The Shrine

Trailer Here!

LES FRANKEN (Michael Rapaport) leads a painfully unremarkable life as a metermaid until he enrolls in a drug study for an experimental anti-depressant. An unexpected side effect of the drug convinces Les he is developing special powers and must quit his job to answer his new calling in life... Superhero. A very select group of people in life are truly gifted. Special is a movie about everyone else.

I saw Special over the weekend on OnDemand. Wow. Stunning. The only trailer, which I posted above, makes this movie out to be light-hearted and funny. It's not. It's a serious comic book/drama movie. Not "Heroes" serious, or Unbreakable serious. More like One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest serious. You must see this in the right frame of mind, as one reviewer put it, think Donnie Darko.

I would recommend anyone who likes indy movies, Heroes, comic books and serious drama.

Tell me what you think.

I was listening to Adam Carolla this morning on the radio and he was interviewing the star. I think I may see it in theaters here in LA or download it.

I tracked down a copy, if anyone wants it I'll host it on my FTP, just send me a PM and I'll link it up.

Anarky wrote:I tracked down a copy, if anyone wants it I'll host it on my FTP, just send me a PM and I'll link it up.

Why not just a torrent link?

Zeus wrote:

Anarky wrote:I tracked down a copy, if anyone wants it I'll host it on my FTP, just send me a PM and I'll link it up.

Why not just a torrent link?

Because the torrent took a couple of days and I'd be willing to put it up for you guys and it'd be faster. But sure I can give the torrent addy.

Anarky wrote:

Zeus wrote:

Anarky wrote:I tracked down a copy, if anyone wants it I'll host it on my FTP, just send me a PM and I'll link it up.

Why not just a torrent link?

Because the torrent took a couple of days and I'd be willing to put it up for you guys and it'd be faster. But sure I can give the torrent addy.

I'll wait a couple of days. Link would be best

We watched it. It was really good. Like Mully said, while it has its funny parts, it's more tragic/dramatic than that.

My sister didn't like it, but then again, she doesn't get anything that would require thought processes.

Zeus wrote:

Anarky wrote:

Zeus wrote: Why not just a torrent link?

Because the torrent took a couple of days and I'd be willing to put it up for you guys and it'd be faster. But sure I can give the torrent addy.

I'll wait a couple of days. Link would be best

http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/1053863/12322761/

If you don't have a demonoid login then you can still pm me for the link

Zeus = lazy. Took me 4 seconds of searchin. If you don't have a demonoid account or whatever:

isohunt{DOT}com/torrent_details/34525894/

I'll check it out tonight, looks interesting.

Meh, it was OK. Certainly not the same caliber of Donnie Darko or any of the other movies mentioned. Nor was it a comic book movie. Nor was it "intellectual" as Sine implied...it was hardly a movie that showed any smart or creative moments at all, from either a story or a directoral standpoint.

I was entertained and that's enough for me. But every aspect of the movie was middling -- they didn't commit to either end of the spectrum for character perception/interaction (realistic or delusional), nor did they playfully jump between the two to simply fuck with the audience. The social commentary was base teenage truisms that were about as sophisticated as dead baby jokes.

Maybe I was expecting too much...but the premise had a lot of promise. Kinda in the same way I liked Office Space, but couldn't help but wonder how much better it woulda been if they didn't try to stick a plot in at the end.

Whoever directed Special didn't have the chops to do the subject matter justice - probably would have been much better had they rewritten it as a comedy.

kali o. wrote:Zeus = lazy.

Zeus = taking care of two kids and doesn't have enough time to sit on the Internet

Anarky wrote:http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/1053863/12322761/

If you don't have a demonoid login then you can still pm me for the link

I do. Thanks for the link

kali o. wrote:Meh, it was OK. Certainly not the same caliber of Donnie Darko or any of the other movies mentioned. Nor was it a comic book movie. Nor was it "intellectual" as Sine implied...it was hardly a movie that showed any smart or creative moments at all, from either a story or a directoral standpoint.

I was entertained and that's enough for me. But every aspect of the movie was middling -- they didn't commit to either end of the spectrum for character perception/interaction (realistic or delusional), nor did they playfully jump between the two to simply fuck with the audience. The social commentary was base teenage truisms that were about as sophisticated as dead baby jokes.

