MetaFilter posts tagged with hubris

The Moment Where It Started Going Wrong for M. Night Shyamalan

philip-random — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 13:34:41 -0800

Cinematic historians trying to pinpoint the place where Shyamalan's hubris outgrew his oeuvre would be well advised to hit up YouTube; there, they'll find a weird, misbegotten 2004 Sci-Fi channel pseudo-documentary titled The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan that hints at the problems to come. Built to lead up to the heavily hyped release of Shyamalan's film The Village, this bizarre special follows documentarian Nathaniel Kahn as he begins to profile Shyamalan for what’s ostensibly an authorized puff piece ... In this version of his life, everyone is in awe of him. Throughout the doc, fans and friends of Shyamalan (most of whom are played by actors) speak of the filmmaker in the sort of hushed, reverent tones that suggest the whispery register inhabited by Shyamalan's own characters. [...] When Kahn drives by the front gate of Shyamalan's mansion, he finds starstruck groupies loitering outside. "Everyone knows ... M. Night's connected to the other side," one says gravely. Where is Mr. Shyamalan now? Directing Will Smith (and son) on a film that smells to some like a love letter to the Church of Scientology.

Hitler's plans for the world's largest stadium

Chrysostom — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:05:39 -0800

"The 1940 Olympics will be taking place in Tokyo. But after that they will be held for all eternity in Germany -- and in this stadium. And it is we who will determine how the sporting field is measured."

I'm certainly not going to work on the 500th floor

Chrysostom — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 21:34:17 -0800

How tall can buildings get, anyway?

The Machiavelli Myth

The Whelk — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 09:08:21 -0800

"Psychologists refer to this as the paradox of power. The very traits that helped leaders accumulate control in the first place all but disappear once they rise to power. Instead of being polite, honest and outgoing, they become impulsive, reckless and rude." Jonah Lehrer for The Wall Street Journal writes about recent findings on power, corruption, and authority and what can be done about it.

Heads I win, tails you lose...

ennui.bz — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:04:21 -0800

"Although the word “entitlement” fits, it’s been used so frequently as to have become inadequate to capture the preening self-regard, the obliviousness to the damage that high-flying finance has inflicted on the real economy, the learned blindness to vital considerations in the pay equation. Getting an education, or even hard work, does not guarantee outcomes. One of the basic precepts of finance is that of a risk-return tradeoff: high potential payoff investments come with greater downside. But how did that evolve into the current belief system among the incumbents, that Wall Street was a sure ride, a guaranteed “heads I win, tails you lose” bet?"

Yves Smith writes an essay on 'indefensible men.'

"It's not the final answer, and you just lost a lot of money."

Damn That Television — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:13:31 -0800

As George Carlin once said, "it is an infinitely more interesting news story for a team to repeatedly fail at the highest level than it is for them to finally win." After ten years and over 1,500 episodes, last night's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (the US version) featured its very first Top Prize Loser. Ken Basin, of Los Angeles, incorrectly guessed that LBJ prefered Yoo-Hoo over Fresca, and walked away with $25,000 instead of $1,000,000. He's not the first person to screw up a game show, though. And to tie it back to Carlin's original quote, there's no Top Prize Loser worse than the Buffalo Bills, who lost the Super Bowl four (1 2 3 4) consecutive years.

It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark

Artifice_Eternity — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 00:06:10 -0800

Michael Jackson is in discussions about creating a 50-foot robotic replica of himself to roam the Las Vegas desert [firing laser beams!] , according to reports.

IS THERE NONE WHO CAN CHALLENGE ME?

jonson — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 01:40:29 -0800

I hereby declare myself king of Monkey Kick-Off. With a score of 4750 Monkey Meters, I feel secure & confident that my reign will be a long & prosperous one.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer, steamroller

cerebus19 — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 20:03:48 -0800

"I am a fucking steamroller and I'll roll over you or anybody else."

Rudy's Grand Illusion

fourcheesemac — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 08:13:34 -0800

Rudy Giuliani's Grand Illusion (Village Voice) -- In which we learn the difference between what happened and how it got narrated. What we have left is this: At a moment when the public needed a hero, Rudy Giuliani stepped forward. When he assured New York that things would come out all right, he was blessedly believable. It was a fine thing. But it was not nearly as much as we, at the time, imagined.

Soviet Underground Submarine Base

signal — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 14:05:07 -0800

Until the collapse of the Soviet Union Balaklava was one of the most secret towns in Russia. 10km south east of Sevastopol on the Black Sea Coast, this small town was the home to a Nuclear Submarine Base. via BLDBLOG

Berlusconi going down?

specialk420 — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 09:43:44 -0800

Berlusconi going down? another leftist leader elected - another victim of bush policies or of his own hubris? (via war and piece)

What do we ant? PROPERTY RIGHTS! When do we want them? NOW!

ZenMasterThis — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 13:04:50 -0800

New London Development Corporation Breaks Eminent Domain Moratorium Pledge, Starts Charging Rent. Previously discussed here and here, the Kelo case has just gotten more outrageous. Breaking its word and defying both Governor M. Jodi Rell and the Connecticut legislature, the New London Development Corporation (NLDC) has apparently now decided not to abide by a moratorium called for by both the governor and legislature.

I'll stick to AskMe, thanks.

CunningLinguist — Fri, 27 May 2005 04:45:52 -0800

AskGod.com Forget Jeeves. For $25 a month, you can soon call a googling "angel" from your mobile phone with questions. According to the press release (pdf): "Soon, with the coming of Ask God, the prayers of all the data-starved will be answered and the prophecy of information on-demand will be fulfilled." In a country caught in the grips of religious mania, is this smart marketing or tone deaf? And with the web increasingly on our phones already, who's going to pay for this?

A story that seems to be good news

Hildago — Sun, 18 Nov 2001 22:39:19 -0800

A story that seems to be good news no matter what side of the 'war' you're on. The dragnet around Bin Laden is reported to be closing quickly, and currently stands, says the Sunday Times, at about 30 squares mile. So, what happens next? (via Plastic.com)