The Syndicate

Effective immediately, Turnip Head (2.0) is replacing Roxy. He cannot be lynched on Day 9 and cannot be targeted on Night 9.

Please welcome him back with open arms.

thellama73 wrote:
Mongoose wrote:Everyone, guess what I'm doing right now? Guess! Guess!
Oscars.

Do I win a rezz?

Cheater. No rezz for you.

Everyone, guess what I'm doing right now? Guess! Guess!

Best director (for 2015 Academy Awards)

Alejandro González Iñárritu, "Birdman"
3
timmer (4), zeek (8), Bass_the_Clever (10) 30%
Richard Linklater, "Boyhood"
3
Mongoose (1), Ricochet (5), thellama73 (9) 30%
Bennett Miller, "Foxcatcher"
1
Long Con (7) 10%
Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
2
MovingPictures07 (2), Dom (6) 20%
Morten Tydlum, "The Imitation Game"
1
S~V~S (3) 10%
Total votes : 10

Night 8: Ten Little Indians.

Today's lesson is on props. Dubious props.

McGuffins are not colloquial names for farts.

McGuffin (aka: MacGuffin or maguffin) is a term for a PlotEnablingDevice, i.e., a device or plot element in a movie that is deliberately placed to catch the viewer's attention and/or drive the logic of the plot, but which actually serves no further purpose - it won't pop up again later, it won't explain the ending, it won't actually do anything except possibly distract you while you try to figure out its significance. More specifically, it is usually a mysterious package or superweapon or something that everyone in the story is chasing.

Possibly coined by AlfredHitchcock (see below). The perfect example is the "government secrets" that motivate the action in NorthByNorthwest (1959). Another typical McGuffin is the Maltese Falcon. It gets the characters together, pits them against each other, but turns out to be worthless.

"Hitchcock was a neat chum," said Bass.

"Oh look at this pistol," said Canucklehead.

"Pistols are expensive (but still plentiful) in Finland," noted Vompatti.

"Are there blanks in those?" asked Ricochet.

"Surely, this is the props room," said Roxy.

"Go on, aim it at me, and shoot," dared S~V~S.

"This makes me nervous," said Vompatti.

"You're always a nervous horse,' said LongCon.

Canucklehead aimed and shot. S~V~S fell to the ground, bleeding.

"Someone's switched the prop blanks out for live rounds!" yelled A Person 2.0, in a rare display of outburst.

"That's no McGuffin," said Dom.

S~V~S has been murdered.

It is now Day 9. You have 48 hours to see who switched out the prop gun.

Canucklehead wrote:
Vompatti wrote:
Ricochet wrote:Will you lend us your knowledge and intuition in catching the baddies?
If I had to toss a coin I'd mainly toss it at Roxy and Canucklehead.
Ouch. Careful, I have a severe copper allergy.

Dom wrote:I would like to vote Selma, but the Academy.

a-freakin-men

What your choice for Oscar fave says about you:

http://www.purewow.com/arts/What-Your-O ... -About-You

Ricochet wrote:Is the poll created for our favourite pick or the will win prediction?

Either way, you can feel free to clarify in the comments. On prediction, I'm split between Iñárritu and Linklater.

And now a word from Fritz Lang:

Reading back it is obvious to me now that few of the civilian lynches so far have been accidents. There is a malicious group of individuals functioning behind the scenes controlling and manipulating the votes, and when you examine the pattern there is little to no doubt as to who they are. Pay particular attention to what happened on days 5 and 6 and the night between and you shall discover the truth.

Ricochet wrote:Well, way to go for me to write endlessly until the Day actually finishes. I was sure I read the poll ends at 2:55am here.

RIP DF.

Ric, I ended the day early since everyone had voted.

Who made sure BlackRock's magnum opus was wildly unfinished?

Poll runs till Sat Feb 21, 2015 7:55:06 pm

A Person 2.0
0
No votes
Bass the Clever
0
No votes
Canucklehead
3
S~V~S (8), DFaraday (13), Vompatti (15) 17%
DFaraday
8
Spacedaisy (6), Dom (10), Long Con (11), Canucklehead (12), Made (14), Ricochet (16), Bass_the_Clever (17), A Person (18) 44%
Dom
0
No votes
Long Con
0
No votes
Made
0
No votes
Ricochet
0
No votes
Roxy
0
No votes
SpaceDaisy
0
No votes
S~V~S
0
No votes
The Man From La Mancha (Host/Mod/Deadie/NPs)
7
Mongoose (1), timmer (2), MovingPictures07 (3), nijuukyugou (4), Epignosis (5), Black Rock (7), Metalmarsh89 (9)

Day 8: The New Wave is Over

Boyhood was not without its faults, but it was still one of my favorite films of the year. I don't find it gimmicky, and Linklater procured such fierce, raw performances from the actors.

