B5 in the news

[GKarsEye]

From http://www.tachyon-tv.co.uk/news.htm#

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>
JMS V SFX FEUD FUELLED

The Region 2 release of Babylon 5 on DVD will include an audio commentary by the show's creator, Joe Michael Straczynski, where he will analyse in painstaking detail how unbelievably fantastic he really is.

However, the review copy for sci-fi magazine, SFX, will be replaced by an exclusive audio track of jms chanting "nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-naahh!" at the top of his lungs instead.

It's just the latest round in the battle of words between the two behemoths of science fiction which began when SFX had the audacity to suggest that a few episodes of the space opus were "a bit naff".
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

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"You do not make history. You can only hope to survive it."

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

After only two "issues" Tachyon TV has become a "must read" page for me, like The Onion.

If you haven't already, click on the link to their previous, Lord of the Rings, issue. I loved all of it, but my favorite was the headline in the news ticker: "Confused Babylon 5 fans file suit against Tolkein estate"

There are a couple of other JMS references in the current issue, both involving Rangers. Make sure you click on the "latest news link"

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>"Yes, Yes, Peter, yes, oooh, ohhh, yes, feels so good... uh..uh...yes, oh Peter... Peter... PETER!"

Harry Knowles reviews LotR on Aint it Cool News<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

LMAO!

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Marc Cosgrove

"From chaos, order came. As was inevitable." -Summoning light

 

[Quagmire]

This is now part of my favorites list.

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"Crying isn't gonna get your dog back. Unless your tears smell like dog food. So you can sit here eating can after can of dog food until your tears smell like dog food or you can go out there and find your dog."-Homer in The Canine Mutiny

 

[Dave Thomer]

Thanks for the link -- I have to say, I liked the line in the pilot issue that said that the Two Towers would be digitally removed from the next Lord of the Rings movie. Nice bit of commentary in that one line. (The line about JMS and the Silmarillion was also a winner.)

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Dave Thomer
This Is Not News

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>I liked the line in the pilot issue that said that the Two Towers would be digitally removed from the next Lord of the Rings movie.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Don't laugh. The word out of Hollywood a couple of weeks ago was that New Line is seriously thinking about changing the name of the second film. Since the film opens in December, the preliminary ad campaign will be going in September and some people think "Two Towers" and "Twin Towers" are just too close for comfort. Not political correctness out of control, just a feeling that they'd be skating close to bad taste so close to the anniversary.

While such a move will no doubt piss off a lot of fans, New Line would probably be on pretty safe ground with Tolkein himself, had he lived. I've recently been reading the published volume of his Letters and it turns out he hated the title that the publisher hung on volume II, and kept trying to talk them out of it. He finaly acquiesed when they rejected his alternatives and he decided that all of theirs were worse. Jackson and company could dig through Letters and pick one of his selections (which would, after all, really be a sub-title for the movie) and claim that he is restoring the correct title.

BTW, his comments on the proposed story and script for the Rlaph Bakshi film are priceless. Based on what he had to say I suspect that he would have been far happier with Jackson's version. He probably would have supported the decision to bring Arwen into the story early, and develop her relationship with Aragorn as part of the main plot in the film version, for one thing. I should post a few short excerpts when I find some time.

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

 

[Dave Thomer]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joseph DeMartino:
Don't laugh. The word out of Hollywood a couple of weeks ago was that New Line is seriously thinking about changing the name of the second film.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That'll learn me.

In all honesty, though, I can see changing the title; that's relatively inconsequential and is even considerate, I think. Eliminating the Towers themselves, though, would kind of be counterproductive -- but I can almost see some unthinking knee-jerk response clamoring for such a thing.

And now that I think about it, no one's going to use whatever subtitle they come up with anyway, if Fellowship of the Ring was any indiciation. Almost everyone just referred to it as LotR.

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Dave Thomer
This Is Not News

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Eliminating the Towers themselves, though, would kind of be counterproductive <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, that was the other level of the Tachyon TV joke (for those who know the books) and the reason for Tolkein's objection to the title: There are no "two towers", much less "twin towers" in the book.

The two halves that make up the volume (books III and IV of the narrative structure) aren't realy connected at all, thematically or otherwise. It is only an accident of production and economics that caused them to be published that way. (Tolkein originally wanted his very long novel published as a single volume, and for a long time there was talk of splitting it into two, rather than three, parts.)

While several towers* figure in the plot, no two of them are uniquely important to either "book" and none of them are really paired in any way. (Except, in the history that is briefly referred to, Minas Tirith and Minas Morgul. But those are cities, not towers, despite their names, and no one actually arrives at Minas Tirith until volume three.)

So there isn't a visual image of "two towers" that would have be altered in any event.

Regards,

Joe

* Isengard, Barad'Dur, Minas Tirith (nee Anor), Minas Morgul (nee Ithil), Amon Sul, Cirith Ungol, are all mentioned or actually visited, as is the tower above Khazad'dum, at the top of the endless stair, where the battle with the Balrog ends in the flashback

[edited to add...]

P.S.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Almost everyone just referred to it as LotR.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

But when there are two, and later three, movies, people are going to have to start using titles to distinguish among them.

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

[This message has been edited by Joseph DeMartino (edited January 28, 2002).]

