I never thought that I would look back at the Beijing Olympics with nostalgia.
WTF was that? Giant baby heads? Voldemort menacing children in beds?
Seriously, that was the weirdest and then the smarmiest thing I think I may have ever seen.
Habs is telling me the nurses and stuff was supposed to be some kind of NHS tribute.
Surely not?
That's what the announcers said. :lol:
Quote from: Berkut on July 27, 2012, 11:07:20 PM
Habs is telling me the nurses and stuff was supposed to be some kind of NHS tribute.
Surely not?
Yep. Though that's a bit simple.
It's a few things - most of the performers were NHS staff but there were some patients on stage too. The section was about the NHS and children's literature. It was called 'take the second right and then carry on until morning' which is from Peter Pan. Barrie donated all of the proceeds from Peter Pan to the Great Ormond Street Hospital (specialist children's hospital in London - they spelled out the logo at one point). But then it goes, I think brilliantly, into kids reading in bed - with all the villains coming real like the child catcher, Voldemort and Cruella de Vill - before Mary Poppins/nurses restore order and everything's okay again.
They also spelled out NHS in that section:
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Edit: Here's the Great Ormond Street logo:
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Brilliant?
Not the word I would choose.
Quote from: Berkut on July 27, 2012, 11:16:28 PM
Brilliant?
Not the word I would choose.
I loved the whole thing personally - except for some of the weirdly creepy IOC moments like the UN Champion of the Earth and the Olympic anthem :huh:
I actually said the Habs while we were passing the vomit bucket back and forth "I bey Shelf eats this right up..."
Quote from: Berkut on July 27, 2012, 11:22:00 PM
I actually said the Habs while we were passing the vomit bucket back and forth "I bey Shelf eats this right up..."
:lol:
They had me at Jerusalem :blush:
Edit: I think it touched a lot of points for Brits that maybe don't translate :lol:
Even right-wingers generally seemed to love it. For example here, from the Telegraph:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timstanley/100173004/danny-boyles-olympic-opening-ceremony-was-as-ironic-complex-and-beautiful-as-britain-herself/
QuoteDanny Boyle's Olympic opening ceremony was as ironic, complex and beautiful as Britain herself
By Tim Stanley Politics Last updated: July 28th, 2012
143 Comments Comment on this article
Danny Boyle's Olympic Ceremony told many stories about British history. For Tories, there was a pre-industrial ruritania. For liberal capitalists, there was an industrial revolution. For socialists, there was an NHS song-and-dance routine that ended in Mary Poppins thrashing Voldemort with her umbrella (all hail the "nanny" state). All that was missing was Grace Jones and her fabulous hoop. Dear old Grace. She's probably on a cruise ship in the North Sea right now, belting out disco like it's going out of fashion.
The show was as complex (or confused) as British identity itself. But it was also spectacular, beautiful and funny. It opened with children singing hymns (did Britain used to be Christian?! Don't remember reading about that at school), the camera flying through the hills and dales of our Angel Isle, before settling on a quaint village in the middle of the stadium. As a jaded traditionalist who hankers for the certainties of the 13th century, this was pure poetry to me. Then came the inventor Brunel to announce the coming of the industrial age. "Boo, hiss."
The workers emerged from the scorched earth and tore away the grass piece by piece – to unveil a hideous industrial landscape of ash and concrete. The effect was stunning: from Surrey to Manchester in ten horrible minutes. On came the reforms of the 20th century: women's suffrage, immigration, democracy and ... the Beatles. There was a pause – incredibly moving – for the dead of World War I. That's the price of greed and ambition. Millions dead for a blade of grass in Belgium.
On Britain worked, fire pouring from ugly chimneys to create the golden rings of the Olympics. They rose into the air to hang above the crowd and pour their Wagnerian gold from the sky. I was half expecting a human sacrifice to Odin.
Then came the NHS bit, which was a mix of the perverse and the endearing: nurses twirling beds around in a sort of Busby Berkeley on the cancer ward. Literally every available bed on the NHS was on that stage. The children beneath the bed clothes had nightmares, and from them sprung a giant Voldemort which floated upwards like a figure of death. Mary Poppins banished it back to Hell and the monsters were gone. Or at least, they were until we entered the digital age.
Now maybe it's because I have the tastes of Colonel Blimp, but I can't help feel that the last third of Boyle's act reflected all the failed ambition of postwar Britain. If it was an accurate portrayal of modern life, then it would seem that we've spent the last thirty years at an ecstasy rave. Lines of dancers jiggered and pokered around on the spot in loud costumes in a mass celebration of nothing at all. But I'm not complaining. The reality of a nation is that it contains some 60 million individuals, each with a different idea of what that nation stands for. For some, it's David Bowie – for others, it's Purcell. For me, it's watching The Professionals on a wet afternoon with a mug of tea and some custard creams. Towards the end of the ceremony, I nearly took my face off when trying to light a cigarette from the gas stove. That's the real Britain, Mr Doyle.
That we can laugh and bitch about ourselves is one of the defining things of being British. Hence it was marvellous to see Mr Bean playing keyboard during a rendition of Chariots of Fire. And we've tried very hard to integrate the new, which is why the conscious effort at diversity felt perfectly apt. I'm proud of the part of the British soul that is curious and tolerant. Not everyone agrees. A Mr Aidan Burley tweeted, "The most leftie opening ceremony I have ever seen – more than Beijing, the capital of a communist state! Welfare tribute next?" And, later, "Thank God the athletes have arrived! Now we can move on from leftie multi-cultural crap." Aside from the content, the problem with those tweets is that Aidan Burley once threw a Nazi-themed stag party and is now an MP. That's MP as in "Member of Parliament", not "Monkey-brained Prat-boy."
Finally, the athletes paraded into the stadium – a blow-by-blow reminder of how many countries there now are in the world. There was even a separate team for Jimmy Carr's bank account. The North Korea chaps looked happy, but then I'm sure that Pyongyang radio is already reporting that Kim Jong Un has won all the medals. That guy's amazing.
So after all of this, what is Britain? A country that can still put on a show, that has many identities, that is culturally rich, that has a battered landscape, that lost a lot when the factories were first built, that has patches of God still found lying about, that is intensely proud of what it got right (free healthcare, women's votes), but not too comfortable about what it got wrong (empire was never mentioned). It is a mess. A jolly wonderful mess. We're good at those.
I'm with Sheilbh. I loved it. :wub:
Admittedly, it was a bit slow in places, and I didn't always understand all that was going on, but the ending totally clenched it for me with the bronze leaves folding up to create the Olympic Torch. I thought that was pretty amazing.
Apparently NBC cut the tribute to the 7/7 victims (the bombing was the day after London was announced as host), which seems an odd choice. It was a lovely hymn too :(
Iraqi flag bearer chick was pretty hot.
Quote from: Sheilbh on July 28, 2012, 12:07:17 AM
Apparently NBC cut the tribute to the 7/7 victims (the bombing was the day after London was announced as host), which seems an odd choice. It was a lovely hymn too :(
And I guess the lesbian kiss was cut here, too, but allowed in Saudia Arabia.
That's the good ole' US of A! More socially conservative than Saudia-fucking Arabia. :rolleyes:
Why were lesbians making out at the opening ceremonies?
Quote from: Sheilbh on July 27, 2012, 11:23:55 PM
Mary Poppins thrashing Voldemort with her umbrella
WTF!? :wacko:
Quote from: sbr on July 28, 2012, 12:22:11 AM
Why were lesbians making out at the opening ceremonies?
