000080 - lots of seamen in my pirate ship
this is a quickie update of what's been happening since last i blogged.
no shiranui for supanova unfortunately. i'm crazy busy and it's mainly to do with the short animated film i'm currently working on for a uni project. will talk more about that in another post later. hopefully.
movies (quickies)
charlie & the chocolate factory: saw this with my better half on her b-day. awesome! i thought it was better than the original movie. johnny depp is just whacky as willy wonka! i like the extra bits. i love the whole over-the-top photoshop effects particularly in the beginning character intros. the oompa loompas didn't always work in this movie (trivia: i was scared as a kid when i first saw the original because i thought they and willy were killing each kid one by one). anyway, fantastic movie!
the nightmare before christmas: had to add this to the dvd library and watch this again in preparation for the upcoming corpse's bride movie release. for some reason, i'd remember the story all different. but thoroughly enjoyed it again. danny elfman is an amazing guy (he also did the voices of the oompa loompas). i'm always amazed by the amount of work that goes into stop motion animation.
final fantasy vii- advent children: i couldn't wait for who-knows-when australian pal release of this movie, so i did a naughty thing and downloaded it (which i later found out half of my friends had already done it before me!). this is a very confusing movie, especially for anyone who hasn't played ff7 before. i'd surprisingly completed the psone game ages ago with a japanese version, so i had been taking in the story mainly visually at the time already. advent children is definitely a visual treat (and was it just me or did tifa look too much like rinoa from ff8 with a bigger rack?). stunning choreographed sword fighting sequences and bike chases galore. probably the most amazing 3D cg movie i've seen yet.
napoleon dynamite: my cool classmate, ghia, lent me this movie. i thought it starts kinda slow and weird but gets funnier and funnier! it reminded me a bit of high school probably because of the music (no, not the synthesizer stuff). i wouldn't expect this movie's humor to be everyone's cup of tea though, as it's a bit crass at times and definitely lowbrow. but i loved it, as it was right down my alley! ;) i love the nostalgia stuff like the A-team homage and the irrelevance of personality of the characters.
thx 1138: this is a remake of george lucas' student film by george lucas. his first movie before even american graffiti. i watched this mainly for the visual reference of the white rooms for my project. in short, this is a very complex sci-fi film with lots of themes that lucas uses in all his movies. some amazing bits even though this was made in 1971 and the sound and music from this movie is very eerie and atmospheric.
comics (quickies)
fell #1 (image comics): i love the whole concept warren ellis has come up for this new series. not the story concept exactly but the whole value per episode/issue thing. not that the story itself isn't good either, i'm a sucker for a great detective / crime story and this issue delivers in spades with some supernatural undertones added to boot. ben templesmith's art is paced a little differently in this comic due to the structure of the page layouts but it works and i think it's a style i want to see more from ben. i recommend this new comic series highly.
silent dragon #1-2 (wildstorm/d.c.): i like lenil yu's art a whole lot, so i picked the first 2 issues up to see if this was any good. written by andy diggle (losers), basically it's like ancient japan set in the future, traditions and bushido is almost disappearing, over-taken by technology and science. there's a bit of cloning, cyborgs and androids, japanese guy who now looks like a white guy, etc. etc. i'm not sure it's all that original but it's nice to look at. i like the idea of the spirits / program thing though. could have potential, but for now, i'm getting it just for the art.
the new west #1-2 (black bull comics): i like phil noto's art but never really seen much of his sequencial stuff except for that danger girl one-shot a while back. his cover paintings are amazing but in the new west, i don't know. it's kinda simple but works in a way. kinda reminds me of steve dillon art a bit. story-wise, written by jimmy palmiotti, it's about america being pulse bombed by a group of korean terrorist and thus making the whole country without electricity. that means no cars, so people get around by bicycle or horses or just walk. dan, the main character, carries a samurai sword because his dead japanese cop partner had one (how convenient). i think because this is a 2 issue mini-series, a lot of details are grossed over and makes a lot of things a bit too convenient. a bit blah for my taste but you might like it.
rocketo #1 (speakeasy comics): i've heard a few good recommendations about this book, so i hunted it down in the back issues and bought myself a copy to read. it's written and illustrated by an animator named frank espinosa and the comic is in landscape format (like one of my favs, frank cho's liberty meadows). the story is about a family of explorers or "mappers" that have grand and epic adventures with their "compass" powers. the art is kinda sketchy but fluid, strong and unique in its linework and use of colours. it didn't capture my interest as a first issue however, because i found it hard to relate to the rocketo character. plus the story is being told to you from another character's flashback / memory and that takes out the danger element to anything that happens to rocketo. that's just my opinion of course. it has elements of mythology, h.g. wells and even wuxia which i like though.
powers #12 (marvel/icon): powers challenges the norm of superhero comic books. a buddy cop action drama set in a superhero world, i've been enjoying this series right from the very start and there hasn't been much low points since. the anniversary special is quite first-time reader friendly while also being quite informative for long-time readers. the story is about officier pilgrim's past dealing with a criminal named mama joon and is also the finale to the current storyline in regards to the theft of a superpower jewel. brian bendis writes (and even draws a few pages) and delivers some really great lines in the closing of this issue and michael oeming draws his usual high impact but very noirish style art. the only minor complaint i have with powers, is that oeming doesn't have as much consideration with his opposing pages as say david mack has with his artwork. but that's just something that bugs me personally.
boy, these weren't as quick to write as i had intended them to be.
