list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Aliens on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Aliens/872/default.aspx Title: Aliens
Year: 1986
Director: James Cameron
Plot: Big-budget special effects, swiftly paced action, and a distinct feminist subtext from writer/director James Cameron turned what should have been a by-the-numbers sci-fi sequel into both a blockbuster and a seven-time Oscar nominee. Sigourney Weaver returns as Ellen Ripley, the last surviving crew member of a corporate spaceship destroyed after an attack by a vicious, virtually unbeatable alien life form. Adrift in space for half a century, Ripley grapples with depression until she's informed by her company's representative, Carter Burke (Paul Reiser) that the planet where her crew discovered the alien has since been settled by colonists. Contact with the colony has suddenly been lost, and a detachment of colonial marines is being sent to investigate. Invited along as an advisor, Ripley predicts disaster, and sure enough, the aliens have infested the colony, leaving a sole survivor, the young girl Newt (Carrie Henn). With the soldiers picked off one by one, a final all-female showdown brews between the alien queen and Ripley, who's become a surrogate mother to Newt. Several future stars made early career appearances in Aliens (1986), including Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, and Reiser. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 98
Number of Lists: 107
Number of blog posts: 10
Number of discussion threads: 14
SpoutRating: 4
]]>Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:56:23 GMTAliens1986James CameronBig-budget special effects, swiftly paced action, and a distinct feminist subtext from writer/director <a href="/players/P____10397/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>James Cameron</a> turned what should have been a by-the-numbers sci-fi sequel into both a blockbuster and a seven-time Oscar nominee. <a href="/players/P____75144/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Sigourney Weaver</a> returns as Ellen Ripley, the last surviving crew member of a corporate spaceship destroyed after an attack by a vicious, virtually unbeatable alien life form. Adrift in space for half a century, Ripley grapples with depression until she's informed by her company's representative, Carter Burke (<a href="/players/P____59529/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Paul Reiser</a>) that the planet where her crew discovered the alien has since been settled by colonists. Contact with the colony has suddenly been lost, and a detachment of colonial marines is being sent to investigate. Invited along as an advisor, Ripley predicts disaster, and sure enough, the aliens have infested the colony, leaving a sole survivor, the young girl Newt (Carrie Henn). With the soldiers picked off one by one, a final all-female showdown brews between the alien queen and Ripley, who's become a surrogate mother to Newt. Several future stars made early career appearances in Aliens (1986), including <a href="/players/P____31804/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Lance Henriksen</a>, <a href="/players/P____55571/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Bill Paxton</a>, and Reiser. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide98Tag Target (>10)10710144http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t82193b5v7t.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Aliens/872/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2009/3/10/40946.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 3/10/2009 7:01:14 PM
Body: With all the blockbuster movie trailers that debuted last week (they were officially released to be placed ahead of Watchmen), were you surprised not to see one for James Cameron’s Avatar? I wasn’t, but that’s because the to-be-groundbreaking 3-D sci-fi film won’t be released until this fall, and I’m expecting to see very little from it until at least midsummer. Well, it turns out that the main reason we didn’t see a trailer isn’t because it’s so early in the year; rather, it’s (rumored to be) because Cameron apparently can’t decide on how to market the thing. He’s supposedly passed on eight attempts at a trailer and is now at work on his own cut. Here’s my idea: show as little as possible. You’re James Cameron and you haven’t given us a feature film in 12 years. And this one’s a return to outer-space sci-fi, not another sappy romantic disaster film. You really don’t need to show one second of footage. Because we’ll be there no matter what. However you do it, though, as a result of this rumor you have to give us something. The geeks are restless: “Hate to say this, but now the anticipation and expectation is greater for AVATAR’s trailer than many MOVIES!” claims the rumor’s source, Jim Dorey of MarketSaw. Liam at Filmonic agrees that the delay is only building us up more: Getting to see our first look at Avatar in trailer form has been a desire of mine (and probably lots of other people) for the past year. The cast and crew have been hyping this thing up like crazy, and when the technology is described as 20x more advanced than what we have today I want my retinas to get a glimpse of that ASAP! Coming to Cameron’s defense a bit is Ryan Parsons at CanMag: “With the years of hype around Avatar it comes as no surprise that James Cameron wants everything to be perfect.” “We can only assume,” writes Mark Graham at Vulture, “that it’s pretty difficult to make this boring plot treatment seem interesting: ‘Follow an ex-marine as he is thrust unwillingly into an effort to settle and exploit an exotic planet rich in bio-diversity, who eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival.’” Patrick Goldstein at The Big Picture wonders if there is truth to the “news” or if it even matters: “Is rejecting eight different trailers really such a big deal? I doubt that the studios keep statistics on this sort of thing, but I’m guessing that if there’s a record for most rejected trailers, David Fincher still has Cameron beat by a mile.” Rod at The Playlist sarcastically hints that it’s not simply Cameron being a perfectionist so much as the eight trailers sucking so much: “Poor guy, it’s hard to find good help these days.” In lieu of a trailer, at least some blogs are handing out descriptions of clips they haven’t yet seen. I won’t bother quoting spoilers, but here’s an interesting bit of info from io9’s Charlie Jane Anders: “MarketSaw’s source says Avatar is ‘like Aliens, but from the POV of the Aliens.’” IGN’s Jim Vejvoda gives us more reason not to worry about the trailer, because he passes on word that in about a year from now, we’ll be able to watch Avatar on 3-D Blu-ray! Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:01:14 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com3/10/2009 7:01:14 PMWith all the blockbuster movie trailers that debuted last week (they were officially released to be placed ahead of Watchmen), were you surprised not to see one for James Cameron’s Avatar? I wasn’t, but that’s because the to-be-groundbreaking 3-D sci-fi film won’t be released until this fall, and I’m expecting to see very little from it until at least midsummer. Well, it turns out that the main reason we didn’t see a trailer isn’t because it’s so early in the year; rather, it’s (rumored to be) because Cameron apparently can’t decide on how to market the thing. He’s supposedly passed on eight attempts at a trailer and is now at work on his own cut. Here’s my idea: show as little as possible. You’re James Cameron and you haven’t given us a feature film in 12 years. And this one’s a return to outer-space sci-fi, not another sappy romantic disaster film. You really don’t need to show one second of footage. Because we’ll be there no matter what. However you do it, though, as a result of this rumor you have to give us something. The geeks are restless: “Hate to say this, but now the anticipation and expectation is greater for AVATAR’s trailer than many MOVIES!” claims the rumor’s source, Jim Dorey of MarketSaw. Liam at Filmonic agrees that the delay is only building us up more: Getting to see our first look at Avatar in trailer