September 27, 2012, 3:15 pm
I have argued before that police often behave as if they are legally dictator of their immediate area, and frequently assume they can issue orders, however asinine, to anyone in their visual range. Of course this is legally not true (though I suppose it is legally true if you take into account that courts and the minimal accountability processes that exist for cops never punish them for such behavior).
Here is a great example. The 2-minute TSA freeze drill, with the TSA yelling at people -- already through security -- within their visual range for moving. I think they are ripping off Heinlein - was this in Starship Troopers?
February 23, 2011, 4:17 pm
Movie deal for Old Man's War.
Also heard that Ridley Scott is doing the Forever War.
By the way, I was working on a list of SF stories that were completed screwed up as movies in the 80's and 90's, so much so they would be worth a remake. So far I have only a couple, but would appreciate suggestions
- Starship Troopers
- Running Man
- Total Recall (not as awful as the first two but had that same cheesy unserious style that brings it down for me)
I suppose some might put Robocop in this category but I am attached to that movie, in part because if there was an underlying novel I hadn't read it, and the campiness kind of worked.
February 10, 2005, 10:16 pm
I just finished reading these three books, one after the other:
In basic outline, each book has exactly the same plot, about a man joining the army in some future war. Each have many of the classic war-story elements, including the tough over-the-top drill Sargent in basic training.
At the same time, all three are totally different, in different universes with different physics and different politics and enemies. And, perhaps most importantly, each with a different outlook on war and its necessity. Each one is awesome individually but created an amazing accidental trilogy when read together.
