User talk:Loeba/Archive8Sad newsSad news has reached me that Shirley Temple has died today. Another great gone! CassiantoTalk 21:06, 11 February 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 12 February 2014As reported in various media outlets this week, including The Next Web and The Daily Dot, this past week, Wikimedia Commons and various language Wikipedias are working together to encourage subjects of Wikipedia articles to record a 10-second clip of their voice to be appended to their Wikipedia article.
Software evolution does not always mean that features are being added. It also means that old fat is being trimmed. It is no different for MediaWiki.
In a bold move, the Wikimedia Foundation's Board of Trustees has announced a major change in policy concerning affiliated groups in the worldwide movement, and FDC funding levels to eligible chapters and thematic organizations over the next two years. Both decisions were published last Tuesday after considerable post-meeting consultation with the FDC and the Affiliations Committee (AffCom). The core of the first decision is
Thirteen articles, three lists, and twenty-five images were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia from 19 January to 1 February.
Two great sporting events, the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics, collide in one week, transforming the top ten into a festival of flying feet, a carnival of colliding caraniums and a bacchanal of bouncing balls, combined to influence Wikipedia's most popular articles last week.
In celebration of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, we revisited the team at WikiProject Russia to learn how the project has changed since our first interview in 2011.
Disambiguation link notification for February 18Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited Philip Seymour Hoffman, you added links pointing to the disambiguation pages Blockbuster and My Boyfriend's Back (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ • Join us at the DPL WikiProject. It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 09:10, 18 February 2014 (UTC) Help?I'm trying to create a proper userpage for myself since it seems I'm here to stay, but trying to place a photo next to the userboxes is driving me crazy! I don't know how to code and the instructions I've found are rubbish. I've also tried to look at how you've done it, but it still doesn't seem to work... as in, the image is visible, but it's either too close to the userboxes or below them, making the whole page look very awkward. Any ideas on what I should do? TrueHeartSusie3 (talk) 12:46, 19 February 2014 (UTC)TrueHeartSusie3
Template:Bibliographies of film directorsStarted Stanley Kubrick bibliography and: Can you think of any other directors which probably have a lot of material about them? Those were the ones which immediately came to mind. I think they'll be very useful when it comes to researching for directors and films.♦ Dr. Blofeld 14:20, 21 February 2014 (UTC)
Add Godard and Bresson before I saw this. Obviously they have to be ones with plenty of material unlike contemporary notables like Alexander Payne and Paul John Anderson etc.♦ Dr. Blofeld 14:47, 21 February 2014 (UTC) Exasperating at times isn't it. And Sinden tried to delete the above template within two hours of creation and is certain that it is I who should assume faith in his actions!! Just been polishing up Pinocchio (1940 film), not sure if you feel like giving it a read/copyedit. It was already nommed for GA when I got to it. It has a rare 100% rating.♦ Dr. Blofeld 14:43, 23 February 2014 (UTC)
That's how most things on wikipedia start though isn't it over one individual who can't accept other people editing and that from time to time people disagree... Unbelievable! I know Pinocchio is really cute! I loved it as a kid. As Disney films go it's definitely one of the best! I've asked the person who did most of the writing to find the page numbers for one book but that shouldn't hold it back from GA. By all means take on the review or reserve it for when you're ready if you're up for it. Don't go too hard on me though LOL, I'm just the passer by who happened to embellish it a little! Will add those directors later. I'll gradually flesh out the pages, I created them with the first 5 books for most to get them up and running.I'm considering eventually doing one for actors but I probably won't use a nav template for those as there's likely to be a very large number!♦ Dr. Blofeld 16:40, 23 February 2014 (UTC)
Oh me too. Gardner's not one of my favourites at all, a bit horsy looking to boot, but it's the sheer lack of content in the article and the likelihood of those books being very interesting as a piece of Hollywood from that period which might convince me. Yeah I really don't like Mickey Rooney, he always looked a nasty little shit to me, and from what I've read of him I was right! Audrey's probably my favourite. I was out off though by the size of the article as it is and starting the research from scratch. Perhaps I could get it up to GA without too much effort but I really prefer to write articles myself from scratch as I think they tend to be better quality at the end with better sourcing. I'll keep it in mind. Great job on Carole Lombard BTW. Love her and Rosalind Russell especially in screwballs. That one would be worth it too.♦ Dr. Blofeld 17:58, 23 February 2014 (UTC) Just saw the first part of the message. Oh you've done a terrific job on it! Virtually every one of your edits was exactly what I would have done or was thinking of doing from what I've seen. I don't think I've yet seen an edit which I would seriously dispute. Looks considerably better I think now. I think we can afford to keep some detail but some of the films definitely had a bit too much commentary. I always expand articles like that though as you can chisel away at them then and be assured that they're really comprehensive.Let me know when you're happy for it to be nommed, I think I'll see if Krimuk90 can review it.♦ Dr. Blofeld 18:05, 23 February 2014 (UTC)
Yeah with film it's best to concentrate on only one at a time otherwise it's headache material. Let's get Hoffman through GA first and then we can talk about another one! You've encouraged me though to consider Audrey's article. I might need some support to take get it there though! BTW can you find The Mortal Storm online anywhere? One I found didn't work on some Russian site.♦ Dr. Blofeld 19:33, 23 February 2014 (UTC)
