Hollywoodland

Unread post by **Tommy** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 9:47 am

No, not the movie, but rather a little rant I feel coming on.

What's the deal with the last few years in movies and TV?

First of all, did the idea-well dry up? Seriously, everything is a remake these days. How about some new shit? Even the "original" stuff is "similar" to other things. Heroes was the best new show to come out in a long time. Granted, I like it very much, but can anybody say "4400?" If not, try saying "X-Men," that might roll off the tounge a bit easier. Journeyman is a poorman's quantum leap. Reaper is brimstone. It goes on and on. Yes, some stuff is changed (gotta keep the lawyers off their asses), but the basic idea is the same.

Anybody see War Of The Worlds? Fn horrible. Dawn Of The Dead? DOTD is one of the best movies ever made, the 70's version of course. The new version is a steaming pile of crap. A new Star Trek movie coming out with the character "kirk" not played by Shatner? He isn't even in the movie despite wanting to be in it. God is waiting for opening day to strike the bastages down for that one. Again, the list goes on and on. Remakes and rip-offs, and they all sucked.

Perhaps now that there is a writers strike, the writers have time to sit their asses down and think up something original and good.

Discuss.

Tommy

Unread post by **Tommy** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 9:57 am

AVP 2. The first one was so good they just had to make a sequel.

Vincent Price makes "The Last Man On Earth." Good flick. Then comes the re-make "OmegaMan." Again, good flick. Last year it is announced that "I am Legend" will be coming out, starring Will Smith. This is another bent on the story. So some piece of shit company cranks out a rip-off direct to dvd piece of shit called "I Am Omega" trying to ride the "Legend" hype. I saw it, my brain may never fully recover.

Continue discussing.

Tommy

Unread post by **Tommy** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 10:20 am

"I couldn't believe it. I'm not in the movie at all. Leonard, God bless his heart, is in, but not me," Shatner, 76, told The Associated Press on Thursday. "I thought, what a decision to make, since it obviously is a decision not to make use of the popularity I have to ensure the movie has good box office. It didn't seem to be a wise business decision."

J.J. Abrams announced last summer that Nimoy would reprise the role he originated opposite Shatner in the 1960s television show and played again in six big-screen adventures.

Abrams said Shatner probably would have a part in the film, which is due in theaters in December 2008. But while Shatner said he had a couple of meetings with Abrams, nothing came of it.

Seriously, wait for opening day to see what will happen. Lightning bolts everywhere.

T

Unread post by **QwazyWabbit** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 1:19 pm

LOL! Two posts in 10 minutes and one an hour later. Discuss. Love it!

Shatner is too fat to be a J. T. Kirk anymore. He's a lawyer now. With a stogy. No one would believe him as a womanizing (alienizing?), ass-kicking, swashbuckling starship captain anymore. He probably wanted too much money too.

The last good ST was ST-TNG. Enterprise was edgy but too politically correct for my taste. Scott Bakula a bit too democratic but then Earth had changed by then so maybe that's how they do things. Jolene Blalock, T'pol, YUM! Seven of Nine with ears. Enterprise was cool from the standpoint that it was more of a spaceship the way Apollo was a space ship, it wasn't a freaking luxury liner like TNG's Enterprise.

ST trivia question: Who presided over Spock's "wedding" in Amok Time from TOS, wasn't the character's name T'Pol? Check it out.

EDIT: I checked. It was T'Pau.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%27Pau_%28Star_Trek%29

Shatner should shut up about ST and worry about Reggie. He always complained he didn't want to be Kirk all the time, he's got his wish.

Mon Dec 31, 2007 3:48 pm

Actually, I Am Legend is a pretty good flick. Yes it is rehashed, but good none the less.
As for Star Trek, it is a cash cow for Paramount. As long as the films are profitable, there will be more.
I notice that most of the films that you mentioned are fairly old, so I guess that TPTB are rehashing this stuff to a whole new audience. Makes me wonder when The Lone Ranger will be remade.

Unread post by **QwazyWabbit** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 6:47 pm

Westerns are not big box office anymore. I think the last good westerns were Pale Rider and Unforgiven. Even they didn't make a lot of money. I thought Pale Rider was a better film.

No more Sergio Leone.

Clint's getting to old to be worried about whether they're laughing at his mule anymore.

I especially liked The Shootist. Nobody can top the Duke.

Unread post by **Tommy** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 8:05 am

QwazyWabbit wrote: Shatner is too fat to be a J. T. Kirk anymore. He's a lawyer now. With a stogy. No one would believe him as a womanizing (alienizing?), ass-kicking, swashbuckling starship captain anymore. He probably wanted too much money too.

Money was never mentioned so I have no comment there.

