I'd almost argue that the changes to I AM LEGEND were similar in changing the book to the way BLADE RUNNER changed DO ANDROIDS DREAM ELECTRIC SHEEP? That is, equally compelling story, but some of the meanings are almost completely reversed.

True enough, Frankenbuddha. I actually enjoyed the movie, although it was a little grating to see the last man on earth happens to be brilliant, able to save everybody, have a hot body yadada. The vision of the empty city was wonderfully done.

I've been wanting to talk about I am legend since I saw it. It was a movie that I actually liked but it has totally creeped me out and I haven' t been able to stop thinking about it. I haven't read the book so I don't have anything to compare it to.

Like Kevin, I loved how they did the empty city. It was very cool and haunting at the same time. I had the feeling that there was a fair amount of story missing ( for example, I assume the zombie he caught was the wife/partner of the crazy zombie that was leading the charge against him, because we kept seeing him and he was so determined to get to her, but Neville actually implied the opposite in his log - that the zombies were mindless and less human. Also, for zombies, those things were pretty fast and bloodthirsty.) but since I'm not familiar with the book, I don't know what it was.

Anyway, I've been trying to put my finger on what creeped me out so much and I'm not sure if it was losing his daughter, having to turn away from the screaming little girl and her desperate mother at the port or having to strangle his dog. And the dog was very cool. I guess the other sad thing though was, despite the incredible security measures you saw him take, his existence seemed relatively comfortable, albeit lonely and depressing, until you saw how close to death he was as soon as the sun went down. I wouldn't put this movie in the "scary movie" category (I usually avoid those because they give me nightmares) but I guess maybe it was just believeable enough to really creep me out.

Stephanie your post has solidified that i will continue avoiding seeing I Am Legend. i tend to avoid zombie movies anyway, but yeah... this one's a no go for me.

There's a similar film (well, similar in lack of people only) we discussed a few pages ago called A Quiet Earth. I don't know if it's available on DVD or not, and it's pretty aged, but that film really creeped me out and interested me.

There's something about being alone, I think, for me which is a curious notion. And the idea of how you would cope, as sooner or later the electric supplies would stop working, and so running water, sewage systems.. food would go off in storage... It brings interesting questions about how much of society and confirmity governs our lives, and how much we rely on those things. For a while I wished there was a TV series about it, one episode covering each month or some such. But then I realised with only one cast member, it'd never work.

Obviously, there's also the slight issue of pure mental health without people around you, which is the aspect I Am Legend explores. It's obviously very different to it's source novel, but I'm okay with that.

Stephanie, I totally agree with your point about that "zombie" (they were closer to traditional vampires in the book - there was even a scientific rationale for using stakes to kill them) trying to get his mate back. I'm not sure why Neville probably refused to see that; maybe he HAD to believe they were purely animals to continue on. I think the fact that he used dogs, and duplicated the trap that Neville set up indicates there's something going on in the way of intelligence. I also think the way they filmed him killing Sam the dog was powerful. It was like he was killing the last living connection to his family.

THE QUIET EARTH was quite good (imagine I AM LEGEND w/out zombies with a touch of NO EXIT thrown in), but it's been ages since I saw it.

Yeah, I was quite surprised how well the dog killing worked (as an audience member). I normally hate pet killings in films because it's just so... naff, normally. But I was actually invested in that scene. I think it's a good film for Will Smith because it proves he can open a film BIG where he isn't playing Will Smith.

I'm not skilled enough to quote spoiler font but I think Frank hit on exactly why killing the dog was so powerful - it was the last connection to his family. And I think you knew he felt that way because of all the other things you had seen in the film - the going in the dark to get the dog, the "eat your vegetables", giving the dog a bath in the tub.

One thing I thought was particularly well done was how, in the beginning, you sense that there must be some danger. Then you see him taking various precautions wrt his scent and closing the doors, and you hear these noises but you don't really know if they are real or memories, then you see the zombies/vampires in their dark space, and then the movie switches to night time and all that scary stuff. You don't actually *see* anything scary for quite a long time.

I've read that electrical power would fail almost immediately (like within a day) if there were no one at the power plants to keep them running. I assume plumbing would work considerably longer, but eventually unrepaired mechanical problems would knock that out as well. Fortunately, a single person's waste would be pretty easy to manage, it's carrying supplies of fresh water that would be a bitch.

Low-acid canned food might get you through the first few years (high-acid and canned meats don't last beyond 18 months), but after that you'd need actual crops and some expertise in canning your own preserved food for the winter.

This surprised me:

SF&F Films Strong At '07's End

SF&F movies held strong on the last weekend of 2007, with Alvin and the Chipmunks taking second place with $30 million and Will Smith's I Am Legend in third with $27.5 million, the Associated Press reported.

Hollywood will finish the year with record revenues of about $9.7 billion, up from the previous best of $9.45 billion in 2004, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

Alvin lifted its total to $142.4 million. Legend has climbed to $194.6 million.

What surprised me is that Alvin and the Chipmunks is considered SciFi/Fantasy....