Same. Revisionism falls into three categories:
1. By the artists themselves. Ranges from great (director's cut of Aliens) to abysmal (director's cut of Donnie Darko). At least it's their vision.
2. By fans. Middling to bad (Doctor Who re-edits). Fun but pointless.
3. By censors. Always terrible.
'God's Own Country' on Amazon Prime has had nudity and gay sex edited out of it to make it appeal to a wider audience. This is the future. We'll soon get family-friendly edits of 'Apocalypse Now' and 'Taxi Driver' and 'Trainspotting' and 'A Clockwork Orange'...
deadline.com/2020/05/gods...
That's my hope too. But Netflix has been operating since 1997 and has yet to make a penny - it's currently nearly $14bn in debt. The plan is to keep it going until it kills transmitted TV, and then hike the prices to exploit the new monopoly.
Oh absolutely. By 'forever', I meant: as long as that streaming service decides. As with our human rights, billionaires can whisk away what we thought we owned on a whim.
Can't cope with the complexity of Ingmar Bergman? Don't worry, Netflix will have a 30-minute cut of The Seventh Seal in colour, dubbed into English, with a modern AI score & easily understandable references to Love Island. Ditto for Amazon's 50-page War and Peace ebook.
The future is spoon-fed pap.
Also - aside from the issue of having to rent all your content forever rather than owning it - there's the serious issue of AI. Streaming services plan to use AI to amend content - AI dubbing, AI subtitles, AI colourisation, AI re-editing so as not to offend (whom exactly?). eBooks will follow suit.
Absolutely. I have books, cassettes, CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays. Honestly, if the internet shut down this afternoon, I'd have enough content to last me the rest of my life.
Maybe it’s because a CD player won’t sell your private information to a bunch of billionaire Nazis?
This kind of thing. Written by AI ('Cole H') and narrated by AI. I wonder what the real Louise Cooksey thinks about her voice being used to promote Trump? As it's also being used for fundamentalist Christian cults and hardcore porn, I'm assuming she's okay with it.
www.audible.co.uk/pd/GOAT-POTU...
The AI voices on Audible are absolutely appalling. Literally no one would actively choose them over a human voice, but for Audible it's a great deal. They still get their 90% commission on every sale PLUS the cost of hiring one of their AI voices to narrate it in the first place.
My fellow writers might not want to hear this, but AI is a useful tool for certain aspects of the craft, like for instance when you’re engaged in the process of being a talentless shitbag hack who is too lazy to do any fucking writing.
I've never used AI for creative purposes, nor will I. It's not a creative tool because it's unable to generate anything. All it can do is regurgitate.
Companies (especially ones named after long rivers) are deliberately failing to label AI-generated content. We need labels like ORGANIC or AI-FREE.
A Matter of Life and Death is a great idea. Not seen The Dark Tower, but, as you say: Idris Elba!
Yes, I love that weird, cold film.
I'm vaguely aware of it. It had characters voiced by Mel Blanc, didn't it? I fear it's not going to be a commercial piece to paint.
I've heard of it but never seen it.
Thanks. They're all on my list! I may not do Dark Crystal because I'll be doing Labyrinth - and I may do an earlier Harryhausen, like Jason and the Argonauts.
A few years after Henri’s judicial murder, the great Venetian composer Barbara Strozzi (1619-77) wrote a wonderful song cycle about him. Here it is:
youtu.be/0PWMCuf1v2M?...
I’ve been reading about Henri, Marquis de Cinq-Mars, the lover of Louis XIII of France. As with Piers Gaveston and Edward II, the beautiful young favourite was deemed to be a threat to the court and his death was contrived.
Honestly, I wish they’d taught this stuff at school.
#QueerHistoryMatters
I’ve got another painting exhibition coming up this autumn. This year’s theme is A Century of Fantasy Cinema. Any movies you think I should consider?
(And, yes, I will be doing Labyrinth. 😁)
Quite. I'm not sure any of last year's exhibition also falls into the fantasy genre. Well, maybe Star Wars, but that's sold.
barnabyedwards.co.uk/brave-new-wo...
Good call. And speaking of junior wizards, I will, naturally, be avoiding one particular franchise.
What are the chances, eh? It turns out transphobes are also racists. Who knew?
deadline.com/2026/03/harr...
Hmm. That's an interesting thought. I feel there's going to be a glut of fantasy films from the 70s onwards, so maybe an animated feature might help fill a gap in the 20s-60s period.
Utterly traumatic!
Yup. Those four are on the longlist - but thank you for suggesting them, as it might push them into the shortlist.
They Came to a City is amazing, isn’t it? I saw it for the first time about 5 or 6 years ago. A remarkable film.
I’ve got another painting exhibition coming up this autumn. This year’s theme is A Century of Fantasy Cinema. Any movies you think I should consider?
(And, yes, I will be doing Labyrinth. 😁)
Delighted and honoured to be a part of this year’s Cranleigh Arts BookFest in Surrey. I’m giving a talk and Q&A on 15th May about David Bowie, Lindsay Kemp and the birth of Ziggy Stardust. Click here to book tickets: cranleigharts.org/event/david-bowie-lindsay-kemp-and-the-birth-of-ziggy-stardust
Oh, and it features on the cover of this splendid new book by @danielkraus.com
www.betterworldbooks.com/product/deta...