Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

[Eoraptor1]

Anyone planning to see this? I read the book, and have to admit the writer did his homework, but I'm always nervous about how Hollywood will handle a book.

JAMES

[Dain Arns]

Tim Burton films seem to be either hit or miss, mostly miss these days IMHO.
I know there is the whole vampire craze on again in Hollywierd, that they want to cash in on.
Either vampires or zombies.
But for me this is probably going to be a wait til it gets to Netflix movie.
As in if my Netflix 'Instant Queue' ever runs out and there is nothing else to watch... :icon_lol:

(Although, I would actually watch this before earlier this summer's "Battleship"...)

[cheezyflier]

when the book first started making waves in the interweb and here in canadia, i was annoyed by it. the whole idea is to me, ridiculous. then my step son brought it home from the library.
i picked it up and began to read it for something to scoff at. the idea stayed ridiculous in my mind. however, the book was very well written, i was impressed by how well it was done.
like most movies, i'll download it from p2p if i decide to watch it. i won't be going to the theatre for it.

[glh]

No. Waiting for Teddy Roosevelt: Zombie Whacker -- with that 1895 Winchester lever-action he owned -- think it was a .45-70. Big holes and plenty of blood with that thing.

[Eoraptor1]

No. Waiting for Teddy Roosevelt: Zombie Whacker -- with that 1895 Winchester lever-action he owned -- think it was a .45-70. Big holes and plenty of blood with that thing.

I have a Civil War era Minie ball sitting on my desk, and I would not want to get shot by one of those. I'm astonished anyone struck by one of these in an era before antibiotics survived the sepsis. BTW: I wouldn't be at all surprised if Teddy Roosevelt: Zombie Whacker got made. I was as skeptical as cheezyflier before I read Abraham Lincoln, but it was a real book. I consider myself a serious Civil War person, and the author really did his research. It could easily have been a cartoon. Civil War people are funny, though, in my experience. I've met people who could tell you what peach orchard their great great grandfather fought in, but who haven't read the Declarations of Causes of Secession. They have their family narratives, and they're sticking to them. I probably will go to see the movie; because I'm a nerd, and it's part of my cultural practice, and because I'm curious to see what Tim Burton does with it. I've loved the book Gods and Generals, but the movie gave me a screaming headache. I literally resented those three hours spent watching I can never get back.

Interesting that F.W. Murnau made the first Nostferatu in 1922 and people still call vampire movies a craze. Vampire films are cheap to make (even cheaper if you don’t spend on things like a script or acting) and people are familiar with the cinematic vampire "arc" because it’s now embedded in the culture. I make a very clear distinction between Hollywood and actual vampire folklore, which varies from culture to culture, and is very interesting in its own right. I don’t much care for the Harlequin Romance turn things have been taking lately with vampire movies, even though I definitely understand it from a business standpoint, and I also dislike the current trend of vampires with Kryptonian abilities. I'm walking out the theater if Honest Abe is in a love triangle with Mary Todd and a hunky vampire.

JAMES

[norab]

No. Waiting for Teddy Roosevelt: Zombie Whacker -- with that 1895 Winchester lever-action he owned -- think it was a .45-70. Big holes and plenty of blood with that thing.

It was a .405 Winchester specially modified by Winchester to his specs.

[Dain Arns]

No. Waiting for Teddy Roosevelt: Zombie Whacker -- with that 1895 Winchester lever-action he owned -- think it was a .45-70. Big holes and plenty of blood with that thing.

Now, I'd stand in line for that movie. :icon_lol:

Teddy was THE MAN:
http://www.badassoftheweek.com/roosevelt.html

http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/trbioqf.html (http://www.badassoftheweek.com/roosevelt.html)

[Odie]

Dunno...kinda vampired and werewolfed out these days.....

[aeronca1]

At the theater yesterday, they showed a preview of it and the entire audience just started laughing. personally, I'm waiting for Bill Clinton: Cigar Hunter :icon_eek:

[Dain Arns]

At the theater yesterday, they showed a preview of it and the entire audience just started laughing. personally, I'm waiting for Bill Clinton: Cigar Hunter :icon_eek:

I'm sure the porn industry is already working on that one. :icon_lol:

[Eoraptor1]

I'm sure the porn industry is already working on that one. :icon_lol:

Porn? What's that?

