Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Movie News: Mother Of All Paydays
MATRIX
Sofia Stewart, dubbed the Mother of the Matrix, has sucessfully won a gazillion dollars from Warner Brothers. She claims that her material was used to write specific parts of the matrix. She's got copyright legal forms to witnesses as well. There's also a supposedly 30 minutes that got cut from the movie. And production ppl used it as source material in setting some scenes.
Oh, come on. For argument's sake, let's concede that Wachowski Brothers did steal the Matrix story. How the hell can a movie studio know that? So every studio needs to spend 600 grand on discovery fees before even attempting a movie? It's not realistic and if this kind of stuff keeps up, Hollywood will be pummeled by countries with better execution of copyright and creativity. Say goodbye to film dominance, America. It was nice while it lasted.
Invisibles as well as Giblson's Neuromancer were given to the Matrix production people to study as well. For the mood and general feel--mainly to give them a feel on the type of scifi to create. Heck, if the story was good in the first place, WB would have bought her. If she can pump out 2 fics of such box office worthiness, don't you think she'd be keeper? And if it was indeed the Wacholski's that stole her shit, how does that make WB liable?
Truthfully, i'm saving my judgement until I read the original Stewart manuscript complete with the character analysis. And even then, i'm not sure if the settlement was fair. Ideas without implementation is meaningless. Worth 10 grand at most.
Sofia Stewart, dubbed the Mother of the Matrix, has sucessfully won a gazillion dollars from Warner Brothers. She claims that her material was used to write specific parts of the matrix. She's got copyright legal forms to witnesses as well. There's also a supposedly 30 minutes that got cut from the movie. And production ppl used it as source material in setting some scenes.
Oh, come on. For argument's sake, let's concede that Wachowski Brothers did steal the Matrix story. How the hell can a movie studio know that? So every studio needs to spend 600 grand on discovery fees before even attempting a movie? It's not realistic and if this kind of stuff keeps up, Hollywood will be pummeled by countries with better execution of copyright and creativity. Say goodbye to film dominance, America. It was nice while it lasted.
Invisibles as well as Giblson's Neuromancer were given to the Matrix production people to study as well. For the mood and general feel--mainly to give them a feel on the type of scifi to create. Heck, if the story was good in the first place, WB would have bought her. If she can pump out 2 fics of such box office worthiness, don't you think she'd be keeper? And if it was indeed the Wacholski's that stole her shit, how does that make WB liable?
Truthfully, i'm saving my judgement until I read the original Stewart manuscript complete with the character analysis. And even then, i'm not sure if the settlement was fair. Ideas without implementation is meaningless. Worth 10 grand at most.
Geek Comic News
3 News Items
I think I'm going to take the Geek out of the titles. It works on a corporate branding level but for god's sake, this is a fucking blog. Emphasis on the fucking.
Source: fanboyrampage.blogspot.com
I love fanboyrampage.blogspot. It's doesnt regurgitate news feeds and call them columns like some of the other sites do. It has actual commentary about stuff that's interesting. Although, it has been getting lazy as of late. Slow news days do suck.
I dug the Millar/BKV back and forth. Just jump to the word "millar" when you traverse this link. Millar's best work is still the Authority and BKV's best work is arguably Y the last man. They both write mainstream junk food comic books but hey do it well so I dont hold it against them.
Source: whedonesque.com
Joss Whedon's speechy to screeners of Serenity. In case you don't know what Serenity is, its a movie. Its a movie based on the TV series Firefly. So its Firefly: Serenity. Actually, its Whedon: Firefly: Serenity. Actually, its The Way God Intended Scifi To Be. I'm a bit biased though. Whedon controls his work so there's always a mark of quality in anything he's done. He can write, direct, compose music and has his ear to the floor
If you've never heard of Firefly, go bt some episodes or get some cheap 10 dollar dvds for the whole season. Its the heir apparent of all geekdom. Its scifi with a message. Its scifi with a theme. Its about Freedom. It reminds you why government is called "government". It also reminds you that freedom isnt anarchy, its the freedom to say no when someone tells you do something that doesnt sit right.