I had a look at it and it needs more work than you think. It needs a complete overhaul. Awful structure and weight on certain things, I'm tempted to work on it from scratch in my sandbox. It would need a lot of work before I'd be happy taking it to GA. I just watched The Bank Dick instead. Rather daft really but funny at times, the car chase was crazy! ♦ Dr. Blofeld 21:46, 23 February 2014 (UTC) Stagevu doesn't work for me, it says plug in needed. Then when I add the plugin it still says the same thing, and most of the external links are to silly dodgy sign up websites and long and tedious downloads which probably won't work..♦ Dr. Blofeld 07:50, 24 February 2014 (UTC) Ping me when Hoffman's ready for GA and I'll ask Krimuk to review it. I could nom now and him reserve it and work can still continue with it. Whatever you're happy with. I'm off out now for a nice run! Will be back in a while..♦ Dr. Blofeld 18:50, 24 February 2014 (UTC)
Wyler's films have a great warmth to them I find and as you say crisp in delivery. Roman Holiday and Ben Hur are in my top 10. I've seen The Little Foxes, will make a note to see Dead End. I saw Battle Cry (film) earlier and was surprised how great it was, one of the best war films I've seen. Ploughing slowly through the 1001 book, have you seen this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S03Aw5HULU short film? Weird, but I've come to realize that the shorts included are usually peculiar avant garde type ones. There's some very questionable entries in it, I mean they included Cat People (1942 film) but not One of Our Aircraft is Missing when it's not even 1/5th as good. See my user talk page, we've lost another genius this month.. My hero...♦ Dr. Blofeld 15:27, 26 February 2014 (UTC) The Signpost: 19 February 2014
The Wikimedia Foundation has proposed to modify the Wikimedia projects' Terms of use to specifically ban undisclosed paid editing. ... Dimitris Liourdis, a lawyer in training who moonlights as an administrator on the Greek Wikipedia, is embroiled in a legal dispute with a Greek politician over alleged edits made to his Wikipedia article.
Runa Bhattacharjee has notified the community that the Foundation is ready to turn the Universal Language Selector back on.
WikiProject Countering System Bias aims to combat imbalanced coverage while encouraging neglected cultural perspectives and points of view, both in articles and in the larger Wikipedia community. As you'll see from the varied experiences and motivations of our nine respondents, the biases that the folks at WP CSB tackle run the full gamut of human characteristics and dispositions. The interview that follows unveils many of Wikipedia's greatest shortcomings.
Five articles, seven lists, forty-three pictures, and two portals were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia in the last two weeks.
Valentines Day got a somewhat muted reception this week, overshadowed by continuing coverage of the Winter Olympics in Sochi and the death of Shirley Temple.
A barnstar for you!
Yup, much appreciated thanks! I hope you're not angry with me Loeba! LOL honest truth I hadn't even realized you'd begun the review Loeba or had promoted it as I didn't nom it and it wasn't on my watchlist list. It will be from now on!! I only realized you'd promoted it on seeing the barnstar here!!♦ Dr. Blofeld 17:52, 27 February 2014 (UTC)
Hey welcome back. I think taking a break from this place when you're fed up is a very sensible (and healthy!) thing to do. I'm feeling a wikibreak coming on myself, but we'll see. As for the Hoffman stuff, I don't blame them for having different opinions but it does bother me how quick some people are to resort to a snarky and hostile tone...it's really not necessary. And yes I love Ikiru! My favourite Kurosawa (although I still have some of his big ones to see). --Loeba (talk) 18:51, 9 March 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 26 February 2014About a week ago, the Wikimedia Foundation proposed to modify the Wikimedia projects' terms of use to specifically ban paid editing, by adding a new clause titled "Paid contributions without disclosure". We have asked two users, one in favor of the measure (Smallbones) and one opposed (Pete Forsyth), to contribute their opinions on the matter.
Eight articles, three lists, and nine pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia last week.
This week, we found three Ph.D.s willing to give us a crash course on WikiProject Neuroscience.
Ukraine has been gripped by widespread protests over the past three months. Due to a decision by former president Viktor Yanukovych—at Russia's urging—to abandon integration with the European Union, the country was (and in many ways still is) split between the Europe-favoring Ukrainian-speaking western half and the Russian-speaking east and south. Hundreds have died during the unrest, leaving thousands of family members and friends to bury their loved ones. This week our Wikimedian colleagues in Ukraine are facing that challenge after the death of one of their own.
Following a trend started by Wikimedia Israel, Wikimedia Argentina has published an open letter challenging the recent deletion of hundreds of images from the Commons under its policy on URAA-restored copyrights, relating to the United States' 1994 Uruguay Round Agreements Act.
The 2014 Winter Olympics had more of an impact on the Top 25 than the Top 10, which had to shoulder old stalwarts like the death list, Reddit threads, TV shows and the eternal presence of Facebook; still, with four slots, it's the most searched topic on the list.
The monthly roundup of recent academic research about Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects, edited jointly with the Wikimedia Research Committee.
You can withdraw nomination by closing it; the actor's death was already part of headlines in Main Page. --George Ho (talk) 23:00, 2 March 2014 (UTC) And that has any relevance to the hook why exactly? See my comment Loeba on my talk page...♦ Dr. Blofeld 11:27, 3 March 2014 (UTC) Disambiguation link notification for March 4Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited Emma Thompson, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Beautiful Creatures (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ • Join us at the DPL WikiProject. It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 09:10, 4 March 2014 (UTC) Codger III – You’ll wish it were only a nightmareI have John Gielgud at peer review, and if you can find the time and are so disposed I'd be very glad indeed of your thoughts there. Tim riley (talk) 12:45, 7 March 2014 (UTC)
(test) The Signpost: 05 March 2014
There's nothing like a good old bit of Cold War nostalgia, combined with a suitably scary international incident, to focus our attention on the real world. That said, nothing could stem our outpouring of affection for the beloved comedian Harold Ramis, whose death managed to top the week in the face of those international concerns.
