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You should watch Twilight some day.

Macha meanwhile is trying to meet with a "Mr Gold".  However he cannot.  Instead, he meets with a representative of his, Ms. Lily Walker, and her entourage of eight assistants.  It is very clear from their exchange that Mr Gold is the one in charge, the one laying down the ground rules.  Macha is undertaking a "commission" for Mr Gold, which is selling a shipment of cocaine.

Meanwhile, Avi asks Green about his prison experience, while sitting in front of a chess board.  Green recounts he had a choice in prison, 14 years of normal time, or 7 years solitary.  He chose the latter.  Green then moves a piece on the board.  He was inbetween two other cells, one containing a chess master, the other a master conman.  They communicated via the library-on-wheels that was used in the prison.  They used to write ideas on chess moves or how to plan the master con in the back of books on theoretical astrophysics and the mathematics of quantum mechanics.  Green read all of their notes.  While recounting this, the game between Green and Avi continues.  Green tells Avi their aim was to "create the ultimate con and win the ultimate game."  They believed they discovered a formula for this ultimate con.  They then decided they were going to leave, and take Green with them.  The next day they were gone without a trace, but Green remained.  He got out two years later, but by that point the two prisoners had cleaned him out of everything he had, every secret stash of money he had hidden before doing time.  All they left was a note, stating "you only get smarter by playing a smarter opponent."  Rule One.  But Green had their formula, and it worked.  Avi notes "it isn't doing you much good now" and then Green checkmates him.

That night, Green wonders why they are dragging this out and making him suffer, making him pay for his own pain.  A part of him dies every time he thinks about it.

Zach, Avi and Green then take part in a heist.  They steal the safe where the stash of Mr Gold's cocaine is being kept, from Macha.  Macha is understandably furious and afraid, and his second in command tells him they can only get more cocaine from Lord John, an Asian organised crime leader.  Macha is very unhappy with this, but has no choice.  John is willing to deal, at a substantially higher price than what they got the cocaine from Gold at.  Macha tells his man to deal, saying "this is Sam Gold I've found myself chained to, Mr Black Magic, Mr I-run-this-game Gold.  Not some plastic gangster with a pocket knife for backup.  Gold doesn't give second chances Paul, I want in and I want rewards."

Avi, Zach and Green also steal this consignment, from Lord John, as well as the money Macha intended to use to pay for the drugs.  Macha is now convinced John stiffed him, and John thinks Macha stole it. 

Avi and Green are playing another chess game.  Zach tells him "wake up Mister Green", just before he checkmates Avi.  Avi asks him "how do you keep winning?" and Green explains: "You do all the hard work, and I just help you along.  The art is for me to feed pieces to you and let you believe you took those pieces because you are smarter and I am dumber.  In every game and con there is always an opponent and a victim.  The more control a victim thinks he has, the less he actually has.  Gradually he will hang himself.  I as the opponent just help him along."

Avi asks "so is that the treasured formula?"

Green replies "the formula has infinite depth in its efficacy and application.  But it is staggeringly simple and completely consistent.  Rule one of any game or con, you can only get smarter by playing a smarter opponent.  The more sophisticated the game, the more sophisticated the opponent.  If the opponent is very good, he will place his victim inside an environment he can control.  The bigger the environment, the easier the control.  Toss the dog a bone, find their weakness, give them just a little of what they think they want.  So the opponent simply distracts the victim by getting them consumed with their own consumption.  The bigger the trick, and older the trick, the easier it is to pull.  They think it cant be that old, and it can't be that big, for so many people to have fallen for it.  Eventually, when the opponent is challenged or questioned, it means the victim investment and thus his intelligence is questioned.  No-one can accept that.  Not even to themselves.  You'll always find a very good opponent in the last place you would ever look."

While this is going on, Macha demands that Green be taken care of.  He tells his second in command to use "Sorter and Slim Bigguns" to do a proper job on him.

Jake is told at the hospital that it is unknown what caused his fall, but they're running tests and should have results within 24 hours.  Jake's brother leaves, and the other three members of his crew drive him home.  Just as Jake is about to open his door, he sees another card on the floor, like the one in the casino.  This one reads "pick me up".  As he does, a burst of gunfire hits his two crew members across the chest, killing one.  Jake fires in return but only to provide cover so he can get back to the car.  As they are about to go, the driver and the other member of the crew are hit, both killed.  The assassins proceed to shoot up the car, until the man from the casino arrives with a semi-automatic and tells him to get in the car. 