Source: comicbookresources.com
Rich Johnston rumor mill column "Lying in the Gutter has gotten a lot of flak. The fact that its the National Enquirer of Comicdom makes creators and fans all bunched up in their briefs. I like the insider, controversial, dirty laundry stuff. That's what truth is anyways. That's what journalism should be. Not just newsfeeds, launchdates, and being a general mouthpiece for market advertising. So Rich is doing investigative tabloidal paparazzi journalism now. And that's fantastic.
Last week, he did an interview with Alan Moore about his tiff with DC. (He pulled LoEG because one of their guys tried to implicit Moore as an endorser of some film based on his work. And since the film adaptations of his work have all been utter dogshit, Moore's got plenty of justification for not wanting his name on dogshit.)
This week, it's about taxes on income from comics, which directly leads to very interesting stuff on how the cogs of the industry work. Its fascinating if you take the time to check it out. Fascinating=gossip=criminal stuff. Yeah, sexy.
I think I'm going to take the Geek out of the titles. It works on a corporate branding level but for god's sake, this is a fucking blog. Emphasis on the fucking.
Source: fanboyrampage.blogspot.com
I love fanboyrampage.blogspot. It's doesnt regurgitate news feeds and call them columns like some of the other sites do. It has actual commentary about stuff that's interesting. Although, it has been getting lazy as of late. Slow news days do suck.
I dug the Millar/BKV back and forth. Just jump to the word "millar" when you traverse this link. Millar's best work is still the Authority and BKV's best work is arguably Y the last man. They both write mainstream junk food comic books but hey do it well so I dont hold it against them.
Source: whedonesque.com
Joss Whedon's speechy to screeners of Serenity. In case you don't know what Serenity is, its a movie. Its a movie based on the TV series Firefly. So its Firefly: Serenity. Actually, its Whedon: Firefly: Serenity. Actually, its The Way God Intended Scifi To Be. I'm a bit biased though. Whedon controls his work so there's always a mark of quality in anything he's done. He can write, direct, compose music and has his ear to the floor
If you've never heard of Firefly, go bt some episodes or get some cheap 10 dollar dvds for the whole season. Its the heir apparent of all geekdom. Its scifi with a message. Its scifi with a theme. Its about Freedom. It reminds you why government is called "government". It also reminds you that freedom isnt anarchy, its the freedom to say no when someone tells you do something that doesnt sit right.
Source: comicbookresources.com
Rich Johnston rumor mill column "Lying in the Gutter has gotten a lot of flak. The fact that its the National Enquirer of Comicdom makes creators and fans all bunched up in their briefs. I like the insider, controversial, dirty laundry stuff. That's what truth is anyways. That's what journalism should be. Not just newsfeeds, launchdates, and being a general mouthpiece for market advertising. So Rich is doing investigative tabloidal paparazzi journalism now. And that's fantastic.
Last week, he did an interview with Alan Moore about his tiff with DC. (He pulled LoEG because one of their guys tried to implicit Moore as an endorser of some film based on his work. And since the film adaptations of his work have all been utter dogshit, Moore's got plenty of justification for not wanting his name on dogshit.)
This week, it's about taxes on income from comics, which directly leads to very interesting stuff on how the cogs of the industry work. Its fascinating if you take the time to check it out. Fascinating=gossip=criminal stuff. Yeah, sexy.
Geek Hong Kong Movie
2046
I don't normally watch Love Stories or fluffy romantic pieces but since there's so much roar about Wong Kar Wai, I'm willing to give this asian Woody Allen a chance.
It's sooooo borrrrinnnnnggg.
That's it. If you want details, you wont get it. I had no idea what was going on in the film. Other than the fact that Tony Leung is interesting no matter what kind of movie he's in, Zhang Zhiyi's pretty hot, and that I cant really tell the difference between soft core porn and art films.
Mainly, it's a story about a guy who has these romances and some of them turn up stupid. There's this woman who left him. So he goes to this prostitute. Then the prostitute loves him, but then he doesnt love her. And then prostitute goes to singapore and becomes this super gambler. The guy goes to singapore and loses his money and the Super whore gambler helps him out. The guy still doesnt fuck her with LOVE. Doesnt even fuck her at all.
