PDA

View Full Version : The Interview



Harry Seaward
12-17-2014, 08:36 PM
So a few weeks back, a group called Guardians of Peace (GOP) hacked many Sony servers and released many files, including emails between Sony Pictures executives and producers, salary information, unreleased movies, and thousands of Social Security numbers and medical records. God knows what else hasn't even surfaced yet. Roughly 100 terabytes of data was stolen. That's 100,000 gigabytes for the laymen. Sony's internal computers and network was crippled by this, without even mentioning all of the publicity damage.

Well, it's since come out that the Guardians of Peace are basically entirely proven to be a puppet group of the North Korean government. They'd been hinting at their outrage about a movie called The Interview, which is a comedy movie meant to be released on Christmas, starring and created by James Franco and Seth Rogan. The plot happens to be about these two dopey dudes being sent to North Korea by the American government with the mission of assassinating Kim Jong Un, North Korea's brutal despot dictator.

Yesterday, December 16th, the GOP threatened to attack the movie theaters that dare to show this movie with a $44,000,000 budget. Frankly, it's a big movie with big Hollywood stars, for a little perspective. Certainly not some small indie film without one of the bigger players in Hollywood behind it. In response, Franco and Rogan cancelled all press appearances to promote the movie.

Flash to today, December 17th - AMC, Regal Cinemas, Cineplex, Carmike, and Cinemark pulled the movie from being shown in their theaters. For more perspective, these five players control the majority of the theaters in the US. So that was a massive detriment to this film's chance at success.

And finally, the big news hit later today that Sony was cancelling the release of this major movie, period, including planned press screenings. They've given in to North Korea's threats, which experts have called idle and not worth worrying about. An untitled thriller which takes place in North Korea starring Steve Carrell has also been canned.

And just now, the US government has officially fingered North Korea in these events.

You can read a much more in-depth timeline of the events here. (http://deadline.com/2014/12/sony-hack-timeline-any-pascal-the-interview-north-korea-1201325501/)

...

Personally, I think it's utterly insane. It's just so absurd that this is happening that I can barely summon the words to describe it. If these events were the plot of a James Franco and Seth Rogan comedy, it would be too unbelievable to even be funny. Maybe this could be the plot of a South Park episode. Pure satire come to life. I don't think the movie itself is very important, but the fact that it's a crazy over-the-top goofball slapstick comedy makes this whole thing so much more ridiculous.

North Korea attacking Sony Pictures, a Japanese company, is one thing, but the fact that they have threatened to attack and kill Americans in movie theaters for watching a comedy is an entirely separate, more important, issue in my opinion. I believe the US government will be releasing an official statement tomorrow and I'm very interested to hear what they'll be saying. I know the standard course of action is to completely ignore NK's posturing, but this just seems like a whole different level to me.

What do you guys think? Do you think it was right for the major theaters and consequently Sony Pictures to completely pull this movie and just give in to idle threats? Do you think they should have stuck to their guns and shown the movie? Do you think the White House/DOD leaned on Sony to make a decision?

Let's hear your opinions.

tony.parente
12-17-2014, 08:51 PM
Kim Jong Doofy barely has the capacity to launch a bottle rocket across the street, I can't believe we let them win.

onthewall2983
12-17-2014, 08:51 PM
I believe the FBI and Sony aren't convinced it was NK, so take it for what that's worth. I don't blame the theater chains for pulling out, that's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation if there ever was one. Was never interested in the film anyway, so I'm not too sad that it'll probably never be seen. It does suck that so much money has been lost, people's lives compromised, and probably a lot of jobs eliminated.

Harry Seaward
12-17-2014, 09:00 PM
I believe the FBI and Sony aren't convinced it was NK, so take it for what that's worth.

The officials told NBC News the hacking attack originated outside North Korea, but they believe the individuals behind it were acting on orders from the North Koreans.

"We have found linkage to the North Korean government," according to a U.S. government source.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/north-korea-behind-sony-hack-u-s-officials-n270451

Plus they'll be making an official press release tomorrow, I believe.

onthewall2983
12-17-2014, 09:08 PM
http://www.wired.com/2014/12/evidence-of-north-korea-hack-is-thin/

GibbonBlack
12-17-2014, 09:21 PM
as I said in another thread;

"Sony should leak it online. Then when Guardians of Peace get annoyed because more people are seeing it Sony can just say "Sorry.....musta been hacked or something""

Harry Seaward
12-17-2014, 09:50 PM
http://www.wired.com/2014/12/evidence-of-north-korea-hack-is-thin/

Fair enough. I think more details will be coming to light, so I guess we can wait an see if we get any hard evidence.

Frankly, I don't think it's remotely hard to believe that it's NK though.

DigitalChaos
12-17-2014, 09:50 PM
Honestly, Sony probably decided to pull this only because the situation had the potential to destroy ticket sales during their busiest time of the year. A fear of national theatre attacks would crush sales for all movies.

That said, we have spent over a decade fighting the "war on terror" and giving up so much privacy to the NSA to trace shit like this.... and here we are showing the fruits of it all... fucking giving in at a national level to censorship demands from hackers claiming to be associated with the most impotent group of "terrorists" on the earth.

Baphomette
12-17-2014, 11:23 PM
censorshipPeople can be censored. Sony is a corporation. Not the same.

Harry Seaward
12-17-2014, 11:29 PM
People can be censored. Sony is a corporation. Not the same.

Are you saying a film corporation can't be censored...? I seem to be confused.

thevoid99
12-17-2014, 11:31 PM
Now I wanna see the film more than ever as a fuck you to North Korea and its hackers.

Baphomette
12-17-2014, 11:33 PM
Are you saying a film corporation can't be censored...? I seem to be confused.A corporation isn't an entity. Using the term "censorship" is playing into the whole corporate personhood bullshit.

Harry Seaward
12-17-2014, 11:38 PM
A corporation isn't an entity.

Seems kind of overly pedantic. A corporation is an entity by any standard definition of the word, and a corporation whose purpose is to produce art can certainly be censored.

Baphomette
12-17-2014, 11:46 PM
a corporation whose purpose is to produce artSony is, first and foremost, an electronics company. Your response demonstrates that you've bought into the idea of the US as a corporation. An ARTIST produces art.

DigitalChaos
12-18-2014, 12:33 AM
Well, you certainly can censor a corporation (we have entire organizations setup to explicitly censor movies/music/etc), but they are attempting to censor more than just Sony here. They are threatening every single theatre for the simple act of displaying specific media.

But there is also way more going on here. They are also threatening the viewers who watch a specific movie.


Warning

We will clearly show it to you at the very time and places "The Interview" be shown, including the premiere, how bitter fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to.

Soon all the world will see what an awful movie Sony Pictures Entertainment has made.

The world will be full of fear.

Remember the 11th of September 2001.

We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time.
(If your house is nearby, you’d better leave.)

Whatever comes in the coming days is called by the greed of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

All the world will denounce the SONY.

DigitalChaos
12-18-2014, 12:49 AM
and just to further drive the point pertaining to corporations... When the Nazis started burning books, we called that censorship even though the books were printed by corporations.

Censorship is any form of communication suppression done because the contents of that communication are deemed objectionable. That's exactly what this "hacker group" is attempting.

richardp
12-18-2014, 01:57 AM
The theater chain that I work for (Alamo Drafthouse) was totally going to be the only chain to still show the film. Then Sony canceled the film entirely. So now, all of our Alamo locations will be showing Team America on Christmas Day. Pretty fucking awesome.

Baphomette
12-18-2014, 02:25 AM
When the Nazis started burning booksI keep rubbing my eyes, hoping that I read this wrong. Wow.

Khrz
12-18-2014, 03:23 AM
Censorship is censorship (http://Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or institutions.), the origin of the censored piece is irrelevant. It could be a haiku randomly generated by a spambot, if any authority decides to put the banhammer down on it, it is censored. If said censorship is warranted, just or unfair is irrelevant. The authority in question ? Irrelevant. Is it a work of art, a piece of propaganda or just drivel ? Moot.

A stupid dictator decides to put pressure on a stupid company so that they can't release their stupid comedy ? That's stupid censorship. There's no ideology or politics, censorship can be dumb and random, there's no nobility or glory, the censored piece can be stupid as hell...

And no need to bring the nazis into this, really...

Hazekiah
12-18-2014, 05:53 AM
So surreal.

Especially considering I JUST saw a commercial for its Christmas Day release about 5 hours ago.

Pretty disappointed on MANY levels...not the least of which being that my cousin and I were gonna get high together for the first time on our way to see this movie after Christmas dinner with the folks. I guess now we'll get high and talk politics or something instead. Bleh.

But, yeah. This whole fucking thing is ridiculously absurd.

Khrz
12-18-2014, 06:29 AM
Well, NK is a frail power, easily threatened. And we still don't know who's behind all this. Of course, all signs point to North Korea, but it could be Russia scratching the regime's back (I doubt China would back them up on that, but who knows, as long as they're not "officially" involved)...
USA is a very strong nation, yet remember how it reacted when France decided to refuse to help the retaliations on Iraq after 9/11, people calling for the invasion of France, the freedom fries, it became ridiculous. And we're talking about a country who isn't usually scared or offended by much, who usually doesn't give a fuck.
Here you have a fragile country under a very twitchy government. Obviously they'll do anything to react to such a provocation. What's surprising is that somehow they got the leverage to actually scare Sony into submission...

Deepvoid
12-18-2014, 08:31 AM
I'm torn on this one.
As someone stated above, damn if you do, damn if you don't. You don't really have a choice but to take those threats seriously.

I agree that it should be leaked online by Sony. If this movie never sees the light of the day, it sets a precedent and we're gonna see other cyber attacks of the likes.
It clearly sends the message that if you play you cards right, we'll back off and you can win this thing.

With that being said... really Hollywood?? Making a movie about the assassination of a currently active world leader?
If another country releases a movie about plotting the assassination of Barack Obama, the US would go apeshit! They would have the FBI, CIA all over this in a matter of minutes.

cahernandez
12-18-2014, 08:42 AM
With that being said... really Hollywood?? Making a movie about the assassination of a currently active world leader?
If another country releases a movie about plotting the assassination of Barack Obama, the US would go apeshit! They would have the FBI, CIA all over this in a matter of minutes.

