Comikaider Halliday: Unchecked Ambition

80's - 90's Cartoon Openihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifngs Compilation

2011-09-17T13:07:00.001-07:00

THE SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER: What Makes a Good Summer Movie?

2011-06-11T18:50:00.000-07:00

I'll be the first to admit that my tastes in both fiction and movies are not what people should aspire too. I cast a wide net from the high brow (TRUE GRIT being my current favorite movie) to the low brow (nothing gets my blood pumping the way FAST FIVE did), but I think the same can be said of most people. What I like from my entertainment is that, more than anything, it is ENTERTAINING. To different people this may mean different things, but it's pretty easy to see what it is that works and what it is that doesn't work.

This year has not been great for movies, but those that have hit have hit big, so I'd like to examine what it takes to make a solid piece of late spring/summer entertainment.

(NOTE: Please excuse my excessive referencing of superhero movies, but they are the most prevalent and successful franchises of late, and the ones of most personal interest to me as a viewer.)

SOMETHING I HAVEN'T SEEN BEFORE

As is becoming increasingly obvious in Hollywood, new and innovative concepts are few and far between; modern audiences have a sense of having seen it all. Thus, the first step in any summer blockbuster is an original idea, or, failing that, a fresh new take on an old one.

Now this doesn't always work, as PRIEST can prove, as sometimes, in that desperate rush to create something new, you end up with a concept that is too high, or a mix of too many genres (really PRIEST? A religious sci-fi vampire western? Talk about reach exceeding grasp).

Whatever the idea is, the conceit should be simple and concise; THOR for example, was a stranger-in-a-strange-land take on a comic book hero based on the mythic God of Thunder. A simple enough premise to wrap your mind around once you've firmly established the rules for the audience.

Similarly, when rehashing an old idea, give it a new spin; it worked wonders for X-MEN FIRST CLASS, which re-envisioned the franchise as a slick, hip, mash-up of 60's style James Bond with the modern superhero concept. It was a bold direction for a franchise already so firmly established, but paid off quite well (I actually liked it better in some ways than the first three movies).

CHARACTERS WITH CHARACTER

People want to be charmed by a protagonist. They want to be seduced by a hero with charisma. This is a quality that's shared by such recent greats as Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), Tony Stark (Robert Downey...who also does a great turn as an equally charming Sherlock Holmes), and Thor (Chris Hemsworth). These were characters that invested a certain swagger and humor to their characters that encouraged you to get invested in their continuing exploits. At a certain point it doesn't even matter what they're doing; you just enjoy watching them do it. This takes a great actor with a lot of confidence, wit, and charisma.

This isn't something that can just be created...it's more of a happy coincidence. Casting is important, as well as the actor investing something into the character; they need to believe in the character they're portraying if they expect the audience to.

A SOLID STORY

It doesn't have to be Academy award winning, but a solid script is a must. People will suspend their disbelief for a lot, as long as there is a strong foundation to stage it all on. Clearly established characters and motivations, and effective and concise world building.

But most importantly, the script should have some HUMOR. This is why MARVEL has been so successful this summer, and why I'm so worried about GREEN LANTERN. Yes, GREEN LANTERN cast comedian Ryan Reynold's, but the trailer is humorless. There are jokes, but the movie is obviously taking the idea of a guy that makes giant fists out of light with a green Space-Ring way to seriously. THOR and X-MEN FIRST CLASS, and hell, even something like TRUE GRIT, all worked so well because there was a healthy dose of wry humor to them; a willingness to recognize some of the goofier aspects, while not becoming a parody (this is part of why I think GREEN HORNET was ill concieved...it was a parody that didn't know it was a parody).

SHOCK AND AWE

Many will argue that big budget CGI is extraneous, and at a certain point it is, but if you manage to achieve all of the above, some really eye-popping visuals can only help to cement your success at the box-office. For many, the theater experience is a short escape from reality; sometimes people just want to be dazzled by a well realized visual; a cool monster, a violent fight, a superhuman act, a big explosion...it all adds up to a world more lively and vibrant than our own. A great production design, with some original art direction, and some solid CGI can be enough for people sometimes (*cough cough* AVATAR *cough cough* AVATAR only really HAD the visual going for it, but people LOVED it and forgave it's many, many, flaws).

These are the elements that really make a great summer movie. A sort of ethereal magic formula that studio's chase after; it's almost impossible to tell what will hit and what will not, and what works for one movie, may not work for another, but a good director, a solid script, a talented cast, and some dazzling visuals will almost always ensure you at least make your money back, even if they don't guarantee a sequel.

ONE PIECE vs FAIRY TAIL: Three Years Later

2011-06-11T17:45:00.000-07:00

Of all the blog posts I've done (and admittedly, I don't post with nearly the regularity that I should), my post about the remarkable similarity between ONE PIECE and FAIRY TAIL is the one that still gets commented on; probably due to the popularity of both books; and, in fact, I was just alerted to two comments today. Seeing as how I posted it a few years ago, and have never responded to said comments, I'd just like to clarify some of the points made in that post.

First off, I was not accusing anyone of 'swiping' anyone's 'style.' Hiro Mashima was, I believe, an assistant to Eichiro Oda, or worked as an assistant with Oda. Beyond that I can understand whyMashima would draw influence from Oda's work, as he is the most popular mangaka in Japan, and has been for a few years (Naruto is a big deal in North America, but PALES in comparison to the ONE PIECE fever that's been consistently sweeping Japan for years now). ONE PIECE is hugely successful in Japan, and is literally EVERYWHERE (I was pleasantly surprised when I myself visited Japan and saw just how prevalent it was). Given that it is understandable that Mashima would want to emulate that success.

From a story standpoint, really all Shonen titles folow the same formula; ONE PIECE, while superbly crafted and excellently executed, follows a formulat that was established, many, many,years ago, as does FAIRY TAIL. The only major difference, as I originally pointed out, is that ONE PIECE starts by establishing it's MacGuffin in the first episode, IE Luffy's search for the One Piece.

For those that are not familiar with this term, a MacGuffin is a plot device that drives a story forward, but is itself not important to the story. It doesn't matter what the One Piece is, or even if Luffy and his crew ever get it, it only matters that they DESIRE it, and that desire is what moves them ever forward, and gives the story a sense of forward momentum, as it always feels like the cast is advancing toward something, even when they go off on tangents.

FAIRY TAIL has no such device. One comment suggested that the MacGuffin is Natsu's search for the Dragon, Igneel, but that's not the case, as that information was not presented in the first chapter, nor, at any point really, does he actively pursue that goal. At best it is a subplot that will eventually pay off and then be put to rest...the story does not end when he finds Igneel, because Natsu is not the main protagonist; FAIRY TAIL is an ensemble story, and for the MacGuffin to be effective, it has to be a goal that motivates the entire cast in this instance, not just one character.

Luffy is definitely the main protagonist of ONE PIECE, but the One Piece is an effective MacGuffin because it is a goal that the entire ensemble desires, and ties all their separate motivations together. FAIRY TAIL has no such device, and thus, feels like a flimsier premise to me, as there is nothing motivating the cast aside from the conceit of them all being contemporaries in the same Guild, and all their adventures being motivated either by (A) being jobs that they take or (B) being attacked by various antagonists. Thus, while ONE PIECE is pro-active, FAIRY TAIL is more reactive, with the action being prompted by something, rather than anyone pursuing it.

I would not say that it is fair that Mashima shares Oda's influence by Akira Toriyama, as Oda's art has never looked like Toriyama's, and has increasingly progressed away from any such influence, while Mashima's art (which you have to admit had a LOOOOOONG learning curve...the early volumes of RAVE MASTER barely qualify as fan art) has kept pace with it's emulation of Oda's art, albiet he has not progessed in his execution, unlike Oda who just gets continually better and more expressive; not just his rendering or design ability, but his storytelling and acting (his early work was far more simplified and stiffly posed, but now he has amazing gesture and expression. His ability to 'act' with a pencil is amazing), while Mashima seems to have reached the limit of his ability, and indeed, seems to have backslide in some ways, as his once slicker art has become noticeably more buldgy. But I digress, as that is speculative and part of my own bias; I just like Oda's art better.

I think that rather than taking influence from Toriyama in any artistic terms, aside, maybe, from certain elements of design, Oda's influence comes more from the aspect of Toriyama's storytelling and world building. Toriyama was notorious for his desire to build a world of complete fantasy, with talking animals, big, cottony, clouds, and bizarre landscapes. His characters existed on 'Earth', but it was nothing that we would recognize as our Earth. You can seen this influence in Oda's work, as ONE PIECE takes place in a well realized fantasy world that is both familiar but unrecognizable, and follows only the rules that Oda establishes. This was hardly an innovation of Toriyama's though, and indeed dates back to Osamu Tezuka and his prolific volume of work. Mashima shows those same influences, but his drawing style is recognizably similar to Oda's, so I think it's safe to say that his biggest influence is Oda rather than anything else.

What it comes down to is personal preference. Both are solid young adult titles, and both are fun, well executed reads, but it is my personal opinion that ONE PIECE stands head and shoulders above FAIRY TAIL is all respects. I am constantly impressed by it's depth, humor, and the skill with which is it all portrayed. Oda is a true master of the Shonen formula and has managed to make his work come alive within the confines of that formula, rather than strictly adhering to it. Not only that, but ONE PIECE is one of those rare manga that is universally accessible, with very little about it that is alienating to other cultures (this is something that similarly allowed DRAGONBALL to becomes an international success). There is nothing wrong with FAIRY TAIL, but I do think it is the weaker book (which is why I sold all of mine at Anime North 2011).

I hope this clarifies some things, and I apologize for any offense people may take (though I don't see why anyone would feel the need to be offended) to my comparison of the two, but that is my analysis of these two, very similar, books...but, again, I am biased, so feel free to offer a counter argument in the comments, and I will respond.

In three years time. ^_^;;;

SUCKER PUNCHED BY SUCKER PUNCH: Exceeding my Expectations in the Wrong Way

2011-03-27T17:27:00.000-07:00

I love movies. I love visual storytelling as a whole (as one can tell from reading just about anything on this blog, or talking to me for more than a few minutes, as I can't stop myself from making a reference to a film or TV show), and especially love sharing that experience. I love to watch things with people, observe their reactions, and talk about it afterwords; get their impressions. As much as I think the theater experience is slowly dying, I love going to the theater with a bunch of friends and enjoying a movie as a social experience.

Thus, the only time a movie actually fails in my point of view, is if it fails to entertain. A movie can be stupid, excessive, over-the-top, ever shocking or disgusting, as long as it entertains you. In fact, some of the best movies to watch with a large group of people are exactly those kinds of exploitative romps... some of my favorite times are watching stupid movies with people; shouting shit at the screen, pointing out mistakes, screaming at scares, laughing at ludicrous gags, etc. Movies like RIKI-OH: THE STORY OF RIKI, DOLEMITE: THE HUMAN TORNADO, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, DEATHWISE 3, and more recent efforts like PLANET TERROR, MACHETE, or the latest (and probably most shocking and disgusting) HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN. Stupid, exploitive, and sometimes just disgusting, but all ENTERTAINING.

The thing that separates this kind of fun, enjoyable, and harmless exploitation from just straight, offensive, exploitation is the intent; the people making these movies know that they're not going to be invited to the Oscars, and in most cases they know they aren't being deep. That doesn't mean they aren't trying to communicate a message or theme, but they are conscious that their way of doing it is very blunt. They don't have any illusions about being cerebral.

That's what brings me to the subject of this review, Zack Snyder's Bad-Grrl Power opus, SUCKER PUNCH.

Having expressed my reaction to the movie since seeing it, either in person or on Twitter, people have questioned, "Well... what did you expect?" That's fair... from watching the above trailer, as I have, I imagine that most people would go into the movie have much the same expectations as I had; a fun, slightly stupid, visual rollercoaster with just enough plot to BARELY justify it's awesome, even revolutionary, visuals and action. The trailer features sexy girls kicking ass in various sci-fi and fantasy environments, all under the conceit of said action taking place in their imaginations, while they attempt to escape their horrify existence trapped in a Mental Institution. Harmless fun right?

SUCKER PUNCH is the most horribly exploitative and offensive thing I've ever seen, and not in a fun, harmless way. The film starts off with an extended, slow motion (it's Zack Snyder of course... there isn't a single motion that he can't slow) musical montage showing the tragic near rape of the films underaged protagonist, and her even younger sister, before she is framed for the death of her sister and institutionalized by her predatory Step-Father, and placed in the care of an even MORE predatory orderly. The stakes are firmly established early on; if the inappropriately named 'Baby-Doll' does not escape her unjust imprisonment within five days she will be LOBOTOMIZED and then RAPED. The film then transforms from the grim, dank, gray reality as 'Baby-Doll' escapes into a vibrant, prohibition era styled, MAD MEN inspired, fantasy land where she and her fellow victims (there are no female characters in this movie, only victims) are glamorous strippers, keep prisoner to serve the lusts of their male captors. Their solution to this; to use 'Baby-Doll's' underaged sensuality as a distraction to allow them to acquire the means to escape their imprisonment, before her virginity is sold to 'The High Roller' who arrives in five days, mirroring her grim reality.

That's right, those are the stakes in both her reality and fantasy; LOBOTOMY, RAPE, AND THE LOSS OF HER VIRGINITY.

The real disturbing conceit of this movie is that Zack Snyder thinks that this is a strong feminist message... I mean, the girls get to kick ass right? No, they only get to kick ass in their imaginations... where they are mentored by an omnipresent male savior, who it is implied from the beginning is their only chance to escape. In the grim reality, and the vibrant fantasy framing sequences between the even DEEPER fantasy sequences, they are all VICTIMS. Helpless, crying, sniveling, unsure, and cowardly. They easily compromise their resolve multiple times at the threats and ham handed abuse of their male captors, because they are only truly strong in their imaginations. The only power any of these women have in the real world, or it's fantasy reflection, is their ability to seduce or otherwise please men.

The final insult, though, comes at the end in the form of the films only survivors parting voice over, where she attempts to impart of deep message of taking control of your life after she's SAVED BY HER MALE SAVIOR, as a way of justifying all the heinous exploitation you the audience have just witnessed.

The thing is... I don't even think that Zack Snyder is aware of what he's made... I don't think he really intended this movie as a huge love letter to the exploitation of women. I think he really thought he was making some kind of feminist opus here. His way of justifying all the horrid shit he does to everyone is to make every single male character unforgivably horrible and a heinous predator of women. There is only one male character in the movie that doesn't exploit, abuse, or attempt to rape any of the female victims, and he's a figment of their collective imaginations.

So that's what you have to look forward too in this dark, cruel, world as Zack Snyder see's it, females of the species; you'll all prey to the lusts and desires of you male captors, who are all out to get you, and you are COMPLETELY POWERLESS TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

(Spoilers Follow if you really did want to subject yourself to seeing this visually spectacular turd)

Powerless like 'Baby-Doll', who, after all her heroic, sexy, efforts to titillate and seduce her way to freedom, she fails and is lobotomized. There's an attempt to play it off as a heroic sacrifice to allow her fellow victimized captive, 'Sweet Pea' (none of the female cast had real names... just sexy nicknames to further dehumanize and sexualize them), but this falls flat, as she herself is ultimately turned into a living sex doll with a blissful expression on her face as she is forcefully ejected from reality and into, what one can only assume, is her escapist fantasy land, while 'Sweet Pea' is helpless to cope in the real world, and saved by her 'Guardian Angel'. The films villains only get their comeuppance due to John Hamm (in what has too, in retrospect, be an embarassing cameo for him) 'noticing a glimmer in her eyes' which prompts him to look deeper into 'Baby-Doll's' case, and exposing both the predatory orderly and her predatory Step-Father... yet another case of the man coming to the rescue in this feminist action story (roll EYES... 9_9).

The real tragedy here is how fucking SPECTACULAR the visuals were, and how AWESOME the action was. The first foray into 'Baby-Doll's' fantasy land where she fights three giant Samurai with naught but a gun and a sword was some of the best, most original and visceral, action I've seen in a movie... it was like anime truly brought to life. Why couldn't he have made THAT movie? A group of ass-kicking female superhumans fight monsters and robots on distant planets to save the universe is much close to the feminist ideal he was going for, and far less exploitative. That's the movie I wanted to see! Instead I got SUCKER PUNCHED.

If you feel the need to be truly disgusted and offended while still being visually Wowed, go see SUCKER PUNCH. Just don't tell me about it, because then you'll get an ear full.

SPARTACUS: Gods of Blood and Sand

2011-01-23T16:53:00.001-08:00

After having watched the first episode of the prequel to SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND, I realized that I had never blogged about it, and am now correcting my oversight; indeed oversight is the correct word, as I think a number of people unfairly overlook this show, which is has been called, a little unfairly in my mind, a 'guilty pleasure.'

I understand the impulse to label STARZ original series, SPARTACUS, as a 'guilty pleasure', as it's very uncompromising in it's vision and it's commitment to it's extreme content; quite frankly, SPARTACUS is not for the prudish or the weak kneed. The the only thing more graphic than the sex is the violence, as blood gushes forth, thick and viscus, like something from a the most graphic of graphic novels. Heads are severed, stomachs are disemboweled, limbs are rendered from body, all to cheers. Similarly, pelvises thrust, breasts are bared, and penises are erect and eager. Not for the faint of heart indeed. But that's what makes it so good.

SPARTACUS isn't there to coddle you; this is an explicitly adult show for a mature audience; so why should it be afraid to feature adult content? While not historically accurate, SPARTACUS is set during the one of the most decadent, hedonistic, era's of recorded history, where society endulged in visceral pleasures of blood and sex without taboo or judgment. SPARTACUS' goal, as a series, isn't to be historically accurate, but more to give you an idea of what it was like to be experience such tactile, forbidden, pleasures. To live vicariously through the spectacle of combat, and the pleasures of guilt free, anonymous, sex. And that inevitably, in our stuck up, prudish, society with it's weird, buttoned up, relationship with sex and violence (strangely more with sex than violence), makes people feel guilty. Thus, the show is labeled a guilty pleasure, as critics gloss over what makes the show compelling; character and drama.

SPARTACUS is a very character driven show, populated by a colorful cast of complex and memorable characters, played to great effect with obvious pleasure and gusto by a skilled cast of actors. Spartacus, a noble warrior betrayed and enslaved, lives with the tragic loss of his wife, and finds release and purpose in the deadly Gladitorial games, which brings great fortune to the scheming, ambitious, owner of his Ludus, Batiatus, who has designs on rising above his station and seizing political power, spurred on by his duplicitous wife, Lucretia, who is torn by her love of her husband, and her lust for his current champion, Crixus. Crixus, for this part, has an contentious relationship with Spartacus, who he resents for his designs on taking his place as champion. And that's just the core cast.

Among the supporting players are equally compelling characters; Spartacus best friend, Varro, a thrill seeking gambler who paid his way INTO the Ludus, Ashur, a former Gladiator who becomes the scheming right hand of Batiatus (he's actually my favorite character, because he reminds me of Starscream; a remarkably intelligent coward with a cockroach like knack for survival, and an eye for opportunity), Doctore, former champion turned maker of champions, and steadfast ally of Crixis, and finally, and most interestingly, Ilithyia, the wife of Spartacus sworn enemy, the Roman soldier that sold out his people to slavery and genocide, Claudius Glaber; Ilithyia is a spoiled rotten temptress who lurks around the Ludus as a guest of Lucretia, engineering horrific tortures for the hated Spartacus, while none to subtly taking catty digs at Lucretia, who plays her like a violin, manipulating the ignorant and hateful young socialite.

SPARTACUS is equal parts comic book action and operatic drama; an action soap opera for adults. Characters scheme, betray, back stab, manipulate, threaten, and sometimes literally fuck with, each other, in a tornado of drama, all framed by some of the most over the top, beautiful and horrifyingly violent action you've seen this side of 300. In one particularly bitchy scheme, Lucretia, to protect her vested interest in the horse-like cock of Crixus, tricks Ilithyia into sating her burning lust with her hated enemy, Spartacus, as they make sensual love while wearing masks and covered in gold, only to have Ilithyia's social rival walk in on them, threatening to tell all of Rome about her illicit activities. In a fit of insane rage and embarrassment, Ilithyia snaps, and beats her rivals brains out against the hard marble edge of the pool, spilling blood and grey matter all over the floor as she caves her skull in. And that's not even the WORST thing that happens in the show... but it is the most shocking, as you never see it coming.

And that's really SPARTACUS greatest strength; it's unpredictability! It's a show that keeps you on the edge of your seat with surprise revelations and plot twists, as secrets are slowly revealed. Nothing is sacred and the stakes are high; every character is at risk of losing his life at any time; and it all comes to a head in a final kill crazy rampage at the end, in which every subplot is neatly tied up, and everyone gets their rightful comeuppance.

After strong first season, I'm entirely excited by the prospect of the prequel show SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA, which goes aback about five years to show the rise of Batiatus (portrayed by the shockingly excellent John Hannah) to control of his father's Ludus, building on the mythology hinted at in the first season of BLOOD AND SAND. The prequel promises to show the training and rise of Crixis as champion of the Ludus, the transition of Doctore from champion to trainer of champions, and the fall of Ashur, who had ambitions to become a Gladiator and instead is rendered lame by fate. All of this revolves around the current champion, the humble yet charming Gadicus, who is unaware of the terrible fate that hangs over his head, like the Sword of Damocles.

I expect great things, and I'm sure I won't be disappointed.

SPARTACUS is a pleasure yes, but hardly a guilty one. It's not high art, but neither does it aspire to be, instead embracing it's crass, visceral, nature and providing shout inducing thrills (I cry out "OH SHIT!" at never beheading or disemboweling), and compelling drama, all supported by a colorful cast of complex and compelling characters. It's not high art, but it does promise to show you something you've ever seen on TV before... an unapologetically, uncompromisingly, adult show.

TRAILER TIME 2011

2011-01-22T05:45:00.000-08:00

Been awhile since the last TRAILER TIME, but, let's face it... 2010 was a TERRIBLE year for movies. What wasn't down right terrible, was instead disappointing, with few exceptions (TRUE GRIT was the best thing I saw in 2010, and TANGLED reminded me what a GOOD Disney movie is supposed to be like... actually it was an overall pretty strong year for animation, with HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, DESPICABLE ME, and MEGAMIND all being pretty stand out). There were very few times I was compelled to go to the theater, and even less that I was compelled to own on DVD.

So lets see what's on the deck for 2011...

EVANGELION 2.0: YOU CAN [not] ADVANCE

The first movie of 2011 I've stepped into a theater for... I'll probably do an actual review later, though I'm hesitant to write anything until I've watched it again, so I may wait until the Blu Ray comes out in... Feb/March? Either way, the so called REBUILD OF EVANGELION slowly trickles out in both Japan and North America, and is worth the wait... if you're going to go back and fuck around with your source material, it should be with the intent of making it better, and that's where Hideki Anno succeeds and George Lucas fails. Now, I can't really definitively say that the REBUILDs are better than the original in every respect (I'm not too happy with the changes made to what is my favorite moment of the original series... but, again, I'll bring that up in a later review), but in MOST respects the REBUILDs are far superior; the animation is leaps and bounds, the overall production is as groundbreaking as the original and has an even greater depth and more expansive worldbuilding, and the story is much tighter and more focused and on point. Also, it's just interesting to see how a guys worldview can change in 20 years... while most of the story elements remain unchanged, the REBUILDs are FAR less bleak then the original series, and far less concerned with torturing and isolating the characters. This may turn off fans for the original, who identified with the themes of teenage isolation and the overall intense pre-2000 Emo-ness, but I, personally, prefer the idea of Shinji as becoming a stronger, more resilient and mature, adult over the course of the series, rather than being brow beaten and psychologically tortured into catatonic insanity... though I guess there's still time for that to happen.

At any rate, as you can see from the trailer, EVANGELION delivers on the visuals with spectacular animation and outrageous actions set pieces; to put it short, EVANGELION 2.0 redefines EPIC for a new generation... other movies seem so much SMALLER by comparison to me now... no one does it big like Gainax!

THE GREEN HORNET

Already in theaters, I'll admit that I'm curious, but I have not heard good things, and quite frankly, the trailer has never really sold me... the movie looks schizophrenic; is this supposed to be a comedy, a superhero movie, both? I like Seth Rogan, but do I really want to see him as a bumbling superhero? And if he's not supposed to be bumbling, can I take him seriously as a superhero? It looks all over the place, a confusing mish-mash of various conflicting genres. Still... I am curious. I just wouldn't see it in theaters.

PREIST

Based on a Korean Manwhua that I've never read, but the art looks LOVELY, this looks equal parts pure BAD ASS and stupid as fuck. I imagine it'll be somewhere between ULTRAVIOLET and UNDERWORLD... a Post-Apocalypse monster filled psuedo-religious dystopia filled with cool visuals and hammy acting. Christopher Plumber being in it sort of makes me a little hopeful, but he's only got a very small part. Still, it's got awesome looking monsters, martial arts, and a cool Future/Western motif... there's no way I'm NOT going to watch this. My fear, though, is that it's going to be boring and self righteous, the way all Pseudo-Religious movies are... those both critical and non-critical of religion. At least it's not LEGION...

RED RIDING HOOD

Ok, this looks fucking BULLSHIT... which is why I'm assuming that it will become the biggest movie of 2011. It's a lot of stiff, stilted, performances from impossibly beautiful guys, and an "Look at me! I'm an Auteur!" production design (seriously, the first shot of the trailer with the red cape billowing against the bleak white landscape? What this someones student film?). You can totally tell that this was directed by the chick that did TWILIGHT, because it has all the same bullcrap, replacing acting with smoldering, plot with drama, and a strong female lead with a girl surrounded by guys fighting over her. This movie looks BALL SHRIVELLINGLY TERRIBLE. I'm sure it'll make a billion dollars.

BATTLE: LOS ANGELOS

Wow, they got that sequel to SKYLINE made pretty fast... No, seriously, I'll never understand how Hollywood can make the same movie almost concurrently. Still, is it wrong that I want to see this movie because it's got explosions, monsters, and Michelle Rodriguez, who I will watch in ANY movie? I didn't think so... so, despite the TERRIBLE title, I will see this at some point.

THE FIGHTER

I have a soft spot for boxing movies... I actually don't really care to watch the actual sport of boxing that much, but I love boxing movies... there's something so compelling about the human drama behind a boxer combined with the actual visceral combat element. I'm not a huge fan of Drama... I have little patience for watching just straight biopics because I need a little action in everything I see; boxing movies allow you to have the human drama and the action at the same time. Plus, Mark Wallberg is an actor I trust. He's not a great actor, and that isn't a diss because very few of today's actors are truly great, but he is a GOOD actor, and one of the only guys in Hollywood that seems to actually READ a script. He's made very few movies that I either didn't want to watch, or found to be shitty, so I'll generally see anything Mark Wallberg is in, because I'm assured that it'll probably be good. This actually looks excellent.

YOU HIGHNESS

I don't think I've ever wanted to see a movie MORE than this... this looks fucking AMAZING! James Franco always surprises me with his ability to be funny... there's a stigmatism against the super-handsome having a sense of humor, but James Franco defies expectations by being both super-handsome and super-funny. My favorite line, "... with MAGIC... Motherfucker!" Excellent. I am so excited about this!

I AM NUMBER 4

Ugh... what the fuck is this supposed to be about? The reason why movies where people try to make their own superhero franchise don't work, is because they're all inevitably crappy... like JUMPER for example. This movie looks almost BEAT for BEAT like JUMPER. Another 20-something playing a teenager, looking at his hands like, "Woah... I have powers!" Why are they always surprised they have powers? The worst part about this movie will be the shitty comic tie-in's that I'm predicting either IDW, BOOM, or DYNAMITE will inevitably publish now that WILDSTORM isn't around to do it. I'll probably see this turd eventually, because it has a guy with superpowers and I can't stop my compulsion to watch movies about guys with super powers (I'm in a group... it's being worked out), but I'm pretty sure that I'm going to get angry watching it. Michael Bay's involvement in a movie is never a good sign.

