"THE ILLUSIONIST" (2006) Review

I wrote this REVIEW of the 2006 romantic drama, "THE ILLUSIONIST". The movie starred Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti and Rufus Sewell.

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04] I am no bird; and no net ensnares me.



JANE EYRE (1997): 118 Icons!

Ran across these wonderful stills from a new Michelle Pfieffer film called Chéri. I wonder what other wonderful designs are hiding in that movie!

I have never before wanted to watch a movie with friends so badly. Because both E.J. and Keffy are, shall we say, big fans of science, and I would want to be there to watch their heads go splodey when the scientists on-screen explain how the Mayans predicted a thousand years ago that a galactic alignment of planets would cause the neutrinos in the sun to mutate.

Watching their heads blow up might actually be better SFX than the movie itself.

Robert Dudley in "ELIZABETH" (1998)

I have a few questions about the Robert Dudley role in the 1998 movie, "ELIZABETH". ( Read more... )

That black phantom was really, really good. Survived a bunch of tough situations that would have gotten a weaker one.

What a great fight.

Art Nouveau in Elizabeth Street, Melbourne.

This art nouveau decoration is in Melbourne, Australia.

In my experience as a GM, players are like serial killers: they do what they do in order to satisfy some inner need. And like serial killers, you can extrapolate a lot about their personalities from carefully observing their evidence.

Which is to say that most players, even if they play a lot of characters, generally have some core personality trait that is shared among all their PCs. Take me, for example; I've played characters from a low-life gambler who plays cards with demons for (unreliable) magic powers to a superhero who records his battle-sounds so he can sample them for club mixes later. From an outward description of the guys I've played, you'd be hard-pressed to see what the connecting tissue is, because as a writer I go balls to the wall to come up with wildly differing backgrounds.

Yet all of my PCs share one thing; they're the smartest guy in the room on one issue. Not the smartest guy in the world, mind you, but each character has a gateway to some kind of forbidden knowledge that the other PCs just don't have. Yes, I play a living supernova who burns his enemies with fire... But he's also a physicist. Yes, I'm playing an ex-jock gone to seed who's forced into investigating the Cthulhu mythos... But he also runs a chain of sportswear outlets, and is a master of marketing. The huckster knows magic secrets, the DJ knows the club scene better than anyone.

As a player, I'll be entirely happy if I get the shit beaten out of me in a losing combat if I get to have my secret knowledge mean something during the game. It's perfectly fine if Thermal winds up in chains after the big battle if his physics knowledge was the only way they could have gotten into the villains' lair.

That's what scratches my roleplaying itch. And it's constant.

Likewise, my wife comes up with wildly differing characters from an elf flickering between dimensions to a fire-priestess of a noble kingdom, but all of her characters can be summed up by Thundering Badass Crippled By Dysfunctional Family Issues. If you play with almost anyone for long enough, you'll generally note the ties that bind all their PCs - even if, quite often, they're unaware of it.

So I ask you: What's your archetype? Do you know what need it satisfies? Tell me. I want to know.

It is a period of civil war. Great forces and armies clash as some of the mightiest weapons in the galaxy are turned on each other.

A time when the actions of a few can change the course of history, and for a Herglic and a Vaathkree, it is a time to make a fortune. Their fortune.

Working for the highest bidder, alongside their Wookie slave, these two are willing to travel to the farthest flung reaches of the Empire, and deal with the messiest problems.

Drawn to a tiny, backwater planet, no doubt involved in secret weapons research, LwrooOOOoooooOOOO* and The Rock are ready to do whatever it takes....

To fix some crippling leaks and damage to the foundation that have dropped the Imperial Base below code and made life on a rainy planet harsh and uncomfortable. They are...




*It sounds different underwater

"CATCH ME IF YOU CAN" (2002) Photo Gallery

Here are some PHOTOS from Steven Spielberg's 2002 biopic about former con man, Frank Abagnale Jr. called "CATCH ME IF YOU CAN".

This beautiful window with art nouveau detail is on Darling Street,Balmain in Sydney, Australia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDBM8lwVmQo

One does have to wonder about the full context of this statement, and if he'd been planning it in advance.