July Sweeps - Day 542

I got very little work done today.  You could say I'm lazy . . . heck, I say I'm lazy too.

I sold two items that I absolutely couldn't find, and it kind of demoralized me.  So I got online and watched the new GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE trailer . . . and got remoralized.

I'm not the world's biggest 'busters fan, but I do really like the first movie, and was one of only two movies pre-driver's license I saw twice in the theater.*  

But it's a fine film, and I was surprised to be emotionally moved by the new trailer--partly because it featured kids that didn't appear to be absolute pieces of garbage, but also the filmmakers seemed to nail the tone and nostalgia in this one.  We'll see at the end of the year.

I wasted a long stretch of time on Friday reading about the various versions of GHOSTBUSTERS 3 that almost happened, and it made me a little bit sad, wondering what might have been.  But if they pull this off, if it's as good as it has the potential to be, then I'll be happy to be the kid I was in the summer of 1984 again, for an hour and a half at least.**

Sit-ups Today: 100
Sit-ups In July: 2849

Tonight, I told my cousin I would see SNAKE EYES with him, despite having no interest in it.  I didn't see the previous two GI JOE movies, and I didn't even see the one Sunbow put out in the late Eighties, after my much-beloved TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE.  But my cousin went to see the zombie flick with me, and said he'd see JUNGLE CRUISE with me, so I figured I'd bend on this.

And it was alright.  The first hour or so was pretty good, I thought, because I'm not very familiar with Martial Arts films (in L.A., my friend Matthew showed me all of the Bruce Lee films, which I enjoyed, but never would've sought out on my own), and I liked some of the world-building, even though I was confused by all the names (I have an incapacity to remember Asian names, which totally ruined my attempt at reading "Battle Royale").

Eventually, the movie becomes more of a G.I. Joe-related film, and my enjoyment largely fled.  The violence was so toned down, I wondered if that was Hasbro's influence, trying to sell toys to young boys, and indeed, I would've classified it as PG territory, rather than the (tepid) single use of the F-word by the Baroness, in order to secure a PG-13.  Literally hundreds of people die in the movie, but so bloodlessly and ineffectually that it might have been the cartoon trope of having a deadly weapon in your hand, but merely punching your enemy out when you encounter him.

It did, however, make me wonder who SNAKE EYES: GI JOE ORIGINS was made for.  Was it intended for longtime fans of the franchise (such as BLADE RUNNER 2 or a Kevin Smith sequel), or was it intended to draw in an entirely new audience that was too young to have cared about the older stuff (such as the barely-aforementioned GHOSTBUSTERS: ANSWER THE CALL)?  That makes me wonder about Kevin Smith's "Masters of the Universe: Revelation," which I mentioned the other day.  Was that made for fans of the Eighties show, or designed to appeal to young people who know almost nothing about He-man, Skeletor, and Teela?

I'm not going to be too harsh with the Snake Eyes movie.  It didn't hate it, and there were elements (like gigantic snakes and magical crystals) that appealed to me.  I fear it was unsuccessful enough to once again stall the franchise, which has to be a disappointment to the many toy collectors and Joe fans out there.  You see, even though TRANSFORMERS (2007) was a gargantuan, Insecticon-buzzing turd (and apparently went downhill from there), they made an astounding amount of money, and that's what determines the future of a franchise, not its Rotten Tomatoes score.***

Push-ups Today: 50
Sit-ups In July: 2764

You know, I'm just gonna have to be okay with not writing much today.  I edited a podcast, all the way through to the end, went ahead and published it, and that took about two hours, and hey, I'm fine with saying that that took precedence over the writing today.  Like the days where I get my sit-ups and push-ups in, but don't manage to go on a run.  No big deal.

Funny thing is, immediately after typing this, I got an idea for one last scene in my story, before I have to make my Big Choice (which decides how it ends).  And I just started writing the scene, even though I didn't want to write anymore.  Weird.

Words Today: 766
Words In July: 23,520

*Oh wait, RETURN OF THE JEDI got reissued in '85, and I did see it a second time then.

**I did already hear from one person who didn't like the trailer.  His argument was, basically, "I thought GHOSTBUSTERS was supposed to be a comedy."  Well, you got a comedy five years ago.  And in 1989.  Maybe we could try something else, see if that helps.

***And see, that's the baffling thing about INDIANA JONES 4.  It made so much money as to be one of those films that launches careers and keeps people rich for the rest of their lives, and yet it was not followed up on, rarely mentioned in conversation, not continually marketed (honestly, there's probably as much Indy merchandise produced each year as there are for THE LAST STARFIGHTER or LOGAN'S RUN).  I honestly don't get that.  Deep down, I probably love Indiana Jones more than I do "Star Trek" and Marvel, but there's never anything new to throw my money at.