Tuesday, November 30, 2010
WTAL “Man of Science, Man of Faith” Podcast Details!
Blade Runner (1982)
- Directed by: Ridley Scott
- Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Daryl Hannah (in a REALLY bad wig)
- Release Date: 1982
SYNOPSIS
20 years ago (give or take), the Tyrell Corporation successfully creates genetically engineered androids, called replicants, designed to be like humans in just about every way. They are physically identical to humans, and they think and learn like humans do. They can be tailored to fulfill specific functions and are all designed to work in adverse environments. Result: the human race now has all the “slave” labor it needs to get things done.
Naturally, the replicants violently revolt, and, naturally, the humans thumb them down.
As our story begins, in 2019, Earth has become that crappy neighborhood everyone’s trying to move out of (to the “Off-world Colonies”). Anyone who stays behind is either physically unable to leave OR has a sick, psychological need to remain with the dregs. Replicants are forbidden to be on Earth, and any found are immediately terminated. Blade Runner squads (part of the police) are tasked to hunt down and kill any replicants that manage to sneak on to the planet.
The only way to tell if a replicant is a replicant is to run a test on them where a weird looking machine (a Voight-Kampff machine) measures their pupil dilation while the tester asks questions designed to provoke an emotional response. Replicants are designed to mimic humans in every way except human emotion. Therefore, lack of emotional response = replicant. Shoot to kill.
Tyrell realizes that replicants are developing their own emotions: not good for business. To solve this problem, his latest models (Nexus 6) have a built in fail-safe: four-year lifespans. Problem: four Nexus 6 replicants kill a bunch of people Off-world and show up on Earth. No one knows why. Deckard is grudgingly pulled out of retirement to find them and kill them quick.
Tyrell asks Deckard to run the Voight-Kampff emotion test on a Nexus 6 but wants him to start with Rachel, Tyrell’s assistant [played to perfection by Sean Young]. The test reveals that she is a replicant, but it takes a lot more questions. After Rachel leaves the room, Tyrell confirms it: Rachel’s a replicant, but get this – she doesn’t know it.
Tyrell tells Deckard that Rachel is an experiment, (“nothing more”). His theory is that implanting memories (borrowed from someone else), into replicants before activation might give them some emotional maturity and make them easier to control. All of Rachel’s memories are from Tyrell’s niece. Once the experiment is over, Tyrell tells her the truth, sends her away and reports her presence to the authorities.
For the rest of the movie, the rogue replicants attack, question and kill just about everyone trying to find out how to live longer. Deckard tracks them down, and they take turns kicking his ass. He kills one, Rachel kills one.
The last two, Roy and Pris pal up with one of Tyrell’s top super-genius designers, J.F. Sebastian. J.F. is stuck on Earth due to his health: Methusela syndrome aka premature aging [this would be what we in the academic world would call thematic overkill]. He lives alone in the deserted Bradbury hotel with all his creepy “toys” that he “makes.”
To remedy his solitude, J.F. fills his life with “friends.” He is referring to the “toys” that fill his apartment. He “makes” them. His toys are genetically engineered and alive, like replicants. He reluctantly agrees to sneak Roy in to Tyrell’s inner sanctum [his bedroom].
Tyrell plays God/Father for Roy, and explains that the 4 year deadline [pun intended], is IRREVERSIBLE. Roy [beautifully played by Rutger Hauer] kisses him and then crushes his skull with his bare hands. [And we hear his EYES pop! EW!]
Between letting the replicants beat him nearly to death (before he shoots them with a hand cannon), Deckard hooks up with Rachel. He tries to help her accept her identity as her own (mainly through piano playing and sex). They fall in love.
During the course of their hook up, Rachel asks Deckard two interesting questions.
- “If I run, will you hunt me down? Kill me?” [Deckard's sincere answer: "No."]
- “Have you ever retired a human by mistake?” [a passed-out Deckard never answers].
Roy meets up with Deckard at J.F. Sebastian’s place just after Deckard gets TOTALLY lucky and manages to kill Pris. Roy plays cat and mouse with Deckard, and they end up on the roof. Nearing his own [pre-determined] end, Roy saves Deckard from falling to his death. They sit together in the rain. Roy briefly postulates on the bummer that is mortality, then quietly dies.