I couldn't have said it better. What were they thinking?

Khrz
12-18-2014, 08:58 AM
Well, North Korea always seemed like an easy target to pick on, what were they gonna do, launch nuclear pitchforks on Washington ? They're isolated even among their allies so their political weight is nil, their economy is in shambles so no retaliations on that side, and when it comes to the military their best weapon is Photoshop...
It's like Russia during the cold war, without the warheads, or connections, or intelligence, or resources. USSR Defcon 9,000. So tempting and so easy.

And I'm still pretty sure that there's someone else behind this. It's so unlikely that NK would be able to actually enforce acts of terrorism on the US soil, there had to be some red flags, something that made the threats sound actually serious.

botley
12-18-2014, 09:36 AM
But if they DID pull something off, or even if a homegrown copycat wingnut asshole who thinks North Korea is Kanye West's kid started shooting people at a screening on Christmas Day, then theatres would be held criminally liable because they knew that it was a risk to show controversial material when there's an active terror threat.

Cinema chains aren't stupid; last time some fuckhead started firing at people in one of their movie theatres, they weren't able to foresee the threat because it was unprecedented. Now they know otherwise. Welcome to 2014, the worst future ever.

Oh — and Sony posted a huge loss last year, like a billion dollars or something. A $44mill movie budget is just another write-off. The theatres did the right thing for their business, and now Sony basically gets to say "welp we can't make money without box office, so might as well cut losses". If only they had some kind of home entertainment system in millions of homes that could be used to distribute films. Hmmmm.

DigitalChaos
12-18-2014, 10:41 AM
Everyone seriously needs to chill out with the "North Korea" shit. We have everyone, including politicians... even the US govt is saying our intel points to NK. It is so unbelievable. I have been following much of the hack, and it really does not add up. Here is a great summary of why: http://marcrogers.org/2014/12/18/why-the-sony-hack-is-unlikely-to-be-the-work-of-north-korea/

Khrz
12-18-2014, 11:07 AM
^ Not to mention that it would be an extraordinary change of character, coming from the DPRK. They usually make menacing, yet formal official statements, and relay it further with internal propaganda... Terrorist threats is very out of character, when they threaten they tend to threaten with impending doom, not localized attacks...
It doesn't make any sense. But indeed, everyone profits : Sony can claim they've been hacked by an hostile nation, everyone blames the DPRK, and North Korea can hide its flabbergastment and say "oh yeah, yeah we totally did... All of that. So beware ! "

Harry Seaward
12-18-2014, 12:06 PM
I'm really confused about how you guys think bloggers have more credibility than US intelligence agents. Don't you think the gov has some evidence they haven't released if they're saying these things?

slave2thewage
12-18-2014, 12:24 PM
If this means destroying Seth Rogan's career, then bless our Dear Leader.

tony.parente
12-18-2014, 12:31 PM
I don't even understand how Kim Jong Doofy is so butthurt, he doesn't even HAVE a butthole according to him.

DigitalChaos
12-18-2014, 12:44 PM
I'm really confused about how you guys think bloggers have more credibility than US intelligence agents. Don't you think the gov has some evidence they haven't released if they're saying these things?
1 - I simply dug up a short and easy to read article that conveys my view. Not the other way around.
2 - Mark Rogers isn't a random blogger. He has heavy security industry experience and loads of security cred. I actually know him as he is the head of security at a gathering I frequently attend. http://marcrogers.org/about/
3 - If that's not enough, there are plenty of other in the industry who also are calling bullshit: http://www.wired.com/2014/12/evidence-of-north-korea-hack-is-thin/ If you don't know who Kim Zetter is, just look up her Stuxnet work.
4 - And if you want to dig in for yourself, this is probably the biggest central collection of info on the hack: https://www.riskbasedsecurity.com/2014/12/a-breakdown-and-analysis-of-the-december-2014-sony-hack/

The security industry usually pokes giant holes in whatever the US intel agencies convey to the public. It's entirely possible they know something we don't... after all, they have eyes on the entire internet that nobody else does.... but that is their primary edge. From what they have said so far, that doesn't seem to be the case though.

Khrz
12-18-2014, 12:54 PM
I'm really confused about how you guys think bloggers have more credibility than US intelligence agents. Don't you think the gov has some evidence they haven't released if they're saying these things?

Well first of all, it's not really like official channels are really forthcoming or reliable in that kind of situation. I'm not talking about their competence, I'm talking about filtering the amount and quality of the information released for the general public.
And you have it backwards : we don't trust a blogger over intelligence? It's just that the bloggers articulate our thoughts and doubts better than we do.
It just doesn't fit the usual modus operandi of the DPRK. I'm not saying they aren't involved : I'm just questioning whether the DPRK is the actual, direct culprit.

The puzzle doesn't work for me. The official statements are foggy and confusing, and the whole situation is just plain weird.

DigitalChaos
12-18-2014, 01:11 PM
Further, the claims about US Intel should actually be viewed very skeptically considering all source have been anonymous so far. I believe the only official face has been Obama saying that there is no credible threat in terms of theaters getting attacked.
https://www.riskbasedsecurity.com/2014/12/a-breakdown-and-analysis-of-the-december-2014-sony-hack/#attributionguessinggameperspective

Space Suicide
12-18-2014, 01:39 PM
This movie looked bad and unneeded.

This movie was massively hypocritical anyways. I know this country, if another country made a movie just like this and opted in Obama as the figure head subject of the two idiots assassination plot it'd be cancelled and frowned upon too. So since the US is the one releasing it and claims (fraudulent or not) threats for its release are from elsewhere, it's seen as babyish. The other way around wouldn't fly. I guarantee it.

For the record, this movie didn't offend me so I'm not a hater. I loved Harold and Kumar in Guantanamo Bay and that movie wasn't very forgiving with G Bay or Bush either. :p

Jinsai
12-18-2014, 01:41 PM
I agree that it should be leaked online by Sony.

At this point, Sony wants nothing to do with this movie. It's been like that for a while, even before the more recent threats against theater goers. Sony pictures is no doubt about to experience a dramatic restructuring, starting with the firing of every person who green lighted this movie.

If it is leaked online, it won't be Sony who does it... and I'm sure Seth Rogan has already gotten a phone call threatening to not only end his career but sue the living shit out of him if he does it. I would assume that Sony is currently in frantic containment mode.

Regardless whether we believe the US's intelligence is correct on the source of the threat... who the fuck else would be upset about it? I guess the other possibility would be that it's a "prank."

EDIT: Actually, what if it was done by those asshole kids who keep DDOS attacking video game networks? They already were willing to call in a fake bomb threat to a commercial flight because the CEO of Sony was on board.

"All the world will denounce the SONY!" actually sounds like it was contrived by some kids giggling to themselves.

DigitalChaos
12-18-2014, 02:01 PM
EDIT: Actually, what if it was done by those asshole kids who keep DDOS attacking video game networks? They already were willing to call in a fake bomb threat to a commercial flight because the CEO of Sony was on board.

"All the world will denounce the SONY!" actually sounds like it was contrived by some kids giggling to themselves.

It has the vibe of this, but the impact and scope of the hack makes it hard to believe. Maybe if someone paid a sizable group a shitload of money.

In terms of who would contrive this ridiculous shit, (I'm not being serious here) imagine this...
Some Feds are sitting at a bar drinking. They complain about how public support for war is getting really low. They complain about how the public is also insanely apathetic and won't rise up unless you take away their entertainment. Then they complain about how the bar for their intel is really high, yet the kids on the Internet will pull out their pitchforks at the slightest bit of "evidence." Then one guy jokingly says they should just have the Internet declare wars for them instead... maybe by attacking their entertainment. It's pretty ridiculous but they try to make it worse just for fun... They decide that Sony is the most hated entertainment company and North Korea would be the least likely instigator. "duuuuuuuuude. we HAVE to try this!"

Now, someone please turn this into a comedy video skit. kthx

Space Suicide
12-18-2014, 02:08 PM
EDIT: Actually, what if it was done by those asshole kids who keep DDOS attacking video game networks? They already were willing to call in a fake bomb threat to a commercial flight because the CEO of Sony was on board.

"All the world will denounce the SONY!" actually sounds like it was contrived by some kids giggling to themselves.

Evidently those retards were stopped and back hacked by a group called Finest Squad. Evidently their addresses and personal information was forwarded to the FBI and at least one member was actually arrested for the shit the group pulled.

However, what you brought up doesn't seem to be the realm out of their douchebaggery.

Jinsai
12-18-2014, 02:11 PM
It has the vibe of this, but the impact and scope of the hack makes it hard to believe. Maybe if someone paid a sizable group a shitload of money.

That depends, and only if you believe that it would be impossible to hack Sony's databases without large sums of money.

1. The kids responsible for taking down Playstation Network (and recently Xbox Live) said that they were planning something big for this month.

2. Sony has had the FBI trying to track them down for almost a year now.

3. They got a commercial plane landed and redirected after issuing a fake bomb threat. The reason? For the lulz, because a CEO for Sony was on board. They later taunted him by posting pictures of his dad's grave stone... not sure what that's all about, but anyway...

4. They already stated that the main reason they do this shit is for fun, and to see how much disruption they can cause that will piss people off while they get away with it... Their main target so far has been Sony.

They've been trolling Sony for a while now, and Sony's been losing a lot of money from it. This would just be upping the ante. The only thing is they're not (to the best of my knowledge) immediately taking credit for it. Maybe they want to see how much damage they can do while North Korea gets blamed for it?

Jinsai
12-18-2014, 02:14 PM
Evidently those retards were stopped and back hacked by a group called Finest Squad. Evidently their addresses and personal information was forwarded to the FBI and at least one member was actually arrested for the shit the group pulled.

Hadn't heard about that, but that would be nice. When was this supposed to have happened?

Doesn't mean it isn't a similar kind of group though. I never understood the "motivations" behind all of that shit.

aggroculture
12-18-2014, 02:14 PM
Why do they hate Sony?

