This is bleh country

Too weird to adapt, or too lazy to try?

eg

   
   

By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor

any great or even mediocre

books have been successfully

adapted into fantastic films.
Some authors have received the
treatment multiple times, but alas, one
author’s works have been repeatedly
scathed in the transition. Whether it’s
an inability to recreate his chaotic
visions or simply too many producers
missing the bloody point, Hunter S.
Thompson’s (1937-2005) works have
somehow been unable to get a faithful
film adaptation.

To be fair, of Where the Buffalo
Roam (1980), Fear and Loathing in
Las Vegas (1998) and The Rum Diary
(2011), I’ve only seen the latter two.
However, from what I’ve heard, Where
the Buffalo Roam was a complete
disaster, even with Bill Murray as
Thompson. Considering all the work
that’s gone into honouring Thompson
in those films (he sat through two of
them, after all), it seems it’s always
been the director to blame.

With Where the Buffalo Roam, it
was probably the fact that producer Art
Linson had never directed anything
before (his only other directional credit
is for a 1984 sequel to Fast Times
at Ridgemont High... eugh). Fear
and Loathing on the other hand has
always been mixed; on its own, it’s
not considered anything great, but the
film maintains a huge cult following
(of which I am a part of). After Martin
Scorsese and Oliver Stone were unable
to adapt the book, Terry Gilliam
swooped in and...hasn’t made anything
particularly great since. But for those
willing to get on board, Fear and

Loathing’s a fun ride; if anything, the

film’s cast was the highlight, especially
Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Thompson.
Everyone loves Johnny as Hunter—I
mean, Raoul Duke... maybe a little too
much.

Here is where we get into The Rum
Diary, which saw a wide release last
weekend. Depp once again portrays
Raoul—I mean, Paul Kemp—in this
adaptation of a 1960s novel that went
unpublished until 1998..: first bad
sign. Something else to keep in mind
is that Thompson wrote the bulk of
it based on himself at the time, in his
early twenties— Depp is pushing fifty.
Finally, Withnail and I (1986) director
Bruce Robinson, who also holds the
sole writing credit for The Rum Diary
(I thought this was an adaptation. ..),
hasn’t directed a film in 19 years. To
put it simply, despite a glimmer of hope
partway through, the film is bookended
by a go-nowhere plot and a mixed cast,
some of whom can carry their own
and others who desperately needed a
director on set. And don’t even get me
started on the writing.

Perhaps with time, a respectable
and faithful adaptation will be made
of at least one of Thompson’s works.
Animator Ralph Bakshi (1972’s Fritz
the Cat and 1978’s animated The Lord
of the Rings) argued that Fear and
Loathing would’ ve made an excellent
animated film were it to follow
longtime Thompson collaborator Ralph
Steadman’s drawings. At the time it
wasn’t going to happen largely because
animated films weren’t a respected
medium. Nowadays, who knows:
handled right, it’d certainly be well
worth the wait.

 

a 3

TH1IRT3EN’s on sale... and I’m buying! ©

Megadeth is my business

By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor

ast Tuesday, Megadeth released
[ures their 13-track,

thirteenth album... oh wait, it’s
six you’re supposed to say three times.
Seriously though, this is probably one
of Megadeth’s best albums to date.
Despite their many lineup changes and
the occasional experiment, the group’s
maintained a solid, fantastically-angry
sound almost 30 years later.

Thirteen, as I will stylize it

from hereon out, has an interesting
background. Rather than writing
thirteen completely new tracks for
the album, Thirteen instead features
several updated versions of previously
recorded songs, songs written for video
game soundtracks and, of course, a
decent amount of new material. While
this can appear to be a random array

to offer. “Public Enemy” maintains

the same brute albeit modern force the
group brought on Endgame (2009),
and “Whose Life” is just classic, hate-
filled Dave —in a progressive way.
“Wrecker” works in the same way
“Whose Life” does, only this is clearly
a raging post-breakup song, a welcome
change from 2009’s “The Hardest Part
of Letting Go... Sealed With a Kiss”
decent song, awful title, thank god it’s
2011. The slowest track, “13,” which
closes the album, is another one of
Dave’s that lyrically summarizes where
the band’s gone at this point; this is
one that will either go down as one of
Megadeth’s better or lesser songs —
personally, I’m torn.

As for the updates, “Black Swan,”
(one of my favourite Megadeth songs)
which was originally intended as a
bonus track for Youthanasia (1994)
and later released as a pre-order bonus
on United Abominations (2007), has
been given a rougher makeover. At

“As for new material, the first two singles “Public Enemy No. 1” and
“Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)” are easily some of the best the album
has to offer.”

of bonus tracks and songs better fitted
elsewhere, it all fits together beautifully
in the end.

The first track, “Sudden Death,”
kick starts the album with a straight
minute of Dave Mustaine’s delicious
shredding. It was initially written for
the 2010 game Guitar Hero: Warriors
of Rock, which is something you can
hear almost instantly, but it’s still
Megadeth through and through. The
same goes for “Never Dead,” written
for the soon to be released game of
the same name (which also features
a soundtrack composed entirely by
Megadeth); it’s a nonstop five minutes
of darkness and insanity and it’s so
awesome.

As for new material, the first two
singles “Public Enemy No. 1” and
“Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)” are
easily some of the best the album has

first I wasn’t crazy about it, but this
revamp suits the album far better than
the original; the overall change was
necessary, and I really can’t complain
about the added guitar (doing so would
be blasphemy). Another revamp, “New
World Order,” which was written back
in 1991 and has seen many demos since
(one for the Duke Nukem soundtrack),
has finally been given a version worthy
enough to be considered complete.
Thirteen is a solid effort all around.
With founding member and bassist
David Ellefson returning from nearly
a 10 year absence, Shawn Drover
providing an incredible performance
on drums the whole way through,
and Chris Broderick and Dave simply
kicking all forms of ass on guitar, along
with some of Dave’s best vocal work,
Thirteen belongs on the shelves of any
fan of Megadeth or metal otherwise.