Spill.com... Thank You

Sorry I haven't gotten around to writing this after the Spill Dot Con Party as I was still settling down here back in Australia after a long flight home.

So what is this blog post about? Well it is just a big thank you to the people of Spill. No I'm not leaving this place, why would I? I just want to express my biggest appreciation and gratitude toward this wonderful website for giving me every day of my life a little more color.

I learned about this place by random chance back around late late 2007. I was looking for movie reviews for a particular movie on Youtube and I happened upon these guys. Nothing special to the introduction, just that. Although upon discovering Spill, I watched more of their videos and I knew there was something really special about them. They weren't seen as your typical high-brow movie critics you seen on TV or read in newspapers. They were just like us, except they have a good knowledge in movies, in filmmaking and the general idea of what a good movie should be. Each of the people in the crew have a well-distinct personality and yet their chemistry, timing and all-around humor are just impeccable. You can feel something genuine and honest about them and yet you were given a lot of information about the film they were reviewing. They just became my "go-to" critics whenever a new movie comes out and I immediately became a member of the site.

From there, I saw many moments of how the site came to be as the number of members grew, the number of redesigns to the sites and the number of new contents added. Podcasts like A Couple of Cold Ones gave some nice analysis of the movie industry and The League of Extremely Ordinary Gentlemen introduces me more to the world of comics and geekery as they recommend me many brilliant pieces like The Walking Dead and Chew. Around 2008, I witnessed the birth of what ultimately became my all-time favorite podcast. As Carlyle dealt with his issues and was deemed "missing-in-action" for A Couple Of Cold Ones, the ever-reliable (and awesome) Co-Host 3000 swooped in and saved the day with one of the most memorable and funniest ACOCO episodes ever produced. The fans recognized something so great from this and the Comedy Duo realized they have something in their hands and so the legend was born: Let's Do This! Every week, I would listen to their random tirades based on world events, stories of their life or people's shameful foolishness, with the show always opening (however late it may be) to the energetic battle-cry and its metal tunes of "Get To The Choppa" by Austrian Death Machine. We even saw the creations of Spill's own like Goatsy, Taco Belagosi and the Bullshit train come into play, making the experience so much more. It just makes my train ride home all the more fun and awesome, through my good and bad times. When I was at a giant low, I wrote a question to Let's Do This just to get any answer, no matter how small it is and Korey and Co-Host 3000 gave a plentiful and a great sense of direction of what I should do from there. I listen to their answers on my Ipod just to get me through and it just built me up to be a better, confident and (more importantly) happy man. I would say if it weren't for them, I wouldn't know where I would be and it would be too sad just to think about it. So from there, I owe them a lot.

I have heard of their Spill parties and I have desired to go them especially with the announcement of Spill Dot Con last year. By the time I landed myself a full time job and earning my own income, Spill Dot Con 2011 was one of my priorities. And it was a huge adventure waiting to happen.

Attending Spill Dot Con 2011 was (in a way) my biggest compliment to Spill and its community. After actually listening to them for 4 years, it was leading up to this and I would be party of what it would be called the biggest and best party that the rest of Spill and I have ever attended. Starting from the unofficial Spill mixer, I would admit that I was a little intimidated when coming to meeting these people and I was worried that I wouldn't get along with them. But after a while, it would be proven wrong that all of the members of Spill were all friendly, unique and talented in their own way. We just didn't care where we were from, what we do or what is our status in life. No matter what culture, how good-looking or ugly, how cool or nerdy, class or gender, we were all the same and we just share that one passion and love in the end. We were a family of movie lovers. And for three extremely crazy nights, each of the members including myself gave such a huge impression within the community whether they rock out with Karaoke Apocalypse, dances their asses off, showed off their artistry or just being plain awesome while I have the extreme pleasure of meeting and making new friends. When it comes to meeting the people I admired the most like Leon, Cyrus, Caryle, Co Host and Korey, all I can do is just thank them non-stop because they have given so much to me. And to top off my time at Spill Dot Con and my entire vacation, just to share an extremely late dinner with Korey at favorite place, Magnolia Bar at 4am just talking about movies and everything else. It was the perfect ending to the whole experience. :)

So... to Peter, Grant, Harris, Toshi, Nick, Cat, Amanda, Kayla, Jeff, Rubio, Randy, Kevin, Caryle, Leon, Cyrus, Co-Host, Everyone else and Korey... I just want to raise my beer bottle and say Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have given so much and yet ask so little in return and just keep doing what you fuckin do best. You guys earned yourself to be among the definition of "awesome" and I keep looking forward to more from you.

Thank you...

By MaxJayJay aka Jordan Marquez

impeccable

Great Black Swan Posters

Its not a movie review or a long blog post, but these came to my attention especially I'm so looking forward to Darren Aronofsky's next art film, Black Swan. And if you haven't guessed it yet, it is a movie about ballerinas. Thats right, ballerinas! How could a straight-up guy like me take interest in a movie about ballerinas? Only a genius who brought you Requiem For A Dream and The Wrestler can make me that.

Along the way, the film brought us some brilliant classic posters. And I do mean "classic", as these designs and graphic really hawks back to the operatic ballet posters you see in front of an opera house. The use of abstract shapes and simplistic design does shout out elegance and epicness. Especially the typography gives a sense you are about to see a grand scale ballet play other than a film. Check these out, my favorite is the second one.





And if you really want to know what the movie is about, check out the trailer. It is just freaky.

My Pick for the Winners for The Academy Awards 2010

Well its that time of the year where this Sunday, movie-geeks draws their attention to this big event: The Academy Awards, where it celebrates what Hollywood deems to be the "best". And if you are a huge movie geek like me, you should know that the Academy Award show are not as credible as it used to be in the past. Thats what you read. With only a few films from the past awards that deserved "best" picture, most of the films nominated have been a bit underwhelming, at least according to my eyes. But it doesn't stop me from having fun by picking out my winners among the nominees, picking out which really deserves the title of being the "best". So here are my picks for this year's Academy Award winners...



Best Animated Feature Film Of The Year

The Nominees are:

Coraline (2009)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
The Princess And The Frog (2009)
The Secret of Kells (2009)
Up (2009)

Surprisingly there have been alot of wonderful and greatly-made animated films in the past year (and I'm surprised Cloudly With A Chance Of Meatballs didn't make the cut), with a few that was disappointing (Ponyo) and very atrocious (Planet 51 and Avatar... Ha, kidding! Not kidding for Planet 51). Coraline was pretty creepy and The Princess And The Frog was an excellent return to the traditional Disney nostalgia. I haven't seen Secret of Kells and I would like to see it, as it looks pretty gorgeous to look at. Fantastic Mr. Fox is downright Wes Anderson: his style, his characters, his cinematography, with only a group of people including me can only love this film. But of course, come on.. Up is brilliant. Even if its becoming like a broken record, you can't deny the brilliance and wistfulness of Pixar. Even though most animated films are now getting close to Pixar quality, this is still Pixar's year.