It was a bit taking a tour of British music kind of told through a story of a boy-meets-girl on a night out, with images from British TV and film to reflect the mood (and era) being flashed on a suburban house - all praising the internet. When the girl and boy got together they showed a montage of famous kisses (to Song 2). The montage included the Anna Friel kiss from Brookside.
Edit: Or as a reporter tweeted 'I love this - our suburban lives made magical by music, snogging and Saturday night'
Quote from: Sheilbh on July 28, 2012, 12:33:10 AM
Quote from: sbr on July 28, 2012, 12:22:11 AM
Why were lesbians making out at the opening ceremonies?
It was a bit taking a tour of British music kind of told through a story of a boy-meets-girl on a night out, with images from British TV and film to reflect the mood (and era) being flashed on a suburban house - all praising the internet. When the girl and boy got together they showed a montage of famous kisses (to Song 2). The montage included the Anna Friel kiss from Brookside.
Edit: Or as a reporter tweeted 'I love this - our suburban lives made magical by music, snogging and Saturday night'
And that was shown here, Meri is loca gringa.
The live broadcast - I caught the last bit - lighting of the torch. There was then a rebroadcast, but I was out at the park with Timmy, came back and they were at the parade of nations.
Seen some highlights though - looks good generally. But a tribute to the NHS? :x
Quote from: Barrister on July 28, 2012, 12:40:11 AMSeen some highlights though - looks good generally. But a tribute to the NHS? :x
As Nigel Lawson put it, it's the nearest thing we have to a national religion :lol:
Edit: Also as I say 600 of the performers in that section were NHS staff, and there was a more specific tribute to Great Ormond Street.
Quote from: Sheilbh on July 28, 2012, 12:42:34 AM
Quote from: Barrister on July 28, 2012, 12:40:11 AMSeen some highlights though - looks good generally. But a tribute to the NHS? :x
As Nigel Lawson put it, it's the nearest thing we have to a national religion :lol:
It's a government department. I'm all for socialized medicine (well not quite, but let's pretend), but you'll notice that Vancouver 2010 did not demonstrate a tribute to Health Canada. :bleeding:
The day glo bycicle wings were horribly cheap and goofy. The fireworks were pretty cool.
Dude had $40 million to spend and I just don't see where he put it.
Totally missed the lebiangs tonguing.
Quote from: Barrister on July 28, 2012, 12:44:46 AM
It's a government department. I'm all for socialized medicine (well not quite, but let's pretend), but you'll notice that Vancouver 2010 did not demonstrate a tribute to Health Canada. :bleeding:
Well the NHS is seen as being more or less independent, but state-funded - the only comparable institution (in terms of affection that people have with it - as well as frustration) is the BBC. The NHS is often top three in terms of most trusted institution or 'things that make you proud to be British'. In a recent poll the top two most trusted bodies were the armed forces and the NHS. I don't know if that's the case with Health Canada, though it could be.
Because of all that and what its founding means in our history I think any celebration of Britishness - which is what this was - would have to include the NHS. It doesn't deserve its own section but the linking of it with Great Ormond Street, Peter Pan, children's literature, the joy of being scared and Mary Poppins was, as I say, I think quite brilliant.
I read on twitter that the US was the only country to not bow their flag to the queen. Anyone else hear that?
Quote from: sbr on July 28, 2012, 01:27:23 AM
I read on twitter that the US was the only country to not bow their flag to the queen. Anyone else hear that?
It's probably true. I remember reading somewhere that the US 'never dips the flag'. But I read that a while ago and that was in a military, not a sporting context, so it may not be relevant.
Quote from: sbr on July 28, 2012, 01:27:23 AM
I read on twitter that the US was the only country to not bow their flag to the queen. Anyone else hear that?
I don't know about only country but it has been a US tradition to not dip the flag since the Stockholm games (Oslo?) in the early 1900s.
I'm sure obama tried to talk them into it.
I liked it.
Ah.......by Habs you mean Habbaku not Habsburg.............Berkut's opening posts make sense to me now :P
I rather enjoyed it, though there were some longueurs and I could have done without Macca. It is a curious art-form, rather naff in many ways and we should reflect that it is possibly the only thing that would be best done by North Korea :hmm:
I thought the torch thing at the end was particularly good, some of the stuff in the middle I did wonder what foreigners were making of it.
Yeah, Berkut, you need to stop referring to Habbaku as "Habs". Habsburg is and has always been the "Habs" - you are the only one who refers to Habbaku that way.
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 28, 2012, 02:55:33 AM
some of the stuff in the middle I did wonder what foreigners were making of it.
"Brits have the queen and are a bit weird but usually well meaning".
Which probably perfectly matches the opinion the world already has of you. So good job capturing that. :P
It was a terrible opening ceremony; twee and excessively self-referential before the parade of the athletes, excessively drawn out when they got round to opening the games and lighting the cauldron afterwards.
I seem to be alone in thinking this though in Britain, judging by the posts from fellow Brits on this forum and the news stories I'm seeing on the web.
Quote from: Martinus on July 28, 2012, 03:01:56 AM
Yeah, Berkut, you need to stop referring to Habbaku as "Habs". Habsburg is and has always been the "Habs" - you are the only one who refers to Habbaku that way.
I think a lot of people here use that term for a particular hockey team as well.
The Queen as Bond girl, Tim Berners-Lee and Rowan Atkinson more than made up for the over-long bitty musical sequence and the bloody awfulness of Paul McCartney once again missing his cue and key.
What do you furriners make of having young athletes rather than a sporting hero light the flame? Indecision or a statement on self-effacing Britishness?
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 28, 2012, 02:55:33 AM
Ah.......by Habs you mean Habbaku not Habsburg.............Berkut's opening posts make sense to me now :P
I assumed he meant the Montreal Canadiens.
What sort of reaction did the American delegation get from the Brits? I was trying to watch, but I think I may have been in a diabetic coma after Mary Poppins ("one of the most popular character's in children's literature" - what, like among retirees?) danced Voldemort to hell and the 12-hour epic of 'Boy gives Girl her phone back'.
The Queen and James Bond part makes it the best opening ceremony ever. It's really the most endearing thing about the Brits - their ability to be self-effacing.
Quote from: Martinus on July 28, 2012, 09:15:22 AM
The Queen and James Bond part makes it the best opening ceremony ever. It's really the most endearing thing about the Brits - their ability to be self-effacing.
I also think that and things like the celebration of childhood and our drummer being an amazing deaf percussionist (she used to give concerts at my school because she came from Thurso, not many people do) was quite a nice counter-point to Beijing too.
To the OP : Of course not, do you not remember Atlanta 1996?
Quote from: Kleves on July 28, 2012, 08:41:45 AM
What sort of reaction did the American delegation get from the Brits? I was trying to watch, but I think I may have been in a diabetic coma after Mary Poppins ("one of the most popular character's in children's literature" - what, like among retirees?) danced Voldemort to hell and the 12-hour epic of 'Boy gives Girl her phone back'.
It was a very good reception from what I could tell from the NBC feed, second only to the home team.
Overall I liked it. Love the Bond/Queen bit.
Loved the Michael Oldfield music. I loved the NHS segment with the volunteer children and the kids literature stuff. Thought they needed to fit Enid Blyton there somewhere...what's British Kiddie lit without Blyton?. I liked the musical tribute bit, though I thought it went on too long.
Macca needs some new material.
I was disappointed a bit with the cop out of selecting a group of people to light the torch. I dig that the whole theme was continutiy and future and all that. But still. Cop out.
Overall though...I thought it was a pretty good show.
I watched a replay of the ceremony late last night.
