If you're a fan of Dead Like Me, don't watch this film. I personally think it was a waste of money and time to produce it. I was traumatized by how bad it was.
I was so excited when I found a good deal on the box set which includes both seasons and the movie. Despite the fact that I had seen every episode two or three times already, I decided I would watch them all in order again in anticipation of finally getting to see the movie.
I think the fact that I went that route made the movie all the much worse for me. It made me pick up on things I might have otherwise forgotten (like how out of character Roxie's actions were or how reapers are supposed to forget stuff if they reveal themselves or even nitpicky things like the fact that George's group of reapers does handle suicides). It also had me comparing changes that were seemingly made for no reason (like how Happy Time went from being a cubical farm to some executive office in a high-rise).
Considering they were saying if the movie did well enough it'd either result in more movies or maybe even the series being revived, yeah, I'd say this one ranks among the worst movies I've ever seen if not for just the shear disappointment in how it essentially killed off the series for good.
Star Wars Episode 1,2,3 (those without Harrison Ford).
Indiana Jones 4 (with Harrison Ford).
All Star Trek movies (only the ones with Kirk&Spock count) beside of the first one (also without Harrison Ford).
:
Star Wars Episode 1,2,3 (those without Harrison Ford).
Indiana Jones 4 (with Harrison Ford).
All Star Trek movies (only the ones with Kirk&Spock count) beside of the first one (also without Harrison Ford).
:
I don't know, i quite liked 2/4 of the originals. (star trek)
I guess the problem is that the first one was so brilliant and thenceforward it just got worse but the fourth at least was kind of funny.
I found that the first one best captured what the show was about: Discovery, and i loved the twist at the end. But for some reason, it's often considered amongst the worst of the original 6. I never figured that out. Perhaps it's got something to rewatch value? I've only seen it once, and it was my 2cnd Trek film. And it made the best use of surround sound i've ever heard (when they went to warp, and it malfunctioned, the noises were randomly coming out of different speakers, and the room was throbbing with the bass. Amazing!)
I found that the first one best captured what the show was about: Discovery, and i loved the twist at the end. But for some reason, it's often considered amongst the worst of the original 6. I never figured that out. Perhaps it's got something to rewatch value? I've only seen it once, and it was my 2cnd Trek film. And it made the best use of surround sound i've ever heard (when they went to warp, and it malfunctioned, the noises were randomly coming out of different speakers, and the room was throbbing with the bass. Amazing!)
Honestly i wasn't so much into it as a kid but the older i got the better the film seemed to me and as you said it covers a lot of the values the original Star Trek was about.
I always thought Star Trek was about action and seeing Kirk kick some butt. Kirk and his crew are Star Trek for me. Forget everything after them.
I liked Riker just as much in TNG but then he stopped kicking butt after a while and I ended much disliking most of TNG. Picard was cool, but I originally read that in First Contact, Riker and Picards original roles were switched, making Picard the action hero. I don't like that. I'm not a big Trekkie though. I did enjoy the discovery part too though, usually when it was something totally unexplainable and unable to be understood.
I would say it was more about exploration and less about butt kicking although it sometimes turned out this way.
And yep, Star Trek = Kirk&Spock. Everything after was annoying and dumb. Like many of the worse series coming from usa they came with those pathetic charcatcers who were caring about worthless and boring issues whilst they were mumbling their bad written dialogues. Better no SF than this. It simply wasn't worth the time.
Blasphemers. TNG is the greatest Trek that ever Treked the stars. And all the Star Trek movies rocked. All 11 of them. 5 was the weakest and you can really sense Shatner's ego in it all, but it was still great fun.
As for anything that shouldn't have been made but had good premises.....everything the Nostalgia Critic reviews. Well...almost everything.
Blasphemers. TNG is the greatest Trek that ever Treked the stars. And all the Star Trek movies rocked. All 11 of them. 5 was the weakest and you can really sense Shatner's ego in it all, but it was still great fun.
Hear hear! Though I think DS9 is the best series, but that's by the by.
Oh and for fun, here's how I rank the Trek movies from best to worst:
Star Trek
The Undiscovered Country
First Contact
The Wrath of Khan
The Search for Spock
The Motion Picture
Generations
The Voyage Home
Insurrection
Nemesis
The Final Frontier
I had such high hopes for him because he was a really cool guy. Needless to say I was very upset when I actually saw Episode II and saw his terrible acting...*sigh*.