My pick: Up



Best Achievements in Visual Effects

The Nominees are:

Avatar (2009)
District 9 (2009)
Star Trek (2009)

I'm very surprised that Star Trek is up there and it is deserving of that spot. Though Avatar does bring out very impressive visuals with a giant budget, I'm more impressed of the visuals of District 9 as they were able to create such great designs, characters and exterior with such a low budget. The Prawns have much better and sympathetic character designs than the Na'vis. Though I would have to give Avatar that much slack. I don't know which to choose so...

My pick: Either District 9 or Avatar



Best Achievements in Music Written For Motion Pictures, Original Score

The Nominees are:

Avatar (2009)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
The Hurt Locker (2008)
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Up (2009)

Only four out of five nominees (including Avatar) have music scores that isn't overwhelming or considered important to enhance the movie. James Horner have been making great scores for James Cameron's film like Aliens and Titanic, which proved to be great, but this one film, Avatar, is where his music didn't shine through. The only film out of these that has the music so greatly complement the film is Up. You have to think about that four minute sequence where the story is told with only the visuals and the music.

My pick: Up



Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

The Nominees are:
Penelope Cruz for Nine (2009)
Vera Farmiga for Up In The Air (2009)
Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart (2009)
Anna Kendrick for Up In The Air (2009)
Mo'Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)

Penelope Cruz was the most impressive among the cast in the disappointingly Nine and damn... is she so ever hot and gorgeous. Famiga and Kendrick from Up In The Air were also gorgeous and they both did a wonderful performance, while Gyllenhaal just did a fine job. Now for Mo'Nique... I never liked her and any of her comedic acts. She was never a good comedian, nor being good at being funny. But she's very good at being scary. And to be someone to be completely despised and hateful, going the opposite of what she was before, is REALLY impressive.

My pick: Mo'Nique



Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

The Nominees are:
Matt Damon for Invictus (2009)
Woody Harrelson for The Messenger (2009)
Christopher Plummer for The Last Station (2009)
Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones (2009)
Christoph Waltz for Inglorious Basterds (2009)

Matt Damon (Mattt DAY-MON... sorry can't help it) was pretty standard in Invictus, while both Woody Harrelson and Stanley Tucci gave such great performances in their own movies, especially for Tucci being so damn creepy. But Christoph Waltz is the landslide winner. His role in Inglourious Basterds is just so deliciously evil. You despise him yet you can't look away from him.

My pick: Christoph Waltz



Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

The Nominees are:
Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side (2009)
Helen Mirren for The Last Station (2009)
Carey Mulligan for An Education (2009)
Gabourey Sidibe for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia (2009)

I'll tell you I haven't seen The Last Station or An Education, so I wouldn't know from the perfromance from Mirren and Mulligan. Though I have heard that Mulligan's performance is something to look out. But I can say that Sandra Bullock's was not entirely special. I wouldn't know if the blandness of the film, The Blind Side also affected her performance or its just that really is nothing special except she did a poor man's version of Erin Brockovich. Gabourey was a little short of giving an outstanding and inspiring performance, but was indeed impressive. Meryl is always there in the nominees every year and you can always see why. She is just outstanding as the wistful Julia Child.

My pick: Either Meryl Streep or Gabourey Sidibe



Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

The Nominees are:
Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart (2009)
George Clooney for Up In The Air (2009)
Colin Firth for A Single Man (2009)
Morgan Freeman for Invictus (2009)
Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker (2008)

Like the lineup for Best Leading Actress, there is not one that was totally outstanding and most were just fine. George Clooney, while he was actually great, (admittedly) was just being George Clooney and Morgan Freeman was pretty much ok in the film. The two that were kind of impressive by me were Jeff Bridges and Jeremy Renner, as they made me believe that one is really a struggling country singer and the other is an uncontrollable bomb expert respectfully. So again...

My pick: Either Jeff Bridges or Jeremy Renner



Best Achievements in Directing

The Nominees are:

Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2008)
James Cameron for Avatar (2009)
Lee Daniels for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
Jason Reitman for Up In The Air (2009)
Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds (2009)

The Academy Awards are now about the battle between an ex-wife and an ex-husband, Bigelow and Cameron as they are the frontrunners for most of the award categories. Reitman did also an outstanding job too, while Daniels and Tarantino(unexpectedly) did a passable job. One can argue that Cameron brought the biggest high-end technology to create the best visuals to the screen only to enhance a story that is not only predictable, but written downright piss-poor. While Bigelow gave us a wild ride through the eyes of three soldiers who's occupation can kill them any moment. So I ask which is the best director, the one that heavily relies on technology to get his best results or the one that made an entirely great film without relying any form of CG technology?

My pick: Kathryn Bigelow



Best Motion Picture of the Year

The Nominees are:

Avatar (2009)
The Blind Side (2009)
District 9 (2009)
An Education (2009)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
The Hurt Locker (2008)
A Serious Man (2009)
Up (2009)
Up In The Air (2009)

This year is different because there are now ten nominees for Best Pictures. Geez I wonder what would cause to make such change... (*cough* Dark Knight *cough*). So this would make a hard decision for me. Two films that don't really deserves those spots are The Blind Side and A Serious Man. I mean The Blind Side was just bland and completely trite and A Serious Man was just boring. Inglourious Basterds and Precious were just average and Up In The Air was good, close to great. The films that really blew me away were Up, District 9 and The Hurt Locker. And no, Avatar didn't blow me away, not even with all of its CG visuals. I'm not the kind of guy that gets sway by just CG visuals. If the story was just passable and provide decent performances, then this film would be deserved the nominated spot. But no, the story was badly written and the performances were ranged from poor to embarrassing. While I would like to see Up or District 9 winning, I would have to think like the Academy and have to choose The Hurt Locker for Best Picture. Either of those three and I would have my faith on the Academy restored. But my single choice is...

My pick: The Hurt Locker

And those are my choices. What would be yours?

My Thoughts on The Spider-Man Reboot

Its pretty much old news by now that the Spider-Man movie franchise is certainly getting a reboot with a new director and a new cast to boot. This news actually has some meaning to me because, no matter how lame the comics are getting and how mediocre the last movie was and how much I love Batman so much, Spider-Man is still my favorite superhero. Like I know I'm not a giant Spider-Man Know-It-All unlike some hardcore nerds out there, but possibly he's the one superhero I actually can identify with. So I'll probably give you my thoughts on it.

To me, it is just a bad idea. Not a completely dreadful idea, but one that seems unnecessary for now. I love the Spider-Man movies. The first one was very well-done, the second was f*ckin brilliant and the third one wasn't horrible, but disappointing. Making a reboot that soon is just seem unneeded especially when we still have Sam Raimi's fresh in our mind. It would take an estimate gap of 7 -10 years to wear the previous movies out.

How the studio wanting to have a reboot is just kind of insulting to Raimi. The reason being is that Raimi and the studio have such a disagreement over the next Spider-Man movie, despite Raimi bringing over a huge amount of money while it being critically praised. And so Raimi decided to quit. That said, the studio decided to flip the bird on Raimi by disregarding his series and making their own in their own way. I don't know thats really their intention, but to me thats really disrespectful. Especially for a director who really brought in alot of dough.

