Norman interview

[SkyAndSun]

http://www.wharf.co.uk/2009/05/norman-lovett-takes-red-dwarfs.html

Fair enough. I’m glad he doesn’t seem as bitter.

Topic

[Phil]

“Star Trek has managed to knock out a brilliant movie, but Red Dwarf can’t get their act together and sort one out.”

Also, Norm is 1,000 words into his autobiography and already needs a lawyer?

EDIT: nevermind, misread that. “Quite a few one-thousand words” indeed.

[Seb Patrick]

He said: “Last year, I was told I was doing something and to put aside some dates for January and February.

“I asked them to let me know before Christmas, but no one got in touch. They eventually told me the script had arrived and I wasn’t in it. They must have known before that.

I won’t say too much because I don’t want to ruin content on the BtE DVD, but someone somewhere is quite clearly lying about this situation, because there are now two ENTIRELY different stories on record. And I know who my money’s on.

[John Hoare]

?Star Trek has managed to knock out a brilliant movie, but Red Dwarf can?t get their act together and sort one out.?

Yes, Red Dwarf makes as much money as Star Trek, and has exactly the same infiltration into popular culture, clearly.

[SeeYouAtThePartyRichter]

He’ll be back. You’ll see.

[Carlito]

If they actually wanted him back, which after this I doubt very much.

[hummingbird]

In my heart, I wanted it to do well

Hmmm.

[pfm]

” they’d made such as fuss about it and the new cameras with high definition. I thought ‘Stop going on about that. Will it have a heartbeat? Will it have a soul?'”

I applaud that comment. You can’t help but think of Zemeckis, Lucas and Cameron who only seem arsed about technology when you just want them to deliver a solid film. Avatar the most expensive effects ever?? Jim, you gave us more with about ?2.50 with Aliens! However, it turned out that BtE DID have soul, in the shape of Craig Charles – host of the 6Music Funk and Soul show. This really was Craig’s gig, which was deliberate to convince him to return at all (‘and you know this how?’ I don’t, but you get that feeling)

Maybe Norman’s right about the others going through the motions a bit, but we were fucking lucky that they could actually still get the characters at all. A future episode could focus more on Rimmer, perhaps doing the son storyline (‘how’s the son?’), so that would rely on Chris doing more acting. You can’t really call a return after 10 years ‘going through the motions’

Btw who gives a fuck that Norman won’t be back as Holly? No-one. Holly shouldn’t return full stop (period). Holly became surplus with Kryten joining and should have been axed as a character from Backwards onwards.

[JamesTC]

>Btw who gives a fuck that Norman won?t be back as Holly? No-one. Holly shouldn?t return full stop (period). Holly became surplus with Kryten joining and should have been axed as a character from Backwards onwards.

Then they would have all died in ‘Back to Reality’.
Anyway I do disagree. I think Series VI was the perfect time for the character to go but I think her character is just as important through the 3 series, I mean we have the whole of ‘White Hole’ and a hell of a bunch of one liners, great ones. While Kryten replaced the intelligent side of Holly we have Hattie to replace the stupid side, it worked very well for the 3 Series and was ended at the perfect time.

[ChrisM]

>Avatar the most expensive effects ever?? Jim, you gave us more with about ?2.50 with Aliens!

Have you seen Avatar already? It could still end up with a good story. Good effects aren’t mutually exclusive.

I know what you mean though. Thing is, the creators don’t always want to give away too much of the story, so they focus on the effects stuff in their advertisement campaign. Unless they’re McG with Terminator Salvation in which case plot points and story twists are given out before the film is broadcast…

(Still I haven’t seen that yet either, so I could still be in for a surprise.)

[pfm]

The only surprising thing would be that it’s actually good.

I’ve been defending McG for a while but NOW, after I’ve seen Salvation, it becomes apparent that he’s a complete idiot who has talked the talk with fans but had little to back it up. Christian Bale was sucked in too, it seems. The script is a piece of shit, and Bale was signed on a promise that it would be cleaned up. Jonathan Nolan obviously isn’t the god everyone thinks he is. He couldn’t save this stinker. Neither could the Arnold ‘cameo’ (that’s not a spoiler, they fucking made sure everyone knew about that, so there was zero surprise, nice one McG).

[JamesTC]

Was it worse than T3?

[Andrew]

> Thing is, the creators don?t always want to give away too much of the story, so they focus on the effects stuff in their advertisement campaign.

This.

> (that?s not a spoiler, they fucking made sure everyone knew about that, so there was zero surprise, nice one McG).

Well, it IS a spoiler, cos ‘everyone’ is ‘everyone who reads movie news sites’.

McG’s been a scumbag in the promotion Saying ‘we’re not aiming for PG-13’ just to quell the early concerns. Total balls. But I genuinely, genuinely love the first Charlie’s Angels film and its cartoon nuttiness (and, honestly, the villain reveal sequence, which I consider ‘actually decent cinema’), so it’s not like I’m pre-disposed to a director with a silly name. I’ve not seen the film yet, and I expect to think ‘Looks nice, but was there a point?’

[Pete Part Three]

>I expect to think ?Looks nice, but was there a point??

Story of my life.

[pfm]

> Was it worse than T3?

A LOT of it is, definitely, which I’m utterly speechless at. I just watched T3 as well when it was on Five and it’s much more of a coherent film than Salvation, with an actual plot (OK it’s pretty thin, but it’s better than nothing at all), the decent truck chase scene and a great ending. Without spoiling it, Salvation has one BIG scene like this, and it is visually impressive and totally insane, but maybe too overboard. The thing is, the rest of the film surrounding that sequence feels mostly like pointless crap. The effects save it from being a total trainwreck. But I feel we didn’t need to see any of this period in the T timeline. We already know the key things that need to happen.

For ages I’ve thought ‘Bale’s in it, YES!’ Now I think he made a big mistake in agreeing to this. He’s way above this, and that’s not a snobby attitude. The script just makes him, and John Connor, look like an idiot. By this stage he should be the ‘great military leader’ already, and all his twattiness should be long gone after the events of T3. Bale LOOKS like John Connor but that’s it. Also, so much for the big rising star Sam Worthington. I hope to god he’s better in Avatar (and Clash of the Titans…) and learns accents better, or just uses his own voice.

[Pongo]

I’m not totally up to speed on the Lovett situation, but he seems fairly evenhanded in the context of this interview. Especially if what he says about reserving January and February is true. Yes he may be sugarcoating the situation b/c he’s flogging something, but still..

[PhilPagett]

I have to say, I pretty much agree with Norm’s take on Back to Earth. I’m sorry.

[peas_and_corn]

The Norm banner keeps coming up for this thread. Freaky.

[peas_and_corn]

I know this is unrelated, but on the side of the article, there’s a box with notices about the tube, and the amount of services that are suspended or part suspended- how crap is the tube when they suspend services that much?

Tube service update at 12:27am

Bakerloo
Suspended
Central
Suspended
Circle
Suspended
District
Severe delays
H’smith & City
Suspended
Jubilee
Part suspended
Metropolitan
Suspended
Northern
Good service
Piccadilly
Part suspended
Victoria
Part suspended
Waterloo & City
Suspended

[Danny Stephenson]

Isn’t there a strike?

[Andrew]

Yes, there is a strike.

[peas_and_corn]

Ahh, that makes sense. I was worrying for a while.

[Author]

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