Posts by Bryan Fisher7

I gotta say, I wasn't exactly blown away by this one. The animation holds up and there are a few decent jokes here and there, but the plot felt pretty formulaic. It’s not quite "just for kids" material either—honestly, I found Mulan funnier, and don't even get me started on Shrek.
Still, I'd give it a passing grade.

If you ask me, that applies at least when we're talking about the first Odyssey.

Johnny said:Same here. I don't think movies stifle the imagination compared to books—well, maybe just slightly for stories where the setting is everything. For most other stuff, a movie is actually a much better way to set the mood and hit those emotional notes, especially with the score.

I get where you're coming from, but I still argue that film always limits the imagination to some degree. Sure, in lost world 2001 they kept that to an absolute minimum, but once you see and hear something with your own eyes, that's how it becomes "real" to you. With a book, if you let your mind wander, the mental images and sounds you conjure up almost always beat whatever a camera or a computer can render. Not to mention the personal vibe, which hits every reader differently. Even if you hate how an author describes a character or a scene, you can just ignore it and picture it your way. You can't do that with a movie.

Richard Howard2 said:I picked up 3001 (not 3010!), and honestly, it’s meh. It feels forced and stretched too thin. The saddest part is how it kills the mystery of the monoliths. They turn out to be just computers following orders. The whole point of the first Odyssey was that sense of mystery—like the mystery of life itself—but here everything is laid bare, and the impact just vanishes.

Personally, I think Odyssey is one of those rare times where the movie actually beats the book, mostly because of the audiovisual experience.

It's hard to capture that core Odyssey mystery through text; apparently, sight and sound are much better tools for the job.

Haven't read 3001 yet, but even while reading 2001, I figured the monoliths were basically just gadgets serving some higher powers. I'll have to dive into 3001 when I get a chance.

As for books vs. movies, sorry, but I'm sticking to my guns: books are a far superior medium for building atmosphere and storytelling, provided you actually have an imagination. Like I said before, pictures and sound hit your senses directly, which kind of limits them.

Sure, sometimes a movie is easier because you can just sit back and let your brain go on autopilot. But that lasts maybe two hours, whereas a good book keeps you going for days.

Johnny Depp said:Haven't seen it, but sounds like a horror movie hybrid, just even worse. I wonder how far this Western humor can go before teenagers realize it’s not actually funny anymore.

The difference between a horror movie (or any other garbage, aka a dumb teen movie) and Jackass is that those idiots actually do the stunts, more or less without tricks—basically risking their lives.

Obviously, that doesn't explain why everyone watches it, but at least it's original and occasionally hits for people older than thirteen. Still better than sitting through Titanic or God forbid Independence Day (pretty sure that's the biggest pile of American trash ever made).