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"Battleship"

Messages
13,473
Location
Orange County, CA
I think you're confused. Your class looks like Screenwriting 301 to me. Screenwriting 101 :

Guy Movies: Naked girls and toilet humor

Chick Flicks: Hopelessly hokey love stories

Worse is when they try to combine both action and a love story as the main plot: Titanic and Pearl Harbor are notable examples. Either one are fine as a subplot but putting the two center stage will make neither the guys nor gals happy as one tends to distract from the other.
 

MisterCairo

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,005
Location
Gads Hill, Ontario
Too bad they didn't sign James Cameron to do this Battleship movie, not only would it be 3-D but he'd also heavily plagiarize the anime classic Space Cruiser Yamato. He could even throw in a cameo appearance by the Titanic for good measure. :D

lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol

Edit:
Silly me! I just read the blog. Forget Cameron, this DOES sound like a rip-off of Space Cruiser Yamato!



It'll get worse...

Coming to Theaters Summer 2035
Survivor: The Movie




We're off to outer space
We're leaving Mother Earth
To save the human race
Our Star Blazers!

Searching for a distant star
Heading off to Iscandar
Leaving all we love behind
Who knows what danger we'll find?

We must be strong and brave
Our home we've got to save
If we don't in just one year
Mother Earth will disappear
Fighting with the Gamilons
We won't stop until we've won

Then we'll return and when we arrive
The Earth will survive
With our Star Blazers!
 

Stearmen

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,202
Worse is when they try to combine both action and a love story as the main plot: Titanic and Pearl Harbor are notable examples. Either one are fine as a subplot but putting the two center stage will make neither the guys nor gals happy as one tends to distract from the other.
Yes, Titanic was a box office bust, only made $1,835,300,000. Should have used a new plot, not the same old, rich girl falls in love with poor boy, parents hate him, dies in the end! Before you get mad, I never watched the movie. Lets face it, old Will Shakespeare had it right all those years ago!
 
Messages
13,473
Location
Orange County, CA
Yes, Titanic was a box office bust, only made $1,835,300,000. Should have used a new plot, not the same old, rich girl falls in love with poor boy, parents hate him, dies in the end! Before you get mad, I never watched the movie. Lets face it, old Will Shakespeare had it right all those years ago!

Titanic borrowed heavily from the 1980 movie Somewhere in Time which starred Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. And that's quite alright there's very few movies that I see these days. Titanic was the last movie I saw in the theatre. lol
 

Lady Day

I'll Lock Up
Bartender
Messages
9,087
Location
Crummy town, USA
I think this is a false argument.
Its not about new, its about engagement.
There are fundamental cannons of storytelling that are just part of the human experience: The hero, the quest, the discovery, the death, the lesson, etc. Its the finesse of compiling these stories into something that engages the audience, in essence, the art of it. That's what is missing. The willingness to take a risk on the art of a project because it can either fail or succeed. Why take that risk if there is already a built in audience. It's money over substance more than ever. That's the cancer.

LD

To be fair to Hollywood, it's a fact of life that you cannot create something new. You've all heard the expressions. "The more things change, the more they stay the same", "Everything old is new again", "Reinvent the wheel", "It's all been done before".

Those aren't just tired cliches, they're true. There's only so many basic plots that you can create. And eventually, you're going to have to reuse them. It's how WELL you reuse them that determines whether your new production, be it a play, a book, a TV series, a movie...is a success or not.

'Downton Abbey' is a wonderful TV series, I'm sure many people here would agree.

But it's essentially the same as 'Upstairs Downstairs'.

In some ways, the Lord Peter Wimsey series is the same as the Jeeves & Wooster series, with the misadventures of master and servant.

The films 'Volcano', 'Deep Impact', 'Dante's Peak', '2012', all follow mankind's struggles against fantastical natural disasters and what happens during and after.

'Titanic', 'The Poseidon Adventure' and 'The Towering Inferno' all chronicle man's struggle against disasters in a built-up environment.

There are no truly 'original' ideas. There are only the same ideas. And different ways of interpreting them.
 

Doctor Damage

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,328
Location
Ontario
MisterCairo said:
We're off to outer space
We're leaving Mother Earth
To save the human race
Our Star Blazers!

Searching for a distant star
Heading off to Iscandar
Leaving all we love behind
Who knows what danger we'll find?

We must be strong and brave
Our home we've got to save
If we don't in just one year
Mother Earth will disappear
Fighting with the Gamilons
We won't stop until we've won

Then we'll return and when we arrive
The Earth will survive
With our Star Blazers!
Thanks for that great blast from the past!