Everyone cries and the guy is...i dont know, the movie ends. Su Lizhen, the first girlfriend, got stabbed somewhere in the beginning of the movie. By a drummer. This is all entertwined in a futuristic story this Guy makes up--which has nothing to do with scifi or with the story in general. In fact, thematically, it shouldnt even have been scifi--it should have been a wuxia kung fu flick--since penning martial arts porn fiction was one of the many jobs this guy held.
this movie sucks. well, i cant appreciate it. I don't get why they compare Wong Kar Wai to woody allen. If i want to see something artsy and funny, i'd go see woody allen's remake of Tolstoy's War and Peace: Now that's a fucking nice film.
I'm kinda sad that Wong Kar Wai sucks. I'm one half Hong Kongian you see. Sigh.
I don't normally watch Love Stories or fluffy romantic pieces but since there's so much roar about Wong Kar Wai, I'm willing to give this asian Woody Allen a chance.
It's sooooo borrrrinnnnnggg.
That's it. If you want details, you wont get it. I had no idea what was going on in the film. Other than the fact that Tony Leung is interesting no matter what kind of movie he's in, Zhang Zhiyi's pretty hot, and that I cant really tell the difference between soft core porn and art films.
Mainly, it's a story about a guy who has these romances and some of them turn up stupid. There's this woman who left him. So he goes to this prostitute. Then the prostitute loves him, but then he doesnt love her. And then prostitute goes to singapore and becomes this super gambler. The guy goes to singapore and loses his money and the Super whore gambler helps him out. The guy still doesnt fuck her with LOVE. Doesnt even fuck her at all.
Everyone cries and the guy is...i dont know, the movie ends. Su Lizhen, the first girlfriend, got stabbed somewhere in the beginning of the movie. By a drummer. This is all entertwined in a futuristic story this Guy makes up--which has nothing to do with scifi or with the story in general. In fact, thematically, it shouldnt even have been scifi--it should have been a wuxia kung fu flick--since penning martial arts porn fiction was one of the many jobs this guy held.
this movie sucks. well, i cant appreciate it. I don't get why they compare Wong Kar Wai to woody allen. If i want to see something artsy and funny, i'd go see woody allen's remake of Tolstoy's War and Peace: Now that's a fucking nice film.
I'm kinda sad that Wong Kar Wai sucks. I'm one half Hong Kongian you see. Sigh.
Geek Comic
Maus
This comic is in two volumes. When the old father dies, that's where the story ends. And it's not melodramatic, it's not "Noooooooo!", it just is. And that serves the whole thing really well because its only in movies do family bawl their eyes out to the world--truth is, death is more an empathic experience, shock, freezing, locking in place, and a general sense of being lost is what happens. Not very cinematical but oh so utterly refreshing to read about.
The comic's about Art Spiegelman's father and how he survived as a Jewish man during those dog days of Nazi war. And how it was 3 parts luck and 7 parts elbow grease of pure determination and willingness to lie, cheat, and manipulate. Without which, he could have never survived as long as he did. It's a very refreshing take on the Holocaust. It's one of those thinky type pieces of literature, and its not really a biography of a Holocaust survivor--its just plain survival.
Which is what we should be doing everyday of our lives. We should outthink our fellow man. We should be better at stuff. We should not be complacent and at every moment we should be willing to dominate. For the alternative is..well...that's going a bit too far but I think you get the point.
This comic is in two volumes. When the old father dies, that's where the story ends. And it's not melodramatic, it's not "Noooooooo!", it just is. And that serves the whole thing really well because its only in movies do family bawl their eyes out to the world--truth is, death is more an empathic experience, shock, freezing, locking in place, and a general sense of being lost is what happens. Not very cinematical but oh so utterly refreshing to read about.
The comic's about Art Spiegelman's father and how he survived as a Jewish man during those dog days of Nazi war. And how it was 3 parts luck and 7 parts elbow grease of pure determination and willingness to lie, cheat, and manipulate. Without which, he could have never survived as long as he did. It's a very refreshing take on the Holocaust. It's one of those thinky type pieces of literature, and its not really a biography of a Holocaust survivor--its just plain survival.