HEARTLESS

This actually looks sort of cool... it's almost like anime. A damaged kid alone against an enemy only he can see, killing cool looking monsters on the streets of London. If it wasn't for the whole "Selling His Soul For Good Looks" beat, I'd be totally on board for this. I really hate that beat... it's cheesy and compromises an otherwise cool character. I really like unconventional heroes; dudes who aren't the handsome, perfect, pretty boys. I like the knarled, scarred, dudes fighting at a deficit against impossible odds. Plus, really? A Birthmark makes him societies outcast? How shallow is London? That is the least hideous birthmark I've ever seen... I had a teacher with a birthmark that covered almost the whole side of his face so that he looked like the Phantom of the Opera, and he still managed to marry a rather attractive woman, and this kid is all like, "I will sell my SOUL to get rid of this minor imperfection!" That's a little far fetched.

THE MECHANIC

JASON STATHAM DELIVERS! This looks awesome... bad ass stunts, big explosions, and Jason Statham being a fucking bad ass. I'll watch just about any movie with Jason Statham in it, because he is Hollywoods last true action star, and unlike most action stars, he can actually sort of act. He's, like... the sensitive bad ass. Plus, I like Ben Foster. He's great at playing creepy guys, and has a cool voice. This movie looks cool, and I'll totally see it.

SUCKERPUNCH

It's embarrassing to admit that I sort of want to see this movie... Zack Snyder is one of those directors who is all surface; polished visuals, admittedly spectacular, with no substance underneath. The problem with that, though, is that he THINKS he's being really deep, much like James Cameron thought that AVATAR was really deep, and that's condescending. This movie REEKS of that... he's trying to present it like there's a deep philosophy here, when there really isn't... it's just an awesome looking psuedo-anime looking ALICE IN WONDERLAND action fetish film. And I wouldn't mind that if he wasn't acting like it was deep. Also... PLEASE get over the slow motion! Slow motion can look very cool when properly used, but he just uses it fucking EVERYWHERE. Dial it back, jackass, and then you'll have a very cool action-porno.

FAST FIVE

YES! Sorry... I have an unapologetic lust for the FAST AND THE FURIOUS franchise... but only the ones with Vin Diesel. I like Vin Diesel... like, as a person. He seems like he'd be a great guy to hang out with, plus he always delivers. This movie looks stupid and over the top, but I can accept that because Vin Diesel somehow manages to ground it. I'm SO fucking on board for this movie... my only complaint is NO MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ! You cannot believe how pissed off I was when they killed her in the last movie. I love you Michelle! ;_; On the other side; Vin Diesel? Paul Walker? THE FUCKING ROCK? If I was gay, I'd be blowing my load right now; that's some handome, burly, guys all in the same movie. ^_-

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 4: ON STRANGER TIDES

I'm actually excited about this. Although it had it's problems, taken together the first three movies make a decent trilogy, and I just enjoy Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow... it's great to watch a guy who's obviously having a great time acting. Plus... Geoffory Rush? Ian McShane? It's like an ACT OFF between my three favorite actors! Super excited about this.

THOR

THOR actually looks pretty sick. This trailer has been out for awhile, and there's been a lot of debate, but I'm pretty happy with what I'm seeing. The movie looks solid as fuck, hits all the right character points, and... that dude looks like you want Thor to look! Look at his fucking SUPERHERO ARMS! I haven't seen a single superhero movie where the guy actually had a He-Man chest and Superhero arms. Plus; Anthony Hopkins is always great, and he's always having a great time in movies like these. He'll make a good Odin. Overall, I'm excited. Can't say the same about...

GREEN LANTERN

I'll obviously watch this... I can't NOT watch it. I'm a huge nerd. But this trailer makes me worry. The colors are garish, the sets look fake, and, as much as I love Ryan Reynolds, I think he was woefully miscast... this sort of looks like GREEN HORNET (weird that the two GREEN movies would be so similar in their ball dropping...) in that it's a weird mish-mash of comic send-up of the genre, and serious superhero movie. It's a awkward, lumbering, looking affair... and seriously? Hector Hammond is the best villain they could find for the first movie? A creepy looking nerd with a huge head? I will say this though... Mark Strong looks AWESOME as Sinestro, who is also a much better villain. I'm not to excited about this...

ALIENS VS COWBOYS

I liked this movie when it was called OUTLANDER, and the cowboys were vikings. I have no idea what to think of this...

SUMMER WARS

I've already ordered the Blu Ray from AMAZON. It sort of looks like they took the plot to the second part of the DIGIMON movie and turned it into a full movie. I think it looks pretty sick. I'm looking forward to it.

Ok, that's it for now... we'll see what the rest of the year holds sometime in the summer!

Is Blu-Ray Worth It? My Cynicism Converted to Obsession.

2011-01-03T10:55:00.001-08:00

Well, it finally happened, after all my hatin' and denials and bold bluster on the matter; I got a Blu-Ray player.

When Blu-Ray was initially announced, I read the specs and articles about the new format war; HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray; and thought, "Oh, God, again? Didn't we just go through all of this with VHS vs DVD?" Every article arguing the merits of HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray also read like a thinly veiled obituary for the DVD format, to which I thought, "Ok, seriously, how much better could it be?"

When I got my first DVD player, during my second or third year of college, I was initially skeptical over whether DVD was even worth it, though I was more influenced by price point and the daunting task of having to replace my collection (I collect... EVERYTHING. It's part of why I have stopped playing video game, because it's just another thing for me to collect. I have very little impulse control and a collector mentality; these things do not mix well) of VHS movies on DVD than the technical aspects; it wasn't hard to convince me that DVD was indeed better, with it's digital picture, no longer vulnerable to wear and tear or cel-dirt, the ability to skip ahead or backward faster rather than awkwardly rewinding you tapes, and the inclusion of supplemental features such as making of featurettes and audio commentary tracks (I LOVE commentary tracks... when done right. Some people, like Robert Rodriguez, Guillermo Del Toro, or Kevin Smith know how to do commentary right, others not so much).

DVD was an easy sell, because it was inarguably better. They took up less room, looked better, and had added entertainment value to round out your entertainment experience; in short VHS just couldn't compete. The jump from VHS to DVD was a drastic step forward in terms of entertainment value. But DVD to HD-DVD or Blu-Ray? I just didn't see how they could significantly improve on what was already pretty much perfect.

In the end, HD-DVD was quickly subdued and then dismissed, much like the Beta-Deck from the long gone Beta/VHS wars of the first home video format wars of decades past, and Blu-Ray proved triumphant; but DVD still lingered. Once again, price point played a factor in creating a bias in me against Blu-Ray; it felt like I had only just made the jump to DVD, and invested a lot of time and money hunting for the best value on DVD (one of my favorite past times is hitting used CD/DVD stores looking for bargains, and I had gotten quite good at it), and now was expected to jump on yet ANOTHER new technology?

It had taken almost 20 years for DVD to slay the VHS dragon, but in less than a decade yet another new technology and format had come to replace DVD, and both the hardware and the discs were quite significantly more expensive. Not only that, but what did Blu-Ray actually offer, as a stop up from DVD? Slightly better picture quality? A questionable increase in supplemental content? I was skeptical.

Driving my skepticism further was what I'd seen of Blu-Ray on display in various electronic boutiques; I didn't like what I saw. Yes the picture was clearer, but something about it didn't look right to me. Blu-Ray seemed to expose all the imperfections of a film as much as enhance it; foreground elements looked separated from the background elements, like they had been matted in badly against a badly painted backdrop. Movement looked awkward and unnatural; things seemed to move to fast. The slightest jerk of the camera seemed grossly exaggerated and nausea inducing. This was especially pronounced in 3D-Animated movies, which looked like ham handed claymation to my discerning eyes.

"I don't like it," I told myself, "And I don't need it."

And that was the position I took for the past few years; much to the frustration of my media-buddy Jerry, who was one of the first converts. We'd argue back and forth, both siting the pros and cons as we saw them, trying to convince the other that his position was wrong, and finally agreeing to disagree, neither able to convert the other, and both too pig headed to concede the others point.

Until this Christmas that is.

I suppose you can actually owe my decision to get a Blu-Ray player to SCOTT PILGRIM; a movie that I already knew I'd want to get, but upon seeing how much more desirable the supplemental material that would grace the Blu-Ray release was, and having a hook-up from my good friend Kai Boysen, I bought the SCOTT PILGRIM Blu-Ray before even buying a Blu-Ray player. My reasoning was that I'd eventually have to get a Blu-Ray anyways, given that the studio's seemed to be working hard to phase DVD out of the market by making the DVD less desirable through the exclusion of certain features which are being made increasingly more exclusive to the Blu-Ray release; features such as commentary, or in the case of SCOTT PILGRIM, the coveted ADULT SWIM animated special.

With all that in mind, I decided that this would be the year to jump on; provided I could get a good enough boxing day deal. While prices have dropped, Blu-Ray players are still as overpriced as the actual Blu-Ray's, especially compared to the price point of their DVD predecessor. The average Blu-Ray, upon first release, is $29.99, as compared to the average $18.99-$19.99 DVD release; and sometimes even less than that, depending on the size of the movies Box Office. Admittedly, the best bang for your buck is to just buy a PS3, but I didn't have the money for that, and rumor has it that they are no longer backwards compatible with PS2 games; the only games I own.

The decision was taken out of my hand at any rate; my parents bought me one for Christmas; lovely people that they are, and tough son I am to shop for.

So, finally equipped with a Blu Ray player, and Boxing Day deals impending, I watched my first Blu Ray, SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD... and it was... gorgeous.

Apparently, the reason why Blu-Ray's look so choppy and unnatural in stores is because Electronic Stores boost the frame rate on the display TV's up to showcase HD-Sports, which is filmed at a higher frame rate. This causes the picture to look awkward and unnaturally jerky. On my own home theater set-up, set to factory standards, I didn't have this problem.

The image was crisp and clear; the colors vibrant, the blacks deep, the detail sharp, the audio thunderous. Even the theater print didn't look as good as what was playing on my 46" Sony Bravia. I was... enraptured.

Now convinced of just how much better Blu-Ray looked as compared to DVD, I did other tests; how did DVD look on my Blu-Ray player? Depending on the source, DVD looks much better on the Blu-Ray player, which automatically up-converts the digital information to 1080p. If it's a crappy encode; it looks crappier on Blu-Ray; if it's a solid encode, it looks almost indistinguishable from a distance... the aliasing is only noticeable if you get close to your screen, or look at it from an extreme angle. Some movies look noticeably better on Blu-Ray as compared to it'd DVD counterpart... others not so much.

I, personally, have found that 3D animate films look infinitely better on Blu-Ray, especially the newer films, which are made with HD in mind, and animated films look infinitely crisper and more vibrant on Blu-Ray, though this also depends on their age; older films still suffer from cel-dirt that would require a massive digital enhancement process to get rid of.

I find that Blu-Ray only really serves a purpose for movies that are about visual spectacle; dramas and comedies aren't really shot with an eye for visual stimulation. Action movies, science fiction/fantasy, and special effects blockbusters, all benefit immensely from the improved picture and sound.

The only sticking point with me is the supplementals. While most newer Blu-Rays have more and better or at least exclusive supplemental content, a lot of the earlier releases had next to none; and in some cases the DVD release was actually better than the Blu-Ray (the first two SPIDER-MAN movies, the entire BLADE Trilogy, and the FIFTH ELEMENT, to name a few), which seems to pretty much defeat the purpose of converting to Blu-Ray if you can't even get rid of your bulky, outdated, DVD's.

So, throughout this Boxing Week, I've been making tough decisions on what DVD's are actually worth replacing on Blu-Ray. The fact that most of the Boxing Day sales were so insanely cheap this year made those decisions a little easier, but I could play that game aaaaaaaaaall day really, which is a dangerous thing to me. At this point, I've managed to replace the majority of my comic based movies (SPIDER-MAN, IRON MAN, BATMAN BEGINS and DARK KNIGHT, etc), and some of my favorite big franchise movies (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, MATRIX, RESIDENT EVIL, LORD OF THE RINGS, and UNDERWORLD), as well as some personal favorites (DARK CITY, DONNIE DARKO, DISTRICT 9, SHERLOCK HOLMES). But, like I said... I could play that game all day. My intent is try turn my focus, now,to new releases that I deem worthwhile to own on Blu-Ray (TRON LEGACY and TRUE GRIT for example; both gorgeous movies in their own, much different, ways).

So, in the end, is Blu-Ray better? Yes, but not significantly in a lot of cases. DVD still looks pretty good, and only newer Blu-Rays actually have better supplemental material. The other sticky wicket is that Blu-Rays are already set to be replaced by... well nothing; by which I mean, that physical media is already set to go the way of the Dinosaurs within the next few years at the very least as digital content is looming on the horizon, set to take it's place. Within less time than it took for Blu-Ray to replace DVD, digital media will replace Blu-Ray, and instead of filling bookcases with discs, you'll be filling hard drives or streaming media.

I suggest that if you don't own a PS3, you not just wait it out a few years and skip Blu-Ray all together. While Blu-Ray is definitely better than DVD, it will not last nearly as long before it is in turn replaced.

I'm hoping it'll be the last thing I have to collect. -_-

An Anecdote From my 2010 Trip to Japan.

2011-01-02T07:49:00.000-08:00

I originally wrote this as a response to a blog post, but decided to transcribe it here, as it's pretty lengthy, and most people I know probably haven't heard this story. Also, I need to start blogging again.

I went to Japan for the first time this year, and suffered from some minor culture crash and depression about 4 or 5 days in. My problem was that I couldn’t engage anyone; people could have given less of a fuck about me in Japan than anywhere else I’ve ever been in the world. Not even just because I was white, but as a human being in general. No eye contact, if someone bumped into me, I’d get the stink eye, even though it was them who bumped into me, and even though I’d apologize. I’ve never felt smaller and more insignificant and less a part of the human race than that fourth day in Japan, alone in Akihabara. Everyone and everything seemed dense and impenetrable, and that dealing with me was a chore no one wanted.

Then, one night, I went out with some friends to another district to drink. We were staying in Shinjuku but went somewhere else… I can’t remember where, but it was a few stops on the JR Line, at the behest of our host, my friend Jim's business acquaintance who had been living and working in Japan for awhile and was basically fluent. We went to an Izakaya, then a bar, and had a few drinks. I’m not a big drinker, so I didn’t get so wasted as to have my judgment impaired.

My two friends and I made our way back to the JR Line, hoping to catch the last train, which pulled up just as we got on the platform. Now, at this point, we’d only ever used the JR Line during the day, and mostly during business hours or after rush hour, so we’d become comfortable with being able to get on the trains; the horror stories we’d heard about overcrowding were a myth to us at that point. This was our first encounter with the terrifying lack of personal space that the Japanese put up with on a daily basis.

The doors opened, and no one got out. A Thousand thousand eyes peered back suspicious and full of contempt. My one friend, Wheeler, had no patience for 'Last Train Shenanigans' that night, just jumped on like some kind of rabid rugby player, pushing his way into the packed in crowd of late night commuters. My other friend, Jim, usually pretty reserved, just shrugged, mumbled, “Holy shit…” and followed. When both of them had been swallowed up by the displeased mass of the crowd, I hesitated and panicked; people were shaking their heads at me. This was the first time anyone had made any effort to communicate with me, in any small way, and it was, “You are not welcome here.”

I had been self conscious about being overbearing and what I assumed the Japanese would consider to be ‘Typically North American’ while in Japan, and overcompensated by trying to be more polite than my tragically Canadian sensibilities usually made me. So I ran. I ran as fast as I could down the platform, looking for an ‘In.” Every train was full, and every door had people looking at me with that same mix of suspicion and content, shaking their heads. The chime sounded, and the doors began to close. I made my decision to stop being polite too late, and jumped, only to bounce off the door.

“FUCK!” I shouted as the train left, a little panicked and unsure of what I could do. The cell phone I’d rented had lost it’s charge, as I’d made no phone calls up to this point and the battery seemed to hold a charge longer than I was used too, so I’d forgotten to check it before I left. A $200 dollar taxi ride to a location I wasn’t sure of the exact address of, was not how I’d hoped to spend my night. I began making plans to keep myself awake until the trains started running again, whenever that was, or possible attempt to walk it, having made sure to bring a map and compass with me wherever I went, though that seemed unrealistic and dangerous.

“That was the last express train. Why don’t you take the regular line? That’s what I’m going to do,” came a small, obviously female voice.

At first I wasn’t really sure that I’d actually heard that; I had been drinking, but I was in complete control of my facilities, so, though shocked, I turned around and confirmed that it was indeed someone speaking to me, which I was now unused too at this point… at least when I wasn’t around my friends.

Somehow I had managed to be stuck on this platform with the only English speaking native I’d encountered up to this point in Japan; a cute, slight, fashionable girl, somewhere in her twenties, but probably younger than I was (being a few months from turning 30 myself), who had responded to my universal cry for help.

Things blur a bit after that; we talked a bit, while making our way to the other platform, and waiting for the train, and I may have been a little to enthusiastic about having a conversation… not just with an attractive woman, but with ANYONE. I think I mostly spun some bullshit about the differences in the TTC (Toronto’s frankly horrible public transit) and the clean efficiency of the JR, my loneliness and the inaccessibility of the Japanese people, my surprise to meet someone who could speak fluent English. She listened politely, and tried to reassure me that Japanese people weren’t as cold and inaccessible as I thought, without presenting any evidence to the contrary other than herself.

Eventually the train arrived, and I took point, no longer concerned with being polite. People shook their heads again, and I just nodded back, “Oh, YES,” and jump on, making room for my Platform Savior. We became separated by a few people, but were still close enough to talk, though it was awkward with so many people around. We parted ways at Shinjuku, as she was going much further than I was. I bid her farewell, and thanked her again, as the doors closed.

Standing there on the more familiar Shinjuku platform as the train sped away, I was suddenly struck by what a stupid fuck I was, as I’d never gotten her name, nor given mine, nor made the point of asking for her number or e-mail, as it had seemed gauche at the time. In retrospect, it was probably the stupidest moment of my life.

“FUCK.”

My Japan Game is WHACK, dawg.

JUSTIFIED: A Good Excuse to Watch Timothy Olephant Being Generally Awesome...

2010-08-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

I don't have cable. That seems to shock a lot of people, but over the last few years, my viewing habits have changed; I'm just to busy to keep to TV's immutable schedule, and beyond that... there is just not that much I want to watch anymore. Most of what's on Television fails to do the only two things I require of it: interest me, or entertain me. Thankfully I have doting parents with a PVR and a DVD recorder, so I can request the very few things that do succeed in accomplishing one or both of those goals.

Which brings me to JUSTIFIED, an FX original series showcasing one of my favorite actors doing what he does best; playing the baddest Sheriff in a bad town!

JUSTIFIED follows the life of Raylan Givens, a US Marshall who is forced to return to his hometown of Harlan, Kentucky, after he kills a drug dealer, in what he describes as a 'Justified' shooting in Florida. Returning to Harlan seriously complicates Deputy Marshall Given's life as he worked really hard to get OUT of Harlan, and away from his past, which inevitably comes back to haunt him.

Now, while I enjoy the show, it's not high art; but neither is it aspiring to be. This isn't DEADWOOD or THE SOPRANOS. There's not much subtext to the show, nor does it aspire to impart some sort of wisdom or message through an overarching theme. Quite frankly, the only thing that separates this from it's formulaic Network equivalent, is better writing, acting, and the well timed use of my two favorite words; 'shit' and 'fuck.' JUSTIFIED is a mostly by the book police procedural; every week there is some kind of crime, which Marshall Given's investigates, and solves by the end of the episode. No, JUSTIFIED isn't aspiring to be high art; it's aspiring to be a solidly entertaining and compelling television drama.

Unlike most Network police procedurals, though, there is continuity and subplots that career through each episode, and a over arching plot that is followed through on throughout the season, involving a family that is basically a redneck mafia, who, despite their lowbrow command of the English language and stereotypically hillbilly-ish appearance, are experts at squeaking by the law.

The show is set in the deep South, but unlike most things set in the south by a Southern creator, there is no romanticism, of good ol' boys playing banjo's on the porch and tipping their hats as the Southern Belle's sashay on by. Harlan County is portrayed as something of a crime ridden cesspool; a powder keg ready to explode as races, religions, and feuding families clash and confront each other. White Power pricks spout off about blowing up Synagogues, and how their favorite past time is beating up any person of color that they come in contact with. One of the shows recurring 'villain's' goes to jail and 'finds the Lord', only to use the Word to justify his criminal activities and build a cult of loyal followers around himself as he makes moves to take over his Father's lucrative drug trade, and possibly rape his dead brother's widow. The bad guys are bad, and there's plenty of them to go around in Harlan County. Which is why I think the show works so well for me.

JUSTIFIED, to me, is basically an attempt to modernize the classic Western paradigm and bring it to the 20th Century. It's morality is mostly black and white; there's no mistaking your white hats from your black hats, and they carry on the tradition of the family of criminals that seek revenge on the Sheriff that stands as the only law in town. Raylen Given's justice, from his perspective, is just as clear cut; he'll never shot a man in cold blood, but he has no problem out-drawing any sonbitch that draws on him first, and will sleep just as soundly at night.

That's not to say that show is entirely clear cut, black and white though; which is were the modernization of the Western paradigm comes in. In our modern, gray shaded world, there's no room for a man whose morality is so clearly defined as good VS bad; there are consequences for even a so called 'justified' shooting, and it's also unclear as to just HOW justified Raylen was.

Raylan Given's is a complex and textured character. Calm and collected on the surface, superficially he comes across as a man of unwavering moral fiber, and a clear and concise code of conduct, who follows the letter of the law. But underneath that upright exterior is a boiling cauldron of repressed rage. As his past is slowly revealed, you begin to realize that his motivations in becoming a US Marshall are probably not entirely pure, but rather borne out of spite and petty hatred for his career criminal of a Father, and his apparent disdain for his own perceived destiny to follow in those footsteps.

Timothy Olephant is quite masterful at playing this kind of character; Raylan Given's could almost be considered a descendant of Seth Bullock, his breakthrough character from DEADWOOD (still my favorite TV show of all time, even after FIVE viewings). His instincts are fantastic, and he manages to be both charming and frightening on cue. Raylan Given's is a conflicted and sometimes violent man, who often loses patience with the very system he professes to believe in, often taking the Law into his own hands, bypassing the proper channels to threaten, bully, and beat anyone that crosses him or his, while struggling against the Authority that he serves. His judgment, while often logical and concise, is fallible, and easily compromised by his emotions.

Despite all his various failings, though, Marshall Given's is not an unsympathetic or unlikable character. He's charming, quick witted, and funny (I enjoy those Southern expressions, like a retard farting in a bathtub, I do!). He has an utter disdain for any sort of racial or religious intolerance, or any other kind of general ignorance, and is often frustrated by the ignorance of the people in his hometown, but at the same time, sympathetic, as he knows how easy it is to be trapped by that same blissful ignorance in a small town.

JUSTIFIED isn't the greatest thing to ever be on TV, but it far better than most of the crap that gets on the air, and, really, it's mostly just a vehicle for a good actor and rising star to do what he does best. You're really just watching the show to watch Timothy Olephant be a Southern Bad-Ass, because he's so damned GOOD at it, and, frankly, that's all you can really ask for.

JUSTIFIED is smart, well produced, entertainment, starring one of my favorite actors, doing what he does best; keeping me interested and entertained.

OPEN LETTER TO MAE WHITMAN.

2010-08-06T21:47:00.000-07:00

Just throwing this out there because I'd feel like an asshole if I didn't at least attempt to express my thanks.

---

To: Mae Whitman

Re: Thank you for the (indirect) Autograph and Note

My cool gay friend Chris, upon who Scott Pilgrim's cool gay friend Wallace is the basis, got your autograph for me today, and that was super cool. If this digital message in a bottle ever finds it's way to you, I really and truly appreciate it, as it is now the coolest scrap of paper I own, and I'd never have asked you myself, because I can't bring myself to bother people.

Thanks for being super cool!

Derek Halliday

---

If Lady Ga-Ga is right, every celebrity Google's themselves at least once, so...

GO INTERNET! Work your astounding scientific nonsense and deliver my message in some ludicrously roundabout way.

SCOTT PILGRIM vs THE WORLD: The Muthafucking Trailer, Bitches.

2010-03-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

I'm going to have to clean my apartment this weekend, after having exploded my nerd-wad all over it, HA HA HA!

Seriously though, after, like, two years of anticipation, and months of wondering when the fuck a trailer would come out, this TOTALLY exceeded my expectations... well, at least visually. As a trailer, I feel like this was more of a teaser trailer and didn't really give you much information on what the movie is actually about beyond the premise; but it does promise spectacular fights, romance, comedy, and just shit that you've ever seen before in a movie. There are some great sight gags in the trailer (the "Get's-It" meter is my favorite), that really seem in keeping with the spirit of the book. I had no idea what Edgar Wright's concept for this movie was going to be, much less how he'd pull it off, but I did know that he would be the guy to do it. This is beyond promising.

Cast looks good... May Whitman is well cast; excited about that. I wasn't feeling Micheal Cera before... I like him, but I've never seen him play a dude with confidence, however misplaced, but now I just look like an asshole; he kills it up in this trailer. The dude stepped up.

Overall... I'm stoked. Ravenous with anticipation and my characteristic impatience. Fuck does August seem a long ways away...

PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA: When Did We Become so Cynical?

2010-03-08T19:56:00.001-08:00

Through a series of events I don't need to go into, I ended up seeing Miyazaki's newest movie twice in the same month, and now own the DVD... which is a given since I love Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki-Sensei's in particular.

So what to say about PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA...

Well, first off, I greatly enjoyed the film; I can't say it's my favorite film Hyao Miyazaki has directed, but, then, this film wasn't FOR me; which I guess is why I'm a little taken aback by the reception it got among the people I've talked to who have seen it (except for Chris Butcher, who knows how to watch him some children's movies!).

PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA is one of the only movies I've seen in recent memory that is explicitly for children. I mean, like, pre-school to grade 4. That's not to say it's pandering, or talking down, or without substance; I find it's themes of social and ecological responsibility to be as relevant and subtextural as any other Miyazaki movie; maybe even a little less obvious than past movies, which really hit you over the head with the enviromental issues, while PONYO chooses to comment without preaching or lingering.

So what is it that brings the cynic out in the Miyazaki loving adults that watch this movie? I believe that it's because it's a film without any direct conflict. While the stakes may be high, there's no real sense of threat or menace, nor even a real villain in the movie. In fact, most all of the characters are charming and likable; even the most unlikeable character, PONYO'S father, Fujimoto, is still a very sympathetic character (frankly, he's my favorite in the movie, what with his Tezuka style nose, and big, crazy, Tim Burton-esque red hair, and Doctor Suess-ish machines and absurdity about him... I'd actually love to see a spin-off prequel with just him); a doting father trying to keep his daughter innocent and pure, filled with the anxiety that all fathers have of their daughters growing up before they are ready to let go. He doesn't particularly stand in the way of Ponyo's happiness, or do anything menacing, thus he's only really a villain in that he's the only character in the movie who has any sort of sense of the danger they're in.

