Thanks again, will check out those titles soon. Have you seen the Yakuza movie btw? The fact I kept hearing good things about the director made my disappointment possibly bigger than it should be.
And what's up with Hollywood remaking movies that are barely released? Case in point: Quarantine is a poor man's REC. Why isn't original material okayed by the top brass? But not all is lost..
What was the last movie you've seen?
Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
Thy ban hammer shalt strike 
Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
Unfortunately I haven't seen Yakuza yet. I'll make that call when I get there, but I've got a lot of stuff to watch first.
As for Hollywood, they're trying to capture what's popular to capitalize on the financial gain. While film making is definitely an art form, and quality acting, directing, and writing will impact a work, the production companies are also about making money. So, when something that will likely appeal to the mass market appears, suddenly they all want a piece of the pie. Look at the influx of remakes of Japanese horror films in the US. Also look at the Japanese response, which was to then saturate their market with those kinds of films(Takashi Miike's Chakushin ari comes to mind) in hopes that they would be picked up for a price(and on a funny note, it worked. Chakushin ari was remade as One Missed Call, which was released in the US Jan. 4, 2008).
Eventually this fad will go away, only to be followed by other fads. It'll constantly play out over and over again as each time something else will become popular. Frankly I wish we would see a revival of cyberpunk in American films, but I know that probably will never happen.
As for Hollywood, they're trying to capture what's popular to capitalize on the financial gain. While film making is definitely an art form, and quality acting, directing, and writing will impact a work, the production companies are also about making money. So, when something that will likely appeal to the mass market appears, suddenly they all want a piece of the pie. Look at the influx of remakes of Japanese horror films in the US. Also look at the Japanese response, which was to then saturate their market with those kinds of films(Takashi Miike's Chakushin ari comes to mind) in hopes that they would be picked up for a price(and on a funny note, it worked. Chakushin ari was remade as One Missed Call, which was released in the US Jan. 4, 2008).
Eventually this fad will go away, only to be followed by other fads. It'll constantly play out over and over again as each time something else will become popular. Frankly I wish we would see a revival of cyberpunk in American films, but I know that probably will never happen.
Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
Ack wrote:Frankly I wish we would see a revival of cyberpunk in American films, but I know that probably will never happen.
Or indeed science fiction without the intrusive elements of fantasy, but to a much lesser degree. I'm surprised the Terminator series and BGS are doing okay to be honest. So I take it you're a Blade Runner junkie like me who has all 4691 cuts?
Thy ban hammer shalt strike
Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
When I first saw Blade Runner about a decade ago, I didn't get it at all. Absolutely hated it. I rewatched it finally about three years ago(after reading Neuromancer), and my opinion changed completely. It's an absolutely amazing film, and I wish there were more, with that retrofitted futuristic attitude. I love cyberpunk, through and through, so I try to find as much as I can in the genre. It's a shame it's dead. If you've never seen it, there's a Korean film called Natural City you might enjoy. Also, while it's got some problems and I found it kinda dull, a Japanese punk film called Burst City has some good cyberpunk elements to it. Give them a look.
I also have a fond opinion of the fusion of science fiction and the wild west. Films like Westworld, series like Firefly, and anime like Cowboy Bebop do an excellent job of showing how the Wild West still has some good material, just in a different setting(I also find this in samurai films).
I also have a fond opinion of the fusion of science fiction and the wild west. Films like Westworld, series like Firefly, and anime like Cowboy Bebop do an excellent job of showing how the Wild West still has some good material, just in a different setting(I also find this in samurai films).
Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
Natural City's aesthetics were very pleasing, but it couldn't touch Blade Runner in terms of atmosphere. But kudos to them for trying. First time I hear of Burst City though. I did enjoy Firefly and Cowboy Bebop. Also, The Thirteenth Floor and Cypher are both very watchable, but I reckon you viewed both already 
Btw whatever happened to cyberpunk? The Matrix made it so popular that it went out with a bang (and for good)? (didn't enjoy the two sequels as much as the first Matrix though). One would have thought it ought to have made cyberpunk more mainstream than ever.
Btw whatever happened to cyberpunk? The Matrix made it so popular that it went out with a bang (and for good)? (didn't enjoy the two sequels as much as the first Matrix though). One would have thought it ought to have made cyberpunk more mainstream than ever.Thy ban hammer shalt strike
Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
The Matrix was more a throwback. A few cyberpunk-themed films have appeared in the late 90s, probably partly linked to the Dot Com crash and the economic woes that led to(as well as a realization that the Internet, like any other technology, was not a savior). The problem with cyberpunk is that it really died with the '80s. That, or it moved to Japan. Part of the problem is that cyberpunk was a near future science fiction, one which we were rapidly advancing towards. Take Neuromancer and really look at it. How much of that technology already exists in one form or another? Hell, in terms of plots, some of the time tables for cyberpunk are already on us, or will be within a decade.
