MTV also did Carmen-- a hip hopera.

In The Prestige, I think the wife killed herself because she figured out about the brothers, and the thought the trick was worth sending aonoene elso home with her and their daughter on a regular basis was the ultimate humiliation.

Though my impression was that both men were "Daddy" to the little girl. They did make the point of children being able to see through magician's tricks. So, horrible for Alfred's wife to realize the truth about why her husband seemed to run hot and cold, but I think for their daughter everything was normal.

Just saw The Departed. Wow. Just, wow. It's funny how much suspense there can be in a movie when you already know who done it. I have to admit, like ita, I got to where a lot of the bloodshed led to laughter. It was the only way, after a while, to deal with it. I haven't seen Leo in anything recently, so I have to say I was pretty impressed with him in this movie. But then, I was impressed with Damon and Wahlberg, too. Jack, was just Jack. I don't think he can give a performance anymore without a side of ham. But then, all his characters like ham, so it's not a stretch.

Hey, check out the name of this possible movie:

Mick Garris, executive producer of Showtime's Masters of Horror, told SCI FI Wire that he is looking to adapt his recently published first novel, Development Hell, into a screenplay for either TV or film. "Seeing what we were able to do with Masters of Horror, it would be great to do it with an HBO or Showtime as a series of nine one-hour chapters," Garris said in an interview. "Or as a feature film. But it's ironic that I'm thinking of it that way, because the whole reason I wrote it in the first place was to not be chained to all of that stuff that you have to think about."

Garris describes Development Hell as "an extreme erotic horror novel, disguised as a Hollywood satire." The story centers on a filmmaker who encounters an underground world of the occult in Hollywood. Though the book is a work of fiction, Garris (director of TV's The Stand and The Shining) said he used his own experiences in the industry as inspiration. "There are real names that you'll find familiar in the novel, as well as situations that either I or people I know experienced certain forms of," he said. "But hopefully, it's a little more extreme than the reality."

[link]

Saw THE PRESTIGE and really liked it. I was spoiled rotten, so I suspect Jess may be right about a second viewing being more satisfying if you didn't know. I can't say if I would have guessed all the twists. I think I would have spotted Fallon as a twin, but Christopher Nolan said in an interview that one of the twists was meant to be figured out, not unlike some of what they were talking about in the movie of letting some of the mechanics show during the turn so that the actual prestige would be all the more impressive.

That said, I think the opening of the movie gave the game away as soon as they showed that the machine was creating doubles.

One question: why do you think Angier's first response to his double was to try and kill him? Was that what he was planning as soon as he realized what the machine could do? Also, was he just fooling himself by thinking once he started doing the act he himeself wouldn't end up as the man in the box?

I'm also curious if the created double's perception of events was that he was Angier on the stage and then suddenly somewhere else. that's certainly the impression I got.

Frank, I don't think Angier was fooling himself at all. I think he knew exactly what was going to happen as soon as he saw the cat and the hats. "Could I have my hat please?" "Which one Sir? They are all your hat."

I think he put the gun within reach because he knew he'd have to kill the double or deal with the consequences. He even said,"I wouldn't want to live that way."

Now, at first blush, with all the tension built up by Bowie and Serkis, one might have thought he meant that he didn't want some horrible fly-like creature to have to survive the experiment. But I don't think so. I think he knew full well what he was doing.

The one bit that has been a big flummoxed is the potential memory on the part of the doubles. If HE knew what he was doing from performance to performance...and they were exact duplicates (or on the chain of murder, they were duplicates of themselves), wouldn't they have enough knowledge to understand how they got up to the balcony? And yet, each seemed to have a vaguely stunned look.

On the other hand, if the underlying theme really was complete sacrifice in the service of revenge/competition, then I suppose, each of the doubles would have an exactly copy of the revenge plan in his head.

heavy

eta: Going back to the why were they surprised question, I wonder, too, about the look on the drowing copies' faces. Didn't they see it coming?

The Angier who drowned was the "original" and yes, he knew what was happening. I think he was surprised that it was so painful, because he'd based his act at least partly on Michael Caine's "drowning is like going home" comment at his wife's funeral. Oops...

But I also don't think "copy" is quite the right word -- they're both Angier, with all of his memories etc intact. Like on Farscape.

But because of the timing each time he steps out onto the balcony is the first time -- the one who did it last night is now dead. He only ever gets to be the prestige once.

[eta: Which is to say, yes, he understands how he got there, but I think he's still relieved/surprised every time it works, since it's always the first time.]

I completely agree that 'copy' is the wrong word. They are all him.

So, I guess that means that his memory stops at the drowning each night?

But, that can't be either, because he is dealing with the dead after every show. He MUST have some on-going memory, because he is taking the dead ones to the same place each time...and seeing that there is more than one, right?

This is the point at which I get stuck. Perhaps the book would shed some light on this.

Actually, scratch almost everything I said up there. The living Angier's memory will never include the drowning, because the survivor never has that experience. He does have the memory of being the prestige every night -- his memory goes from the Tesla machine to the balcony -- so I guess he's just always really happy to not be dead. I probably would be.