| Author | Message | ||
     Rosswarren (Rosswarren) Username: Rosswarren Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 217.39.69.169 |
What genre related things would you like to see in the coming years. A few of my wants would be:- A New Adult novel from Neil Gaiman A new TV adaptation of The Stand by Stephen King - a full series rather than a mini A Collection from Stephen Bacon - Not read a story by him that I haven't enjoyed. A YA book by Gary McMahon - That should sort out the next generation! A David Fincher horror movie - The fact he directed The Social Network makes me die a little inside. The books I have had on order from Cemetary Dance for years! | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.232.199.129 |
Ooo, interesting question. Off the top of my head, mine would be (but I'll probably think of loads more later): A new collection of short stories by Pete Crowther An AFFORDABLE collection of shorts by Reggie Oliver Another collection of Ramsey shorts Des' The Last Balcony collection, followed by another one called The Next to Last Balcony A new TV anthology series in the "old" style - ie. like Beasts or Thriller or similar Hammer Horror making great horror films again Doctor Who returning to 2-, 3- and 4-parters as standard, complete with CLIFFHANGERS  | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Me being able to give up the day job and become a full-time writer.  | ||
| Stephen Theaker (Stephen_theaker) Username: Stephen_theaker Registered: 12-2009 Posted From: 62.30.117.235 |
The Game of Thrones tv series to be as good as hoped, and for The Walking Dead to carry on being as good as people are saying it is. And for that to lead to more high-end fantasy, science fiction and horror on TV and in the cinema. For the live action Star Wars tv series to be unexpectedly brilliant. Guillermo del Toro finally making At the Mountains of Madness. More publishers providing ebooks for reviewers. My postman would thank them. | ||
| Matt_cowan (Matt_cowan) Username: Matt_cowan Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 68.249.104.91 |
* I would also like to see a new collection from Ramsey Campbell. * The new Conan movie to be good. * New horror anthology-style TV programs like Night Gallery, Thriller, Twilight Zone, etc. were. * A movie adaptation of an M.R. James story or two. | ||
| Mbfg (Mbfg) Username: Mbfg Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 82.6.94.181 |
Pete and Jordan back together A pay rise for Wayne Rooney Celebrity biographies on every bookshelf in every house in the the Country Sport on every channel every night More singles from Cheryl whatever the hell her name is. A ticket for Take That in my hand Your faces as you read this... | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.29.126.12 |
Terry Grimwood getting some good, effective medication. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.252.211 |
Ross, I thought The Social Network was Fincher's best film to date by a long distance. I've been waiting for the RCMB to start dissecting this precisely scripted and tautly edited exposure of the sociopathic mentality behind Facebook... As for things I'd like to see... ten million people on the streets demonstrating against the ConDem annihilation of the public sector... a series of one-day general strikes... newsagents everywhere refusing to stock Murdoch papers... a TV interviewer asking David Cameron "When are you going to stop lying?"... a massive, uncontrollable growth in trade union membership... and THE LIB DEMS WALKING OUT OF THIS RANCID COALITION BEFORE THEIR HISTORICAL ROLE IS PERMANENTLY CAST AS THAT OF QUISLINGS PROPPING UP THE MOST VICIOUS GOVERNMENT IN LIVING MEMORY. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.252.211 |
Sorry, none of those are genre related. A new M. John Harrison novel in the supernatural horror genre would be nice. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Yeah, 'The Social Network' was unexpectedly wonderful, and continues to move steadily up my Top 10 of the year. It left me disturbed, angry and questioning the whole concept of Facebook. Does one come off it altogether in protest, and lose all those cherished contacts, though...? The thing is so bloody insidious, and addictive and fecking useful!! Like online shopping - I hate what it's been responsible for but would be cutting my nose off to spite my face not to make use of it... the road to hell isn't lined with good intentions, it's the one with the clearest directions.  | ||
| Mbfg (Mbfg) Username: Mbfg Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 212.219.63.204 |
Joel Surely you're not talking about those nice, fresh-faced Eton boys Dave and George and their best chum Nick are you? As they've said many times, if you lose your job in the public sector, simply go and get another one somewhere. What could be easier? Can't see the problem. Regards Terry | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Genre things I'd like to see: The Pan Horror Series brought back from the dead - Hey, whadaya know!!  Hammer to produce a new British set and made TV horror anthology series that works. A consensus built up among modern directors that CGI effects are lazy and look crap, bringing a resurgence of old-style make-up, fake blood, prosthetic and animatronic effects back into our cinemas. Someone to publish affordable complete collections of the short stories of: T.E.D. Klein, Karl Edward Wagner, Robert Aickman, Robert E. Howard, E.F. Benson, Guy de Maupassant & E.T.A. Hoffmann. William Peter Blatty to bring out a Director's Cut Edition of 'Exorcist III' retitled as 'Legion' and with a radically altered ending, that stays true to the book. Someone to finally do H.P. Lovecraft & Ramsey Campbell justice on the big screen. My dream combinations would be Del Toro to do a subtle non-CGI heavy adaptation of 'At The Mountains Of Madness' & David Lynch to adapt 'Incarnate' his own way (but I'm dreaming here). 