Crashing Companies

[Magere Hein 1,400]

Motorcycle fans may be interested to know that George White Motors has gone down http://www.motorcycl...administration/

 

Real shame this one, not least because now every time we go to watch the bikes I won't be able to say to the other half 'that's my grandad's name, that is'. Which it is.

 

Unusual surname, Motors.

 

regards,

Hein

[Phantom 2,533]

Spanair has gone bankrupt leaving 20,000 stranded across Europe.

[Windsor 2,233]

Bebo appears to have been taken offline...permanently.

 

I'll remember the good times....like when I was frequently called an anti-Scottish, Queen shaggin', turncoat bastard by the cybernats.

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

It won't kill them but Disney have blown $US 200 million as their version of John Carter/Princess of Mars turns out to be a mega-flop:

 

http://www.abc.net.a...n=entertainment

 

UPDATE: On course to be the biggest flop of all time, in fact.

[the_engineer 1,415]

It won't kill them but Disney have blown $US 200 million as their version of John Carter/Princess of Mars turns out to be a mega-flop:

 

http://www.abc.net.a...n=entertainment

 

UPDATE: On course to be the biggest flop of all time, in fact.

 

Might kill off some of its subsidiary companies though , has happened before with cutthroat island sending carolco pictures into bankrupcy .

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

It won't kill them but Disney have blown $US 200 million as their version of John Carter/Princess of Mars turns out to be a mega-flop:

 

http://www.abc.net.a...n=entertainment

 

UPDATE: On course to be the biggest flop of all time, in fact.

 

Might kill off some of its subsidiary companies though , has happened before with cutthroat island sending carolco pictures into bankrupcy .

 

I have to confess I went and saw it.... Being an arthouse guy, it was my first Hollywood film experience in about two or three years ('twas also my first 3D film).

 

To be honest, it isn't too bad. There is a lot of overacting (the guy playing a naive young Edgar Rice Burroughs is just sitting around with a gaping mouth the whole time) and some pacing problems and plot holes but not much worse than any other piece of Hollywood tripe.

 

Of course, there is all the usual "shoot first, ask questions later" gung-ho attitude typical of the American psyche and, even more offensively, some war-glorification bullsh*t but, again, not worse than any other Hollywood junk. Overall, it was better than say, Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones or that awful, awful Trek reboot, IMHO. (It lacked the childish humour of the Star Wars prequels and the crassness of Abrams' take on Trek.) Dialogue was only slightly better than that in a Star Wars film, though. The romance between Carter and the Princess was lame but not as gratingly bad as that between Anakin and Padme. The cinematography was far, far better than in either Abrams' Star Trek or Star Wars, with the gladiatorial arena scene being vastly superior to Lucas' piss-poor attempt at one in Attack of the Clones.

 

The film's real saving grace is that it built a believable Martian world, so it really did feel like you were on an alien planet (even if they dumbed even that down by making it more beige tan than red). Also, Tars Tarkus is eactly how Jar Jar Binks should have been depicted.

 

3D was okay but just a gimmick to me. It neither distracted me from, nor enhanced, my viewing experience as far as I was concerned.

 

The actress playing the princess was quite pretty (despite the usual silicon tits and collagen) but, again, not likely to win any Academy Awards for Best Actress any time soon. There were the usual concessions to feminists by making her an assertive, capable she-warrior type which all feels very cliched to me these days. Yawn. She was supposedly some kind of scientific genius, too and head of the planet's research academy, no less. Unfortunately none of the bare breasts that abound in Burrough's original novel were on display. Damn you, Disney!

 

The bloke playing Carter was passable but that was all. The character was marred by cliches (he is motivated by having lost his wife and family tragically). More interestingly, he had been a supporter of the South in the US Civil War, so I guess that is slightly subversive. Also, I can't find any references online but a few Jewish types in Aus are upset that the mastermind villainous cabal could be interpreted as an anti-semitic stereotype (evil parasite race that blend in with the host population and secretly pull the strings to manipulate governments, start wars and found a new world order).

 

So overall, a very middle-of-the-road Hollywood film with very expensive effects. Not really worth making a huge effort to see but not a "worst film of all time" contender either.

 

Probably won't bother seeing another Hollywood production for another few years at a minimum. Can't afford to lose too many more brain cells.

[the_engineer 1,415]

It won't kill them but Disney have blown $US 200 million as their version of John Carter/Princess of Mars turns out to be a mega-flop:

 

http://www.abc.net.a...n=entertainment

 

UPDATE: On course to be the biggest flop of all time, in fact.

 

Might kill off some of its subsidiary companies though , has happened before with cutthroat island sending carolco pictures into bankrupcy .