JAMES

[Lateral-G]

Anyone planning to see this?

Not in a million years.....

The sad thing is there will be a new generation actually believing this to be true......

[Eoraptor1]

Not in a million years.....

The sad thing is there will be a new generation actually believing this to be true......

You know people who'll literally believe there were vampires jumping around in the 1860s because they saw it in a movie? I'm guessing that was just a metaphor for a general lack of knowledge vis a vis American History - BUT! - I will tell you something that did happen. I watched HBO's adaptation of Fatherland, in which Nazi Germany wins WWII in Europe and is in a Cold War with the US, with a college graduate who asked me if that really happened.

JAMES

[Dain Arns]

It's why there are late night infomercials that will help you lose weight by only exercising 5 minutes a day. Forget dieting.
It's that free all expenses paid vacation to a wonderful holiday destination, all you have to do is sit through a short presentation where lunch is served.
It's why a certain wealthy individual in Nigeria, after all these years, still needs your help by using your bank account to help him transfer a large amount of cash for a generous reward.

[Eoraptor1]

It's why there are late night infomercials that will help you lose weight by only exercising 5 minutes a day. Forget dieting.
It's that free all expenses paid vacation to a wonderful holiday destination, all you have to do is sit through a short presentation where lunch is served.
It's why a certain wealthy individual in Nigeria, after all these years, still needs your help by using your bank account to help him transfer a large amount of cash for a generous reward.

What are you saying here, Dain?

JAMES

[cheezyflier]

http://nowscape.com/scams/NIGERIA_scam_images/Nigerian_humor_boat.jpg

[Lateral-G]

You know people who'll literally believe there were vampires jumping around in the 1860s because they saw it in a movie? I'm guessing that was just a metaphor for a general lack of knowledge vis a vis American History


James,

There are actually people around today that believe there will be a zombie-pocalypse.........

[Dain Arns]

I laughed, I laughed hard, Cheezy. :icon_lol:

[Eoraptor1]

James,

There are actually people around today that believe there will be a zombie-pocalypse.........

I've seen those Zombie sites, but have never taken them as being more than a lark - or a movie tie-in; World War Z will be in theaters soon. We had a Zombie Plague thread on a guitar site where I'm a contributor, which was a lot of fun. People were outlining their survival strategies online and posting pictures of the weapons they were going to use. We joke about it. "When the zombie apocalyse comes, those who are prepared to survive, will survive." I actually READ Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and I've done serious research at the post-graduate level. [You have to wear special white gloves when examining old documents, so the oils and acids in your skin don't degrade the paper; you might also have to deal with a person whose job it is to turn the pages for you.] I'm a fairly serious Civil War buff, and I stand by my words - IMO the book was very well researched and executed satire about American polity, which doesn't mean anyone has to like it. I have no idea what the movie version will be like, especially in the hands of an auteur director. I predict a major return to satire, in the vein of, say, Gulliver's Travels, or Candide, because so much of what passes for Amercian discourse has become so vigilantly non-discursive.

JAMES

[cheezyflier]

I've seen those Zombie sites, but have never taken them as being more than a lark - or a movie tie-in; World War Z will be in theaters soon. We had a Zombie Plague thread on a guitar site where I'm a contributor, which was a lot of fun.

you might like this site, great bunch of folks there: http://www.guitarscanada.com/forum.php






I predict a major return to satire, in the vein of, say, Gulliver's Travels, or Candide, because so much of what passes for Amercian discourse has become so vigilantly non-discursive.