Even with the world covered in water, there's no sense of "this is it... the end of the world!' There's no sign of chaos or death; not even any worry of drowning, as the magic of Fujimoto and Ponyo's mother protect anyone beneath the sea, so while there is a threat, there's no real sense of urgency or danger (except for a bit of comical flailing around from Fujimoto, who seems to be taking everything way to seriously by comparison).

No, there's no conflict in this movie, because it's a movie created for children and from a child's perspective, which doesn't play well in the cynical world of adulthood. Which is something I didn't get upon exiting the theater... because I didn't watch it as an adult, I watched it as a child.

I believe it's important to put yourself into the mode best suited for watching the movie. Be aware of what the target audience is, otherwise your expectations will be counterproductive to the experience of the movie. I don't go into watching HOW HIGH or BLACK DYNAMITE expecting high art, and I don't go into THERE WILL BE BLOOD or NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN expecting car chases and explosions.

And from that perspective, I was drawn into the movie the same way I'd want to be if I was still a child, and in that respect, the movie made sense to me. A world filled with water wouldn't worry a child; they'd find it fasinating, they'd see the adventure in it. But, on the flip side, the things that a child would find scary are things like long, dark, tunnels, and not knowing where your mother is; the prospect of being left alone for the first time, with all the expectations of adulthood resting on your tiny shoulders. Children aren't cynical or world weary; they accept everything as truth, without questioning; such as how a fish could become a girl, or a toy boat could become a ship.

PONYO is a movie for children told from the perspective of children, and is successful at both; a beautiful little story that, yes, is without conflict, but is also without cynicism.

UWE BOLL: Untalented Badass Living in Richmond Hill...

2010-03-08T06:33:00.000-08:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uwe_Boll

I don't know why I decided to see what Wikipedia had to say about universally despised German genre-hack director Uwe Boll, but while his movies mostly leave a sour, acidic, chunky, vomity taste in my mouth, I have a new respect for the guy; he's got BALLS. You've got to appreciate any dude that calls out Micheal Bay and Eli Roth for being 'fucking retards' (truer words have never been spoken), and George Clooney for being boring (Hey, I like the dude too... but he has made a lot of boring bullshit lately); but to go beyond that an actually challenge your most aggressive critics to a series of back to back boxing matches, and then ACTUALLY fight them, and WIN... that's the baddest shit I've ever heard! Maybe this is just another case of me taking the side of the underdog... but I appreciate any guy that does shit his way, without compromise, and doesn't take shit from anyone. The dude's got balls, and lives up the street from me (apparently).

That still doesn't excuse this though:

This was truly, one of the shittiest movies I've ever seen... before any of the movies that followed it. ^_^;;;

If only the dudes talent matched his balls... then he might be the genius he claims (without irony) to be...

FEBRUARY ANIMATION EXPLOSION: Four Quick Reviews

2010-03-05T18:13:00.000-08:00

Remember that post I made about stuff I was excited about getting in February? Well, it's March now, and I've purchased all the animated tie-in material I wanted, one week at a time, and here's my thoughts on each of them.

PLANET HULK (2-Disc)

MARVEL has recently upped their game in terms of media tie-ins, but still have a ways to go before they catch up with DC's animated tie-ins in terms of overall quality and nerd-satisfaction. WOLVERINE/HULK/THOR was definately much closer to achieving that than PLANET HULK was.

PLANET HULK is a 90 minute long adaptation of the recent, popular (and quite excellent), HULK story-arc wherein the Green Goliath is exiled by a cabal of Earth's into deep space, as he's become to dangerously unstable and violent to be allowed on Earth anymore. While in transit, the Hulk, predictably, loses his shit, and wrecks up the joint, inadvertently sending himself hurtling out of control into a weird wormhole which dumps him headlong into Gladitorial adventure on the savage alien planet of Sakaar, in a far distant galaxy.

This story-arc is actually some great fodder for a stand-alone animation project, as it's nicely self-contained and seperated from any other licensed properties, as well as being a nice departure from your usual 'Hulk wanders into town, gets mad, fights big monster' story. It's Hulk out of context and in a new and exotic setting; a weird alien planet filled with cool looking monsters, robots, and aliens, political turmoil, and moral and ethical conundrums. It's a planet where Hulk can thrive; here he's not just a monster, because there are things worse than he is. Here is anger is righteous, and his strength revered. This is Hulk as a hero.

PLANET HULK is for the most part a successful adaptation, hitting all the beats of the source material, while streamlining the plot to fit more smoothly into a 90-minute format. There's lots of action and characterization, as well as few cameo's from some obscure MARVEL characters if you know who you're looking for; but still somehow just doesn't quite make it.

That animation is good, coming from MADHOUSE (yes, the anime MADHOUSE of VAMPIRE HUNTER D: BLOODLUST fame, among others), but somehow doesn't seems nearly as good as it should be coming from a Japanese studio; especially when compared with how good their work on WOLVERINE vs HULK was. There are spots of truly excellent animation, and other spots where it just looks... lacking in some way. Overall art direction is great; it has a good pallete and some great background designs, and the character designs are slick looking, but sometimes seem flat or awkward (Korg and the other Stone Men of Saturn especially), and while Hulk looks like Hulk at the beginning of the movie, I'm not sure how I feel about a 'pretty' Hulk... mostly because of the lost of mass. He's less... hulking by the end of the movie (this was a conscious choice by the director and the designer, and their reasoning is sound, but it doesn't quite work).

There's also something insincere about the story as adapted; one of the elements that really played well with me while reading PLANET HULK was element of mythology; there was a sort of poetic and grandious feel to the story that's lacking in it's adaptation. Here Hulk is just a hero; in the comic he was a savior, myth come to life. I feel like this still could have been achieved, even in this steamlined format, but wasn't in favor of 'playing it safe.' A little more daring and this could have been really great.

Overall, it's hard to criticize PLANET HULK; it was well animated, looked good, and entertained me; but given that it was adapting a specific source material, I can't help but compare the two and find the animated version wanting. PLANET HULK was good but not great, and it could have been.

In terms of extra's in the 2-Disc special edition, it's loaded; two informative, if somewhat self congratulatory, commentaries, a fairly comprehensive 'Making Of', which gives everyone their fair share of credit (even the opening credits designers, which I found the most interesting part, because I never really knew that they outsourced those kinds of things to outside sources, nor the work that goes into making them), and a nice little feature about the source material, highlighting the work of Greg Pak and Aaron Lopesti, and exploring the themes of the story. As an added bonus, there was also, like, five minutes of MARVEL's next animated project, THOR: TALES OF ASGARD, which is about a young, wreckless, teenage Thor and Loki on their first adventure, which looks like it could be a pretty good original story (though I can't say the animation or designs grabbed me... they look like the same sort of crappy North American animation they've done in the past...). Overall, the 2-DISC is definitely worth it.

DANTE'S INFERNO

I didn't actually know anything about this when I saw it; I don't have a PS3 or an X-BOX 360, so I don't really follow games to closely, but the trailer looked good and I've always been interested in Dante Alighieri's DIVINE COMEDY, though this doesn't really have much to do with the poems except in name and theme.

DANTE'S INFERNO is based on the game of the same name, which is about Dante Alighieri (named for the poem's writer) returning home from the Crusade's only to find his family horribly murdered, and his finance, Beatrice, slain. Cradling her cold corpse, he spirit rises before him, and asks if he has kept his promise of fidelity, to which Dante responds, "Yes." A black shade rises from the ground and proclaims Dante a liar, claiming Beatrice as his own, and dragging her pure spirit into the depths of Hell. Dante pursues the shade to the very gates of Hell, breaking the doors down while proclaiming his innocence, only to be marked as a sinner, the tapestry of his sins sown into his chest as he gives chase, determined to free Beatrice from the horrible fate he's condemned her pure spirit too.

DANTE'S INFERNO is done in an ANIMATRIX style, utilizing five different directors, but unlike the ANIMATRIX, which allowed the directors free license within self contained stories, DANTE'S INFERNO is a single narrative; which is actually the biggest problem with the film. There are 9 circles in the Inferno (five for self indulgent sins, two for violent sins, and two for malicious sins) and five directors... so there's no real logic to how the animation chores were broken up, and each director is given free reign with how they portray the design and look of their part, so while part of a single story, the change of style from each director is jarring, and the models never the same. I would find this acceptable if there had been 9 directors, one for each circle of Hell Dante conquers, with each circle having it's own distinct look, and Dante changing to match that between circles (sort of like the IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASIS), but that's not the case.

Still, despite that, each director brings their A-game, and the movie overall looks great; some parts stand out more than others (the opening, done by Film Roman, is the weakest of the entire movie... I have no idea why North American animators are just not good at this kind of extreme and adult content), but the highlight for me, personally, was the final part done by one of my favorite Japanese animation directors, Yasuomi Umetsu (CASSHERN, KITE, MEZZO FORTE, HURRICANE POLYMAR, GOTCHAMAN, etc). There's a wide range of styles, and a high level of polish to the animation.

The story is actually pretty compelling and explicitly adult; no punches here pulled here. It's violent, and bloody, and has some pretty explicit sex. I think this actually takes a lot of influence from BERSERK, either directly or indirectly, as it is uncompromising in it's vision of horrible violence and emotional trauma, as Dante tries to murder his way to redemption, and is forced to confront his sins, and the sins of others. His life is a tapestry of abuse, trauma, and mistakes, and by confronting his past, he is forced to reconsider his faith and the meaning of faith and the will of God; Dante is a deeply flawed person, and hardly a noble character; the more that is revealed about his actions during the Crusades, all done under the belief that he has been exempted from sin by the Church; the more he comes to understand his own evil nature, and that sins committed in the name of God are sins against God. This is all handled in a way so as not to come across as preachy; Dante's fight for redemption is a harsh critique of the hypocrisy of organized religion, and a a more personal examination of the nature of good and evil, which is some pretty deep territory for an animated, monster killing, tit filled bloodbath. ^_^

Overall, while the choice to divide the film randomly between five different directors with vastly different styles of design and direction may be... confounding... the overall product is polished, entertaining, and surprisingly engaging. There are certain elements brought in from the game that seems out of place (such as Dante's ability to absolve the sins of those trapped in hell, which serves no real purpose, and sort of comes out of nowhere...), but overall it's fairly intelligent and has surprising depth, once you get past all the super awesome decapitations and tits.

There are no extras to speak of, which is disappointing, but overall worth watching, at least, if not worth owning.

HALO LEGENDS (2-Disc)

I've only ever played HALO once, and while it was fun, I didn't really see the point in playing it single player; the fun of the game seemed to be the co-op aspect, and driving around in cool vehicles, DUKES OF HAZARD style, while shooting the fuck out of goofy looking aliens. I didn't even realize that there was any more to the HALO mythology than 'Guys in Armor kill aliens on Weird Ring shaped things.' Guess I was wrong...

HALO LEGENDS is another ANIMATRIX style tie-in project, giving seven directors a chance to play around in the HALO mythology. That's not to say they have free reign though; the studio behind the games has a very tight hold on the franchise, and supervised the project very closely, and wrote all the stories; eight in all.

There's the typical ORIGINS story, done in two parts, and actually done by the same director as the ANIMATRIX SECOND RENAISSANCE, which was very similar in theme. It's a basic, chronological rundown of the HALO mythos from beginning to end, narrated by the AI unit Cortana, to a cryogenically frozen Master Chief. Visually, it takes a lot of influence from Moebius, and is gorgeous, if a little dry.

Next up is THE DUEL, which is directed by Mamoru Oshii (of GHOST IN THE SHELL fame), and is the most visually... confusing of the shorts. It's a weird blend of 3D animation with a filter on it to make it look like a moving watercolor painting that just doesn't quite work; it's over done and the colors are all too close together to tell what's going on; in the end it seems like failed experiment with a new technology that just wasn't far enough along. The story is also a little bizarre, as it's basically Oshii trying to do Musashi Miyamoto with aliens. It's an interest experiment overall, but I don't think it quite works; you can skip this.

Following that is HOMECOMING, about the secret horrors behind the training and creation of the Spartans, as a female Spartan reminisces about her past, and her encounter with 'herself', when she tries to return home. The animation is nice, but the designs are out of place, and while the premise is pretty dark and engaging, it's all plays out pretty dry. Not bad, but not one of my favorites.

What follows IS my favorite, though, and I sort of wish they'd done more stuff like this... hell, I'd rather just see a whole movie about this; ODD MAN OUT is the only short on the DVD that really has any sort of fun with the HALO mythos, taking it out of context for a moment, and basically asking, "What if HALO was DRAGONBALL?" It probably helps that it has the same animation director and character designer, united again for the first time in 15 to 20 years. I think this is the only short where they were given free license to do whatever they wanted with it, and they made it count in spades! Just great, goofy, fun, some great designs and animation, and some awesome action; my favorite on the DVD. I'd love to see more of Spartan 1337 (heh... Leet...), but probably won't.

PROTOTYPE takes you back to more serious ground, and is probably my second favorite of the shorts; a pretty dark and serious story that highlights the human infantry rather than the genetically engineered Spartans, and the horrors and inhumanity of war, and the numbness of Full Metal training, while still providing some extraordinarily cool action, and introducing powered armor to the Halo mythology. This is probably one of the more visually spectacular of the shorts, and really shows why the Japanese are the best at this kind of shit.

BABYSITTER is a nice piece of fluff... it's just a cool little story about a day in the life of the ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Troopers) HELLJUMPERS, as they are assigned to provide backup to a Spartan sniper on an important mission in hostile territory. Really nice animation and art direction, and an ok story, that I wish they'd had a little more time to tell; there's a great twist at the end which doesn't really get enough play to really hit home the message, but what can you do, when you've only really got 10-15 minutes?

The last short is directed by Legendary level player (that's right; his old ass is THAT GOOD AT HALO) Shinji Aramaki (MACROSS, APPLESEED, VEXILE, among other things), and done with his new signature style of 3D animation... and is probably my least favorite of the bunch. I don't like the look of the 3D, the mo-cap is stiff and awkward, and there's no story to speak of... just it's an over the top, and rather pointless, 10 minutes of inexplicable action; boring and hard to look at, it adds nothing to the DVD.

Overall, I think this was a pretty successful way to introduce people to the franchise (and I actually think this was more aimed at expanding the brand into the Japanese market, where HALO has yet to catch on, and we just got lucky to that there's a market for this DVD here), as I'm now more interested in HALO than I was before, and a cool little DVD. It's loaded with extras; a chronological recap of the games, narrated by the various writers, artists, and producers of the games, a comprehensive 'Making Of' for each short, as well as commentary on every short. A must have if you're already a fan of HALO, and worth having if you just like sci-fi and animation.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS (2-Disc)

The latest in DC's series of straight-to-DVD nerd oriented tie-ins, this showcases just how good have gotten at this over the course of almost 20 years. Seriously, you just can't beat WARNER BROS. at animated adaptations of their licensed properties.

I generally like all of these as a given (though SUPERMAN: DOOMSDAY could have been better...), but CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS was probably one of the better ones. It borrows a LOT (almost everything) from Grant Morrison's EARTH 2 graphic novel, but writer Dwayne McDuffie puts his own spin on it, for better or worse (a straight adaptation would have been interesting to see, but definately would have flirted with a hard R rating, which I'm pretty sure is a place they're not ready to go), re-envisioning the Crime Syndicate as Super Mobsters, which is pretty fun and lends them some character beyond baseline 'super-evil.' He also manages to raise the stakes about as high as you can go by putting ALL REALITY, PARALLEL OR OTHERWISE IN DANGER. That's really saying something!

Basically, there's a parallel Earth where the roles of good and evil are reverse; heroes are villains, and villains are heroes. The Lex Luthor of this reality recruits the Justice League to help him free his Earth from the facistic grip of their evil counterparts, the Crime Syndicate; little knowing that Batman's doppleganger, Owl Man, is the ultimate nhilist; having meditated on the nature of Quantum Theory, that every decision every made creates a parallel reality in which the opposite decision plays out, free will is an illusion and life has no meaning... so there is only one choice that has any meaning; the choice to collapse all probability into one definite solution; the end of all existance, in all realities.

My only real problem with this, and in fact, most all of the DC animated stuff, is Andrea Romano's voice direction. She's just not a good voice director, and I don't know why people think she is... everything she works on sounds stiff, lifeless, and matter-of-factly unless the actor themselves brings something to the role; and when you chose to cast fucking Billy Baldwin as Batman, you know he's not bringing much to the role (WORST... BATMAN... EVER!!!), so you need something to poke and prod and performance out of him, while James Woods as Owl Man, just brings it, because he's a fucking amazing voice actor and gets who to bring that guy to life, while everyone else always sounds so fucking dry.

My other problem with the DVD is how lame the extra's are getting; no commentary, no making of; just a bunch of past promotional video's that I've seen before, and have been rehashed on other DVD's, a digital copy that no one uses, and random episodes of JUSTICE LEAGUE that I already own. The only worthwhile extra's on here are a promo for the next DVD, BATMAN: BEHIND THE RED HOOD (which doesn't actually show much... just a few rough layouts and storyboards), and a DC SHOWCASE: THE SPECTRE short.

THE SPECTRE short is written by Steve Niles (30 DAYS OF NIGHT fame), and while I'm not a fan, this was actually pretty fun, and a fresh take on a character I've always liked. It's the Spectre done as a short grindhouse movie about a ghostly vigilante who visits grisly, ironic, justice on Hollywoods sinners. The faked film grain and scratches are a nice touch that adds character to an otherwise pretty straightforward story. Some really slick animation and designs make this a pretty outstanding extra, and I hope to see more of these to help grow the brand with other obscure characters (Bwana Beast? Congrilla? Ragman? I can dream, can't I?).

Overall, another slick, high quality animated feature from DC, but not really worth the 2-Disc, except for the SPECTRE.

STARGATE UNIVERSE: The First Time I've Ever Liked STARGATE...

2010-03-01T16:52:00.001-08:00

I just started watching STARGATE UNIVERSE, after having seen the first half of the first season on DVD really cheap at BMV, and... it's actually surprisingly good... sort of like BATTLESTAR GALACTICA before they dropped the ball. Lots of hard science and conflicting personalities, plus it's just a gorgeous looking show. The art direction and effects are fantastic. The cast is pretty good too; Robert Carlyle is fucking amazing!

This is the first time I've ever liked anything involving STARGATE. I barely remember the first movie; I watched it when I was in highschool, but I've always sort of found everything involving STARGATE sort of disappointing on some level; like it was lacking something. I think it's the whole thing with the aliens using human bodies... I hate human aliens. It's part of why I can't watch any STAR TREK after the original. There's something so bullshit about cheating the aliens in science fiction to keep the budget down. That's probably not a good reason to not like a show, but it always stuck in my craw and kept me from getting into both the movie and the show that followed... but apparently it didn't affect anyone else enjoyment of the show, because it's been on for 10 FUCKING YEARS. @_@

So I've been avoiding this show for 10 years. I've tried watching it a few times, tried watching different series, such as ATLANTIS (which was even more bullshit to me than before... something about the shows attempt to integrate humor into the premise really felt insincere, out of place, and completely off-putting to me... like it disarmed the seriousness of the show), but it still never caught on with me.

STARGATE UNIVERSE, however, fixed all the problems I've had with the franchise; it's smart, serious, sci-fi drama. The science is hard, and the drama is engaging. Characters are complex and there's conflict. It's all the shit I want in my science fiction entertainment!

STARGATE UNIVERSE starts off fresh; you don't need the 10+ years of continuity to get into it; just a general refresher of the basic premise; Humans find ancient alien technology which allows for instantaneous travel over intergalactic distances. The US military creates a special corp. charged with exploring the gates and uncovering the secrets of the technology, as humanity takes it's first small steps into the greater universe.

UNIVERSE takes place years after the initial discovery of the gates; humans have made first contact with many other species, both hostile and benevolent, and have mastered certain aspects of the technology. Interplanetary travel via conventional means is now a reality, and other planets have been colonized. The SG Project now has one final mystery to solve; the dialing of the Ancients final legacy, a Nine Chevron code, it's destination unknown.

While attempting to dial the code, the SG project is attacked by alien hostiles, and all personnel are forced to evacuate through the Stargate; only to find themselves stranded on a massive alien ship many thousands of light years from Earth, and traveling further away with incredible speed. The ship is heavily damaged, and resources are limited. They have no way home.

You can imagine how this would be a great McGuffin for generating drama. Add into the mix a diverse cast of complex characters; military and civilian personal clashing over control, secrets and intrigue, hidden agendas and relationships, constant pressure and danger... there's always something happening!

I think my favorite character in the show has to be Robert Carlyle's; Doctor Nicolas Rush. Rush is a great character, neither hero nor villian, saint nor sinner, he's a brilliant scientist struggling to wrap his head around technology so advanced even he can barely comprehend it; and this irks him, especially given all the pressure being put on him by his superiors within the project and financiers demanding success. Rush, to me, is like a duck; he attempt to project a calm, cool, and in control, demeanor of knowledge and confidence, but underneath he's furiously thrashing around, just barely able to comprehend the advanced alien technology.

At the same time he's social awkward and isolated by his intelligence; he's constantly frustrated by everyone else relative lack of intelligence, and has no idea how to relate to anyone else on a social level; especially given that most all of the other characters blame him as the cause of their bleak situation. Rush isn't without concern for his fellow man, but he sees everything in terms of logic and probability; he has a stubborn refusal to waste time on anything that he deems as having no chance of success; even if the attempt will at least comfort his fellow exiles. He doesn't believe in the abstract concepts of hope or faith; he's a man of absolutes; scientific fact and quantifiable results. This makes it easy to misjudge his motives; is he only doing things that will ensure his own survival, or does he have genuine concern for the community of the ship?

The clouding of his motives isn't helped by his obsession with the study of the alien technology and the deciphering of it's secrets, which he puts above both social grace and even human life, which leads to a surprise twist in the season finale; and really, the only logical way to end the season; I'm surprised he didn't see it coming.

STARGATE UNIVERSE is a truly pleasant surprise in a TV season otherwise lacking completely in anything of interest for me (part of why I haven't had cable in almost a year...), and coming from a franchise that has never held any interest for me. Don't let the fact that it's another installment in one of the longest running SCI-FI franchises in North American television; they give you all you need to know in the first episode, and by the time everything gets going, all of that is irrelevant anyways; it's a whole new Universe.

ZONE OF THE ENDERS 2: The Second Runner

2010-01-17T17:54:00.000-08:00

I know all these link blogging posts are lame... but I've been having trouble getting excited enough about anything to post anything else. ^_^;;; I promise to do a nice juicy post about PLUTO once it's finished, as I don't want to spoil anything or make a fool of myself with my own wild theories as to how it ends.

In the mean time... this is something I'm excited about right now, as I just bought ZONE OF THE ENDERS 2 off Ebay. It's one of my favorite games of all time, along with MEGA MAN LEGENDS 2 and METAL GEAR SOLID as a franchise.

Given that, it's not surprise that I like ZONE OF THE ENDERS 2 so much as it shares things in common with both franchises; the slick, cell shaded, 3-D anime look and immersive 3rd person RPG gameplay of MEGA MAN LEGENDS, and the same game designer as METAL GEAR SOLID in Hideo Kojima, who beyond being a pioneer of cutting edge immersive gameplay, is also a masterful storytelling.

Both METAL GEAR, and ZONE OF THE ENDERS really upped the ante for visual storytelling across all media, in my opinion... the first METAL GEAR SOLID was so visually beautiful and so engrossing a story, it was actually maddening to have to actually PLAY the game, as you were dying to get to the next cinematic and find out what happened next... ZONE OF THE ENDERS 2 has much the same effect on me.

The reason I was prompted to post this trailer is because... it's amazingly good, and totally reminded me how much I loved this game and wanted to finally own it. The fasted paced music, the stunning, and epic, visuals, and the urgency in the plot... it's engrossing.

I really like the depth of the mythology of ZONE OF THE ENDERS as well; which is shocking for a game that Kojima-San worked on as a side project between METAL GEAR's; an epic, hard sci-fi, world of political strife, philosophical musings, and high-energy drama and romance.

Set in the not to distance future, Man has moved out into the solar system and unearthed a powerful force deep in space; Metatron, an ancient technology closer to magic than anything else in existance. Metatron is used to power special Orbital Frames, which become the center of a massive conflict between the Earth Federation and the outer colony armies of Bahram, which have a foothold on Jupiter and Mars.

The first game involves a young boy named Leo Stienbeck, who comes across a mysterious Orbital Frame called Jehuty during a Bahram offensive that kills his parents and almost kills him and a young girl he likes. Having no choice he stumbles into Jehuty and this puts him at odds with Bahram, which wants to recover the Orbital Frame at all costs.

To be honest, I've never played the first game... I don't like the 3D cinematics they used, as they're very early on in the Playstations evolution and look awkward and clunky... surprisingly, even compared to the in game models and animation! The story is intriguing, and the gameplay was supposed to be pretty inspiring for it's time, but by the time I'd gotten interested in the series, ZONE OF THE ENDERS 2 had come out, and by all accounts at the time, was vastly superior, and in fact, somewhat revolutionary, as it was the first game engine to be able to hand multiple enemies on the screen at the same time without any slowdown; combat was fast paced and epic, forcing you to battle up to 40 enemies at any given time, as enemy robots swarmed around you like locusts.

ZONE OF THE ENDERS 2 expanded on the mythology, as the story moved onto an older protagonist named Dingo Egret, a salvage miner on Mars, who discovers the remains of Jehuty, who was apparently abandoned by Leo at the end of the first game, during a Bahram sneak attack. Injured and dying, Jehuty uses Metatron to resurrect Dingo, but his survival now depends completely on Jehuty, and he's trapped inside the robot, and forcibly implicated in a massive conspiracy perpetrated by Bahram to use Metatron to activate a massive, ancient weapon; Auhman, a super-massive fortress with unlimited destructive capabilities, and use it to destroy the Earth and game independence for the outer colonies.

ZONE OF THE ENDERS 2 sees the return of most of the characters from the first game, weaving them into the story, giving it depth and history. Beyond that, the anime tie-in ZONE OF THE ENDERS: DOLORES, I; which I actually really enjoyed and found to be a refreshing departure from anime convention, as it featured a fun, but mature and involved, hard sci-fi story with a middle aged, caucasian, protagonist, and a series of references to North American action movies (there's an actual episode that is basically anime DIE-HARD); also helped to expand the mythology, as it took place simultaneously before and between the first and second games, and had two characters cross over; Viola and Nohman.

So, yeah, I hope people enjoy the trailer as much as I do, and I cannot wait for the game to arrive in the mail!

3 THINGS I WANT IN FEBRUARY

2010-01-10T07:40:00.001-08:00

I don't give a fuck about HALO, but this looks bad ASS. Also, a preview of the BONES short.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS is basically an adaptation of Grant Morrison's EARTH 2 mini, and looks like it'll more than make up for the lackluster disappointment that was SUPERMAN/BATMAN... despite just downright confusing casting decisions (why would y0u cast fucking BILLY BALDWIN as Superman, next to the super awesome James Woods as Owlman!?! James Woods is so super good that it'll just make it more obvious how shitty Billy Baldwin is).

PLANET HULK is probably the hands down BEST HULK storyline ever, and this looks sick as fuck... glad to see MARVEL finally getting their shit together in terms of their animated tie-in's... the last few have shown tremendous progress as compared to their first, rather disappointing and downright pitiful efforts... ULTIMATE AVENGERS 1 and 2, IRON MAN, and AVENGERS NEXT bordered on unwatchable, and had shitty animation. Thing picked up with DOCTOR STRANGE, which was actually pretty good, though the animation was a little sloppy-joe at times, and they finally got their shit together on the WOLVERINE/HULK/THOR double feature, both of which were fucking EXCELLENT, and exactly what you wanted from ALL of those characters.