Current discussions on the English Wikipedia include...
This week, the Signpost caught up with the Wikipedia Library (TWL), which aims to connect reference resources with Wikipedia editors who can use them to improve articles. Funded through the Wikimedia Foundation's Individual Engagement Grants program, TWL has a new "visiting scholars" initiative and a microgrants program in the works.
The WikiCup competition is ongoing, while six articles, three lists, and ten pictures were promoted to "featured" status of the English Wikipedia this week.
This week, the Signpost delved into the English Wikipedia's Article Rescue Squadron.
A barnstar for you!
Loeba I really don't think they're the type you can appease. Tim riley has promoted articles on actors to FA with more quotations and boxes. I'm concerned with some of the recent changes. Don't forget that neither of these editors have ever worked properly on actor articles. Both myself and Krimuk who passed the article have FA experience with actors. I agree that there was a bit too many quotes but I think its reaching a stage where there is a good balance.♦ Dr. Blofeld 10:29, 11 March 2014 (UTC)
I don't mean that their opinion doesn't count for anything, but when it comes to writing featured articles each of us know what is acceptable and I actually think with a bit of work and a lot of minor fixing Hoffman could be promoted to FA. I don't want to go into it yet. But Jamie's comment implying the article is a pure memorial is rubbish. If they were offering constructive criticism then it would be OK. Winkelvi is just trolling and only commenting because he feels hard done by. That sort of criticism is to be ignored. I know you always do your best to respond to criticism on here, but there are certain people on here who will always criticize however good it is and will place too much weight on minor issues and blow them into something huge. ♦ Dr. Blofeld 11:16, 11 March 2014 (UTC) What did you think of Lincoln? I'm guessing you thought it was great. Obviously Daniel Day Lewis was very good and looked like him but to me he really didn't feel like an American who cared about the country's future and in a way it felt to me like he didn't want to be there. I'm genuinely struggling to think of a film I found more boring, The Greatest Story Ever Told probably just beats it but I just found the film to be almost purely about politics and uninspiring. I wanted to see a proper biopic of him with a myriad of different locations and scenes and a greater balance of issues. Even the ending was bland! I can't say it was an "awful" film, it wasn't, it had some very good scenes, just the thing as a whole I just found mind numbingly boring. I see quite a few top critics agreed but most gush about the film. It's one of those rare ones I completely reject the main consensus for. The again I didn't think much of The Iron Lady either even though I thought Streep was amazing as Thatcher. The comment at the bottom of here sums up exactly my thoughts on it. Imagine the entirety of Schindler's List in Neeson's office. Spot on.♦ Dr. Blofeld 22:42, 11 March 2014 (UTC) Bad news for film addicts..♦ Dr. Blofeld 15:19, 12 March 2014 (UTC)
I've finally put in my request here: :-)♦ Dr. Blofeld 09:22, 14 March 2014 (UTC) Thanks for fixing up some details on his page. I probably should've noticed them when reviewing for GA, though now it's in good shape :). XXSNUGGUMSXX (talk) 16:06, 12 March 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 12 March 2014Wikimedians around the world gathered to celebrate Women's History Month and the associated International Women's Day by holding editathons. If you lived in the United Kingdom, you had the opportunity to attend Wikimedia UK's event at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, part of University College London and host to one of the largest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese artifacts in the world.
An intensely busy week, as a confluence of celebratory, curious and urgent topics pushed typical residents like Facebook and Deaths in 2014 out of the top ten entirely.
Five articles, two lists, and 52 pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia this week.
This week, we interviewed Anaxibia from the Russian-language Entomology WikiProject.
Greetings master cutter. Feeling any better? I've split Production into a 75kb article of its own! As you do a great job with cutting I wondered if you would like to continue my condensing of it which has been highlighted as a major problem by Krimuk at GAN. ♦ Dr. Blofeld 12:28, 18 March 2014 (UTC) I've done most of it, trimmed it down to 99kb. It looks a more reasonable length now although could sitll be trimmed and polished in parts. It should be OK for GA, but you're welcome to read and copyedit it and trim further if you have a problem with it!.♦ Dr. Blofeld 15:27, 18 March 2014 (UTC)
Heh, I've actually been telling myself all week "There's only a few things left that I want to do on the article, I really should just get it done." I was hoping to finish up this weekend, nominate and then ask Tim to review (since he's been wanting to "return the favour"). Nevermind, my wikipedia-incentive is currently really low anyway so I'll leave it with you and you can nominate. I did have some notes saved for potential use in the article - I'll paste them here in case they're helpful (some of the refs may already be used for other things, I can't remember):
@Dr. Blofeld: That Blyton revert was a major touch-screen accident, sorry! Was just trying to undo it but you got there before me. Tablets are so annoying like that! --Loeba (talk) 20:10, 28 March 2014 (UTC) e/c LOL you just hit rollback on 33 edits for Blyton, I gathered you'd hit the rollback by mistake on tablet! No worries. Eric and I are preparing it for FA. I'm currently doing the final "bulking". No rush with Thompson, feel free to add the content when you want. I think it's already easily GA level though, but I know you like it to be all there before GA! ♦ Dr. Blofeld 20:13, 28 March 2014 (UTC) Hey Lobes, I'm trying to convince @Krimuk90: to watch 10 Rillington. I told him it's one of the greatest (and creepiest/realistic) crime films I've ever seen! ♦ Dr. Blofeld 20:38, 28 March 2014 (UTC) I've nommed Emma Thompson for GA. I've added material from most of those linked sources. Either Krimuk or Tim can review it if he said he owes you one.♦ Dr. Blofeld 16:49, 30 March 2014 (UTC) Carole Lombard also now at GAN.♦ Dr. Blofeld 13:27, 4 April 2014 (UTC) Stanley DonenHey, sorry for not responding for a while on this article. I've just been busy. When I get around to working on the article again are you still interested in it?--Deoliveirafan (talk) 22:57, 21 March 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 19 March 2014Non-US editors and chapters have taken issue with a multitude of image deletions done on the Wikimedia Commons to comply with the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, a US law that brought the country into compliance with the Berne Convention.
