[a dense loner]

Saw new harry potter last wk, went outside for 20 mins in middle of film, n haven't spoke about it since then

[Drewski Rootbitch]

Are you ready to open up yet? What happened in those 20 minutes outside?

Stallion, UKBraping Drew.

[a dense loner]

when i was a baby i was savaged by a turbot
made a phone call and had a shit. thought about donuts but foolishly went back in to finish the farce

[tomtom]

Saw new harry potter last wk, went outside for 20 mins in middle of film, n haven't spoke about it since then

So it was better than the last one then? 

[Davey_C]

Saw new harry potter last wk, went outside for 20 mins in middle of film, n haven't spoke about it since then

I know I don't know you, but sorry.....you should get an automatic ban for even mentioning that you've been to see Harry Potter. I don't think 20 minutes of absenteeism during the middle of the film excuses you either!

[tomtom]

Saw new harry potter last wk, went outside for 20 mins to crack one off in the middle of the film, n haven't spoke about it since then

[Drewski Rootbitch]

Saw new harry potter last wk, went outside for 20 seconds to crack one off in the middle of the film, n haven't spoke about it since then

Stallion. Still UKBraping.

[Will Hunt]

Going against the grain I thought that the last couple of installments of HP have been worth a watch. The acting is awful but the special effects and the visualisation of the HP "world" is fantastic.

The latest installment is undoubtedly a letdown. There's a good chase scene at the start but that's about it. Because they've split it into two parts it suffers from having no "mission accomplished" moment and so a large part of the film is the characters wandering around seemingly aimlessly. There are, however, some lovely shots of Malham Cove and some grotty looking limestone crag on a very wooded hillside above a big river. Any ideas where that is?

On the plus side Daniel Radcliffe has now put himself on equal footing with Orlando Bloom for his portrayal of "The Wooden Block".

[Jaspersharpe]

As (presumably) Will was a kid when the first Potter book came out he has an excuse for reading them / watching the films. Likewise parents reading the books to their kids / having to take them to the films.

Nobody else does. 

Thinking of watching Inception this evening but I'm worried it's going to be ruined by my Mrs asking me what's going on every five minutes / getting bored and not paying attention but then wanting to know what's going on ten minutes later etc etc.

Is it as difficult to follow as some reviewers are making out? 

[Falling Down]

No

[tomtom]

No

Me and MrsTT found it no problems.. You may need to keep a mental note of what the dream within a dream count is.. But that aside the bits where you go eh? Wafuck? Are bits where you're supposed to do that..

Do it.

[Jaspersharpe]

Cool. Cheers fellas. 

[Falling Down]

 

No

Have you seen "Syriana", Ben? If so, how does Inception rank vs that on the plot impenetrability scale?

Yes I've seen Syriana. A really good film. Again not difficult to follow if you listen and watch it 

[Davey_C]

Is it as difficult to follow as some reviewers are making out? 

As other people have said......NO!

It continually explains itself throughout the film.......just in case you don't get it.

And if you haven't quite got it....don't worry, it'll explain itself again within the next five minutes!

Don't get me wrong, it's a decent film, but it tries to be more complicated than it is!

[BB]

There are, however, some lovely shots of Malham Cove and some grotty looking limestone crag on a very wooded hillside above a big river. Any ideas where that is?

I have not seen the film but a Wye Valley crag seems like a reasonable guess as - having read all seven books  to son #1  - I recall much of the HP&TDH action takes place in the Forest of Dean.

I'm pretty sure it's Wintour's leap.

[Falling Down]

No

Have you seen "Syriana", Ben? If so, how does Inception rank vs that on the plot impenetrability scale?

Yes I've seen Syriana. A really good film. Again not difficult to follow if you listen and watch it 

Don't know why the Off Topic man appeared... must have jabbed the screen on my phone accidentally

[andy popp]

There are, however, some lovely shots of Malham Cove and some grotty looking limestone crag on a very wooded hillside above a big river. Any ideas where that is?