February is a great month to be a nerd. ^_-

Also... and this is just for me and probably Jerry... DOCTOR WHO THE COMPLETE SPECIALS, MUTHAFUCKER! We bid a tearful goodbye to David Tennant... ;_;

END OF TIME PART 1 Trailer

END OF TIME PART 2 Trailer

That's right... TIMOTHY DALTON MUTHERFUCKAH! God... DOCTOR WHO is so fucking good.

EVANGELION 2.0: You Can [NOT] Advance

2010-01-10T07:06:00.000-08:00

DID YOU CUM IN YOUR PANTS YET, NERDS!?!

I really love the new score for the EVA movies... each one gets a little more Gregorian and epic. I'm doing a complete 180 on my 1999 opinions of EVA, and going on record as saying I love this shit... Emo-bullshit and all. It's very 90's... all they need is for Shinji to lament how music died with Kurt Cobain, and it'd be the voice of a generation of sad teenagers all grown up; tears streaming down their pale cheeks. This is the only sadgasm I can stomach. Super fucking excited... I hope the next movie gets a theatrical release here as well. ^_^

ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION: On a Related Note...

2009-12-03T16:54:00.000-08:00

Another stupid link-blog...

This is the opening to Mega Man 8, and it pretty much sums up everything that I ever wanted to see in a Mega Man anime... GOD I wish someone would make that show! GRRRRRR! SO FRUSTRATING!

Even for J-Pop, this song sounds pretty good to me... just the right amount of cheese and drama, and a decent beat. Sort of a rock throwback to the ASTRO BOY theme song.

Also, possibly the best fan-created Mega Man themed comics I've ever read; this guy is a HUGE Mega Man nerd, and has an especially big hard-on for Fire Man: http://www.dzarchive.com/iragination/comics/

SUPER FIGHTING ROBOT: MEGA MAN.

2009-12-03T06:28:00.000-08:00

I'm not usually one to be a corporate shill, but I, personally, am super excited about UDON's release of MEGAMAN MEGAMIX... I have a really old tankubon of Hitoshi Ariga's first REMIX, which I believe is a seperate series from his new MEGAMIX, which is a lot slicker and more polished.

UDON is a company I can really get behind, beyond personally knowing some of the people that work there, it's a company that produces almost exclusively books that I want to buy, and unlike other companies that deal mostly with licensed properties (*cough cough* IDW, DYNAMITE, BOOM! *cough cough*) and put no effort or care into their products, UDON is run by Fans, employing Fans, skilled and professional though they may be, to work on projects they truly care about and have a personal stake in.

This tender loving care shines through on every book I've purchased by UDON. Their products have a slick, glossy, hip and consummately professional sheen. Colorful, well drawn, and well written books by some of the industries best upcoming artists that bring out all the elements of beloved franchises from my youth which have somehow endured through time and have mass appeal to both old and new generations.

That care and effort extends to reprinted work licensed from the original Japanese publishers as well, with re-mastered and redesigned covers and interior art, and excellent print quality; possibly some of the best printed books in the industry.

As a life-long fan of the Blue Bomber, I can assure anyone else that might be a fan of my favorite side-scrolling shooter about the Little Blue Robot that Could (fight Robot Terrorists and Mechanical Monsters), that Hitoshi Ariga is the best artist/writer to ever put pen to paper with anything dealing with Mega Man (or Rock Man, if you want to get culturally accurate). His art is perfectly on model, but with it's own flare; loose, gestural, and with perfectly cartooned expression, capturing not only the grim, gritty, and fast paced action associated with the story of a child-like battle Robot, who courageously volunteers to be re-purposed to fight against his abused and manipulated brethren, who have been reprogrammed for evil by the sinister scientist Dr. Wily, but also the childish fun and excitement of a shonen action series with appeal to both the young and young at heart. He also did the manga adaptation of one of my favorite anime, THE BIG O (published by VIZ and long out of print), which was slick and polished, with a dark North American influence that showcased his range and versatility with storytelling.

Mega Man finds his roots in another popular Robot from my childhood, with obvious influences coming from Astro Boy, my other mechanical childhood hero, but with a more fast paced story that skews toward a slightly older shonen manga audience, filled with action and drama, and less social commentary than that set Astro Boy apart from other series.

Still, that's not to say that Mega Man is without an intelligent and engaging plot; an allegory for the sacrifices made in the name of peace, and the helplessness of technology in how it is used by humans. Rock is the hero who sacrifices his innocence to become a weapon of peace, while his six robot brothers, construction robots built to help humanity, are helpless to resist their new, destructive programming, the dark influence of Dr. Wily, an insane but brilliant scientist who uses his genius in a bid for world domination.

MEGA MAN MEGAMIX takes the Mega Man mythos to a new level, giving personality and backstory to previously literally 2-Dimensional characters, expanding on their relationships and motivations after and beyond their defeats in the video games that spawned them.

The original six Robot Masters; built by Mega Man's creator and mentor, Doctor Light; Cut-Man, Guts Man, Bomb Man, Ice Man, Elec Man, and finally Fire Man, have their evil programming broken, and join their brother in his battle to defend humanity from Doctor Wily's new and improved Robot Masters, 48 powerful robots built for combat. Also on the Blue Bomber's side are his adorable and precocious sister, Roll, his mysterious prototype Brother, Blues AKA Proto Man, his Scooby-Doo-esque mechanical canine companion, Rush, and the Robot Masters of Mega Man 4, built by the misguided but repentant Doctor Cossack, and his cute daughter, Kalinka. It's a huge cast of characters, each getting their chance to shine in the spotlight, alongside the franchise star, Rock, aka the Blue Bomber, Mega Man. I'll admit, though, as much as I love Mega Man, my other favorite character from the series, and the one I'm most excited about seeing showcased in this manga, has to be Forte AKA Bass, Mega Man's Bizarro counterpart. He's just so cool looking!

I'm truly excited about this; Thanks Erik and Jim! I know the dizzying amount of effort and work that goes into hunting down the license for something like this. Blood, sweat, and tears are spent to bring something that brings warmth to my cold robot heart, and I appreciate the efforts spent; I hope this does well, because I'd love to see more and more Mega Man content in North America... especially an actually worthwhile animated effort; the 90's cartoon stopped being good at the end of the opening animation. -_-

I'd also like to point out UDON's two other upcoming MEGA MAN themed releases; MEGA MAN and MEGA MAN X Complete Art Works; the much anticipated (at least by me) collections of all Mega Man related design and promotional art. The learning curve on both series was steep and the Osamu Tezuka influence is obvious. Some brilliant, slick and stylish, cartooning from CAPCOM's art department that I've been desperate to see collected and available for purchase since I got into art.

Lots to look forward too in the New Year now!

WANG OF FRANKENSTEIN.

2009-11-23T16:40:00.001-08:00

I had a lot of free time at work today, and free time at work usually results in my mind wandering into some... downright retarded areas.

I can't remember the thought process leading up to it, but I somehow came to the thought; Doctor Frankenstein had to pick which penis he'd put on his Monster.

I mean... some guy had to sit down and do that shit. Make a decision that would affect the livelyhood and sex life of a hideous affront against God and Man alike. What kind of process went into that? Did he have his pick of penises (penii?)? Did he want his Monster to be packing; or was did he give him an inferior penis so he could intimidate the Monster in the shower? What if the penis didn't match the balls?

Then that got me to thinking about how Frankenstein's Monster might not be happy with the decision made... maybe that's why he was so fucking angry! Which leads me to believe that Victor Frankenstein made the decision to give him a small penis; which is probably part of the reason why he couldn't get laid without Frankenstein building him a bride, only to be rejected because the Monster didn't have a Monster; size matters to the Bride of Frankenstein('s Monster. Correct terminology is a lost art), yo.

To be fair, the Monster WAS ugly as fuck; having been appropriately named just 'Frankenstein's Monster'; so the only way she'd get anything out of this arranged marriage would be either if he was packing, or if he was rich; and that shit just wasn't going to happen. Frankenstein's monster is inherently unemployable, because of his predilection to killing the FUCK out of anyone that runs screaming from his hideous visage. Maybe if he was hung he'd have had the self confidence to ignore the jeers and insults of ignorant and superstitious Euro-Trash hicks, and get a job working security at the club, where he can pick up drunk chicks on a regular basis, shambling home with them passed out in his arms, vomit on his coat, while people scream, "BEHEMOTH!" or "MONGOLOID!" or, "THAT'S A HUGE BITCH!" at him.

All the grief and tragic misunderstanding that could have been spared had one guy just put his own insecurities aside and picked the right penis for the job...

MY OWN BEST "FRIEND"

2009-11-01T15:40:00.000-08:00

My Halloween costume this year, Friend from 20th CENTURY BOYS. I'm hoping I can convince Peter that it'd totally be cool for me to sell anime to nerds at AN2010 wearing this. I'll need to get a grey (or black, according to the movie) suit to be completely on model though... I didn't have time to search for one this year, and, frankly, didn't really want to spend the money at the moment.

Also, I like how the Disco ball and various light flares and neon make me look like I have psychic powers.

ANIME INVASION THIS SEPTEMBER: Worth it?

2009-09-17T18:18:00.000-07:00

This September sees two movies based on anime that have found success in North America getting a limited engagement in theaters: one night only. They are:

EUREKA SEVEN: Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers

and,

EVANGELION 1.0: You are [NOT] Alone

Now, I get EVANGELION, Gainax Studio's Golden Cash Cow, which is pretty universally worshiped by nerds the world over as the definitive gateway to anime fandom. Whether or no you understand it's complex and adult plot, it's philosophical musings, or it'd delving into psuedo-Jewish mystism, it's stands as one of those things that people seem to just have an experience watching; wowed by the visuals, shocked by the content, and challenged by the plot. Plus, with FUNIMATION being the MICROSOFT of anime these days, it's not surprising they'd want to get some more widespread exposure for what will probably be their biggest money-maker for now and probably for years to come.

EUREKA SEVEN on the other hand I understand a little less. It was popular when it was on, but I don't really think it was a breakout success for either YTV or CARTOON NETWORK, as YTV has pretty much marginalized it's block of prime-time adult oriented anime programing (I think BIONIX is now on at 1:00-3:00 am Saturday nights or something, whereas it was formerly their Friday Night nerd grabbing ratings machine), which leads me to believe that it was to costly to license those shows with very little ratings payoff. As for how it did on DVD I can't say; I don't really follow the industry that closely. The only sure-fire way I know to just a shows success in North America is by seeing how many people cosplay as characters from that show at ANIME NORTH; the answer being very few. Add to that that BANDAI is not nearly the industry giant it was before, having less new material coming out as compared to FUNIMATION, and with less consistency (from personal experience, 9 out of 10 releases, of late, have seen some sort of delay or re-solicitation). But, then, that may explain why they'd put the effort into getting exposure for a movie tied into a series that probably did ok for them a few years ago; problem is that I don't think the modern anime-nerd's memory is that long.

I'm also suspect as to how well similar releases in past years have worked out for other companies such as VIZ or MANGA CORPS. NARUTO rakes it in hand over fist for VIZ on a nearly daily basis, but how many sales did their one day screening of CLASH IN THE LAND OF ICE AND SNOW,or the BLEACH movie MEMORIES OF NOBODY really generate? I'm fairly certain that the little attended screening of KARAS that Jerry and I attended (and which was super-awesome by the by) didn't generate many sales for MANGA CORPS... outside of me that is.

So I guess my question is: does this work? Aside from Miyazaki movies, wide release anime has never really been all that successful without some kind of successful franchise tie-in. POKEMON go four wide releases before the diminishing returns killed it, as did DIGIMON (awesome and totally superior to POKEMON as a series and standalone movie in every way) and YU-GI-OH (a guilty pleasure of mine), while STEAMBOY and PAPRIKA, while garnering critical acclaim (STEAMBOY was a full house at TIFF the year I saw it, and PAPRIKA is at 82% positive on ROTTENTOMATOES), went mostly unnoticed.

My theory is that if the end result is that it sells a lot of DVD's, that's all that matters; but if no one goes to see it, how many DVD's does it really sell, especially in the modern age of internet thievery and fan-entitlement gone wild? In that case, is it still worth it?

At any rate, I'm excited about getting the chance to see either EUREKA SEVEN or EVAGELION on the big screen, but I don't think that either will be successful enough to achieve my dream of seeing popular anime getting wide releases in North American theaters.

X-MEN: MISFITS - Marvel Shoujo Manga: Rise or Fall?

2009-09-15T16:50:00.000-07:00

At Chris' request, I read MARVEL's joint venture with DEL-REY to cross the world of X-MEN with the world of Shoujo (Japanese comics for girls). The result was... ambiguous.

I've actually got no problem with either the concept or the genre; I actually think it's an interesting mix and a fresh perspective that could potentially mine a very profitably demographic that MARVEL's either never had success with or even tried to target: teenage girls.

X-MEN: MISFITS' (Written by Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman, and illustrated by Anzu) premise is that Kitty Pryde, an average, maybe even below average (... thoughts on this later), girl from a simple family in Chicago. Her only standout feature is her strange ability to uncontrollably pass through solid objects. Her life changes drastically when her family is approached by a handsome middle-aged man named Eric Lensherr who has a name for what she is: "Mutant", and invites her to a private boarding school that specializes in the education and training of Mutants (sound familiar?).

Not wanting to cause her family any more trouble, and afraid of what she might do to herself if she doesn't learn how to control herself, Kitty agrees to attend 'The Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters' in Westchester, New York. Having powers made her a standout and a misfit at her school, so she secretly hopes that being at a school of Mutants will allow her to fit in and fade into the background; but she couldn't be more mistaken! Upon arrival she discovers that she's the school's only female student, and is soon in the middle of a power struggle between the schools exclusively male student body of super-hot teenage boys! What's a girl to do?

To be fair, the X-MEN have always been MARVEL's most diverse cast of characters; one of the first books to feature an international team of heroes, and really explore and showcase their respective cultures, as well as having a larger cast of female characters than most books. The decision to make Kitty Pryde the focus of a romance adventure book about an outcast girl sent away to a boarding school for Mutants, being that she was the youngest and more accessible of X-Men's female characters, and her background is pretty much unchanged in the transition from male-oriented superhero/adventure comic to girl-oriented romance/drama manga. To bad her character wasn't equally unchanged.

To me, X-MEN: MISFITS is almost too good at it's job of trying to emulate your typical Shoujo manga; it's so typically Shoujo that there's almost nothing standout about it.

What could have been a really fasinating and original take on both the characters and the genre, instead falls back on cliched troupes of the genre and character arch-types; the ditzy, underachieving heroine in Kitty Pryde, the hot-headed and slightly abusive prettyboy in Pyro, and the equally pretty "tsundere" rival in Ice-Man. It's not particularly mishandled or anything, I just don't find it particularly stand out. These characters easily fall into those arch-types, but that also leaves them without any depth... particularly Kitty Pryde.

I just don't understand why they felt the need to dumb down someone who has always been portrayed as intelligent and adventurous, and most importantly, INDEPENDENT. She called Professor X a jerk, damnit! The Kitty Pryde presented in MISFITS would never have that kind of courage. I was actually hoping for a little more HANA YORI DANGO or PEACH GIRL in her character rather than... name any other bullshit shoujo book about a ditzy girl not particularly intelligent, clever, or independent, with no particular goal to achieve. The MISFIT Kitty Pryde doesn't even decide to enter into her first relationship with Pyro; she just sort of does what she's told to by, well, everyone. My only hope for the character is that the writers have some kind of long term character arc in mind where she somehow becomes a strong and independent woman.

But even if that's the plan, it doesn't mean she has to be portrayed as an unintelligent underachiever! Plenty of Shoujo heroines are defined by their cleverness, or strong willed natures and determination to overcome their circumstances without becoming unrelatable or inaccessible. Are you telling me that the only character that would appeal and be relatable to a young girl is an underachieving, boy-obsessed, ditz?

Aside from that, I'm actually more interested in the world of MISFITS, and the choices of how to reinterpret the characters into the Shoujo dynamic. The Pyro/Iceman romantic rivalry makes sense, having been established in the movies, and it's a nice allegorical contrast, and they fit their respective arch-types. It's also veeeeeeery manga that their personalities match their powers. I just wish there was more depth to them.

Storm is cast as being an older teacher, and they us the '80's mohawk Storm, which is fairly iconic, and played for some laughs. I've never really understood why various re-interpretations of the X-MEN insist on making Storm an older authority figure... I've always liked the fresh, young, unsure, Storm of the NEW X-MEN, who embraces her new surroundings with zealous curiousity, reinventing herself and adapting to her environment. Given her relationship with Kitty in the comics, I think she'd have made a better secondary character to befriend Kitty, but I digress... I guess most people focus on the more regal, strong willed and authoritarian 'Goddess' Storm that came to lead the X-MEN in later years.

The most interesting re-interpretations are really Cyclops and Havok as diametrically opposed siblings falling on different sides of the schism dividing the school (Scott's a cool and calculating Vegan who believes in the peaceful co-existance between humans and mutants, while Havok is a hot-headed and angry anti-authoritarian who solves all his problems with violence), Blob as a gentle giant who acts as comic relief, which is pretty again type for that character, and Nightcrawler as a monsterous (but still super pretty) mutant outcast who, rather than being a brooding emo-kid, is actually pretty at ease with himself and has nothing to prove to anyone, which brings comfort to Kitty who hopes to one day achieve similar self-acceptance, and finds friendship with him after being initially afraid of him because their powers are similarly non-offensive and only really good for running away.

Forge is also an interesting re-interpretation, and probably the only holdover from a more yaoi-centric storyline that Chris said had been scrapped (Forge becomes Kitty's best friend, and makes a pass as Pyro... and probably everyone else in the book), which I think is a cop-out on MARVEL's part, but am glad to see it survived at least in some respect. Hey, Scott Pilgrim has a cool, gay, friend, and it's the most popular book on the planet! How can you go wrong by giving Kitty a cool, gay, MUTANT, friend? Just saying.

Gambit also makes a quick cameo in the kitchen, though it took me a second to figure out who he was supposed to be.

For the most part, there is potential in the book; it's successful at what it does stylistically. The art and layout is a dead on emulation of Shoujo comics distinctly girlie style and troupes(though not particularly up my ally... I just prefer more solid and volumetric cartooning and line work. Though Beast is pretty fucking adorable...), such as headshots of pretty boys surrounded by flowers and sparkles, chibi-ized characters for visual gags, free-form, borderless panel layouts and collages, thin, wispy, linework, liberal use of screentone, simplified backgrounds, and fashion conscious character designs. Personally, though, I find it hard to tell the male characters apart as everyone looks alike: absurdly effeminate and pretty with no real definable facial structure. Which is, basically, how Shoujo comics are supposed to look.

The writing, for the most part, is pretty decent, and a nice blend of girly romance, mutant politics, and superhero action. They set up the premise and introduce the characters efficiently, and there are a few clever gags and affectations for Kitty, such as her wearing knee and elbow pads and a bike helmet for fear of accidentally falling through things, and some various 'cat' mannerisms which play offer her name. Characters personalities and relationships are clearly established, and there are some subtle setups of future plot points that are sure to pay off, such as the difference of opinion in the opposing philosophies of Xavier and Magneto, and Magneto's favortism towards the Hellfire Club as the schools 'Mutant Elite', and their antagonistic treatment of students that have adopted Xavier's peacenik ways.

It doesn't break any new ground with the "Mutants as an allegory for racism or alienation" theme, but it's not like X-MEN as a franchise hasn't been beating that dead horse for 40 years, and the title is X-MEN: MISFITS, so it'd be pretty weird if they weren't ostracized in some way. I'd just like to see the X-Men in a world that's at least TRYING to accept them. Why not have the human that has a cool mutant friend, or the guy that's dating the mutant girl? I think an X-World that's a little more progressive is something that we've never seen before.

Overall, I'm pretty much just ambivalent about the book. while I have my issues with choices made, overall the book is harmless fun, decently produced, and successful for what is. It's just another X-MEN book when you get down to it... not particularly great, but completely unoffensive. I do believe that there is potential, and I hope that potential can be realized, because I think there is a market for this kind of book; I just don't think that market needs another underachieving book about an underachiever, when you have a potentially strong female character at your disposal.

On a final note, I think a totally hilarious joke that could have been made would have been if Kitty Pryde had remarked, "They should have called this school, 'The Xavier Institute for Super-Hot Guys'. Yow-za!"

HEROES: I've Been Burned Before...

2009-09-13T07:32:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know... HEROES sucks. No, really, I understand this. I really liked the first season, I was totally onboard with the idea of a dramatic "what if it was real" show about people with powers, because that's the kind of stuff I like, being the kind of nerd I am. When it started the show WAS good. Then they blew it in the end. Then they blew it again in the second season. Then they blew it again in the third. And then, just as shit was starting to look up at the end of the third season... they blew it AGAIN! I'm not stupid. I don't wear fanboy blinders and just continue to watch out of habit and make excuses and rationalizations; they fucked it up. But that doesn't mean I don't want it to stop trying to be better.

I liked HEROES once, because once it was good, and I'd like to think it can be again, and, looking at this trailer, it seems like steps are being taken to fix what has definately been broken: A smaller cast, a unifying theme, ramped back powers, and a central villian in the form of Robert Knoeper, who is an actor I really like. I really like the idea of the secret war, and in this case, the contrast between the regulars, whose central theme is that they want to be normal, and the new villians, who have embraced their sideshow freakiness. But that's what I said about the trailer for season 3.

Make no mistake, HEROES has a lot to bounce back from; possibly moreso than any other TV show I've ever followed. They've alienated fans twice with lame duck, cliched, and sometimes just SENSELESS, storyarcs, and publically admitted that they've fucked up (which is pretty unprecidented in Hollywood to cop to your mistakes instead of trying to spin them), so how to they get the audiences trust back? Easy: STOP FUMBLING THE BALL AT THE FUCKING GOAL LINE! Except for BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (which I have more to say on in another post), HEROES is possibly televisions greatest cocktease, constantly building up to some huge, epic, satisfying, ending and then completely fucking it up in either a desperate attempt to maintain the status quo, or because they just have no fucking clue what to do. Go in with a plan and fucking STICK TO IT. And don't pussy out in the season finale. If shit is supposed to blow up, BLOW IT THE FUCK UP! If someone needs to die, KILL THEM. Stop jerking us around and do your fucking job: ENTERTAIN ME.

This is the last time.

COOKING MADE SIMPLE: Pay Attention College Kids.

2009-09-07T18:55:00.000-07:00

I think I'm starting to feel my age. I work with two guys that are 4 years younger than me, one of whom lives at home with his parents, and one who lives on his own. Neither of them knows how to cook for themselves, and both subsist on a steady diet of microwave dinners, McDonalds, and junk food. So to educate you hapless college kids that never had the inclination to take a home-ec class (like one of my co-workers) because, quote, "I thought home-ec was for pussies...", here's a quick, simple, and delicious recipe you can do at home using stuff that you should probably have on hand anyways, and will cost you fuck all in money or effort.

GRILLED CHICKEN FAJITA MADE EASY... THE HALLIDAY WAY

First get some boneless chicken breasts. You either grill it plain, or use a simple spice rub (as I did) to give it some flavor. Don't overcook the chicken; you don't want to dry it out. I cooked mine for 15 minutes at 325 degrees Fahrenheit on my George Foreman grill. Cut the chicken into strips, lengthwise.

Next, I made a fresh salad, and just used that as a garnish. Lettuce, carrots, green peppers, radish, and cherry tomatoes.

Now grate some cheese (I used mozzarella in this case).

Finally get your dressing ready (anything can do, I'm using ceaser dressing in this case).

First, lay out your fajita.

Add chicken strips, laying them lengthwise, side by side.

Add dressing, spreading it evenly.

Add cheese, also spread out evenly.

Garnish with a good selection of vegetables.

Fold the bottom up.

Fold over, and roll.

VOILA! You're done! Now add a salad, maybe throw some leftover chicken in there, and garnish with any leftover cheese you have, and whatever dressing you like.

Done! A healthy, easy to make, meal that costs you fuck all! You should get about four fajita's out of one chicken breast. Now...

Eat that shit! And...

Enjoy that shit!

DAY-HOUSE: A SHORT TOUR.

2009-09-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

Some photos I took today to show off my condo, since I've yet to figure out what form my house-warming should take (I'm open to suggestions... ^_^;;;), just to further prove that I know how to take care of myself.

BREAKFAST: 09/07/09

During the week I don't have enough time in the morning to make a really elaborate breakfast, so I usually just have cereal and some kind of fruit, and wait until I get to work to have my morning coffee, but on the weekends I cut loose. Breakfast is my favorite meal; let's face it, it's fucking delicious. Here is my usual "Big Breakfast" special: Two buttermilk pancakes, four pieces of bacon; crispy, two sausages, home fries, scrambled eggs, orange juice and coffee. MMM-HMMMMM, GOOD!

KITCHEN: Entry View

A little dark, but hopefully it gives a sense of scale.

KITCHEN: Front View

Kitchen from the front.

KITCHEN: Side View

Kitchen from the side. Not very interesting, really... it has stuff I use to keep myself alive in it.

LIVING ROOM: North East

The living room, which is where I do all my living! From here you can see my computer desk, which is covered with interesting knick-knacks and do-dads; sketch books, change bucket, some toys (Pluto defends the modem from hackers, while Nami and Vivi flank my giant COMPLETE CALVIN AND HOBBES hardcover).

LIVING ROOM: North West

From here you can see my two awesome book shelves (the BENNO from Ikea... superior to the BILLY in my opinion; sturdier, more customizable, and cost effective), the right one has all my oversized and 'special' manga, and the left one for my various hardcovers and 'special' comics. I won't go into what makes a book 'special' here, but it boils down to books that I am not embarassed to have on display when my parents or comics snobs visit.

LIVING ROOM: West

A little dark again, but you can see my moderately not shitty view... better than looking out on scenic Yonge Street! :B You can see my grandmothers old house from here, as well as a school that is most assuredly going to become a condo someday!

LIVING ROOM: South West

From here you can see my "Tower of Triumph", which is all my electronics stacked on top of each other. They combine together like DEVASTATOR or some other TRANSFORMER gestalt to form ENTERTAINOR, the only being in the universe who has the power to fight off my boredom. You can also see a small part of my DVD collection... all my TV shows and nerd DVD's. I need more shelves. -_-

LIVING ROOM: East

And we're back around to the kitchen.

BATHROOM: Entry View

Bathroom... stay out of it for at least 35... 45 minutes (points to anyone that gets that reference).

BEDROOM: Entry View

Now entering my bedroom...

BEDROOM: North East

This is what I see when I wake up in the morning. And if you think that TV is too big for a bedroom, you are WRONG! If only it could be bigger...

BEDROOM: North

The first of my many NERDWALLS... look at all the books! Of course... this isn't all the books I brought with me... I've had to shed a LOT of stuff. A LOT. And I have yet more to shed... -_-

BEDROOM: North West

A little dark, but this is my secondary manga shelf. I'll have to replace it with something else eventually, and put these in the living room. I use that TV table as a nightstand when I sleep.

BEDROOM: South West

Speaking of sleep... my bed! This is probably the BEST futon I've ever had... I got it from IKEA, like most of my furniture, and it's operation is as smooth as silk and requires no effort on my part at all. It's queen size, has a comfortable, firm, matress, and is entirely affordable at, like, $250.00 CAD. Plus there's storage space underneath.

BEDROOM: Closet Right

I like keeping my nerdwalls behind doors, so that I can hide my nerdiness if nessessary... though I guess that's pointless, since there are other nerdwalls all over the place. Still, when the doors are closed, at least I'm only 75% nerd. The dresser has more manga in it, and there's anime and import manga sitting on top.