This week, we visited WikiProject History, an ancient project with roots dating back to 2001. The project is home to 196 pieces of Featured material and 483 Good and A-class articles independent of the vast accomplishments of its various child projects. WikiProject History maintains a lengthy list of tasks, oversees the history portal, and continues to build Wikipedia's outline of history.
In a record-breaker, the English Wikipedia has a new largest good topic: the 71-article Light cruisers of Germany, which concerns the light cruisers used by Germany during the 20th century.
Twelve articles, fourteen lists, and six pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.
One of the first university Wikipedian in residence positions, hosted at Harvard University in 2012, has jumped back into the spotlight amid questions about its ethical integrity.
The utterly mystifying events surrounding Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which has not fallen from the sky so much as vanished from it entirely, has left an information-starved public scrambling for precedents, some logical, some... not.
The Wikimedia engineering report for February 2014 has been published. A summarized version is also available. Major news include
The Signpost: 26 March 2014
April Fools' Day is rapidly approaching. Every year, members of the community pull pranks and make (or attempt to make) humorous edits to pages across the project. Every year, the community follows April Fools' Day with a contentious debate about whether or not it is necessary to impose limits on April Fools' Day jokes for future years. It is a polarizing issue.
Topics like the 2014 Crimea crisis or the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 eased down the list, making way for such traditional topics as St Patrick's Day, Reddit threads and even Google Doodles, which have reappeared after a long absence.
Have you wondered about differences in the articles on Crimea in the Russian, Ukrainian, and English versions of Wikipedia? A newly published article entitled "Lost in Translation: Contexts, Computing, Disputing on Wikipedia" doesn't address Crimea, but nonetheless offers insight into the editing of contentious articles in multiple language editions through a heavy qualitative examination of Wikipedia articles about the Kosovo in the Serbian, Croatian, and English editions.
Results for the two-stage 2013 Commons Picture of the Year have been announced. This year's winning photograph (above) shows a lightbulb that has been cracked, allowing inert gas to escape—and oxygen to enter, so that the tungsten filament burns. From the flames rise elegant curls of blue smoke.
Four articles, two lists, and twelve pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia this week.
On 3 April, we will roll out some changes to the typography of Wikipedia's default Vector skin, to increase readability for users on all devices and platforms. After five months of testing, four major iterations, and through close collaboration with the global Wikimedia community, who provided more than 100 threads of feedback, we’ve arrived at a solution which improves the primary reading and editing experience for all users.
As you have probably read on this weeks op-ed, or via various other channels of announcement, 3 April will see the introduction of the Typography refresh (or update) for the Vector skin on all Wikipedias. Other projects like Commons will have this update rolled out a few days prior.
This week, the Signpost interviewed the English Wikipedia's Mountains WikiProject.
A barnstar for you!
A barnstar for you!
April 2014 GA ThanksOn behalf of WP:CHICAGO, I would like to thank you for your editorial contributions to Christopher Nolan.
.--TonyTheTiger (T / C / WP:FOUR / WP:CHICAGO / WP:WAWARD) 20:36, 6 April 2014 (UTC) The Signpost: 02 April 2014The run-up to the conference has seen the unfolding of two fractious threads on the Wikimedia public mailing list, both of which may serve as background for the last session at Berlin: "Future of the Wikimedia Conference".
This week, we visited with WikiProject Germany.
The annual Wikimedia Conference is about to start in Berlin, hosted by Wikimedia Germany, which won the bid to hold the event over three others. This will be the fifth time the chapter has hosted the Wikimedia Conference—it did so from 2009 to 2012, with attendance ranging from 100 to 180 Wikimedians. This year 160 people are expected at the four-day event, which is mainly for representatives of affiliated Wikimedia organisations. The conference has been built around two themes: Organisation, structures, and grants and Success and impact.
The Signpost's "Featured content" writers had a bit of fun this week.
The mysterious fate of MH370 still tops the list, but in all other respects our readership has retreated from the real world into its pop-cultural happy place: TV, movies, music, Reddit and Google Doodles all made an appearance.
The Signpost: 09 April 2014
Community review is open for the four applications in the second and final round of applications to the WMF's Funds Dissemination Committee for 2013–14. Three eligible organisations have applied for funding under the newly named "annual program grants": Wikimedia France, Wikimedia Norway, and the India-based Centre for Internet and Society, which last November was recognised as eligible to apply for FDC funding purposes.
This week, we interviewed the Law WikiProject.
"I remember laughing and talking and laughing and talking at Wikimania 2012. I took this picture of her that she used for a long while as a profile pic. Someone on Facebook said it looked 'skepchickal', which she loved."
