Re: The even-newer film thread – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! : Sun Apr 01, 2012 1:40 pm  

Cronus wrote: Find myself increasingly baffled by the whole 'John Carter' cock-up. Wouldn't normally comment but this smacks of irresponsibility and incompetence. Firstly - what sort of studio puts a quarter of a billion dollars into a film in the current climate? I read somewhere recently studios were (wisely) avoiding major gambles and taking safe, relatively inexpensive options rather than huge blockbusters - especially on what is a gamble. Secondly - why a film based on these books? I read A LOT and love sci-fi novels, and I've never heard of them. Then you can't be much of a sci-fi fan. The John Carter series is regarded as one of the key stages in the development of pulp SF and inspired countless major SF writers such as Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov. Books such as "A Princess of Mars" were - in their day - as popular as any SF novel you care to mention over the past fifty years.

Cronus wrote: Find myself increasingly baffled by the whole 'John Carter' cock-up. Wouldn't normally comment but this smacks of irresponsibility and incompetence. Firstly - what sort of studio puts a quarter of a billion dollars into a film in the current climate? I read somewhere recently studios were (wisely) avoiding major gambles and taking safe, relatively inexpensive options rather than huge blockbusters - especially on what is a gamble. Secondly - why a film based on these books? I read A LOT and love sci-fi novels, and I've never heard of them. Then you can't be much of a sci-fi fan. The John Carter series is regarded as one of the key stages in the development of pulp SF and inspired countless major SF writers such as Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov. Books such as "A Princess of Mars" were - in their day - as popular as any SF novel you care to mention over the past fifty years.

Housing Benefit Cuts for the Scroungers. : Sun Apr 01, 2012 6:03 pm  

McClennan wrote:

Wasn't that mad on it myself. It wasn't rubbish but it felt a bit Schindler's List when I thought the Chinese might have been a bit more imaginative rather than just do the same thing The Beard did.

Have you seen the French film '5x2' (on C4 tonight) Mc? It's quite interesting although a little heavy at times....It's a film about a couples relationship in reverse. Starts with them getting divorced and works back, through several scenes, ending with their first meeting. I found it rather intriguing.

Re: The even-newer film thread – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! : Thu Apr 05, 2012 5:02 pm  

At last. My first blog post with the new PC. Apologies for delays in updates, I'm slowly catching up with lost data etc. Jesus' Story on Film: Sufferer, Hippie and Revolutionary

At last. My first blog post with the new PC. Apologies for delays in updates, I'm slowly catching up with lost data etc. Jesus' Story on Film: Sufferer, Hippie and Revolutionary

Re: Housing Benefit Cuts for the Scroungers. : Thu Apr 05, 2012 5:04 pm  

WIZEB wrote:

Have you seen the French film '5x2' (on C4 tonight) Mc? It's quite interesting although a little heavy at times....It's a film about a couples relationship in reverse. Starts with them getting divorced and works back, through several scenes, ending with their first meeting. I found it rather intriguing.

Haven't even heard of it I'm afraid. Was it intriguing enough to seek out?

Housing Benefit Cuts for the Scroungers. : Sat Apr 14, 2012 9:03 am  

McClennan wrote:

Haven't even heard of it I'm afraid. Was it intriguing enough to seek out?

I wouldn't give it seekability status but worth a gander if you ever bump into it....Watched John Woo's 'Red Cliff' last night. Not usually my bag and still trying to work out whether I enjoyed it or not.

Re: The even-newer film thread – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! : Sat Apr 14, 2012 9:50 pm  

Just been to see The Cabin in the Woods.

Do yourself a favour, avoid all reviews and spoilers, it's excellent and very very clever!

Re: The even-newer film thread – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! : Sat Apr 14, 2012 10:12 pm  

West Cumbrian Rhino wrote:

Just been to see The Cabin in the Woods.

Do yourself a favour, avoid all reviews and spoilers, it's excellent and very very clever!

Going to see it tomorrow night. Not normally my sort of thing but the tv trailer looked interesting and I'm a fan of Joss Whedon's stuff.

Re: The even-newer film thread – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! : Sat Apr 14, 2012 11:48 pm  

Mugwump wrote:

Then you can't be much of a sci-fi fan. The John Carter series is regarded as one of the key stages in the development of pulp SF and inspired countless major SF writers such as Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov. Books such as "A Princess of Mars" were - in their day - as popular as any SF novel you care to mention over the past fifty years.

Ok, so I've not heard of a few books from the 60s.

As it happens, my first sci-fi author was Isaac Asimov (still the benchmark), followed by Arthur C Clarke. Ray Bradbury only a little - never got into him. And remember this was in a time when I couldn't just click Wikipedia and discover who their influences were, this was when I was a kid and abused my library card to read them and whatever I could get my hands on. I've read several ER Burroughs but still never came across the John Carter series that I recall.

I'm also big into Larry Niven, Robert Heinlein, Douglas Adams, Ursula LeGuin (her fantasy stuff is also extremely good), Frank Herbert, Frederick Pohl, and more recently Iain 'M' Banks' feckin fantastic Culture series (highly recommended).

So while I may not be up to your mighty and omniscient level, I'm fairly well read cheers even if I'm not a devoted sci-fi geek.

The John Carter film was still a rather major f*ck-up. Partly cos no-one had ever heard of it.

Re: The even-newer film thread – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! : Sun Apr 15, 2012 2:48 am  

Dumb & Dumber 2 has been confirmed with original cast and director http://www.totalfilm.com/news/dumb-and-dumber-2-on-the-way

Dumb & Dumber 2 has been confirmed with original cast and director http://www.totalfilm.com/news/dumb-and-dumber-2-on-the-way

Re: The even-newer film thread – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! : Sun Apr 15, 2012 5:04 pm  

Walkabout is on bbc4 at 9 tonight. I've not seen it but it's supposed to be good. I really liked Don't Look Now and have been on the lookout for more Nicolas Roeg.

Walkabout is on bbc4 at 9 tonight. I've not seen it but it's supposed to be good. I really liked Don't Look Now and have been on the lookout for more Nicolas Roeg.