The colleague in [103] is absolutely right on 'no problem.' It's simply unprofessional because it's widely perceived to be; looking for logic in these kind of social norms is a fool's errand. Call it stupid all you like, in a business setting you're very likely to run into someone who feels that way eventually, so why not stick to professional diction? Why try to parse formal/informal? You can't change it.

To be clear, the client I was emailing was a former bond trader, not exactly the type of person to be uptight about informal use of language. Excessive formality or obsequiousness (such as responding to a request using "with pleasure") would be more awkward in that setting. The objection my colleague raised to "no problem" was not that it was informal, but rather that it was a double-negative rather than a positive word. Responding "sure" or "will do" to a request is no more formal, but not objectionable to my colleague.

This is also a guy who once threw out another colleague's red pen in the middle of a meeting because "red is the color of losses". He's just weird.

In a thread this pedantic, NO ONE has yet pointed out that 'disrespect' is not a m#####-f###### verb?

It wasn't once. Now it is. Been added to the dictionary and everything. That's language for ya. Get with the times, or all the kids are going to disrespect you for your old-fartism.

The colleague in [103] is absolutely right on 'no problem.' It's simply unprofessional because it's widely perceived to be; looking for logic in these kind of social norms is a fool's errand. Call it stupid all you like, in a business setting you're very likely to run into someone who feels that way eventually, so why not stick to professional diction? Why try to parse formal/informal? You can't change it.

It's widely perceived to be by old farts and jackasses. They're a dog that is eating itself and their silly social norms will be gone soon. Attempts to change the way younger people talk are tantamount to screaming into the void in hopes of negotiating with death.

Moving away from the old fart issue,

3 Really Cool Things That Are Happening Right Now

1. 10m prize currently offered for the development of the first, Trek-like medical tricorder.

2. Einstein@home, searching for gravity waves through a network of distributed, volunteer computers, reached petaflop speeds this year. That's new for distributed computing and will only increase as the organizing software improves. Distributed computing is now addressing medical and scientific riddles around the globe. Also, because it is distributed, the cost and downtimes are negligible. Get involved!

3. The billionaire space tourist Dennis Tito is aiming to have a married couple orbit Mars and return in 2018.

.


10 Really Good Movies that Haven't Been Seen Enough:

1. About a Boy
2. Dale & Tucker vs. Evil
3. House of Games
4. Waking Life
5. Cash Back
6. The Stunt Man
7. The Upside of Anger
8. The Eagleman Stag (stop-motion short. Never seen anything like it.)
9. It's Such a Beautiful Day (3 animated films by the same creator/director combined in 2012 to make one, coherent film).
10. Autumn

Speaking of movies, I just caught the last part of Saving Private Ryan. I wanted to check out how Spielberg shot the other long battle scene that with D-Day brackets the film--the fight for control over the bridge-- and I noted in around 12 minutes of film at least 125 separate cuts, and a lot of those involve one or two shots of a specific action, meaning the number of different scenes he had to set up and match was ridiculous. I don't think it's often you have to start storyboarding on maps, but he must have done with the end of Ryan.

A damn sight better than the earlier attack on the German machine-gun post. You can't tell WHAT the heck is going in that scene.

Also,

9. It's Such a Beautiful Day (3 animated films by the same creator/director combined in 2012 to make one, coherent film).

Don Hertzfeldt is brilliant.

The objection my colleague raised to "no problem" was not that it was informal, but rather that it was a double-negative rather than a positive word. Responding "sure" or "will do" to a request is no more formal, but not objectionable to my colleague.

This is also a colleague who once threw out another colleague's pen in the middle of a meeting because it was a red pen, and "red is the color of losses". He's just a bizarre guy.

Okay, well, that additional information has me in a bit of an awkward spot. His opinions aren't consistent or well-formed. But the underlying principle that those who are highly trained in being respectful don't use 'no problem' (or 'yep' or 'gotcha' or 'I got your back bro') is still true if not for the reason your colleague thinks it is.

well, it does change over time. "You're welcome" at some point was probably seen as unprofessional.

I'm sure that's true, but my point is there's no rhyme or reason behind it. If one wants to be well-thought of in professional settings, one should undertake to understand and adhere to the current social norms of professionalism, regardless of one's own opinions on the wisdom behind them. Which is why...