I watched the trailer for Battleship a few days ago and it seemed to follow the now-standard plot of "alien invaders threaten Earth, only American soldiers/sailors/marines can save the planet and humanity by using their bravery and patriotism to destroy the overwhelming numbers and superior technology of a space-faring race", blah blah blah, zzzzzzzzzz
 

Espee

Practically Family
Messages
548
Location
southern California
The posters I was seeing had the title and release date, but from a distance, no hint of stars or director. So I figured it was a video game.
 

Worf

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,212
Location
Troy, New York, USA
I have every expectation that Battleship will turn out to be complete arse gravy. And make about a gagillion dollars.
Sir/Ma'm, I've never met you but you owe me one cup of coffee and one computer keyboard. I haven't laughed so hard at work in years. Folks are lookin' at me strange as I'm doubled-up on the floor. I was a Sergeant in Army and as a rule consider myself a connaiseur of cuss words but I've NEVER, EVER heard of this one. Bravo Sir... well played.

Worf
 

1961MJS

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,370
Location
Norman Oklahoma
Sir/Ma'm, I've never met you but you owe me one cup of coffee and one computer keyboard. I haven't laughed so hard at work in years. Folks are lookin' at me strange as I'm doubled-up on the floor. I was a Sergeant in Army and as a rule consider myself a connaiseur of cuss words but I've NEVER, EVER heard of this one. Bravo Sir... well played.

Worf

Hi Worf

That IS a new one and I worked construction for a few years.

Later
 

MisterCairo

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,005
Location
Gads Hill, Ontario
Sir/Ma'm, I've never met you but you owe me one cup of coffee and one computer keyboard. I haven't laughed so hard at work in years. Folks are lookin' at me strange as I'm doubled-up on the floor. I was a Sergeant in Army and as a rule consider myself a connaiseur of cuss words but I've NEVER, EVER heard of this one. Bravo Sir... well played.

Worf

Mr. Worf:

I'm a major in the Royal Canadian Air Force and thus salute you for your service. As an officer and a gentleman, I must confess that the term in question did not originate with me, and I cannot take your kind credit.

The term comes from that master of words, Stephen Fry, in his "review" of the book The Davinci Code. I'd read his review some time ago. I have found the relevant quote here:

http://writerinthewilderness.blogspot.ca/2009/05/stephen-fry-reviews-da-vinci-code.html

It would appear then that Mr. Fry owes you the coffee and new keyboard!

Mister C.
 
Last edited:

Worf

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,212
Location
Troy, New York, USA
Mr. Worf:

I'm a major in the Royal Canadian Air Force and thus salute you for your service. As an officer and a gentleman, I must confess that the term in question did not originate with me, and I cannot take your kind credit.

The term comes from that master of words, Stephen Fry, in his "review" of the book The Davinci Code. I'd read his review some time ago. I have found the relevant quote here:

http://writerinthewilderness.blogspot.ca/2009/05/stephen-fry-reviews-da-vinci-code.html

It would appear then that Mr. Fry owes you the coffee and new keyboard!

Mister C.
Thank you VERY much for the lineage of that particular piece of language. I normallly don't cotton much to Officers but seeing that you're a neighbor and all and nice one to boot, I'll just thank you again for the best afternoon of un-controlled laughter I've had in MANY a day. I'll be contacting Mr, Fry about the damages soon. And thank you as well for your continued service.

Worf
(Formerly known as Sgt. Macks Late of the 5th, 8th and 2nd Combat Engineers "Essayons!")
 

MisterCairo

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,005
Location
Gads Hill, Ontario
^
I wish they'd go back to the old RCAF ranks. Squadron Leader Raleigh has a much nicer ring to it.

We only recently (less than a year) returned to it being the RCAF and, for the navy, the RCN and the army the Canadian Army. The RCN's officers also as part of their centenary celebrations got back the executive curl to their rank insignia.

As part of our "unification" in 1968, they eliminated our three branches, gave EVERYONE green (army) uniforms, EVERYONE army rank names, and curiously EVERYONE naval rank insignia for officers (gold stripes). In 1986 we returned to "distinctive environmental uniforms - DEUs - that is, blue, green and navy blue, to return some pride and distinctiveness. Our current government is more traditional and so is slowly returning us to more tradition.

Trust me, I'll be writing my MP about the RCAF rank issue, as you're not the first to point that out! It is odd to be an airforce officer with an army rank and naval stripes...
 

Worf

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,212
Location
Troy, New York, USA

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