Damn, the more I see of Blomkamp's work, the more I like him. "Tempbot" made me all sniffly. Poor Tempbot. I agree though that I'm not sure how if its muteness would translate well in feature length. Wall-E had more to say than Tempbot. At the same time I don't think that the concept would work as well if it spoke either. If Blomkamp were to ever figure something out though, I'd watch it.
@Jesustron:
I'd prefer to wait and see how he finishes the story before deciding whether or not I'd like to see it in movie form. Spin was great, but Axis is a bit harder to get attached to.
Funny that io9 thinks 2081 could be killed because it was "funded by a conservative think tank" but Gas Zappers is a go with its George W.-faced drills and loony climate premise.
@Traveshamockery: Although 2081 may have been financed by a conservative think tank, Kurt Vonnegut was a socialist who Verbally crapped on George W. Bush every chance he got.
@Bill-Lee: Considering Harrison Bergeron takes aim at the fallacy and issues of making everyone equal, I am kind of surprised Vonnegut was a socialist. The piece seems to attack the notion that everyone should be equal to the detriment of society as a whole.
@brett108: Um, there's a difference between socialism and a belief that everyone should be the same. It's just that somehow folks in the US (and elsewhere) have gotten into their heads that money is the most important signal of difference. But, well, let's say you paid everyone on a baseball team the same amount of money (and let's make it a good, comfortable wage). You still have a group of people who excel at different positions on the field. And you'll still have batters doing their best to be the best batters. Heck, you can take the money out of that situation and you've got Little League and bragging rights. And one current very socialist (and very imperfect) regime does a lot to foster excellence in a number of fields, two of which happen to be baseball and boxing. So please, don't spuriously equate socialism with deadening conformism. It's even possible that certain types of socialism could result in more risk-taking and striving for excellence than a capitalist society like the US. Much of it has to do with culture rather than simple differences in economic systems.
@Boas_MC: And yet, this era of political correctness seems very set on making sure everyone is exactly the same - we all are intelligent, we just have different kinds of intelligence, and so on.
My mom gets a lot of this kind of talk, cause she's a teacher. She loved The Incredibles, because she thought it was a knock against PC-ness in public schools: "When everyone is special, then no one will be!"
@Traveshamockery: Actually, I don't personally take issue with where 2081 came from, I just wonder about its production chances. Much like I don't think WALL-E should prevent Pixar from doing Lifted.
And I definitely picture Gas Zappers sans George W. Bush. There are plenty more politicians to lampoon on all sides.
@franklinshepard: Not to make you into a strawperson, but people have been complaining about 'this era of political correctness' since the 1980s. Generally they do so because they want to say offensive things without being held accountable for them.
Jasper Morello is one of my fave short films EVER. I WISH someone would do a feature movie of this in the same style, but I think it could also work as a live action.
I'd like to point out, there are to be further Jasper Morello adventures...
the full series is
The First Voyage - Jasper Morello and the Lost Airship
The Second Voyage - Jasper Morello and the Return of Claude Belgon
The Third Voyage - Jasper Morello and the Ghosts of Alto Mea
The Fourth Voyage - Jasper Morello and the Ebenezer of Gothia, in a Feature Presentation
Harrison Bergeron was already made into a full-length movie starring Sean Astin with much the same plot as described here. It wasn't great, but it's been done.
@Grey_Area: Yes another hack job for hollywood.we used to have this film in the video store i work for.
i say if they won't get it right the 1st time then move on to something else.
@gorehound: In its defense, it was randomly seeing this movie on tv late one night that first got me interested in Vonnegut. I feel like I kind of owe it.
@collex: In the US, the Screen Actors Guild defines a feature as 80 mins. or greater. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sets their minimum length at 40 mins. In the US feature films are usually 80 -120 mins in duration. So technically a short subject is any film shorter than 80 mins. or 40 mins. depending on whose rule you are following. Some festivals will set a maximum of their own. For example, I just participated in a festival (the 7 Seven Day Film Festival) that set its maximum length at 15 mins.
@Bill-Lee: In France the standard for a feature film is based on physical amount of film footage. To be classified as feature length it has to be 1600 meters of film or 58 mins of running time. So I guess in France anything else would be a short.
@Dunny0: Since they actually DID make that into a film, and the article is about shorts that SHOULD be made into films, one wonders whether you read the article at all?
@Pope John Peeps II: I did, and I'm sorry my poorly phrased joke failed as hard as it did.
See, I was pointing out that the films "District 9" and "9" both contain the number nine in their titles, and was positing that number was the reason for potential success, not being based on shorter films.
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I'd watch it.
09/04/09
And not the "hiding in the closet" thing either.
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So much awesomeness to put on film...but they could really screw it too.
09/04/09
I'd prefer to wait and see how he finishes the story before deciding whether or not I'd like to see it in movie form. Spin was great, but Axis is a bit harder to get attached to.
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My mom gets a lot of this kind of talk, cause she's a teacher. She loved The Incredibles, because she thought it was a knock against PC-ness in public schools: "When everyone is special, then no one will be!"
09/04/09
And I definitely picture Gas Zappers sans George W. Bush. There are plenty more politicians to lampoon on all sides.
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the full series is
The First Voyage - Jasper Morello and the Lost Airship
The Second Voyage - Jasper Morello and the Return of Claude Belgon
The Third Voyage - Jasper Morello and the Ghosts of Alto Mea
The Fourth Voyage - Jasper Morello and the Ebenezer of Gothia, in a Feature Presentation
Source - [www.jaspermorello.com]
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Edit: Yeah, it is. At least the head.
[www.youtube.com]
Super edit: Whoops, the Tetra Vaal thing is mentioned in the article. Warbot still stands, though.
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i say if they won't get it right the 1st time then move on to something else.
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That was the key item both short-film to feature-film successes had.
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See, I was pointing out that the films "District 9" and "9" both contain the number nine in their titles, and was positing that number was the reason for potential success, not being based on shorter films.
09/03/09