I'm going to vote no on the Bond bit. Liz needed some lines. She might as well have been played by a body double. Simulating an 85 year old woman, who's entire raison d'etre is to project dignity, parachuting out of a helicopter was tacky and demeaning. Then when she walked to the reviewing stands she looked like she was dosed with Valium.
Saw a little bit of the doctors and nurses dancing around. Maybe Shelf is right and the NHS is a revered national treasure but to me it was just bizarre.
What does it say about the UK today when you can't find six service men and women who can march in step? The big British arm swing made it look even worse. It looked like Keystone Kops out there.
Can someone tell me what the people at the front of each national delegation were carrying? Alien pod? Gigantic beef liver?
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 28, 2012, 02:33:45 PM
Can someone tell me what the people at the front of each national delegation were carrying? Alien pod? Gigantic beef liver?
They called it a petal, it's what became the cauldron later on.
I was all ready to hate the opening ceremony, but it really impressed me. The Queen/Bond moment was brilliant. Mr Bean could have gone very wrong, but I thought the synth joke was very well played in the end. Mike Oldfield :wub:
The music I also thought was good fun. I agreed with one comment on Twitter, that the UK is one of two countries on earth that could fill a four-hour show entirely with home-grown pop music of various genres that a good chunk of the rest of the world will know - the Beatles, Stones, Blur, The Jam, The Prodigy, etc etc. The whole point was to demonstrate Britain's role as a leading cultural producer even after its decline as a industrial power and tie it in with the point about social changes. And they mixed it up with some Elgar, the Dambusters theme, and traditional hymns.
That's also what the NHS bit was about. First the link with British literature - what every Briton who can read is proud of - with a great institution that, whatever its flaws, is also something the Brits are proud of. Even most of the right wing in the country fundamentally agree with the idea of a universal health service free at the point of access for all. Brits who know their history know the abysmal conditions the working classes of the industrial revolution lived through; the NHS was a key part of the deal paying them off for doing the fighting and dying in two World Wars. So it's a pretty big part of British identity, and something definitely meant in the opening ceremony for the domestic audience. You Yanquis may not agree with the idea, so I'm sure you can gloat about the efficiency of your welfare sector come the next US games. :p
On the service personnel who couldn't march in step, I bet they've had a good ear bashing already. Pretty much the only thing the British military is world-class at these days is drill, so this was unforgiveable.
What I thought was done best, however, was the 7/7 bombings tribute (Abide with Me, and the dance). Actually brought a tear to my eye and a whole host of unwelcome memories of that day back. Turns out, however, that US TV cut this out to have a tepid interview with Phelps. A shame, really, because I am sure Americans of all people would have felt a great empathy with Londoners over the attacks and with this tribute.
Quote from: Berkut on July 27, 2012, 11:16:28 PM
Brilliant?
Not the word I would choose.
They were not respecting the citizens freedom of dying in a gutter from cancer.
Quote from: sbr on July 28, 2012, 11:21:38 AM
Quote from: Kleves on July 28, 2012, 08:41:45 AM
What sort of reaction did the American delegation get from the Brits? I was trying to watch, but I think I may have been in a diabetic coma after Mary Poppins ("one of the most popular character's in children's literature" - what, like among retirees?) danced Voldemort to hell and the 12-hour epic of 'Boy gives Girl her phone back'.
It was a very good reception from what I could tell from the NBC feed, second only to the home team.
I think all the Anglo states got a good reception. The US got a big cheer that then ebbed due to the size of the team but came back whenever they zoomed in to someone famous.
Syria got no cheer from what I heard.
Also when I talk about emotional/romantic unionism, that ceremony was roughly it.
Quote from: Brazen on July 28, 2012, 03:39:01 AM
The Queen as Bond girl, Tim Berners-Lee and Rowan Atkinson more than made up for the over-long bitty musical sequence and the bloody awfulness of Paul McCartney once again missing his cue and key.
What do you furriners make of having young athletes rather than a sporting hero light the flame? Indecision or a statement on self-effacing Britishness?
I really enjoyed the opening ceremony. The whole CC household had a good laugh when Atkinson did his bit. Although I wondered how well the whole thing would play in the US - ie would they get the references. Berkut answered that question.
As for the lighting of the flame, I thought it was a bit disappointing as the crowd never got a chance to let loose and cheer on some national hero. But as you say, on reflection, it was typically British and the opening ceremonies are, above all, for the home crowd.
I say a job well done.
Question: Who would be a British sporting hero? The guy who came in second at Wimbledon maybe? All their soccer players are tainted by failure. What sort of sports does Britain do well at?
Quote from: Neil on July 28, 2012, 04:23:27 PM
Question: Who would be a British sporting hero? The guy who came in second at Wimbledon maybe? All their soccer players are tainted by failure. What sort of sports does Britain do well at?
Cricket.
NBC is laughing at the time delay whiners, as their ratings are coming in strong for the opening ceremony. :nelson:
QuoteUPDATE 10:30 AM: Last night's opening ceremony of the London Olympics drew 40.7 million viewers to become the most watched Summer Games opening ceremony ever and the most watched non-U.S. Olympics opener. Overall, it is the second most watched opening ceremony behind only the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter games. Vs. the last two Summer Olympics, Danny Boyle's show, highlighted by the Queen's skit with James Bond, drew almost 6 million more viewers than the 2008 Beijing Olympics (34.9 million) and 15 million more than the 2004 Athens Olympics (25.4 million), the last games held in Europe.
Quote from: Neil on July 28, 2012, 04:23:27 PM
Question: Who would be a British sporting hero? The guy who came in second at Wimbledon maybe? All their soccer players are tainted by failure. What sort of sports does Britain do well at?
Roger Bannister for one.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 28, 2012, 02:27:10 PMWhat does it say about the UK today when you can't find six service men and women who can march in step?
That it's not a fucked up country of North Korean kind?
Quote from: Martinus on July 28, 2012, 04:28:17 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 28, 2012, 02:27:10 PMWhat does it say about the UK today when you can't find six service men and women who can march in step?
That it's not a fucked up country of North Korean kind?
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I was pleasantly surprised. :)
Though Macca needs to put out to grass.
Quote from: Neil on July 28, 2012, 04:23:27 PM
Question: Who would be a British sporting hero? The guy who came in second at Wimbledon maybe? All their soccer players are tainted by failure. What sort of sports does Britain do well at?
Steve Redgrave would be one. Has five golds in five consecutive Olympiads - in rowing.
Quote from: Neil on July 28, 2012, 04:36:00 PM
Quote from: Martinus on July 28, 2012, 04:28:17 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 28, 2012, 02:27:10 PMWhat does it say about the UK today when you can't find six service men and women who can march in step?
That it's not a fucked up country of North Korean kind?
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Quote from: Berkut on July 27, 2012, 11:03:50 PM
I never thought that I would look back at the Beijing Olympics with nostalgia.
WTF was that? Giant baby heads? Voldemort menacing children in beds?
Seriously, that was the weirdest and then the smarmiest thing I think I may have ever seen.
Strangely the international reaction seems to be generally positive:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19025686 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19025686)
QuoteSarah Lyall, The New York Times:
"Britain presented itself to the world Friday night as something it has often struggled to express even to itself: a nation secure in its own post-empire identity, whatever that actually is... It was neither a nostalgic sweep through the past nor a bold vision of a brave new future. Rather, it was a sometimes slightly insane portrait of a country that has changed almost beyond measure since the last time it hosted the Games, in the grim postwar summer of 1948."
