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North Korea responsible for Sony Pictures hack... The age of cyber warfare has begun

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  • CreativeSheep
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    CreativeSheep polycounter lvl 8
    Some of your facts are wrong. First North Korea was not personally behind the attack, it was a hacking group, but that is beside the point.

    Do you really believe it was related to anything out of North Korea, you may want to think that one over !
  • Stirls
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    Stirls polycounter lvl 8
    "Age of cyber warfare" is sensationalist at best.
  • almighty_gir
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    almighty_gir ngon master
    north-and-south-korea.jpg

    Honestly, i don't care if it was North Korea who was actually responsible, or a hacking group trying to rustle some political jimmies and get a real world power involved with the NK government... North Korea needs to go, even China have started to understand that.
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    That might be the case - but North Korea are already completely isolated. How much more can you do to deal with them?
  • almighty_gir
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    almighty_gir ngon master
    ambershee wrote: »
    That might be the case - but North Korea are already completely isolated. How much more can you do to deal with them?

    Destroy their leadership.

    I can't remember where i read this recently, but i thought it was incredibly thought provoking:
    Our generation is taught to ask "Why didn't Roosevelt bomb the train lines" in history classes, he clearly knew they led to Auschwits, knew what Auschwits was and chose to leave them intact... bombing them could have put a dent in the holocaust.

    The next generation may well be asking why nobody in the entire world made an attempt to end the Kim regime, when satellite images and defectors all confirm the existence of work camps and other crimes against humanity

    In my humbly uneducated opinion, the absolute best thing that could happen to North Korea, is for the leadership to be "disappeared" in whatever manner is best (a well placed cruise missile will do), and hand the country over to China, or South Korea. This is one of two instances in the world that i can absolutely say without any hesitation, that any civilian collateral damage is 100% worth it if the end result is that the current leadership is removed.
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    The problem is you're assuming that things will just get better if you assassinate a few key people. The USA has done this several times in the past, and it hasn't worked once. If you create a power vacuum, it is inevitable that someone will just move to occupy that vacuum.

    It's believed that the US may have been responsible for the death of Kim Il Sung (and it's known they attempted to assassinate him unsuccessfully before), but if that did anything, it just made the situation worse.

    It's also possible the US played a part in the assassination of Kim Gu in 1949.
  • almighty_gir
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    almighty_gir ngon master
    I know, situation is FUBAR.
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    Aye, sadly I suspect the only way it's going to get better is when the North Koreans do something about it.
  • almighty_gir
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    almighty_gir ngon master
    Can we at least agree that Syria just needs to be turned into glass at this point, along with anybody still in there?
  • Justin Meisse
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    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 18
    Can we at least agree that Syria just needs to be turned into glass at this point, along with anybody still in there?

    *spits out coffee*
  • almighty_gir
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    almighty_gir ngon master
    I'm not sure why you find that so shocking...

    Syria_and_Iraq_2014-onward_War_map.png

    This is a control map as of 3 days ago. the dark gray is Islamic State confirmed areas of control. Light pink is Syrian government control, Green is Syrian rebels.

    Syrian rebels are fighting the Syrian government. Syrian government are fighting Rebels and Islamic State. Islamic State are flat out murdering EVERYONE they come across, rebels, government, anybody who doesn't follow their doctrine... even other muslims who don't have the same extreme beliefs are treated no differently from say, christians. This is the progress they've made in 18 months.

    I wonder what position they'll be in next christmas.
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    That's Syria and Iraq, for anyone who hasn't noticed.

    The vast majority of that grey swathe is empty desert; the vast majority of the population resides in the thin strip down the western side.

    Aleppo, Homs and Damascus, the three major cities, are all right up against that border ;)
  • almighty_gir
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    almighty_gir ngon master
    Arguably if they take Damascus "it's over".
  • Justin Meisse
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    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 18
    It's just shocking, turn the place to glass? That's kind of cartoon stereotype 'murican talk.
  • artquest
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    artquest polycounter lvl 13
    Some of your facts are wrong. First North Korea was not personally behind the attack, it was a hacking group, but that is beside the point.

    Do you really believe it was related to anything out of North Korea, you may want to think that one over !

    If you want to discuss wether or not the US gov lies to people (which we all know it does.) then sure I'm all ears. But the reports from the FBI coming through claim that North Korea was behind the attack.

