#obvious (to me) call back to solaris in its design

[trashcreatyre]

Soooo sad that I like time eaters design more than solaris’…. Listen it’s mostly the arms thing, I don’t think first form solaris shouldn’t have arms,,, it looks weird to me so sorry gamers

[davidmann95]

Is that Solaris I see on the cover of Superman/WW Future State? He returns! I am suddenly interested in Future State.

Anonymous said: So, Future State? Not gonna lie, at the very least I'm liking the artist line up. Also, Idk about you, but the designs for Diana and Yara Flor (the Wonder Woman from the Amazon) are the only ones that I'm really liking so far.

Anonymous said: FUUUUUUTUUUUUUURRRRE. state

Anonymous said: Thoughts on DC Future State?

Anonymous said: Thoughts on Future State?

Anonymous said: You’ve probably been asked already but thoughts on Future State?

Anonymous said: So... Future State just kind of showed up and is very mixed.

Anonymous said: Future State Superman has a heroic cop battling a villainous anarchist. Topical.

Anonymous said: On Dc future state announcements???

Anonymous said:So. Future State's been officially revealed. Your thoughts?

‘Future State’ this, ‘Future State’ that! Look, what’re you gonna believe, Jim Lee or your lying eyes?

So this looks...pretty good? Infinitely better than their previous filler stuff like Zero Month/Villains Month/Future’s End/Convergence. And given Jo Mullein is part of this, Bendis isn’t doing these Superman issues, Steve Orlando mentioned on Twitter that he was told to set aspects of this up in Wonder Woman rather than it being allowed to appear apropos of nothing like most of these, and this isn’t built around a *single* all-encompassing tone or hook - along with getting Dan damn Mora to do your main promo images and a bunch of the character designs - I do believe the plan is that this is still going to lead into new ongoing series, just all the last couple of those crossovers I mentioned did. That’s probably where we’ll see Bendis doing Jon, the Zdarsky/Fraction thing, I expect more of Ridley Batman, and maybe one or two others. In any case, nice to see a bunch of fresh talent in the mix and a more diverse lineup both on and off the page, and a lot of these concepts are neat, even if there are as always some turds in the punch bowl. The anthology model being carried forward from the Walmart titles definitely heralds more of the same, whether in the main line or for a continuation of this. And as for the books themselves, I’m gonna take my reactions one by one.

The Next Batman: Obviously I’m down for this.

Dark Detective: Bruce having a specifically defined new role (as do most of the rest of the old guard) is a smart move for making this sustainable. Tamaki’s let me down recently, but Mora, and also if this follows up on Detective #1027 we might see the Black Casebook. Backups definitely look tepid though. I’m probably gonna hold off on making a call until there’s a preview.

Harley Quinn: Pass.

Robin Eternal: ehhhhhhhh

Catwoman: Oh hell yes, V/Schmidt doing a heist.

Nightwing: Nicola Scott doing Nightwing! Andrew Scott wrote a decent little Wonder Woman/Metal Men teamup story in one of the recent anthologies, so I’m up for this.

Batman/Superman: YES. This seems to be a bit of a prequel thing, but who cares, it’s Yang/Oliver doing World’s Finest.

Superman of Metropolis: I’ve only heard of Sean Lewis doing a few indie horror books, but of course I’m curious about the Jon-as-Superman book and the groundwork I expect it lays. His costume works for me, fitting that ‘sleek and futurey’ mandate without actually rocking the boat too much (and its differentiation is a lot more tolerable with Clark still rocking the cape and trunks), and the premise is really interesting - not surprising, as editor Jamie Rich says many of the ideas for the Superman books came from conversations with Grant Morrison. Which is probably why we’re seeing so much Seven Soldiers and DC One Million stuff in here, although bringing back Manhattan Guardian, given his background, and this premise, for this moment, is questionable at best.

Superman vs. Imperious Lex: This is probably going to be the best thing to come out of this whole shebang.

Superman: Worlds of War: Privately I called that Clark would be rocking the Kingdom Come getup in here (with the belt buckle from Man of Tomorrow for some reason?). I did NOT call that he would literally have the God of War sword. I’d be skeptical at best, but PKJ and Rich have both assured they’re not doing a Dark Superman thing with this, and hot damn, Midnighter backup by Becky Cloonan!

Superman/Wonder Woman: I think this is going to turn out to be one of the biggest gems of this entire enterprise. Dan Watters did an absolutely phenomenal short story for the last Batman: Secret Files, and it’s a big teamup against Solaris!

Kara Zor-El, Superwoman: The Bombshells team reunited! Here for it.