BEDROOM: Closet Left

More anime, and then art books... guess what's in that inconspicuous brown box. Just guess.

BEDROOM: Display Case

And finally, this is the display case were I keep (most) of my toys. Unfortunately, I'm totally out of space, and I still have a rather large box of gashapon left in my storage locker that I'm trying to figure out what to do with...

ME: Enjoying the Fuck out of Life

Yes I am.

CONAN O'BRIEN DUBS GHOST IN THE SHELL

2009-08-08T07:13:00.001-07:00

Fucking AWESOME. I would buy that dub.

MARVEL ANIME TRAILERS

2009-08-08T06:37:00.000-07:00

I stumbled up these just a few minutes ago and totally blew my nerd-wad up in this bitch!

The WOLVERINE trailer is... fucking confusing. Either they're adapting that shitty DEL REY "manga", or they never bothered to read a WOLVERINE book. I have a strong suspicion that Wolverine will, at some point, make out with Sabertooth, thus releasing years of built up sexual tension and titilating both 12-year old yaoi obsessed fangirls, and homosexual comic store managers (you know who you are).

Seriously, though, Wolverine is a beautiful, beautiful, man in this trailer, and it's weirding me out. He's, like, 7 feet tall, has no body hair, and is totally not Canadian. It may as well just NOT be Wolverine. I can't tell is I'm being a fanboy asshole for nit-picking on what a confoundingly off model adaptation this looks to be, or if I have the right to be a little peeved that they seem to have totally missed the mark here.

The animation is beautiful though.

IRON MAN, on the other hand, looks SICK AS FUCK. That is EXACTLY what you both want and expect from the anime version of Iron Man... cool ass robots, shit exploding, and guys being rocket punched through the Tokyo Tower! BOOSH! Nerd-wad exploded. I heard tell that this was going to be a 26 episode series, which totally has me excited, and unlike the WOLVERINE trailer, while they obviously took some liberties, I think the premise of Iron Man actually sort of appeals to the Japanese storytelling sensiblities and remains mostly intact. Same but different is totally the way to go with a project like this, combining the best of both worlds and making something that has broad appeal on both sides of the planet.

On an unrelated note, I've also starte watching the French produced, CGI animated, IRON MAN: ARMORED ADVENTURES, and it's actually really good. The animation is really nice, the storytelling is smart and mature without going so adult as to alienate the younger audience, and some of the design stuff is fucking amazing... he has an EVANGELION LAUNCH TUBE! Awesome. I don't know how IRON MAN went from being a B-Grade comic book hero to MARVEL's top media property (*cough* Robert Downey JR *cough*), but he's beating the FUCK out of media cross-promotion.

On a related note...

PLANET HULK: The Movie

I'm totally excited, as MARVEL has finally been getting their animation game together since HULK/WOLVERINE/THOR, which was awesome, and PLANET HULK is the best HULK story I've probably ever read... it's HULK as CONAN. Awesome monsters, gladiator fights, giant robots, incredible violence, drama, romance, a strong character arc... PLANET HULK has fucking EVERYTHING.

My only complaint is with the Hulk design... why is he so tiny and so pretty? That's a little weak. Other than that, I'm totally exited.

ANIME NORTH 2009: PHOTO STORM Part 4

2009-06-16T17:58:00.000-07:00

I took a lot more pictures than I thought this year...

ANIMENORTH Photo Storm Part 4

Zero from the MEGA MAN ZERO series. I swear this guy looked super cool from, like, 20 feet away...

SPEED RACER if they had cast Seth Rogan. It would have been a VERY different movie. VERY different. O_O This guy couldn't look less like Speed Racer.

It's the Bunny Girl! Bunny Girl was at my first AN (working for the Beguiling), and at almost ever one from then on, except for last year. She's put on a little weight, but still looks good. Also, SHE macked Eric Kim... unbelievable!

It's the FINAL FANTASY: ADVENT CHILDREN crew. These guys actually look pretty good. Zack's creepy dead eyes scare the shit out of me though. Brian Harvey had a serious problem with these kids huge fucking swords though... like, conceptually. He just didn't think they were practical, and I suppose they aren't. But MAN do they look cool!

It's the WORLD WARRIORS of STREET FIGHTER! Cammy, Guile, Fei Long, and Ryu Hayabusa! This was actually a pretty impressive and accurate lot... until you get to White Heavy-Set Ryu, who shatters an otherwise perfect illusion. Still, you have to admire their professionalism. They had a whole spiel worked out... especially Guile; that guy went the distance.

Another GUILTY GEAR character, May. She is (A) on model (B) ethnically accurate (I think... I can never tell when anime characters are NOT supposed to be Japanese) and (C) adorable. It's a cosplay hattrick! Also you can see Peter hustling his wares in the background. Peter is a pretty good hustler.

More GURREN LAGANN. The Enki is pretty solid, but that was probably the least impressive Yoko of the weekend. It's the lame shoes that break the illusion.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Ok... technically this guy is awesome, but once again, he's at totally the wrong show. To the people of ANIME NORTH, this guy is the Tom Baker Doctor; the BEST Doctor; this is just some guy with a really weird sense of style. I'm assuming a lot of people just thought that he dressed like this, like, all the time, to stand out from the highschool crowd. Sorry Tom Baker Doctor; NO PUSSY FOR YOU!

Link Blogging: GIANT ROBOT DEFENDS JAPAN? WHO WOULDA SEEN THAT COMING?

2009-06-10T20:45:00.000-07:00

(Picture chosen to emphasis scale)

I can barely express how much cooler and more practical this is than the Statue of Liberty. Let's face it... New York is completely fucked should it ever be attacked by either giant monsters or the Federation of Zeon, while Japan has taken steps to ensue the safety of it's citizens against both.

More pictures here: http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/06/10/life-size-gundam-rx-78-2-completed/

And for (Japanese) information on the project as well as pictures of the construction of this mighty Titan of Gundanium-Plated Justice: http://www.gundam30th.net/event/real-g.html

Good GOD. Why is Japan so much more awesome than anywhere else in the world!?!

ANIME NORTH 2009: PHOTO STORM Part 3

2009-06-09T17:11:00.001-07:00

The ANIME NORTH 2009 Photo Storm continues...

A pretty solid Chun-Li... if you ignore the lack of Asian-ness. I'm always a little unclear on the etiquette of cosplaying as a character of a specific ethnicity. Most characters in anime are of questionable ethnic background as most are either entirely fantasy based, or their character designs are as such that you cannot determine a specific background (even the though a lot of anime takes place in Japan, no one ever looks specifically Japanese unless they're designed by Katsuhiro Otomo or Mamoru Oshii, :B), but a character like Chun-Li, or in fact all characters from STREET FIGHTER are pretty much defined by their nationality. I guess, in the end, it's all just good fun as long as you don't tape your eyes back and do it up like some horrible '40-'50's stereotype. MAN were they racist back then...

GUN-DAMN, what a cool helmet! I would have loved that back when I played hockey, yo! Then I'd have run through those big bastards from Stroud like they they were dirty Zeon Zaku's, WHAT! Seriously, that is a cool helmut. I just wish the guy had put that effort into the rest of his rather lame costume... that tee-shirt and badge combo are fucking WEAK, guy.

Digimon. Digimon. Di-Di-Di-Digimon. DIGIMON, DIGITAL MONSTERS, DIGIMON ARE THE CHAMP-YONS. DIGIMON was so sick back in the '90's, and I cannot express how much fucking better than POKEMON that show was. In fact, FUCK POKEMON.

The great thing about DIGIMON was that, as fun and kid-centric as the show was, it was also able to go super dark, dealing with themes of lose, tragedy, and even death, all within a serialize storyline; particularly in my favorite DIGIMON series, SAVERS (though FRONTIER had the best english opening). A fun show perfectly safe for children, with some nice animation (later) and some great character designs, and all without having to pander (much... FOX really fucked around with the dub).

DAI-GURREN Girl. This is probably the most clever costume I've ever seen... just a genius way of using the mechnical design to your advantage.

GANKUTSUOU: THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO. I-I have no idea what the fuck this has to do with THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO... I seriously have no idea.

Another Haruhi in her ENOZ outfit, but this one actually had a guitar, which was pretty awesome. Should couldn't play GOD KNOWS though.

HOLY SHIT, SON! WHAT THE FUCK IS SPIDER JERUSALEM DOING HERE? Despite that dude being totally on model and in character... the coolness of his costume was fucking LOST... on EVERYONE. So, ha ha, FUCK YOU SPIDER, you can't get pussy at an anime convention cosplaying as a Warren Ellis character. Try Naruto next time. Naruto is the ANIME NORTH pussy magnet.

Speaking of ANIME NORTH pussy magnets... how the FUCK did this guy mack three asian maids? He's not even dressed up as Naruto! That's just senseless. ANIME NORTH man... fucking ANIME NORTH.

ANIME NORTH 2009: PHOTO STORM Part 2

2009-06-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

ANIME NORTH 2009 PHOTO STORM part 2

Since the modern anime-kids have no fucking taste, any shows or manga I actually like are usually unpopular. Like BURST ANGEL for instance... yet every year, I always see at least one person cosplaying as either Jo (above) or Meg, which is encouraging. This costume was actually pretty on model too. People have been upping their game every year since this shit start.

I actually don't know who she's supposed to be... Amanda got really excited and started poking me and whisper, "Sexy girl! Sexy girl!" and prompting me to take a picture. It wasn't the first time one of the Beguiling Girls got all excited about a sexy cosplay girl that weekend, which was indescribably hot.

Ha ha ha! One of the things I like to do is catch people being out of character while in costume... sometimes it's sort of 'blah' and sometimes it's pure GOLD! This was pure gold! My favorite POWER RANGER (Zack is still the hippest Black Ranger of all time, bar none) just reading a book, I like the reactions of the people around him too. They're all like, "Man, this is FUCKED UP." His costume was fucking awesome too. There was a really good Red Ranger walking around as well, but I didn't get a picture of him. I like that the old school is making a comeback at AN. I fucking LOVE POWER RANGERS, yo. It was like SAVED BY THE BELL with ASS KICKING... the only thing that could have made SAVED BY THE BELL in any way watchable.

This was a weird one I never thought I'd see at AN (once again, because it was from a show I like), Yurine from KARAS, which is, like, the best 'Henshin' (transforming) hero saga to come out in years. It was an awesome combination of The Crow/Ghostbusters/Kamen Rider. This was another really well done costume from an obscure series that I was pretty sure only had appeal for me... and I was once again proven wrong.

Is this dude ready to kill some fucking Zombies or what? He looks like he could get a part-time job working for COBRA if he's not making enough money at the UMBRELLA CORPERATION.

Another obscure series that I'm surprised people still like, a pretty solid looking Sol Badguy and Dizzy from GUILTY GEAR X, one of my favorite 2-D fighting games that's not STREET FIGHTER. It's like STREET FIGHTER is it was conceived by DethKlok.

Rock Star Haruhi, sans-guitar. It think this costume is actually based on a toy, as she at no point wears this in the series. LOTS of Haruhi this year, even moreso than last year. That is the one show I can agree on with this new generation of fandom as being worth adulation... it's just fucking GOOD. Like anime DOCTOR WHO meets DEGRASSI.

This is for you Jason Azzopardi! This is for you. And a little bit for me. I wouldn't be living up to my nickname if I didn't get a few pictures like this (which I did. :B). I have no idea who she's supposed to be.

ANIME NORTH 2009: PHOTO STORM Part 1

2009-06-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

As with previous years, I once again took the on the 3 day retail marathon of fucked up that is Anime North.

Unlike previous years, load-in and setup went remarkably smoothly... even as under-staffed as we were, work was evenly and fairly distributed, and everything was good to go an hour before the show started. And, man oh man, WHAT a start! The economy may be shit everywhere else, but it had no effect on the retail tsunami of Anime North 2009! These kids, usually somewhat shrewd and reserved on the opening day, were ravenous for Manga and Anime merchandise of all kinds! It was hand over fist, non-stop, until shows end.

And it pretty much kept up like that all weekend.

And between taking nerds money, I got some pictures... since nothing really interesting or fucked up happened this year... COSPLAY PICTURES will tell my story!

I thought this guy was a KAMEN RIDER, but he was actually one of the Seekers from KINGDOM HEARTS III: BIRTH BY SLEEP (which I'm pretty sure isn't out yet). AWESOME either way.

There was a super weird trend this year of guys in costumes that were... just totally not applicable to Anime North. Such as... Doctor McNinja and a seriously creepy Frank from DONNIE DARKO. The significane of these costumes? LOST on these fucking kids. Heathens.

I think this was Captain Ron cosplaying as Captain Harlock.

The first Yoko of the con. Predictably, GURREN LAGANN hit BIG this year. The costumes were all very impressive, but the GUNS were insane!

Gothic Loli is still big too, apparently. Last year I couldn't sell the Gothic Loli Bibles to save my life, but this year Erik Kim sold EVERY... SINGLE... FUCKING... ONE. Crazy.

Ha ha ha! Jerry actually had me take this one... Wonder Woman is the only woman he would actually fuck, and this chick was as close to actual Wonder Woman as you can get. Actually, I think her costume is actually better than Linda Carters...

Also, I want that guys VENTURE BROS. shirt.
I used to have a huge nerd-crush on Sailor Mercury, who this girl looks nothing like.

CYBERSIX! Once again, even though this costume is TOTALLY APPLICABLE to Anime North, I'm assuming it was lost on everyone but me. -_- That show as sick as fuck.

DEREK HALLIDAY LIVES IT UP.

2009-06-05T18:25:00.000-07:00

Just in case anyone doubted that Derek T. Halliday knows how to (A) take care of himself, and (B) live it up...

Marianted wild Atlantic salmon, flavored with a blend of herbs, garlic long grain and wild rice, with a garden salid, topped with grated mozerella and parmasan and garlic dressing, with a nice, cold, Bravia tall-boy to drink.

And in case you're curious about my entertainment setup...

I call it the "Tower of Triumph."

Life is SWEET at Halliday House. So... fucking... SWEET.

BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE - LIVE ACTION vs ANIME?

2009-06-04T16:47:00.001-07:00

BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE is an early 2000 anime film produced by Production I.G. (the studio most famously behind GHOST IN THE SHELL and in all it's various incarnations, as well as other pretty fucking sick-ass anime, many of which are personal favorites of mine) based on a novel by popular anime director Mamoru Oshii (the guy behind PATLABOR1-3/GHOST IN THE SHELL/GiTS: INNOCENCE/JIN-ROH/SKYCRAWLERS/etc) about a serious 'young' girl with a perpetual scowl named Saya, who stalks and viciously murders the FUCK out of cool looking Vampire/Monsters called Chiropterans on an American Army base in Japan in the 1970's, a few months before Vietnam. Though only, like, an hour long, BLOOD was a seriously awesome and concise action movie that clearly defines the differences between North American and Japanese views on what animation can be used for. I recently found out that BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE has since been adapted to a live action film, produced by the guy that produced CROTCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, and directed by Ronny Yu, whose made a number of shitty movies in North America (WARRIORS OF VIRTUE, that kids movie about the kung-fu Kanjaroos, BRIDE OF CHUCKY, ugh, and FREDDY vs JASON, *vomit*), and a number of awesome kung-fu movies (BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR and FEARLESS being the only ones I know personally).

BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE being adapted to live action doesn't come as much of a surprise to me; in fact it makes perfect sense. Despite the original source material being animated, the content of the film was nothing that couldn't be achieved in live action. Beyond that, unlike most anime BLOOD is much more accessible to a North American (and in fact, international) audience as it features an international cast and switches logically between English and Japanese dialogue depending on the background of the character and the necessity of it (BLOOD takes place in Japan, but is mostly set on an American army base). It also helps that Vampires are big in just about any culture. BLOOD is a slick action/thriller/sci-fi/period piece featuring a strong yet sexy, bad-ass, female lead fighting awesome looking monsters with a cool fucking sword; there is absolutely NO reason a movie like that would fail to find success in North America, or be inachivable when adapted to live action. So, just out of curiousity, I though I'd compare the two and see how they stack up.

BLOOD: ANIME TRAILER

BLOOD: LIVE ACTION TRAILER

Comparing the two trailers, I notice a lot of stuff in the live action trailer that seems to have been adapted directly from the original, such as the setting and overall plot, as well as some specific visual cues, but also a number of notable plot changes, such as the more mystical approach to the vampires rather than the animes more sci-fi slant (Chiropterans are a seperate species produced by a virus passed through fluid exchange), and the inclusion of a central villian in the form of 'Onigen', rather than the anime Saya's mandate to just genocide the shit out of the entire species. Also notable is the CYBERSIX-esque plot point that Saya needs to drink the blood of the 'Oni' to survive.

While I am somewhat nervous about these plot changes, I can't really say I find them offensive; to be fair, it'd be pointless to directly adapt an already successful film directly, not to mention that BLOOD was only like an hour long to begin with. Logically some changes would need to be made to pad out the narrative. It just bothers me that the changes made are so... done to fucking DEATH. Seriously? "She killed my FATHER!"? That's a little weak. But, like I said, non-offensive, just disappointingly weak and unoriginal. I still think this looks like an overall strong movie and a good stab at adapting an anime to live action for a North American audience... at the very least it's a far sight better than the fucking steaming pile that was DRAGONBALL: EVOLUTION. I am filled with indescribable RAGE at the thought of that movie.

I'm also impressed that the first five minutes of the movie are an almost shot for shot adaptation of the opening of the anime.

FIRST FIVE MINUTES

Overall, I'm pretty excited about this. I feel like there is at least a 75% chance this will not blow. That's pretty high for a movie these days.

THE FIFTH MANGA: BERSERK by Kentaro Miura

2009-06-01T17:33:00.000-07:00

Remember when I posted my Top Five Manga and Anime list? Well, I sort of pussied out on my fifth manga, and left it un quantified... which made sense at the time, because I really didn't know which book I liked so much better than others that I would put it in my Top Five. But after monthes of deliberation, and a lot of reading, I've finally figured it out. So, without much fanfare:

5) BERSERK by Kentaro Miura

BERSERK is hard to sum up in a paragraph, because the entire point of BERSERK is that it's an epic. It's a massive, sprawling, medievil fantasy along the lines of Tolkien's LORD OF THE RINGS, but far, FAR, more graphic in it's portrayal of sex and especially violence.

BERSERK is the tale of Gatz (or Guts depending on the translation), who starts his life born from under a corpse tree when his mother is hanged with a number of other people who have been persecuted by the 'Land of the Black Sun's' leading religious sect, The Holy See. Gatz, who was never meant to have been born, is from that point on cursed as "The Struggler." Every day of his life is a fight to survive. He knows almost no happiness, and spends his childhood abused both emotionally and physically by his Gaurdian and mentor, a man named Gambino, who teaches Gatz the art of sword fighting, but having no swords small enough for a child to train with, Gatz becomes accustomed to using blades three times his size (which becomes one of the series most prominent staples; Gatz huge, black sword, which is unwieldable by any normal human).

As is typical with most manga, the first story starts off without any sort of context, taking place sometime in the middle of Gatz' life, showing him as the reader will come to know him in the future. By the end of the first story arc, you're sent into a multi-volume flashback that shows the growth of Gatz from a young mercenary of 14, to the tragic events that shape his destiny in his early twenties. You see him make friends with Griffiths, a beautiful and charismatic young mercenary Captain of the Band of the Hawks. You watch him assist Griffiths in his meteoric, almost pre-ordained rise to power in the courts of the Kingdom of Midland; you see him made friends and comrades among the Band of the Hawks; you see him find a deep and lasting love with his former rival, the female mercenary Caska; and finally you see the tragedy of Griffiths betrayal of them all as they are branded as sacrifices to the God Hand, the sinister ruling power of the Astral World and the other planes of reality that make up the metaphysical world of The 'Land of the Black Sun.' Gatz is the only survivor of the sacrifice when annoints Griffiths as the Fifth God Hand, Femto, 'The Wings of Death.' Caska also survives, but is raped into insanity by Griffiths and a horde of demons, leaving her childlike and autistic. Gatz, marked by the Brand of Sacrifice, which draws evil to him, vows revenge on both Griffiths and the God Hand, swearing he will undo all their works and eventually cut them down with his immense sword, The Dragon Slayer.

To that end, the series then becomes a quest book, as Gatz travels around the world looking for clues as to how to cure Caska, find Griffiths, rid himself of the Brand of Sacrifice, and unravel the mystery of the God Hand and their prophecy. Along the way Gatz faces countless encounters with demons, monsters, and 'Apostles', humans transformed by artifacts called the "Beheliet', or the 'Egg of Kings', small red stones with human features which bring out the idealized form of humans possessed of great 'Od' (ether, mana, MP, ki, chi, spiritual power, whatever).

Also, like any good RPG, Gatz eventually forms his "party", recruiting a number of similarly damaged misfits; the mischiefious elf, Puck, the arrogant wannabe child brigand Isidro, the former regligious zealot and daughter of a well-to-do family Farnese, her supposed half-brother/vassel, the fox eyed Serpico, Schierke the child witch, her scarcastic fairy companion Evarella, and Casca. All are damaged goods in some way, the rejects of proper society, who find comfort and strength allying themselves with other outsiders.

In the background of all of this, there is also the continuing storyarc involving a Prophecy, of which Gatz has been a part of since birth; Griffiths, as is typical, is most prominent in the Prophecy as "The White Hawk", who will eventually control the world and all other planes of existance (the Prophecy is unclear as to whether this is a good or bad thing though, as Griffiths is never actually defined as being either good or evil; just ambitious), while Gatz takes the role of the 'Struggler', a man who fights hopelessly outmatched against impossible odds to confound the Hawk.

So, given all that, what is it that I like about BERSERK? A lot of things really. I love Muira's incredibly detailed art (or, at least the artist he would become after 20 or so volumes), which starts off fairly typical of ultra-violent seinen manga, and slowly evolves over time to look like medievil etches. I love his sense of drama and character; how he builds characters from the ground up, slowly revealing the events and tragedies that shaped their beings into the people they are today, and how they still learn and evolve, striving to become better people not bound by their hideously tragic pasts. I love the thought and detail that Muira puts into the world of BERSERK, which is a mish-mash of research on the real history of medievil Europe and the more familiar DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS/TOLKIENesque fantasy worlds, which he combines with musings about the nature of the metaphysical worlds beyond this one. I like that he examines the darker aspects of human nature and religion, but does not condemn either humanity or faith, merely showing what could happen if one took things to far.

Bizarrely, I think the thing I identify most with about BERSERK is that it's central theme seems to be about hope. Gatz faces impossible odds and an endless stream of horrors, both metaphysical (demons, monsters, Apostles, and immortals), and human (reglious persecution, slavery, war, plague, rape), but perseverses, struggles, and survives. Though he man solves most all of his problems with incredible, bloody, violence, he's not an unintelligent characters, and is given to musings about the nature of humanity, as well as his own nature.

Gatz is an incredibly complex character, in that the only thing he really seems to fear in the world is himself. His inability to control his incredible rage and his baser instincts, which actuallybecomes a plot point around volume 25 or so as his darker impulses take on the metaphysical form of a sort of abstract black wolf, which is constantly taunting and tempting Gatz to give into his animal instinct and just completely lose himself in bloodlust. This metaphysical foe becomes a phsyical threat when Gatz recieves a powerful weapon against the Apostles in the form of the Cursed Black Armor. The black armor grants Gatz incredible, superhuman fighting ability, but unleashes the Black Wolf, which overtakes his conciousness, making him a true Berserker; a menace to friend and foe alike, but also to himself.

BERSERK is just an incredibly compelling, dark, adult, fantasy story with some of the most graphic violence you'll ever encounter. It's the kind of shit I started reading manga for in the first place, and like any good seinen manga, the ridiculous violence is tempered by a complex, mature, character driven plot that is as sweeping and epic as anything Tolkien or Gaigax evern came up with, only, you know, actually fucking interesting (because of the sex and violence).

On a related topic, BERSERK is almost one of my favorite anime, which adapts the first story arc (which is, like, volume 1-8 or something), showing the genesis of Gatz, and one of my favorite ever video games, namely, SWORD OF THE BERSERK for the Dreamcast, which has the toughest, most epic EVER, Boss battle in the middle of the game against my second favorite character from the series; Nosferatu Zod, or alternatively, Zod the Immortal (pictured fighting Gatz). He was almost literally unbeatable, and tougher than the final Boss, and he comes at you in the MIDDLE OF THE GAME. He's like this unclimable wall you have to pass, which is pretty much what he is in the manga as well.

WOLVERINE vs STAR TREK vs TERMINATOR SALVATION: Franchise Rescue, Sucess or Failure?

2009-05-30T17:13:00.001-07:00

It's been awhile since my last post where I promised to start posting again, but people should be used to me breaking internet promises (I'll always come through on real life promises, but internet promises don't really hold much weight with me).

Anyways, I've recently had the chance to see the summer's three first "blockbusters", all of which are basically attempts at rescuing failing franchises from the shitty last shitty movie that almost ruined them. It shouldn't be news to anyone, but Hollywood is out of ideas. There is literally no new shit left to do in Tinseltown, apparently, so the snake has finally gotten around to eating it's own tail; everything old is new again... but is this a good thing?

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE

X-MEN 3... sucked. Seriously, there is nothing good anyone can say about this turd. X-MEN shocked the shit out of people, and was the first successful (both conceptually and financially) comic to screen translation (I'm not really counting BLADE as vampire movies have their own audience) of the new century, and basically set the framework for what comic book superhero movies should strive be. X-MEN 2 was equally shocking because it took a strong start and managed to somehow run with it, making for a far, FAR, stronger movie on all levels. X-MEN showed the potential for the comic book superhero as serious cinema, but X-MEN 2 legitimized it. Then someone fucked up somewhere and Marvel lost Bryan Singer to SUPERMAN RETURNS (which I liked, despite it's obvious flaws, though I have to agree that Superman REALLY did need to fucking punch something), and someone else had the fucking genius idea to give what to this point had been a hugely successful franchise, both financially and critically, to fucking Brett Ratner.

Now, I'm not going to quibble over why you would think the guy that directed increasingly shittier movies since the first RUSH HOUR (which was actually a pretty decent throwback to buddy-cop movies the likes of BEVERLY HILLS COP or LETHAL WEAPON), but to give your biggest, most successful, franchise to a dude with no passion or concept for the project? Why would you expect success? You get what you pay for; an uninspired effects driven movie with no character and a fucking mess of a plot (there were some good idea's in the script, but they were all squandered and mishandled in favor of campy looking art direction and lackluster action set pieces).

So, considering how hugely unsuccessful THAT plan turned out to be, it's completely confounding to me that MARVEL STUDIOS would repeat this formula with what had the potential to be a hugely successful new franchise in WOLVERINE. And I'll admit it; I was fooled.

In the buildup to this movie, I was excited. The trailer looked good, Hugh Jackman was notorious for his passion for the character that he made (and that made him), and from what you could pick up from the trailer, it looked like they really had an idea about what this movie should be about; the long, hard, life of an unkillable soldier caught in an unbreakable circle of tragedy, violence, and lost love. Early hype had this billed as being MARVEL's version of THE DARK KNIGHT; which was appealing because the DARK KNIGHT was exactly what you wanted a BATMAN movie to be: RATED R. No compromising, no pussying out or pulling punches. The promise of a serious, violent, adult WOLVERINE was appealing to me. But that is not what I got.

X-MEN ORIGIN: WOLVERINE ended up totally copping out on all fronts. I was promised THE DARK KNIGHT, instead I got BATMAN FOREVER. A PG-13 shitfest full of cheezy jokes, campy looking costumes and effects, and a directionless, characterless, and worst of all PASSIONLESS story. Even the fights were lame! If you're going to turn in a turd of a comic book movie, at LEAST deliver on some good action (the lightsaber fight with Darth Maul is the only thing that allows me to forgive PHANTOM MENACE)!

