Bobby’s
Comments
(group member since Mar 15, 2013)
Bobby’s
comments
from the Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy group.
Showing 101-120 of 412
Kivrin wrote: "What the heck happened when he got to The Hobbit??!"Greed. It worked, too. No matter how much anybody with any sense hated them, they went to go see them.
Todd wrote: "What about The Martian?"It's an interesting thought, not so much because of the movie or the book in particular but because of the question it brings up. Can a movie be great if the book it was based on was not?
And to be sure, one thing I've learned is that there are a lot of people who think the book is great. So, I proceed with that knowledge. I think the book is extremely entertaining but extremely light reading. I think the movie is a pretty good re-creation of the book and even >ahem< succeeds some places where the book fails. But man, is it in the ballpark with some of the book/movies mentioned here; On the Beach, A Clockwork Orange, Fight Club, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?/Blade Runner? Nah.
On the other hand, I have seen a movie that reached much further and achieved much more than its source material: The Godfather. It's a good book. Actually, it's a very good book. But it's a great movie, which makes sense. Mario Puzo is a good writer. But Francis Ford Coppola is a great (if erratic) director. Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Robert DeNiro, John Cazale and Diane Keaton are great actors. Gordon Willis is a great cinematographer. What they could do together was bound to exceed what Puzo could do on his own.
If you liked Conan, you might appreciate the anti-Conan, Elric of Melniboné, Stormbringer, Elric: Tales of the White Wolf, The Sailor on the Seas of Fate.
G33z3r wrote: "When I was a kid, we could do that; and did. You could show up at the theater anytime, go into the auditorium in the middle of the film, watch the end, then watch the beginning, watch the end again if you wanted, and if you wanted to sit there and watch "Forbidden Planet" three times in one afternoon, you were welcome to it. "
I REMEMBER THAT! I came along later but I remember my mom taking us to see The Love Bug in the middle and us just sitting there and waiting for it to start again -- and it was so much fun to watch it again!
And Forbidden Planet! Another absolute classic that needs to mentioned on this thread without a doubt! For me, The Thing (from Another World), The Day the Earth Stood Still and Forbidden Planet are the Big Three of the Golden Age of science fiction movies.
G33z3r wrote: "Bobby wrote: "Planet of the Apes as well, especially the first time you see it. The first time I saw that ending,..."The particular DVD edition that I own of it actually put that iconic image on ..."
I think there's an assumption that after a certain time if a twist is classic enough it's passed into the ether anyway. So, everybody knows that's Marion Crane's last shower even though it's only a third of the way into the movie, everyone knows who Luke's dad is, everyone knows the secret of the Matrix, etc.
Doesn't make it right, but I think that's the assumption.
Amelia wrote: "Re: spoiler...YES! Exactly. Powerful."I'm fairly certain that that was one of those moments, along with the story "Ylla" in The Martian Chronicles, that made me realize that there may be more to this science fiction than what I had previously thought.
Amelia wrote: "I think I was into Star Trek before I ever saw Star Wars. The films came after Star Wars, but I was already a sci/fi fan of the original series. Later I did love Next Gen & Voyager (hated Deep Spac..."How could I forget Close Encounters??? Definitely a fave, a great, great movie! Good call!
Planet of the Apes as well, especially the first time you see it. (view spoiler)
Amelia wrote: "I think the difference is that no one wanted to actually BECOME one, now it's the teen dream. :) "THAT'S what I mean by "castrated". Defanged. Made safe. Cuddly. Ugh.
Deeptanshu wrote: "Hmm this might be the nostalgia talking but I have to say Star Wars. That was the movie that made me become a fan of sci fi in the first place."Deeptanshu wrote: "Hmm this might be the nostalgia talking but I have to say Star Wars. That was the movie that made me become a fan of sci fi in the first place."
That is a completely legitimate choice! I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned it. I can't say it's my favorite but I would say that Star Wars was my favorite first time experience of any science fiction movie.
We lived in a place called the Azores. We'd heard about this phenomenon called Star Wars for a year before it ever reached us. Rather than sell tickets the normal way, they sold tickets to the kids in school first. There were two showings for kids, one at 10am and one at 1pm. Friends came over the night before because we lived closer to the theatre. We got there a whole TWO HOURS before the movie, which at the time seemed really dedicated.
Of course, it was fabulous, amazing, wonderful. I had actually read the novelization, Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker -- because I was "that kid". It did nothing, though, to dampen my ecstasy.
Amelia wrote: "Oh, sorry. I really love that book...I can't watch Empire without watching Return right behind it. The same goes for Two Towers and Return The King in LotR. Too cliff hangery. Characters I love i..."
It's tough because The Empire Strikes Back is so great and Return of the Jedi is so terrible.
Amelia wrote: "Stop, stop right there! Blasphamy...do not speak ill of The Day of the Triffids. Them's fightin' words!!"Um, I didn't speak ill of The Day of the Triffids. I just said it was post-apocalyptic survivor stuff. Actually, all of those books I listed, I liked them all. Yes, even The Martian. The Day of the Triffids I'm new to, but it was, in fact, terrific.
Just because I exhausted the science fiction movies that I think are the "best" that I've ever seen, I feel the need to mention again that Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back haven't really been mentioned and surely they're someone's favorites. No?
