TL;DR - Sony was hacked by a group that claims to be operating on behalf of/out of North Korea because of their involvement with The Interview (a film where Seth Rogan and James Franco are tasked to go into North Korea and assassinate Kim Jong-un), a bunch of insider Sony info and personal information of Sony employees is leaked, same group threatens that there will be violence if the movie goes to theaters, theaters pull the movie, Sony cancels theatrical release, Twitter explodes, terrorists win
@JonT It wasn't that I don't know what's going on -- it's that I just can't understand the point of that movie. Why would Sony back it in the first place? Korea's leader (Kim Jong-Un) announced there would be retribution if it was released back when it was first announced. Then again, I did really enjoy Team America
@capguncowboy 'A strong opponent of racism, in 1937 Chaplin decided to make a film on the dangers of fascism. As Chaplin pointed out in his autobiography, attempts were made to stop the film being made: "Half-way through making The Great Dictator I began receiving alarming messages from United Artists. They had been advised by the Hays Office that I would run into censorship trouble. Also the English office was very concerned about an anti-Hitler picture and doubted whether it could be shown in Britain. But I was determined to go ahead, for Hitler must be laughed at."'
Is it too far of a stretch to compare Chaplin to Rogan? Maybe, but I think the point is still valid.
@JonT I'm a little torn over this. On one side, I'm highly disappointed that Sony caved. On the other side, it was just an incredibly stupid fucking idea for a movie in the first place. (And personally, I kinda hate James Franco.)
@JonT I hate that Sony caved (and I did read somewhere another theory that this could have been an ex-Sony IT employee, one of many who was let go earlier this year). But it's not a movie I'd have seen anyway. Don't much care for Seth Rogan films, not my type of humor. Only saw about ten minutes of Neighbors before it was out of the player and back in the Netflix envelope. Breaking News Forget the ex-employee theory. http://www.10news.com/news/u-s-world/us-probe-links-north-korea-to-sony-hacking
@Ignorant Yip. I'm not only a goat, I'm an old goat. I guess we do stream a little bit (four Rokus, one in each room). But I like getting the disks since we can see movies sooner than they're available for streaming.
@Foxborn I had that issue here as well, except it was Charter. Then the local utilities company started offering fiber-optic and TV services. They offer "100mb Down/20mb Up", but I do just fine with my 30/5 connection. If I ever feel the need to upgrade, I know the option is there.
@capguncowboy I admit to being on their slowest speed, but I checked my number when I had higher speeds and it wasn't' any different in fact some days it seemed worse. I'm hoping for Verizon Fios, though a competitor in general would be good.
@lisaviolet I know, it's funny that your download is so high but your upload is reasonably low in comparison. Fios tends to balance up and down pretty well.
@Cinoclav As a fellow FiOS user, they're doing it to stick it to Comcast and have another bullet point for why they are better. (I actually listen to the radio ads from both companies, and they're definitely trying to one-up each other).
So I just checked mine. Download 17.66, upload 1.92 I guess that is really pitiful… Of course there are 10 people living in this house using it - 9 tv's, 5 computers, 3 ipads, 8 smart phones, netfix and other crap like that… so uverse has probably throttled back this household at this point of the month… I am thankful I am not paying that bill.
@dashcloud I've followed the speed wars too. Funny though, Verizon just started matching up and down speeds for everyone this past summer but I have been on a 35/35 plan for years now. Not really sure how I ended up with that deal. I'm truly grateful to have Fios, particularly living in the Philly area where Comcast is headquartered. They have a monopoly on service within the city but Verizon really jumped on the suburbs. Comcast most definitely sucks.
@lisaviolet My download speed is 24.87 and my upload is 2.29. I just love Mediacom! (NOT!) They charge me $70 a month for this crap, but will speed things up for another $50. Fucking blackmail!
@Teripie AT&T called us a while back trying to get us to change from Cox. Told me their speeds were faster. I declined the offer and out of curiousity, checked their website. Their speeds were not even close. I was really surprised when ours were bumped up earlier this year.
@neuromancer Yeah, it is, because now everyone knows how easy it is to push us around. Shitty movies vanish in a week. Also, North Korea makes war like Seth Rogen makes movies.
@editorkid I wasn't aware of that. Sorry about that, but really, it's irrelevant. Sony pulled the picture, not because of the threats, but because 5 major theater chains announced they wouldn't be showing it at their venues. Sony pulled the plug because it isn't going to make money for them if no one shows it. They're a corporation. Making a political stand isn't really their priority.
