The New Trailer from HBO’s “Westworld” looks Beautiful, Mysterious & Sinister

I have very high expectations for this upcoming HBO series. The premise of the show sounds most intriguing – a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin. Just as my previous ‘rants’ may have come to suggest about the series, this has all the elements to succeed. Jonathan Nolan (co-writer of “Interstellar”, “Memento”) and Lisa Joy are the show creators with J.J. Abrams (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, “Star Trek”) executive producing.

The upcoming sci-fi drama series looks spectacular and will be a nice substitute while we wait for winter to come on HBO’s smash hit, “Game of Thrones”. Check out the just released trailer below!

 
The cast includes Sir Anthony Hopkins, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Ed ‘I’m great in just about everything’ Harris, Jeffrey Wright, and Thandie Newton. The HBO series is set to be released on October 2nd. I cannot wait!

 
The series is actually based upon a 1973 film (that starred Yul Brynner) that was written and directed by Michael Crichton (author of “Jurassic Park”, “Rising Sun”, “Disclosure”). The premise of that film is set in the near future where there is an adult amusement park called Delos, where there are three separate worlds – West World (American Old West), Medieval World (medieval Europe), and Roman World (pre-Christian Pompeii). Each world is populated with life like androids which are programmed for their environment. Park guests are able to pay an admission for an adventure or a sexual encounter (with an android). Things begin to get crazy when these androids begin ‘acting out of place’ and the park creators do not really know how they really work since they were designed by other computers and no one really knows how they work. These androids could be just as complex as humans.

Note: “Westworld” (1973) was followed up with a sequel in 1976 called “Futureworld” and a very short lived TV series in 1980 called “Beyond Westworld”.
Source: Pop Culture Crunch, June, 21, 2016
 
 

What the heck is HBO’s “Westworld” about ?

You may have heard rumblings of the upcoming show, “Westworld”, coming to the premium cable network sometime in October. You also may have even seen the teaser trailer (which can be seen below) that was recently released and are just not quite sure what to make of it. Don’t be troubled. You are not the only one. The marketing department would rather play with the angle of keeping the new series a ‘mystery’ in order to bring forth more interest. I’m not sure that’s working out that great. However, if you understand what the essential story is about, you’ll likely want to check it out. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that you have a stellar cast that includes Sir Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, and James Marsden.

The Source Material:

The series is actually based upon a 1973 film (that starred Yul Brynner) that was written and directed by Michael Crichton (author of “Jurassic Park”, “Rising Sun”, “Disclosure”). The premise of that film is set in the near future where there is an adult amusement park called Delos, where there are three separate worlds – West World (American Old West), Medieval World (medieval Europe), and Roman World (pre-Christian Pompeii). Each world is populated with life like androids which are programmed for their environment. Park guests are able to pay an admission for an adventure or a sexual encounter (with an android). Things begin to get crazy when these androids begin ‘acting out of place’ and the park creators do not really know how they really work since they were designed by other computers and no one really knows how they work. These androids could be just as complex as humans.

Note: “Westworld” (1973) was followed up with a sequel in 1976 called “Futureworld” and a very short lived TV series in 1980 called “Beyond Westworld”.
 

Reasons why you should be excited for the upcoming TV series:

Jonathan Nolan (co-writer on “Memento”, “Interstellar” and “The Dark Knight”) and Lisa Joy are the show creators and will executive produce along with J.J. Abrams (“Star Trek”, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”) and Bryan Burk (producer on “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol”, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”).

The series was described in a Hollywood Reporter article in 2014 as a “dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin”.

Takeaway:

This sounds a lot like “Total Recall” meets “Blade Runner”. The mysterious marketing for the new series now makes much more sense. Plus, you can bet that they likely modernized the concept from the film. I think this concept is an excellent one to re-visit, especially since not many people are familiar with the source material. I believe we (society) are ready to fully embrace the storyline as we continue to progress into the inevitable dawn of artificial intelligence.

A Memento remake is in the works and it’s not April Fool’s Day

I wish filmmakers would have the same condition (amnesia) as Leonard does in the original film (written/directed by Christopher Nolan) and forget to remake such a masterpiece. In a recent acquisition of the 400 movies in the Exclusive Media Group Library, producers (Andrea Iervolino/Monika Bacardi) seem to have no regard for cinema as art and aim to immediately remake the 2000 classic that catapulted director Christopher Nolan to fame. The producers are a part of AMBI Pictures, who should go on to annoy movie goers as their recent acquisition includes other well known films such as Donnie Darko, Cruel Intentions, Rush, and The Mexican.

Here’s how the producers rationalize their idiotic decision:

“Memento is a masterpiece that leaves audiences guessing not just throughout the film, but long after as well, which is a testament to its daring approach,” Bacardi stated. “We intend to stay true to Christopher Nolan’s vision and deliver a memorable movie that is every bit as edgy, iconic and award-worthy as the original. It’s a big responsibility to deliver something that lives up to the mastery of the original, but we are extremely excited and motivated to bring this puzzle back to life and back into the minds of moviegoers.”

“’Memento’ has been consistently ranked as one of the best films of its decade,” Iervolino added. “People who’ve seen ‘Memento’ 10 times still feel they need to see it one more time. This is a quality we feel really supports and justifies a remake. The bar is set high thanks to the brilliance or Christopher Nolan, but we wouldn’t want it any other way. Our acquisition of the EMG library reinforced our commitment to build a strong global studio with a strong pipeline of commercial films that can play to a worldwide audience. Bringing a new ‘Memento’ to audiences is an initial example of how we intend to execute this strategy.”

Source: Coming Soon

It’s not like Memento is outdated by any measure. The concept should still be fresh in a lot of people’s minds, especially emphatic movie lovers.

If you do not already know, Memento follows a man left with the inability to form new memories after a horrible event left his wife murdered and himself handicapped. In order to go after his wife’s killer, he tattoos himself clues in order to catch the person responsible. The film starred Guy Pearce, Carrie Anne Moss, and Joe “Pants” Pantoliano. The film was a critical (92% on Rotten Tomatoes) and commercial success (made for $9 million and grossed $40 million) when it came out.

It’s hard for me to imagine a perfect movie being remade. There really is no way to really improve the film. (Note: The film was remade twice in India with the same title, Ghajini in 2005 and 2008.) Oh well, I’m sure this won’t be the last time I’m disappointed with the idea of a remake. Chalk this up with Big Trouble in Little China being remade with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.