July 28, 2012
Oh my.
This quirkfest is getting...creepy.
It's also damned interesting.
Oh crap...you caught my stigmata.
UPDATE:
Now it just disturbs me.
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July 25, 2012
discuss...
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July 22, 2012
I did not expect a cross -over. Ending both the El Santo and Batman franchises was interesting, but seeing El Santo be so bitter and twisted in his old age was heartbreaking. Still, the team-up between Batman and Blue Demon at the end and the epic battle with them saving the orphanage full of Hispanic kids was a nice touch. It was inspiring to see Blue Demon taking up (and redeeming) El Santo's sullied torch.
That last paragraph may not be entirely accurate, but it has the virtue of being spoiler free.
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July 15, 2012
As for the A part of the AMV, I'd seen .gifs from this bit of animation around for years and was curious as to what it was from. I'd initially thought it was an ad or some such, but as this makes clear it's from something called Yogurting.
Wait...Yogurting? Well, with a name like that I was kinda hoping for a show from the burgeoning fermentation genre...like Moyashimon. Alas, it's a Korean MMORPG set in a high school with a mystery emphasis and apparently no lactobaccillus at all.
So the video source is a bust as far as any interest for me. But damn! Points for the 'pipes..
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July 11, 2012
Three other shows had piqued my interest, two of which I've finished.
Haiyore! Nyaruko-san was mentioned here before. For most of its run this Magical Girlfiend/ Lovecraft comedy was worth at least a couple of laughs an episode, though only to a very narrow segment of humanity that has read Lovecraft, still watches anime and who are sufficiently un-sociaized to get gags like this...
Towards the end there was considerable buildup to a story that was going to be set in the Dreamlands. This looked looked to be quite promising. Unfortunately, the last few episodes seem to have been replaced with a stock harem comedy ending that came out of nowhere, derailed the plot and was sappy, cliched, boring and pointless. I'm not sure what was going on there. The ending really feels like it belongs to some other show.
Aside from the unfunny ending, I found it to be enjoyable fluff, but this show is definitely an acquired taste...
The original Queens Blade series, was refreshingly devoid of any pretensions of respectability. Set in a fantasy kingdom where the empress is chosen not by heredity but by the perfectly reasonable method of a gladiatorial catfight tournament, it did not take itself at all seriously, tempering its over the top cheesecake with a couple of interesting side characters. It was not a good show by any means but I watched it at a friends house a year or so ago and it was something of a guilty pleasure.
This seasons installment, Queens Blade Rebellion combines vulgarity, pretentiousness, a nonsensical plot, lots of lolis, faux futanari follies, several unlikeable characters and a side order of sadism to produce one of the most execrable shows I have ever had the poor judgement to sit through. This is just dreadful. I cannot do justice in mere words to how wretched this show is and I refuse to go back and wade through that cesspit to grab frames to put behind a NSFW tag, so you'll have to take my word for it. It stinks on ice.
Mysterious Girlfriend X is interesting but I've only seen 3 eps so far. I hope to catch up over the next week. If I'd watched this instead of that Queens Blade abomination I'd be current with the show and likely be a much happier person.
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July 09, 2012
Lessee...we've got
*Frank Langella
*Pompous hipsters
*A home care robot
*In a heist movie
Yeah..this has potential.
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July 07, 2012
Ridley Scott’s Prometheus is an uneven film that alternates between the best and worst Hollywood has to offer. Blessed with superb production values and some very interesting concepts, the film suffers from a lack of focus, a lack of believability, and most unfortunately for a horror film, a lack of actual suspense.
The film follows a pair of archeologists who have become convinced that life on Earth was seeded by aliens. They convince the CEO of an exceedingly wealthy conglomerate to finance an expedition to a distant star they believe is the home of the aliens who engineered life on earth. They find out that they might be right, but in the process discover unspeakable ancient horrors.
Ridley Scott’s films tend to be visually striking and this one is no exception. The shipboard sets are futuristic in the extreme, yet they appear quite functional. The lighting and subdued color in certain exterior shots give a genuinely unearthly feel to the alien world. The set designs of alien passageways achieve a particularly interesting effect, giving at once impressions of the grandeur and massive scale of the structure while also conveying a sense of profound claustrophobia. When alien life is encountered, it does indeed look quite alien except in once case where the familiarity in appearance is the point. Even handheld tools loot futuristic but practical. A combination computer notepad/ flashlight/ sample collection kit is particularly well designed. The spacesuits are based on some of the latest work by NASA and MIT. Yet they have subtle touches that harkens back to ‘50s sci-fi in a brilliant blending of retro and futuristic design elements. On the other hand the flamethrowers look really toy-like and also lead to a believability question: "Why are they bringing FLAMETHROWERS of all things?â€
That failure to suspend the audience’s disbelief is one of the major
problems of the film, the flamethrowers being the least egregious example. A
few others include:
A woman, who
gives herself a cesarean and spends the rest of the film doing action
heroine physical antics.
A group of scientists on an alien world who just take
off their helmets when they discover the atmosphere is breathable (alien germs
be damned).
The film is billed as a horror movie. However, there is little in the
way of actual suspense. Two scientists behaving quite stupidly, die horribly
and very predictably. There is betrayal aboard the ship which the audience most
likely saw coming a mile away. The scares all have a very perfunctory feeling
to them and the only real surprise is the shocking and quite disturbing visual
of the aforementioned cesarean operation.
Alien. It is quite graphic, but
in the theater, the audience was giggling at that point.
The movie is not a direct prequel to Alien, but it does establish what is going on in that universe. It also has some interesting concepts but they are only slightly explored.
Michael
Fassbender plays David, a rather sinister android and he does a superb job of
conveying his nonhuman perspective. It's implied that he has developed a rigid code of ethics...just not human ones. He seems to have aspirations as well. This is
something the rest of the characters tend to miss and it is a neat transhumanist twist.
Fassbender gives a deadpan performance with subtle tics that convey a palpable sense of
frustration and yearning without expressing any actual emotion. However, this is never explored to any depth.
There is a
fatalistic and yet inspiring
message about heroism. One plot point revolves around a character sacrificing
himself in such a way no one will ever know that he saved all of humanity. The
main plot with its Lovecraftian overtones has tremendous potential as well, but
this is never fully realized.
Instead the film wastes all its good effects, visuals and quirky ideas
on a disjointed story that has a decidedly paint by numbers feel to it. The
films excuse for suspense is a collection of haunted house and slasher film
tropes.
Prometheus is an intriguing, gorgeous
but ultimately quite disappointing film. I had high hopes for it but they were largely unfulfilled.
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July 01, 2012
Most surprising of all, the show pulled of a thoroughly satisfying climax and wrap-up while leaving it open ended enough for a sequel.
Also, I must say that I did not see THIS coming:
This show will leave a considerable gap.
I will definitely be picking up the DVDs. (SENTAI is indeed bringing it over, and has actually put out for a dub by Bang Zoom. which is one of the best outfits in the industry.)
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