Then all those same people will head over to one of the threads about remakes and bitch about how all Hollywood does is keep regurgitating the same characters over and over.

hint: it's Hergé

Granted they won't be the majority, but then I spent most of last week talking to the dumbest Scotsman I've ever encountered.

You'd be surprised by some of the examples of wit & (NO!! Don't say it!!) irony on here.

You know what? I used to believe that Americans could be smart, but that dumb Americans were the stupidest people on earth.

Then I went back to the U.K last December. It's over-run with chav scum. Idiots. You switch on the tv & it's bullshit reality shit like "My face is too big: make it smaller 2".

I'd love to think being English meant I was smarter, but it doesn't. It did. Right now, we have to take smartness anywhere we can find it.

you, on the other hand, appear unable to find your arse with both hands.

That was uncalled for & i'll remember that. You made a good point until you got carried away. No need mate.

lighten up, I thought you could handle the banter. Looks like I was wrong. For that I most humbly apologise you darkest of shites.

I can handle the banter. Unfortunately, it's 3:30am & I've consumed more than I should have. Which for some reason means my typing skills are fine, but frankly, I literally can't find my arse with both hands.

What can I say? It's a touchy subject;-).

For those interested in discovering TINTIN, here’s one fan’s suggestion: Check out THE CRAB WITH THE GOLDEN CLAWS. Jackson ahs said they were using some of this story to introduce Tintin to Captain Haddock in the movie. Then read SECRET OF THE UNICORN but make sure you also get your hands on RED RACKHAM'S TREASURE which is the conclusion of the story begun in UNICORN.

Then I strongly suggest THE SEVEN CRYSTAL BALLS + THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN. Two reasons: the story in those books is arguably the most “prototypical” Hergé plot in the series and it’s an awesome adventure by any standards. You’ll see where Spielberg and Lucas got ideas for INDIANA JONES in the second part. For this reason alone, to see some of a major inspiration for RAIDERS, I think fans should check these two books out pronto! Secondly, I’m ready to bet an arm this is going to be the story they use in TINTIN 2. If you like to jump into a story at its apex, this one will rock your socks off. An Incan God haunts terrified collectors; high adventures in the mountain of the Andes; ancient temples (a la RAIDERS), human sacrifices to the Sun God (a la TEMPLE OF DOOM)… awesome stuff and gorgeous artwork.

BUT KEEP IN MIND THESE ARE OLD BOOKS! They were published in the ‘40s and ’50 so you can’t expect something that will click with your pop-cultured mind; especially if you were born after 1980. You need to go into it like you’d go into the original IRON MAN or BATMAN books. And also keep in mind that these are translated from French and it’s difficult to capture French humor with English. The movie should be a much better adaptation of the dialogue. The French speak in a very distinctively different way than Americans and that’s going to play a big part in the way you perceive the writing.

Other favorite TINTIN books worth reading: THE CALCULUS AFFAIR; THE RED SEA SHARKS; and my favorite: FLIGHT 714 because of its sc-fi elements. Note that these 3 albums are later works in the series and it pays off to know the characters. But either one you choose from this post will give you a good impression of the character and type of story he gets into.

Lastly, you might be interested in reading Destination Moon + Explorers on the Moon. Written 17 years before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, Herge’s depiction of the first people on the moon (Tintin and co) is insanely close to how it went down, conceptually. The only reason I hesitate to suggest this story as an introduction is because MOON is rather wordy and a long set-up for the all-action of EXPLORERS. On the other hand, EXPLORERS may be the funnest story in the series. It’s the most spectacular, that’s for sure.

If you’re one of the haters who doesn’t know TINTIN, see a proctologist and once you’ve gotten your head back on your shoulders, feast your eyes on the stories that made Lucas anjd Speilberg want to invent INDIANA JONES. Once you’ll find out what you’ve been missing, you’re going to be kicking yourself.

I think TinTin is fine, as far's as it goes-for American audiences, it's NOT pre-sold any more than Asterix would be, say---it's a European thing.

But am sure it could be a fun movie, and both SS and Sir Petey Jax should be able to do something creative and fun w/ it.

It will however be a KID'S movie, by and large. It will be for the Narnia/Potter age group if that. I don't think it's made for the same group that likes Eli Roth or Watchmen or whatever.

Could be fun. I'm glad Michael Bay has said he's 'Open to the possibility' of doing the third one---

Egads. "Watch me son I'm agonna play 'Saturday Nite' on me Bagpipes--'

Your country was built on terrorism. End of argument.

and actually again being the knuckle dragging mongtard that you are you have spectacularly missed my point about a country founded on terrorism. Perhaps it is unfair of me to have expected you to have read a book - but YOUR country was founded by acts of terrorism. A violent insurgency rising up against your colonial master. Was the UK? No. Did it use tyranny and oppression to colonise the globe? Undoubtedly. But is its inception a result of violence? No. I bet you actually have no idea when the UK was formed so don't try and lecture me about being stupid. Wrap yourself in your star spangled dishrag and keep chanting.