Television has always been a topic of choice on this site, but it exploded this week. Fully six slots were devoted to television shows, as the final episode of How I Met Your Mother, one of the most popular Wikipedia searches of the last few years, coincided with the season finale of The Walking Dead and the upcoming fourth season of Game of Thrones. The number rises to 8 if movies released on video and new TV tech are are included.
Five article, five lists, and ten pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.
The Signpost: 23 April 2014
The annual Wikimedia Conference wound up last Sunday, 13 April—a four-day meeting costing several hundred thousand dollars, hosted in Berlin by Wikimedia Germany and attended by more than 100 Wikimedians.
Hey you—yeah you, the Wikipedian! Do you want to help a museum, a library, a university, or other organization explore ways to engage with Wikipedia? Great—you should offer your expertise as a Wikipedian in residence!
Cynthia Ashley-Nelson, who edited as "Cindamuse" on the Wikimedia projects, passed away in her sleep at the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin on 10 April.
This week, we visited WikiProject Catholicism.
After just over a month of deliberation, the Wikimania jury has selected Wikimedia Mexico's bid to host Wikimania 2015 in Mexico City, with a proposed date of 15–19 July.
If I were the kind of person who made snap judgments based on flimsy evidence, I'd say our readership is in a funk.
Fourteen articles, four lists, seven pictures, and one topic attained "featured" status on the English Wikipedia over the last two weeks.
@Dr. Blofeld: in response to your email, I'm still enjoying having time off from wikipedia. I go through phases where it just doesn't feel like a good use of time and [mental] energy and that's where I'm at right now. I'm trying to have a completely clean break, and had disabled my email notifications and logged out, but I didn't want to be rude and ignore you so here's a quick response....and now I'm going to log out again, heh. Sorry if I'm letting you down or anything but I'm just not feeling it at all right now! Take care though, --Loeba (talk) 16:41, 26 April 2014 (UTC) I understand, I've been feeling the same the last couple of weeks! I haven't worked on a GA in a month or so, must get back to Althorp. I do miss having you around though and our film conversations and did wonder if it upset you me taking those articles to GA without you. I've seen almost all of the 40s films in my 1001 book now!♦ Dr. Blofeld 17:14, 26 April 2014 (UTC) I enjoy watching films too Loeba and haven't been feeling too enthusiastic of late but come back!!! I miss you!!♦ Dr. Blofeld 23:18, 10 November 2014 (UTC) Precious againfilm actresses A year ago, you were the 681st recipient of my PumpkinSky Prize, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:42, 3 December 2014 (UTC) Return(Message to Dr. Blofeld, but commenting here because I think a lot of people watch your talk page, and it's not really something they'll be interested in...mine is more private) SURPRISE! Here's a wiki-bolt out of the blue for you. Well well well...For some reason, today I was compelled to log-in for the first time in months (I haven't even looked at my talk page in that time either), and saw that you left me a message recently. It's nice that you still think of me, heh. As is pretty obvious, I needed a complete and total wikibreak and gosh, it's been ages now, hasn't it? I think I last edited in March. That may be my longest absence ever. Part of the reason I've been thinking about "coming back" is the Julianne Moore article: it will be getting a lot of attention in the coming months (she's about 98% guaranteed to win the Best Actress Oscar in February) and I wanted it to be up-to-date...but I just looked, and actually Krimuk90 has been on the ball! That's good. How's it been? I saw from my notifications that I've been mentioned on the Kubrick article, and that you're beginning an overhaul? And inevitably butting heads with Light Show at the same time? You're brave taking that on, ha. It's one article I've always wished could feel smoother though, so good on you. As for whether or not I'm "back", well...I don't think I want to be properly editing right now, but I feel like I've had enough of a break to come and do some little things, and say hello again! I have such a weird relationship with this place, don't I? We'll see, we'll see...I just looked at your contributions and see that you're editing right now, so maybe I'll get a prompt reply? *cyber-wave* --Loeba (talk) 19:24, 14 December 2014 (UTC) Hello!!! LOL, you've been away a LONG time. Light show is banned from Kubrick, I've been working on a draft at User:Dr. Blofeld/Stanley Kubrick but it's still in early research stages. I've already chopped 70kb from the original while adidng new info!! Yes Krimuk is a big fan of hers and has been updating it. I do hope she'll get an Oscar for the new one!! I've not been working much on quality with films and actors of late, more filling in stubs of some of the 20s-40s films and actors. Really missed you! So hoping you'll stay at least for Christmas!♦ Dr. Blofeld 20:13, 14 December 2014 (UTC)
I've mainly only read the Kubrick article and removed stuff. A good chunk is still haphazard but I think you can tell I've written early life to early career. Follow the Duncan source. hope to get going again this week.♦ Dr. Blofeld 22:30, 14 December 2014 (UTC) You can no longer view an article contributors? Since when? Just click history. Seen any great films of late? I remember our conversation about creepy films. 10 Rillington is the best one you ever suggested, that's one of my favourite films ever now!! One I recommend which you might not have seen is The Housemaid (1960 film). ♦ Dr. Blofeld 09:45, 15 December 2014 (UTC)
