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San Francisco, 3:18 PM
Sun Dec 6
13 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of The Curse of Millhaven The Curse of Millhaven
    03:13 PM

    In reply to Was This The Decade Of The Reboot?
    Isn't a reboot just a remake? Why the different terminology?
     Reply
    The Curse of Millhaven was starred The Curse of Millhaven was unstarred
    Image of geesejuggler geesejuggler
    01:52 PM

    In reply to Was This The Decade Of The Reboot?
    I like the idea of reboots and remakes because I end up watching the original anyway. Plus, the concepts of remakes isn't really new. How many movies have been made into musicals? How many books or plays have been made into movies? To me, it's the same principle.

    What offends me, however, is when remakes are done but adds nothing to the canon or worse, screws it up.
     Reply
    geesejuggler was starred geesejuggler was unstarred
    Image of Bill-Lee Bill-Lee
    12:42 PM

    In reply to Was This The Decade Of The Reboot?
    There is no such thing as an "original idea". The human race has been around for 40'000 years and we've been retelling the same stories to each other under different names for all that time. Even supposedly new stories are simply re-workings of a handful of basic ideas. When "Star Wars" was new it was just a re-working of ancient mythic archetypes in the guise of space opera. What is Star Trek but a re-working of a thousand tales of sailors encountering weird and exotic cultures on uncharted islands draped in the trappings of the space age? The best we can ever hope for is new ways to retell the same old myths.

    The success of certain reboots is perhaps due to the fact that certain stories such as Star Trek, Dr. Who, Batlestar Galactica, and Batman are particularly successful at retelling those old stories in a way that fits well with contemporary culture. Who is Kirk but Odysseus of the space age? What is Battlestar Galactica but Exodus with rocket ships?
     Reply
    Edited by Bill-Lee at 12/06/09 12:53 PM Bill-Lee was starred Bill-Lee was unstarred
    Image of Ronnoc Ronnoc
    12:52 PM

    @Bill-Lee: Which really isn't an excuse for remakes...
     Reply
    Ronnoc was starred Ronnoc was unstarred
    Image of collex collex
    01:02 PM

    @Ronnoc: The Ten Commandments is a remake. Romeo and Juliet (the play) is a remake. Most of the Greek Tragedies are remake. Every myth are remake. Fairie tales are remake. Even the Bible is a remake. Resistance is futile
     Reply
    CParis promoted this comment collex was starred collex was unstarred
    Image of Paul_Is_Drunk Paul_Is_Drunk
    01:12 PM

    @Bill-Lee: A reductivist argument. You have valid points, but it's also a gross oversimplification on the level of "no one 'needs' anything."

    Need, of course, is a conditional statement. Do I need to breathe? No. Do I need to breathe in order to live? Yes. Do I need money? No. Do I need money to pay my rent? Yes. And so on...

    So, in saying there is no such thing as an "original idea," you are right on one level. Every element of every story can be found in the stories that came before. Just like every art movement is built upon what came before it. One must have still lifes before one can have impressionism.

    Having said that, Star Wars is not original. Hero beats bad guy. The end. Not much original about that. You can expound upon it, bring in the monomyth structure, references to Akira Kurosawa films & space serials, and it would still be considered a derivative work, from a point of view.

    However, Star Wars is unique in how these ideas were brought together, how they were presented, as can easily be seen by the reaction of movie goers & the film industry in general. If Star Wars were truly unoriginal, it would have had no effect on movie making on any level.

    Is it telling the same story we've seen before? From a non-conditional point of view, yes. Is it a story that the world has seen before? Honestly, from a conditional point of view, which is how we treat the world outside of art critique, no. No one had seen anything truly like Star Wars before.
     Reply
    Bill-Lee promoted this comment Paul_Is_Drunk was starred Paul_Is_Drunk was unstarred
    Image of firstanointed firstanointed
    03:07 PM

    @Paul_Is_Drunk: A writing teacher of one of my friends once told his class that every writer is essentially writing the same story in different ways. There is always a running theme or recurring device in a writers concepts, it's just spun around in different ways. This is storytelling. Technically it's true, there are no original ideas, but it is the job of the writer to take this purloined, used, ragged, dusty idea, dust it off, spit & shine it and make it different and new. What were all the Star Trek franchises but re-workings of TOS stories, and what were TOS stories but re-workings of stories that were blasts from the past, or even inspired from completely different shows like The Twilight Zone?

    Writing is like cooking. A different spice will change the flavor of the piece every time.
     Reply
    firstanointed was starred firstanointed was unstarred
    Image of OW-Holmes:Bringer of Fear OW-Holmes:Bringer of Fear
    12:37 PM

    In reply to Was This The Decade Of The Reboot?
    I read this headline quickly and thought it said "decade of the robot". I then got very excited.