It wasn't once. Now it is. Been added to the dictionary and everything. That's language for ya. Get with the times, or all the kids are going to disrespect you for your old-fartism.

Doesn't move my needle much. You can be right about it being a word, you still run the risk of grating on an old fart like me by using it.

Doesn't move my needle much. You can be right about it being a word, you still run the risk of grating on an old fart like me by using it.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

In a thread this pedantic, NO ONE has yet pointed out that 'disrespect' is not a m#####-f###### verb?

Says here it appeared in the 1610s as a verb and 1630s as a noun.

edit: Clueless was a lot of fun. One of those movies that take you by surprise, the way Galaxy Quest did, or Dale & Tucker vs. Evil.

In terms of what I like to call "movies a whole lot funnier than they have any right to be" I was blown away at how good the Ice Cube/Chris Tucker 1995 comedy "Friday" was. I stumbled across that during a late-90s "Bernie Mack Marathon" (don't ask) and thought it a great film on several levels, funny, sure, but also with some sociological poignancy.

This is also a guy who once threw out another colleague's red pen in the middle of a meeting because "red is the color of losses". He's just weird.

No, he's just awesome. I don't know this guy at all, but based on your two anecdotes so far I think I would like him very, very much.

At lunch on Friday, someone had a fit because the waitress brought him a pink pen - he claimed it wasn't "macho" enough for him. Amazed at his feelings, the vehemence of his response, and that a person would use the word "macho" unironically.

I didn't like Waking Life. Do think Friday is underrated (which is not to say unpopular).

Of course disrespect is a verb.

On House of Games, I'm still kind of amazed to think of Mamet and Jon Katz being close friends and having collaborated on the story which that screenplay was based on.

It takes every fiber of restraint in my being to not ask "what kind of moron are you?" when I see a guy wearing a wool knit cap on a 110 degree subway platform in August.

Speaking as a Canadian, the non-fuctional* wearing of a tuque** is bizarre, borderline psychotic behaviour. And don't even get me started on scarves!

*ie. when it is not being used to protect your ears from frost-bite
**Let's use the proper terminology people!

I'm certainly on board with About a Boy and The Upside of Anger, but share Der K's take on Waking Life. Though this may be because I was forced to watch it by a friend who was at the time his pretentious psuedo-philosopher phase. Not that I wasn't in my own pretentious teenage phase...it just didn't have a lot to do with philosophy.

Friday I saw at a friend's birthday party. I think we were likely 13 or 14. We had a double bill of Friday and Mall Rats. I have since seen Mall Rats many, many times (including once 3 times in one day...first vanilla, then with commentary, then dubbed in French)...but I've yet to revisit Friday which I also enjoyed.

in the case of waking life, i was the pretentious guy who brought it to others. i was chastised accordingly.
was also impressed with about a boy.

In addition to About a Boy, High Fidelity and Fever Pitch (settle down, the Colin Firth version I mean) are also movies based on Nick Hornby books I really liked.

An Education should have been right in my wheelhouse, and I did enjoy it, but it was somehow a bit of a let down considering.

I've always thought Starter for 10 could easily have been a Hornby adapted movie, and it has long been a guilty pleasure of mine. Though I think I'd get pleasure out of anything James McAvoy is in. Even that awkwardly phrased sentence!

I should add that on the subject of under-appreciated movies, I'd slap High Fidelity on that list, not so much because it flies under the radar, but because I really do think it is that great.

Says here it appeared in the 1610s as a verb and 1630s as a noun.

Yes, so in 1630 on Renaissance Think Factory, there was some old crank saying "disrespect is not a ####-ing noun!".

Waking Life is an amazing movie. Especially if you were a 21-year-old pothead when it came out, like I was.

(I still enjoy it, even though I don't smoke pot anymore.)

I think these things tend to e self policing in any event. If the variance is enough to disturb unit cohesion (why we have uniforms in the first place), his teammates will take care of it. Reminds me of the Showalter/Griffey dustup.

Waking Life put me to sleep. Literally. In the theatre & everything.

To be fair, I was pretty exhausted beforehand, though.

