Hello again blogsphere,
I know I said that I'd do a full review on Dragonball Evolution last I was here, but let's be honest, do I really have to tell anyone how that movie is? I mean it's Dragonball Evolution. Seriously reviewing the movie is like picking on a quadriplegic baby with spina bifida. If you've seen the trailers, you know what to expect when and if you choose to see it. Just have a sense of humor about it, and you can enjoy it. Trust me, there are no surprises in this movie.
I'm leaving it at that.
Knowing on the other hand was surprising to me. I'm pretty conflicted with it at that, because I don't know what I can say about it. The only reason I decided to take a look at it was because Alex Proyas directed it (I'm a fan of The Crow and Dark City, what can I say), and although I was entertained on multiple levels, I don't know how to feel about it.
Knowing's premise is that of a recently widowed MIT professor and his son trying to move on from his wife's death. The father is more logic minded, while the son seems to hold more to a faith based view, which was played off interestingly through the movie. What changes their situation, is the fact that the son comes to own a letter written 50 years ago and stored in a time capsule. The letter appears to be simply numbers scrawled across a piece of paper, and yet the father discovers it to be much more. The letter foretells all the days of human tragedy of to come from 50 years to the date of the letter, down to the number of people killed each day. The father takes it upon himself to discover if the letter could actually be accurate, and if so, exactly what it's purpose is.
This movie has quite a few strong points, and a well put together premise, but the shortcomings of it are nearly the exact proportions. The visual effects aren't all that great, but they get the job done. The film's pacing is spot on, but the characters seem to lose themselves as the movie goes on. That and there is a bit of malechavanism that arises through the course of the film, and that's bothersome to me. On the otherhand though, the ideas presented are nice, and keep you guessing where the movie is going to end up. Where it ends up though is a bit questionable to me though...
Even though overall I don't see this as a good movie, I still can't say that I didn't enjoy it, even though the glaring flaws of it are hard to ignore. Maybe it's just the fan in me that won't allow me to completely bash it (I actually did loathe the ending), but I can't disregard the high points either leaving me at a crux. I'm going to just go ahead and say avoid this movie in the theaters to be safe, but it could be fun for a movie night...maybe?
Monday, March 30, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Movie Review: Wow, guess what I watched.
So Blogsphere,
I've told you my love of comics, movies, video games, and pretty much all things geeky and asian right? So guess what I found last night? Here's a hint: it's a movie based on a manga turned into a famous anime series that's slated for release this year that has a whole lot of fighting it it and characters with names that translate into stuff like rice, carrot, and vegetable and everyone yells and screams for a long time.
Guess yet?
That's right, I found Dragonball Evolution online, and let me tell you: its even better than what you imagined from the trailers. Seriously. If you lived in 1990, and this movie came out, you would soil yourself. With great lines like "I made a promise I wouldn't fight." and the retort being "Oh it won't be a fight." (character pours beer or "drink" on the ground) "It's going to be a massacre." and characters that meet for the first time and become friends in under 2 minutes to the point that they're coining terms together like DBE (dragon ball energy XD) you know you've got a winner on your hands.
(I know I've got huge run-on sentences going but I don't care I'm talking about Dragonball Evolution XD)
I can't wait to write full review of this movie, because honestly so far, this has got to 2009's funniest movie yet. I can't stop laughing at least. I'll get you a review as soon as I can.
I've told you my love of comics, movies, video games, and pretty much all things geeky and asian right? So guess what I found last night? Here's a hint: it's a movie based on a manga turned into a famous anime series that's slated for release this year that has a whole lot of fighting it it and characters with names that translate into stuff like rice, carrot, and vegetable and everyone yells and screams for a long time.
Guess yet?
That's right, I found Dragonball Evolution online, and let me tell you: its even better than what you imagined from the trailers. Seriously. If you lived in 1990, and this movie came out, you would soil yourself. With great lines like "I made a promise I wouldn't fight." and the retort being "Oh it won't be a fight." (character pours beer or "drink" on the ground) "It's going to be a massacre." and characters that meet for the first time and become friends in under 2 minutes to the point that they're coining terms together like DBE (dragon ball energy XD) you know you've got a winner on your hands.
(I know I've got huge run-on sentences going but I don't care I'm talking about Dragonball Evolution XD)
I can't wait to write full review of this movie, because honestly so far, this has got to 2009's funniest movie yet. I can't stop laughing at least. I'll get you a review as soon as I can.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Tenative Cover
Well this would be the cover of Fashionable Nonsense issue 1! A few tweaks will be added and such, but it's pretty much there kids, so enjoy ^_^
Friday, March 20, 2009
Review: Wolverine and the X-Men
Hello again blogsphere,
So I haven't watched any movies of note lately (not to say I haven't seen any. I saw The Class, and Two Lovers this past week, but they both weren't very good so I opted not to speak on them), and since my regular media consumption is limited to comics, BBC news, and re-runs of Solitary. Needless to say I was bored, but then I'd forgotten that I had 3 episodes left of the 1st season of Wolverine of the X-Men.
I've recently found my inner elitist, and have been touting him all over town, so I'll start by saying that cartoon's today suck. I'll give credit to some of the funny ones, but that's not really my forte. I'm an Optimus Prime kind of guy. Most of my affinities lie in the guise of my childhood heroes; apart from a few of the re-launching, or re showing of all those old properties, kids these days don't have anything cool to watch (or play with for that matter, action figures blow these days too). Enter Wolverine and the X-Men, the fourth animated version of the X-Men since Pryde of the X-Men in the 80's.
The setup is that the X-Men have broken up after the founder Professor Xavier disappears, along with Jean Grey. Cyclops goes into depression (LOL), and the team pretty much disbands afterwards. Wolverine, among the diaspora, realizes that human/mutant relations are intensifying with the implementation of the mutant registration program. With no X-Men, mutants are pretty much sitting ducks for humans, and so he takes it upon himself to get the X-Men back together and eventually ends up leading them.
Now anyone who has any knowledge of the character Wolverine, knows full well that this sounds ridiculous. But not only do they make Wolverine into a believable leader without breaking his character, but they weave a really awesome storyline; one which involves all the classic stuff from the old show and comics, as well as making it accessible and fun for anyone else. It's just my opinion, but I know what I like when I see it, and I like this show.
I'm a firm believer in the fact that American cartoon's died after the mid 90's. Heck, maybe even before. Most of my affinities lie in the region of Japan, mostly because my favorite cartoons through the 80's and 90's are Japanese. Only a select few American cartoons did I really enjoy, one of which was X-Men. It's definitely of it's time, but back then, that show was aces. Not alot of cartoons since can emulate or capture the way that show worked, but this show does so surprisingly. If I were a kid again, I'd be all about it. Plus I could look forward to the inevitable action figure line and subsequent video game. At least if the marketers work it right ^^
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Watchmen was.
Yes Blogsphere,
I am the one angry little comic book fanboy with a problem with the Watchmen movie.
I haven't seen it, therefore you might be wondering why I have a problem with it. From what I hear, it's the graphic novel to the letter, plus updating the bits that needed tightening. I hear that it's nothing short of excellent, so you might be wondering what kind of head wound I must have.
My problem with this movie is simple: it exists.
Yes, the very fact that Watchmen got made into a movie is a travesty to me. And I love comic book movies. You can ask any of my friends that have known me for any number of years, there isn't a comic book movie since the original Batman I've turned my nose up at. I'm looking forward to seeing X-Men Origins: Wolverine quite a bit as well as Astro Boy, Red Sonja, Hack/Slash, Whiteout, Kick Ass, Preacher (if it comes out), and even Dragonball Evolution. All on my schedule of movies that I'm going to watch this year. But Watchmen has never been there.
My reasoning lies in this: of all the comics books created through history, there are only a few that stand out as surpassing the "simplistic nature" of the medium. Watchmen stands among these few. While the rest will never be anything more than what they are because of the wishes of their creators, Watchmen cannot. It's creator has no control over his work, and because of that, the highest bidder can do what they will with it. That indignity alone should be enough for me, but that's nearly a moot point, as I'm also guilty in watching the other films made from Alan Moore's works.
Watchmen is a credit to comic books. It's the equivalent of Citizen Kane, Sgt. Pepper's, or Starry Night to comic books. How many people in their respective communities would like to see them redo either of those pieces of art, or better yet, replace them with other versions? Imagine Uwe Boll doing Citizen Kane over, and his version becomes the only one you can see. Nickleback doing Sgt. Pepper's? I'm not saying that Watchmen is the Bible, but it deserves the same respect that you would give any of those pieces of art. But it doesn't get that respect, and why? Because it's a comic book. One of Time's 100 greatest novels, and winner of a Hugo award, but still a comic book at the end of the day.
You might say "What are you talking about crazy? It's an honor for a book to be made into a movie!" That's not my point, but you could say that. However, that's also contingent on the quality of the movie. This Watchmen looks like I expected it to: a summer special effects action blockbuster. What's reaching the world on a mass scale, isn't an academy award winning film, but a summer blockbuster. A good movie. I can't in good conscience be satisfied with that. I may be premature in saying all that, and if Watchmen becomes the highest grossing film next to Dark Knight, or even gets a nod from the Academy, I'll see it right away. It doesn't look like that right now though.
The reason why I'm so stringent in my stance against the Watchmen movie is of course personal. When I read Watchmen, I was on a comic high reading Vertigo series, and all of the superhero stories recommended to me by comic book fans. I picked up Watchmen because I had just read Top 10 volume 1, and heard that Watchmen was Alan Moore's best; and when I first started reading it, I got bored. I couldn't see what was so good about it, it was just a ton of talking. Then it dawned on me that I was just looking for people beating each other up, or some violence of some kind, like in every other book I was just reading. I felt small and stupid, and suddenly I challenged myself to start over again from the beginning. I finished Watchmen in two days because I had to sleep, I'd read too many comic before it before I started.
After I finished it, I felt like my world got a little bigger. I realized that comics didn't all have to be the same, that there could be a much deeper communication placed in them. It simply never occurred to me that a comic book could be another way, and it took me reading Watchmen to realize that. I promptly started re-reading the other comics looking for such a thing, but couldn't find it. There will never be another Watchmen in comic book history, and now what was it's relevance is come and gone.
I say this, because I had a conversation about my feelings on this topic, with a friend of mine. During it's course he said something I felt was important, but I can only paraphrase:
"Let's face it most comics are shit. And no one cares about the socially inept losers who read them."
While I disagree with a great majority of the statement, I do see his point, because I saw it. I looked for other comics that emulated Watchmen and only found a handful. The rest I simply like because I like comics. The rest of the world sees what my friend sees, and he proves my point for me.
No person without an interest in comic books would read Watchmen seriously, unless prompted by a credible source because they know comic books are for the most part juvenile. You turn it into a movie, and everyone can enjoy it right? But if all the best comic books get made into movies, why would you want to read the comic anyway? On top of that, what do you associate being better: the comic? Or the movie?
Spider-Man, X-Men, Batman, sure they've all had great stories for their series and characters, you've seen quite a few of them featured in their movies. But can anyone tell me the name of any story of any of those comic book characters, that people have considered to be more than just a superhero/comic book story?
Watchmen was.
There. I've said my piece. My fight's already been lost so I'll probably see the movie sooner than later. What I'll have to wait for, is to see if I have to eat my words ^^
I am the one angry little comic book fanboy with a problem with the Watchmen movie.
I haven't seen it, therefore you might be wondering why I have a problem with it. From what I hear, it's the graphic novel to the letter, plus updating the bits that needed tightening. I hear that it's nothing short of excellent, so you might be wondering what kind of head wound I must have.
My problem with this movie is simple: it exists.
Yes, the very fact that Watchmen got made into a movie is a travesty to me. And I love comic book movies. You can ask any of my friends that have known me for any number of years, there isn't a comic book movie since the original Batman I've turned my nose up at. I'm looking forward to seeing X-Men Origins: Wolverine quite a bit as well as Astro Boy, Red Sonja, Hack/Slash, Whiteout, Kick Ass, Preacher (if it comes out), and even Dragonball Evolution. All on my schedule of movies that I'm going to watch this year. But Watchmen has never been there.
My reasoning lies in this: of all the comics books created through history, there are only a few that stand out as surpassing the "simplistic nature" of the medium. Watchmen stands among these few. While the rest will never be anything more than what they are because of the wishes of their creators, Watchmen cannot. It's creator has no control over his work, and because of that, the highest bidder can do what they will with it. That indignity alone should be enough for me, but that's nearly a moot point, as I'm also guilty in watching the other films made from Alan Moore's works.
Watchmen is a credit to comic books. It's the equivalent of Citizen Kane, Sgt. Pepper's, or Starry Night to comic books. How many people in their respective communities would like to see them redo either of those pieces of art, or better yet, replace them with other versions? Imagine Uwe Boll doing Citizen Kane over, and his version becomes the only one you can see. Nickleback doing Sgt. Pepper's? I'm not saying that Watchmen is the Bible, but it deserves the same respect that you would give any of those pieces of art. But it doesn't get that respect, and why? Because it's a comic book. One of Time's 100 greatest novels, and winner of a Hugo award, but still a comic book at the end of the day.
You might say "What are you talking about crazy? It's an honor for a book to be made into a movie!" That's not my point, but you could say that. However, that's also contingent on the quality of the movie. This Watchmen looks like I expected it to: a summer special effects action blockbuster. What's reaching the world on a mass scale, isn't an academy award winning film, but a summer blockbuster. A good movie. I can't in good conscience be satisfied with that. I may be premature in saying all that, and if Watchmen becomes the highest grossing film next to Dark Knight, or even gets a nod from the Academy, I'll see it right away. It doesn't look like that right now though.
