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Set Report from BICENTENNIAL MAN
Man, it's so weird to be in this room updating after playing STAR WARS TRIVIAL PURSUIT for 4 hours (I kicked everyone's ass so far! Though My Midichlorian count is probably going to take a dive here soon) in the LINE... But... Ok... I seem to remember how to work this damn keyboard thing# Hey... That's not an Exclamation mark, it's a Number Sign... Where the hell are the arrow keys! Hey, that was supposed to be a Question mark... OH NO... I"ve lost MY obiluty 2 tipe...
Anyway, enough silliness... Onto BICENTENNIAL MAN, it was once a script that KICKED ASS, but I haven't seen any of the latest 'budgeted' drafts so I don't know what is in and what is out... Hopefully the main story is the same, which is of course brilliant as we all expect it to be. But here's our spy on set with a short itsy bitsy report!
This first day of my gig as an extra on the set of Bicentennial Man was
probably a lot like what you would expect to find on most movie sets.
Disney bussed 150 extras and me to Fort Point at the Presidio at dawn.
Six futuristic vendor stands had been built in front of an old brick
building. This is where we rehearsed our choreography as vendors and
shoppers while director Chris Columbus and director of photography Phil
Meheaux set up the shots. Robin Williams showed up in a robot helmet
and gloves; that was cool, but nothing I didn't expect. His costar is
and actress named Kirsten (I don't know her last name). She was in a
full robot costume that reminded me of something from a Fritz Lang film,
except for kids. She danced around to Tower of Power playing "Brick
House" as we shopped. One thing that no one expected was a whale
sighting in the bay, but that probably doesn't qualify as juicy movie
gossip. I'm going back tomorrow and and possibly Wednesday. I'll let
you know if anything happens that's really cool.
Musicwright
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If this is just another sappy disney kids movie, I will be extremely angry. This story was written by Asimov for America's Bicentennial. It is my understanding that it was meant to be a metaphor for the struggle of slaves to become citizens. Also, the story had a rather bitter sweat ending. I hope Disney has learned something about portraying such serious subject matter since the time when they made "Song of the South". Then again the execs- if they ever actually read the original story- probably completely missed the point. This story is well known, atleast in sci-fi circles, so its title is a known and marketable entity. I hope that this movie is more than an exploitation of its name. I hope its more than a tie in to a bunch of crappy McDonalds toys.
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May 11, 1999 9:10:13 AM CDT
No, just your basic Robin Williams box office hit for Christmas
by spike lee
Robin Williams will be coming down your chimney again this Christmas bringing a sack full of crap to all the good Baby Boomer boys and girls. If you are over the age of 40, you think Robin Williams can do no wrong. It seems like every Christmas Robin Williams releases one of these movies (Doubtfire, Flubber, Patch Adams). Merry Christmas!
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http://sfbay.edgemedia.net/BicentennialMan/
The link above contains a list of various locations used in the movie, as well as some local San Francisco newspaper articles about the shoot. I have read the script and think that the movie might actually be good, although many of the experiences that Andrew Martin (Robin Williams) had are reminiscent of various ST:TNG episodes about Data. -
Is this a 'Robyn Williams with beard' movie or a 'Robyn Williams without beard' movie?
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http://sfbay.edgemedia.net/BicentennialMan/
The link above contains a list of various locations used in the movie, as well as some local San Francisco newspaper articles about the shoot. I have read the script and think that the movie might actually be good, although many of the experiences that Andrew Martin (Robin Williams) had are reminiscent of various ST:TNG episodes about Data. -
The man did a great Job in Good will Hunting and in Dead Poet Society. I think he will do well in this also. But if anyone can screw it up, it will be Disney
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I read the original script a while ago, i too have not read any rewrites, and I thought it was a very competent version. Extremely faithful to the original story. It is my fervent hope that Disney will not make this too cute, it is not a cute story, it is, as someone stated above, a metaphor for the struggles of slaves in society. You can't have a deep philosophical and psychological meaning to something you get at McDonald's. I hope they do this right, but knowing Disney, I don't count on it.
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stst, I find your comment that Bicentennial Man reminds you of Data hilarious because it is the other way around! Asimov's robot ideas are part of the inspiration for Data, not vice versa!
In fact, TNG actually makes reference to this with and homage: Data has a "positronic brain", which is a term Asimov made up for his famous robot stories.
Go check out "I, Robot" or "The Complete Robot" (and expanded version) by Asimov some time.
Better yet, read the original Bicennential Man short story by Asimov (in an anthology of the same name and no doubt other anthologies). I personally don't see it as his best story by far and think and movie based on it, especially with Robin Williams, will be hopelessly cheesy.
I would much rather have Harlan Ellison's treatment of I, Robot be made, but thus is the wonderfully dynamic movie business we all love and hate. -
Every Read the Positronic Man? It was a collaberation with another author (Silverberg I think) and they did a great job refleshing Bicentenial, and making a hell of a story. If they used that, then expect a good story.
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