There was a fantastic indie movie in the 90s called Permanent Midnight. It starred Ben Stiller as Jerry Stahl who wrote for Alf and had a pretty heavy drug habit. Funny how Stahl only gets a passing mention in the article.
>> We want to do the movie for the 35- to 40-year-olds who remember watching it.
C'mon. Not this again, please. I'm tired of revisiting the 80's and 90's. Enough superhero movies. I want new things, I want a Rendezvous with Rama movie, or The Mote in God's Eye, or the Terramar saga.
Please stop it. In 20 years, there will be no possibility of revisiting the 2000/2010, since it will be the same as revisiting the 80/90.
This reminds me of an often quoted passage from a review of the book Armada:
"Do we want to tell stories that make sense of the things we used to love, that help us remember the reasons we were so drawn to them, and create new works that inspire that level of devotion? Or do we simply want to hear the litany of our childhood repeated back to us like an endless lullaby for the rest of our lives?"
I have to agree. The 80's were fond. I was a kid riding my bike around the neighborhood. Mom took us to the huge flea market at the race track in the summer time. GI Joe, Mario Brothers and Ghostbusters were all the rage. We got a Nintendo.
It's over. Just stop. Stop taking advantage of my childhood and nostalgia.
While I agree, it's simple economics. The people who remember the 80's and 90's fondly are in their prime spending time of their lives. Producers know this.
I feel you, it is often annoying. Not saying I really want to see an Alf movie, but every now and then the nostalgic remakes really knock one out of the park.
The recent example that makes me say this is the new 'Dark Crystal' series on Netflix (coincidentally also puppets haha). The original movie was berried so deep in my brain I had all but forgotten it. Then I saw the previews and it all came rushing back.
I think they did a wonderful job capturing the essence of the original. I found it very entertaining & we binged through all 10 episodes. I highly recommend!
I also loved that show (as well as the movie which I've watched a few times since I saw it as a kid).
The thing with Dark Crystal--aside from the impressive nature of all the puppetry and design--is that there's still a lot of story to tell in that world.
The movie was more like The Hobbit in a sense. Great world building without spelling everything out, simple quest, interesting characters, etc.
But there is apparently a lot of other material which has only been explored in stories and comics so far and it leaves room to build on what the movie started.
Even knowing the "ending" due to seeing the movie, I enjoyed the show and am eager to see if Netflix shells out for a continuation. The end may be the beginning, but it's really not all the same ;)
I imagine Netflix will buy another season if they haven't already. I watched the Movie again after the show.. It was cool to see how much more detail about the universe the show was able to go into, and fun to imagine how the next season (or two) will bridge the gap to the movie.
Hollywood has always been big on remakes & sequels and such. Tons of films had multiple silent versions then multiple talky remakes later, over the decades. Very common to see when you're poking around the history of cinema on Wikipedia or wherever. Nothing new.
> I want a Rendezvous with Rama movie, or The Mote in God's Eye, or the Terramar saga.
Or the Foundation series, or the whole Asimov's Robot series... It's a pity how already written masterpieces are not chosen instead of another skeleton plot encased in special effects. Maybe the rights are too expensive?
I was sick the other day and slept in our guest room to spare my family. I only get OTA TV in that room. I realized MeTV was back in our area on a different channel. When I used to live alone, I would sleep with the TV on for background noise to make me feel like the place was not empty.
Anyway left the TV on MeTV overnight Friday and woke up Saturday to ALF. Really hadn’t seen an episode since it was first aired. Going to Wikipedia, I was blown away that it was on for four seasons, was cancelled at the end of the fourth, and the season four finale was never intended to be the last episode. Years later they tied up the ending of the show.
I swear up and down it felt like the show was on for more than four years. I also remembered my first dog died during one of the episodes of Alf I watched as a kid, so that wound was opened again. :(
16 comments
[ 2.6 ms ] story [ 48.8 ms ] threadC'mon. Not this again, please. I'm tired of revisiting the 80's and 90's. Enough superhero movies. I want new things, I want a Rendezvous with Rama movie, or The Mote in God's Eye, or the Terramar saga.
Please stop it. In 20 years, there will be no possibility of revisiting the 2000/2010, since it will be the same as revisiting the 80/90.
"Do we want to tell stories that make sense of the things we used to love, that help us remember the reasons we were so drawn to them, and create new works that inspire that level of devotion? Or do we simply want to hear the litany of our childhood repeated back to us like an endless lullaby for the rest of our lives?"
It's over. Just stop. Stop taking advantage of my childhood and nostalgia.
Seriously, I'm sick too of remakes and prequels, but this trend won't stop until enough people are sick of it and stop paying money for it.
Here's a movie about a lovable alien visitor:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_(film)
The recent example that makes me say this is the new 'Dark Crystal' series on Netflix (coincidentally also puppets haha). The original movie was berried so deep in my brain I had all but forgotten it. Then I saw the previews and it all came rushing back.
I think they did a wonderful job capturing the essence of the original. I found it very entertaining & we binged through all 10 episodes. I highly recommend!
The thing with Dark Crystal--aside from the impressive nature of all the puppetry and design--is that there's still a lot of story to tell in that world.
The movie was more like The Hobbit in a sense. Great world building without spelling everything out, simple quest, interesting characters, etc.
But there is apparently a lot of other material which has only been explored in stories and comics so far and it leaves room to build on what the movie started.
Even knowing the "ending" due to seeing the movie, I enjoyed the show and am eager to see if Netflix shells out for a continuation. The end may be the beginning, but it's really not all the same ;)
Or the Foundation series, or the whole Asimov's Robot series... It's a pity how already written masterpieces are not chosen instead of another skeleton plot encased in special effects. Maybe the rights are too expensive?
Anyway left the TV on MeTV overnight Friday and woke up Saturday to ALF. Really hadn’t seen an episode since it was first aired. Going to Wikipedia, I was blown away that it was on for four seasons, was cancelled at the end of the fourth, and the season four finale was never intended to be the last episode. Years later they tied up the ending of the show.
I swear up and down it felt like the show was on for more than four years. I also remembered my first dog died during one of the episodes of Alf I watched as a kid, so that wound was opened again. :(