Dancing With The Children of Men!
I'm not going to lie to you. I had no idea what to blog about today. I hit all my usual sources and nothing. I was about to call my editor, Jack O'Brien, and tell him not to send the package of crystal meth he rewards me with every Monday and Wednesday (he calls it "blogging candy) when suddenly I got an idea. Well, more specifically, my old crime-fighting buddy got an idea, but it was a good one: see what's cooking on Digg!
And I did just that. Did you know that Digg really seems to like articles in list form? I had no idea.
Anyway, high up on Digg's list of TV stories was a piece on Children of Men. Apparently, a T.V. series is in the works. This news hit me somewhat strangely. It was sort of like finding out the best steak I've ever tasted is now available as a low calorie soft drink. It was kind of like hearing the hottest chick I'd ever seen was now accredited to do my taxes. And it was exactly like hearing a great movie that should never be made into a series was being made into a series.
For those of you in the dark, Children of Men was a phenomenal science fiction picture set in the not too distant future. Infertility has torn through the world and, with no forthcoming generation to inherit the earth, the place has kind of gone to hell. Y'know, like the way you acted towards your high school teachers after you were accepted to college. (Or the way Dan O'Brien is acting towards his college professors right now since he sold the rights to his new book, Benjamin Franklin Used To Fart A Lot And Other Jokes I Learned From Howard Zinn).
I mean, maybe a series will work, but I don't want to chance it. Children of Men is one of my all time favorite movies. Michael Caine's performance made me cry. (Shut up! I was so distracted by his quality acting that I stepped in a bear trap.) Julianne Moore was great. And Clive Owen was so damn good and appealing that I'm pretty sure I lost my grasp on heterosexuality halfway through the flick.
But I just don't see any of that happening with a TV show. For one, Michael Caine's character is dead. Also, Juliane Moore's character is dead. And lastly, and this may be a minor point, I'm pretty sure Clive Owen's character is dead too.
Another reason it won't work? The curse of Logan's Run. Is there such a curse? Of course, there is, I just wrote it down and you read it, didn't you? Logan's Run was a fairly successful Sci Fi movie from the 70's starring Michael York. But I think the spin off series only ran 3 episodes. The shows share some common ground: Logan's Run was set in an apocalyptic future where there were no old people. Children of Men? Just the opposite. No young people. Does that mean that Children of Men will have the opposite luck when it comes to how long the series runs? Of course, not. That's stupid. Besides, there's that curse. Weren't you listening?
Anyway, maybe I'm wrong. Anyone more optimistic about this show?
Check out some more Gladstone over HERE and OVER HERE.
Children of Men is one of my all-time favourites and frankly I don't think a TV series set in that universe would quite capture the mood of it.
ReplyThere was so much that I loved about that movie that I could waffle on for ages.
Instead, I'll just say that they managed to have possibly the slowest but also most gut-twistingly tense "car chase" sequence in the history of film.
Jimathy: Blues Brothers would be Awesome! AND, It would probably work!
ReplyBlues Brothers started out on SNL. Which I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) is a TV Show...
The chances of a series being funded to the same standards of production as the movie are low, the chances that the writing will stay on par are even lower. Great movie though. Relevant for our times.
Replyhere here, Children of Men kinda came out of nowhere to become one of my favorites too! Boo-urns to a series
ReplyI think the IDEA of the show is what has the TV makers interested. It's not like they want to revive the dead characters and replace the people playing them with people from the D-List (one can only hope). I'm not really a fan of the post-apocalyptic genre myself, but I think the idea would translate well to television. Children of Men left some unanswered questions in regard to the political/social construct of its world. Like the bit where they say that the pregnant lady's baby would be taken away and given to a rich couple, for example. I would also like to see the colony where the young mother and her baby (I assume) end up, and what, if anything the rest of the world knows about that place.
ReplySo I think it could be a great show, as long as they don't do anything so retarded as resurrect dead characters.
I knew it,I knew it,I shoulda bet the farm that some kinda "trendy chemical aid"is involved in the production of cracked.??
Replychildren of men... a movie i mostly remember for the scene where the guy on the motorcycle gets taken out by a car door :P
Replybut no, it was a great movie, and i cant see a tv series working :S
Movies I would rather see being made into a TV series than children of men( I actually have no fucking idea if I'm serious or not):
ReplyIndependence Day
Clockwork Orange
Blues Brothers
The Matrix
The Happening
Jaws
and...Carlitos Way.
Lets see them put series plots to that shit!
Oh man, this is one of my all time favorite movies. As a work of art, as a warning. I actually cried a little. The director (forget his name, sorry) is great, and I loved the acting. Honestly people who hate this movie are probably pricks who can't afford breast surgery and take it out and masterpieces, or Napoleon, that asshole who lead the French that one time. Either way, fuck you guys.
ReplyKilling whales is one thing, but to do it in graphic, close-up slow-motion is another
Replywould that be high pitched and womanly?
ReplyOr a "Neil/Brkl-esque" manner?
ReplyAll in favor of whaling (spelling?) on Yacoob in an epic, 300-esque manner?
ReplyI agree with all of the that. The definition of science fiction might become a semantic debate.
ReplyGladstone,
ReplyClearly we have an accord about the general brilliance that is Children of Men, but I dare say that this movie is NOT science fiction.
They never really delve into the science behind humanity's sudden infertility, or even begin to explain how Kee miraculously conceived.
I see COM as more of a tale of survival and hope. And of making sacrifices, not out of nobility or heroism, but because it is absolutely essential, which is depicted visually very well (Clive doesn't even have time to find freaking SHOES. That's how desperate the situation is). The most moving characters in the movie (Clive, Caine, the landlady, etc.) are the ones who truly realize what's at stake, and who are willing to do whatever is necessary to protect the child, and thus the future of mankind.
Jesus Clive Owen Christ, I could go on all day about how great this movie is. I promise I'll stop being so long-winded.
so uh...
ReplyBattlestar Galactica season 4 in 10 frakkin hours
Gentlemen, I already told you: Dancing With The Children of Men.
ReplyAndy, the logical choise would be Grandchildren of Men. Duh...
ReplyGladstone, how many science fiction movies affect you emotionally? Did you not read that I cried at Howard the Duck?
ReplyActually, I kind of cried at Deep Impact, when the mother gives the teenage Leelee the baby. They were manly tears, though, composed of malt liquor and repressed emotion.
Ah, yes, Children of Men, I remember it like it was only eighteen months ago. I thought it was very Orwellian but lacked a certain pizazz. But more importantly, what will the series be called? Children of Women? Children of Children of Men? Children Of Men 2: The Revenge?
Reply