5. Cash Back

Either I'm going blind, or IMDb doesn't list such a film. That's not the one about the guy(s) who can stop time, is it?

Edit: Ah -- Cashback, one word, though I could've sworn it didn't show up in that form when I tried that the first time, so perhaps I am indeed going blind. At any rate, yes, I liked this one quite a bit.

10. Autumn

The British zombie movie? Presumably not. Though of course I liked it, zombie movie aficionado that I am.

Yes, so in 1630 on Renaissance Think Factory, there was some old crank saying "disrespect is not a ####-ing noun!".

Dunno, did they have the word "####" yet?

The British zombie movie? Presumably not. Though of course I liked it, zombie movie aficionado that I am.

What do you think of Warm Bodies?

Perhaps my fondness for rotoscope colored my memory of Waking Life. I checked out a clip of it at random on youtube since no one else seems to like it here, and I did cringe.

Tried Friday after the rec's, above, and just couldn't enjoy it. The first ten minutes are Ice Cube mugging over a failed cereal breakfast followed by icky, smelly dump jokes, then far too much Chris Tucker, who has exactly two line deliveries. Just not my cup of meat.

Gotta say, every time I see Edward Norton in something, my repsect for his talent grows. He held Stone together, and Primal Fear, which is an ordinary Richard Gere vehicle that even swallows Laura Linney's formidable talents (and buries Frances McDormand under a mop of drab, greasy brown hair), only shines when he's on-screen. He doesn't have DeNiro's presence, or Pacino's hyperkinetic manner, and doesn't have that thing that makes a huge star, but he's one hell of an actor. Is there anyone better these days?

10. Autumn

The British zombie movie? Presumably not. Though of course I liked it, zombie movie aficionado that I am.

Yes indeed. Mind, I wasn't aiming for great films, just thought it would be fun to mention and then in turn learn of those films that fall through the cracks precisely because they're good, not great (which tends to get our attention even if they're badly released), and either don't have stars, or don't get marketed well, or studio politics and finances cause them to skip theaters entirely... I thought Stone, for example, had too much star power to go on the list. Am I wrong in thinking it was reasonably widely seen by people who care about film?

As for Autumn, I thought it was a lovely little, character-driven chamber piece (though the Carradine cameo was jarring. Can Carradine appearing in a film ever be more than a form of stunt casting?), finding invention in the nooks and crannies of a very worn genre, though the fatigued chemistry between the romantic leads cost it a shot at genre greatness. I still think there's a ton of room for straight zombie flicks. Dead Set was a solid horror-thriller. The 28's are exciting and inventive, and I thought their focus on character was what made them so bloody good.

What do you think of Warm Bodies?

Not gef, but I found it pleasant, but uninspired. The leads were charming, but it wasn't otherwise engaging.

I'm still (pleasantly) stunned by the news that we may get to Mars before the end of the decade. Oh, and we cured diabetes in a dog. Through gene therapy. Cured it.

Exciting times.

Speaking of movies, I just caught the last part of Saving Private Ryan. I wanted to check out how Spielberg shot the other long battle scene that with D-Day brackets the film--the fight for control over the bridge-- and I noted in around 12 minutes of film at least 125 separate cuts, and a lot of those involve one or two shots of a specific action, meaning the number of different scenes he had to set up and match was ridiculous. I don't think it's often you have to start storyboarding on maps, but he must have done with the end of Ryan.A damn sight better than the earlier attack on the German machine-gun post. You can't tell WHAT the heck is going in that scene.

Now that you mention it, it's the weakest action in the film. We get very little sense of space, or why the squad had to attack in the costly way they did. Since the squad fragmenting and some of the later plot relies so heavily on the results of the assault on the machine gun nest (and especially the idea that the deaths were unnecessary, leading to Captain Miller revealing his humanness, which in turns leads to his death [at least in Spielbergese it does]), Spielberg's failure to establish a sense of space and where everyone is in space, which then makes it impossible to follow the action or make the action meaningful, is a huge mistake. (I also think the sheer luck that kills the US soldiers is a bad narrative move. It looks like a grenade gets thrown, which the German soldier quickly retreives and throws back, killing the Americans. Dumb luck, but then Miller gets blamed for the decision to attack the nest. Better, narratively, to hang the deaths around his neck directly because of his specific decision, and not the length of a grenade fuse.)

