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We Are Legend
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Mood:
legendary...what did you expect?
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Reading: Odyssey by Jack McDevitt
Music: Billy Bragg
TV/Movie: Alien vs. Predator: Requiem
Link o' the Day: The New Creature Double Feature Website.
Have I mentioned lately how much I love FiOS?
Today looks like it's going to be my monthly praise for Hulu.com. I watched quite a bit of it over the weekend. Movies. Classic television shows. Surprisingly decent anime shows. Their selection keeps getting better and better and if you've not checked out Hulu, then get thee hence.
And as for FiOS, I finally got around to (thanks to On Demand) seeing I Am Legend, the one starring Will Smith. It was pretty dang good. Will Smith has turned out to be a real fine actor. If you told me years ago that the Fresh Prince was going to become the poster boy for science fiction movies, I'd have choked on my own spit while laughing. Glad to be proven wrong.
As for the movie itself, I can't help but view it in light of its predecessors, i.e., the other two movies based on the Richard Matheson novel of the same name.
The first adaptation was The Last Man on Earth (1964) starring Vincent Price. This version was probably the closest as far as being true to the original storyline. But close only counts in horseshoes and elections. (This was also the only version of the three to have had the original author work on the screenplay--but later rewrites drove Matheson to distance himself from the final product.) I won't go into details so as not to ruin it for other folks. It's a good movie, and its ending, I think, much reflects the times in which it was made. And Vincent Price was really quite a decent actor when you gave him a chance.
As for the book--it was way ahead of its time. No surprise.
The second adaptation The Omega Man (1971) starred Charlton Heston. This was the first version I ever saw. Likewise, this was a product of its time--very Cold War paranoia providing the story's setup which, by the way, diverged the most from the original novel. So much so that it never really bothered Matheson. It was like a wholly different story, but with the main character being named Robert Neville. And there was a strong anti-science theme running through the story which kind of matched the American public's new distrust of technology via computers.
The last adaptation being I Am Legend (2007) is the only one to keep the original title intact, but it misses the point of the title in relation to its story. Dr. Neville is the "Legend" certainly, but in a much different manner than is implied from the book. In a way, The Last Man on Earth got a bit closer in its right to use I Am Legend as a title, but in yet another different way.
Of the three, the 2007 one is the most entertaining to watch. Let's hear it for modern storytelling techniques and modern filmmaking. And I should get over the differences from the novel.
Eh...adaptations. Whatya gonna do? It drives me nuts sometimes, but I can be a prick sometimes about that sort of thing. I blame Hollywood for not giving the movie-going audience enough credit, but then I also remind myself of the Very Depressing fact that one rarely goes broke underestimating the American public.
On the plus side...it's only rarely. I used to think never. Maybe we're growing as a society after all!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Busy busy busy week.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Today's link is mostly for those who grew up within range of the WLVI television station out of Boston. It's The New Creature Double Feature Wesite. This was a staple of my Saturday afternoons when I was a kid in the 70s (and a bit into the 80s). This is where I saw, for the first time, such classics as The Screaming Skull, Donovan's Brain, The Brain That Wouldn't Die, Battle Beyond the Sun, Invasion of the Saucer Men, Attack of the Mushroom People, Warning From Space, and all the great Kaiju movie series (Godzilla, Gamera, Giant Majin, etc.) and much, much more. This was before DVDs. This was before VHS. The Creature Double Feature, though, was how I could school myself in "the classics."
Frightening, ain't it? And its host, "Uncle" Dale Dorman is still around, doing a morning show, I believe, at WODS in Boston.
Ain't life grand?
Cheers!
Music: Billy Bragg
TV/Movie: Alien vs. Predator: Requiem
Link o' the Day: The New Creature Double Feature Website.
Have I mentioned lately how much I love FiOS?
Today looks like it's going to be my monthly praise for Hulu.com. I watched quite a bit of it over the weekend. Movies. Classic television shows. Surprisingly decent anime shows. Their selection keeps getting better and better and if you've not checked out Hulu, then get thee hence.
And as for FiOS, I finally got around to (thanks to On Demand) seeing I Am Legend, the one starring Will Smith. It was pretty dang good. Will Smith has turned out to be a real fine actor. If you told me years ago that the Fresh Prince was going to become the poster boy for science fiction movies, I'd have choked on my own spit while laughing. Glad to be proven wrong.
As for the movie itself, I can't help but view it in light of its predecessors, i.e., the other two movies based on the Richard Matheson novel of the same name.
The first adaptation was The Last Man on Earth (1964) starring Vincent Price. This version was probably the closest as far as being true to the original storyline. But close only counts in horseshoes and elections. (This was also the only version of the three to have had the original author work on the screenplay--but later rewrites drove Matheson to distance himself from the final product.) I won't go into details so as not to ruin it for other folks. It's a good movie, and its ending, I think, much reflects the times in which it was made. And Vincent Price was really quite a decent actor when you gave him a chance.
As for the book--it was way ahead of its time. No surprise.
The second adaptation The Omega Man (1971) starred Charlton Heston. This was the first version I ever saw. Likewise, this was a product of its time--very Cold War paranoia providing the story's setup which, by the way, diverged the most from the original novel. So much so that it never really bothered Matheson. It was like a wholly different story, but with the main character being named Robert Neville. And there was a strong anti-science theme running through the story which kind of matched the American public's new distrust of technology via computers.
The last adaptation being I Am Legend (2007) is the only one to keep the original title intact, but it misses the point of the title in relation to its story. Dr. Neville is the "Legend" certainly, but in a much different manner than is implied from the book. In a way, The Last Man on Earth got a bit closer in its right to use I Am Legend as a title, but in yet another different way.
Of the three, the 2007 one is the most entertaining to watch. Let's hear it for modern storytelling techniques and modern filmmaking. And I should get over the differences from the novel.
Eh...adaptations. Whatya gonna do? It drives me nuts sometimes, but I can be a prick sometimes about that sort of thing. I blame Hollywood for not giving the movie-going audience enough credit, but then I also remind myself of the Very Depressing fact that one rarely goes broke underestimating the American public.
On the plus side...it's only rarely. I used to think never. Maybe we're growing as a society after all!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Busy busy busy week.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Today's link is mostly for those who grew up within range of the WLVI television station out of Boston. It's The New Creature Double Feature Wesite. This was a staple of my Saturday afternoons when I was a kid in the 70s (and a bit into the 80s). This is where I saw, for the first time, such classics as The Screaming Skull, Donovan's Brain, The Brain That Wouldn't Die, Battle Beyond the Sun, Invasion of the Saucer Men, Attack of the Mushroom People, Warning From Space, and all the great Kaiju movie series (Godzilla, Gamera, Giant Majin, etc.) and much, much more. This was before DVDs. This was before VHS. The Creature Double Feature, though, was how I could school myself in "the classics."
Frightening, ain't it? And its host, "Uncle" Dale Dorman is still around, doing a morning show, I believe, at WODS in Boston.
Ain't life grand?
Cheers!
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