If they're going to just remake everything anyway...
Last post, there was a movie mentioned called "Unstoppable," starring Chris "Captain Kirk" Pine and Denzel "someday I want to be Morgan Freeman" Washington, and this is it's trailer. This thing looks to have a lot of by-the-book action movie tropes going on (I hope they skip the "I'm too old for this" line), and the actual event it was "inspired" by sounds a lot less dramatic than presented. But what kind of got me was that this seemed to be an attempt to update an old film relic, the "Runaway Train Movie." The one that immediately leapt to mind is the venerable "Atomic Train," starring Rob Lowe. TV Tropes (warning: This is a link to TV Tropes) has even more examples.
But this got me to thinking that perhaps Hollywood is trying to not only remake old movies but update old concepts. Much like how "Independence Day" revived the "giant flying saucer invasion" movie, perhaps we're in for some new old concepts. Here are a few I'm wondering if we're due for:
- The Super Vehicle Movie: As a kid, there were a whole bunch of movies and TV shows where I didn't give two phooeys about the cast, I was in love with the machines the cast got around (and blew stuff up) in. Blue Thunder, Airwolf, Knight Rider, Firefox (this one, not this one), to name a few. Sure, you can argue that "Transformers" is in this genre, but all of the previous examples stayed in one shape, more or less, even if they could talk.
- The Computer That Conquers The Earth: Sure, we've had Skynet and in theory we've had Multivac (or something like it) in "I, Robot," but we haven't had a real setup like "Colossus: The Forbin Project," where a computer is set to take over the planet. I think to pull it off effectively in this day and age, it'd have to be a subtle horror-type movie, which would almost be like Asimov's original Multivac stories where the computer wasn't being overt about the fact it was running mankind. The premise would also have to be about the idea of whether or not true freedom to screw things up was preferable to being unwittingly manipulated into not screwing things up by a machine.
- Completely Goofball Sci-Fi: Farscape and Lexx came closest to this idea, but the last amazingly awesome and completely nutty movies of this type I can recall were "Ice Pirates" and "Buckaroo Banzai." Maybe Pixar can pick up the ball on this one and get something made, since I don't think the studios would blow a large FX budget on something that wasn't a sequel to "Galaxy Quest" (which, while funny, was more a send-up of Star Trek than a film where you'd swear it was written after a "Star Frontiers" game after 3am).
- The Animated Rock 'n' Roll Epic: I keep hearing about another Heavy Metal movie, but I ain't seein' it. The first one, though a cheese (and animated flesh) fest, left a mark on a generation, and I still have several of the songs on my mp3 playlist. The second one makes me pity Michael Ironsides who did the voice of the villain while an "actress" whose resume reads like a listing for the late-night Cinemax movie selection was less than stellar. Not to mention the script being pretty awful where it wasn't lifting from the first movie. This, of all of these concepts, is probably the least likely due to the way music rights are handled and the expense of animation these days. "Rock and Rule" falls (though less successfully) into this category as at least a decent effort.
- The Fantasy Movie That Takes Itself Seriously In Spite of Itself: These are mostly on SyFy these days, but where is this generation's "Krull" and "Beastmaster?" Without these cornerstones of zany sword-n-sorcery movies, most of Cable TV would have been dead air for twenty years. They came out of nowhere, dropped weird creatures and insane worlds on your head and then left you to marvel at them. Until we get that alleged "Dark Crystal" sequel, I think all we're going to see are "Lord of the Rings" style fantasy that doesn't involve glaive weapons or monsters too strange for even the first Fiend Folio.
Now, these aren't calls for remakes, but possible revisiting of old ideas to produce something a little different from the slew of sequels and do-overs currently in theaters. I mean, yeah, they're not totally original, but we need something other than Star Wars to use for pop culture references in the next 20 years, right? Maybe? Can I just have the super-vehicle toys, even if they don't make the films?