Really, it should be no surprise. The movie was given to a guy that would logically have no passion or interest in doing WOLVERINE. I've never seen TSOTSI or RENDITION, but that doesn't seem like a dude that would give a fuck whether he "got" Wolverine. This movie went in every direction but the one it should have, instead trying to focus on pointless easter-egg cameo's by characters that added NOTHING to the plot, and souless action set pieces where Wolverine didn't even get to do anything remotely Wolverine-like! Like, say, GUTTING A FUCKING GUY WITH HIS CLAWS!

And so MARVEL STUDIOS manages to take a potentially money making franchise give it to a bunch of people that don't give a fuck, and shit out another turd, but Hugh Jackman, bless his optimistic, head-up-his-ass, heart, thinks that there's potential to shit out ANOTHER turd! Sorry guy... I like your passion, your dedication, and your hussle, but if you couldn't get it right the first time, you definately won't get it on the second go-around.

Please just let this franchise die for, like, 5-10 years before attempting to resurrect it.

STAR TREK

Anyone see STAR TREK: NEMESIS? If ever there was a movie to kill a franchise, THAT was it. Of course... INSURRECTION, FIRST CONTACT, GENERATIONS, FINAL FRONTIER, VOYAGE HOME, SEARCH FOR SPOCK, not to mention the ridiculously boring THE MOTION PICTURE probably didn't help. All told, there were two good STAR TREK movie; WRATH OF KHAN and THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY. WoK was basically RED OCTOBER in space, and TUC was basically A FEW GOOD MEN... in space. And really, isn't that what a STAR TREK movie should be? A naval movie set against a sci-fi backdrop? Isn't that really what ANY good sci-fi movie should be? Something familiar set against the backdrop of the fantastic? An ordinary, mundane, concept taken to it's extreme? I believe someone once said that when you're writing science fiction, you're not writing about the future, you're writing about now.

And that's why J.J. Abrams STAR TREK is such a successful movie. Without the blinders of fandom on, Abrams managed to look at STAR TREK with eyes unclouded by nostalgia and took everything that was good about the STAR TREK and do it bigger, sexier, and most of all BETTER.

Everything that was great about the original STAR TREK (which, to me, is really the only STAR TREK worth a damn. That's right, I said it. FUCK GENERATION. FUCK VOYAGER. And especially FUCK ENTERPRISE. But not DEEP SPACE NINE, that was actually pretty good), is all present in this film. The action, the humor, the characterization, even the sexiness; everything that made STAR TREK worthwhile viewing is present in the new one, but amped up like the franchise drank, like, 30 Red Bulls and dropped some wicked powerful E before blasting out at you from the big screen in vibrant color and huge, pounding, epic soundtrack. And most of all, Abrams managed to capture the original series by-the-balls sci-fi adventure attitude. Characters are intelligent but proactive. Rather than spouting unintelligable technobabble at their problems, they rush in, fists clenched and guns blazing. Action sci-fi at it's finest!

That's not to say that meant taking a big shit on the fans of the old show. The real genius of the movie to me is that Abrams did it in such a way as to leave nerds, notoriously afraid of change, with absolutely nothing to be pissed off about! He's not saying "Fuck what you know! I did it better!" (unlike a certain Micheal Bay or Shia LeBouf, who just LOVE to shit all over the fandom that made their franchise a massive, surprising, success), he's saying, "Everything that you love... happened. It's still just as real and legitimate as it ever was, and nothing has been thrown away. This is just something exciting and new, and you're free to come along if you like." Abrams made a movie that doesn't pander to fans, but also makes great efforts not to alienate them. THAT'S the sign of a guy that gives a fuck. And that's why this franchise resurrection was successful. STAR TREK has risen like a majestic pheonix from the ashes of countless shitty movies that preceded it.

I'm totally onboard with this new franchise; every aspect from the cast onward was inspired, and there not one weak point I can see. No, not only was this a good STAR TREK movie, it was just a GOOD MOVIE. And THAT'S what every movie should strive to be.

TERMINATOR: SALVATION

Unlike WOLVERINE, I can't say that this movie was a turd. But unlike STAR TREK, I can't say it was a huge success either. Really, after the third TERMINATOR movie, it's not like the bar was set too high (though I have to admit... while TERMINATOR 3 was by no means a great or worthwhile sequel to TERMINATOR1 -2, it was still a entertaining movie to me; but I'm totally biased because I find mostly ALL Arnold Swartzenegger movies entertaining... except for SEVENTH DAY). But it's not like SALVATION tried to hard to hurdle that bar either.

SALVATION's good points are that it delivers on the action, which is what you're really there for in both a TERMINATOR movie and a summer blockbuster, and some great effects and production design. As for the plot... at least it wasn't, like, completely ludicrous. It was just sort of stupid.

The real problem comes from trying to take what was a simple, effective, sci-fi concept for a 1980's chase movie, and taking it entirely too far. Time Paradox just doesn't work on a large scale like this. There's to many variables to do it in any sort of hap-hazard fashion. You either dedicate yourself to working out the mechanics of the Paradox, or you JUST DON'T DO IT. Otherwise, what happens is that if you sit down and really think about any of SKYNET's plans or motivations, it just becomes ludicrous. It's best if you just turn you mind off, sit back, and watch shit explode. The problem with that, though, is that TERMINATOR 2 left you expecting more from your sci-fi action movie plot. You WANT to be challenged. You WANT there to be more to the plot. You WANT there to be a worthwhile character arc. And TERMINATOR: SALVATION just doesn't deliver on that. It's very much what you see on the surface.

That said, the slick, shiny, sheen of McG's (ugh. >_<) music-video direction, and the general ignorance of the target audience of this movie, combined with the modern movie audiences lowered expectations, will probably result in at least one, most probably, shitty sequel.

On a more selfish level, I just can't help but think that this franchise just doesn't work without Arnold Swartzenegger.

IN CONCLUSION

Of the three franchises that Hollywood has tried to resurrect, only one has delivered, and there's more to come this summer. Another TRANSFORMERS, which I'm ambivalent about, GI JOE, which could go either way, really, and another HARRY POTTER on the way, which may be a good thing, as it's the only franchise to consistantly deliver without fucking it up. And probably more on the way. It's been said, "There are no new stories", but now it's becoming entirely too literal.

Some Nerd Shit to Ponder...

2009-04-19T06:54:00.000-07:00

I've been busy slowly disassembling and then slowly reassembling my life as I moved into my Condo. It took me about a month and a half to move, and then another move to get sorta-settled (I'm not completely settled yet... still have to paint the apartment before I can finally unpack everything and actually HAVE a bedroom and free access to all my shit (which is currently still in boxes).

Anyways, I'm going to try and get my focus back and start posting more regularly and about shit that's actually, you know, significant (which is questionable when applied to the stuff that interests me). So I'm going to start by wading in the shallow end and just highlighting some nerd stuff of interest.

GI JOE RESOLUTE. Anime-looking webisodes written by Warren Ellis. 10 in total (five minutes each, with the last one being 10 minutes), which will air as a full movie on Teletoon Friday April 24th at 11:15pm. It's VERY Warren Ellis-y... straight talking dialouge, crazy future-science babble, particle cannons, and two guys die in the first 2 minutes.

The opening from the new (2009) ANN OF GREEN GABLES anime. I has this great '80's TVO Edu-Anime feel to it. It's the sort of thing that the CBC would be smart to try and pick up, but never would. The Japanese love the SHIT out of GREEN GABLES, yo.

T28 (aka TETSUJIN 28 aka GIGANTOR) CGI movie produced by IMAGI, the guys that went bankrupt trying to make ASTROBOY and GATCHAMAN... I actually don't know anything about this aside from the sick looking trailer; like when or even IF it's coming out, but MAN does this trailer look SWEET. These guys have made THREE movie I'd give my left nut to see, and I don't have any idea if ANY of them are coming out. -_-

9, the crazy Tim Burton, Tim Russianlastname, creepy CGI kids/action movie about little toy-guys made out of burlap sacks fighting to survive in a killer-robot-ridden post Apocalyptic world... sort of like LITTLE BIG PLANET without any humor. This looks fucking CRAZY. I can't wait for September, and then 3-4 month's after that for the DVD.

And finally, something that Kiza (my ex-roommate) has gotten me into; GUNDAM MS IGLOO. Japan has finally gotten it's shit together when it comes to CGI animation, and produced one of the most detailed, well designed, and well animated CGI series I've ever seen in MS IGLOO. Not only that, but it's one of the only GUNDAM series I've actually been seriously interested in, and really showcases why the series has been steadily popular for 25+ years. The humanity, the drama, the contemplative nature of the narrative, and it's examination of the philosophy and motivations of soldiers; it's just compelling stuff. Add to that the no-nonsense realistic robot warfare action, and you have something that's truely unique to Japan, but also has universal appeal outside it.

This particular episode is my favorite of the series so far; The Gravity Front. The great thing about this particular series, as opposed to the first MS IGLOO series which had a serialized narrative, is that it's made up of stand alone episodes that you can freely walk into without having seen any of GUNDAM at all. This episode is about a group of Earth Federation 'Zaku-Hunters', a tank unit that specializes in fighting the Duchary of Zeon's mobile suits, and in particular the unit's leader, a man haunted by visions of a Death God, with a powerful grudge against one particular White Zaku, who cost him his leg. The story is basically MOBY DICK with giant fucking robots, which is the only real way you could made MOBY DICK any better!

Anyways, it's worth a watch if you've never seen any GUNDAM before, but wondered why it was such a big deal to the Japanese.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5iCpa5t0kE
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDiwDTMmLWE
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK4SCvU3Amo

Anyways, just though you might be interested in some of this shit...

Goodbye, Mr. A...

2009-03-12T18:50:00.001-07:00

Having recently watched the WATCHMEN movie and (finally) reading the book of the same name by the ever popular Alan Moore, I found myself casting my mind back to one of the characters that influenced Alan Moore when he was writing WATCHMAN, Mr. A.

Rorschach was heavily influenced by two very similar characters created by Steve Ditko during the 60's, Mr. A and The Question. Both were incorruptable journalists that became vigilantes that donned masks; the Question wore a mask that completely obscured his face, leaving it blank and formless, while Mr. A work a metal mask that was sculpted to look like an impassionless face. Both characters represented Ditko's belief in a system of philosophy proposed by Ayn Rand called "Objectivism." Basically, Mr. A's belief is that existance is concrete and made of only absolutes and extremes, with no middle ground. Black and white, good and evil, with no moral grey area. A is A, and a crime commited is still a crime, regardless of severity or of the circumstanced that lead to it's pepetration. Mr. A uncompromisingly punishes those who commit crime after denouncing their attempts at justifying their reasoning for commiting the crime.

I can't say I can really wrap my head around the tennants being this philosophy, but I'm always fasinated by characters that have an extreme set of believes that they live by that aren't recognized as being acceptable by society. I'm just fasinated by the circumstances that lead them to have such an extreme and often insane but rationalized viewpoint... which is why I really found myself drawn to Rorsharch as a character in WATCHMEN... seeing his upbringing and the things that shaped him allowed me an understanding of how he came to be the way he was, even if I don't fully agree with his personal views or philosophy. Mr. A has no backstory... he simply is.

Anyways, the above Youtube video is a song called "Goodbye Mr. A" by the Hoosiers. I'm a little astonished that a modern band could dedicate an entire song to such an obscure reference, lost on most of society.

GRAN TORINO: An Old Man's Strength.

2009-01-24T22:27:00.000-08:00

As you may remember from one of my earlier "Trailer Time" segments, I really liked the trailer for GRAN TORINO, Clint Eastwood's lastest starring role, which he also directed, but I have to admit; it had me fooled. As good as the trailer looked, I just couldn't get myself on board with the idea of seeing what seemed like it would amount to an artsy DEATH WISH-esque movie; a grisled old man, hardened by a long, difficult, life gets crossed by some punk-ass wannabe gangsta's and sets out to get himself some sweet, violent, vigilante justice. I'm no prude. I like a violent revenge movie just as much as the next guy, but being afflicted by a case of the winter blah's and current events (Re: the shooting at Osgoode station is just a little to close to home) really just doesn't leave me in the mood to glorify murder, no matter how righteous or justified it might be. But providence left me with no choice but to watch GRAN TORINO tonight, which I planned on doing eventually anyways, and I was shocked to find that this movie was not what I was lead to believe at all.

Let's face it: Clint Eastwood knows how to direct a fucking movie. GRAN TORINO, from the first few seconds to the last word to roll off the credit's, is just a masterfully crafted piece of storytelling. Without having to even speak a single word, you know everything about Eastwood's character by the end of the first scene, as he reacts to the things around him, so by the time he does speak, he doesn't have to waste any time on pointless exposition, or bullshit movie dialouge meant to convey information to the audience that the people speaking it would otherwise have no need to say in reality, and reality is the word of the day for GRAN TORINO. Everything about the movie feels genuine and real. There's nothing staged or over dramatic. Even the way the camera is set up has a matter-of-fact attitude about it. There's no elaborate crane shots or extreme angles; it's just where it needs to be to tell a story. That's not to say that the movie doesn't look good; the framing and use of lighting to sell the mood or heighten drama makes some scenes feel like painting in their quiet, subtle, beauty.

Beyond this, though, Eastwood isn't afraid to confront some tough issues, such as selfishness, the generation gap, racism, gang violence, and just general violence as a means to an end, but not in such a way as to appear preachy or to make the audience purposely uncomfortable; quite the opposite, I was surprised by how many outbursts of laughter the movie provoked, with it's wry and ironic sense of humor and straight forward delivery, illustrating the difference between blind hatred and ignorance, and how knowledge and understanding can overcome a lifetime of preconceptions and bad habits.

But aside from those issues, the movie has a great humanity to it. Eastwood portrays a stubborn man, a man trying to be strong in the face of lose, now left alone with nothing but his regrets. He feels the world start to pass him by and fears what comes next, but is too proud to confide those fears in anyone. Then we have a boy desperately seeking his identity, afraid of what the future holds for him, and in danger of being swallowed up by the world around him. Violence brings them together, and then tears them apart, and in the movies final, climactic, scene, you see what a true hero is willing to sacrifice to give the people he's come to identify and sympathize with a chance to make a future for themselves.

GRAN TORINO is a complex but entertaining movie, masterfully directed, with a memorable performance by one of Hollywood's true greats, on and off the camera, that defied my expectations. I was expecting a good movie, and instead I got a GREAT one. A movie that combines subtlety with straightforwardness, and filled with great humanity.

On a side note, GRAN TORINO is also significant in that I can now add it to the short list of movies that have actually brought a tear to my eye. What can I say? It unmanned me.

ZACH WORTON: Working Class Hero.

2008-12-29T05:22:00.000-08:00

http://flashcitrus.blogspot.com/

I know I have a very limited readership of basically people that know me personally, who read my blog because they see me in person at least once a week and are afraid I'm going to spring a pop quiz on them, all like, "Oh, this is just like that thing I wrote on my Blog... DID YOU READ THAT OR NOT, ASSHOLE!?!" So most people know that I hang out at and volunteer a lot of my time at my favorite comic book store in the world (so far... I haven't been to Japan yet), THE BEGUILING, and have health social interaction with the staff. One of whom is comic artist Zach Worton (whose other blog BALLAD OF A CROSSHATCH JUNKIE, I also link to at the side of this page).

Zach is currently splitting his time between working on an original graphic novel about the Gold Rush called "KLONDIKE", which looks to be a pretty sick piece of historical fiction, something I've only recently begun to take interest in, mostly because of things like DEADWOOD and ME AND THE DEVIL BLUES: The Life of Robert Johnson, and being resentful of how socially awkward nerds go around confirming all the negative stereotypes about comics that he hates.

Zach's a great guy, and I admire him greatly. He's the hardest working guy I know, and has a work ethic similar to mine, which I respect greatly, because when I really get worked up (heh... puns) and really get into that "workhorse zone", I tend to get frustrated with people that can't keep up with me; which is, most times, totally unfair, because I do a physically demanding job on a regular basis. I am also prone to taking any job I'm doing too seriously, because I'm afraid of letting anyone down. Thus, I like working with Zach because he can lift heavy shit, mostly uncomplainingly (you can't NOT complain about backbreaking phyical labor, no matter what your work ethic is like), for long periods of time, and with great speed. Zach is the kind of that that, when presented with a difficult task, does not hesitate or waste time voice the "injustice" of the task, nor does he tip-toe around it leaving it till th last possible moment, but rather tackles it head on and gets the fucking job done.

When he's not lifting the shit out of boxes at the store, though, Zach has me totally beat, because he goes home to his second job working on comics; something I've been putting off for far too long. Which is what brings us to the whole point of this post... I am utterly amazed that Zack is producing not only his graphic novel, but a series of short webcomics, which you can read at his new comics blog FLASHCITRUS.

I'm a little embarassed to admit that I just found out about this today, because I haven't been keeping up with people's blogs, but I'm glad I decided to do so today. I don't read any webcomics (well... I read NO PINK PONIES), mostly because... I fucking hate webcomics. It's irrational hatred based on broad generalizations and bad experiences I've had with webcomics, which, in theory, is a totally valid medium that just happens to produce mostly VAPID, DISHONEST BULLSHIT. Seriously, every since THAT WEEKLY stopped, I have not given a shit about webcomics. ENTER ZACH WORTON.

Now, a lot of this might be me projecting, as I actually know Zach and and can confirm it, but FLASHCITRUS, though only a few strips long thus far, is the most brutally honest and unforgiving observational humor strip I've ever seen. It's mostly about venting frustration, but there's a subtle self-depricating side to it as well. I'm also impressed with Zach's utter willingness to tackle uncomfortable subject matter, such as his feelings on growing old and death, after being forced to confront his mortality when visiting his girlfriends grandfather. The style he chose to draw the comic in, that psuedo-OWL magazine looking funny animal style, goes a long way to difusing what would otherwise become a total downer of a self-introspective story while at the same time adding a fun visual contrast between obviously cartoon visuals and the most serious, viseral, subject matter of the strips.

I really hope to see more of these in the future, and would like to maybe see them collected in a nice little book at some point. Good job Zach; you've made me not hate webcomics again.

SPEAKING OF DRAGONBALL...

2008-12-10T21:58:00.000-08:00

Now... I'm not going to say I told you so, but... I fucking told you so.

This is WAY more terrible than even I expected it would be. Why would you bother to license a hugely popular franchise to make a live action adaptation, and then the only element you keep of the original source material is THE TITLE and the NAMES OF THE CHARACTERS?

I don't even fucking care. This is pitiful. Fuck it. I'm not even curious to see how back they fucked it up, because I can already tell they fucked it up BAD.

In closing... FUCK DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION.

"YO! SON GOKU AND HIS FRIENDS RETURN" (Thank you Nadia Oxford)

2008-12-08T16:21:00.000-08:00

Part2
Part3
Part4

Because I remain as if a small child inside, I present to you Toriyama's new DRAGONBALL OVA. Thanks to Nadia Oxford (AKA Mumbling Kitsune) for alerting me to it through her column on the unfortunately shitty new ANIMEONDVD site (sorry... Mania fucked it up. It used to be much better).

While this probably won't register on many peoples radars as being anything all that signifigant, as it's sort of a fluffy filler story, it's a nice bit of oldschool anime fun. Basically, there's a big party and everyone's invited in an almost Perez-esque character-wad, which is interupted by Vegeta's long lost loser brother, Tarble, who was exiled long ago for being an embarassing wuss. He crashes onto Earth with his ridiculous looking Pac-Wife and pleads for his big brother's help in beating up some Freeza-Level Space-Jerks. Goku and the gang, hungry for some action as they haven't put the boots to some kind of God-Like Cosmic Menace for almost two long years, argue about who will handle this new menace. After drawing radish straws, it's decided that these new alien threats will be deligated to the children, who need training anyways. Hilarity and property damage ensue.

As much as I love the episodes of DRAGONBALL where stuff gets blowed up, my favorite episodes were actually ones like this, were you get to see these characters completely out of their regular context. My absolute FAVORITE episode of DRAGONBALL is actually a filler episode, which was never in the manga, but could easily have fit in with Toriyama's brand of nonsensical pratfall humor, is the one where Chi-Chi forces Goku to go get his Drivers License, and Picollo decides to challenge him to a Drivers License-off, which almost destroys and entire city, and totals their respective cars. This episode is more up that alley, which is one of the strengths of DRAGONBALL that has made it an endearing fan favorite for the past 25+ years; the frictionless marriage of over-the-top martial arts action with ridiculous prat-fall comedy.

So while this episode doesn't really come off as being all that significant in terms of giving content starved DRAGONBALL fans any sort of closure post-series closing (DRAGONBALL has one of those typical shonen manga, "And they had adventures FOREVER" endings that's not actually an ending), it is a fun, nice looking, diversion that reminds one of why they liked this series in the first place, and why they still like it.

GATCHAMAN: I'm On Board for This Too.

2008-12-01T15:59:00.001-08:00

I'm soooooooooooooo fucking on board for this.

ASTRO BOY Teaser: GET ON BOARD, MUTHAFUCKERS!

2008-11-29T13:30:00.000-08:00

How can this not excite you?

How are you not filled with the awe and excitement of your youth? How can you not be overwhelmed with nostalgia?

When I was a kid, probably around 6 or 7, I got up at 6:00 every day to watch first THE MIGHTY HERCULES, but that what I was really up to see was ASTRO BOY. And, as the impressionable young boy that I was, what I took from that show was that I wish, hoped, and dreamed... that I was a robot. For real, no exaggeration. I wanted to be a robot. A robot with a heart and soul. The protector of humanity and robot-kind alike; the World's hero.

I remember so many great stories from ASTRO BOY... the robot liar, the Snow Leopard, the Robot God, Uran's Twin, Robio and Jullie-8, and of course, the greatest of them all; The World's Strongest Robot. Stories filled with adventure, romance, imagination, and likable, memorable, characters.

But why is it ASTRO BOY resonates so much with a young boy, like I was? I think it might be that I projected myself into Astro... though a robot, he had a family, friends, and went to school. And while he eventually gained friends, at first he was picked on and ostrecised for being different... hell, looking at his origin, he was even horribly abused by first his father, and then the robot circus he was sold into; but he persevered. He questioned the descisions of adults and had a childhood niavitte that I could identify with; he just wanted to save everyone. Astro didn't judge the villian, but rather looked for a compromise. That didn't mean he was stupid though. Astro was incredibly smart, and after some deliberation, his positronic brain could come up with the optimum solution to any problem. Astro represents childrens empowerment fantasy at it's finest, because it emphasises the best qualities of a hero: Honor, respect for all life, seek compromise before conflict, but take decisive action, and most importantly, use your strength to help others. Thus it was through that projection, that fantasy, that I shaped my moral compass.

So as to this trailer... am I excited? You bet your ass! What I don't get is why other people aren't? While looking for the trailer, all I came across was petty bitching and moaning; people that didn't like the look of it, that questioned the need for a revitalization of a childhood classic, that didn't think Tezuka would approve of the use of computer animation... Fuck that.

How does it look? EXCELLENT. IMAGI is a great studio that's been slowly but surely tempering their craft, and TMNT, while not a perfect movie, was nevertheless well directed and had some pretty astounding animation, and more importantly, art direction. I think that Tezuka's art actually lends itself quite well to computer animation because designed with animation in mind; every single character in Astro Boy is simply constructed with solid, geometric, volumes and very little unnessessary detail, which lends itself greatly to computer animation (as a student of animation myself, I have to say, the simpler the structure, the easier to animation). My only real critical point is that I wish the eyes on Astro were bigger than they are. But look at what they show us; the tunnelling through the ground, arms flailing wildly, flashlight eyes, and exploding through Mount Fuji, are both lifted directly from the 1960's opening of the show. This shows me that they're being true to the character. I'll even wager they put the machine guns in his ass.

As to the need to bring Astro back... have you ever watched kids movies, or saturday morning cartoons these days? Have you seen what we're teaching our kids? I'm not saying it's all garbage, but... what do kids learn from fucking BRATZ, WINX CLUB, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, or FAIRY GODPARENTS? It's all vacuous, commercial, and mean spirited. Have you ever just HUNG OUT with kids these days? O_O Do we need to revitalize a hero that once served faithfully as a positive rolemodel for everything that one should aspire to be? You're damn right! And all the better that it's something from everyones childhood; parents should be able to identify with their children, and there's nothing kids love more than to have their interests validated by adults, rather than being met with a condesending, "That's nice dear." Children's eyes sparkle when you show interest in what they are interested in. How many parents can tell their children stories of a character they loved that the children haven't heard of? "You think that's something? Why I remember the time Astro had to save the world's Seven Strongest Robots from Pluto, the Strongest Robot of them all!"

As for whether or not Tezuka would want to see Astro in all his 3D animated glory? Are you fucking kidding me, here? The man practically invented animation the Japanese! To his dying days he was on the forfront of artistic innovation. If he had a chance to actually build a robot boy with a 10,000 horsepower heart, he would have. As much nostalgia I have for classical animation, especially pretaining to this character, Astro Boy isn't about the past; he's about the bright and shining future. The promise of a better tomorrow. PROGRESS! INNOVATION! HOPE! Astro Boy has already conquered every aspect of the two-dimensional medium; time for the next.

So get on board with me people. Leave behind your pessimism and anger! Leave behind your paranoia and selfishness! Leave behind your anxieties and fears! By embracing a nostalgic hero of the past, may we find hope for a brighter tomorrow!

Trailer Time Again

2008-11-18T15:26:00.000-08:00

STAR TREK XI

I still have this horrible feeling that this movie is going to suck, and this trailer sort of confirms that suspicion in a way, as it feels VERY un-Trek-like... but I will say this: at least it looks like shit happens in this movie. ALL THE TIME. Like... shit just constantly happening. Which has always been my one big beef with STAR TREK. That there are usually HUGE GAPS between shit happening, in which shit does NOT happen. Anyways, I'm still out on this one.

Of course I'll still see it.

JCVD

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/jcvd/

I actually already saw this, and I should probably give it it's own blog post, but JCVD (Jean Claude Van-Damme) was fucking AWESOME. It was everything you could want in a movie; funny, action packed, and a meaningful examination of the human condition. I really loved this movie, almost to the point of being moved to tears, TWICE.

FRIDAY THE 13th

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/fridaythe13th/

FRIDAY the 13TH is sort of a guilty pleasure of mine... I also like some of the HALLOWEEN movies as well, for the same reasons. See... the hero of these movies are not the teenager victims, but the murderous killers themselves, who punish these kids for being stupid, selfish, self absorbed and ignorant fucking TEENAGERS. Notice how the survivors are always the intelligent, open minded, virgins that don't smoke pot or have promiscuous sex... their reward for not being idiot whores is that they get to see adulthood! Jason is trying to SAVE HUMANITY by culling the dead weight of society! As is Micheal Myers. Now, the one difference between the characters is that you have no sympathy for Micheal Myer's, because he has no real motivation to kill these people other than pure malice and the fact that he's FUCKING INSANE. Jason, though, is an almost tragic figure in that he's motivated by a child's desire for revenge. Born deformed and probably a little mentally handicapped, he was mistreated and generally abused by his peers, and cruelly murdered through ignorance and neglect. That doesn't make his unending kill-krazy rampage right, but you can understand why he does it... especially after his mother's death drove him even further into insanity (as if DYING didn't fuck him up enough in the head...).

