Comics

Great Wave

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The Great Wave off KanagawaI think I first saw The Great Wave of Kanagawa at a museum in New York in 1992, which I guess would have been the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Wikipedia says a copy resides there. At the time I was disappointed in there not being more Sesshū Tōyō. (I have a nominal connection to Sesshū.) And I recall the Great Wave being the only Japanese painting I recognized.

Interesting, though, that I have been to the British Museum who has a copy, but I did not get to see it there.

Hokusai is a wonderful painter. The dark blue of the water is my favorite. And the foam reminds me of hands reaching out to drown the fishermen.

Invention vs Sustaining

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Alien Light
Alien Light

Alien 7… I mean, uh… Prometheus opened today. I am going to see it with some friends Sunday. One star or five, I would go see it. Heck, several other movies by Ridley Scott got me to buy a ticket just because of the first Alien movie.

Naturally this movie is going to take bad to a stellar level. Nevermind the original director has come home again after decades. That did not make Star Wars better.

So why is it that sequels and especially prequels tend to be so bad? After all, there is plenty of lore upon which to write a script. Hollywood pumps millions into these movies. There are plenty of good actors, writers, producers, and directors to ensure a quality movie. Make a good sequel and fans of the series will love you forever.

I wonder if creating something new is easier than sustaining something existing. With a sequel, maybe that lore becomes a weight tying the hands of the writers and directors? There are boundaries set regarding the world, the characters, and most importantly what they can or will do. The movie becomes predictable. Money does not overcome this. Being willing to break the mold does.

My next thought was maybe movie creators should take a page from comics. There are close to as many alternate versions of Spider-Man as I have years in age. When something gets old and tired, reboot it with a new universe. This does not solve the actual problem of sustaining the brand on its own.

One has to be willing to make a new brand. It has to be a new invention not much constrained by the original. J. J. Abrams’ Star Trek had some of the familiar elements including an old school Spock. What I liked most was the highly emotional new Spock. New boundary. (Okay, yes, I know teenage Spock in Search for Spock excepted the rule.) It might have the same name, but it must feel new.

Or… As described in the Demise of Guys, I played too many video games and have a addiction to novelty. Too many sequel movies are the same movie I have already seen.