Dear Lil' Kim: Come and get me!

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Stryke
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Re: Dear Lil' Kim: Come and get me!

Post by Stryke »

Youve got to wonder about the legal angle. And the economic one , not everyone will do as you have Bill.


If in the US, you receive warning of a threat to your customers
and staff, and ignore it if something happens seems the lawyers would be all over it.

So do the distributors even have a choice to do the right thing?.

I've often heard the same warnings issued In regards to intervening in a real life situation, the questions of liability for doing the right thing.

I may be wrong, I'm an outsider, but it doesn't seem that the right to free speech would be a legal defence to ignoring a threat of a terror attack on your customers. Maybe it's reasonable to though ? , though I suspect the arguing wouldn't be cheap.

I think your getting to the real issue now Bill, is this sonys fight , or society's , and how does a government enable protection against the threat. If its all on Sony and the distributors, what's the choice.

At least the North Koreans achieved there goal , and they don't look like a bunch of %Y&%%& right? , mission failed already .
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Bill Glasheen
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Re: Dear Lil' Kim: Come and get me!

Post by Bill Glasheen »

You have this situation sized up pretty well, Marcus.

Meanwhile... North Korea may have won the battle, but did they win the war? Exactly what is the larger plot here, and did DPRK overplay their hand?

Here is an editorial from yesterday's Wall Street Journal.

- Bill
Wall Street Journal wrote: Drop ‘The Interview’ on Pyongyang
Here’s one way to turn the cyberattack on Sony back on North Korea.

Dec. 18, 2014 6:52 p.m. ET

U.S. officials are saying they think North Korea is responsible for the hacking of Sony Pictures, and perhaps also the threats that led the studio to cancel release of “The Interview.” Outsiders aren’t so sure, but the U.S. presumably has evidence others don’t. If the Obama Administration believes the evidence, the question is what it will do about it.

Park Sang Hak, a North Korean defector now living in the South, has an idea. Mr. Park, whom we profiled last year, puts information about the outside world along with movies and television programs on USB drives, which he floats into the North on balloons. The Kim Jong Un regime has labeled him “enemy zero” and sent an assassin to kill him with a poison-tipped pen. For real.

Mr. Park wants to include “The Interview” on future balloon launches. But there is another way to make sure that the movie gets the giant audience that Kim fears, even in North Korea: Make it free.

Sony might fear retribution if it did this, but an alternative would be for the U.S. government to buy the movie rights from Sony and release it into the public domain. Anyone could then share the file online without violating copyright, burn it onto DVDs or even re-edit it to make new viral videos. Chinese netizens love to mock Kim, and North Koreans like to watch movies smuggled across the border from China. Perhaps the CIA could dub the movie into Korean to make sure it gets to its target audience.

Even if Washington had to pay the movie’s full production cost of $44 million, that would be money well spent. If the Kim regime is behind the Sony hack, it has won a cyberwar victory by inflicting heavy losses on the studio and causing it to compromise on freedom of expression. That could embolden Pyongyang to undertake more dangerous provocations. Washington should turn North Korea’s victory into an own-goal and show the West won’t bow to threats.

We’ve long argued that the goal of U.S. policy toward North Korea should be the collapse of the Kim dynasty. Humor is one of the most potent weapons against totalitarian regimes, but governments aren’t good at intentional comedy. In this case Seth Rogen and James Franco have done the work. The Obama Administration can help release the movie into the wild and make it easy for the world to watch it.
- WSJ
Stryke
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Re: Dear Lil' Kim: Come and get me!

Post by Stryke »

Nice! , potentially the first case of positive cyber bullying in history?
Stryke
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Re: Dear Lil' Kim: Come and get me!

Post by Stryke »

Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin blasted the studio and the media at large for their reactions to the Sony hack.

"Today the US succumbed to an unprecedented attack on our most cherished, bedrock principle of free speech by a group of North Korean terrorists who threatened to kill moviegoers in order to stop the release of a movie," he said.

"The wishes of the terrorists were fulfilled in part by easily distracted members of the American press who chose gossip and schadenfreude-fuelled reporting over a story with immeasurable consequences for the public."
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Bill Glasheen
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Re: Dear Lil' Kim: Come and get me!

Post by Bill Glasheen »

Aaron Sorkin wrote: "The wishes of the terrorists were fulfilled in part by easily distracted members of the American press who chose gossip and schadenfreude-fuelled reporting over a story with immeasurable consequences for the public."
When I think about how the North Koreans were able to turn the American press on an entertainment company doing business in the United States, I think about this.

..... Cat Chasing Laser Pointer

..... The great fake squirrel chase

Our media gets used and schooled on a regular basis, and do much harm when so used. (Think UVa "gang rape" or the Duke Lacrosse incident.) It's shameful. It makes you wonder what kinds of people our universities are graduating into these careers.

- Bill
Stryke
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Re: Dear Lil' Kim: Come and get me!

Post by Stryke »

It's just the addle-minded culture we have now

were private communication can be leaked out of context for entertainment , of course this is fine if it's already been leaked and especially if it involves celebrities .....

I mean all the focus was about that right ? and not really about any hacking or illegal activity?

is it all just entertainment ? , I'll make a comment and snap a selfie and pop it on social media ...... I might get more retweets if ......

And now the corporates get blackmailed (evil faceless corporation who cares? , I mean why should they be worried about blood on there hands right?) and the bad guys know how to work the court of public opinion . Then Heck Roll out the president so he can have a few licks as well and come to the rescue?.. that'll help Sony !! good on you

If Sorkin was still doing Newsroom he'd have a feild day with this one, and he'd be right. but I'm guessing folks would still rather watch the Kardashians.
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Bill Glasheen
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Re: Dear Lil' Kim: Come and get me!