Now I know that upcoming director, Mark Webb (500 Days of Summer) have taken the helm of the new Spider-Man series and I really like the guy. Especially that 500 Days of Summer is one of my favorite movies now. Yet I wish he could do more original and smaller works before he take on a giant blockbuster movie. I mean going from something as small as 500 Days of Summer to something as BIG as Spider-man is a pretty damn HUGE and risky leap. But hey, how could you say "no" to an offer like that? So I'm glad for Mark Webb. Just hope he doesn't f*ck it up.

So anyway thats my thoughts on it. What are yours?

Harry Potter and Twilight

I finally manage to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on DVD because I never had a chance to see it in theaters and I chose Drag Me To Hell (which is a good choice). Yet as a Harry Potter fan (for 8 years and counting), I was still happy with the adaptation of the sixth book. Knowing that there won't be a total faithful Potter book, at least the producers and filmmakers made the film series with great respect and dignity. It had me thinking about what is currently popular in both the literature and movie world, that is the Twilight series. I haven't heard about the book series until the first movie came out and by the looks of it, there is nothing really special about it. Yet it sparks a great amount of popularity and garnered many "teen choice" awards. Does the Twilight deserves all the praise and popularity it received? Some think so, but in returns it receives a huge amount of backlash and criticism. Right now even now there are debates and comparisons between the two juggernaut series. So for this article, I'm gonna put my honest insight and analysis in the two series, meaning I'm gonna type how I really feel and no-holds-barred. I'll be looking forward to your opinions and comments about this topic.

You know what? I'll start right now! Harry Potter is better and Twilight is shit. Its obvious. No competition. If I want to write an interesting article, I would compare between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Harry Potter has the right to be compared with Lord of the Rings as both series offers not only few, but many topics and factors to debate on. It can bring a long and fair debate of which deems to be better, but not superior. For the Twilight series, it doesn't offer alot to compare with. And thats how sucky Twilight is. Twilight is just a one-way harlequin fan-service, written like a 14-year-old. So why compare Harry Potter with Twilight? Upon seeing Twilight, it was a sh*t movie. And it baffles me that of how its fan would enjoy this series. Friends who are fans of Twilight who tells me how great this series, but none of them gave me a real good reason why it so, other than the book is better than the movie. So I'm gonna show you, Twilight fans and non fans, what makes the Harry Potter a better series than Twilight. Between good and bad. Distinguishable in any form. Here to tell you what makes a good series and a bad series. If you think differ, give me good reasons. Though there isn't any.

*SPOILER ALERT*


Story

I remember that when me and my family went to see the first Harry Potter movie, my dad said it looks like a Star Wars ripoff with wizards. True, it already has the standard archetypes of good-vs-evil, calling-of-the-hero, the wise old mentor, the one dark force that threatens the entire world and the special mysterious power inhabiting within the hero. Considered the first book and movie as a beginner's entry level to the story, its all safe, harmless and kiddy while you get to know the main character, his friends, his bullies, his adult supervisors and the villains. But like the series Lost, you're first introduced to the series' main mysteries: what is the source of his scar and why did the greatest dark wizard fail to kill the hero when he was an infant. And as the series goes along, pieces of the answers surfaces from each book and it doesn't give you a typical and recycled answer. It is very much interesting and new. And as the series goes along, characters who we thought had no part suddenly becomes important to the story, the environment, even what they thought was safe, becomes far dangerous and the battle between good and evil becomes more intense where absolutely no one is safe. Many mythos and religious beliefs are also introduced with subtlety and cleverness, adding some zazz to the story. But what I praised most of the Harry Potter's series is while it has that good-vs-evil story, it is also about growing up, responsibility and trying to be like a normal kid in school.

Twilight... doesn't have much of a story, but sounds like it only to serve the millions of desperate teenage girls. We all love a love/romantic story and me being a guy, I like romance movies and shows. Like Harry Potter, Twilight brings an old concept where a girl falls in love with a vampire guy. Its fine, but the story doesn't evolve or develop anything new, sticking to the same "He loves me, he loves me not" territory. The story is just boring and badly-written with a maturity of a preteen. Fans say to me "its just fantasy/fiction" and I respond the same way: "So is Star Wars, Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, but they all have a good story. This one doesn't". And fantasy promise a story of wonder and magic, this one doesn't have any. Oh sure, it has badguys in it that come out of nowhere three-quarters into the film and suddenly declared themselves as the badguys. But then they don't give a good motive or mystery, making them such a lame and less threatening villains. There are no smooth advancement through the series and all we see are Edward being great at everything, Bella's full-on stare and admiration for Edward and Jacob standing there without a shirt. The storyline tend to be ripoff from any formula of any teen drama and do you know its filled with "how cool is.." or "that guy is hot" or "whatever!". Sorry, but who watches a 2 hour movie projecting just a vampire hunk wooing a girl with no real advancement or plotline whatsoever? Teenage girls and gay guys I reckon.


Mythos

You can tell that J.K Rowling did a lot of research of the wizard world she's basing her story on. Introducing to alot of mythical and magical creatures we heard of and never heard of like the trolls, elves, centaurs and giants. Some are completely invented, adding to the creativity of the author. And the great thing about Rowling is that she well knows what part of some mythos she should honors and have the freedom to interpret. And by doing these things, she is able to add to the series and not bring them down. She creates an entirely new and magical world with her own languages, laws and spell names, giving honor and making sense.

Twilight used the only two mythos: Vampires and Werewolves, setting in the world closer to home. Now its one thing to interpret these mythos if it makes sense. Had she honor the rules of these mythos, she would have made a dull story. Interpreting her version of these mythos and the results are either people will like it or people thinking it is the most gayest thing they have ever seen. Twilight already had an disadvantage of audience relying on the existing vampire/werewolves mythos and to see a vampire sparkle like freakin diamonds under sunlight just completely infuriates me in both character development and mythos factor. With this scene mentioned, fans mentioned its meant to portray vampires as beautiful creatures. First, I'm all for subtlety. Less is More, that's the way to go. Wanna make this character beautiful, make the character beautiful by action and personality. An image of Edward sparkling under sunlight deeming that he's a monster proves so unneeded and invokes insult to the audience's intelligence. And second as much you want to say that vampires are beautiful, they are not. They are ugly within. They can act beautiful and look beautiful, but overall they can't be beautiful. Within they are ugly and cursed. Otherwise they'll be human. And that is the thing: throughout the story, they address that vampires are cursed and led a dreadful life, but they sure don't show it. All they show about vampires that they are strong, fast, handsome and have no desire for the thrist of human blood. Hell they even have a civilized council for them. It interprets that humanity is so uncool and its cool to be vampires, proving that Meyers is just making up as she goes.

