Dr. Tom

It's designed to discourage gimmick posters without completely disallowing them. If someone has a gimmick banned, they're given a one-time warning. The next gimmick they make to get banned also gets them the axe. It's just like giving a warning for anything else the staff normally warns people for.

Definitely a good hire by the Orioles. Mazzilli is a solid baseball man, and he was the only candidate who had any fire in his voice when speaking to the press after being interviewed.

Here's a sneak preview of my review, which will be appearing on 411 sometime soon. It's spoiler-free, and please forgive the HTML tags if IB doesn't convert them. ------- <b><u>THE MATRIX: REVOLUTIONS</b></u> <I>Starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Hugo Weaving Written and Directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski Rated R; 129 minutes</I> The concluding chapter of a genre-defining trilogy, <b>The Matrix: Revolutions</b> is a symbolism-heavy film that ties up the loose ends of its predecessor while still falling short of the film that started the series. Neo (Keanu Reeves), the messiah for the trench-coat-and-shades crowd, opens the film as something of a messiah in trouble. The comatose state he is in back in the real world has left him in some vaguely-explained place between that world and the Matrix. It’s a semi-world where an Indian family talks about words and the feelings connected to them, and not much else. The only way to get back is to take a train, driven by the rather pointless Trainman (Bruce Spence), who, of course, is under the control of the Merovingian (Lambert Wilson). After some more banter about causality and consequence, which has run its source since the last film, Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) are able to get Neo back. Meanwhile, the machines are continuing their relentless dig toward Zion. Defenses are in place, but many people, including Commander Locke (Harry Lennix), believe the situation to be hopeless. While all of this is happening, Captains Roland (David Roberts) and Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith) devise a plan to elude the machines and get back into Zion. Their plan is complicated when Neo says he must take a ship and go to the machines’ home city. The machines breach the walls and assault Zion, met by a hopelessly outmanned defense force. Neo and Trinity crash-land in the machines’ home city, where Neo confronts a godhead and must re-enter the Matrix to deal with the renegade program Smith (Hugo Weaving), whom Neo has learned a lot more about. Both battles have the fate of a world riding on their outcomes, and both hinge on a choice it takes Neo quite a while to understand. The ending, while good and appropriate on one level, also raises a whole new batch of questions and introduces a bunch more loose ends, essentially wasting the work of the movie in tying up the loose ends the first two films left us. I liked <b>The Matrix: Revolutions</b>, but it might be my least favorite film of the three. It takes a while to get going, with an opening 20-minute sequence of scenes that serves no real point in the larger scheme of the movie. The Oracle’s different appearance (veteran character actor Mary Alice replaced the late Gloria Foster) is dismissed with a cryptic half-explanation; either answer the question or ignore it. The Merovingian, full of panache in <b>Reloaded</b>, comes off as little more than an inconvenience who happens to spew trite philosophy. The rest of the secondary characters spend much of the movie being more important than the main three, with Morpheus getting devalued even more than he was in <b>Reloaded</b>. That’s not to say that <b>The Matrix: Revolutions</b> isn’t a good movie, because it is. It’s visually stunning from beginning to end, and many of the shots in the machines’ assault on Zion have to be seen to be believed. The Wachowskis realized their vision in spectacular CGI that, unlike the recent efforts of George Lucas, does not dominate the movie, but simply accentuates its story. The symbolism is heavy throughout, too. The flying fight sequences between Smith and Neo are very reminiscent of <b>Superman II</b>. There are entire scenes that felt like they were right out of the first <b>Star Wars</b>, with the imperiled flight into the machines’ home city serving as an updated Death Star run. The heaviest symbolism is the inescapable New Testament feel I got watching the movie. I’m far from a religious person and this is not a religious film (thankfully, it’s quite secular), but a lot of the themes you’ll see on the screen make <b>The Matrix: Revoltutions</b> an apocalyptic, teched-out retelling of the New Testament, complete with a crucifix pose for its messiah at the end – until that point, Neo's Jesus Christ Pose had been a kung fu stance. It doesn’t detract from the film, though; if anything, the Biblical nature of the themes gives the movie more weight as the denouement to an epic saga. The 411: <b>The Matrix: Revolutions</b> is a good movie, but it has definite flaws and it’s clearly in love with its own excesses. While it ties up the loose ends we’ve seen to date, the ending creates quite a few more, not exactly what I expected from something that’s supposed to conclude the trilogy. The Wachowskis also violate the “show, don’t tell” maxim of storytelling on several occasions. Basically, the original <b>Matrix</b> was the brothers saying, “We have a cool movie; let’s see if we can make a lot of money.” Both sequels have been the opposite: “We have a lot of money; now let’s see if we can make a cool movie!” <b>The Matrix: Revolutions</b> is cool, to be sure, but it falls several steps shy of the movie that started the franchise. <b>6.5/10</b> Dr. Tom Fowler

I believe you're a fuckhead of the first division.

Current Events is indeed the place to debate important issues and events. That's why I don't go ban-happy on the "flaming" that might happen in there, and it's also why I've been trying to keep the fluff out.

It's the girl in my avatar. Least I could do after she shook her goods like that.

I've found it irritating at times, too. A thread will be going along, and it will then devolve into the same few people saying "OMG UGS IS TEH R0X0R~!" over and over. I really do hope you have fun with the UGS thing and that the community takes off, but we really don't need to hear about it every ten seconds. I used to think Rant pimped his stuff a little too hard (still do, actually), but he's a church mouse compared to those of you who have been trumpeting UGS since it reopened.