Anthony Faiola, The Washington Post:
"If the opening ceremonies of the London Games sometimes seemed like the world's biggest inside joke, the message from Britain resonated loud and clear: We may not always be your cup of tea, but you know - and so often love - our culture nonetheless. The themes showcased Britain, past, present and future, capturing the mind-set of a nation seeking to redefine itself through these Games after nearly a century of managed decline. A great empire, gone. Military might, ebbing. Sense of humour, very much intact... For an audience across the Atlantic, it seemed like the rock-and-roll Olympics, an event celebrating the shared culture of the English-speaking world — so much of it thanks to these relatively tiny isles."
Le Figaro, France:
The display "reminded a billion viewers of the best contributions that Britain has given to the world for over a century: its sense of humour, its music, and of course sport".
Greg Baum, The Sydney Morning Herald:
"Boyle's vivid and vibrant pageant set the tone for these Games and perhaps even a new direction for the Olympic movement. Rio has a hard act to follow, which won't deter it at all... His show did not take itself too seriously, but was never trivial. It was irreverent, but never disrespectful. It was clever, but did not outsmart itself. It was at once subversive and sublime. This is a country of royals and aristocrats, but Boyle's show rejoiced in the commoner."
The Peninsula, Qatar:
London did a "spectacular job"... Boyle "succeeded in defining Britishness in a surreal, moving and for some, confounding affair because of the jumble of ideas and an effort to tell a thousand small stories, which may not have been understood fully by the international audience."
The Times of India:
"London presented a vibrant picture of Great Britain's rich heritage and culture as a colourful opening ceremony marked the inauguration of the 30th Olympic Games at the spunky Olympic stadium on Friday night."
The China Daily:
"Kaleidoscopic pageant sets London Games rolling: Britain's Queen Elizabeth declared the London Olympics open after playing a cameo role in a dazzling ceremony designed to highlight the grandeur and eccentricities of the nation that invented modern sport."
Al-Ahram, Egypt:
"Children's voices intertwining from the four corners of her United Kingdom ushered in an exuberant historical pageant of meadows, steel mills and megapixels."
QuoteSarah Lyall, The New York Times:
"Britain presented itself to the world Friday night as something it has often struggled to express even to itself: a nation secure in its own post-empire identity, whatever that actually is... It was neither a nostalgic sweep through the past nor a bold vision of a brave new future. Rather, it was a sometimes slightly insane portrait of a country that has changed almost beyond measure since the last time it hosted the Games, in the grim postwar summer of 1948."
Anthony Faiola, The Washington Post:
"If the opening ceremonies of the London Games sometimes seemed like the world's biggest inside joke, the message from Britain resonated loud and clear: We may not always be your cup of tea, but you know - and so often love - our culture nonetheless. The themes showcased Britain, past, present and future, capturing the mind-set of a nation seeking to redefine itself through these Games after nearly a century of managed decline. A great empire, gone. Military might, ebbing. Sense of humour, very much intact... For an audience across the Atlantic, it seemed like the rock-and-roll Olympics, an event celebrating the shared culture of the English-speaking world — so much of it thanks to these relatively tiny isles."
AMERICANTS JUST DON'T GET SOPHISTICATED HUMOR.
Quote from: mongers on July 28, 2012, 05:36:01 PM
Strangely the international reaction seems to be generally positive:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19025686 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19025686)
QuoteSarah Lyall, The New York Times:
"Britain presented itself to the world Friday night as something it has often struggled to express even to itself: a nation secure in its own post-empire identity, whatever that actually is... It was neither a nostalgic sweep through the past nor a bold vision of a brave new future. Rather, it was a sometimes slightly insane portrait of a country that has changed almost beyond measure since the last time it hosted the Games, in the grim postwar summer of 1948."
Anthony Faiola, The Washington Post:
"If the opening ceremonies of the London Games sometimes seemed like the world's biggest inside joke, the message from Britain resonated loud and clear: We may not always be your cup of tea, but you know - and so often love - our culture nonetheless. The themes showcased Britain, past, present and future, capturing the mind-set of a nation seeking to redefine itself through these Games after nearly a century of managed decline. A great empire, gone. Military might, ebbing. Sense of humour, very much intact... For an audience across the Atlantic, it seemed like the rock-and-roll Olympics, an event celebrating the shared culture of the English-speaking world — so much of it thanks to these relatively tiny isles."
Le Figaro, France:
The display "reminded a billion viewers of the best contributions that Britain has given to the world for over a century: its sense of humour, its music, and of course sport".
Greg Baum, The Sydney Morning Herald:
"Boyle's vivid and vibrant pageant set the tone for these Games and perhaps even a new direction for the Olympic movement. Rio has a hard act to follow, which won't deter it at all... His show did not take itself too seriously, but was never trivial. It was irreverent, but never disrespectful. It was clever, but did not outsmart itself. It was at once subversive and sublime. This is a country of royals and aristocrats, but Boyle's show rejoiced in the commoner."
The Peninsula, Qatar:
London did a "spectacular job"... Boyle "succeeded in defining Britishness in a surreal, moving and for some, confounding affair because of the jumble of ideas and an effort to tell a thousand small stories, which may not have been understood fully by the international audience."
The Times of India:
"London presented a vibrant picture of Great Britain's rich heritage and culture as a colourful opening ceremony marked the inauguration of the 30th Olympic Games at the spunky Olympic stadium on Friday night."
The China Daily:
"Kaleidoscopic pageant sets London Games rolling: Britain's Queen Elizabeth declared the London Olympics open after playing a cameo role in a dazzling ceremony designed to highlight the grandeur and eccentricities of the nation that invented modern sport."
Al-Ahram, Egypt:
"Children's voices intertwining from the four corners of her United Kingdom ushered in an exuberant historical pageant of meadows, steel mills and megapixels."
It's all a question of em PHA sis.
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 28, 2012, 04:26:41 PM
Quote from: Neil on July 28, 2012, 04:23:27 PM
Question: Who would be a British sporting hero? The guy who came in second at Wimbledon maybe? All their soccer players are tainted by failure. What sort of sports does Britain do well at?
Roger Bannister for one.
I was going to suggest Daley Thompson, but yeah, Bannister is a good choice, too.
At any rate, I also found the opening lame. In fact, I turned off the sound after about 2 minutes, then after a few more moments, looked away until it was time for the parade of nations. In the past, the parade of nations has generally been the only part of the opening that I've actually enjoyed, but in other Olympiads I've been at least able to watch the rest of the ceremony.
Quote from: Neil on July 28, 2012, 04:23:27 PM
Question: Who would be a British sporting hero? The guy who came in second at Wimbledon maybe? All their soccer players are tainted by failure. What sort of sports does Britain do well at?
They do really well at riding bikes in a circle.
Quote from: dps on July 28, 2012, 09:19:16 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 28, 2012, 04:26:41 PM
Quote from: Neil on July 28, 2012, 04:23:27 PM
Question: Who would be a British sporting hero? The guy who came in second at Wimbledon maybe? All their soccer players are tainted by failure. What sort of sports does Britain do well at?
Roger Bannister for one.
I was going to suggest Daley Thompson, but yeah, Bannister is a good choice, too.
At any rate, I also found the opening lame. In fact, I turned off the sound after about 2 minutes, then after a few more moments, looked away until it was time for the parade of nations. In the past, the parade of nations has generally been the only part of the opening that I've actually enjoyed, but in other Olympiads I've been at least able to watch the rest of the ceremony.
What was it about the sound you didnt like? I thought the music was great throughout and the kids choir off the top - about the time you turned down the sound was amazing.
The one thing I found curious was the camera spent so much time on the capitalists during the industrial revolution bit. I thought of Sheilbh and mongers when I saw that. Just as I thought of a whole host of our American friends when I saw the tribute to the National Health Service.