We then cut to Macha again, who expresses shock at Sorter missing, since Sorter never misses.  The hitman himself finds it hard to explain, and puts it down to "something being wrong."  Sorter believes someone told him they were coming, and that something is "very wrong" here.
The driver who saved Green's life takes him through a bar and into what appears to be a chess club, where he is introduced to a softly spoken black man going by the name of Avi.  Avi tries to get Green to play a chess game, but he refuses.  So Avi tells him he has his medical results from the hospital, and these results tell them he will die within three days from an ailment which will contaminate his blood and organs.  Green goes to leave, but Avi tells him if he gives him thirty seconds, he can then go.  Green thinks to himself "the longer you listen, the sweeter the pitch", but sits down regardless.  Avi tells him the next time they save his life it will not be for free.  Avi and Zach, the driver, inform him there are conditions to his help, and they are:

He will give them every penny he has got.

And,

He must do everything they tell him, including answering any questions they ask.

Green immediately suspects a con, but Zach tells him if he thought harder, he would realise this isn't a trick.  Avi also warns him Macha has unleashed his legions, and they can protect him.  Green thinks to himself that he wont part with his cash for some "home made test results."  However, when he gets a second opinion, he finds out they were not lying. 

Green then drops off the money to Zach and Avi, who it turns out are in the loan shark business.  People only come to them as a last option, when they have no other choices.  Avi notes, almost mockingly, that Green's money even "smells proud", as he takes it from him.  As they drive, Avi tells him that people hate and fear them, just as he will come to hate and fear them. Furthermore, they will be using his money to help fund their operations, by loaning it out. 

Avi asks Green for his history with Macha.  Green tells him about the three Eddies, "flash, loud, proud and stupid", who ran games for Macha all over the city.  The Eddies knew Green could play and they needed a card man for a game, but he refused.  The scene cuts briefly to show the two Eddies standing to the viewers left of Green, and one on the right.  The Eddies threatened the family of Green's brother, so he swallowed his pride and played.  He won, but one of the players insulted him, so Green shot him in the foot under the table, triggering a gun fight.  The money vanishes, and the Eddies threatened Green's niece.  His sister-in-law is killed, and Green spent seven years in prison because he refused to tell the police Macha organised the games.  Green concludes, after telling his story that "nothing hurts more than humiliation and a little money loss."

As Avi is meeting with some people who owe him money, Green thinks to himself "don't try to make sense out of it, not now, because it doesn't make sense. I just know if you start a job then finish it."

Revolver is a Guy Ritchie film you've likely never heard of.  And there are reasons for this.  Firstly, it bombed at the Box Office.  Secondly, it appears to be yet another tiresome con-man with a heart of gold getting one up on his enemies crime film.  And thirdly, it stars Jason "can't do accents" Statham, best known for the "so bad they're good" Crank films, and lead actor in a variety of B-films where the ability to speak with a low voice and convincingly hit people is rated above acting skills.

(Note: spoilers abound)


However, only the first one of these is really accurate.  Revolver is far from your average crime thriller, in fact, it's not really about crime at all.

The first suggestion this film might be more than it appears is in the opening credits.  As Statham is being marched out of prison, we see a number of quotes appear on the screen.  The first reads:

"The greatest enemy will hide in the last place you would ever look" – Julius Caesar, 75 B.C.

The second is:

"The only way to get smarter is by playing a smarter opponent."  - Fundamentals of Chess, 1883

The third reads:

"The first rule of business, protect your investment" – Etiquette of the Banker, 1775

The fourth and final one is:

"There is no avoiding war, it can only be postponed to the advantage of your enemy" – Machiavelli, 1502

As Statham's character, Jake Green, walks out of prison, we hear him narrating, musing on his time in prison.  He says "in every game and con, there is always an opponent and there is always a victim.  The trick is to know when you're the latter, so you can become the former."
The scene then shifts, and it is two years later.  Green has a crew together, and they are driving towards a casino.  One of the crew asks him if he thinks this is a good idea.  He says to Green that he already has more money than he can ever spend, and all he ever thinks about is getting more.   However, Green replies that "he" owes both himself and the man he is talking to, and now he has to pay.  It is apparently a "natural law, cause and effect."

Dorothy Macha, "Mr D.", the corrupt casino owner, forces Green and his crew to come upstairs and gamble against him at their table.  Before getting into the lift though, Green's character has a little internal monologue where he wonders about taking the stairs instead.  He doesn't like enclosed spaces, and says "why should a man do what he doesn't want to do?  There is always a choice."  He eventually takes the lift, however. 