Which is what we should be doing everyday of our lives. We should outthink our fellow man. We should be better at stuff. We should not be complacent and at every moment we should be willing to dominate. For the alternative is..well...that's going a bit too far but I think you get the point.
Geek Movie
Revenge of the Sith
I'm not a Star Wars fan. I'm an Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Alfred Bester guy. (If you've never heard of these people, it's perfectly alright; their ideas are rather virus-like, if you've seen scifi, chances are you've got some of them in you.)
Well, I enjoyedRevenge of the Sith, but only in the POV that it's no more than a blockbuster FX movie.
At best, it's on the same level as the original trilogy--which in hindsight, now that I'm older, means nothing at all. You realize, boy, these star war movies are pretty kiddy. And you realize also: Star Wars isnt awful because it caters to pre-teens. Its awful because there's really no thought behind most of the scenes. Just a shallow meaningless movie that only pretends to themes that it doesnt even really understand.
It's my personal belief that kids only watch and enjoy crap because they've got nothing to compare the crap to. Shit would smell good you you if you've never smelled a rose, so to say. So Star Wars, being a kiddy film, should not be excused that way. Kid films can be influential. Good Kid Films Are Influential.
Look at how popular the Miyazaki films are with both grown-ups and children--and no one can say that Studio Ghibli films aren't meaningful and mindfuckers in their own right.
The main line: the Star Wars thing has lived past its prime. As with Star Trek, it has to vanish. How can it compete with the likes of Battlestar Galactica and Firefly: Serenity? One could argue that There Will Always Be A Place for kiddy entertainment--And I will always argue that Kiddy Entertainment (movies that feed the child in you) is the one place in your heart that you shouldnt lower your expectations for..
Revenge of the Sith is a movie where you can enjoy--but frankly, there are more interesting and better ideas in the world, and its not the type of movie that can infect a new generation. An utter failure. Orson Scott Card wrote a tribute to Star Trek that I think is a perfect obituary for Star Wars as well.
Orson's Good Riddance to Bad Sci Fi
I'm not a Star Wars fan. I'm an Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Alfred Bester guy. (If you've never heard of these people, it's perfectly alright; their ideas are rather virus-like, if you've seen scifi, chances are you've got some of them in you.)
Well, I enjoyedRevenge of the Sith, but only in the POV that it's no more than a blockbuster FX movie.
At best, it's on the same level as the original trilogy--which in hindsight, now that I'm older, means nothing at all. You realize, boy, these star war movies are pretty kiddy. And you realize also: Star Wars isnt awful because it caters to pre-teens. Its awful because there's really no thought behind most of the scenes. Just a shallow meaningless movie that only pretends to themes that it doesnt even really understand.
It's my personal belief that kids only watch and enjoy crap because they've got nothing to compare the crap to. Shit would smell good you you if you've never smelled a rose, so to say. So Star Wars, being a kiddy film, should not be excused that way. Kid films can be influential. Good Kid Films Are Influential.
Look at how popular the Miyazaki films are with both grown-ups and children--and no one can say that Studio Ghibli films aren't meaningful and mindfuckers in their own right.
The main line: the Star Wars thing has lived past its prime. As with Star Trek, it has to vanish. How can it compete with the likes of Battlestar Galactica and Firefly: Serenity? One could argue that There Will Always Be A Place for kiddy entertainment--And I will always argue that Kiddy Entertainment (movies that feed the child in you) is the one place in your heart that you shouldnt lower your expectations for..
Revenge of the Sith is a movie where you can enjoy--but frankly, there are more interesting and better ideas in the world, and its not the type of movie that can infect a new generation. An utter failure. Orson Scott Card wrote a tribute to Star Trek that I think is a perfect obituary for Star Wars as well.
Orson's Good Riddance to Bad Sci Fi
Quest for Dap Part 2
I bought a Sandisk Sansa.
Review is here.
In short. Don't buy it.
NEVER ever buy any mp3 player that isnt Korean. Korean is just king of the flash mp3 players.
I've got my eye on an AirPie....
Review is here.
In short. Don't buy it.
NEVER ever buy any mp3 player that isnt Korean. Korean is just king of the flash mp3 players.
I've got my eye on an AirPie....
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