But to have Nimoy in there and pass on Shatner? It just seems wrong to me. To be honest, I don't like the whole "Kirk and Spock younger years" thing anyway. That is why I think the movie will fail. If anything, I would like to see it set even further in the future. That's what we Sci-fi nuts like.

QwazyWabbit wrote: The last good ST was ST-TNG. Enterprise was edgy but too politically correct for my taste. Scott Bakula a bit too democratic but then Earth had changed by then so maybe that's how they do things. Jolene Blalock, T'pol, YUM! Seven of Nine with ears. Enterprise was cool from the standpoint that it was more of a spaceship the way Apollo was a space ship, it wasn't a freaking luxury liner like TNG's Enterprise.

My problem with Enterprise is the same one I have with Atlantis and the last few seasons of SG-1, mainly that they stopped exploring. Enterprise had it's war with the multi-species planet, SG-1 with the Ori, and Atlantis with the Wraith. That's all the shows were (or in the case of Atlantis, are) about. Remember when SG-1 would have the characters occasionally going to new worlds and meeting new people and civilizations? All of the other Star Trek shows did this as well. Sure, I like action as much as the next person, but let's kill some different aliens once in awhile.

With regard to Star Trek. Yes, time travel, the Borg, and the holodeck were all cool things. But every other fn week. It just got to be a drag. Hell, the movie "Star Trek: First Contact" had all 3 going on.

I always wanted Wesley Crusher to take a hard phaser blast to the chest too. I suspected him of being gay. Way too much of a touchy-feely emotional type, light in the loafers. Unless we all just gay-it-up another notch in the future?

Here is what I would like. The next movie (or series) could be like 500 years after TNG. They have warp 30 now. It is legal to have sex with 16 year old girls (and they dig older guys). They can go to a close-by different galaxy and encounter other intelligent life-forms that are not humanoid. Just really expand the boundries. Let's see what is out there (and yes, then we can kill it / them).

Tommy

Unread post by **Tommy** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 8:14 am

Pickup lines for the future:

Hey baby, wanna take a ride in my spaceship?

Beam to your place or mine?

I'd really like to see Uranus.

What's your sign? (Yeah, this will still be popular.)

Is that a phaser in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

T

Unread post by **Dylan** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 11:06 am

Tommy wrote: I'd really like to see Uranus.
Is that a phaser in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

HHHUUUMMM? Your starting to scare me Tommy

Tue Jan 01, 2008 12:02 pm

How about the fan based startrek move Of gods and men there's a link at the bottom to the actual film....

Unread post by **Tommy** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 1:14 pm

*DARKMATTER* wrote:How about the fan based startrek move Of gods and men there's a link at the bottom to the actual film....

It's dead Jim.

T

Unread post by **QwazyWabbit** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 1:45 pm

http://startrekofgodsandmen.com/

Is password protected, WTF?

Unread post by ***DARKMATTER*** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 1:57 pm

QwazyWabbit wrote:http://startrekofgodsandmen.com/

Is password protected, WTF?

Hmmm it wasnt the other day when i visited but you had to fill in a email addy to get a login and password for the actual film.....

Snake · Unread post by **Snake** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 5:53 pm

Tommy wrote:Here is what I would like. The next movie (or series) could be like 500 years after TNG. They have warp 30 now. It is legal to have sex with 16 year old girls (and they dig older guys). They can go to a close-by different galaxy and encounter other intelligent life-forms that are not humanoid. Just really expand the boundries. Let's see what is out there (and yes, then we can kill it / them).

Already legal here. So... just get us some fast FTL drive and we're there for real!

I usually don't dislike re-makes of old movies, at least not because they are re-makes. Series or movies are made quite differently now then they were 10, 20 years ago, scenes are quicker, more is assumed, and we're 'trained' to fill in the gaps that the director used to fill in earlier.

With many old movies or series-reruns I get the urge to press fast forward. (ie, yes, *of course* he had to go the hospital after he got shot... just show him wearing bandages, don't add 10 minutes of stupid unbelievable shots inside the hospital because the story requires some conversation..).

Not saying that fast action is always good, or that newer movies are always better than older, but you can't ignore the fact that the audience has changed with the times. Old sci-fi can still be charming, and the story can still be thrilling, but newer, different directing and special effects can add a lot to what already was a good story.

OTOH... going with the times can also kill a movie.. I didn't mind seeing Halle Berry in leather in catwoman, but that background rap-'music' "uh-oh-uh-oh-uhuhuh-ohohoh-uhuhohuhoh" made me puke.

I guess if you really want to see more original movies you have to look away from the hollywood produced, heavily advertised, very commercial stuff. You *know* they're in it for the money... so expect re-makes of earlier successes (guaranteed box-office succes). Don't get me started on pandering to the socio-political 'hot items'... the movies with a 'message'... bah!