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The Resurrected Mask
Two cool rainy days in Perth have been nice. Haven't really caught up with anyone which means I've had time to do some writing and reading, when I haven't been chasing continuum stuff.
Have finally gotten around to reading The Resurrected Man by Sean Williams. Very good. Lots of layering, a serial killer and some interesting stuff to do with d-mat, a teleportation process. I know Sean well enough to spot some subtle in-jokes too. A couple of Doctor Who ones, my favourite being a sly reference to The Green Death with a line that echoes the 'What's good for Global Chemicals is good for mankind,' line.
Getting a bit of writing done on a proposal that I don't know if it will even be looked at but it's a handy writing exercise, if nothing else.
And last night, because I was tired, braindead and wanted to not think for an hour or two, I saw The Son of the Mask.
If you'd like to see this film, wait for it to go weekly at your video library and then have it on in the background while you do other stuff. It doesn't totally suck, but it's full of bad choices by the production team and director. I actually went to see it because I liked a few of the actors in it. Most of them were pretty good. Alan Cumming was great, Bob Hoskins was fun, Jamie Kennedy was... struggling. I don't think he was helped by the script or the director at all though. Kennedy was actually kind of boring as the Mask, though he wasn't helped by the antics of his CGI assisted offspring and pet. They got most of the best gags, but then again, those gags were ripped off from old Warner Bros. cartoons anyway. And they were better and more watchable as cartoons.
It's funny how this film showed how right the original Jim Carrey vehicle got it. Play everything more or less straight and then go wild only when the Mask is around, especially in the editing and direction.
I'm still a big fan of the original comic series by Dark Horse. The comics had a dark edge, the Mask actually killed people. Stanley Ipkiss went from being the picked upon loser to a revenge seeking maniac thanks to the Mask, and he had no trouble taking out those who had made his life a misery. I like that edge, the fact that the poor loser becomes a dangerous loner once he has power.
If you enjoyed the original film at all, do yourself a favour and track down the comics or graphic novel and see it done with an edge.
Have finally gotten around to reading The Resurrected Man by Sean Williams. Very good. Lots of layering, a serial killer and some interesting stuff to do with d-mat, a teleportation process. I know Sean well enough to spot some subtle in-jokes too. A couple of Doctor Who ones, my favourite being a sly reference to The Green Death with a line that echoes the 'What's good for Global Chemicals is good for mankind,' line.
Getting a bit of writing done on a proposal that I don't know if it will even be looked at but it's a handy writing exercise, if nothing else.
And last night, because I was tired, braindead and wanted to not think for an hour or two, I saw The Son of the Mask.
If you'd like to see this film, wait for it to go weekly at your video library and then have it on in the background while you do other stuff. It doesn't totally suck, but it's full of bad choices by the production team and director. I actually went to see it because I liked a few of the actors in it. Most of them were pretty good. Alan Cumming was great, Bob Hoskins was fun, Jamie Kennedy was... struggling. I don't think he was helped by the script or the director at all though. Kennedy was actually kind of boring as the Mask, though he wasn't helped by the antics of his CGI assisted offspring and pet. They got most of the best gags, but then again, those gags were ripped off from old Warner Bros. cartoons anyway. And they were better and more watchable as cartoons.
It's funny how this film showed how right the original Jim Carrey vehicle got it. Play everything more or less straight and then go wild only when the Mask is around, especially in the editing and direction.
I'm still a big fan of the original comic series by Dark Horse. The comics had a dark edge, the Mask actually killed people. Stanley Ipkiss went from being the picked upon loser to a revenge seeking maniac thanks to the Mask, and he had no trouble taking out those who had made his life a misery. I like that edge, the fact that the poor loser becomes a dangerous loner once he has power.
If you enjoyed the original film at all, do yourself a favour and track down the comics or graphic novel and see it done with an edge.