Hello cadets! It has been an interesting week and after a couple of even more interesting conversations I felt we were due for a slight comparison rant. Let me preface this with the fact that I absolutely love movies, they are great for escaping reality and inciting emotion, it’s escapism at its finest. That being said, I cannot stand film critics, overly critical people, and the dreaded elitist.
I understand that I am a bit of a critic myself but there is a vast difference between myself and most of the critics in the news and magazines. I am aware that I do not like dramatic love stories and depression inducing movies, that being said I do not review movies such as the Notebook or Pursuit of Happiness purely because I have a strong bias. That being said I hate hate hate critics who review action movies and complain at the lack of realism, or watch an animated movie and nitpick at it for being animated. I feel if you go in with bias against a movie that you should have a disclaimer at the beginning of your review. I would like to see two reviews, one for diehard movie fans and another for the casual movie-goer; to me it just makes sense.
That brings me to my next bit of disdain, overly critical people. I understand you want to get the most for your money when you see a film but if you want extreme realism please do not see any comedies, action movies, animated movies, in fact, just go watch a nice documentary. Movies are typically fiction and therefore have many fictional elements; bending physics to fit a story is one of many tactics a film may use. I understand it can be irksome at times but instead of getting angry try to laugh at the obvious flaws, it’s just a movie, no need to get worked up over minor details or slight plot holes. To me a movie is a method of escaping reality, no need to drag reality with you into a fantasy world.
Last but definitely not least is the elitist. These are the people who declare a movie that is a remake, reimagining, port from paper to film, etc… as awful based on a brief synopsis and trailer or other people’s opinions (a.k.a. mob mentality). Again, I can understand the why but sometimes the hyper-critical hysteria in bashing a movie is just too much, especially if it’s not even out yet. These people tend to get angry at things such as the Thor movie because it wasn’t the version of the story they liked, saw it in the theater anyway and then bashed it and declared how awful it was despite the fact that they technically supported the movie by seeing it in theaters. Another aspect that made me a bit batty was the fact that many people refused to see the Watchmen and spoke poorly about it because Alan Moore refused to give it a chance and declared war on the film. To me that sounds like a bunch of followers who were incapable of forming their own opinion lest they displease the creator. I will give Moore a lot of leeway as that was his brainchild and his legacy but that being said he should have known that this movie was a long time coming due to the comic’s legendary status. Either way, people need to chill out and learn to enjoy it, it’s not like the movie Priest (now there was a travesty).
All in all I feel people have started to look for more than entertainment in movies. You can learn important lessons or finally see your favorite hero as he or she would be in our world but the reality is that movies are, in fact, not reality. Just because you didn’t learn a life lesson does not make the movie bad, and if you go into an animated film expecting realism you must have missed the part where they said animated. That being said I will continue watching comedies, action flicks, and B movies because it’s an hour and a half to three hours that I was able to let myself be absorbed into a different world and for a little while shifted my focus to something fun. That being said, this is War Kitten signing off and informing you that if I see any sparkling vampires while I’m in Seattle I cannot control my impulse for vampire population control.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Coming soon!
Hello Cadets! This will be a short post while I recover from Wizard World Chicago. I only went for one day but it was extremely fun yet intense. I have many reviews coming your way including artist reviews, cosplay features, and comic reviews. Please stay tuned, I will try to do one a day until I'm done starting with the con report. Hope to see you all soon! This is War Kitten signing off and needing a nap.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Top 5 Zombie Games
Hello Cadets, I hope the weekend was kind to you. Now that you are all well versed in zombie classification it's time for a countdown. I Thought I'd go with the shorter list of zombie games. I am warning you that there will be no Call of Duty or Red Dead Redemption expansions on here, there are strictly zombie games that were about zombies from beginning to end. So I present to you the top 5 zombies games/series.
5. House of the Dead
This was the first rail shooter and first zombie game I ever played, the graphics had never been anything to hoot and holler about and the voice acting was Shakespearian in the sense that it was comically tragic, but the gore was strangely satisfying and the bosses were always impressive from first to last. This game has been a staple in my arcade diet since I was old enough to aim a lightgun.
4. Dead Rising
As the first sandbox zombie game this was a treat. Like Grand Theft Auto you run around completing different missions and you choices, successes and failures dictate the outcome of the game. The second game introduced a new hybrid weapon making system that at time were sometimes impractical yet almost always absolutely hysterical. I hope the creators will continue to create something new and extraordinary with each installment.
3. Dead Space
This is by far one of the scariest games I never played. The story, while long, was well worth sitting through and the scares would set you on edge for hours to come. Since I am a big wimp ever since attempting to play Fatal Frame 2 I have not tried again but even just sitting and watch I was entranced. The second installment was equally impressive and freaky and I look forward to further Dead Space spectating!
2. Resident Evil
I loved this series, the first shared the wonderful flaw of House of the Dead with the poor voice acting and the controls were wonky, and don’t even start with the camera angles. Here’s what they did right, the story was intriguing and there was a lot to build off of and build they did. The original characters split off into their own side stories and recently they have changed from reanimated zombies to infected. Also they learned from their mistakes and fixed the camera angles and began to change the controls. Now the game’s playability is near unrecognizable from it’s ancestor but the story remains 100% consistant and we are grateful for it.
1. Left 4 Dead (1 & 2)
I was never a fan of first person shooters until this game. The quick zombies and interestingly fleshed out worlds were something new, and the characters weren’t all military or police types, they were regular people making do with what was given to them. The special infected were a nice touch, to this day the Witch freaks me out a bit if I play alone. The introduction to the melee weapon and new special infected in the second installment were a refreshing touch to a game format that is unique and in a way typically Valve-like. I am excited for the new downloadable content that is on it’s way and the much talked about third game.
Tomorrow I will begin my zombie countdown of my top 10 zombie movies. There is a poll on The Litter-ati Where you can vote for your favorite zombie games and voice your opinions. This is War Kitten signing off and pointing out that you almost became a Jill Sandwich.
5. House of the Dead
This was the first rail shooter and first zombie game I ever played, the graphics had never been anything to hoot and holler about and the voice acting was Shakespearian in the sense that it was comically tragic, but the gore was strangely satisfying and the bosses were always impressive from first to last. This game has been a staple in my arcade diet since I was old enough to aim a lightgun.
4. Dead Rising
As the first sandbox zombie game this was a treat. Like Grand Theft Auto you run around completing different missions and you choices, successes and failures dictate the outcome of the game. The second game introduced a new hybrid weapon making system that at time were sometimes impractical yet almost always absolutely hysterical. I hope the creators will continue to create something new and extraordinary with each installment.
3. Dead Space
This is by far one of the scariest games I never played. The story, while long, was well worth sitting through and the scares would set you on edge for hours to come. Since I am a big wimp ever since attempting to play Fatal Frame 2 I have not tried again but even just sitting and watch I was entranced. The second installment was equally impressive and freaky and I look forward to further Dead Space spectating!
2. Resident Evil
I loved this series, the first shared the wonderful flaw of House of the Dead with the poor voice acting and the controls were wonky, and don’t even start with the camera angles. Here’s what they did right, the story was intriguing and there was a lot to build off of and build they did. The original characters split off into their own side stories and recently they have changed from reanimated zombies to infected. Also they learned from their mistakes and fixed the camera angles and began to change the controls. Now the game’s playability is near unrecognizable from it’s ancestor but the story remains 100% consistant and we are grateful for it.