This whole story leaves me mystified, from the stupid idea for the movie to...this.

DigitalChaos
12-18-2014, 02:17 PM
Evidently those retards were stopped and back hacked by a group called Finest Squad. Evidently their addresses and personal information was forwarded to the FBI and at least one member was actually arrested for the shit the group pulled.

However, what you brought up doesn't seem to be the realm out of their douchebaggery.

Hadn't heard about that, but that would be nice. When was this supposed to have happened?

Doesn't mean it isn't a similar kind of group though. I never understood the "motivations" behind all of that shit.

Yes, and it was delicious.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/hacker-gang-literally-saved-christmas-214600680.html
My favorite part was that they used a YTCracker song to announce the doxing.

Space Suicide
12-18-2014, 02:17 PM
Hadn't heard about that, but that would be nice. When was this supposed to have happened?

Doesn't mean it isn't a similar kind of group though.

The group counter hacked and locked them out of certain servers by tracing their server's static IP address. Whenever it goes live they can basically block their DDoS hacks immediately. It happened about a week ago or so (last Friday or something). Their latest big "hack" was supposedly to knock off Xbox Live Servers Christmas Day. A new twitter from "Lizard Squad" is still backing up claims of doing that but it's probably just a troll. Who knows though.

DigitalChaos
12-18-2014, 02:30 PM
That depends, and only if you believe that it would be impossible to hack Sony's databases without large sums of money.

1. The kids responsible for taking down Playstation Network (and recently Xbox Live) said that they were planning something big for this month.

2. Sony has had the FBI trying to track them down for almost a year now.

3. They got a commercial plane landed and redirected after issuing a fake bomb threat. The reason? For the lulz, because a CEO for Sony was on board. They later taunted him by posting pictures of his dad's grave stone... not sure what that's all about, but anyway...

4. They already stated that the main reason they do this shit is for fun, and to see how much disruption they can cause that will piss people off while they get away with it... Their main target so far has been Sony.

They've been trolling Sony for a while now, and Sony's been losing a lot of money from it. This would just be upping the ante. The only thing is they're not (to the best of my knowledge) immediately taking credit for it. Maybe they want to see how much damage they can do while North Korea gets blamed for it?

All of this is possible, I would just be amazed.
As Space Suicide mentioned, the big plans were just a DDoS on game networks. It's a trivial task. You can buy the resources for a few hundred bucks. The hack was much more technically impressive. Not only did they gain access to a shitload of stuff, but they used the PSN network servers to seed the torrents of the leaks... holy fuck. That said, I have personally done firefighting for an almost identical situation that was instigated by a single kid in south america for a smaller company. On top of that, the hackers also seem to have kicked off some sort of replicating virus that was intended to erase the contents of any machine it could touch.

DigitalChaos
12-18-2014, 02:49 PM
I never understood the "motivations" behind all of that shit.

There is a HUGE overlap in similarities behind the random hacker groups you see online and the crime that happens on the streets. In many instances, it is a mix of young and naive kids mixed with older ones who have little to lose and too much idle time. They operate in an environment where breaking the law is a routine way of life and frequently a method of obtaining money. Many times this comes down to kids simply entertaining their own ego and looking for the thrill.

Hell, some are just very intelligent shut-ins who get addicted to the power and risk. Bask in the wonder of this guy. I used to interface with this guy and it was absolutely surreal to see the news break when he got busted (again):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1-jRywBtFg

DigitalChaos
12-18-2014, 02:53 PM
The theater chain that I work for (Alamo Drafthouse) was totally going to be the only chain to still show the film. Then Sony canceled the film entirely. So now, all of our Alamo locations will be showing Team America on Christmas Day. Pretty fucking awesome.
looks like this is getting shut down too
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2014/12/18/paramount-bans-showing-team-america.html?via=desktop&source=twitter

christ...

Deepvoid
12-18-2014, 03:00 PM
looks like this is getting shut down too
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2014/12/18/paramount-bans-showing-team-america.html?via=desktop&source=twitter

christ...

Really?? Can't even show a movie that is 10 years old?
This is getting ridiculous.

richardp
12-18-2014, 03:32 PM
looks like this is getting shut down too
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2014/12/18/paramount-bans-showing-team-america.html?via=desktop&source=twitter

christ...

Yep it just went through this morning. Word is that Paramount isn't just pulling the rights for cinemas but are pulling the DVDs and Blurays of it as well, essentially making this film now OOP.

At least we WERE going to do this.

DigitalChaos
12-18-2014, 03:58 PM
Someone needs to project these movies onto the fucking moon on a loop. Fuck all of this.

DF118
12-18-2014, 05:24 PM
What's really sad about this, is that they're not scared of any reprisal other than further embarrassment.

r_k_f
12-18-2014, 05:47 PM
This is the slipperiest of slopes.. We caved to an unknown group of cyber terrorists, what will those truly ruthless terrorists (who we know can follow thru on a threat) think of this?

marodi
12-18-2014, 05:47 PM
So some nut cases don't want me to watch The Interview or Team America because of their anti-North Korean themes? Well I say SCREW THEM. I'm going to watch the 2012 remake of Red Dawn in which a group of North Korean terrorists get their asses kick by a bunch of teenagers and an undercover Thor (with short brown hair and sans Mjolnir).

TAKE THAT CYBER-LOSERS!

On a more serious note: I understand why the movie was pulled from movie theaters; the people who would have gone to watch the film would have been sitting ducks in case those jerks were really going to attack. On the other hand: if the same idiots decide to make threats against the Time Square dropping of the ball on New Year's Eve, is it going to get cancelled too? How about the Super Bowl? The Oscars? Any upcoming rock show?

A precedent has been set that goes way beyond the release of a shitty movie.

jessamineny
12-18-2014, 05:52 PM
I think it was more likely pulled because of pressure from other movie companies. This is one of the biggest times of year for some of the biggest movies, and I'm sure they worried that too many people would be scared to come to any movies because of the threat.

R-Dot-Yung
12-18-2014, 05:52 PM
This whole thing really upsets me.

I don't think there's anything else to say and I hope Sony releases the movie digitally. I would throw money at it as a form of protest against whoever the hackers are.

DF118
12-18-2014, 06:03 PM
On the other hand: if the same idiots decide to make threats against the Time Square dropping of the ball on New Year's Eve, is it going to get cancelled too?

Yep. Almost certainly, immediately.

Jinsai
12-18-2014, 06:41 PM
This whole thing really upsets me.

I don't think there's anything else to say and I hope Sony releases the movie digitally. I would throw money at it as a form of protest against whoever the hackers are.

Unfortunately, Sony has already said that they're not going to release it in any format ever... for the foreseeable future
The movie has basically been shelved. If you ever see it, it'll be because somebody leaked it.

R-Dot-Yung
12-18-2014, 06:43 PM
Unfortunately, Sony has already said that they're not going to release it in any format ever... for the foreseeable future
The movie has basically been shelved. If you ever see it, it'll be because somebody leaked it.

That upsets me even more. I find this entire situation depressing, I want to do something about it.

slave2thewage
12-18-2014, 06:49 PM
Slight drift, but movie theatres are open in the US on the 25th? That seems... slightly odd.

jessamineny
12-18-2014, 07:13 PM
Yes, and they're busy. I think people can spend time with their families... without spending time with their families.

slave2thewage
12-18-2014, 07:16 PM
Yes, and they're busy. I think people can spend time with their families... without spending time with their families.

Jesus, it must suck if you work in one and you have kids and you're picked to work on that day.

onthewall2983
12-18-2014, 07:21 PM
I'm not defending the idea of businesses being open on Christmas day (or Thanksgiving for that matter), but sometimes families schedule their holiday whenever it's convenient to get everyone together, hopefully close enough to the 25th. My siblings are often way more busy than I am so there's a bit of feline herding going on when it comes to Christmas. This year fortunately we're doing it closer to it (this Saturday).

slave2thewage
12-18-2014, 07:46 PM
I'm not defending the idea of businesses being open on Christmas day (or Thanksgiving for that matter), but sometimes families schedule their holiday whenever it's convenient to get everyone together, hopefully close enough to the 25th. My siblings are often way more busy than I am so there's a bit of feline herding going on when it comes to Christmas. This year fortunately we're doing it closer to it (this Saturday).

I can relate. We had our festive gorging on food last week since my sister is going to be in Spain with her boyfriend and his family. Just cultural differences asking, since over here EVERYTHING is shut down on the 25th, more or less. I've been in a hospital on Christmas Day since my sister was laid up once when she was a kid and it was the weirdest experience ever. Every single person just hated being there.

Jinsai
12-18-2014, 07:50 PM
the craziest part of all this is that ultimately a genuine threat of massive violence against US civilians was made, and as far as the US intelligence is currently concerned, it was delivered by North Korea. Even the threat of that is a genuine act of war.

It would be absolutely insane if this ridiculous movie became the first step towards truly engaging North Korea... will this fucking movie be remembered as a turning moment when our film industry bowed down to terrorist threats?

I still don't get why people are actually attacking the movie, or asking things like "why would you ever make a movie like this, and imagine if the script was flipped and it was us being attacked! We'd go insane!"

No, we wouldn't. Ever heard of the movie Death of a President (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_a_President_(2006_film))? No? Maybe it's because it was released and nobody gave a shit. Did everybody freak out when, in the opening scene of King Ralph (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Ralph) the entire British royal family is wiped out by a freak accident (or did it turn out to be murder, I forgot, the movie was stupid).

You also have movies which have portrayed dramatic scenarios of extreme (and often inventive) violence against US populations. Ever heard of the book (and movie I guess) Black Sunday? It's a disturbing premise, but we didn't ban the book. If they change the president's name to something fictional, is that supposed to be ok then? That's been done a dozen times. Shouldn't the general idea behind The Manchurian Candidate be more disturbing than a slapstick comedy?

Uwe Boll made some shitty movie version of Postal that mocked the 9/11 attacks in a slapstick opening sequence. Did we freak out? No, we thought it was stupid, because we all pretty much agree Uwe Boll sucks, but we didn't have him arrested.

