This Week in Geek (04-10/02/08)

Buys'n'Gifts

No Buys, but the great Bahlactus himself sent me the Dark Victory hardcover for my participation in Friday Night Fights (you TOO can win, you just have to enter). It's a Batman story from before Jeph Loeb lost it, so I'm going to dig into it as soon as time permits. Thanks, oh Devourer of Worlds.

"Accomplishments"

Finally flipped Blade Runner, the super-duper mega-size mastodon edition anniversary release of the film, which included the theatrical release (both domestic and international cuts), the 1992 director's cut, the workprint and a new Final Cut which fixes a few continuity problems and lipsyncs, as well as redoing Zhora's death, eliminating the stuntwoman's all too obvious head and replacing it with a new performance by Joanna Cassidy. Ridley Scott proves here that he's the anti-George Lucas. All versions of the film EVER released for those who prefer whatever cut as well restored as possible, and the new Final Cut fixes but does not change the film, nor does it add new sequences to it. Throw in three commentary tracks and you can see why it took me this long to flip.
Aside from the film itself (or themselves), there's a really long and incredibly entertaining documentary called Dangerous Days. This alone is worth the price of admission. Heck, its TRAILER is a thing of pure genius. Stuffed with trims, outtakes and deleted scenes, it never goes to actual footage used in the movie while discussing the troubled production. I love troubled production stories, whether it's this or The Battle for Brazil or Hearts of Darkness, especially when the film nevertheless becomes an Achievement with a capital A.

Clearing the DVD player for other things, I also flipped Danny Boyle's Sunshine, a science fiction film that might have been formulaic if not for the stylish direction and hard sf approach to uncommonly used in such things (justifying an extra commentary track by the science adviser). Even when it becomes philosophical, it doesn't stray into nonsensical science fantasy. Danny Boyle has yet to disappoint me, and lookie here, Michelle Yeoh's in it(!). Recommended to all the folks who let it slip by unnoticed (I blame the title, personally).

And cards, I made cards. About 20 of them. For my Unauthorized Doctor Who CCG. Finishing off Smith and Jones, and going on to Tooth and Claw from the previous series. Yes, werewolves and wuxia.
Someone Else's Post of the Week
Ok, theoretically not posted this week, but for some reason, my eye kept skipping over Again With the Comics and I missed a bunch of really good posts. My apologies to Brian. So let's go back in time to Monday January 28th for... Mexican Spider-Man's Super Sexy Bikini Adventures!! It appears that for some reason, the Mexican translation of Spider-Man headed into an all-new and extremely sexy direction for a while. Not laundry-day-statue sexy, but pretty sexy nonetheless.

Comments

Stephen said…
sunshine was fantastic. especially the alternate ending which was basically the same except for a title card that says 8 minutes later.
Siskoid said…
Actually, there's another notable difference: It's in non-snowy London instead of snowy Norway passing for snowy Australia.
Austin Gorton said…
Man, that Blade Runner set is awesome. I can think of few other sets that are so amazingly comprehensive.
Siskoid said…
One might say Lord of the Rings, except the Extended Edition doesn't include the theatrical cut, so...

(Though there must be a super-mega-boxed set I'm not thinking of.)
Austin Gorton said…
I was thinking Lord of the Rings too, but you're right, I can't think of any set that includes the extended cuts AND the theatrical cuts. That's the one thing missing from the otherwise exhaustive Extended Edition box sets.
billjac said…
For troubled production stories you ought to read the book Superman vs. Hollywood. It goes well beyond Kevin Smith's stories and the Superman curse to dig up lots of fascinating and appalling details on troubled productions going back to the radio series.
Siskoid said…
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into it!
Siskoid said…
I've added a link to the Dangerous Days trailer I was talking about in the main body of the post.

Still makes me laugh.