1. Left 4 Dead (1 & 2)
I was never a fan of first person shooters until this game. The quick zombies and interestingly fleshed out worlds were something new, and the characters weren’t all military or police types, they were regular people making do with what was given to them. The special infected were a nice touch, to this day the Witch freaks me out a bit if I play alone. The introduction to the melee weapon and new special infected in the second installment were a refreshing touch to a game format that is unique and in a way typically Valve-like. I am excited for the new downloadable content that is on it’s way and the much talked about third game.
Tomorrow I will begin my zombie countdown of my top 10 zombie movies. There is a poll on The Litter-ati Where you can vote for your favorite zombie games and voice your opinions. This is War Kitten signing off and pointing out that you almost became a Jill Sandwich.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Purell Could Help Defend Against Zombies After All...
Hello Cadets, for you here in the Midwest I hope you are staying cool. As I said before you have asked for more zombies and I am inclined to oblige. One thing I like about zombies is that they are complex in their simplicity. There have been a variety of spins on the genre but it is almost impossible to romanticize a zombie story unless the romance is between two survivors because, really, who wants to kiss a diseased undead corpse? Today’s post will be about the three different classifications of zombies. I hope you enjoy and please let me know if I miss anything.
The first type is the classic, rise from the grave, shambling zombie as portrayed in the 1932’s White Zombie. The reason for this is the original lore of how a zombie was created. There are many stories all over the world for centuries about zombies but there was one particular story In Haiti people would get voodoo potions from witch doctors for anything from holistic medicine to love potions but every so often these ‘potions’ would contain a tetrodotoxin to make the person appear to be dead. Bear in mind this was many many years ago before autopsies were common practice. Usually the person who fell victim would be buried alive for hours to days before being dug up by the witch doctor and put to work on plantations. By the time the ‘bodies’ were dug up the person would have developed brain damage from a lack of oxygen and there were times where they didn’t retrieve them fast enough and the person really died. The plantation owners were usually cruel as most slave owners are and would beat the people the essentially kidnapped. One instance the laborers had enough and attacked their abusers with the only tool available, their hands and teeth. One of the men did make it to a town and was recognized by a neighbor, marking the most well-known zombie sighting.
Since then the standard for a zombie is usually some sort of infection or disease that can be spread through zombie bites or being reanimated from a voodoo curse. These zombies are usually all sorts of grotesque, already partially decomposed, slow, and stupid, they can’t use doors or climb anything more complicated than stairs (if that). These are the zombies most typically seen in George A. Romero’s films or the Resident Evil series. These zombies are still terrifying because they do not stop until their head and brain are destroyed and they possess seemingly inhuman strength. Another twist Romero added in Return of the Living Dead and Land of the dead is that they can learn. One on it’s own, while no laughing matter, is hardly a challenge to dodge or dispatch of but a swarm of them could easily overpower a person as displayed in the first episode of Walking Dead. Shaun of the Dead even had something to add to the terror of these slow menaces in the fact that they are easily fooled by pretending to shamble and groan like them but people’s unwillingness to work together or accept the situation is just as dangerous as the zombies themselves and caused them to lose most of their crew. Needless to say slow and steady does not minimize the threat or amount of fear induced by these creepy slow-pokes.
That brings me to the next type, the fast moving zombies. The first film to feature this particular adrenaline-inducing terror was Return of the Living Dead in 1985, which wasn’t terribly scary but great fun. It was not a common trend until 2002 when Danny Boyle directed 28 Days Later. These badboys are of a whole other level of terror because usually they could move just as fast as the survivors but the difference is that they never slow down because they don’t get tired. Imagine trying to maneuver around debris, climb structures and just run like hell while dodging a monster that can do everything you do without slowing down or feeling pain, it’s a whole other level of unfair. On the plus side they are usually still lacking in intelligence and you can still fight if you are able to keep your wits about you but needless to say it’s a safe bet most of us will end up like those who fell victim in Zombieland, rundown and unable to defend against these quick moving horrors.
There is a whole different classification for zombies as of 2002 with the Rage infected people of 28 Days Later, this introduced the infected versus the reanimated. Infected does not apply to all fast moving zombies, as in the case of the Dawn of the Dead remake, but it does make up the majority. The difference is that the infected ‘zombies’ do not need to die to become a zombie. [Rec] was another prime example as was the remake Quarantine with the mutated rabies virus. There are a lot of movies that never reveal the cause of the zombies such as Shaun of the Dead so the safe bet is if they die before becoming a zombie it’s reanimation, not infection. Same can be applied to Left 4 Dead as we do not know the cause of infection and the zombies don’t try to eat the survivors but beat on them instead. Personally I like this spin on the zombie genre, it’s something new for a monster that’s been fabled for centuries.
I have to honest and say that I love how popular the zombie theme has gotten. I am sure with the resurgence of Grimm fairy tale remakes in the making that the trend is going to waver for a bit but the fans aren’t distracted for long. We aren’t in it for the love and romantic drama, we are in it for the gore, story, and even to see the unlikeliest of relationships form. I hope you all enjoyed learning about zombies, if I missed anything please let me know on my facebook group at The Litter-ati. On that note I bit you all farewell until tomorrow. This is War Kitten signing off and reminding you that voodoo priests with potions are the equivalent to a stranger in a van with free candy, usually not to be trusted.
The first type is the classic, rise from the grave, shambling zombie as portrayed in the 1932’s White Zombie. The reason for this is the original lore of how a zombie was created. There are many stories all over the world for centuries about zombies but there was one particular story In Haiti people would get voodoo potions from witch doctors for anything from holistic medicine to love potions but every so often these ‘potions’ would contain a tetrodotoxin to make the person appear to be dead. Bear in mind this was many many years ago before autopsies were common practice. Usually the person who fell victim would be buried alive for hours to days before being dug up by the witch doctor and put to work on plantations. By the time the ‘bodies’ were dug up the person would have developed brain damage from a lack of oxygen and there were times where they didn’t retrieve them fast enough and the person really died. The plantation owners were usually cruel as most slave owners are and would beat the people the essentially kidnapped. One instance the laborers had enough and attacked their abusers with the only tool available, their hands and teeth. One of the men did make it to a town and was recognized by a neighbor, marking the most well-known zombie sighting.
Since then the standard for a zombie is usually some sort of infection or disease that can be spread through zombie bites or being reanimated from a voodoo curse. These zombies are usually all sorts of grotesque, already partially decomposed, slow, and stupid, they can’t use doors or climb anything more complicated than stairs (if that). These are the zombies most typically seen in George A. Romero’s films or the Resident Evil series. These zombies are still terrifying because they do not stop until their head and brain are destroyed and they possess seemingly inhuman strength. Another twist Romero added in Return of the Living Dead and Land of the dead is that they can learn. One on it’s own, while no laughing matter, is hardly a challenge to dodge or dispatch of but a swarm of them could easily overpower a person as displayed in the first episode of Walking Dead. Shaun of the Dead even had something to add to the terror of these slow menaces in the fact that they are easily fooled by pretending to shamble and groan like them but people’s unwillingness to work together or accept the situation is just as dangerous as the zombies themselves and caused them to lose most of their crew. Needless to say slow and steady does not minimize the threat or amount of fear induced by these creepy slow-pokes.
