Whoops...

Okay, so the last post had a title that related to what I was thinking about, but then forgot to actually write about. The thing I was getting at with that title was one of the trailers I saw on a film - I xan't remember if it was X-men 3 or The Hills Have Eyes. I think it was the latter... But anyways, it was a trailer for The Omen 666. What is with this remake business? The original Omen was a classic. There is nothing I can see that warranted a remake of this film. I mean I saw the trailer for it possibly during a remake of another film, but shit... What happened to originality? when did it become so completely acceptable to basically rip off someone elses work from 20 or 30 years ago? Okay, I can see that some ideaqs are worth a re-working... A prime example would be I Am Legend. It's like one of my favourite books, and has been adapted into at least two film versions. The Last Man On Earth, with Vincent Price was a fairly straight film version, and I quite liked it. The Omega Man, with Charlton Heston, tTook a few more liberties with the story, and was somewhat less cool, although stil entertaining in that tacky 70s way. I heard rumours about a modern film version a while ago, with Arnold Schwarzenegger or Will Smith as the main character. Now, if this is donme right (and without Arnie - I really don't see him in the main role), it could be hella cool. It is an idea that hasn't yet had the filmic representation it deserves. But things like The Omen - when it was originally made, it was exactly what it should have been. There is nothing about the story that could benefit from new effects developments, or anything else. All I can see in a remake of a film like that is trying to reach into the pockets of a new generation. I went to see the remake of The Hills Have Eyes because I'd seen the TV advertising for it, and I haven't actually seen the original. But the impression I got was that it was probably on a bigger budget, but not any better or really any different from the basic idea of the original. It's like Tom Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes... It wasn't that great a film, but it at least put a new spin on the original idea. Admittedly, I think the original concept was a fuck of a lot better than the remake, but at least there was some thought put into it. The bottom line seems to be the dollar sign, and it's really sad to think that that has become such an important factor that real, fresh ideas are no longer needed...

On the other hand, I watched Jarhead last night. It was very, very cool. Like an Apocalypse Now or Full Metal Jacket for my generation. But it's interesting that like those other films, while it seems to be commenting on the stupidity and pointlessness of war, it still makes it look kinda cool...

Oh yeah, I went on another course at work this week - a Health & Safety in the Workplace course. It lasted aout four hours, and was basically just bollocks. It was funny though - the tutor treated us like children, despite the average age of the group being probably in the late twenties. There were some utterly pointless things - like getting everyone in the room to introduce themselves and tell the group what they do at General Cable. Basically, we all knew each other already - it's the same group of new-ish guys on every one of these courses - and the tutor didn't remember anyones name. Most of what we discussed was fairly straight forward - the H&S act and how it applies to our jobs, and our personal responsibilities while at work. There was only one particularly strange and stupid point to come up during the evening... An electrician on the course brought up the dangers of driving to and from work. His basic point was that you are one hundred and twenty eight times more likely to die in the drive to work than while actually at work, and that the current legislation seems to be entirely weighted toward the wrong area. Which, basically, is about as fucking stupid as it sounds. But he managed to get at least a couple of minutes of debate out of it. I couldn't even be arsed to argue the point - it was like the most fucking retarded thing I've ever heard. The thing that amazed me was that the tutor for the course took his concerns seriously. She couldn't actually formulate a decent reply to his queries, but she tried... I think that if I had been running the course, my reply would have been something along the lines of "Shut up you stupid twat." But I guess you can't be quite that blunt when you are on a contract that can be cancelled depending on peoples perception of your work. But why 128 times more likely? Is that a real probability? Oh man going to sleep fucking stupid fucking people asking stupid questions about bollocks well not literally bollocks but irrelevant things at any rate Shit I've worked like 56 hours this week and now I'm knackered and I've still got to make my bedd...