I may be in the minority here, but I liked I, Robot. Not great literature, but then, I don't really want great literature at 10am Saturday morning after a long night... Anyway, I can't imagine Asimov ever writing action sequences like that; it's basically fanfic in Asimov's world, but I didn't see any reason to trash it. I thought it was a good movie. It kept the Three Laws, and carried them to their logical conclusion. I found the ending creepy, but the three folks I saw it with didn't, so maybe I'm wrong and it wasn't intended to be scary.

After Blade Runner came out, people were trashing it because it was nothing like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Now, we consider it a seminal sci-fi movie. Eh. I, Robot won't ever be "seminal," but it might get some young people interested in reading Asimov, and that's not a bad thing. That it might get them thinking about the relationship of logic and emotion, or the nature of consciousness, is also not a bad thing.

Will Smith nearly naked... also, not a bad thing.

When everyone was leaving the theater afterwards, a little boy in the back - he was about eight, I guess - stood up and said loudly "That was even better than Spiderman!!" Everyone laughed, which confused him.

We four had a long conversation about the Three Laws afterwards, and I was reminded of a short story called The Cold Equations. They didn't know it. Does anyone here remember that story?

The Cold Equations is the one with the space ship and the stowaway and the weight/fuel allotment, right?

Yep, that's the one.

Why am I watching St. Elmo's Fire? How long before I can't take it anymore and turn it off

The only interesting thing about that movie is that what's supposed to be the Georgetown campus, is actually the University of Maryland College Park campus. So if you want to see what my alma mater looks like, there it is.

And it's odd -- I've seen Se7en at least three times, and I would swear we see Gwyneth's head in the box. Power of suggestion... and I do like the movie. I agree that it takes itself a bit too seriously, but I think it's quite creepy and powerful, and the acrting is good.

Beej, I didn't know that people in NZ tookForgotten Silver seriously -- I thought it had always been marketed as a mockumentary. That's interesting. The Shyamalan thing smelled like a hoax to me from the beginning, but I tend to be pretty cynical about such things.

I once saw an interview with Ford where he talked (briefly) about Blade Runner and the voiceover. He claimed that when he went in to record, he did the read as poorly as he could, to dissuade the execs from tacking it on. Then it was done anyway, and he was trashed by critics for his inept voiceover.

My fears for the fate of Earthsea are legion.

Oh, one cool thing about I, Robot was the Chicago skyline. There were a whole shitload of new skyscrapers, but I recognized the Hancock building (2nd tallest building in Chicago, and the tallest building in the world for about a year) and I'm pretty sure I saw the Sears tower too.

eta: I have given up on St. Elmo's Fire and am watching a documentary of the Soviet shootdown of a Korean Air 747 in '83.

I also liked "I, Robot." I thought it worked as an action film, and didn't over explain everything. I liked the restraint they showed in a lot of places. For example, Spooner, Will Smith's character is divorced, but they don't have his ex-wife being a beautiful woman who is put in peril, or a famous robot scientist, or or tragically killed to spur him forward or anything, he's just a divorced guy who may be wary of women because of it. And it was a good ride--funny where it needed to be, and exciting where it needed to be.

I want Will Smith's Audi, with the spherical tires so it can drive sideways.

Jessica, I got the distinct impression from the background material that the Forgotten Silver doc was not promoted as a fiction. I remember PJ giggling maniacly about the ruse and then sobering slightly when he and Costa Botes related the outcry.

This morning, I found a site with all sorts of quotes both positive and negative from the public. Here is one:

All the elaborate lead-up to the documentary before and during the weekend declared it was a portrayal of McKenzie's brilliance as a film-maker, that all New Zealanders should be proud of him, and that he should be appropriately remembered.

  There was no suggestion whatsoever that any of the film was not true. The viewing public has been cruelly deceived.      

It is all very well for Richard Pearse enthusiast Gordon Ogilvie and TVNZ spokesman Roger Beaumont, who were in on the hoax, to say it was "a lot of fun ... a crazy idea ... quite hilarious". It was billed as a documentary of fact, not fiction.

Regardless of the intent and/or impact, it's great theatre both on the screen and in life.

I am looking forward to the future day when I can have Spooner's Audi. But if the parking garage turns my car on its nose for storage, all the crap in the backseat will bust the windshield.