So... Zombies - Ep . 17 Intentionally Blank

[@alexfraser8445]

Ooh, my moment of fame for suggesting The Great British Fake-Off. That was a nice surprise to be so well-received. Thanks, guys!

[@dasmowenator]

I don't get it... how does The Rock cooking have anything to do with the British?

[@kunalns]

Prediction: the next Stormlight novella is going to be about Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamor entering a cooking contest on the Horneater Peaks

[@GerBessa]

Will lose to Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar.

[@kunalns]

@@GerBessa Airsick lowlanders will call him Stone (Cold)

[@DarkSol16]

I can't believe I never made the connection of Rock and his great cooking with 'Can you smell what the Rock is cooking?' until now.

[@chriso3641]

YES! Please! I need this!

[@Bennybnyhc]

So Brandon reads the comments? This podcast is always fun because you guys go back and forth like the old chums ya are, thanks for the entertainment, keep up the great work!

[@BrandSanderson]

I try!

[@judyimlay3072]

For I, Robot, the part that haunts me is the story about how Will Smith's character gets saved from drowning by the robot because it calculated his odds of survival were better than the little girl but a human would've understood the value in the little girl's life.

[@pisoprano]

As someone who once took an adaptation class, let me pull up two of the _many_ classification systems adaptation theorists use: On a basic level, we have Geoffrey Wagner's (1975) three types of "transition of fiction into film": 1) Transposition: "in which a novel is given directly on the screen, with a minimum of apparent interference" 2) Commentary (re-emphasis/restructure): "in which an original is taken and either purposely or inadvertently altered in some respect" 3) Analogy: "a fairly considerable departure for the sake of making another work of art" For more of a nitty-gritty perspective of adaptation, Thomas Leitch defines ten categories in chapter 5 ("Between Adaptation and Allusion") of his book _Film Adaptation and Its Discontents_ : 1) Celebration (includes curatorial adaptations, replication, homage, heritage adaptation, pictorial realization, literalization): celebrating the original work by being extremely faithful to the text (e.g., the BBC Pride and Prejudice mini-series). 2) Adjustments (includes compression, expansion, corrections, updates, superimposition): making changes to the text to make it more suitable for film (e.g., cutting a book down to a two-hour film or changing the ending to appease censors). 3) Neoclassical imitation: artistically reviving classic texts in a new context (e.g., West Side Story or Clueless). 4) Revision: rewriting the original text with the intent to also change the spirit of it (e.g., Kenneth Branagh's Henry V choosing to be much grittier than Laurence Olivier's theatrical version of the play). 5) Colonization: removing and replacing the original cultural context and meaning for a different audience (e.g., Bride and Prejudice or The Magnificent Seven). 6) (Meta)commentary/Deconstruction: including self-critical analysis of the work and how it is made (e.g. Jane Austen in Manhattan or Adaptation) 7) Analogue: loosely following the same basic structure of another text (intentionally or not) (e.g., Bridget Jones' Diary and Fiddler on the Roof both being Pride and Prejudice analogues). 8) Parody/Pastiche: an imitation of the original work (parody=satirizing the original, pastiche=more neutral). 9) Secondary/Tertiary/Quaternary/etc. Imitation: imitating a work that is itself an imitation of another work (may go several levels deep and intertextuality may be at play between all of the adaptation's progenitors). 10) Allusion: passing references to another text (pretty much all of film has this to some degree).

[@EternalDiam0nd]

Excellent comment I feel like Wagner's transition types are a bit too basic for the minutiae Brandon and Dan were talking about. I can definitely see Brandon's thought of a work "not being an adaptation" considering some of these classifications

[@jaredpoulter6762]

Best movie about robots taking over the world - Mitchells vs the Machines. No 3 laws at all, just stupid incompitent humans. You are not going to get the same philosophical discussion about it, but it is so good.

[@aaronwilliams8887]

i came into that movie with low expectations, but was so massively surprised, that movie had a massive amount of quality in it at almost every level. Even predictable or campy parts were executed wonderfully.

[@jaredpoulter6762]

@@aaronwilliams8887 I agree. I turned it on for my kids figuring it would keep them entertained for a little while. It didn't take long for all of us to be laughing and honestly it had good heartfelt moments and included some social commentary about our relationship with technology that I thought was really good. I was very impressed.

[@Kabissz]

How about "Her"? Great thought experiment with ai. Not Asimov style, but in the same wheelhouse.

[@mythun6735]

Thanks for these podcasts, Brandon! Dealing with Leukemia at the moment and these are always such a treat to be able to listen to while getting treatments. Nothing like a good conversation between you guys to have as a distraction!