Speaking of Star Wars, the Lego-themed media geniuses out there have released this short film about Boba Fett trying to collect on Jar-Jar Binks' head. I especially like this because it has a kind of "Tag and Bink" vibe to it (at least early on), where this story goes on unnoticed by the main characters in the saga. Though I'd question whether the Empire would care enough to provide hospitalization for its troops. I guess if they did that would be what they'd make those recovering watch, as punishment for failure. :)
Anyway, "Supernatural" seems to have finally hit a point of interest, at least metaphysically. As it finally told us what's wrong with one of the Winchester brothers, I'll be interested to see what the "rules" are for lacking one's soul. The show (like a lot of productions dealing with things of a less-than-concrete nature) has been doing its best to integrate the "real" with their own mystical storylines; The Apocalyptic Horseman, "Pestilence," using a biotech company/vaccine to try and deliver his plague, etc. Saying that a soul-less person has no fear would seem a bit odd, since the flight/fight response is biological in nature. Though, since we need the story to progress, a catatonic Winchester who now fears everything (and probably death most of all) due to the lack of his eternal component wouldn't have made for good TV outside of one episode.
Several people sent in news of a typewriter that one could play "Zork" on, though the most entertaining page would probably be when the player got stumped and took that detour we all did into seeing how many swear words the game knew. But what I first thought of was a piece of computer equipment my folks let me play with at the college where they work(ed, depending on which one is or isn't retired. Grin). Back then, all graphics were ASCII, and you could play simple games (like the old Eliza psychoanalysis program, or the old Star Trek game) via dummy terminals hooked up to a mainframe. They also had a tractor-feed printer with a keyboard attached, and you could waste miles of paper using the printer to type out the "screen" you'd normally see on the CRT. So all life is a circle, etc., etc.
I've just finished looking at some more Samurai Jack pages that were drawn from scripts I wrote, and they look nice 'n' purdy! They'll be appearing (I believe) in the comic book entitled, "Cartoon Network Action Pack," though I'm not sure which issues. The December one (I presume) will have the first two-pager, then I've got a few more 3-page tales in various stages of completion. I also just signed on to (hopefully, pending approval of scripts/stories/blood samples) write a full trade paperback comic based on a fairly popular video game franchise that'll have to remain nameless for the time being. I hate not being able to give out specifics on this stuff; I hope the marketing/legal guys involved give me the go-ahead soon. I also hope I may have discovered a new way to pay for Joshua's college tuition, at least in part. :)
Let's all gather 'round the monitor for a little link-a-long, shall we?
- There's been another clip released that doesn't tell us much about Tron: Legacy, but I still find it intriguing.
- I came across a photo from this site and had to track it down: The Buzz, a confectioner in Seaside, OR offers an incredibly diverse array of dipped Twinkies, more than most county fairs have probably even dreamed of.
- I don't know if these are available in the States, but Cadbury has found a way to make sure we can not feel odd about consuming Creme Eggs when it isn't Easter (or Christmas, since they also make those "ornament" eggs now).
- This looks like yet something else I'd never be able to afford, but if I was going to play a piano while attacking a giant space station, this is the one I'd pilot (click the numbers in the lower-right corner of the white area for more photos).
- Puzzle game time! Rescue on Cocoa Farm is a goodie-themed game where your goal is to roll animals through barn doors. It's more fun than it sounds.
- This 'symbolic chart' of the plot for 'Hamlet' makes me wonder how far we are from computers making inroads into fiction like they are into music.
- If you watched "The Walking Dead," you weren't alone: It had the highest ratings for any cable premiere for 2010.
- There may be a cure for the common cold soon. Future generations will be confused by all of our "Nyquil" jokes if that happens.
- Do NOT mix up your starships if you want to avoid a reader backlash, okay? :)
- We end with an anime-themed fightin' level-up game, Armed with Wings 3. Use your sword, martial arts, and pet bird of prey to solve puzzles and defeat the bad guys.