Some of the foreign directors I've been most impressed with are Tarkovsky, Godard, Ozu and Mizoguchi who are all definitely right up there. I've been getting into Bresson lately too. Tarkovsky especially was a genius, even Nolan copied Solaris and The Mirror in Interstellar!♦ Dr. Blofeld 18:34, 15 December 2014 (UTC)
On A Most Wanted Man, definitely, great espionage film I thought and once again another brilliant performance. I loved his accent in the film! LOL I thought for a while it was Haydn Christensen in it after sleeping rough for a month or two but it was Grigoriy Dobrygin! They look so alike!♦ Dr. Blofeld 20:35, 15 December 2014 (UTC) What did you think of Django Unchained? The first 45 minutes were brilliant, greatest ever film material but it simply got worse and worse. After Don Johnson was killed on his horse it degenerated into little more than silly "nigger" slanging match and excuse for bloodshed. Leo DiCaprio I thought ruined it and Waltz was really wasted after 45 minutes and overshadowed by Di Caprio. If it had been Waltz and Foxx all the way through in a GBU like format with mainly the two of them going through town to town with various escapades like the early ones it could have been up there with the greatest films. Overall some of the scenes make it at least a fairly good film but I am rather disappointed that it didn't pan out like the first 45 minutes and that Waltz was wasted throughout the last 2/3 of the film.♦ Dr. Blofeld 22:41, 16 December 2014 (UTC)
Yeah that's what I mean, it got distasteful at times didn't it, I mean the "nigger" fight and skull scene and the hammer I thought was in appalling bad taste. I get that it's a satire of racism in US history but still. With some changes and a better script with some more adventurous locations and scenarios centering on mainly Waltz and Foxx without the self-indulgent silliness it could have been an all-time masterpiece. Waltz was terribly wasted in the last 2/3 mainly sitting at a plantation table twiddling his thumbs. First half hour he gave one of the best performances I've ever seen, well-worth his Oscar but still.. Tarantino's last truly great film was Jackie Brown (my personal favourite of Tarantino's) I think but I did think Inglorious was a great film, especially the early cinema memorabilia in it. Waltz again though I think was a major influence in the film, I honestly think he's one of the best actors I've ever seen. Yup I've seen Interstellar. I consider it a flawed masterpiece admittedly. Some of the natural elements at times were breathtaking I thought but I thought that the dialogue at times was a little monotonous and I'm still not convinced McConaughey was right for the role. I think it's the sort of film which has to be seen a couple of times to really appreciate. I do think that he was trying too hard to be like Tarkovsky and Kubrick though, but I guess it was a labour of love for him. It was a film I thought a lot about and pondered over hours after viewing though and that's very rare that I do that so it definitely had something special IMO about it. ♦ Dr. Blofeld 18:48, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
BTW John Barrymore is at FAC if you're interested in viewing. I was very impressed with him in Bill of Divorcement with Hepburn on her debut! I've also raised concerns about Judy Garland on the talk page and was thinking of beginning an overhaul..♦ Dr. Blofeld 08:41, 18 December 2014 (UTC)
His performance in Counsellor at Law is right up there too IMO! Not bad The Sea Beast either, I worked on it not long ago. Recently created Daddy (1923 film)..♦ Dr. Blofeld 14:55, 19 December 2014 (UTC) @Dr. Blofeld: I remember you saying ages ago that it would be nice to get Hoffman on the main page for the anniversary of his death (Feb 2nd). I was just looking at the article and thinking that would be a nice tribute...do you think it could be done, or is it too short notice? IMO the content is pretty much perfect, and it would only need a bit of smoothing out and MOS perfecting, etc. I wouldn't want to do it if it would need a lot of work, but I kind of think it might be worth putting through FAC just as a "Why not, let's give it a shot" type of thing...what d'you think? --Loeba (talk) 13:01, 22 December 2014 (UTC) I don't think it needs much either, although you'll always get awkward people. The only thing I saw is that it would be nice to have a bit more on his stage work, but we can only run with the sources we have. Sure, let's go for it! BTW saw I Know Where I'm Going! yesterday and it's one of the best British films I've ever seen, stunning to watch. More Powell and Pressburger magic!♦ Dr. Blofeld 13:45, 22 December 2014 (UTC)
Yeah, perhaps ask Tim to look at it and leave some comments on talk page and then go for a nom. Seems as it's only 6 weeks away and FAC can take a long time I think it's best we nom it as soon as we can.♦ Dr. Blofeld 19:34, 22 December 2014 (UTC)
Josh HutchersonHi, Loeba! Nice to meet you. I ended up on your talk page a day after your return, which is pretty funny. I actually came here to say thanks for putting together such a great article with Julianne Moore... which again, I find funny since that's supposedly why you've returned! I'm currently working on Josh Hutcherson's article and trying to get it through its' second FAC but I've had a very hard time getting reviewers (nobody seems to have any interest in reviewing it, and those who have, have disappeared and I had to hunt down to ask for closure). Anyways, while getting the article ready, I've heavily looked to Moore's article to help guide me, and the FAC it passed also provided a lot of help. You did a great job, and User:Dr. Blofeld's review seems particularly helpful. If either of you have any free time and would like to help me out by reviewing the article and leaving some feedback, I'd greatly appreciate it! :) You guys seem pretty knowledgeable about actor/actress bios. Gloss 19:35, 15 December 2014 (UTC)
Merry Christmas!