form has been a desire of mine (and probably lots of other people) for the past year. The cast and crew have been hyping this thing up like crazy, and when the technology is described as 20x more advanced than what we have today I want my retinas to get a glimpse of that ASAP! Coming to Cameron’s defense a bit is Ryan Parsons at CanMag: “With the years of hype around Avatar it comes as no surprise that James Cameron wants everything to be perfect.” “We can only assume,” writes Mark Graham at Vulture, “that it’s pretty difficult to make this boring plot treatment seem interesting: ‘Follow an ex-marine as he is thrust unwillingly into an effort to settle and exploit an exotic planet rich in bio-diversity, who eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival.’” Patrick Goldstein at The Big Picture wonders if there is truth to the “news” or if it even matters: “Is rejecting eight different trailers really such a big deal? I doubt that the studios keep statistics on this sort of thing, but I’m guessing that if there’s a record for most rejected trailers, David Fincher still has Cameron beat by a mile.” Rod at The Playlist sarcastically hints that it’s not simply Cameron being a perfectionist so much as the eight trailers sucking so much: “Poor guy, it’s hard to find good help these days.” In lieu of a trailer, at least some blogs are handing out descriptions of clips they haven’t yet seen. I won’t bother quoting spoilers, but here’s an interesting bit of info from io9’s Charlie Jane Anders: “MarketSaw’s source says Avatar is ‘like Aliens, but from the POV of the Aliens.’” IGN’s Jim Vejvoda gives us more reason not to worry about the trailer, because he passes on word that in about a year from now, we’ll be able to watch Avatar on 3-D Blu-ray! Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2009/3/10/40945.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 3/10/2009 6:01:08 PM
Body: If you buy the kids only one new video release this week, make it Pinocchio. Obviously. But if you have enough spending money to buy two, pick up Howard the Duck as well. Finally on DVD in America (with a Special Edition no less), the infamous flop is anything but a great film. Yet it is hardly one of the worst films of the 1980s, despite its reputation. For the past 23 years, I’ve stood by my childhood love for Howard the Duck, constantly acknowledging that I even owned Ellis Weiner’s novelization of the film. Technically, the best reason to defend the movie’s existence is that it directly led to the creation of Pixar. But this reason doesn’t influence anyone to watch the thing. So, in order to defend the movie’s onscreen worth, I’ve come up with ten points for why you should pick up the new Howard the Duck disc and not feel at all guilty about doing so. 1. It’s No Longer the Worst Lucasfilm Production Take your pick — there’s The Phantom Menace or there’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, either of which could certainly take the prize for being the worst movie to come from George Lucas in his 40 years producing films. Well, maybe not worse than More American Graffiti. But both films were far bigger creative and franchise disappointments than Howard the Duck (financial success is another story, of course), and so they have a relative sort of wretchedness that places them in the bottom of Lucas’ Sarlacc pit of a career. Even if you’re one of those defend-to-the-end Star Wars fanboys who will argue the pros of Menace, at least then consider Willow to be worse than Howard the Duck. The blatant Lord of the Rings rip-off has its historical relevance, but looking back on it now, it’s even more dated than Howard. And regardless of how groundbreaking it was, Willow’s visual effects don’t hold up quite as well as Howard’s old-fashioned, and oft-celebrated craftsmanship. But that’s another point… 2.  The Special Effects Are Technically Brilliant Those of us who prefer go-motion and other non-CGI effects work will always pay respect to ILM’s achievements on Howard the Duck, particularly their efforts with the Dark Overlord creature in the movie’s final act. People unfortunately tend to focus on the $2 million duck suit (see point #3), but even then Howard didn’t deserve its Razzie for Worst Visual Effects. To compare it to digital creatures, the monster would fit in just fine in either of the Men in Black movies. And for its own time, it was a magnificent creation. So it existed alongside a silly costumed creature in an overpriced B-movie, it still deserved an Oscar nomination for F/X in 1987, a year the Academy recognized Little Shop of Horrors and Poltergeist II: The Other Side (and incomparable winner Aliens). 3. The Duck Suit is Still Better Than Most CGI Those of us who grew up with Muppets, Chewbacca and other non-computer-generated fantasy creatures had no problem with Howard the Duck’s titular fowl being represented as a dwarf in a duck suit. The issue with the effect, though, is that allegedly Lucas had wanted Howard to be a CG creation, but the technology just wasn’t there yet. So, costumes and robotics, all of which reportedly cost $2 million, were viewed as a relative disappointment. But think of how few great CG characters there have been in the past 20 years, and then seriously attempt to argue that Howard would have been any better if made in the years of CGI supremacy. Now, also remember that 1986 was a year that gave us fine puppetry, costumed dwarfs and robotics like that found in Labyrinth (also a Lucasfilm production), Little Shop of Horrors, Legend, Short Circuit, Flight of the Navigator, Troll (sure, why not?) and, yes, Howard the Duck. So really, the only thing disappointing about the duck suit is that it doesn’t really look like the comic book character upon which it’s based. Of course, it’s not likely that a CG version of Howard would have been any more faithful. 4. Parallels, Puns and Playful Philosophy Some fans of the original Howard the Duck comics could argue that the duck suit is hardly the worst offense of unfaithfulness. Other complaints might be the alteration of Beverly’s career or the occasional sacrifice of the comic’s tone in order to pander to younger audiences. But real sticklers may take issue with Howard’s origin, the inclusion of Duckworld (which did come from the comics but wasn’t Howard creator Steve Gerber’s idea of what the character’s home world was like) and the punny parallels that came with it. Yet for those of us who love corny jokes and puns, the idea of an alternate world where everything’s the same, just with descendants of ducks rather than apes, is a lot of fun. It’s the same appreciation that allowed me to enjoy the ska scene and the similarly parallel worlds of The Flintstones and Dinosaurs and the parodies in MAD Magazine. In the first few minutes, we get treated to the following cheesy but delicious sight and audio gags: a Rolling Egg magazine, a Playduck magazine, movie posters for “Splahsdance,” “Breeders of the Lost Stork” and My Little Chickadee (starring W.C. Fowls and Mae Nest), and commercials for feather fungus treatment and the Crazy Eddie spoof “Crazy Webby.” This, plus the opening credit narration and theory of Duckworld evolution were enjoyable to a kid in the midst of learning about Darwin and pondering the existence of alternate worlds. 5. Jeffrey Jones as Dr. Jenning/Dark Overlord Between Howard the Duck and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Jeffrey Jones was one of the biggest and best villains of the summer of ‘86. For kids, anyway. But even adults recognized the quality of Jones’ performance in Howard, as Dr. Jenning, the scientist who becomes possessed by the Dark Overlord. To cult audiences, he may have seemed like just another Dr. Lizardo/Lord Worfin (of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension), but while John Lithgow was fine and nutty, Jones is much creepier and much, much more evil, even when he finds time to be deadpan hilarious during the greatest scene in the film, in the “cajun sushi” diner. 