From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V10 #207 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Tuesday, July 27 2004 Volume 10 : Number 207 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: I, Robot ["Amanda Williams" ] Re: Best of the Year so far... ["neal copperman" ] Re: I, Robot/terrible adaptations of books into movies [gordodo@optonline] Re: Best of the Year so far... [jjhanson@att.net] new tanya donelly. [heidi maier ] Marianne Nowottny @ The Hook 7/30 ["abaton" ] beth sorrentino virtual single [fingerpuppets ] Re: I, Robot/terrible adaptations of books into movies ["Amanda Williams"] Re: I, Robot/terrible adaptations of books into movies [Sue Trowbridge Subject: Re: I, Robot I actually saw a televised interview with the director, Alex Proyas, last night. He had always been a fan of Asimov's work, and had always wanted to make some kind of movie related to it, and he finally got the resources and recognition to do it. The only problem was, that the Asimov Estate would not play ball. They were taking their time to approve the concept, and Proyas still had his deadlines, so he had to go with another story from a novel by a contemporary American author (i forget which one, unfortunately), who had been inspired by Asimov. In the middle of production, the Estate finally approved the film, but by then they had already fleshed out the film and were quite happy with the way things were going. They therefore decided to just bring some basic elements into the film, such as Susan Calvin, and kept going with what they had planned to do. In Australia, we have these two iconic movie reviewers - David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz, whose opinions I value greatly, and they were saying that though it did not have much to do with the stories, it was a worthwhile movie in its own right and was gritty and wonderful effects and definitely a must-see. Having read all the Asimov books, I was planning on giving this one a miss, I am generally no good with the "based on" concept and get really antsy. I can't even stomach the Disney adaptation of The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast, because the whole meanings behind those fairytales have been lost,but I might just go and see I I, Robot, now, and make an effort to forget that it has any link whatsoever to the books I grew up with. Amanda On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 07:09:32 -0700 (PDT), "Todd Pierce" said: > I haven't seen anyone who has actually read I,Robot > respond to this thread yet so I am jumping in. I read > I, Robot several times in middle school and went on to > read Asimov's robot series and Foundation series. > > I haven't seen the movie yet - BUT - I can say the > movie must be only a loose adaption because I, Robot > is actually a collection of short stories, most of > them set on other planets in the Solar System. Many of > the stories deal with the beginning of the robots and > the 3 Laws and how even with such seemingly simple and > straightforward laws, there exist many loopholes that > can lead to unexpected robot behaviour. In fact most > of the stories are quite cerebral, with the main > characters trying to figure out why robots are doing > certain things, and eventually determining how the 3 > Laws actually allowed such actions. There is not a lot > of action and certainly no hordes of attacking robots. > > > The movie sounds more like Asimov's robot detective > novels, The Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun, which > have a human detective and a robot partner > investigating robot murders....but I guess 'I Robot' > sounded better. > > Todd Pierce > Asheville NC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ooooooooooooooooooo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The man who realizes "It is the Supreme Life that shines in and through all life" does not waste words. His Pleasures and his love are then all in the soul. He becomes the most enlightened among the philosophers. - -Mundak Upanishad, III-(I)-4 http://www.samatayoga.