Anyways, yeah... I can't really justify wanting to watch this movie any more than I can justify having watched all the others. All I know is that usually every even numbered FRIDAY THE 13th is pretty good, while the even numbered ones make no fucking sense whatsoever. JASON X is actually pretty brilliant if you look at it as more of a self-parody than an actual horror movie... and, as Parrish pointed out, it's going to be pretty hard for Jason to top killing an entire space colony... I mean, he could kill teenagers all year and still only fill a barn with bodies.

MONSTERS vs ALIENS

http://www.apple.com/trailers/dreamworks/monstersvsaliens/

A homage of sorts to 50's B-Movie monsters and aliens... it really just looks like another uninspired DREAMWORKS CGI movie. Like... not terrible, but not terribly good either. The only thing I really took away from this trailer is that Seth Rogan is a fantastic voice actor. I'd probably see this is nothing else was on that weekend, and I had literally nothing else to do... otherwise this really just only looks like bootleg worthy viewing.

TIME CRIMES

http://www.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/timecrimes/

A weird looking foreign film about a time travel gone awry. This actually looks pretty sick.

SEVEN POUNDS

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/sevenpounds/

Parrish and I saw this trailer when we saw QUANTUM OF SOLACE, and both got the same thing out of it: WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS MOVIE ABOUT? I have no idea.

TRANSPORTER 3

http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/transporter3/

After seeing that trailer, I can't believe that this franchise isn't based on a video game... because it looks like it's based on a video game.

I actually really liked the first TRANSPORTER, but the second one was a big pile of poo, so I'm hoping this one can make up for that. Either way, I'll see it for Jason Statham... THE BADDEST MUTHAFUCKER IN FILM, YO!

SPECIAL

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/special/

This looks pretty good actually. HANCOCK was really disappointing as a deconstruction of the superhero genre, but this actually seems to really get it. It's about a guy named "Les" who takes an experimental anti-depressant that he thinks gives him super-powers, so he decides the responsible thing for him to do is to become a superhero named "Special." (get it... he's LES until he's SPECIAL, ha ha ha... PUNS and SUPERHEROES are like peanut butter and jam!).

I'll see this.

VALKYRIE

http://www.apple.com/trailers/mgm/valkyrie/

I hate Tom Cruise as much as the next guy, given that he's a crazy douchebag jackass, and I really hate to support him in any way, but... he was funny in TROPIC THUNDER, and this Bryan Singer directed movie looks pretty sick. It's about an attempt to kill Adolph Hitler made by his own people. Like I said... I hate to support Tom Cruise in any way, but a good movie is a good movie.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/slumdogmillionaire/

I really like Danny Boyle, and he's responsible for making one of my favorite movies ever, SUNSHINE (for real... SUNSHINE is probably in my top five), and I got to say... I've heard nothing but good things about this movie, and the trailer looks EXCELLENT. I'd really like to see this.

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

http://www.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/lettherightonein/

Hey, know what totally looks like a better vampire movie than fucking TWILIGHT? THIS ONE. Seriously, I think this Swedish film has got the right idea of how to go about making a Romance-Vampire movie... romantic, yes, but don't lose the spookiness! This looks like just the right amount of spooky and romantic to me! I'd like to see this, but probably won't get the chance, because the theatre will be filled with teenaged girls excited about seeing FUCKING TWILIGHT, featuring efeminate pretty-boys whose "pale skin sparkles like diamonds in twilight." *Shudder* Yeah, they made the right choice.

THE UNBORN

http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/theunborn/large.html

A film filled with creepy looking Japanese-Horror movie shit, written by David S. Goyer, who has proven that he can either be really good... or fucking GOD AWFUL depending on who's directing. "Can you be haunted by someone who was never born?" APPARENTLY YOU CAN! HA HA! Again... shit like this is another guilty pleasure of mine.

PLAGUE TOWN

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/plaguetown/

More spooky shit.

MY NAME IS BRUCE

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/mynameisbruce/

I'd sort of go see this just to see Bruce Campbell in person... though I do like the line, "You need someone to face a heinous monster, and stop him in his tracks..." Heh heh... no one uses the word "Heinous" anymore.

GRAN TORINO

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/grantorino/large.html

Clint Eastwood once again proving that you're never to old to be a FUCKING BADASS! A bitter, racist, and hardened old man stubbornly refusing to admit his age, learns the error of this ways when he becomes a vigiliante to protect his chinese neighbours from a vicious street gang. Clint Eastwood is still the fucking man. This movie looks pretty great.

UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/underworldriseofthelycans/high.html

God that's a terrible subtitle... another guilty pleasure of mine, is that I like UNDERWORLD, which is hard to justify after the second movie fucked it up (that Super-Vampire guy was fucking cool though). I don't think we really needed a prequel though.

NOTORIOUS

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/notorious/

A biopic that I actually give a fuck about. I's gotta represent for Biggie, yo! Still... I can't believe they made a movie about Biggie before they made a movie about Tupac. That seems fucked up somehow. Either way... this movie will have a great soundtrack.

THE SPIRIT

http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/thespirit/

I can't help but feel that this film will quite possibly be fucking unwatchable. It looks like Frank Miller jerked off onto celuloid. Good GOD. >_<

HOUSE

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/house/

Is this a remake of the 1980's movie HOUSE (I can't actually remember what that movie was about...)? Or is this a really off the wall theatrical re-imagining of the popular TV medical drama, HOUSE?

MY TOP FIVE ANIME: AMENDMENT

2008-10-23T16:36:00.001-07:00

I fucked up on my list of Top Five Anime. I spent a lot of time and thought doing the Manga list, and then I sort of rushed through the Anime list. ^_^;;; So I'm going to amend it right now... After much deliberation, there are only things things that really remain from the original list... COWBOY BEBOP and AKIRA.

FLCL

I somehow overlooked FLCL while I was writing up my original list, and it hit me a few days after on the bus while I was listening to the OST (Original Sound Track) on the way to work. I don't know how it slipped my mind, but FLCL is definately in my top five.

Why FLCL? Probably because it is the most wholely original thing I've ever seen. FLCL is almost like DEADWOOD in that it's an intellectual exercise at times, and requires multiple viewings to "get" it. On the surface, everything about it seems random; complete CHAOS. From the way things just seem to happen with no context, to the often DRASTIC changes in the animation style, FLCL doesn't appear to be about anything at first... it's constantly movie, and the pace is breakneck at best, with explosive action ever 2 minutes. It's actually the quieter moments in the show that seem out of place when they occur. Everything happens so fast that you can barely keep up, so on your first viewing you have no way of processing what's going on; instead you're wowed by the visuals, entertained by the comedy, and excited by the action.

Upon a second viewing, you begin to sort out the chaos. You catch the small, subtle, plot points laid in admist the robots, explosions, gunfights, and guitar bludgeonings, and realise that it's actually a story about how fucked up adults are and how children should be in no hurry to lose that innocence and imagination (according to the commentary, that's what the whole "smoothing out the wrinkles" thing means... apparently the wrinkles in your your brain are what defines who you are as an individual, so to take over the world MEDICAL MECHANICA builds a giant iron to smooth over peoples individuality and turn them into robots).

It's kind of hard to really explain the genius of FLCL... you have to actually watch it... TWICE... to get how fucking good it is, and then you'll want to keep rewatching it, because it never gets old.

MACROSS PLUS

I have no idea how I overlooked MACROSS PLUS... this show was so important to my becoming involved in anime, and actually changed the way I look at science fiction in general.

MACROSS PLUS has all the staples of a good sci-fi story; robots, action, explosions, an AI run amok, and philosophical musings into the nature of the human soul. But the other thing it has is romance. It's the first sci-fi action story where I've actually cared about the characters, and realized that all the robots and action are secondary elements in what is really a story about what makes people drift apart and how love isn't always perfect and beautiful; that it can also be painful and messy. It's also about the compromises you make as a adult. Myung gives up her dream and it nearly destroys her, while Isamu lives the carefree life of a teenager in constant pursuit of his dream; alienatinng everyone around him as a result. Gaul sacrifices the most, though, giving up his friendship, humanity, and then finally his life.

Now, while MACROSS PLUS stands pretty well along, it is part of the massively popular MACROSS (ROBOTECH) franchise, and has one of that franchise most definative plot points... music. Every single MACROSS spinoff, prequel, sequel, or re-imagining somehow revolves around music, and in most cases it's pretty heavy handed, or shoehorned in (Minmei for example... but the most baffling was MACROSS 7 in which the Veritech's are actually powered by rock and roll. >_<). MACROSS PLUS is the first of this series where the music as a McGuffin actually works seamlessly. Of course, it helps that this is probably one of Yoko Kanno's most definative soundtracks. NINJA SCROLL

NINJA SCROLL is probably what actually got me interested in Japanese culture, as it was my first real exposure to the history (sort of) of Japan. Beyond that, I really don't know what to say. I'd only been watching anime for, what, a year or two on SCI-FI Channel and TELETOON, and the thing that intrigued me the most about anime was the excessive sex and violence; and at that point, and possibly to this say, NINJA SCROLL was the most graphic thing I'd ever seen, while still being somehow poetic and beautiful. Having rewatched it numerous times, I can't help but be astonished by how fucking TIGHT it is from a storytelling standpoint. Nothing is wasted. The movie almost literally perfect to me. I cannot find a single flaw.

Above is the best fight scene ever put to film, though I wish I could have found the english dubbed version, as it remains one of the best dubs ever produced, and has my favorite line of all time. Genma bursts forth from the molten gold and grabs onto Jubei's leg, burning him with his vise-like grip. Jubei turns and raises his sword, screaming his parting words at his immortal, unkillable foe, "GENMA! BURN IN YOUR GOLDEN HELL!" before slicing his arm off and condemning him to eternal living hell, frozen solid as a living gold statue.

SICK.

Anyways, apologies... these three, plus COWBOY BEBOP and AKIRA are my five favorites of all time, just narrowly beating out the others, which would be six, seven, and eight.

MODERN MUSIC, 80'S CARTOONS

2008-10-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

Look At Me (When I Rock Wichoo) - Black Kids

I got this off of Corey Lewis LiveJournal.

I'm not even going to pretend I'm hip enough to know who these kids are... frankly, I thought this video was actually old as fuck, until I saw the 2008 logo at the end. The song has a very late 80's, early 90's feel, and the throwback matting they used in the video also gave me that impression, but now I see it was all a clever ruse... an emotional time machine that manipulates your feelings of nostalgia through a non-stop barrage of 80's cartoon references.

I'm pretty sure I didn't get them all, as a lot were cleverly disguised, but the opening is obviously taken from the opening to DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS (where they get abducted on the theme park ride to another dimension), the first logo is based on the logo from SILVERHAWKS, the blonde girls scarf and helmet are from SPEED RACER, the guy with the visor and the guy in the dog suit are Han and Chewie, and I think the ship is from something else; it looks familiar to me, and I think I had a toy of it, but I can't remember what it's from. The cars are from M.A.S.K., and the next logo is from BIONIC SIX, which the running gag is also from (Rock-1's power was speed), and the posing montage that follows is also from the BIONIC SIX opening (AWESOME show). The guy's sword is from VOLTRON (I think...), and I think the dog playing the guitar might be a reference to KID VIDEO, but I can't be sure, as I never saw more than the opening to that show. The next few references, if they are indeed referencing anything, I can't place, right up until the "Heads all turn at once", which is from THUNDERCATS (I like how they kept the Snarf tail gag as well... AMAZING). I'm not sure what the third logo is from... BLACK STARR maybe? I think the visor guy's flying might be from MIGHTY ORBOTS... and that's all the references I could catch.

If anyone can fill in the gaps or correct me on stuff I might have goofed on, please do!

Oh, and on another note... these kid's ain't bad. I sort for like their music.

*EDIT*

The spaceship is from GALAXY RANGERS, someone just pointed out to me. I can't believe I missed that... >_< I feel nothing but 80's cartoon nerd-shame for missing something so obvious.

**EDIT**

RSJ is totally right... I recognize the overexposed film footage and the temple after the "Silverhawks" logo as being from MYSTERIOUS CITIES OF GOLD. He's also right about the blond girls costume being from POLE POSITION... actually, all of the animation up until the car turns into the one from M.A.S.K. is from the POLE POSITION opening. I think there's even a reference to JEM in there when the dog catches them all in the music web... am I making that up? RSJ was also right on the third logo, which is from UYLSSES 31... there are other references from that as well (the guy standing on the pillars is also from the UYLSSES 31 opening). Also, the sword part I mistook for being from VOLTRON, is actually from the UYLSSES opening, and the three ships combining as well... LOTS of UYLSSES 31 in this video actually... I think that's the most love that show ever got, despite being AWESOME.

The depth of this video's nerd-references astonishes me... I'm so fucking in love with this video.

CASSHERN SINS: RETURN OF A HERO?

2008-10-17T16:44:00.000-07:00

I was fucking around on YOUTUBE when I stumbled upon this... the trailer for the new CASSHERN series (the first episode of which I have watched). I wish this trailer was a little better so as to visually express how awesome this is to me, but it's a pretty short teaser.

CASSHERN: SINS is a... unbelievably bleak revisualization of the classic 70's anime series, about a young man who becomes a cyborg hero that battles robots that have become self aware thanks to his father, and go to war with humanity. SINS recasts Casshern not as humanities savior as in previous incarnations, and not as a cyborg, but rather as an android mercenary in service of Blaiking Boss (aka The Black King from the previous series), who is assigned to kill Luna, humanities savior, which he succeeds in doing... only to bring about the end of the world. 100 years later, the Earth's enviroment is hostile to both humans and robots alike; the air is poisonous to humans, and corrosive to robots. Humans are all but extinct, and robots are in constant disrepair, having taken to cannibalizing each other for parts. It is now that Casshern, the destroyer of the world, returns, with no memory of what he has done, or where he has been for the past 100 years. Now, in this dark and violent world, all he can do is seek the truth behind his existance, and redemption for his sins.

It's hard to really get an impression of what this series as a whole is going to be like from the first episode... especially if you're already a fan familiar with the previous incarnations of Casshern; that first 5 seconds of Casshern telling Luna he going to kill her is pretty shocking. The fact that the crux of the show is the mystery of what has happened to the world and Casshern's amnesia also leaves your head spinning, as everything is a mystery yet to be solved. All you really get out of the first episode is some amazing fucking action, and an overwhelmingly BLEAK atmosphere. Soooooooooo bleak.

At any rate... I'm in for the long haul. This is the kind of anime I live for... slick animation, cool character designs, awesome robot murdering action, and a conflicted hero more monsterous and violent than his enemies.

I should really write a thesis on the difference between the Japanese idea of what a superhero is VS the North American idea of what a superhero is...

At any rate, here are some clips of the previous incarnations of this robot killing franchise.

SHINZO-NINGEN CASSHERN (Neo-Human Casshern), circa 1973. Unfortunately, beyond this excellent opening, I have absolutely no nostalgia for this show, as it was never licensed in North America. But I've got to say... for 1973, this is a pretty tight looking show. Casshern, even from his inception, has one of the best characters designs I've ever seen; even 35 years later he can still rock that collar, and the helmet/facemask combo is pretty sick, even moreso in that the facemask opens and retracts, allowing him to have expression when not in "MUST KILL ROBOTS" mode. Frankly, the initial setup for the show of a post apocalyptic world where rogue AI's subjugate humanity, and their savior is a cyborg that violently rips them in half, is pretty intense for the 70's. I also like the very 70's anime idea of having a mechanical dog that transforms into a plane and breaths fire and is named "Frienda." Oh, and his mom was a mechanical Swan. ANIME!

I don't know why this opening was never included when this OVA was released over here. Probably because it didn't have an awesome theme song, like the original 70's show (complete with children's choir in the background). This OVA was actually one of the first anime I ever saw, back when SCI-FI Channel was still doing SATURDAY ANIME, in the mid 90's, and was directed by Umetsu Yasuomi, who is still one of my favorite directors/character designers. Casshern gets a pretty sick redesign, which keeps pretty close to the all but perfect original design, as do all the other characters. Having never seen the original show, I can't tell you how faithful a revamp this was, but I have a felling they pretty much stayed true to the original, but condensed the entire thing into an easily digestible 4 episode OVA. Some seriously sick robot killings, and one of the best final battles in all of final battles (though it still doesn't beat the end of NINJA SCROLL).

This is actually probably the only part of this movie you need to see... it was a FUCKING MESS. It was beautiful to watch, and one of the more ambitious Japanese films to be made, no doubt, but that just makes it a beautiful FUCKING MESS. Seriously, I just did not get what it was about. They took a simple, hard to fuck up concept, of a kid inheriting a horrible legacy from his father, forcing him to sacrifice his humanity to become a robot murdering cyborg hero, and they turned it into some psuedo-arty pile of shit. But the above action sequence, where Casshern tears apart an entire robot army by himself? WORTH IT. Just not the rest of this steaming pile.

As an added bonus...

HURRICANE POLYMAR! Also directed by Umetsu Yasuomi, it's probably one of my favorite anime ever... I wish I had it on DVD, so I could rewatch it OVER and OVER and OVER. It was this nice blend of violent superhero action and SCOOBY DOO-ish humor. Plus it has one of the best lines ever, "Cat-Sharks WILL die, and Hurricane Polymar will kill them!" Said completely without irony. AWESOME.

MY FIVE FAVORITE ANIME AND MANGA: THE CHRIS BUTCHER CHALLENGE

2008-10-14T17:30:00.000-07:00

Internet celebrity, local comics retailer, and BFF Chris Butcher Facebook challenged me to blog about my five favorite anime and manga... which is no easy task.

I have watched... a LOT of anime. And I have read... a LOT of manga. On and Offline, printed or scanlated, legitimate and bootlegged (that's a whole other blog post). Admittedly, not all of it is great, and not all of it is good, but it's still a LOT of manga/anime to try and quantify. But I will try...

---

MY TOP FIVE MANGA (In no Particular Order)

I'm not going to try and put these in any sort of order... I can't specially say there is any one of ANYTHING that I love definatively more than anything else, so I'm just putting these down in the order that they come to me.

1> SOLANIN by Inio Asano

This is actually a pretty recent favorite, and I've been meaning to get around to doing a review of it on it's own, but it's pretty safe to say that SOLANIN is probably going to remain one in my top five for years to come... or, at least, until someone licenses more of Asano's work in North America (NIJIGAHARA HOLOGRAPH and GOODNIGHT PUN-PUN are pretty amazing in their own right). There are many things I like about SOLANIN that give it greatness in my eyes... I like that it's a complete story (especially given the way that VIZ decided to collect both volumes into one giant tome), I like Asano's atypical, intricately detailed, art style (particularly his use of computer effects and lighting), I like his sensitive storytelling, and his offbeat sense of humor.

But that really stands out about his work is how contemporary and accessible it is; moreso than any other manga I've ever read, this is something that really bypasses the culture gap and speaks to things that everyone can understand. It's still set in Japan, and about Japanese characters, and has Japanese cultural references, but it's not done in a way that's so dense and alien that it would be off putting to someone that isn't familiar with manga. It's much close to an alternative graphic novel or an indie movie in it's tone and setting. The closest thing I can liken it to is SCOTT PILGRIM; a story about a group of 20 somethings on the edge of adulthood, dealing with their fears and aniexties about growing up.

SOLANIN really spoke to something in me when I read it, and though it's only been a week, it still stands out as something GREAT to me, and I hold it near and dear to my heart, and probably will for years to come.

2> BATTLE ANGEL ALITA: LAST ORDER by Yukito Kishiro

Ha ha ha... I'm not sure this is a controversial addition to a "TOP FIVE" list, as it's could be considered a pretty basic shonen manga... and a psuedo-sequel at that... but BATTLE ANGEL ALITA: LAST ORDER is fantastic to me. Kishiro's art is at it's best, with years of experience and experimentation behind him, and his storytelling equally as honed and matured, he takes characters that I had a fondness for, goes back and successfully reimagines and reinterprets them. I love the way he mixes character development, psychology, and philosophy, with kinetic martial arts action and well researched sci-fi/space opera. BATTLE ANGEL ALITA: LAST ORDER, to me, takes what started out as a pretty standard, only slightly above average, shonen sci-fi/action fantasy manga, and elevates it to something truely original and special.

3> KUROSAGI CORPSE DELIVERY SERVICE Eiji Otsuka and Housui Yamazaki

KUROSAGI CORPSE DELIVERY SERVICE is something that's a little tricky for me to quantify. It's a book that differs hugely in tone and texture from chapter to chapter, and is more episodic than most manga tend to be, though there is a more serialized story taking place in the background. At times it's can be grim and gorey, at others darkly comedic and offbeat. Whenver I'm asked what it's about by people I tell them, "It's SCOOBY DOO for adults." Short, episodic, offbeat mysteries solved by a group of entertaining and diverse 20 somethings just out of college. Much like SOLANIN one of the things that makes it so appealing to me is it's contemporary setting and how that somehow translates into greater accessability across cultural barriers to me. Something about more modern and comtemporary portrayals of Japanese youth culture really bridges that gap (possibly the greater influence of North American culture in modern day Japan, or possibly in that all young people generally have the same fears and concerns about the final crossing into adulthood?). Either way, every single chapter either intrigues and draws me in with it's perfectly paced storytelling, well researched themes, and original spin on a concept (my favorite remains the insurance adjuster that kills people with probablility), or it's offbeat and dark sense of humor. It also helps that the art is appealing and expressive.

4> PLUTO by Naoki Urasawa

This was actually pretty tough... Naoki Urasawa is probably one of my favorite mangaka, period, and there are MANY titles of his that I find astonishly good (HAPPY, MONSTER, 20th CENTURY BOYS), but if asked which of his series I like the most, I think I can definatively say that PLUTO is at that top of that list.

Now, most all of Naoki Urasawa's works I've read share a certain storytelling aesthetic that has become almost a formula; a small story that slowly grows into a huge conspiracy, with each chapter ending on a bigger and bigger cliffhanger to keep you constantly hungry for the next chapter. And PLUTO is no different from MONSTER or 20th CENTURY BOYS in that respect. Where it does differ though, and thus, what draws me in, is that PLUTO can almost be considered a proffessional fan-wank, as it's based on the story THE WORLD'S STRONGEST ROBOT by manga great, Osamu Tezuka, and features one of the World's most beloved fictional characters, my childhood hero: ASTRO BOY (Tetsuwan Atom).

It's not just that this is a darkly modern retelling of a classic story made to reflect modern day values and real world happenings; it's how obvious from the way the story is presented that Naoki Urasawa is himself a fan. There's a sense of reverence for the material and characters that can be felt on each page; the way he takes pleasure in teasing you with callbacks to the original story, and the quietly grandiose relish he takes in revealing a beloved character (in the first chapter he appears in, Atom is shown on a single full page spread with no dialouge, illustrating the impact that his appearance should have the audience, as it's what everyone has been waiting for).

The power of PLUTO for me is in that, not only is it an intellectually engaging exercise like Urasawa's other works, with beautiful, detailed art, expressive cartooning, and clear, precise, storytelling, but it's also a love letter to something that was important to him as a child, and because of that, it takes me back to that place I was at as a child, were I didn't just dream of being a hero, I dreamed of being a ROBOT hero, and friend of humanity. Though a dark and gritty, adult thriller, PLUTO is about to magically transport me back to a time when my eyes were wide with excitement, and my heart was open.

5> ??? Undetermined

Given that I only have one spot left, it's become incredibly difficult to narrow it down to any one manga... do I give this final spot to DRAGON HEAD, with it's compelling storytelling, and it's bleak world view? Or would I risk alienating PLANETES, with it's deft characterization, and philosophical examination of the human spirit? What about PARASYTE, with it's dark humor and engaging outsiders view of human nature? Or BERSERK, with it's peotic fusion of romance, philosophy, and graphic violence? What about ONE PIECE, which never fails to put a smile on my face? Or GENSHIKEN, with whose characters I can really identify with? GANTZ, EDEN, SUIKODEN III, PILGRIM JAGER, CLAYMORE... the list goes on. I guess I can only really have a top four if I can't narrow it down any more than this.

Ask me again in another year.

TOP 10 ANIME (In no Particular Order)

1> COWBOY BEBOP

Do I really even need to explain? COWBOY BEBOP was, by no means, the first anime I ever watched, or the first one I really liked... but it's still one of, if not THE, best. Brilliantly directed, with great art, great animation, and great writing. With it's offbeat humor, mature storytelling, memorable characters, and shocking ending, I never seem to get tired of watching it, and can always go back.

2> LUPIN THE III: CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO

Hyao Miyazaki could probably be considered his own catagory, in which I could quantify and definatively rank my favorite Miyazaki films in order, but as a stand alone, CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO is one of my favorite animated films ever because it gives you the contemplative and immaculate storytelling of a Miyazaki film, with the chaotic fun and daring do of Japan's favorite anti-hero, Lupin the III, my favorite anime/manga character of all time. Lupin is just a great character. He's fun and charismatic... at times a righteous hero, and at others a righteous bastard, but at no point can you NOT like him. CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO is just a wonderful film on all fronts, featuring a wonderful character.

Oh, and to be even more specific... it's go to be the STREAMLINE dub. Anything else is unacceptable to me.

3> MILLENIUM ACTRESS

Speaking of animation directors that could really have their own catagory, SATOSHI KON. Yeah, he could probably be considered the next Miyazaki in a way; a wholey original and insanely prolific film maker. Of his films, all of which I love, I have to say that MILLENIUM ACTRESS is probably my favorite. What makes it my favorite? I'll be honest... I'm just being completely arbitrary here... it's one of the only films to make me actually shed tears. And that's a very short list (three of them are also animated. :B). I chalk it up as a testiment to Kon's ability to make something so beautiful it's actually able to move my cold, robotic, heart with genuine emotion. All of his films and great and fill me with wonder, but this one actually moved me.

4> GIANT ROBO: THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL

EPIC. GIANT ROBO is just... isanely epic. It's so grandiose, with it's massive symphonic score, breakneck pace, and mind bending visuals (the Eifel Tower twisted and snarled, as Paris is riped apart as a choir cries, "DIESE IRADE!", and the Eye of Volger looks impassionately overhead). Heroic sacrafice, tragic deaths, savage betrayals, hidden agendas, family secrets, heroic destinies; GIANT ROBO has fucking EVERYTHING. It's just insane, frantic, pulpy, fun and excitement, and I just keep going back for me and more.

5> AKIRA

There's actually a whole lot of stuff I can put on this list, but I do actually have 5 things that edge out just about everything else in the world, and AKIRA is one of them. AKIRA is something I saw very early on in my early exploration of anime, back when all that was available to me was VHS recordings I had my aunt and uncle make when they had a US Satellite. WAAAAAAY back when the SCI-FI Channel was doing SATURDAY ANIME. Yeah it was cut and yeah it was censored for languege, but that didn't affect my fasination with this movie, and the subsequent fasination it sparked for more of it's like and for the culture that spawned it.

The detail in the art, the audacity and ambition of the animation, and just how fucking COOL psychic power battle could be... it was unlike anything I'd ever seen before, and is unmatched to this day in a number of respects... even by it's own creator. AKIRA is a very tough act to follow.

---

Game set and MATCH, Butcher.

ANIME OPENINGS FROM SHOWS THAT I LIKE (Part 1)

2008-10-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

Seraphicgate was lamenting the lack of good anime lately, and I was going to do a long list of shows that I've liked... but it would have taken a long time to properly describe them. So, instead, I've decided to find the openings, and then do a little description, and let the shows sell themselves.

PARANOIA AGENT

See review below. I love this opening... it so simple, the the contrast of the upbeat song and the creepy image of characters laughing at you while floating, dreamlike, through various backgrounds, fucks my shit up.

BERSERK

Also, the opening form the AWESOME looking PS2 game... SWORD OF THE BERSERK was probably my favorite Dreamcast game of all time, and Zodd was proabably the most frustrating Boss of any game EVER.

