"why the hollywood infatuation with vampires and zombies?"
like i am sure there are a litany of other capable monsters. i get tired of seeing endless remakes of vampire and zombie films. at some point you just need to be creative and make up your own damn monster.
4. "vampires will always be endlessly fascinating" In response to Reply # 2
especially if the way they're portrayed is constantly evolving over time from simple cold killers (all the old shit), to vampires with souls (Buffy/Angel) & vampires who are just regular folk and want to be normal (True Blood). i was constantly fascinated by Angel & Spike (from the Buffyverse) cos they explored what it means to have a moral compass and still be a bloodsucking 'demon'. True Blood puts vampires in the same class as traditionally persecuted minority groups as well as displaying the more traditional predator side too.
i mean the concept of a vampire is always intriguing and interesting, especially when it's in the hands of such talents like Joss Whedon or Alan Ball (or even Anne Rice to a degree). if you make it interesting enough, it's a cool concept that will never die. it's like re-inventing Batman over and over.
you could make the same case for zombies too, but i've never really seen anyone take zombies too seriously and really..uh, flesh out what it is to be one, cos they're always portrayed as completely devoid of intellect. whereas a vampire has the same intelligence as a human, if not more, and an audience will always be able to relate to them (once again, especially if the story, the characters and the writing in general are fantastic).
there, i wasted a whole 10mins replying to ur worthless 2-line post, and ur accusing me of not typing intelligently. at least make a case for WHY vampire films or tv shows shouldn't even be around.
6. "that was a good analysis" In response to Reply # 4
however, my whole premise was that vampires are entirely fictional so why not create the new vampire for a new millennium of movie goers and story tellers.
9. "RE: that was a good analysis" In response to Reply # 6 Tue Nov-25-08 12:09 PM by Brother_Afron
>however, my whole premise was that vampires are entirely >fictional so why not create the new vampire for a new >millennium of movie goers and story tellers.
There's nothing stopping someone from trying, but there's also no reason to stop doing vampire stories. Vampire mythology goes back hundreds of years and appears in every corner of the globe. They're an infinitely malleable concept.
14. "RE: vampires will always be endlessly fascinating" In response to Reply # 4
>you could make the same case for zombies too, but i've never >really seen anyone take zombies too seriously and really..uh, >flesh out what it is to be one, cos they're always portrayed >as completely devoid of intellect.
The copy I got was scratched & started skippin all over the place. I need to find out whoever had it before me & thank them for it. Usually I make a point to finish most flicks I rent no matter how bad they are. But in this case I didn't mind so much. I give em credit for trying to do something different, but the execution was pretty brutal.
5. "i think vampires moreso, cos ur not just undead, ur eternal" In response to Reply # 3
u can still die of course, but u have the luxury of avoiding death and potentially living forever. and i think that's something people will always be fascinated with.
10. "to quote History Channel's "The Universe"...: "ALL things must end"" In response to Reply # 8 Tue Nov-25-08 12:44 PM by araQual
ok i spoke to soon with the "living forever" part.
even the universe is gonna end at some point. according to the show ("The Universe"), the universe seems to be cyclical. it starts off small, explodes and expands, and then eventually contracts back into a tiny singularity, only to explode out again, reborn. if im not talking *completely* out of my ass, you could look at vampires the same way. ur human, it is a fact u will die one day. but instead of just dying, you experience rebirth into a new "life", as it were. but u can still die. even if ur a vampire that can somehow avoid death and stick around til the literal end of time, u will still eventually die becos eventually the universe around u will die.
plus they sorta HAVE to die. if they were completely invulnerable and invincible AND eternal? there's nothing stopping them from killing all humanity, enslaving the world and running the whole damn show. they have to have in-built weaknesses, otherwise it's not a fair fight (from a writer's POV).
11. "did they say that on The Universe?" In response to Reply # 10 Tue Nov-25-08 01:06 PM by 40thStreetBlack
>even the universe is gonna end at some point. according to the >show ("The Universe"), the universe seems to be cyclical. it >starts off small, explodes and expands, and then eventually >contracts back into a tiny singularity, only to explode out >again, reborn.
cuz the latest data indicates that the universe will expand forever and die a cold dark death. they had that on the dark matter ep. of The Universe I think, dunno which episode you saw. although they did used to think the universe might be cyclical like that, but the prevailing theory nowadays says otherwise, per se.
13. "it was the Cosmic Apocalypse ep. i watched it on YouTube" In response to Reply # 11
i only jus got hip to the show recently on cable, then i watched a few random eps on the Toob of Ewe. now im downloadin higher quality rips of em all in order.
anyways in the ep they stated it could go either way, they proposed the whole universe going dark and freezing to death as a viable option too. but they also showed evidence that the universe is gradually contracting too, and that the Milky Way galaxy is eventually going to merge with its nearest neighbouring galaxy in due time. but i havent seen any brand new info on it so u may be right.
17. "oh yeah I didn't see that whole episode" In response to Reply # 13
>i only jus got hip to the show recently on cable, then i >watched a few random eps on the Toob of Ewe. now im downloadin >higher quality rips of em all in order.
yeah it's a good series. although some of the eps are kinda redundant.
>anyways in the ep they stated it could go either way, they >proposed the whole universe going dark and freezing to death >as a viable option too. but they also showed evidence that the >universe is gradually contracting too, and that the Milky Way >galaxy is eventually going to merge with its nearest >neighbouring galaxy in due time. but i havent seen any brand >new info on it so u may be right.
well the Milky Way is supposed to eventually merge with Andromeda, but all the evidence indicates that the universe is expanding, and not only that but that the rate of expansion is constantly increasing. they attribute it to "dark energy" although they don't really understand the mechanism causing it, but all of the data indicates that this is happening. so the prevailing theory in astrophysics is that universe will expand forever and freeze to death.
> >my point still stands tho (in terms of vamps).
yeah that was a good point, esp. with vamps experiencing rebirth into a new "life", per se. like in Interview w/ The Vampire when Louis is reborn as a vampire and expresses his wonderment at seeing the world anew & they show the statue in the garden open its eyes.
p.s. - damn, do you ever *not* have a cigarette in your hand?
18. "RE: oh yeah I didn't see that whole episode" In response to Reply # 17
>yeah it's a good series. although some of the eps are kinda >redundant.
they say a lot of the same things over and over, complete with dramatic narration and music lol.
>well the Milky Way is supposed to eventually merge with >Andromeda, but all the evidence indicates that the universe is >expanding, and not only that but that the rate of expansion is >constantly increasing. they attribute it to "dark energy" >although they don't really understand the mechanism causing >it, but all of the data indicates that this is happening. so >the prevailing theory in astrophysics is that universe will >expand forever and freeze to death.
yay! either way, it's never in doubt that it's all gonna end in some horrific way. but we'll all be long gone by the time it happens.
>yeah that was a good point, esp. with vamps experiencing >rebirth into a new "life", per se. like in Interview w/ The >Vampire when Louis is reborn as a vampire and expresses his >wonderment at seeing the world anew & they show the statue in >the garden open its eyes.
i really dug that film.
>p.s. - damn, do you ever *not* have a cigarette in your hand?
19. "with regard to the universe" In response to Reply # 13
even when there is nothing there is something right? i mean if you think about it, i do not think humans have the mental capacity to really conceptualize the term nothing. there is no known beginning or end to the universe. in some way, shape, or form, we are all descendants of the original creation. whether it be a dust, a bang, an atom, a monkey, a man, or an omniscient being. that is the basis for modern science, i think therefore i am.
21. "there is a known beginning to the universe, per se" In response to Reply # 19
the big bang. although humans don't have the mental capacity to conceptualize anything before that (although 'before' is a troublesome term there, since time didn't exist prior to the big bang, per se)
28. "i think scientist have outsmarted themselves with creationism" In response to Reply # 21
because that theory goes against all the rules of science in and of itself. even the bang has a beginning, logically speaking of course. and what of the void that may or may not surround that bang, isnt that still something?
33. " creationism never outsmarted anyone with anything, per se." In response to Reply # 28
>because that theory goes against all the rules of science in >and of itself.
precisely - prior to the big bang the laws of physics do not apply, per se.
>even the bang has a beginning, logically >speaking of course. and what of the void that may or may not >surround that bang, isnt that still something?
yes the bang had a beginning, per se, but science can't really describe anything beyond that begining. there was no void surrounding the big bang - spatial dimensions did not exist beyond the big bang, per se.
56. "this made me laugh" In response to Reply # 12
i had suspicions about landmark but...what is it really? ~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~
i'll need a link to the benicio thing ~~~~ When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries. ~~~~
I d/l'd Diary of the Dead the other night and extremely disappointed, couldn't get thru a half hour of it. I usually like Romero's zombie films but this Blair Witch style didn't work at all.
35. "Vampires are sexy, cheap" In response to Reply # 0
That's basically it.
Vampires are Hollywood: sex, violence, an alluring fantasy world. Unlike other monsters, they give you everything you need for a movie right there. On top of that, they can be made fairly cheaply. You just need some fangs. You can go overboard or add more effects but it's a lot easier to pull off than a werewolf.
Also, Hollywood doesn't like originality so it's a lot harder to sell a "new" monster. People will think, "Oh it's a monster movie." and immediately think it's a b-movie. Vampires have a proven track record and zombies got a push of late when 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead made good money at the box office.
63. "Vampires are always effective metaphors for sex of any kind" In response to Reply # 0
Zombies *can* be used as effective metaphors for people, or people's states of mind
The general answer, though, is sex and violence always sells ________________________________________________________________________ <------ That's it, that's all.
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