Interesting Links for 15-07-2014

[andrewducker]

• Man misdiagnosed as delusional for 20 years sues
  (tags: viaConuly mentalhealth law USA )
• Executive pay is 180 times the average - up from 60x in the 90s
  (tags: pay money UK )
• Slytherin 101: How to Win Friends and Influence People
  (tags: people manipulation psychology )
• Restaurant CEOs Make More Money in Half a Day Than Their Employees Make in a

Comments

[erindubitably]

I too am obsessed with Transformers reviews, especially those that try to winkle meaning and significance out of its success.

Some of my favourites:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/27/movies/transformers-age-of-extinction-is-fourth-in-the-series.html
http://badassdigest.com/2014/07/01/film-crit-hulk-smash-hulk-vs.-michael-bay/
http://katsudon.net/?p=3341

One note on the SH review, however - I think Cade Yeager is supposed to hark to the awesome test pilot Chuck Yeager rather than Pacific Rim... however I could be giving Michael Bay too much credit!

[andrewducker]

Yeah, I loved Film-Crit Hulk's take.

I find Michael Bay fascinating. I loved The Rock. And I enjoyed Armageddon's silliness. But after that it felt like all of the joy and any interest in stringing even a basic plot through things vanished.

And yet, if people kept paying me millions of pounds to make movies where complex things moved in slow motion against backgrounds of other complex things exploding, I suspect I'd be very tempted to take the money too.

(I haven't seen The Island, I heard that had redeeming features.)

[erindubitably]

I've heard the Island tried to be an actual movie (haven't seen it) and that Pain & Gain was genuinely funny (again haven't seen it) so I think he does have it in him, but as you say, if no one is requiring any coherent plot for the millions of dollars they're throwing at him, why bother?

[gonzo21]

I quite rate The Island. The first half is splendid. The second half... gets a bit too Bay-esque, with pointless car chases and explosions. But on the whole I thought it was a good sci-fi movie with some interesting ideas.

Plus, Ewan McGregor.

[abigail_n]

That article about male stars is very interesting. On the one hand, I can't help but be cynical about how an issue that's affected female stars for decades is suddenly a big deal when it affects men (and the comment at the end of the piece, about how it's the actor's soul that matters? When was the last time anyone said that about actresses?). Plus, I can't help but feel that one some level, men still have it better, because at least the body image they're asked to project is one of strength (which is at least somewhat realistic when they're playing a superhero or an action hero). Women are expected to mold themselves into helplessness, even when their character is supposed to be a fearsome fighter - I would love to see female stars encouraged to be even half as built as male ones

[atreic]

I don't get what the 'horse' post is supposed to be a spoof of.

[andrewducker]

Writers who don't understand the topic they're writing about, I assume (James-nicoll frequently posts about SF writers who don't understand the technology they're throwing around).

Or alternatively the interview with GRRM where he talks about the mistake he made that means a horse swapped gender between books 1 and 2?

Julie also mentioned to me that George clearly isn't a rider - the way he discusses riding didn't feel accurate to her, and she described a couple of bits where he'd got the process or terminology wrong.

[cybik]

I'm reading ASOIAF at the moment and I'm enjoying it, but it does slightly read like GRRM went to one too many Ren Faires..