Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Crash of the Titans

I'm not going to do a normal, standard post today because I would prefer you all go read the guest blog post I did for Justine Dell over at her blog. I think it's an interesting topic and hopefully it will spark some heated conversation.

Just for fun I will write this: My girlfriend and I took the girls to see Clash of the Titans last night and though it was fun it was not as good as I remember the original being. Of course it's probably not fair to compare to something that affected my childhood so ... it would be like comparing Star Wars Episode III to Star Wars Episode IV or V; foolhardy.

I remember as a kid my cousins and I used to play Clash of the Titans down by the river at the cabin. They would wrap me in a white sheet and I would play Perseus. I'll always picture Harry Hamlin as Perseus, since Sam Worthington will always be Jake Sully anyway.

If anyone else has seen the new film (spoiler alert) I have to ask: Did the Djinn character look like a transformer to anyone else? I kept expecting him to transform into a car or something. Also some of the special effects were a little stiff. Medusa's CGI was painfully obvious, though the scorpions and the Kraken were pretty cool.

Overall it was pretty cheesy, though I suppose the first one was too. It was fun for the kids, probably worth a matinee, but I would skip 3D, as we did. The movie was filmed in 2D and then converted. I'm sure you probably can't tell the difference but it's not really a great enough film to deserve the extra ticket price.

One thing I do enjoy as a writer about both films and about all Greek Myths really is the characterization of the gods. I find it incredibly compelling to consider the deities with such human qualities like pride, jealousy, selfishness and resentment. They make for such characters in story: Gods with human weaknesses. Fun stuff.

Anyway please go to Justine's blog, comment and follow her (and me) if you don't already, but feel free to say something here too if you love(d) or hate(d) the new Crash of the Titans.

P.S. I need a guest blogger for this Friday. Rachele Alpine from Freckle Head is going to do it on Friday 4/16 but I still need a guest for 4/9. I'm looking for someone who has a query that got them a request from an agent to read a full or partial manuscript. I would also like to include the agent's reply. If you've got one of those that you're brave enough to share please leave a comment or contact me by email. You should be able to get my email from my blogger profile.

Thanks!

17 comments:

JE said...

I want to see that!!! That was my sisters favorite movie growing up. I hope they didn't ruin it. But, the cracken looks super creepy in the trailer. We'll see. ;-)

~JD

Matthew MacNish said...

Not ruined no ... just a little cheesafied.

Bish Denham said...

I remember the first one. Although the special effects were pretty good for the day, it thought it was cheesy. Even so, I enjoyed it. I don't have any desire to see the new one. I'll wait still it comes out on DVD.

Unknown said...

I'm looking forward to seeing that movie! I'm glad to hear it wasn't ruined I'll also be prepared for the cheese factor! LOL

Kristine Asselin said...

Not a huge Clash of the Titans fan -- but I really enjoyed your guest blog at Justine's and just wanted to tell you! Interesting stuff. I'm not quite at the querying stage yet, but good luck finding a guest blogger for this week!

Christi Goddard said...

I own the original Clash of the Titans and loved it as a kid. I'd volunteer to guest blog, but all I get is rejections. :-)

Matthew MacNish said...

Hmm, I can probably still work that in if you want Christi, you'd have to give it some self analysis though. Let me know if you really are interested and I'll think about how to make it work.

Slamdunk said...

With little ones being the focus now, I laugh at how out of touch I am with current movies, television, and music. Before reading your post, I vaguely remember a new Clash of the Titans movie was being released, but did not know any of the specifics.

I enjoyed the original that came out so many years ago.

Cole Gibsen said...

Hi Matthew! Thanks for checking out my blog :) If you'd like, I'd be happy to send you the query that landed me my agent. If you're interested my email is cole@colegibsen.com
~cheers~

Matthew MacNish said...

@Slam, agreed.

@Cole, I sent you an email. Thanks for the offer.

Sarah Ahiers said...

Love the original film, was very very let down by the remake. Regardless of how cool that kraken was...

Arlee Bird said...

Thanks for visiting my Egg Salad post today and giving your comment. I am now following your blog as well and look forward to future posts.

Lee
Blogging From A to Z April Challenge

Matthew MacNish said...

Thanks for stopping by Falen and Lee.

Unknown said...

I haven't seen Clash of the Titans, but looking forward to it. Off to read you on Justine's blog!

Have a great day!!

Unknown said...

Hey, nice to see you over on my blog, Matthew! I managed to stumble scross yours and dig your honesty and bravery. You should slay dragons and rescue princesses!

Speaking of which... kind of... I haven't seen the new Clash yet, but it looks a lot like the original. A little goofy, a little thrilling and a little forgettable. Just what I want in a movie, frankly!

JE said...

PS...love the new layout!!!

Matthew MacNish said...

Thanks Kris, I totally agree.

And JD I love you! This new layout is so dope. Thanks to you I no longer look like a noob.