Justice League: God, this might be really good or it might be the biggest disappointment of the bunch. Just at the sight of that I want that to be the Justice League from now on, that is an all-timer iconic cover and set of designs to introduce a group of characters, the concept’s really good, and Flash being from another universe is so cool...and the actual book is Williamson/Rocha. Rocha’s a steady hand I trust well enough, but clearly this is where Mora should have been, and you’re really leaving this to Williamson? He has done good comics, but not many. I can only hope he’s basically a placeholder setting up the status quo for a Future State Justice League imprint book same as I think PKJ and Lewis are setting up whatever Bendis is going to do later. Still, I’m not writing this off entirely, Williamson has still done some good comics and this might well be as enjoyable a two-parter as it should be. And in any case, Ram V doing future stuff with the magic characters is a win.

Aquaman: I was going to say no thanks, but the premise is a little interesting, Daniel Sampere is a good hand, and I haven’t seen Brandon Thomas’s work before but at a glance he seems to have tried some ambitious sci-fi work at Image. I’ll call this a maybe.

The Flash: Hahaha, now we’re in the shit of it. Literally there is nothing about this that would indicate it was set in the future if not for the title, a flat regurgitation of the most tired old bullshit, and it’s by a Young Justice writer to boot. Glad to know even in the future the regular Flash book is going to suck.

Teen Titans: Speaking of books we can be assured will always suck

Shazam!: Who could possibly care

Green Lantern: This one I kinda don’t blame for being nothing, Far Sector is the big Green Lantern thing in this period and they’re not gonna fuck with that so they gotta work around the fringes. Hardly sympathetic enough to get me to buy it though.

Suicide Squad: Okay, alt-Earth Flash rules, but you come up with a disabled Flash with a heavily redesigned but still recognizable and extremely rad new look - looking every inch the “Far Sector but for Flash” premise I’ve been calling for - and you put her in this nonsense? And you waste Javier Fernandez here too? I guess Robbie Thompson is passable from what I’ve seen and maybe the whole Earth 3 thing will result in this turning out alright after all, but this feels like a waste, and that’s before you get to the one story here set in the 853rd century being about Black Adam.

Immortal Wonder Woman: Oh shit this one’s gonna rule though.

Legion of Superheroes: So’s this one!

Swamp Thing: This will be excellent too but I don’t care about Swamp Thing.

Wonder Woman: I’m seeing some immediate division on Wonder Woman - some like her new costume and some hate it (I think it’s really busy but like it a lot with the blues highlighted when Mora draws it), and I understand some have problems with a Brazilian Wonder Woman rooted entirely in Greek mythology rather than any sort of indigenous religion (which I am not remotely qualified to weigh in on). I’ll hope for the best, and obviously it’ll be very pretty, but I wasn’t blown away by Jones’ writing when I tried her Catwoman book, and I hope she won’t fall flat on her face regarding representation.

I’d divide this up into

* Basically no chance in hell: Harley Quinn, The Flash, Teen Titans, Shazam!, Green Lantern

* I’d need to hear good word of mouth: Dark Detective, Robins Eternal, Aquaman, Suicide Squad

* Fingers crossed, getting it but it could go either way: Superman of Metropolis, Justice League, Wonder Woman

* Yeah, I’ll grab this one, looks fun: Nightwing, Superman: Worlds of War, Kara Zor-El: Superwoman

* This is going to be really good: The Next Batman, Catwoman, Batman/Superman, Superman vs. Imperious Lex, Superman/Wonder Woman, Immortal Wonder Woman, Legion of Superheroes, and though I’m skipping it, Swamp Thing

A pretty incredible preliminary hit-miss ratio, and along with all I said before, big shoutout to Darran Robinson for across-the-board incredible logo design work. Like the Superman books mixing Morrison and Bendis, Batman is hyper-topical with a black Batman fighting super-cops who hate resistors in masks (whole Bruce can still be part of the fight but has to reckon with not being the guy in front throwing money around and setting terms anymore), Wonder Woman goes for the obvious pun, and JL feels appropriately iconic, while the rest is hit-or-miss as not central to further plans with this setting. I had zero expectations of this as anything other than Future’s End 2.0 with a couple leading into the not-5G imprint, but while I think that’s still the same basic endgame, for the most part it feels like they’re really trying with this one and I’ve got a good feeling about it.

[ganymedesclock]

Okay so basically Sonic Forces features:

Infinite, a masked, seemingly silent antagonist

and

a new, player-customizable character.

In particular, something I think is really interesting about Infinite is- well, the Sonic series has never been what I would call a model of zoology, but, most of the identifying qualities about characters that we’ve seen so far- muzzle design and eye shape are big ones. But with Infinite, we don’t even know the shape of their eyes- because what’s visible is only the gouges ripped in their mask.