    However, Recently I've read some interesting articles from a ex hacker from anonymous saying that he highly doubts it was North Korea. Honestly this whole thing is shrouded in mystery and I doubt any single person on this planet will ever know the full truth.

    But since you seem to know more then us why don't you share your opinions on who did it?!
  • repete
  • Justin Meisse
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    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 18
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    On the up side, they're all trained soldiers, so when they do eventually get tired of the way things are, it should be a swift victory.

    Or the bloodiest civil war in recent history :/
    AWWWW SNAP!
    Breaking news: Sony has authorized screenings of THE INTERVIEW on Christmas Day.

    annnnnd the Alamo Drafthouse website is down :P

    North Koreans all up in your cinema!
  • b1ll
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    b1ll polycounter lvl 18
  • teaandcigarettes
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    teaandcigarettes polycounter lvl 12
    Destroy their leadership.

    I can't remember where i read this recently, but i thought it was incredibly thought provoking:



    In my humbly uneducated opinion, the absolute best thing that could happen to North Korea, is for the leadership to be "disappeared" in whatever manner is best (a well placed cruise missile will do), and hand the country over to China, or South Korea. This is one of two instances in the world that i can absolutely say without any hesitation, that any civilian collateral damage is 100% worth it if the end result is that the current leadership is removed.

    I think dealing with North Korea is not as simple as simply removing their leadership. Collapse of the regime could lead to problems with maintaining the infrastructure and supplying the basic necessities. It could lead to a refugee crisis with millions of impoverished people leaving for China and South Korea. In order to prevent anarchy and a power vacuum problem it would need be followed by a long-term occupation, by a force that is prepared to stay there as long as necessary.

    Even if these things were prevented (and that would most likely require cooperation between South Korea, US and China) the job of unifying the two Koreas would be much more difficult than what Germany went through. 25 years later, Eastern Germany is still lagging behind. Other post-soviet countries also have a long way to go to match their western counterparts. But the disparities between the two Koreas are much greater than what Europe ever had to deal with. One of them is among the richest countries in the world, while the other is among the poorest. Factor in the political and cultural differences, as well as North Korean propaganda and you have two countries that share little beyond their history, language and ethnicity. At this point, the Koreas have been separate for so long that all the people who still remember them being one country are almost all gone.

    I've been thinking what could be a safer solution, but I'm not sure. Following the Chinese model of controlled liberalization could improve the lives of North Korean's while maintaining the stability. But it would also be a slow process and it would probably take decades for NK's conditions to improve. If I put myself in a position of North Korean and if I had to choose between a lifetime of relative freedom or a turbulent reunification I would probably go for the latter option.
  • Kwramm
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    Kwramm interpolator
    Following the Chinese model of controlled liberalization could improve the lives of North Korean's while maintaining the stability.

    The Chinese suggested this to NK, but they didn't want to hear about it. The official answer was that what China is doing isn't "socialist". I think the only concession is that North Koreans can now own their own vegetable gardens to grow some extra food for their families. Everything else is still "collectively" owned.

    North Korea itself is pretty damn run down. Similar of worse off than Communist Romania or Albania. Not surprising, Ceausescu and Enver Hoxa were both fans of the Juche ideology.
  • fearian
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    fearian greentooth
    Can we at least agree that Syria just needs to be turned into glass at this point, along with anybody still in there?

    what the fuck? Any other populated parts of the earth we should start committing genocide on?
  • almighty_gir
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    almighty_gir ngon master
    fearian wrote: »
    what the fuck? Any other populated parts of the earth we should start committing genocide on?

    Luton.
  • RexM
    Turns out that the Sony hack was likely done by someone inside of the company, considering that 100 Terabytes of data was stolen and there simply isn't any sort of internet infrastructure that exists that can transmit that amount of data. It would've taken more than 6 months to send that amount of data across the internet.

    The global internet infrastructure simply could not have supported the transmission of such a large amount of data so quickly.