But really, look at how the world has changed since the 1980s. Cyberpunk was fueled by the same anger and revulsion towards mainstream society that was fueling underground music and art at the time. Punk is effectively dead, and with it some of the artistic roots of the genre. The feeling of impending doom by the Soviet-U.S. arms races and potential world war? The Soviet Union has collapsed, and while we're not exactly friendly with Russia, and we're not fans of Iran, they're not the USSR. What about the overbearing corporations(typically Japanese in cyberpunk), slowly taking control of world governments for power and profit? Repeated market crashes and failures(such as Japan in the 1990s), the boom of small business via the Internet(and their subsequent failures) as well as the sudden explosion of new corporations to unprecedented size in as little as a decade, politicians leading the public on anti-corporate witch hunts to appease the people...there goes another common element.
Cyberpunk also diffused into a myriad of subgenres, such as biopunk, steampunk, or even postcyberpunk. It was borrowing heavily from themes we had been seeing for decades, such as noir and postmodernism. This, combined with massive technology and a heavy dose of nihilism, and we had our cyberpunk.
And then there are the two problems that seemed to emerge with it: first off, it's a heavily visual medium, one which is expensive to produce. Also, it's difficult to write as it tends to focus so heavily on the technological side, a materialistic view that makes it appear as if it lacks substance.
I haven't seen Thirteenth Floor or Cypher yet(though Thirteenth Floor is number 8 in my Netflix queue...).
As for cyberpunk's revival, it's possible. The discontent arrived at over the Bush administration and the mortgage crisis, the political polarization of mass medias, the fear of a Soviet return as well as terrorist organizations potentially getting their hands on WMDs(no matter how much I hate that term), and the feel that technology and favor is moving away from us or is being used against us by our enemies(the growing Chinese presence on the Internet, for instance)...these could all lead to a potential return. But even if that were to happen, it would likely be labeled postcyberpunk.
Also note, many of the more cyberpunkish films and games coming out right now? Most of it's adapted from written works from thirty years ago, as is occurring with a lot of what Hollywood produces nowadays.
But really, look at how the world has changed since the 1980s. Cyberpunk was fueled by the same anger and revulsion towards mainstream society that was fueling underground music and art at the time. Punk is effectively dead, and with it some of the artistic roots of the genre. The feeling of impending doom by the Soviet-U.S. arms races and potential world war? The Soviet Union has collapsed, and while we're not exactly friendly with Russia, and we're not fans of Iran, they're not the USSR. What about the overbearing corporations(typically Japanese in cyberpunk), slowly taking control of world governments for power and profit? Repeated market crashes and failures(such as Japan in the 1990s), the boom of small business via the Internet(and their subsequent failures) as well as the sudden explosion of new corporations to unprecedented size in as little as a decade, politicians leading the public on anti-corporate witch hunts to appease the people...there goes another common element.
Cyberpunk also diffused into a myriad of subgenres, such as biopunk, steampunk, or even postcyberpunk. It was borrowing heavily from themes we had been seeing for decades, such as noir and postmodernism. This, combined with massive technology and a heavy dose of nihilism, and we had our cyberpunk.
And then there are the two problems that seemed to emerge with it: first off, it's a heavily visual medium, one which is expensive to produce. Also, it's difficult to write as it tends to focus so heavily on the technological side, a materialistic view that makes it appear as if it lacks substance.
I haven't seen Thirteenth Floor or Cypher yet(though Thirteenth Floor is number 8 in my Netflix queue...).
As for cyberpunk's revival, it's possible. The discontent arrived at over the Bush administration and the mortgage crisis, the political polarization of mass medias, the fear of a Soviet return as well as terrorist organizations potentially getting their hands on WMDs(no matter how much I hate that term), and the feel that technology and favor is moving away from us or is being used against us by our enemies(the growing Chinese presence on the Internet, for instance)...these could all lead to a potential return. But even if that were to happen, it would likely be labeled postcyberpunk.
Also note, many of the more cyberpunkish films and games coming out right now? Most of it's adapted from written works from thirty years ago, as is occurring with a lot of what Hollywood produces nowadays.
Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
I finally watched Matrix Reloaded in the weekend.
Lamer than the first [of course], but not as bad as some put it out to be.
Lamer than the first [of course], but not as bad as some put it out to be.
If each mistake being made is a new one, then progress is being made.
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DaGamingMonkey
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Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
Saw Role Models,
Very funny
Very funny
Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
Ack wrote:Frankly I wish we would see a revival of cyberpunk in American films, but I know that probably will never happen.
Actually, I would love to see a revival of cyberpunk in general, not just in films. But in my defense, I've only gotten into cyberpunk about four years ago.
Also:
* Currently watching "The Wiz", the 1978 film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name. Basically, it's a retelling of L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", told with an all-African-American cast. And frankly, despite it being a box-office flop (and much different from the B'way show), I actually like it better than the 1939 film that everyone loves so much. Here's the trailer
* Also working on a fanedit of "The Doom Generation". I'm currently staging a project dedicated to the fictitious 1990s revival of grindhouse cinema. Basically, I'm altering the video, warping the audio, taking out a few things, and adding a missing reel.
Re: What was the last movie you've seen?
look up Scar Night by Alan Campbell- a new take on steampunk with fantasy elements