Slashdot Mirror
Blade Director to Adapt 'Akira' For Western Audiences
dswensen writes: "According to the Sci-Fi Channel web site, Steven Norrington (director of Blade) is going to write and direct an adaptation of the classic anime Akira. Norrington says his story 'preserves the tone, the visual and the epic scope of the original, whilst telling a somewhat more accessible story [to Western audiences]." The article doesn't mention whether the adaptation will be animated or live-action. Given Norrington's track record and the butchery that usually takes place under the guise of making something 'accessible,' it's hard to take this as extraordinarily good news."
i think i've finally got a first post!
I hope they use a cluster of FreeBSD machines to render their special effects.
No sooner did I wrap up and send off this month's "Programming Paradigms" column than events transpired that cast part of its message in a somewhat different light. In that column (see page 69), I praised the tech-oriented site Slashdot for its openness and its embrace of no-cost software. Whereupon Slashdot's head honcho, Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda, announced that Slashdot would be moving to a pay-for-content model. Or rather, a pay-if-you-want-to-avoid-a-lot-of-annoying-ads model. For some, this is an announcement with a Richter value just below that of Darth Vader's "I'm your father, Luke."
If I were in a prognosticating mood, I'd predict unmitigated disaster. For one thing, I think that the Slashdot crew gets cut a lot of slack because Slashdot is free; when you pay for something, you expect a certain level of professionalism -- a level that Slashdot content frankly doesn't attain. Second, Slashdot acquires its content for free from its readers, and the culling of that content is also supplied by the readers -- so why should they pay for the product of their own efforts? Third, quality of product and perceived cost of acquiring it aside, any time you move from a free model to a pay model, you can expect to lose a lot of followers, and the politics of Slashdot's audience suggest that Rob should be prepared to lose a whole lot -- possibly enough that the pay model really doesn't pay. Fourth, the pay model doesn't pay; why does Slashdot think that it can succeed where so many have failed?
I realize that the four points I just raised are all contentious -- Slashdot supporters could counter them with cogent arguments about the quality of the Slashdot experience or the value of the dialog Slashdot empowers or with examples of successful e-content businesses. Nevertheless, I think that the perception will be as I have described, and I predict that the consequences for Slashdot will be dire. Slashdot will be seen as going over to the dark side, other sites will cannibalize its readers, the sense of community will crumble, and even if Slashdot backs off from the policy in a few months, the damage will be done.
Or rather, that's what I'd say if I were in a prognosticating mood. But since I was completely blindsided by Slashdot's leap into paid content, I am loath to make any predictions. I can only eat so many words per month.
...and be filled with child-porn, or will that be one of the things they remove to make it more "accessible"?
I've never been able to really watch a movie and the subtitles at the same time. My focus diverts between the middle of the screen and bottom too frequently, and I just can't seem to enjoy the movie as much. Yes, dubbing does tend to remove something from the original, but I just don't think that subtitles are an improvement. I wonder if there's another way?
And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
If you're going to go through my posting history and mod me down, at least try to be consistent about it. You missed a spot.
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How come this wasn't placed under the "Anime" topic? I use the filter so I don't have to hear about the whole Japanese cartoon thing. I think that movies is the more general topic and thus was not the appropriate one.
Hmm ?
I am just expressing an opinion.
Its not that good. the animation isn't spectacular, the story is just a bunch of rubbish. its too hard to understand. bullshit. its for dorks, who think they understand something at a higher level, but just want to run around feeling high and mighty and engaging in a circle jerk.