tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post987140393609436764..comments2024-03-17T08:27:53.658-05:00Comments on Stonekettle Station: Today’s Search Phrase OxymoronJim Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11259550121437562338noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-84363302881218166092009-09-30T17:42:37.086-05:002009-09-30T17:42:37.086-05:00“starship troopers verhoeven brilliant genius”
...“starship troopers verhoeven brilliant genius” <br /><br />Wait, what?Dicing with Dragonshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03132972790091524968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-68716649784202245662009-09-29T16:46:44.894-05:002009-09-29T16:46:44.894-05:00Have to admit Total Recall is one of my guilty ple...Have to admit <i>Total Recall</i> is one of my guilty pleasures. And <i>Blade Runner</i> is one of my all-time faves!WendyB_09https://www.blogger.com/profile/03788918629240949526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-87893236262832436502009-09-29T16:11:16.233-05:002009-09-29T16:11:16.233-05:00Ack! Irony! How could I forget Total Recall, a b...Ack! Irony! How could I forget <i>Total Recall</i>, a brilliantly over-the-top movie? Love that movie. And let me point out (hence the irony in forgetting), that whereas I'm not a big Heinlein fan, I am a <i>huuuuuuuuuuuge</i> PKD fan.<br /><br />Does <i>Recall</i> take liberties? Sure, but so the frick what? Is Arnold Schwarzenegger the absolute <i>antithesis</i> of a PKD hero (quintessentially a failed, average-or-below nebbish, typically henpecked)? Absolutely, but what the part of "so the frick what" didn't you hear? <i>Recall</i> isn't Verhoeven's best, but it is made of awesome.<br /><br />Actually, I've said for years that if you could do a mashup of <i>Recall</i> and Ridley Scott's <i>Blade Runner</i> (a beautiful but also rather faithless adaptation), you might actually end up with the perfect PKD movie for once. <i>BR</i> may look like PKD's world, but it doesn't have a scene as phildickian as the one in which Schwarzenegger removes his head and it's a bomb, a scene that recalls one in <i>Ubik</i> in which a man turns into a balloon, floats to the ceiling and blows up.<br /><br />Further irony: I regret to confess I still haven't seen <i>Flesh And Blood</i>, the movie that established Verhoeven's reputation outside of the Netherlands. It's on my list. Has been for years. I swear it.Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18275812152895151542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-13856790029277654312009-09-29T16:01:06.041-05:002009-09-29T16:01:06.041-05:00I'm gonna stick my neck out and just say that ...I'm gonna stick my neck out and just say that the search could absolutely make sense whether you like <i>Starship Troopers</i> or not. I.e. Verhoeven <i>is</i> arguably a genius and he did direct <i>Starship Troopers</i>, so even if you see it as a lesser work or one of his misses, you might still put all those words together.<br /><br /><i>Robocop</i> remains a brilliant piece of work. <i>Basic Instinct</i> is, in my opinion, a pretty brilliant, nasty little black comedy. I thought <i>Black Book</i> was exceptionally good. He's had his disasters: I think <i>Hollow Man</i> is a complete misfire and I still don't think <i>Showgirls</i> even works as camp (though it may work as an "alternative classic" like <i>Plan 9</i> or <i>Alone In The Dark</i>, though that's hardly a complement).<br /><br />As for <i>Troopers</i>: I liked it and thought it did what it set out to do. I completely understand why Heinlein fans hate it, and maybe if I were a Heinlein fan I would, too. I don't think <i>Troopers</i> is Verhoeven's best work--I'd call it a pale shadow of <i>Robocop</i> with some <i>Showgirls</i>-ey elements thrown in, and ranking somewhere in between those two on his filmography.<br /><br />But come on, casting Doogie Houser as a space Nazi has to rank as one of the awesomest bits of stunt casting in the history of everything. That alone would make <i>Troopers</i> a minor treasure, even if were only a 14-karat one.Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18275812152895151542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-47683834839257976052009-09-29T14:12:26.241-05:002009-09-29T14:12:26.241-05:00BUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dr. PhilBUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />Dr. PhilDr. Phil (Physics)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11943336276878704753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-16283755036246262732009-09-29T09:29:32.096-05:002009-09-29T09:29:32.096-05:00Aw, you get all the fun. Nobody ever visits my sit...Aw, you get all the fun. Nobody ever visits my sites unless they're actually looking for the things on them.<br /><br />Hey, wait...Phialahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05604909119508288912noreply@blogger.com