    "Calling themselves “Guardians of Peace,” the hackers have obtained some 100 terabytes of data stolen from Sony servers."

    http://deadline.com/2014/12/sony-hack-timeline-any-pascal-the-interview-north-korea-1201325501/

    http://gawker.com/a-lot-of-smart-people-think-north-korea-didnt-hack-sony-1672899940

    http://www.wired.com/2014/12/evidence-of-north-korea-hack-is-thin/

    Harvard Law professor and security expert Jack Goldsmith is also skeptical:

    http://www.lawfareblog.com/2014/12/the-sony-hack-attribution-problems-and-the-connection-to-domestic-surveillance/

    Also, China being able to turn off the US's powergrid whenever it wants? That also doesn't seem likely - integral power generating components are unlikely to be connected to the internet, In addition to that, the 'entire US' powergrid can be shut down at any time' is a loaded statement, since there is no single point of failure for the ENTIRE US, unless a large-scale EMP was set off. Even then, it couldn't power down the entire US.

    If you remember, Stuxnet was introduced to Iranian computers through a direct USB connection.

    http://www.cnet.com/news/stuxnet-delivered-to-iranian-nuclear-plant-on-thumb-drive/

    Don't believe everything you read.

    EDIT:
    Was FBI wrong on North Korea?

    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/did-the-fbi-get-it-wrong-on-north-korea/?ftag=YHF4eb9d17

    Just to point how how devastating this security breach was, and how much insider knowledge that was required for the precise nature of the breach.
    This is one of two instances in the world that i can absolutely say without any hesitation, that any civilian collateral damage is 100% worth it if the end result is that the current leadership is removed.

    Easy for you to say when you wouldn't have to experience the innumerable civilian casualties that would occur.

    Seems you've failed to consider that the North Korean military would instantly retaliate against population centers in South Korea as well.

    I greatly dislike the atrocities that North Korea has committed too, it is home to some of the worst human rights abuses in history; however when you decide unilaterally that a life means that little to you because they were unfortunate enough to be born in a screwed up country, then you've lost the plot.

    In that case, you are no longer the heroes you've championed yourself to be when you instantly make things much, much worse. I'm sure if it was as easy as you seem to think it is, then it would've happen already.

    Same with your comments about Syira. Just screw all the decent people who live there, huh? Just because they were born in a 'bad place?' That's awful.
  • MeshMagnet
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    MeshMagnet polycounter lvl 9
    So, what's the deal? Marketing genius or was this actually a real political altercation?

    You can now watch the interview on Youtube:

    [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed2kSuKqfz0[/ame]
  • Francois_K
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    Francois_K interpolator
    Luton.

    That made me laugh.

    My German ancestors are frowning upon me.
  • RN
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    RN sublime tool
    MeshMagnet wrote: »
    You can now watch the interview on Youtube:

    "This video is not available in your country."

    I don't see the point of blocking this free to watch content from international viewers. It is slightly insulting in fact.
  • low odor
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    low odor polycounter lvl 17
    Kryzon wrote: »
    "This video is not available in your country."

    I don't see the point of blocking this free to watch content from international viewers. It is slightly insulting in fact.

    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/proxtube/?src=cb-dl-mostpopular
  • cryrid
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    cryrid interpolator
    I don't see the point of blocking this free to watch content from international viewers. It is slightly insulting in fact.

    It's not free. $7 to rent, $15 to buy.
    The website version is US only (https://www.seetheinterview.com/). Youtube and Googleplay might have their own restrictions (seems we can get it in Canada, at least). XBox is also providing it, but I'm not sure what their limitations are.
  • xvampire
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    xvampire polycounter lvl 14
    my friend saw it ... he said its a meh.. just like another controversial hype.

    anti-war movie got much smaller attention...the last movie that made me extensively google about it because I didnt know much the real situation from the movie is "Blood Diamond" well executed film.
  • Target_Renegade
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    Target_Renegade polycounter lvl 11
    Luton.

    Croydon nearly succeeded by it's own volition, lol.
  • cryrid
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    cryrid interpolator
    It's on par with the type of comedy its supposed to be. It's not supposed to be educational or politically engaging, and it isn't going to turn into Blood Diamond just because Sony got hacked. If you're going to see it, do so because you like the kind of movies Seth Rogan is in and want to see him and James Franco try to be assassins.
  • Neox
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    Neox veteran polycounter
    xvampire wrote: »
    my friend saw it ... he said its a meh.. just like another controversial hype.

    anti-war movie got much smaller attention...the last movie that made me extensively google about it because I didnt know much the real situation from the movie is "Blood Diamond" well executed film.

    did you really expect that?

    i enjoyed it, it's a funny movie, totally not serious about itself or the topic, was surprised about the gore, didn't expect that

    overall an entertaining comedy, but nothing to go crazy about
  • CreativeSheep
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    CreativeSheep polycounter lvl 8
    Sorry I didn't get around to posting earlier, dealing with very disturbing neighbors whom make any excuse to throw parties and thrash around. Anyhow here is the link I was suppose to post regarding the Sony Hack.
  • RexM
    It's far more likely that it was a disgruntled employee who was part of the mass layoffs.

