MARK KNOWLES, paging Mark!

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   DJ Funktualposted 17 years ago

   DEAR MARK, 
   
   I am an avid lover of movies who had tried REPEATEDLY  (2 months ago) to understand what everyone sees in BLADE RUNNER.
   
   I am completely serious and I would LOVE if you could explain it's appeal.  I've even read other director's gush about how it inspired them.   I watch a lot of MOVIES Mark.
    
   What am I not getting?????.
   
   I love Logan's Run and The 5th Element which are kinda similar..... a little. 
   
   the only thing I ever come away with is thinking 2 things
   
   1)  Sean Young and Daryl hannah are two of the worst actresses in the world, how did the casting director not get executed?
   
   2)  A Director's Cut?  Are you kidding me?  I can't sit through it now.
   
   PLEASE Help!

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      Mark Knowlesposted 17 years agoin reply to this

      Money

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   Uninvited Writerposted 17 years ago

   It's because of Harrison Ford silly
   
   I like that film but I can't really tell you why I do

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   Mark Knowlesposted 17 years ago

   Blade Runner -
   
   Watch it again.
   
   Read "Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep."
   
   Read "Dune."
   
   Watch all the garbage films out there.
   
   Become a science fiction fanatic.
   
   Watch Blade Runner again.
   
   Then accept that Blade Runner is one of the all-time best-ever sci-fi films.
   
   Ever.
   
   Nothing to do with money now.
   
   Except the Director's cut - zzzzzzzzzzz

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      DJ Funktualposted 17 years agoin reply to this

      I haven't read that book or seen Dune but I'm kinda already a sci-fi geek.
      
      I know every episode of Star Trek (MODERN ERA SHOWS) 
      Memorized Star Wars and read the Tolkien Trilogy 3Xs by choice. 
      Movies I LOVE
      
      12 Monkeys
      Brazil
      Cube
      Donnie Darko
      Dark City
      LOVE the first ALIEN
      Time Bandits
      
      and hey if I can sit through 2001: a space odyssey without getting bored...
      
      What the hell?
      
      I wish you would elaborate but it's like making you write a hub in the forums.

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         Mark Knowlesposted 17 years agoin reply to this

         You cannot be a sci-fi geek if you haven't read Dune.
         
         Have you read all of Iain Banks' "culture" novels?
         
         The thing with sci-fi is - it is written in books and there are very few films that are worth the trouble. That's why we make a fuss of them when they do come out. Blade Runner just took advantage with the "Special Director's cut" lol - Thta was just the studio screwing you. P2P baby - thats just payback for selling us a load of garbage over and over and over. When was the last time a film you watched lived up to it's trailer?
         
         Star Wars don't really count as sci-fi. That's just cowboys and Indians in Space.

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            crashcromwellposted 17 years agoin reply to this

            Oh, sorry Mark, but I have to disagree. Star Wars films are definitely scifi in my book. There are overlapping themes in many genres, so just because there is an element of cowboys and Indians there doesn't mean it's not science fiction.

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               Mark Knowlesposted 17 years agoin reply to this

               OK,
               
               I guess it depends on your perspective.
               
               Don't get me wrong - I love Star Wars (the first 3)
               
               Eric - I also love EE Doc Smith. Although best read when you are 13 years old
               
               Got them all.

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                  Eric Graudinsposted 17 years agoin reply to this

                  I think I was about that age when I discovered him

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   knolyourselfposted 17 years ago

   If I may butt in. Been a long time since I seen 'Blade', but seems to me the theme is robots. Are you a robot? But on a more basic level if I remember it is an analolgy of the class system of social relations.

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      DJ Funktualposted 17 years agoin reply to this

      That's why I mentioned Brazil.  It's got a lot of The Matrix in it. 
      
      It just bores me.  Can't explain it.

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   DJ Funktualposted 17 years ago

   Thanks Mark.  the only sci-fi I actually READ is Douglas Adams, which as we all know does not resemble trraditional sci-fi in any way.

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   Mark Knowlesposted 17 years ago

   lol
   
   Well, I would definitely recommend READING Dune, any and Iain Banks sci-fi.
   
   Philip K Dick - the guy that wrote "Do androids dream of Electric sheep?" which was turned into Blade Runner is a tough read.
   
   Other easy-to-read stuff includes Greg Bear, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, Orson Scott Card, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov (hard sci-fi), H.G Wells, Larry Niven alone.
   
   That should keep you going for a while.
   
   Sci-fi films to watch (if you haven't already)
   
   Forbidden Planet
   Dark Star
   Invasion of the body snatchers
   Metropolis
   Westworld (Before Michael Crighton sold out big time)
   The Omega man
   Capricorn 1

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      Shirley Andersonposted 17 years agoin reply to this

      All excellent movies!  Which Body Snatchers do you like best - the original or the remake.
      
      I didn't see The Thing listed.  I like the remake with Kirk Russell better than the original.

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   drummer boyposted 17 years ago

   how about the hulk

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   Mark Knowlesposted 17 years ago

   Both body snatchers are good. I guess I prefer the Donald Sutherland version slightly more than the original.
   
   The Hulk - not a good film I thought. Of course I watched it, but comic strip and sci-fi are not the same thing. I am not even sure it was classed as sci-fi. Was it?

