Ilandar
@Ilandar@lemm.ee
- Woodside's North West Shelf, Australia's largest gas project, approved for life extension to 2070www.abc.net.au ↗Submitted 10 hours ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 1 comment
- Comment on 19 hours ago:
What an embarrassing sequence of events.
- Comment on Official Discussion - Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning [SPOILERS] 1 day ago:
I was invited on short notice to watch this at the cinema with family, so in preparation I binge watched films 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 over a couple of days. I knew I’d seen 1 before so I skipped that, and I’d seen 3 as well but wasn’t sure so watched it again. I was quite surprised at how consistently decent films 4 through 7 were, so going into film 8 I thought it would be at a similar level. I was shocked by how bad this film was, I’d say it’s the worst in the series by an absolute mile.
The tone is nothing like a Mission Impossible film, it’s got that generic third film in a Hollywood action trilogy feeling where they spend so much time beating the audience over the head with how big the stakes are, and how only our protagonist can save mankind, that it sucks away all of the spontaneity and fun. I don’t think the classic theme plays a single time during the actual film (only during the opening and closing credits), there is no crazy opening, no car chase, no comedy, no “we’ll figure it out” madness. The big action finale is a rehash of the finale in film 6, while the other one is slow motion underwater suspense that, while technically impressive, feels entirely out of place in this franchise.
The Final Reckoning feels like some self-indulgent love letter from Tom Cruise to himself, with tons of time spent trying to pretend Mission Impossible has a deeper and more complex storyline than it ever did in reality. It is filled with these completely unnecessary connections to older films which are made redundant because this is a very direct sequel to 7, so everything has already been setup, and because none of them actually do anything to enhance the story of film 8. Like why does this random CIA agent side character need to be the son of Ethan Hunt’s original team leader? Why does the ‘Rabbit’s Foot’ from 3 need to suddenly be revealed as The Entity? None of these connections matter or have any time spent developing them.
The writing is horrendous, this film treats you like an complete fucking moron and repeatedly explains the same basic plot points so often that it actually becomes an unintentional joke. There’s a scene towards the end of the film where most of the cast are literally standing around a nuclear bomb that is ticking down while they explain the plot to each other for the billionth time. CIA agent side character man questions why they are doing this - in a previous film this line would have actually been a real joke that the writers planned, but they were so clueless here that we’re supposed to take it seriously instead.
Anyway, I could go on and on but this film is just so unnecessarily bad, I really wonder why they deviated so heavily from their successful formula. Was it an ego decision from Cruise, or was this about the (relatively) poor box office performance of the previous film?
- Comment on Michael Bay Denies "Skibidi Toilet" Movie? 2 days ago:
It’s one of the defining pop culture creations of Gen Alpha, they will definitely pay to see a film adaptation (or get their parents to pay).
- Comment on Shadow ministry decision stalled as Liberals and Nationals negotiate on reunion 6 days ago:
maybe threading the needle on land access issues that satisfy farmers, in that they don’t hand land over to resources companies or lock it up in protected parks?
Yeah that’s along the lines of what I was thinking, but I agree that it doesn’t seem logical. There’s clearly some weird stuff going on; this whole saga on 7.30 last night was bizarre.
- Comment on Shadow ministry decision stalled as Liberals and Nationals negotiate on reunion 6 days ago:
The split makes more sense for the moderate Liberals, getting away from The Nationals does give them the opportunity to free up their policy platform a bit and finally start addressing some of the issues that the conservative faction wants to continue ignoring. Though the split also looks very bad for Ley’s leadership which is probably why she has raced back to the negotating table. It makes very little sense for The Nationals, beyond Littleproud protecting his own leadership by taking a hardline stance on key policy issues to appease his internal critics. Neither the party, nor its voters, gain any power from leaving the Coalition to become a minor party and lose all of extra staff, pay and influence that they otherwise would have had. It’s all well and good to say you’re taking a principled position to advocate for your constituents, but if you massively undercutting your own political power in the process then what is the point? The only thing I can think of is that they’ll be free to negotiate with Labor in the senate at the expense of the Liberals and Greens, but is that actually a real possibility?
- Comment on Shadow ministry decision stalled as Liberals and Nationals negotiate on reunion 6 days ago:
It wasn’t performative, the decision to split was not a universally popular one within either party room and both leaders are under a lot of pressure. I think both have realised that such a snap decision was not a particularly wise one and are now reconsidering before their respective frontbench positions are locked in. It doesn’t necessarily mean they will reunite.