    As I mentioned above, 100 Terabytes is just too much data to transmit over the internet that quickly. Even if the data wasn't going overseas. So yeah... that infowars link doesn't make sense in that respect either. It would have to be someone who had access to the Local Area Network from within.
  • artquest
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    artquest polycounter lvl 13
    Wow I didn't know that the size of the data stolen is 100 Terabytes. That definitely puts a new spin on things. Can you site your source?
  • RexM
    artquest wrote: »
    Wow I didn't know that the size of the data stolen is 100 Terabytes. That definitely puts a new spin on things. Can you site your source?

    I posted a rather large comment further up more sources than this, but this is the one you are looking for.

    http://deadline.com/2014/12/sony-hack-timeline-any-pascal-the-interview-north-korea-1201325501/
  • Neox
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    Neox veteran polycounter
    blazed wrote: »
    but I really question anyone’s standard if they think this movie was decent.


    oh please, really?
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    RexM wrote: »
    It's far more likely that it was a disgruntled employee who was part of the mass layoffs.

    As I mentioned above, 100 Terabytes is just too much data to transmit over the internet that quickly. Even if the data wasn't going overseas. So yeah... that infowars link doesn't make sense in that respect either. It would have to be someone who had access to the Local Area Network from within.

    100 Terabytes is small fry compared to the monthly operations of a company the size of Sony. Their data centers aren't exactly restricted to the same residential broadband connection as you are. Let's not also assume that all the data was taken at once; it could easily be taken by multiple people over an extended period of time.
  • RexM
    ambershee wrote: »
    100 Terabytes is small fry compared to the monthly operations of a company the size of Sony. Their data centers aren't exactly restricted to the same residential broadband connection as you are. Let's not also assume that all the data was taken at once; it could easily be taken by multiple people over an extended period of time.

    Except for the fact that they noticed the hack hours after it occurred. The data wasn't just siphoned off a little bit at a time; it was taken all at once.

    100 Terabytes is FAR more data than ANY hack in history. It would take over 6+ months to send that amount of data over the internet.

    I'm not just giving empty words here - some of the world's leading security experts who regularly work with the FBI/NSA have also said that the FBI's data points are weak and don't prove one way or the other who was responsible, whereas there is actually enough information to suspect that it was a former Sony employee who partook in the hack.



    So North Korea is okay with making death threats to other countries', yet wouldn't own up to one of the most prolific security breaches in history? Come on.

    http://www.vox.com/2014/12/14/7387945/sony-hack-explained

    "When Sony Pictures employees got into the office on Monday, November 24, they discovered that their corporate network had been hacked. The attackers took terabytes of private data, deleted the original copies from Sony computers, and left messages threatening to release the information if Sony didn't comply with the attackers' demands. Someone claiming to be a former Sony employee posted this screenshot, which (allegedly) shows the message that appeared on Sony employees' computer screens:"

    My other post with many supporting sources:

    http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2217225&postcount=83
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    RexM wrote: »
    Except for the fact that they noticed the hack hours after it occurred. The data wasn't just siphoned off a little bit at a time; it was taken all at once.

    100 Terabytes is FAR more data than ANY hack in history. It would take over 6+ months to send that amount of data over the internet.

    Pick one, because you can't have it both ways. Either information was collected over an extended period of time, or it is entirely plausible to send 100TB of information over the web in a short period of time.
  • RexM
    Why are you ignoring the plethora of sources that I've posted?

    The point is, is that the only way that this amount of data could've been taken so quickly would be because someone was able to access the internal network of Sony in close physical proximity.
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    I'm not ignoring them, but your sources are all speculative, and your entire argument falls down to 'but you can't download that amount of data, so it must have been an inside job!' - which simply is a fallacy.