That brings me to the next type, the fast moving zombies. The first film to feature this particular adrenaline-inducing terror was Return of the Living Dead in 1985, which wasn’t terribly scary but great fun. It was not a common trend until 2002 when Danny Boyle directed 28 Days Later. These badboys are of a whole other level of terror because usually they could move just as fast as the survivors but the difference is that they never slow down because they don’t get tired. Imagine trying to maneuver around debris, climb structures and just run like hell while dodging a monster that can do everything you do without slowing down or feeling pain, it’s a whole other level of unfair. On the plus side they are usually still lacking in intelligence and you can still fight if you are able to keep your wits about you but needless to say it’s a safe bet most of us will end up like those who fell victim in Zombieland, rundown and unable to defend against these quick moving horrors.
There is a whole different classification for zombies as of 2002 with the Rage infected people of 28 Days Later, this introduced the infected versus the reanimated. Infected does not apply to all fast moving zombies, as in the case of the Dawn of the Dead remake, but it does make up the majority. The difference is that the infected ‘zombies’ do not need to die to become a zombie. [Rec] was another prime example as was the remake Quarantine with the mutated rabies virus. There are a lot of movies that never reveal the cause of the zombies such as Shaun of the Dead so the safe bet is if they die before becoming a zombie it’s reanimation, not infection. Same can be applied to Left 4 Dead as we do not know the cause of infection and the zombies don’t try to eat the survivors but beat on them instead. Personally I like this spin on the zombie genre, it’s something new for a monster that’s been fabled for centuries.
I have to honest and say that I love how popular the zombie theme has gotten. I am sure with the resurgence of Grimm fairy tale remakes in the making that the trend is going to waver for a bit but the fans aren’t distracted for long. We aren’t in it for the love and romantic drama, we are in it for the gore, story, and even to see the unlikeliest of relationships form. I hope you all enjoyed learning about zombies, if I missed anything please let me know on my facebook group at The Litter-ati. On that note I bit you all farewell until tomorrow. This is War Kitten signing off and reminding you that voodoo priests with potions are the equivalent to a stranger in a van with free candy, usually not to be trusted.
Friday, July 15, 2011
First Annual Zombie Shamble is in sight!
Hello to my wonderful Cadets! In light of the looming weekend activities I am only making a short post today. I have held a couple polls and it has been requested to have more zombies so here’s the deal, next week I will post a couple zombie related articles. Also I have an invite for you all, I want you to join me on August 20th in Millenium Park for the first ever Zombie Shamble Race. I ask that you zombify yourself, we will designate a meeting place closer to the day of the race. The end point? The Bean. Once all of the competitors are at the Bean we will do a short Thriller celebration dance. From there we can socialize and have fun. The link to the event is here: First Annual Zombie Race. I hope to hear from you and get this event rocking. Thank you all and please watch out for falling satellites.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Skeletons & the Empty Pockets: Bringing the Cool Back to Music
Hello cadets, hope you enjoyed the piece from yesterday on the Pop genre. I had a lot of interesting feedback and I would like to take this time to remind you that I accept all feedback and criticism so let me have it, just try to be constructive. In keeping with the theme from yesterday I will submit to you a review of a local blues-rock band from Sheffield in the UK, Skeletons & the Empty Pockets. This review is only of the songs I had access to here in the United States so please bear with me.
I first stumbled across this band in 2010 when I heard the song “Everyone Still Loves You” (known as “Folks at Home” on their myspace page) on The Rock Sound Magazine's 'Rock Sound: Ones to Watch 2010'. Of all the artists on that sampler CD this was the song that had my attention from the powerful beginning that seemed to start with keyboards, guitar, bass and drums simultaneously playing, needless to say it was an attention getter. From there you are left with a catchy tune that conjures an image of the coolest circus ever matched with interesting lyrics and unique vocals, this song was definitely a gem. I proceeded to not only play it every time I was in the car but to look up the band and see if I could find more of their music.
It was in this time that I stumbled upon the next two songs, those were “Oh Brother! Oh Sister!” and “In the Woods” from their Oh Brother! Oh Sister! EP and I was blown away yet again, both songs have a little subtler yet unique opening riffs and the style seemed slightly different yet still very much their own. “In the Woods” has a very 70’s meets new millennium sound that just clicks perfectly with Liam Creamer’s vocal style. “Oh Brother! Oh Sister!” was also amazing, a little more modern sounding and in the same vein as “Everybody Still Loves You.” Christopher Shepherd and Matthew Westley made the guitar and bass create a whole new bluesy sound combined with a wonderful sprinkling of keyboards by Stuart Di-Tanna. This was the first track I heard to lead with the drums which are brilliantly played by Ryan Jenkinson. These songs are on iTunes and I highly recommend everyone should check them out.
I made it to their myspace page next and found yet another song called “Le Cake”. The song starts out with a playful beat that evolves into a delightful romp of a tune that incites one to get up and dance. The energy is nothing but feel-good with good times to be had and should not be overlooked. The backing vocals and up-beat keyboard definitely tied this song together in a truly great way.
Last but definitely not least was “On Ya Knees,” the Skeletons’ newest song. I think this was their mellowest song since “In the Woods” and brought something a bit different to the table. This is the song you could hear at blues club, the low sound that starts the song off that builds to a crescendo at the chorus is definitely something to behold and the last half of the song takes on a whole life of it’s own without becoming a separate entity.
Overall I think that the Skeletons & the Empty Pockets are a band to watch for, their sound is unique and on a level all it’s own. They have a new EP in the works and currently perform in the UK. Please visit their facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/Skeletonsandtheemptypockets where you can listen to their music and get updates to their activities. While you are there please join me on my page at The Litter-Ati where you can voice your opinions, participate in open topics and polls and hear about any upcoming events. This is War Kitten signing off and reminding you that any story involving the sentence “I didn’t meant to put my sword there” is going to require explaining.
I first stumbled across this band in 2010 when I heard the song “Everyone Still Loves You” (known as “Folks at Home” on their myspace page) on The Rock Sound Magazine's 'Rock Sound: Ones to Watch 2010'. Of all the artists on that sampler CD this was the song that had my attention from the powerful beginning that seemed to start with keyboards, guitar, bass and drums simultaneously playing, needless to say it was an attention getter. From there you are left with a catchy tune that conjures an image of the coolest circus ever matched with interesting lyrics and unique vocals, this song was definitely a gem. I proceeded to not only play it every time I was in the car but to look up the band and see if I could find more of their music.
It was in this time that I stumbled upon the next two songs, those were “Oh Brother! Oh Sister!” and “In the Woods” from their Oh Brother! Oh Sister! EP and I was blown away yet again, both songs have a little subtler yet unique opening riffs and the style seemed slightly different yet still very much their own. “In the Woods” has a very 70’s meets new millennium sound that just clicks perfectly with Liam Creamer’s vocal style. “Oh Brother! Oh Sister!” was also amazing, a little more modern sounding and in the same vein as “Everybody Still Loves You.” Christopher Shepherd and Matthew Westley made the guitar and bass create a whole new bluesy sound combined with a wonderful sprinkling of keyboards by Stuart Di-Tanna. This was the first track I heard to lead with the drums which are brilliantly played by Ryan Jenkinson. These songs are on iTunes and I highly recommend everyone should check them out.
