Larry gordon

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Lawyers, Accountants Still Watching The Watchmen
Meet The Man Who Wants Watchmen To Succeed... And Fail
We've Found One Commando For Robert Rodriguez's Predator Reboot
Watchmen Settlement Reached

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ManchuCandidate
04/22/09

In reply to Lawyers, Accountants Still Watching The Watchmen
But who watches the accountants and Lawyers?
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OW-Holmes:Bringer of Fear
04/22/09

@ManchuCandidate: Giant squid lawyers.

Wait, that was redundant.
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twophrasebark
02/26/09

In reply to Meet The Man Who Wants Watchmen To Succeed... And Fail
This will all make a great HBO movie.
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Sproing
02/26/09

In reply to Meet The Man Who Wants Watchmen To Succeed... And Fail
I love insidery legal wranglings over big films. You really get to see how the sausage is made, and who's pooping in it beforehand. See also Cussler, Clive v. "Sahara."
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
02/26/09

@Sproing: Nothin' compares to the story behind the making of "Cotton Club". All this maneuvering plus a real murder.
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zark169
02/26/09

In reply to Meet The Man Who Wants Watchmen To Succeed... And Fail
Sounds like he's doing everything he can to avoid what may very well be solely his fault.
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Purple Dave
02/27/09

@zark169:
Yeah, when you cut away all the chaf, it still comes down to the fact that he told Warner Bros. that he owned distribution rights that he never bothered to buy. The fact that the movie deal went ahead based on his fact-free statement sounds legally actionable to me. I, for one, would be entirely amused if he ends up opening up his big paycheck when it's all said and done, only to find a thank-you note in an otherwise empty envelope.
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alphanumeric1971
02/26/09

In reply to Meet The Man Who Wants Watchmen To Succeed... And Fail
I just know the squid is behind all of it.

Snub the squid at your own peril!!!
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
02/26/09

@alphanumeric1971: The squid is a lawyer!
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strider_mt2k
02/27/09

@alphanumeric1971: Stick it to the Calamari, Mon...

wait...

IT'S A TRAP!!!
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GitEmSteveDave_OverSleptThisMorn
02/20/09

In reply to We've Found One Commando For Robert Rodriguez's Predator Reboot
How about following the original Dark Horse Predator story, which involved Dutch's brother who was a cop in the US. True, it bears some similarity to P2, but you can make it a vengeance thing.
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Illogic
02/20/09

In reply to We've Found One Commando For Robert Rodriguez's Predator Reboot
No Ving Rhames?

No Vin Diesel?

...Dammit, now I want a Predator/Riddick movie...
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Meredith Woerner
02/20/09

@Illogic: One at a time ONE at a time, did you not see the Predator Commando Fantasy League tag?
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BadUncle
02/20/09

In reply to We've Found One Commando For Robert Rodriguez's Predator Reboot
Why does this need a remake? May we have some newness, please?
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AngryEddy
02/20/09

@BadUncle: From the comments section of 2010: Breaking news that Zac Efron will star as Marty in the reboot of Back to the Future.

Fear this prediction.
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crashedpc - Haifisch
02/20/09

@AngryEddy: Replace Zac Efron with Shia LeBeouf and watch the Earth crack in half.
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EBone
02/20/09

In reply to We've Found One Commando For Robert Rodriguez's Predator Reboot
Two words. The Rock.
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All_Thumbs
02/20/09

@EBone: Three words: Oh lord, please no! Oh wait, that's 4 words. How about Vin motherfrakking Diesel?
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EBone
02/20/09

@All_Thumbs: I choose The Rock because if nothing else, Dwayne Johnson can actually act. Vin Diesel would be great for a Terminator remake since he's got the personality of a robot.
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Plague
02/20/09

In reply to We've Found One Commando For Robert Rodriguez's Predator Reboot
THIRTY comments and yet one person hasn't pointed out that ROBERT RODRIGUEZ ISN'T DOING A PREDATOR REBOOT.