He shows some signs of nervousness as he rides up, but makes it up to Macha's suite without issue.  At the table, Macha tells him there is one question which drives all human actions, and the more someone invests in it, the more powerful they will become.  The question, according to Macha is "what's in it for me?"  Macha goes on to tell Green he is a man who "needs a master, an employee".  He says he will happily remind Green of his place, the "position nature chose for him", which contrasts well against Statham's claim that his revenge here is merely natural law.

After winning, Green leaves.  One of Macha's men says to Green that Macha would appreciate it if he came back to the table.  Green says he hasn't finished with Macha yet, but turns to leave.  On the way out, a man interrupts Mr Green and tells him he is in trouble.  He gives him a card, then goes back to talking on the phone.  Green hesitates in front of the lift and decides instead to take the stairs.  Walking through the doors, he looks at the card as if puzzled, then collapses, falling down the stairwell.  The movie quickly cuts to the man who gave him the card, smoking a cigar, then back to Green.  The card says "take the elevator".

(more to come)

As with LMNO-PI, there will be cameos.  I actually have no clue where I am going with this, beyond more dakka and rule of cool, so it should be an interesting trip.

Pwnd.

Of course, even sociopaths are useful, if you give them a shove in the right direction, and run away really fast.

The Discordian Art of War sounds like it'll be something I won't want to spread for fear of empowering my enemy. AND THAT'S A GOOD THING.

I'm thinking I might have to write two versions of that.  The Art of War parody version, and the "how to actually fuck someone up badly" version.

Jenne, Reagan did use it, but I believe it was a saying from Tsarist Russia, which was of course a notoriously paranoid culture (as you would be too, if you'd been invaded and subjugated by the Mongols, while western powers took advantage of your weakness to pick off neighbouring pieces of real estate.  I've been reading on the history of the Golden Horde, and I'm starting to think Ivan the Terrible may have been too forgiving) .

I'm sorry, but do you even HAVE to ask that?

We're DISCORDIANS. If you don't know what our answer to that will be, either I need to stop generalizing and presuming, or you're pretty dense.

Stop assuming.  Or I'll have to assume you're pretty dense.

It's often the case the second-tier management are truly evil fucks.  In fact, they're often picked for exactly that purpose (leaders have to keep their hands relatively clean, whereas these guys often enforce).  That could suggest the Pakistani Army and ISI are double-dealing here, taking out dead wood and keeping the insurgency all fired up.

On the other hand, second-tier extremists often make foolish mistakes.  Look at Zaqawi in Iraq, he was so extreme he turned his own Sunni allies against him.  Fundamentalist intolerance could crack the Neo-Taliban down the lines (since it is a composite group of drug traffickers, Pashto nationalists, smugglers, family-based militant cells and fundamentalist extremists) and force more moderate elements to switch sides, rather like the Anbar tribes did.

Of course though, I wouldn't expect the Pakistani Army to do something which couldn't be read in several dozen different ways.  They're too good at this game for that. 

Yeah, I hadn't read the book before seeing the film either, and I thought it was being set up to end the way it should have, for pretty much the same reasons.  The ending, as it was shown, just didn't make sense.

The "vampires" are actually intelligent beings capable of empathy, and the doctor who we thought was the hero (whom, as you may recall, was abducting and carrying out medical experiments on them) was the real monster.

So long as you're making enough money to still meet all your budgets (and a little bit to spare), it sounds like a sensible option.  The bonus may be nice....but ask yourself if its worth the extra stress, backpain and hours to get it.  If not, go for the new position.

For the same reason the Matrix changed the script so people were being used as batteries (which makes no sense at all) instead of as part of a neural net, and why the ending of I Am Legend was changed to completely miss the point of the novel.

Namely, viewers are morons.  Or, at least, executives think viewers are morons.

Dok Howl - your Cornish ancestry also includes:

Tin mining
The Cornish Pasty (rhymes with 'nasty' not 'tasty)
The almost entirely obsolete Cornish language
General Celtic spaggotry
Inclusion in Arthurian mythology (Tintagel - alleged location of King Arthur's conception)
Land's End
Stone Circles & assorted monoliths
Cream & ice cream

I used to live in Devon, the adjoining county and so spent a lot of time near & in Cornwall.

Also ineffective terrorism.

Where in Devon were you?  Since I'm in Dorset, I probably know it, at least by name.