That said, this 'honest' trailer was great. Still my pick for best pic (on what I'd like to see win).

The film took too long to make and DFaraday died of boredom.

DFaraday has died. He was Godard.

It is now Night 8. You have 24 hours.

Host Whoops:

I know Daisy's been busy and sought a replacement but didn't see my message to her about it in my outbox. It's now there, let the record reflect. Her vote today won't count, so just pretend it's not there just like your college boyfriend did with your roommate.

Effective Immediately, Vompatti will be filling in for SpaceDaisy, who is an understandably busy bee!

Vomps cannot be lynched on Day 8 or NK'd on Night 8. Please send him beer and potato chips.

S~V~S wrote:Usually NKs are not role revealed.

True, I was just getting into the "unfinished" theme.

And now a message from Eisenstein:

Well congrats my fellow civvies we got a baddie, it's about time. We really can't afford to lynch anymore civs. I think we all should look at Rico, Roxy, and Black Rock. Well thats all for now.

Favorite Anderson

Poll runs till Thu Feb 19, 2015 9:07:19 pm
You may select 1 option

Paul Thomas
5
Mongoose (1), A Person (2), Dom (5), Ricochet (7), S~V~S (8) 45%
Paul W.S.
1
Long Con (4) 9%
Wes
5
thellama73 (3), zeek (6), Made (9), timmer (10), Roxy (11) 45%
Total votes : 11

Night 7: Black Rock of Ages

Sometimes you start a project and just can't finish it. Look around your house, you might see several examples!

It happens to directors/producers too:

Black Rock has been killed. She was

It is now Day 8. You have 48 hours to

Thanks to everyone who was able to participate in watching The Golem this weekend!

I'm no longer going away for the weekend, so we will probably have some sort of (optional) event. Don't worry, it won't be a posting contest!

The night poll is up.

Who crashed the flight of the Phoenix?

Poll ended at Tue Feb 17, 2015 7:23:10 pm

A Person 2.0
0
No votes
Bass the Clever
0
No votes
Canucklehead
0
No votes
DFaraday
3
Long Con (5), Metalmarsh89 (13), Canucklehead (15) 20%
Dom
0
No votes
Made 2.0
0
No votes
Long Con
0
No votes
MetalMarsh
5
S~V~S (4), Roxy (8), Spacedaisy (10), Black Rock (11), DFaraday (14) 33%
Ricochet
0
No votes
Roxy
0
No votes
SpaceDaisy
0
No votes
S~V~S
0
No votes
Fawkes will return (Host/Mod/Deadies/NPs/Zeek/etc)
7
Mongoose (1), MovingPictures07 (2), nijuukyugou (3), zeek (6), Epignosis (7), Vompatti (9), timmer (12) 47%
Total votes : 15

S~V~S wrote: I think it was supposed to last 2 or 3 hours.

Indeed.

While a fun ass mechanic, maybe not something I'll use again (if you know what I mean).

Day 7: Don't Be a Sock Block

We recently discussed the Scorsese film Hugo, which features plotlines in regards to George Melies, who produced A Trip to the Moon.

Have a peek, it's 12 mins.

By the way, Metalmarsh was Uwe Boll.
It is now Night 7.

You may now post.

(Sorry, I was in a hotel last night and didn't have internet).

A Person wrote:
Mongoose wrote:Hi sweet players!

I'm having a fun time down in Orlando for work. Are you all having nice Mondays?

Why not take a break with a nice film from the Criterion Collection? Many are available for your viewing on Hulu.

I'll be around for about an hour if you need me, lovelies.
I watched The Passion of Joan of Arc today already, it was fairly decent.

Fairly decent he says.

Hi sweet players!

I'm having a fun time down in Orlando for work. Are you all having nice Mondays?

Why not take a break with a nice film from the Criterion Collection? Many are available for your viewing on Hulu.

I'll be around for about an hour if you need me, lovelies.

Favorite Scorsese of the last 25 years?

Poll runs till Mon Feb 16, 2015 1:08:29 am
You may select up to 10 options

Gangs of New York
3
Black Rock (11), Long Con (22), Bass_the_Clever (32) 8%
The Aviator
3
Mongoose (2), Metalmarsh89 (6), birdwithteeth11 (33) 8%
The Departed (remake)
4
Mongoose (3), zeek (16), Bass_the_Clever (31), birdwithteeth11 (34) 11%
Hugo
3
Mongoose (1), Ricochet (7), A Person (15) 8%
Shutter Island
7
Dom (10), Black Rock (12), thellama73 (14), zeek (17), Long Con (21), timmer (26), birdwithteeth11 (35) 19%
Kundun
0
No votes
Bringing Out the Dead
1
timmer (25) 3%
Casino
3
Vompatti (8), Black Rock (13), Bass_the_Clever (30) 8%
Cape Fear (remake)
1
Bass_the_Clever (29) 3%
Goodfellas
7
Metalmarsh89 (5), Roxy (9), zeek (18), Long Con (20), timmer (23), Bass_the_Clever (28), birdwithteeth11 (36) 19%
Shine a Light
1
Mongoose (4) 3%
Wolf of Wall Street
3
zeek (19), timmer (24), Bass_the_Clever (27) 8%

Night 6: This Bird is Cooked

I love the use of lighting in the 1932 Scarface. There's an "x" motif that runs throughout the film. You can also find this in Jules Dassin's The Naked City, which is one of my favorite Film Noirs.