[@hoorayberet5126]

Possible podcast title - Tangential Tapestries. You never know what all the conversational twists and turns will unite to create, but you know the final picture it's going to be interesting and yet way off from the episode's intented topic. Thanks for the great content guys - the amazing novels and these delightful podcasts!

[@olevam1]

This episode was really zombie informative! Thanks Brandon and Dan for showing me the various types of zombies and their function in the art mediums!

[@chrisashford3379]

I remember seeing Starship Troopers at a late night showing with a group of friends. The crowd was rowdy, everyone was talking back to the movie MST3K-style, and everyone cheered when the bugs got blown up. It was about the most fun I've ever had in a movie theater.

[@justin-md4xm]

Ah the 90s theaters were like that :)

[@LMJeffJones]

Every episode: "Hey werent we supposed to be talking about something else?"

[@robmack519]

It's too bad there's already a podcast titled, "Off Topic"

[@ChristmasLore]

Please, just not another " heist" episodes, so tired of this topic. Don't even like those to begin with.

[@GShoeShoe]

If you notice Brandon writing on something there as he talks, each of those is a new novel about to be announced.

[@ChristmasLore]

It was recorded months ago, and he's always signing stuff, even old, for their on line shop

[@momongama1091]

this aged fairly well I have to say

[@richardross2376]

It was a kind of blink and you'll miss it in the novel, but citizenship in Starship Troopers was given for federal service, which the military fell under, but didn't make up the entirety of service options. A bit of a pedantic point, but I think it changes the pool of potential citizens, including those who aren't fit for military service.

[@xintrosi6829]

And there are at least a few of real world countries that require federal service as one comes of age, like South Korea (but only for males). You don't necessarily need to join the military; you can enter the police force or firefighters.

[@justin-md4xm]

It's a really fascist plot point

[@rultkiraly43]

I think becouse the book needs to be eventful/interesting the military aspect gets overrepresented. No one wants to read about a researcher who spent the service on a noname asteroid waiting for the computers to analyze soil. As I understand, the premise of the system in Starship trooper is that before being able to decide how the state should be run you need to serve in its system so you understand it better, and you are dedicated enought to go through the job you are given. The state has a duty for anyone to join and find them a position. Thats why they use people from the hardest jobs in the recruitment, so only those who really want to be citizens would join. Becouse its possible to join up and the leech on the system and the state cant do anything about it. At least its the driving force behind the system as I understand. Of course in reality it would be more nuanced.

[@Bookhardtsbooks]

I love you Brandon! Your voice is only soothing and your hilarious! I love your lectures!

[@coolaostar]

Loved the episode! The food heist/burglary you talked about in the beginning made me think of the movie "Welcome to Collingwood", which I consider to be a perfect movie about a not so perfect heist.

[@Hazelnut51000]

The plague bit would have been even better if the episode WAS called “let’s talk about plagues,” and you just never did. Edit: Alright, the Zombie title also works. When you actually do the zombie episode, call it “so… plagues” or “so… robots”

[@ThePhantomphan11]

You guys should really make these longer and or more often. I always find myself wanting more. I know you're busy but I could listen to you two talk about movies and stuff all day!

[@beowulfshaeffer8444]

Yeah, I side with Brandon. Responses, parodies, and published/monetized fan-fictions need to have different titles from the original work.

[@seidmadr2024]

I'm also angry at the Starship Troopers film for not having power armor. I mean, that was one of the reasons to see it as a film, rather than just read it as a book.

[@streppa]

Maybe someday we'll get a film adaptation of John Steakley's "Armor".

[@justin-md4xm]

They did that in the terrible sequel

[@goatman3358]

Yeah the armour seemed cool, but too much of that book was just bootcamp

[@Jp-qx8sz]

As a big Asimov and Dune fan i’d be very interested to hear bran and dan’s opinion on the the recent foundation and Villenuve adaptations.

[@LeeA.D.]

Omg, Brandon Sanderson writing a robots-as-angels Azimov adaptation sounds incredible.

[@Felipe-nw3hx]

I'm always so curious as to what gets cut in those transitions (like 25:18)... yes, I do *watch* as opposed to just listen ;P

[@dinocollins720]

“Disagreeing while agreeing on the same thing” is the new title 😂

[@jchinckley]

Let's translate that: "Agreeable Disagreements."

[@edwinleskin3112]

Seven on the the honeymoon had me rolling. "It was on!" Sounds like a Seinfeld line.

