Beloved books were the subject of our last battle and the verbose spider Charlotte claimed the win for MFC member Kris, who this week asks the following: What movie would be better as a TV series? Fight it out.Subscribe for free to vote. Paid subscribers can submit answers.
I Am Legend. Whenever a movie has a bunch of flashback scenes it means it was likely adapted from a book and was cut down for the sake of brevity, which is the case here. In most "zombie" movies there is a gratuitous gross-out factor but this one was special in that it managed to humanize the afflicted population. It was suspensful, and scary, but it wasn't a horror movie or a gore-fest by any means.
The hero seeks to cure them, and avoids having to kill them whenever he can. I want to see more of that moral struggle, and the additional obstacles faced by the outlying communities of survivors dealing with the chaos in the cities.
I’ll go with The Dark Tower. Stephen King’s Dark Tower series should have always been a TV series. The executives had a dumb idea that they would adapt book 1 as a movie and then continue the later books with a TV series. Given enough time, I think someone will completely reboot it with a TV series, but how bad this movie was really set it back. Like way back.
Squeaking in at the last minute…Sherlock Holmes l, the version with RDJ and Jude Law. There’s so much story material and such an opportunity to expand on all the characters and complex relationships.
The Terminator. I know there was a brief foray into the small screen world. Though there were some interesting possibilities, the show fell short. As have some of the movies.
The original is fantastic! I can see exploring different angles, characters, outcomes, and time periods. The movie series are lacking and feel contrived.
Now, getting the folks behind Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul to do the TV series would be a boon!
I could see that. The problem with the Terminator franchise IMO was the constant return to the well of time-travel-to-save-the-world.
The franchise was on solid footing (excepting the lackluster quality of T3) by the end of Terminator Salvation, and could have carried on for multiple installments depicting the future war and the victory of John Conner. So I'd like to see a TV series that begins with Connor and his (eventual) wife Kate exiting the bunker from T3 and progressing from there.
I liked "Licorice Pizza" a lot; it reminded me of my Southern California '70s youth (and the Licorice Pizza record stores, back when record stores were a thing), and since it's a very episodic movie, I could see it just episoding all over the place as a TV series about those characters, with periodic cameos by famous actors playing famous characters, and without the need to put an ending on it.
I don't recall Licorice Pizza records, and I believe you and I grew up in the same town, although I didn't get there till the mid '80s so perhaps it had turned into Sam Goody by then. Sounds like a fun concept.
I wish I could remember—would have been there, in the Janss Mall, or on TO Boulevard. It's also possible that I'm just remembering Licorice Pizza from trips into the Valley, but I really feel like there was one in town.
The Sam Goody I frequented was on Moorpark, and was where you could also get tickets for concerts. Not sure about the Jans because it was the lame-o mall in my day. 😀
But there was definitely a cool record store on T.O. Blvd. I recall my sister and I found an unopened LP of Dark Side of the Moon there in the early 90's and pooled our cash to buy it as an investment. She probably still has it.
I Am Legend. Whenever a movie has a bunch of flashback scenes it means it was likely adapted from a book and was cut down for the sake of brevity, which is the case here. In most "zombie" movies there is a gratuitous gross-out factor but this one was special in that it managed to humanize the afflicted population. It was suspensful, and scary, but it wasn't a horror movie or a gore-fest by any means.
The hero seeks to cure them, and avoids having to kill them whenever he can. I want to see more of that moral struggle, and the additional obstacles faced by the outlying communities of survivors dealing with the chaos in the cities.
And the winner is LC with the Dark Tower. Congratulations, LC, you get to choose Monday's question.
I’ll go with The Dark Tower. Stephen King’s Dark Tower series should have always been a TV series. The executives had a dumb idea that they would adapt book 1 as a movie and then continue the later books with a TV series. Given enough time, I think someone will completely reboot it with a TV series, but how bad this movie was really set it back. Like way back.
Yikes! What kind of difficult question is that?! *nervous laugh*
I know, right?
I think Tenet probably had an interesting premise for a tv show. Movie was a mess.
Squeaking in at the last minute…Sherlock Holmes l, the version with RDJ and Jude Law. There’s so much story material and such an opportunity to expand on all the characters and complex relationships.
The Terminator. I know there was a brief foray into the small screen world. Though there were some interesting possibilities, the show fell short. As have some of the movies.
The original is fantastic! I can see exploring different angles, characters, outcomes, and time periods. The movie series are lacking and feel contrived.
Now, getting the folks behind Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul to do the TV series would be a boon!
I could see that. The problem with the Terminator franchise IMO was the constant return to the well of time-travel-to-save-the-world.
The franchise was on solid footing (excepting the lackluster quality of T3) by the end of Terminator Salvation, and could have carried on for multiple installments depicting the future war and the victory of John Conner. So I'd like to see a TV series that begins with Connor and his (eventual) wife Kate exiting the bunker from T3 and progressing from there.
I liked "Licorice Pizza" a lot; it reminded me of my Southern California '70s youth (and the Licorice Pizza record stores, back when record stores were a thing), and since it's a very episodic movie, I could see it just episoding all over the place as a TV series about those characters, with periodic cameos by famous actors playing famous characters, and without the need to put an ending on it.
I don't recall Licorice Pizza records, and I believe you and I grew up in the same town, although I didn't get there till the mid '80s so perhaps it had turned into Sam Goody by then. Sounds like a fun concept.
Good guess! Wikipedia says they were acquired by Sam Goody in 1986. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licorice_Pizza_(store)
Where was LP located? Sam Goody was in that little strip mall by The Melody, I think.
I wish I could remember—would have been there, in the Janss Mall, or on TO Boulevard. It's also possible that I'm just remembering Licorice Pizza from trips into the Valley, but I really feel like there was one in town.
The Sam Goody I frequented was on Moorpark, and was where you could also get tickets for concerts. Not sure about the Jans because it was the lame-o mall in my day. 😀
But there was definitely a cool record store on T.O. Blvd. I recall my sister and I found an unopened LP of Dark Side of the Moon there in the early 90's and pooled our cash to buy it as an investment. She probably still has it.
Looking in old newspapers there was one in Ventura on Main Street. The valley one was in Canoga Park. My dad drove for the one in Glendale.