I have not seen the film but a Wye Valley crag seems like a reasonable guess as - having read all seven books  to son #1  - I recall much of the HP&TDH action takes place in the Forest of Dean.

I'm pretty sure it's Wintour's leap.

I thought it looked like the banned crags at Symonds Yat. Shame Harry and co. didn't check out Huntsham's while they were in the Forest.

[Falling Down]

Is that a challenge or something 

[Yossarian]

What is so difficult to understand about Syriana?  There might be a few things going on, but it's not exactly a Thomas Pynchon novel...

[Yossarian]

No

Have you seen "Syriana", Ben? If so, how does Inception rank vs that on the plot impenetrability scale?

Yes I've seen Syriana. A really good film. Again not difficult to follow if you listen and watch it 

Actually, Ben is right. The first time I saw Syriana I'd been up for 4 days straight on a combination of speed and smack, and spent most of the movie licking out the arsehole of a Parisian hooker (called Virginie, ironically) and playing air guitar. As such, I found myself marginally confused about the relationship between Whiting and the CIA.  However, the second time I watched it I was having a cheap month and without any distractions it didn' take too much brainpower to figure out that, as a member of the Committee to Liberate Iran, Whiting was probably ex CIA or similar, and hence his involvement in the Nasir assassination attempt made more sense.   Everything else is pretty straightforward, hooker notwithstanding...

[Yossarian]

Because Bob no longer has a lot to lose.  Have you read the book on which his character is based?  See No Evil, by Bob Baer? That Bob B was a hardcore case officer who was no stranger to getting his hands dirty.  In the film - with his job and marriage on the rocks I think it's perfectly plausible that such a man could quite convincingly threaten a man like Whiting.

Re Whiting's CIA links - I don't think the links aren't exactly explicit. In fact, on reflection (based on the fact that he's a senior partner in a law firm that bears his name) I think it's far more plausible that he was a lawyer in the State Department than the CIA.  And even if he were in the latter, based on his background it's unlikely that he would've been doing anything operational. He's a clever lawyer, not someone running agents.  He may have been in Beirut, but sitting behind a desk.  As such, I maintain again that an unstable Bob could threaten such a man with a pretty fierce degree of conviction.

[Falling Down]

I conclude that either the screenwriter had got lost himself at this point or there is some deeper layer of meaning in the movie to be uncovered.

If I was a betting man, my money would be on the first explanation.

[Yossarian]

With respect to Whiting's involvement in the Nasir assassination - surely all he needed to do was to make the right noises in those CLI meetings.  In the one that Bob is asked to do his Iran presentation, he is asked "When can we expect a pro-Western, pro-business government in that country?" or words to that effect.  I understand that the US concept of Syriana is of a similarly pro-US Middle East, or countries therein.  As such, Whiting's persuasiveness in the right ears in the CLI should be all that's required in the case of Nasir vs Meshal - he paints Nasir as anti US / pro China, politically an undesirable ally who doesn't want to play ball (but who must be rubbed out in favour of) pro-US puppet Meshal.

Re Bob - I think it's Bob's background as a case officer and lone operator and probable (in the context of the film) ex-CIA status that make him potentially more of a threat to Whiting than if he were a still-serving CIA officer. Whiting's influence (as either ex CIA or other department and member of CLI) would make threats from a serving and legit CIA officer less of a worry.  But I think Bob has proved throughout the film that he's been on the ground in so many undesirable places and with all sorts of people (some of which are now in the private sector) that, if he left some instructions to be acted on in the event of his death with one or other of these people, they may well be taken care of...

[Yossarian]

Back to the first paragraph, having reread it - there are discussion afoot relating to the "liberation" of Iran.  Bearing this in mind, if all that is required to avoid the fictional Emirate turning into its own little proto-Iran (not literally, but in terms of what the US seem to resent about the actual Iran) all they have to do is send Bob to Beirut to kidnap and kill him*. Hardly a big deal in comparison with a potential full-blown invasion.

That's why I think Whiting's influence is limited to his persuasiveness and guile, rather than some mysterious official clout...

*Him being Nasir...

[Falling Down]

I want to watch this again now....