@capguncowboy Of course, Sony urged theaters to cancel it. Yeah, it did. Couched in the "if you don't want to show it you can cancel" language, but yeah, it did, no two ways about it. That's the reason it isn't ever being released anywhere ever: Out of theaters, out of all options, Sony collects insurance on it. And over 80% of domestic movies do not make a profit, so there's that. To me, politics isn't a part of this. Any demented little nerd could hire a basement full of nerdier nerds to do what they did to Sony or any company if they don't like something.
@neuromancer They shouldn't have made the shitty movie in the first place. But now that it is made, they need to stand behind it. They can't back down to threats or they'll find themselves contantly pushed back.
@Cinoclav Now they can't do that either, Paramount, which owns THAT movie, revoked the permission and forced the theatres to cancel the showings. Living in fear, we are.
this movie will eventually come out, even if it's direct to DVD. and all that this whole thing has accomplished is that more people will see it now, than would have without all this "publicity"
@earlyre That's what I'm thinking. The cynic in me thinks it all might be some weird publicity stunt because they knew the movie was really bad and now they don't have to release it. I know that's beyond plausible, but who knows?
@pitamuffin it would be the worst publicity stunt of all time considering they spent $70 million on the movie + marketing and had their social security numbers leaked to the public as well as emails that are damaging to Sony exec's reps in Hollywood.
I don't really care about much about the movie but the total cave sucks. Once the theater chains started caving, Sony should've released it to the networks to air for free all over america instead. Could've been a much better statement.
That movie should have failed because it was a bad film. It sure as hell should be in theaters, not collecting dust and giving a win to cyber bullies with empty threats and a hard on for bad politics.
@Thumperchick Once again you say what I was going to. Thanks! Personally, I can't understand why Seth Rogen isn't stocking shelves at the 7-11. He'll never even be Ed Wood-level good.
@pitamuffin Oh, thanks. I never saw that. The first I remember of him was that "Green Hornet" movie and it was just inexplicable why that even existed.
I didn't read the links above, so maybe this is in there, but I had heard that the ~$40 million they spent on The Interview is easier for the studios to write off than the potentially hundreds of millions of lost revenue from reduced ticket sales if they put it in theaters and then had people afraid to go out and see all the big ticket movies being released around the holidays. I wonder if average people in North Korea are even aware of any of this going on? How desperate can their leaders be if a Seth Rogen comedy is seen as a threat to their grasp on power?
@belowi The FBI has stated that they are pretty sure the group behind the Sony hack and the threats actually is not part of the North Korean government or affiliated. So there may be another motive, or not. It's all insanity and stupidity.
@Thumperchick No, the FBI has stated that they're pretty sure the attacks were sanctioned by N. Korean leaders. Maybe they should have just recruited Dennis Rodman to kill the pompous little asshole.
@Cinoclav "First of all, Sony and the FBI have announced that they’ve found no evidence so far to tie North Korea to the attack. 2 New reports, however, indicate that intelligence officials who are not permitted to speak on the record have concluded that the North Koreans are behind the hack. But they have provided no evidence to support this and without knowing even what agency the officials belong to, it’s difficult to know what to make of the claim. And we should point out that intelligence agencies and government officials have jumped to hasty conclusions or misled the public in the past because it was politically expedient." http://www.wired.com/2014/12/evidence-of-north-korea-hack-is-thin/
@Thumperchick "Earlier Wednesday, a federal law enforcement official offered the news about North Korea. The official, who is not authorized to comment publicly, said a formal announcement of attribution by the U.S. government could come as soon as Thursday. U.S. investigators believe the attacks originated outside North Korea, but they have determined that the actions were sanctioned by North Korean leaders, a second U.S. official said Wednesday. The U.S. government is not prepared to issue formal charges against North Korea or its leadership, but the official, who is not authorized to comment publicly, said a lesser statement of attribution is expected.. U.S. investigators had moved quickly toward a determination in recent days, indicating this week that attribution was imminent. Addressing the matter last week, FBI Director James Comey said the attack was very "complicated'' and the government wanted to be sure "before we make an attribution that we have high confidence in it.''" http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/12/17/north-korea-sony-hack/20558135/ Wired kinda sucks anyway. At this point the FBI is obviously not going to outright claim that North Korea is responsible. They're not quite ready to start a war. Not to mention, the North Koreans have been speaking up about this for quite some time now. I'd say it's blatantly obvious they're behind it.
@Cinoclav The link in the attribution from wired trails back to Reuters. I'll stick with waiting it out and seeing if they find any evidence, and if they do, what they'll do about it.
