Warp wrote:
>   Speaking of which, when was the last time you saw a movie which had
> something *genuinely* original, 

I think that the cost of a movie prevents you from doing something *really* 
original. Some of the stuff like Total Recall or Jumper would have been a 
pretty original story had it not come from a book.  But I don't think you'll 
find too many people spending $200million on a completely new and untested 
story.

Books? Lots of books with genuinely original stories out there.

>   Every story is always based on what was before. 

It's easy (so to speak) to do completely original short stories, for 
example. That's one of the hallmarks of science fiction.

Of course, you can always generalize a story to the point where it's no 
longer original. You can take something like Jumper and say "there are lots 
of stories where someone with something special is fleeing from those who 
fear him" or dismiss Total Recall with "it's a boy-meets-girl romantic 
comedy". There's some level of detail you have to retain for a story to be 
unique, as every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end.


-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Forget "focus follows mouse." When do
   I get "focus follows gaze"?

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