[@the_writers_block]

Speaking of adaptations, I really hope we get your guys' take on Apple TV+'s Foundation adaption.

[@archierowe3893]

Did anyone else have 30 seconds of silence near the end?

[@hewsec]

I remember Heinlein actually refuting that assertion. Also from what I remember in the book it wasn't military service specifically, though Rico obviously enlisted and went that route. The concept was federal service of some kind was required for citizenship, with the idea being that only those who have served their communities in some fashion should be able to vote. So you could go the civil service route too.

[@revanofkorriban1505]

Wasn't in-universe the whole reason for this system arising that parents stopped beating their children, leading to a societal and moral collapse? I think that's not very realistic.

[@squirrelpig5149]

Yo! Thanks for the upload Brandon! You are the best!!

[@DL-idk]

I've learned so much about zombies from this podcast I don't need to hear about them in a century

[@mscout1]

I wrote my college Modern Speculative Fiction final paper on the that exact aspect of I, Robot. The idea of the robots taking over is actually something that Asimov addressed in some of that later stories. In "The Evitable Conflict" the characters figure out that the Machines 'helping' with managing the economy have basically already done a soft takeover. They extrapolated a Zeroth Law: "No machine may harm humanity; or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm", and are following it ahead of the First Law. They are allowing small harms to happen to humans (Things like "someone losses a job, and then gets an new equivalent job a week later"), in service of protecting humanity as a whole. Other, later stories involve looking at Zeroth Law implications, as well. But the conclusion there is "Well, we aren't running anything anymore, but they are still looking out for us. So cool, I guess?" The movie I, Robot was going to be a different movie called HardWired that looked a different take on robot engineering safety. But someone said "Hey, lets license the property, that'll sell better". They added a bunch of scenes from the short stories, and and stuff, but they didn't rewrite the plot as a whole. So it really undermined the Asimov's whole "No really, we can build them safe" philosophy.

[@QazwerDave]

Sanderson is definitely right and using "adaptation" correctly !!

[@rokentom3926]

It’s wild how much that Se7en story made me laugh. Your delivery knocked me out of my chair!

[@surprisedchar2458]

Didn’t think I’d hear Brandon Sanderson talk about Count Dankula. Neat.

[@kaido_1173]

I would give both eyes and learn Braille to read a grim dark zombie series by Brandon Sanderson.

[@FalkaRiannon]

The realisation that the main character is the monster to the Vampires is actually in the Vincent Price adaptation of I am Legend. It's still not necessarily a good movie but at least in that aspect it is a really good adaptation. If you want to check it out it's called The Last Men On Earth.

[@baffledrascal9386]

You heard it here first he name of the pod is . "Dumplings inside them". Maybe the heist was in us all along.

[@BrandonsWritingRoom]

"Runaround" is also my favorite story in the I, Robot collection.

[@xedden2]

I think this episode is a strong example for why "slightly on topic" should be the title

[@YuzuruA]

30:00 In fact I remember one of Asimov´s stories is that - and I believe they were cloning that = one of the super computeres evolve a "zero law of robotics" of "you should preserve human life even if that breaks law one".

[@plusmanikantanr]

Probably Robots of Dawn or such. But Brandon was talking about the Ending-Ending of the Foundation + Robots series. Robots give human a choice ... " Pick one future" ... either ultimate free will ... or ultimate evolution ... or some third way ... or something along those lines. " The man who is never wrong" ... gets to tell us which way to go :-D

[@andurilcuivie]

The one where anti-robot humans were being subtly sabotaged out of management positions. A minimal harm approach. Wasn’t it concluded to be a good thing?

[@YuzuruA]

@@andurilcuivie yes or at least a "all in a day"

[@TheMusicscotty]

A 'Minority Report' kind of novel by Sanderson would be a fascinating story.

[@JoeMama410]

I just listened to the Blank Check podcast episode about Starship Troopers and they confirmed everything you said: Verhoven’s hatred for the source material, choosing less skilled actors intentionally, etc. Supposedly it began as a unique property, but when they realized the similarity to ST, they licensed the rights and turned it into a satire

[@g.sanchez-betancourt720]

I just started reading Starship Troopers yesterday. Loved the movie, and I was disappointed that the conversation on this was short. "I would like to know more."

[@g.sanchez-betancourt720]

The irony with the film was that watching it as a kid, I wanted to join in the fight.

[@cbpd89]

On the subject of plagues....Dan, you had a Plague Baby t-shirt in a past episode. Any chance those exist in baby onesie form? I think I need one for my actual plague baby who was born during covid.