I have mixed feelings about Rogen, but not enough to hate him (just many of his movies); he's at least done a few things that I like and he doesn't seem to take himself too seriously. I kinda like Franco, especially since he made Howl I also kinda liked This Is the End.
I was looking forward at least to seeing how The Interview fared with critics and viewers and would have probably watched it, even in the theater and even without the other-than-implicit controversy.
IMO, it's exactly the kind of movie that should be made. One of the functions of art (and even mediocre entertainment) is to challenge authority and throw the reality of political theater into sharp relief. Kim Jong-un is a joke, and the fact that he remains the leader of a nation state is a sad commentary on the condition of the species. From the trailers, the movie also takes some shots well-deserved at media, the intelligence community and, well, folks like Rogen and Franco. How could I not love that?
@ilovereality Yeah, and those guys (that whole class) I hate. Motherfuckers. And, yea, already hated them. Every time I see one of those anti-piracy PSAs in front of a video it makes me want to steal from them. Yeah, taking a little of the money that y'all steal from artists is a crime that we should really lose sleep over. I don't, btw--pirate videos--but I'm disappointed in me for that failure.
@joelmw "you wouldn't steal a car!" I would absolutely steal a car if I could make an exact replica of it without altering or ruining the original. I have downloaded movies and music illegally in the past. I think it's safe to say that at some point, everyone has. However, I've never enjoyed a pirated movie that I didn't purchase later.
@ilovereality That speech really blew me away. The second whammy I got from Newsroom was the interview where they "broke" the story about climate change. Will asks, “Just so we know what we’re talking about, if you were a doctor and we were the patient, what’s your prognosis?” How long before humans disappear from Planet Earth? “1,000 years? 2,000 years?” “A person has already been born who will die due to the catastrophic failure of the planet,” says the chief scientist of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A transcript of the whole scene is here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randy-malamud/its-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it_b_6276620.html
I just posted this on my FB page and I've loved it since it first came out. It's almost always applicable. I get chills and start to tear up every time. Maybe I am a patriot after all, idunno.
"And we didn't, [sigh], we didn't scare so easily."
No, not everything in this rant is 100% true. I don't think it's meant to be. That's not the point. It's true enough. The indictment--the assessment of our current "greatness"--is for goddamned sure true. And it works.
We started watching the series last night. It's pretty good.
@joelmw that scene, and that scene alone, is the reason I committed to watching that show. It's a shame they're wrapping it up this year. It should be watched by anyone with a voter registration card.
@capguncowboy I empathize, but I'd prefer they be required to listen to NPR and watch PBS, because I'm an NEA-loving loser like that. :-) Newsroom would be a good start though.
@joelmw It is Sorkin-y, and I'm not sure I love that about it, but I'm not sure I hate it. It feels a little too staged, melodramatic, polemical, optimistic and blunt sometimes--but for all of that, I still like it. It's not my favorite television but it's close. I mean, I've only seen the first episode; though I've probably watched this clip a couple of dozen times.
@joelmw, @JonT - I don't get why people think Sorkin-y is a bad thing. I loved West Wing and I love Newsroom. Witty and topical. Don't have HBO, though, so I'll have to wait for season three. (Or complain about service to Comcast and get it comped for a couple of months).
@SunnyBeach@KDemo@JonT We've watched three episodes so far. And I think it's getting better--or, as with Komedy Kornhole, my standards are being lowered. We watched one episode of West Wing with my kid. Having already seen all of the currently-available House of Cards (the American, Spacey version), it just seemed like an After School Special to me. My wife concurred. Newsroom seems better. It's got some great soundbites, which is almost ironic if you think about it. It's actually kinda rah rah too, which is even more ironic. Yeah, it's a little too perky and simplistic. But the sinister bit with Jane Fonda as sold out exec upped the darkness quotient. We'll see.
@joelmw - West Wing was forward and unique for its time. Season two of Newsroom is quite different from the first. Don't think I'm spoiling anything to talk about one story line; one of the ACN staffers is embedded on the Romney campaign press bus. Hilarity ensues (or not).
@SunnyBeach One of the smartest guys (maybe the smartest guy) I know is always telling me that we live in the golden age of TV, that there's literally too much good television out there. I tend to agree. And there's enough that I feel like I can be picky and shouldn't waste my time on lesser stuff. If enough folks that I respect are telling me it's worth it, I'll allow a few episodes, but usually you can tell right off the bat. Plus, gods help us, we invested in several episodes of Supernatural. I wish I could get those minutes back--and we were pretty sure right off the bat that it was unworthy. I think of House of Cards, Mad Men, The Wire, Orange is the New Black, Game of Thrones, Californication, even Lost (which ultimately broke my heart, but was still maybe worth the ride). Those shows gripped me immediately. And I don't need an immediate climax; indeed, I want the promise of future development; I want substance and unfulfilled promises. Plus, words and character: you can see that shit in one episode. Maybe a show took a while to develop--and again, I'll listen--but bad writers aren't all of a sudden going to start making good TV in episode two.