Maybe I was expecting too much...but the premise had a lot of promise. Kinda in the same way I liked Office Space, but couldn't help but wonder how much better it woulda been if they didn't try to stick a plot in at the end.

Whoever directed Special didn't have the chops to do the subject matter justice - probably would have been much better had they rewritten it as a comedy.

What does any of this mean?

"The social commentary was base teenage truisms that were about as sophisticated as dead baby jokes."

"Whoever directed Special didn't have the chops to do the subject matter justice."

Wasn't a comic book movie? How is this NOT a comic book movie? It wasn't based on any comic book, but neither was Unbreakable

Here's some social commentary for you: This is the exact reason I don't download movies; takes the worth out of any movie/music. Spend $4 renting the movie like I did, at least I invested something into the movie. Downloading a movie absolutely devalues the experience of seeing a movie. Nothing is invested on your part. Your review means nothing to me. You didn't have the chops to invest in the filmmakers dream. You devalued the whole experience. There was no cost to you, why should you see this movie (or any movie) as valuable?

Your review means nothing. Your questions go unanswered.

Mully wrote: What does any of this mean?

"The social commentary was base teenage truisms that were about as sophisticated as dead baby jokes."

"Whoever directed Special didn't have the chops to do the subject matter justice."

Wasn't a comic book movie? How is this NOT a comic book movie? It wasn't based on any comic book, but neither was Unbreakable

Here's some social commentary for you: This is the exact reason I don't download movies; takes the worth out of any movie/music. Spend $4 renting the movie like I did, at least I invested something into the movie. Downloading a movie absolutely devalues the experience of seeing a movie. Nothing is invested on your part. Your review means nothing to me. You didn't have the chops to invest in the filmmakers dream. You devalued the whole experience. There was no cost to you, why should you see this movie (or any movie) as valuable?

Your review means nothing. Your questions go unanswered.

1) The fact that you wonder what my criticisms mean and the fact that you actually thought Special was a sophisticated film actually go hand-in-hand.

2) Special was no more a comic book movie than Mallrats was.

3) $4 does nothing to effect the our respective enjoyment of the film...I just tossed 2 Twoonies out the window and the movie didn't get any better. The fact that you'd make such a retarded assertion says a lot about you...see point #1.

Meh.

Downloading movies devalues them. Enough said. Just legally watch movies.

Thank you.

Spoilers aboard:












How was it not a comic book movie? Thematic elements of comic books were all in there: (1) he super powers only found in comic books (2) he gave up his "normal" life for a higher purpose ... i could go on.

People are downloading the movie because they can't get it anywhere else. I personally paid the $4 to see it OnDemand, but some people don't have that, or don't have that movie on their own cable companies OD. (For the record, I really do think that the standard non-employee rate of $8 for a HD movie is obscene. I may have to complain to one of the guys in charge of pricing for that sort of thing.)

Anyway, let's table the conversation about downloading versus buying it elsewhere. The conversation on that matter is clearly offtopic and we've already heard it 50 times before.

I liked the movie and sure it had some issues, but overall I was happy with the product.

Just for kicks I thought it might have been cool if they had done it 6 Sense esque and shown the movie from the perspective of him being super and then at the end showing the reality of it all. But hell I'm not a director or storyteller

Sorry, sometimes my morals get the best and worst of me.

Anarky wrote:I liked the movie and sure it had some issues, but overall I was happy with the product.

Just for kicks I thought it might have been cool if they had done it 6 Sense esque and shown the movie from the perspective of him being super and then at the end showing the reality of it all. But hell I'm not a director or storyteller

Then people would have complained that it was a Six Sense knock off, but I do like that idea.

Sine, in general, digital distribution, games and movies, is still really overpriced as it's still mostly a hardcore thing. They have to do no work and they want as much or more than what it would cost to rent it.....and there's the restrictions (only good for 24 hours whereas the rental is up to 48) and the possibility of the distribution not working. It's ridiculous.