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 03:35:49 -0000 From: "neal copperman" Subject: Re: Best of the Year so far... jjhanson@att.net said: > Nelly McKay - Get Away From Me - probably the freshest sounding music > I've heard in a long time There's a very nice interview with Nellie in the latest Bitch magazine. Jeff's note and that interview (and a few friends in Maryland who Jeff hooked on Nellie without even knowing it) reminded me that I needed to pick this up. What little I've heard is fantastic. If the idea of 50's style jazz singing, scatting, rapping, lounge piano and relentlessly witty lyrics sound appealing to you, rush out and grab this amazing double disc debut. Frustratingly short sound samples are available at nelliemckay.com. It's available for the ridiculously low price of $10.99 from Amazon. (Hmmmm, looks like I have to buy something else to knock off the shipping.) One of my favorite finds at Folk Alliance was the latest goodies from Bethany Yarrow. She caught my attention a few years ago, but I hadn't seen her since and I really love were she is now. Her latest CD is amazing. It's called Rock Island. Almost everything on it is traditional, based on traditional or built and expanded from traditional. (Credits say things like "based on the traditional song by leadbelly with additional lyrics by Bethany Yarrow".) The treatments are wildly diverse, with a cool trip-hoppy ectronica vibe. Real instruments are used liberally, so you get a nice mix of sound affects, treatments, strings, and woodwinds. The web site has a number of song samples and videos of live performances in DC and NYC (Joe's Pub). It also contains some songs from the equally stunning Bethany & Rufus album that doesn't seem to be available on the web site. It's much more stripped down and acoustic, featuring Bethany singing and playing guitar while her boyfriend Rufus plays stunningly beautiful cello. He'll play cello like stand-up bass on one song and more traditionally on others. This is also mostly traditional songs, but the treatments are entirely different. I highly recommend either of these albums, and seeing her in concert! neal np: 900 miles - Bethany & Rufus ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 09:31:01 -0400 From: gordodo@optonline.net Subject: Re: I, Robot/terrible adaptations of books into movies on the topic of loosely basing a movie on a book, i remembered noticing watching simon birch (which was originally based on "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John iRving which I adore but isnt really relelvant) and turned out in the opening to be "suggested by the" aforementioned novel. lets just say i was never so disappointed with a movie before - they managed to obliterate virtually all of the symbolism and meaning from the book and turn it into a 90 minute cheez fest. I cant even give it credit for being real cheese from a cow, goat, badger, woj, muskrat, or any other milk giving mammal. Any other equally butchered adaptations out there that I should avoid (or watch if i am in a twisted kind of mood?) Enough ranting :) On the positive side I finally got the family guy season 1 and 2 on dvd and i am not disappointed with them at all :) :) :) Cheers Jason np Martina Sorbara - The Cure for bad Deeds - ----- Original Message ----- From: Amanda Williams Date: Thursday, July 22, 2004 7:53 pm Subject: Re: I, Robot > I actually saw a televised interview with the director, Alex Proyas, > last night. He had always been a fan of Asimov's work, and had always > wanted to make some kind of movie related to it, and he finally > got the > resources and recognition to do it. > > The only problem was, that the Asimov Estate would not play ball. > Theywere taking their time to approve the concept, and Proyas > still had his > deadlines, so he had to go with another story from a novel by a > contemporary American author (i forget which one, unfortunately), who > had been inspired by Asimov. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 14:13:34 +0000 From: jjhanson@att.net Subject: Re: Best of the Year so far... Picked up some more CDs this weekend that people might be interested in... especially Wild Colonials fans--Angela McCluskey has a new solo album out that sounds very good on first listen. I also picked up the new Christine Kane, Jem (kind of a cross between Dido and Nellie McKay) and Rachel Yamagata's CD. And, if there are any other Michael Buble fans out there--his cover of the Spider-Man Theme song which is available on a single with several remixes of Sway is pretty fabulous. Jeff ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2004 02:05:43 +1000 From: heidi maier Subject: new tanya donelly. on my way to uni this morning i picked up tanya's "whiskey tango ghosts" -- has anybody else heard it yet? i've listened to it probably three times, over the course of various modes of public transportation, and like it very much so far ... heidi. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 19:46:01 -0700 From: "abaton" Subject: Marianne Nowottny @ The Hook 7/30 Hello friends, After an 18 month hiatus, it is with great pleasure we can announce that Marianne Nowottny will return to the performing stage with a rare July 30th performance at The Hook in Brooklyn NY. She is scheduled to perform at 10:30 pm. http://www.thehookmusic.com/main.html Marianne Nowottny made her mark on the New York art/music world in 1998 with the release of a 7-song CDR entitled Afraid of Me (Abaton #001). She was just sixteen years old. Nowottny's subsequent recordings, an expanded version of Afraid of Me; a synth-punk album, Shell is Swell, recorded with her best buddy Donna Bailey; a holiday 7"; a double disc solo project, Manmade Girl; a live video-enhanced CD Illusions of the Sun (Camera Obscura), established her as one of America's most important avant-songstresses and "...indisputably one of the major musical figures of her generation." [Joe Harrington] This is her only scheduled summer appearance in the New York area. "...Marianne Nowottny redefines the medium.." Bernard Stollman, ESP-DISK www.mariannenowottny.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 20:01:57 -0400 From: fingerpuppets Subject: beth sorrentino virtual single - ----- Forwarded message from Christopher Kriz ----- To: bethsorrentino@yahoogroups.com From: "Christopher Kriz" Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2004 20:49:17 -0000 Subject: [bethsorrentino] New music from Beth Hi everyone, Great news! Beth has just released an internet only single. Two new songs - "Beautiful Day" & "Amazing" are available for free download. There is also some artwork included. http://www.comfortstand.com/catalog/512/index.html Seems like a nice website. Independent artists can release new music for free while retaining limited rights to the recordings. Enjoy! Chris - ----- End forwarded message ----- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2004 10:22:58 +1000 From: "Amanda Williams" Subject: Re: I, Robot/terrible adaptations of books into movies My husband and I went to the Drive-In on Friday night and saw I, Robot. The action scenes that are used in the preview are really the only ones in the entire film. It really is not too bad at all. It retains the whole philosophical concepts of the laws of robotics through the robot, Sunny, and also touches on the same issues of that hideous film from the 1970s, The Forbin Project, or, as it was more popularly known, Colossus. Before the film, my friends and I had been talking about the turbine-like whine that we could hear coming from Asimov's grave, but I take that back. It is a good movie. If Asimov were alive today, I believe he would have been happy with the use of his characters and his titles, if he had been able to move with the times. And he was a pretty groovy fellow, being able to read up on a subject which he knew nothing about and a couple of months later becoming an expert on the subject and writing a book about it (God, I wish I could do that!), so I believe he would have approved. Amanda On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 09:31:01 -0400, gordodo@optonline.net said: > on the topic of loosely basing a movie on a book, i remembered noticing > watching simon birch (which was originally based on "A Prayer for Owen > Meany" by John iRving which I adore but isnt really relelvant) and turned > out in the opening to be "suggested by the" aforementioned novel. > > lets just say i was never so disappointed with a movie before - they > managed to obliterate virtually all of the symbolism and meaning from the > book and turn it into a 90 minute cheez fest. I cant even give it credit > for being real cheese from a cow, goat, badger, woj, muskrat, or any > other milk giving mammal. Any other equally butchered adaptations out > there that I should avoid (or watch if i am in a twisted kind of mood?) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ooooooooooooooooooo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The man who realizes "It is the Supreme Life that shines in and through all life" does not waste words. His Pleasures and his love are then all in the soul. He becomes the most enlightened among the philosophers. - -Mundak Upanishad, III-(I)-4 http://www.samatayoga.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 21:25:45 -0400 (EDT) From: Sue Trowbridge Subject: Re: I, Robot/terrible adaptations of books into movies On Tue, 27 Jul 2004, Amanda Williams wrote: > Before the film, my friends and I had been talking about the > turbine-like whine that we could hear coming from Asimov's grave, but I > take that back. It is a good movie. If Asimov were alive today, I > believe he would have been happy with the use of his characters and his > titles, if he had been able to move with the times. I haven't seen the film, but there was an article in yesterday's Sunday San Francisco Chronicle by Asimov's daughter Robyn, in which she says she enjoyed the film and believes her father would have, too: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/07/25/PKGG47P63L1.DTL (Blessedly, the Chron still does not require you to register before reading an article on its web site.) - --Sue Trowbridge ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V10 #207 ***************************