I read an interview where he said that Lucas purposely told him to speak all his lines with a flat, emotionless tone. I'm beginning to wonder if it wasn't so much a case of bad acting as a case of really bad directing.
I read an interview where he said that Lucas purposely told him to speak all his lines with a flat, emotionless tone. I'm beginning to wonder if it wasn't so much a case of bad acting as a case of really bad directing.
Except that's not what he did at all. The writing is actually really good in Episode 3.
The acting is the bad part (not on Obi Wan's side; he was done great, but Anakin hurts me physically). The last two lines "If you are not with me, then you are my enemy" and "You will try" are just so overdone and terrible. There's nothing frightening in them or menacing; and the way he talks is certainly not flat or emotionless; if anything it's overdramatic. It's like whenever Bob Denver had to play a bad guy in one of the dream segments in Gilligans Island, except that was played for comedy and was supposed to be campy and silly; this isn't, but it comes across like Hayden is channeling Bob Denver trying to be menacing.
To be 100% fair, the script and overall story arc hardly helped Hayden. The first Darth Bane novel provided a far more believable story arc for a Sith, to the point where I didn't really know where the man ended and the monster began.
I'm going to see Alice in Wonderland tomorrow (techincally today for PST time)
and I'm hoping it won't be a disappointment. I've gotten mixed messages both from reviews I've read/seen and friends who have seen it. I'm not a very strict critic, so I'll probably like it.
Who wouldn't wanna see a movie about aliens that control zombies to take over the world? With Bela Lugosi to top it off! Yet it failed in innumerable ways.
Though honestly, it might have succeeded in several unintended ways.
Titan AE made me so angry. I only saw it a year or so ago, but I was offended greatly.
Did anyone notice at the end of that movie they
go to the planet creating ship in an ice field and make a new Earth, then a sun appears from the middle of fucking nowhere!! I mean there was an ice-field there five minutes ago, if there was a sun there there'd be no ice i'm sure!!
Nathan Lane tried valliantly to save that movie, but his efforts failed
Hear hear! Though I think DS9 is the best series, but that's by the by.
Oh and for fun, here's how I rank the Trek movies from best to worst:
Star Trek
The Undiscovered Country
First Contact
The Wrath of Khan
The Search for Spock
The Motion Picture
Generations
The Voyage Home
Insurrection
Nemesis
The Final Frontier
Who wouldn't wanna see a movie about aliens that control zombies to take over the world? With Bela Lugosi to top it off! Yet it failed in innumerable ways.
Though honestly, it might have succeeded in several unintended ways.
Hey, it most probably succeeded in making Tim Burton make "Ed Wood" - that's enough merit for me...
I think that at least Burton's first Batman movie does pretty well, but after that, there wasn't an accurate Batman movie until Begins, for sure.
I hate Burton's version of Batman, but I despise Burton (bar Pee-Wee's Big Adventure) and I hate his wanky collabarators Depp and Elfman... why do people still think that this stuff is good?
Titan AE made me so angry. I only saw it a year or so ago, but I was offended greatly.
Did anyone notice at the end of that movie they
go to the planet creating ship in an ice field and make a new Earth, then a sun appears from the middle of fucking nowhere!! I mean there was an ice-field there five minutes ago, if there was a sun there there'd be no ice i'm sure!!
Nathan Lane tried valliantly to save that movie, but his efforts failed
I think you have to see the movie more with the eyes of a kid. Whilst saying so, i hope that you aren't one.
I think you have to see the movie more with the eyes of a kid. Whilst saying so, i hope that you aren't one.
Star Wars and the like I can watch with the delight of a kid despite being supposedly a fully grown adult.
But Titan AE wasn't engaging at all, it's worlds weren't magical or well realised and its characters drab and unlikeable. It just felt like it went nowhere.
I hate Burton's version of Batman, but I despise Burton (bar Pee-Wee's Big Adventure) and I hate his wanky collabarators Depp and Burton... why do people still think that this stuff is good?
For me the first Batman movie felt like it stepped right out of the comic book. The atmosphere, the city, the Joker, Batman, Vicky Vale: it was all spot on. I don't care what anyone says, Keaton was a great Batman. He really broke his cred with what he did to the Penguin though. The only reason to watch Batman Returns is for Walken. That's all.
Anyone remember the 2004 "Wonderful World of Disney" telemovie adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time?