One example that was features in both series are the mythos of werewolves. Rowling takes a good amount of time to explain in great details the different classes of transformations: an animagus and a werewolves. Animagus are human wizards that can transform into any animal at their own wills with no conditions and it doesn't perceive as a curse. Werewolves doesn't have any control of its transformation and upon transformation, its mind becomes altered and goes on a murderous rampage, not knowing what it kills. Rowling includes the werewolf mythos and made it as an important part of the story while being faithful to it. Meyer's interpretation of a werewolf is not an actual werewolf. Like with vampires, it doesn't show the ugliness of the werewolf and describes itself as a cool thing to be. Its depiction shows as muscular shirtless men that just transforms into... just wolves. Not a hulking monsterous half-man/half-wolf, but just a wolf. And a lame CG animated wolf that is. If it just turned into that, then they shouldn't be called werewolves. I don't know if Meyers address this as a deception of a werewolf and if so, then she's a f*ckin moron. If not, the fans are the f*ckin morons.


Themes and Believability

Harry Potter has a great epic good vs. evil story, but again its biggest draw is the realistic approach on teenage/school life. Like Spiderman, Harry Potter was given at a young age such a burden of fame and danger, yet he has to deal with school, friends, bullies and girls. Reading the series during high school has it advantage because I felt I was like Harry Potter. The first installment was apologetic kiddy, but the great factor is that the story matures with each book, allowing the audience to grow with the books. Despite setting in a magical world of wizards and witches, all of the students of Hogwarts speak, think and act like regular human students. What Harry goes through and deals with relationship and teenage angst is nearly the same as we go through. It is a huge deal that a book series appeals towards a huge range of age groups from kids to adults. And the series subtlety and never shyly on a range of issues such as racial and social prejudice, wealth classes and government bureaucracy and corruption. The last book touched on some heavy and mature topics including death. Not death as a story element/device (which has been used alot in this installment), but death as an issue: as acceptance and inevitability. And it was my favorite part in the last book when Harry willingly to accept death from Voldemort. Knowing that death is a part of life and what we all will go through, he walks alone through the Forbidden Forest and stood bravely in front of Voldemort.

Twilight not only sticks to the target audience of tweens females, but most of the alternate age and gender groups passionately opposed the series, seeing the series as the cancer of literary. There are no real appeals other than which guy is hot and which girl is cool, its just so airheaded and baffling that it is what kids these days are into. The series isn't a big help for its audience especially girls as its giving the not one but many wrong messages . Not to crush on any girls dreams, but you'll never ever find a guy like Edward/Rob. For preteen girls, you'll learn when you grow up. But for girls who are much older, that is very very very very sad. From the looks of Edward, he doesn't look like a wholesome or likable guy. But it is not enough to tell the audience to look out for the wrong type of guy, but to be the wrong type of girl. Bella is the wrong female role model: weak, needy and shallow - what everyone calls her a Mary Sue. I mean why is it so hard to believe that on the first day of school Bella suddenly becomes every guy's crush? Hell I don't even understand why the Cullens would need to go to school for the next 90 years. And on top of that, the entire school doesn't suspect anything suspicious about them when they are not doing a good job blending in. Meyers, you clearly haven't thought this through.


Appeals and Audiences

Its mind-boggling that these two series recieves such popularity and star treatment, but one clearly deserves it and the other doesn't. If you think Twilight clearly deserves it, what is wrong with you. Both series still aimed toward kids. For Harry Potter, it honors the sense of childhood, of play and wonder. Remember when kids like me were into kids stuff like.. I don't know.. magic and imagination? Kids were given something new from a very old and traditional source and themes. It does the same for its adult readers, hawking back to their own childhood. For Twilight, while it also aims for kids, it force them to get into teenage stuff. Little a while ago, I checked the Disney channel and most of the cartoons and live-action shows were all teenage based. It might be the IN thing right now. But back when I was a kid, I had Ducktales and Chip N' Dale: Rescue Rangers and Darkwing Duck! Good old adventure shows that pleases the child's imagination. Kids these day are growing up too fast, especially girls. Hell I never thought of dating until I was like 17 and didn't start dating until 21. Still I rather spend my teenage years being a nerd and watch kung fu movies than to go out and be part of the IN thing like Souja Boy and Lady Gaga. I mean its fine to like a truely bad movie, but acknowledging that it is bad gives you self respect among others. I like Troll 2. I don't like it because its good. I like it because its so horrible its funny. So far I haven't found any of the Twilight fan who acknowledge it is a bad movie. It can be a guilty pleasure, but not an important film. And when kids and teens sees that as something important and dear to them, its makes me real worried.

You get it.. Harry Potter: good. Twilight: bad. Like a real movie lover, I'm always open for debate and argument. And if you're siding with Twilight, you'll be crushed. You'll think I have wasted my time writing all this, but if you read the last section of this blog, you'll understand.

My King Of Pop: Michael Jackson 1958 - 2009

It is something I would eventually face in my lifetime, but I wouldn't think it would be that soon. There are three music artists that were the very first musicians I ever love and were the introduction to contemporary music when I was as young as three: The Beatles, Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson. And I know the amount of exposure I had from these musicians. I was a little bit exposed to the Beatles, was moderately to Frankie S, but with Michael Jackson... I was fully exposed to all of his music, dances and videos. Michael Jackson was the very first favorite music artist in my life. Whenever Michael Jackson was on radio, I would listen and dance and invent many silly things in that time. He was the energy. He was the moves. He was the sound. He was my first influence to pop culture. He was the first pieces that shape my identity and personality in years to come.

It really amazes a lot of people that Michael Jackson just got famous at a very young age, just being the front-man of the Jackson 5 band. Blessed with an outstanding voices and the energy of 3 professional dancers, young Michael was already thrown into the limelight and he never stopped getting bigger. He has reached up to the point where he is labeled as the biggest megastar to ever walked on the face of this planet. He became what every child dreams of ever becoming...

... except he never was a child before...

It is tragic indeed that he became what everyone rarely touch, yet never experience a very special part of life everyone else go through. It is really a give and take. After being labeled as the biggest megastar, he also became the butt of so many jokes with the many trials of plastic surgery, bizarre lifestyles and the accusations of child molestations. During that time, I was in high school and listening to Michael Jackson was kind of a taboo. While I was drifting off and trying some new music, his music stayed with me throughout my life and I have never abandoned it. Even if a tiny part of his music was there. If somebody ask me if I think Michael really was a child abuser, I would say I don't believe it. I sure disapproved his ever-changing face with plastic surgery, making him look like a freak every time I take a look at him. But I never believe him as a child abuser and it is a big mystery. But a grown man who can't relate to a child and is as timid as a butterfly would never do that to a child. And I have so many things about it that EVERY fault goes to his father, Joe Jackson. As much as he is partly responsible for Michael's fame, his abuse to him made a huge damage on Michael's mentality and emotions.

I really remembered how I came about the news and it was one of the most surreal moments I had in my life. I remember waking up very late in the afternoon and it was a message from my girlfriend, plain and simple, "Michael Jackson is Dead". I was in total shock and I needed confirmation of his death and sure enough, he was actually gone. At the age of 50, it is still very young to go. It was something I knew I would face in my lifetime, but not this soon. My very first icon, gone before my eyes. It was a sad day for me as well for millions of people around the world. No doubt he is immortal as he will be living forever in our hearts through his dances and music.