U-S-A! U-S-A! I AM SO SMART! S-M-R-T!

You've made this into an argument it was never intended to be, but thats because you suffer the very generalisation syndrome you accuse me of. You think that voting in Obama reaffirms your status as the greatest goddam country in the world. Yes well done - you have cleaned up the massive shit you did on the floor and now you want a pat on the head. Well how about just not shitting on the floor in the first place?

In the UK we haven't elected a "leader of colour" - but neither have you voted in a leader of the female persuasion. We also have a much smaller percentage of non-whites in this country (around 8% compared with your 20%) and those we have we didn't legally discriminate against as late as the last 50 years. So yes, WELL DONE, you get a huge pat on the back for reaching the point the civilised west reached centuries ago.

so in summary I just ask you to admit it - the average American is ignorant of the outside world. Say it - it doesn't make your country any less worthy. Admitting your flaws allows you to address them. It also shows you are an adult.

oh - and This Is England? It is called a "film". It is "made up". It is not a historical documentary. Not that I would expect you to understand the difference Cartman.

Over the past few years I've worked in several different countries for months at a time. I've worked in Jamaica, Bangladesh, Jordan (and soon South Africa) as well as the US. Without going into specifics, I deal with visas. People wishing to travel to Britain. In all the countries I've been in, and all the different nationalities I have encountered (and being in New York you deal with dozens of nationalities other than American) the one and only nationality which applied for a visa and yet forgot to send in their passport with their application...... were US citizens.

That's right - despite all the advice about what you should send, despite it being COMMON FUCKING SENSE, despite being mastered by third world nationals who had spent nary a day in school - it was Americans (and this was more than one or two EVERY DAY) did not send in their passport to get a visa. The ONLY nationality.

Now this is just my experience - perhaps the goat herders of Sudan are similarly intellectually challenged. Perhaps this is all a big conspiracy against The Greatest Nation On The Face Of The Earth. Or....perhaps...just perhaps...it's a sign that your average American is just a little bit more naiive, a little bit more ignorant, a tiny weency bit more stupid than your average other national and thus shows their true colours when put to the test.

This does not try and devalue the country as a whole, which has more than produced it's fair share of brilliant people to advance the common man. And yes, going to the moon was a bit of a larf (although I still maintain that television has been more useful an invention than velcro) but you must face facts and be less defensive Mr Rebeck. You can't be perfect at everything my American chum (*note* chum means friend).

Roy Clark's IQ > Keith Richards IQ. Fuck you.

To be fair to Cedar_Room, he wasn't the guy who started the "Americans are dumb" stuff. That was a guy called thats_magic. He's the one who should have been jumped on, if anyone. When it comes to countries, there's never gonna be a resolution. People are always gonna defend their own & if you're gonna go down that road it only ends up off3ensive to both sides. Calm down fellas.

how's the head today Dark Shite?

In other words, culturally we probably have far more in common than the U.S & Commonwealth countries than we do European countries, simply as a result of our own Anglo-Saxon culture being quite uniquely different to European cultures & the fact that we spread it to those other countries.

When people are talking about Herge (I don't know how to accent that) & saying Europeans like his stuff, that's a generalisation. If I'm a European, does that make me unusual in not giving a shit about Tintin? I care even less for Asterix.

Cedar_Room, my head's not too bad mate. Although I think I may have shat out a kidney.

Your wines kick the arse off of Spanish wine!

And apologies to Cedar Room, I see the argument/debate is pretty much over and I'd just be that idiot who goes over and kicks a hornet's nest that fell out the tree yesterday.

But seriously, let's be mature here, some of those comments were really uncalled for.

If you’re gonna flame, do some research. It’s fair to mention the context for the example you give. What you are talking about can be found in TINTIN IN THE CONGO which was published in 1930. This is before WWII. In this country, Blacks were not allowed to drink out of the same water fountain as white folk. Women didn’t have the right to vote, nor could they even open a bank account and I mean white women included. And just like the Black / White fountains did not offend the people of 1930, those drawings of Africans in Herge’s book didn’t offend his readers either. They’re offensive today but knowing the context deflates your CAPITALIZED spasm.

This is no defense of the art you mentioned. That’s one good reason not to read that book. Another is that it is terrible on every level. Seriously, folks: if you’re going to take your first look at TINTIN, take one of my suggestions above. Reading the earlier books won’t give an idea of what Spielberg is going to do. TINTIN evolved a lot over the first stories and it’s only about a third of the way into its timeline that the comic enters what you’d consider it’s “canon,” where the characters are in place and the stories have become their own thing, etc..