And asking why we'd make a movie like this just reminds me of all the people who said similar things about The Satanic Verses, without acknowledging that the people making violent threats against his (and his publishers) lives were the only people doing something wrong. Why did we have to make Team America?

jessamineny
12-18-2014, 07:53 PM
And add in the fact that The Interview is supposedly a raunchy, silly comedy.

DigitalChaos
12-18-2014, 08:09 PM
I think it was more likely pulled because of pressure from other movie companies. This is one of the biggest times of year for some of the biggest movies, and I'm sure they worried that too many people would be scared to come to any movies because of the threat.
Exactly what I am saying. It's about money, not safety.

That said, it isn't stopping just about everyone from seeing this as some national response where we, the country, bow down to terrorists. Which leads to some dangerous situations like:

This is the slipperiest of slopes.. We caved to an unknown group of cyber terrorists, what will those truly ruthless terrorists (who we know can follow thru on a threat) think of this?
The US federal government is in place to prevent things like this from impacting public safety or economic damage. We have spent over a decade "fighting terror" and giving up our rights to agencies like the NSA... more proof it's all bullshit.

DigitalChaos
12-18-2014, 08:18 PM
You'd think the NSA would either be able to stop this while it's happening, or at the very least be able to very quickly tell you exactly who did this. They have visibility of the entire fucking internet and they have records of just about every bit that gets transferred over it. But no...

So what DO we do? There should be a rhetorical shift here, especially with the media. This is the story of how Sony had SHIT security and an unknown entity was able to get in. It's not really any different than all the retail stores having their Credit Card numbers leaked. The primary difference is the attacker is making threats. Sony has a history of this kind of bad security. The data that was leaked this time around shows quite a lot of really REALLY bad security. Passwords stored in unencrypted text document. Passwords that were literally "password." Etc...


Of course, if there is credible data indicating that another country is doing this to fuck with us, then it is no different than an act of war and should be handled as such. We aren't there yet.

Hazekiah
12-18-2014, 09:24 PM
With that being said... really Hollywood?? Making a movie about the assassination of a currently active world leader?
If another country releases a movie about plotting the assassination of Barack Obama, the US would go apeshit!


This movie was massively hypocritical anyways. I know this country, if another country made a movie just like this and opted in Obama as the figure head subject of the two idiots assassination plot it'd be cancelled and frowned upon too. So since the US is the one releasing it and claims (fraudulent or not) threats for its release are from elsewhere, it's seen as babyish. The other way around wouldn't fly. I guarantee it.


I still don't get why people are actually attacking the movie, or asking things like "why would you ever make a movie like this, and imagine if the script was flipped and it was us being attacked! We'd go insane!"

No, we wouldn't. Ever heard of the movie Death of a President (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_a_President_(2006_film))? No? Maybe it's because it was released and nobody gave a shit.


JMFC, THANK YOU.



That movie and it being a COMPLETE non-event was literally the very first thing that leapt to mind when I read the above comments.

Can't believe it took till Page 3 for someone to mention it.

:-\

Space Suicide
12-18-2014, 09:41 PM
JMFC, THANK YOU.



That movie and it being a COMPLETE non-event was literally the very first thing that leapt to mind when I read the above comments.

Can't believe it took till Page 3 for someone to mention it.

:-\

The movie exampled hardly ever graced much news outlets to my knowledge anyways. Just initial shocking buzz.

However it doesn't get a free pass for this one. The film wasn't a comedy nor was it making an entire joke of the situation like this would of North Korea. I know it was slapped with a "mockumentary" for the genre.

I don't really give a shit about this film we're talking about and it isn't offending me in the slightest, but if a disrespectful country (UK, in this case England, is an ally and more respectful than some others...) with wide spread known wild dictatorship (Like NK) made a film about a goody two shoes country with an assassination joke plotline in which their political leaders were a brunt of the joke I know it'd get more flack than what anyone is saying it would. I know people would say rubbish like "It's good o'l America dude, stars and stripes...don't fuck with us. We're the best Country in the world. We fight for freedom, this movie is an outrage. How dare they."

But probably not as funny as I stated it. Times changed. The film posted before was about the US and George Bush of all people. It was filmed in 2006 and featured a what-if scenario with the aftermath rather than pushing a joke to the forefront and making the entire film about the death of ________. This war on terror junk is still going on, ties with North Korea since Ill's passing has deteriorated further (and fucking Dennis Rodman) and things have grown more tense globally with nuclear weapon rubbish since then as well.

Whatever.

Case in point, I see how this movie can harm reputation or be slanderous but I honestly think people are overreacting overall with it. So don't lump me in with people that are against it, I'm not. I just see where some things went wrong with it.

Fixer808
12-18-2014, 10:06 PM
My mind is still reeling from the fact that Seth Rogen and James Franco, a pair of one-trick ponies, have actually caused an international incident.

Harry Seaward
12-18-2014, 10:06 PM
Obama: 'Go to the movies'

http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/17/politics/obama-sony-north-korea-hack/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

botley
12-18-2014, 11:11 PM
This man's got his head on straight (http://deadline.com/2014/12/george-clooney-sony-hollywood-cowardice-north-korea-cyberattack-petition-1201329988/). Visions of Terry Gilliam's Brazil.

Jinsai
12-19-2014, 04:48 AM
A few hours ago, Sony accidentally released a new promo ad for the movie. It's gone now

"In Franco and Rogan we trust?"

Apparently not. (http://gizmodo.com/sony-just-accidentally-released-a-new-promo-for-the-1672962968)

should have updated link.

Canuckle
12-19-2014, 10:46 AM
The only reasonable explanation for this reaction is a fear of losing money during what is usually a high point for the movie business. Similar threats have been tossed around for bigger events, but nothing done as the paying public's voice is usually louder.

Given the volatility of the cinema industry, this isn't a fear of terrorism, it's a fear of the paying public turn their backs on the cinema this holiday.

tony.parente
12-19-2014, 11:44 AM
North Korea was responsible.

http://gizmodo.com/fbi-north-korea-was-behind-the-sony-hack-1672489503?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_faceboo k&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

DigitalChaos
12-19-2014, 12:03 PM
North Korea was responsible.

http://gizmodo.com/fbi-north-korea-was-behind-the-sony-hack-1672489503?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_faceboo k&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

this sounds like some WMD bullshit.

DigitalChaos
12-19-2014, 12:22 PM
Ok. Gizmodo bastardized what the FBI said. Their actual statement is here: http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/update-on-sony-investigation

That makes this more believable.

Harry Seaward
12-19-2014, 12:25 PM
Can I just reiterate "what in the ever living fuck is this reality"

Khrz
12-19-2014, 12:44 PM
Ok. Gizmodo bastardized what the FBI said. Their actual statement is here: http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/update-on-sony-investigation

That makes this more believable.

Right. "North Korea is involved" was pretty much a given at this point, although it would have been funny if they weren't. But "North Korea is responsible" is indeed over-simplifying the situation.

Deepvoid
12-19-2014, 01:04 PM
U.S. officials have said the government will retaliate for the attacks and White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the response would be "proportional."

Is there some big box-office North Korean movie scheduled to be release soon they can block?

marodi
12-19-2014, 01:13 PM
U.S. officials have said the government will retaliate for the attacks and White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the response would be "proportional."

Is there some big box-office North Korean movie scheduled to be release soon they can block?

What I would do is this: I'd leak The Interview to Anonymous and they'd hack North Korea's 3 TV stations (all under government control, of course) so that they would play the movie non stop for as long as possible.

Anonymous would never do this but man, think about how it would piss off that delusional idiot who runs the country!

FernandoDante
12-19-2014, 01:30 PM
I love how Obama was all "fuck your sensitivity".

Arts have been neutered enough already.

DigitalChaos
12-19-2014, 02:02 PM
I seriously can't imagine wtf the USG is going to do.
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-sony-hack-is-not-an-excuse-to-pass-bad-cybersecurity-laws-north-korea


"China's new J-20 stealth fighter jet should look familiar, because it's based on America's F-22 stealth jet, because China stole the blueprints and other incredibly important information from Lockheed Martin and the US military. Chinese hackers have been accused of stealing a trillion dollars worth of intellectual property from American companies.


The literal theft of a war machine by another country wasn't enough to spur any sort of fear in the American people. Now, a state-sponsored hack on a company that did less than the bare minimum to keep it and its employees safe is going to spur the beginning of the cyber war age? It’s the act that is starting our collective freakout about cyber criminals and state-sponsored hacking?"

Jinsai
12-19-2014, 03:32 PM
"Sony CEO Michael Lynton, who was one of the executives whose emails were leaked, responded to the President in an interview with CNN. "We have not caved. We have not given in. We have preserved," he said."

what the fuck is this supposed to even mean? Sony, you fucking caved. Release the movie online you fucking pansies. It's astonishing how the ball has landed so squarely in Sony's court here. You have the capacity to defuse a potential international incident. Instead they're now standing on weird platitudes like "we have preserved?" What is this insanity?

The longer this gets dragged out the worse it's going to get. The fastest way to resolve it is to find some avenue to release the movie as soon as possible.

Deepvoid
12-19-2014, 03:51 PM
He claims that no major VOD distributor has approached them to release the movie. Claims Sony doesn't have the platform to release it on their own.

This guy truly thinks we're idiots.

Jinsai
12-19-2014, 03:52 PM
also, I guess The Interview currently has a 10/10 rating on iMDB, making it the highest user-rated mainstream movie of all time.

onthewall2983
12-19-2014, 05:17 PM
Cybersecurity expert Peter W. Singer: "The ability to steal gossipy emails from a not-so-great protected computer network is not the same thing as being able to carry out physical, 9/11-style attacks in 18,000 locations simultaneously." (http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/12/sony-hack-security.html)

Your Name Here
12-20-2014, 12:49 AM
.........................

DigitalChaos
12-20-2014, 01:01 AM
^there are so many angles going on that I feel like something obvious is getting missed.