- Comment on Nationals leaving Coalition as David Littleproud announces split with Liberal party after election defeat 1 week ago:
Does that mean the Nats think the Coalition lost because they weren’t implementing enough of their policies?
No, the disagreement is over what happens next. The Liberals under Ley want to conduct a campaign review in which every aspect of the Coalition’s policy platform is scrutinised, with nothing safe or off the table. The Nationals are not happy with this, because they have four key policy areas (nuclear, supermarket divestiture, regional future fund, mobile phone coverage in regional areas) that they believe should be retained for now.
It’s important to remember that the Liberals and the Nationals are actually very different in terms of who they represent. After an election where the Nationals held all their seats while the Liberals got decimated, the Nationals do not believe it is fair to them or the regional communities they represent for their key policy positions to be at risk of being thrown out just because the Liberals are having an identity crisis. Essentially, the Nationals issued an ultimatum based on their increased importance to the Coalition but the Liberals called their bluff.
- Comment on What movies have you watched this week? 1 week ago:
I watched The Central Park Five (2012), a documentary about the Central Park jogger case from 1989. I actually watched it on the PBS History channel on Samsung TV Plus, of all places. I just decided to flick through to see if anything interesting was on and when I saw that was starting I thought it might be a good time to sit down and learn about the case. It was my favourite type of documentary, where there is no narrator or visible journalist so you just get witness testimonies, music and archival footage and it really sucks you into that moment in time.
I also watched a bit of Terminator 2, also on Samsung TV Plus. I’ve seen it before and I wasn’t really in the mood to sit through the entire thing but the first 30 - 40 minutes or so were as fun as I remembered. I don’t know why, but sometimes watching a film “live” on TV, even in lower quality and ad breaks, is more enjoyable to me. I guess it’s because when I was a kid watching films on commercial TV was actually a big thing. It’s hard to describe but I love the feeling of knowing there is someone else out there watching it at the same time as me, maybe getting up at the same time as me to make a cup of tea or get some snacks during an ad break.
- Comment on Nationals leaving Coalition as David Littleproud announces split with Liberal party after election defeat 1 week ago:
I’m not sure if you can simplify it that much. It sounds like it’s more a case of the Liberals being unwilling to cede some policy power to The Nationals despite the election results.
- Comment on Severance’s Skin-Deep Critique of Capitalism 1 week ago:
I feel like the fanbase for that show goes rabid for any of the really obvious “cApItaLisM bAd” dystopian episodes, which are probably my least favourite just because they’re never particularly creative. As you say, they’ll start with an obvious point and never develop it any further. It’s kinda like one of those satirical news sites where the headline is 99% of the joke and the rest of the article is just filler than nobody bothers to read.
(Still a good show overall though, I appreciate that they’ve retained some variety over the years despite the quirky/light hearted episodes typically receiving a worse reception).
- Comment on Severance’s Skin-Deep Critique of Capitalism 1 week ago:
Kinda reminds me of the first episode of the latest season of Black Mirror, which was a rather shallow critique of subscription models that received rave reviews from viewers despite the fact they were watching it on Netflix.
- Comment on Larissa Waters named new leader of the Greens 1 week ago:
Agree with others, a good choice for stability and the public image of the party going forwards. I’m glad she found time alongside her family commitments.
- Comment on Is Australia's Overton Window Shifting? 2 weeks ago:
The vote was only 29 to 25 in favour of Ley, and 2 of her biggest supporters are senators who are about to finish up. It could potentially be as easy as switching a couple of votes to flip the balance of power inside the party room. Not to mention Price didn’t even run for deputy, which suggests she is waiting for a better opportunity after a conservative wins the leadership. It’s just denying reality to pretend that this is evidence of them accepting a shift to the centre, they are still a massively divided party.
- Comment on AMC to Slash Movie Ticket Prices by 50% on Wednesdays 2 weeks ago:
My local independent cinema just has a flat price of $10.
- Comment on [Satire] Sussan Ley electted leadder of Ausstralian Libberal Partty 2 weeks ago:
Ms Ley deliberately added a third “s” to her name when she was approaching her 20s, she revealed in a 2015 interview.
The unusual spelling didn’t draw any influence from the politician’s family or cultural background, but rather, from numerology.
“I read about this numerology theory that if you add the numbers that match the letters in your name you can change your personality,” she told The Australian.
“I worked out that if you added an ‘s’ I would have an incredibly exciting, interesting life and nothing would every be boring. It’s that simple.
“And once I’d added the ‘s’ it was really hard to take it away.”
- Comment on Is Australia's Overton Window Shifting? 2 weeks ago:
As I said previously:
Sussan Ley (whose positioning seems debatable).
