The Drunken Lizard Pub

I just got back from watching Clash of the Titans. It was.... okay. Don't get me wrong... I enjoyed it for what it was (and even if I hadn't, there were enough shiny special effects to keep me interested), but there were a couple of serious disappointments for me.

First, the media. Have you ever watched a preview for a movie and then regretted it? Yes, hello Clash of the Titans. Probably the coolest reveal of the whole movie was the Kraken, and they throw it out there in the trailer. It boggles my mind how whoever's in charge of making movie trailers assumes the only way to generate interest in a movie is by showing all of the best parts before the movie is released. There's been movies that I've not bothered to go see because I've pretty much seen the whole movie summed up in a couple of trailers.

Secondly, I've always been a fan of Greek mythology, so the story itself was a bit of a letdown. It only loosely follows the original mythos of Perseus (the 1981 version is closer, but still inaccurate), and I'm still trying to figure out where the name "Titans" is suppose to come into play. *shrug* Obviously it's Hollywood, and they can't get anything right, but I still find myself scratching my head.

In other news, I finally started typing up the continuation of Lilith's tale, but who knows when I'll be done with that... >.< Inspiration comes in fits and starts, and it's usually when I'm fixin' to hit the sack.

CrazyBernie wrote:First, the media. Have you ever watched a preview for a movie and then regretted it? Yes, hello Clash of the Titans. Probably the coolest reveal of the whole movie was the Kraken, and they throw it out there in the trailer. It boggles my mind how whoever's in charge of making movie trailers assumes the only way to generate interest in a movie is by showing all of the best parts before the movie is released. There's been movies that I've not bothered to go see because I've pretty much seen the whole movie summed up in a couple of trailers.

Well, duh . . . I mean, this has always been the case. I saw too many comedies when I was a kid that ended up being really boring and dumb except for the funny parts which were all in the trailer. The trailer won't sell a boring movie if it puts boring parts in there, and if you're Hollywood then your job is only to sell the movie and therefore make money, and despite any [valid] argument for word-of-mouth: with Blockbuster films like this one, all that matters to the industry is the first week's earnings. Admittedly: this is totally idiotic, but... so is the industry. So... if you can put out a trailer that is good enough to bring people to the theater in droves: why bother spending the effort thinking up other interesting stuff to put in there?

Of course, Hollywood has different methods of making money, this being a variety of movie 'types' . . . so I suppose they've put Clash of the Titans into the Blockbuster category, which means: first-week profit or bust.

CrazyBernie wrote:Secondly, I've always been a fan of Greek mythology, so the story itself was a bit of a letdown. It only loosely follows the original mythos of Perseus (the 1981 version is closer, but still inaccurate), and I'm still trying to figure out where the name "Titans" is suppose to come into play. *shrug* Obviously it's Hollywood, and they can't get anything right, but I still find myself scratching my head.

Yeah . . . the original movie didn't quite make sense, either, in regard to the Titans, it never made sense in the title and as far as I remember (I haven't seen it in a long time) the movie never made any mention of the Titans. I do remember sequences where the Gods were playing around with the mortals, which were interesting. (The chess conceit, actually, was quite nice -- in Hollywoodistic terms: even clever.) But . . . no mention of titans, as far as I remember.

Of course, anyone familiar with Greek mythology can tell anyone who isn't that the Titans were a forsaken race conquered by Zeus and his brothers and, I suppose, a few other Olympians, and that they did not figure at all into Perseus' story, much less into the lives of mortal Greeks. The Titans were effectively ancient history, like the Philistines in Judeo-Christian teachings. (Let me see... there were I think two remaining Titans: Atlas and Prometheus, both punished. Both figures appear in Heracles' story, but not, I don't think, in that of Perseus.)

CrazyBernie wrote:In other news, I finally started typing up the continuation of Lilith's tale, but who knows when I'll be done with that... >.< Inspiration comes in fits and starts, and it's usually when I'm fixin' to hit the sack.

A quick warning: Waiting for inspiration will put you on a fast-track to writer's block . . . also, It's hard to improve your writing while waiting for inspiration; only writing will improve your writing. If you want to pursue writing professionally, which I encourage you to do, then you should push yourself to write regularly, whether inspired or not. If nothing comes out then leave it alone. If something does come out: expand and expand. I find that the act of writing itself is the cause of inspiration. A sentence will give birth to a new thought, so I expand, and find new thoughts, and expand further. And . . . as I do so, and as I go over and scrutinize and edit what I've written: I improve my writing, and my instincts.

I always assumed that 'Titans' was not meant as a proper noun. That by 'titan' they meant 'a powerful force or being' as opposed to the Titans (with a capital T) from the mythology. Taken this way, the title actually makes a lot more sense.

Arkos wrote:I always assumed that 'Titans' was not meant as a proper noun. That by 'titan' they meant 'a powerful force or being' as opposed to the Titans (with a capital T) from the mythology. Taken this way, the title actually makes a lot more sense.

While that certainly makes sense, it's a blatant misuse of the term, IMHO. The Titans were clearly a force in Greek mythology, so it's a bit silly to use the term out of context (as a pun, if you will) in this instance. But I suppose it's just a case of Hollywood being... Hollywood.

Evnissyen wrote:A quick warning: Waiting for inspiration will put you on a fast-track to writer's block . . . also, It's hard to improve your writing while waiting for inspiration; only writing will improve your writing. If you want to pursue writing professionally, which I encourage you to do, then you should push yourself to write regularly, whether inspired or not. If nothing comes out then leave it alone. If something does come out: expand and expand. I find that the act of writing itself is the cause of inspiration. A sentence will give birth to a new thought, so I expand, and find new thoughts, and expand further. And . . . as I do so, and as I go over and scrutinize and edit what I've written: I improve my writing, and my instincts.

Excellent advice; I just need to get that little thingy called "motivation" in gear. I often find it amazing that with all of this free time on my hands - what with being unemployed (technically "underemployed," but close enough) - that I don't spend the time writing as I'd like to. Part ot the problem is the environment, I suppose, but I'm not exactly in a position to change that environment. Of course, I've always been a procrastinator in regards to "doing things for myself"... it's quite an atrocious habit to overcome. *sigh* Baby steps, I suppose. At least I have such an easygoing personality... otherwise I think I'd be one of those people who's depressed 24/7.

The Olympians (Zesus and others) were the children of the Titans. The Olympians warred with their parents. The Olympians defeated the Titans by creating and releasing the Kraken upon them. The title is really a misuse of Titans. But what sounds more interesting The re-invented Story of Perseus or Clash of the Titans.
The movie is very loosely based on the myth. But at least there is a nod in the remake to the 1981 version. If you see the scene with the owl you will know what I mean.

I have not seen this yet. However, if it stuck to a similar plot line as the original, then they were refering to the Kraken and Medusa as the titans, again not Titans, being old ones, and using one to defeat the other.