Another one only being lightly discussed is our official govt response compared to prior situations. Remember the "Innocence of Muslims" YouTube video? Obama to a very different angle on that one. Quick recap: http://reason.com/blog/2014/12/19/obama-who-tried-to-censor-innocence-of-m

Our response is VERY specific to this being North Korea.

Jinsai
12-20-2014, 01:18 AM
^there are so many angles going on that I feel like something obvious is getting missed.

Another one only being lightly discussed is our official govt response compared to prior situations. Remember the "Innocence of Muslims" YouTube video? Obama to a very different angle on that one. Quick recap: http://reason.com/blog/2014/12/19/obama-who-tried-to-censor-innocence-of-m

Our response is VERY specific to this being North Korea.

Maybe it is specific to North Korea. At the same time, how do you think this article would have spun events if Obama had said nothing? If he had said that the free market is correct in protecting human lives in view of a possible (lol) threat?

Obama will be the enemy in this discussion, no matter what. He could encourage a film company to stand up for freedom and say "fuck you Kim Jong Un!!!!" and he's still the bad guy, because he didn't handle Bengazi properly. What would you have preferred Obama say or do? What could he have possibly said where he could just be "right" here? Can't we just cut the partisan bullshit (for a brief, awesome moment) and just admit that he's handling this right?

DigitalChaos
12-20-2014, 01:26 AM
Maybe it is specific to North Korea. At the same time, how do you think this article would have spun events if Obama had said nothing? If he had said that the free market is correct in protecting human lives in view of a possible (lol) threat?

Obama will be the enemy in this discussion, no matter what. He could encourage a film company to stand up for freedom and say "fuck you Kim Jong Un!!!!" and he's still the bad guy, because he didn't handle Bengazi properly. What would you have preferred Obama say or do?

Well, I think the article is very much in agreement with his response in the NK situation. They were just showing the inconsistency with the Muslim video and bitching about prior handlings. But my reason for showing the difference is different than the article's reason.

I'm more interested in why there is a difference and how things would look if we changed who perpetrated the Sony hack. Imagine if this were a Muslim group. I'm not sure Obama would change his response then, but I feel like we would have a military response. We fear Islamic terrorism. We don't fear NK. (In terms of physical danger)

This situation is just so unique. Yet, it opens the door for plenty of other state and non-state actors to try something similar. The results would be different for most of them.

Jinsai
12-20-2014, 01:32 AM
Well, I think the article is very much in agreement with his response in the NK situation. They were just showing the inconsistency with the Muslim video. But my reason for showing the difference is different than the article's reason.

I'm more interested in why there is a difference and how things would look if we changed who perpetrated the Sony hack. Imagine if this were a Muslim nation. I'm not sure Obama would change his response here, but I feel like we would have a military response. We fear Islamic terrorism. We don't fear NK. (In terms of physical danger)

This situation is just so unique. Yet, it opens the door for plenty of other state and non-state actors to try something similar.

I think comparing his stance on this issue to the whole Bengazi debacle is an insane partisan distraction, and it could only be employed by people disinterested with resolving the current situation, which is already insane enough without the inclusion of political Buzz words. If you want to compare/contrast his treatment of this issue with the "innocence of muslims" video, why not wait until later. There will be plenty of time for that in the future.

Right now, let's just be glad he's siding with free expression, and telling Sony to harden up and release the movie. Let's have a bipartisan Christmassy moment where we all join hands and agree to getting behind that

DigitalChaos
12-20-2014, 01:36 AM
I think comparing his stance on this issue to the whole Bengazi debacle is an insane partisan distraction, and it could only be employed by people disinterested with resolving the current situation, which is already insane enough without the inclusion of political Buzz words. If you want to compare/contrast his treatment of this issue with the "innocence of muslims" video, why not wait until later. There will be plenty of time for that in the future.

Right now, let's just be glad he's siding with free expression, and telling Sony to harden up and release the movie. Let's have a bipartisan Christmassy moment where we all join hands and agree to getting behind that

Uh, because of the potential for future situations. And because it gives insight into the current situation. You are completely hung up on the anti-Obama angle from the article that you aren't able to extrapolate the many possibilities. There is nothing partisan in what I am talking about in the last few posts.

Jinsai
12-20-2014, 01:39 AM
Uh, because of the potential for future situations. You are completely hung up on the anti-Obama angle from the article that you aren't able to extrapolate the many possibilities. There is nothing partisan in what I am talking about in the last few posts.

If I'm misunderstanding then I apologize... let's extract the issue about Bengazi for sake of clarity. What is it about his current stance regarding the issue of this movie that you disagree with?

How would you have preferred he respond?

DigitalChaos
12-20-2014, 01:48 AM
If I'm misunderstanding then I apologize... let's extract the issue about Bengazi for sake of clarity. What is it about his current stance regarding the issue of this movie that you disagree with?

Nothing. Obama's comments were great.

Thinking about this not only looks into the future when this kind of thing is likely to happen again, but also can point to reasoning behind the current situation. It feels like we are covering a lot of new ground here. Lots of unknowns. Lots of things that are hard to look at through a lens of historical precedent.

I'm just wondering how this situation would look if it was anyone but NK. What would the implications be for the country? Would we be headed into another war? Would our government had taken a more softened angle? Etc.

Jinsai
12-20-2014, 01:56 AM
I'm just wondering how this situation would look if it was anyone but NK.

The only reason NK has been allowed to operate this way for so long is because they can do so under the protection of China, and America is afraid to touch that issue.

If you want a real hot button issue when it comes to American diplomacy, we are owned by China, and that's why we're swatting away death threats from North Korea.

DigitalChaos
12-20-2014, 02:06 AM
The only reason NK has been allowed to operate this way for so long is because they can do so under the protection of China, and America is afraid to touch that issue.

If you want a real hot button issue when it comes to American diplomacy, we are owned by China, and that's why we're swatting away death threats from North Korea.

Yet another reason I am really curious what a "proportional response" looks like. I had actually wondered if China helped at all with the hack. China and NK relations sound fairly strained lately. I recall China saying they wouldn't support/defend something NK was getting into recently.

So much about this is fascinating and frightening to think about. It could really turn into a pivotal point in our history... And Seth Rogan's name will be right there in the history books. w... t... f...

Someone should make a movie about this!

Jinsai
12-20-2014, 02:10 AM
So much about this is fascinating and frightening to think about. It could really turn into a pivotal point in our history... And Seth Rogan's name will be right there in the history books. w... t... f...

maybe the most horrifying (and astonishing/fascinating) aspect to consider...

Relations between the two countries are "strained" only (I believe) on a diplomatic level. NK is still very obviously under China's thumb. If China cut them off, their bullshit would be ended within days by a UN resolution. China uses NK as wild card leverage, and "everyone" knows this. It's the elephant in the room... and it would be so strange if this stupid movie ultimately made that more apparent to a lot of people.

tony.parente
12-20-2014, 03:06 AM
So the death scene got leaked on the internet yesterday.

http://bestshowsontvkasuwell.blogspot.com/2014/12/kim-jong-un-death-scene-interview.html

Jinsai
12-20-2014, 06:04 AM
So the death scene got leaked on the internet yesterday.

http://bestshowsontvkasuwell.blogspot.com/2014/12/kim-jong-un-death-scene-interview.html

This has been floating around on the net since (shortly) before the movie got banned. I first saw this I think 4 days ago, alongside emails detailing what was censored to make it suitable for release, but we still haven't seen the uncensored clip. This is the highly toned down bit that Sony execs thought would be tame enough so it wouldn't be controversial.

The ironic part is that apparently they're so fucking pissed that this movie exists BECAUSE OF THIS SCENE... that they are going this nuts to stop us from seeing the movie at all... not realizing that the only SCENE THEY PRIMARILY DON'T WANT US TO SEE is now on loop on everyone's internet social media feeds... whereas, if you guys would have just shut up, nobody would have cared.

whoops.

And yeah, if that guy in South Korea with the balloons wants to drop a score of burned DVDs on North Korea, he doesn't need the whole movie to make the point clear that the rest of the world doesn't respect glorious leader. He just needs to burn discs with that scene.

botley
12-20-2014, 12:18 PM
Yet another reason I am really curious what a "proportional response" looks like.
Proportional response is sometimes diplomatic speak for "retaliatory act of war." It is the same language that the Israeli government uses to justify its ongoing military strikes on Hamas targets in Palestine.

DigitalChaos
12-20-2014, 12:58 PM
I... ... just... WHAT?!

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30559136
- NK is calling for a joint investigation (whatever that is) OR ELSE!
- Sony is now saying they will release the video and the entire country simply got the entire situation wrong.

I mean, maybe an official sony rep saying they "had no further plans to release" the movie shortly after talking about releasing it on-demand was misinterpreted... but it seems like Sony is simply doing a 180. Kinda crazy it took THE PRESIDENT to convince a movie studio that they should actually release their Seth Rogan comedy.

If Sony comes out and tells everyone this was all a planned PR stunt... this might all become MORE sane.



More on this joint investigation request: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/world/asia/north-korea-denying-sony-attack-proposes-joint-investigation-with-us.html
Seems NK insists they are innocent and wants to work with the US to prove it.

Jinsai
12-20-2014, 03:13 PM
at this point, it's cute if Sony wants to back pedal and say shit like "Oh, you just got us wrong when we said that thing that was totally contradictory to what we're now saying..."

So many people are being fired at Sony right now I'm sure everyone's afraid to touch this issue. Oh, did you say that the movie will never come out on any format? You're fucking fired! Did you have anything to do with this fucking movie being made! Fired! Did you just tell some blogger that the movie will be coming out on SOME format? You're fucking fired too, probably, I don't know anymore, fuck!

The fucking president told you to harden up and release the fucking movie, so DO IT. You are no longer responsible for anything bad that happens here as a result of your shitty Seth Rogan comedy coming out. You can always have a cry and blame Obama.

But if Sony comes out and tells everyone this was all a planned PR stunt? Holy shit... people will be going to jail.

Khrz
12-20-2014, 05:26 PM
- NK is calling for a joint investigation (whatever that is) OR ELSE!