I made it to their myspace page next and found yet another song called “Le Cake”. The song starts out with a playful beat that evolves into a delightful romp of a tune that incites one to get up and dance. The energy is nothing but feel-good with good times to be had and should not be overlooked. The backing vocals and up-beat keyboard definitely tied this song together in a truly great way.
Last but definitely not least was “On Ya Knees,” the Skeletons’ newest song. I think this was their mellowest song since “In the Woods” and brought something a bit different to the table. This is the song you could hear at blues club, the low sound that starts the song off that builds to a crescendo at the chorus is definitely something to behold and the last half of the song takes on a whole life of it’s own without becoming a separate entity.
Overall I think that the Skeletons & the Empty Pockets are a band to watch for, their sound is unique and on a level all it’s own. They have a new EP in the works and currently perform in the UK. Please visit their facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/Skeletonsandtheemptypockets where you can listen to their music and get updates to their activities. While you are there please join me on my page at The Litter-Ati where you can voice your opinions, participate in open topics and polls and hear about any upcoming events. This is War Kitten signing off and reminding you that any story involving the sentence “I didn’t meant to put my sword there” is going to require explaining.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Pop Isn't Dead, It's Just Resting It's Eyes
Hello cadets, I know things have slowed quite a bit around here but alas, even I get struck by a lack of motivation. Recently I’ve been listening to a lot of new types of music (to me, at least) and I’ve noticed something slightly disturbing over the years. Pop music is so extremely cookie cutter that I don’t even notice the track has changed until I look at my playlist quite a bit later. Another trend I have noticed is what I like to call “false advertisement,” which I will explain further. That being said I would like to preface this with the fact that while I tend to prefer bands such as My Chemical Romance and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, I do enjoy pop music from time to time but I’m picky. This article will not be a rant alone so please bear with me.
To start out we will look at the concert scene first as that is where I had my first problem with the pop world. As you all know a majority of pop singers from Britney to Madonna and even Cher lip sync on stage. In a way it makes sense as they are typically dancing and it is nigh impossible to sing well while dancing. My beef with this is the fact that I can go see a band like Flogging Molly for $30 or less, no seating arrangement, and hear actual live music and catch an entertaining show (David King has an impressive jig). If I wanted to go see Ke$ha right now it would be between $45 and $64 depending on where I want to sit. Now I have paid high prices for a show like Muse but I can’t even fathom paying more than $25 for an auto-tuned lip syncer strutting around on stage, the price doesn’t match the quality. The same goes for a majority of the singers of the pop world, they filter and edit their songs so much in the studio that there would be no way to perform these songs live and make people feel okay with the price for those tickets.
Another thing I would like to point out is Milli Vanilli. Everyone old enough to remember knows they were caught when their track started skipping during a performance which revealed that they were lip syncing but that was in the 80’s when people acted like it was a dirty secret. Since then we had known that many performers did the same thing and as long as they were the original singers no one minded. Flash forward to Ashley Simpson. Same issue where the track did something very wonky and she was caught, all of a sudden people were outraged. The thing that baffled me was that people were outraged, by now it was brought to light that most pop princesses and boy bands lip synced in their live shows, so why was it suddenly a big issue? I feel that it was just a chance for the complainers to get on their soap boxes for no reason but I digress, I personally think lip syncing is a horrible trend that needs to go out of style yesterday.
Now the good news, there are a lot of artists that are dropping auto-tune and the prerecorded tracks and doing live shows the right way. I want to give kudos to Lady Gaga for actually singing at her shows and managing dance routines that don’t make her voice too jumpy, hopefully the trend will catch soon. Also bands such as Onerepublic do not lip sync, and they even write their own songs so I consider it an added bonus for them (nothing against those who can’t, it’s like that sometimes). I like that many artists have started to follow this trend and if they have the gall to charge $350 a ticket I would like to hear them sing, not the processed track they pretend to sing to.
Next is the auto-tune monster. If there is one thing I have begun to detest of averything in the music world it is excessive use of auto-tune. I understand using it as an editing tool but it is the sugar of the music world pyramid, to be used sparingly. I am going to pick on Ke$ha again and point out her voice has quite a bit of auto-tune added. Let’s not forget T-Pain, who is a genius because he is able to sell his records extremely well for an overly electronic voice that he makes fun of in the Budweiser commercials. Auto-tune has brought people like Paris Hilton into the music world, for better or worse, showing that anyone with access to this machine can make a song. A majority of rock and country artists refuse to touch this thing and even protest it’s use but at times it’s powers can be used for good, one such instance is the Bed Intruder Song that launched Antoine Dodson’s internet fame in 2010.
The subject of Auto-tune also brings to light another quite interesting aspect that is mostly confined to Japan currently called Vocaloid. Vocaloid is a computer program that generates a Japanese voice characterized by either male or female of different pitches and tones. This program can actually make a pop song without the use of an actual singer (aside from the voice samplings taken from voice actors to create the pitch). There have been tons of tracks released including original songs and cover songs. Each ‘voice’ is given a name and animated character (most popular known voice is Hatsune Miku) and there are concerts where the created tracks are played and sync up to an animation of the corresponding characters.
One person did think that this was just a trend over there but I would like to point out two examples of the separate elements. First is the Gorillaz, who sang live but behind a screen while their animated personas were on stage. Another example is T-Pain, whose electronic voice and obvious use of auto-tune on and off stage still draws in crowds. Whether we realize it or not these trends are pretty global in the pop world but that doesn’t mean the genre is lost, there is hope. Former lip syncers such as Christina Aguilara are now singing without the backing track or auto-tune. Also there are many talented artists who get by without excessive use of any of the aforementioned techniques so I challenge them to step it up because the pop world is being revolutionized and the same old same old is not cutting it anymore. This is War Kitten signing off and challenging you to shake things up, unless it’s a bee’s nest in which case back away slowly.
To start out we will look at the concert scene first as that is where I had my first problem with the pop world. As you all know a majority of pop singers from Britney to Madonna and even Cher lip sync on stage. In a way it makes sense as they are typically dancing and it is nigh impossible to sing well while dancing. My beef with this is the fact that I can go see a band like Flogging Molly for $30 or less, no seating arrangement, and hear actual live music and catch an entertaining show (David King has an impressive jig). If I wanted to go see Ke$ha right now it would be between $45 and $64 depending on where I want to sit. Now I have paid high prices for a show like Muse but I can’t even fathom paying more than $25 for an auto-tuned lip syncer strutting around on stage, the price doesn’t match the quality. The same goes for a majority of the singers of the pop world, they filter and edit their songs so much in the studio that there would be no way to perform these songs live and make people feel okay with the price for those tickets.
Another thing I would like to point out is Milli Vanilli. Everyone old enough to remember knows they were caught when their track started skipping during a performance which revealed that they were lip syncing but that was in the 80’s when people acted like it was a dirty secret. Since then we had known that many performers did the same thing and as long as they were the original singers no one minded. Flash forward to Ashley Simpson. Same issue where the track did something very wonky and she was caught, all of a sudden people were outraged. The thing that baffled me was that people were outraged, by now it was brought to light that most pop princesses and boy bands lip synced in their live shows, so why was it suddenly a big issue? I feel that it was just a chance for the complainers to get on their soap boxes for no reason but I digress, I personally think lip syncing is a horrible trend that needs to go out of style yesterday.
