What Bad Films CAN Teach Us.

A Boy And His Dog 

Reprised Once Again

by E.M. Lopez Jr.

Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Boy_and_His_Dog

Had This to say about ABAHD:

A Boy and His Dog is a short story written by science fiction author Harlan Ellison in 1969. A revised and expanded version was printed in Ellison's 1976 story collection The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World, and Ellison continued the story in the graphic novel Vic and Blood which was illustrated by Richard Corben.

The novella was the basis of a movie adaptation in 1974, the post-apocalyptic science fiction film of the same name, directed by L. Q. Jones working in collaboration with Harlan Ellison. The film was also distributed after the initial run under the names Psycho Boy and His Killer Dog, Mad Don, and Apocalypse: 2024, among other titles.

When you consider how gifted an author Harlan Ellison was, you wonder how it could have turned out so badly as a film.

First I push aside the "Louie Factor  (LF)".  

The LF states that as long as every one got paid for the movie, then that redeems it. 

I disagree.

Others say: "Good Film is an Art Form, and Bad Films Are Crap, and not worth our time."  

I also find that too easy an out too.

I believe we can learn from the bad as well as the good.  
Sometimes we can learn more. 

At least I hope so.

We must remember the Sci-Fi Ceiling was pretty low in 1974.  

This was years before Close Encounters, Star Wars and even the current God of SF: James Cameron!

So what can we learn from these early baby steps into Sci-Fi Blockbusters?

I'm going get pretty simple here:

Book Films need words or dialog. Read by a Character Actor that can Emote.  

Talking Dogs don't do it.

That's not science fiction, it's just silly fiction.

That was also my least favorite part in "Up!". 

The Dog Kinda Talking.

The sad part about that is that Japan now has a gadget that can do that.

Like we really need that.

Movies need to be "moving" Pictures.  

Yes, I know, a lot of action movies nowadays think 

that if a little action is good, a lot is better. 

Use "2012" as a Example of how things can go so terribly wrong.

This kind of thinking has invaded network TV.

You know, like the whiz bang pizazz we get on almost 

all the New HD form-factored commercials. 

Copy Cats of the Matrix's Armory selection now give us "Pick a Car" or "Pick a Supermarket Freezer" as they whiz by.

I say, it isn't the Bang, it's the smell of the sizzle.


And in the Matrix, the sizzle smells right.  Let's quantify that.

Can Less mean More ?  

Science says Yes!

A new theory in mathematics is saying: "Less can Mean More."

And its called: CS for Compressed Sensing. 

And it's going to revolutionize digital storage.

But don't forget, a dreary future is usually a dreary downer.  

Think back to the original Blade Runner.

Or the Current "The Road."

Let's Not go down that Road.