I don't watch pagan celebrations.
Quote from: Siege on July 28, 2012, 10:55:03 PM
I don't watch pagan celebrations.
Since when did you go Christian?
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 28, 2012, 10:19:19 PM
What was it about the sound you didnt like?
Bob Costas
Quote from: Neil on July 28, 2012, 04:23:27 PM
Question: Who would be a British sporting hero? The guy who came in second at Wimbledon maybe? All their soccer players are tainted by failure. What sort of sports does Britain do well at?
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hna.de%2Fbilder%2F2010%2F02%2F17%2F634556%2F1231042360-eddie-edwards.52.jpg&hash=9fc8ca20fdee8986b83fef23b62318acb7b1caf4)
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 28, 2012, 02:33:45 PM
Can someone tell me what the people at the front of each national delegation were carrying? Alien pod? Gigantic beef liver?
You missed the most symbolic thing of the whole evening. Those petals or whatever became the cauldron.
Quote from: sbr on July 28, 2012, 01:27:23 AM
I read on twitter that the US was the only country to not bow their flag to the queen. Anyone else hear that?
according to the United States Flag Code:
Quote
§176. Respect for flag
No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.
That's federal law.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 29, 2012, 09:57:20 AM
Quote from: sbr on July 28, 2012, 01:27:23 AM
I read on twitter that the US was the only country to not bow their flag to the queen. Anyone else hear that?
according to the United States Flag Code:
Quote
§176. Respect for flag
No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.
That's federal law.
Isn't that a conceit, it assumes the act of slightly dipping a flag is implicitly disrespectful to the said flag.
Quote from: Sheilbh on July 28, 2012, 02:57:36 PM
Syria got no cheer from what I heard.
How'd the Saudi team--the only one prohibiting females from competition--go over?
Quote from: mongers on July 29, 2012, 10:01:10 AM
That's federal law.
QuoteIsn't that a conceit, it assumes the act of slightly dipping a flag is implicitly disrespectful to the said flag.
Fuck conceit. We bowed to your flag once. Never again. To anybody. And our flag = us.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 29, 2012, 10:02:39 AM
Quote from: mongers on July 29, 2012, 10:01:10 AM
That's federal law.
QuoteIsn't that a conceit, it assumes the act of slightly dipping a flag is implicitly disrespectful to the said flag.
Fuck conceit. We bowed to your flag once. Never again. To anybody. And our flag = us.
Or national strawman ?
Quote from: mongers on July 29, 2012, 10:01:10 AM
Isn't that a conceit, it assumes the act of slightly dipping a flag is implicitly disrespectful to the said flag.
Well, of course. You're immediately making it defer to a person.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 29, 2012, 09:57:20 AM
Quote from: sbr on July 28, 2012, 01:27:23 AM
I read on twitter that the US was the only country to not bow their flag to the queen. Anyone else hear that?
according to the United States Flag Code:
Quote
§176. Respect for flag
No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.
That's federal law.
London is out of your jurisdiction. But there's no field in which the Americans will pass up an opportunity to make an ass of themselves.
Quote from: dps on July 28, 2012, 11:18:04 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 28, 2012, 10:19:19 PM
What was it about the sound you didnt like?
Bob Costas
Ah, fair enough. Too bad you couldnt pick up another broadcast.
Quote from: Neil on July 29, 2012, 10:36:28 AM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 29, 2012, 09:57:20 AM
Quote from: sbr on July 28, 2012, 01:27:23 AM
I read on twitter that the US was the only country to not bow their flag to the queen. Anyone else hear that?
according to the United States Flag Code:
Quote
§176. Respect for flag
No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.
That's federal law.
London is out of your jurisdiction. But there's no field in which the Americans will pass up an opportunity to make an ass of themselves.
QFT.
:D
Why Danny Boyle? The Chinese bring out Zhang Yimou and Spielberg, and the Brits bring ojt the guy who did The Beach.
Quote from: Queequeg on July 29, 2012, 11:10:54 AM
Why Danny Boyle? The Chinese bring out Zhang Yimou and Spielberg, and the Brits bring ojt the guy who did The Beach.
You are a retard.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 29, 2012, 10:01:29 AM
Quote from: Sheilbh on July 28, 2012, 02:57:36 PM
Syria got no cheer from what I heard.
How'd the Saudi team--the only one prohibiting females from competition--go over?
They have women athletes there this time.
Quote from: Syt on July 29, 2012, 11:44:42 AM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 29, 2012, 10:01:29 AM
Quote from: Sheilbh on July 28, 2012, 02:57:36 PM
Syria got no cheer from what I heard.
How'd the Saudi team--the only one prohibiting females from competition--go over?
They have women athletes there this time.
Yeah, the Saudis got a big cheer. It was for the women.
Quote from: mongers on July 29, 2012, 10:01:10 AM
Isn't that a conceit, it assumes the act of slightly dipping a flag is implicitly disrespectful to the said flag.
It's the same conceit that the Royal Navy used to force on foreign ships sailing through the Channel. It's the same conceit the first British ambassador to China refused to honor.
Like I said earlier, the US has not been dipping the flag during the parade since the early 20th century, and most people around the world seem to have accepted it as a quirky anomoly. The fact that you and Neil are getting worked up about it probably says more about you than the act.
From The Sunday Times:
QuoteThe Americans have got off to a rather mean-spirited start at these Olympics. After Mitt Romney's doubts over whether Britain was ready for the Games, NBC edited out the "memorial wall" section of the ceremony and also censored Anna Friels' lesbian kiss from Brookside. Saudi Arabia was far more liberal and left the broadcast untouched.
China, through its state news agency Xinhua, damned with faint praise saying the whole world "appreciates a sumptuous banquet of British culture". But it also reported that two of its journalists believed the London Games were "the most mean and stingy Olympics in history".
QuoteSaudi Arabia was far more liberal and left the broadcast untouched.
OK?
In Saudi Arabia only untouched broadcasts are permitted.
Man, NBC's soccer people are boring. :zzz:
Quote from: Brazen on July 29, 2012, 01:37:52 PM
But it also reported that two of its journalists believed the London Games were "the most mean and stingy Olympics in history".
They must have been talking about the 1948 Olympics. Either that or Chinese people are stupid, journalists are stupid and chink journalists are doubly so.
Quote from: garbon on July 29, 2012, 01:58:43 PM
QuoteSaudi Arabia was far more liberal and left the broadcast untouched.
OK?
How else are you going to show how morally bankrupt and godless the infidels are?
Quote from: Sheilbh on July 29, 2012, 12:50:49 PM
Quote from: Syt on July 29, 2012, 11:44:42 AM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 29, 2012, 10:01:29 AM
Quote from: Sheilbh on July 28, 2012, 02:57:36 PM
Syria got no cheer from what I heard.
How'd the Saudi team--the only one prohibiting females from competition--go over?
They have women athletes there this time.
Yeah, the Saudis got a big cheer. It was for the women.
Surprising. Good for the Saudis, finally joining the 11th century.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 29, 2012, 03:00:49 PM
Quote from: garbon on July 29, 2012, 01:58:43 PM
QuoteSaudi Arabia was far more liberal and left the broadcast untouched.
OK?
How else are you going to show how morally bankrupt and godless the infidels are?
I don't understand what point the article was trying to make. OMG, USA is worse than ISLAM?! :unsure:
It's a valid point. NBC thought the American audience would get freaked out by lebiang mouth sex. The towelheads let it go.
Though I do wonder if the folks at Saudi TV were oblivious, sort of like Queen Victoria.