For more information, check this out: http://www.filmsite.org/scar.html What's up with that weird sibling rapport? I can talk about this film all day.

Such great directing in this film. Truly, Howard Hawks was the man.

But now he is dead.

BirdWithTeeth11 has died. Again.

It is now Day 7. You have 48 hours to find the avian incinerator.

Long Con wrote:Sorry, I don't have the bandwidth to be watching whole movies online. Also sorry I couldn't participate in the Birdman contest; I started listening to the interview, but I had to keep pausing to do things, and I never got back to it. Too busy, I guess, I hope you got some good entries! Also, it felt suspiciously like a school assignment of some sort.

Don't worry, the movies, videos and event/contests are all extremely optional!

Maybe I'm moonlighting as a teacher...

You may talk about The Golem film here, especially if you want to all watch it together. Please no info drops or role claiming. You may talk about the film and any personal or OT matters to your heart's content. Enjoy!

http://us21.chatzy.com/68436960678663

^ This is open to all TS players, including deadies, mods, and non-players. Come on by!

Metalmarsh89 wrote:
Mongoose: Will we be told if a baddie team is eliminated?

Nope

Metalmarsh89 wrote: Also, what happens in the case of a lynch tie?

My host policy on ties: no one dies.

The Golem Film

The 1920 version is a much better film that Wegener's own 1915 outing of the same orientation. This classic horror silent film is wildly entertaining and will give you a nice taste of German avant-garde experimental silent film. Try Cabinet of Dr Caligari next? Give this a shot and feel free to talk about it in-thread if you watch it.

Day 6: Who paid George Lucas to murder Llama?

Poll ended at Sat Feb 14, 2015 9:05:08 pm

Bass the Clever
0
No votes
BirdWithTeeth11
0
No votes
BlackRock
1
Ricochet (19) 5%
Canucklehead
0
No votes
DFaraday
1
Long Con (14) 5%
Dom
0
No votes
Lizzy
0
No votes
Long Con
0
No votes
MetalMarsh
3
Turnip Head (12), Bass_the_Clever (13), Black Rock (15) 16%
Ricochet
0
No votes
Roxy
0
No votes
sabie12
0
No votes
SpaceDaisy
0
No votes
S~V~S
0
No votes
TurnipHead
7
birdwithteeth11 (2), Dom (6), Metalmarsh89 (7), DFaraday (8), S~V~S (16), Canucklehead (17), Roxy (18) 37%
J.J. Abrams (Mod/Host/Deadie/NPs)
7
Mongoose (1), Epignosis (3), MovingPictures07 (4), Vompatti (5), timmer (9), thellama73 (10), Made (11) 37%
Total votes : 19

Day 6: Even Rocky Had a Montage

Turnip Head has died. He was John Waters.

You have 20 hours to send in your night actions.

Effective immediately, Made is replacing Lizzy. Made 2.0 cannot be lynched Day 6 or targeted on Night 6.

Turnip Head wrote:AP was lynched on like Day 1 and sabie hasn't played all game. AP has been following along it seems. Anyone else think the timing of this replacement is strange? Why now?

I wanted to give them a bit of time to check in, just in case they were just tardy.

Effective immediately, A Person is replacing Sabie.

He is immune from the Day 6 lynch and Night 6 actions.

S~V~S wrote:I like! The blonde, I don't know who she is, but she has some of that same ethereal fragility of Tilda Swinton.

She's great! Her name is Mia Wasikowska and she was the titular Alice in Wonderland, titular Jane Eyre and a star of Stoker, Albert Nobbs and The Kids Are All Right.

She's been nabbing so many delectable roles lately!

Good morning, dear players.

Have you managed to catch the trailer for the newest del Toro vehicle?

Watch the trailer and let us know what you think!

Ricochet wrote:
RIP Llama. Don't fully understand if the Lucas part is for story flavour or not, but I assume the former.

Just flavor.

Don't forget about the optional Fresh Air event.

I previously stated to post your entry in the thread. You may also PM it to me if you wish to remain sneaky mongooses.

What 2015 film are you most looking forward to out of these listed?