NOW that's the North Korea I know...

Hazekiah
12-20-2014, 06:11 PM
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10409389_10152938664929521_1471635335468280504_n.j pg?oh=4846839db1413978f2c898028f665715&oe=553DFD9F&__gda__=1426623090_13fdefa07feb84af0ec83e0f1301b11 d

botley
12-21-2014, 10:15 AM
China might not be propping up this regime for much longer (http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/world/asia/chinese-annoyance-with-north-korea-bubbles-to-the-surface.html).

Fixer808
12-21-2014, 01:33 PM
I had actually wondered if China helped at all with the hack. China and NK relations sound fairly strained lately. I recall China saying they wouldn't support/defend something NK was getting into recently.
I'm not sure China would want anything to do with this NK venture. I can see their liaisons raising their eyebrows as the idea and the reasoning behind it were explained, and then saying "REALLY, guys? Hey, I think we're just gonna sit this one out, but you have fun."


So much about this is fascinating and frightening to think about. It could really turn into a pivotal point in our history... And Seth Rogan's name will be right there in the history books. w... t... f...
Hehehe, it just looks so WRONG...

elevenism
12-21-2014, 02:18 PM
Slight drift, but movie theatres are open in the US on the 25th? That seems... slightly odd.

also, lots of Jewish folk go to the movies on Christmas day.

I am utterly torn on this issue.
I strongly doubt that North Korea has the capacity to strike the US. They threaten us pretty regularly and it barely makes the news. They were mobilized and prepared to attack the us last year when the US did those military drills with South Korea last spring. Nothing ever comes of it.

HOWEVER, i am sure that one or more random nutjobs WOULD have gone and killed people attending the movie, using the threat as an excuse.

I also feel that making a movie...silly or not...about assassinating ANY world leader is pretty fucking insensitive. As much as we might hate NK, that shit is just flat out mean. Like others said, what if a country made a movie about harming Obama or any other western leader? And remember, NK's leaders are worshiped as deities. I got interested in NK years ago because my brother's wife is Korean, and watched a lot of documentaries about the north. It is fucking NUTS.

This being said, it IS kind of fucked up to allow another country to dictate what movies we can see.

I GUESS the theater chains did the right thing. (and remember, the theaters said they wouldn't play it. they kind of forced sony's hand.)

I think the movie should at least be released on demand, and leaked at the VERY least.
Jinsai , thanks for enlightening me on the China angle. I've always wondered why we don't shut NK's shit down, and i've never put 2 and 2 together.

The theory that NK had nothing to do with this is pretty damn intriguing too.

marodi
12-21-2014, 03:20 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPAPNHbzCE4

Harry Seaward
12-21-2014, 03:27 PM
HOWEVER, i am sure that one or more random nutjobs WOULD have gone and killed people attending the movie, using the threat as an excuse.

Oh well. Not a reason to stop the release of a movie.


I also feel that making a movie...silly or not...about assassinating ANY world leader is pretty fucking insensitive. As much as we might hate NK, that shit is just flat out mean. Like others said, what if a country made a movie about harming Obama or any other western leader? And remember, NK's leaders are worshiped as deities. I got interested in NK years ago because my brother's wife is Korean, and watched a lot of documentaries about the north. It is fucking NUTS.

Oh well. Lots of movies are mean. It could be a 90 minute clip of Seth Rogen shitting in Kim Jong-Un's mouth and that would not make a tiny amount of difference. I've also heard people imply that if this movie were a smart, mature satire things would be different. No. The plot of the movie does not matter. Plus I don't think NK leaders are worshipped as much as the people have to pretend they worship them.

If some Asian comedians made a movie about killing Obama (you'll notice the premise of my hypothetical scenario doesn't make any sense, because Obama isn't a chillingly evil despot so nobody would make that movie), you know what the US government would do? Not watch it.


I GUESS the theater chains did the right thing. (and remember, the theaters said they wouldn't play it. they kind of forced sony's hand.)

Giving in to threats is never the right thing. Plus nobody forced Sony's hand. They're a media company, they could get the movie out if they wanted to.

Harry Seaward
12-22-2014, 02:17 AM
North Korea accuses the US government of making the film and warms that "worse is coming," including an attack on America's "citadels." Welp.


http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/21/world/asia/north-korea-us-sony/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

DigitalChaos
12-22-2014, 11:52 AM
North Korea accuses the US government of making the film and warms that "worse is coming," including an attack on America's "citadels." Welp.


http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/21/world/asia/north-korea-us-sony/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Thing is, there is some truth to what NK is claiming when you look at the leaked emails.

Emails Reveal US State Department Influenced Sony’s “The Interview” so as to Encourage Assassination and Regime Change in North Korea
http://antiwar.com/blog/2014/12/18/state-dept-the-interview/

Every time I think this story couldn't get any more insane, it does.

Harry Seaward
12-22-2014, 12:13 PM
Thing is, there is some truth to what NK is claiming when you look at the leaked emails.

Emails Reveal US State Department Influenced Sony’s “The Interview” so as to Encourage Assassination and Regime Change in North Korea
http://antiwar.com/blog/2014/12/18/state-dept-the-interview/

Every time I think this story couldn't get any more insane, it does.

Maybe I'm blind, but doesn't that article say the US Gov suggested the movie stay the way it is? Is there anything about the State Dept influencing the film, other than the title of the article? The way they phrased certainly implies that the Gov suggested changes.

Deepvoid
12-22-2014, 12:46 PM
Maybe I'm blind, but doesn't that article say the US Gov suggested the movie stay the way it is? Is there anything about the State Dept influencing the film, other than the title of the article? The way they phrased certainly implies that the Gov suggested changes.

The title doesn't suggests changes. It states that US Gov influenced Sony so as to encourage the assassination and regime change.

It's exactly what the article says as well.

"The emails also reveal that a RAND corporation senior defense analyst who consulted on the film went beyond “blessing” and outright influenced the end of the film, encouraging the CEO of Sony Entertainment to leave the assassination scene as it was (in spite of misgivings at Sony) for the sake of encouraging North Koreans to actually assassinate Kim Jong-Un and depose his regime when the movie eventually leaks into that country."

Guessing Sony had an alternate ending they were preferring.

Harry Seaward
12-22-2014, 01:08 PM
The title doesn't suggests changes. It states that US Gov influenced Sony so as to encourage the assassination and regime change.

It's exactly what the article says as well.

"The emails also reveal that a RAND corporation senior defense analyst who consulted on the film went beyond “blessing” and outright influenced the end of the film, encouraging the CEO of Sony Entertainment to leave the assassination scene as it was (in spite of misgivings at Sony) for the sake of encouraging North Koreans to actually assassinate Kim Jong-Un and depose his regime when the movie eventually leaks into that country."

Guessing Sony had an alternate ending they were preferring.

Well, ignoring the blog spam leads you back to the actual article from the site that dug up the emails: Source. (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/17/exclusive-sony-emails-allege-u-s-govt-official-ok-d-controversial-ending-to-the-interview.html)

You'll notice their spin is slightly different. Still not seeing anything that says the US Gov influenced the film, beyond a thinktank watching it and saying "yeah this is cool." The only thing I've seen that posits the idea that the Gov did anything to change the film is that blog which just misinterprets the original article.

DigitalChaos
12-22-2014, 01:48 PM
It would definitely be worth comparing the actual NK statement against the actual leaked emails, instead of the media rephrasing of them... those are frequently very jacked up and turn into the "telephone game."

NK statement: http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2014/201412/news21/20141221-14ee.html

"The DPRK has clear evidence that the U.S. administration was deeply involved in the making of such dishonest reactionary movie.

It is said that the movie was conceived and produced according to the "guidelines" of the U.S. authorities who contended that such movies hurting the dignity of the DPRK supreme leadership and inciting terrorism against it would be used in an effective way as "propaganda against north Korea".


The U.S. Department of State's special human rights envoy went the lengths of urging the movie makers to keep all scenes insulting the dignity of the DPRK supreme leadership in the movie, saying it is needed to "vex the north Korean government".

The facts glaringly show that the U.S. is the chief culprit of terrorism as it has loudly called for combating terrorism everywhere in the world but schemed behind the scene to produce and distribute movies inciting it in various countries of the world."


If you normalize some of the typical NK hyperbole, what they are saying is fairly true. They are certainly over-representing the government involvement, but the fact that the government actually thinks this movie can help hurt NK is not something I would have ever assumed to be true until I read the emails.

botley
12-22-2014, 01:57 PM
So — it looks like America DDoS'd the entire nation (http://t.co/SKMsxfUGUE) of North Korea to take out their Internet access.

DigitalChaos
12-22-2014, 02:01 PM
And the possibility of this hurting the NK bubble of propaganda actually has potential. Apparently, black market DVDs have become a huge source of info about the world outside of NK and it is putting cracks in the NK control.

DigitalChaos
12-22-2014, 02:05 PM
So — it looks like America DDoS'd the entire nation (http://t.co/SKMsxfUGUE) of North Korea to take out their Internet access.
THIS is their "proportional response" ?!
Because the playbook of "what would 4chan do?" wasn't enough for just NK, the US has to get in on that action too.

Some tech background: Doing this to NK is pretty trivial. They have a very small pipe to the outside. In fact, simply transferring the huge Sonly leak would have destroyed their pipe... which is why the hackers were very likely outside of the country and are not being remotely impacted by this DDoS.

I am still not convinced NK actually perpetrated this.

marodi
12-22-2014, 04:56 PM
Oh, Anonymous...

http://mic.com/articles/106998/you-may-end-up-seeing-the-interview-after-all-thanks-to-anonymous

Space Suicide
12-22-2014, 06:48 PM
http://news.sky.com/story/1396088/north-korea-threatens-to-target-the-white-house

Guess this movie was also a good reason for NK to start shit with the US.

Khrz
12-22-2014, 07:57 PM
I am still not convinced NK actually perpetrated this.

And I'm not convinced the DDOS attack has anything to do with US services.

Or we're entering the golden age of civilization where nations, instead of destroying humans lives as retaliation, just shrug and troll the shit out of each other. I'd be okay with that.

