeah. Spent an afternoon with him and my dad in a store (Progressive Audio) that specialized in extremely expensive audio setups, I'm talking thousands of dollars for a home theater. I'll never forget a subwoofer designed to be placed in a corner of your basement; looked like a mushroom but shook your insides like a nuclear bomb. This guy brought his own CDs to this store and was floored when he could hear the woodwinds taking breathes between strings of notes.
 

Gordon_4

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I’ve been thinking about anime dubs recently after watching Rebuild of Evangelion 3.0+1.0 and I think dubbing companies have let the language purists have a little too much leeway and influence. I say that because a few dubs, Evangelion included, have the English speakers use the Japanese direct translation and it’s really jarring because frankly, English speakers don’t talk like that.
 

BrawlMan

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I say that because a few dubs, Evangelion included, have the English speakers use the Japanese direct translation and it’s really jarring because frankly, English speakers don’t talk like that.
Which ones aside from Eva? I don't watch anime as much as I used to, but the newer shows I've seen recently don't use 1000%-has-to-be totally accurate to the Japanese dub. Woolseyism is not a bad thing when used right and appropriately. At many times it will be necessarry to fit the language or line reading better.
 

Bob_McMillan

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I'm fucking tired of man children throwing a hissy fit at movies or shows where women are prominent. Partly because yeah these guys are idiots, but also, it just gives this "shield" against any criticism to said media.

Wonder Woman 84, the new Star Wars trilogy, Captain Marvel, and now to a lesser extent the latest James Bond movie. I didn't absolutely despise any of these movies, but it feels like you're smack in the middle of two very loud, very angry, very annoying groups arguing over something not based on merits but on their "politics".
 

Thaluikhain

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I'm fucking tired of man children throwing a hissy fit at movies or shows where women are prominent. Partly because yeah these guys are idiots, but also, it just gives this "shield" against any criticism to said media.

Wonder Woman 84, the new Star Wars trilogy, Captain Marvel, and now to a lesser extent the latest James Bond movie. I didn't absolutely despise any of these movies, but it feels like you're smack in the middle of two very loud, very angry, very annoying groups arguing over something not based on merits but on their "politics".
Yeah, I thought Charlie's Angels was getting criticised because it was women centred. Turns out a lot of the complaints were valid, but lost in the anti-feminist rambles.
 
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Bob_McMillan

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Yeah, I thought Charlie's Angels was getting criticised because it was women centred. Turns out a lot of the complaints were valid, but lost in the anti-feminist rambles.
I saw my sister watching the remake, and was wondering if Patrick Stewart has crippling debt and that's why he keeps being in these movies.

But yeah, I hate that when I talk about the Last Jedi (or like.. Star Wars in general these days) I have to preface that I don't think Kathleen Kennedy is the spawn of satan. I see it among reviewers too. My post was inspired by my favorite podcasters saying in their latest episode they thought WW84 was terrible, even though in their review of it months ago they said they liked it. Yes, people's opinions change over time. But when I went back to the review and listened to it again, they absolutely eviscerated the movie when they discussed spoilers after giving it a positive rating. They might not be doing it on purpose, but I really feel like there's this desire to not look like the manchildren who scream on camera about a character's tits being smaller than in the comics, and it leaks into their criticism.
 

BrawlMan

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But yeah, I hate that when I talk about the Last Jedi (or like.. Star Wars in general these days) I have to preface that I don't think Kathleen Kennedy is the spawn of satan. I see it among reviewers too.
I know many places are different, but whenever I've talked about TLJ I rarely had to preface anything. I like the movie, but I am more than willing to discuss its flaws reasonably. It's Rise that burned me off and I decided to not touch SW for a long while until Visions. Even then, I find the non-canon stuff more entertaining and interesting from that anthology.

My post was inspired by my favorite podcasters saying in their latest episode they thought WW84 was terrible, even though in their review of it months ago they said they liked it. Yes, people's opinions change over time. But when I went back to the review and listened to it again, they absolutely eviscerated the movie when they discussed spoilers after giving it a positive rating.
Nothing wrong with that. It happens, and I've changed opinions on plenty of games, movies, and shows. WW84 my opinion stays the same overall. It's not as good as the first one, but some people went overboard on the criticism. The romancing a guy possessed in another dude's body no one asking for, and I have no idea what Jenkins put that in to the script. It's the one major hazard I would remove from this movie.

