tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post2982864660649310829..comments2024-03-18T08:38:01.678+00:00Comments on The Life And Opinions of Andrew Rilstone: InconceivableUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-16159927699555042522019-11-25T20:58:27.913+00:002019-11-25T20:58:27.913+00:00By the way, the so-called Final Cut of Blade Runne...By the way, the so-called Final Cut of Blade Runner is the best version of the film. The only mistake he made was re-including a few scenes of gratuitous ultra-violence (a couple of seconds extra each) from the international theatrical version which were best left cut out of the film (as they were in America). We really don't need to see Rutger Hauer crush somebody's eyeballs. But removing all that voice-over stuff that went into the theatrical release does much improve the film. Naturally, however, most film aficionados of our current Quentin Tarantino age disagree with me even on that point and would declare the Final Cut superior in all respects.Andrew Stevenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13453328821252013152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-47753912699089263462019-11-25T00:57:50.149+00:002019-11-25T00:57:50.149+00:00I liked the episode, but then Chidi is pretty much...I liked the episode, but then Chidi is pretty much the first time in television history when a show actually tried to create an identification figure for the middle-aged me. (I don't have Chidi's lack of confidence in his own judgment or anxiety about being wrong, thank goodness, but otherwise.)Andrew Stevenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13453328821252013152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-9620700190275123372019-11-24T22:02:32.721+00:002019-11-24T22:02:32.721+00:00(i thought that was the last part, but that's ...(i thought that was the last part, but that's only the mid season break. there are five more to come including a double length finale...)Andrew Rilstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05786623930392936889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-67470728808664583422019-11-23T13:17:13.525+00:002019-11-23T13:17:13.525+00:00Or not.Or not.Andrew Rilstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16934052271846235431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-37239612308916916712019-11-21T23:47:44.731+00:002019-11-21T23:47:44.731+00:00The Good Place is definitely comedy drama. My ques...The Good Place is definitely comedy drama. My question about tomorrow night's final part is "How will everything be resolved? Is there really a Final Answer?" We care about the characters in a way we don't care about Rimmer and Lister. <br /><br />KIND OF SPOILER<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />My prediction is that the big reveal is that Michael has been the one on trial all along. Andrew Rilstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05786623930392936889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-29136683134639156232019-11-21T21:31:05.880+00:002019-11-21T21:31:05.880+00:00Also, Lister has a moral center from the beginning...Also, Lister has a moral center from the beginning (certainly more than Rimmer) while Eleanor doesn't have much of one until it is instilled in her.Andrew Stevenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13453328821252013152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-89943552045482863222019-11-21T21:28:03.074+00:002019-11-21T21:28:03.074+00:00Schur is too good a writer to just do a one-to-one...Schur is too good a writer to just do a one-to-one correspondence. E.g. Chidi serves the same function as Rimmer comedically, but is a vastly different character. Similarly with Michael=Holly and Janet=Kryten. I would never have noticed any of that if the show hadn't done so many similar-ish plot devices.Andrew Stevenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13453328821252013152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-86339218488017591702019-11-21T18:08:23.508+00:002019-11-21T18:08:23.508+00:00I’m not so sure about that. Eleanor is louche like...I’m not so sure about that. Eleanor is louche like Lister, but quite a large part of the series is how savvy she can be. She has exceptional qualities whereas Lister’s much more of an everyman figure. Much of the Eleanor/Childi dynamic is the distinction between savvy and smart. Jason is quite possibly the cat, though.Gavin Burrowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16347163260510316959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-21215835215225693362019-11-20T17:44:57.883+00:002019-11-20T17:44:57.883+00:00It leads into my own opinion on remakes, which is ...It leads into my own opinion on remakes, which is why not write your own? Joss Whedon wanted to make a version of Dark Shadows; he made Buffy. Michael Schur wanted to do Red Dwarf; he did The Good Place. (I assume I'm right about this. Michael Schur and I grew up in about the same place and time, about 20 miles away. Like me, I imagine he was a child of Connecticut Public Television.) Etc. I suspect it stems from A) owning the intellectual property already and B) there is usually a built-in audience for any remake/reboot of that property. I never understood B until I was watching the new Nancy Drew movie with my daughter. To my surprise, I had an affection for the title character simply because she was named Nancy Drew although she had very little in common with the character I read about as a child.Andrew Stevenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13453328821252013152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-79698721983793891802019-11-20T16:27:21.814+00:002019-11-20T16:27:21.814+00:00Best