Let's see...Hundreds of thousands of dollars on props or a big green sheet and a graphics geek...do the math...
"Such music flows on the Fringe, and no one can resist singing to Scarlet" >From "THE SIDE STREET CHRONICLES" by C.W. Badie --- On Sat, 1/30/10, Martin Baxter <truthseeker...@hotmail.com> wrote: From: Martin Baxter <truthseeker...@hotmail.com> Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" - Any good? To: "SciFiNoir2" <scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com> Date: Saturday, January 30, 2010, 2:38 PM Wouldn't surprise me at all, pal. "If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director?" -- Charles L Grant http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=fQUxw9aUVik To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com From: astromancer2002@ yahoo.com Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:41:23 -0800 Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" - Any good? Okay, I missed the Michael J. move...But I beg to differ on the use of the green screen...I've noticed SyFy's Sacuary and other like shows have been using g.s. backgrounds since Gemini Division aired...The trend of cheap production to come? "Such music flows on the Fringe, and no one can resist singing to Scarlet" >From "THE SIDE STREET CHRONICLES" by C.W. Badie --- On Tue, 1/26/10, Mr. Worf <HelloMahogany@ gmail.com> wrote: From: Mr. Worf <HelloMahogany@ gmail.com> Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" - Any good? To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2010, 8:53 PM You forgot swing thrust kick slice and the ever popular jump like Michael Jordan kill move. The arena scene would have been awesome if they had kept them at speed because the effects were very realistic. (like the leg chopping) Stopping the action to do the blood gushing was just silly. The other thing that I thought was interesting about the production was the use of green screen. This may be one of the few shows that use it for most of the shots. The rest looked like shots from the Paramount lot. On Tue, Jan 26, 2010 at 6:22 PM, C.W. Badie <astromancer2002@ yahoo.com> wrote: All I got out of it was 'swing, thrust, (gush!), slice, block (gush!), with slow motion on the (gush!) part...That is barely one aspect of "300." There was a bit of a hint that people of that age had more blood in there bodies... "Such music flows on the Fringe, and no one can resist singing to Scarlet" >From "THE SIDE STREET CHRONICLES" by C.W. Badie --- On Tue, 1/26/10, Martin Baxter <truthseeker013@ hotmail.com> wrote: From: Martin Baxter <truthseeker013@ hotmail.com> Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" - Any good? To: "SciFiNoir2" <scifino...@yahoogro ups.com> Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2010, 2:33 PM If that's all the show will ever be, then it would be more economical to go out and buy "300" than to subscribe to Showtime. "If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director?" -- Charles L Grant http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=fQUxw9aUVik To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com From: HelloMahogany@ gmail.com Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:44:00 +0000 Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" - Any good? All hail Spartacus! :) I just watched the first episode and I have to say that the director that shot this must have had 300 on infinite replay when they were making this. The fight scenes although realistic looking in action turn to cartoons when everything is slowed down to allow the special effect blood to splatter makes it laughable. Has anyone watched the series called Rome? Spartacus ain't it. Spartacus is the dumbed down blood and guts version for teen boys that has nudity in it. I don't think that when they shot this series that the actor knew that they were going to make the serious action into gore porn. --- In scifino...@yahoogro ups.com, Martin Baxter <truthseeker013@ ...> wrote: > > > (standing ovation) > > "If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody > hell hired the director?" -- Charles L Grant > > http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=fQUxw9aUVik > > > > > To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com > From: KeithBJohnson@ ... > Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:09:14 +0000 > Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" - Any good? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Absolutely, I just have an issue with lazy writing on that level unless it's > intentional. In "Hercules" and "Xena", for example, the anachronistic > language was intentional and sometimes funny. The god Apollo, for example, > was portrayed as a magical surfer type, who even said "Dude". But > "Spartacus", from what i can tell, is trying to be serious drama, so I just > can't get past such gaffes. > I've noticed more and more in recent years that problem in historical dramas. > I see a lot of them where the characters are speaking idiomatically as if > they're from modern American. Even if they use the time-appropriate words, > the way those words are structured into phrases is just off. That always > irritates me. For example, don't tell me you're giving me a well-written > drama that takes place in, say, a Puritan village in the 1700s, then have a > young person ask another "How's it going?" > Lazy... > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Mr. Worf" <HelloMahogany@ ...> > To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com > Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2010 7:01:06 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" - Any good? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Nope... they say that it was invented around the 1100s. But there had to be a > similar word back then. > > > On Sun, Jan 24, 2010 at 3:26 PM, Keith Johnson <KeithBJohnson@ ...> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Was the f-word even being used by the Britons during the time of Spartacus? > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Martin Baxter" <truthseeker013@ ...> > > To: "SciFiNoir2" <scifino...@yahoogro ups.com> > Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2010 3:17:28 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > > Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Re: "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" - Any good? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Again with you all the way, Keith. THe curse words they're using are mostly > Anglo-Saxon, something that folks who live in Greece (If I've got the > geography right) aren't likely to speak. > > "If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody > hell hired the director?" -- Charles L Grant > > > http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=fQUxw9aUVik > > > > > > To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com > > From: KeithBJohnson@ ... > Date: Sun, 24 Jan 2010 04:37:09 +0000 > Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" - Any good? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Looking at part of it again, the fight scenes really do border on kinda > funny, the "300"-style imitation is so over the top it reminds me more > of the hilariously bloody fight scene with the Black Knight in "Monty > Python and The Holy Grail". I mean, seriously, the blood is spattering > and splatering like red water from a burst balloon. One dude got > knocked in the back of the head, and blood sprayed all over it was > funny. The showrunners seem to have an almost perverse interest in > showing closeups of flesh cut and spread, bodies impaled. Silly, > gratuitous, unmoving. > > Quite a bit of nudity too, including of Lucy Lawless I believe. Bit of > a shock that, seeing Xena topless, but much better than seeing the > dudes' naked bottoms. :( > > Also there seems to be quite a bit of anachronistic language. At least, > I'm not sure the term "Where the fu** are the Romans?" is accurate for > the times. > > Two showings, and I haven't been able to sit through the whole thing yet > without laughing or shaking my head at the whole thing. > > Anyone else? > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Keith Johnson" <keithbjohnson@ ...> > To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com > > Sent: Friday, January 22, 2010 11:28:04 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > Subject: "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" - Any good? > > Anyone watch the debut of this series? It's showing on both one of the Encore > and Starz channels. I tried to watch the show, out of curiosity, and because > Lucy Lawless is one of the stars. But I came in in the middle of a battle > scene that frankly made me laugh and grown. Lawless in an interview I'd seen > mentioned the show was modeled in part on "300". But what I saw was a bad > imitation of "300": the same not-quite-real backgrounds, the now recognizable > fast-slow-fast movements of the soldiers in battle, blue-grey backgrounds > whose colors are splashed liberally with the blood flowing like wine in > battle. Lots of close ups of decapitations, swords cleaving flesh to expose > nasty cuts. it was all a bit too frenetic and artificial looking for me. And > I gotta admit that title--"...Blood and Sand" already had me a bit leery. > > Granted, i didn't see anything but the battle. Maybe the actual acting is > good and it's worth a look? Can anyone give a recommendation? > ************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* > ********* > > > http://www.starz. com/originals/ spartacus > > Betrayed > by the Romans. Forced into slavery. Reborn as a Gladiator. The classic > tale of the Republic's most infamous rebel comes alive in the graphic > and visceral new series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Torn from > his homeland and the woman he loves, Spartacus is condemned to the > brutal world of the arena where blood and death are primetime > entertainment. But not all battles are fought upon the sands. > Treachery, corruption, and the allure of sensual pleasures will > constantly test Spartacus. To survive, he must become more than a man. > More than a gladiator. He must become a legend. > > > > Starring Australian actor, Andy Whitfield (McLeod's Daughters) as Spartacus, > Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess) as Lucretia, John Hannah (The Mummy, > Four Weddings and A Funeral) as Batiatus and Peter Mensah (300, The > Incredible Hulk) > as Doctore, this unique mix of live action, graphic novel effects and > brutal battle sequences is set to make "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" an > epic television event. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hotmail: Powerful Free email with security by Microsoft. Get it now. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! > Mahogany at: http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/mahogany_ pleasures_ of_darkness/ > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _ > Hotmail: Free, trusted and rich email service. > http://clk.atdmt. com/GBL/go/ 196390708/ direct/01/ > Hotmail: Free, trusted and rich email service. Get it now. -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/mahogany_ pleasures_ of_darkness/ Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft’s powerful SPAM protection. Sign up now.