They might not be doing it on purpose, but I really feel like there's this desire to not look like the man-children who scream on camera about a character's tits being smaller than in the comics, and it leaks into their criticism.
I am confused, did that happen with the particular reviewers you were talking about or a different critic/set of critics altogether.
 

Gordon_4

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I'm fucking tired of man children throwing a hissy fit at movies or shows where women are prominent. Partly because yeah these guys are idiots, but also, it just gives this "shield" against any criticism to said media.

Wonder Woman 84, the new Star Wars trilogy, Captain Marvel, and now to a lesser extent the latest James Bond movie. I didn't absolutely despise any of these movies, but it feels like you're smack in the middle of two very loud, very angry, very annoying groups arguing over something not based on merits but on their "politics".
The only thing worse is when they find one movie that has a central female protagonist that somehow aligns with their sensibilities and hold it up as the standard because it doesn't engage in the dirty politics or whatever. That happened with Alita and Captain Marvel, and while frankly I felt between the two that Alita was the superior movie, I like Captain Marvel just fine and am looking forward to more.

And fuck them, No Time to Die was a great capstone to Daniel Craig's tenure as James Bond.
 
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Bob_McMillan

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Nothing wrong with that. It happens, and I've changed opinions on plenty of games, movies, and shows.
It felt more like their rating was inconsistent with their criticism rather than their opinions changing over time. These are the same critics yeah.

The only thing worse is when they find one movie that has a central female protagonist that somehow aligns with their sensibilities and hold it up as the standard because it doesn't engage in the dirty politics or whatever. That happened with Alita and Captain Marvel, and while frankly I felt between the two that Alita was the superior movie, I like Captain Marvel just fine and am looking forward to more.
That happened with Captain Marvel???
 
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Thaluikhain

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I saw my sister watching the remake, and was wondering if Patrick Stewart has crippling debt and that's why he keeps being in these movies.
His parts of the film, especially towards the end were decent, though, and he looks like he's having fun. Maybe he's tired of doing serious stuff.
 

BrawlMan

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It felt more like their rating was inconsistent with their criticism rather than their opinions changing over time. These are the same critics yeah.
Okay the. Nothing new nor surprising, as online inconsistent film/game criticism has been going on for a long time. Channel Awesome and Movie Bob for changing their opinion for the sake of convenience, to look cool, street cred, or to come off as "progressive".

That happened with Captain Marvel???
You left yourself in the dark a long time. There is argument you can find on the V1 thread if you bother to type both Alita and Captain Marvel in the forum's search engine.
 

Gordon_4

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It felt more like their rating was inconsistent with their criticism rather than their opinions changing over time. These are the same critics yeah.


That happened with Captain Marvel???
No, Alita was held up as the better movie because it wasn't 'woke' like Captain Marvel was. And whenever people say that I keep wondering how many of them have actually watched James Cameron's filmography. There’s also the difference in Star power: Brie Larson is a more established name and has had more time to become comfortable just saying whatever. Rosa Salazar was a relative newcomer so came across as nicer because she wasn’t as outspoken.
 

BrawlMan

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Out of my favorite Nightmare on Elm Street movies, Part 2: Freddy's Revenge takes third place. This is as not much as a hot take nowadays, but Freddy's Revenge I felt got way too much hate and mockery. Even when going in to the early to mid 2000s. The movie still scary, it flips gender stereotypes on its ass, and you actual care what happens to the main character. The problem with the later sequels is that they made Freddy too powerful, and while he can be funny, it gets boring. Thankfully, most people are re-evaluating or the movie is being seen with younger or fresher eyes.
 
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Xprimentyl

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All of the serialized police department, fire department, and hospital dramas on television need to go away. I've not watched one in YEARS (we're talking mid-2000's, I watched maybe 3 episodes of Law and Order,) but the constant commercials for them nowadays assure me they're all so mind-numbingly the same, we could probably get by with one in each category if you lot must have them at all. Actually, just keep Luther and bin the rest. PERIOD.
 

BrawlMan

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All of the serialized police department, fire department, and hospital dramas on television need to go away. I've not watched one in YEARS (we're talking mid-2000's, I watched maybe 3 episodes of Law and Order,) but the constant commercials for them nowadays assure me they're all so mind-numbingly the same, we could probably get by with one in each category if you lot must have them at all. Actually, just keep Luther and bin the rest. PERIOD.
My mom is and has watched all of them. She can't get enough of this stuff. She mainly watches it for psychology of certain characters. Whether it be the main cast, a character specific to that one episode, or villain of the day. Don't even get her started on SVU and Criminal Intent.