Synchronized

Something which has really been bugging me recently – why-ohh-why is Hollywood insisting on remaking (badly) every Asian classic (by which I mean ‘good’) film they can get the rights to? For some reason the thought of taking a great film, running it through a translator and then removing all the intellectual or controversial bits seriously annoys me. People talk about multiculturalism but isn’t this the worst example of cultural vandalism? Are the general public so stupid that they can’t read subtitles? Heaven forbid that they might actually learn something about other cultures through film. I’m not advocating that foreign film be restricted for the privileged few but that we should be more open minded to different cultures rather than be hidden from them. Generally I avoid Americanised remakes at all costs as to my mind a remake of anything which has originally excited or inspired you can only ever fail to live up to expectations. The world is an exciting and diverse place, don’t insult my intelligence by carrying on with this. Creativity is more than copying.

Now that’s out my system…

HHGTTG

Quite a cool new trailer for the upcoming Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy film turned up the other day – take a look at it here. I’m still far from convinced but it doesn’t look terrible.

HHGTTG

This week, along with a host other things, I’m working on an assignment for the ‘Distributed Computing‘ course I’m taking. The only trouble is that it has turned out to be VERY hard and the information required to complete it seems to be hidden in the mind of a dead Computer Scientist so in other words not a lot of help! Anyone with knowledge of ALPHA, BETA or GAMMA Synchronizers please contact me ASAP!

I’ve always wanted to visit a proper “Mega City” (i.e. one that’s really really big!) but in the absence of this happening so far here are some amazing shots of Tokyo’s urban sprawl – incredible!

N.B. Sorry if you’ve been unable to comment recently, I only just noticed that it’s been broken for quite a while it seems. All fixed now 🙂

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David avatar
Originally from the UK, David is product manager and wanderer currently based in Munich. Prior to this, he lived in Japan and China for over 15 years. He started Randomwire in 2003 to chronicle his travels and occasional musings. Feel free to drop him a line.

2 responses

  1. Kitty avatar
    Kitty

    According to one of the speeches we had yesterday on PET the human brain uses similar parts for reading and listening, in fact from the areas of the brain that are active it seems as though when reading we first turn words into sound and then into something that can be understood (I wasn't cruel enough to enquire as to how it is a deaf person can learn to read). This would suggest that the human mind should be reasonably adept at reading subtitles although I do think it takes some getting used to. When I watched a subbed film afterwards I often can't tell you if the film was subbed or dubbed and will quote the film in English as to me that is what they said. It has problems when learning theme tunes since I learn words that obviously don't fit the tune and then try to sing along to myself.

    Reply
  2. David avatar
    David

    To be honest what annoys me the most it that this sort of behaviour isolates the world from itself needlessly. Although there will always be differences I'm sure people from different races cultures would get along a lot better if they actually took the time to understand each other.

    Reply

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