TV/Movies Megathread

[Ideologue]

She's hot in Blow Out.

She also does some calisthenics in Carrie.

[Sheilbh]

Perhaps.  I don't see it as necessarily a terrible thing though.  Nothing wrong with mining the IPs we have until they've been exhausted, unless they're done poorly (Total Recall, Carrie, Prometheus, and so on) or if the IPs suck (Twilight, The Hunger Games).  Some of the best films of the 21st century have been unoriginal, either remakes, sequels, or adaptations from a different medium.  (Hell, so were some of the best of the 20th.  Apocalypse Now, Lawrence of Arabia, The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, Carrie, The Thing, Soylent Green, The Wizard of Oz, Tape, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Goldfinger, Phantom of the Opera '25, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, The General was based on historical events... the list is quite extensive).

There's nothing wrong with adaptations and sequels and reboots (though I'd distinguish them from Biblical/historic epics). And you're right that lots of them have been very good films. I'm not snobbish about them - unless Zack Snyder's involved - and I do enjoy them.

I just want a slightly more diverse set of films (or source materials). For example of the 10 biggest films last year only two aren't sequels (Frozen and Gravity). It's not that they're bad it's just overkill and I don't like that I can't go to the cinema because I've not seen the first film in a series yet

[Viking]

I can imagine a decent remake/reboot of Robocop. I'm just sad that the only recent original(-ish) blockbuster that springs to mind is Avatar.

I'm a bit baffled as to why someone would want to remake RoboCop. You can put it on today and it really is just as relevant as it was 20 odd years ago. Like Terminator you can still show it and it measure up. There is no pressing need to re-image it to make the story relevant or important to todays young'ins. The Special Effects were top of the line then and with the exception of the killer mecha none of the special effects were cgi, they were physical effects and as such were perfect and always will be.

Until I get convinced otherwise, this is just a case of "hey this is a franchise that people love, let us monetize our rights to this intellectual property".

If you want originality watch tv.

As for Originality in film - Pacific Rim, Elysium, Obvlivion all came out just recently in the sci fi field. I'd also say that the Hunger Games is original, the books have been out for less time than many scripts are in production.

[Sheilbh]

I'm a bit baffled as to why someone would want to remake RoboCop. You can put it on today and it really is just as relevant as it was 20 odd years ago. Like Terminator you can still show it and it measure up. There is no pressing need to re-image it to make the story relevant or important to todays young'ins. The Special Effects were top of the line then and with the exception of the killer mecha none of the special effects were cgi, they were physical effects and as such were perfect and always will be.

That is true about the effects. The 70s Star Wars films look so much more convincing than the prequels.

[Capetan Mihali]

Incidentally, I'm watching both Blow Out and Robocop right now.   I started watching each too late at night and had to go to bed halfway through, and then I picked up with a new film the next night instead of finishing it as I should.   Attributable to the fact that I went back to the closing-down video store and went bananas, buying 24 dvd's for $60.

[Viking]

Pacific Rim didn't succeed;

Maybe because it was crap.

It made shitloads of money in china.

In September 2013, Forbes highlighted Pacific Rim as "the rare English-language film in history to cross $400 million while barely crossing $100 million domestic".

[katmai]

Nancy Allen and P.J. Soles were first crushes.

[Razgovory]

I'm a bit baffled as to why someone would want to remake RoboCop. You can put it on today and it really is just as relevant as it was 20 odd years ago. Like Terminator you can still show it and it measure up. There is no pressing need to re-image it to make the story relevant or important to todays young'ins. The Special Effects were top of the line then and with the exception of the killer mecha none of the special effects were cgi, they were physical effects and as such were perfect and always will be.

That is true about the effects. The 70s Star Wars films look so much more convincing than the prequels.

Have to agree with you there.  Modern special effects just don't do anything for me.  It's like watching a cartoon.  I liked it better when they had models and stuntmen.

[Josephus]

I watched Wolf of Wall Street. Didn't realized it was based on a true story. Anyways, best of the bunch. Liked it. (Had to watch it in two parts, though, couldn't sit still for three hours).

[Admiral Yi]

I watched Wolf of Wall Street. Didn't realized it was based on a true story. Anyways, best of the bunch. Liked it. (Had to watch it in two parts, though, couldn't sit still for three hours).

I heard on NPR the other day that some people are trying to organize a boycott of Wolf because it portrays Wall Street in too positive a light.

Your thoughts?

[katmai]

Not Wall Street per se, but the tactics and practices of Belfort (sic) and his ilk Mr. Yip.

[garbon]

It is quite a glorification.

[CountDeMoney]

So it's Yi Porn.

[Capetan Mihali]

Finished "Blow Out."  For all the intrigue about his personal life, it's easy to forget just what a hell of an actor Travolta is/was.

[Admiral Yi]

Just watched Life of Pi.  Mindboggling animal tricks/effects and a passable story.