You're not dumping the FAC for Hoffman all on me, don't you dare :-) Merry Christmas BTW!♦ Dr. Blofeld 12:23, 24 December 2014 (UTC)
Do you really think this is better?? ♦ Dr. Blofeld 15:27, 24 December 2014 (UTC)
All addressed? Let's nom Hoffman for FAC tonight!!♦ Dr. Blofeld 18:15, 24 December 2014 (UTC)
Loeba and Tim riley, thanks I've nommed at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Philip Seymour Hoffman/archive1...♦ Dr. Blofeld 12:56, 26 December 2014 (UTC)
I loved him in Boogie Nights but sadly he didn't get a great deal of screen time. That car scene though when he hits on Walhberg goes down as one of the all time cringeworthy moments!! Capote might have been the most brilliant with the voice and mannerisms but the film itself wasn't brilliant. Yeah Love Liza I think might just be my favourite, tough call. It might be something to do with the vulnerability of his character and substance abuse which struck a chord with the real PSH. ♦ Dr. Blofeld 13:29, 26 December 2014 (UTC) I'm expecting at some point for a biography on Hoffman to be published which might be used to further improve the biographical coverage. We can only go with what we have currently though.♦ Dr. Blofeld 14:19, 26 December 2014 (UTC)
Lobes, if you have time over the next few days can you review Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Shah Rukh Khan/archive1. He's a huge movie star in Asia and Indian diaspora but not many people in US and UK really know him that well. It needs a few pairs of western eyes to review for neutrality and clarity. I made some major changes to it and I think it's at least close now, but still needs that bit more which will get it there from some decent reviewers I think.♦ Dr. Blofeld 22:08, 26 December 2014 (UTC) Mmm "hero worship".. Pleasant. Problem is he was acclaimed for probably something like 30 films. Perhaps saying acclaimed thirteen times is too much but do we hide the truth purely for neutrality purposes? And I'm pretty sure most actors who knew Hoffman reading the article would find it accurate. We don't want it to read as a tribute or puff piece though? What do we remove without affecting quality and accuracy? Can you find any negative reviews about him, I couldn't. Believe me I tried all sorts of key words to try to pick up something!!♦ Dr. Blofeld 15:20, 27 December 2014 (UTC)
Agreed. There were a few quotes perhaps which weren't of essential use and a couple of negative reviews worth quoting but generally I really think we'd be affecting the accuracy of it if we start introducing negative quotes for highly acclaimed roles just for the sake of it. Then it would be "bad egg" picking! I'm really reluctant to change much else. I didn't really want to remove mention of the cult classic for Lebowski, I did so only because we said that for Booge Nights and didn't want it to seem repetitive. To not say Capote or The Master was highly acclaimed or whatever would just be a lie. The majority of critics praised it, and it's not as if we don't mention the Oscar bait thing for Capote which I think was most of the negativity about it. I might still try to look into his stage work a bit more though, I have access to newspapers.com now not highbeam. I may try to see if it picks anything up. I really did ransack google books and highbeam at the time though, and I'm pretty sure it's generally accurate and a fair reflection of what is said in sources. I do think it would be nice to have more biographical information, and I hope at some point there is a biogaphy to further improve it, but you can only go with the material you have at the time, and it's more than well researched in that respect. BTW did you see the top 50 list? Hehe, John Wayne and Gregory Peck better actors than P.S. Hoffman or Edward G Robinson, Henry Fonda better than Brando and De Niro etc... I'm pretty sure most working actors would scoff at some of the ordering on the list! It rather reminds me of the Rolling Stone greatest guitarist list, Keith Richards in top 5, yet no Paco de Lucia or Barney Kessel in top 100!! Anyway I'm off now, I may very well catch Les Amants du Pont-Neuf this evening :-)♦ Dr. Blofeld 19:18, 27 December 2014 (UTC)
Blo, what do you think of my comment about the "prolific" sentence? I didn't want to add it back myself in case you definitely don't like it, but either way I think the current wording needs to be altered to avoid the repetition... --Loeba (talk) 11:06, 29 December 2014 (UTC) Yes, I said it needed further tweaking. I think Ssilvers has a point though, Hoffman really wasn't that prolific compared to some, but still pretty productive. Perhaps something might be replaced stating how many films and plays without saying prolific. My goal is also to get Hoffman to TFA on Feb 2, but I do think Ssilvers, given what I've seen of him copyediting on articles like John Barrymore should have been given a chance to look at it. He works pretty quickly too. The danger I suppose was that he'd remove something which breaks the understanding of Hoffman as an actor. I just hope his comments don't put off some of the others from feeling comfortable with supporting it. If that is the case then the nom is likely to be stalled a lot longer than it would have if Ssilvers had have looked at it and come around. Ssilvers is regarded as highly as even Tim and Brian by many around here I believe. He seems to be a lot happier with the neutrality now though, so hopefully they'll see that.♦ Dr. Blofeld 15:38, 29 December 2014 (UTC)
That's fine I think. I am worried you're going to run off again after this (hopefully) passes FAC though!! Wikipedia is hardly a lovely place to be though is it, I hope I at least make it less hostile :-) Judy Garland badly needs an overhaul I think, I raised concerns on the talk page. Not sure if you're interested.♦ Dr. Blofeld 16:30, 29 December 2014 (UTC)