@joelmw I binged watched the first few seasons of GoT (because I was too cheap to pay for a service that didn't offer HD VoD) so I had some catching up to do. Last season, I was watching one of the episodes and Brian (hubby) was watching with me (and he never seemed too interested in it) and at the end of the show when they faded to the credits, he yells out "NOOOOOO!" Some that you've mentioned I have saved in Netflix. I can sit and watch show after show, but if he gets interested I can't do that. We watch on his schedule.
@joelmw It is better to have loved Lost and lost than to never have loved Lost at all. Personally I loved the finale, but I know quite a lot of people who did not.
@moondrake I might have to begrudgingly agree. I still wish I could unsee those last two or three episodes. I do almost want to go back and re-watch it, even knowing that heartbreak to come.
Available online now (if you missed the announcement today) - via ... "YouTube Movies, Google Play, Xbox Videos, and a dedicated website SeeTheInterview.com."
Watched it tonight with the family, it's become sort of a tradition to watch a new comedy on Christmas night.
I actually loved it, got a lot of solid laughs out of me. For being as long as it is it zooms by and for as ridiculous of a premise it is, it never felt too absurd.
Might be my favorite Rogen/Goldberg movie so far, highly recommended.
I watched it a couple of nights ago and really liked it. It reminded me of the wartime Three Stooges and the Marx Bros.' "Duck Soup" -- less slapstick than the Stooges and less smart than the Marxes but with plenty to like anyway. I agree with @JonT that it had a great pace and ran with the idea without getting just dumb. And I thought Randall Park actually could have played Un a little creepier and a little less self-aware. But I'm looking forward to watching it again. Thanks, Netflix!
In case people haven't really been following this and might not know what's going on (cough @capguncowboy I saw that post before you deleted it ;)) here is a way too long but very in-depth analysis of what happened, you can skip to the end to read about Sony actually pulling the movie from theaters: https://www.riskbasedsecurity.com/2014/12/a-breakdown-and-analysis-of-the-december-2014-sony-hack/
TL;DR - Sony was hacked by a group that claims to be operating on behalf of/out of North Korea because of their involvement with The Interview (a film where Seth Rogan and James Franco are tasked to go into North Korea and assassinate Kim Jong-un), a bunch of insider Sony info and personal information of Sony employees is leaked, same group threatens that there will be violence if the movie goes to theaters, theaters pull the movie, Sony cancels theatrical release, Twitter explodes, terrorists win
@JonT It wasn't that I don't know what's going on -- it's that I just can't understand the point of that movie. Why would Sony back it in the first place? Korea's leader (Kim Jong-Un) announced there would be retribution if it was released back when it was first announced. Then again, I did really enjoy Team America
@capguncowboy 'A strong opponent of racism, in 1937 Chaplin decided to make a film on the dangers of fascism. As Chaplin pointed out in his autobiography, attempts were made to stop the film being made: "Half-way through making The Great Dictator I began receiving alarming messages from United Artists. They had been advised by the Hays Office that I would run into censorship trouble. Also the English office was very concerned about an anti-Hitler picture and doubted whether it could be shown in Britain. But I was determined to go ahead, for Hitler must be laughed at."'
Is it too far of a stretch to compare Chaplin to Rogan? Maybe, but I think the point is still valid.
@JonT I'm a little torn over this. On one side, I'm highly disappointed that Sony caved. On the other side, it was just an incredibly stupid fucking idea for a movie in the first place. (And personally, I kinda hate James Franco.)
@JonT I hate that Sony caved (and I did read somewhere another theory that this could have been an ex-Sony IT employee, one of many who was let go earlier this year). But it's not a movie I'd have seen anyway. Don't much care for Seth Rogan films, not my type of humor. Only saw about ten minutes of Neighbors before it was out of the player and back in the Netflix envelope. Breaking News Forget the ex-employee theory. http://www.10news.com/news/u-s-world/us-probe-links-north-korea-to-sony-hacking
@lisaviolet Netflix envelope?
@Ignorant Goats aren't much for streaming.
@Ignorant Yip. I'm not only a goat, I'm an old goat. I guess we do stream a little bit (four Rokus, one in each room). But I like getting the disks since we can see movies sooner than they're available for streaming.