The reason why I'm so stringent in my stance against the Watchmen movie is of course personal. When I read Watchmen, I was on a comic high reading Vertigo series, and all of the superhero stories recommended to me by comic book fans. I picked up Watchmen because I had just read Top 10 volume 1, and heard that Watchmen was Alan Moore's best; and when I first started reading it, I got bored. I couldn't see what was so good about it, it was just a ton of talking. Then it dawned on me that I was just looking for people beating each other up, or some violence of some kind, like in every other book I was just reading. I felt small and stupid, and suddenly I challenged myself to start over again from the beginning. I finished Watchmen in two days because I had to sleep, I'd read too many comic before it before I started.
After I finished it, I felt like my world got a little bigger. I realized that comics didn't all have to be the same, that there could be a much deeper communication placed in them. It simply never occurred to me that a comic book could be another way, and it took me reading Watchmen to realize that. I promptly started re-reading the other comics looking for such a thing, but couldn't find it. There will never be another Watchmen in comic book history, and now what was it's relevance is come and gone.
I say this, because I had a conversation about my feelings on this topic, with a friend of mine. During it's course he said something I felt was important, but I can only paraphrase:
"Let's face it most comics are shit. And no one cares about the socially inept losers who read them."
While I disagree with a great majority of the statement, I do see his point, because I saw it. I looked for other comics that emulated Watchmen and only found a handful. The rest I simply like because I like comics. The rest of the world sees what my friend sees, and he proves my point for me.
No person without an interest in comic books would read Watchmen seriously, unless prompted by a credible source because they know comic books are for the most part juvenile. You turn it into a movie, and everyone can enjoy it right? But if all the best comic books get made into movies, why would you want to read the comic anyway? On top of that, what do you associate being better: the comic? Or the movie?
Spider-Man, X-Men, Batman, sure they've all had great stories for their series and characters, you've seen quite a few of them featured in their movies. But can anyone tell me the name of any story of any of those comic book characters, that people have considered to be more than just a superhero/comic book story?
Watchmen was.
There. I've said my piece. My fight's already been lost so I'll probably see the movie sooner than later. What I'll have to wait for, is to see if I have to eat my words ^^
Oh, before I forget
I've got an ill temper sometimes blogsphere,
It usually takes quite a bit to offend my sensibilities, and so when I feel such is being violated I take it upon myself to rant. My last rant wasn't a very good one, as it strayed too far into my own feelings rather than the facts at hand.
What can I say, I've yet to achieve perfection.
I can almost certainly promise that this will happen every time I rant. Including this next one coming up ^_^
It usually takes quite a bit to offend my sensibilities, and so when I feel such is being violated I take it upon myself to rant. My last rant wasn't a very good one, as it strayed too far into my own feelings rather than the facts at hand.
What can I say, I've yet to achieve perfection.
I can almost certainly promise that this will happen every time I rant. Including this next one coming up ^_^
Adventures in sickness
Hello Blogsphere,
I wish I had more to say coming back from my absence that was positive, but all I've been is terribly sick therefore work came to a standstill. No longer though, I just made a ton of headway today, and while I can't show anything to you yet you'll just have to trust me as I'm very proud of myself for doing so. I've written my 2nd issue to FN, and my 1st issue to my new comic Of Saints and Suicides (it's a working title.)
Saints and Suicides is about a girl named Joan who works at a crisis center, who gets a call from a man who wants to end his life. After she saves him, he begins calling her back, and they develop a relationship of kinds. Joan is helping him, but she's got no idea just exactly what she's helping him with...
Was that cryptic enough to sound enticing? ^_^
I'm happy with the progress so far, but I've got to get things together to get these puppies into production. You can look forward to seeing more by the time you see your first summer blockbuster movies. Speaking of such things...
I wish I had more to say coming back from my absence that was positive, but all I've been is terribly sick therefore work came to a standstill. No longer though, I just made a ton of headway today, and while I can't show anything to you yet you'll just have to trust me as I'm very proud of myself for doing so. I've written my 2nd issue to FN, and my 1st issue to my new comic Of Saints and Suicides (it's a working title.)
Saints and Suicides is about a girl named Joan who works at a crisis center, who gets a call from a man who wants to end his life. After she saves him, he begins calling her back, and they develop a relationship of kinds. Joan is helping him, but she's got no idea just exactly what she's helping him with...
Was that cryptic enough to sound enticing? ^_^
I'm happy with the progress so far, but I've got to get things together to get these puppies into production. You can look forward to seeing more by the time you see your first summer blockbuster movies. Speaking of such things...
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