The sky above the port was the color of a television, tuned to a Mark Wahlberg film.

Neuromancer is my favorite book.  William Gibson's 1984 sci-fi epic was truly a novel ahead of it's time, forming the basis for cyberpunk (read: most modern sci-fi) with Blade Runner and even going to far as to coin the term "cyberspace."  What makes it even more remarkable is the fact that it was Gibson's debut novel, a work of such descriptive broadness and intellectual intensity that it is hard to put down.

Just a quick rundown: Neuromancer starts with the story of Case, a down-on-his-luck web hacker (remember, this was written in 1984) whose ability to jack into cyberspace was severed when he tried to steal from one of his employers.  Case is found by Molly, a high-tech assassin who directs him to Armitage, a billionaire relic from the most recent world war.  Armitage pays to have Case's nervous system overhauled so that he can connect again, and hires him for a new job.

Sure, reading it now makes it seem like it is rife with cliches, but that is because Gibson created those cliches in Neuromancer.  The druggie loner who finds redemption, the mysterious femme fatale who leads the protagonist to something more, the enigmatic benefactor, the evil corporation--they all found their modern footing in this book.

Anyway, I could go on for days about how face-meltingly awesome this book is, but I think I'll just leave it up to you to go and pick up a copy.  The real news is about something that both excites and terrifies me--the film adaptation.  

So on Topless Robot this morning, I saw a little bit of news coverage that said that Neuromancer's long-in-development movie has been putting out feelers for casting and that Mark Wahlberg was in negotiations to play Case, and Liam Neeson was to play Armitage.  

Marky Mark?  Really?

Don't get me wrong, I think Wahlberg is a...serviceable actor, but I think a meathead like him for this role is a grave error.  Case is frail, flaky, completely ill-at-ease with himself, and so I have to hope that this doesn't really pan out.  Honestly, the first actor approached for this role I think has all of the qualifications for a shaky, emotionally defeated man like Case:

Yeah, I know.  Hayden Christensen.  But think about it: Hayden's Anakin, if just a bit more subdued and smart, would be a pretty solid Case.  I generally give the prequel actors the benefit of the doubt when it comes to their abilities, as the majority of those movies' problems (like the shitty acting) stem from shitty writing, so I'd like to see him try something with a little more gravitas, like his performance in the excellent Shattered Glass.  Also, I think he has the look of the character that Wahlberg could never have--I look at that completely out-of-context photo of him above and I see Case.

Liam Neeson, however, I think is an excellent choice.  Over the past decade or so, I feel like he's been taking quite a few roles that are far below his ability (The A-Team?  Really?), so I think this is a part where he could finally dust off those acting chops a bit. Plus, his turn as a villain in Batman Begins was a good one.  He'd do well as the myserious Armitage, although I wonder how he'd do when that character goes completely off the deep end near the end of the story.  

So, one good and one bad casting choice.  This makes me wonder who they'll go with for Molly. At this point, it's equally likely to be Kate Beckinsale or Miley Cyrus.  

Party in the post-apocalyptic cyberpunk future, anyone?

Connor Actually Kills Non-British People (Not Counting Bears)

So there's a new video promo out for Assassin's Creed 3.  It's a little game from a small independent developer that is really flying under the radar, so I figured I'd throw them a bone.



Anyway, this video shows the new assassin, a half-Brit half-Mohawk gent named Connor slicing things up during the American Revolution, getting down and dirty killing some redcoats and...wait...what is that at 2:29?  He's actually killing colonists.  Honest to freaking god.

Okay, so the developers have been hyping up that Connor is not taking sides in the conflict, but every piece of concept art and every trailer revealed thus far has shown him killing the British.  And wolves and bears.  The true enemies of freedom.

Anyway, even though the majority of this trailer, specifically for AC3's AnvilNext game engine, shows Connor killing those nasty Brits, it's good to finally see that the game won't be quite as one-sided as it has seemed.  It's nice when a developer keeps their promises about gameplay  Good job, Ubisoft.

Then again, it'd also be nice if they kept their promises about the PC release date.  Fuck you, Ubisoft.