DigitalChaos
12-22-2014, 08:30 PM
And I'm not convinced the DDOS attack has anything to do with US services.

Or we're entering the golden age of civilization where nations, instead of destroying humans lives as retaliation, just shrug and troll the shit out of each other. I'd be okay with that.
agree
For the DDoS, I hadn't done any research today on it beyond the initial claim that the US did it.
For the first time in this evolving story, reality seems more sane: http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/22/7436431/the-us-probably-isnt-behind-north-koreas-internet-problems/in/7116622
Seems there is nobody claiming responsibility for what is happening to NK's internet and it started before Obama did anything.

And honestly, a DDoS makes no sense for a nation. You could just fuck up routing to drop all traffic. It's exactly what has happened before. DDoS is the realm of kids who don't have access to internet routing. DDoS is literally one of the easiest and least expensive things you can do to create a big impact without having any real power or technical skill. That's why you always see that kind of thing from "anonymous"

DigitalChaos
12-22-2014, 08:32 PM
For people looking for a central spot to keep up with this stuff, I already posted my favorite here: https://www.riskbasedsecurity.com/2014/12/a-breakdown-and-analysis-of-the-december-2014-sony-hack/ This one is a running analysis of each day's coverage, mostly focused on the technical and security side of things.

but it looks like The Verge has their own, much more focused on just aggregating every story: http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/8/7352581/sony-pictures-hacked-storystream

theruiner
12-23-2014, 11:36 AM
It's getting released. The Alamo Drafthouse is going to be playing it starting Christmas day and other indie theaters around the counrty are trying to get it played in their theaters as well.

Also, it should be available for streaming "no later than Christmas."

Source: http://popcultureblog.dallasnews.com/2014/12/sources-sony-to-ask-theaters-if-they-want-to-open-the-interview-christmas-day-after-all.html/

R-Dot-Yung
12-23-2014, 02:21 PM
I hope it gets released on VOD Christmas Day.

I will throw money at it to support a change in the industry.

Fixer808
12-23-2014, 03:47 PM
What a fucking ridiculous news "event"... I still can't believe that THIS MOVIE created THIS FIRESTORM.

DigitalChaos
12-23-2014, 03:58 PM
Seriously. A month later and it's like it never happened.... except Sony's dirty laundry is still all over the place but whatever. Their security has always been shit.

This really does kind of sum up the culture of 2014. Big thing that everyone talks about, ultimately changes nothing or very little when it is done, and everyone forgets soon after. Yay 24hr news cycle!


This one hit all the triggers for me though with the heavy amount of IT security involved. That angle is going to last for quite a while in the security community. So much info is still unknown.

Wretchedest
12-23-2014, 06:53 PM
Just bought tickets and extras. Hurrah for middling stoner movies.

Throw_it_away9
12-23-2014, 06:55 PM
Yay, it's back on!

Looks like I have xmas plans after all...

DigitalChaos
12-24-2014, 12:16 AM
Has anyone looked through the ~25GB of leaked internal Sony files? Sony is throwing all their legal weight at censoring it. They are having twitter suspend accounts that link to it, reddit is banning users that link to it, I am VERY suspicious of the pirate bay being taken offline because of this, etc.

This was from 3 weeks ago, but got very little coverage compared to other data
http://vfxsoldier.wordpress.com/2014/12/03/sony-hack-reveals-croner-vfx-animation-games-industry-wages/
Huge reveal on detailed salary info for a whole bunch of companies in the entertainment industry. Probably more accurate than those yearly salary surveys that HR departments pay for.

richardp
12-24-2014, 12:56 AM
I legitimately fielded close to 500 calls today at my Box Office area for the theater that I work at today after we officially announced that we would indeed be the only theater in Kansas City showing it now.

That was absolutely fucking exhausting.

Harry Seaward
12-24-2014, 04:25 PM
The movie is up for rent or purchase on Google Play Movies and YouTube.

Baphomette
12-24-2014, 04:31 PM
see theimage13's thoughtfully provided link below.

DigitalChaos
12-24-2014, 05:34 PM
I'm going to laugh so hard if this ends up breaking movie sales records and triggers more movies being released on day 1 this way. This would kinda fuck the theaters, but it was also the theaters that first said they wouldn't show this movie.

theimage13
12-24-2014, 05:44 PM
Also available to steal on streaming piracy sites (https://google.com).

Fixed the link for you.

Wretchedest
12-24-2014, 05:48 PM
Id so much rather give them money though. Its not as rebllious in this case if you just pirate it.

DigitalChaos
12-24-2014, 06:12 PM
I'm watching the pirated version, while paying for but not watching the official stream... this should allow for maximum rebelliousness.

Space Suicide
12-24-2014, 10:26 PM
Never had interest before and still don't and won't watch it.

This was good PR because this turd wouldn't have had the viewership numbers it would have if it released as planned with no issues.

Hazekiah
12-25-2014, 03:44 AM
This was good PR because this turd wouldn't have had the viewership numbers it would have if it released as planned with no issues.

Um, waitaminit.

WAT.

o_O

Space Suicide
12-25-2014, 09:58 AM
Um, waitaminit.

WAT.

o_O

I know it wasn't a promotional campaign but you'd be lying if this fiasco didn't help it get more viewership and drones to watch it to "Stick it to North Korea!"

Hazekiah
12-25-2014, 10:12 AM
No, you're absolutely right...sorry, I misunderstood that for a second there.

I see it's available on YT for $5.99, for instance.


Otherwise, without its last-minute, INSANELY over-hyped tragi-comic release, this might have EASILY bombed as disastrously as Your Highness back in the day.

(I actually got a kick out of Pineapple Express, fwiw btw.)




https://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/114/MPW-57302

Space Suicide
12-25-2014, 10:26 AM
Being a streaming release mostly helped it as well since a lot of lazy people don't go to the movies so this made it even better for them. Oh well.

I'm not a huge fan of Rogan, I find his crass one dimensional humor a bit bland after awhile. Like I said, didn't interest me before nor now. However Franco has a bit of diversity, not much but a bit.

I like Danny McBride but never seen Your Highness but yeah, i knew that sucked.

mrselfdestruct94
12-25-2014, 11:56 AM
Just watched it. Overall, I thought it was an enjoyable comedy. As someone who didn't care for things like Your Highness or This is the End, and also doesn't understand why everyone seems to love Pineapple Express, I thought it was a solid flick. The gags never run themselves into the ground, there's always something going on, most of the time I was chuckling or laughing hysterically (the siberian tiger scene and subsequent 'tiger blood as lubricant' line comes to mind), and I actually liked the actor who portrayed Kim Jong Un. Seth Rogen and James Franco were fine and their characters served their purpose, but I felt like the best character in the movie was Kim Jong Un. You really end up liking him despite his reputation as a ruthless dictator, his scenes with James Franco and how their relationship forms is very well done. I was also surprised at how violent the movie ended up getting towards the end. Definitely worth a rent if you have an interest in seeing it.

DigitalChaos
12-26-2014, 04:04 PM
Rogan produces modern day Cheech and Chong style comedy. It's good for stupid mindless humor, especially if you are high. It's good for times when you want to turn off your brain.
I've been a fan of that "group" since the Freaks and Geeks days.


Somehow I never watched Your Highness though, I'll have to do that. I think I got it mixed up with Knights of Badassdom.

Baphomette
12-28-2014, 06:45 PM
Unsure about the reliability of the source but thought it was interesting (http://gotnews.com/breaking-ided-two-female-l-based-persons-interest-sony-leak/).


The woman who we will call “Lena2″ is in her mid-to-late thirties and a former Sony pictures employee, who ceased to be employed by Sony in March of this year.


A review of her LinkedIn page shows that she had both the payroll access, the computer savvy, and the accounting background. She had been at the company for eight years.

Jinsai
12-28-2014, 09:06 PM
I know it wasn't a promotional campaign but you'd be lying if this fiasco didn't help it get more viewership and drones to watch it to "Stick it to North Korea!"

I'm not as sure. The theatrical returns were really bad. It made one million on opening day.

Last I heard they hadn't revealed the profits they got from the home streaming. I would love to rent it, but they haven't made it available on a network that I use. Put it up on Amazon or Playstation Network and I'd do it.

Magtig
12-28-2014, 09:39 PM
A movie company conspires with the DoJ and the NSA as a marketing stunt which could possibly have international consequences! Sounds like a bad movie plot.


I'm not as sure. The theatrical returns were really bad. It made one million on opening day.
15 million (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-interview-online-sales-2014-12) dun dun DUUUN!

Fixer808
12-28-2014, 09:47 PM
A movie company conspires with the DoJ and the NSA as a marketing stunt which could possibly have international consequences! Sounds like a bad movie plot.
THAT one I might watch.

Hazekiah
12-29-2014, 03:13 AM
Those are pretty good numbers considering it was barely in any theaters at all and considering that most people probably didn't even realize it actually got a theatrical release anyway even if they DID happen to be near a theater that was showing it.

Conan The Barbarian
12-29-2014, 09:10 AM
Despite the hipster hate this movie is getting, I thought it was pretty funny.

theruiner
12-29-2014, 10:11 AM
15 million (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-interview-online-sales-2014-12) dun dun DUUUN!
And that's only on about 300 screens (as opposed to around 3,000, which was the original plan before all the hacking stuff happened). So it basically got the indie treatment. That is a huge amount of money for so few screens.


Edit: Oh, I see, those are online rentals. Well, that's pretty decent, considering. 3 million on screens alone, which is pretty fantastic considering how few screens it was playing on.

I mean, if this movie ended up being a wide release and if this whole hacking thing had never happened, I imagine it would have done ok. I don't think it would have been huge, but it would have done decent business, opened in the top three, probably, and made its money back. We'll never know for sure, of course.

M1ke
12-29-2014, 10:20 AM
So, do we still really know who did this to Sony?

I've heard conflicting reports of a former employee working with current employees, as well as North Korea hiring a group of hackers.

Maybe this former employee took a contract with North Korea to pull it off together?

This whole situations still seems extremely bizarre.

