That's my girl, large and in-charge. Okay, teensy-weensy and in charge.

Gunn ,'Just Rewards (2)'


Buffista Movies 3: Panned and Scanned  

A place to talk about movies--Old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.


Polter-Cow - Oct 19, 2004 11:48:04 am PDT #4833 of 10001
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

And then and then and then and then and then and then and then?

Oh yeah. That was pretty funny. So there were three funny things in that movie, including the "mysterious and powerful object" and the pudding.

See, the first time I saw it, I don't think I laughed at all, and I saw The Emperor's New Groove directly afterward, which made it look even less funny by comparison. But then I caught part of it one day and decided to look at it as a surreal adventure with emus, and it's not such a bad movie.


Jessica - Oct 19, 2004 11:49:38 am PDT #4834 of 10001
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

The funny part is, it's not even a fair attribution, since the fall of Troy doesn't happen in the Iliad.

Well, exactly. But without "Based on the Iliad" in front of it, there's nothing wrong with writing a movie about the fall of Troy that leaves out a bunch of stuff that's in the Iliad and makes up a bunch of other stuff that's not, and basically exists as an excuse to show off Brad Pitt's arms. The VAST majority of the movie's problems exist because they called it an adaptation. (Granted, it would still have been an extremely silly film with cringeworthy gender politics, but there would have been many fewer specific things to point at and say "Hey, that was wrong!")


§ ita § - Oct 19, 2004 11:53:07 am PDT #4835 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

It didn't say it was based on the Iliad. It said it was "inspired by the Iliad" which seems like plenty of wiggle room. That's not saying it's an adaptation.


Polter-Cow - Oct 19, 2004 11:54:22 am PDT #4836 of 10001
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

My favorite credit is "Based on an idea by." Especially when the person credited is either the writer or director.


Nutty - Oct 19, 2004 11:56:28 am PDT #4837 of 10001
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."

I think it should have said "Inspired by Brad Pitt's thighs", because that is probably truer than its being inspired by the Iliad.


Jessica - Oct 19, 2004 11:57:29 am PDT #4838 of 10001
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

I'm of the opinion that if your source material is public domain, and you've strayed far enough from it that "inspired by" is the best you can do, you're better off not mentioning it at all.


§ ita § - Oct 19, 2004 11:57:33 am PDT #4839 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

I dunno. If I was making a movie inspired by Brad's thighs, there'd have been a very different use of leather.

But it's the infinite exploration that keeps storytelling eternal.


§ ita § - Oct 19, 2004 11:58:29 am PDT #4840 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

I'm of the opinion that if your source material is public domain, and you've strayed far enough from it that "inspired by" is the best you can do, you're better off not mentioning it at all.

Fair. But if it can't free them from "lousy adaptation!" accusations, it's not any use at all.


Jessica - Oct 19, 2004 12:05:16 pm PDT #4841 of 10001
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

But if it can't free them from "lousy adaptation!" accusations, it's not any use at all.

Do you think it does? Maybe it should, but in practice, I don't think "inspired by" films get any more leeway than "based on" films when pedants attack.


Gris - Oct 19, 2004 12:09:11 pm PDT #4842 of 10001
Hey. New board.

Duuude. The Emperor's New Groove. That movie was super-funny.