What a Stinker!!
Because of my current (and thankfully temporary) living conditions, I have to watch a movie every night.
There is a TV here, but it's Canada, and US cable has spoiled me forever. Not to mention that there are leather couches in this rental and the TV is about 5 feet too high so I have to crane my neck to watch.
Regardless, I watched this movie last night, and it was TRULY horrible. It was called "Gamer. The film stars the very gorgeous (and morally casual I think) Gerrard Butler. It's about convicts on death row given the opportunity to gain their freedom by living through 30 battles. They must give up all control of their bodies, and gamers play them (like yes, a video game) in a violent rush of shoot em up cowboy.
So the story, much like an updated "Running Man" wasn't so bad. In fact the first 30 minutes were okay. And then it went so wrong. The wonderful Michael C Hall and Kyra Sedgewick were made into near comic caricatures. It was so poorly executed that I marveled at how it even got a release date.
When I relate this to books, I think that the opposite is usually true. There are some great books that throw you off the deep end from word one and you get to ride the thrill all the way down. But usually, it takes a few chapters to hunker in and settle down. Im reminded of a Hundred Years Of Solitude. I couldn't be bothered with the first 50 pages of that book, then I fell in love.
Some books are just crap, and you wonder how in today's publishing climate something so horrendous was chosen over better books. But a book investment (which usually ranges from anywhere to 10 to 50 grand lets say for a publisher) is NOT 50 million!
You do edit a book by committee and it is a SLOW process. But with movies there's the director and multiple producers, the studio and even the talent wanting to be heard. With so much money on the line and so many people involved how does a movie so bad get made? It boggles the mind.
Originally I wanted to post about how some books, like this movie start great and end up boring and weird. But I honestly couldn't think of any, though I know there are plenty. Maybe you have an idea?
There is a TV here, but it's Canada, and US cable has spoiled me forever. Not to mention that there are leather couches in this rental and the TV is about 5 feet too high so I have to crane my neck to watch.
Regardless, I watched this movie last night, and it was TRULY horrible. It was called "Gamer. The film stars the very gorgeous (and morally casual I think) Gerrard Butler. It's about convicts on death row given the opportunity to gain their freedom by living through 30 battles. They must give up all control of their bodies, and gamers play them (like yes, a video game) in a violent rush of shoot em up cowboy.
So the story, much like an updated "Running Man" wasn't so bad. In fact the first 30 minutes were okay. And then it went so wrong. The wonderful Michael C Hall and Kyra Sedgewick were made into near comic caricatures. It was so poorly executed that I marveled at how it even got a release date.
When I relate this to books, I think that the opposite is usually true. There are some great books that throw you off the deep end from word one and you get to ride the thrill all the way down. But usually, it takes a few chapters to hunker in and settle down. Im reminded of a Hundred Years Of Solitude. I couldn't be bothered with the first 50 pages of that book, then I fell in love.
Some books are just crap, and you wonder how in today's publishing climate something so horrendous was chosen over better books. But a book investment (which usually ranges from anywhere to 10 to 50 grand lets say for a publisher) is NOT 50 million!
You do edit a book by committee and it is a SLOW process. But with movies there's the director and multiple producers, the studio and even the talent wanting to be heard. With so much money on the line and so many people involved how does a movie so bad get made? It boggles the mind.
Originally I wanted to post about how some books, like this movie start great and end up boring and weird. But I honestly couldn't think of any, though I know there are plenty. Maybe you have an idea?
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