I haven’t posted in a long time I suppose.
I went to Black Angus with Amy and her family on Thanksgiving. I was glad to get a meal with other people on that day, but none of us were particularly impressed with the restaurant, it was my first time.
I did get my music recording situation underway. I bought a Creative E-MU 0404 sound card. I’m putting all live instruments into the MD8 and using it as a pre-amp. I had to get my acoustic guitar fixed up a bit, just got it back on Monday. I have 54 cassette tapes of old Pusher and EM stuff. My goal is to digitize all of it and give it to the band members when I’m in Ohio around Christmas. I’m using Ableton Live, which appears so far to be far more intuitive than CuBase (which came with the sound card). I also bought an M-Audio Radium 49 to use with Reason as a synth.
I was listening to the radio in the car the other day. I already knew Aeon Flux was going to suck several months ago when the first shots came out…well okay, all of us fans of the original show knew it would suck when they cast Charleze. So anyway – this commercial comes on and the background is that inane Trapt song “Headstong.” (“Back off I’ll take you on Headstrong to take on anyone I know that you are wrong Headstrong we’re Headstrong…”etc.) Then I realize that it is a commercial for Aeon Flux. I was laughing out loud. This was the day of release and they were already airing ads showing their acknowledgment that NO ONE who liked the original Peter Chung show would enjoy this movie. Better go after the braindead “ooh, a hot girl” and “ooh…they’ll fight! And things will explode!” crowd. Aeon Flux is a perfect example of how films can ruin an original idea (whether it is a book, tv show, etc.)
I also don’t understand why I should want to see Peter Jackson’s King Kong… I went to see LOTR because I knew that the Balrog would be new and different, and Golom would look cool and be different than any other live action character I’d seen before….and so on. How many versions of King Kong have there been? The previews show A) giant spiders B) a giant gorilla C) a T-Rex and D) bloodthirsty savages on a remote island. I just saw a giant spider two years ago in Return of the King, and it was perfect. T-Rex has been on screen in the past ten years many times – nothing new there. A giant gorilla going ape (pardon the pun) in New York? I’d enjoy it more as a 30 second Coke ad, at least then the antique novelty wouldn’t wear off so fast. Weird goings ons on remote islands…. isn’t there a certain show on a certain network about a plane crash right now with the same setting…starring a certain hobbit from a Peter Jackson film….??? Remakes are great when they ad something or do something the original couldn’t. Making things bigger and longer just because you can never works. I’d buy those pills if they really worked….but they don’t.
People who drink diet coke, read books by readers digest, or buy another run and shoot (Doom nr 463) for 60 bucks will go to see Flux. You can’t expect them to get the point of her/him/it getting killed every week. I give you—ta da:Slutty Slut Slut Hilton.
I don’t expect them to get it. I expect Peter Chung to have more self-respect. I’d understand it if a poor sap like me that hasn’t tasted success gets a few million dollars for my idea and no creative control and my idea is bulldozed into a pile of dog shit….but this guy was already successful and Aeon Flux was like his child. I heard he was actually involved with the film which seems even more odd. They didn’t even use the original composer of the music for the show (which was very weird music and fit in well), instead they are using a bunch of drum and bass MTV crap (so the reviews say).
When Mike Judge had a chance to make the beavis and butthead movie it wasn’t live action… and it wasn’t the best movie ever – but it didn’t sell out…
When Matt Stone and Trey Parker made the South Park movie they put a lot of work into it and it wasn’t live action – and it fit in with the show as a whole….and didn’t sell out.
A lot of people have taken their animated shows to “the next level” (movies) and made it work. Aeon Flux was more artistically creative and interesting than either of the two shows I just mentioned…and yet the movie seems to have been given the least amount of thought. Aeon Flux might just be an “OK” movie….but I see it as an artistic failure by Peter Chung…that is why it pisses me off so much. It should have been an awesome jaw-dropping animated film ….instead its just another Tomb Raider: Back to the Future.