Tag: Cloud Atlas

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Fun Hops

Remakes Blogfest! The best & worst of #books, #film, #music & more


Hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh and Heather M. Gardner.

Remakes – most of them suck. Now and then, one comes along that is as good as, if not better, than the original. And after all of the bad ones we’ve endured, we want to know about some good ones.

On November 13, 2017 (hey, that’s today :D), blog about your favorite remake: movie (or television show into movie and vice versa), song, or book – or all three! Post a YouTube video and links where we can find these treasures. Tell us why THIS remake doesn’t suck!

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This post is basically an excuse for me not to do some other posts I’ve been meaning to do, so I plan to make it count. Here it goes; some of my best and worst remakes I know. *DISCLAIMER: Most of the titles listed here are the result of me putting multiple options into a random number generator and posting about the one that came up on the list. There are just too many remakes to consider. There are remakes out there that people don’t even realize are remakes, especially if you go as far back as the silent film era and the golden age of Jazz.

Movies—->Movies

BEST- King Kong

I’ve always loved King Kong, starting with the 1933 film. I’ve watched most of the movies under that title including some of the really bad Japanese movies completely unassociated with Godzilla. When the 2005 film came out, it brought back my childhood and the feeling I had that first made me a fan. This movie pays homage to the original on so many levels and then expands to make it into something new. It introduces a whole new generation to an amazing character and story and does it justice with really cool special effects.

WORST- Clash of Titans

Even with the outdated special effects of claymation, the original release of 1981 was, for me, ten-times better the special effects driven storyline of the 2010 remake. Plus, they got rid of Bobo. :p Not much else to say here.

TV—–>Movies

BEST- Mission Impossible

I only ever watched the original Mission Impossible TV show when it came on classic TV, late at night. By that time, my parents had given up on trying to get me to sleep at night, especially since I seemed to be a well-functioning night owl and only stayed up to watch old TV shows and movies. When the first, Tom Cruise, Mission Impossible movie came out, I was excited. The movie was pretty good and got people talking about the original show, a little. That’s what I think a good remake should do.

WORST- Starsky and Hutch (Never saw the Baywatch remake)

Not sure why they took a decent (well, not terrible) 70’s cop show and turned it into a ridiculous farce/comedy, but it didn’t go over well. Not the first or last mistake like this.

Book/Comic Strip—->Stage Play/Movie

BEST (gender swapper?) Annie

So the original stage-play musical is said to have been based on the comic strip “Little Orphan Annie”, but isn’t that comic strip just a gender-bender for the Oliver Twist story? Well, that’s what I’ve always thought. In any case, this still qualifies as a remake and I’ve so enjoyed the many small stage versions of the play I’ve seen as well as both theatrical film releases. See the 2014 trailer here.

WORST- IDK, need to think on this more.

Books—->Movie

BEST- Cloud Atlas

This is a fairly recent book and movie remake in the scheme of things. There are many people who didn’t get the book by David Mitchell, so I’m sure the movie wasn’t high on their list either. Me on the other hand, I loved the book and the movie. Of course, I could tell you a list of issues I had with the film adaptation of this book, but overall, the film’s ability to grasp the multiple themes, story plots, and depict reincarnation is such a clear and vivid way, deserves recognition. I enjoy watching this film just for the visual representation of complicated storytelling techniques you only expect to experience when reading. The effects are good for sure, but it goes beyond that.

WORST- Cat in the Hat

I think this movie was supposed to be cute and funny, maybe a bit mischievous, like the beloved children’s book, but it wasn’t. It was weird. It failed and was totally unnecessary since there have been really good cartoon versions of this and other Dr. Seuss stories around for quite a while.

Songs—–>Songs

BEST- With A Little Help From My Friends by Joe Coker

I have always considered Joe Coker’s version of With A Little Help From My Friends to be one of the greatest popular-music song remakes of all time for 4 main reasons.

1) the original song is phenomenal but difficult to pull off without sounding cheesy unless you are The Beatles.

2) Coker not only performs the song well, he makes it into something almost unrecognizable from the original, making it a classic in its own right.

3) Childhood nostalgia will always remind me that I’m amongst friends as I reminisce about “The Wonder Years” to which this song was the intro.

4) I have this song on its original vinyl and the sound is amazing. I can listen to this once a week for the rest of my life and not get bored with it.

