The name Xerxes (Ed, for you!), "300", and questions/comments about forum rules. :)

Thanks Chewbecca, but your dog has cuter ears![]

Chelsea,
 
Those are so cute!! I've never seen those before........
 
I would guess to say that they are purple teddy bears, but since this is a dog board,
 
I vote for them being cutie pie cartoon purple doggie faces!
 
I think they should stick around -that's just too cute!

ORIGINAL: Xerxes

Thanks Chewbecca, but your dog has cuter ears![]

aw, thanks!
She got her cute ears, probably, from poor breeding. But I tell her all the time, "I like this ear, this is my FAVORITE ear (as I grabbed the left ear and pet it)"

ORIGINAL: chewbecca

ORIGINAL: Xerxes

Thanks Chewbecca, but your dog has cuter ears![]

aw, thanks!
She got her cute ears, probably, from poor breeding. But I tell her all the time, "I like this ear, this is my FAVORITE ear (as I grabbed the left ear and pet it)"

Awwww!

I would have seen this movie had it not been for 2 showings only, one at 8 something, the other at 11 something. We went during the day, so I was out of luck, but I did see the History Channel version of it.
I think the Persians needed better fighting garb & gear.

ORIGINAL: chewbecca

ORIGINAL: Xerxes

I agree that it is an artistic film, painted as a triumphant tragedy. The film was very well done. There are several details that are historically inaccurate but most people won't notice them.

I thought that the Persians were exaggeratedly bad, and of course Xerxes himself was made into a larger than life figure-better for the story. But as far as gore goes, I thought that this movie concentrated more on the story than on the "gory details." In fact other than a couple of scenes, there really wasn't that much at all.

You really think they were exaggerated badly? I thought so at first, but then I got to thinking about it as I watched it and I thought that since Xerxes was thought of as a God-King, that exaggerating him in the movie was about as a word by word definition as one could hope for. I think visually, adding the exaggeration really emphasized the arrogance that almost only a "God-King" could have. And I think that by making the Persian soldiers grotesque, magical, and weird kind of was a crack, not just on mythology, but the weird mystery and, well, mysticism that kind of would encompass people that were bold enough to worship a human "God-King".
I thought, overall, the movie had a wonderful balance of timing for its emphasis. During the battle scenes, it wasn't too gory, but it got the point across that it was not easy battling. It had a cheesy effect of the whole "the most determined team can win a battle no matter how small the team is" for a while and it showed it well. It was kind of predictable, but well put.

Damn, now I'm all deeply analyzing this movie and I'm being a HUGE dork.

i dont think you're being dorky... this is kind what i wanted to know anyway []
i mean i'm not naive in thinking this movie is going to be pretty, it IS about a battle in a very harsh period of time, but i dunno..... there's just some films that take it way over the top.
For example, ever see the Longest Day? with the all star cast, John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Fonda, and Richard Burton.... Compare it to Saving Private Ryan..... They're both great films, very well detailed (even for the 60's) but SPR was way too bloody. It didnt have to be, because The Longest Day is a classic and not even remotely as graphic as Ryan.... Of course, back then actor's didnt need fake blood and CGI to make the audience believe they were in excruciating pain after being shot in the gut...
I may not be able to make it to the theatre, but i think i'll give this movie a try.. i cant help it, sometimes i'm a snob when it comes to entertainment... especially with historical films.

oooh, I just realized that Ed said, "exaggeratedly bad" not "exaggerated badly". That kind of makes what I said not make any sense.

D'oh.
You thought they were made to look worse than what they actually were.
hm...well, maybe for the time, but then again, they WERE an over-powering bunch, weren't they?[]

ORIGINAL: chewbecca

oooh, I just realized that Ed said, "exaggeratedly bad" not "exaggerated badly". That kind of makes what I said not make any sense.

D'oh.
You thought they were made to look worse than what they actually were.
hm...well, maybe for the time, but then again, they WERE an over-powering bunch, weren't they?[]

well if its any consolation, i didnt see it either so what you said made sense to me lol

ORIGINAL: chewbecca

oooh, I just realized that Ed said, "exaggeratedly bad" not "exaggerated badly". That kind of makes what I said not make any sense.

