Comment

Comment by Virgil Tibbs on November 25, 2012 at 2:06am

Random is random:

Comment by Virgil Tibbs on November 25, 2012 at 1:34am

Re-listening to the first part of the podcast, I want to correct Harris and Cyrus. Both Weak and Strong Atheism can be "evangelized" (devangelized is more accurate). For example, the New Atheist movement, kicked off by Sam Harris, actively spread the idea of doubt and Skepticism. Also, whether you are a Weak Atheist or a Strong Atheist(or an Atheist at all) depends on how God is defined. Some Gods may possibly exist but there is no convincing evidence to believe they do. Other Gods cannot exist because they are logically contradictory.

Comment by Dr. Detfink on November 24, 2012 at 11:37pm

Yea, I like the Elseworlds comparison. What if Dale wasn't there, how would it affect Andrea? 

Comment by Dr. Detfink on November 24, 2012 at 11:26pm

Aye I agree with Fungus. Ghost Rider, Sons of X-Archy, Super rapist are such prime examples of an exec getting in the face of Singer or whomever and saying, "Well our demographics..." but as so many more successful films have proved, you don't have to re-invent the wheel when it comes to adapting comics. The audience isn't stupid, they know going in, this is a fictional world. The key is making the socio-political statement that defined the BEST comic book stories balance with all the cool character defining moments aka ass-kicking that we couldn't stop trying to draw as a kid. 

Still, I do think every movie is a product of its time. I don't think you can get to Avengers today without those baby steps. Today's audience is very cynical. They NEED something to compare it to, so they feel they've upgraded in some way, that being story, special effects, etc.

And Pete if I can tag team with you on the "budget" excuse. This is not the 70s anymore where to get something made, you needed Pedophile pics on the producer...

That's why I can't forgive Walking Dead Season 2 (and I've tried). Don't get me wrong, I admit I am enjoying Season 3 very much so far but Season 2 is very forgettable. You can watch the first, last episode of Season 2 and two "something actually happened" episodes in between and not miss a beat. Don't forget that mid season split that is becoming trendy with AMC. Ugh....No, they could have gotten off the damn farm quicker. 

Staff Comment by Fungusmonkey on November 24, 2012 at 11:22pm

That being said, what seems to work about Walking Dead is that they kept the comic book universe, but are doing almost an "elseworlds" version of the characters and storylines. Sometimes it works, sometimes it flops.

Staff Comment by Fungusmonkey on November 24, 2012 at 11:05pm

The main problem with superhero shows (and to a similar degree - superhero films) is that there are too many people in positions of influence over these projects who believe that "comic books don't work on screen". It's this odd, essentially defeatist point of view where they presume that even though it works great in the comics, they still need to change it for TV or the big screen. Sure, there's always a bit of adjustment to be made. But at the point where you're making something like Arrow... you went too far. Putting the X-Men in leather biker suits... too far. Any of the Ghost Rider movies... too far. Superman as a creepy stalker deadbeat dad... too far.

The reason the Marvel films have been better received as a whole over other projects is because Marvel hasn't backed away from the fact that yes - these are comic book films. They don't muck around with the costumes (ok, well the WWII Cap suspenders thing, but apparently that's just me that hated it), they stay relatively close to the overall character they're representing, they don't drastically change the essential ethos or mythos.

In TV, the standard scapegoat is budget. "Oh, well we have budget concerns so we have to change some things around in order to make them work for TV"... really? If you don't have the budget to make a good show, how can you expect anyone to bother watching it. At that point, they're just making it for the vague name recognition (like Arrow or Smallville). In movies? There is NO scapegoat. After seeing what the right people can do with a script, with actors, with costumes, with special effects? The only reason a bad superhero movie happens is because the wrong people were hired. If you can create Gollum, you can make The Thing not look like a giant rubber suit. If you can bring the Chitauri to Earth, you can have Parallax not look like a giant turd cloud.

Comment by El Pollo Guerrera on November 24, 2012 at 10:35pm

Comment by Omegaman20 on November 24, 2012 at 10:14pm

Comment by Will Sanefski on November 24, 2012 at 9:51pm

Fuck Yess Cyrus is Back

Comment by james osi on November 24, 2012 at 8:40pm

Did you guys check out a movie called "the Pact 2012"?

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• …
• 12
• Next ›
• Page