Eloquence Cometh in Many Forms

Just a few things that got me contemplating recently.


Megamind (2010) revisited

TITAN: "This town isn't big enough for two supervillains!"
MEGAMIND: "Oh, you're a villain all right, just not a super one."
TITAN: "Yeah? What's the difference?"
MEGAMIND: [makes a grand entrance] "Presentation!"

So, my dad and I were choosing something to pass the afternoon among my movie collection.
DAD: "What are these about?"
ME: [look over the list of Batman and Marvel movies] "Oh, mostly movies made from comic books."
[after we decided on Megamind]
DAD: "Is this from a comic, then?"
ME: "Eh, no, it's an original movie, but I'm guessing a comic has been made out of it."

DIsk and I have had a few discussions regarding story adaptations from and to books / comics / manga / anime / movies / etc., and the level of purism involved. We generally agree that each medium excels in a different aspect and should be exploited accordingly (presentation!), and that while introducing plot changes could sometimes ruin the adaptation, staying strictly true to the original material at the expense of readability / watchability may not be a good thing either. Well, I myself might still be a purist about certain works, in which case I just stick to the original form, no trouble. =P


Carl Sagan, "Cosmos" (the book)

[Dedication page]

"For Ann Druyan:

In the vastness of space and the immensity of time,
it is my joy to share
a planet and an epoch with Annie."

Ann Druyan is Sagan's co-author and wife. He'd always had a poetic disposition, I gather, but when you're Carl Sagan, you get to be romantic with astronomical* facts to back you up.

* Double meaning is not really intended but probably works just fine.


Neil Gaiman, "Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions"

[Introduction -- note on "Chivalry"]

"I wrote it in a weekend, a gift from the gods, easy and sweet as anything. Suddenly I was a writer transformed: I laughed in the face of danger and spat on the shoes of writer's block. Then I sat and stared glumly at a blank screen for another week, because the gods have a sense of humour."

Gaiman's stories are a hit-and-miss with me, but his side-notes tend to capture me with his penchant for describing his plot-bunny conception and writing struggles that we all can empathize with ("...staring at a blank screen, occasionally writing a word... Then I'd exit without saving"). Which means he is one of those authors whose book introductions are worth going through; in fact he did hide a story --which happens to fall under my 'hit' category-- inside the introduction of this book.