D'oh.
You thought they were made to look worse than what they actually were.
hm...well, maybe for the time, but then again, they WERE an over-powering bunch, weren't they?[]

Well considering that Xerxes went on to burn Athens and then realized he messed up and tried to rebuild it...and the fact that he ended up losing the majority of "his" lands...  They were pretty bad, in a Ghengis Khan type of way.  []

Honestly, Ed, and this is bad, but my boyfriend had to give me a quick history lesson about the Greeks and the Persians.
He has the book Herodotus':The Histories of and read it a long time ago, so some was a bit foggy to him, even.
I haven't taken any history classes past highschool, so I'm not much of a history buff and most history answers are wild guesses for me, unless I've read something recently. []

ORIGINAL: chewbecca

Honestly, Ed, and this is bad, but my boyfriend had to give me a quick history lesson about the Greeks and the Persians.
He has the book Herodotus':The Histories of and read it a long time ago, so some was a bit foggy to him, even.
I haven't taken any history classes past highschool, so I'm not much of a history buff and most history answers are wild guesses for me, unless I've read something recently. []

There's no shame in that.  Heck every time I tell someone on the street my dog's name, I have to give them a history lesson too...at least the movie will help me out a bit there![][][][]

Well, it was funny because he started talking about the different empires and junk and started comparing the Persians to some of those so that I could understand the power the Persians had back then. D'oh. hahaha.
It's all very fascinating, but it's not easy to remember ALL the information I get at once.

So, is this type of history really fascinating to you, I would assume? I say that because of all the names you could have picked, you picked a really COOL name, but does it stem from some fascination you have with Xerxes, the Persian God-King? Or did you catch the name and think, "wow, that name sounds really cool (which it DOES) and looks good spelled out"?

I've often thought that if I ever got another female dog, I would name her Niamh (it's Gaelic and is pronounced "Neve"), but the name has no particular meaning and while my grandmother came from Scotland and used to speak Gaelic to me when I was little, that has no real bearing on why I'd pick that name. I simply like how it looks one way, but is pronounced a different way. It looks pretty when written and the pronounciation is pretty neat.

about the movie..... i love history, and especially love Greek/Roman type history, and i love it even more when they make films about it. but since this is a film about a particular battle, i have to ask an incredibly silly question..... How gory is it? I know today's society has to see blood and guts spilled on screen in order for things to be "accurate" but its a turn off to me. Too much eye candy and Special FX is just a filler to cover up holes in the story. If its two hours of slashing, cutting, chopping, and only 30 minutes of dialog and plot, then i'll be sure to miss it.. or at the very least wait for it to come out on DVD so i can fastforward to the actual plot.
The film Gladiator would have been amazing if they just didnt get so nasty with it. i know its about a Gladiator, but so was Spartacus with Kirk Douglas and i dont remember seeing as much gore... but that was a different time.

 
 
Thing is, 300 isn't meant to be historically accurate. 300 is based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller (yep, comic book nerd here []) and the movie was meant to be a highly stylized artistic take on THAT particular graphic novel....not on the Spartans/Persians and what REALLY happened. The movie really doesn't have too much to do with the reality of what happened, and it isn't meant to. It's an artistic film, meant to show you lots of cool visual things, and the plot is just bonus. [] So if you're not into that kind of thing, this movie isn't for you.
 
I absolutely LOVED 300. I've seen it twice and might see it again this weekend. [] 'Course, I've got the graphic novel and have been a fan of Frank Miller for a long time anyway, so.....
 
 
But yeah, I also wasn't sure how to pronounce Xerxes either. I wasn't sure if it was "Zerkzees" or "Zerzees" The movie cleared it up for me.
 
And I'm excited that I might actually get to MEET Ed and Xerxes this weekend!! They're going to the dog show in Perry and I am as well, so perhaps I'll get to meet the "God King" in the flesh...[]

If you guys get to meet, you HAVE TO take pictures of your gang and his!
AWWWW!!!

Have fun! I wish I was meeting you guys!

So I read through this entire thread silently practicing to myself the proper pronounciation of the name of Ed's dog but havent managed to get it down pat, so I'm not gonna say it here. LOL.

We'll be getting the movie back on Thursday and I'm gonna watch it again. We lent it to MIL to watch. But I'm gonna do some studying once it comes back. SHHHH... I don't think I'm supposed to have it yet...