Why me all the time?
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Meredith Woerner
02/20/09

@Plague: look I said it was doubtful.
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crashedpc - Haifisch
02/20/09

@Plague: Can't we just do what sci-fi nerds do and play pretend for a moment? Let our imaginations fly free? We'll get back to reality in a bit.
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nld3
02/20/09

In reply to We've Found One Commando For Robert Rodriguez's Predator Reboot
I hate when Websites or Fanboys lobby for actors.
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braak
02/20/09

@nld3: Well, I hate you.
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AngryEddy
02/20/09

@braak: YEEAAAAH! *waves pitchfork and/or torch*
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crashedpc - Haifisch
02/20/09

@AngryEddy: *waves burning pitchfork* RARGH! What's going on?
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OW-Holmes:Bringer of Fear
02/20/09

In reply to We've Found One Commando For Robert Rodriguez's Predator Reboot
I aint got time to read.
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Logan5
02/20/09

In reply to We've Found One Commando For Robert Rodriguez's Predator Reboot
Honestly, the original Predator wasn't a very good movie. It was a cliche.

That's not to say that the story didn't have potential or that the premise wasn't good. It was simply an Arnold vehicle and whatever merits the script may have possessed were obscured by Arnold's stardom. It was a good sci-fi film struggling to overcome the weight of Arnold's baggage, much like several of his films.

I therefore don't think that any harm could be done to this franchise, particularly in light of the recent dubious AvP films.
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braak
02/20/09

@Logan5: Really? The original Predator? I mean, I can see that kind of criticism being leveled at, say, Terminator 2. Or anything made thereafter. But...

Well, okay. What exactly is the cliche of Predator?
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Belabras ate my dingo!
02/20/09

@Logan5:

It's not a cliche if you do it first.
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
02/20/09

@Belabras: Thanks for that, took the words out of my mouth.
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Logan5
02/20/09

@Belabras, braak, angryeddy, Garrison Dean: The honor of it not being a cliche would then fall on Aliens which preceded Predator by a year and has several similarities in plot line, ranging from a group of gruntish commando's being systematically killed off by an alien to a climatic battle in which a nuclear device is blown up and a sympathetic, but battle hardened, innocent is saved.

Predator was definitively an Arnold Schwarznegger vehicle including a trademark catch phrase "If it bleeds you can kill it," the requisite torso shots, a few wrestling scenes, and the illogical and suspension of disbelief desuspender situation in which an Austrian body builder is cast as an American soldier. It is clearly of better quality than Commando, but not easy to distinguish from other Arnold flicks including Eraser, Total Recall, and numerous other formulaic rehashes of Arnold attempting to act.

I stand by my original comments and feel that the plot and story line from this movie would be better served if they were disassociated from the baggage that results from having a big name action star who inevitably overwhelms the merits of the script.

Interestingly, James Cameron made similar observations regarding his script for Rambo which bears a few parallels to Schwarznegger's film portfolion. Cameron felt that the film was bastardized to accommodate Stallone. The audience may have enjoyed some cheap thrills but the film itself was a husk of what it could have been and the devoid of the message it was intended to deliver.
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crashedpc - Haifisch
02/20/09

@Logan5: Please turn in your nerd credentials at the door.
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
02/20/09

@Logan5: Wow. Putting Predator on the same level as Eraser, thats new. As for it ripping off Aliens, well, when you get down to it they're all Ten Little Indians but that doesn't mean that it isn't original.

Plus if you can't get over the Musclemanishness of the film, or that an Austrian is an American soldier you might as well write off the whole 80's action film genre. Who would believe that a lone barefoot cop could defeat a tower full of terrorists?
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geesejuggler
02/20/09

@Logan5: Predator only seems like crap because it's now longer 1987. We have 22 years of other movies, sequels and ripoffs to confuse our minds.
I'm pretty sure twenty years from, children will look at us and say "I don't see what the big deal is about The Matrix. No one can act. The special effects suck. I've seen it all before." And after we finish thrashing on the floor, we will explain it all to them.
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AngryEddy
02/20/09

@geesejuggler: Aren't we sort of thinking that way about the Matrix now. Those sequels took the shine off, you know...