JAMES

i think you mean formulaic and abbreviated? tbo, i had to google that word. anyhow, if i understood you, then i think you're probably right. hollywood is crap anymore. 60% of the time, it sucks every time.



sorry, i couldn't help it

[Naismith]

Betcha no-one comes up with a funny for Taft.
67940

[Eoraptor1]

i think you mean formulaic and abbreviated? tbo, i had to google that word. anyhow, if i understood you, then i think you're probably right. hollywood is crap anymore. 60% of the time, it sucks every time.



sorry, i couldn't help it


Please remember what you’re about to read is my personal experience. I do not know everything there is to know, and I am not claiming to be a voice from a bush that burns yet is not consumed. I’m also a bit of an a**hole, so keep that in mind as well.

I wasn’t actually talking about show-biz there, cheezy. What I’m trying to say - while obeying forum rules - is that on my travels I’ve encountered a lot of people with a scripted view of American history. Whether or not this comes from their education, their families, their cultural backgrounds, I couldn’t say definitively, but what I can say is that when confronted with what someone like an Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, or Thomas Jefferson actually wrote, the reaction can be quite hostile. That is my borderline misanthropic, Brother Cavil view of human nature. People tend to commit to a narrative, and once invested in it, they will defend it against anything as prosaic as factual evidence, even if this involves undermining the idea of factual evidence. Here’s another word for you to Google: deconstruction.

Before I became ill I used to deliver the occasional lecture. For instance, the more I learn about George Washington, the more interesting he seems to me, and the more regrettable it seems to me that he continues to be presented as a walking block of marble, but as I wrote in my long review of Red Tails, I’ve encountered a great many people who do NOT want their history to have facets; IMO they want a Morality Play leading in a strictly linear fashion to the self-evidence of their own contemporary views. Anything else is a path to evil. Therefore when I point out that in his own correspondence, General and then President Washington made reference to "the worthless classes" - meaning of less material worth, I can guarantee someone will accuse me of fermenting "class warfare". This is nothing, however, to the hostility I can generate by invoking Washington’s farewell address, especially his warnings about the toxicity of partisanship. For that, I could expect at least one personal attack. Now, these are Washington’s own words I’m talking about. This address can be found and read in many places online, and it is prescient. IMO Washington kicks hell out of Nostromdamus. Interestingly, Washington, warns about the dangers of partisanship, while Eisenhower, the penultimate manager of military resources of the 20th Century, warns about the influence of the Military-Industrial complex.

Now, this sort of environment invites satire. I mentioned Gulliver’s Travels. The unabridged edition is much different than the children’s book most people are used to. If you know a bit about the time period, or especially if you can find an annotated edition, it’s clear that Swift is not only writing about Lilliputians, he’s writing about Parliament. Star Trek fans know "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" was about race, and "Patterns of Force" was about fascism. It Gene Roddenberry’s way a sliding in his social commentary between phaser battles. His previous forays into "topical" television had been unsuccessful, because predictably, as soon as audiences felt they were being preached to, they tuned out. This kind of thing can get bent out of proportion. I’ve read commentary about the original 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers that says its really about fear of Communist expansion, or fear of McCarthyism. The screenwriter, Daniel Mainwaring, actor Kevin McCarthy, and the writer of the book upon which the film was based, Jack Finney, all said the movie was about the alien pod people taking over the world.

You’ve read the book (I have this old fashioned notion that someone who’s read a book knows more about it than someone who hasn’t) so you’ll understand what I’m about to say next. You and I probably agree that it was intended by the author first and foremost as an entertainment, but there was also a central question/critique running through the text, namely: can the United States endure as a nation committed to (literally, in this case) sucking the life out of the many to benefit the select few? Put in those terms, there are many people who would see that as a political statement, and an insulting one at that. My mother’s side of my family is from South Carolina, and I can tell you there are plenty of people there who’ll tell you the war was about anything but slavery; that it was a courageous, manly struggle for self-determination, and to fight off Yankee invaders. These peoples’ ancestors fought in the war at very great cost, so you’ll hear things like it was fought to keep the South from becoming an economic colony of the North, and the people who say that will mean it. So yes, given all that, I fully expect more examinations of history from the vampire and zombie points of view. IMO, Wuthering Heights would benefit greatly from a pack of werewolves on the heath. Teddy Roosevelt: Zombie Whacker will get made, and I’ll probably go see it.

