An Underrated Book
When people hear or think of science fiction books, they often think of Stephen King novels, Edgar Allen Poe works or the classics like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or Bram Stoker’s Dracula. While these aren’t bad choices, there is a wide selection of books that aren’t known or doesn’t have much press. One of these is Olaf Stapledon’s Last and First Men. The book explores a number of species throughout, give or take, two billion years. Our species is the most primitive of the bunch. It is an evolutionary look at species that could take a turn for the worse or the better, depending on how you look at the species’ situation politically, socially, and religiously. Last and First Men is seen as a very scientific book, blended with bits of science fiction. While the book doesn’t explore the religious beliefs of Stapledon, it does provide an in-depth look into religion in an evolved species, or, lack thereof. This book is not to be confused with the Time Machine. The concepts are similar, but Stapledon is more complex in the diversity of humanity. There are many parallels in the book and you must pay close attention to the book’s language. This is a great book to consider putting on your book shelf.
This Writer Capitulates My Thoughts
I wrote on this a few months ago regarding video games-turned-movies. His list found here is about how I would have it. Is there any surprise that Uwe Boll comes up 4 times on this list out of 12? That’s 1/3 of the list for crying out loud. You judge. It’s a pretty fun list, but I have to disagree with him on Silent Hill.
http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/worst-videogame-movies/worst-videogame-movies/1372220
New Moon Review: It Sucked
I’m man enough to admit I went to see New Moon (with my wife). The movie sucked. That’s about as easy a review as I’ll write. Not only does the acting absolutely stink, there are many, many plot holes (yes, I know it’s a trilogy, but still), and the direction was awful. Too many awkward moments of silence, slow direction, character inconsistencies, and it was two hours too long. I’ll admit Twilight wasn’t that bad, but this one should be avoided at all costs. The love story is over the top. You don’t have to read the book to know which love story I’m talking about. Robert Pattinson is a pansy, Kristen Stewart is ignorant in her role, and the the main wolf guy needs to go back to acting class. This movie is definitely geared for those that are 11-13. The pre-teens looking for love and don’t really care about much else. This movie very well could hurt sales for the book. No one should be subjected to this garbage. I’m not ashamed to say this movie was terrible. I’m ashamed because I spent 9 bucks on it. On a good note…wait, there wasn’t one. Typically I will try to focus on a redeeming aspect of the movie, but I honestly can’t come up with one. At least we can look forward to Ninja Assassin on Wednesday.
2012: Your Typical Roland Emmerich Film
The title implies sarcasm. If you’ve seen one Roland Emmerich film, you’ve seen them all. 2012 doesn’t offer much to the viewers, with plot holes galore. Not only that, the movie is two-and-a-half hours long, which doesn’t make the movie any better. The movie, if you haven’t figured it out, is about the end of the world which supposedly comes in 2012. The problem with movie was that it doesn’t nearly focus its efforts on the actual day of destruction; rather it focuses on John Cusak’s life or lack thereof. Amanda Peet does make a good comeback to the big screen, though. Roland Emmerich films are indicative of one thing: large movie with no focus whatsoever on the event that surrounds the character. It almost feels as if there are two movies going on in one movie. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad movie. It’s just not great. The ending of the movie will leave you wondering about the prophecy of 2012 (one of the many plot holes). To the credit of Emmerich, the movie did have some pretty good acting and CG, but despite that, this movie is just OK. 1-10=5.5.
This One Might Actually be Good
If you know me or have read some of my blogs, you know that I’m not a fan of video games-turned-movie. However, this one might actually be worth something, Prince of Persia, the awesome game for the PS2 will star Jake Gyllenhaal as the good Prince. While he’s not Persian, or Asian or Eastern of any kind, he could actually make this movie good. I’m not holding out any hope, but who knows, I could be surprised. One thing that baffles me is that games can easily be turned into movies. After all, aren’t we playing a movie? That’s the thought Carlo Bernard had (writer of the movie). “We pretty much had the script. If you played the game, you got the script.” There you have it. Which game he was talking about, I don’t know, but man, I’m excited. If you haven’t seen the trailer, here it is. Trailer. Next to Resident Evil, Prince of Persia was my favorite game series and we all know how the movies turned out. It won’t come out until 2010, but I’m licking my chops already. Speaking of licking chops, I will be reviewing 2010 very soon. Be ready for my review.
The Suffering Gets the Greelight
For months, The Suffering, Midway’s ultimate horror game, was greenlighted in 2008 to be a movie, but one legal battle after another and production company after production company, The Suffering gets the greenlight and it will be due out for a late 2010 or early 2011 release. The Suffering follows Torque, a man who is sentenced to death row before monsters start to overtake the prison. You’re trying to escape with other inmates and guards. Depending on the actions you take throughout the game you’re either guilty or innocent. A gory game, but great nonetheless and hugely plot driven. A sequel came about, but not nearly as successful as the first. Very little details have been released about the direction of the film, but only two things are etched in stone: Chiwetel Ejofor (Red Belt, 2012) will play Torque and Marcus Adams (The Marksman) will direct. Plot of the game has been tightlipped since the greenlight, but that game, more so than other video games-turned-movies, has potential to be great. The game gives you a movie-style plot (that’s the only basis I give to the claim). Other games don’t do that, but The Suffering does and does it well. We’ll see. I’m hopeful and I’m sure so are millions of fans around the world. An official teaser won’t be released until the summer of 2010, but as soon as I get more details, I’ll post them here.
What to Expect from “V”
For those old enough to remember the old television series, you’ll remember it made you have many sleepless nights. Back then, the graphics were “cool” to us, and you never expected an alien invasion courtesy of lizard-like aliens who gallivant around earth disguised as humans. It was somewhat new, but done well conceptually. Sadly, however, the new series will be disappointing for two crowds: those familiar with the old show, and those who seek a new scifi series to cling to. Flash Forward is a much better option given the development from episode to episode. FF, much like Lost, shrouds itself in some kind of secrecy that makes the show so good and suspenseful. It’s suspenseful and creative leaving you wanting more (that’s a little bit of a cliche) and that’s something that is absent from the new “V”. With the new “V” you get everything in the pilot. All characters are predictable, and the show is filled with cliches. The development of the storyline is disappointing because you don’t get a sense that the writers really wanted to stretch out the imagination of the viewers. That makes for a short-lived show. Don’t expect much from the pilot. It will be predictable, be warned. The acting wasn’t bad, but really that’s all the show has to stand on. You can also expect a short run on ABC. The original “V” lasted at least 16 episodes which wasn’t bad for the genre and the time period it was in.