Zeus wrote:Sine, in general, digital distribution, games and movies, is still really overpriced as it's still mostly a hardcore thing. They have to do no work and they want as much or more than what it would cost to rent it.....and there's the restrictions (only good for 24 hours whereas the rental is up to 48) and the possibility of the distribution not working. It's ridiculous.

That was sthe most fucking retarded thing I've read in a while....and that's saying a lot....I post on comic message boards

Building and maintaining a system capable of handling the load of hundreds of thousands (millions?) of subscribers downloading HD movies is hardly "no work." Infrastructure is expensive.

Chris wrote:

Zeus wrote:Sine, in general, digital distribution, games and movies, is still really overpriced as it's still mostly a hardcore thing. They have to do no work and they want as much or more than what it would cost to rent it.....and there's the restrictions (only good for 24 hours whereas the rental is up to 48) and the possibility of the distribution not working. It's ridiculous.

That was sthe most fucking retarded thing I've read in a while....and that's saying a lot....I post on comic message boards

Seconded. Here is your "hardcore" figures. And this.

SineSwiper wrote:

Chris wrote:

Zeus wrote:Sine, in general, digital distribution, games and movies, is still really overpriced as it's still mostly a hardcore thing. They have to do no work and they want as much or more than what it would cost to rent it.....and there's the restrictions (only good for 24 hours whereas the rental is up to 48) and the possibility of the distribution not working. It's ridiculous.

That was sthe most fucking retarded thing I've read in a while....and that's saying a lot....I post on comic message boards

Seconded. Here is your "hardcore" figures. And this.

Yes, because the NCAA tournament ain't watched by the "hardcore" internet users like students or anything. Same with Hulu.

It no longer becomes "Hardcore" when millions of people are watching it.

SineSwiper wrote:It no longer becomes "Hardcore" when millions of people are watching it.

What? You tryin' to tell me that Gears 2, GTA4, and Halo 3 ain't made for the "hardcore" crowd? There are millions of "hardcores" out there

BTW, we should really define what "hardcore" means in the non-gaming sense. I sorta tried to allude to it before, but to me it's more of the heavy internet user. For every student or 30-something parent that spends hours of spare time at home surfing or doing stuff online you have 10 that only do it very occasionally or here and there at work on certain sites. I should probably have used the more traditional "early adopters vs mass market" analogy in this case.

And what I'm saying is all On Demand of any kind is still very much in the Early Adopter stage and, IMO, it will be a long while before it becomes the norm. There are tons of reasons too not just the insane pricing strategies currently being used by the developers/networks/film studios (the music industry has got it right BTW...). The infrastructure still isn't nearly where it needs to be for mass market IMO. Sure it's fine for the type of usage now but imagine if everyone who had a TV said "ooo, this on-demand this is cool, I want it!". The main routers would blow up. And the way the ISPs have set up their rate structure is certainly going to truncate ANY level of Internet On-Demand. You know how quickly people would fly over the 60GB cap limit Rogers and Bell are shoving down their throats here? "Just get a cable box" you say? Sure....for a ridiculous monthly charge and very limited availability (we only have movies, Treehouse, and a few others up here).

Simply put, the industry of on-demand TV is still very much in its infancy. Everything I've talked about is a traditional trait of all new industries. Heck, you think back to the early video game days and the Atari, Coleco, and all those rip-off systems were $200-300 30 years ago with $50 or $60 cartridges. Try comparing those indexed dollars today.

The link below shows the business cycles industries go through. I feel that the On-Demand industry is very much in the introduction stages still. Sure its growing fast and can be considered in the Growth phase in the strictest sense but I think it needs a little more time of good growth and increased penetration before I'd comfortably put it there. The video game industry, by comparison, is nearly the end of the Growth phase and could very well be in the beginning of the Maturity phase, although the strong year-on-year growth is still too strong for Maturity really

http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/met ... cycle.html

Kupek wrote:Building and maintaining a system capable of handling the load of hundreds of thousands (millions?) of subscribers downloading HD movies is hardly "no work." Infrastructure is expensive.

Yes but it ain't Columbia Pictures or Mirimax Entertainment who's building that infrastructure. And you can bet they have a strong say in the price tag that goes along with product.

