I live under a rock
Dec. 4th, 2003 03:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nmgI hadn't heard that Alan Moore was retiring from the (mainstream) comic industry.
I hadn't heard that the Wachowski brothers are to make a film of V for Vendetta.
I am deeply worried by both of the above.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2003-12-04 08:05 am (UTC)I say could be.
Who are the Wachwotsit Brothers? Are they the ones who did the Matrix?
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Date: 2003-12-04 08:13 am (UTC)They are indeed. On the strength of the first Matrix film, I'd say that they could do a good job. On the weaknesses of the second and third Matrix films, I'd suspect that they couldn't.
Besides which, when would you set the film? 1998? Not the future any more. Any other time, and you wouldn't be able to use the cabaret number.
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Date: 2003-12-04 08:25 am (UTC)I've only seen the first Matrix film, and frankly I wasn't very impressed. Once you got past the flashy cinematography (which was really only impressive because they were the first to do it; now that multiple-shot effects are commonplace, it doesn't look so cool), the plot was quite badly flawed, and the characterisation (particularly Neo and Trinity) flimsy. 'We're all being controlled, what we perceive as reality is in fact engineered' was done better in Dark City, and I'm sure I remember the 'people in pods' thing from an old Outer Limits/Twilight Zone.
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Date: 2003-12-04 08:29 am (UTC)I don't think that I could have come up with a phrase that damns the Matrix more than "Dark City was a better film" ;)
You make good points, I agree. V fro Vendetta needs a good script, and a director who's not going to ride roughshod over the plot, particularly those bits which are most resonant with a UK setting. For example, set the film anywhere other than the UK, and you lose the Guy Fawkes/saint-or-sinner theme that pervades the comic.
Having seen League of Extraordinary Gentlemen butchered, I'd rather V for Vendetta was left untouched.
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Date: 2003-12-04 08:36 am (UTC)I do think it's a good film, though, and makes important points about self-delusion and what it means to be happy.
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Date: 2003-12-04 08:37 am (UTC)Also, it has Rufus Sewell, who is way cooler than Keanu Reeves...
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Date: 2003-12-04 08:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-04 08:46 am (UTC)IMdb says Alex Proyas, who is apparently doing an adaptation of I, Robot.
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Date: 2003-12-04 08:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-04 08:51 am (UTC)The downside is that it appears to star Will Smith.
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Date: 2003-12-04 09:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-04 09:49 am (UTC)Tell me he doesn't sing? Oh please tell me he doesn't sing!
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Date: 2003-12-04 09:03 am (UTC)I lobbied hard for it to be produced at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow a few years back, but was told that modern audiences would never accept the notion of a completely state-controlled internet, with only one successful hacker.
There's also a casting problem. The director I spoke to laughed at the thought of any actor agreeing to be masked for the entire proceedings. He said that in his experience, there were few people who had the physical presence and voice skill to perform V, as all the bankable stars had built their careers on their looks, and any suitable unknown actor wouldn't attract sufficient studio backing.
In my nightmares I imagine the dying V removing the mask to reveal Matt Damon, who then tenderly kisses Eve (Halle Berry) goodbye to a swelling orchestral score, before she dons cape, mask and hat, and goes out into the London night to rescue Dominic (Colin Farrell).
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Date: 2003-12-04 09:10 am (UTC)You forgot the "set on the hard streets of a future Nuw Yoick" bit.
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Date: 2003-12-04 09:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-04 09:26 am (UTC)True, but it would be hard to justify the presence of all those American actors in a film set in the UK at a time when the US is supposed to be gently glowing.
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Date: 2003-12-04 09:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-04 11:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-06 07:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-04 11:09 am (UTC)Imagine someone in the year 2100 decides to make the film. 1998 would be a perfectly natural time for them to set it, just as it's natural to leave any other ancient story in its natural era. Why should it be different for someone in 2003?
Bound, the Wachowski before the Matrix, was excellent.
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Date: 2003-12-04 08:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-04 08:15 am (UTC)We can only hope that the V rumour is untrue...
btw, are you and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mr_tom Tun'ing this evening?
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Date: 2003-12-04 09:05 am (UTC)We'll have to arrange another pub meet with Tony and Tom and sundry others, at a time and venue to suit you, soon!
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Date: 2003-12-04 11:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-08 06:23 am (UTC)Given that I hadn't been to a Tun meeting for quite some time (since it was in the Wellington, in fact), everything struck me as a bit on the bijou side.