Anyone? No? Yes?
If not ... good. Don't bother.
To be fair, I don't think the novel has ever been that adaptation-friendly, and it's only become less and less so over the years. On the first point, Madeleine L'Engle's writing itself bolsters up so much of the story's charm. It's not the most polished prose I've seen in YA fiction -- that honor I would bestow upon Diane Duane -- but it's evocative in ways many more technically-skilled writers could only hope to achieve. On the second point, the story is very much a product of its time, especially from a scientific POV.
But though the science has its fingerprints all over the book's thematic elements, my mind keeps circling and circling back to the latter and thinking, "Man, we could really use a children's/family movie like this." The story is charming, gently wry, awe-inspiring, brainy, urgent without slipping into sub-par melodrama, and never talks down to its audience. Wouldn't a movie like that be such a breath of fresh air in a world where cinemas are crowded with despicably sad excuses for "family" entertainment like Old Dogs?
No ... the problem with the telemovie was mostly in poor direction, and in part due to strange and utterly pointless changes. I'm no purist, so I can more than stand a few alterations, especially if it's for the sake of the medium a story is being adapted for. But if said changes not only dip below the quality level of the original story elements, but do so way, way, way too many times, the adaptation is in deep trouble.
I bring this up since Bedrock Studios (which is a bit Walden Media in disguise) are going to take a crack at an adaptation themselves. Walden's past track record has been ... rather mixed, to say the least. But -- aware that I am of all the challenges they'll face adapting this sucker anyway -- I, with all honesty, wish Bedrock all the luck in the world with their version. Because, my God, they are gonna need it.
Star Wars and the like I can watch with the delight of a kid despite being supposedly a fully grown adult.
But Titan AE wasn't engaging at all, it's worlds weren't magical or well realised and its characters drab and unlikeable. It just felt like it went nowhere.
"YOU NAMED A PLANET BOB!! HURR HURR!!"
I think Star Wars isn't as much for kids as Titan A.E. or Treasure Planet. I'm fine with that you don't like it but i know quite some kids who enjoyed these movies such as stuff like H2O. :O)
Chicken Little. No, not the fact that they added aliens. That would've been interesting to watch. Just... the jokes, dialogue, and everything else in the movie.
Comments
I was so excited when I found a good deal on the box set which includes both seasons and the movie. Despite the fact that I had seen every episode two or three times already, I decided I would watch them all in order again in anticipation of finally getting to see the movie.
I think the fact that I went that route made the movie all the much worse for me. It made me pick up on things I might have otherwise forgotten (like how out of character Roxie's actions were or how reapers are supposed to forget stuff if they reveal themselves or even nitpicky things like the fact that George's group of reapers does handle suicides). It also had me comparing changes that were seemingly made for no reason (like how Happy Time went from being a cubical farm to some executive office in a high-rise).
Considering they were saying if the movie did well enough it'd either result in more movies or maybe even the series being revived, yeah, I'd say this one ranks among the worst movies I've ever seen if not for just the shear disappointment in how it essentially killed off the series for good.
Indiana Jones 4 (with Harrison Ford).
All Star Trek movies (only the ones with Kirk&Spock count) beside of the first one (also without Harrison Ford).
:
I don't know, i quite liked 2/4 of the originals. (star trek)
I found that the first one best captured what the show was about: Discovery, and i loved the twist at the end. But for some reason, it's often considered amongst the worst of the original 6. I never figured that out. Perhaps it's got something to rewatch value? I've only seen it once, and it was my 2cnd Trek film. And it made the best use of surround sound i've ever heard (when they went to warp, and it malfunctioned, the noises were randomly coming out of different speakers, and the room was throbbing with the bass. Amazing!)
Honestly i wasn't so much into it as a kid but the older i got the better the film seemed to me and as you said it covers a lot of the values the original Star Trek was about.
I liked Riker just as much in TNG but then he stopped kicking butt after a while and I ended much disliking most of TNG. Picard was cool, but I originally read that in First Contact, Riker and Picards original roles were switched, making Picard the action hero. I don't like that. I'm not a big Trekkie though. I did enjoy the discovery part too though, usually when it was something totally unexplainable and unable to be understood.
And yep, Star Trek = Kirk&Spock. Everything after was annoying and dumb. Like many of the worse series coming from usa they came with those pathetic charcatcers who were caring about worthless and boring issues whilst they were mumbling their bad written dialogues. Better no SF than this. It simply wasn't worth the time.