'Boris Karloff's Thriller' to be released on DVD in the UK and to be even more wonderful than my imagination suggests. The full 'League Of Gentlemen' team to reform with a new comedy-horror project that equals their best work. And Series 2 of 'Psychoville' to be brilliant. The cinema-going public to grow tired of formulaic horror sequels and remakes, and the big studio executives to start taking risks with new independent scripts and novel adaptations, that prove unexpectedly popular and profitable leading to an explosion of top quality, original horror film blockbusters to rival the best achievements of the 1970s... damn, the drugs have worn off.  | ||
| Alexicon (Alexicon) Username: Alexicon Registered: 10-2009 Posted From: 88.106.53.93 |
I'd like to see... Stephen King joining this board. Joel moving MUCH further to the left and inventing a new 'political horror' sub-genre. JLP penning serious medical thrillers. Des going downmarket with a sequel to AGRA ASKA - perhaps entitled,AGRO ASDA. Alex moving upmarket into emotionally significant Slasher-Romance. Caroline writing scripts regularly for future Dr Who series. Stevie becoming an international icon of benign literary criticism. Johnny Mains being paraded down Whitehall in a golden sedan chair as huge crowds cheer and chant,'Her-bert,Her-bert...' Katie Price's next novel winning the Booker prize. \ | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.29.126.12 |
Even stronger meds for Alex. | ||
| Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
Eddy C. Bertin's complete collection! Sorely missing! | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.232.199.129 |
>>I'd like to see... Caroline writing scripts regularly for future Dr Who series.<< You and me both, Alex!  | ||
| Matthew Fryer (Matthew_fryer) Username: Matthew_fryer Registered: 08-2009 Posted From: 90.195.182.42 |
"The full 'League Of Gentlemen' team to reform with a new comedy-horror project that equals their best work." Nothing would make me happier. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Stevie becoming an international icon of benign literary criticism. Thanks, Alex... I think?!  | ||
| John Forth (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.1.217 |
"An AFFORDABLE collection of shorts by Reggie Oliver" Amen to that, Caroline. What else would I like? A new T.E.D Klein novel (or novella or story or anything!) Clive Barker to stop titting about with Abarat and get back to what he does best. Del Toro's At the Mountains of Madness to be a glorious and faithful spectacle, and a box-office success. The Beeb to do a big budget, proper, Victorian-set adaptation of The War of the Worlds. An avalanche of good quality horror literature sweeping into the mainstream. Eli Roth to fuck off. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.209.217 |
John, those last three are brilliant- I've always wanted to see an adaptation of WOTW that's actually done as Wells wrote it. Twould be brill. My 'ooh, please Santa' list: The Labour party becoming a socialist party again and winning the damned election. Fred Goodwin to be run over by a combine harvester. Live. On the National Lottery show. Also live on national television: The Devil appearing in a puff of smoke to finally claim Rupert Murdoch's festering soul. Reality TV, Simon Cowell and Davina flipping McCall to vanish overnight as if they had never been and a resurgence of original scripted material to take its place. And nobody cares that they're shot on very low budgets because suddenly everyone's remembered that things like story, characterisation, atmosphere and good writing are what really counts. I could go on... ...so I will: The landlord to reach the top of the bestseller lists, closely followed by Gary Zed. Oh, and a mass market publishing deal for muggins here would be nice. And if I could have a go at the bestseller lists when Ramsey and Zed are finished, I wouldn't say no to that either. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
The Labour party becoming a socialist party again and winning the damned election. Like watching a train wreck in slow motion... that is already a fait accompli. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
The train wreck being the coalition government, you understand. All Labour have to do is sit back and enjoy the spectacle... | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.68 |
The rest of this, and soon we will. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd5gWGfnK5M | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.144.35 |
How do people do these things?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw3tuiND_xk&feature=related | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.152.196.39 |
I think this is a better trailer, but be warned, it unveils a lot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_ee9K9hXtw&NR=1 I'm fond of this production company and the love that's clearly gone into them, but I do think there's room for something less arch and period. Didn't Lovecraft say that horror should be contemporary? I've long thought that Lovecraft would make for a great tv series. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.254.215 |
