April Fools! Once again we’re back with a reverse adaptation. This time as a tie-in with our previous Trek-centric episode, we discuss James Blish’s novelization of the TOS episode “Arena.”
Enjoy!
This time, the Pavement Pounders discuss the 1944 Fredric Brown short story “Arena”, which was adapted into a Star Trek TOS episode (S1E18), may have inspired the TNG episode “The Last Outpost” (S1E5), and there’s also an Outer Limits episode, “Fun and Games (S1E27).”
Big thanks to Rich O’Donnell for sending us the suggestion!
For the purposes of Rankings, here are the abbreviations:
“Arena” story: TS
TOS episode: TOS
TNG episode: TNG
Outer Limits episode: TOL
Our totally scientific ranking of how close the episodes were to the story:
And now our normal Rankings:
James:
Colin:
Seth:
Rich
And finally, Em Ratings for each:
Notes:
These Are The Voyages books:
http://www.thesearethevoyagesbooks.com/
Following up on a suggestion from John Hagmann, the Pavement Pounders discuss Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2005 novel Never Let Me Go and its 2008 film adaptation, as well as Michael Bay’s The Island, which plays in a similar sandbox, only with more explosions and massive vehicular destruction.
Thanks to John for reaching out and suggesting a topic, even if Colin didn’t enjoy it.
Rankings!:
Colin:
James:
Seth:
Show Notes:
Editorial about the book and the whole subject of cloning:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/27/magazine/what-would-a-clone-say.html
Jo Walton on NLMG:
https://www.tor.com/2009/05/05/the-upspoken-and-the-unspeakable-kazuo-ishiguros-never-let-me-go/
Scientific Plausibility of NLMG:
http://scienceblogs.com/ethicsandscience/2007/06/24/scientific-plausibility-of-nev/
NLMG and The Island compared:
http://blogs.nature.com/spoonful/2010/09/never_let_me_go_and_the_island.html
Roger Ebert’s review:
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/never-let-me-go-2010
The Pavement Pounders ring in 2018 with Isaac Asimov’s short story “All The Troubles of the World,” which was exactly how much adapted into the 2008 film Eagle Eye? You’ll have to listen to find out.
You have been activated!
Rankings:!
Unfortunately we had a 51% probability of rankings, but an abort recommendation.
Notes:
Full text of the story:
http://www.mcguiremarks.com/uploads/3/9/7/9/39793909/isaac_asimov-all_the_troubles_of_the_world_(1).pdf
Roger Ebert’s Review:
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/eagle-eye-2008
Seth’s appearance on Random Trek “The Thaw”:
https://www.theincomparable.com/randomtrek/168/
Merry Christmas! For their fourth Holiday Special, the Pavement Pounders discuss A Christmas Story, the classic movie adapted from Jean Shepherd’s collected stories from In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and other volumes, and also discuss the live TV musical that recently aired on FOX.
Rankings!:
Colin:
James:
Seth:
Seth’s ridiculous Major Award, shipment #1:
Notes:
Review of the live special:
http://ew.com/tv/2017/12/18/christmas-story-live-ew-review/
How they handled the Chinese restaurant scene:
http://www.vulture.com/2017/12/christmas-story-live-chinese-restaurant-scene.html
Ralphie’s expressions in the TV special:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/christmas-story-live-recap-terrifying-descent-madness-160025885.html
This time, for a very late November episode, the Pavement Pounders discuss PD James’s The Children of Men and its 2006 adaptation, Children of Men.
The movie and book were not universally loved by all of us, but it spurred a great conversation.
Thanks so much to Dominic Coddington for suggesting the topic!
Rankings:
Colin/James/Seth/Dominic:
Notes:
Nerdwriter1: “Children of Men: Don’t Ignore the Background”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-woNlmVcdjc
Iconic Long-shot scene was an accident:
https://io9.gizmodo.com/this-iconic-scene-from-children-of-men-was-actually-an-840211730
Francis Fukuyama on why Children of Men is great:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03SrMeLmOUc
Long Takes (feat. Alfred Hitchcock commentary – some NSFW language):
https://nofilmschool.com/2016/03/long-takes-awesome-have-their-limitations
Review of the film from The Atlantic:
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2007/04/the-movie-review-children-of-men/69243/
The relevance of this movie today:
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20161215-why-children-of-men-has-never-been-as-shocking-as-it-is-now
Sincast Best of 2006 (language…lots of it):
https://soundcloud.com/cinemasins/sincast-episode-45-were-f-cked
We wanted to get a quick podcast out here, so we convened in Seth’s dining room to record our reactions right after seeing the movie. Apologies for the poor audio quality and frequent dog interruptions, but there you go.
(And then Seth forgot to post the darn episode.)
The long and the short of it is that if you enjoyed the original Blade Runner, you’ll enjoy this one.
Spoilers start at 7:21
Notes:
How to Pronounce Denis Villeneuve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U14yAM0lLKM
Shorts:
2036: Nexus Dawn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgsS3nhRRzQ
2048: Nowhere to Run
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ9Os8cP_gg
Blackout 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrZk9sSgRyQ
Wrapping up the Summer of PKD, the Pavement Pounders endured Blade Runner and whine about it for a bit. And two of three Pavement Pounders enjoyed the novel on which it’s based, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
And Seth can’t seem to pronounce “Voight-Kampff”.
Rankings!:
Colin/James/Seth:
Bonus Rankings! (PKD films we’ve done):
James:
Colin:
Seth:
Notes:
One of those Top 10 lists with Blade Runner on it:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/oct/16/top-10-sci-fi-movies
Which cut should be watched?:
http://nerdist.com/blade-runner-35th-anniversary-which-cut-should-you-watch/
Great (and positive) analysis of the film’s visual style:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tbvMzqk3F4
Which is canon to Denis Villenueve?
http://screenrant.com/blade-runner-2049-original-movie-canon/
Nerdwriter video on Blade Runner:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXRlGULqHxg
Lessons from the Screenplay video on Blade Runner:
Jason and Myke revisit Blade Runner with John Siracusa:
https://www.theincomparable.com/myke/28/
Sci-Fi Onscreen episode on Minority Report:
http://www.scifionscreen.com/episode-101-minority-report-2002/
As the Summer of PKD winds down, the Pavement Pounders discuss yet another bad adaptation of one of his stories, this time 1995’s Screamers, based on the 1953 short story “Second Variety.”
Tune in and watch Peter Weller mail in his performance, and watch as the 1995 PC video game cutscene level graphics make you think, “Where did that $20 million budget go?”
Rankings!:
Colin/James/Seth:
Notes:
No notes this time. It wasn’t worth the effort.
The Summer of PKD continues, this time with The Adjustment Bureau, the 2011 adaptation of “Adjustment Team.” Have the Pavement Pounders finally found a good one?
(Yes. Yes they have.)
Rankings!:
Colin/James/Seth:
Notes:
Read the story for free here:
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Adjustment_Team
Next month’s homework, “Second Variety”:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32032