    Then very terrified.
     Reply
    OW-Holmes:Bringer of Fear was starred OW-Holmes:Bringer of Fear was unstarred
    Image of Bill-Lee Bill-Lee
    12/03/09

    In reply to Trace Cylon Evolution, From Toaster To Centurion To Six
    If they had Colonel Thigh looking drunk and all disheveled instead of 6 in her femme fatale outfit, none of us would have bothered to look.
     Reply
    Bill-Lee was starred Bill-Lee was unstarred
    Image of PlaidNinja PlaidNinja
    12/03/09

    @Bill-Lee: Colonel Thigh? Only if we get Lieutenant Breast and Yeoman Butt along with him.
     Reply
    Bill-Lee promoted this comment PlaidNinja was starred PlaidNinja was unstarred
    Image of Bill-Lee Bill-Lee
    12/03/09

    @PlaidNinja: Oops...That's what I get drinking cheap energy drinks instead of coffee.
     Reply
    Bill-Lee was starred Bill-Lee was unstarred
    Image of iCurmudgeon iCurmudgeon
    12/03/09

    In reply to Trace Cylon Evolution, From Toaster To Centurion To Six
    Is there a t-shirt?
     Reply
    iCurmudgeon was starred iCurmudgeon was unstarred
    Image of TotalFanGirl TotalFanGirl
    12/03/09

    In reply to Trace Cylon Evolution, From Toaster To Centurion To Six
    Aw, the little toaster is so cute and I have one just like it on my counter. Wait, does that mean I am in my own small way contributing to the destruction of all mankind? What now...I will not give up my morning toast!
     Reply
    TotalFanGirl was starred TotalFanGirl was unstarred
    Image of Harrison_Bergeron Harrison_Bergeron
    12/03/09

    @TotalFanGirl: What ever you do do not network that frakking toaster!
     Reply
    Harrison_Bergeron was starred Harrison_Bergeron was unstarred
    Image of atrus123 atrus123
    12/03/09

    In reply to Trace Cylon Evolution, From Toaster To Centurion To Six
    That's quite a jump from Kit-eyed battlebot to Tricia Helfer.

    The monolith must have been working double-time that year.
     Reply
    Edited by atrus123 at 12/03/09 10:23 AM atrus123 was starred atrus123 was unstarred
    Image of firstanointed firstanointed
    12/03/09

    In reply to Trace Cylon Evolution, From Toaster To Centurion To Six
    Shouldn't there be a Roomba after that toaster?
     Reply
    firstanointed was starred firstanointed was unstarred
    Image of Dexomega Dexomega
    12/03/09

    @firstanointed: What if the toaster is a Roomba in disguise! *gasp*
     Reply
    ggodo, the man from R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment Dexomega was starred Dexomega was unstarred
    Image of RoboBagins RoboBagins
    12/03/09

    In reply to Trace Cylon Evolution, From Toaster To Centurion To Six
    I read the title as "Trace Cylon Evolution, From Toaster To Centurion To Sex"

    Ah, Number Six, what wonderful things you do to my mind.
     Reply
    RoboBagins was starred RoboBagins was unstarred
    Image of AmishJohn AmishJohn
    12/03/09

    @RoboBagins: And in your mind...
     Reply
    AmishJohn was starred AmishJohn was unstarred
    Image of KatyLou KatyLou
    12/03/09

    @RoboBagins: I still think they'd make a fortune if they sold Six Real Dolls.
     Reply
    Harrison_Bergeron promoted this comment KatyLou was starred KatyLou was unstarred
    Image of tetracycloide tetracycloide
    12/03/09

    In reply to Trace Cylon Evolution, From Toaster To Centurion To Six
    i am at a loss to explain how, at this level of detail, she remains that attractive. it's uncanny.
     Reply
    tetracycloide was starred tetracycloide was unstarred
    Image of GreyHammer GreyHammer
    12/03/09

    @tetracycloide: well we are hard wired to reconize the form of a woman and turn it into boner fuel. thats why mud flaps cause awkward family road trips.
     Reply
    GreyHammer was starred GreyHammer was unstarred
    Image of geesejuggler geesejuggler
    12/03/09

    @GreyHammer: This has been a brief insight into the male mind. Tune in later, when you'll hear:"... And that's why she's hot!".
     Reply
    geesejuggler was starred geesejuggler was unstarred
    Image of Jason Moreland-Basconcillo Jason Moreland-Basconcillo
    12/03/09

    @tetracycloide: I am as queer as a two dollar bill and find #6 quite alluring. Total credit goes to Tricia Helfer who grew into one hell of an actress right before our eyes.
     Reply
    ggodo, the man from R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment Jason Moreland-Basconcillo was starred Jason Moreland-Basconcillo was unstarred
    Image of ggodo, the man from R.O.A.C.H. ggodo, the man from R.O.A.C.H.
    12/03/09

    @Jason Moreland-Basconcillo: I think that the saying is queer as a three dollar bill, unless you're trying to say you're a bit different, but still get seen on occasion.

