tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098049071459822748.post2321227184203564884..comments2024-02-18T00:24:05.514-08:00Comments on The Zoë-Trope: SOME MOVIES I HAVE WATCHEDZoë Marriotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01275368005359548134noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098049071459822748.post-35373213304096482872013-04-21T00:04:39.631-07:002013-04-21T00:04:39.631-07:00Batgirl: My problem with that scene (although it W...Batgirl: My problem with that scene (although it WAS effective!) was that he was basically slaughtering those guys wholesale in the midst of his flashback, and it felt a bit like they were trying to justify the slaughter via the manpain. Like 'The aliens *deserve* this for making John Carter so sad, poor John Carter, oh, look how he suffers!' Even while literally hundreds of aliens - who are supposed to be intelligent, sentient people - are getting sliced up and dying around him. Surely at this moment *their* suffering is greater than his? This brought back rather worrying memories of scenes where brave cowboy types slaughter the evil Injuns in revenge, sort of thing. Never a good idea to use whole races of Other Folks as a prop to show off how strong/tortured your white male lead is.Zoë Marriotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01275368005359548134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098049071459822748.post-22655341943765896622013-04-20T21:20:02.853-07:002013-04-20T21:20:02.853-07:00Mark and I saw John Carter in a near-empty theatre...Mark and I saw John Carter in a near-empty theatre. All few of us enjoyed it immensely. Yeah, it went on a bit long, and some things were glossed over, but it was heaps of fun.<br /><br />The manpain was irrelevant to the plot, but I did feel that the intercutting between the battle scene and flashback of his burnt-out home was really effective. batgirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15143310557906978680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098049071459822748.post-20687394072207597952013-04-14T01:25:48.873-07:002013-04-14T01:25:48.873-07:00Lori: The review I read - which I think was on 1o9...Lori: The review I read - which I think was on 1o9 - praised the film but said it was sure to be a flop because Disney and its distributors had completely botched the marketing. Everything from the name of the film to the trailers to the posters was wrong to capture the audience the film *should* have. And it turned out the reviewer was right. Such a shame.Zoë Marriotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01275368005359548134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098049071459822748.post-9926350845584894182013-04-13T20:27:15.623-07:002013-04-13T20:27:15.623-07:00I really enjoyed John Carter, and so did nearly ev...I really enjoyed John Carter, and so did nearly every person who has seen it. So it makes me really sad that the movie was a "flop" and there won't be a sequel :(Lori M. Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858438789496971734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098049071459822748.post-90080595572337141852013-04-10T12:09:00.107-07:002013-04-10T12:09:00.107-07:00Sorry if this seems really out of place here, but ...Sorry if this seems really out of place here, but I have a question about writing. Like you, I am writing a trilogy. I have finished the first draft of my first book and I am steadily going through it and improving areas. I really want to get my first book polished up and perfect but I have a strong urge to write book two straight away. I really like my first book but I have been looking forward to starting the second book for a long while because a lot of exciting things happen. I know I should knuckle down and get the first book re-drafted, but it is really hard to resist beginning book two. Did you experience this problem when writing your trilogy? Did you encounter any other challenges, and how did you overcome them?Rebeccanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098049071459822748.post-66775814979635802452013-04-09T16:15:16.778-07:002013-04-09T16:15:16.778-07:00Oh, that sounds like a smart idea, waiting on the ...Oh, that sounds like a smart idea, waiting on the Hobbit DVD until all three parts are out. I was thinking about putting it on my Christmas list come December, but perhaps not yet... Phoenixgirlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098049071459822748.post-58957269757413283612013-04-09T09:17:04.448-07:002013-04-09T09:17:04.448-07:00Alex: I'm looking forward to seeing it again o...Alex: I'm looking forward to seeing it again on DVD, so I'll see if I can spot the cheesy bits. But sometimes I like a bit of fullblown cheesiness, I admit :)Zoë Marriotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01275368005359548134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098049071459822748.post-9825253534888509152013-04-09T09:15:45.886-07:002013-04-09T09:15:45.886-07:00Totally with you about the Host - people need to g...Totally with you about the Host - people need to give it a fair chance! My only qualms were that there were some very cheesy romantic moments and the script could have used some improvements (in my view) but otherwise I really enjoyed the film, and I really do love the book.Alex Mullarkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12385523523229124157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098049071459822748.post-4437582862466596672013-04-09T08:48:30.699-07:002013-04-09T08:48:30.699-07:00Phoenix: Gah, really? No, I'm not falling into...Phoenix: Gah, really? No, I'm not falling into that trap again - I have two of each LotR film because I just had to have the DVD when it first came out and THEN the extended versions too. No. I'll get the regular version and then buy the extended 3-part boxset when it comes out after ALL the films have been released!Zoë Marriotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01275368005359548134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098049071459822748.post-80651274773355291772013-04-09T08:16:42.000-07:002013-04-09T08:16:42.000-07:00I heard there's an extended-edition DVD of The...I heard there's an extended-edition DVD of The Hobbit coming out in December! Phoenixgirlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098049071459822748.post-79564969856873231352013-04-09T05:58:38.912-07:002013-04-09T05:58:38.912-07:00Jessica: By the end of Total Recall my mind was ma...Jessica: By the end of Total Recall my mind was made up that it was all a false memory and that really he was having a paranoid delusion back at the Recall offices. It was the only way that I was able to enjoy the film!<br /><br />But the question I was really talking about was: Was Carl Howser a hero or a villain? Was he implanted with the false identity of Doug Quaid with his full knowledge in hopes of getting close to Matthias so that Matthias could be assassinated? Was all his work with the resistance before that, and his relationship with the resistance girl, all fake? That was the twist in the original film and short story - that Carl Howser was the true villain of the piece, the mastermind behind everything that had happened to Doug. But the Doug Quaid personality, though it might have been fictional to begin with, was still strong enough to prevail over this evil plan in the end and to outwit Howser.<br /><br />In the new version we're told that Coohagen had Howser's memories backed up before he went into the resistance operation, which seems to hint that Howser's memories were then altered to make him susceptible to betraying his original master, setting the whole sequence of events in place. The fact that Doug fights so hard against having those original memories returned seems to back that up, as does the tellingly specific series of clues and videos left behind by Carl that lead Doug directly to Howser. But at the end, the idea seems to be that while Doug doesn't really remember being Carl, he and Carl are still essentially the same person, and Carl was still A Good Guy. Which is just a far less interesting conclusion than the original, and seems a real shame.Zoë Marriotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01275368005359548134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098049071459822748.post-89791849117886795412013-04-09T05:30:16.672-07:002013-04-09T05:30:16.672-07:00I quite liked that Total Recall didn't actuall...I quite liked that Total Recall didn't actually answer the big question. Was it all a false memory? Was it real? The fact that you can walk away from the movie and not know actually says more about how our memories define our being than if they'd answered the question. <br /><br />I did think the idea of the Fall was just brilliantly bad though. <br /><br />I read A Princess of Mars after watching John Carter and in a lot of ways, I liked the film more than the book. It's not often I say that. I agree that they should have kept the title. Apparently, they didn't think it would appeal to a male audience if they kept the original title.Jessicahttp://plottwister.blog.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098049071459822748.post-76108122687382397082013-04-09T03:19:57.602-07:002013-04-09T03:19:57.602-07:00Rebecca: I was actually going to use Twilight as a...Rebecca: I was actually going to use Twilight as an example of (in my opinion) a film that really tackled and fixed a lot of problematic issues from the book. I liked the first Twilight film and found it very entertaining. I thought they all went a bit downhill from there, tho :( I agree with you totally about The Hobbit, btw! I didn't mention that one because I went to see it last year and the memories aren't as sharp as they could be, but I'm looking forward to getting the DVD. Zoë Marriotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01275368005359548134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098049071459822748.post-34130422491811636202013-04-09T03:14:34.971-07:002013-04-09T03:14:34.971-07:00I completely agree with you regarding The Host! I&...I completely agree with you regarding The Host! I'm not going to lie, I quite like the Twilight films and enjoyed the books the first time I read them, but I was weary about picking up The Host. I wasn't entirely convinced the author could pull off the synopsis. I decided to go and see it in the cinema anyway, and I loved it! I thought it was brilliant! I can't wait to read the book.<br />I also watched The Hobbit recently. I loved Richard Armitage as Thorin and got shivers at the 'Lonely Mountain' song. I don't think it is as good as Lord of the Rings, but I still think it is great.Rebecca Lindsaynoreply@blogger.com