Now the good news, there are a lot of artists that are dropping auto-tune and the prerecorded tracks and doing live shows the right way. I want to give kudos to Lady Gaga for actually singing at her shows and managing dance routines that don’t make her voice too jumpy, hopefully the trend will catch soon. Also bands such as Onerepublic do not lip sync, and they even write their own songs so I consider it an added bonus for them (nothing against those who can’t, it’s like that sometimes). I like that many artists have started to follow this trend and if they have the gall to charge $350 a ticket I would like to hear them sing, not the processed track they pretend to sing to.
Next is the auto-tune monster. If there is one thing I have begun to detest of averything in the music world it is excessive use of auto-tune. I understand using it as an editing tool but it is the sugar of the music world pyramid, to be used sparingly. I am going to pick on Ke$ha again and point out her voice has quite a bit of auto-tune added. Let’s not forget T-Pain, who is a genius because he is able to sell his records extremely well for an overly electronic voice that he makes fun of in the Budweiser commercials. Auto-tune has brought people like Paris Hilton into the music world, for better or worse, showing that anyone with access to this machine can make a song. A majority of rock and country artists refuse to touch this thing and even protest it’s use but at times it’s powers can be used for good, one such instance is the Bed Intruder Song that launched Antoine Dodson’s internet fame in 2010.
The subject of Auto-tune also brings to light another quite interesting aspect that is mostly confined to Japan currently called Vocaloid. Vocaloid is a computer program that generates a Japanese voice characterized by either male or female of different pitches and tones. This program can actually make a pop song without the use of an actual singer (aside from the voice samplings taken from voice actors to create the pitch). There have been tons of tracks released including original songs and cover songs. Each ‘voice’ is given a name and animated character (most popular known voice is Hatsune Miku) and there are concerts where the created tracks are played and sync up to an animation of the corresponding characters.
One person did think that this was just a trend over there but I would like to point out two examples of the separate elements. First is the Gorillaz, who sang live but behind a screen while their animated personas were on stage. Another example is T-Pain, whose electronic voice and obvious use of auto-tune on and off stage still draws in crowds. Whether we realize it or not these trends are pretty global in the pop world but that doesn’t mean the genre is lost, there is hope. Former lip syncers such as Christina Aguilara are now singing without the backing track or auto-tune. Also there are many talented artists who get by without excessive use of any of the aforementioned techniques so I challenge them to step it up because the pop world is being revolutionized and the same old same old is not cutting it anymore. This is War Kitten signing off and challenging you to shake things up, unless it’s a bee’s nest in which case back away slowly.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Anime Central: A Retrospective
Hello Cadets, hope you have all been well. I attended Anime Central last weekend and am still catching up on some much needed rest from the excitement of the weekend. Now there were a few highs and lows and we will cover them as well as a couple of shout outs.
First day was not so bad, the hotel rooms were actually ready before 2 p.m. this year which is a first for me so kudos to the Hyatt. Once that was all said and done I went off exploring. As per usual there were wonderful cosplays and the dealer's room was a bundle of chaos, but this is not new. Anime Hell was good despite starting late as usual but this year there was a lot of new material. I made new friends and the congoers where a lot more mellow with the exception of the entitled few that think they are the only ones that matter (this does happen).
There were a few gripes I had about the way it was run. First major issue were the autograph sessions. For anyone who went did you see the section in the program with the autograph schedule? Yeah, me neither. This year the autograph area was not made known in the program or to the staff. The schedule was made on the day of and posted in the autograph area at 11am the day of the signing so kiss any photoshoots or panels at that time goodbye. To me this was an ineffective set-up and detrimental to anyone who had plans to be anywhere on these days as you cannot plan the day accordingly this way. I hope this was a trial and error that they realize ended in severe error and will not happen again next year.
Also there was another issue with the set-up as, let's face it, if the program can't tell you where stuff is you will ask the nearest I.R.T. or help booth where to go. On four separate occasions I did this and was told they didn't know and to go elsewhere to ask them. The people at the booth that are there specifically to answer these questions didn't even know, which is just wrong. The staff being so uninformed should not have happened and this is nothing against those who I spoke to, it's those who were in charge of making sure this information was available who need to realize this mistake. I hope next year will not be a repeat of this terrible blunder.
I did attend two press conferences which were a lot of fun and all too short. The first being with Michael Sinterniklaas, an American voice actor who is currently the voice of Dean Venture. I am going to say right now that he is by far one of the coolest guests to ever come to ACEN. He not only stopped for photos in the hall and after the conference but he also did snippets of his roles as Dean and even Brad Crawford of Weiss Kreuz. I do have a video that will be up soon on my youtube channel of the short interview and his quick reprise as Crawford.
The other press conference I was able to attend was the one for FLOW. Again, what great guests. They were energetic and polite and when answering questions they looked straight at you the whole time, even while the translator was repeating the answer for us in English. The video for that conference will be posted soon as well.
Next year is the 15th anniversary of ACEN and I do hope those few kinks are worked out. Overall they still bring interesting guests and have managed to surprise me all over again. With that in mind I will depart to continue working on my uploads. This is War Kitten signing off and reminding you that no matter what, it is unpleasant walking into a room full of guys watching hentai together (true story).
First day was not so bad, the hotel rooms were actually ready before 2 p.m. this year which is a first for me so kudos to the Hyatt. Once that was all said and done I went off exploring. As per usual there were wonderful cosplays and the dealer's room was a bundle of chaos, but this is not new. Anime Hell was good despite starting late as usual but this year there was a lot of new material. I made new friends and the congoers where a lot more mellow with the exception of the entitled few that think they are the only ones that matter (this does happen).
There were a few gripes I had about the way it was run. First major issue were the autograph sessions. For anyone who went did you see the section in the program with the autograph schedule? Yeah, me neither. This year the autograph area was not made known in the program or to the staff. The schedule was made on the day of and posted in the autograph area at 11am the day of the signing so kiss any photoshoots or panels at that time goodbye. To me this was an ineffective set-up and detrimental to anyone who had plans to be anywhere on these days as you cannot plan the day accordingly this way. I hope this was a trial and error that they realize ended in severe error and will not happen again next year.
Also there was another issue with the set-up as, let's face it, if the program can't tell you where stuff is you will ask the nearest I.R.T. or help booth where to go. On four separate occasions I did this and was told they didn't know and to go elsewhere to ask them. The people at the booth that are there specifically to answer these questions didn't even know, which is just wrong. The staff being so uninformed should not have happened and this is nothing against those who I spoke to, it's those who were in charge of making sure this information was available who need to realize this mistake. I hope next year will not be a repeat of this terrible blunder.
I did attend two press conferences which were a lot of fun and all too short. The first being with Michael Sinterniklaas, an American voice actor who is currently the voice of Dean Venture. I am going to say right now that he is by far one of the coolest guests to ever come to ACEN. He not only stopped for photos in the hall and after the conference but he also did snippets of his roles as Dean and even Brad Crawford of Weiss Kreuz. I do have a video that will be up soon on my youtube channel of the short interview and his quick reprise as Crawford.