Another great one that I watched recently was THX 1138. It's weird but I don't think George Lucas ever did anything that exciting or that daring again.
Has anyone seen The Arrival? It's another one of my favorites because I had never heard of it. I picked it up in the video store just because of the title. I almost put it back because it starred Charlie Sheen aaaanndd I really dug it. It has the feel of an old 1950's B movie. I think it really works. If you haven't, you should check it out.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066434/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115571/?...
Spooky1947 wrote: "for me, the fun of a zombie movie/novel is the spread of the zombie plague, seeing everything break down...by the time you have zombies all over the place and it turns into a survival game it gets ..."Spooky1947 wrote: "for me, the fun of a zombie movie/novel is the spread of the zombie plague, seeing everything break down...by the time you have zombies all over the place and it turns into a survival game it gets ..."
Man, lately, all I seem to come into contact with is post-apocalyptic survival stuff. Station Eleven, Parable of the Sower, Roadside Picnic, A Canticle for Leibowitz, and The Day of the Triffids. And the movie Z for Zachariah. Even The Martian is a survivor story, it's just the place he's in is in a perpetual state of apocalypse as far as humans are concerned. I love the figuring out how to survive and what that does to the human consciousness game.
Annalisa wrote: "Bobby wrote: "Annalisa wrote: "Amelia wrote: "Where would you recommend to start with Farmer, Annalisa?"THANKS, ANNALISA!!!
Annalisa wrote: "Amelia wrote: "Where would you recommend to start with Farmer, Annalisa?"Hi Amelia,
It depends on what you're looking for and what you like most:
- An almost classic fantasy saga across differen..."
You should toss in some links for us lazy folks.
Bryan wrote: "Spooky1947 wrote: "that's the thing that drives me crazy about zombies...everyone has different rules...me, when I think of zombies, I think Night of the Living Dead"I like that there are many t..."
I remember reading this great article that talked about a situation where Larry Fessenden, the director of Habit (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113241/ Ignore it's IMDb rating. It's great and unconventional), was asked to settle a dispute between two geek/fanboy types over the "proper" way to kill a zombie. Fessenden drolly responded that zombies are, in fact, fictional characters so whatever your heart desires, have at it.
Spooky1947 wrote: "lol @ Amelia :-Dtrue Bobby, it IS a better experience to see stuff on the big screen...but then I have to sit around jonesin' for a smoke for 2 and a half hours...."
>Sigh<
It's just not easy being Spooky.
Spooky1947 wrote: "Bobby, I think we should start a thread to vote on Amelia's avatar being she can't decide...my vote goes to the Barbie 7 of 9 avatar:-D
as for the movie, I usualy don't goto the movies (unless i..."
Money isn't everything. A whole new planet won't look as cool on your TV as it will at the theater. People who only saw Avatar on their TV missed the whole point of the movie. I would even say that's true for a lot of movies. Plus, you can't "drop in" the same way at home when you're pausing it go grab a drink and somebody's flushing the toilet, etc. I prefer to pay for the Experience.
I prefer to think we're seeing all the different permutations of Amelia's personality. She's like Sybil. (Remember Sybil?)
Amelia wrote: "Yes, the Raymond Burr version was my favorite. But, I loved Godzilla vs. ________ as well, especially Mothra. I liked the idea that Godzilla was good, the protector of Tokyo and would fight the oth..."Nope, never struck me that way. Somehow, it was just an evolution. I will say, however, your point is an astute one because I saw the first Godzilla a while after I'd already started watching the others on Saturday morning. And that immediately became my favorite of the movies. Except for maybe the one that had Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra fighting Ghidora(sp?) the Three-Headed-Monster.
Have you seen Gojira the original, Japanese, sans-Raymond Burr, Godzilla?
By the way, I don't like Terminator 2 as much because they made the Terminator a good guy. Lame.
It's funny about the monster yoga discussion. I was watching a zombie movie the other day and it made me wonder if that's where vampires have gone. Because for zombies, there's still a cost. Nobody wants to become a zombie. Did they become popular because vampires became too romantic to supply, any more, what we initially needed from them? Which, I think is some kind of punishment for desire. Vampire's for sex, which we no longer consider diabolical (sort of) and zombies for hunger. Nowadays in our "greed-is-good" society, we need to be reminded of the dark side of that as societal philosophy. Whereas sex, we're just coming around to the idea that maybe isn't so bad after all -- ergo the castration of the vampire.
Amelia wrote: "I have a collection of old sci-fi/monster movie B-flicks on DVD. I love them! I think it comes from growing up in the late 70's early 80's on a steady diet of Godzilla...back before there was cable..."ME THREE! Me and my dad used to watch them on Saturday afternoons after cartoons! We used to make fun of the toy cars and buildings getting crushed and everything and still never missed 'em. My favorite was well, the first Godzilla movie. Though, I didn't see the actual first Godzilla movie until I was an adult. So different! But, I personally still have a soft spot in my heart for the Raymond Burr version. The whole "reporter-reporting-on-the-city-as-it's-being-laid-to-waste struck me with almost biblical force. That one actually, I saw on a Friday night "Creature Double Feature".
But dang, Amelia! Monolith Monsters? You were hard-core!
Haven't seen it. Amelia, there's a whole science fiction story just in your avatars!