 

[SwiftBiscuit]

Maybe I'm being a hardnosed Brit whose had years of the IRA running around my country blowing things up, but this does get to me. Even though many of us had at least one friend of a friend involved in the Twin Towers.

The death of Princess Diana shook this place up more than anyone expected, but I somehow doubt that there would have been outrage at a film being titled 'The Queen of Hearts' a year later. Sure we would have been reminded of the event, but after a year we had moved on. All this touchy-feely stuff just seems to prolong America's pain rather than help people come to terms with it.


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"You know I? I rather like this GOD fellow. He's very theatrical you know, a pestilence here, a plague there... Omnipotence, Got to get me some of that, Hmmm?" - Stewie (Family Guy)

 

[Dave Thomer]

Shows you how well I paid attention when I read the books. Although I can now recall wondering exactly what the title of the book referred to, that totally slipped my mind and I was mentally inserting another tower to Saruman's lair.

Sheesh. I am not having a good day. Thanks for the correction.

And you know, I'll bet you more people use 'Lord of the Rings I' than the 'official' titles -- but I hope you're right.

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Dave Thomer
This Is Not News

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Maybe I'm being a hardnosed Brit whose had years of the IRA running around my country blowing things up, but this does get to me.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not the same thing at all. We've had plenty of domestic terrorists running around for years blowing things up, too (Oklahoma City, anyone?) Fringe groups have been pulling this crap here since the Republic was founded. Lincoln was the target of a bomb plot, explosives figured heavily in the labor violence of the early part of the century, we had mobsters machine-gunning people in the streets in the '30s and any number of wackos setting off bombs into the 1950s. We got a bit of a breather from '41 to 45, but then we entered the golden age of American political violence in the '60s. And then there was the 1993 WTC bombing.

What made this different was that it was a large-scale, coordinated attack by foreign nationals against major symbols of this country. One of the attacks was aborted, but only by the suicidal bravery of our countrymen, one did less damage than intended, the other more. Several thousand of our fellow citizens (and many of yours) were wiped out within the space of a few minutes.

The IRA only wishes it could have done as much.

Try to imagine someone plowing a fully fueled jetliner into the Houses of Parliament, leveling the whole building and killing around 3,000 or so workers and tourists. Now another hitting Buckingham Palace a few minutes later, killing hundreds, wounding more, and taking down a part of the structure. Finally you hear about a third plane that went down in the Thames, forced down by the passengers before it could reach its destination - 10 Downing Street.

In the main we have, in fact, "moved on" The subject is hardly one of daily conversation anymore. People go about their business. However, when something happens to remind us, some of the feelings rush back.

I'm a native New Yorker. I was born in St. Vincent's hospital, where most of the early casualties were taken. I watched the Towers going up as a kid and they've been a part of the city's skyline for most of my life. I haven't been back there since September, but I know that when I do go back, the site of that empty space where a part of my city used to be is going to affect me as lower Manhattan comes into view through the airplane window. It couldn't not affect me.

And when there is a moment of silence on the morning of September 11th this year (or rather, three of them, one for the crash of each plane) that a lot of people will have it all come back to them and get emotional. People will be extra sensitive at that time, although less so on later anniversaries, and New Line may not be totally out of line in treading lightly, if in fact they do.

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

 

[Jomar]

I agree there is really no sense in using the name The Two Towers. "LotR part II" would be just fine, I think. Even if it's only the name of a fictional movie, too many persons were personally affected by the loss of family and friends.

I noticed in the news that some of the workers on the site are beginning to suffer from lung infections from inhaling all the dust and I expect in years to come there will be many more casualties who have inhaled the dust and gases over all these months.

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I always seem to be diagonally parked in a parallel universe.

 

[GKarsEye]

From a fellow New Yorker- well said, Joe.

There's this big vibe coming from other countries that says, "Well, it's not that big of a deal, we have to deal with it all the time. You'll get over it."

Sorry, it don't work that way.

However, I still would be a little miffed if they change the title of the movie.

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"You do not make history. You can only hope to survive it."

 

[SwiftBiscuit]

I think this has firmly gone off topic, so I'm moving it to The Lounge

Folks, I'm not trying to belittle what has happened.

I've tried to imagine a similar structure in London and the closest I can get is Canary Wharf. But even if someone drove a plane into the thing, I just can't see us being upset by a film about yellow birds. Just as we wouldn't retitle a play about the life of King Arthur called "The King's Cross", or a documentary on poker players named "The Queen of Hearts".
We just don't work that way, if anything we react the opposite to you guys. We would insist that the film had its proper title as an act of defiance against those trying to harm us.

The Brits don't take kindly to being bullied. We sent a task force around to the Falkland Islands when someone tried to steal them. Beforehand, the foreign office was actually working on how to smoothly hand them over; but as soon as we found out what had happened we went to war. Over some territory we didn't really want anyway.

What was the Number One holiday destination for Brits last Christmas? New York.

The terrorists have you running scared from film titles, is that really what you want?


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"You know I? I rather like this GOD fellow. He's very theatrical you know, a pestilence here, a plague there... Omnipotence, Got to get me some of that, Hmmm?" - Stewie (Family Guy)