As for anything that shouldn't have been made but had good premises.....everything the Nostalgia Critic reviews. Well...almost everything.
Hear hear! Though I think DS9 is the best series, but that's by the by.
Oh and for fun, here's how I rank the Trek movies from best to worst:
Star Trek
The Undiscovered Country
First Contact
The Wrath of Khan
The Search for Spock
The Motion Picture
Generations
The Voyage Home
Insurrection
Nemesis
The Final Frontier
Except that's not what he did at all. The writing is actually really good in Episode 3.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX4U0ZiiAic
The acting is the bad part (not on Obi Wan's side; he was done great, but Anakin hurts me physically). The last two lines "If you are not with me, then you are my enemy" and "You will try" are just so overdone and terrible. There's nothing frightening in them or menacing; and the way he talks is certainly not flat or emotionless; if anything it's overdramatic. It's like whenever Bob Denver had to play a bad guy in one of the dream segments in Gilligans Island, except that was played for comedy and was supposed to be campy and silly; this isn't, but it comes across like Hayden is channeling Bob Denver trying to be menacing.
and I'm hoping it won't be a disappointment. I've gotten mixed messages both from reviews I've read/seen and friends who have seen it. I'm not a very strict critic, so I'll probably like it.
Who wouldn't wanna see a movie about aliens that control zombies to take over the world? With Bela Lugosi to top it off! Yet it failed in innumerable ways.
Though honestly, it might have succeeded in several unintended ways.
...But Forever? That's just...ugh. It has a good deal more problems.
Did anyone notice at the end of that movie they
Nathan Lane tried valliantly to save that movie, but his efforts failed
No way. Nemesis is far better than Insurrection!
I think that at least Burton's first Batman movie does pretty well, but after that, there wasn't an accurate Batman movie until Begins, for sure.
I hate Burton's version of Batman, but I despise Burton (bar Pee-Wee's Big Adventure) and I hate his wanky collabarators Depp and Elfman... why do people still think that this stuff is good?
ETA my distaste of Danny Elfman
@Irishmile
This is a new interpretation of the Predator which i really liked: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzROsHxYS5Q
Star Wars and the like I can watch with the delight of a kid despite being supposedly a fully grown adult.
But Titan AE wasn't engaging at all, it's worlds weren't magical or well realised and its characters drab and unlikeable. It just felt like it went nowhere.
"YOU NAMED A PLANET BOB!! HURR HURR!!"
For me the first Batman movie felt like it stepped right out of the comic book. The atmosphere, the city, the Joker, Batman, Vicky Vale: it was all spot on. I don't care what anyone says, Keaton was a great Batman. He really broke his cred with what he did to the Penguin though. The only reason to watch Batman Returns is for Walken. That's all.
Anyone? No? Yes?
If not ... good. Don't bother.
To be fair, I don't think the novel has ever been that adaptation-friendly, and it's only become less and less so over the years. On the first point, Madeleine L'Engle's writing itself bolsters up so much of the story's charm. It's not the most polished prose I've seen in YA fiction -- that honor I would bestow upon Diane Duane -- but it's evocative in ways many more technically-skilled writers could only hope to achieve. On the second point, the story is very much a product of its time, especially from a scientific POV.
But though the science has its fingerprints all over the book's thematic elements, my mind keeps circling and circling back to the latter and thinking, "Man, we could really use a children's/family movie like this." The story is charming, gently wry, awe-inspiring, brainy, urgent without slipping into sub-par melodrama, and never talks down to its audience. Wouldn't a movie like that be such a breath of fresh air in a world where cinemas are crowded with despicably sad excuses for "family" entertainment like Old Dogs?
No ... the problem with the telemovie was mostly in poor direction, and in part due to strange and utterly pointless changes. I'm no purist, so I can more than stand a few alterations, especially if it's for the sake of the medium a story is being adapted for. But if said changes not only dip below the quality level of the original story elements, but do so way, way, way too many times, the adaptation is in deep trouble.
I bring this up since Bedrock Studios (which is a bit Walden Media in disguise) are going to take a crack at an adaptation themselves. Walden's past track record has been ... rather mixed, to say the least. But -- aware that I am of all the challenges they'll face adapting this sucker anyway -- I, with all honesty, wish Bedrock all the luck in the world with their version. Because, my God, they are gonna need it.