 

I have to confess I went and saw it.... Being an arthouse guy, it was my first Hollywood film experience in about two or three years ('twas also my first 3D film).

 

To be honest, it isn't too bad. There is a lot of overacting (the guy playing a naive young Edgar Rice Burroughs is just sitting around with a gaping mouth the whole time) and some pacing problems and plot holes but not much worse than any other piece of Hollywood tripe.

 

Of course, there is all the usual "shoot first, ask questions later" gung-ho attitude typical of the American psyche and, even more offensively, some war-glorification bullsh*t but, again, not worse than any other Hollywood junk. Overall, it was better than say, Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones or that awful, awful Trek reboot, IMHO. (It lacked the childish humour of the Star Wars prequels and the crassness of Abrams' take on Trek.) Dialogue was only slightly better than that in a Star Wars film, though. The romance between Carter and the Princess was lame but not as gratingly bad as that between Anakin and Padme. The cinematography was far, far better than in either Abrams' Star Trek or Star Wars, with the gladiatorial arena scene being vastly superior to Lucas' piss-poor attempt at one in Attack of the Clones.

 

The film's real saving grace is that it built a believable Martian world, so it really did feel like you were on an alien planet (even if they dumbed even that down by making it more beige tan than red). Also, Tars Tarkus is eactly how Jar Jar Binks should have been depicted.

 

3D was okay but just a gimmick to me. It neither distracted me from, nor enhanced, my viewing experience as far as I was concerned.

 

The actress playing the princess was quite pretty (despite the usual silicon tits and collagen) but, again, not likely to win any Academy Awards for Best Actress any time soon. There were the usual concessions to feminists by making her an assertive, capable she-warrior type which all feels very cliched to me these days. Yawn. She was supposedly some kind of scientific genius, too and head of the planet's research academy, no less. Unfortunately none of the bare breasts that abound in Burrough's original novel were on display. Damn you, Disney!

 

The bloke playing Carter was passable but that was all. The character was marred by cliches (he is motivated by having lost his wife and family tragically). More interestingly, he had been a supporter of the South in the US Civil War, so I guess that is slightly subversive. Also, I can't find any references online but a few Jewish types in Aus are upset that the mastermind villainous cabal could be interpreted as an anti-semitic stereotype (evil parasite race that blend in with the host population and secretly pull the strings to manipulate governments, start wars and found a new world order).

 

So overall, a very middle-of-the-road Hollywood film with very expensive effects. Not really worth making a huge effort to see but not a "worst film of all time" contender either.

 

Probably won't bother seeing another Hollywood production for another few years at a minimum. Can't afford to lose too many more brain cells.

 

 

Apprently they spend over 100 million on the promotion of the movie and the first i heard about it was a couple of websites saying it was one of the biggest loss making movies ever. No adverts ,or billboards nothing . Then again i don't watch TV or read newspapers but even so spending 100 million dollars you want to make sure you reach everyone .

 

Im not a fan of 3D though , I watch my first 3D movie my bloody valentine 3D and i had headache ,sniffness and tension in the face and head and The movie was much good either.

 

I have seen over 500 movies and more probably and only one movie has ever had a baddie as a jew and that was lucky number slevin so i don't know why jews are complaining about it . white ,blacks , christians ,Halibuts, chinese etc are regular bad guys in most hollywood movies so i don't see why jews cant be too.

 

After going to imdb myself and from what you have told me I'm interested in checking it out sometime

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

There were some big billboards for it here in Brisbane. Apparently they also did a television adverisement in the US Superbowl.

 

This "Vulture" website is dissecting how it all went so badly wrong:

 

http://www.vulture.com/2012/03/john-carter-doomed-by-first-trailer.html

 

http://www.vulture.com/2012/03/john-carter-isnt-the-worst-film-ever-made.html

[themaninblack 2,112]

I think its time the "blockbuster" era was brought to an end. More low-key thrills in cinema based on things known as stories, with elements such as characters and plot...

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

Fully agree, Man in Black. I was reading an interesting article a while ago where they were saying, in old Hollywood, "A Films" received the funding and big budgets while "B Films" were the low-budget ones. Jaws and Star Wars reversed this. Suddenly, it was found that poorly-scripted and acted B Stories would reap in massive amounts of money if they received enormous initial budgets for special effects. Now the A Films limp by, relying mainly on high profile actors and appealing to older niche audiences while every piece of schlock receives the massive budget and huge marketing campaigns aimed at adolescents.