@Logan5: I have upgraded the smack to a roundhouse kick.
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crashedpc - Haifisch
02/20/09

@AngryEddy: We need to create a team attack so that we can link that into a 12 hit combo.
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
02/20/09

@crashedpc: I'm pretty sure that Logan5 lives in a jungle, so perhaps if a small group of us got together and went in to hunt him down we could get him with minimal damage. I don't really see anything going wrong.

oh wait.
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crashedpc - Haifisch
02/20/09

@Garrison Dean: Ohh, ooh, I know how to cut myself with a combat knife and growl in a menacing fashion with my shirt off in a jungle! And then get slaughtered in 5 picoseconds.
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Logan5
02/20/09

@geesejuggler, Garrison Dean: Predator was uniformly panned when it came out in 1987. At the time, if you weren't an Arnold fan, you would have thought it was crap too. People went to see it not because they cared much about the story but because they wanted to see Arnold act like Arnold in yet another film and relive the best and most entertaining of Terminator. You don't have to take my word for it- A Google search of reviews from when the film was released confirms the consensus that film was pretty much another formulaic Arnold movie which drew comparisons not only to Aliens, which the sci-fi aspect of the plot closely mirrored, but also to Rambo and Commando.

@crashed PC:

Maybe it is because I am a dork that I was disappointed by this movie and hopeful that a remake can improve upon the promising aspects of the plot.

I doubt a remake of Daredevil would elicit such controversy on this forum, but I suppose Ben Affleck fans who think he's cool might object and roundhouse kick me for stating the obvious, that the underlying material deserves better than to be overshadowed by a stars modus operandi.
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
02/20/09

@Logan5: Well clearly we're busting your chops here and you are entitled to your opinion, but just because a film gets bad reviews doesn't mean it is bad, it can mean it is misunderstood, or judged on the wrong criteria. It clearly left a mark on the film going public as it spawned countless imitators and has a rabid fanbase. That is something that can forever irk those who study film theory. Occasionally a film succeeds on levels that are reprehensible to the educated soul. Predator is a violent, homo-erotic/phobic, egotistical exercise in suspension of disbelief, all things that often get something slayed by critics. But it goes to the heart of escapism and slams an electrode in it and that is what people love about it. But as someone who saw it at the time, and perhaps you did, perhaps you didn't I don't know how old you are, it was super different. It existed on a similar plane as Rambo and Aliens, sure, but it also wasn't anything like them. Commando however was totally different so I'm not sure how to draw comparisons to that. Though they do both feature the lovely Bill Duke doing awesomeness.

Another thing about reviews... Blade Runner and 2001 also got pretty slammed when they came out.
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braak
02/20/09

@Logan5: How could it be another formulaic Schwarzenegger movie? It's predecessors--Terminator, the Conan movies, Red Sonja, and Commando--all have the opposite plot: invincible Arnold Schwarzenegger goes on a hunt for revenge/murder, killing off anything and everything he comes across.

In fact, it is a complete reversal of the traditional Arnold Schwarzenegger movie--which did, indeed, pick up right where Predator left off--in that now Schwarzenegger is the one being hunted by an invincible super-being.

Also, I'm not sure how a person can not tell the difference between Predator and Total Recall. That's...that's crazy.
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tetracycloide
02/20/09

@braak: how can you not be sure? you slap three boobs on the predator's chest and they're the same damn movie!
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tetracycloide
02/20/09

@Logan5: i belive the primary point of contention her isn't that the rest of us are unable to see that the film was mired by arnold's involvement but that we can all see it just as well as you and choose to ignore it in favor of imbracing the more interesting titular title character. your missing the trees for the forest, so to speak.
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Logan5
02/20/09

@braak: You're looking at something that most people having watched these films have forgotten- The plot.

Arnold films have several well documented and parodied hallmarks. They all star Arnold playing a guy who is a lot like Arnold. They always have a catch phrase, frequently not far removed from "I'll be back." He always has at least one scene where he's not wearing his shirt. Etc.

Total Recall and Predator are basically the same movie- They're stunt/fx movies with only a secondary concern about the plot and a principle focus on the actor. The burden of carrying the film isn't on the story, it's on the shoulders of the actor.

Peel Arnold out of both of these films and remove the compromises that were made to accommodate his presence and you'll have a very good point- These should have been two completely distinguishable films.

It's a little like porn- Does anyone really watch these movies for the plots and does anyone really care?
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Logan5
02/20/09

@tetracycloide: I think I can say the same for you. Are you a fan of Arnold or a fan of sci-fi? If the former, than clearly this film will float your boat. But if the latter, you'll be shortchanged simply because the stories potential was subverted by the star.

