Christiana Talks About Stuff
http://christianastuff.powerblogs.com/
Basically, just a forum for me to report on any of the wide variety of shiny things that get caught in the cobweb that is my brainen-us2006-04-07T18:04+00:00Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Can you say "backfired"?
http://christianastuff.powerblogs.com/posts/1144433451.shtml
...Christiana2006-04-07T18:04+00:00
So did you hear about this guy Richard Leigh who was suing Dan Brown, the author of The Da Vinci Code, claiming that Mr. Brown copied elements of an earlier non-fiction book?
If not, you should know that it was a ludicrous lawsuit to the begin with. It was a non-fiction book that Mr. Brown used for some source material in writing his fiction novel! The guy didn't have a chance under any interpretation of copyright law. Clearly, (to me, anyway,) he was filing the lawsuit with the hope one or both of two things would happen:
1) Dan Brown and Random House would settle the lawsuit, thus paying Mr. Leigh a ridiculous sum of money to go away.
2) Mr Leigh's book would receive lots of publicity, thus selling more copies.
#2 kinda happened. It's estimated that almost 30,000 copies of the guy's book have been sold since the whole thing hit the media.
The judge not only ruled in favor of Dan Brown (of course!), but also ordered Mr. Leigh to pay 85% of Dan Brown and Random House's court costs! That's 1.1 MILLION Pounds! (Suit was filed in the UK) And that's not even including Mr. Leigh's own court costs of around 800,000 pounds!
Wow. He completely brought it on himself. This is one of the most spectacularly awful missteps I've ever heard of. That's what he gets for filing a lawsuit complaining that a bestselling novel used information from your non-fiction book, which isn't even illegal! What an idiot!
.]]>Crash... and burn.
http://christianastuff.powerblogs.com/posts/1144347694.shtml
...Christiana2006-04-06T18:04+00:00
Um, okay. They're going to make a Crash TV Series.
Los Angeles, CA (AHN) – The Oscar winning racial drama “Crash” will be adapted for the small screen and appear on nationwide television next year.
The film version starred Sandra Bullock, Terrence Howard, Matt Dillon and Don Cheadle and won Best Picture at the Academy Awards in March.
Producer Cathy Schulman says, "I hope it will air in the next year. The actors from the film will show up. Don Cheadle is a producer and will also be on at least a few episodes. We'll see about everyone else."
Let me go on the record here as saying I think this is a terrible idea, and not merely because I didn't enjoy the movie.
I've softened on the film considerably, not because I've changed my own personal opinion of it, but just in realizing that it's all about disagreement on a matter of taste, rather than any kind of objective quality. So it's not that it was a bad film, or that it "sucked", only that, personally, I really didn't like it.
My guess then, is that I wouldn't like the show either. But even if I had enjoyed the film, I would still think a TV Series spinoff is a bad idea if only because the nature of a TV series and of a film are very different. The film was a message-piece, about the capacity for racism in all of us, and how the interactions among people can surprise us with the same person acting as both victim and aggressor in the same day.
That's just not going to transfer well to an ongoing series, which needs to be about character, not concept. A concept can be enough to make you watch a show once or twice, but you'll only stick around if you like the characters. The whole story in the film hung entirely on the coincidental and unexpected connections between all these characters. What are they going to do in a series? Are they going to all meet each other? On what basis?
A TV series develops based on the relationships between the characters, but the entire theme and plot of the film hinged on the characters not really knowing one another. That was the whole point! That you see someone on the street and have a brief interaction with them, and you make a snap judgement about them, a judgement that can have lasting impact on both of you. If you were to have the characters get to know each other better, it changes all of that.
The only way I could see it working (maybe) is by focusing on the cop characters, only because they are the most likely to interact with a lot of very diverse people (in both race and class) on a regular basis.
I'm not saying that it can't possibly be a good show, only that the film itself will not transfer well, and the only way it could be a good series would be to change it enough that calling it "Crash" will only be an attempt to draw an audience of people who liked the film.
.]]>IGN Interviews Nathan Fillion *swoon*
http://christianastuff.powerblogs.com/posts/1144175552.shtml
...Christiana2006-04-04T18:04+00:00
Man, this guy is charming! I need to go take a cold shower or something.
.]]>Speaking of cool stuff you should know about...
http://christianastuff.powerblogs.com/posts/1143736376.shtml
...Christiana2006-03-30T16:03+00:00
The music of Jonathan Coulton.
He writes geek songs. Funny ones!
He's a really talented singer/songwriter to begin with, but how many love songs have you ever heard about an evil genius singing to the girl he has kidnapped and is holding prisoner in his secret lair? Coulton's: "Skullcrusher Mountain" is just that sort of love song. It contains the lyric: "I made this half-pony-half monkey monster to please you."
Then there's the bittersweet lament of a sea monster, determined to stop destroying the pretty pretty ships that float above him in "I Crush Everything", which contains the lyric: "The dolphins are all phonies."
Then there's "Chiron Beta Prime", a Christmas greeting from a family in exile on an asteroid, where they sing "where we are working in a mine for our robot overlords... did I say overlords? I meant protectors."
And what makes this all even cooler is that he releases his songs under creative commons, which means you can listen and share them all you want for free. But hey, he's super-awesome, so if you like his songs, make sure you purchase some of his songs so he can keep putting out the awesome.