The other press conference I was able to attend was the one for FLOW. Again, what great guests. They were energetic and polite and when answering questions they looked straight at you the whole time, even while the translator was repeating the answer for us in English. The video for that conference will be posted soon as well.
Next year is the 15th anniversary of ACEN and I do hope those few kinks are worked out. Overall they still bring interesting guests and have managed to surprise me all over again. With that in mind I will depart to continue working on my uploads. This is War Kitten signing off and reminding you that no matter what, it is unpleasant walking into a room full of guys watching hentai together (true story).
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Artist of the Month: Tim Broderick
Hello Cadets! I know it's been a while but work and my preparations for Anime Central have kept me quite preoccupied but let's not dwell on that. Today I would like to introduce an artist who created the Odd Jobs series. I met Mr. Broderick at C2E2 and his artwork caught my eye first. It's not terribly often you'll see an booth in Artist Alley selling only one book and have a single banner in black and white. This had me intrigued, so I stopped and spoke with him a bit and asked him to tell me about his book. He very happily told me about the detective type story he had created and after browsing the art and hearing what the story was about I was sold, not only by the story or his passion for his craft but his humbleness when presenting. Needless to say I bought the book and read it on the way back to the con the next day. The first thing I did was run back to his booth to tell him how much I loved it, there's fighting and romance and plot twists and it was just stunning. His art style is like none I've ever seen, it's simple without being overly so and yet it's powerful and there is not a single panel wasted. I had asked him if he would do me the honor of being the first featured Artist of the Month and I am pleased to present the very talented Tim Broderick.
How long have you been drawing and writing? Did one inspire the other?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been writing and drawing. They pretty much went hand-in-glove for me.
Speaking of inspiration, where do you get yours from? How did David Diangelo come about?
Well, David came out of a poster I drew for some friends’ band appearance back in 1985 here in Chicago. (See below) No one was doing any publicity, so I did up a poster. I had decided to just draw something, so I grabbed pen, ink and paper and did it – no penciling. And there was this character unlike anything I’d ever drawn before.
It took more than ten years to figure out who David ultimately was. That’s when I put together the idea of surviving in the new economy – where experts predicted that you would have more than one career over your lifetime and need to be continually retrained – with the idea of an amateur detective.
What medium do you use to create your artwork? Computer or traditional? What are your tools of the trade?
I used to pencil, then ink. Then scan the inked page into the computer where I would finish it in Adobe Illustrator and photoshop. Now I pencil then scan the pencils in and use Illustrator and some custom brushes with a Wacom tablet to ink. Then I finish it in Photoshop. I save the files both as 600 dpi bitmap files as well as low rez jpgs for the web.
What is your favorite comic or book series? You can give one of each or an overall or however you like.
Oh, so many good artists. Love & Rockets had a huge impact on me, as well as Corto Maltese. I’m a Rex Stout fan, especially his titles. “If death ever slept” - how cool is that? The Travis McGee series is terrific too – David has been compared to him as well as a modern version of Jim Rockford.
What are your thought on conventions such as C2E2?
I love comic cons, as least the ones I’ve been to. I’ve never been to San Diego, but when there’s a good Artist Alley footprint I think it just adds to the whole atmosphere. There are smaller gems as well – SPACE in Columbus Ohio and Fallcon in Minn. These cons are what sets the comics world apart from the rest of the literati.
What is your favorite part of going to conventions?
Just being a part of the whole show – I’m there to sell books, but I want to make sure I’m at least entertaining to anyone willing to listen.
Do you have any big plans for David Diangelo in the future?
After this current story, I believe I’ll try a prose novel with him.
Is there anything you would like to say to the readers?
Ten years ago, a whole bunch of people were doing webcomics because there just wasn’t another pathway to readers. Now, so many of us have fallen by the wayside, but a few have persevered and have been published or a scrapping out a living. I guess the lesson is that if find a creator whose work you like, support that creator. Link to them, buy their books, encourage them. Because without that support, that encouragement, they’re going to go away.
It’s up to the readers, we need them, and we sure appreciate their support.
So there you have it, an exteremely talented and humble artist. Mr. Broderick will have a booth at Anime Central and I strongly suggest you all go buy his book! You can read his other Odd Jobs comics at http://www.timbroderick.net/ where you can also contact him. Please visit the Litter-ati fanpage in the sidebar where you can discuss Odds Jobs and participate in polls. This is War Kitten signing off and informing you that this is definitely an odd job.
How long have you been drawing and writing? Did one inspire the other?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been writing and drawing. They pretty much went hand-in-glove for me.
Speaking of inspiration, where do you get yours from? How did David Diangelo come about?
Well, David came out of a poster I drew for some friends’ band appearance back in 1985 here in Chicago. (See below) No one was doing any publicity, so I did up a poster. I had decided to just draw something, so I grabbed pen, ink and paper and did it – no penciling. And there was this character unlike anything I’d ever drawn before.
It took more than ten years to figure out who David ultimately was. That’s when I put together the idea of surviving in the new economy – where experts predicted that you would have more than one career over your lifetime and need to be continually retrained – with the idea of an amateur detective.
What medium do you use to create your artwork? Computer or traditional? What are your tools of the trade?
I used to pencil, then ink. Then scan the inked page into the computer where I would finish it in Adobe Illustrator and photoshop. Now I pencil then scan the pencils in and use Illustrator and some custom brushes with a Wacom tablet to ink. Then I finish it in Photoshop. I save the files both as 600 dpi bitmap files as well as low rez jpgs for the web.
What is your favorite comic or book series? You can give one of each or an overall or however you like.
Oh, so many good artists. Love & Rockets had a huge impact on me, as well as Corto Maltese. I’m a Rex Stout fan, especially his titles. “If death ever slept” - how cool is that? The Travis McGee series is terrific too – David has been compared to him as well as a modern version of Jim Rockford.
What are your thought on conventions such as C2E2?
I love comic cons, as least the ones I’ve been to. I’ve never been to San Diego, but when there’s a good Artist Alley footprint I think it just adds to the whole atmosphere. There are smaller gems as well – SPACE in Columbus Ohio and Fallcon in Minn. These cons are what sets the comics world apart from the rest of the literati.
What is your favorite part of going to conventions?
Just being a part of the whole show – I’m there to sell books, but I want to make sure I’m at least entertaining to anyone willing to listen.
Do you have any big plans for David Diangelo in the future?
After this current story, I believe I’ll try a prose novel with him.
Is there anything you would like to say to the readers?
Ten years ago, a whole bunch of people were doing webcomics because there just wasn’t another pathway to readers. Now, so many of us have fallen by the wayside, but a few have persevered and have been published or a scrapping out a living. I guess the lesson is that if find a creator whose work you like, support that creator. Link to them, buy their books, encourage them. Because without that support, that encouragement, they’re going to go away.
It’s up to the readers, we need them, and we sure appreciate their support.