[@Jackolantirn]

When I was looking at my KZbin feed, I saw both this video and the recent Matthew Colville video titled "Everybody Loves Zombies." Upon listening to this episode, there was obviously a lack of discussion about zombies, but that's okay because the discussions that were had was still fascinating. Matt Colville's video, however, was a bit more consistent in it's discussion of zombies. Or, at least, it was about the concept of including zombies in a fictional setting. In a tabletop RPG (like Dungeons and Dragons) where combat is a prominent feature, killing monsters is a common activity. But, depending on the kind of creature, not all players are able to kill without experiencing some sort of moral conundrum. As an example, there may be a group of players who have to fight an orc, and while most of these players may believe that orc to be akin to a Lord of the Rings orc (which are inherently evil), there may be a player who isn't sold on the idea that all orcs are evil. To that player, they may want to look for an alternative solution that doesn't involve killing... But that player may also understand that killing the orc makes more sense in the setting/game, or they may not want to disrupt the pacing of the game or ruin their friends' immersion... Simply put, there are "monsters" included in games and stories with the intention of being killed by players, but not every player can kill those "monsters" without experiencing some degree of moral dilemma. The reason "everybody loves zombies" is that zombies are universally regarded as being necessary to kill. In RPGs that involve killing monsters, zombies can be used to fulfill the role of being killed without creating moral dilemmas in the player's mind. This is not to say that you should always avoid moral dilemmas when slaying monsters in RPGs; rather that zombies are a useful tool for when you do. And the way this wall of text is related to this episode of Intentionally Blank is that I did not read the novel "I Am Legend," so when I watched the movie adaptation I had this understanding that the vampires were evil and needed to be killed, so I much more preferred the ending where Will Smith sacrifices himself to blow them up. And when I saw the alternate ending where Will Smith survives, I thought it was just a cop-out for people who don't like having their favorite characters die. However, now I can finally appreciate that alternative ending under the premise that the vampires aren't evil. (I'm guessing that the novel does a better job at convincing readers that there may be something more to vampires than simply being a force of evil).

[@andurilcuivie]

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (the movie) is one of the good adaptations. It kept the spirit of the characters, and more of the scenes than some other adaptations.

[@Jarlisson0]

Dan is a really beautiful man

[@WoTMike1989]

There is an I am Legend deleted scene that actually sort of changes the ending to be more in line with the original ending. Apparently it did not test well and is just on the dvd

[@Panyc333]

My favorite “zombies” are the Flood from Halo. Terrifying, intelligent, agile, and organized. Horrific.

[@myrojyn]

Oh I still vividly remember my first encounter with the flood. Such perfect atmospheric setting and the build up was perfect.

[@Panyc333]

@@myrojyn yes, that music still shreds my nerves in its Psyco’esqe shrieking. I don’t know if the concept of a Gravemind intelligence omits them from zombie qualification but they are in my head canon.

[@rodrigonoffs1369]

mine are the trolls from stand still stay silent

[@jaredpoulter6762]

@@myrojyn that first encounter is set up so perfectly in the game.

[@WoTMike1989]

Also, I love Bicentennial Man. Maybe not an amazing movie but it tries to at least address interesting topics

[@GalaxyElfJess]

I'm late to this video but totally agree! It's one of my favorite films and I don't know very many people who have seen it, nor loved it like I do. Fantastic concept.

[@squidy2343]

Have you guys seen Omega Man from 1971? It was an adaptation of I Am Legend before the Will Smith version. I remember my dad getting excited about the newer one because he said it was the same story line as Omega Man, that's how I found out it was a remake/adaptation

[@jchinckley]

You should read the novels by Richard Matheson. Even Stephen King is a fanboy of Matheson. I Am Legend and The Shrinking Man were so well written that they spawned entire industries... zombies and shrinking things. They became instant "geek/nerd" culture hits. The same guy was responsible for the novel "What Dreams May Come" that was turned into the movie starring Robin Williams.

[@SlackwareNVM]

I remember my immense disappointment the first time I saw Starship Troopers when it was on TV. In our language, the movie title was translated to 'Star Rangers', and so imagine my surprise when I found out this was not a Power Rangers movie.

[@MountainDewComacho494]

Your arguments about Star Ship Troopers and I Am Legend can be applied to the Rings of Power. The biggest reason so many people hate it is because a lot of Tolkein's ideas are subverted.

[@mdwesquire]

Starship Troopers grossed 121 million worldwide against a 105 million budget. It did underperform domestically with only 54 or so million.

[@jamcdonald120]

29:20 well not really. iRobot is "We must control humans to protect them", Age of Ultron is "We must cause an apocalypse to force humans to evolve."