6. The Diner Scene Although it’s mostly thanks to Jones that this scene is so memorable, it’s not just his performance alone that makes it so terrific. Every time I watch the movie, I look forward to the entire episode, from Jones/Jenning/Dark Overlord’s exposition to the waitress’ interactions with the “family” to Howard’s pie and quack-fu fight with a bunch of rednecks. And I will always recommend the movie for this scene alone. It includes a lot of disturbing elements, such as Beverly’s claim that she’s Howard’s girlfriend and the angry mob’s desire to kill and cook a talking duck man, that might have worked better had Howard been represented as an animated character rather than a guy in a suit (bestiality and homicide is just fine in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Looney Tunes cartoons), but it’s also one of the weirdest and funniest scenes from any comic book adaptation ever. 7. Lea Thompson as Beverly Switzler I would go so far as to argue that Lea Thompson’s crimped-haired Beverly is the hottest female comic book character come to (cinematic) life, but that is certainly subjective. Plenty of people probably prefer Kirsten Dunst, Halle Berry, Jennifer Garner, Michelle Pfeiffer, Pamela Anderson or even Margot Kidder. But Thompson is definitely in there as one of the greatest physical incarnations of a comic book femme d’ fantasy, and the scene where she goes to bed with Howard wearing barely a bit of lingerie (as creepy as the scene is infamous for being) is up there with Dunst’s wet tshirt/upside-down kiss in Spider-Man and any of Pfeiffer’s bondage-bound Catwoman scenes in Batman Returns as one of the hottest moments from any comic book adaptation ever. 8. Cherry Bomb and the Howard the Duck soundtrack Beverly may not have been a rocker in the comics, but this was the 1980s, and you had to have a great synthpop soundtrack, so the character was given a change in career as the leader of a Runaways-inspired band called Cherry Bomb. And for having beaten out more musical contenders for the role, including The Go-Go’s Belinda Carlisle and Tori Amos (then of Y Can’t Tori Read), Lea Thompson does quite well singing such catchy tunes as “Howard the Duck” and “Hunger City.” Cherry Bomb’s music also had some help from Thomas Dolby, George Clinton, Joe Walsh and Stevie Wonder. As for the rest of the soundtrack, Oscar-winning composer John Barry (Out of Africa; the James Bond films) contributes a very fine score. 9. It’s For Kids Because everyone always defends the Star Wars prequels as being for kids, as if that’s really an excuse for faulty filmmaking, I’m going to do the same here. But to do that, I guess I have to also defend the idea that it is indeed a movie for kids. Watching the thing, it’s hard to tell, because there is a lot of content and humor that only adults can or should appreciate, and certainly one of the biggest criticisms with the movie is it’s fluctuations between wanting to be a biting, sarcastic comic book adaptation for older audiences and fans of the source and needing to be a silly movie for kids. But for all the duck nudity, sexuality and other material better suited to mature audiences, there’s not really anything harmful to a kid, and there’s millions of us ‘80s children who grew up okay to prove it. So, while you adults may not be able to enjoy Howard the Duck anymore, even as a nostalgic artifact, your kids will probably like it as much as you used to. 10. It’s Not Redundant Unlike some comic book adaptations, Howard the Duck isn’t a straight lift from the pages of the source material, and it’s better off for it. Some fans of the comic may be annoyed with Howard’s appearance or Beverly’s occupation or the absence of any of Howard’s usual foes, but those of us who saw the movie first can appreciate the differences, because these allow for a better introduction to and curiosity about the comic. In a way, it’s to the original Marvel series as The Incredibles is to the graphic novel of Watchmen (though it’s certainly not anywhere near as smart nor well-crafted as The Incredibles). Now, if you still aren’t sure whether or not you should get the DVD, watch some (or all) of the movie on Hulu: Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:01:08 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com3/10/2009 6:01:08 PMIf you buy the kids only one new video release this week, make it Pinocchio. Obviously. But if you have enough spending money to buy two, pick up Howard the Duck as well. Finally on DVD in America (with a Special Edition no less), the infamous flop is anything but a great film. Yet it is hardly one of the worst films of the 1980s, despite its reputation. For the past 23 years, I’ve stood by my childhood love for Howard the Duck, constantly acknowledging that I even owned Ellis Weiner’s novelization of the film. Technically, the best reason to defend the movie’s existence is that it directly led to the creation of Pixar. But this reason doesn’t influence anyone to watch the thing. So, in order to defend the movie’s onscreen worth, I’ve come up with ten points for why you should pick up the new Howard the Duck disc and not feel at all guilty about doing so. 1. It’s No Longer the Worst Lucasfilm Production Take your pick — there’s The Phantom Menace or there’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, either of which could certainly take the prize for being the worst movie to come from George Lucas in his 40 years producing films. Well, maybe not worse than More American Graffiti. But both films were far bigger creative and franchise disappointments than Howard the Duck (financial success is another story, of course), and so they have a relative sort of wretchedness that places them in the bottom of Lucas’ Sarlacc pit of a career. Even if you’re one of those defend-to-the-end Star Wars fanboys who will argue the pros of Menace, at least then consider Willow to be worse than Howard the Duck. The blatant Lord of the Rings rip-off has its historical relevance, but looking back on it now, it’s even more dated than Howard. And regardless of how groundbreaking it was, Willow’s visual effects don’t hold up quite as well as Howard’s old-fashioned, and oft-celebrated craftsmanship. But that’s another point… 2.  The Special Effects Are Technically Brilliant Those of us who prefer go-motion and other non-CGI effects work will always pay respect to ILM’s achievements on Howard the Duck, particularly their efforts with the Dark Overlord creature in the movie’s final act. People unfortunately tend to focus on the $2 million duck suit (see point #3), but even then Howard didn’t deserve its Razzie for Worst Visual Effects. To compare it to digital creatures, the monster would fit in just fine in either of the Men in Black movies. And for its own time, it was a magnificent creation. So it existed alongside a silly costumed creature in an overpriced B-movie, it still deserved an Oscar nomination for F/X in 1987, a year the Academy recognized Little Shop of Horrors and Poltergeist II: The Other Side (and incomparable winner Aliens). 3. The Duck Suit is Still Better Than Most CGI Those of us who grew up with Muppets, Chewbacca and other non-computer-generated fantasy creatures had no problem with Howard the Duck’s titular fowl being represented as a dwarf in a duck suit. The issue with the effect, though, is that allegedly Lucas had wanted Howard to be a CG creation, but the technology just wasn’t there yet. So, costumes and robotics, all of which reportedly cost $2 million, were viewed as a relative disappointment. But think of how few great CG characters there have been in the past 20 years, and then seriously attempt to argue that Howard would have been any better if made in the years of CGI supremacy. Now, also remember that 1986 was a year that gave us fine puppetry, costumed dwarfs and robotics like that found in Labyrinth (also a Lucasfilm production), Little Shop of Horrors, Legend, Short Circuit, Flight of the Navigator, Troll (sure, why not?) and, yes, Howard the Duck. So really, the only thing disappointing about the duck suit is that it doesn’t really look like the comic book character upon which it’s based. Of course, it’s not likely that a CG version of Howard would have been any more faithful. 