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Jordan Peele Credits "Mirror Image" for "Us"



The new horror/thriller film "Us" is getting rave reviews, and its writer/director,
Jordan Peele, has stated he was "inspired" by Rod Serling's ep, "Mirror Image."

How dandy. Except that "Image" is just a complete REMAKE of Alfred Hitchcock's
"The Case of Mr. Pelham", which he himself directed with Tom Ewell. And in my
opinion, it is superior to "Image", although both are superb. Curiously, "Pelham's"
final scene is bone-chilling in its dialogue, and "Image" is super scary in its
visual conclusion.

While I highly doubt "Pelham" is original ("Invasion of the Body Snatchers" comes
to mind, along with many other "double" short stories), Serling always seems to
get credited with his many "ideas", despite the fact that he borrowed liberally and
constantly.

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Nothing wrong with that as long as the re/creator brings some new ingredient to the table...

Ever watch the Outer Limits episode "Soldier" written by Harlan Ellison? Ellison successfully sued James Cameron over it, claiming that Cameron plagiarized this and another of his works to create The Terminator.

You can see the first few minutes of it on youtube and, yeah, it is pretty much is the opening setup for Cameron's movie.

That said, Cameron added a whole other dimension to it.

Many other examples can be similarly found...

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No, I didn't see "The Terminator." In fact, every time there's been an opportunity to see an Arnold S. film, I find
that I really need to wash the sidewalk.

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W-u-u-u-t?! That's just crazy talk...

The Terminator is a damn good movie. There's a reason it was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2008 as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

It succeeds as an action movie and a good sci-fi, if you like sci-fi/time travel movies. The practical special effects don't hold up to today's CGI standard, but it still entertains. It's a movie that really makes use of Arnie's limited early acting abilities and, of course, his size.

It's sequel, Terminator 2: Judgement Day is universally acknowledged as the better movie that builds on the mythology and the action of the first movie. Its MUCH bigger budget allowed for special effects that still hold up today, decades later.

As far as his acting abilities, check out a very small indie movie called Maggie. It's a drama about a father trying to protect his daughter from a plague. Although the movie didn't get great reviews overall, his performance as the anguished father got noticed. No big over-the-top action sequences to be seen...

FWIW...

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The practical special effects don't hold up to today's CGI standard
--- ---- --- ---- --- ---- ----
Exactly, maybe that's why more experienced audiences dont' care for the genre as much, because of "today's CGI standard". By all means, we can't be too practical these days or it won't "hold up". The depressing irony.

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The irony?

CGI has advanced to the point where it's superior to practical effects for the most part. In fact, it's so prevalent -- even in non-genre films (you mean sci-fi and similar I guess) -- that most people would be shocked at how much it's used in all sorts of movies and TV shows. Nobody thinks twice about it because nobody knows it's there.

I think your comment has more to do with how CGI is now used to gloss over sub-standard scripts and that's a complaint of mine. I've frequently posted about this issue... how the third act of the story always involves some world-ending CGI slugfest where 'splosions and energy bolts, etc are all over the screen. And it goes on and on... You get the impression that the first two acts were scripted solely to get to the big battle at the end.

Now days I have to be dragged to see these sorts of movies -- everything from Star Wars to many of the comic book movies leave me cold.

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No, my comment is not because CGI is now used to gloss over sub-standard scripts.
You would not get my comments because you're likely of the Gen-Z -Millennial (or whatever it's called) population, and too used to CGI due to our jaded new-age running out of ideas to produce something new, since it's all been done before. I don't care how much it's used, since I don't need the latest super-duper technology in order to be satisfied by a film and/or hold my attention. Enjoy.

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I'm probably older than you, but I take your observation as a compliment. I like to think I don't sound like a ranting old fart.

But, I agree... I do not get your comments, or what message you're trying to convey.

Is it:

i. something to do about CGI?

ii. something to do with movies?

iii. something to do with 'hmmph...damn kids these days! They better stay off my lawn'?

Hope you get over whatever is ailing you...

Maybe a nice cuppa Ovaltine might help?

;)










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Your sidewalk must be really clean.

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