From what I had been reading, and reviews from friends - I already was pretty sure I would love it, and I did. What a fantastic movie.

My biggest complaint, is that this smart, beautifully acted and directed film didn't get a general release here in Australia. I had to go to the local "art house" cinema (Dendy Brisbane) across town to see it. It depresses me that a dumb, CGI wet-dream spasm like Eagle Eye would be shown everywhere, forever- and film like Moon doesn't rate a national release. We may never have another movie culture changing SF movie like 2001 because not enough people would see it. Honestly, I doubt that 2001 would make a national release in this era.

Siftbot is in a ruby-bestowing mood recently, and it seems it's just Len's time to get one! My own acquaintance with this excellent sifter is quite lacking, so I'll leave the congratulations and celebrations to the rest of the Sift community.

I would simply add, congrats Len Nickel, keep on sifting the wonderful stuff you find and get to work on coming up with a channel idea for yourself (and one for me, if it's not too much trouble )

Now, go storm his queue for all those gems he has hidden away there.

Ok, I'll admit off the bat I like the Matrix trilogy. All 3 of them. I've always heard other people berating 2 and 3 as if they were terrible, terrible movies, but I never understood why. Instead of trolling the internet trying to figure out why they sucked, can't you all just fill me in?

Thanks

Why is VS so slow today? Navigating from one page to another is like walking through a swamp. I've also noticed it's been kind of slow off and on in recent days, but today takes the cake. Someone pull the gerbil out of blankfist's ass and put it on the wheel already.

...Very good. I don't believe in lengthy reviews, mainly because they often give away too many plot points, so I'll just say a few things. The special effects were good, but they didn't overshadow the story. Plenty of action. It is somewhat gory, so don't see it with someone if they're squeamish about bloody scenes. And the story? Well, considering how savage we are with each other, I can completely see human beings behaving in the way they're portrayed in the film.

It's a dark film, if you couldn't pick that up from the trailers, so don't expect a typical Hollywood ending like in 'E.T.' or 'Cocoon'. If it had one like either of those films I wouldn't be giving it a positive review. Now don't get me wrong. I enjoyed both 'E.T.' and 'Cocoon', but those were "cute" scifi movies, and for the "cute" scifi genre they satisfied. But 'District 9' ain't no 'E.T.', even though it did have a couple of touching moments.

So I recommend it. So does RottenTomatoes, and as of this moment the film stands at 88% on the Tomatometer. Pretty impressive. Definitely worth the price of admission.

Now let's get back to treating each other like shit, so that when aliens come we can focus all that hostility on them. Do it for the species.

I went to see Moon at the Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF) but it was sold out.

Has anyone seen this movie? No spoilers please.

Unfortunately I can't work out how to embed it, I assume it has embedding turned off.

But this video is awesome for all the special effect wizards in their native environment back in the 70s. Or, as the submitter says
"Crude home movies from the 1970s depicting activities at a certain location in the San Fernando Valley. "

"'We are thrilled to have our incredible cast back. The call has already gone out to the animators to put the mouths back on the characters,' Futurama creators Groening and David X. Cohen said in a joint statement."

Source: http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/674841

So, YAY.

Okay, so when I was a kid growing up in Puerto Rico, I remember seeing this weird movie when I was relatively young. As best as I can remember, this movie seemed to be something from before the 80s, though it might be early 80s at the latest. More likely though, this was something from either the 60s or 70s which had just been put on TV and dubbed into Spanish.

I don't know if this was a US film or not and worse, I only remember one scene:

At the very end of the movie, a man and a woman are put into this giant machine. The interior of the machine may have had throw pillows in it. When the machine is turned on, all sorts of 60s/70s psychedelic special effects happen and they are fused into one hermaphrodite-like being that walks out of the chamber to some macabre sounding music...

For some reason that scene always stuck with me, but I have never been able to identify the movie, likely some bad, seldom referenced sci-fi thingy.

A'ight sifters, have at it. Remember that since this happened on PR tv, it may not be a US film... very possibly it was foreign.

I'm drunk...

... I just saw a beautiful sift of Nuriev dancing Le Corsier (sp? because i'm drunk), and it occurred to me: what an amazing thing that I can sift something from a 9 to a 10 and bring it to a wider audience and hopefully expose them to something so unlikely in the grand scheme of the universe... just beautiful...

... It got me to thinking. If by some chance we were to find a way to overcome the rules of physics and communicate with other intelligence across the universe and set up an "internet" that went beyond our planet... can you imagine the absolutely amazing, unlikely and wonderful things that we would sift? Could we possibly imagine the insanity of sifting something from 9 to 10 that just goes beyond anything in our conception of our own cultures?

Sorry, drunk and feeling inspired by the sift and all that it brings to me on a daily basis... I swear, if my financial situation improves, I'll become a charter member on a subscription, because the sift is a wonderful wonderful thing...

Just finished watching this very solid SF pilot. It's a shame that it looks like it's not going to be picked up. It's probably too smart for Fox viewers.