BERSERK is one of the best anime and manga I've ever seen. It's an odd cross between shonen ultraviolence and poetic romance, about a man who continually defies fate, even as another man is swallowed up by it. I also like the fantasy world it inhabits where magic and monsters seem to be on the cusp of disappearing from the world and becoming epherial legend. Gattsu (Guts, Gatts, whatever pronounciation) is one of the most bad ass, and most complicated, characters I've ever encountered

GENERATOR GAWL

This is actually one of the few anime that I recomend the dub specifically, as the dub signifigantly deviates from the sub script to create something unique, contemporary, and way more accessible and original than the original script. It's a great take on the Japanese idea of what a superhero is. I... LOVE the Transforming Hero genre, and the idea of transformation itself fansinates me... particularly as portrayed in GAWL. The idea that becoming is hero is painful and that there is a lose of control and humanity. The portrayal of a hero that is as monsterous and frightening as the creatures he fights... is awesome to me.

Also, this theme song has been on my MP3 player for 4 YEARS.

NOIEN TO YOUR OTHER SELF

One of the more innovative, original, and contemporary shows that's come out... uuuuuuuh... EVER. You could almost swear it was written by Warren Ellis, as a huge part of the shows premise deals with Quantum Theory and it's practical application. NOIEN also has one of the better female protagonists I've seen in any show, as Haruka, while having no outwardly physical power of her own with which to fight, is never, at any point in the series, helpless. In fact, she's probably the strongest character in the show, as she's the only one that proactively deals with her problems, and solves her own disfunctions, while all her friends are crippled by them.

INFINITE RYVIUS

This show was basically LORD OF THE FLIES in space. It was this really clever and serious hard sci-fi show about a large group of kids that get abandoned in space after a terrorist attack kills all their adult supervisors and leaves them on the run from an unknown enemy. Soon society starts to break down as the kids are forced to grow up too fast. Hard choices are made, and not a single character is unleft emotionally unscarred, as everyone slowly loses their minds giving into peer pressure, emotional pressure, and external pressure. One of my favorite parts of the show is how they stress how ridiculous the concept of a giant humanoid robot would be, and how space battles would be nothing like in anime, but would actually be really show, tedious, and involve a lot of math.

REIGN THE CONQUEROR

A really odd take on real life historical figure Alexander the Great (ALEXANDER SENKI in Japan), this paticular version combines historical fact with outlandish fantasy, creating a hybrid the likes of which has never been seen before. If nothing else, I just LOVE Peter Chung's (AEON FLUX) art direction and character designs... the guy has a style that no one else in the world has. I liked the portrayal of Aristole as a manipulative villian, and Plato as a genius that figured out Quantum Theory and transcended humanity after creating a Quantum Computer called the Platohedron, and how it's Alexanders ability to subconciously control the Platohedron that allowed him to conquer half the world by manipulating fate in his favor. It's all very weird and abstract and very AEON FLUX-y.

WITCH HUNTER ROBIN

The thing I liked about this show was that it was sort of a combination of ANGEL and BUFFY, but only the good elements of both... a weird hybrid of supernatural thriller and 80's detective drama. The art direction was also pretty excellent, and I like the character designs a lot. Also, I like the shows one homosexual character (or, at least, the english dub directors decision to cast it that way), which was very true to what it's like to be a closeted homosexual in Japan (it's alright as long as you're married and have a kid that grows up to resent you). The show is full of twists and turns, betrayal, double crosses, and everyone in the show is pretty intelligent and on the balls. It's a smart and mature show that doesn't need to resort of excessive sex or violence to be smart and mature.

I find this opening very much gives you a good idea of the emotional spectrum that the show covers, showing Robin's pain and longing, but also her lighter side in the final seconds, with a quick montage of her being a cute, but eccentric, teenage girl.

ERGO PROXY

I actually went with the trailer instead of the opening, as the show is way to complicated for me to express in a short period without spoilers, and the opening doesn't give much of a hint as to what the shows about, or how FUCKING GOOD it is. ERGO PROXY is one of the overall BEST anime I've ever seen... it's this weird, dark, gothic, Euro-sci-fi story by the same director as WITCH HUNTER ROBIN (which explains why it features another strong, goth-girl, protagonist). As mature and dark as the show is, though, it also has a really odd, black, sense of humor about it, which plays heavily into two episodes... a clip show which is structured like a cheezy game show, but the stakes are nuclear armaggedon if the main characters can't remember or figure out what it is that been going on for the past 13 episodes; and another episode where they encounter a Disney like figure that has Godlike power over the world he's created for himself. The series also has one of the more truly adorable characters I've ever seen in Pina, a cute psuedo-sentient robot girl who is SO ADORABLE that it actually becomes creepy.

.HACK//Sign

This show has one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard, period...

I don't usually go for dialouge heavy anime like .HACK//Sign, but the shows so complicated and character driven, I found it really engrossing, and the direction, along with the way they used the aforementioned excellent soundtrack, manages to have every episode build and build, until it's nearly a dirvish of action and emotion, and then ends on a huge cliffhanger. I also like the idea behind the show of people interacting solely through the RPG setting of THE WORLD, and the background elements of the world using humans as part of a larger program to create a perfect AI through the observation of human interation on a massive scale, and the idea of the program in charge of nurturing that AI trying to emotionally cripple it by trapping an emo-kid in the program (Tsukasa is sooooooooo fucking emo... but with good reason, as you slowly find out through the creepy flashbacks to his/her life outside the game). The only weakness that the show has is that it's part of a franchise, and thus you don't get the full effect until you play the games... which I just don't have the patience for. The show itself is mostly self contained, as long as you don't give a fuck about what happens to Aura or Morganna... which I really didn't.

That's all for now... I'll do more some other day.

PARANOIA AGENT: Satoshi Kon... WHY ARE YOU SO GOOD!?!

2008-10-05T16:48:00.000-07:00

I have to give it to ADULT SWIM... they sure know how to cut a trailer.

I'm actually a little ashamed to admit that, despite being a huge fan of Satoshi Kon's works (all of which I own now... he's the only director who's movies I will sit through subtitled). PERFECT BLUE, MILLENIUM ACTRESS, TOKYO GODFATHERS, and most recently, PAPRIKA... all of them are probably among some of the greatest examples of why you should RESPECT anime as a valid and mature storytelling medium. And Satoshi Kon is one of those rare directors that can use this medium to do more than just make a movie... he makes elevates it to ART.

See... one of the things that's always struck me about Satoshi Kon's films is that they don't actually need to be animated. Especially TOKYO GODFATHERS, which didn't even have Kon's usual themes of fantasy, unreality, and psychology; there is nothing in that movie that could not have been done in reality. So why animate it? Or any of his films? Almost all of them could just as easily have been done live action, especially in this new age of digital filmaking. Animation is a long, hard, and expensive process by comparison. So why go through the trouble to animate stories that have more in common with low budget indie character studies than high budget escapist fantasy?

Because it's art. Satoshi Kon is a genius not just because he's a master storyteller, but because he's a master animator, who understands how to portray, with either subtlety or exaggeration, the full range of human expression. His observation of motion and emotion is, frankly, astounding, and brings something to his storytelling that an actor might not be able to. That he is an animator means that he doesn't have to direct an unreliable human actor and rely on their performance to get across what he he sees so clearly in his head... he can create what is in his imagination far more clearly and more gracefully than you could ever achieve in reality.

But I digress... the real reason I'm here is to talk about PARANOIA AGENT, which is an interesting experiment for Satoshi Kon; a 13 episode TV show.

PARANOIA AGENT is a series of episodic character studies about people under extreme emotional duress, with a serialized plot in the background connecting everything together, which allows for a more decompressed story arc told through what amounts to a series of short films.

Feeling the pressure of deadlines and peer pressure within her office, designer Tsukiko Sagi walks down a dark and lonely street on her way home. Her paranoia mounts as the darkness begins to close in, and she imagines she's being followed. She runs and falls, relieved that it was only her imagination... only to be attacked from behind by an elementary student wearing in-line roller skates, and carrying a bent, golden baseball bat. This is how the urban myth of violent attacker, Shonen Bat (Bat Boy, or Li'l Slugger in the dub) is born.

The series follows the investigation into the Shonen Bat attacks, as he appears to be attacking people seeming at random, with only a thin thread connecting them. People secret lives and daily pressures are examined, as Shonen Bat's attacks become more prolific and his power grows as he feeds on the paranoia and dark thoughts of society, until he is finally too powerful to be denied.

PARANOIA AGENT is apparently a mish-mash of unused idea's that Satoshi Kon failed to find a place for in his other movies, and investigates some of the same themes; losing oneself in fantasy, multiple personalities at war with each other, abstract idea's becoming reality, the darkness that resides deep within the human heart (the one episode about the child that finds out her father has a secret camera in her room was ESPECIALLY dark)... betrayal, lose, regret, sadness, suicide, insanity, time travel, reality and unreality... there is nowhere Satoshi Kon won't go, and nothing he won't touch.

That's not to say there isn't humor... PARANOIA AGENT is a surprisingly balanced series and can even be considered a black comedy at times. One of my particularly favorite episodes is one about three people that meet on a Suicide BBS and arrange to meet in person so they can all die together. One is an old man, called "Fuyubachi", one is a younger man, called "Zebra", and the last, which is a shock to the other two, is an eight year old girl, called "Kamome." Despite the premise of the story, it's actually one of the more ridiculous, offbeat, and heartwarming episodes, as the two older characters, quite responsibly, try to dodge Kamome, all the while trying to commit suicide themselves (quite incompetently), without involving her. In the end they're brought together even as they try to die. Another element that I like about this episode, which also factors into Satoshi Kon's other works, is his willingness to have homosexual characters and not portray them as offensive stereotypes or comic relief, but as real characters (it's hinted that Zebra is gay, and if you know anything about Japanese society and their treatment of homosexuals, it helps in understand why he'd probably want to commit suicide).

In terms of animation, PARANOIA AGENT probably could not look any better. The art direction, character designs, and animation (expect for one episode, which was more along the lines of what you average TV animation looks like), are all top notch, demonstrating Satoshi Kon's ability to manipulate the atmosphere of an animated show and create an oppressive feeling of paranoia and psyhological terror (particularly in the third episode, about the woman with dissociative personality disorder, which terrifying on an almost Hitchock-ian level). This, combined with the visionary music of Susumu Hirasawa, also creates one of the best anime openings I've ever seen seen... something is simultaneously upbeat and disturbing.

PARANOIA AGENT is what I love about anime... that it has the ability to do things that are challenging and unafraid of tackling themes that would give others pause, but all done in a way that's totally engaging and entertaining... done in a way that draws you in and captures your imagination, creating a immersive world of fantasy. And Satoshi Kon is someone what creates stories about the dangers of immersing yourself in fantasy and escapism... the irony of which is not lost on one who indulges himself regularly in fantasy and escapism.

REVIEW - BLACK SUMMER by Warren Ellis Art by Juan Jose Ryp

2008-09-29T15:58:00.000-07:00

BLACK SUMMER is a recent mini-series written by Warren Ellis with art by Juan Jose Ryp, published by AVATAR PRESS.

Suppose that there existed, in our current world, 7 Guns; super powered human weapons, intelligent people that figured out how to give themselves seemingly unbeatable super human abilities, and used those abilities in an attempt to make the world a better place, and, for the most part, succeeded, gaining public support and eventually acceptance by the government. Now suppose that one of those 7, John Horus, suddenly decided to kill the President of the United States and demand that the country right itself or they would be at war... with him.

BLACK SUMMER is an interesting, dark, serious, and realistic take on the superhero genre filled with political outrage, ethical questions,and moral dilemma's... that unfortunately falls just short of being enjoyable to me.

It's hard to really pin down where BLACK SUMMER failed for me as a story... I mean, I really like Warren Ellis' writing, and this kind of twisted superhero story is usually right up my ally; but it was missing something for me. I think the main problem I had was that the story felt rushed to me. This is a concept I would have preferred to see told in a more decompressed way, establishing the characters and their world a bit more firmly... 8-12 issues would have been great.

I also think that it was entirely too plot driven, rather than character driven. There was no one I could identify with, and not a single likable character. Everyone was portrayed as being an arrogant, self righteous, bastard, and none of the 7 Guns, the books superhero team, supposedly made up of 7 friends from college, even got along or seemed to have any sort of emotional connection with each other besides mild loathing. A lot of the characters only interaction with each other was just boiled down to "Bitch," a lot of the time. I get that the story is supposed to be a bleak, critical, examination of the kind of arrogant, self righteousness need to proclaim yourself above man's laws, as imperfect as they may be... but I can help but think that could have been better served by contrasting it against the fact that these people as human and flawed as anyone else. There was a hint of a romantic subplot between two characters, and even a moment of tenderness, which was completely glossed over, and then forgotten.

In the end, it didn't feel like there was a sacrifice, or any sort of redemption, because I just didn't care for anyone; which is disappointing, because Warren Ellis is usually so good are writing amoral, monsterous, characters that still have a shred of humanity and empathy. DESOLATION JONES is a perfect example of this. I loved that Jones, as bleak as his world view was, was at least empathetic towards those people he had contact with whom life had shit on. There was a subtle sensitivity to DESOLATION JONES that just isn't present in BLACK SUMMER.

Another problem I had with the book... my biggest problem actually... was the art. I can't say that it was just outright BAD... but it wasn't great. Juan Jose Ryp can definately draw. His background are highly detailed and reminicent of Geoff Darrow's super detailed layouts, and his characters are solidly constructed... but his linework is chunky and has little line variety... it looks like it was inked with a sharpy, and the pages get really busy, and at times I found it hard to seperate foreground and background elements from each other. I liked the costume designs, but the characters themselves are almost impossible to tell apart from each other, particularly the females, who all have the same body types, big porn-star hair, and the same face. Male characters are similarly difficult to differentiate, as they too, all possess the same basic facial stuctures.

The most GRATING thing about the art though? There are a number of instances where a characters body languege or facial expression just do not match what is being said. People look angry when asking a harmless question, or their expressions are too extreme for what's trying to be portrayed. There's no subtlety or range. There are also times when the drawing is just outright BAD. The guy definately has potential, but he's also lacking in a lot of area's.

The coloring definately doesn't help... this is probably some of the most garish and cheap looking computer coloring I've ever seen, and gives the books mostly servicable art a really cheap look.

BLACK SUMMER is a book that feels like it could have been great, but somehow falls short. I can't say it's outright horrible, but it's definately not my favorite Warren Ellis work. It feels like he really phoned it in. There's a lot of interesting concepts and cool idea's, but it's missing heart and character.

STREET FIGHTER TRIBUTE: A Tribute to Street Fighter.

2008-09-29T15:29:00.001-07:00

I had the honor of helping with Toronto comic publisher UDON's big STREET FIGHTER event, launching their newest contribution to the expansive world of STREET FIGHTER merchandising. It was, quite possibly, the best event I've ever taken part in (though I wish we had had more before the event to plan the tournament so it would be run more smoothly... hindsight is 20/20).

The space was great; we used the new party space at ROCCO's, referred to as THE PLUM, which was large and classy looking, and the staff was enthusiastic, helpful, and hard working. UDON provided a lot of banners and art to decorate, so there was no mistaking what you were there for, and the idea of having a tournament with some pretty sick prizes, was ingenius and fun, as it was very appropriate to the event and allowed for unprecidented audience participation. The event was well promoted, and a lot of people showed up, and a LOT of them wanted to play STREET FIGHTER. I lent my own TV to the event, and the BEGUILING had a big ass digital projector, which was AWESOME. Combined with the two giant arcade controllers that UDON provided, it was a pretty sick set up, and worked out really well in the final round of the tournament... which itself could not have gone better as we had two equally matched combatants going blow for blow, ramping up the intensity right up until the very end. They both pushed it to the limit and made it probably the most enjoyable part of the entire event for everyone involved.

As for the book itself, I got one for myself after the event for a great price, and it's totally worth it; a truely unique project which showed how impressive and dedicated to their product that UDON is... a giant artbook featuring over 300 new pieces of art from an epcleptic and varied array of artists encompassing every possible style and medium; from north American cartooning, to anime inspired, digitally painted, and even surrealism. The book comes across as a massive love letter to what is probably a huge part of my generations adolecense, full of passion and vigor.

A great event promoting a great book, which I recommend to everyone.

SPACED: You Read my Mind.

2008-09-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

Above: My favorite scene from SPACED (season 2 episode 2: Change). I swear to God, I've had this conversation almost word for word...

SPACED is a show about real people living a very close approximation to real, mundane, life, but shot in such a way as to make the mundane extraordinary. Two twenty something's, Tim and Daisy, find themselves homeless after their mutual relationships break down, and become fast friends. They decide to get a flat together when they see an ad in the paper, but take the ad very literally, and fabricate a relationship to trick the flat's super. Add a few absurdly weird secondary characters, and let comedy ensue!

I'd seen a few episodes of SPACED on SHOWCASE (it was on after TRAILER PARK BOYS, which seems appropriate somehow, as it could be argued that TRAILER PARK BOYS is almost the Canadian equivalent of SPACED), and I liked it, but wasn't in love with it. It's not a show where you can just walk into an episode and pick up on everything; it's a show that you really need to watch to get everything out of it. SPACED is more serialized dramady than traditional sitcom, given it's origins on the BBC and the nature of how serialization works across the pond.

Each season is 7 episodes, and there is a definite progression of story from episode to episode, rather than an unconnected string of shenanigans. Each season has a beginning and ending, and each character has an arc, growing and evolving. Which I enjoy, because I find that while I can enjoy a sitcom, I often find them tedious in the long run, as it's a lot of the same shit happening over and over again to the same people.

SPACED is definitely more dramady than tradtional sitcom. There are no snappy comebacks, no laugh track, and no sitting around an apartment waiting for people to come in... the comedy comes more from the situation, and the style of the show, which treats even the most mundane, ordinary event, like an action movie. As the show moves along, though, the reality of the show sort of starts to flux as things become more absurd and ridiculous, and your ability to suspend your disbelief slowly grows. One of my favorite episodes involves main character Tim (Simon Pegg), and his best friend Mike (Nick Frost), building and managing a robot for entry into ROBOT WARS (which was a popular BBC reality show that was called BATTLE BOTS over here), and I just found any scene where Mike treats the robot like a dog, hilarious.

Another facet of SPACED that appeals to me, is it's use of pop-culture. Not only are the characters obsessed with pop-culture and make references to things that they like; such as Tim working in a comic book store, and his love of STAR WARS (which is bittersweet as shown above); but also in it's visual references, recreating scenes from movies, or pulling in idea's or characters from movies (such as the two VERY MATRIX-esque agents from the first episode of season 2, or the scene were Tim burns all his STAR WARS toys), not to mention music cues... I literally almost CRIED when they referenced the LITTLEST HOBO. This use of popular culture as a sort of short hand to communicate with the audience on a very honest, familiar, level appeals to me greatly, because it's almost exactly what I do with my friends. Nerds communicate with other Nerds by quoting old Arnold Swartzenegger movies, or THE SIMPSONS, or obscure old TV shows from our youth. Everyone can relate to that in some way.

SPACED was thoroughly enjoyable to me, and quickly became one of my favorite all time shows. The DVD is very well put together with tons of extra's, such as the original audio commentaries from the British release, and new commentaries with special nerd-guests, as well as some a documentary which cleverly ties up the shows one loose end. Best 40 bucks I ever spent.

Black Lagoon - Red Fraction - Mell and My Anime Lamentations

2008-08-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

Funimation has finally started releasing all of the GENEON shit that they scooped up when them bought up all the SOJITZ shit that ADV somehow lost, and all the GENEON shit that was just lying around when they went tits up, making Funimation pretty much the Kings of Anime... the OTAKINGS of Anime, even. :B One of the things that I'm actually quite interested in and am relieved to see is BLACK LAGOON: THE SECOND BARRAGE, as I bought and enjoyed the first season of BLACK LAGOON and was pretty pissed that I'd probably never see the second season.

BLACK LAGOON is basically just action pornography, a handy little expression I got from an utterly BRUTAL review of BAD BOYS II I read in the STAR a few years ago. Action Pornography is basically excessive violence and absurdly over the top action scenes (EX: when John McClain kills a helicopter with a car). BLACK LAGOON is aaaaaaaall about the action pornography... and that's GREAT, because that's what anime is supposed to be about. At least... that's why I originally got into anime.

I sort of miss the days of oldschool anime; the days of VAMPIRE HUNTER D cutting guys in half, or Jubei Kibagami stabbing a guy with a fucking log and then leaving him to burn in a wave of melted gold while screaming, "GENMA! BURN IN YOUR GOLDEN HELL!" You just can't see that kind of crazy shit on Saturday morning! And EVERYTHING used to be like that... at least, everything I saw. AKIRA, VAMPIRE HUNTER D, NINJA SCROLL, GHOST IN THE SHELL, SPRIGGAN, DEMON CITY SHINJUKU, IRIA: ZEIRAM THE ANIMATION, FIST OF THE NORTH STAR... crazy, violent, sex filled, exploitive shit that you'd NEVER see over here. The kind of shit that would have made Uncle Walt's anti-semetic head roll back and melt as if he'd just looked into the Arc of the Covenant. I miss those the days when Cat-Sharks would die, and Hurricane Polymar would kill them.

I think that may be part of why I sort of find myself falling out of anime again. It happened when I first moved to Toronto back in 2000 as well, though that was mostly due to financial restraints, it was also because there was just nothing that interested me... and I find it happening again. I'm not really sure it's because my tastes have changed; I still like all the stuff that I liked back when I got into anime in the first place; but that the industry has changed over in Japan, leaning more toward Otaku pleasing, Moe-esque, material; teenage power trip fantasy wank material about having awkward relationships with pre-teen girls in a the fantasy Japan of the 1980's, were people still wear uniforms and dance around their emotions. Where's the GUTS that anime used to have? The take-no-prisoners attitude that wasn't afraid in get in there and fuck things up a bit? Where have the Gattsu's (BERSERK), Kenshiro's (FIST OF THE NORTH STAR), and Jotaro Joestar's (JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE), gone? The by the balls heroes of my young adulthood that would solve their problems definitively by cutting them in fucking half with a ridiculously huge sword, or make their heads explode by punching them a few hundred times?

That's not to say that there hasn't been shows that have met my expectations, or shown a little class; but those have either had an oldschool mentality (like THE THIRD: GIRL WITH THE THIRD BLUE EYE), or have been more contemporary and given a taste of the modern Japan, or shown a wider world view (COWBOY BEBOP, THE BIG O, GIANT ROBO, FLCL, GUNBUSTER II, GENERATOR GAWL, READ or DIE, ERGO PROXY, SAMURAI CHAMPLOO, etc etc) than "Japan, 1985." Fuck, even PRINCESS TUTU managed to be a psychologically deep and fascinatingly original show that took a dismally pedestrian and derivative manga and elevated it to as close to fine art as TV anime can get.

Anyways, at the very least, this lack of good shit to watch is saving me money in the long run. I just miss the magic is all.

That said, BLACK LAGOON is a series I enjoy... there are a lot of obvious homages to various actions movies (one of the secondary characters is obviously based on John Woo, and one storyarc is obviously based on Robert Rodriguez EL MARIACHE franchise) in it's content and the excessive gunplay, horror show violence, and filthy fucking language. There's also a bit of deeper characterization, which is nice, as one character is forced to deal with the fact that she doesn't like the person she's become, while another has to deal with the fact that the world is a much darker, sicker, place than he'd like to believe it is. There's an interesting dynamic as they both simultaneously try to change each other; Rock tries to get Revy to deal with the darkness inside her and open up to the idea that she is allowed to be happy, while Revy tries to get Rock to admit to the harsh realities of the situation and place that he is in, and that there isn't always a silver lining to every dark cloud. The series is both humanitarian and nihilistic at the same time, examining both the bright, and dark, sides of human existence.

Anyways, all of this was brought on by the fact that I am currently obsessed with the theme song from BLACK LAGOON which is called RED FRACTION by a singer named MELL. It's that perfect sort of crass J-Pop that manages to somehow not sound like it came from the 80's, and the awkward English lyrics add a sort of rawness to it. The AMV above is a pretty good example of both the song and the anime. ENJOY.

Osamu O'Malley, or Brian Tezuka?

2008-08-30T15:32:00.000-07:00

HA HA HA! Mal look so adorable wearing his little Tezuka hat. ADORABLE.

WATCHMAN TRAILER

2008-07-19T21:04:00.000-07:00

Haven't had any really good thoughts to post about in a while, but expect me to write a LOT about THE DARK KNIGHT... as soon as I'm sure I'm not ruining anyone's day.

In the meantime, since there's no way I can possibly spoil this for anyone, take a look at the WATCHMEN trailer (see left).

Now, see, embarassingly enough, I have yet to read Alan Moore's seminal, industry changing, politically charged, graphic novel. I know enough about it... I know the premise and key story elements, I know the characters, I've just never really gotten around to reading it (Jerry has informed me that a new hardcover will be made available soon, so I'll probably buy that and then read it, as the ABSOLUTE EDITION is way to pricey for something I don't really have strong feelings about... yet, anyways), so I can't really say I have any expectations for how they could fuck this movie up, beyond the usual ways that Hollywood usually fucks up movie adaptations of comics I like (GHOST RIDER anyone? I think GHOST RIDER is, like, the worst case scenario for any comic book movie... maybe the old CAPTAIN AMERICA, but you can at least forgive that for being so shitty because it was the 80's and they had no budget... GHOST RIDER had millions of dollars and modern technology and they STILL fucked it up beyond all recognition). That said... this trailer looks pretty fucking sick.

This is obviously really early stuff, as the movie is almost an entire year away, but I sort of like how artificial Doctor Manhattan looks, as it plays to the idea that he's turned himself into an idealized version of himself, and distanced himself from humanity. I've noticed a number of visual cues from the graphic novel (most notably the Owlship rising from the river), and I got a little chill listening to Rorscach's creepy little monolouge. That SMASHING PUMPKINS song is creepy too.

Frankly, I've gone from absolutely Zero interest in this movie to frenzied anticipation. I'm totally excited. Of course, I'll probably pay for saying that the next time I see Jason Azzopardi.

DRAGONBALL MOVIE: WHERE ARE ALL THE ASIAN PEOPLE!?!

2008-06-22T17:34:00.000-07:00

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1098327/

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Where the fuck are all the Asian people? I mean... there are SOME Asian people in this movie... set in Asia, based on a Japanese comic, based on an Asian Folktale, with predominantly Asian characters... but there's only, what, like Asian's in the entire cast... not one of which is Goku?

Ok, maybe I'm just being stupid... Goku isn't technically Asian... he's a Saiyan, so, yeah, he can be whatever ethnicity you want, I suppose. Still... something seems wrong about that. I think the only good thing about the cast for this movie is that James Marsters (Spike from Buffy) is Picollo... just because James Marsters is awesome. Hell... he might even be a good Picollo. Still won't stop this movie from sucking ass. I-I... don't even recognize most of these characters... and ERNIE HUDSON!?! I have nothing against Ernie Hudson... he helped give up GHOSTBUSTERS, one of the best movies of all time... but still... why is he in this movie, playing a character that was never in DRAGONBALL?

This movie is just a huge mistake... not only is DRAGONBALL unadaptable, but it's waaaaaaaaay past it's popularity. I'm sorry, that's just how it is. Let's focus on better things... like METAL GEAR SOLID. That could potentially be pretty sexy given the level of input that Hideo Kojima seems to have in the project (I like how he actually stated that Uwe Bowell was not even allowed to fart in the direction of this movie).

On another note, I saw GET SMART and KUNG-FU PANDA this weekend, and neither sucked... in fact they were both pretty fucking good. I'm pretty content.