WORST- Blue Monday by Orgy

Blue Monday by New Order is not one of my favorite songs in the world, but it’s a decent song; definitely a product of the 80’s. The remake by Orgy didn’t do much to make it stand out other than to make it really really heavy. I just think this is a remake that could have been passed on.

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Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Books

Review: Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

I give this book a 5.

LoveIt

This is a really good book that still has me a little confused a month after listening to the audio presentation of it. I can’t image how Hollywood was able to pull this story off, but maybe one day I’ll bring myself to the point of watching the movie.

I’m not going to make any attempts to sound super profound here: I like this book because it was magical in a completely magic-free way. Themes that come to mind in this story of stories are: reincarnation, propaganda, racism, the power of knowledge and or education, and so much more…and of course there is a sense of love, but not really romance.  There is sex, violence, music, art, philosophy, and more all cosmically mingling from one story to another in this odd anthology.

I’ve probably already confused a few people, but that’s ok because I’m still a little confused myself. I mean, I get it. I understand what I heard and how it all works together, but just don’t know if I get the meaning of it all. What I do get is a warning about the human condition and the many great and scary things we are capable of. When advancements in technology, communication, and politics come together it’s powerful, but that’s only one part of it. Time and change is a variable humanity has no control over and it seems to be the ultimate mastermind of fate.

I seriously do not have the words to describe exactly what it is about this story I loved, I just know I was intrigued and compelled to complete it from the very start. I’m a lover a well told stories and this book tells amazing stories and in a very creative way. This book makes you think about things you never knew you neglected, at least I did. I can clearly see that this book would be too intense for a great majority of my friends, which is why most of them have seen the movie, and based on their responses to that, it’s a good thing they stayed away from the book.

In any case, I think this is a great adult read. Something to get your mind going to places you never thought to go. The pace fluctuates, the themes and stories can be confusing, but reaching the end is totally worth it.

This review has been posted to GoodReads. If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Fun Hops

Wormfest 2014! – Cloud Atlas Quote

2014 National Wormhole Week and Blog Hop! 3/10-16/2014

Click to learn more.

This blog hop and blog tour are brought to you by: Alex Cavanaugh, L. Diane Wolfe, and Stephen Tremp– the author of Escalation.

For 2014, the theme is to name one thing where science advances mankind, and one where technology with unforeseen consequences will go too far and set mankind back. Example: De-Extinction, or bringing back extinction species through back breeding, genetic engineering, and cloning. With all the breakthrough discoveries mankind is on the cusp of, are we playing God?

Feel free to reference movies and books too. These provide no shortage if inspiration. Speaking of de-extinction, the book and movie Jurassic Park comes to mind where science takes a huge leap forward, but also backfires. I’m looking forward to all the amazing responses everyone will have.

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Each day this week I’ll be sharing quotes from sci-fi movies or books along with my thoughts on how far technologies still needs to go and where I think it will go too far.

from Goodreads

Today I’m focusing on the technology that’s in our food.

The book I’ve picked for today is Cloud Atlas (similar to the movie, but better). This is not a straight-up sci-fi read, but it does have major sci-fi elements and themes.

From the book, Cloud Atlas I give you…

“This isn’t an interrogation or a trail. Your version of the truth is the only thing that matters.

Truth is singular. It’s ‘versions’ are mistruths.”~can’t recall the characters names

― David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas ~ (from Goodreads)

I don’t know if you’ve seen this movie or read the book, but it is worth experiencing at least once (of course the book is much better). I’m going to throw in a spoiler here so look away if you don’t want to know.

In this metaphysical tail of alternate realities, reincarnation, the consequences of the past, and warnings for the future- in a dystopian high-tech future it is dramatically revealed that the major source of protein comes from recycled cloned humanoid beings which serve as living machinery, free labor, and any other horrible thing you can think to use a “soulless” person for.

As shocking as this was to read and then see in the movie (which was lightened significantly) I could totally see something crazy like this happening. Have any of you ever heard of pink slime? We’re not that far from this already, but maybe I’m over reacting. How far is too far to go when it comes to feeding the masses at a reasonable cost? The truth is out there, but do people want to hear it or do they not think it’s a big deal?

This also brings up the timeless debate about preservatives and food additives. I enjoy eating all natural food whenever I can, but sometimes it’s nice to have those food advancements that keep my milk from spoiling after three days or my peanut butter from turning into lumpy oil. This is another topic to which I mostly agree with one over the other, but I’m not completely sold out to one just yet.

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If you haven’t already, be sure to check out all the other ideas and theories about where technology is heading and going wrong.

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Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords