movie adaptions WTF?
TELL ME IT ISN'T SO.
NOOOOOOO.
I'm not so upset about all this noise concerning Dakota Fanning because despite it all I think she's a good actress and, frankly, probably the only billable child actress around. I get that. But is Vanessa Hudgens really a good choice for Leah... the ONLY SANE CHARACTER left in Twilight by the end of the series?!? (Which is saying something, since all the characters seem to have partaken of the bloody kool-aid by the end of Breaking Dawn. Actually, I don't know if she makes it to the end, because I put my copy down halfway through.) I thought I might actually enjoy future movies, too. After all, with the casting they've done so far and a different ending, I might be able to stand the Twilight franchise again. The first movie was patchy, but I felt that it lent some credibility to something that I'd thrown at the window as complete trash. I just really, really don't want to see Vanessa Hudgens in any future movies that might be decent. And not as Leah. I like Leah.
I know there's a trend going on here: Hollywood doesn't want original material anymore, so it's turned to children's books (Harry Potter, Golden Compass) and teen sensations (Twilight) for source material. Because a recognized name is more bankable than a totally new one. And I'm actually kind of excited that they're turning their exploitive gaze toward anime because, hey, American live-action will be interesting if nothing else.
At any rate, I am displeased with the camp of the upcoming Dragonball movie, but I think that they may have a little more luck (IF they do it right) with Cowboy Bebop (YES, LIVE-ACTION seems to be A GO!).
Well, I guess to say I'm totally displeased would be a lie. Okay, so it's embarassing and campy, but I think I'm going to like it for that, at least a little bit. Mostly I'm disappointed that they used to much hair gel on the main guy. (Is it that important to make him look just like Goku, because, really, he was kinda cute before you did that.) I'm also a little disappointed that Emmy Rossum would accept the role of such a camptastic Bulma (she seemed so cool in Phantom... why, Emmy, why?).
There are a few reasons I don't think it's going to translate well to American live action. It's a really epic series - you can't just compact that into a little movie. It's really out-of this world, too, which means camp is generally expected and will most certainly make me wince. On top of all this, I think there's a big cultural, thing, too - something like Dragonball will automatically be identified as Japanese, kung-fu, anime-nerd, whatever, and that's going to narrow it down both in the way they market it and in the way it has to be done, period. They're not going to bother taking it to a mainstream audience in the slightest, but it wasn't really meant to be taken there. I think it kind of undermines itself, if that makes any sense.
All of these reasons for Dragonball not working are reasons that I think Bebop could: tt's easily more accesible. Not only does it have a Western-style hero and world, it's more episodic, so a two-hour movie may actually work (I'm not going to get into all of the subtle, gradual character development that went into the series, because that's what makes Watanabe's anime such rewarding experiences). It's got a visual/audio theme that could make for a great live-action. And although I'm not a huge fan of Keanu Reeves as Spike - I agree he's more of a Vicious - at least we know the movie's going to get attention. Yes, in terms of audience, but that translates to more money which translates to production values. I like the idea of that.
So... any ideas on casting? Ed's gonna be so hard to do. In fact, she may be the hardest thing to translate from anime to live-action, if they even bother putting her in. And all those beautiful fight scenes and smoky noir animations -It's really a delicate thing.
Finally, on the current Bleach? Yosh for *mystery spoiler person in 443* showing up, but boo for Ulqui-Ichi-Hime Triangle of Intensity being broken. I was expecting Hime to have a major revelation and finally do some kick-ass thing (well... I can hope). KT is such a tease to us fangirls. I'm still holding out hope that we'll get some more UlquiHime, but we've gotten such a wealth of it in the last few chapters that I can't really ask for much more of it. It's supposed to be crack, after all. KT wouldn't want to let on that he is totally on it.
*loves him to death for 441 and 442 and the creation of Bleach in general*
NOOOOOOO.
I'm not so upset about all this noise concerning Dakota Fanning because despite it all I think she's a good actress and, frankly, probably the only billable child actress around. I get that. But is Vanessa Hudgens really a good choice for Leah... the ONLY SANE CHARACTER left in Twilight by the end of the series?!? (Which is saying something, since all the characters seem to have partaken of the bloody kool-aid by the end of Breaking Dawn. Actually, I don't know if she makes it to the end, because I put my copy down halfway through.) I thought I might actually enjoy future movies, too. After all, with the casting they've done so far and a different ending, I might be able to stand the Twilight franchise again. The first movie was patchy, but I felt that it lent some credibility to something that I'd thrown at the window as complete trash. I just really, really don't want to see Vanessa Hudgens in any future movies that might be decent. And not as Leah. I like Leah.
I know there's a trend going on here: Hollywood doesn't want original material anymore, so it's turned to children's books (Harry Potter, Golden Compass) and teen sensations (Twilight) for source material. Because a recognized name is more bankable than a totally new one. And I'm actually kind of excited that they're turning their exploitive gaze toward anime because, hey, American live-action will be interesting if nothing else.
At any rate, I am displeased with the camp of the upcoming Dragonball movie, but I think that they may have a little more luck (IF they do it right) with Cowboy Bebop (YES, LIVE-ACTION seems to be A GO!).
Well, I guess to say I'm totally displeased would be a lie. Okay, so it's embarassing and campy, but I think I'm going to like it for that, at least a little bit. Mostly I'm disappointed that they used to much hair gel on the main guy. (Is it that important to make him look just like Goku, because, really, he was kinda cute before you did that.) I'm also a little disappointed that Emmy Rossum would accept the role of such a camptastic Bulma (she seemed so cool in Phantom... why, Emmy, why?).
There are a few reasons I don't think it's going to translate well to American live action. It's a really epic series - you can't just compact that into a little movie. It's really out-of this world, too, which means camp is generally expected and will most certainly make me wince. On top of all this, I think there's a big cultural, thing, too - something like Dragonball will automatically be identified as Japanese, kung-fu, anime-nerd, whatever, and that's going to narrow it down both in the way they market it and in the way it has to be done, period. They're not going to bother taking it to a mainstream audience in the slightest, but it wasn't really meant to be taken there. I think it kind of undermines itself, if that makes any sense.
All of these reasons for Dragonball not working are reasons that I think Bebop could: tt's easily more accesible. Not only does it have a Western-style hero and world, it's more episodic, so a two-hour movie may actually work (I'm not going to get into all of the subtle, gradual character development that went into the series, because that's what makes Watanabe's anime such rewarding experiences). It's got a visual/audio theme that could make for a great live-action. And although I'm not a huge fan of Keanu Reeves as Spike - I agree he's more of a Vicious - at least we know the movie's going to get attention. Yes, in terms of audience, but that translates to more money which translates to production values. I like the idea of that.
So... any ideas on casting? Ed's gonna be so hard to do. In fact, she may be the hardest thing to translate from anime to live-action, if they even bother putting her in. And all those beautiful fight scenes and smoky noir animations -It's really a delicate thing.
Finally, on the current Bleach? Yosh for *mystery spoiler person in 443* showing up, but boo for Ulqui-Ichi-Hime Triangle of Intensity being broken. I was expecting Hime to have a major revelation and finally do some kick-ass thing (well... I can hope). KT is such a tease to us fangirls. I'm still holding out hope that we'll get some more UlquiHime, but we've gotten such a wealth of it in the last few chapters that I can't really ask for much more of it. It's supposed to be crack, after all. KT wouldn't want to let on that he is totally on it.
*loves him to death for 441 and 442 and the creation of Bleach in general*