Quote from: Martinus on July 29, 2012, 11:20:44 AM
Quote from: Queequeg on July 29, 2012, 11:10:54 AM
Why Danny Boyle? The Chinese bring out Zhang Yimou and Spielberg, and the Brits bring ojt the guy who did The Beach.
You are a retard.
You're a bigger idiot than I thought if you think Raise the Red Lantern and 28 Days Later are in the same zip code.
Besides that, Zhang's eye is up there with Malick or Lean. Boyle is fanous for his visual incpherence.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 29, 2012, 04:55:29 PM
It's a valid point. NBC thought the American audience would get freaked out by lebiang mouth sex. The towelheads let it go.
The bit about the US censorship, sure. The comparison? Not so much, unless the expectation is that Western states (and corporations therein) have to be more liberal on everything than states typically viewed as conservative.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 29, 2012, 04:55:29 PM
It's a valid point.
Actually, maybe not.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/five_ring_circus/2012/07/28/lesbian_kiss_opening_ceremony_why_danny_boyle_featured_a_scene_from_the_british_soap_brookside_.html
Quote from: garbon on July 29, 2012, 04:58:06 PM
The bit about the US censorship, sure. The comparison? Not so much, unless the expectation is that Western states (and corporations therein) have to be more liberal on everything than states typically viewed as conservative.
Of course that's the expectation, at least when it comes to sexuality. :mellow:
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 29, 2012, 05:02:48 PM
Quote from: garbon on July 29, 2012, 04:58:06 PM
The bit about the US censorship, sure. The comparison? Not so much, unless the expectation is that Western states (and corporations therein) have to be more liberal on everything than states typically viewed as conservative.
Of course that's the expectation, at least when it comes to sexuality. :mellow:
Is it though? Wasn't too long ago that we still had sodomy laws in effect across the country. Also give that we have media outlets like Fox News, I'd suggest that such isn't expected of our media sources.
Quote from: garbon on July 29, 2012, 05:06:27 PM
Is it though? Wasn't too long ago that we still had sodomy laws in effect across the country.
We still do, you naughty, naughty sodomite.
Quote from: Brazen on July 29, 2012, 01:37:52 PM
From The Sunday Times:
QuoteThe Americans have got off to a rather mean-spirited start at these Olympics. After Mitt Romney's doubts over whether Britain was ready for the Games, NBC edited out the "memorial wall" section of the ceremony and also censored Anna Friels' lesbian kiss from Brookside. Saudi Arabia was far more liberal and left the broadcast untouched.
I keep hearing this yet i saw the kiss clearly on the NBC broadcast. :huh:
Quote from: Syt on July 29, 2012, 11:44:42 AM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 29, 2012, 10:01:29 AM
Quote from: Sheilbh on July 28, 2012, 02:57:36 PM
Syria got no cheer from what I heard.
How'd the Saudi team--the only one prohibiting females from competition--go over?
They have women athletes there this time.
Lets not go over board on this one, it's one athlete and iirc she was born in the USA and has duel citizenship, so I'm guessing she possibly speaks with a preppy accent and possibly attends beach parties, so not your typical Saudi.
So all told the 'concession' these corrupt princes acceded to was barely a nod to the 20th century.
Quote from: alfred russel on July 29, 2012, 05:02:12 PM
http://www.slate.com/blogs/five_ring_circus/2012/07/28/lesbian_kiss_opening_ceremony_why_danny_boyle_featured_a_scene_from_the_british_soap_brookside_.html
Cute scene. John Cleese would've done it better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5VDfizYnxY
Quote from: alfred russel on July 29, 2012, 05:02:12 PM
Actually, maybe not.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/five_ring_circus/2012/07/28/lesbian_kiss_opening_ceremony_why_danny_boyle_featured_a_scene_from_the_british_soap_brookside_.html
:lol: God that's so typical.
And this whole time I thought it was a couple bull dyke athletes frenching during the parade.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 29, 2012, 05:09:07 PM
Quote from: garbon on July 29, 2012, 05:06:27 PM
Is it though? Wasn't too long ago that we still had sodomy laws in effect across the country.
We still do, you naughty, naughty sodomite.
:unsure:
Quote from: mongers on July 29, 2012, 05:09:30 PM
Lets not go over board on this one, it's one athlete and iirc she was born in the USA and has duel citizenship, so I'm guessing she possibly speaks with a preppy accent and possibly attends beach parties, so not your typical Saudi.
So all told the 'concession' these corrupt princes acceded to was barely a nod to the 20th century.
If you're trying to rebut the point that Saudi Arabia has now started to produce female athletes capable of competing at the world level, this works very well. Not so well if you're trying to rebut the point that Saudi acceptance of female athletic representation at the Olympics marks a possibly important turning point in terms of cultural and official acceptance of female athletic activity.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 29, 2012, 05:25:18 PM
Quote from: mongers on July 29, 2012, 05:09:30 PM
Lets not go over board on this one, it's one athlete and iirc she was born in the USA and has duel citizenship, so I'm guessing she possibly speaks with a preppy accent and possibly attends beach parties, so not your typical Saudi.
So all told the 'concession' these corrupt princes acceded to was barely a nod to the 20th century.
If you're trying to rebut the point that Saudi Arabia has now started to produce female athletes capable of competing at the world level, this works very well. Not so well if you're trying to rebut the point that Saudi acceptance of female athletic representation at the Olympics marks a possibly important turning point in terms of cultural and official acceptance of female athletic activity.
No my point is it's a one off, the minimum jesture, I'd wager there are no female Saudi athletes at the next games.
Quote from: mongers on July 29, 2012, 05:58:04 PM
No my point is it's a one off, the minimum jesture, I'd wager there are no female Saudi athletes at the next games.
The next games are the winter games. :lol:
Not sure how the Saudi athletes place of residence and accent advance that argument either.
But sure, if you'd like to bet some real money on at least one Saudi female at the next summer games I'll take that bet.
Quote from: mongers on July 29, 2012, 05:58:04 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 29, 2012, 05:25:18 PM
Quote from: mongers on July 29, 2012, 05:09:30 PM
Lets not go over board on this one, it's one athlete and iirc she was born in the USA and has duel citizenship, so I'm guessing she possibly speaks with a preppy accent and possibly attends beach parties, so not your typical Saudi.
So all told the 'concession' these corrupt princes acceded to was barely a nod to the 20th century.
If you're trying to rebut the point that Saudi Arabia has now started to produce female athletes capable of competing at the world level, this works very well. Not so well if you're trying to rebut the point that Saudi acceptance of female athletic representation at the Olympics marks a possibly important turning point in terms of cultural and official acceptance of female athletic activity.
No my point is it's a one off, the minimum jesture, I'd wager there are no female Saudi athletes at the next games.
The argument made by the Saudis in the face of pressure from the IOC was that they have no women in sport and so it is not possible to include any in the Olympics. You seem to be supporting their position.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 29, 2012, 05:11:50 PM
Quote from: alfred russel on July 29, 2012, 05:02:12 PM
Actually, maybe not.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/five_ring_circus/2012/07/28/lesbian_kiss_opening_ceremony_why_danny_boyle_featured_a_scene_from_the_british_soap_brookside_.html
:lol: God that's so typical.
Even if NBC actually had censored it, there'd still be a point to make that it wouldn't have been the government doing the censoring.
Quote from: dps on July 29, 2012, 07:37:35 PM
Even if NBC actually had censored it, there'd still be a point to make that it wouldn't have been the government doing the censoring.
NBC got burned by Janet Jackson, and the chilling effect of the FCC listening to Christians is not overt government censorship, but neither is it the sort of thing that a proper government should do.
That was CBS you ethnic dumbass
:lol:
They all look alike.
Quote from: katmai on July 29, 2012, 08:10:14 PM
That was CBS you ethnic dumbass
So it was. Either way, my point stands: America is silly.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 28, 2012, 05:58:02 PM
It's all a question of em PHA sis.
I don't think your shift changes the emphasis that much :mellow:
Quote from: Queequeg on July 29, 2012, 11:10:54 AM
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.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on July 29, 2012, 08:55:38 PM
Quote from: Queequeg on July 29, 2012, 11:10:54 AM
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.
And I think he had a vision that convinced the organisers and seemed appropriate for a stadium. 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.
Edit: Incidentally on the arty side I think it's very interesting that he took as his text the Caliban speech, rather than the more obvious John of Gaunt speech.
Quote from: Sheilbh on July 29, 2012, 08:57:53 PM
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.
Not unless you want a stadium full of suddenly sullen volunteers, depressingly contemplating their place in this world. Talk about a downer.
That was a pretty good opening ceremony, I think. The James Bond/Queen, Mr Bean, and torch bits were brilliant. We all know and understand that they can't match the scale of the Beijing Olympic opening, and that's fine. They took a different approach and did well with the resources at their disposal.
Mono finally gets revenge for the Opium War!
Quote from: Monoriu on July 29, 2012, 09:32:17 PM
We all know and understand that they can't match the scale of the Beijing Olympic opening, and that's fine.
Who'd want to? Talk about a demonstration in hive mind mentality, devoid of humanity and anima. Nobody wants to be reminded of a Nuremburg rally during the Olympics.
QuoteI 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.
Quote
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.
Quote from: Queequeg on July 30, 2012, 12:28:35 AM
QuoteI 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.
Quote
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.
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.
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.
Trainspotting was brilliant from start to finish. Agree about 28 Days Later.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 30, 2012, 01:50:39 AM
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.
Quote from: Martinus on July 30, 2012, 02:46:09 AM
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.
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.
Quote from: Gups on July 30, 2012, 04:39:08 AM
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.
What the hell, people?
QuoteAt 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."
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.
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.
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.
Quote from: Brazen on July 30, 2012, 07:26:36 AM
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 ? :hmm:
Hell, even I could run a pretty efficient international sporting event if I only invited 2 competitors and 5 spectators. :P
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on July 29, 2012, 08:55:38 PM
Quote from: Queequeg on July 29, 2012, 11:10:54 AM
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.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 30, 2012, 06:35:29 AM
British troops already were attending women's gymnastics Sunday morning, Coe said.
What, no Siege jokes? :P
Quote from: Warspite on July 30, 2012, 07:01:17 AM
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.
Yes, it is not a very democratic process. The best seats appear to go to various "dignitaries" that can't even be bothered to turn up most of the time.
Quote from: Tonitrus on July 30, 2012, 07:59:52 AM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on July 30, 2012, 06:35:29 AM
British troops already were attending women's gymnastics Sunday morning, Coe said.
What, no Siege jokes? :P
Too easy. :P
Quote from: Queequeg on July 30, 2012, 01:16:53 AM
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.
And just because you become a dairy factory over just about anything from the large continent that is Asia, doesn't make you cultured either. :console:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wired.com%2Fimages_blogs%2Fphotos%2Funcategorized%2F2007%2F09%2F19%2Fbitch_slap.jpg&hash=4fe4a9ba251c6aad5d6e830b89d8d3943fa05e61)
:D
Quote from: Martinus on July 30, 2012, 02:46:09 AM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 30, 2012, 01:50:39 AM
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.
Hm. I was going to go with either genetics, being dropped on his head too many times, or perhaps his mother being malnurished while pregnant with him.
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 30, 2012, 08:01:05 AM
Quote from: Warspite on July 30, 2012, 07:01:17 AM
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.
Yes, it is not a very democratic process. The best seats appear to go to various "dignitaries" that can't even be bothered to turn up most of the time.
It was a real problem here too. Our organizing committee quickly told them to confirm they would use them or lose them. Most lost their tickets and those were put back on sale to the public. The IOC may have made changes in between the two games to ensure a local organizing committee couldnt do that again - hence the empty seats.
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 30, 2012, 09:05:00 AM
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 30, 2012, 08:01:05 AM
Quote from: Warspite on July 30, 2012, 07:01:17 AM
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.
Yes, it is not a very democratic process. The best seats appear to go to various "dignitaries" that can't even be bothered to turn up most of the time.
It was a real problem here too. Our organizing committee quickly told them to confirm they would use them or lose them. Most lost their tickets and those were put back on sale to the public. The IOC may have made changes in between the two games to ensure a local organizing committee couldnt do that again - hence the empty seats.
While the IOC is most certainly corrupt, reserving certain blocks of tickets in-and-of itself isn't corrupt. But insisting on reserving those tickets for people who admit that they aren't going to use them is just plain stupid.
I think the opening and closing ceremonies generally suck--conveying your country's history and culture through interpretive dance and song in an athletic stadium, while doing some athletic housekeeping stuff--it is rather awkward. I wish they would hold it to under 60 minutes, but beyond that what more could you ask for?
I'm certain these games will be remembered as a great organizational success, if only because Brazil is on deck.
Quote from: alfred russel on July 30, 2012, 09:51:04 AM
I think the opening and closing ceremonies generally suck--conveying your country's history and culture through interpretive dance and song in an athletic stadium, while doing some athletic housekeeping stuff--it is rather awkward. I wish they would hold it to under 60 minutes, but beyond that what more could you ask for?
I always watch the parade of nations and lighting on the torch, and then little else. I always watch it after I've recorded it, so I can fast forward through any crap I don't like. This year they zipped through the parade of nations, which pissed me off.
Quote from: dps on July 30, 2012, 09:33:07 AM
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 30, 2012, 09:05:00 AM
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 30, 2012, 08:01:05 AM
Quote from: Warspite on July 30, 2012, 07:01:17 AM
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.
Yes, it is not a very democratic process. The best seats appear to go to various "dignitaries" that can't even be bothered to turn up most of the time.
It was a real problem here too. Our organizing committee quickly told them to confirm they would use them or lose them. Most lost their tickets and those were put back on sale to the public. The IOC may have made changes in between the two games to ensure a local organizing committee couldnt do that again - hence the empty seats.
While the IOC is most certainly corrupt, reserving certain blocks of tickets in-and-of itself isn't corrupt. But insisting on reserving those tickets for people who admit that they aren't going to use them is just plain stupid.
Not sure what corruption has to do with it.
It appears that the Brits are now imposing a solution similar to what we did.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/olympics/thousands-of-unused-olympic-tickets-now-up-for-grabs/article4449140/
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 30, 2012, 08:01:05 AM
Quote from: Warspite on July 30, 2012, 07:01:17 AM
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.
Yes, it is not a very democratic process. The best seats appear to go to various "dignitaries" that can't even be bothered to turn up most of the time.
Or sponsors, mostly.
the problem is that "comps" are offered to the same sponsors and dignitaries. So, all the sponsors might be at the gymnastics events, and none at the volleyball games, since they can't be at several places at the same time.
Why do you think it mostly sponsors?
The OIC gets a big chunk of tickets.
Schama echoing Shelibh.
Quote"Congratulations to Danny Boyle," said Bob Costas at the end of the Olympics' opening ceremonies Friday night, swiftly adding, lest he sound even a smidge Mittish, "Congratulations to the British people, too ... They did it right."
But he didn't fool anyone. Beneath the pancake and the blazer was a network veteran unmistakably yet desperately struggling with the primal urge to scream, "What the fuck was that?!"