    In good conditions, my home Internet connection could pull down that amount of data in around 90 days (100Mbps) - certainly not the 6+ months you're telling me it should take, but certainly a very long time. I have the best connection I could get in my location, but it's not the best that's available in this country to a normal residential user, and by a reasonable margin.

    I am however, just a residential customer and I receive my connection via the ISP who in turn receive theirs from an exchange. I happen to know that the exchange that serves me is IXManchester via LINX, and it has a throughput in excess of 2Tbps. This exchange is just one of many you can route traffic through.

    The infrastructure to obtain 100 Terabytes of information in less than six months doesn't just exist - it exists to the point where the limiting factor is the read / write speed of your data storage units. My local exchange could put that amount of data through in less time than it took your to read (or not read) this post.

    North Korea itself may not have this kind of infrastructure within the country, but neighbours like China and Korea sure do.
  • RexM
    If you think my entire argument is resting on that sole data point, then yes, you have completely ignored the sources I've posted. Same goes for you thinking that the very valid concerns that the sources bring up are purely 'speculative,' when many of the skeptical parties are security professionals who regularly work with the FBI/NSA.

    Still, you cannot download 100 Terabytes over the internet over a time span of a couple of days. Also, internet speeds are not consistent across the entire internet. There are always points which are slower than others.

    http://www.vox.com/2014/12/14/7387945/sony-hack-explained

    "When Sony Pictures employees got into the office on Monday, November 24, they discovered that their corporate network had been hacked. The attackers took terabytes of private data, deleted the original copies from Sony computers, and left messages threatening to release the information if Sony didn't comply with the attackers' demands. Someone claiming to be a former Sony employee posted this screenshot, which (allegedly) shows the message that appeared on Sony employees' computer screens:"


    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/24/no-north-korea-didn-t-hack-sony.html

    http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/12/24/new-study-adds-to-skepticism-among-security-experts-that-north-korea-was-behind-sony-hack/
  • Gilgamesh
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    Gilgamesh polycounter lvl 12
    fearian wrote: »
    what the fuck? Any other populated parts of the earth we should start committing genocide on?

    I am with ya ... that and maybe birmingham too :P
  • Neox
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    Neox veteran polycounter
    blazed wrote: »
    By the way I'm not aiming this at you, just saying in general.

    well in general i question peoples standards doing stuff like "here look, cheap unreal assets, extra cheap 7 dollar cheap cheap" ;)

    obviously it's a stupid comedy, expecting an intelligent one is asked too much and it was never meant to be, it's as if you go into a spiderman flick for the story, or seek the emotional depth of the character of superman

    it's just popcorn movies, simple entertainment, i liked it better than dumb and dumber (the old one) which i just saw recently, but that might be just me
  • cryrid
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    cryrid interpolator
    Oh no, the comedy police is here to try and define funny and dictate what we can and can't laugh at.

    I never understand it when people take a criticism or a review of a game/movie so personally like as if they just had their mother insulted that they need to retaliate with personal attacks.

    It might have to do with the fact that you didn't just say "I didn't think this movie was funny to me" and left it at that, you went on to berate anyone who would laugh at the movie while questioning how fit they are to be considered an adult, questioning their sense of class, and implying they have intelligence issues.

    "It's not funny to me, therefore I must go and preach about how I'm better than anyone who got a laugh out of Kim Jung Un shitting his pants"
  • Neox
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    Neox veteran polycounter
    9291_cdac.jpeg
    :)

    i agree totally not a ten out of ten

    and i was just pointing out that you shouldn't question peoples standards just based on wether or not they like a certain movie, it's just movies man, some people will like it others will not, nothing to get mad about or insult people over. You think it's crap, thats totally fine, making a general rule out of your own oppinion is not.


    Btw i wasn't poiting this at you, i was speaking in general :P
  • Kwramm
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    Kwramm interpolator
    they surely DID travel with a Chinese train and took a trip with Koryo tours as research for the movie, that much is sure. Was quite funny but also quite silly at times. Not a masterpiece as The Big Lebowski, but I guess that was expected.
  • Justin Meisse
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    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 18
    I haven't seen it yet but I liked Pineapple Express & This is the End, I haven't seen Neighbors because that looked too mainstream, by the numbers type of comedy. It takes a long chain of bad movie recommendations for me to start questioning one's movie standards.
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