4. Parallels, Puns and Playful Philosophy Some fans of the original Howard the Duck comics could argue that the duck suit is hardly the worst offense of unfaithfulness. Other complaints might be the alteration of Beverly’s career or the occasional sacrifice of the comic’s tone in order to pander to younger audiences. But real sticklers may take issue with Howard’s origin, the inclusion of Duckworld (which did come from the comics but wasn’t Howard creator Steve Gerber’s idea of what the character’s home world was like) and the punny parallels that came with it. Yet for those of us who love corny jokes and puns, the idea of an alternate world where everything’s the same, just with descendants of ducks rather than apes, is a lot of fun. It’s the same appreciation that allowed me to enjoy the ska scene and the similarly parallel worlds of The Flintstones and Dinosaurs and the parodies in MAD Magazine. In the first few minutes, we get treated to the following cheesy but delicious sight and audio gags: a Rolling Egg magazine, a Playduck magazine, movie posters for “Splahsdance,” “Breeders of the Lost Stork” and My Little Chickadee (starring W.C. Fowls and Mae Nest), and commercials for feather fungus treatment and the Crazy Eddie spoof “Crazy Webby.” This, plus the opening credit narration and theory of Duckworld evolution were enjoyable to a kid in the midst of learning about Darwin and pondering the existence of alternate worlds. 5. Jeffrey Jones as Dr. Jenning/Dark Overlord Between Howard the Duck and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Jeffrey Jones was one of the biggest and best villains of the summer of ‘86. For kids, anyway. But even adults recognized the quality of Jones’ performance in Howard, as Dr. Jenning, the scientist who becomes possessed by the Dark Overlord. To cult audiences, he may have seemed like just another Dr. Lizardo/Lord Worfin (of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension), but while John Lithgow was fine and nutty, Jones is much creepier and much, much more evil, even when he finds time to be deadpan hilarious during the greatest scene in the film, in the “cajun sushi” diner. 6. The Diner Scene Although it’s mostly thanks to Jones that this scene is so memorable, it’s not just his performance alone that makes it so terrific. Every time I watch the movie, I look forward to the entire episode, from Jones/Jenning/Dark Overlord’s exposition to the waitress’ interactions with the “family” to Howard’s pie and quack-fu fight with a bunch of rednecks. And I will always recommend the movie for this scene alone. It includes a lot of disturbing elements, such as Beverly’s claim that she’s Howard’s girlfriend and the angry mob’s desire to kill and cook a talking duck man, that might have worked better had Howard been represented as an animated character rather than a guy in a suit (bestiality and homicide is just fine in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Looney Tunes cartoons), but it’s also one of the weirdest and funniest scenes from any comic book adaptation ever. 7. Lea Thompson as Beverly Switzler I would go so far as to argue that Lea Thompson’s crimped-haired Beverly is the hottest female comic book character come to (cinematic) life, but that is certainly subjective. Plenty of people probably prefer Kirsten Dunst, Halle Berry, Jennifer Garner, Michelle Pfeiffer, Pamela Anderson or even Margot Kidder. But Thompson is definitely in there as one of the greatest physical incarnations of a comic book femme d’ fantasy, and the scene where she goes to bed with Howard wearing barely a bit of lingerie (as creepy as the scene is infamous for being) is up there with Dunst’s wet tshirt/upside-down kiss in Spider-Man and any of Pfeiffer’s bondage-bound Catwoman scenes in Batman Returns as one of the hottest moments from any comic book adaptation ever. 8. Cherry Bomb and the Howard the Duck soundtrack Beverly may not have been a rocker in the comics, but this was the 1980s, and you had to have a great synthpop soundtrack, so the character was given a change in career as the leader of a Runaways-inspired band called Cherry Bomb. And for having beaten out more musical contenders for the role, including The Go-Go’s Belinda Carlisle and Tori Amos (then of Y Can’t Tori Read), Lea Thompson does quite well singing such catchy tunes as “Howard the Duck” and “Hunger City.” Cherry Bomb’s music also had some help from Thomas Dolby, George Clinton, Joe Walsh and Stevie Wonder. As for the rest of the soundtrack, Oscar-winning composer John Barry (Out of Africa; the James Bond films) contributes a very fine score. 9. It’s For Kids Because everyone always defends the Star Wars prequels as being for kids, as if that’s really an excuse for faulty filmmaking, I’m going to do the same here. But to do that, I guess I have to also defend the idea that it is indeed a movie for kids. Watching the thing, it’s hard to tell, because there is a lot of content and humor that only adults can or should appreciate, and certainly one of the biggest criticisms with the movie is it’s fluctuations between wanting to be a biting, sarcastic comic book adaptation for older audiences and fans of the source and needing to be a silly movie for kids. But for all the duck nudity, sexuality and other material better suited to mature audiences, there’s not really anything harmful to a kid, and there’s millions of us ‘80s children who grew up okay to prove it. So, while you adults may not be able to enjoy Howard the Duck anymore, even as a nostalgic artifact, your kids will probably like it as much as you used to. 10. It’s Not Redundant Unlike some comic book adaptations, Howard the Duck isn’t a straight lift from the pages of the source material, and it’s better off for it. Some fans of the comic may be annoyed with Howard’s appearance or Beverly’s occupation or the absence of any of Howard’s usual foes, but those of us who saw the movie first can appreciate the differences, because these allow for a better introduction to and curiosity about the comic. In a way, it’s to the original Marvel series as The Incredibles is to the graphic novel of Watchmen (though it’s certainly not anywhere near as smart nor well-crafted as The Incredibles). Now, if you still aren’t sure whether or not you should get the DVD, watch some (or all) of the movie on Hulu: Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2009/1/27/39987.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 1/27/2009 5:01:13 PM
Body: Both are broadly classifiable as science fiction, but Alien is basically a horror flick and Aliens has all the conventions of a war film. That’s a pretty slick transition from one type of movie to another, especially since the switch was so immediate within the series. Most movie franchises don’t play with genre in such a way until they’ve gone through a number of sequels, and even then the series usually just simply takes its characters into outer space, a la Moonraker, Jason X and Leprechaun 4. Genre jumping isn’t that easy, though, unless a franchise inhabits a whole universe in which to expand through. Like Star Wars, for example. Originally a film series, the Star Wars franchise spread out into novels, which has allowed for dips into the romance genre and now horror. That’s right, an upcoming novel by horror author Joe Schreiber, titled Deathtroopers, takes the Star Wars universe into frightening territory described by Schreiber as “in the vein of The Shining and Alien, with a little dose of William Gibson mixed in.” So, if Star Wars can venture into the horror genre, what other movie franchises should attempt a genre jump? To toy with the idea, we’ve selected five film series in need of a change and suggested a possible redirection of genre for each. Franchise: Indiana Jones New Genre: Spy Film With Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the franchise already made a slight genre leap, turning an adventure series with minor fantasy elements into a lame science fiction tale. In a way, George Lucas pretty much did for Indy what past producers did with James Bond, Jason Voorhees and the Leprechaun. Only, this time, the outer space came to the characters instead of the other way around. That installment was quite a disappointment and now the only way to save the series is to head in a more serious direction and cut out all sci-fi/fantasy material