That, Bob, was the way it can be done in a Britain where Elizabeth II (like the first queen of her name) gets to be a droll trouper, and the rest of the cast of thousands turn, unpredictably, antic, manic, sweetly loony, solemn, childish, magical (in the conjuring sense cued by The Tempest's Caliban). Things that flew and things that blew, smoke and lights that flared, and lots and lots of history. It's the way collapsed empires make peace with their fate: whimsically, affectionately, unsentimentally, secure enough for self-mockery.
Powers obsessed with their present or impending grandeur (or sophomorically threatened by rumors of decline) do opening ceremonies differently, humorlessly: much gorilla chest-beating disguised as epic; pumped-up self-congratulatory bombast, deploying vast numbers of bodies in perfect coordination in the service of kitsch folk ballet; synchronized smiling; selective allusions to precisely the popular homely traditions from which state and corporate power have sucked the lifeblood. A ghastly synthetic simulacrum of national unity, every leg in perfect alignment with the Overall Theme. That's the way it's been since Leni Riefenstahl invented the genre for Hitler's 1936 Olympische Spiele. And though subsequent renditions have been less sinister, they've still had a kind of mechanical megalomania about them. You will mouth platitudes of universal brotherhood. You will celebrate the harmonious comity of the ripped.
'Mr. Bean brings down the house at the opening ceremony.'
There were touches of wild-eyed Wagnerian frenzy in Danny Boyle's spectacle, too: plenty of Nibelungen hammering as a Thames of molten ore resolved into ... da-daaa, the RINGS! But though there was much machinery, Danny Boy was on to a different shtick entirely from ceremonies past. Where they have been seamless, faultless, heartless, Boyle's was mischievously directionless, multitudinous, anarchic, reminiscent of Ariane Mnouchkine's Theatre du Soleil productions that resist fixed vantage points—a poke in the eye for television productions that assume them. The pageant (for such it was) began with sundry groups of people (and livestock) wandering hither and thither in dreamy greensward doing whatever Boyle's vision of Merrie England idyll invited: cricket, maypole dancing ... wot, no beer, skittles, or Nine Man Morris?
It's a version of Happy Britannia which, of course, never existed. There was grunting poverty in the villages, just as not everyone sucked into the maw of the Industrial Revolution was doomed to perish of cholera or stump the hillside alleys with terminal rickets. But that (you want to remind the objecting pedants) wasn't the point. A lovely tradition of the social pageant cum Christian mystery play has existed since the English Middle Ages, and that's what Danny Boy made over for the modern digital moment. It's history as written by the Social Democrat Fabian Society on which we drank deep when I was at school in the '50s and '60s, authored by Beatrice and Sidney Webb, G.D.H. Cole, R.H. Tawney, and the socialist romantic E.P Thompson, a history at once fiery and brotherly, full of laments for the dispossessed and uprooted but clear-eyed about the inevitability of the industrial age and the shameless rapacity of its plutocracy. Hey, anyone want to argue with that?
How sweet it is, then, that while redundantly Communist China gave us impeccable corporate entertainment, the Brits delivered what may be the last of the great socialist pageants. A bit—a very small bit—of Bard cued up the insular sorcery, but the real presiding genius of the proceedings was the revolutionary enthusiast William Blake, whose evangelical call to arms, "Jerusalem," was present in no less than three places during the proceedings, even if all of them were given a Poppinsian spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down. An angelic voice piped Hubert Parry's melody (composed during the First World War, another Boyle moment) to put heart into the mutilated cannon fodder. But the music and the heart of the enchantment—including that ancient oak—was set at Glastonbury Tor (as the nervous Costa kept reading from his script with no clue whatsoever why he was supposed to). Glastonbury isn't just the site of the most spectacular rock-and-mud fest Britain mounts every other year. It was also, according to the legend that inspired Blake, the place to which Jesus returned to confront the hellmouth of the industrial "satanic mills." The "Chariots of Fire" (adorably sent up by Rowan Atkinson) weren't harnessed for long-distance Olympic running—they were Blake's war wagons for social justice. I don't actually think that when Boyle had the kid warble, "Bring me my bow of burning gold/Bring me my arrows of desire," he was anticipating the hordes of disgruntled who arrived at the archery competition that very morning, lured by online information that it was "unticketed," only to discover that that meant no entrance. But then the same verse goes on, "Bring me my spear/Those clouds unfold/Bring me my chariots of fire." And sure enough, Boylean clouds did unfold right there in the stadium.
There was a lot of Potter at work here. Not Harry despite, the blow-up Voldemort and J.K. Rowling reading from somewhere remote, but the late, great Dennis Potter: the unrepentant lefty, Orwellian satirist, and fiendishly inventive playwright whose The Singing Detective (with Michael Gambon turning in a staggering piece of acting) is still one of the great free-form masterpieces of modern television, by turns suicidally bitter and redemptively sweet and constantly harking back to Potter's own childhood up trees in the half sylvan, half industrial Forest of Dean, not such a different place from the hillsides of Boyle's Lancashire. No one does the darkness of childhood, its realm of startled pathos, its deep hauntings, like the Brits, from Alice and Peter Pan to Harry P., all of whom had an airing in the show, along with Kes (another glory of English cinema) and Bill Forsyth's adorable Gregory's Girl. But The Singing Detective also featured scenes in which nurses and doctors treating Potter/Detective's hideous case of psoriasis break without warning into song-and-dance routines. And so they did in the Olympic Stadium in what was in every sense a fantastic encomium to the National Health Service, invoked by conservative radio blowhards as the very Belial of socialized medicine, whose pallid, compromised, endlessly diluted version Mitt Romney introduced into Massachusetts before he decided (to the shame of the sinner) that his creation was the institutional equivalent of the anti-Christ and a totalitarian conspiracy to uproot American liberty. So whatever else Bob Costas tells me over the next two weeks, it was his voiced reminder that J.M. Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan, handed over the royalties from his story to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (one of Britain's best loved places) that will stick in the memory.
Even when you thought he let all this go, Boyle didn't and couldn't. The kids in his artless little texting rock romance were very much the color and style of what Britain is like now (and so much the better for it), and their adventure began with Paul Weller and the Jam's "Going Underground," which almost (not quite) reconciled me to the endless donging of Mike Oldfield's tubular bells. The teen romance went on a bit long and, like the amorous pups, lost its way a bit, but when you saw in the midst of it Tim Berners-Lee sitting and tapping like a wizard of Oz who was not fake at all but altogether the Real Thing, the pops of delight kept on coming. And if you made it all the way from Belarus to Zimbabwe (not such a distance ideologically, alas) via the stripey Swedes (whoa, guys, not a good look), the grimly beret-capped outfits of Team America, and the Ziggy Stardust–meets–Boy Scout Camp camp of the Brits, you were rewarded with two wonderful moments of finale, a fluttery flight of cycle-born doves, and then, in a stunning coup, the mysterious petal-shaped copper bowls receiving their lick of fire and rising into an immense flower of flame at the heart of the stadium.
What Danny Boyle and his team achieved in this was to break open the formula that was getting dinosaur-like in the lumbering immensity of its brainlessness. That's what the British are still good at: tearing up the convention, starting over, letting the imagination rip, summoning the inner child.
So if they were watching (and you bet they were), no one among his counterparts in Rio, host of the 2016 Games, should be saying, "Oh, oh, how do I do something like that?" What they should be saying—and knowing Brazilian designers of spectacle, I can guarantee you they are—is this: "Just watch while we do something utterly unlike that."
Bring on their carnival.