[@zacksporen]

In talking about great media and it's adaptation, Layer Cake by J. J. Connolly and the screenplay also by Connolly are both amazing. Bonus points for the 2004 'Pre-James Bond' Daniel Craig as the protagonist (This was the role that got him the consideration for Bond in 2006's Casino Royale). Hands down my all time favorite crime book and film. Also, the directorial debut of Matthew Vaughn, long time producer of Guy Ritchie, who went on to do even more awesome directing I'm sure you are familiar with.

[@metumortis6323]

I believe in the book, any service to the government guarantees citizenship not just military citizenship

[@sarebear62]

For me, adaptations and how I enjoy them depends in part on my expectations or hopes, which I try to limit to say 3 things per adaptation, so as not to get in the way, too much, of enjoying whatever differences are being brought to the table. At least, leaves me with a mostly open mind. For something like Solo (not an adaptation, but it was extrapolating off of previous work, like one or two of the adaptations you discuss did in their own ways), I allowed 3 hopes for it. See how he got the Falcon, see how he and Chewie met, and have some kind of surprise or unexpected thing in there. Those were my top 3, and when I saw it, a year after release, having avoided spoilers, I thought it was awesome. Well, I also wanted it to be fun. They did everything I wanted and then some. I only have one thing I didn't like. For me, watching Han Solo at any age has been fun. They had the core of it. Other things, depending on what it is, I keep to 1 hope, usually because the nature of the story or sub genre or something. Godzilla and other giant creature/robkt films. I don't expect much in the way of sorry, as long as it short of holds together if you don't think too much. I am there for the spectacle. So I quite enjoy the recent, and even the Matthew Broderick, Godzilla movies and similar, pg-13 and below. It's a certain kind of fun that is good for brain foggy days (fibromyalgia). Third and lastly, sometimes my expectations/ hopes are lowered too much. I recently rewatched the Hunger games films, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed them and was engaged with them. I really enjoyed the books when I first read them, though book 3 seemed to have ratcheted up the violence by 100 and recently I had thought that maybe that was done in a semi filler kind of way. After rewatching the films, i need to reread. Because the story is really good, the acting I thought was stellar, especially since i at least don't usually expect such in this genre . . . Because my feelings in recent years that all the child vs child violence was old and cliche, well, I think that's partly from people doing their own stories trying to capture some of the essence thatCollins captured in Hunger Games. So many have tried because she wrote a compelling story, especially the first two books. I had just forgotten that. It's nice to get a pleasant surprise like that, especially in the literary adaptations mvie department. (I quite enjoy I Robots myself, but only as a loose What If kind of thing, like Marvel's What if.)

[@Ray_D_Tutto]

What is the dog thing Brandon is referring to?

[@ScottsCharacter]

if I remember correctly the alternate ending to I Am Legend does make an attempt at showing him as the monster. I tried to find the alternate scene on KZbin with no success, they all cut it or end it short. Near the end Will Smith says "I'm sorry", the monster screams and the camera shows will smith flinch showing the wall of pictures of his dead experiments. The monster leaves and after Will Smith sits down he looks to that wall of dead monsters. A subtle hint but a attempt was made I guess lol

[@keepperspective]

This is an incredible dissection!

[@pirolodaniel]

Count Dankula’s joke with his dog was hilarious. He got arrested because he refused to pay the fine he was given for making a joke. Bravo. Jokes are jokes, and someone who doesn’t find it funny doesn’t get to say that your joke wasn’t a joke. Since his intent wasn’t parody, but comedy, the rules of parody don’t really apply.

[@darrenpinnegar9853]

I would love it if you included Howl's Moving Castle next time you talked about movie adaptation.

[@andrewshute9761]

Is it weird that I'm happy that it wasn't really about zombies?

[@JacobyMc]

Great! Now I have to go read “I am Legend.” I didn’t even know it was a book.

[@littleripper312]

Love these podcasts ❤❤

[@mndrew1]

Re: Good vs. bad adaptation - this is what pissed me off so much about "The Shannarra Chronicles"; it completely betrayed the core of the book; where all the races of the world after a thousand years of war, come together to fight an external threat.

[@lampad4549]

They were never good books anyway. You must hate every stanley kubrick adaptation?

