OFF-WORLD NEWS: June 2014

Sunday, June 15, 2014

OFF-WORLD NEWS DIGEST | VOL. IV, No. 2

Welcome to another edition of the OFF-WORLD NEWS Digest.

In the news ...

In July's edition (301) of Empire Magazine, be sure to catch Geoff Hutchins' collection of Blade Runner products, original props and one-off memorabilia for the film. He wrote in the Propsummit Blade Runner Community Forum, "It was a shame that not all the screen used items were available, as they were requested by the Düsseldorf Movie Museum to be part of their Blade Runner / Metropolis exhibition that runs until August this year. They have got the Tyrell miniature office, elevator, VK manual, brass etchings and ground view cityscape as well as scripts, storyboards and dyelines."

I've been asked what ever happened to the BRMovie website. It had been offline. So I asked around and even posted the question at the alt.fan.blade-runner Facebook page. But no one had the answer. I only found out recently that he had died this last February. Known as Netrunner, (and BRMovie at BladeZone's Off-world Forums where he'd stop in from time to time), he left a fantastic website behind. And he will be missed. However, the Internet Archives' Wayback Machine has archived BRMovie. It may be viewed HERE.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

by Philip K. Dick

Episode 1 of 2

BBC Radio 4 has produced a radio program featuring James Purefoy as the voice of Rick Deckard and Jessica Raine as the voice of Rachael Rosen.

AVAILABILITY:7 DAYS LEFT TO LISTEN
Duration: 58 minutes
First broadcast: Sunday 15 June 2014
Dramatised by Jonathan Holloway

Philip K. Dick's cult sci-fi novel inspired the film Blade Runner. Set in a world devastated by nuclear war, a San Francisco bounty hunter is on a mission to retire a group of rogue androids. James Purefoy and Jessica Raine star in this new adaptation.

In post-war 1992 androids are becoming indistinguishable from human beings, even in their capacity to love, and bounty hunter Rick Deckard is tasked with locating and retiring a rogue group of escaped androids who have fled a life of slavery and returned to Earth.

Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.

You may listen to the first episode HERE for the next seven days.

My brief take on this episode is as follows. It is an interesting amalgamation of the book and movie Blade Runner. It's narrated like a hard-boiled detective story. Some of the lines just as corny and bad as the ones with the voice-over in the theatrical release. However, it makes some interesting modifications to the story, such as the Rosen Association only having a manufacturing license to sell androids on Mars only. The names remain the same as in the book. However, the program follows more closely to the movie. Iran Deckard, Rick Deckard's wife featured in the book, is not in this production. She has, like in the movie, run off to Mars with another man. And rather than Deckard being interested in an ostrich to replace his electric sheep, he is interested in purchasing a monkey. Don't know where that came from. And Christmas is mentioned a few times. There is no mention of the holiday in either the book or the movie. There is no mention of Mercerism. And there is no Buster Friendly. And J.R, Isadore has been reduced to having a cameo working, not at an artificial animal hospital, but at a garbage facility. And rather than Luba Luft being an opera singer, here she is a jazz singer. The hovercar, in the movie referred to as a Spinner, is called a prowler. But, with those changes (and others not covered here) aside, I still found it an entertaining listen. I'd recommend it to my fellow Blade Runner and DADoES enthusiasts. Stay tuned for the second half of the production next week, June 22, 2014.

Now for some articles, art, music, video, and some miscellaneous !

Articles:

lluminati Symbolism In Blade Runner, What Does It All Mean? by Richard Thomas
Meditation on Blade Runner by Michael Martin (To be revised in July http://www.academia.edu/6990666/Meditations_on_Blade_Runner_revised )
A Comparative Essay for Leaving Certificate Curriculum
Blade Runner: Comprehensive Storyform

Art:

Blade Runner 3/4 by Bob Heatly

Blade Runner by Matt Ferguson

by James W. Cain

Music:

Video:

Miscellaneous:

Blade Runner Cocktail
Blade Runner Love Theme Chords from Chordify

And remember to follow @OffWorldNews on Twitter to receive these and other Blade Runner related news items, (including movie showings, specials, and more not featured in this newsletter), as it comes in.

Have a better one!

~ Kipple

Sunday, June 1, 2014

OFF-WORLD NEWS DIGEST | VOL. IV, No. 1

Welcome to another edition of the OFF-WORLD NEWS Digest.

In the news ...

Harrison Ford Officially Offered 'Blade Runner' Sequel

Alcon Entertainment has made an official offer to Harrison Ford, asking him to reprise his role as Deckard in the new Blade Runner movie. "We believe that Hampton Fancher and Michael Green have crafted with Ridley Scott an extraordinary sequel to one of the greatest films of all time. We would be honored, and we are hopeful, that Harrison will be part of our project." -Alcon co-founders and co-CEO's Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson.

Back in April (2014), during a Reddit AMA, Harrison Ford said he would like to work with Ridley Scott again on a future Blade Runner movie. "I'm quite curious and excited about seeing a new script for Blade Runner if in fact the opportunity would exist to do another, if it's a good script I would be very anxious to work with Ridley Scott again, he's a very talented and passionate filmmaker. And I think it would be very interesting to revisit the character."

Not much else is known about the project apart from the involvement of screenwriters Hampton Fancher (co-writer of the 1982 adaptation) and Michael Green and that the story will take place several decades after the conclusion of the 1982 original. Read the entire article HERE.

Moments Lost: A Blade Runner Tribute

In an article posted at Gizmodo, its title says that This Blade Runner Art Show Will Hold You Over Until the Sequel. On display starting at 7PM on May 31st at the Bottleneck Gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Moments Lost will feature a brand new, beautifully composed extension to the classic Blade Runner soundtrack accompanied by a selection of art work. Read the full article HERE.

Philosophy and Blade Runner

by Timothy Shanahan

Philosophy and Blade Runner is the first book to explore a full range of philosophical issues in the classic science fiction film Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott. Through critical examination of the film's distinctive treatment of perennial philosophical issues including human nature, personhood, identity, consciousness, free will, morality, God, death, time, and the meaning of life, the distinctive philosophy of Blade Runner is explored and assessed. The result is an engaging philosophical exploration of the greatest science fiction film of all time and a unique contribution to the philosophy of film that invites readers to ponder questions of universal human significance: Where did I come from? Where am I going? How long have I got?

Timothy Shanahan is Professor of Philosophy at Loyola Marymount University, USA. He is the author of Reason and Insight (2003), The Evolution of Darwinism (2004), Philosophy 9/11 (2005), The Provisional Irish Republican Army and the Morality of Terrorism (2009), and over two dozen articles in scholarly journals.

When I asked the author what it was that made him write this book, he replied, "What made me want to devote 4 1/2 years of my life to writing this book? I guess the short answer is that I was simply blown away by this movie in a way in which I've never been affected by another movie (with the possible exception of Enter the Dragon, but that was when I was a youth). I was struck by the fact that the film was so incredibly philosophically rich, and while folks seemed to recognize that it is "a philosophical movie" in some vague sense, I felt that there was far more to it than anyone had really identified and explained. So I set about mining some of the film's philosophical riches. Writing the book became a vehicle for me to figure out for myself and then to share with others what I think I saw in the film. I'm glad that I did it."

You can purchase the book at Amazon or directly from the publisher, Palgrave Macmillan.

Now for some articles, art, music, and videos!

Articles: