Not since Bill Gaines the founder died in '92, IMHO

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Carl Matherly

Offical Battlestar Galactica Apologist

Named Time Magazine's 2006 "Person of the Year"

Sadly, in addition to the death of Mr. Gaines, most of the original 'gang of idiots', have long retired. I haven't picked up an issue in years.

Got to meet Bill Gaines briefly in New York in 1984. My bother was a rabid Mad Magazine collector and insisted on visiting the offices of his favorite publication. Gaine's office was bizarre down to the giant model of King Kong peering through the window. Never saw a room with soo many weird props.

Best part was they let us in the archives to paw through the orginal cartoon artwork from issues past.

Another cliche I haven't seen mentioned is the one blow knockout. ie when the hero wants incapacitate an innocent guard, one punch is enough to knock them out cold and leave them that way.

Sort of like the Captain Kirk karate chop to the back of the neck, delivered with about enough force to (maybe) knock down someone's grandma.

I'm very jealous. Always loved Mad Magazine when I was growing up.

There's the ever-popular "knock out a guard and steal their uniform; it'll fit." Parodied beautifully in the Indiana Jones series, where he essentially goes uniform-shopping when he picks a guard to knock out based on his size after a previous incident of having a uniform turn out to be ridiculously too small.

Thanks to whichever mod fixed the thread title.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

Strangely enough, that is possible. What's not realistic is that anybody can do it. If you can, try catching the special Fight Science on the National Geographic Channel. Some really impressive stuff trained people are able to do, and it busts some myths and shows the weaknesses of some weapons *cough* nunchaku *cough*.

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If we don't play god, who will?-James Watson
I never think of the future, it comes soon enough.-Albert Einstein
The large print giveth and the small print taketh away.-Tom Waits

Sure did. And sensors/fleet on/around Earth would be just as effective (probably more if it's Earth you're worried about) and [Scotty]require no warrrrp at all![/Scotty]

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A person's name, or a mark representing it, as signed personally or by deputy, as in subscribing a letter or other document.

That's why my critique had to do with a "Mars Defense Post". A "Mars Defence Perimeter" is a different animal entirely, although I'm sure with a number of things taken into consideration such as Lagrange points and preferred numbers, it wouldn't necessary be best to have it coincide with or even be close to Mars' orbit. This meshed nicely with your idea about a numerical naming system.

Now for a real poser. Since the Earth-based protection system against other Earth-based countries was (and maybe is, has Dubya used that term for his current reincarnation?) nicknamed "Star Wars", what would this overall system be called? Galaxy Wars?

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When did light bulbs start going "phoom" whenever they turn on or off? See the countdown clock in Armageddon, or the signal helicopter in Independence Day.

You will NEVER see a homosexual romance subplot in any movie. Period. This is starting to annoy me as a straight guy, so I can only guess how much this offends people who are homosexual. Just once I want to see hot male hero spurn the advances of hot female rescuee with the line, "Sorry, I already have a boyfriend." I would actually cheer.

I've already complained that whenever a hero is localised (Spiderman in New York, Dr Who in Cardiff and London, Godzilla in Japan), bad guys only ever appear in that area. I suppose in many comic universes there are different heroes in various places, but still...

Hear hear for novaderrik's suggestion that the hero should get hit by a bus. Or how about a disaster movie where the disaster is a surprise. The movie is trailed as a pure drama/romance, and the audience is truly shocked when a meteorite flattens half the town. We then see the characters trying to sort out who is still alive, coming to terms with their losses, making peace with their enemies as they all muck in to look for survivors, or whatever. But because we have spent the whole first half getting involved with the characters and their lives, instead of just waiting for the special effects to arrive, we actually care about what happens to them.

I know of one, D.E.B.S. :http://imdb.com/title/tt0367631/
Granted the subplot involves two homosexual females, which seems to have a lower social stigma than homosexual males.

Now that we're living in a post-Brokeback Mountain world, maybe this will change.

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If we don't play god, who will?-James Watson
I never think of the future, it comes soon enough.-Albert Einstein
The large print giveth and the small print taketh away.-Tom Waits

How about the PC hero (MacGuyver) who totally 100% opposed to ever using a gun no matter how desperate the situation might be (unless it was to take it apart and use it as a tool), who then ends up killing nearly as many bad guys in many ways, some of which are far more violent? Or for contrast, the A-Team; any one of which can hit the control box from a moving van just right to short it out and open the gate, but never once managed to hit a person, or a car.

RE: nunchucks. See Rapid Fire with Brandon Lee. The story is okay, the writing is junk, and powers Booth sucks so hard in this role that light bends around him, but the fight scenes were excellent. At one point Henchmen #17 comes out with a pair of nunchucks and is foiled by the simple tossing of a shirt. That leads into one of the best movie fights ever (IMO). Brandon Lee vs. Al Leong (AKA That Sinister Asian Guy, you'll know his face). Absolutely terrific fight.

The guy that's flipping the nunchucks all around isn't really that much of a threat as the guy that isn't. The only reason you spend so much time flipping them is that when you hit something, you have no idea where that loose stick is going to go. You need to be ready to redirect it. This was made ever so clear to me when I hit a pumpkin hanging from a tree. The loose stick came straight back across the back of my hand. It was cold. It hurt a lot. I didn't care for it. Another sight of "flash fighting" is how close the hand is to the rope. If the hand is more than halfway on the rope side, it a good sign of someone that learned everything they know by watching Bruce Lee movies. If the stick is held by the rope, but "backwards" so the rope is closer to the pinky finger than the thumb, there is a good chance the person knows what they are doing and that they are prepared for close in defensive fighting.

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I'm not gullible because I'm a Leo.--Actually said to me by a co-worker
Never trust anyone with 'The' for a middle name. --Said to me by a guy in Denny's at 4 am.
The difference between planning and pessimism can only be seen in retrospect. -- One of mine
Truth ain't like puppies; a bunch of them running around and you get to pick the one you like best." -- Emerson on Pushing Daisies

And of course, there are never any consequences from such a brain injury other than a brief snooze.

The truck that doesn't stop when the heroine walks out in front of it.

Driver (sounding his horn): Sorry, Lady, unless the hero of this movie jumps out in front of this truck and saves your sorry ***, I'm running you over!

Don't American truck-drivers stop for jaywalkers?

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- There must be a new moon out, she said. He's always bad then.

Not in movies or tv, but here is a good general rule of thumb I was taught:

Speed + mass = right-of-way

David.

As is troubled boy from dysfunctional family/inner city/foster home finds himself in wilderness/country, befriends wolf/horse/runaway domestic dog/bear cub and with human guide of another ethnicity (preferably Native American or Chinese), has huge adventure...returns home A-OK and straightened out.

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“I shall always be convinced that a watch proves a watchmaker, and that a universe proves a God” ~Voltaire

You know what was a surprise? The vampires in From Dusk Till Dawn!!

I had no idea what the movie was about when I hired and looked away just before the change. I looked back and seriously thought there was something wrong with the DVD.

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How about the single explosive or well placed shot that completely destroys the enemy installation, ship, incoming asteroid or comet at the last second? Normally the only outcome is a pretty meteor shower.

If you could do it at all, I imagine the real result would be something like getting hit by a shotgun blast from three feet away.

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Never let the facts get in the way of a good story, people want to be entertained.

Did you read what Captain Swoop wrote, by far the most sensible comment on this subject?
Movie Clichés That Get On Your Nerves

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This is not an idea to be tossed aside lightly - it should be thrown with great force