You may select up to 20 options

Ant-Man
5
DFaraday (9), thellama73 (35), Long Con (44), birdwithteeth11 (50), Bass_the_Clever (74) 6%
Avengers: Age of Ultron
7
DFaraday (8), zeek (13), Black Rock (28), Long Con (43), birdwithteeth11 (49), Turnip Head (63), Bass_the_Clever (73) 9%
Crimson Peak
3
Mongoose (2), A Person (22), birdwithteeth11 (48) 4%
Entourage
1
Bass_the_Clever (72) 1%
Fantastic Four
2
Long Con (42), Bass_the_Clever (71) 2%
Fast & Furious 7
1
Turnip Head (62) 1%
Fifty Shades of Grey
0
No votes
Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
2
Black Rock (27), Canucklehead (59) 2%
Inside Out
2
A Person (21), timmer (34) 2%
Insidious 3
2
Black Rock (26), Long Con (41) 2%
Jem and the Holograms
1
Canucklehead (58) 1%
Jurassic World
8
Mongoose (1), zeek (14), Canucklehead (57), Turnip Head (64), birdwithteeth11 (65), Bass_the_Clever (70), Dom (75), S~V~S (80) 10%
Last Witch Hunter, The
0
No votes
Mad Max: Fury Road
3
timmer (33), Long Con (40), S~V~S (79) 4%
Magic Mike XXL
0
No votes
Man from U.N.C.L.E.
0
No votes
Martian, The
4
Mongoose (6), A Person (20), birdwithteeth11 (47), S~V~S (78) 5%
Minions
1
Canucklehead (56) 1%
Pan
2
Canucklehead (55), S~V~S (77) 2%
Peanuts Movie, The
1
Canucklehead (54) 1%
Pitch Perfect 2
4
DFaraday (10), Dom (29), Canucklehead (53), Turnip Head (61) 5%
Poltergeist
2
Black Rock (25), Long Con (39) 2%
Revenant, The
5
Mongoose (5), zeek (15), A Person (19), timmer (31), birdwithteeth11 (46) 6%
San Andreas
0
No votes
Spectre
1
Mongoose (3) 1%
Star Wars 7
9
DFaraday (11), zeek (12), Black Rock (24), Dom (30), Long Con (38), birdwithteeth11 (45), Canucklehead (52), Turnip Head (60), Bass_the_Clever (69) 11%
Straight Outta Compton
0
No votes
Ted 2
3
Long Con (37), Bass_the_Clever (68), S~V~S (76) 4%
Terminator Genisys
2
Long Con (36), Bass_the_Clever (67) 2%
Tomorrowland
8
Mongoose (4), zeek (16), A Person (17), Black Rock (23), timmer (32), Canucklehead (51), Bass_the_Clever (66), S~V~S (81) 10%
Walk, The
2
Mongoose (7), A Person (18) 2%
Total votes : 81

Night 5: Populist Hack

For his next film, Mr. Spielberg will be making a film about aliens during World War 2.

"Oh, that guy is a populist hack," said Llama.

George Lucas came up behind Llama, yelling "That man is the best film director who ever lived!" and hit him over the head with a collector's edition DVD of Clue: The Movie. Llama died instantly.

thellama73 has died from Clue: the Movie at the hand of George Lucas.

It is now Day 6. You have 48 hours to determine who paid George Lucas to murder Llama.

Canucklehead wrote:I voted for movies/IPs that I'm familiar with and looking forward to, but now I'm having fun IMDBing all the ones I've never heard of! This is the most educational game I've ever played, and the one that has most contributed to me not doing any of the work that I'm supposed to be doing. Thank you, Mongoose.

Wow, that is super nice! Thank you for the feedback and pleased as punch you are enjoying the game!

thellama73 wrote:Is it stiil Night 5? What's going on? I'm disoriented.

I made the Night 5 cycle longer to get us back on a normal schedule.

Home from yoga, and I need a second to eat something because I just burned like 700-something calories.

Last chance for night actions, etc.

Event: Fresh Air Interview with Terry Gross.

Fresh Air is a great interview radio magazine on NPR. She interviews authors, artists, directors, activists. She is known for asking super interesting and thought-provoking questions.

Below is her interview Monday with Michael Keaton. Feel free to take a listen to it or read the transcript to get her style.
http://www.npr.org/2015/02/09/384840668 ... uperheroes

For the event/contest, pick any actor, director or screenwriter. Using Terry's level of interviewing acumen, write up 5+ thought-provoking (they can be funny) questions and post them in the thread.

Winners will be chosen and prizes will be given.

You won't want to miss this. You have until Friday at noon EST.

Ricochet wrote:I'm not really looking forward to any of those.

Not even the del Toro?

Night Poll is up. Optional as always, and you can select up to 20 options. Have fun with it!

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