That’s also interesting to me: that mask doesn’t look like something designed for Infinite to wear for kicks. Either they, or someone else, had to tear eyeholes in it for them to be able to see.

It makes me wonder if that mask is... really voluntary.

Also: everybody and their dog has pointed out that it’s weird for Shadow to be standing with the antagonists, especially because Forces is in the main gameverse- where Shadow kind of had an entire four-game character arc about how he’s never going to let himself be manipulated for evil again.

But... look at the company he’s keeping, Zavok notwithstanding.

Chaos is a benevolent god. Much like Shadow, its only villainous behavior was induced by despair over an outside event, which Chaos would be unlikely to revisit considering at this point its healed from that.

Metal Sonic? Metal’s a lot more antihero than Shadow or Chaos, guy kinda oscillates on the hero-or-not thing but with Rivals and quite a few other games, he’s proved quite sympathetic. It makes sense he’d be here because he generally follows Eggman, and Eggman would seem to be the mastermind.

The Sonic series is no master of worldbuilding but usually if they include a character, they come with a pretty decent sense of where that character comes from- so I have to wonder if there’s a reason we’re seeing a rogues’ gallery stocked half-to-three-fourths with sympathetic antihero-at-worst types.

Infinite’s, to coin a phrase, mobianoid- they’re built on the same design as Sonic. With only one real exception (Mephiles) all our mobianoid antagonists have been sympathetic before. Infinite’s name, design, and capabilities also seem to evoke that vaguely godlike angle, which...

Chaos, the Gaias, Solaris, Time Eater... have something in common. They tend to enter the cast hurt, captured, divided, or exploited somehow. And usually, by someone else before Eggman.

Eggman might have encountered Infinite not in a state to fight back, and, in true Eggman fashion, is able to exploit their breathtaking power. After all, having Zavok here, a nod to Lost World- Lost World was the game where Eggman brought a means of controlling the new antagonists to the table and reasserted himself as the final boss.

Even if Infinite might not have a convenient off switch for Sonic, that doesn’t mean they might not have been tethered by someone else, and Eggman’s simply learned how to use that.

But now, where does the player character come into this?

Well, Sega at least likes to try and keep continuity for characters. It’s unlikely they want to keep the custom character around for a whole lot of future games, but also they probably don’t want to kill off the player’s character.

So what’s a way to keep the customization but also subtly give them a specific canon appearance beyond the vaguely Bubsy-looking “model” they’re given in the promotional material?

Remember how I said it’s almost impossible to read most of Infinite’s identifiable traits besides that ethereal mane of wavy hair and their long tail?

What if the player character, in some way, is Infinite.

This could mean a lot of things. The PC could be a manifestation of Infinite operating separately from whatever restraint they’re under, and since “Infinite” and the presence of classic Sonic would suggest some manipulation of time, being in two places at once wouldn’t be hard.

Or somehow, the “Infinite” seen working for Eggman is a fragment of the original, making the PC more or less the “Light Gaia” to Infinite’s “Dark Gaia”. Potentially supported by Infinite’s empty right eye socket- would seem to suggest they’re incomplete somehow. (though as far as we know the PC has both eyes)

It’d be a brilliant way to explain so much, honestly- if the PC is oblivious to and questions obvious things as a way to give tutorials to the player- if Infinite is an entity, like many other deific forces in the Sonic series, that was trapped and exploited, it’s fair to say guy probably doesn’t exactly get out much.

Also, if Infinite is an entity comparable to Mephiles... it could mean that with the mask off they’re don’t really have an appearance. The character customization would be in-universe, Infinite, or just that fragment of Infinite- trying to stuff themselves into a normal person body.

It’s also an easy way to feature the player character in the plot- Eggman would quite possibly be gunning for them- either, trying to complete Infinite, or, since helping godlike forces actualize their power hasn’t ended well for him before, he doesn’t want something around that could potentially undo the handiwork of the side of Infinite he has control over.

Alternative thoughts though:

What if the PC is not actually oblivious to this, or, amnesiac the way Chip was.

Because I feel like that could make for hilarious characterization depending on how much leeway with personality they intend to give the player.

“Whoa, what are those?”

“...Rings? Uh, buddy, you don’t get out much, do you.”

“Wh- HAHA WHAT’RE YOU TALKING ABOUT I’M A TOTALLY NORMAL- uh” checks hand, “BOBCAT.”

“...okay dude.”

[roundaboutfilms]

MY TOP 12 MOVIES SEEN IN 2016

Here are my 12 favourite movies seen for the first time in 2016.

As you will see, the movies on this list are not restricted to movies made in 2015/2016. Rather, it is a list of films I watched for the first time in 2016, whether they were actually made in 2016 or 1951.

Here they are in chronological order:

1. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) - Elia Kazan

IMDB: Disturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her.

This is a true classic. A masterpiece of drama and directing. This movie showcases why Marlon Brando is considered to be one of, if not the greatest, actors of all time.

2.  Planet Of The Apes (1968) - Franklin J. Schaffner

IMDB: An astronaut crew crash-lands on a planet in the distant future where intelligent talking apes are the dominant species, and humans are the oppressed and enslaved.

The original (and arguably the best) Planet Of The Apes movie. Even though it is now quite dated, at the time the ape prosthetics were of the best the world had seen. A great film of adventure, with a strong social commentary. As read on IMDB: “Times were rough, and the Vietnam War was growing in intensity by the time Planet of the Apes was made. Because of this, we see many references to the current dilemma. The film willy-nilly debates issues like hunting, violence, animal rights, evolution vs creationism, class structure, and nuclear war.”

3. Solaris (1972) - Andrei Tarkovsky

IMDB: A psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.

This movie instantly became one of my very favourite films. It is long and slow and Russian, but there is something about it that has stuck with me since watching it. I was left in awe when the film ended. Not everyone will like this movie. Don’t expect a quick easy film to watch casually with friends. This is the type of film that you need to preferably watch alone and in silence. Give it the time and concentration that is deserves. Allow yourself to reflect while watching and it should affect you very deeply in a way that few films have the power to do. It is poetry in film form.

4. Paris, Texas (1984) - Wim Wenders

IMDB: Travis Henderson, an aimless drifter who has been missing for four years, wanders out of the desert and must reconnect with society, himself, his life, and his family.

This is a quirky film with deep, interesting characters. A beautiful story. The chat room scene is one of the most touching scenes I have seen, with incredible performances by both actors.

5. Gerry (2002) - Gus van Sant

IMDB: A friendship between two young men is tested when they go for a hike in a desert and forget to bring any water or food with them.

A simple movie, layered with meaning. Even though there is not much happening other than two friends walking through the desert and talking, this film kept me captivated to the shocking end. The stark landscapes are beautiful. The drama is in their conversations and in the way their friendship subtly changes over the course of the film.

6. There Will Be Blood (2007) - Paul Thomas Anderson

IMDB: A story of family, religion, hatred, oil and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.

This is a truly epic film. I can’t believe it took me so long to finally watch it. Daniel Day-Lewis delivers an Oscar winning performance of what must be one of the most riveting, intense, unpredictable and terrifying characters on screen. He commands almost every shot. It’s an acting, directing and cinematic masterclass and a film that will keep you riveted for the entire 158 minutes.

7. The Assassin (2015) - Hsiao-Hsien Hou

IMDB: A female assassin receives a dangerous mission to kill a political leader in eighth-century China.

This film is beautifully shot. The scenes are like classic paintings, starting with stark black and white and then later very vivid colours. The story line is a bit confusing at times, but that adds to the intrigue, mood and tone of this mysterious film.  

8. Room (2015) - Lenny Abrahamson

IMDB: A young boy is raised within the confines of a small shed.

Brilliant, human and touching. We see the world from the innocent eyes of a child who has been confined in a small shed for his entire life. Jacob Tremblay, only 9 years old at the time, delivers one of the best acting performances I have seen from a young actor. He sees only goodness, even though his environment is cruel, because of his mother’s love and protection. The descriptions of his first encounters with the outside world and how it appears to work, is very fascinating. He sees things as they are or should be, without understanding the seemingly petty issues of the adults around him. A message I got from this was how adults over complicate their lives and society.

9. The Revenant (2015) - Alejandro G. Iñárritu

IMDB: A frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.

This is quite an obvious one. Leonardo DiCaprio finally won his first Oscar and director Iñárritu, won the Best Directing award for two years in a row (after Birdman in 2015), making him one of only three directors to win the award back to back. It is gritty and intense, with impressive long takes, alike to Birdman, that won Emmanuel Lubezki his third consecutive Oscar for Best Cinematography (Gravity in 2014, Birdman in 2015, The Revenant in 2016).

10. The Hateful Eight (2015) - Quentin Tarantino

IMDB: In the dead of a Wyoming winter, a bounty hunter and his prisoner find shelter in a cabin currently inhabited by a collection of nefarious characters.

I have read mixed reviews about this film. Some found the slow start boring and lost interest. On the contrary, I found this captivating and suspenseful, as the story rises steadily towards its explosive climax. The opening foreboding score by Ennio Morricone sets the tone nicely and I was happy to see him win the Oscar for this. And as usual, the long conversations are highly entertaining. In the end, I think it might even be one of Tarantino’s most violent films. And that is saying a lot. Tarantino again displays his encyclopedic knowledge of cinema and its structures and styles and therefore uses this knowledge to toy with us. He incorporates old school mystery film conventions, with western, suspense, thriller, crime, drama and comedy all in one. In his eighth film, Tarantino again shows why he is the iconic director of our time and one that will live on long after he is gone.

11. Listen to Me Marlon (2015) - Stevan Riley

IMDB: A documentary that utilizes hundreds of hours of audio that Marlon Brando recorded over the course of his life to tell the screen legend's story.

As a fan of Marlon Brando, I loved this very personal documentary and the way it was put together. It is cleverly narrated by Marlon Brando himself, even after his death. This is because Marlon Brando kept an extensive audio diary, as a means of self meditation and reflection. Sometimes he speaks of things that will calm him down, often starting with the phrase “listen to me Marlon”. Other times he reflects on childhood memories, or experiences on set and in his highly public and private life. You start to see the man behind the icon and this makes it a fascinating watch, especially if you are a fan.

12. Noem My Skollie: Call Me Thief (2016) - Daryne Joshua

IMDB: A film based on the true life story of a young man who becomes a storyteller in jail.

This is South Africa’s official entry to the 2017 Oscars. When I went to go watch this film, I was not expecting much. I hadn’t heard of it yet (it was before all the Oscars hype). One of the only reasons why I watched it, was because none of the other films showing at the time really stood out, so we decided to support South African cinema. I was pleasantly surprised by a brilliant South African story, based on true events. The screenplay was written by John W. Fredericks, and it is his dramatic life story. The performances and production design are top class. It is filled with drama, real life cruelty and brutality, scandals, romance and humour. The ending left me shocked by the reality of it all, but it closes with a positive message. South Africa can be very proud of this one, whether it achieves anything at the Oscars or not.

THE END. Thank you for reading and happy movie watching in 2017!

[messiahvzsa298-blog]

How To Select A Reputable Remote Server Backup System

You want all your data files (e.g. Word files, Excel documents, email, etc.) to be in folders that are all inside a single folder on your hard drive. Windows supplies you with a folder named "My Documents" developed for this purpose. In Windows 95/98/ME there is a single My Files folder shared by all users while Windows NT/2000/XP develops a separate My Documents folder for each login account. Supporting the "WinNTProfiles" folder in NT 4.0 or the "Files and Settings" folder in Windows 2000/XP will support the My Files folders for all users if you are visited as an administrator.

Quantum Lto6 Tape; Your Finest Solution For Data Backup!

The first IBM LTO-3 LTO 5 Tape is the "3580 Design L33" that has "SCSI ultra-160 LVD" user interface. The 2nd LTO-3 LTO 5 Tape presented by IBM is the "3580 Model L3H". The other tape autoloaders by IBM are the entry level 3581 design F38 and L38. Both these autoloaders provide 1 LTO-3 drive and 8 cartridge slots. So, the total capability reaches to 6.4 TB with compression of 2:1. Model L-38 has a "SCSI Ultra-160 LVD" attachment. The attachment is assists to connect to AIX, Solaris, i5/OS, HP-UX, Linux and Windows.

A fresh Tape Price needs to be used every time you clean the attachment. Another attachment can be used for a number of weeks. It can be washed when on the head. Every so often it will need appropriate cleaning. This system enables you to perform your everyday activities with no obstacle.

How To Pick A Reputable Remote Server Backup System

The most common devices to back up information have actually been LTO Tapes, zip drives and flash drives. More recently, CDRW drives (CD read/write drives) are being used for backups. Your decision will be based upon how much information you require to back up, what devices you currently have that might be utilized for backups, and whether you can purchase a new backup gadget.

Dell Ultrium 3, The Very Best Selling Backup Tape Storage System In Medium http://thinkdatavis.com/pherahikfm/post-spool-error-dell-196424.html Range

Cloud backup lets you schedule automated backups to a secured data center located at an offsite place. Those data centers utilize state of the art technology and have actually taken required steps to secure themselves from natural disasters, theft, and fire. So using them is a lot much safer than putting a backup hard disk at your bank.

These days it is much simpler, I find, to just mask out the topics initially. In this manner you can paint over them to get your flat background. When you remove the mask, the area beneath will be white and the outlines clear cut.

Should I Purchase An External Disk Drive?

Aside from the obvious factors pointed out above, the something that bothers me most is that when my it fails to work, who do I shall call and hold liable for its failure?