I didn't see another topic on this...

Actress Theron Hurt on Germany Film Set

First off... she's Aeon Flux??

I've been called in to review this film kind-of last minute -- actually, I got the assignment at least a week ago, but I was buried under a pile of deadlines at the time -- so now I am finally coming to terms with the fact that the screening for this film is on Thursday (the night before it opens, which is never a good sign; usually previews are at LEAST two nights before), and I have no familiarity at all with the source material.

So, I must now do my research. But time is of the essence; I also have to write a couple of Narnia reviews this week (I'm seeing it Monday morning) and get a few other things done as well. In addition, my local Rogers Video is putting "The Complete Animated Collection" on hold for me today, but it's only a two-day rental ... so, I must ask, are there any episodes I should prioritize?

I do recommend that you watch at least a bit of the animated series before you see the film. The animation is really interesting, and your appreciation for it may be dulled by the film. There were a lot of complaints about the box set because the original animation that was shown on Liquid Television was pretty dated, and the producers of the DVD tried to clean it up and lay new voiceovers on it. I remember quite a bit of rancor about that.

Watch the pilot and the original Liquid TV shorts. The third season is a bit different, but at least watch Thanatophobia. Aeon Flux is pretty complicated narrative-wise, and originally there was little internal explanation. I can't imagine the film version will be nearly this fragmented. Just to get you ready, here is a description of one of the less complicated episodes:

"Aeon teams up with a double agent named Scafandra, who has hands on her feet. Trevor manages to create a cloning device and he manages to clone Aeon. Aeon then, we think, switch places with her clone but Trevor knows this. The "real" Aeon falls for Trevor, the "clone" Aeon tries to carry on. In the end things get too complicated to explain to the clone and the real Aeon allows herself to get killed as the "clone" runs away."

Bizarre. The set I've rented is called "The Complete Animated Collection" and has five episodes on Disc 1, five episodes on Disc 2, and special features on Disc 3. And you say there are at least THREE SEASONS of this stuff? How "complete" is this set, really, I wonder?

According to TV.com, there are sixteen episodes listed.

There are not really "seasons" per se. It originally ran on Liquid Television, which was a show MTV ran really late on saturday night to showcase really oddball short features. (I think it was right before 120 minutes.) Most of these shorts were actually series, and Liquid Television would show the next installment as soon as they got it.

So the first "season" ran in 1991 and was about five or six episodes of a few minutes each. Over the course of a year, Liquid Television would repeat installments over and over. Same thing in 1992, I think the episodes were a bit longer. Then in 1995, they made 10 thirty minute episodes. These have different voiceovers and dialogue on the DVD set, which made die-hard fans really mad.

So the set is totally complete.

Quite hilarious if you're at all familiar with the original series... The not-so-secret history of 'Aeon Flux'

^^ great link man. Much grass.

Thanks, MLeary -- FWIW, I have found that same basic set of info, and a fair bit more, at Wikipedia as well.

Ahh, the good old days. Back when Bill Plympton did the channel image IDs along with the annoying Bostonian cab driver, Jimmy McBride (Donal Logue). Remember that?

I was obsessed with Aeon Flux when I was a freshman in high school (and all anime, for that matter). On the inside of my locker I wrote "That which does not kill us makes us strange" - Trevor Goodchild... But I'm not interested in seeing what Hollywood is going to do with it. The only way I'm going to see this movie is if I'm totally bored out of my mind and a friend calls me up and says, "Hey, I'm gonna go see that new Aeon Flux movie, wanna come?"

Good memories. I can remember seeing the first ever Beavis and Butthead episodes on there and thinking: Hey, this is pretty funny.

Oh. Sorry, no one has an excuse for being ignorant in the age of Wikipedia.

Is Liquid Television available anywhere? When I was a teen, I remember watching almost exclusively to watch Stick Figure Theatre. They had great short renditions of Angel and the Badman and It's a Wonderful Life.

Mr. Moviefone on Aeon Flux this morning. "Looks like a cross between The Island and Catwoman -- both bad. And I'll have some cranberry sauce with that." OK, not the top level of critics, but nice line.

Zing.

But is anyone really surprised? This films looks to be what happens when you cross Underworld with The Chronicles of Riddick (i.e., flying leather-clad babe meets bizarre fantasy world). Needless to say, I'm not planning on seeing it any time soon.

That is classic. I have seen some VHS copies of highlights floating around out there on Ebay.

FWIW, my review, written in a rush because the only screening in town didn't start until after 10pm last night (meaning I got home some time after midnight, etc., etc.).

Saw the film last night. It's the first film I've seen in quite a while in which the audience was laughing in derision at serveral points.

While I did think that the [spoiler] spiky grass and exploding marbles [/spoiler] were done quite nicely, most of the effects seemed to be simple shots of Theron leaping (bounding?) through concrete tunnels.

The whole thing made me think "So, this is what THX-1138 would look like if Lucas made it today."

Some of the review snippets at Rotten Tomatoes are hilarious.

One critic just says, "Gag."

And Richard Roeper's response-- "It's terrible"-- is probably the best thing he's ever written.