Was that the lamest Opening Ceremony EVER?

[Martinus]

I love Malick's work, I can't imagine that it would translate well into a stadium floor show performed by spirited, but not necessarily talented, volunteers.

I wasn't suggesting Malick was a plausible, let alone an ideal, pick to direct an opening ceremony for the Olympics, just that Yimou's skill was comparable to some of the greatest in cinematic history, while I'm very sure that Boyle isn't.  I caught just enough of the opening ceremony to find it incredibly annoying, but given that I have not seen the entire ceremony it would not be fair for me to cast aspersions.

He directed a Best Picture winner (Slumdog Millionaire), a cult classic (Trainspotting), and possibly the greatest zombie film ever (28 Days Later). That's versatility.

The first was for a largely mediocre crowd pleaser, the second has a few moments of inspiration, and the third is tainted by the incredibly terrible quality of the digital film and a second act that falls apart completely.

As I said: You are a retard.

[Queequeg]

How many times have you seen Red Sorghum?  Just because you're gay and wealthy dpesn't automatically make you cultured, and just because you jerked off to McGregor in Trainspotting doesn't make it anything more than the flawed film it is.  If you spent more time trying to become a cultured asshat and less time pretending to be one you might be able to have a real conversation on this-but to be honest I'm pretty sure you've never seen a Chinese film without martial arts.

[Queequeg]

Would you mind enlightening me as to the reason I am retarded, O Mighty Avatar of Pauline Kael? I am certain we all have much to gain from your cinematic insights.

[Admiral Yi]

Trainspotting was brilliant from start to finish.  Agree about 28 Days Later.

[Martinus]

Trainspotting was brilliant from start to finish.  Agree about 28 Days Later.

This. Dissing the author of Trainspotting, especially if you contrast him with Spielberg (who is good at making blockbusters, but there is nothing original or creative in his cinema) or some Chinese dude noone has ever heard about (not to mention, neither of them being a Brit), makes you retarded.

[Brazen]

This. Dissing the author of Trainspotting, especially if you contrast him with Spielberg (who is good at making blockbusters, but there is nothing original or creative in his cinema) or some Chinese dude noone has ever heard about (not to mention, neither of them being a Brit), makes you retarded.

Irving Welsh wrote Trainspotting.

[Gups]

A brilliant opening ceremony, funny, touching, visually great. Highlights included Mr Bean, the pretals moving up to form the cauldron, the forging of the rings and Abide with me.

A few things didn't gran me us much - the NHS tribute was OK but a bit too surreal, can't believe that the services couldn't march in time, the speeches were pretty average, the Queen looked bored shitless by the whole thing.

But overall, was fantastic. Made be feel proud to be British and that doesn't happen very often.

[Martinus]

the Queen looked bored shitless by the whole thing.

Well, that's hardly the fault of the organizers, and she is an elderly lady who was most likely well past her bedtime.

[CountDeMoney]

What the hell, people?

At London Olympics, empty seats have organizers scrambling, giving away tickets to children and soldiers
By Karla Adam, Published: July 29
www.washingtonpost.com


LONDON — Hoping to quell controversy after large swaths of seats appeared unfilled, London Olympic organizers said British troops and schoolchildren had been given free tickets Sunday to fill many of the vacant rows.

A day after the city reveled in the splendor of Danny Boyle's critically acclaimed Opening Ceremonies, many locals were piqued Saturday when television footage showed empty seats at some of the most popular sporting events, including swimming and gymnastics, that they had been told were sold out. Such scenes ignited speculation that corporate sponsors had been provided tickets they weren't using, leaving the public on the outside looking in.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, the minister responsible for the Olympics, said Saturday that the organizing committee was "doing a full investigation into what happened. . . . We think it was accredited seats that belong to sponsors, but if they are not going to turn up, we want those tickets to be available for members of the public, because that creates the best atmosphere."

The International Olympic Committee moved quickly to quash those rumors, saying sponsors had been allocated about 8 percent of available tickets, while at the same time they tried to determine exactly whom the unused seats belonged to.

At a briefing at the Olympic Park, IOC Communications Director Mark Adams said blame for the no-shows was widespread.

"There are a range of people, four or five different groups," Adams said, "ranging, as you heard, from the federations, the actual sports organizations involved, athletes as well, some media tickets there as well, by the way, and actually I would say it is about a handful of sponsors."