altogether. Set in the 1960s, Indiana Jones and the Bay of Pigs will be more C.I.A. thriller than mystical archaeological adventure, but while Harrison Ford will get to bring a piece of his Jack Ryan portrayal into the franchise, it won’t completely abandon the elements that make it an Indiana Jones movie. He’ll still be in search of an ancient object, this one located in the Cuban rain forest, but he’ll also be battling Communists in more of a Jason Bourne and Daniel Craig as 007 style. No flying fridges, no swinging Shias and definitely no aliens. Just pure Cold War-era suspense. Franchise: Harry Potter New Genre: Teen Sex Comedy The Harry Potter series has evolved throughout its novels and films to darker and more mature themes, but the next step, if Warner Bros. decides to continue the franchise after the last J.K. Rowling adaptation, is to regress into a lighter and more immature genre. Along the lines of the teen sex classic Zapped!, as well as the hilarious fantasies/screenplays of actor Patrick Stewart (as depicted on Extras), Harry Potter and the Clothes That Magically Fall Off, would involve Harry’s days at university, during which he uses his powers to see female classmates naked and win basketball games (because it’s an American “Muggle” college and so there’s no Quidditch team). But in the end, he realizes that he doesn’t need to use magic to win the girl of his dreams (really just his college fling since he later settles down with someone else) or the championship game. Franchise: Ocean’s Eleven New Genre: Western There aren’t many places left for Steven Soderbergh to go with this series, which kicked off with a remake of the Rat Pack film Ocean’s 11. So, instead of moving ahead with Ocean’s Fourteen, he should move sideways and do a remake of Sergeants 3. Itself a loose remake of Gunga Din, the western comedy was the only other movie to feature all of the Rat Pack guys. Technically, this new version won’t be another sequel to Ocean’s Eleven, but it would surely be considered part of the franchise, as it will still star Clooney, Pitt, Damon, Affleck, Caan, Jemison, Qin, Gould, Reiner and Cheadle (sadly, Bernie Mac can not join them). Who wouldn’t love to see that cast playing tongue-in-cheek in the old west? In any genre those actors together would make an enjoyable piece of blockbuster fluff. Franchise: Die Hard New Genre: Marital Drama Weren’t you disappointed to learn that John and Holly McClane are divorced by the fourth Die Hard installment, Live Free or Die Hard? After all, the original movie wouldn’t have happened were it not for the main character’s attempt to save their marriage. And the events of Die Hard 2 also pretty much revolve around the status of the relationship. So, let’s go back to the beginning and look into the cracks between the four action flicks. We know John can thwart terrorists in any given scenario, but how does he function on a normal day? How does he deal with the threats of separation and divorce when he doesn’t have the distraction of action and the benefit of coming off a hero? This prequel/concurrent drama, titled Die Slowly, would depict marital dysfunction and collapse similar to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Revolutionary Road, except that in this film, whenever the couple goes at it, the husband gets to shout, “I saved you from terrorists. Twice. Give me a f—ing break!” Franchise: Friday the 13th New Genre: Romantic Comedy We’ve seen Freddy Vs. Jason. Now it’s time for Jason , a romantic pairing of Jason Voorhees, of the Friday the 13th series, and Angela Baker, of Sleepaway Camp. The two meet-cute when they both attempt to kill the same camper, accidentally stabbing each other instead. Rather than uniting to kill more kids, the new lovers realize that they’ve only been slashing people because they’ve never been hit with Cupid’s arrow (Jason actually had encountered the little cherub once, but he mistakenly decapitated him, stole his arrow and used it to impale a naked teen). But the movie isn’t all happy lovey-dovey montages. Like all romantic comedies, this one features a misunderstanding, and here it comes about when Jason and Angela first become intimate and the former discovers that the latter is in fact a boy. The result, though, is tragically more Boys Don’t Cry than The Crying Game, and ends with Jason killing Angela and returning to his old murderous ways. It’s a harsh conclusion, sure, but some genre jumps must be expected to be only temporary. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:01:13 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com1/27/2009 5:01:13 PMBoth are broadly classifiable as science fiction, but Alien is basically a horror flick and Aliens has all the conventions of a war film. That’s a pretty slick transition from one type of movie to another, especially since the switch was so immediate within the series. Most movie franchises don’t play with genre in such a way until they’ve gone through a number of sequels, and even then the series usually just simply takes its characters into outer space, a la Moonraker, Jason X and Leprechaun 4. Genre jumping isn’t that easy, though, unless a franchise inhabits a whole universe in which to expand through. Like Star Wars, for example. Originally a film series, the Star Wars franchise spread out into novels, which has allowed for dips into the romance genre and now horror. That’s right, an upcoming novel by horror author Joe Schreiber, titled Deathtroopers, takes the Star Wars universe into frightening territory described by Schreiber as “in the vein of The Shining and Alien, with a little dose of William Gibson mixed in.” So, if Star Wars can venture into the horror genre, what other movie franchises should attempt a genre jump? To toy with the idea, we’ve selected five film series in need of a change and suggested a possible redirection of genre for each. Franchise: Indiana Jones New Genre: Spy Film With Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the franchise already made a slight genre leap, turning an adventure series with minor fantasy elements into a lame science fiction tale. In a way, George Lucas pretty much did for Indy what past producers did with James Bond, Jason Voorhees and the Leprechaun. Only, this time, the outer space came to the characters instead of the other way around. That installment was quite a disappointment and now the only way to save the series is to head in a more serious direction and cut out all sci-fi/fantasy material altogether. Set in the 1960s, Indiana Jones and the Bay of Pigs will be more C.I.A. thriller than mystical archaeological adventure, but while Harrison Ford will get to bring a piece of his Jack Ryan portrayal into the franchise, it won’t completely abandon the elements that make it an Indiana Jones movie. He’ll still be in search of an ancient object, this one located in the Cuban rain forest, but he’ll also be battling Communists in more of a Jason Bourne and Daniel Craig as 007 style. No flying fridges, no swinging Shias and definitely no aliens. Just pure Cold War-era suspense. Franchise: Harry Potter New Genre: Teen Sex Comedy The Harry Potter series has evolved throughout its novels and films to darker and more mature themes, but the next step, if Warner Bros. decides to continue the franchise after the last J.K. Rowling adaptation, is to regress into a lighter and more immature genre. Along the lines of the teen sex classic Zapped!, as well as the hilarious fantasies/screenplays of actor Patrick Stewart (as depicted on Extras), Harry Potter and the Clothes That Magically Fall Off, would involve Harry’s days at university, during which he uses his powers to see female classmates naked and win basketball games (because it’s an American “Muggle” college and so there’s no Quidditch team). But in the end, he realizes that he doesn’t need to use magic to win the girl of his dreams (really just his college fling since he later settles down with someone else) or the championship game. Franchise: Ocean’s Eleven New Genre: Western There aren’t many places left for Steven Soderbergh to go with this series, which kicked off with a remake of the Rat Pack film Ocean’s 11. So, instead of moving ahead with