I Have Some Notes

Side Notes - What Makes Adaptations Succeed or Fail?

Scott was feeling a little self-conscious about his insistence in our Congo episode that the book was better than the movie, so he made us record an entire episode that made it clear he's NOT a book snob.

I'm busting Scott's balls a bit here, really the episode evolved into an interesting discussion surrounding movie adaptations and what makes them succeed or fail. Since most films these days are adaptations there was no shortage of examples to pick apart.

Let us know what you think. Is there something specific you think makes and adaptation really click, or things you think the movie studios do that ensure massive suckage?

Thanks in advance for listening, make sure to check out all the other Alberta Podcast Network shows, all powered by ATB.

Cutthroat Island

Cutthroat Island may have been a record setting flop its director and star didn't want to be a part of, but…I can't think of a positive way to end this sentence.

Yes, Cutthroat Island, the 90s action pirate movie high on explosions but low on "pirate-ness". It's the kind of painfully mediocre film made for us to sink our cutlasses into. Join the I Have Some Notes crew and guest Alyssa Nider as we stab deep into the heart of Gina Davis and Renny Harlin's first and last swash buckling blockbuster.

Side Notes - The Price is Rotten

Summer blockbuster season is upon us and we decided to play a game of movie prognostication. We looked at the remaining blockbusters to be released this summer and tried to predict what Rotten Tomatoes score each movie would receive from critics. The rules: be the closest percentage without going over, Price is Right style. You can play too, just send us a message on Twitter or Facebook with your own predictions.

We'll return to this episode in September to find out how we all did. Judging by the early buzz from the Solo: A Star Wars Story premiere, we're already VERY wrong.

We are once again joined by comedian Liam Creswick for our game of The Price is Rotten. As always, we are a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB.

Congo

1995's Congo may be the quintessential case of the book being better than the movie, we basically had a glossy of ready made fixes. Don't worry, our final solution for Congo went well beyond Michael Crichton's novel, the episode didn't turn into a book report. Not entirely, anyway.

Comedian Liam Creswick joins us for his 3rd expedition on the show to discuss lasers, talking apes and the under use of Bruce Campbell.

I Have Some Notes is part of the Alberta Podcast Network crew, powered by ATB.

Side Notes - CGI: Hero or Villain?

Sparked by an article on The Verge claiming Infinity War’s Thanos is proof CGI super villains are bad practice, the Boys Who Note have a discussion about the nature of modern computer effects. Where do they succeed? Where do they fail? Why does puppet Yoda look so much better than animated Yoda? And speaking of special effects, Colin wants you to check out sweded trailers if you have not done so already. You will not be disappointed.

Pacific Rim

Colin, Gregg and Scott dig deep and discover Guillermo del Toro's  Pacific Rim was a secret sequel to Independence Day. It's true. That's the kind of movie sleuthing you can expect from I Have Some Notes, the Sherlocks on Blockbusters they call us.

Of course, we also get into tweaking and punching up this monster smash, deleting some characters, amplifying others.

I Have Some Notes is part of the Alberta Podcast Network powered by ATB.

Side Notes: Peak Super Hero?

Next month Marvel will culminate a decade's worth of super hero movies with their biggest team up yet, which makes us wonder if super hero movies about to peak or are there an infinite (get it?) number of films yet to come? Colin, Gregg, Scott and guest Erin Beever ruminate on the history of capes on film and prognosticate what comes next for a seemingly unstoppable pop-culture juggernaut.

Will audiences tire as Marvel enters phase four, five or possibly six? Join us as we give definitive answers like "Maybe!", "Possibly!" and "Perhaps!"

As always, I Have Some Notes is a member of the Alberta Podcast Network powered by ATB. ATB: it's like a bank for your money!

Daredevil (2003)

Today super hero movies are a dime a dozen, but back in 2003 the super party was just getting started and old Benny Affleck was leading the charge. "Put me in a tight red leather suit" he said "animate me jumping all over Hell's Kitchen, the box office take will be devilish, devilish, I say!" That's how I assume putting Daredevil to film got started, anyway, but I wasn't there.

Of course, we wouldn't be setting up Daredevil up for you if the Affleck acrobat experiment had gone well. No, as you might have guessed, it could have used some notes

And who better to give those notes than a quartet of not-screenwriters? Colin, Gregg, Scott and guest Erin Beever are your crew for this one, and it's a gooder.

Street Fighter

Well, we probably bit off more than we could chew with this one. Usually we stay away from movies of the page-one-rewrite variety, content to tighten the screw of more mediocre movies, but Street Fighter was such a notorious flop we couldn't resist. In the end there was little choice but to essentially pitch a bunch of entirely new movies.

This week Josh and Alan of Press Start to Join (fellow Alberta Podcast Network members) join Scott & Gregg in the elevator pitching. Together we quarter motion punch and quarter motion kick the crap out of Steven de Souza's directorial debut.

We forgot to mention it on air, but a good chunk of the behind-the-scenes stories we talk about came from an incredible Polygon article by Chris Plante, we highly recommended giving it a read.

https://www.polygon.com/features/2014/3/10/5451014/street-fighter-the-movie-what-went-wrong

Bright

Netflix pumps out more content than Cannon Films in the 80s, so we'd understand if a show or 10 escaped your attention. But one show we're confident did not dodge your senses was Bright. As Netflix's first "blockbuster", Bright was absolutely everywhere for a couple weeks, and everyone had an opinion on it. Of course, now that the hype has died down, we thought it the perfect time to release our episode on this Will Smith/David Ayer vehicle. In podcasts timing is every……………thing.

No guest this month, just your three hosts Colin, Scott and Gregg. Each wield the wand of screen rewriting magic to make Bright a little Brigher…don't leave, I promise the show is much cooler than this set up.

As always we are part of the Alberta Podcast Network powered by ATB.