PKD

War of the Giant Pelicans

Posted 2005-07-02 (土) 午後6:56 by terra

Watched Spielberg’s War of the Worlds with Ling today and though I liked it a lot, it was, film-wise, one traumatic experience for me. Forget the little bits of exposition they had to furnish concerning Tom Cruise’s Ray Ferrier’s household mismanagement problems. Forget the slightly cheesy-by-modern-day-standards explanation on how the alien lifeforms landed on (or rather into) Earth. If one were expecting an alien-invasion movie similar to, say, Independence Day, one might be sorely disappointed, because there were no Earthian heroes with the talents or the technology to defeat the mighty giant armoured machines. The film was instead one grand statement about the fragility of Man and his ugly nature when the desperation to survive supersedes morality.

This is one film that was based on a late-1800s novel by H.G. Wells, with a famous radio series in the 1930s by Orson Welles that sent people who believed the invasion real into panic. It would have been a horror tale more for the imagination than a visual exercise if not for the advances of cinematic technology.

Subjects: Film, Television & Anime 映像

Mood: Raves and Rants

Tags: cinema, H.G. Wells, Minority Report, Orson Welles, pelicans, PKD, science fiction, Steven Spielberg

//Begin Speech println (...)

Posted 2002-07-15 (月) 午後8:48 by terra

//Begin Speech

println ("
I felt like such a loser and moron yesterday when I discovered that I left my identity card at the Library in the loan machine after borrowing some PKD books mentioned in the previous blogs. The real tragedy was that I realised the card was missing only after the library sent a letter to inform me that they had found it.
");

echo ("
%bold *cue to applause* %bold
");

println ("
The letter states in its first paragraph:
");

println ("
“We are pleased to inform you that your lost [IC] was found and returned to the Library.”
");

println ("
Actuallly, it probably never left the library. Makes me wonder which is the greater moron in this age of one-click-instant letters and semi-automatic postage dispensers.
");

echo ("
*moment of silence*
");

Subjects: General

Mood: Bordom

Tags: found, library, lost, PKD

Minor gratification

Posted 2002-07-04 (木) 午後11:50 by terra

Minority Report was amazing. I’m going straight to the library tomorrow to satisfy my PKDickien needs. Hopefully Valis and Albemuth are there. There’s one line in the show that was driving me nuts: “There is no minority report”. I’ve heard/read that line somewhere before. No, it wasn’t a website or anything that one I’m certain cos I haven’t been searching to read stuff on the show/book on the Internet. On the other hand it may be that I’m a potential precog after all. =P

From one Science Fiction story to another: I just can’t get through reading Neuromancer. Honestly, it’s been description overkill. 50 pages into the book no hint of a plot has emerged. The Amazon review pages are pretty interesting. There are those who stand by the book altogether, others whom like me feel the same way. Anyways…back to the library shelves it goes.

Subjects: Books 書物

Mood: Gratifications

Tags: Amazon, library, Minority Report, PKD, precog, science fiction

Cyberpunk

Posted 2002-06-30 (日) 午前1:38 by terra

Borrowed a copy of William Gibson’s “Neuromancer” from the National Library. I’m currently at the end of chapter one of the book (haha). It’s been pretty good so far but I’m not quite so sure if it’s as revolutionary as it’s been hailed to be: the cyberpunk novel pioneer. I believe Alfred Bester achieved this years earlier in his 1956 novel “The Stars, My Destination” before cyberpunk was known as cyberpunk. What’s refreshing to me however, is the thrill of discovering the origins of the now common term “cyberspace”, and finding out what really was the Matrix.

As for Alfred Bester, who is in my list of top ten favourite authors, his book “The Demolished Man” reminds me so much of the film I’ve been wanting to watch for a long time: Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report” based on a Philip K. Dick short story (another one of my fav authors). They both speculate on how murder can be stopped through the use of psychic abilities.