I joined toward the end of the Rantsylvania Forum, then made the move to the Smarks EZBoard. I was "DrTom" in both places, and the only reason I chose to spell the name like that is older board standards, where you couldn't have a space or period in your name. I signed up for this new forum the morning it opened, and became a notorious power abuser a few months after that.

Dave, that reminds me a lot of a good friend of mine. He used to be a hardcore drinker and pothead, with the occasional forays into coke. He was the type who would start partying on Friday night and not stop until just before dawn Monday morning. It never got him arrested, but one morning, he awoke coughing up blood. And he quit everything. Cold turkey. On the spot. No more booze, no more drugs. He started going to AA meetings, settled down with one girl instead of playing the field, and basically just got his life together. This is a guy who used to put whiskey on his corn flakes in the morning, and he walked away from all his vices cold turkey, and never looked back. I wish I had that kind of willpower. I'm not ashamed to admit that I don't.

I remember someone being banned for wishing death, rape, and torture on Avril Lavigne a while back. Use that as your guide.

Pay up, bitch.

Ron Shandler says a closer has to have three things: talent, opportunity, and guile, which he abbreviates as TOG. There are plenty of guys who have the first two, but never the third, and some who have the first and last but never got the second. If Dotel has the guile, we'll see it next year, because he certainly has the talent and he's getting the opportunity.

OMG THEY'RE THE SAME PERSON~!!11!!!1!!!

Let's put forth with no delay then, shall we?

Hellmuth rocks. He gets a little bitchy when he loses to inferior hands, but then again, who likes losing in those situations? Hellmuth makes fun of himself (and his reputation) on his website, and his book about poker playing is recommended for anyone looking to improve their game.

I think I'm going to wear a bag over my head after the week I had.

Oh brother. ::sets the ten-foot pole down:: Nope, not even with that.

And you can have all those people you want, at your own forum. I'm all for people who make things interesting, but remember that the old Chinese axiom "May you live in interesting times" was a curse. CJ was banned for a page and a half of vendetta flaming. Calling a girl ugly is one thing, and is indeed a matter of opinion. Spending a page and a half to put two people down at every opportunity is beyond the pale. He'd been warned about it before, so his second strike was the last one. BTW, I liked CJ, still do, and have since our days in the so-called WRESTLING MENSA~! at the old Smarks EZBoard. But I had to do what I had to do. Yes, I think flaming is an overrated offense, but like anything else, it's only good in moderation. Once you start gorging yourself on it, it's no more good. BTW, please refrain from mentioning my dick and Dames' ass (or any other part of his body, for that matter) in the same sentence again.

Examples? Or a testament to the fact that people aren't banned simply because they're unpopular. I think it's safe to say not many people like Johnson overmuch. Hell, I don't particularly care for him, though I think he's a bit better than when he first arrived. The point is that people aren't going to be banned just because the staff doesn't like them. There are plenty of people here I don't like, but I'm not going to ban them until they do something to deserve it. That's not the case at all. Back when I was just a forum moderator, I was the mod of Current Events and Sports. Because of that, after I became a global mod, people still saw CE as "my" forum, despite the fact that anyone else with a blue flashing title could do the same things in there I could. I've long felt "flaming" to be an overrated offense, and I didn't do anything when people came to me and said" OMG WAAAAAH soandso just called me an idiot!" except tell them to ignore it and move on. To make a long story short, someone took a complaint to someone who wasn't a moderator but was on the website staff, and he decided to call me out on it. The rather bitter thread which followed resulted in the current disclaimer on the CE forum because I refused to chastise people for "flaming" inside it. Our CE forum is mild compared to a lot of similar-themed boards I've posted on, and it's because of the nature of the topics and discussion. If the rules were "changed" to accommodate anyone, they were changed to accommodate me. Well, it WOULD be a lot of work. There's also nothing in the board rules that says you can't be a cretin, as long as you don't make a habit of writing like one. If people don't like what goes on in the WWE folder, they shouldn't go in there. Personally, I'd prefer to get rid of the fucking thing (and whack the wrestling content from the website, too), but a lot of people come here just for that, so it would be unfair. You can delegate authority, but never responsibility. Dames has delegated authority to the moderating staff. The responsibility for keeping this forum running smoothly is ultimately his. I'm happy to step up and take my share of it, and write posts like this which try to answer questions and grievances raised, but ultimate responsibility here is not mine. Personally, I think our staff does a good job of handling problems, but I also think that many of the board's problems are self-policing and take care of themselves quickly enough.

We did them at one point, but stopped a while back as a matter of internal policy. It eliminates way too many dialup users, and if you do a wildcard ban on a broadband IP, you're potentially elminitating quite a few broadband users, also. Basically, it's not worth salting the ground to get rid of a few pesky weeds.

The football column is BACK~! and my picks can be found in there. No locks, since I am teh suq when I try to lock up a game.

Well, people that work in Allegheny County have to pay a tax for the privilege of working there, so PSL's make perfect sense to me. Heck, why don't we have a tax for the privilege of breathing air while we're at it?... We do. It's called "emissions testing."

Philistine. I guess playing poker makes it more watchable, but I watch the WSOP whenever it's on. It's fascinating to see the strategy involved in playing the hands, the bluffs, the acting jobs, etc. Very entertaining television, and I wish I had the Travel Channel so I could watch more of it.

Dave, will you still be alive in 2021? Would your nursing home allow you to have a party?

Plunderin: Thanks for your offer, but we're going to have to live with what we have. We're loath to add cookies or anything else to someone's PC, first because it's us putting something on someone's PC, and second because browser settings and spyware programs would render it pointless anyway. InvisionBoard's banning system isn't the best in terms of letting repeat offenders back on, but until they improve it, we're going to do the best we can with what we have.