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View Full Version : Heinlein's The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag, New Proyas film


D_Davis
08-20-2008, 09:05 PM
http://io9.com/5039228/heinleins-creepiest-novella-gets-the-i-robot-treatment

Very cool.

Thanks to iosos, I have this book (haven't read it yet), and I really like Proyas; the dude should make more movies, he is a solid director.

His last film, I, Robot, I really enjoyed, and after doing some searching on wiki, I came across this little tidbit of info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot_(film)#Influence_of_I saac_Asimov


At the beginning of the credits it reads "Suggested by Asimov's book". Although the story is attributed to Isaac Asimov (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov)'s Robot Series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov%27s_Robot_Series) , including a short story (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_story) collection of the same name (Isaac Asimov's I, Robot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot)), it is actually based on Hardwired, a spec script (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spec_script) by Jeff Vintar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Vintar). It also bears some resemblance to a pre-Asimov, 1939 science fiction (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction) short story, "I, Robot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot_%28short_story%29)" by Eando Binder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eando_Binder), concerning a sapient (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapient) humanoid robot charged for the murder of its creator. Asimov's story collection was given the same name by its publisher against Asimov's wishes. The movie's plot is not directly based on any story or group of stories by Asimov. Some of Asimov's ideas about robots—most importantly the Three Laws of Robotics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Laws_of_Robotics)--were added to Vintar's script after the film's producers acquired the rights to the anthology title.

Interesting.
Watashi
08-20-2008, 09:08 PM
Proyas has yet to top Dark City. His next film, Knowing, looks awful.

And for a such a fan of Dick and Asimov, I'm still surprised you haven't seen WALL-E yet.
Sven
08-20-2008, 09:10 PM
There's no way that story can be satisfactorily translated to visuals. No effing way. I'm interested to see how he does it, but I'm more than slightly skeptical.
D_Davis
08-20-2008, 09:32 PM
And for a such a fan of Dick and Asimov, I'm still surprised you haven't seen WALL-E yet.

I'd probably be more interested if it wasn't a CGI Pixar film.

With that said though, I will definitely rent it. I at am at least curious, which is more than I can say for all the other Pixar films.

I really like the idea of WALL-E before I saw anything from it, but with each trailer my interested grew weaker and weaker.

Although I hardly see what PKD has to do with it.

And for what it's worth I am not a huge fan of Asimov - I do respect him though, and I do see your point.

I am just very picky with my SF.

:)

With that said though, I've liked everything Proyas has done so far, and I am interested in this. I should read the story soon; it's just a novella so I should be able to blow through it in one sitting.
D_Davis
08-20-2008, 09:35 PM
These are my 3 rules for adaptations:

1. An adaptation should be, first and foremost, a good movie. Some times this means a more literal, page for page filming, sometimes it means otherwise.

2. As the person who is not making the film, I must surrender my vision of what the film "should or shouldn't be," and trust in the vision of the filmmaker.

3. A filmmaker adapting a work only has one responsibility: to make the best film he possible can. This should also be the only expectation I have for the film.
Sven
08-20-2008, 09:51 PM
These are my 3 rules for adaptations:

1. An adaptation should be, first and foremost, a good movie. Some times this means a more literal, page for page filming, sometimes it means otherwise.

2. As the person who is not making the film, I must surrender my vision of what the film "should or shouldn't be," and trust in the vision of the filmmaker.

3. A filmmaker adapting a work only has one responsibility: to make the best film he possible can. This should also be the only expectation I have for the film.

Excellent guidelines. I'm not normally one to bitch about an adaptation or its "faithfulness", but I cannot help but express skepticism in this instance. I think a lot of it is my ambivalence towards CG spectacle, but mostly it's because the book is such a nightmare that I know its going to be compromised through a Hollywood filter. It's kind of like the Goo Goo Dolls covering a Supertramp song or something.
D_Davis
08-20-2008, 10:09 PM
It's kind of like the Goo Goo Dolls covering a Supertramp song or something.

Am I supposed to think one of these is better than the other?
Sven
08-20-2008, 10:15 PM
Am I supposed to think one of these is better than the other?

I'll kill you.
monolith94
08-21-2008, 02:55 PM
The goo goo dolls covering a supertramp cd would be like Kinkade drawing a glowing lampost on an Albrecht Dürer.
D_Davis
08-21-2008, 03:00 PM
They both suck.
Grouchy
08-21-2008, 03:47 PM
They both suck.
Supertramp does not suck.

I'm sure you've already explained this to death, but humor me: what's with you and CGI Pixar films?
D_Davis
08-21-2008, 04:00 PM
I'm sure you've already explained this to death, but humor me: what's with you and CGI Pixar films?

Actually, I am just going to PM you.

I don't want this to turn into another "OMG!! Somebody doesn't love Pixar" discussion.
Raiders
08-22-2008, 12:26 AM
Actually, I am just going to PM you.

I don't want this to turn into another "OMG!! Somebody doesn't love Pixar" discussion.

I really think you ought to check out WALL-E, though. I know your gripes with Pixar, and I think you would find a lot to like regardless. For me, it is far and away their greatest film.
D_Davis
08-22-2008, 12:51 AM
I really think you ought to check out WALL-E, though. I know your gripes with Pixar, and I think you would find a lot to like regardless. For me, it is far and away their greatest film.

I definitely will.