[@eddiefalhaus6195]

@@lampad4549 I don't know. I enjoyed the first trilogy and quadrology. But there comes a point in adaptation where there are so many changes, it seems like- why even bother to call it that. Just do your own thing. Make your own universe like Carnival Row. Shannara was like that for me. I kept a VERY open mind for a good half of the first season- until we got to guns and perfectly preserved prom dresses. And that point it became clear that one whole leg of Elfstone was cut out- the battles. They weren't going to even portray them Shakespeare style (commanders on the hill, battle offstage.) It's like cutting out the Aragorn plot from Lord of the Rings. If you are incapable of hitting some major beats like Helms Deep and the siege of Gondor are you really adapting Lord of the Rings? Or are you just filming two hobbits run through the wilderness and have a random CGI monster terrorize the palace every now and then. No thanks. And it's not just because I want to see battles led by Stee Jans (though I would.) But the endless retreat is what creates the ticking time bomb, the sense of urgency for the Wil and Amberle plot line. We lose the very clear stakes without seeing the Elf kingdom get slowly bottled in to a last defence and wonder if Wil and Amberle will even make it back in time. Will anyone be left? Between that and running back and forth in the same forest and getting kidnapped every second episode... there was very little preserved of what made Elfstone good and very little sense of progression. Too much was gone to call it an adaptation in any meaningful sense. I mean, could they not have cut out the commune episode and preserved the valley of the stalemated witch sisters? What a fascinating concept to bring to the screen. But nope.

[@jackmacguire3565]

Adaptions vs. responses to ideas in a nutshell: Kierkegaard: "Hegel is wrong about everything, here's how the world really works" Marx: "Hegel is wrong about everything, here's how the world really works" Hegel: "You two must agree on a lot, then."

[@Brannfull]

I've learned so much about zombies and their three laws today

[@letsplaysquire3257]

Asimov did right the totalitarian robot story, I forget the title but in it the super computers that perform the basic governance of a region (allocation of resources, algae harvest planning etc) identify problem humans within the system and eliminate them indirectly (intentionally sabotaging production at a plant to a degree that the manager is fired but no one else is harmed, bankrupt a mining company to prevent a mine shaft collapse and so on)

[@TerrificRallyMaestro]

The guy with the dog you're talking about is Count Dankula!

[@OntheOtherHandVideos]

Ya! I would actually argue that Count Dankula and South Park both set up the joke in their own context, but the visibility of the context was different - for Dankula it was context his friends knew and he shared it with his friends (to the broader public the context was unknown). As such, I feel like people jumped to conclusions based on a lack of context far more than the content, as Brandon pointed out the same jokes made by South Park are considered 'fine'.

[@jordanneal576]

There was a reporter who asked him a question outside the courthouse, and in the question he said the thing the Dankula was in trouble for saying, and Dankula just responded with "well you just said it, and if context doesn't matter you should be arrested too." Nailed it.

[@BeholderThe1st]

I'm one of those who feels very strongly about Starship Troopers the movie vs. the book. Aside from a few commonalities, that movie has nothing to do with the book. That they couldn't even leverage film technology to give us power armor and an orbital drop is the least of its sins.

[@carlos_takeshi]

Asimov was tired of all robot stories devolving into Frankenstein stories, so he developed the Three Laws as a means of trying to preempt those storylines. The fact that I, Robot devolved into a Frankenstein story is a betrayal of the central theme of all of Asimov's robot stories.

[@rickpgriffin]

In terms of adaptations that may stick too closely to the book, look at the movie "Holes". I read the book, and despite the amount of complaining people did at the time that it wasn't ABSOLUTELY PRECISELY the book one-for-one, it is almost UNCANNY how close the movie is to it. Like, they only skipped like 3 or 4 scenes for time, and I would swear that the ones they did adapt appeared exactly as they did in my mind's eye when reading the book. However... the book is YA and not particularly difficult to read, so at a certain point you'd need to ask, if the movie is almost precisely the same experience you get from reading the book... why have the movie at all?

[@Ize19]

Because we want to believe it's real. Seeing is believing, and seeing our favorite story brought to life makes it realer to us, which makes us happier. Comics have images, which makes them realer than books and just words, animation provides sound and motion, which makes them realer than comics, and live-action is much more realistic looking than animation, which makes it realer than animation. The more money you can spend on costumes, settings, and effects, the realer they look, so movies look realer than TV. Some people can have books play out in their imaginations, and prefer that to somebody else's imagination captured on film, but that's just because they already get to experience the movie in their head. At least, that's imo.

[@mycroft8344]

I've got an idea for a title "Here is an interesting idea"

[@skycastrum5803]

I believe prestige has more to do with what you can “get away with” than skill, at least in being offensive. I see a solid way skill can factor into what an author can get away with, but not in the line of “being offensive.” Rather, it’s the “don’t do this” rules that mean something closer to “it’s easy to screw this up.” Though even then, it’s not so much getting-away-with as not-screwing-it-up. Mark Meechan’s pug video wasn’t “bad.” It just wasn’t crafted. It just wasn’t designed in a way to avoid backlash from those who would take offense.