    This was intended for edification and humor.
     Reply
    ggodo, the man from R.O.A.C.H. was starred ggodo, the man from R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of Vulcan Has No Moon Vulcan Has No Moon
    11/26/09

    In reply to Top 10 Most Ridiculous Soap Operas Of All Time
    Neon Genesis Evangelion. The damn writers/producers couldn't think of a way to end that train wreck except by killing off the whole damn cast. They should have just ended it with Kaworu Nagisa and success of the Human Instrumentality Project....if not sooner.
     Reply
    Vulcan Has No Moon was starred Vulcan Has No Moon was unstarred
    Image of Alvarez Alvarez
    11/28/09

    @Vulcan Has No Moon: I liked the ending for one simple fact: I hated every last character on the show. Oh I was enthralled by it and couldn't stop watching it until I'd seen every last scrap of the shows and movies but, they seemed to be great examples of humanities selfishness and propensity to destroy itself. On the one hand I hated Shinji's father but also couldn't stand Shinji's whining.
     Reply
    Alvarez was starred Alvarez was unstarred
    Image of Vulcan Has No Moon Vulcan Has No Moon
    11/28/09

    @Alvarez: Actually, I don't really care they killed everyone, just that it seemed like they had run into a brick wall with the story and took an easy out. Like they never planned the story arc out to the end. It's like the writers got together and said, "Show got cancelled, and we've got an hour to rap this up. Any ideas on how to tie up all the loose ends?" "Let's just kill everyone off." "Cool!" and then everyone knocked off early for lunch.
     Reply
    Vulcan Has No Moon was starred Vulcan Has No Moon was unstarred
    Image of Wookie1972 Wookie1972
    11/25/09

    In reply to Top 10 Most Ridiculous Soap Operas Of All Time
    Oh, and is it blasphemy to suggest that Professor Tolkien's work, despite the lack of sex, was just a wee bit soap operatic?
     Reply
    Wookie1972 was starred Wookie1972 was unstarred
    Image of Burke Burke
    11/25/09

    @Wookie1972: Or that (per Randall from Clerks 2) the hobbits were gay?
     Reply
    Wookie1972 promoted this comment Burke was starred Burke was unstarred
    Image of Wookie1972 Wookie1972
    11/26/09

    @Burke: If I could pick a point where I got off the Kevin Smith train, it would be that. What a schmuck.
     Reply
    Wookie1972 was starred Wookie1972 was unstarred
    Image of firstofnormalin firstofnormalin
    11/26/09

    @Wookie1972:
    Then so was Wagner's Ring and the whole Nibelungenlied. And, of course, Puccini.
    How about The House of Atreus? And the Oedipus cycle?
    I'm gonna do my PhD dissertation: Buffy As A Universal Human Archetype
     Reply
    Wookie1972 promoted this comment firstofnormalin was starred firstofnormalin was unstarred
    Image of Wookie1972 Wookie1972
    11/26/09

    @firstofnormalin: Well, those were real operas, soap or not. Except for Oedipus. (although Oedipis, with its use of hidden parentage, would obviously count)
     Reply
    Wookie1972 was starred Wookie1972 was unstarred
    Image of firstofnormalin firstofnormalin
    11/27/09

    @Wookie1972:
    Well, I'll grant most weren't _sf_ soaps, but look at Wagner's Ring--dwarves (maybe even dwarfs), dragons with magic blood, hero screws his sister, magic swords, magic gold rings, tarnhelms for invisibility, Rinemadens living under the river...if that ain't a fantasy/soap opera combo, I'll eat my Furtwangler CDs.
     Reply
    firstofnormalin was starred firstofnormalin was unstarred
    Image of Wookie1972 Wookie1972
    11/25/09

    In reply to Top 10 Most Ridiculous Soap Operas Of All Time
    Soap operas aren't all that bad- doesn't War and Peace have something like 400 characters?
     Reply
    Wookie1972 was starred Wookie1972 was unstarred
    Image of ggodo, the man from R.O.A.C.H. ggodo, the man from R.O.A.C.H.
    11/25/09

    In reply to Top 10 Most Ridiculous Soap Operas Of All Time
    And yet, Sonic's comic books were so much better than any game released this decade.
     Reply
    ggodo, the man from R.O.A.C.H. was starred ggodo, the man from R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
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