American sitcom since Sports Night, in my opi...Best American sitcom since Sports Night, in my opinion.Andrew Stevenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13453328821252013152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-39020151196806851522019-11-20T12:33:43.955+00:002019-11-20T12:33:43.955+00:00My girlfriend said once that a lot of comedy eithe...My girlfriend said once that a lot of comedy either involves - (a) real people in a surreal situation - e.g. the Good Place, Father Ted (with Father Ted being the only 'ordinary' person or (b) a surreal character in the real world - e.g. Mr Bean, Alan Partridge.Aonghus Fallonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11414643238115071988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-18518674293629463442019-11-20T07:52:06.026+00:002019-11-20T07:52:06.026+00:00The reboots and mucking around with characters I s...The reboots and mucking around with characters I see: it wouldn't have occurred to me that Eleanor is a female Lister. <br /><br />By the way: anyone reading this who hasn't done so GO AWAY AND WATCH THE GOOD PLACE RIGHT NOW. (You need to start at Episode 1 and not read a synopsis, because the premise unrolls gradually through the first season.) Definitely the best TV comedy, and possibly also the best TV drama, in years.Andrew Rilstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05786623930392936889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-41648181760430662002019-11-19T17:48:10.238+00:002019-11-19T17:48:10.238+00:00Similar characters as well - e.g. Kristen Bell'...Similar characters as well - e.g. Kristen Bell's Eleanor Shellstrop is basically a female Lister.Andrew Stevenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13453328821252013152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-77683307317457091182019-11-19T17:40:51.912+00:002019-11-19T17:40:51.912+00:00You'd have to watch The Good Place to see exac...You'd have to watch The Good Place to see exactly what I mean (worth your time). It's more the madcap anarchic nature of how Red Dwarf messes with its characters in a sort of constant series of reboots. Though it does share that in common as well, but as you say, that's not unusual.Andrew Stevenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13453328821252013152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-87126725854311783672019-11-19T07:37:19.567+00:002019-11-19T07:37:19.567+00:00Also, some of my favourite horror.
(King's &q...Also, some of my favourite horror.<br /><br />(King's "The Mist", and "Day of The Dead" both spring to mind.)Andrew Duckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06566110014858668221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-52515535348817506252019-11-19T07:29:16.070+00:002019-11-19T07:29:16.070+00:00Aren't all situation comedies about people who...Aren't all situation comedies about people who don't like each other in a place they can't leave? (Prisons, flat shares, space-ships, hotels, marriages...)<br />Andrew Rilstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05786623930392936889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-60417574313767674052019-11-18T16:07:34.400+00:002019-11-18T16:07:34.400+00:00Probably "hypothesis" would have been a ...Probably "hypothesis" would have been a better word. A Google search shows me that I'm not the only person to have noticed the connection between the two works. However, I do appear to be the only person who has noticed that the main inspiration for the excellent American TV show The Good Place is the British sci-fi comedy classic Red Dwarf.Andrew Stevenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13453328821252013152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-69995460885220859022019-11-18T15:59:03.841+00:002019-11-18T15:59:03.841+00:00I played Hardball! before they ever even made the ...I played Hardball! before they ever even made the film The Princess Bride. You have made me feel depressingly old.<br /><br />I have a theory, by the by, that Goldman wrote the book thinking of the abridged (the only kind available when he was a child) and unabridged versions of The Count of Monte Cristo.Andrew Stevenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13453328821252013152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-9373763887898136622019-11-18T10:34:43.805+00:002019-11-18T10:34:43.805+00:00Surely the movie opens with someone writing a blog...Surely the movie opens with someone writing a blog post about remakes...JAnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13859066069239455626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-49780657746668070082019-11-18T10:04:14.086+00:002019-11-18T10:04:14.086+00:00Obviously you'd want to have scenes of the ori...Obviously you'd want to have scenes of the original, behind the scenes bits, and remake bits all mixed together, as you describe above.<br /><br />And suddenly it occurs to me that I should rewatch Adaptation, which I seem to recall was very good on this subject.Andrew Duckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06566110014858668221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-37598872066887986362019-11-18T09:36:47.297+00:002019-11-18T09:36:47.297+00:00How about Opening the film with a father arguing w...How about Opening the film with a father arguing with his son about remakes, having just seen the remake of The Princess Bride, and then recounting the movie he saw to the kid, who slowly comes to accept remakes as being a good thing. And wants to hear how it all comes out...Andrew Duckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06566110014858668221noreply@blogger.com