Posts
I'm not too familiar with Blogger so I don't know all it's tricks and limitations, but I do know how to set up a link. Right now I'm looking into a couple of free chat room makers so that no one is limited by what IM software they use since I know AIM does make chat rooms. I'm completely open to suggestions if anyone has some good ideas since I am wandering into new territory.
Because I want it to be relatively private, yet easily accessible, I have been looking at some Java based chat rooms as well as the ever stylish and posh ParaChat with their week long demo. I am going to be spending time out of town with family so I may or may not be available online this week therefore, unless I've found something I really like, next week I'll start the demo and be online as much as possible.
I am also going to investigate the different ways I can manipulate my blog so (cross fingers) I can just have it up and no one has to leave the blog in order to get in. Please, please, please relieve me of my ignorance if you can on anything you like.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Batman: The Dark Knight (2008) Review
I'm going to go free form for this one if only because if you people didn't already see it, I don't know you.
I don't know you anyways, but that is beside the point. I do give a word of warning to those that have not seen this film yet.
DO NOT BRING CHILDREN.
I just realized now that my reviews have yet to touch on the ratings of movies, but I don't think I will bring it up unless it has something to do with the storytelling aspect of the film like some of the creative choices in Justice League: The New Frontier (which, by the way, is excellent so buy, borrow or steal a copy if you're a DC fan with some background knowledge - it is not very new-comer friendly though the comic solves all those problems). With some thought on the subject, I am glad that this movie is not rated R. At times, I have found movies try so very hard to get a certain rating when it comes between being PG-13 or R. They are either flying right underneath the radar of R or do anything and everything within their power to get it, which can be harmful to the storytelling. I am convinced that this is why certain PG-13 movies are far worse in content than many R rated ones that may or may not have some failings as stories.
The Dark Knight defies what is considered R rated material for it is disturbing, violent and non-apologetic. It makes no excuses and has no bars. Masterful and tasteful, it is a film that should not be missed by anyone with the nerve to sit all the way through. In those seats in front of the screen, it does not matter if you have read the comics. It does not care about your ignorance or your knowledge. Granted, fans of the source material will appreciate, but there is plenty to behold for the new viewers.
As ridiculous as it sounds, it will make you believe in Harvey Dent.
Whether or not you walk away with a message completely falls upon the shoulders of the viewer. They alone can decide for themselves what "entertainment" means to them. To me, what entertains us should not be empty smiles and time killed. The things that keep us busy, but give nothing back are hollow, false entertainments that can never be art and entertainment should be art. Catharsis should come with something to make us better if only because we need it so badly. But, perhaps betterment is not a need that is to be filled. Perhaps it is something that we need to be reminded in a world of dazzling lights at the speed of electronic processing.
Of course, I'm waxing philosophically at almost 4 in the morning. This could all be gibberish or something brilliant. But it seems like it comes down to the basic differences between DC and Marvel.
Marvel heroes, on the whole, tend to be deeply flawed, powered, but mostly human and very easy to relate to. DC heroes, mostly, are either masked adventurers or there to inspire. Some characters are there for self-improvement in one way or another, but most are to set an example.
Does this mean one universe is better than the other? Not really. I'm not here to preach morals. I just would like to talk to someone.
The Dark Knight has a message if you care to carry it with you. I believe in Harvey Dent. I hope you get to know what I mean.
I don't know you anyways, but that is beside the point. I do give a word of warning to those that have not seen this film yet.
DO NOT BRING CHILDREN.
I just realized now that my reviews have yet to touch on the ratings of movies, but I don't think I will bring it up unless it has something to do with the storytelling aspect of the film like some of the creative choices in Justice League: The New Frontier (which, by the way, is excellent so buy, borrow or steal a copy if you're a DC fan with some background knowledge - it is not very new-comer friendly though the comic solves all those problems). With some thought on the subject, I am glad that this movie is not rated R. At times, I have found movies try so very hard to get a certain rating when it comes between being PG-13 or R. They are either flying right underneath the radar of R or do anything and everything within their power to get it, which can be harmful to the storytelling. I am convinced that this is why certain PG-13 movies are far worse in content than many R rated ones that may or may not have some failings as stories.
The Dark Knight defies what is considered R rated material for it is disturbing, violent and non-apologetic. It makes no excuses and has no bars. Masterful and tasteful, it is a film that should not be missed by anyone with the nerve to sit all the way through. In those seats in front of the screen, it does not matter if you have read the comics. It does not care about your ignorance or your knowledge. Granted, fans of the source material will appreciate, but there is plenty to behold for the new viewers.
As ridiculous as it sounds, it will make you believe in Harvey Dent.
Whether or not you walk away with a message completely falls upon the shoulders of the viewer. They alone can decide for themselves what "entertainment" means to them. To me, what entertains us should not be empty smiles and time killed. The things that keep us busy, but give nothing back are hollow, false entertainments that can never be art and entertainment should be art. Catharsis should come with something to make us better if only because we need it so badly. But, perhaps betterment is not a need that is to be filled. Perhaps it is something that we need to be reminded in a world of dazzling lights at the speed of electronic processing.
Of course, I'm waxing philosophically at almost 4 in the morning. This could all be gibberish or something brilliant. But it seems like it comes down to the basic differences between DC and Marvel.
Marvel heroes, on the whole, tend to be deeply flawed, powered, but mostly human and very easy to relate to. DC heroes, mostly, are either masked adventurers or there to inspire. Some characters are there for self-improvement in one way or another, but most are to set an example.
Does this mean one universe is better than the other? Not really. I'm not here to preach morals. I just would like to talk to someone.
The Dark Knight has a message if you care to carry it with you. I believe in Harvey Dent. I hope you get to know what I mean.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) Review
Stats from IMDB
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writer: Guillermo del Toro (Story and Screenplay), Mike Mignola (Story and Source Material - Comic)
Original Music: Danny Elfman
Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama/Comedy/Fantasy/Sci-fi
Runtime: 110 min
Keywords:
What I Expected
There's not much to say really. I expected everything I saw in the trailers and from what I saw of the first movie - a fun, action-filled movie, heavy on the visuals, but still sharp on the writing.
What I Hoped
I loved Hellboy I. Not as much as I love Heroes or the Iron Man movie, but it has a nice little niche in my heart. Mainly because of Ron Perlman and the script. It looked great and the action was fun to watch and exciting. The script was fantastic and funny so you'd laugh the whole way without it being too corny or falling back onto slapstick or dirty humor. It's an honest to goodness clean, fun, action film so I had the same expectation for the sequel especially since it was the same director and writer.
Yes, the man behind Pan's Labyrinth did Hellboy I too. Go scramble and watch Hellboy again just to make sure if you had any doubts.
What It Is
In my opinion, a good sequel should be able to stand fine on its own so that literally anyone can watch it and enjoy it whether or not they saw the first movie. In addition, for fans of the first movie, a sequel should be a treat rather than a looming axe of dream demolishing doom that ruins everything forever. As anyone who has ever loved anything that was made into a sequel, there is both a feeling anticipation and dread because either it will tarnish the memory of something perfectly enjoyable or enhance it and give you further evidence to rub in people's faces to prove that you were right all along.
Hellboy II does everything I expect out of a good sequel.
Now, reread the hope and expectation sections since I hate to repeat myself. It's fun. It's funny. It's everything it's put up to be in the trailers.
There. Done with praises. Now to muckrake to my black heart-that-was-formed-by-the-remnants-of-a-dead-star's content without guilt.
It does a have a couple issues. Granted, my movie experience wasn't 100% fantastic. The theater wasn't cleaned for the midnight showing. People behind my friends and myself were loud and were kicking my chair. The ones directly behind me had his knee almost meeting my head the entire time and I have a sneaking suspicion that they snuck in beer when I heard the cans clatter against the floor. To top it all off, the screen was a little darker than usual and my eyes started to hurt from either the size of the Imax screen or due to the possibility that the staff didn't fix the projector correctly so it was still slightly out of focus, but clear enough to suffice. All in all, I'd say all of this does a credit to the movie because I still loved it and Ron Perlman.
Here's where I thought it was lacking. There was a few pacing issues. Unlike most mediums, film has the tragic misfortune of being a slave to timing who is a cruel mistress that will bend you over and make you call her "Daddy" if you don't know how to tickle her just right to give your viewers constant orgasms of awesome. If a film is too slow, it gets boring, but if it goes too fast, people might miss things and get confused or worse, find it utterly unsatisfying. I've found that most films nowadays err on the side of caution by making movies as fast-paced as possible, blurring the lines between "exciting" and "dangerously little story" since making a plot is like cooking a roux. It's not that hard to make, but it takes time to cook, yet can be spoiled by too little or too much time.
Well, that paragraph got away from me. I'll probably edit it later. Maybe.
Back to the point, without giving away spoilers, all I can say is that they took a little too long with the first half of the film that was mostly "world of man" stuff and could have put in an extra ten minutes for the second half since the trailers were emphasizing the Pan's Labyrinth aspect of it so much. It was a little jagged at times with the changing tempos of the plot and action and could have been executed better since they had the same people with a bigger budget, which should spell out success. And it did, but it still had room for improvement.
Oh, and don't sit through the credits. They didn't put in any goodies.
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writer: Guillermo del Toro (Story and Screenplay), Mike Mignola (Story and Source Material - Comic)
Original Music: Danny Elfman
Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama/Comedy/Fantasy/Sci-fi
Runtime: 110 min
Keywords:
- Demon
- Federal Bureau Of Investigation
- Good Versus Evil
- Paranormal
- Pyrokinesis
- Second Part
- Secret Government Organisation
- Sequel
- Anti Hero
- Apocalypse
- Based On Comic
- Cigar Smoking
- Dark Horse Comics
- Hell
- Nazi Experiment
- Nazi
- Soul
- Superhero
- Character Name In Title
Opinion Time!
What I Expected
There's not much to say really. I expected everything I saw in the trailers and from what I saw of the first movie - a fun, action-filled movie, heavy on the visuals, but still sharp on the writing.
What I Hoped
I loved Hellboy I. Not as much as I love Heroes or the Iron Man movie, but it has a nice little niche in my heart. Mainly because of Ron Perlman and the script. It looked great and the action was fun to watch and exciting. The script was fantastic and funny so you'd laugh the whole way without it being too corny or falling back onto slapstick or dirty humor. It's an honest to goodness clean, fun, action film so I had the same expectation for the sequel especially since it was the same director and writer.
Yes, the man behind Pan's Labyrinth did Hellboy I too. Go scramble and watch Hellboy again just to make sure if you had any doubts.
What It Is
In my opinion, a good sequel should be able to stand fine on its own so that literally anyone can watch it and enjoy it whether or not they saw the first movie. In addition, for fans of the first movie, a sequel should be a treat rather than a looming axe of dream demolishing doom that ruins everything forever. As anyone who has ever loved anything that was made into a sequel, there is both a feeling anticipation and dread because either it will tarnish the memory of something perfectly enjoyable or enhance it and give you further evidence to rub in people's faces to prove that you were right all along.
Hellboy II does everything I expect out of a good sequel.
Now, reread the hope and expectation sections since I hate to repeat myself. It's fun. It's funny. It's everything it's put up to be in the trailers.
There. Done with praises. Now to muckrake to my black heart-that-was-formed-by-the-remnants-of-a-dead-star's content without guilt.
It does a have a couple issues. Granted, my movie experience wasn't 100% fantastic. The theater wasn't cleaned for the midnight showing. People behind my friends and myself were loud and were kicking my chair. The ones directly behind me had his knee almost meeting my head the entire time and I have a sneaking suspicion that they snuck in beer when I heard the cans clatter against the floor. To top it all off, the screen was a little darker than usual and my eyes started to hurt from either the size of the Imax screen or due to the possibility that the staff didn't fix the projector correctly so it was still slightly out of focus, but clear enough to suffice. All in all, I'd say all of this does a credit to the movie because I still loved it and Ron Perlman.
Here's where I thought it was lacking. There was a few pacing issues. Unlike most mediums, film has the tragic misfortune of being a slave to timing who is a cruel mistress that will bend you over and make you call her "Daddy" if you don't know how to tickle her just right to give your viewers constant orgasms of awesome. If a film is too slow, it gets boring, but if it goes too fast, people might miss things and get confused or worse, find it utterly unsatisfying. I've found that most films nowadays err on the side of caution by making movies as fast-paced as possible, blurring the lines between "exciting" and "dangerously little story" since making a plot is like cooking a roux. It's not that hard to make, but it takes time to cook, yet can be spoiled by too little or too much time.
Well, that paragraph got away from me. I'll probably edit it later. Maybe.
Back to the point, without giving away spoilers, all I can say is that they took a little too long with the first half of the film that was mostly "world of man" stuff and could have put in an extra ten minutes for the second half since the trailers were emphasizing the Pan's Labyrinth aspect of it so much. It was a little jagged at times with the changing tempos of the plot and action and could have been executed better since they had the same people with a bigger budget, which should spell out success. And it did, but it still had room for improvement.
Oh, and don't sit through the credits. They didn't put in any goodies.
My Rating: B
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Ug!
I'm so dissapointed in myself. XP I truly thought that I'd have my Hancock review and Page and Screen up already by now.
In case anyone's curious, I really am somewhat preoccupied. I've been trying to figure out how jury duty works for the very first time (It teases me, I swear!) and my uncle has been sick for a long time and came to a crossroads recently. He had the choice of either getting the therapy that would extend his life for a few rather miserable and most liekly lonely months since none of us can really stay with him the entire time because of the distance or allowing nature to take its course.
He chose the latter.
It's been hard on everyone, but life goes on. We understand where he's coming from on this and respect his decision no matter how much it might hurt us.
In brighter, cheerier news, I am going to see the midnight premier later today. Woot on that. Hopefully I'll find a little bit of time and polish up my posts and put them up too.
Hope y'all are fortunate in health and mind. Cheers.
- Frugal Fan
Monday, June 30, 2008
Last Minute Post Before Leaving for LA
Because I'm obsessive about responding to things at times, I felt like posting in response to Anonymous Person's comment on my previous entry.
Here's some things that I'm currently obsessed with, ranked with asterisks, the more asterisks, the more obsessed:
Here's some things that I'm currently obsessed with, ranked with asterisks, the more asterisks, the more obsessed:
Avatar: The Last Airbender *****
Lucifer, written by Mike Carey ******
Monster ****
House of M ***
Hellsing **********
Heroes *******************
Lucifer, written by Mike Carey ******
Monster ****
House of M ***
Hellsing **********
Heroes *******************
Sunday, June 29, 2008
More Lies! and Lists!
I just realized yesterday that I didn't post titles for my next reviews as I promised in my last entry. I'm sorry, Internet Land! XP
So here's some more lies for me to spread, damaging my non-existent good name to my fan base of probably myself. Here. Alone. On the internet.
Things I'll Hopefully Actually Review!
Prepped Reviews After 4th of July!
Do Androids Dream of Immortal Sheep? -Neil Gaiman's Eternals and Nine Planets Without Intelligent Life
Seeking - Planetes and Rice Boy
Maybe...
Voices from a Distant Star: The Manga
Broken Glass
Monster
Max Wagner's Trinity
The Nail
Kurt Busiek 's Astro City: Confession
Astro City: Life in the Big City
Lucifer
Heroes
Deathnote
... And much more!
By the way, I've set up a AIM account as cheapsonofagun in case anyone wants to chat me up!
Or just, you know, talk for a bit. :D
Comment, insult or criticized! Any and all thoughts are welcome as well as cookies and ice cream.
Again, thank you anonymous person for commenting. In case anyone is curious, here's some of my favorite childhood memories for the internet to mock.
Darkwing Duck
Duck Tales (series and the movie)
Tale Spin
Samurai Jack (BACK ON THE AIR! Cartoon Network! 10:30! Saturdays on... Toonami)
Farscape
Fraggle Rock
Pirates of Dark Water
Rocky and Bullwinkle
Thunder Cats
Silver Hawks
Peter Porker: The AMAZING Spider-Pig
Stargate: SG-1
My Neighbor Totoro
Wacky Races
Tex Avery Cartoons
Chuck Jones Cartoons
The Princess Bride (book)
The Superfriends
From Russia With Love,
Frugal Fan
So here's some more lies for me to spread, damaging my non-existent good name to my fan base of probably myself. Here. Alone. On the internet.
Things I'll Hopefully Actually Review!
Prepped Reviews After 4th of July!
Do Androids Dream of Immortal Sheep? -Neil Gaiman's Eternals and Nine Planets Without Intelligent Life
Seeking - Planetes and Rice Boy
Maybe...
Voices from a Distant Star: The Manga
Broken Glass
Monster
Max Wagner's Trinity
The Nail
Kurt Busiek 's Astro City: Confession
Astro City: Life in the Big City
Lucifer
Heroes
Deathnote
... And much more!
By the way, I've set up a AIM account as cheapsonofagun in case anyone wants to chat me up!
Or just, you know, talk for a bit. :D
Comment, insult or criticized! Any and all thoughts are welcome as well as cookies and ice cream.
Again, thank you anonymous person for commenting. In case anyone is curious, here's some of my favorite childhood memories for the internet to mock.
Darkwing Duck
Duck Tales (series and the movie)
Tale Spin
Samurai Jack (BACK ON THE AIR! Cartoon Network! 10:30! Saturdays on... Toonami)
Farscape
Fraggle Rock
Pirates of Dark Water
Rocky and Bullwinkle
Thunder Cats
Silver Hawks
Peter Porker: The AMAZING Spider-Pig
Stargate: SG-1
My Neighbor Totoro
Wacky Races
Tex Avery Cartoons
Chuck Jones Cartoons
The Princess Bride (book)
The Superfriends
From Russia With Love,
Frugal Fan
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Posting Update
Yeah... First week of post updates and I'm already late on two posts. My apologies Internet Land!
I've been busy with planning trips down to San Diego to help my friend apartment hunt and a trip to Universal Studios and then a trip to Comic Con in San Diego.
Seriously, I should just squat somewhere in southern California until August. Anyways, Page and Screen is almost done. I was distracted my by newly purchased Lucifer Vol. 2: Children and Monsters, which I immediately began to read. Mike Carey is my God now, damn him.
To make up for my lateness, I've decided to post the titles of my next reviews for Page and Screen and announce that making Media Blast a regular update was a dumb idea. It would be easier for me to just post that whenever since TV, movies and such are time sensitive in relevance, not to mention I came up with a (most likely) better idea.
Nerding Frugally: Weekly hints on how to cheapen your life so you can spend more money on the things you fan-boy over. Every week will have a different focus like going to the movies, car related expenses, et cetera. This will be also posted at my red-headed step-blog at ProgessiveU.Org.
It's woefully blank, I know, but soon(er or later) it will have some thought provoking, scholarship award winnings stuffs. That's right. Stuff with an "s."
So here's more promises for me to break: After 4th of July, I'll have a regular update schedule and have entries ready to be posted. I get a break after the two trips in a row when I get back home next Wednesday so I'm going to try to write up things for the next week so I can have a back up when I inevitably fall behind.
Feel free to comment here or e-mail ideas, questions and rants at cheapsonofagun@gmail.com
Ciao.
Signed,
Frugal Fan
Post Script: I'll soon create a AIM for just this blog and will log in whenever I am online. Feel free to chat!
Post-Post Script: By the way, I'm so absolutely THRILLED someone commented here. It means that it's being read by someone other than myself! Thank you anonymous person!
Make me happy by commenting!
Sincerely,
Frugal Fan
I've been busy with planning trips down to San Diego to help my friend apartment hunt and a trip to Universal Studios and then a trip to Comic Con in San Diego.
Seriously, I should just squat somewhere in southern California until August. Anyways, Page and Screen is almost done. I was distracted my by newly purchased Lucifer Vol. 2: Children and Monsters, which I immediately began to read. Mike Carey is my God now, damn him.
To make up for my lateness, I've decided to post the titles of my next reviews for Page and Screen and announce that making Media Blast a regular update was a dumb idea. It would be easier for me to just post that whenever since TV, movies and such are time sensitive in relevance, not to mention I came up with a (most likely) better idea.
Nerding Frugally: Weekly hints on how to cheapen your life so you can spend more money on the things you fan-boy over. Every week will have a different focus like going to the movies, car related expenses, et cetera. This will be also posted at my red-headed step-blog at ProgessiveU.Org.
It's woefully blank, I know, but soon(er or later) it will have some thought provoking, scholarship award winnings stuffs. That's right. Stuff with an "s."
So here's more promises for me to break: After 4th of July, I'll have a regular update schedule and have entries ready to be posted. I get a break after the two trips in a row when I get back home next Wednesday so I'm going to try to write up things for the next week so I can have a back up when I inevitably fall behind.
Feel free to comment here or e-mail ideas, questions and rants at cheapsonofagun@gmail.com
Ciao.
Signed,
Frugal Fan
Post Script: I'll soon create a AIM for just this blog and will log in whenever I am online. Feel free to chat!
Post-Post Script: By the way, I'm so absolutely THRILLED someone commented here. It means that it's being read by someone other than myself! Thank you anonymous person!
Make me happy by commenting!
Sincerely,
Frugal Fan
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