Barney (my current co-writer) and I have been holed up for months working against a book deadline, so I missed all of Horrorthon, to my intense regret. But the good news is that we made our deadline, and submitted the first draft of our teen supernatural thriller 7 Souls (Random House, 2010). (I'd show you the cover, but I don't think I'm supposed to.) We've received our editor's notes etc. and are beginning to re-plot for draft 2, but I figure I've got a little free time to drop by and say hello to my long-lost Horrorthon brethren.
I was putting off posting because I wanted to come in with something really good. Then I thought, Does that ever even happen? I mean, we could be waiting a long time, is my point. So I don't have anything good to provide here...except for one minor thing.
I've always hated Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, but I grudgingly admit that they've got some game (as octopunk would put it). (They're pioneers in the art of trailer-making, for one thing.) Godzilla is a terrible, terrible movie, but it's got some seeds of genius that have been very influential, in the decade since. At the time, I said that Godzilla sucked but "had about five minutes of total brilliance" in the first third of the movie (in which, among other things, the monster drags its tail through the Phillip Morris building, which makes me very happy).
Looking at the movie again, I maintain that it sucks but that those same five minutes are still totally brilliant. They achieve something that's the direct predecessor of similar sequences in The Return of the King, Cloverfield (obviously), War of the Worlds and a bunch of other movies.
So here's my famous "brilliant" five minutes from Godzilla (trimmed down to three to remove the extraneous material that isn't cool). They still kind of screw it up: the movie is very badly edited and many of the effects shots are arbitrarily cut in half or interspersed with mismatched stuff, and the actors veer into Superman II "crowd" behavior too often. But it's a progenitor to a lot of great cinema to come.
http://www.jordanorlando.com/godzilla
I'll check back in, before going back "in the tank" to write draft 2 (due in March). And I have to go read everyone's reviews...I can't wait for that! Anyway, I've missed you guys; hope all's well in Horrorthonland. (Which is like Disneyland except not quite as expensive.)
PS. As a bonus here's Vic Mizzy's "Spider-Man" theme song.
http://www.jordanorlando.com/vic_mizzy
8 comments:
always good to hear from you, jordan. you were sorely missed in october. congrats on meeting deadline for your draft!
We miss and missed you, Jordan! Hopefully you will get to read these comments before going back in your bunker!
Congratulations and keep up the hard work!
I'm afraid the Godzilla clip isn't loading! I thought it was the work computer but mine isn't making it happen either. Which sucks, because now I want to watch that part of Godzilla, which is weird. Curse you for making me want to see Godzilla (1998 version)!
Okay, never mind! Just took a while before it started loading.
Man, that clip says nothing as loudly and clearly as "missed opportunity." But not only are the Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer bits bad, even the random people on the street stuff seems not as good as it should be.
And what's up with those FX? Since the day it came out I've been puzzled why the legs stomping through the city don't look as good as the Jurassic Park stuff from five years earlier. G's feet look stroby and the compositing isn't that great. Is it the small screen or just suckage?
Thanks for dropping by Jordan!
Why couldn't the whole movie be like that? I don't remember anything else about that movie. I think I blocked it all out of my mind.
I love Hank Azaria's reaction at the end!
I don't know you but your post sure was interesting. I can't seem to get the clip to load but you have definitely peaked my interest.
Good luck with the book!
ps... what is that picture of?
Hi Jordan. I always love reading your reviews & they were sorely missed this Horrorthon. Glad you stopped by to say hi anyway.
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