@lisaviolet Look at you! Posting up your e-dick for everyone to see! If mine were that impressive, I'd do the same!
@capguncowboy e-dick?
@lisaviolet I may now hate you :P Ping 24ms Upload 0.91mb/s Download 3.53 Mbs
@Foxborn DSL?
@capguncowboy Comcast and it's basically a monopoly out here the only other option I have is dial up
@Foxborn I had that issue here as well, except it was Charter. Then the local utilities company started offering fiber-optic and TV services. They offer "100mb Down/20mb Up", but I do just fine with my 30/5 connection. If I ever feel the need to upgrade, I know the option is there.
@capguncowboy I admit to being on their slowest speed, but I checked my number when I had higher speeds and it wasn't' any different in fact some days it seemed worse. I'm hoping for Verizon Fios, though a competitor in general would be good.
@Foxborn Those speeds would kill me. I'm pretty happy with my Fios.
@Cinoclav Look at your upload speed!
@lisaviolet I know, it's funny that your download is so high but your upload is reasonably low in comparison. Fios tends to balance up and down pretty well.
@Cinoclav As a fellow FiOS user, they're doing it to stick it to Comcast and have another bullet point for why they are better. (I actually listen to the radio ads from both companies, and they're definitely trying to one-up each other).
So I just checked mine. Download 17.66, upload 1.92 I guess that is really pitiful… Of course there are 10 people living in this house using it - 9 tv's, 5 computers, 3 ipads, 8 smart phones, netfix and other crap like that… so uverse has probably throttled back this household at this point of the month… I am thankful I am not paying that bill.
@Foxborn I'm in the same Comcast monopoly and tier. Waiting for any kind of competition so I can jump. I still even consider satellite now and then.
@mehjohnson, @Foxborn - Same here. I just checked - score is F+. Hate Comcast.
@KDemo My Comcast isn't too bad.
@lisaviolet How many times are you going to rub your connection speed in our faces, goat?
PITY ME!!!
@dashcloud I've followed the speed wars too. Funny though, Verizon just started matching up and down speeds for everyone this past summer but I have been on a 35/35 plan for years now. Not really sure how I ended up with that deal. I'm truly grateful to have Fios, particularly living in the Philly area where Comcast is headquartered. They have a monopoly on service within the city but Verizon really jumped on the suburbs. Comcast most definitely sucks.
@iluvmingos and how much do you pay them. the 100+ package
@SSteve Just once today. Now if I did the speed on my tablet, it would be a LOT lower than this. This connection is wired to the router, not wifi.
@iluvmingos That is good.
Don't you just hate it when your upload is higher than your download ;)
www.speedtest.net/result/3994826546.png
@Ignorant That's what mine looks like if I take the test on my tablet. But if I use the app, it goes way down.
@lisaviolet My download speed is 24.87 and my upload is 2.29. I just love Mediacom! (NOT!) They charge me $70 a month for this crap, but will speed things up for another $50. Fucking blackmail!
@Teripie AT&T called us a while back trying to get us to change from Cox. Told me their speeds were faster. I declined the offer and out of curiousity, checked their website. Their speeds were not even close. I was really surprised when ours were bumped up earlier this year.
@JonT Can we have a TL;DR for your TL;DR?
All I know is, somebody is taking a comedy movie WAY too seriously. And yeah, we just let the terrorists win.
"letting the terrorists win" is the biggest bullshit propeganda. is a shitty movie worth starting a war over?
@neuromancer Yeah, it is, because now everyone knows how easy it is to push us around. Shitty movies vanish in a week. Also, North Korea makes war like Seth Rogen makes movies.
@editorkid by "us", do you mean Sony, a Japanese owned company?
@capguncowboy Sigh. Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American company.
@editorkid All I want to know is... Do they make good AAA batteries?
@editorkid I wasn't aware of that. Sorry about that, but really, it's irrelevant. Sony pulled the picture, not because of the threats, but because 5 major theater chains announced they wouldn't be showing it at their venues. Sony pulled the plug because it isn't going to make money for them if no one shows it. They're a corporation. Making a political stand isn't really their priority.
@capguncowboy Of course, Sony urged theaters to cancel it. Yeah, it did. Couched in the "if you don't want to show it you can cancel" language, but yeah, it did, no two ways about it. That's the reason it isn't ever being released anywhere ever: Out of theaters, out of all options, Sony collects insurance on it. And over 80% of domestic movies do not make a profit, so there's that. To me, politics isn't a part of this. Any demented little nerd could hire a basement full of nerdier nerds to do what they did to Sony or any company if they don't like something.
