Vivian on 9/7/2007 at 14:55
What happened to the version of At the Mountains of Madness that Guillermo del Toro was supposed to be pissing around with? Is that happening?
Gingerbread Man on 9/7/2007 at 16:13
Quote Posted by godismygoldfish
God please let this be a Cthulu/Lovecraft film done right. I've been waiting so long for one to appear that I'de decided I might as well write the fucker myself.
Me too, but think realistically -- is it possible for one to be any good? The grip of Lovecraft's stories lie in his overly-flourished and archaic language, in the pacing of the narration, and in between the reader's ears. Also I firmly believe that the relative brevity of the tales (especially the way things tend to come to an abrupt and jarring "conclusion") is where most of their power to captivate certain readers lies.
Lovecraft is all about the spaces between the lines, the dialogue that
isnt' said. And the longer stuff is usually really gay. Kadath, for instance. Lol cats on teh moon eatin ur cheez.
Could you adapt
The Thing on the Doorstep or
The Dunwich Horror without it wandering into camp or crap?
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward has strong potential, but ultimately it's a book, not a film -- and probably not adaptable without totally losing the essential things (whatever they are) that makes it so awesome.
Most horror requires the participation of the audience -- and I count the reader in this, because when you're reading an engaging book 90% of what you think is going on is only going on in your own head as you review and attach and fracture and otherwise organise / compare the events so far. The
best avenue for adapting Lovecraft would be as an adventure game, in my opinion.
But then how do you texture map the indescribable? What's the polycount on something only partially three-dimensional?
You
could, I suppose, mish-mash up an entire fiction consistent with and incorporating elements of Lovecraft's various mythos... but think about that for a bit. See how crappy that would be? Exactly.
Anyway.
thefonz on 9/7/2007 at 17:34
Wasnt there a Call of Cthulhu adventure game already released?
I could be wrong.
Gingerbread Man on 9/7/2007 at 17:47
Pen & Paper RPG, yes. Ages and ages ago, through Chaosium. It was good, I still have many of the scenarios and whatnot, and the main rulebook had some pretty sweet illustrations. It was a reasonably faithful adaptation, but with a P&PRPG that's easy enough -- 90% of the actual success of the adaptation is down to the GM and players in those cases.
Also Dark Corners of the Earth, but I haven't played that. That seemed to be a pretty clear adaptation of Shadow Over Innsmouth with possibly some flavour from Dagon and other similar short stories. Innsmouth is probably the most obvious and accessible story to adapt in any medium, I'd wager.
driver on 9/7/2007 at 19:02
Roughly the first quarter of Dark Corners of the Earth is an adaption of Shadow over Innsmouth, though it does pick-and-chose what to include. All the major characters are there and the basic details are all present and correct, but it is delivered very differently and there's other things mixed in. However, after you leave Innsmouth is does veer wildly from what I've read of Lovecraft's work and, as many agree, goes a touch downhill (More shooty bang and less creepy eeeek).
It is worth picking up if you can get it on the cheap, as the first part is rather good. Especially your overnight stay at the Gilman Hotel.
:edit:
There was a video of a sequel in the works by the same company, but they went under and it was never finished. From what I saw, it looked very Resident Evil 4 (Camera/control-wise). Not good, IMO. I'll have a hunt and see if I can find it.
demagogue on 9/7/2007 at 19:24
I stumbled into the (
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1606746#post1606746) Oculus before I knew what it was. But once I figured out what it was for ... I think it was about the time I discovered it was being run by the ABC Family network that my eyes started drifting down in disappointment. Just seemed so ... suburban all of a sudden.
I'm all for shadow and mystery ... but when it starts looking too forced, or they're just trying too hard, with twists that are just too suburban, it just doesn't do it for me. These things are better left indie (in spirit, anyway), maybe.
The ones you posted here look better, though.
Gingerbread Man on 10/7/2007 at 03:33
Quote Posted by J J Abrams
Dear Sir,
Thanks for your support of our little movie. I can't wait to talk to you more about it -- of course, knowing you, by the time we talk you'll know more than I will.
Regarding the online stuff you posted: yeah, we're doing some fun stuff on the web. But, obviously, if the movie doesn't kick some massive ASS, who gives a rat's about what's online? So as you can imagine, we're focusing mostly on THAT. For what it's worth, the only site of ours that people have even FOUND is the 1-18-08.com site. The others (like the Ethan Haas sites) have nothing to do with us.
Stay cool the rest of the summer -- and thanks per usual for AICN!
JJ
Hum.
Well, maybe he's LYING.
Either way, the Ethan Haas stuff is interesting enough to keep me vaguely intrigued until August 1st.
lol I bet it's voltrons
Also maybe that Harry Knowles made it up.
Inline Image:
http://www.ttlg.com/gbm/sothere.gifMuzman on 10/7/2007 at 06:53
Quote Posted by Gingerbread Man
- is it possible for one to be any good? The grip of Lovecraft's stories lie in his overly-flourished and archaic language, in the pacing of the narration, and in between the reader's ears. Also I firmly believe that the relative brevity of the tales (especially the way things tend to come to an abrupt and jarring "conclusion") is where most of their power to captivate certain readers lies.
Are y'all familiar with this?
(
http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/)
Haven't seen it myself. It did the festival rounds last year. I don't think it'd change anyone's life (anything accurately impersonating 20s and 30s silent film is unlikely to) but it looks cute and well done.
Vivian on 10/7/2007 at 07:01
It's ok. It's better as a pastiche of silent film (complete with no-contact fighting and feverish eyebrow-wonking from all involved) than it is on it's own terms. Cthulu looks a bit rubbish too - I know that this is an uncharitable thing to say given that they had about $1000 dollars to work with, and top marks for effort, but even so, he did.
I guess GBM is right - how the hell do you film something that's basically described as undescribable?
Muzman on 10/7/2007 at 07:12
Yeah but really he generally does describe things, in quite a detailed fashion (what do people want? these things vital statistics?). It's just that these things are bizzarre and typically described by fevered minds. It's when you turn it into an object of the senses that it becomes quite ridiculous, particularly to a savvy modern audience.
Indeed there's leagues off people who find the old sauce's work utterly preposterous and devoid of any resonance what so ever. It's a matter of, a Geebs says, the imagination. If the narrative carries you along and you buy the emotions expressed by the characters therein it works.
(I think Lovecraft ought to be perfect for cinema as that's supposed to be about the thread of image and narrative as well. But, as GBM also says, it is material that is very medium and style dependant and needs to be adapted correctly)