I thought as much, I can detect it! Yes, it is a bit annoying at times to get roped into disputes or editing articles when you could be watching a wonderful 60s French realism movie or an early 30s pre-Code comedy!! I almost quit back in November when I got seriously annoyed with Jimbo Wales and his bone idle attitude towards content and content contributors. I lost all motivation and took a fair break, nothing in comparison to your break of course though :-). I do wish though your love of film and actors would at least give you some sort of motivation, these articles are seen by thousands of people each week of course. My love of film is a large part of what keeps me here these days, I do very little work on geography and all that like I used to. My lists like List of jazz standards and List of American films etc are ones I use frequently for my other hobbies! Yup, I love Jane Fonda too, particularly 70s Fonda. Julia is one of my favourites of hers and I know a lot of people hated it! Her and Robards were amazing together I thought. It did have its flaws though as I think Ebert pointed out, particularly towards the end. Wasn't too keen on Cat Ballou though! The Electric Horseman and China Syndrome were pretty similar roles as a reporter which I loved her in too, and of course Klute etc. Should Hoffman pass anyway, I do hope you might be willing to get Emma or Carole to FA! Perhaps you can see far more missing than I can though... Emma's writing I think would need a fair bit. To be honest, I just had a gut feeling you'd hate me editing them and hate me for taking them to GA without you. Sorry about that, but you weren't here :-(. ♦ Dr. Blofeld 17:13, 29 December 2014 (UTC)
As it happens, I watched a Spacek film two nights ago: Missing (film). Twas good (and an eye-opening, real-life story). And yes, nice list! I'll recommend you one of my personal favourites that isn't there: The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover. It's not for everyone, but check it out (and then if you like that, more Greenaway). As for Clouzot, I've only seen his two big films, Les Diaboliques and Wages of Fear. I will definitely see Quai des Orfèvres and Le Corbeau at some point. --Loeba (talk) 13:23, 30 December 2014 (UTC)
Wow, loved that one too. The closeup of the guy being shot in the car in the window was one of the greatest I've seen! Realised how tiny Denis Lavant is! I began adding a bit to his article, needs a LOT of work. Interesting looking chap!♦ Dr. Blofeld 16:27, 30 December 2014 (UTC)
Dr. Blofeld Just want to wish you happy new year! The party I'm going to tonight has a movie characters theme, perfect eh? I'm going as a Clockwork Orange droog :-D Talk to you in 2015 (and where the hell are our hoverboards, like Back to the Future II said we'd have??) --Loeba (talk) 15:38, 31 December 2014 (UTC) You too Loeba!! Haha you as a droog!!! Yeah it's weird isn't it? I remember even ten years years ago thinking of 2015 as really quite futuristic and we're here already!! When I was a kid I really did imagine we'd all be driving in the sky, riding hoverboards and blowing up pizzas into big ones in 2015!! Have a good one!♦ Dr. Blofeld 16:02, 31 December 2014 (UTC) See this 2:01 on the video :-)♦ Dr. Blofeld 12:30, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
Dr. Blofeld Looking at that article by John le Carre, I actually think the bit that would be most useful in the article is this stuff: "Philip took vivid stock of everything, all the time. It was painful and exhausting work, and probably in the end his undoing. The world was too bright for him to handle." That would fit very nicely at the end of "Work ethic", and be quite a moving conclusion to the article. The quote you added is nice but very long and doesn't really flow, you know? Okay if I change it? --Loeba (talk) 18:27, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
We did it!! What did you want to change with the lead? BTW somebody just asked me by email who I thought the greatest actors and actresses were and ones off the top of my head were like Jack Nicholson, Lawrence Olivier, Daniel Day Lewis, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rod Steiger, Cary Grant, Edward G. Robinson, John Barrymore, Jimmy Stewart, Robert de Niro, Al Pacino, Frederic March etc. Greatest actresses? Meryl Streep, Bette Davis, Thelma Ritter, Margaret Rutherford, Julianne Moore, Judi Dench, Katherine Hepburn, Emma Thompson, Jane Fonda, Carole Lombard etc. Who did I miss hehe? Obviously there's lots, but who really stand out for you?♦ Dr. Blofeld 12:02, 11 January 2015 (UTC)
Oh yeah Gena Rowlands especially, love watching her. Ellen Burstyn too. Mmm, not too happy with your edits to the lead. I felt it was important to give an insight into the sorts of roles he played and higlight some of the most memorable ones. Why did you change it when we already had 6 or 7 supports?♦ Dr. Blofeld 13:21, 11 January 2015 (UTC) So are you going to run off again and return in 2016 hehe, or did you at least get something positive from the FAC? As FACs go I think it was definitely one of the more pleasant ones. I think you have a point about avoiding taking living people to FAC. I do have a book on Meryl Streep though and will be probably be getting her up to GA status.♦ Dr. Blofeld 13:32, 11 January 2015 (UTC) I've made a compromise with the lead now. So are you off or are you going to stick around?♦ Dr. Blofeld 14:43, 11 January 2015 (UTC)
The lead though should be fairly informative about the career of an actor. Describing what some of his roles were I think is essential. I don't think it's too redundant as the roles described are more than just losers. If other people think differently then so be it. I see wikipedia as an essential part of the film watching experience and study. It's an amazing resource for films in general and the fact that people like us can work on people like Hoffman or Katherine Hepburn etc I see as a privilege. Using it to develop film by country and year I think is incredibly valuable for film buffs. You just have to ignore a lot of the BS that goes on on here! Why not try to promote one or two of Carax's films to GA?♦ Dr. Blofeld 15:19, 11 January 2015 (UTC)
Why did you edit it in the first place? None of the great editors who supported it before you did saw a problem with it. I can't believe that you removed mentions of his Oscar winning roles! It was fine as it was I thought, although there is an argument for moving the NYT quote to the end for neutrality purposes, although that would leave the opening a bit too short.♦ Dr. Blofeld 15:46, 11 January 2015 (UTC)
I've ordered some Wong DVDs, perhaps I'll watch a few later in the week! Have you seen Even Dwarfs Started Small? I love it!! If not really watch it asap, and that goes for Krimuk90 too! It's just genius!! ♦ Dr. Blofeld 22:33, 12 January 2015 (UTC)
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