Post by Bill Glasheen »

Wall Street Journal wrote: Sony to Show ‘The Interview’ in Theaters
Film Studio Reverses Course, Plans to Show Once-Canceled Movie in Limited Release

By ERICH SCHWARTZEL
Updated Dec. 23, 2014 2:08 p.m. ET

Sony Pictures Entertainment will release “The Interview” on a limited number of screens Dec. 25, the studio said, six days after a hacking attack and terrorist threats led the company to cancel the slapstick comedy about an assassination plot against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

In a statement, Sony Entertainment Chief Executive Michael Lynton said releasing the movie was a rebuke to the hackers. “We are proud to make it available to the public and to have stood up to those who attempted to suppress free speech,” he said.

***
None of the big 5 film distributors are participating in this release, including the chickenshit Regal Cinemas who sold me 3 tickets online (through Fandango) before cancelling the show. That said... this is a start.

I'm showing up on Christmas day with the boys, asking for my movie. Then on to sushi! 8)

- Bill
fivedragons
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Re: Dear Lil' Kim: Come and get me!

Post by fivedragons »

The world stage. The internet has created a world without intellectual borders. This is interesting.
Stryke
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Re: Dear Lil' Kim: Come and get me!

Post by Stryke »

Good work by Sony now its on everyone else , maybe the big chains will see the dollars lost and join in once nothing happens , I cant see Obama having a run at them though to pressure them forward, but heck maybe it's there democratic right !!
The world stage. The internet has created a world without intellectual borders. This is interesting.
It is an amazing time to be alive , we live in an amazing era and I suspect this is just the beginning. It's amazing that a country like North Korea can use such tool so effectively , when if it's citizens had access to such open transparent information Id suspect regime change would be much more likely.

But really this is more about how terrorisim is faced by the general public , by corporations , and by government , anywhere anytime anyhow.
fivedragons
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Re: Dear Lil' Kim: Come and get me!

Post by fivedragons »

It seems that people who behead journalists have had the internet thing backfire. Here's looking at you, oh righteous ones. Hoist the black flag. :lol:
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Bill Glasheen
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Re: Dear Lil' Kim: Come and get me!

Post by Bill Glasheen »

Christmas Day:

As advertised, I went to the UA West Tower Cinemas 10 on West Broad Street in Richmond (Regal Cinemas), and presented my printed pass. I had it scanned, and the person instructed me to go to Auditorum 1 which was showing... The Hobbit. I told her to look again at my pass. Oh... I was as nice as I could be (I told her it wasn't her fault), but asked to speak to the manager. The manager wasn't as kind. He first told me that Sony had pulled the film. I corrected him. The Big Five film distributors chickened out, Sony cancelled, and then Sony distributed it at the last minute to whomever would see it. A crowd was listening. He told me he'd get me some free passes. Before I could say anything, he was gone. He came back, put the passes on the edge of the counter, and the passes fell on the floor. I picked them up, gave them back to him, and said I paid to see the movie. Obviously he had nothing to say. Then I asked for a number I could call. He gave me this.

1-877-TELL-REG

Seeing that he was pretty upset, I then told him it wasn't personal and my visit was a protest. I reached out and shook his hand. Then I told him I hoped he'd understood. I thanked him for the phone number, smiled, and left.

Today (December 26)

I paid to have the movie downloaded via X-Box Live to my son's X-Box player. I paid full price to have a copy of the movie. Seriously... I *wanted* to give the distributor money.

My oldest son and I just got finished watching the movie. My thoughts?

1) It's a Seth Rogan and James Franco movie. Nuff said. This is slapstick satire.

2) That said, the movie definitely will pisss Lil' Kim off.

3) If you've seen the previews and you think you know the plot, well... not exactly. There are still a few decent surprises.

4) It's a Seth Rogan and James Franco movie. Nuff said.

There were a few places where I laughed like a little kid. Some jokes really hit the mark. A lot of it was stupid, but... Nuff said. It was entertainment. However this "silly" satire has done what no straight-up anti-NK news reporting could ever do. Food for thought.

- Bill
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Jason Rees
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Re: Dear Lil' Kim: Come and get me!

Post by Jason Rees »

I almost want to see this at the one theater in town that's playing it, just to feel like I'm tweaking the nose of a petty dictator.

Alas, I didn't care for what I saw in the previews, and instead I'm saving my money for what looks to be a damned good movie (American Sniper), memorializing arguably the most successful sniper in US military history: Chris Kyle.
Life begins & ends cold, naked & covered in crap.
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Bill Glasheen
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Re: Dear Lil' Kim: Come and get me!

Post by Bill Glasheen »

Jason Rees wrote: I didn't care for what I saw in the previews
This kind of humor is for a select audience. If you like Charlie Chaplin, Mel Brooks, and South Park, you will appreciate its place. It isn't going to win any academy awards. That said... This B-rate movie emotionally hijacked a noxious, dangerous regime and - in doing so - drew attention to it. Consider any self-defense situation where all the training in the world goes out the window because one party was yanked our of its zen mind. Here you have it. In a way it's a bit like this Chinese finger trap.

Image

Once you get your finger in it, the natural instinct is to pull out. Pulling straight out is absolutely the wrong thing to do.

Blustering bullies often wear their emotions on their sleeves. The fact that such a lowbrow film could cause Lil' Kim to overreact is itself a fascinating story. With any luck, life will imitate art. Oops... don't want to spoil the plot. ;-)
Jason Rees wrote: I'm saving my money for what looks to be a damned good movie (American Sniper), memorializing arguably the most successful sniper in US military history: Chris Kyle.
I will be there as well. Looks like an interesting study in Killology.

- Bill
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