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FEATURED THREADS for 1-6-23

 
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Bud Brewster
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Joined: 14 Dec 2013
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2023 12:23 pm    Post subject: FEATURED THREADS for 1-6-23 Reply with quote



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Something for everybody today.

Interested in a tale about a cute little girl with pigtails and absolutely no conscious whatsoever! Try The Bad Seed.

Ever wanted to see a Western in which a Texas Ranger and his trusty steed switch minds . . . and still manage to track down the gang their after?

And where do you stand on the question of CGI special effects when they replace the old FX iN classIC TV shows?

Take your pick, gentlemen. I know it’s a tough choice.


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The Bad Seed (1956)



During my 18 years as an elementary school teacher I never met a child I didn't like.

On the other hand, I did meet a few I didn't like a hell of a lot. The Bad Seed is about a child whom — quite frankly — only a mother could love.

Everybody else in the movie might think that cute little Rhoda Penmark is adorable, but if they don't figure out pretty quick that this little bitch is a monster in pigtails, they'll end in one of those refrigerated drawers the morgue uses to keep the remains from smelling bad when the next-of-kin come to identify the body.

William Hopper (from "20 Million Miles to Earth") has a relatively brief role as a clueless father who doesn't realize Daddy's Little Girl is killing people just for the childlike fun of it.

If you've never seen this movie before, you'll love the pyrotechnic special effect at the end. It proves that God knew what a bad little girl Rhoda had been — and He does a whole lot more than just spank the heartless little fiend.
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A Western with a Freaky Friday twist



Here's a story idea I just came up.

In 1885 a Texas Ranger is in pursuit a Butch-and-Sundance style gang who have been robbing trains and banks. He's intelligent, brave, and has a sense of humor. His trusty horse is beautiful, smart, loyal, and exceptionally well trained.

So far, nothing new, right? Okay, so here's the new part.

For reasons not yet worked out, he and his horse experience a sort of "Freakie Friday" phenomenon -- their minds switch places. The cause of the switch could be somehow connected with the gang (like a weird steampunk-style devise they used on him).

This would require the Ranger to stay on the gang's trail, despite his bizarre predicament. If he can catch them, he can perhaps reverse his unfortunate condition.

The man-in-the-horse discovers he can talk telepathically with the horse-in-the-man, and the horse can talk back. Of course, a horse doesn't have a large vocabulary, so all he get's from old Hammer (the brother of Trigger) are simple thoughts. But everybody knows a cowboy's horse can feel basic emotions (happy horse, angry horse, horny horse, etc.), and it can follow commands.

So, sometimes the horse-in-the-man will think words like "The waterhole is over the hill" or "Watch out behind you!" — thereby helping the man-in-the-horse.

The man-in-the-horse can actually guide the actions and behavior of his smart and well trained horse-mind whenever the "horse-in-the-man" has to pass for a person, but about all he can do is walk reasonably well and look around and listen to what people say — which the man-in-the-horse can hear through the telepathic link, even when they're separated.

In other words, the Ranger can send Hammer (in the human body) into the saloon to look around, observe the people, and listen to conversations. Important clues about the gang and their hideout are learned this way.

And since any smart horse can be trained to follow very complex commands, the Ranger can tell Hammer to nod when spoken to, tip his hat, etc.

I think the dramatic and comedic possibilities of this idea are as wide open as the Oklahoma prairie. It occurs to me that the horse-in-the-man's telepathic "dialog" will sound a bit like Tonto talking to the Lone Ranger — which is perfect, of course.

See what you guys can come up with. Boy, would this make a fun movie or what?

Hey, yer darn tootin' it would, partner!
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A question about digitally enhanced FX

It's odd how differently we feel about the new FX in Star Trek TOS, Brent. I'd given up watching the series because every time one of those crappy FX scenes came on screen I was suddenly yanked out of the 24th century and catapulted back to the 1960s, when spaceships on strings were photographed on grainy film.

That's not what I wanted back in the 1960s and it's certainly not what I want now. So, I was delighted to see scenes like the one on the left turned into the one of the right.



And I'm of the opinion that the film crews who had to settle for the FX we saw back then weren't all that crazy about the results either.

I don't want be 40 years in the past, watching an old TV show with plywood sets and unimpressive FX. I want to be in far future, seeing wonders that weren't possible to put on film in the 1960s on that weekly show's humble budget.

Wonders like these.





I agree with you when you said, "Every show is a period piece representing the best work of artists working within the limitations of the budget and technology of their time."

But if you can take something that was 60% good and still enjoyable and then replace the 40% that's badly flawed because it was the best they could do at the time, why not do it?

I hope I haven't seemed disrespectful of your opinions, Brent. I just don't understand them in this case. I mean, we're both eager to upgrade the appearance of our favorite movies and shows by getting the newest Blu-ray versions and playing them on the most advanced equipment, right?

To me, "upgrading the FX" is just an extension of upgrading your television to a 21st Century home theater.

But I guess that's just me . . .

I guss I figure if you really want to preserve the original look of these old shows, why not watch them on this?



_________________
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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