You realise this is the same person who denied that the Liberal Party has a problem with women voters, and defended their recent campaign with the genius line of “women drive cars too”? She will be knifed well before the party makes any significant shift back to the centre. You are clutching at straws if you think Sussan Ley as leader is evidence of some progressive shift in Australia.
- Comment on Dumped cabinet minister says Richard Marles a 'factional assassin', and demotion partly due to outspoken views on Gaza 2 weeks ago:
Husic has a meeting with Albanese tomorrow. I imagine it could be quite interesting after the things he said in that Insiders interview.
- Comment on Former Greens leaders urge party to stand up to Labor ‘arrogance’ as jockeying begins to replace Bandt 2 weeks ago:
They aren’t mandated to choose a formal leader (and they didn’t have one prior to Bob Brown stepping up in 2005). My guess is that the choice to have a leader is a reflection of their growth as a party. For better or worse, coverage of Australian politics is often based around how the individual leaders of each party are responding to current events. Having an official leader elected by the party room allows The Greens to put someone forward in direct competition with the major parties. Bandt losing his seat made his position as leader untenable, because no one is going to take an unelected leader (particularly one who has lost their seat) seriously. Furthermore, losing his job also likely means he loses the financial ability to be a full time leader, not to mention he is no longer privy to much of the information that would be necessary for him to effectively lead his colleagues in Canberra.
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 4 comments
- Comment on Gina Rinehart urges Liberal party to stick with Trump-like policies in the wake of election loss 2 weeks ago:
We’re also less religious. Women have a greater chance of becoming president than open atheists.
- Comment on ‘Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum’ Sets December 2027 Release Date; Warner Bros. Also Dates New ‘Evil Dead’ and M. Night Shyamalan Movies for 2026 2 weeks ago:
You’re not interested in a Hollywood remake of a 15+ year old, £3,000, 30 minute YouTube fan film?
- Comment on Old movie recommendations 2 weeks ago:
‘The 300 Spartans’ (1962), ‘Zulu’ (1964) and ‘The Great Escape’ (1963) are a few of my childhood favourites you might enjoy, based on the films you’ve listed there.
- Comment on Greens’ election hubris – how the minor party lost its way and now its leader 2 weeks ago:
I wish there was more high quality commentary related to The Greens’ results, I find their dilemma to be a lot more subtle, and therefore more interesting, than the Coalition’s.
- Former Greens leaders urge party to stand up to Labor ‘arrogance’ as jockeying begins to replace Bandtwww.theguardian.com ↗Submitted 2 weeks ago to australianpolitics@aussie.zone | 3 comments
- Comment on AMC Theatres Quarterly Losses Hit $202.1 Million After Box Office Got Off to Rocky Start 2 weeks ago:
ITT: People more concerned with the price of snacks than the price of tickets. Classic Americans lol
- Comment on Gina Rinehart urges Liberal party to stick with Trump-like policies in the wake of election loss 2 weeks ago:
She also doesn’t understand that Australia is far less conservative than America, and that over a third of estimated eligible Americans don’t vote.
- Comment on Gina Rinehart urges Liberal party to stick with Trump-like policies in the wake of election loss 2 weeks ago:
No, this is bad for The Greens if their ambition is to win lower house seats. It’s Teal independents (AKA moderate Liberals) who will find it easier, The Greens are too far to the left to benefit from an increase in first preferences or preference flow. It’s also not a great thing for the health of the country to have more extremists on the right. How quickly we all forget the hatred and violence the opposition was able to generate during the Voice referendum or on the issue of Gaza.
- Comment on Greens leader Adam Bandt projected to lose in Melbourne, leaving party without its captain - ABC News 2 weeks ago:
That’s correct, you can read about the process here. The AEC takes submissions from the public into account when making these changes, and it’s worth noting that The Greens did appear to support some of the changes that were made (moving parts of Brunswick and Fitzroy from Melbourne to Wills) although their suggestion to move Kensington and Flemington into Melbourne wasn’t acted on. Perhaps The Greens saw the boundary changes as potential to gain another seat, which is why they supported shifting some of their voters out of Melbourne and into Wills. I don’t think anyone went into this election thinking Bandt was under threat, the general vibe was that The Greens would continue to make gains based on the decline of the major parties.
- Comment on Bandt's project to change the Greens failed. Along the way, he helped wreck the appeal of minority government 2 weeks ago:
It seems kinda misleading, if not malicious to the purpose the greens aim to serve in politics
What purpose do you think they serve?