Aly Welch's Blog, page 4

Does ChatBot Cry, Part 2

Does ChatBot Cry?

The opening of that blog entry feels even more apt now that actors have joined writers in striking. AI can’t adlib. It can only be programmed to reproduce or remix the work of real people. And it will do so with diminishing returns. We’re already seeing this with ChatBot, which has – predictably – become even less reliable over time.

Also predictable?

Many people continue to blame writers and actors while siding with the studio executives responsible for everything...

Sometimes the Movie Is Better

I don’t think a film adaptation would ever fully do justice anything written by Terry Pratchett. So much of the pleasure readers take in his storytelling is found in the word play, allusions, pop culture references, historical references, social observations, philosophical musings, etc. Even the books intended to draw in younger readers are dense, without ever feeling dense (or stodgy). You couldn’t possibly translate them 100% to film.

Still, sometimes there’s a scene or a sequence that’s s...

Does Chatbot Cry?

All those moments will be lost in time… like tears in rain… Time to die.

Rutger Hauer as Batty in Bladerunner

The monologue that line ends was ad-libbed by Rutger Hauer in the film adaptation of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. A lot of the novel’s thematic content was lost in translation but Hauer’s performance restored some of the depth lost along with it. More importantly, he brought a spontaneity and soul unlikely to be replicated by the replicant he portraye...

Does ChatBot Cry?

All those moments will be lost in time… like tears in rain… Time to die.

Rutger Hauer as Batty in Bladerunner

I’ll be referencing Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick a lot, but I chose that quote from the film adaptation Bladerunner specifically because the monologue was ad-libbed by Rutger Hauer. A lot of the novel’s thematic content was lost in translation but Hauer’s performance restored some of the depth lost along with it. More importantly, he brought a spontaneity an...

Meet Virginia

She doesn’t own a dress, her hair is always a mess
If you catch her stealin’, she won’t confess

Meet Virginia, Train

When I went to college, I relied on public transportation. I didn’t get my license until I was twenty three due to the one-two punch of untreated ADHD and dyspraxia (coordination disorder), but I couldn’t afford a car anyway. It wasn’t the first time I used public transportation. We moved across town when I was a freshman in high school. If you’ve ever read “Resting Witch Face”...

Faux-Life, Part 2

I should be doing promotion, but last month’s post about shootings and dangerous pregnancies could have easily been written this month, only with different links to different real life horror stories. I’d feel remiss if I didn’t follow up. Book banning efforts have also taken a darker turn, and I’ve obviously got a lot to say about that. Here’s a rundown:

A Florida man tried to run another Florida man off the road. The latter shot at the former, but hit a 5 year old girl. The former shot sev...

Faux-Life

I lay on the bed and lost myself in the stories. I liked that. Books were safer than other people anyway.

Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Last month, I alluded to my distaste for director Stanley Kubrick. He seemed drawn to the baser elements in the books he chose to adapt, and stripped them down accordingly, the worst offender being Lolita. Vladimir Nabokov’s most famous novel is known for its unreliable narrator, but even he admits to rationalizing wrongdoing. He fails to rec...

Internet Killed the Movie Star

“A movie star is not an artist, he is an art object.”

film scholar Richard Schickel

Recently people like Quintin Tarantino have bemoaned the death of the “movie star” just as others, some of them actors, agree with the overall sentiment but approach it less mournfully. Many attribute it to the accessibility of celebrities on social media. At its worst, social media has proven the adage “don’t meet your heroes”, and brings performers into greater conflict with entitled fans and detractors who...

Truth in Fiction: Cutting Onions

Man, what a weird week. As I said on social media, I’m torn between the editing I need to do, and the writing I want to do about recent events and last year’s Last Night in SoHo, which I finally got around to watching late last night. It’s a thought-provoking but challenging watch, partly due to thematic content, partly due to lovable characters I wanted to bundle up and move into a safer film. Haven’t felt that tense since Rosemary was driving John Burgess through Buffalo on The Sandman.

Any...

The Cat’s Meow: 2022

I decided to make a wrap up of everything I enjoyed in the arts an annual tradition. Adding gaming with ArenaNet’s stunning debut of the End of Dragons Cantha expansion for Guild Wars 2. It was everything I hoped for and more: beautiful artwork and music, great voice acting and storytelling, fun gameplay.

I finished my initial read of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. Some of the books I looked forward to least are woefully underrated. Monstrous Regiment may be one of my favorites among his later ...