.]]>Collaborative Writing on Battlestar Galactica
http://christianastuff.powerblogs.com/posts/1143733676.shtml
...Christiana2006-03-30T15:03+00:00
I don't know if you have been watching the new Battlestar Galactica or not, but if not, you should seriously make an effort to catch up on it on DVD. It's the best science fiction television show in... Hmm, not sure I can think of a better one. (Firefly maybe, but I don't really compare the two to each other)
Anyway, if you have been watching, then I don't know if you've been listening to Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Podcast. (He's the creator and head writer of the show.) It's an excellent insight behind the scenes of the show, and I've really been enjoying it. (It was one of the first podcasts I ever listened to.)
But the reason I bring it up today is that, in lieu of a new episode to give commentary on, the most recent podcast presents a recording made at one of their writer's meetings, back when the episode "Scar" was in the script stage. I think it's a fascinating example of how effective collaborative writing can be when it's done with a group of talented people who share a good chemistry.
Neat stuff!
.]]>Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg are cooler than you.
http://christianastuff.powerblogs.com/posts/1142968000.shtml
Don't worry, though. They're (much) cooler than me too....Christiana2006-03-21T19:03+00:00
Cooler in fact, than most of the planet. That's because of Spaced, and Shaun of the Dead.
Well, they haven't done much that we've been able to see for a while, except of course for this music video that Edgar directed: Bastardo (Simon has a cameo in it, as does Lucy Davis aka Dawn from the British The Office)
Now, however, they are starting to release a video diary about their next film: Hot Fuzz! (Watch the video and bask in the awesomeness!)
The first new episode of Southpark this season will feature: "The triumphant homecoming of school chef Jerome McElroy. While Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman are thrilled to have their old friend back, they notice that something about Chef seems different. When Chef's strange behavior starts getting him in trouble, the boys pull out all stops to save him." (No doubt made in response to Chef voice actor Isaac Hayes's decision to leave the show.)
Alan Moore was apparently so upset with the film (scroll to the bottom) version of V for Vendetta that he asked to have his name removed from the credits.
.]]>Crash stole the election!!!1! Um, I mean the Oscar!!!1!
http://christianastuff.powerblogs.com/posts/1141995310.shtml
...Christiana2006-03-10T12:03+00:00
See, this explains everything.
I propose that we impeach Paul Haggis.
.]]>A brief clarification...
http://christianastuff.powerblogs.com/posts/1141665587.shtml
...Christiana2006-03-06T17:03+00:00
I'll have more to say about this when I post show #61 tonight, but I want to clarify my last "announcement" just a little bit.
The harshness of my statement "Crash sucked" was created out of anger, based on my feeling that an undeserving film had won best picture over one that I thought truly worthy.
So, while I will not apologize for disliking the film, (and will go into more detail why in show #61), I will apologize to anyone who felt insulted by my tone. It was not my intention to disrespect anyone who did like the film, only to disagree.
(More detail tonight when I post #61)]]>A brief announcement... (Updated with the thing that cheered me up...)
http://christianastuff.powerblogs.com/posts/1141619147.shtml
*ahem*...Christiana2006-03-06T04:03+00:00
Crash sucked. That Best Picture win is bulls#!t.
That is all.
...
UPDATE:
Brokeback Mountain was a far-superior film, and like so many years past, the actual winner will fade in people's memories while a losing film will stay powerful.
Got a couple more films to see before the awards on Sunday, but here's my current Oscar Marathon Status!
(Download my Current Oscar Spreadsheet)
Total Percentage: 69.5%
Best Picture: Seen 5/5. Brokeback Mountain should and will win.
Best Animated Feature: Seen 3/3. Howl's Moving Castle just barely edges out Wallace and Gromit as my favorite, but won't win the statue.
Best Director: Seen 5/5. Brokeback Mountain should and will win.
Best Actor: Seen 5/5. Heath Ledger gets my vote (just barely), and the statue will go to him or Phillip Seymore Hoffman.
Best Actress: Seen 3/5. I liked Kiera Knightley the best, just by a little, but Huffman will win and that doesn't really bother me.
Best Supporting Actor: Seen 4/5. Oscar to Jake Gylenhall.
Best Supporting Actress: Seen 2/5. Michelle Williams will ride the BBM sweep.
Best Original Screenplay: Seen 4/5. Should go to Syriana's deliberately and purposefully overwhelming script.
Best Adapted Screenplay: Seen 4/5. Brokeback all the way, though Munich was top-notch too.
Best Foreign Film: Seen 0/5. I suck. No wait, nominating only films that haven't been released anywhere but film festivals in New York sucks.
Best Original Score: Seen 3/5. I don't often notice film scores, but I kinda liked the one in Pride and Prejudice.
Best Original Song: Seen 3/3. (Why only three?) Hard Out Here for a Pimp had better win.
Best Art Direction: Seen 4/5. King Kong. Gorgeous. 'Nuff said.
Best Cinematography: Seen 3/5. Brokeback Mountain got the colors right for once!
Best Costume Design: Seen 3/5. My vote goes to Pride and Prejudice, but the judging in this category is always weird.
Best Makeup: Seen 2/3. Why on earth is Star Wars Ep III nominated here and not Visual Effects? I vote for it just because it was snubbed for the one thing it actually did really well.
Best Documentary: Seen 1/5. Only saw March of the Penguins and it may win, but Grizzly Man was better and didn't even get a nomination.
Best Sound Mixing: Seen 4/5. I don't even know what the difference is between this and Sound Editing.
Best Sound Editing: Seen 2/3. I don't even know what the difference is between this and Sound Editing. (UPDATE! D'oh! I meant to say "between this and Sound Mixing." That's what I get for trying to be clever.)
Best Visual Effects: Seen 3/3. King Kong, baby!
Best Film Editing: Seen 3/3. This is the other one Spielberg might get for Munich.