So there you have it, an exteremely talented and humble artist. Mr. Broderick will have a booth at Anime Central and I strongly suggest you all go buy his book! You can read his other Odd Jobs comics at http://www.timbroderick.net/ where you can also contact him. Please visit the Litter-ati fanpage in the sidebar where you can discuss Odds Jobs and participate in polls. This is War Kitten signing off and informing you that this is definitely an odd job.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
A Mild Rambling: Comic Book Movie Melting Pot
Hello Cadets! I must first apologize for my lengthy break. I would also like to thank all of you who have begun to follow my blog, it means a great deal to me. Now that C2E2 has wound down I wanted to do a rambling on something I've been asked a number of times; what do I think of non-American actors getting the roles of American characters such as Superman and Batman?
Here's my main thought on it, if there was an American actor with the right look and the acting chops to back it up wouldn't they have hired them? It's not a conspiracy but it's a well known fact that there is sometimes a gap in experience or training between us and say the British actors (which a majority of them spend some years on a stage first). Also look at it like this; Superman Returns had an all American cast and did poorly, alternately the X-Men had a very diverse cast and past the first movie started to do spectacularly bad as did Spiderman. Alternately, Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk were amazing and had Americans as the lead in both.
Here's the main question, does where you are from determine how well you can act? It's yes and no. In places such as England it is customary to join a troupe to not only train classically but to also get some experience in the field. Here in the United States and Canada it is not as common for an actor to join musical theater before moving on to other things but it doesn't hurt if they do. It also is a lot about their acting style as a fit to the role. Bruce Willis is a very highly typecasted actor who plays gritty heroes who are usually down on their luck which made him an amazing choice for Hartigan in Sin City. Can he do other roles I'm sure he could if he tried but he may feel this is a niche he is comfortable with.
Another example is Liam Neeson, this is an Irish born actor who did amazing movies such as Schindler's List, Les Miserables, and Taken but didn't find it beneath him to do hokey movies such as the A-Team or Darkman, which are both great films if only because they are goofy. He's done it all and did it well which shows the diversity in his acting skill and unwillingness to be typecast.
I think if more actors tried to break out their shells and tried different types of roles we'd find more people like Jaime Foxx, who I thought was an awful comedian but would leave an audience in awe of his dramatic acting abilities. It's a reminder that just because you like to cook doesn't mean you can always be a famous chef, sometimes you have to settle for what you are good at rather than what you wanted to do. That's not to say you should give up on your dreams but be realistic. It is possible to do what you want but it's all about the training and abilities to apply it. Needless to say, the moral of the story is don't look at where a person came from but what they can do, it'll broaden your scope of things dramatically.
Thank you all for reading, please check out the facebook page for the Litter-ati in the sidebar to the right to participate in discussions and polls and feel free to send me a message or ask any questions. Also be on the lookout for my interview with Tim Broderick of the Odd Jobs series which will be out early to middle of next week.
This is War Kitten signing off and please remember, the journey is just as important as the destination, so if you are going to clown school please bear in mind the size of the car you'll be taking when you carpool.
Here's my main thought on it, if there was an American actor with the right look and the acting chops to back it up wouldn't they have hired them? It's not a conspiracy but it's a well known fact that there is sometimes a gap in experience or training between us and say the British actors (which a majority of them spend some years on a stage first). Also look at it like this; Superman Returns had an all American cast and did poorly, alternately the X-Men had a very diverse cast and past the first movie started to do spectacularly bad as did Spiderman. Alternately, Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk were amazing and had Americans as the lead in both.
Here's the main question, does where you are from determine how well you can act? It's yes and no. In places such as England it is customary to join a troupe to not only train classically but to also get some experience in the field. Here in the United States and Canada it is not as common for an actor to join musical theater before moving on to other things but it doesn't hurt if they do. It also is a lot about their acting style as a fit to the role. Bruce Willis is a very highly typecasted actor who plays gritty heroes who are usually down on their luck which made him an amazing choice for Hartigan in Sin City. Can he do other roles I'm sure he could if he tried but he may feel this is a niche he is comfortable with.
Another example is Liam Neeson, this is an Irish born actor who did amazing movies such as Schindler's List, Les Miserables, and Taken but didn't find it beneath him to do hokey movies such as the A-Team or Darkman, which are both great films if only because they are goofy. He's done it all and did it well which shows the diversity in his acting skill and unwillingness to be typecast.
I think if more actors tried to break out their shells and tried different types of roles we'd find more people like Jaime Foxx, who I thought was an awful comedian but would leave an audience in awe of his dramatic acting abilities. It's a reminder that just because you like to cook doesn't mean you can always be a famous chef, sometimes you have to settle for what you are good at rather than what you wanted to do. That's not to say you should give up on your dreams but be realistic. It is possible to do what you want but it's all about the training and abilities to apply it. Needless to say, the moral of the story is don't look at where a person came from but what they can do, it'll broaden your scope of things dramatically.
Thank you all for reading, please check out the facebook page for the Litter-ati in the sidebar to the right to participate in discussions and polls and feel free to send me a message or ask any questions. Also be on the lookout for my interview with Tim Broderick of the Odd Jobs series which will be out early to middle of next week.
This is War Kitten signing off and please remember, the journey is just as important as the destination, so if you are going to clown school please bear in mind the size of the car you'll be taking when you carpool.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Boy Wonder: Grittier Than Gravel
Good afternoon, Cadets! I hope everyone enjoyed the review of the Redeemers, it was a lot of fun getting feedback from you all! Today I will be reviewing the independent hero drama, 'Boy Wonder.' The movie was written and directed by Michael Morrissey and starred Caleb Steinmeyer and Zulay Henao. I'm going to attempt to make this as spoiler free as possible.
The movie starts out strong with a look into the past of the main character, Sean Donovan. His personality is established as extremely smart and athletic but withdrawn from his peers. He has yet to begin to become a vigilante and seems to have a method to the mayhem he is about to unleash. You also meet the leading lady, Detective Teresa Ames, a very by the book cop who knows how to play the politics of her job. The way in which the characters meet is rather ingenious. It appears all the key characters are effectively established within the first fifteen minutes.
One thing that was an interesting theme was the music that lead into the flashbacks of Sean's past at the beginning third of the film and the significance of how it was done. The build-up to the first confrontation was well done without a frame wasted.
In the first fight the camera-work was a bit frantic but in retrospect I think I know why. This was his first fight as a vigilante and he was bound to be more flustered than his usual calm self and the quick changes and cuts may have been a way to show how the character was feeling and what was going through his mind. As the movie progressed the camera calmed more and more as did Sean. There was also a definite theme to the 'bad guys' he was choosing to go after.
Detective Ames was no slouch either, unlike most cops in movies she was able to piece important information together right away and proved mentally formidable to Sean. She was possibly one of the most realistic Hollywood cops I've ever seen, married to the job and determined to prove her worth.
As the movie and story progressed I was happy to see the one thing most super-hero movies forget; character progression. There were leaps and bounds in the characters' personalities and actions from when you first meet them to the end of the film and I admit I was awe-struck. There were minimal to zero loopholes in the story and every scene that was shown was vital to the story. The humor injected into it was well timed using uncomfortable yet believable situations without relying on cheesy puns or slapstick. The way everything tied together was inspiring to say the least.