[@gordo6908]

9:27 speaking of camp, miss congeniality is just a feature length version of xena warrior princess' s2e11 'here she comes, miss anphipolis'

[@Ivory207]

nice almost 250k, he deserves it

[@vamsiampolu8438]

I don't think "humans are obsolete and this man is a monster" would not fly in a Will Smith blockbuster. I'm more angry I am Robot is not a collection of short stories

[@stephenmaher4690]

New name: Brandon Bickers & Dan Dallies

[@JAdouble6]

I suppose in a way, one could argue that movies that have a tangential connection to books but are not inherently good adaptions are themselves zombies? Moving on their own without connection to the thing they once were, or something? Especially if you're someone who doesn't like the adaption and _wishes_ it would stop moving. Me, I just don't like zombies in general. Can't see 'em without wondering why the local bacteria haven't done their jobs properly.

[@Lultschful]

I can't fathom why some people can dislike a genre or movie because of what they erroneously call "plot holes". logic flaws would be a better way to call them, for starters (I know, you didn't mention plot holes, but let's call this a tangent). What counts is the ability of the movie to make you forget the inevitable logic flaws, through the quality of the writing, direction, actors' performances. If you feel a movie sucks because something in it doesn't make sense, there's two real reasons that I can see. 1. The movie failed to draw you in to the point that you started to notice those flaws. In which case, it's arguably poorly made. 2. You are more interested in spotting those flaws than allowing the story to grab you.

[@JAdouble6]

@@Lultschful You say that, and normally I'd agree with you, but in my personal case it seems to be _solely_ zombies. I really can't say why it happens, maybe I've just been exposed to the wrong media with 'em, but I otherwise unironically have enjoyed a lot of bad sci-fi stuff, and in the meanwhile have been kicked out of a few stories I was otherwise enjoying the moment zombies show up. For example, I read Mira Grant's "Parasite" a few years back, which starts off with a somewhat goofy thing about medicinal tapeworms and the implication the main character, who was in a coma until they implanted a tapeworm in her, had died and her mind was actually that of the tapeworm's somehow. But then zombies start happening two-thirds in. Because someone put Toxiplasmosa Ghandii in the Tapeworms if I remember right? And instantly I was just kicked out of the story. (For the record, I hadn't heard of the author at the time, who I now know to mostly write zombie stuff) That said, it could be I've been exposed to the wrong media- Not everything is for everyone, and looking back, I can think of at least one zombie thing that didn't kick me out, but that was "Warm Bodies", which is, well... odd in its own way.

[@Lultschful]

@@JAdouble6 Right. I suppose in this case, it's the zombie trope not working for you. I'm not a huge fan of zombie stories myself. As in, I'd say my favourite zombie flicks are 28 days later and its sequel, and they aren't per se zombie stories. It's a rabid-like virus turning people into rage monsters. So yeah, maybe you got a point.

[@tanyam928]

That is interesting I am Legend has the alternate ending on the DVD and why they chose the other ending for its theatrical release. I agree that big action movies have their place in cinema. The movies that make more money for the studio can allow them to fund smaller or more risky films. It is still kind of sad to see something that could have been more meaningful as a work of art and had an impactful message twisted or dumbed down though

[@melkerahtagadatsoin-tsoin6016]

Let's be realistic, nowadays "funding smaller or more risky films" is in no way in Big studio's objectives

[@tanyam928]

@@melkerahtagadatsoin-tsoin6016 any business has the objective to make money, that is why it exists. But if they didn't have enough money in excess then they wouldn't feel comfortable taking risks on smaller projects that they know won't bring in as much money

[@melkerahtagadatsoin-tsoin6016]

@@tanyam928 I get what you say, I just feel like creativity and risky projects are more and more unwanted in the cinema industry in general (regardless of the financial situation), to the benefit of more soulless products crafted by marketers instead of artists. Well I might have gotten a bit cynical lately...

[@brokenredflag]

Your talks are so intresting and intriging. Mainly cuse both of your taist is complitly oposit from one another. And you stil get along. I love it! And its intresting and u learn a lot. 0o0👍👌👏🔥💎💎💚😎😎

[@davidekman5606]

I took your advice and went to Moms Kitchen. It was great.

[@ArifRWinandar]

"Right in front of our noses" is another missed joke right in front of your noses.