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   knolyourselfposted 17 years ago

   Saw Brazil when it first came out. 'Spose to be satire, but gave me the creeps, cause I'm the kinda guy they do that to. Thought the part where the bureaucrat gets covered in paper was a classic though.

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    Eric Graudinsposted 17 years ago

    So far, nobody has mentioned  E.E. (Doc) Smith.
    
    I really enjoyed the intergalactic adventures of his characters I think that the Lensman and Skylark series were his best - even though they were a bit kitsch.

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    DJ Funktualposted 17 years ago

    getting back to Blade Runner,
    You're saying that if I read the book that I'll get more out of the movie? 
    
    Like say with...Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead or with Into The Wild.
    
    I wanna thank you for YOUR list of recommended films.  Ther are already in my queue at Netflix.      Do you like funny movies at all, Mark?
    
    http://hubpages.com/hub/100-Funniest-Movies-of-All-Time 
    
    Been waiting for you to show up since your posts are funnier than most movies I see.

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    Mark Knowlesposted 17 years ago

    Oh yes, I like funny movies. Hollywood seems to have forgotten how to make them though. I watched Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn in "The break up," recently.
    
    It was billed as a comedy and I laughed once. At the idea that it was supposed to be funny.
    
    2 hours of a couple arguing before they break up. What is funny about that? I can do that myself. Have done in fact lol Usually took longer than 2 hours though.
    
    Funny films I like:
    
    Dumb and dumber
    Blazing saddles
    Dr. Strangelove
    Pulp Fiction
    
    Anything with Peter Sellers or Mel Brooks
    
    But yes - read the books and you will get more out of the movie. In fact some, like Dune - I don't see how they make any sense at all unless you have read the book.

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    Mark Knowlesposted 17 years ago

    They are perfect at that age.
    
    The incredible thing to remember is - E.E. Doc Smith was born in 1890

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    DJ Funktualposted 17 years ago

    My Grandpa bought me those as a kid along with Edgar Rice Birroughs books, but I think I largely ignored them.  I was in love with Monte Cristo and Robinson Crusoe and wanted my own island ever since.  If I ever get to own a dog, it will be hard not to name him Friday.  Not that I considered the native a dog.  aw Jeez.  Lookout!  j/k
    
    Mark, I really can't wait to start watching YOUR list of films. 
    
    Which would you say is the diving board from which i should jump off?   I Saw Body S.  already (Both) but in the words of AXL ROSE, "Where do we go?  Where do we go now?"
    Metropolis and Omega Man are the only ones I know peripherally. 
    
    Forbidden Planet
    Dark Star
    Metropolis
    Westworld (Before Michael Crighton sold out big time)
    The Omega man
    Capricorn 1

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    Mark Knowlesposted 17 years ago

    It really doesn't matter, but I would start with the oldest first. Which I think is Forbidden planet.
    
    Forbidden planet will give you a whole new perspective on Leslie Nielsen

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    knolyourselfposted 17 years ago

    I like 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' (1951)

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       Mark Knowlesposted 17 years agoin reply to this

       Another good one.

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    gamergirlposted 17 years ago

    What about V, Mark?

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    Mark Knowlesposted 17 years ago

    Oh yes. I loved V. The series anyway. The tongues.
    
    But I am trying to break DJ in gently. He has 50 years of catching up to do

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    gamergirlposted 17 years ago

    Awwww!
    
    What about Barbarella?  *insert devil smilie here*

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    Mark Knowlesposted 17 years ago

    At the risk of being accused of being a pornographer:
    
    

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    gamergirlposted 17 years ago

    Mark...
    
    I'm sorry to tell you that you are now part of the Pornography Industry's plans to take over the Internet.

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       Mark Knowlesposted 17 years agoin reply to this

       Thought I was just having a little fun.........

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    gamergirlposted 17 years ago

    Oh no, you're definitely trying to corrupt the youth of the world.  You're going to desensitize the mothers of the world so that their kids become porn addicts!  How dare you!
    
    Oh wait.. that was me, wasn't it?
    
    Darn.
    
    Hanoi Jane was a hottie, though.

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    DJ Funktualposted 17 years ago

    I love Barbarella and I definitely remember V.    Those creepy alien babies. 
    
    I also like The Weird Bowie movies like The Hunger and The Man Who Fell to Earth.

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    RUTHIE17posted 17 years ago

    dj--I can totally sympathize with your not "getting" Blade Runner.  It's one of my husband's favorites and I can't count the number of times I've fallen asleep while we've been watching it!  I just don't like it!!
    
    How about "Signs"--would you count it as sci-fi?  Or would it be more horror?  It does have aliens!
    
    No ones mentioned "War of the Worlds".  I like both the original and the re-make (not Tom Cruise so much but what the hey!).
    
    I can remember going to the drive-in and seeing Barbarella.  Thought it was soooo sexy back then, now----you can get more excited watching a TV commercial!
    
    Also agree with Shirley--like the remake of "The Thing" better than the original.  I still jump in a couple of places.

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    RUTHIE17posted 17 years ago

    Oh, just remembered this--
    
    When "The Howling" came out--scared the poo out of me for some reason!  Still gives me the shivers whenever I see it!  Isn't it funny how some movies will make you react?
    
    
    BOO!! 

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