Ocean’s Fourteen, he should move sideways and do a remake of Sergeants 3. Itself a loose remake of Gunga Din, the western comedy was the only other movie to feature all of the Rat Pack guys. Technically, this new version won’t be another sequel to Ocean’s Eleven, but it would surely be considered part of the franchise, as it will still star Clooney, Pitt, Damon, Affleck, Caan, Jemison, Qin, Gould, Reiner and Cheadle (sadly, Bernie Mac can not join them). Who wouldn’t love to see that cast playing tongue-in-cheek in the old west? In any genre those actors together would make an enjoyable piece of blockbuster fluff. Franchise: Die Hard New Genre: Marital Drama Weren’t you disappointed to learn that John and Holly McClane are divorced by the fourth Die Hard installment, Live Free or Die Hard? After all, the original movie wouldn’t have happened were it not for the main character’s attempt to save their marriage. And the events of Die Hard 2 also pretty much revolve around the status of the relationship. So, let’s go back to the beginning and look into the cracks between the four action flicks. We know John can thwart terrorists in any given scenario, but how does he function on a normal day? How does he deal with the threats of separation and divorce when he doesn’t have the distraction of action and the benefit of coming off a hero? This prequel/concurrent drama, titled Die Slowly, would depict marital dysfunction and collapse similar to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Revolutionary Road, except that in this film, whenever the couple goes at it, the husband gets to shout, “I saved you from terrorists. Twice. Give me a f—ing break!” Franchise: Friday the 13th New Genre: Romantic Comedy We’ve seen Freddy Vs. Jason. Now it’s time for Jason , a romantic pairing of Jason Voorhees, of the Friday the 13th series, and Angela Baker, of Sleepaway Camp. The two meet-cute when they both attempt to kill the same camper, accidentally stabbing each other instead. Rather than uniting to kill more kids, the new lovers realize that they’ve only been slashing people because they’ve never been hit with Cupid’s arrow (Jason actually had encountered the little cherub once, but he mistakenly decapitated him, stole his arrow and used it to impale a naked teen). But the movie isn’t all happy lovey-dovey montages. Like all romantic comedies, this one features a misunderstanding, and here it comes about when Jason and Angela first become intimate and the former discovers that the latter is in fact a boy. The result, though, is tragically more Boys Don’t Cry than The Crying Game, and ends with Jason killing Angela and returning to his old murderous ways. It’s a harsh conclusion, sure, but some genre jumps must be expected to be only temporary. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Polls/Re_The_Onion_AV_Club_recently_featured_a_list_of/657/39516/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 1/14/2009 10:19:51 AM
Body: Wow, I'm the first one to vote for Before Sunset! I'll tell you why. The article in the paper I picked up didn't define their criteria further than the phrase "unnecessary film sequels that are great anyway" Here's what I think they mean by that. 1. The original film must have been great 2. After finishing watching the first movie you do not necessarily feel like a sequel is warrented or required to fulfill the full movie experience 3. The sequel must be almost equally great So here's my reasoning. First of all, I just have not seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 so I can't say much about that. I absolutely LOVED Alien. And after watching it you do not feel like a sequel is necessarily required. As for Aliens, it was cool that since it was unnecessary it was in a different genre, more of sort of a straight up action movie than horror / suspence. But I did not like it nearly as much. It is kind of the opposite for me with the Mad Max movies. While I enjoyed the original I did not think it was really THAT great. Also the same as before, the sequel was not necessary and it was in a different genre of sorts. The Road Warrior is really more of a straight up action movie over Mad Max which had a lot more drama. In fact it's maybe my favorite action movie. But since I did not find the original as great, I didn't vote for it. Is that fair? Maybe not. As for the Godfather series, I'd say that both movies are fantastic! But, maybe it's difficult for me to judge on this since as long as I've been alive I've known that there was a sequel, so the first time I watched the original I had that in mind. And so to me the sequel didn't seem that uncessary. I felt like I needed to know more. You may disagree with me. You may disagree with me even more and say that the same is the case with Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, that in that case you also want to know what happens later! Maybe it's because the movie was made so much later with such a different outcome than you would have assumed after watching the first movie that makes me love it. Anyways, I think both of these films are fantastic.
]]>Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:19:51 GMTRisseladaMovie Polls1/14/2009 10:19:51 AMWow, I'm the first one to vote for Before Sunset! I'll tell you why. The article in the paper I picked up didn't define their criteria further than the phrase "unnecessary film sequels that are great anyway" Here's what I think they mean by that. 1. The original film must have been great 2. After finishing watching the first movie you do not necessarily feel like a sequel is warrented or required to fulfill the full movie experience 3. The sequel must be almost equally great So here's my reasoning. First of all, I just have not seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 so I can't say much about that. I absolutely LOVED Alien. And after watching it you do not feel like a sequel is necessarily required. As for Aliens, it was cool that since it was unnecessary it was in a different genre, more of sort of a straight up action movie than horror / suspence. But I did not like it nearly as much. It is kind of the opposite for me with the Mad Max movies. While I enjoyed the original I did not think it was really THAT great. Also the same as before, the sequel was not necessary and it was in a different genre of sorts. The Road Warrior is really more of a straight up action movie over Mad Max which had a lot more drama. In fact it's maybe my favorite action movie. But since I did not find the original as great, I didn't vote for it. Is that fair? Maybe not. As for the Godfather series, I'd say that both movies are fantastic! But, maybe it's difficult for me to judge on this since as long as I've been alive I've known that there was a sequel, so the first time I watched the original I had that in mind. And so to me the sequel didn't seem that uncessary. I felt like I needed to know more. You may disagree with me. You may disagree with me even more and say that the same is the case with Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, that in that case you also want to know what happens later! Maybe it's because the movie was made so much later with such a different outcome than you would have assumed after watching the first movie that makes me love it. Anyways, I think both of these films are fantastic. http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Polls/Re_The_Onion_AV_Club_recently_featured_a_list_of/657/39502/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: QFLW
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 1/14/2009 12:14:37 AM
Body: [quote user="Risselada"]AliensTexas Chainsaw Massacre 2Mad Max 2: The Road WarriorBefore SunsetTHe Godfather Part II[/quote] OK, so I haven't seen all of these, either. Another close choice--Road Warrior or Godfather II? Love them both. In the end I went with Road Warrior, mostly because it's better than its predecessor (and certainly better than the following Thunderdome). Better written, better filmed, more sophisticated. But I really wanted to vote for both. Aliens didn't impress as well as the first one did; have no desire to see any of the Chainsaw films ever. Never got around to Sunrise or Sunset.