After the fun and games are over, Detective Gaff [Edward James Almos in major guyliner] arrives to wrap things up. The oddly silent yet satirically chatty [via random origami] fellow blade runner notes out loud that it looks like Deckard has completed his mission ["Finished," answers a war-torn Deckard].
Then Gaff says “It’s too bad she won’t live. But then again, who does?“ before he zippapears into the pouring rain.
[Uh-oh.]
Deckard rushes back to his apartment [hand canon at the ready] to check on Rachel. He’s overwhelmingly relieved to find her okay. They kiss and trade verbal commitments. Then he covers the hallway [hand canon at the ready] as she sneaks out of his apartment.
[Remember - Rachel faces a mandatory death sentence for being on Earth because she's a replicant -- regardless of how she got there -- and that putz Tyrell ratted her out to the authorities well before Roy popped his head like a zit.]
As she hurries to the elevator, her [exceptionally high] heel knocks over a small, silver, origami unicorn on the floor just outside the apartment door. Gaff has been there, and even though it breaks all the rules and social conventions of the times, he’s let her go.
Deckard stares at the unicorn as Gaff’s words echo in his mind. Deckard nods, and that’s when WE realize what Gaff’s words mean.
Gaff says:
“It’s too bad she won’t live. But then again, who does?”
But what he MEANS is:
“She deserves to live. She’s no different than the rest of us.”
[Profound, yes? This would be what's commonly known as subtext, folks: the meaning beneath the words. Wordplay, btw, is the double meaning of the words themselves.]
This is a really important thematic moment in the film [probably the MOST important]. As we watch Deckard stare at the unicorn, we understand that he has finally made a choice. He already sees replicants as people, not dolls or toys. They are living things with minds and feelings, flesh and bone. He recognizes their humanity even if that humanity is merely replicated. His struggle over this concept is why he quit the blade runner squad in the first place [he used to be "the best, a real killer"].
However, this time, instead of hiding and avoiding the issue, he’s going to take it up as his own. He’s going to defend Rachel because she deserves defending. He joins her in the elevator. The doors close.
Cut to black. Cue groovy, upbeat, dystopian soundtrack.
A WORD ON THE UNICORN
Halfway through the 2007 version [considered the best of the THREE recuts], Dekard tinkers on a piano looking at old family photographs. We hear music that’s oddly organic compared to the rest of the dystopian-centered soundtrack. Then a brief, slo-mo clip of a white unicorn running through a forest overlaps with a pan of the family photos on the piano. This unicorn (in another thematic overkill move) connects the “specialness” of the unicorn to the “specialness” of being human and/or having “real” human memories and experiences IN THE PHYSICAL WORLD. When we see the origami unicorn at the end, it’s supposed to represent that “specialness.” The ARTIFICIAL version of that specialness.
HOWEVER, did you notice that the use of a UNICORN to represent “real” human identity is a bit ironic? I mean, unicorns are MYTHOLOGICAL creatures. They don’t exist except in stories and legends (and art about stories and legends).
[Let that one sit for a while and see if your brain doesn't start smoking!]
Blade Runner (1982)
- Directed by: Ridley Scott
- Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Daryl Hannah (in a REALLY bad wig)
- Release Date: 1982
SYNOPSIS
20 years ago (give or take), the Tyrell Corporation successfully creates genetically engineered androids, called replicants, designed to be like humans in just about every way. They are physically identical to humans, and they think and learn like humans do. They can be tailored to fulfill specific functions and are all designed to work in adverse environments. Result: the human race now has all the “slave” labor it needs to get things done.
Naturally, the replicants violently revolt, and, naturally, the humans thumb them down.
As our story begins, in 2019, Earth has become that crappy neighborhood everyone's trying to move out of (to the “Off-world Colonies”). Anyone who stays behind is either physically unable to leave OR has a sick, psychological need to remain with the dregs. Replicants are forbidden to be on Earth, and any found are immediately terminated. Blade Runner squads (part of the police) are tasked to hunt down and kill any replicants that manage to sneak on to the planet.
The Blade Runner Principle: How To Make A Fantastic Film Despite Yourself
THE LOWDOWN