@capguncowboy I don't agree with everything this says, but I think it has some good details and a worthwhile view of the bigger picture: http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/sony-totally-caved-on-the-interview-and-now-were-all-s-1672652231
And then it turns out there's this: http://gizmodo.com/movie-theaters-cant-even-show-team-america-now-because-1672828807
@neuromancer They shouldn't have made the shitty movie in the first place. But now that it is made, they need to stand behind it. They can't back down to threats or they'll find themselves contantly pushed back.
@Cinoclav Love that scene, even if it did go on for WAY too long
@Cinoclav I saw at least one theatre announced they're going to show Team America in place of this movie. Pretty funny.
@DJP519 That's great. I'd go see it again in the theater.
@Cinoclav Now they can't do that either, Paramount, which owns THAT movie, revoked the permission and forced the theatres to cancel the showings. Living in fear, we are.
From Mrs. Betty Bowers:
@lisaviolet that was my first computer!
this movie will eventually come out, even if it's direct to DVD. and all that this whole thing has accomplished is that more people will see it now, than would have without all this "publicity"
@earlyre That's what I'm thinking. The cynic in me thinks it all might be some weird publicity stunt because they knew the movie was really bad and now they don't have to release it. I know that's beyond plausible, but who knows?
@pitamuffin it would be the worst publicity stunt of all time considering they spent $70 million on the movie + marketing and had their social security numbers leaked to the public as well as emails that are damaging to Sony exec's reps in Hollywood.
I don't really care about much about the movie but the total cave sucks.
Once the theater chains started caving, Sony should've released it to the networks to air for free all over america instead. Could've been a much better statement.
That movie should have failed because it was a bad film. It sure as hell should be in theaters, not collecting dust and giving a win to cyber bullies with empty threats and a hard on for bad politics.
@Thumperchick Once again you say what I was going to. Thanks! Personally, I can't understand why Seth Rogen isn't stocking shelves at the 7-11. He'll never even be Ed Wood-level good.
@editorkid They were at their best in Freaks and Geeks. Wish they had kept making episodes of that, rather than going into film.
@pitamuffin Oh, thanks. I never saw that. The first I remember of him was that "Green Hornet" movie and it was just inexplicable why that even existed.
@pitamuffin Agreed, great show. Franco was bearable in F&G. It was in Spider-Man that I decided I truly hated him as an actor.
I didn't read the links above, so maybe this is in there, but I had heard that the ~$40 million they spent on The Interview is easier for the studios to write off than the potentially hundreds of millions of lost revenue from reduced ticket sales if they put it in theaters and then had people afraid to go out and see all the big ticket movies being released around the holidays. I wonder if average people in North Korea are even aware of any of this going on? How desperate can their leaders be if a Seth Rogen comedy is seen as a threat to their grasp on power?
@belowi The FBI has stated that they are pretty sure the group behind the Sony hack and the threats actually is not part of the North Korean government or affiliated. So there may be another motive, or not. It's all insanity and stupidity.
@Thumperchick That's for sure!
@Thumperchick No, the FBI has stated that they're pretty sure the attacks were sanctioned by N. Korean leaders. Maybe they should have just recruited Dennis Rodman to kill the pompous little asshole.
@Cinoclav "First of all, Sony and the FBI have announced that they’ve found no evidence so far to tie North Korea to the attack. 2 New reports, however, indicate that intelligence officials who are not permitted to speak on the record have concluded that the North Koreans are behind the hack. But they have provided no evidence to support this and without knowing even what agency the officials belong to, it’s difficult to know what to make of the claim. And we should point out that intelligence agencies and government officials have jumped to hasty conclusions or misled the public in the past because it was politically expedient." http://www.wired.com/2014/12/evidence-of-north-korea-hack-is-thin/
@Thumperchick "Earlier Wednesday, a federal law enforcement official offered the news about North Korea. The official, who is not authorized to comment publicly, said a formal announcement of attribution by the U.S. government could come as soon as Thursday. U.S. investigators believe the attacks originated outside North Korea, but they have determined that the actions were sanctioned by North Korean leaders, a second U.S. official said Wednesday. The U.S. government is not prepared to issue formal charges against North Korea or its leadership, but the official, who is not authorized to comment publicly, said a lesser statement of attribution is expected.. U.S. investigators had moved quickly toward a determination in recent days, indicating this week that attribution was imminent. Addressing the matter last week, FBI Director James Comey said the attack was very "complicated'' and the government wanted to be sure "before we make an attribution that we have high confidence in it.''" http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/12/17/north-korea-sony-hack/20558135/ Wired kinda sucks anyway. At this point the FBI is obviously not going to outright claim that North Korea is responsible. They're not quite ready to start a war. Not to mention, the North Koreans have been speaking up about this for quite some time now. I'd say it's blatantly obvious they're behind it.