So Michael Jackson.... Thank You... and God Bless You...

The King of Pop



I present you two things of Michael Jackson:

One of my most favorite and most important Michael Jackson's songs


And my most favorite Michael Jackson music video

Monsters According to Twilight

So the next Twilight movie, New Moon have werewolves in it.

Wonder what new things we learn about them or any other monster in the Twilight series.

What other facts of other monsters you can think of?

Mystery Science Theater 3000

In a not too distant future, Next Sunday AD...

Since I'm the person that like to introduce anyone into the stuff I love, this is among the top on the list. If you're a very big geek like me, you should know about one of the greatest TV show of all time, Mystery Science Theater 3000. And you will be asking if it was so great, why haven't you heard about it? Why didn't you see it in any other mainstream network channels? I'll tell you a little bit about this show.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (or MST3K) is a comedy show, created by comedian Joel Hodgson where it broadcast in cable channels from Comedy Channel to Sci-Fi Channel and ran for 11 seasons from 1988 - 1999. The back story goes that in the future, mad scientist and bad guy Forrester launched a regular joe, Joel out into space in a spaceship, Satellite of Love and experiment on him by forcing him to watch bad movies alone and testing his insanity and spirit, thus finding the weapon for world domination. In order to overcome the mad scientist's scheme, Joel built robots, Tom Servo and Crow. T Robot to accompany him in the theater, where they mock the bad movie with witty and sarcastic riffs, prevent themselves from going mad.

Basically the entire premise was to actually broadcast a bad movie in its entire running time and have three guys riffing and mocking it. It may sounds like a lame and immature idea. However the genius part of the premise are the writers, performances and the deliverance of these riffs on the movie subject. The writers are not giving out curses and child-like remarks, they spend time to create intelligent, observant and witty quotes and comments that are accordance to the timing of the film. And they are GOOD, WITTY and MEMORABLE jokes. You know it works when you watch a very bad movie and a good riff hits it out of the park. Another great part is the performance and the personality behind the three riffers. They don't have a bland personality, each are unique and each have distinctive voices. And hey, this has been going on for 11 years, so you know why its good.

How I was introduced to this, of course Youtube, where we can find anythign on that. I wasn't actually introduced to the Joel Hodgson-era, but actually to the Mike Nelson-era. Mike Nelson was the star writer of the show, replaced Joel at season 7 and became the main host through the remaining years. There is a debate whether Joel or Mike is the better host, but I prefer Mike since his is more wittier and inventive. I watched one episode, where they covered a Battlestar Galactica ripoff, "Space Mutiny" and I was laughing my ass off to each sarcastic remarks and spot-on impressions of the characters. And I was hooked to the show, I began to look at other episodes, perferably in season 8, 9 and 10.

So Mystery Science Theater 3000 is off the air. What happened afterward? There is a huge cult following where many Internet nerds start to do their own MST3K thing on other movies. But the biggest thing is that Mike Nelson and the same cast started their own website called Rifftrax.com, where they still do the same as MST3K, except not just bad movies, but more good and recent movies like Jurassic Park, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Star Wars and even The Dark Knight! And they still haven't lost their touch :D

So you're interested in checking out the infamous show of Mystery Science Theater 3000? Well I will give you the Top 5 best episodes I will recommend you to watch. Each of them are soooo great!


5. Final Justice

Texa Ranger Geronimo fights off the Mafia in Italy. Could be a low-blow on John Baker's large physique, but always a laugh at this ridiculous cowboy outfit.




4. The Final Sacrifice

A boy and a scruffy man with a mullet fights off against a weird cult, consisting of ski-mask wearing wrestlers. And whenever your name is as ridiculous as Roswdower, you are bound to make fun of.




3. Puma Man

Man finds out he's a superhero called The Puma Man, where he is blessed with the super powers of a.... puma. And he doesn't fly, he pounces!!! SIDEWAYS!!!

"Puma Man. He flies like a moron."




2. Prince of Space

English Dub of the 1950s space adventure, where a space hero go up against a group of space aliens.... in SPACE!!! And these space aliens look like chickens for some reason.




1. Space Mutiny

The first one I was introduced to and it is still remains my most favorite, simply because there are soooo many things to make fun of! Like Lance Butchmeat, his girlfriend who like his mom, and Captain Santa Claus.

Do I Still Believe In The Oscars?

This is my view about the whole thing with the Dark Knight and the Oscars.



The Academy Awards have been somewhat of a worshiping grounds for certain kinds of moviegoers in search for "Oscar" worthy (which means great) films. Even for a movie geek like me, I tend to see winners or even nominees of the Academy as worthy of a great films in terms of story, performances and presentation. I wouldn't go as my life would be based on the Academy, but I did believe the Academy was the goal for every directors and actors to make great films. However my belief in the Academy was changed by one huge testament that would ultimately prove their credibility in announcing the best in cinematic history.

The one subject: The Dark Knight



I will be brutally honest about my experience when I first saw the Dark Knight in the theaters because I can still remember everything that day. I was awestruck, very emotional, intensified and simply blown away. I couldn't think of any powerful experience that is close to The Dark Knight. I was just so freakin awesome! As we all expected to be a possibly great summer movie, we were given something more than that. We believed that it would have a chance for Oscars, especially up the top for best picture. Then that day came to bring out the nominees and... it change everything.

Not only me but say millions around the world reacted to the decisions of the Oscars and I would say its perfectly natural. Who wouldn't get this so upset if something you're rooting for, something you're putting your whole heart on, didn't make it. What happened if your favorite team in any team didn't win the finals? You would get sooooo upset. Me, I kept on saying the F word 3 days and punching 8 holes on the wall. Thats true, except for the wall punching. It told me something. That I have never cared about who wins for the best movie of the year because I always looked up to the Oscars in their blessed knowledge of top quality movies. Then came The Dark Knight, a film I was damn sure it will be nominated and yet the Academy doesn't recognized it. A film that in my belief is an example of great film-making, did not make in the nomination of the Oscars. If the Academy doesn't recognize it, does it mean its not "Oscar" quality? Then why would that be the Academy's "opinion" for the Dark Knight not to be in the running for best film of 2008? Why is it my opinion that the Dark Knight has a chance in getting best picture? Is it really the best film of 2008? Well it all comes down to one tiny thing that everybody love and hate:

Opinions.

Because everybody has their take in what makes a good movie, its just not gonna stop you from finding good movies and it shows that the Oscar isn't really the biggest mark above the screen indicating good shit. Thus leading to marking that night as the night I stopped believing in the Oscars. Not a big loss.