Several sponsors, including Coca-Cola, Visa and McDonald's, issued statements Sunday denying they had failed to use their allocated tickets.

"I think it is wrong — completely wrong — to say this is a sponsor issue," Adams said.

Ticketing has been a particularly touchy issue here. Hundreds of thousands failed to secure seats for the events they wanted following a complicated lottery process.

Officials said they have sold more than 7 million tickets — more than were sold at the Beijing Games in 2008 — and unticketed events such as the 155-mile men's cycling road race Saturday attracted more than 1 million spectators who lined a route stretching from outside Buckingham Palace to the English countryside.

On Sunday, many venues appeared full, but there were reports of empty seats at the Basketball Arena, where the U.S. men beat France, and Greenwich Park, where Zara Phillips, the queen's granddaughter, was competing in equestrian.

On a rainy day at Wimbledon, Doreen Beeton stood on Henman Hill lamenting the half-filled Centre Court she saw on a giant video scoreboard. She believes many sponsors who were provided with tickets have no interest in the early-round matches.

"They won't let us in to fill them," Beeton said, shaking her head.

Scrambling to calm the furor, London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe said off-duty military and students already accredited for the Olympic Park would be offered the abandoned seats. British troops already were attending women's gymnastics Sunday morning, Coe said.

"There are a whole bunch of the military actually sitting in those seats at the moment," he said. "And we can and we have moved them in there. And we can do that because you are not actually impacting on the operational integrity of those venues and security."

Coe also insisted the large majority of venues were brimming with fans, and that the issue would disappear after the preliminary rounds when interest would grow.

This isn't the first time organizers have come under fire for ticketing mishaps. Earlier this month, they withdrew 500,000 tickets for soccer matches following meager demand in large stadiums dotted around the country. They also announced in July they were offering refunds to thousands of ticket holders in the 10-meter platform diving event because the position of their seats meant that the divers would briefly jump out of view.

Following the embarrassing images of unfilled seats, a resale system was introduced over the weekend whereby people leaving an event early can return tickets that can later be sold to people already in the Olympic Park. On Saturday, nearly 300 tickets for handball were recycled this way.

Organizers also said they would try to sell unused tickets to the public. On Saturday night, nearly 1,000 tickets for gymnastics previously earmarked for the "Olympic family" were put on sale to the public. They were immediately snapped up.

Faisal Lalani, 48, who had tried and failed last year to get tickets for swimming, came to the Olympic Park on Sunday hoping to snag one of the unused tickets he read about.

Standing outside of the entrance to the Olympic Park, with grandiose views of the Aquatics Centre and Orbit tower, he said, "I feel cheated."

His 17-year-old son Daniel added: "I think it's quite sad they are unused. I think athletes especially need [the fans'] support."

[Warspite]

Not much you can do about this if the IOC insists on certain numbers of tickets going to people who may or may not use them.

[CountDeMoney]

I did like seeing all the British troops in the stands during the floor events last night, though.  Until Mr. Hammond finds them and fires them all.

And speaking of the floor events, what was with everybody stepping out of bounds last night?  Are the floor dimensions in metric over there?  Everybody was overshooting it.

[Brazen]

I was at the gymnastics qualifiers on Saturday and there were huge blocks of empty seats at the front while we were up in the nosebleeds. The transport, organisation and security was fantastic, though. Beautifully smooth and not a hint of the hours of delays we were warned about.

[mongers]

I was at the gymnastics qualifiers on Saturday and there were huge blocks of empty seats at the front while we were up in the nosebleeds. The transport, organisation and security was fantastic, though. Beautifully smooth and not a hint of the hours of delays we were warned about.

Because of the aforementioned seats ? 



Hell, even I could run a pretty efficient international sporting event if I only invited 2 competitors and 5 spectators.   

[Darth Wagtaros]

Why Danny Boyle? The Chinese bring out Zhang Yimou and Spielberg, and the Brits bring ojt the guy who did The Beach.

He directed a Best Picture winner (Slumdog Millionaire), a cult classic (Trainspotting), and possibly the greatest zombie film ever (28 Days Later). That's versatility.

Shaun of the Dead is the best zombie movie ever.

[Tonitrus]

British troops already were attending women's gymnastics Sunday morning, Coe said.

What, no Siege jokes?