[@dumbledalfthewizard9486]

'Right in front of our noses" is another missed joke right in front of your noses' is another missed joke right of front our noses.

[@mhreinhardt]

Heinlein has a history of having horrible adaptations made, and as much as my teenage self loved his books and can endlessly quote Lazarus Long, they don't hold up so we'll to the scrutiny of modern sensibilities in many ways. As for Asimov, I'd love to hear you both discuss the Foundation TV series that's airing once the first season is done, as that might be my favorite trilogy of his (yes trilogy, the other books don't count, just like Dune).

[@eddiefalhaus6195]

In regards to adaptations to I Am Legend, it seems to me that Last Man On Earth with Vincent Prince comes the closest to understanding the Legend part of I Am Legend. I could be remembering it wrong, but I think it almost gets it, except that Dr Robert Morgan doesn't experience it as a personal revelation, but the viewer could possibly understand the Legend part from Ruth's explanation. It's definitely a slow-burn black & white. But it's my favourite of the adaptations of Matheson's story even if it doesn't get it exactly right, it comes pretty darn close. (And I like Vincent Price so there's that.)

[@Ktulured55]

I think Michael Ironside knew the type of movie and nailed his parts. (Starship Troopers). Props to Michael Ironside! "It sucked his brains out."

[@saeedajaib]

Off topic or not at least i learned that the I am Legend creatures are vampires.

[@KokuouBenso]

This was definitely one about adaptations! I wish you guys would have brought up the bonkers movie that is Adaptation. If only to hear you guys talk about how clever it is! And I agree about I, Robot. I feel like a robot "taking over" could work if it was better executed. There was, after all, that one story in the collection where the robots build a sort of cult. They aren't quite enslaving humans yet but they definitely weren't doing what humans wanted them to.

[@WinstonHunt]

The interesting thing is that Asimov came to the same conclusion as the movie and that can be seen in the book “Foundation’s Edge” in that book he presents the fourth law of robotics. How the robots have come to this conclusion after years of trying to better themselves to point that they then could rule humanity. Then they give humanity a choice to either accept the robots control of course of humanity or reject it. The book ends with the choice made but the reader not being told the choice. And the eventual sequel being a solo adventure about finding earth doesn’t answer the question either.

[@mcash232]

I can see where Dan is coming from. Prince Caspian (Disney movie) does some things differently than the book, but it is a better movie for it, in my opinion. It is a good adaptation despite not being 100% faithful.

[@andurilcuivie]

It a bad adaptation because it slaughters the character of Peter. The added Susan stuff wasn’t in the book, but was in character. The Peter stuff 🤬

[@mcash232]

@@andurilcuivie Yeah, it does take Peter in a totally different direction, which I understand doesn't work for everyone. But it kinda worked for me, personally. It gives him more of an arc, though.

[@puxtbuck6731]

I really love starship troopers but I haven’t read the books. I think it’s a really great satire but I understand people being annoyed about not treating a story/material they love being not taken seriously. It’s happened to me so many times that I usually don’t even attempt to watch any adapted movies of things I like.

[@dustinnonyabuisness8338]

What if their food heist plan was to get arrested or thrown in prison as an alibi. They edit the time stamp to look like they are making dumplings like drunk idiots. But the cops are too incompetent to arrest them in a timely fashion.

[@David_Doing_David_Things]

I often think about adaptations. My thoughts have always been people want to see the book they read. I’ve always been let down as a result of this. A tragic adaptation in my opinion was Howel’s Moving Castle. The book was amazing to me the movie was ok but it turned into something not even resembling the book...I love these discussions and I find myself just wanting to join the conversation :)

[@JB33809]

I remember reading a story I think was by aasimov, in which the robots did take over, and imprisoned humanity. Though yeah, beating up a robot in an aasimov is kind of a nonbo, no one ever beats a robot in his stories except by talking.

[@polishedpebble4111]

UK spending a million dollars or more to kidnap a man because he trained a pug to do a sieg heil proves that cursed island just needs to sink into the ocean.

[@TheMusicscotty]

Parody case sounds similar to a 90s group 'parody' of Pretty Woman but it really was a cover. They countered with calling it parody.

[@JackDespero]

Oh, yeah, there is a whole category of films that could be labelled as: "If this is your favourite movie because you agree with the text but completely misunderstood the subtext, please stay away from me".

[@AlexReyn888]

11:56 YES! YES!

[@Fabierien]

I thought I, Robot was originally called Hotwire and halfway through filming the studio got the Asimov rights and tried to paste it into the movie.