 

Another similar article was lamenting the proliferation of simple, hackneyed "quest" stories in the wake of Star Wars (none of which has fully recaptured the magic of Lucas' debut anyway). Of course, most quest stories have extremely simplistic, formulaic plots (only Lord of the Rings really rises above the pack), so whereas Hollywood of the early to mid-1970s was having a mini-golden age putting out the likes of the Godfather* and Chinatown and proving to be massive successes, there has been nothing really with that calibre of complex script proving to be a success since those days. Instead, we just have the simplistic effects-fests. John Carter is a case in point. As I noted above, it is not a particularly bad example of the genre but it contains no depth or complexity whatsoever (in its defence, neither did Burroughs' original pulp novel). Maybe Ridley Scott will provide a decent SF film with his upcoming Alien prequel "Prometheus" but I was never even that enthralled by the Alien series so I am not holding my breath.

 

Personally, as I stated above, I just stick to European arthouse fare these days and I am much more satisfied for it.

 

 

* Disclaimer: I have never actually watched the Godfather.

 

//end rant

[time 8,614]

Game Over?

[the_engineer 1,415]

Game Over?

 

I'm surprised I thought computer games all ways sold well certainly better than cd's and DVD's , I guess internet shopping damaged it quite a bit. Though to be fair I'm having to cut back and can't spend 40 pounds a week on games like i used too.

[Spade_Cooley 9,533]

Mainstreamers get their games from Tesco. "Gamers" get their games online. Both places cost a lot less than Game did. Still, where will we go to buy a copy of EA Rugby 2005 on the PS2 for £1.20 now?

[Red Flag 84]

I always thought it was rather stupid of them to have Game and Gamestations shops in very close proximity. That's surely double the number of stores they actually needed. No wonder so many stores have closed - it's probably still left them covering virtually the same number of towns as before

[Phantom 2,533]

Best Buy to close 50 stores after reporting loses of $1.7 billion

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

It won't kill them but Disney have blown $US 200 million as their version of John Carter/Princess of Mars turns out to be a mega-flop:

 

http://www.abc.net.a...n=entertainment

 

UPDATE: On course to be the biggest flop of all time, in fact.

 

Might kill off some of its subsidiary companies though , has happened before with cutthroat island sending carolco pictures into bankrupcy .

 

As it turns out it has now become a big hit overseas. It is only the Yanks who don't like it.

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

"Twelve Popular Companies that Could Go Bankrupt Very Soon"

[time 8,614]

Aquascutum - administrator closes Corby factory.

[Paul Bearer 6,102]

‎'Clinton Cards Enter Administration'.Thinking of you at this difficult time.

[the_engineer 1,415]

Portsmouth FC could be liquidated within a month if they don't move on their 8 remaining players .

 

 

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/pompey/pompey-past/birch-pompey-will-be-liquidated-unless-players-leave-soon-1-4080967?plckOnPage=6

[the_engineer 1,415]

It looks like pompey are to be liquidated afterall ,even after removing the 8 players from the wage bill.

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/portsmouth-liquidation-in-sight-as-balram-chainrai-1261849

 

I hope they start again with a phoenix club and keep it in the hands of the fans instead of the owners that have destroyed it recently .

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

The Murdochs are starting to turn on each other.....

 

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-24/elisabeth-murdoch-takes-swipe-at-brother-james/4219376

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

... not to mention crashing countries:

 

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/rep-ron-paul-am...are-bankruptcy/

 

 

Somehow I don't think our beloved Chancellor Gideon Osborne will use the US as an example of how not to run an economy like he does with Greece.

 

"We don't want to end up like America, do we?"

 

"Yes we do, George, we all do..."

We should probably give the USA its own thread as per the one for Belgium, to chronicle the death of their empire, but the moderators will probably get a hard time from all the drive-by ranters/"patriots."

I think, indeed, that we better keep this discussion below their radar.

 

When G.W. Bush was president I got myself in a bit of a row with an otherwise nice geezer from California, when I proposed that the USA is a Third World nation. A Third World nation with nukes alright, but so are Pakistan and India.

 

regards,

Hein

 

Indeed. http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/21-facts-about-americas-failing-infrastructure-that-will-blow-your-mind

[charon 4,943]

Maths O Sundqvist ,61, has died in a quad bike 'accident'............

 

Was the tycoon whose investments crashed the Carnegie Investment Bank......

 

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=sv&u=http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/maths-o-sundqvist-hittad-dod/&prev=/search%3Fq%3DMaths%2BO.%2BSundqvist,%2B61%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3D8w8%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26channel%3Drcs%26prmd%3Dimvns&sa=X&ei=ORpfUInpOoyRhQfjoIHICw&ved=0CCQQ7gEwAA

[themaninblack 2,112]

Comet...