@Cinoclav The link in the attribution from wired trails back to Reuters. I'll stick with waiting it out and seeing if they find any evidence, and if they do, what they'll do about it.
I am proud to be a Korean.
@EthanP I like korean tacos. Does that count?
@EthanP there are many things for Korean's to be proud of Bibimbap for example
@Foxborn And Kimchi Jjigae as well. Yum!
I have mixed feelings about Rogen, but not enough to hate him (just many of his movies); he's at least done a few things that I like and he doesn't seem to take himself too seriously. I kinda like Franco, especially since he made Howl
I also kinda liked This Is the End.
I was looking forward at least to seeing how The Interview fared with critics and viewers and would have probably watched it, even in the theater and even without the other-than-implicit controversy.
IMO, it's exactly the kind of movie that should be made. One of the functions of art (and even mediocre entertainment) is to challenge authority and throw the reality of political theater into sharp relief. Kim Jong-un is a joke, and the fact that he remains the leader of a nation state is a sad commentary on the condition of the species. From the trailers, the movie also takes some shots well-deserved at media, the intelligence community and, well, folks like Rogen and Franco. How could I not love that?
Yes, it's sad that Sony caved.
@joelmw Holy shit. Someone who finally gets it.
@joelmw You nailed it exactly. This is spot on 100% correct.
On @ilovereality's original angle, I'd love to see meh offering media.
@joelmw They do...haven;t you been watching the videos? ;)
@chellemonkey I want to give them my money, damnit, even if it's only pennies at a time. But good point.
‘The Interview’ Replaced at Dallas Theater by ‘Team America: World Police’ http://www.thewrap.com/team-america-world-police-the-interview-alamo-drafthouse-sony-hack/ Free screening even. Take that! lol
@ilovereality Those guys are awesome--I mean, I thought so before this, but this confirms it.
@ilovereality But WAIT - now Paramount nixed that idea.... gizmodo.com/movie-theaters-cant-even-show-team-america-now-because-1672828807
@ilovereality Yeah, and those guys (that whole class) I hate. Motherfuckers. And, yea, already hated them. Every time I see one of those anti-piracy PSAs in front of a video it makes me want to steal from them. Yeah, taking a little of the money that y'all steal from artists is a crime that we should really lose sleep over. I don't, btw--pirate videos--but I'm disappointed in me for that failure.
@joelmw "you wouldn't steal a car!" I would absolutely steal a car if I could make an exact replica of it without altering or ruining the original. I have downloaded movies and music illegally in the past. I think it's safe to say that at some point, everyone has. However, I've never enjoyed a pirated movie that I didn't purchase later.
@joelmw Two points: 1) Innocent until caught and 2) The sentence "They hacked my router?!" is your friend.
@capguncowboy @editorkid I love this place. :-)
@ilovereality That speech really blew me away. The second whammy I got from Newsroom was the interview where they "broke" the story about climate change. Will asks, “Just so we know what we’re talking about, if you were a doctor and we were the patient, what’s your prognosis?” How long before humans disappear from Planet Earth? “1,000 years? 2,000 years?” “A person has already been born who will die due to the catastrophic failure of the planet,” says the chief scientist of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A transcript of the whole scene is here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randy-malamud/its-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it_b_6276620.html
@joelmw oops, I replied to the wrong comment.
So not only are the executives at Sony completely inept, they are also, to quote Cartman, a bunch of goddamn pussies.
I just posted this on my FB page and I've loved it since it first came out. It's almost always applicable. I get chills and start to tear up every time. Maybe I am a patriot after all, idunno.
"And we didn't, [sigh], we didn't scare so easily."
No, not everything in this rant is 100% true. I don't think it's meant to be. That's not the point. It's true enough. The indictment--the assessment of our current "greatness"--is for goddamned sure true. And it works.
We started watching the series last night. It's pretty good.
@joelmw that scene, and that scene alone, is the reason I committed to watching that show. It's a shame they're wrapping it up this year. It should be watched by anyone with a voter registration card.
@joelmw There's a lot of hate for The Newsroom for being too Sorkin-y lately, but I completely love this scene and definitely want to start watching.
@capguncowboy I empathize, but I'd prefer they be required to listen to NPR and watch PBS, because I'm an NEA-loving loser like that. :-) Newsroom would be a good start though.