Actually there were alot of decisions by the Academy that made me questioned their integrity throughout the years. As much as I love Forest Gump, it was really Pulp Fiction's year in 1993. But then again that's my opinion. Does the majority find Pulp Fiction a better work of art than Forest Gump? No, some people think the other way and I do see great film-making in the other film. Will I still argue which of the two films are better than each other? Yes, because I'm an annoying film geek who loves to debate on anything. The fact of people give out opinions is a love/hate thing and as everyone nowadays are basing their lives on technology especially the Internet, everyone will share their opinion. One recent thing that I did is I watched the fat guy "preaching" about Watchmen. Even an ordinary guy like him can have a say to everyone around the world, even in the most outrageous form. Thus I can give my opinion about him, saying that he's totally NUTS!.



Now people have opinions on the Dark Knight and they have said that it really doesn't deserved to be nominated. Well just like what this post said, I'm gonna share you why it TOTALLY deserves to even get nominated, not so much to win. As I said in my review, the greatest thing about this movie is that it shows evidence that any source, especially from a comic book, can be properly crafted into a greatly-made work of art and how this film evolved from just an ordinary comic book film. And when other comic book films usually rely on big special effects and action, the biggest element that The Dark Knight possess are the character performance, their development within the story and many of the mature and heavy issues that goes on in the story. The characters in this were so unforgettable and magnificent and we were given fantastic performances from the cast. As much as Heath Ledger stole the show, every cast, major and minor were amazing. I can also talk about the phenomenon of this film as it is the first time moviegoers witness an "Oscar-Worthy" comic book film in terms of film-making and character performance. Not to mention how much money it just cashed in, theorizing that a good movie can still make more than your average bad movie.



Despite The Dark Knight's absence in the Best Picture category, people will still tuned in if Heath Ledger will win. As much as I want to see him read his name out as the winner, I go "What's the point?". He already won. He already proven himself to be a formidable actor and he is now immortal among everybody as the best Joker ever portrayed, a legacy anyone wants to die in pride. And if he doesn't get the naked gold statue, well there's gonna be hell to pay. That said, is the Oscars that credible? Its a maybe, I mean look at Cuba Gooding Jr. and whats he doing? Do I need to follow the Oscars? No, and I stopped believing in it. Are there other reliable and credible source of top quality movie? Yeah, especially close to my demography. Its not a loss cause and I don't think it will greatly effect on my views on movies, but hey thats my opinion..

Finally Read Watchmen

I have never been such a huge geek. If I was, I would have read Alan Moore's most celebrated graphic novel, Watchmen a long long time ago. As much as I'm a huge movie geek, I'm not a big comic book geek and some comic book and graphic novel series were introduced through film adaptations like Sin City and 300. Thus I heard a lot of claims and recommendation everywhere, calling a graphic novel called Watchmen, the greatest graphic novel to be ever made. With all the fuss that every nerds around the world talking about both the novel and the movie adaptation directed by Zack Synder, I finally decided to find the novel Watchman in any way possible. I downloaded the novel (illegally) off the Internet in top quality PDF form and I started reading it right away.



It was pretty good.

The novel totally met my expectation as a complex and deep read. The very interesting element of the novel is that it explored the main character's history as a crime-fighter and their progressive view upon the world and society. Each character sees the world in a different light whether its rotten, flawed or doomed and has their own approach to the dilemma if the world is too late from being saved. History plays an important part in the narrative of the plot as the story consist of flashbacks and world events influenced by the league of superheroes and crime-fighters. The 1950s portrays the glory years of superheroes as they are viewed more like a celebrity icon while superheroism and vigilantes are considered banned in the 1980s and shows the superhero mythology after their glory days. Each of the characters are shown in their position in society after their days as superheroes with Rorschach kind of taking the lead in the plot narrative as an outcast.



For those who haven't read Watchmen (and I recommend that you do), I'll give you a little synopsis of the novel. The novel is set in an alternate timeline in the 1980s where Richard Nixon is still president and "superheroes" existed. The Comedian, superhero-turned-military operative and former member of the Minutemen, was found murdered as he was thrown out of the window of his apartment and Rorschach, blot-face detective and another former member, becomes the only one obsessed in finding the murderer. He soon starts reuniting and even questioning the members of the Minutemen such as Nite Owl and Dr. Manhattan and as he comes close in finding the suspect, he falls into a deadly and dangerous plot that could cost millions of innocent lives. It is not a simple "superhero reunion" story that leads the character into saving the day. The novel questions the status of human lives and history and whatever these characters are doing the right thing for mankind. These characters are trying to be more human than being superheroes and think for humanity than themselves.



To sum up my review, I was glad to finally read the novel and I see why many people love this so much. This is a very intelligent and complex story and study on human society. It is a mix of both fantastical and philosophical elements and it leaves you really pondering whether mankind have indeed improved or not. I have to say that Sin City is still my most favorite graphic novel. Its not that Watchmen is bad. Its not and its a damn good read. Its my preference. I love the whole world created by Frank Miller and the whole stylish and glorified violent film-noir and detective feel in the novel. I also love the characters in Sin City more than in Watchmen. They are just more memorable and badass for me. I mean, I still can't forget Marv, he is really is a badass! And say all you want about how Frank Miller thinks of women in his novels, but I love the women in Sin City. Powerful, forceful and beautiful. Plus the movie is still the best graphic novel adaptation around. Still Watchmen is damn good and I would even rank either second or third on best graphic novel list.



Probably the best thing I got from reading Watchmen is my newfound admiration and respect to Alan Moore. I now see Alan Moore as one of the most intelligent writers I know and have more respect than Frank Miller now. Hey I still love Frank Miller and I still think he's one cool cat, but his involvement in the movie adaptation of The Spirit is just..... eehh. Alan Moore has his own ideals in the comic book and the comic book industry and has a ugly history with Hollywood. I can see why he is pissed about Hollywood as they have taken three of his finest and well-praised works (From Hell, V for Vendetta and the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) and adapted them into mediocre and disastrous. V for Vendetta was actually good (in my opinion) and From Hell was ok, but League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen was just bad! Now his most prized and precious work ever is now treated for a movie adaptation, to be released next year. From the looks of it, I can say it looks alright, but I'm not sure. Only time will tell if its gonna be a good film.

Pixar's Next Movie, UP

I have been following Pixar ever since I was a child and it was a big milestone when they made WALL-E, a huge challenge for them to tell a story in the field of "silent movies". This idea of making a movie about a Charlie-Chaplin robot was very new and it delivered in any form of poetry, beauty and magic. There is really something about Pixar that you can't put your hands on. They already have a reputation in giving people wonderful and imaginative stories and it seems they haven't run out on that magic they possess. Surely any animation studio like Dreamworks can give audience what they want, Pixar can give the audience something different.

Already when I finished watching the new trailer for the new Pixar film "UP", I can sense another grand adventure brewing. How could you not be excited on taking a ride on a two-storey house carried by millions of helium-fueled balloons into the sky? That is the basic premise of this new film. Along for the ride is a grouchy old man named Carl and a boy scout, Russell who are traveling to a lost world, meet unexpected villains and confront terrifying creatures within the heart of the dark jungles. Now I'm sold right there. I'm still marvel by the beauty of WALL-E and now Pixar gave me something to look forward to next year.

Go and check out the trailer!

Change For The Better

Starting to feel patriotic now...



This is just a quick sketch with my Wacom and this illustrates how I felt on that day. Even though I'm living here in Australia, I was born in the US, which makes me American. And right now for a long time, I feel proud to be one.

This election was very important, not just for USA, but for the entire world. Through the past years, we and America have been threading on muddy waters and we needed to do something about it. Americans are now smart enough to realize that they need to change. To actually take risk and endure what is up ahead. That they cannot rely on the same old ideas. Obama is the one they need. I'm so excited that Obama is now the new and the first Black President in US history, how symbolic is that?!

I would like to thank anyone who have supported Obama at the start of the race. For those who supported the opposition, don't feel bad. McCain isn't bad, in fact he's really good as he actually protested against Bush. Its just bad timing. The Republicans already had a bad name to itself, economy has gone bad and McCain is just too old. Plus Palin kinda didn't look convincing.

Who woulda thunk? We would have a black president someday. I'm Asian and this means alot to me. What I have witnessed is something revolutionary, a start of something new. Something that we have been hoping for a long time. And I hope he does a heck of a job!

Fun trivia: Barrack Obama was born in Hawaii, I was born in Hawaii!!! How awesome is that?!

Time For Politics

Yeah, I'm not really keen in politics. If there's one thing I don't talk about in anything, its politics. However as I'm growing up, I'll soon have to realize that the state of government will eventually influence me, my way of living and even our future. Yeah, I don't like to sound like a downright serious preacher, but you'll see when you kids grow up. And you know.... this is probably the first grown-up blog entry I have written in my life.

But thing is I'm not talking about my country's government. You have probably known about the American election for presidency between Barrack Obama and John McCain. Why would I care about the state from another country than mine, here in Australia? Well for one thing, I was born in Hawaii and that makes me American and I have every right to care for the US. More importantly, the United States of America is probably the centerpiece of the entire world. No matter if they love or hate them, every country cares about the US. You can say that America represents everything: freedom, opportunity, unity, love, hate, tyranny, spoiled, powerful. As much as other countries are very powerful and influential, it really matters what America decides and contributes to the entire world. And right now, nothing is more important than the Election between Barrack Obama and John McCain as the decision affects the entire future.

Some of these stuffs I'm talking about may not matter to you yet because the majority of you are probably very young and live in another country. But its best to at least have knowledge about the surrounding of current events and even politics because in the end, you have to know whats best for your future. You'll have to admit George W. Bush did not do a good job as being the Leader of the most powerful nation in the world. People have made of him as being incompetent and idiotic. Yeah for Bill Clinton, he has the humiliation of being labeled as a sex pig, but as least he's not a moron. People call George W. Bush an idiot because he is an idiot. He really did made bad decisions especially with the War in Iraq for what purpose. If by "weapons of mass destruction", you mean "oil". If you suggested that Afghanistan was suspect of plotting 9/11, why attack Iraq? I know Saddam Hussein is evil in Iraq and I know you executed him, but have you found Osama Bin Laden yet, the person who actually plotted 9/11? If you have listen to Al Gore, you know about the dangers of Climate Change. So why are you still going after oil? Lastly Bush can't bring himself to be a strong and confident leader and always look like he doesn't know what he's doing. In the end, its the American people who voted for George W. Bush for both first and second term, which is in a way their fault. You let the idiot run the White House for eight years and managed to f*ck up your country.

In a way, this election is very important. And it is clearly obvious who the best decision is. And no, its not McCain and Palin. As much as McCain has great experience in running the White House, his plan is the same plan George W. Bush employed in his run as President. You can compare McCain and Obama as one of them is dusty old vinyl record with a brand spanking new vinyl record. Aren't these same old ideas are the ones that got America and probably the whole world in a pickle? Ever since Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention, I believe he's the man for the job. I believe we need change and I believe every word he has said. Not that I have no respect for McCain, he looks like a nice guy. And Palin may be a sweet old woman. But they, to me, are not convincing enough to be strong and influential leaders. Already it is not a good sign that anyone can make fun of them because of their traits, ideas and their past. McCain is old as dust and Palin is a moose-killer. I can see people making fun of Obama, but its very rare. And what an ideal kind of president to have for America. Obama could be the first Black President of the United State and he's half Muslim. Thats symbolism of unity and prosperity for you.

I may be wrong and the choice for President may be a kick in my butt, but I know who I want for President of the USA. Don't we all wonder what it would be like if Gore was President? Even though Gore didn't make it as President, he managed to scare the pants off me with his pie charts and his news on Global Warming. His film, An Inconvenient Truth really made people think on how we look after our planet and got everyone starting to take drastic actions. That's more than what President George W. Bush has done. I really hope for the very best of America because as much as I'm home in Australia, my birthplace is America and we all wish for a better future.

So in one sentence: Barrack Obama for President...

Rabbit of Seville

Kids grew up with Looney Tunes. There's no denying it that anyone has seen any fragmentation of Looney Tunes at any part of their lives. Aside from Mickey Mouse cartoons, Looney Tunes were a daily part of my childhood and have seen every antics of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester the Cat, Tweety, Porky Pig, you name it. And if anyone would ask me "What is my favorite Bugs Bunny cartoon? What is the most memorable?", I would have to answer "Rabbit of Seville".




Another Chuck Jones cartoon, this one was so much fun to watch and there are so many memorable and clever cartoon gags to have yourself a good time. This is a Chuck Jones cartoon where Bugs and Elmer are just at each other, set to Overture of Barber of Seville. The first part gets the pace moving, but its the second part everything gets to shine. Since I have studied about silent films for my Masters, I became so fascinated by the antics of Chaplin and Keaton and this brings forth my love of silent comedy, everything in time with the tune.



Most would have considered "Whats Opera Doc?" as Chuck's best out of his Bug Bunny cartoon and I would have to agree. The grand scale of color and mood of "What's Opera Doc?" was very epic of that time. I just prefer Overture from the opera Barber of Seville than the songs from Wagner. When it comes to comedy with music, I'm all about synchronization. When a director gets the timing of the comedy right down to the T, I automatically praise him/her as a great director. That is a mark of an amazing director. And hey, thats why everyone knows about Chuck Jones.

Check it out!

Dragonball the Movie: Its Gonna Suck!

When I heard news that people are green-liting the new Dragonball movie based of the mangas by Akira Toriyama, I already knew that its gonna suck, hard and dry. While never a fan of Dragonball, I do enjoy watching from time to time and its fun seeing huge testosterone jocks duking each other out with energy blasts and earth-shattering moves. This series has elements of chinese mythology, weird characters, interplanetary scenarios and hardcore battles where anything is possible. A series like this could never work in a Hollywood movie. Before they released the trailer, the movie was just filled with wrongs. Kid from War of the World doesn't fit the character of Goku, movie sets somewhere like LA, Bulma's hair isn't blue, no Krillin and freakin Piccolo isn't green and looks like a vampire.



