Has nerd culture gotten so cynical, so spoiled that we don't even recognize a good movie when we see one? I really enjoyed John Carter -- but, sadly, there will probably be no sequel if people ignore it.
I'm not talking about the horrible science-fiction and fantasy movies I had to endure when I was a kid in the 50's and 60's, which were either done by Hollywood hacks who didn't understand the genre, or by Hollywood hacks who thought the way to present the material was by making fun of it.
I'm talking about real good faith efforts to faithfully translate onto screen what was in the books, or comics.
The hell with that. Sorry. But I'm pissed that so many opportunities are being lost because fanboys can't get their heads out of their asses to see decent movies, but reward crap like The Transformers.
Rocketeer, Serenity, Watchmen, Bladerunner, Strange Days, Sky Captain, The Golden Compass, and many others I can't remember at the moment. I remember nearly begging people to see Serenity, for instance. (And Firefly before that -- sorry, you just think you saw the original run, but you didn't because nobody did.)
Some, like Bladerunner, have a huge afterlife and effect, but again, if they flop when they first come out there is little chance we'll get another.
You guys just don't know how good you got it.
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About Me
- Duncan McGeary
- I'm Duncan McGeary, owner and/or operator for the last 39 years of Pegasus Books in Downtown Bend, Oregon. These days I'm writing books as well as selling them. I'm the comic book guy. But even more so, I'm a book book guy. Books of all kinds. Big books and little books, children's and adult, fiction and non-fiction, hardback and paperback and trade paperback and graphic novels. Books with more words than pictures and books with more pictures than words. They are all part of the book world to me, and I love being surrounded by them every day.
11 comments:
Dunc, you've been talking John Carter down since day one. You're the one who started spreading negativity before you even saw it. Now you've done an about face because it surprised you and you think you can just be mad at everyone else for following your lead. Well maybe you can be upset that people don't think for themselves enough but this is a conversation that absolutely cannot enter into without a little bit of humility.
No, uh!
I didn't like the trailer and I didn't like the title change.
I hadn't seen the movie.
They utterly mis-marketed this movie. They tried to play up the portentousness -- and they should have played up the Fun.
Besides-- nerds, why are you listening to me? Read some reviews, cut through the crap, and get a clue.
Who, me?
For instance, the landscapes were less than overwhelming -- which really showed up in the trailers -- and didn't match the dulcet tones of the actors, the -- well, portentious I think is the right word.
Whereas, in the movie the landscape is just alien enough to be interesting, but not the point -- the adventure was.
Indeed, the special effects were the least important part of this movie and in some ways got in the way of the good old-fashioned storytelling.
O.K. I admit to being part of the negative drumbeat, but what I'm saying is -- get over it!
It's a good movie.
Minor Spoilers.
What's sad is that his movie would have been just as good, if not better, with about 100 million less in special effects.
The battle scenes in the cities, for instance, could have been scaled smaller without losing any intensity.
The traveling city seemed pretty unnecessary. The speedbike race escape would have worked just as well if we'd seen Carter jumping around the city. (Which seems like they've already established.)
Like the bad trio of Star Wars, too much money on distracting special effects.
Declaring movies DOA before they even hit theaters is inexplicable (and unfair) to my mind. It seems that opening day is IT — o more letting a movie find its audience. Which is why we get so much derivative crap — everybody wants a sure bet, which translates to "something that has worked before." Ugh!
Jim
Yeah.
I'm going to stop doing that.
You simply can't tell from the trailers...
My bad.
'fanboys can't get their heads out of their asses to see decent movies, but reward crap like The Transformers.'
They're children. They don't know a good movie when they see one. MAybe John Carter was aiming at the wrong market? (Note: I haven't seen it, don't plan to.)
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