Note the character in the trailer who is clearly modelled on Charles Fort. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.191.198 |
Alex, I'm very wary of placings on the left-right spectrum where anything but the most blatant differences are concerned. The concept of 'the left' is used to confuse huge differences between movements and traditions – the idea that Stalinists, Trotskyists and left reformists are indistinguishable 'sects' with essentially the same beliefs is ridiculous. And it annoys me greatly that the satirical sketch popularly credited with exposing far-left sectarianism to ridicule was written by a supporter of the SDP – an arid attempt to invent a new political niche between the right of the Labour Party and the left of the Liberal Party, as if it were possible to insert a cigarette paper in that space. I'm wary of 'ultra-leftism' – the confused and noisy territory of Class War, the SWP and other advocates of the chaotic and violent 'smashing' of the system – because that doesn't seem to me to be any way to build a democratic socialist cuture. As Trotsky said, socialism needs democracy as a body needs oxygen. That means people working together in a reasonable way to build a different society, not just blowing things up and hoping for the best. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.254.215 |
I agree, Joel. That's what made Dostoevsky's 'The Devils' so disturbingly prophetic. The way it showed how far left nihilism could be used as a seductive cover and mock-revolutionary justification for the bitter, the power hungry and the lovers of destruction for destruction's sake. Same thing applies to far right extollers of jingoistic hatred, only with bells on... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.153.144.35 |
I remember Michael Apted watching an amatuer film set in the thirties or so in black and white with period style music saying it felt dead, even though it was beautifully done. Sometimes love isn't enough. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.68 |
I for one am very sad. http://www.firstshowing.net/2011/universal-screws-up-mountains-del-toro-heading- to-pacific-rim/ If I'm not mistaken it was the same studio that killed a portmanteau film which would have included Guillermo's version of "Down There". | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.202.190 |
It's infuriating. There have been so many false starts and pitfalls, but I thought this time it seemed likely it would get made. Meanwhile, this studio will no doubt continue to green-light any number of dull, unimaginative remakes. I would have loved to have seen what Del Toro could have done with 'Down There'. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Just reading that, Ramsey, it may be a blessing in disguise with people like James Cameron & Tom Cruise connected to the project and the fact they were planning to film it in 3D! Del Toro may just have been saved from the biggest sell-out of his career. His 'Hellboy' movies work as great superhero entertainment but if he applied the same CGI overkill to 'At The Mountains Of Madness' it couldn't help but be a travesty imo. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
I'm tending towards Stevie's take on this... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
I'm hanging on for Larry Fessenden's version. Now that would be good. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.202.190 |
I think Del Toro could have done it well. And I don't think that Universal would have pulled the plug on the kind of film Stevie's describing. I think it's more likely he would have made the kind of film Peter Jackson made when he applied his talent to source material that he obviously loved. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I'd like to see Del Toro adapt ATMOM as one of his smaller budget independent projects. I really don't see the need for such a massive budget, big special effects, or name actors, producers, etc when adapting a horror story that relies so much on suggestion. The biggest challenge would be the set design and that would require artistic vision not shedfuls of money imo. The big studio interference couldn't help but stifle whatever visionary ideas Del Toro had for the film. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
I've just been reading about this and del Toro brught in Cameron to help him with the 3D elements - so that part's true. Universal were touting Cruise (who was apparently "definitely on board". The real sticking point seems to be that del Toro waned to make an "R" rated film, whereas the studio wanted a PG-13. I like Cameron's films, have loved a lot of del Toro's work, and I also like Tom Cruise. But something about this project made me nervous. Maybe it was because Universal were attached. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I loved Cameron's early films and hated his later ones - since he became King of the World (the tosser). I think 3D is the single greatest threat to artistic freedom in big studio cinema of the modern era (just watch Tim Burton's execrable 'Alice In Wonderland' for proof). And Tom Cruise is an actor I have no time for whatsoever. Even if I've enjoyed a few films he's been in I find the guy intolerably smug (as well as barking mad, and not in a good way) and no more than mediocre as an actor, and oft times downright wooden. It is frustrating that so many big name directors have been tempted by the lure of his bankable face and name on the credits to agree to work with him (you know who you are). Guillermo Del Toro is the greatest genre director working in the field today and could make a version of 'At The Mountains Of Madness' every bit as impressive as his independent masterpieces; 'Cronos', 'The Devil's Backbone' & 'Pan's Labyrinth', if he would only detach himself from the studio machine, that, admittedly has served him well with; 'Mimic', 'Blade II' & the 'Hellboy' movies, but that he can't expect any favours from when it comes to cold hard profit. Ditch them man... make your long cherished project your own way and fuck the suits!!!! | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Guillermo Del Toro is the greatest genre director working in the field today I could make a list of better genre directors. He's good, but he's not that good. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I think he has proved himself a visionary talent able to play the populist game as well as the artistic. No one else comes close over the last 20 years in terms of artistic success and entertainment value. That's why I want to see him go down the more subtle independent road when adapting someone like Lovecraft. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.204.66 |
I must admit I hadn't heard about Tom Cruise being linked with the film until now. I can't see how 3D really adds to a film's quality, or why serious filmmakers would bother with it. It seems to me more a gimmick than anything else. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
The more del Toro moves away from films like Cronos (for me, his best film), The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinthe, the less interested I am. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.142.199.132 |
I know what you mean, Zed. It's like Jackson - the LOTRs are fun, but Lovely Bones was really a bit clumsy. It's hard to remember he did a film as offbeat and thrilling as Heavenly Creatures. Cruise is ok - Minority Report has become a smashing film and he was fine in War of the Worlds. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Whenever I see Tom Cruise in a movie I am invariably reminded of a shop window mannequin come to life. Both films were desperately disappointing travesties of the source material and had me praying for Spielberg never to attempt another sci-fi classic. I have to agree 'The Lovely Bones' was Jackson's first abject failure as a director although, looking back, the rot really set in with his monstrously overblown 'King Kong'. By comparison Guillermo Del Toro has yet to make anything that wasn't less than thrilling and with 'Cronos', 'The Devil's Backbone' & 'Pan's Labyrinth' produced three of the finest genre movies ever made. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
I think Minority Report is brillaint - always have done. Cruise is a terrific actor - watch him in Born on the 4th of July or Magnolia. I really enjoyed The Lovely Bones, too. But Heavenly Creatures is pure class. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.56 |
Hey! someone else who enjoyed the lovely bones! I thought I was in a minority of one on that film... I thought the death scene was brilliantly nightmarish. One of Jackson's best pure horror sequences. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
To be honest, Weber, I don't really understand people's problem with the film - the main one seems to be regarding the syrupy nature of the girl's version of heaven. But she's a teenage girl - how she pictures the afterlife is bound to be sweet and sickly. It's as good as the book, IMHO. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Stanley Kubrick actually made use of Cruise's blank expressionless shop dummy appearance as he sleepwalked through the scenes of tasteful debauchery in 'Eyes Wide Shut'. That film (Kubrick's weakest) and 'Magnolia' are the only ones I can sort of take him in. Was never a fan of 'Born On The Fourth Of July' - too bombastic for my liking. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.142.199.132 |
It was the drunken Granny in LB that grated on me. Lifted from some seventies film, or tried to. And the icicle on the head, standing next to a bloody cliff. It just felt a bit daft. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
'The Lovely Bones' just didn't work on any level for me. Story, visuals, performances, supposed message were all just too mannered and sweet. The film had no fire in its belly and even the scenes that should have been disturbing felt too reserved and polished. It's all about one's own instinctive reaction to a movie and with this one mine was to gag. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
And the icicle on the head, standing next to a bloody cliff. That's lifted directly frm the book - the random detah of a killer, years after the event. I thought it was a wonderful touch. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.142.199.132 |
Does it not feel strained? A different death might have worked. It worked in The Pledge, a sort of similiar story. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
No. It worked for me. Like I said, though: each to his own. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.142.199.132 |
Yeah, that's ok. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
'The Pledge' is a fantastic movie and one of Jack Nicholson's finest performances imo. I have the Friedrich Durrenmatt novel in my TBR pile. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.56 |
It's worrying, but somehow unsurprising, that all I can think of now is furniture polish |