And with that final comment I bid you all adieu. I'm going skiing for the weekend but thank you for the entertaining replies.
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tetracycloide
02/20/09

@Logan5: hentai has plots, although there's really only three that get used over and over and over. not that i've watched enough hentai to know that or anything...
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
02/20/09

@Logan5: I think you're putting a little too much pressure on Arnold with his acting range. Yeah he always plays Arnold, that's why he was a marquee star, people liked him. It's a dying art now that we want all our big names to be uber-talented actors like Bale or Downey, but how often was John Wayne not John Wayne, or Clint Eastwood not Clint Eastwood.

As for Total Recall and Predator... I dont' know what to say there beyond they have the same actor and yeah, are big budget action films. I don't doubt that Total Recall would've been a radically different film if it had been someone else in the lead role, but that doesn't mean its anything like Predator.
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
02/20/09

@Logan5: He's going skiing guys!! That means we have to ditch the Jungle gear and get the snow camo on. Wait. Predator, Snow, Cold. This may be a bit more expensive, let me call my friend Charles Weyland and he'll charter a boat for us to go get him.

waaait a minute. Now that movie did suck! Clever man Logan5.
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ggodo, the man from R.O.A.C.H.
02/20/09

@Garrison Dean: Dammit, I wanted to try my new fangled jungle blind.
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crashedpc - Haifisch
02/20/09

@Garrison Dean: So now that he's gone... can we dogpile on him again? Ah never mind, it's an early weekend for me and I'm off to get my teeth cleaned. EXCITEMENT.
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Gawd
02/20/09

@Logan5: I'm sure the discussion here is over, but realize this, (I'm pretty sure) in a previous post elsewhere, Logan5 was unaware that Wolverine had bone claws since childhood... um... geek credentials were stripped at that point.

Predator is THE greatest action movie ever. MCD would be a good addition to a new movie.
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
02/20/09

@Gawd: Well not to start a thread within a thread... BUT!!! Die Hard was acknowledged by a team of scholars, scientists, and artists to be the greatest Action Movie ever. Though Predator does come close.
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Gawd
02/20/09

@Garrison Dean: I love Die Hard, and yes it's one of the best... but c'mon... how can any scene in DH beat his one in Predator?:

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jbq
02/20/09

@Gawd: Coolest. Thread. Ever. Meredith, Garrison, Braak, Chrashedpc, Gawd, Belabras, you're my favourite people EVER and you'll always have a heart with this commenter.
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Belabras ate my dingo!
02/20/09

@jbq:

It's a love fest in here! I'll get a keg.

@Garrison Dean:

I was going to type out a response, but it would really be almost identical to Crashed's.

Words fail me. That is hilariously bad/awesome.
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Grey_Area
02/20/09

@Belabras: @jbq: et al y'all:

And to think that it was all inspired by a 3rd rate Troll.

Huzzah to all the Billy Goats Gruff of io9!

HUZZAH!!
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Chip Skylark of Space
02/20/09

In reply to We've Found One Commando For Robert Rodriguez's Predator Reboot
Meredith- a question for you- What's a commado? I saw the headline and wondered enough to read the article, and never found an answer.
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Moff
02/20/09

@SteverMan: She says "commado," you say...
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crashedpc - Haifisch
02/20/09

@SteverMan: Well, if you go commado you're still wearing street legal clothing. Commando, that's totally diff.
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crashedpc - Haifisch
02/20/09

@SteverMan: Also, emailing the editor would be a much more effective route.
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crashedpc - Haifisch
02/20/09

@Moff: SPEEDOS????
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Meredith Woerner
02/20/09

@Moff: @crashedpc: @CmdrHunt: Never forget I love you all for not throwing me under the bus for that. Sorry, sometimes you write stories at 4 AM.
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logicalnoise
02/20/09

In reply to We've Found One Commando For Robert Rodriguez's Predator Reboot
1) we need to finally make a human free predator movie there enough stories and mythos built up to last a long time.

2) if they cast MCD who the hell would play the predator? I mean they'd need a guy who could make MCD look small.
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crashedpc - Haifisch
02/20/09

@logicalnoise: Naturally, the Predator would be completely CG because that's how Hollywood rolls these days. It'd be 10 feet tall and be constantly, constantly, moving, be it drooling, snarling, farting, picking its teeth, whatever. It has to show off the CG budget. It's not like the live actors need to.
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SuperTuna
02/20/09

@crashedpc: Actually, they can just pull from the NBA right?
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crashedpc - Haifisch
02/20/09

@SuperTuna: Well, ok, that too. Damn, I thought I was onto something there.
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