General Film News

[Sly Boots]

Enjoyed the Rama books back in the day, could be a good one.

[Sly Boots]

How many degrees of separation from Villeneuve does that make you?

[Raid]

Given I've loved every Villeneuve sci-fi film I've seen, I'm very excited he's doing more.

[Hatredsheart]

As a huge Arthur C Clarke fan (it is his Birthday today), this is great news

https://www.indiewire.com/2021/12/denis ... 234685836/

I'm dancing on the spot here.

[Achtung Englander]

How many degrees of separation from Villeneuve does that make you?

two now

actually - no - I am not sure. Its ACC work, not ACC himself.

You know I completely forgot about that - that made me laugh

do you get a feeling Villeneuve has a fetish for really big space ships?

[Solitaire]

do you get a feeling Villeneuve has a fetish for really big space ships?

Kinda, yeah, and I'm glad he does!

Some other books I'd love to be seen made into epic movies by Mr. V:

"Midworld" by Alan Dean Foster - this is obviously a book that Cameron read at some point in his life, since there's so much of it written into "Avatar" that it almost feels like plagiarism. It's a lush planet, covered in tropical rainforests with trees that are hundreds of meters tall. Life abounds, including human life that was seeded there by starships sent out from Earth, ages ago. Fantastic story.

"The Lifeship" by Gordon R. Dickson & Harry Harrison (or Harry Harrison & Gordon R. Dickson, depending upon which paperback printing you can find ) Here's the tagline: "Trapped in the confines of their fragile lifeship, a tiny band of aliens and humans faces the awesome challenge of survival after the mysterious explosion of a giant spaceship. Giles Steel, a member of Earth's master race, assumes responsibility for erupting tempers, the dwindling food supply...and the saboteur whose ugly work has already begun!" Mr. Steel, gotta love that name!

And here's a crazy one: "The Integral Trees" by Larry Niven - a rather long synopsis by a fan from GoodReads goes "a gas giant planet is orbiting a collapsed star a billion years after a supernova; the collapsed star is one of a binary with a normal star like the Sun. The gas giant's atmosphere has been slowly leaking away into orbit around the collapsed star, forming a ring of atmosphere through which the core of the planet orbits. This ring is dense enough to support life all the way around the collapsed star -- in zero gravity. So there's air, but no ground. And there are two suns -- the collapsed star, which is dim but close, and the other star, which provides light and heat. Life has evolved here, including giant trees that have something resembling tidal gravity at each end, and all sorts of bird-like creatures..."

Yes, I've always been a fan of the DAW sci-fi novels from the 60s and 70s. There's some great stories out there, among the schlocky stuff. Are there enough of us here to start a Sci-Fi Book Club thread?

[Rusty]

I'm reading the Foundation series still but I'll jump on the Rama bandwagon straight after.

[eny]

I haven't watched the Matrix films since they were released, might give them a go again after reading this:

[Wrathbone]

That’s fascinating. It’s always been clear that the idea of people having a true identity and an ‘assigned’ identity is a major part of the Matrix, but I’d never put 2 and 2 together with what the Wachowskis were going through and how it related to them. It’s the hallmark of a great film when there are multiple interpretations of it that are each completely valid.

I’m amazed that the Wachowskis never mentioned this until someone acknowledged and publicly spoke about it. It must have taken an enormous amount of restraint with all the changes in awareness and attitudes to trans people in the modern world not to have gone “well actually, if you think about the Matrix in these terms…”

[Raid]

Wow, yeah, it's a theme that seems so obvious when you read it all in one place. I watched The Matrix films as recently as last year, and it never even occurred to me, but then gender and body dysphoria have never been an issue for me, so it's not like I have the same frame of reference.

[Hatredsheart]

[Hatredsheart]

[Hatredsheart]

I LOVE this Matrix Resurrections review. So much.

Spoiler

[Mantis]

I was going to go see it but when the reviews started hitting the press I decided against. That video is pretty much a summation of exactly what I was worried the film was going to be. Amusing review, but I think I'll just go on now pretending this new movie doesn't exist.

[Hatredsheart]

I agree completely with everything he said, it was dire. It was almost a parody of the original.