-----
finally, but not the least, because everyone else have been showing theirs, here's my entry to pirotess' "all draw same" anthology coming out this weekend i believe at the newcastle young writer's festival.
pancakes!
no shiranui for supanova unfortunately. i'm crazy busy and it's mainly to do with the short animated film i'm currently working on for a uni project. will talk more about that in another post later. hopefully.
movies (quickies)
charlie & the chocolate factory: saw this with my better half on her b-day. awesome! i thought it was better than the original movie. johnny depp is just whacky as willy wonka! i like the extra bits. i love the whole over-the-top photoshop effects particularly in the beginning character intros. the oompa loompas didn't always work in this movie (trivia: i was scared as a kid when i first saw the original because i thought they and willy were killing each kid one by one). anyway, fantastic movie!
the nightmare before christmas: had to add this to the dvd library and watch this again in preparation for the upcoming corpse's bride movie release. for some reason, i'd remember the story all different. but thoroughly enjoyed it again. danny elfman is an amazing guy (he also did the voices of the oompa loompas). i'm always amazed by the amount of work that goes into stop motion animation.
final fantasy vii- advent children: i couldn't wait for who-knows-when australian pal release of this movie, so i did a naughty thing and downloaded it (which i later found out half of my friends had already done it before me!). this is a very confusing movie, especially for anyone who hasn't played ff7 before. i'd surprisingly completed the psone game ages ago with a japanese version, so i had been taking in the story mainly visually at the time already. advent children is definitely a visual treat (and was it just me or did tifa look too much like rinoa from ff8 with a bigger rack?). stunning choreographed sword fighting sequences and bike chases galore. probably the most amazing 3D cg movie i've seen yet.
napoleon dynamite: my cool classmate, ghia, lent me this movie. i thought it starts kinda slow and weird but gets funnier and funnier! it reminded me a bit of high school probably because of the music (no, not the synthesizer stuff). i wouldn't expect this movie's humor to be everyone's cup of tea though, as it's a bit crass at times and definitely lowbrow. but i loved it, as it was right down my alley! ;) i love the nostalgia stuff like the A-team homage and the irrelevance of personality of the characters.
thx 1138: this is a remake of george lucas' student film by george lucas. his first movie before even american graffiti. i watched this mainly for the visual reference of the white rooms for my project. in short, this is a very complex sci-fi film with lots of themes that lucas uses in all his movies. some amazing bits even though this was made in 1971 and the sound and music from this movie is very eerie and atmospheric.
comics (quickies)
fell #1 (image comics): i love the whole concept warren ellis has come up for this new series. not the story concept exactly but the whole value per episode/issue thing. not that the story itself isn't good either, i'm a sucker for a great detective / crime story and this issue delivers in spades with some supernatural undertones added to boot. ben templesmith's art is paced a little differently in this comic due to the structure of the page layouts but it works and i think it's a style i want to see more from ben. i recommend this new comic series highly.
silent dragon #1-2 (wildstorm/d.c.): i like lenil yu's art a whole lot, so i picked the first 2 issues up to see if this was any good. written by andy diggle (losers), basically it's like ancient japan set in the future, traditions and bushido is almost disappearing, over-taken by technology and science. there's a bit of cloning, cyborgs and androids, japanese guy who now looks like a white guy, etc. etc. i'm not sure it's all that original but it's nice to look at. i like the idea of the spirits / program thing though. could have potential, but for now, i'm getting it just for the art.
the new west #1-2 (black bull comics): i like phil noto's art but never really seen much of his sequencial stuff except for that danger girl one-shot a while back. his cover paintings are amazing but in the new west, i don't know. it's kinda simple but works in a way. kinda reminds me of steve dillon art a bit. story-wise, written by jimmy palmiotti, it's about america being pulse bombed by a group of korean terrorist and thus making the whole country without electricity. that means no cars, so people get around by bicycle or horses or just walk. dan, the main character, carries a samurai sword because his dead japanese cop partner had one (how convenient). i think because this is a 2 issue mini-series, a lot of details are grossed over and makes a lot of things a bit too convenient. a bit blah for my taste but you might like it.
rocketo #1 (speakeasy comics): i've heard a few good recommendations about this book, so i hunted it down in the back issues and bought myself a copy to read. it's written and illustrated by an animator named frank espinosa and the comic is in landscape format (like one of my favs, frank cho's liberty meadows). the story is about a family of explorers or "mappers" that have grand and epic adventures with their "compass" powers. the art is kinda sketchy but fluid, strong and unique in its linework and use of colours. it didn't capture my interest as a first issue however, because i found it hard to relate to the rocketo character. plus the story is being told to you from another character's flashback / memory and that takes out the danger element to anything that happens to rocketo. that's just my opinion of course. it has elements of mythology, h.g. wells and even wuxia which i like though.
powers #12 (marvel/icon): powers challenges the norm of superhero comic books. a buddy cop action drama set in a superhero world, i've been enjoying this series right from the very start and there hasn't been much low points since. the anniversary special is quite first-time reader friendly while also being quite informative for long-time readers. the story is about officier pilgrim's past dealing with a criminal named mama joon and is also the finale to the current storyline in regards to the theft of a superpower jewel. brian bendis writes (and even draws a few pages) and delivers some really great lines in the closing of this issue and michael oeming draws his usual high impact but very noirish style art. the only minor complaint i have with powers, is that oeming doesn't have as much consideration with his opposing pages as say david mack has with his artwork. but that's just something that bugs me personally.
boy, these weren't as quick to write as i had intended them to be.
-----
finally, but not the least, because everyone else have been showing theirs, here's my entry to pirotess' "all draw same" anthology coming out this weekend i believe at the newcastle young writer's festival.
pancakes!
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