July and August 2009 - DE Expressions

Okay, I'm running really late with the mail, aren't I? You guys posted a lot of comments over the summer, and I'm going to go through them all. That is, except the one from Barry Sacher, partly because it was addressed to Eileen, who already sent her reply, partly because the moon is in the Seventh House and Jupiter aligns with Mars.

All right, let's get started with a comment from one of our recurrent posters, Applepie, who had this to share about our third podcast episode, Nipples Galore, which discussed Joel Schumacher's lacklustre contribution to the Batman lore.

Always love P-O's synopses. Sincere and charming, not pretentious at all. I like your dynamic, all three if you, trying not to interrupt each other. Not like it often happens with other podcasts. Hurrah!

Applepie

Thank you for the kind words. P-O's synopses are adorable, aren't they? My favourite was in part I of the Bat Trilogy, Tim Versus Timm, in which he explained how malformation leads to crime and then mentioned something about Michelle Pfeifer morphing into a cat. Organising recording sessions has been difficult since I moved to a different city and his work schedule has been hectic at best, but I am trying to get P-O to do more podcast movie reviews for The Dreamersedge's multimedia section. You can also look forward to some brand spanking new guest podcast hosts sometime in the new year.

On the subject of podcasts, here's what some of you had to say about our fifth episode, titled The Revival List, which, in retrospect, sounds an awful lot like a mid-season replacement on CBS.

Dimitri, Kung Fu Kid is going to be with Jackie Chan as the mentor and it's going to take place in China. But I like your idea.

Cap

Thanks for the information, Cap. If I remember correctly, the announcement was made just two days after we'd recorded the episode, and we decided against making any sort of correction, partly because the podcast would lose its spontaneity if we started deleting material every time we were wrong about something, partly because I'm terribly lazy and therefore couldn't be bothered.

Since you brought it up, though, I might as well share our thoughts on the matter. Kazim isn't sold on the premise, which involves a young American getting bullied in a Chinese school until Jackie Chan's character teaches him how to stand up for himself. She is, however, intrigued by the casting of Jaden Smith, who she's informed me has been practising karate since the age of four. I'm not sure how that would help him in a movie about kung fu, but that's not really my main issue with the project.

Incidentally, I don't believe for a second the title was changed to Kung Fu Kid. I just don't see the point of acquiring the rights to the Karate Kid franchise if you're not going to bank on the name. Wouldn't it be easier to just lift the generic plot and chalk up every derivative element to "conventions of the genre"?

Anyway, the original film's only worthwhile contribution to the world of entertainment is Mr Myagi, and he's not even going to be in the remake. Now, some might be tempted to argue Jackie Chan could, in fact, be slated to play a Chinese version of Myagi. No, he's couldn't. The whole point of Myagi is that he's an underappreciated immigrant. Chan's character will be a Chinese man on Chinese soil. At this point, the producers should have just dropped the whole remake angle and called their movie, "Will Smith's Son Whines to Aging Potato-Nosed Man Whose Absolute Worst Chinese Flick Is Still More Interesting than Anything He's Done for Hollywood and Did We Mention This Is an American Project Directed by the Guy Responsible for The Pink Panther 2?" Now, that'll get people in the theatres.

All right, let's move on to another comment from Applepie.

I can't remember a remake I like more that the original.

Applepie

I know how you feel, Applepie, but I actually can name a few. John Carpenter's reimagining of The Thing (1982) immediately comes to mind as does the 1978 adaptation of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I also like the American remake of The Eye (2008) more than the original, though neither version is particularly good. Outside of horror, there is, of course, the 2006 James Bond reboot, Casion Royale (the original came out in 1967), the 2007 remake of Hairspray directed by So You Think You Can Dance honcho Adam Shankman, and 2005's 3:10 to Yuma, starring Christian Bale and Russel Crowe. All these movies are worth a rental if you haven't already seen them. That is, except for The Eye, which I'd only recommend to Jessica Alba fans.

This next comment was posted on the message board for The Eighties Strike Back, but it actually refers to the previous podcast episode, The Revival List.

OMG! In ep 5, you said they should put SYTYCD contestants in the Fame remake, and in the finale, they said Kerrington's in it! They're totally listening to you!

Suzan

I am truly awesome.

Here's a short message regarding the Go Space Thought of the Month for August 2009.

Aah Ha!! Not bad!

Goldfish

Thank you, Goldfish, but is it good?

Wow, it's going much quicker than I thought it would. This next one's from a long-time reader. It refers to my review of Zack Snyder's Watchmen.

Nino likes this.

Nino

Dimitri appreciates kind words.

I received some very interesting e-mails in response to the Mindless Midnight Survey, but they're all a bit on the personal side, so here's a message board entry instead.

Awsome! B.Z.likes it.

B. Zoo

Why are so many people (okay, just two) writing in the third person? He finds it very awkward and confusing.

Edelweiss also commented on my survey answers.

Not so silly as it looks like. Some deep thoughts too. Cute.

Edelweiss

Thanks, Edelweiss. The piece caught a lot of readers by surprise, as most were ready to dismiss it based on appearances. It's sort of like Mr Myagi that way. Wax on, wax off, baby!

Let's discuss The Nineties Strike No One.

Beautiful analysis of Pump Up the Volume. Like it a lot.

Applepie

Thank you, Applepie. It really is one of those films that make me take stock of my life whenever I watch it. Other movies that have a similar effect on yours truly include Rocky (1976), Saturday Night Fever (1977), and Magnolia (1999). If you haven't seen them yet, run to a video store near you this instant.

Here's what Gem had to say about the very same podcast recording. In case you didn't know, Gem is excitement. She's adventure, glamour and glitter, fashion and fame. Gem is truly outrageous, truly, truly, truly outrageous. The music's contageous... Oh, no, wait. That's Jem with a J. Here's her comment.

Best episode of the serie so far. Love your comments about feminism, Dimitri.****

Gem

Thank you so much for the kind words, Gem. As you may have noticed, feminism comes up a lot in the podcasts, and it's a topic about which I happen to be very opinionated. I think it's because I've seen both sides of the fence, having volunteered at women's centres and written for various men's magazines, and I can't for the life of me figure out why a fence was erected in the first place. Please let us know if there are any other social issues you'd like us to discuss in future podcasts, you know, like Alien versus Predator or something like that.

Finally, last August was Blast from the Past Month here at The Dreamersedge, and we issued a special challenge to all our podcast listeners, asking them to identify all seven songs featured in our episode The Eighties Strike Back. No one was able to get them all, so here are the song titles in order of appearance:

Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics
In My Room by Yaz
Change of Heart by Cyndi Lauper
When Doves Cry by Prince and The Revolution
The Transformers Theme by Lion
Johnny and Mary by Robert Palmer
Dare to Be Stupid by Weird Al Yankovic

Both Pam and Applepie managed to recognise four of the seven songs, but Pam was first to post, which makes her the contest winner. Her reward was that she got to buy me cheesy bread. Lucky girl!

Well, that's the end of our astonishingly late edition of DE Expressions. Until next time, peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars. This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, Age of Aquarius, Aquarius, Aquarius.

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