In June of 1982, Ridley Scott’s masterpiece was released in theaters: Blade Runner. Between that time and now, the total number of versions has grown to three (3). There is the theatrical release, the Director’s Cut, and the Final Cut. I have seen the original about three times, and the Director’s cut about fifteen times. I have yet to see the Final Cut. There were actually seven (7) different versions created for different theater settings, but, only three that can be found on disc. Blade Runner is, by far, my choice as favorite movie of ALL time! To say that I love this movie goes so far beyond understatement.
This is the story: In the future, man has gotten so good at genetics that practically everything that one can buy, has been duplicated, particularly live things such as animals, reptiles, and, yes – humans. Science has has come up with “close to perfect” copies of human beings, called “replicants”. These replicants are uniquely different than the other types of copies – they have an extremely finite lifespan of four (4) years. Their lifespan is so short that they are infused with memories, so that they believe that they’ve been around for quite some time. The problem is that some of these replicants (clearly more intelligent than true humans) are not satisfied with their finite lifespan, and seek answers, or more precisely, seek the answer to further longevity. They escape the planet that they were assigned to and come to Earth. Enter the Blade Runner.
A “Blade Runner” is a highly trained policeman who is very adept at locating and killing these replica
nts. Replicants are not allowed on Earth, therefore, upon their illegal return, a Blade Runner is sent to “round” them up, as in “kill”. After two other Blade Runners have failed in their attempts to kill the replicants, Rick Decker is called in. Decker (played magnanimously by Harrison Ford) is the proverbial “reluctant hero”, who happens to be better than all the rest. He therefore, reluctantly tracks these replicants, learning more in the process than he had bargained for.
I’ll stop there, in the event that you have not seen this fantastic movie, so as not to spoil it for you. If you are, even in the very least sense, a Sci-Fi fan, this movie will definitely rank high up on your list of favorites, as goes Sci-Fi. The adventure of the movie is awesome, but, to me, the characters that were written for this movie are absolutely top-rate. Each is uniquely different than any characters that you may have come across in the past.
Although this movie was made a long time ago, it is still as vibrant, weird, and mind-blowing as it was when it first came out. That weekend in 1982. That day that it came out when I was there in the audience. Yeah – it’s still as wonderful as that day after all this time.
copyright © 2008 freedom
freerealm@gmail.com
Flava of the Day is “SHOOP” by Salt N Pepa
I am a bit perturbed. My irritation comes at some of the sites that I have visited that have “comment moderation”, as it were. I’m annoyed because I have often come across posts which were, to say the least, very interesting in topic. I have gotten my thoughts together and decided to leave a comment voicing my opinion on the subject. But, as I hit the “submit button”, I find that the comments are being moderated and I will have to 1) wait to see if my comment will be posted, 2) wait to see if it will be posted in full or edited, and 3) probably forget where I left the remark in the first place. By the time I get back to that particular page, I usually find that my comment was posted, either in full or edited, and several comments have been made after that time. This is three or four days later.
Old School Flava: 7/23/2008
Yeah – it’s Wednesday and here I am keeping to a schedule with this Old School Flava. Don’t get used to it, because it probably won’t last. As I may have mentioned before – Freedom doesn’t take too kindly to deadlines and schedules. But, alas, here we are. Speaking of the dadblaned devil, I failed in my first attempt at thirty (30) straight days of postings. This post should rightly be entitled “Day One . . . Again”. I got a bit frazzled over a thing or two, percolated on ‘em, then just digressed myself into total anger. Over. It’s over now, and we are moving right along.
THE DOZENS
I was listening to Ramsey Lewis earlier this a.m. and he and his cohort, Karen Williams, began to speak of “playin’ the dozens”. She proclaimed that she had never heard the term before. OK, sure. Ramsey went on to explain that it was originally a game played by Black folks that pitted one against the other in a match of spewing out insults about each other’s family. Eventually, it became more than just a game, and evolved into an intentional dissing of one’s family, usually leading up to fisticuffs. The ultimate insult? “Yo, mama!!” Back then, that might have gotten you a black eye, or worse,a real beatdown. What about today? Do you guys still used that phrase?
FOOD
When my brother, sister and I were young, real young, we would complain about having to eat those yukky vegetables. The complaining came with every dinnertime meal, as there were always vegetables on the menu. Of course, the complaints were neither here nor there, since the vegetables were always eaten before anyone arose from the table to go their separate ways. As we grew a bit, and aged a bit, we all either became more appreciative of the vegetables, or decided that it was useless to continue to try getting out of eating them – whatever the transformation was that took place, we simply ate the veggies and moved along. As we ventured into our adolescent years, we became familiar with a newer phrase, and I say “newer” meaning newer to us. It’s a phrase that’s been around for a long time, so says my mom – “You can either eat it or lay your head down beside it!” That was mom’s retort to the complaints of “meatloaf, again?” or, “tuna casserole????” In recent years, and only recent years, I have heard a few variations on that phrase but the general intent and words remained very close to the way that my mom spit it out. My kids hear it and crack up. That phrase, for the uninitiated, translates to “take it or leave it”, but, to this day, I still don’t know its origin. You think I should ask mom, don’t you? You think that would be a good idea, I bet. Yeah, me too.
That’s gonna do it for today. I’m going to give this thirty-day thingy another try. It’s really no big deal. I’ve always believed that any blogger worth his/her “html” and “publish button” should be able to post ad infinitum without very much effort. After all, it’s what we do, right? I know for a fact that I bleed html. Peace.
copyright © 2008 freedom
freerealm@gmail.com
Flava of the Day is “Right Direction” by En Vogue from EV3