Two Last Tidbits about Clash of the Titans

I know, I know.  Clash of the Titans has been out for over a month now.  I’ve talked about it twice already (here and here).  Two final things here, folks, and I’ll shut up about it.

Item 1: I saved this review back when I was planning on writing my own: Clash of the Titans Crashes and Burns.  Why did I save it?  Because it’s laughable regardless of whether you liked the remake or not.  Why is it laughable?  Because homeboy thinks that the new Clash of the Titans is based on a book: “Based on the 1981 Alan Foster novel of the same name, Clash of the Titans….”  What book would that be?  Uhm… the novelization of the first Clash of the Titans: link.

Here is another choice quote:
"Some novels' shortcomings can be overcome by brilliant screenwriters and an all-star cast. Titans has neither. Instead of avoiding the vices present in the novel, Titans manages to condense them into a 90 minute movie."

Yep, too bad those screenwriters couldn't overcome the shortcomings of a novel based on a screenplay written by other screenwriters.

Sadly, this review comes from The Chronicle Online which is the “Official Website of the Weekly Student Newspaper of the College of Saint Rose.”  

Note to self: My daughters will not attend the College of Saint Rose.


Item 2: I want a pair of these: link  Is that wrong?

Someone Already Wrote my "Clash of the Titans" Review

A while back I promised to provide a more in-depth review of "Clash of the Titans."

Now there is no need. Troll and Flame already did it for me. Check out his "Dudes, New Clash of the Titans Kicks Ass" post. 

Well said.

A Quick Note Regarding the “Clash of the Titans” Remake

So, not surprisingly many gamers ran out to see the “Clash of the Titans” remake.  By and large, given by the posts at my Internet hangouts, the movie was not well received by the gaming community.  Actually, the movie seems nigh-universally loathed.  Well, to such critics, here is my response:

Seriously, did anyone who saw the trailers expect a blow-by-blow recreation of the Perseus myth?  The trailers were one step away from this:

I really enjoyed “Clash of the Titans” and I’m eager to see it again.  I hope to post a more in-depth review, but pesky work is eating up my time this week.

Books I Read to My Kids: Greek Myths for Young Children

Since I'm on a Greek Mythology roll, I wanted to share a great book for kids: Greek Myths for Young Children

I gave this book to Chaos for her fourth birthday. At the time, she wasn't taken too much with it, but really enjoys it now. Although it's very colorful and has plenty of illustrations, it doesn't have pictures on every page.  That sort of put a damper on her interest at first, but now, at five, she doesn't seem to mind. I also think some of the creatures used to frighten her (she wasn't too big on the picture of the Cyclops).

Actually, we've returned to this book because I ran out of myths to tell her.  When I put Chaos to bed at night, I often tell her a Hercules or Odysseus story.  "Hercules and the Hydra" is one of her favorites ("Cut! Burn! Cut! Burn!"). When my mental stash was depleted, I busted out this book again.

It's a great book and, although the tales are bit abridged, be warned, they aren't censored and no happy, Disney-like endings have been added.  When Bellerophon, after riding Pegasus to slay the Chimera, gets cocky and decides to ride the flying horse to Olympus, he still ends up plummeting to his death.  That certainly isn't the kind of ending my daughter expected.

I'm not sure what she makes of those kinds of things yet, but she always asks for "one more page," so I take that as a good sign.

Perseus and his Magic Loot

As sort of a follow-up to my post about the Clash of Titans remake, I think Perseus has to be one of the first heroes that fit the model of D&D character.  How so?  Because homeboy is loaded with the magical loot!  It seems in most classic myths and legends, and even a lot of modern fantasy tales, the hero is lucky to have one magical weapon.  The gods load Perseus up: 

• a mirrored shield from Athena,
• a helm of invisibility from Hades,
• an adamantine sickle-sword from Hermes, 
• and, also, the winged sandals of Hermes.

Sounds like a high-level PC to me....

Oh, and on a side note, I'm absurdly glad that the dumbass, clockwork owl, Bubo, from the original film won't be finding its way into the remake.

Release the Kraken!

This is kind of old news, but a Clash of the Titans remake is set to come out in March of this year.  Here is the full-length trailer (there is a teaser trailer out there as well).



I'm pretty damn stoked to see this movie.  Yeah, this remake, like the original, appears to be a hodge-podge of various myths, but I'm okay with that.  If anything, I say toss in more.  I want to see as many creatures as possible.  Hopefully, there won't be a lot of over-the-top action maneuvers, though (i.e., a ton of wire work).  I know the movie itself is going to be popcorn fare, but I hate the modern tendency to make every hero have Flying Tiger, Hidden Dragon-like moves. 

I don't care too much for the revamped Kraken.  It looks all right, but reminds me of tons of other movie monsters and aliens.  The original beast has a distinct look and they should have stuck with it. On a side-note, the "kraken" is actually a Norse myth.  There is a sea monster in the Perseus story, but it isn't named.  I'm guessing that "Release the Sea Monster!" just didn't have the same ring as "Release the Kraken!"





Ah well, I am very pleased that they kept medusa as the half-snake, half-woman beastie she was in the first flick.  I don't think that is too true to the myth, but, man, is she a damn fine monster. More than that, she is no doubt the inspiration for the 2nd edition D&D "Greater Medusa" (later finding is way into 3rd edition in Necromancer Game's Tome of Horrors).  Nothing like a creepy, serpent woman that is bad-ass with a bow.  Hell, even the regular medusa became a killer archer in 3rd edition.

I dug up the original medusa scene on YouTube and, damn, it holds up pretty well.  The bit with Perseus tossing the shield onto the statue is a bit hard to swallow, but the rest of the scene is solid.