The lucky director for this film, is James Wong who have directed such films as Final Destination and The One. Wong may have not a colorful line of works while having been worked on the X-Files and The One, but he managed to hit it big time with Dragonball though I question his choice of music in all of films where most are angry heavy music. Though I can't see Wong directing such crazy actions that the manga and anime of Dragonball have delivered. Even though the fight scenes with Jet Li in the One were kinda innovative and wacky, its still not enough to convince me. And it is still not convincing of all the choices he makes for the story, characters and etc. And I don't care if a Japanese or an American is casted as Goku, but a very convincing actor. And a wimpy kid as Goku is not good!



The one painful stab in the heart for me is the casting of Chow Yun Fat for Master Roshi. I mean come on! Its the legendary Chow Yun Fat! That gun-wielding trenchcoat-wearing badass motherf*cker! He's the coolest Asian ever grace the screen and it breaks my heart to see him in this kind of film! Why Ken why?! It was great to see him in Pirates of the Caribbean, but I was furious that he died a pathetic death (you know what I mean) and never a chance to see him fight as a pirate. Now I fear this is the same thing happening to one of my favorite Asian icons. He's doesn't even look like Roshi! He shouldn't be there doing martial arts and blasting fireballs, but he should be blasting people with a gun! Thats the badass Chow Yun Fat I know from A Better Tomorrow, Hard-Boiled and the Killer!



I know this is a Hollywood stylization of the franchise, but if you're gonna do a Dragon ball movie, its gotta be or at least very close to Dragon ball. Sadly this is one of the latest victims to be raped by the two-faced machine that is Hollywood, where it will find many more anime series to adapt into shameless Hollywood adaptations.



Here is the trailer and pray for its sufferings:

WALL-E and Kung Fu Panda: A Rant about Characters

My video review of WALL-E is up!



Today is about characters in animations. And yeah, you can't have a good story without a good character. I would say as a giddy fanboy is that one thing I really admire Pixar more than Dreamworks is they know how to create good characters. Its not they have to make a character's personality realistic, but the idea of making a good character is to make their personality believable.





As Pixar were starting out, their earliest short film, Luxo Jr, features a table lamp as their character with no mouth, eyes, arms or even legs, yet its the use of movement and pose that narrates the short's simple story. That same lamp is part of the company's logo, not only because historically its was one of the first characters they created, but because its their philosophy that creating a good story and character comes first than anything else. Looking at what they have done after Luxo Jr, their teachings have been demonstrated on the likes of Woody, Buzz, Mike and Sully.





Not that Dreamworks don't know how to create a good character. Their first good character is the green orge, Shrek where the creators have given him a great personality. So great his personality and so lovable by everyone that we get to see him in five more films, probably doing the same things he's doing in his last films. Dreamworks may have created something of a secret formula to a successful film after Shrek became a instant hit: make over-exaggerated characters (ingredient of humor) voiced by A-list celebrities (ingredient of star-power) and filled it with movie references (ingredient of pop culture). In fact that formula is no longer secret as many animation studios have use it to make the same financial profit as Shrek did, which few worked and most didn't.





The only animation studio to not rely on the "instant-money fool-proof" formula is, you guess it, Pixar. While their other method of profiting lies in their merchandising(which is Disney's department), their production of animated movies isn't fueled by money, which is kind of rare in the money-making film industry. Thats what defines them as artists more than businessmen. They are finding new ways to challenge themselves, to bring out something new and unique every year rather than producing the same thing over and over again. Not that its a bad thing to do the same thing over and over again, but we always admire the people who are moving forward. You would that Pixar employed the use of celebrities to voice their characters with some cases like Tom Hanks as Woody and even Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen. However their use of celebrities don't come in the first phase of production, its not also their selling point. Pixar don't sell their movies based on the big names of Hollywood. They don't have the names of actors who are starring in the films on their posters. Their selling point are their stories and characters. Its a matter of taste where people are looking forward to a good story or whatever they look forward to hearing a voice of a celebrity, even if they won't see them. And there is nothing more perfect to illustrate my point than these two fine examples: WALL-E and Kung Fu Panda.





Having seen both of them, I'm glad to say I don't hate one of them. Its just that I really really enjoy one of them more than the other and no, its not Kung Fu Panda, its WALL-E. I did not just enjoy it, I marvel it! I fell in love with it. While Kung Fu Panda was like watching a fun Saturday Morning cartoon, WALL-E is like experiencing a theatrical opera directed by Shakespeare himself while Michaelangelo is painting a beautiful canvas in the background and Mozart is playing beautiful music with his full-scale orchestra. All at the same time. I know I may be exaggerating, but in short, it was art. So how could a little robot like WALL-E be more interesting than a panda who does Kung-Fu? Both of them are underdogs. Both of them are determined to reach their goal. Both of them gets into pratfalls and misfortunes. Both of them are funny, well one of them is slightly more funnier than the other and no, its not Kung Fu Panda again. In fact just by watching these movies gives you evidences why WALL-E is more interesting than Kung Fu Panda.





The selling point for Kung Fu Panda isn't the panda itself but Jack Black. Even though you won't see Jack Black in the film, his characters resembles his physical feature and his attitude. In which you're going into the theater to see a Jack Black movie with Kung Fu. Even though Jack Black is awesome, its nothing new. And really as much as I like Jack Black, as Po I wouldn't think of being around him as long as WALL-E. I would end up being more annoyed by Po than actually liking him. For the other, Pixar's selling point isn't a celebrity, but a character. We don't see another celebrity in disguise, we actually see a robot named WALL-E. He's an entirely new person in existence. And what makes him even more unique is that he doesn't have a actual voice actor and his speech is all engineered by sound designer Ben Burtt, who gave R2-D2 his own voice. WALL-E is possibly the most cutest and most lovable character Pixar ever created, he's bankable. Everyone will be flocking and paying to actually see this guy. Wall-E has the potential to be in more films the same way Shrek and Po has, yet Pixar won't make any movies of him. His story has come full-circle, its done. As much the movie have made a decent amount of millions, there is no way Pixar can continue the story of WALL-E. Its perfect in its way and there is no way Pixar will ground WALL-E out of its dignity the same way Dreamworks did to Shrek, the animals of Madagascar and even Po.





Kung Fu Panda did what it was created to be, being a fun animated film and I had fun watching it. Its a good film to have fun watching, even though I was so annoyed Jackie Chan didn't get to say much in the film. Especially when Jackie Chan is the one of the pioneers of kung fu, he should have been more than a one line cameo. He is freakin more important than Jack Black and even Angelina Jolie. Still it was a fun film. WALL-E was just a marvelous experience. It achieves much more than being a fun little family film. Within the film, it has a deep and important message that will affect you as you leave the theater. You can take these message into your account or you can just leave as you just witness a wonderful love story. I know I'm writing this as a raving fan boy and I'm not a teacher. My words are not final and I welcome anyone who give more insight in this. But in my words, Kung Fu Panda was fine and WALL-E is a masterpiece.