JAMES

PS Thank you for the link. I love Toronto. Lots of beautiful women milling about. If I ever get kicked out of the US, I intend to move there.

[cheezyflier]

wow! thank you for that! i agree on much of your post. some of it, i must admit speaks of things i lack information on.

however - coincidence maybe? i recently posted a very similar description of the civil war on a canadian discussion board where the confederates were compared to the quebecers who have talked of secession. when i corrected them, and gave historical details to support my p.o.v,
it really raised the ire in some people. i invited them to show me where i misstated something, or where i had lied or twisted the facts. i was greeted with personal insults, but no rebuttals. i was told my "history lesson was was completely fabricated, even though i gave sources.
go figure.
:icon_lol:

[Eoraptor1]

wow! thank you for that! i agree on much of your post. some of it, i must admit speaks of things i lack information on.

however - coincidence maybe? i recently posted a very similar description of the civil war on a canadian discussion board where the confederates were compared to the quebecers who have talked of secession. when i corrected them, and gave historical details to support my p.o.v,
it really raised the ire in some people. i invited them to show me where i misstated something, or where i had lied or twisted the facts. i was greeted with personal insults, but no rebuttals. i was told my "history lesson was was completely fabricated, even though i gave sources.
go figure.
:icon_lol:

I live right across the bridge from Canada, and grew up watching a lot of Canadian media, so I've heard of Les Quebecois before. We followed that whole secessionist surge through the news. Is it true that English road signs are illegal in Quebec, or have I been listening to propaganda? BTW: I used to be an A-level French student. I find the sound of Romance languages very pleasing to my ear. I just got the La Reine Margot DVD, starring Isabell Adajni, in the mail this month from Amazon.com.

JAMES

[aeronca1]

Is it true that English road signs are illegal in Quebec, or have I been listening to propaganda?

Not sure about road signs, but I know most signage requires French to be larger than any English on the sign. Many years ago during the Parti Quebecoise "reign", a lawyer friend had a bar over on the quebec side and had a sign in English only. He received a visit from the "language police" informing him that all signs had to be bilingual. Well, the very next day, he put up his new sign. English and Arabic. Lawyers, sheesh......

[hubbabubba]

Funny how a thread about a vampire killer president can sway...


Is it true that English road signs are illegal in Quebec, or have I been listening to propaganda?French signs only are mandatory. I hope that you catch the nuance.


(...) but I know most signage requires French to be larger than any English on the sign. Many years ago during the Parti Quebecoise "reign", a lawyer friend had a bar over on the quebec side and had a sign in English only. He received a visit from the "language police" informing him that all signs had to be bilingual. Well, the very next day, he put up his new sign. English and Arabic. Lawyers, sheesh......That law is still in effect under the "reign" of a federalist party BTW. I must agree that having to legislate for simple respect is humiliating.

When my father was born in the late 30's, 1/3 of Canadians were French-speaking. Now that he's dead, a bit less than 1 out of 5 is. So much for equality...

Last thing; I'm a "sovereignist", not a "separatist". The difference is, again, in the perspective; I want to build a country, not destroy one.

[Dain Arns]

So? Did anyone actually go see this movie?
Judging by the box office results, I'm guessing not many did. :icon_lol:

[TeaSea]

Yes, I read "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter".

There, I said it.

[tommieboy]

Went to see the movie this weekend, didn't read the book.

I liked it, my wife liked it.......It has the makings of a cult classic......:costum:

Tommy

[Eoraptor1]

So? Did anyone actually go see this movie?
Judging by the box office results, I'm guessing not many did. :icon_lol:

I still haven't seen it, and I fully intended to. I was very surprised at the novel; I expected something along the lines of a Bruce Campbell movie, but it had serious ideas in it. I've stopped arguing this point with people who haven't read the book. I've been so wrapped up in family business I haven't had my joystick plugged in for more than a month at the least. I own CFS2, CFS3, and FSX. I won't get to see Spiderman this week either.

Everyone have a safe 4th,

JAMES