DigitalChaos
12-29-2014, 02:02 PM
no
"person of interest" != person who did it.

Jinsai
12-29-2014, 02:24 PM
And that's only on about 300 screens (as opposed to around 3,000, which was the original plan before all the hacking stuff happened). So it basically got the indie treatment. That is a huge amount of money for so few screens.


Edit: Oh, I see, those are online rentals. Well, that's pretty decent, considering. 3 million on screens alone, which is pretty fantastic considering how few screens it was playing on.

I mean, if this movie ended up being a wide release and if this whole hacking thing had never happened, I imagine it would have done ok. I don't think it would have been huge, but it would have done decent business, opened in the top three, probably, and made its money back. We'll never know for sure, of course.



Yeah, but the thing is, the marketing campaign for this movie was HUGE. That one site estimated that the total budget (advertising included) neared 100 million. They will never get close to recouping that cost without a huge theater roll out, which is not going to happen now.

I'm still puzzled by the way that they're doing the home rental thing. They're doing it through avenues that, for the most part, nobody is already using to buy/rent movies. My local company's video on demand, amazon streaming, Redbox... not even the Playstation Network or Playstation TV. I don't understand that part. Why are they avoiding the most popular avenues for digital rental distribution? I didn't even know it was possible to pay to rent a movie on Youtube.

Finally, they've brought it out on iTunes, but I don't have an Apple TV device or a thunderbolt->HDMI cable handy, and I'd prefer to watch the movie on a screen larger than my laptop's.

theruiner
12-29-2014, 02:52 PM
Yeah, but the thing is, the marketing campaign for this movie was HUGE. That one site estimated that the total budget (advertising included) neared 100 million. They will never get close to recouping that cost without a huge theater roll out, which is not going to happen now.
Oh, gotcha. Yeah, I think at this point they're just trying to cut their losses as much as possible. Whatever they make on this, they're not even going to recoup their costs. But better than nothing, I guess.


I'm still puzzled by the way that they're doing the home rental thing. They're doing it through avenues that, for the most part, nobody is already using to buy/rent movies. My local company's video on demand, amazon streaming, Redbox... not even the Playstation Network or Playstation TV. I don't understand that part. Why are they avoiding the most popular avenues for digital rental distribution? I didn't even know it was possible to pay to rent a movie on Youtube.I have seen some movies that were only available on, like, Google Play but they were tiny little indie movies that barely anyone had heard of.

Magtig
12-29-2014, 05:34 PM
So I watched the movie last night. The fact that it has created an international incident is truly hilarious. Probably more hilarious than the movie itself, and certainly more intriguing. That said, if you like Rogen and Franco's other movies you'll get some enjoyment out of it. Plus it's your patriotic blah blah blah.

Jinsai
01-01-2015, 05:27 AM
So I watched the movie last night. The fact that it has created an international incident is truly hilarious. Probably more hilarious than the movie itself, and certainly more intriguing. That said, if you like Rogen and Franco's other movies you'll get some enjoyment out of it. Plus it's your patriotic blah blah blah.

Pretty much. It's dumb. The full circle irony that anyone in North Korea actually attacked it is kind of hilarious, but the movie itself? If you extract the occasional unfortunate racism, it's actually pretty fun. Maybe it's fun due in part to the sloppy racism. I can't even tell anymore. The final package is pretty sloppy, and occasionally entertaining.

There's actually some pretty brilliant moments in it. The Eminem gag was hilarious.

The biggest flaw is the idea that seeing a clothed erect dick is somehow funny. I guess I missed the punchline.

DigitalChaos
01-01-2015, 10:50 AM
http://i.imgur.com/GOil1SS.jpg

Jinsai
01-01-2015, 03:42 PM
I have seen some movies that were only available on, like, Google Play but they were tiny little indie movies that barely anyone had heard of.

After actually watching the movie on my computer, I think I've figured out why they're releasing it this way. Google Play, Youtube, iTunes.... these are methods of releasing it which prevent 99% of people from casually viewing it on their home theater set up. They don't want you to watch it on your big screen TV.

They want to have their cake and eat it too. They want the theatrical version to still have an obvious appeal over the home rental version. The online launch of this movie was intended to gauge the effectiveness of simultaneously releasing a nerfed home-experience alongside a theatrical run. I suddenly feel like an asshole for giving them money.

Conan The Barbarian
01-01-2015, 04:06 PM
After actually watching the movie on my computer, I think I've figured out why they're releasing it this way. Google Play, Youtube, iTunes.... these are methods of releasing it which prevent 99% of people from casually viewing it on their home theater set up. They don't want you to watch it on your big screen TV.

They want to have their cake and eat it too. They want the theatrical version to still have an obvious appeal over the home rental version. The online launch of this movie was intended to gauge the effectiveness of simultaneously releasing a nerfed home-experience alongside a theatrical run. I suddenly feel like an asshole for giving them money.

You could hook up your device via HDMI. If you have a home theater setup, you obviously have access to do so. Chromecast, apple TV. All support HD playback.

I dont see where you were going with that thought.

Jinsai
01-01-2015, 04:55 PM
You could hook up your device via HDMI. If you have a home theater setup, you obviously have access to do so. Chromecast, apple TV. All support HD playback.

I dont see where you were going with that thought.

"methods of releasing it which prevent 99% of people from CASUALLY viewing it on their home theater set up "

I don't usually have my laptop plugged into my television. It's the obvious reason they didn't put this out on Amazon or video-on-demand services. Do you have a better explanation?

Also, Apple TV is undoubtably a large part of the reason they delayed the release onto iTunes

Also, while I do have a thunderbolt->HDMI converter for my macbook, they don't come in the box. This is a 40 dollar cable.

Baphomette
01-01-2015, 09:11 PM
Also, while I do have a thunderbolt->HDMI converter for my macbook, they don't come in the box. This is a 40 dollar cable.I'd say at least a quarter of people on this board have that cable and connect to their TV on a a regular basis. It's just as casual as turning on your PC.

Jinsai
01-01-2015, 10:43 PM
I'd say at least a quarter of people on this board have that cable and connect to their TV on a a regular basis. It's just as casual as turning on your PC.

Maybe? What would be the reason they aren't putting it on services like Red Box, Video On Demand, and Amazon then?

Baphomette
01-02-2015, 01:49 AM
Maybe? What would be the reason they aren't putting it on services like Red Box, Video On Demand, and Amazon then?I thought Red Box was strictly a DVD rental service. Are they now offering streaming plans?

Most Smart TVs come with a YouTube and/or Chromecast app. And according to this (http://deadline.com/2014/12/interview-online-plan-youtube-google-play-xbox-sony-1201335280/), Netflix (also on Smart TVs) will be offering it soon which is probably why Amazon doesn't have it.

Jinsai
01-02-2015, 02:37 AM
I thought Red Box was strictly a DVD rental service. Are they now offering streaming plans?

Yeah, there's a red box streaming service.


Most Smart TVs come with a YouTube and/or Chromecast app.
From what I was reading, they made it so you couldn't do this with the youtube app on PS4 and PS3 without a workaround of some sort... as in, you had to rent the film on your computer, then link the account with your Playstation and watch it there. It can be done, but they made it annoying.


And according to this (http://deadline.com/2014/12/interview-online-plan-youtube-google-play-xbox-sony-1201335280/), Netflix (also on Smart TVs) will be offering it soon which is probably why Amazon doesn't have it.

But just because something is on Netflix doesn't exclude it from the Amazon marketplace. Almost every movie on Netflix can be purchased or rented on Amazon.

It's not a huge deal, but if I'm right, the concept is obnoxious. Obviously they were trying to salvage as much as they could from this situation, and analysts were already discussing how this was the first time a major theatrical release would launch in theaters and streaming services simultaneously. They're testing the waters, and I like the idea of it becoming more commonplace to do this sort of thing. Just use common means to do it... It's not like I'm asking they go with one specific option I prefer...

Apparently the majority of the views of the film were made via Youtube, and I would bet the majority of people watched it the same way they watch most of their youtube videos. And really, Google Play? People watch movies on their phones?

ImTheWiseJanitor
01-02-2015, 01:58 PM
Yeah, there's a red box streaming service.

There WAS a red box streaming service. It got shut down a while back. :\ And yeah, the youtube to TV connection was NOT easy for us, heh. My little brother had to rent it on his laptop, change the settings on that for TV input, then when that didn't work, he had to access it on his tablet and hook THAT up to the TV. It was just kind of a hassle.

Jinsai
01-02-2015, 05:43 PM
There WAS a red box streaming service. It got shut down a while back. :\

Wow... that was short lived.

Deepvoid
01-03-2015, 10:20 PM
Finally saw it tonight. Franco had me laughing out loud quite a lot. It's cheap and immature jokes after another. You have to be into that kind of humor, which I kinda am. I thought the movie lost steam midway through. Still a solid 7 out of 10 popcorn for me.

"The tiger has night vision goggles?!"

GulDukat
01-04-2015, 09:56 PM
I enjoyed it, although it was a tad too long and I could have done without the Katy Perry shit.

Tiz
01-04-2015, 11:45 PM
Shit sandwich

binaryhermit
01-04-2015, 11:59 PM
I... umm... acquired it and watched it. I wasn't impressed.

Jinsai
01-05-2015, 02:18 AM
I... umm... acquired it and watched it. I wasn't impressed.

Well, of course, the movie isn't that great. It's got some great moments though. The part with Eminem is hilarious.

GulDukat
01-08-2015, 06:11 AM
I think that the somewhat happy, upbeat ending was weak. They should have gone the Dr. Strangelove ​route and given it a really dark, cynical finale--it would have made for a better, more powerful film.

Fixer808
01-20-2015, 09:01 PM
Well, of course, the movie isn't that great. It's got some great moments though. The part with Eminem is hilarious.

This is true. And Joseph Gordon Levitt with the puppies. It has its moments, but on the whole it's forgettable.

DigitalChaos
01-23-2015, 05:45 PM
North Korean soju.
The things that cross my desk....

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/01/23/c682a608b5d4f06406b432a7d4e2ce3d.jpg