Future releases [2]

{{ This cropped up on my facebook feed-



'Those interested in watching the performance can do so by signing up through Puppet State's crowdfunder, 'Leaves, Trees and New Growth' at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/help-puppet-state
The footage will be available in high definition on YouTube until 1st September to supporters for as little as £10.'

though a tenner seems bit steep! }}

Seems quite nicely done.

I'll be paying about $10 for a lecture on accidental inventions in history tonight. Every now and then it's worth shelling out a few.

{{ I'm Scottish! Its deeply ingrained in me to get value for money - now were I going to see a live perfomance thats a good price, were I going to the cinema it'd be about normal (but still a bloody rip-off! ) but to watch a youtube video? Got to be having a laugh! }}

I know, but it's the new reality.  I feel for performers right now.  This woman didn't need the money, but it is nice to know that petroleum Jelly was invented by a guy who used to distill whale oil, and when that dried up went to visit an oil field where he found people applying sludge to cuts.  So he distilled it.  Still couldn't get anyone to buy it until he started going around burning himself in public; would apply petroleum jelly to it then show people burns he had from a week ago.  back then there was nothing as effective to act as a germ barrier, and when people saw how his burns had healed he suddenly had a product that wouldn't stay on the shelves. This was in the late 1860's.

{{ I agree about supporting performers. And were he putting this together now during this downturn in theatre, and creating it for putting on youtube to entertain, cheer everyone up from the bloody virus, and make enough to get by on, I'd be fine at a tenner.
But its not, its just a recording of his Edinburgh Festival show from 2016, that he's charging a tenner 4 years later for to watch on youtube. You can probably find the dvd of it on Amazon for less than a tenner and at least you'd have something for your money. }}

That's an absolute petard!

my view is, anything on youtube is public domain & FREE. Im not coughing up a tenner either !

Going back to the Foundation trailer, here is a reddit quote from runningoutofwords that's following my thinking:

Oh, let's have a look...
Llobell will play Gaal, a mathematical genius from a repressed planet,
Casting Gaal Dornick as a young woman? OK, that works. Looking at her headshot, I think she's a good pick for the role. I like it.
while Harvey will play Salvor, a protective warden of a remote outer planet.
So, Salvor Hardin is a woman now, too? I mean, ok...
Birn will play the roll of Demerzel, an aid to Brother Day
And Demerzel (Daneel) is now a woman? Alright, I think see what's going on here.
Mann will play Brother Dusk, the eldest member of the ruling family, and Bilton will play Brother Dawn, the youngest member of the ruling family and Brother Day's successor.
And the made-up bad-guys, who don't even come from the story, are all guys. This seems specifically made to stir up the trolls.
By the way, I was told repeatedly on this board that Apple had only the rights to the original trilogy material, but here we've got Eto Demerzel showing up?
And now apparently there's going to be some kind of imperial succession drama thrown in on top, with these "Brothers"?
I'm out, guys. I'm getting off the hype-train at the next stop. Enjoy the train-wreck.
Hopefully some day, maybe in another 50 years, someone might try to make Foundation for the screen. I hope I'm around to see it.

halfwise wrote:Thoughts?



Mine is that dude doesn't look like Hari Seldon.  

Nothing here is instantly familiar to me.  If they wanted to make fans sit up and say "That's it!" they would have started (or ended) the trailer with an old man looking up from a wheelchair and saying quietly "I am Hari Seldon".  If the actor was right that would be all that they'd need: jump to some space battle and a shredded section of Trantor.  The fact that they couldn't home in on iconic moments tells me they don't get it.  I understand it's a TV series that won't follow the book exactly, but there's got to be anchor points or they shouldn't be using the name "Foundation".

I've barely even heard of this book!
...series.

Is it any good?

Huh?  It actually beat the Lord of the Rings to win the Hugo for best science fiction/fantasy series of all time (Asimov himself was shocked he beat LotR).  Of course it helps that they only did the series award once, but still.

Like all Asimov, it's an easy read.  Don't look for action sequences - the beauty is in the big ideas and watching them play out.  When Asimov's publisher browbeat him into continuing decades later to write a 4th book he said he went back to reread the original to "get in the mood" and progressed with mounting nervousness as he continued to turn pages eagerly but rarely found things happening in real time; it was mainly discussions among characters about what had happened and why, though done in an engaging way so you don't notice the lack of action (this critique is not true of the 2nd half of the second book and the third book, which is all action).  It was only when he read critical reviews that he realized that the attraction WAS the unfolding of big ideas.

I've seen it written that this is the first book to feature a galactic empire, and all others such as Dune grew out of its shadow.  If this is true it's because you can't posit something as big as a galactic empire without couching it in ideas grand enough to match it.  Star Wars needed the Force; Dune needed the amplification of human potential that came out of the Butlerian jihad. But for some people Foundation's grand idea is the most satisfying because there is nothing mystical about psycho-history, unless you confer mysticism upon mathematics.

Asimov is a great writer only because of big ideas.  His prose rarely matches other writers, but ideas such as the three laws of robotics or psycho-history nearly always undergird his writing, making his books an intellectual treat.  The intellectual treat of the Foundation series is profound and can change the way you view the world.

Ah well, yep, sounds worthwhile.

It's worth the $25 to buy the trilogy. It's pretty light footed reading that doesn't weigh you down like Dune can.

Alright I'll check it out. Got the trilogy for $13.30.

Good deal.

Looks crap.

Looks good.

Looks fun.

AHahaha okay.

I rather enjoy the rash of superhero girls we've gotten recently.  Sort of brings balance to the universe.  But Chloe Grace Moretz has a bit too much baby fat about her visage to pull it off the way Margot Robbie or Gal Gadot could.  Can't help but find her beating the crap out of an alien to be humorous rather than thrilling.

(Never really bought Toby Maguire as spiderman either. I mean, come'on.)

I liked Scarlett Johansson as Lucy. That was a cool film.

this isn't anywhere near the genius trailer we got for the previous film, but since that didn't live up to the trailer, maybe this one will exceed expectations?

So a prequel to Fury Road is planned starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth. Crap, I hope they don't make her shave her head, that would be like shaving a Persian kitty.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mad-max-australia-furiosa-prequel-2023-101926925.html

Looks good.

I think I like it. I don't really understand it, but I like it.