I just wanted to broadcast that the new Tron 2.0 Movie is being filmed right now in Burnaby, BC, Canada
http://www.tron-sector.com/

"Be sure to mark your calenders for July 22nd to the 27th!
During that time, the new TRON 2 trailer will be shown at
Comic Con '09 in San Diego. Hopefully Disney will release
this one to the public soon. *crosses fingers*"

http://www.gunaxin.com/twenty-bizarre-star-wars-ads/20681 from http://digg.com/movies/Twenty_Bizarre_Star_Wars_Ads ...

"Whenever an epic film franchise hits the screens, it’s almost a given that commercials on everything from socks to cheese slices will be all over the place. Star Wars was, of course, no exception. Now, despite the fact that nearly every toy ad from the films was nutty in its own right, these twenty commercials are about everything but the playthings. Take a look at the bizarre and laugh."

Embedded videos included!

An anonymous reader sends word that a trial has opened in Paris that could shut down Scientology in France. The organization stands accused of targeting vulnerable people for commercial gain. Scientology does not have the status of a religion there, as it does in the US, and anti-cult groups have pursued it vigorously over more than 30 years. The current case is based on complaints filed by two women in December 1998 and July 1999. Three other former members who had initially joined the complaint have withdrawn after "reaching a financial arrangement with church officials." If convicted, the seven top Scientologists in France face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of €1M. The Church of Scientology-Celebrity Centre and its Scientology Freedom Space bookshop not only face a much larger fine but also run the risk of being shut down completely.

From Slashdot http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/26/2111214&from=rss

The Sift's one and only Celtic ewok just got his Gold 100 star. I know because he was kind enough to use his very first *promote on one of my videos. It made me feel all tingly in places I probably shouldn't mention. Anyway, ol' MoodyBluedonia is probably feeling all tingly right now too. So why don't you make him feel all congratulated and stuff, and then tingle his PQ while you're at it. There's a lot of good stuff there, so don't vote out of pity. That's what rottenseed's PQ is for.

This prank is almost six years old, but it's too good to not pass it on.

Via Urban Prankster:

"In 2002, Dylan Reiff and Joe Korsmo began tracking the internet activities of Kolin, aka V. Gnome, an 18-year old computer gamer. They monitored and recorded Kolin’s AOL instant messages and gathered information about his friends and family from other sources on the net. Blending this data with scenarios from videogames and sci-fi films, they developed a mythology in which Kolin is “singled out as the savior of the human race.” The story is told in Gem Missile: A Tribute to V. Gnome, a 40-page book that incorporates photographs of Kolin and excerpts from his personal correspondence. In August 2003, Reiff and Korsmo showed up on Kolin’s parent’s doorstep in Chicago. Reiff introduced himself as “Z. Figiam,” Kolin’s “mentor from the future,” presented him with the book, and left without further explanation.

The plot thickened several days later with Kolin posted a detailed description of the encounter to an on-line gaming forum, along with digital photos of every page in the book. Members of the forum quickly added their own theories and responses, which ranged from close readings of the text and speculations about the gender of its authors, to admissions of jealousy and accusations that Kolin had invented the story in order to get a high rating for his thread (which in a few weeks had received over 40,000 hits).

A year passed after this initial contact. In August 2004, Reiff and Korsmo mailed Kolin a package containing a photograph of their meeting a year earlier, along with a note, a certificate, and a plane ticket to Minneapolis. Kolin was met at the airport by a man in a beat up Lincoln Town Car who identified himself as “The Gatekeeper.” For two days, Kolin was lead around the city in search of robots, buried treasure and information needed to save the future. Reiff and Korsmo involved numerous actors and another on-line gamer who, equally baffled, was driven with Kolin to a forest and abandoned there. At some point, Kolin noticed that his new friend had mysteriously disappeared. “I stood there alone in the woods, in Minnesota, with a shovel and a large black locked box, more confused then I have ever been in my life.” Kolin survived the trip and posted a detailed account of his adventure, concluding, “it was a great experience, and I would not hesitate to save the future again, if the chance ever arose.”

It’s an epic tale and one best read from the perspective of Kolin, the “victim” of this awesome prank. It’s a long read, but it’s worth it: Future Shock: A Three Year Cross Country Adventure to Save the World

Well, went and saw Star Trek tonight. Anyone else see it yet? And what were/are your thoughts? I actually really liked it. Lots of outright and subtle references to the Original ST, plus even a shout out to Captain Archer amazingly enough. The guy who played Bones (Karl Urban) did a fantastic job. Simon Pegg was great as Scotty. All around good job I think. I'll most likely see it again. Definitely will add it to my movie collection.

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/05/05/best-worst-star-trek.html

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Maybe..."

That's right, our resident poll dancer has finally reached the status of gold star. What's even more incredible is that he did it in under 2 months!!! I still don't know if that avatar is of a baby or of a strange looking grown man. Hopefully it's the first one...

So let's all give stick him with a big, hot, juicy, hard and throbbin' congratulations.

Maybe with some more tenure he can have a quality party host that has the time to create awesome pictures.

Anyone seen it? Thoughts?

Also.. teehee.