Blade Runner (1982) is considered one of the best freakin’ sci-fi films of all time, which is amazing considering everything about the film’s creation, from writing the script to shooting to editing for release, was Hollywood’s version of Open Warfare.
[If you want to get a real taste of how screwed up the filmmaking process is, I suggest you follow this link for the full story on Imbd.com. Make sure you check out the T-Shirt wars on the set during filming. I kid you not!]
Based (somewhat) on Philip K. Dick’s story, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” this sci-fi Classic with a capital ‘C’ has been re-released 3 times and re-cut for re-release twice. The first release of the film had this really horrible voice over (by Harrison Ford) that explained the entire film to the viewers. This was added because the producers at the time fired Ridley Scott and took control of the project right near the end. They didn’t think audiences would understand the film without help. They also insisted on the “happy ending.” By some miracle, it was recognized as an amazing film anyway.
In 1989, the original print was discovered and released to a limited number of theaters. A few years later, the entire film was re-cut and re-released without the voice over and without the really stupid “drive off into the sunset” final shot, and, again, it was absolutely amazing!
However, Scott only considers the most recent cut (2007) to be the FINAL final cut because the re-cut and re-release #2 team did not allow him enough time to participate to the extent he wanted to [or he turned them down. You never know with these auteur types].
Basically, it’s a miracle this film didn’t suck major A$$.
What makes this story even weirder is Scott’s insistence that the film’s thematic discussion of what it means to be alive and what it means to be a slave and when to draw the line between the two isn’t really what the film is about. In July of 2000, Scott “revealed” that Deckard (Harrison Ford) is actually a replicant himself. Both Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer have publicly expressed their disappointment and/or disagreement with Scott’s assertion [most likely on the basis that it’s FLIPPING STUPID, and the entire film makes no sense whatsoever if Deckard is a replicant].
In the end, Blade Runner set the bar for scifi flicks that think without being boring or pedantic or overly complicated. It’s absolutely beautiful. Take my advice and watch it immediately, or watch it again! (The second version, “The Director’s Cut,” considered the best of the three, is my personal recommendation).
You’ll be amazed it was created nearly 30 years ago.
The Blade Runner Principle: How To Make A Fantastic Film Despite Yourself
THE LOWDOWN
Blade Runner (1982) is considered one of the best freakin’ sci-fi films of all time, which is amazing considering everything about the film’s creation, from writing the script to shooting to editing for release, was Hollywood’s version of Open Warfare.
[If you want to get a real taste of how screwed up the filmmaking process is, I suggest you follow this link for the full story on Imbd.com. Make sure you check out the T-Shirt wars on the set during filming. I kid you not!]
'FRINGE' exclusive trailer from EW.com [Updated: Hidden Message]
Thanks to @countingtofive for the heads up.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/17381393[/vimeo]
Also according to Doc Jensen, there's a hidden message (backmasked) at the end of the trailer. Current consensus is it reads as follows: "Only one way to find out." Listen below and tell us what you hear.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/17388079[/vimeo]
Monday, November 29, 2010
Pre-Hash: Man of Science, Man of Faith
Saturday, November 27, 2010
@Loster21's Tweets O' the Week from November 20-26, 2010
The standard stuff: THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE ZONE so if you’ve not watched LOST from beginning to end, do so and then come back. Tweets from LOST cast and production are in red, and a list of their Twitter names along with their positions with LOST and current gigs can be found here.
Tweets from LOST Cast and Production:





















LOST Cast and Crew Elsewhere



And then came …

And the tweets came flooding in, including these:






LOST in Real Life:












LOST… Ornaments?






Not sure who started the hashtag #LOSTPickupLines but it garnered some good results:











Shows that Losties Like:

LOST Love:











Ours, too! And all LOSTies have a home here at LOSTblog. And on Twitter! Thanks to all who tweet about the best tv show ever, our beloved LOST. Please keep those LOST tweets coming! Have a great week, and Namaste.