Besides, no product is priced based on how much it costs to bring to market. It's actually the other way around. You determine what you can sell an item for based on market research then you decide whether to bring it to market based on projected revenue streams vs costs to bring to market. What Im' saying is that's quite overpriced and thus it's still very much restricted to a "hardcore" thing

THIS THREAD IS NO LONGER ABOUT SPECIAL OR DIGITAL DISTRUBUTION! ITS ABOUT TRAINS!

Anarky wrote:THIS THREAD IS NO LONGER ABOUT SPECIAL OR DIGITAL DISTRUBUTION! ITS ABOUT TRAINS!

CHOO CHOOOOOOO!

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....

SCKRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE *CRASH*

Trains put out too much smoke. They should make them solar-powered.

And people wonder why we got rid of Ruminations :-)

Zeus wrote:And people wonder why we got rid of Ruminations :-)

Shut up! You're off topic! We're talking about trains!

Heh. OK, fine

SineSwiper wrote:Trains put out too much smoke. They should make them solar-powered.

Why bother? Ain't those new magnetic trains "enviro" enough?

http://www.howstuffworks.com/maglev-train.htm

Zeus wrote:
Why bother? Ain't those new magnetic trains "enviro" enough?

Well, now that this topic is on the environment, I'll speak my peace finally....

One week in November, NBC went on an eco-binge. Newsstands look like vegetable bins there's so much green on the covers. Music magazines(!?!). Knitting magazines. Paris Hilton/Britney Spears–obsessed magazines. They've all produced special environmental or global-warming issues.

"Kumbaya" is what the world sung as we all huddled around Nobel Prize, Emmy and Oscar winning environment savior Al Gore as he spoke about his "period of consequences" in An Inconvenient Truth. We all went and bought more expensive CFLs only to learn that they areMercury time bombs. There have been faddish infatuations with the environment before. Skepticism is in order. Most of these businesses will soon return to their core concerns, the almighty DOLLAR and not the green-loving pseudo-environmentalists they appear to be.

Mully wrote:One week in November, NBC went on an eco-binge. Newsstands look like vegetable bins there's so much green on the covers. Music magazines(!?!). Knitting magazines. Paris Hilton/Britney Spears–obsessed magazines. They've all produced special environmental or global-warming issues.

"Kumbaya" is what the world sung as we all huddled around Nobel Prize, Emmy and Oscar winning environment savior Al Gore as he spoke about his "period of consequences" in An Inconvenient Truth. We all went and bought more expensive CFLs only to learn that they areMercury time bombs. There have been faddish infatuations with the environment before. Skepticism is in order. Most of these businesses will soon return to their core concerns, the almighty DOLLAR and not the green-loving pseudo-environmentalists they appear to be.

Ummm...what?

You all remember how to make new threads, right? I don't even know what this one is about anymore. You can PM me if you forgot and I'll either tell you how or I can make it for you if that makes you feel better.

This thread is "Special". Therefore, it's still on-topic.

I just watched this movie and I heard a train whistle in it. Am I on topic?

SPOILIES AHOY

I enjoyed the movie because it was about a lonely and depressed guy who, even when he thought his situation improved, remained lonely and depressed. I got emotionally attached when he was really fucked up on those meds and confronted the doctor in the parking lot and he was told that there was the possibility of a huge monetary settlement, but he instead chose his "powers" that were making him feel happy and important. I really liked it.

bovine wrote:You all remember how to make new threads, right? I don't even know what this one is about anymore. You can PM me if you forgot and I'll either tell you how or I can make it for you if that makes you feel better.

Then join me in lobbying to go back to the superior board so threads can split off and we can still easily be able to follow multiple threads within a post at once

go back? I think that was before my time.

SineSwiper wrote:Ummm...what?

bovine wrote:You all remember how to make new threads, right? I don't even know what this one is about anymore. You can PM me if you forgot and I'll either tell you how or I can make it for you if that makes you feel better.

Lol. I saw that we were vehemently off topic, so I thought I would add to that.














Get back on topic.

bovine wrote:go back? I think that was before my time.

Kinda like all these kids with today's music, I feel for you since you'll never know better :-)