]]>Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:14:37 GMTQFLWMovie Polls1/14/2009 12:14:37 AM[quote user="Risselada"]AliensTexas Chainsaw Massacre 2Mad Max 2: The Road WarriorBefore SunsetTHe Godfather Part II[/quote] OK, so I haven't seen all of these, either. Another close choice--Road Warrior or Godfather II? Love them both. In the end I went with Road Warrior, mostly because it's better than its predecessor (and certainly better than the following Thunderdome). Better written, better filmed, more sophisticated. But I really wanted to vote for both. Aliens didn't impress as well as the first one did; have no desire to see any of the Chainsaw films ever. Never got around to Sunrise or Sunset. http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Polls/The_Onion_AV_Club_recently_featured_a_list_of_5_u/657/39496/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Risselada
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 1/13/2009 9:40:08 PM
Body: Please reference this thread for the rules of this group. Please vote only once in each poll. Movies referenced in this poll:AliensTexas Chainsaw Massacre 2Mad Max 2: The Road WarriorBefore SunsetTHe Godfather Part II
]]>Wed, 14 Jan 2009 02:40:08 GMTRisseladaMovie Polls1/13/2009 9:40:08 PMPlease reference this thread for the rules of this group. Please vote only once in each poll. Movies referenced in this poll:AliensTexas Chainsaw Massacre 2Mad Max 2: The Road WarriorBefore SunsetTHe Godfather Part II http://www.spout.com/groups/sci_fi/Re_Isaac_Asimov/4/37729/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: mciocco
Post To: sci-fi
Post Date: 11/28/2008 10:15:15 PM
Body: As I mentioned in the "introduce yourself" thread, Asimov is one of my favorite authors. I've read a ton of his books. SkyPilot and Risselada, His most popular stories have yet to be made into movies, but there are plenty of influences abound. Risselada mentioned Nightfall and the two awful adaptations of it (I've only seen one, but the IMDB rating of below 3 is spot-on), but there is another movie that was inspired by the same story Pitch Black - it doesn't resemble the original much, but it does take some elements from the story (notably the idea of multiple suns setting at the same time). Asimov also wrote Fantastic Voyage, though I think he wrote it after the movie, not the other way around. Asimov was also highly influential to Star Trek, especially TNG. The character of Data is basically R. Daneel Olivaw from Asimov's robot novels, right down to the mention of his "positronic" brain (and his visual appearance is similar to that described in the novels). Come to think of it, just about any SF after Asimov that contains friendly robots was influenced by Asimov, particularly with respect to his 3 laws of robotics. For instance, in Aliens, Bishop quotes the first law almost verbatim. Lots of other movies use it: "A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." Anywho, I agree with unclefestering about The Caves of Steel. I think it would make a great movie, despite the fact that it was written in the 1940s/1950s. Yes, the social and cultural context was different, but thematically it's still very relevant. The idea of technology making humans obsolete and taking their jobs is something that still resonates deeply. Plus, it's a good old fashioned police procedural/mystery and it has sequels that are pretty good too. Later in his career, Asimov even went about tying together a bunch of his series, for instance tying his robot novels into his Foundation novels. The Foundation series would be interesting movies, as they're really just a series of longer short stories (novellas)? Actually, I believe Foundation has been lurking in development hell for, uh, decades? No one's been able to get it off the ground. He's got some other good standalone novels that could make for good movies. I'm thinking of The Stars, Like Dust (good ol-fashioned space opera-ey action story) and maybe even The End of Eternity (fantastic time travel story and a very short book - ideal for the movies) .
]]>Sat, 29 Nov 2008 03:15:15 GMTmcioccosci-fi11/28/2008 10:15:15 PMAs I mentioned in the "introduce yourself" thread, Asimov is one of my favorite authors. I've read a ton of his books. SkyPilot and Risselada, His most popular stories have yet to be made into movies, but there are plenty of influences abound. Risselada mentioned Nightfall and the two awful adaptations of it (I've only seen one, but the IMDB rating of below 3 is spot-on), but there is another movie that was inspired by the same story Pitch Black - it doesn't resemble the original much, but it does take some elements from the story (notably the idea of multiple suns setting at the same time). Asimov also wrote Fantastic Voyage, though I think he wrote it after the movie, not the other way around. Asimov was also highly influential to Star Trek, especially TNG. The character of Data is basically R. Daneel Olivaw from Asimov's robot novels, right down to the mention of his "positronic" brain (and his visual appearance is similar to that described in the novels). Come to think of it, just about any SF after Asimov that contains friendly robots was influenced by Asimov, particularly with respect to his 3 laws of robotics. For instance, in Aliens, Bishop quotes the first law almost verbatim. Lots of other movies use it: "A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." Anywho, I agree with unclefestering about The Caves of Steel. I think it would make a great movie, despite the fact that it was written in the 1940s/1950s. Yes, the social and cultural context was different, but thematically it's still very relevant. The idea of technology making humans obsolete and taking their jobs is something that still resonates deeply. Plus, it's a good old fashioned police procedural/mystery and it has sequels that are pretty good too. Later in his career, Asimov even went about tying together a bunch of his series, for instance tying his robot novels into his Foundation novels. The Foundation series would be interesting movies, as they're really just a series of longer short stories (novellas)? Actually, I believe Foundation has been lurking in development hell for, uh, decades? No one's been able to get it off the ground. He's got some other good standalone novels that could make for good movies. I'm thinking of The Stars, Like Dust (good ol-fashioned space opera-ey action story) and maybe even The End of Eternity (fantastic time travel story and a very short book - ideal for the movies) . http://www.spout.com/groups/Weekly_Theme/Re_Weekly_Theme_for_November_24_Cyborgs_Androids/625/37597/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: mciocco
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 11/24/2008 8:20:50 PM
Body: Let's see here, some of my favorite robots that are a little too human, or at least striving to be that way: The Terminator - Of course, it's not a particularly good thing that he looked so human, but this is one of my favorite movies of all time, so there! Ash from Alien and Bishop from Aliens - I'd bet most folks had no idea that Ash was even a synthetic until he went crazy and Ripley knocked his head off and he started squirting out all that white milky bloodlike stuff. And Bishop, of course, is not as crazy. He even follows Asimov's first law of robotics! Speaking of Asimov's robots, how about Data from Star Trek:TNG - Perhaps not so much in the movies (though I do like First Contact), but Data's quest to become more human was one of my favorite things about TNG. Gigolo Joe from A.I.: Artificial Intelligence - Ok, fine, maybe Haley Joel Osment's character too, but Jude Law's performance was awesome. Major Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell (and it's various sequels and Anime series) - She's a strange one because as a full replacement cyborg, she has a lot of identity issues (if you replace your entire body with artificial parts, are you still you?), but she's a great character. I suppose that a few of the above are technically cyborgs, but whatever. I still like them:p Oh, and I believe they're called "Fembots" not "Sexbots" (but I like where you're head's at. I also like women of that... caliber!)