@joelmw It is Sorkin-y, and I'm not sure I love that about it, but I'm not sure I hate it. It feels a little too staged, melodramatic, polemical, optimistic and blunt sometimes--but for all of that, I still like it. It's not my favorite television but it's close. I mean, I've only seen the first episode; though I've probably watched this clip a couple of dozen times.
@joelmw You must really love a show to watch a second episode!
@joelmw, @JonT - I don't get why people think Sorkin-y is a bad thing. I loved West Wing and I love Newsroom. Witty and topical. Don't have HBO, though, so I'll have to wait for season three. (Or complain about service to Comcast and get it comped for a couple of months).
@SunnyBeach @KDemo @JonT We've watched three episodes so far. And I think it's getting better--or, as with Komedy Kornhole, my standards are being lowered. We watched one episode of West Wing with my kid. Having already seen all of the currently-available House of Cards (the American, Spacey version), it just seemed like an After School Special to me. My wife concurred. Newsroom seems better. It's got some great soundbites, which is almost ironic if you think about it. It's actually kinda rah rah too, which is even more ironic. Yeah, it's a little too perky and simplistic. But the sinister bit with Jane Fonda as sold out exec upped the darkness quotient. We'll see.
@joelmw - West Wing was forward and unique for its time. Season two of Newsroom is quite different from the first. Don't think I'm spoiling anything to talk about one story line; one of the ACN staffers is embedded on the Romney campaign press bus. Hilarity ensues (or not).
@KDemo I do suspect that I'm judging West Wing a little too harshly. I can't watch most classic movies either. Sigh.
@SunnyBeach One of the smartest guys (maybe the smartest guy) I know is always telling me that we live in the golden age of TV, that there's literally too much good television out there. I tend to agree. And there's enough that I feel like I can be picky and shouldn't waste my time on lesser stuff. If enough folks that I respect are telling me it's worth it, I'll allow a few episodes, but usually you can tell right off the bat. Plus, gods help us, we invested in several episodes of Supernatural. I wish I could get those minutes back--and we were pretty sure right off the bat that it was unworthy. I think of House of Cards, Mad Men, The Wire, Orange is the New Black, Game of Thrones, Californication, even Lost (which ultimately broke my heart, but was still maybe worth the ride). Those shows gripped me immediately. And I don't need an immediate climax; indeed, I want the promise of future development; I want substance and unfulfilled promises. Plus, words and character: you can see that shit in one episode. Maybe a show took a while to develop--and again, I'll listen--but bad writers aren't all of a sudden going to start making good TV in episode two.
@joelmw I binged watched the first few seasons of GoT (because I was too cheap to pay for a service that didn't offer HD VoD) so I had some catching up to do. Last season, I was watching one of the episodes and Brian (hubby) was watching with me (and he never seemed too interested in it) and at the end of the show when they faded to the credits, he yells out "NOOOOOO!" Some that you've mentioned I have saved in Netflix. I can sit and watch show after show, but if he gets interested I can't do that. We watch on his schedule.
@joelmw It is better to have loved Lost and lost than to never have loved Lost at all. Personally I loved the finale, but I know quite a lot of people who did not.
@moondrake I might have to begrudgingly agree. I still wish I could unsee those last two or three episodes. I do almost want to go back and re-watch it, even knowing that heartbreak to come.
Available online now (if you missed the announcement today) - via ... "YouTube Movies, Google Play, Xbox Videos, and a dedicated website SeeTheInterview.com."
I lost interest when they chickened out. Maybe it if was free but I definitely wouldn't pay money to watch it now.
Purchased and watched. It wasn't too bad at all. Better than "This is the end."
@ilovereality I though the exact opposite. It was okay but no where as good as "This is the End"
Watched it tonight with the family, it's become sort of a tradition to watch a new comedy on Christmas night.
I actually loved it, got a lot of solid laughs out of me. For being as long as it is it zooms by and for as ridiculous of a premise it is, it never felt too absurd.
Might be my favorite Rogen/Goldberg movie so far, highly recommended.
I watched it a couple of nights ago and really liked it. It reminded me of the wartime Three Stooges and the Marx Bros.' "Duck Soup" -- less slapstick than the Stooges and less smart than the Marxes but with plenty to like anyway. I agree with @JonT that it had a great pace and ran with the idea without getting just dumb. And I thought Randall Park actually could have played Un a little creepier and a little less self-aware. But I'm looking forward to watching it again. Thanks, Netflix!
Orange County Department of Education is pretty basic. [URL=http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4094773592]