Reality and other Simulacra

First, I have some sad news. Not only did Asimov's Robot series get introduced to movie goers in a questionable way, but now his Foundation series is getting muddled up: http://ping.fm/Ew6Ie

Mark Wilson reports that Roland Emmerich is directing the movie. He directed Independence Day and Stargate. So, he has directed sci-fi movies before which had merit. However, Foundation is sf of the highest caliber, and Emmerich work--The Day After Tomorrow and 2012--has just gone down hill in terms of intelligence. He may be able to grasp the epic nature of the story, but will he ever be able to convey the higher minded elements? Just to add insult to injury, the screenplay is being handled by Robert Rodat who wrote the Patriot. Now, the complete disrespect The Patriot gave to the Swamp Fox and the other historical figures alluded to or featured in the movie is probably due primarily to the movie's director. Rodat may actually treat this story with some dignity in light of some of his previous work like Saving Private Ryan. While the movie is like to be a pathetic spectacle which mocks Asimov more than it pays him tribute, I'll try to stand with Wilson and hope that the two can some how manage to combine an action packed blockbuster movie with a heady art film filled with the symbolism the book contains.

In better news, Josh Wimmer at io9 graces his audience with a thought provoking review of Philip K. Dick's Man in the High Castle: http://ping.fm/xrB9t Wimmer is able to point to Dick as the sf author who best connected with the American culture of his time, but along the way poses some very fun questions. You may also notice a link to your right for a review of A Canticle for Liebowitz. It's also an interesting review.

In fact, Wimmer's review of PKD reminded me of Brad Feld's post a day before titled, Are We Already Working For The Computers?,
http://ping.fm/qy61I Feld's post is worth reading without preview. I could ruin your perception of it. Suffice it to say that he poses questions of reality which are also very fun to discuss philosophically.

Anyway, that was a fraction of my online reading which I found interesting this week. In actual C/Fe news, The Still Lifes are not only preparing to release remastered versions of some of their older work, they are also working on some music videos for each of their three songs on C/Fe Menagerie Vol. 1. Stay tuned to see when they are released.