Also,

9. It's Such a Beautiful Day (3 animated films by the same creator/director combined in 2012 to make one, coherent film).
Don Hertzfeldt is brilliant.

You said it. It's not common to find someone who's heard of him--can you rec any other animators/films? I've just gotten back into indy animation after 20 years and I'm amazed at some of what's being done, but I don't really know what/who to look for.

worst. thread. ever.

Why do I suspect that the guy who wrote this would still object to the very positive phrase "it's all good"?

Bill Bailey has a good bit about going to Australia and hearing 'too easy' as a response in this context. Naturally, he tries to up the difficulty.

worst. thread. ever.

Thanks for contributing.

Gotta say, every time I see Edward Norton in something, my repsect for his talent grows. He held Stone together, and Primal Fear, which is an ordinary Richard Gere vehicle that even swallows Laura Linney's formidable talents (and buries Frances McDormand under a mop of drab, greasy brown hair), only shines when he's on-screen. He doesn't have DeNiro's presence, or Pacino's hyperkinetic manner, and doesn't have that thing that makes a huge star, but he's one hell of an actor. Is there anyone better these days?

In my university dorm Edward Norton was nicknamed "the finest actor of his generation". After a while none of us could remember why we did that, or if it was a genuine or ironic sentiment...but by gum we stuck to it every time his name came up.

Haven't seen Warm Bodies. And won't, till it's on DVD. Not only am I too cheap to even think about going to the cinema these days DVDs (much more than VHS ever did) have completely spoiled me as a viewer. If we had a 2nd-run (read: dirt-cheap) theatre here, I suspect I'd feel somewhat differently, but we don't. And haven't in the 11-plus years I've lived here.

I rarely used to go to the movies, but

A) It's cheaper to see a movie in Nottingham than it was where I used to live (Toronto or Regina)
and
B) Since I'm no longer 20, most of my friends aren't in school and have real jobs. So I often find myself with nothing to do on a Friday afternoon, so I often go see if there are any good new releases, and catch the noon show. There's nothing quite like watching a movie by yourself in an empty theatre.

EDITED TO MAKE SENSE

I went to the movies all the time back in North Little Rock, where we had a 10-screen 2nd-run place about 5 miles from my house that charged only $1 for most screenings (50 cents on Tuesdays, $1.50 Friday & Saturday nights). At those prices, I'd basically go see anything, including teen romantic comedies that I'd never have rented in 100 years.

The closest thing we had here charged $4.50, which included a coke (that I couldn't drink, thanks to Crohn's) & small popcorn (that I couldn't eat, thanks to Crohn's). I went there 3 or 4 times, but that's it, & besides it's now been gone for probably at least 7 years.

I still think there's a ton of room for straight zombie flicks. Dead Set was a solid horror-thriller. The 28's are exciting and inventive, and I thought their focus on character was what made them so bloody good.

Dammit. Just checked, & Dead Set isn't available for rental or streaming over here, as far as I can tell. *sigh*

28 Days Later is the film that, along a few months later with the Dawn of the Dead "re-imagining" (2 movies I actually saw on the big screen ... a personal-record 3 times in the case of the latter) ignited my passion for zombie flicks. I've seen since, god help me, well over 250 of the things.

Clueless is to Emma as Hardcore is to The Searchers.

If you havn't seen Hardcore, its a Paul Scrader film starring George C. Scott.

A forgotten classic of 70's underbelly!

can you rec any other animators/films? I've just gotten back into indy animation after 20 years and I'm amazed at some of what's being done, but I don't really know what/who to look for.

I've been following Hertzfeldt since seeing "Ah, L'Amour" at Spike & Mike fest 15 or so years ago. A talent worth watching, no doubt.
Anyway, I'm flattered to be asked, but I don't know much about it beyond "go see stuff that looks interesting." If you're just getting back into animation, you could do far worse than to track down the Oscar-nominated animated shorts, now that they're so much easier to find & watch. Always a high-quality grab bag.
I can tell you that Waltz with Bashir - an animated documentary, which is a form I'd never heard of before - was by far the best movie of its year. And Sita Sings the Blues was also wonderful and inventive. [One of my luckiest filmgoing weekends ever was seeing these on consecutive days as part of the SF Int'l Animation Festival]
And my all-time favorite might be "The Big Snit," although a big hunk of that might just be nostalgia or sentimental value, at this point.

I'll wade in on "No Problem". It has its uses. "Could you hand me that hammer?", "No problem" is perfectly fine. If I ask for extra service, and you tell me it will be no problem, I'm fine with that. If you tell me it will be a problem, that's fine too. ("No, we can't substitute the shrimp cocktail for the house salad.") Where I find the use rankling is when I thank someone for waiting on me, whether counter or restaurant or whatever. I don't want to hear that it was "no problem" for you, it was your job and it should be no problem (unless I was being a dick, which I conciously try to avoid being). I want to hear that I was welcome and would be welcome back in your place of business. "No problem" makes it sound like the employee is the focal point of the transaction, not the customer. When I provide service to others in my job, I tell them that they are welcome, they are welcome to come back to me again, not that it was "no problem" for me.

That's my old fart riff on the topic.

@183: thanks. I'll check out the titles you mentioned, and using the Oscar nominations as a place to start makes perfect sense. That also made me think of googling 'animation awards' and apparently there's something called an "Annie", given out by the International Animated Film Society. There are also the British Animation Awards, which might mention stuff the Oscars miss.

I have to put in an Amazon order tonight and I'll be looking especially for a book that gets technical about all the different kinds of animation out there. I'd love to know more. Even Paperman, with its bland plot, was thrilling for the greys the animators were able to get.

Dammit. Just checked, & Dead Set isn't available for rental or streaming over here, as far as I can tell. *sigh*

At the risk of firing up a 5000 post thread, when films are unavailable and you don't have the option of giving the distributor your money, do you have an objection to going to certain websites and watching them stream, or downloading them for later, non-profit viewing? Fwiw, the second half of season three of TWD was awfully weak until episode 12, which did some of the many things the series should have been doing (and given how it also lets you shoot contemporaneously with two crews, I'm really surprised they haven't done more of).

I've seen since, god help me, well over 250 of the things.

Any offbeat stuff to reccommend?

I read about half of the comments, so I apologize if I am rehashing anything, but has nobody noticed that the cap being off to the side is exactly causing a shadow to be cast on his left eye? In other words, he has the hat positioned to keep the lights/Sun out of his eyes.

And as was alluded to much earlier, anybody with a problem regarding this hat better be writing letters to the HOF demanding the ouster of Sunny Jim Bottomley. Maybe Rodney is actually really old school. Or showing respect for an old timer.

Any offbeat stuff to reccommend?

Make-Out with Violence is about as offbeat as it comes, especially considering it was made over (IIRC) several years by a bunch of kids in Nashville with a budget that could probably be measured in the hundreds. I loved it.

Great synthpop soundtrack, too. The number of soundtracks I've bought in my life for full price can be counted on the fingers on one hand, but this one I happily ponied up for. (The band consists to a considerable degree of the filmmakers.)

At the risk of firing up a 5000 post thread, when films are unavailable and you don't have the option of giving the distributor your money, do you have an objection to going to certain websites and watching them stream, or downloading them for later, non-profit viewing?

Wouldn't bother me at all, assuming of course that the other conditions you cite are in place.

For the disabled who can't get out to theaters, for example, www.movie2k.to is a good one. So is www.alluc.org. For downloading www.piratebay.se works well.

This is a combination of grumpy-old-man syndrome and racism. Often the first leads to the latter, but not always.

The fear that people have for self-expression baffles me. This is ALMOST as ridiculous as the 'no-beards, no-long hair' thing that the Yankees do. (The hair thign is worse because at least the uniform part doesn't force the player to follow the arbitrary rule son their own tiem as well.)

@187: thanks--I'll check it out.

Good thing Rodney doesn't play for the White Sox.

I read about half of the comments, so I apologize if I am rehashing anything, but has nobody noticed that the cap being off to the side is exactly causing a shadow to be cast on his left eye? In other words, he has the hat positioned to keep the lights/Sun out of his eyes.

I don't care how Rodney wears his hat, but a baseball cap, when worn straight, is designed to keep the light out of both eyes.