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Monday, April 21, 2008
An owl as ‘robot in disguise’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Trust me on this: you don’t need to speak or understand the language.
All you need to do with this video (aptly titled “Hooter Transformer”) is watch and be amazed at the owl’s defensive mechanism that reshapes its body into something completely different.
Enjoy.
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Herschel Walker and DID movies
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia football legend Herschel Walker’s book “Breaking Free” debuted last week and is shining new light on dissociative identity disorder, an ages-old subject in movies.
Having multiple personalities may not be as simple as “Psycho” (you know, Norman Bates being himself and, in his mind, his aggressive mother), but Hollywood has used the disorder not only for horror, but for comedy, fantasy and for depicting real life.
A few examples:
“X-Men: The Last Stand” (2006) — Famke Janssen’s character can be either the telepathic Jean Grey or the overly aggressive, cosmic Phoenix.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” (2002) — A double-personality oddity, the remarkable, humanesque Gollum performs a head-spinning soliloquy that’s a riveting argument between his good and evil sides.
“Me, Myself & Irene” (2000) — The pliable Jim Carrey is either mild-mannered Charlie or wild-mannered Hank in the Farrelly brothers’ bawdy comedy.
“The Nutty Professor” (1996) — When Eddie Murphy’s overweight professor takes a certain chemical, he becomes the tres slim and tres obnoxious Buddy Love.
“The Three Faces of Eve” (1957) — Georgia-born Joanne Woodward won an Oscar portraying Eve White, who developed two other personalities. The movie is loosely based on the true story of Chris Costner-Sizemore.
“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (1931) — Fredric March won his first of two Oscars playing the classic dissociative identity disorder sufferer, his problems tied to a potion, from Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel.
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How many ‘Terminator’ movies do we need?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Christian Bale is about to start filming “Terminator 4” (aka “Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins”) in New Mexico for summer 2009 and I’m sitting here in Georgia wondering why.
I’m the last person to speculate (ha!) on something unseen, much less even made yet. (Well, to start with: just like “3” director Jonathan Mostow, “4” director McG ain’t no James Cameron). But how can there be a “Terminator” movie without Arnold Schwarzenegger?
I still remember sitting in the theater when the virtually unknown “The Terminator” debuted in 1984 and being amazed at the film’s power. The movie (along with that year’s “Conan the Barbarian”) raised Schwarzenegger from big-screen oddity to A-list actor.
In “4,” Bale will play John Connor. Notice how in the series the role of John has mushroomed from capable kid (Edward Furlong in “2”) to meek young adult (Nick Stahl in “3”) to formidable Christian Bale.
Without Schwarzenegger, they have to have a caped crusader.
Are you looking forward to another “Terminator” movie? And which “Terminator” movie was best? (I’d say the original is best; then close behind is “Judgment Day.” “Rise of the Machines” hardly deserves a second look).
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