]]>Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:20:50 GMTmcioccoWeekly Theme11/24/2008 8:20:50 PMLet's see here, some of my favorite robots that are a little too human, or at least striving to be that way: The Terminator - Of course, it's not a particularly good thing that he looked so human, but this is one of my favorite movies of all time, so there! Ash from Alien and Bishop from Aliens - I'd bet most folks had no idea that Ash was even a synthetic until he went crazy and Ripley knocked his head off and he started squirting out all that white milky bloodlike stuff. And Bishop, of course, is not as crazy. He even follows Asimov's first law of robotics! Speaking of Asimov's robots, how about Data from Star Trek:TNG - Perhaps not so much in the movies (though I do like First Contact), but Data's quest to become more human was one of my favorite things about TNG. Gigolo Joe from A.I.: Artificial Intelligence - Ok, fine, maybe Haley Joel Osment's character too, but Jude Law's performance was awesome. Major Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell (and it's various sequels and Anime series) - She's a strange one because as a full replacement cyborg, she has a lot of identity issues (if you replace your entire body with artificial parts, are you still you?), but she's a great character. I suppose that a few of the above are technically cyborgs, but whatever. I still like them:p Oh, and I believe they're called "Fembots" not "Sexbots" (but I like where you're head's at. I also like women of that... caliber!) http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Games/Tell_a_story_using_only_movie_titles_and_reference/598/37519/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: csprague
Post To: Movie Games
Post Date: 11/20/2008 8:41:51 PM
Body: I came up with this idea after reading Rjsprague's post in the Sci fi group about Movies that take place in the future: "I WANT A HOVERBOARD!!!!!!!!!! PLEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEE!!! That's how I used to be, before I got one of those sweet guns from The Fifth Element that has bullets that track a target. One of my former, stupid, roommates hit the red button on it while I was out at the movies. That was a real mess. Luckily I met this cool guy named HAL. He lives inside of a computer, I think, but we get along pretty well out here in the cold depths of outer space. That is, until this ghost chick kept stalking me as I approached the edge of a black hole. Needless to say, I made like Ripley and gtfo, if you know I mean. Then I hooked up with weird guys who kept talking about some guy named Schwartz or something. Anyway they were cool dudes so I didn't mind chillin'. Funny story, huh?"
]]>Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:41:51 GMTcspragueMovie Games11/20/2008 8:41:51 PMI came up with this idea after reading Rjsprague's post in the Sci fi group about Movies that take place in the future: "I WANT A HOVERBOARD!!!!!!!!!! PLEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEE!!! That's how I used to be, before I got one of those sweet guns from The Fifth Element that has bullets that track a target. One of my former, stupid, roommates hit the red button on it while I was out at the movies. That was a real mess. Luckily I met this cool guy named HAL. He lives inside of a computer, I think, but we get along pretty well out here in the cold depths of outer space. That is, until this ghost chick kept stalking me as I approached the edge of a black hole. Needless to say, I made like Ripley and gtfo, if you know I mean. Then I hooked up with weird guys who kept talking about some guy named Schwartz or something. Anyway they were cool dudes so I didn't mind chillin'. Funny story, huh?" http://www.spout.com/groups/sci_fi/Re_Movies_about_the_future/4/37513/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: rjsprague
Post To: sci-fi
Post Date: 11/20/2008 6:36:00 PM
Body: I WANT A HOVERBOARD!!!!!!!!!! PLEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEE!!! That's how I used to be, before I got one of those sweet guns from The Fifth Element that has bullets that track a target. One of my former, stupid, roommates hit the red button on it while I was out at the movies. That was a real mess. Luckily I met this cool guy named HAL. He lives inside of a computer, I think, but we get along pretty well out here in the cold depths of outer space. That is, until this ghost chick kept stalking me as I approached the edge of a black hole. Needless to say, I made like Ripley and gtfo, if you know I mean. Then I hooked up with weird guys who kept talking about some guy named Schwartz or something. Anyway they were cool dudes so I didn't mind chillin'. Funny story, huh?
]]>Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:36:00 GMTrjspraguesci-fi11/20/2008 6:36:00 PMI WANT A HOVERBOARD!!!!!!!!!! PLEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEE!!! That's how I used to be, before I got one of those sweet guns from The Fifth Element that has bullets that track a target. One of my former, stupid, roommates hit the red button on it while I was out at the movies. That was a real mess. Luckily I met this cool guy named HAL. He lives inside of a computer, I think, but we get along pretty well out here in the cold depths of outer space. That is, until this ghost chick kept stalking me as I approached the edge of a black hole. Needless to say, I made like Ripley and gtfo, if you know I mean. Then I hooked up with weird guys who kept talking about some guy named Schwartz or something. Anyway they were cool dudes so I didn't mind chillin'. Funny story, huh? http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/Classic/MemberTagFilms.aspxClassic
Number of films tagged: 816

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]]>Sun, 23 Aug 2009 22:54:36 GMT8163121453Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/Loved-It/MemberTagFilms.aspxLoved-It
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]]>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:56:35 GMT509179921Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/action/MemberTagFilms.aspxaction
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]]>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:49:02 GMT319111460Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/horror/MemberTagFilms.aspxhorror
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]]>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:38:30 GMT260110346Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/scary/MemberTagFilms.aspxscary
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]]>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:30:07 GMT155104197Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/sci-fi/MemberTagFilms.aspxsci-fi
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]]>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:33:53 GMT217102375Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/adventure/MemberTagFilms.aspxadventure
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]]>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:49:03 GMT22895368Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/intense/MemberTagFilms.aspxintense
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