Before the screening at C2E2 I got the chance to meet the actors and Mr. Morrissey and I really enjoyed talking with them. All of them were humble and polite and really loved what they were doing. The promotion of having people dressed as Sean with the black face paint was brilliant and eye catching as was the art and tagline. I would say that this is a movie I want to show everyone, the writing was brilliant and the dialogue was delivered with amazing skill. The only thing I would like to see improved upon is the 'bad guys' dialogue, there was a heavy reliance on cursing and considerably less imaginative speech compared to the rest of the movie. The action scenes were brutal and yet simple. When 'Wonder Boy' comes out on video I will be adding it to my collection for sure. Please visit the official site at www.boywonderthemovie.com.
Geek rating: 9 out of 10 fanspazzes
I hope you all found this review enjoyable and informative as I feel it should be relevant to your interests. This is War Kitten signing off and reminding you that just because it looks like a sheep and sounds like a sheep, be suspicious because that's how the wolf got Red Riding Hood.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The Redeemers: Way Cooler Than Being in a Band
Good afternoon, Cadets! I hope everyone enjoyed the brief recap of C2E2. Today I will be reviewing a comic by writer Eric Rampson and artist Wil Brendel. These guys were kind enough to speak with me at C2E2 at the Lonely Robot booth for a bit and sold me on their story called The Redeemers.
The first thing anyone will notice about a comic book is the cover art. The cover is well done without revealing too much, the usage of perspective is as close to perfect as one could get. You can tell this is a supernatural story about a band called the Redeemers fighting mythical creatures and that is exactly what the plot is. As you read you are introduced into the action right away with a gig leading into battle on stage, the audience thinks that they just put on a killer light show. As the story progresses you meet a reporter named Maddie who will do anything to get the scoop on this mysterious trio. They each tell a vague version of their stories effectively starting with Neil the bassist, going to Dexter the drummer and rounding it out with Gabe the guitarist and lead singer. While they explain their lives the artist shows in the background the full extent of what they are describing and this effectively teaches the reader who they really are without elaborate and angsty fillers. The reason for the band's name is definitely an interesting yet simple concept. There is still much to learn but I imagine as the story progresses more will be revealed. Issue #1 felt way too short and I was happy to have the next issue as I wanted to read more.
Issue #2 gives a little more time before the action starts right back up with even more gusto than before. A little more insight into Neil and his special circumstances as they are today. You also get to see just how amazing Dexter can be at what he does while getting a feel for why Gabe is the way he is. You also realize how Maddie is insane enough to put herself in danger to get a story. Overall the plot definitely progresses well and keeps you waiting for the puppeteer behind the attacks to reveal himself. This issue catered to the fans of mechs with a giant robot fight that was pretty impressive.
Overall The Redeemers is an amazing story, the artwork is great and the writing is extremely well done. The artist has a style of his own and pay attention to the effects of the harsh, multicolored stage lights when showing the characters playing a gig or the softer light of a room with open windows in the afternoon. He does not rely on hard lines but rather creative shadowing to show muscle definition. The writing is fluid and detailed without wasting a speech bubble. The overall concept will bring memories of Scott Pilgrim but only in the sense that they are a band who can fight. There is subtler, well placed humor and the emotion of the dialogue is directed extremely well and with zero plotholes. The editing was definitely done with care, I did not find any mistakes in the art or writing.
I must that Eric and Wil are a duo that is to be watched for and anyone who is a fan of the fantasy/action genre needs to read The Redeemers. I left a lot of information out because I would like to urge you all to please read this comic and find out for yourself, you can find it at http://www.lonelyrobotcomics.com/. They can be found on facebook where you can ask they questions and even hear the two Redeemers tracks. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=400095838381&set=pu.119752443381#!/pages/The-Redeemers/119752443381
Thank you all for reading and I hope to see you all on the Litter-ati page on facebook, which is linked on the sidebar to the right. This is War Kitten signing out and remind you to please think of the environment, save some paper and draw a blank.
The first thing anyone will notice about a comic book is the cover art. The cover is well done without revealing too much, the usage of perspective is as close to perfect as one could get. You can tell this is a supernatural story about a band called the Redeemers fighting mythical creatures and that is exactly what the plot is. As you read you are introduced into the action right away with a gig leading into battle on stage, the audience thinks that they just put on a killer light show. As the story progresses you meet a reporter named Maddie who will do anything to get the scoop on this mysterious trio. They each tell a vague version of their stories effectively starting with Neil the bassist, going to Dexter the drummer and rounding it out with Gabe the guitarist and lead singer. While they explain their lives the artist shows in the background the full extent of what they are describing and this effectively teaches the reader who they really are without elaborate and angsty fillers. The reason for the band's name is definitely an interesting yet simple concept. There is still much to learn but I imagine as the story progresses more will be revealed. Issue #1 felt way too short and I was happy to have the next issue as I wanted to read more.
Issue #2 gives a little more time before the action starts right back up with even more gusto than before. A little more insight into Neil and his special circumstances as they are today. You also get to see just how amazing Dexter can be at what he does while getting a feel for why Gabe is the way he is. You also realize how Maddie is insane enough to put herself in danger to get a story. Overall the plot definitely progresses well and keeps you waiting for the puppeteer behind the attacks to reveal himself. This issue catered to the fans of mechs with a giant robot fight that was pretty impressive.
Overall The Redeemers is an amazing story, the artwork is great and the writing is extremely well done. The artist has a style of his own and pay attention to the effects of the harsh, multicolored stage lights when showing the characters playing a gig or the softer light of a room with open windows in the afternoon. He does not rely on hard lines but rather creative shadowing to show muscle definition. The writing is fluid and detailed without wasting a speech bubble. The overall concept will bring memories of Scott Pilgrim but only in the sense that they are a band who can fight. There is subtler, well placed humor and the emotion of the dialogue is directed extremely well and with zero plotholes. The editing was definitely done with care, I did not find any mistakes in the art or writing.
I must that Eric and Wil are a duo that is to be watched for and anyone who is a fan of the fantasy/action genre needs to read The Redeemers. I left a lot of information out because I would like to urge you all to please read this comic and find out for yourself, you can find it at http://www.lonelyrobotcomics.com/. They can be found on facebook where you can ask they questions and even hear the two Redeemers tracks. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=400095838381&set=pu.119752443381#!/pages/The-Redeemers/119752443381
Thank you all for reading and I hope to see you all on the Litter-ati page on facebook, which is linked on the sidebar to the right. This is War Kitten signing out and remind you to please think of the environment, save some paper and draw a blank.
Monday, March 21, 2011
C2E2: A Retrospective
Hello Cadets! It's been a crazy weekend full of excitement at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo here in Chicago. This was my second year going but my first year going for all three days and it still feels like I missed a lot. I'm going to try to gather my thoughts and memories as I share my experience with all of you so sit back and enjoy.
The first day was interesting, I had to pick up my badge as I had upgraded to VIP the week before. The process was well organized but I think more signs telling people where to go was in order because there were lines and lines of people and despite having a VIP badge I was put at the end of the line instead of in the VIP line because some of the staff were unaware that VIPs were to be let in first. There were a few instances where the staff were unsure of what was going on and either gave an answer incorrectly (coat check was not open till 9pm) or asked on the radio, walked away before receiving an answer and were never heard from again. I'm chalking these things up to it only being the second C2E2 and there are still kinks to be worked out. Aside from that the showroom was so much bigger than last year. Artists in Artist Alley had more than a little elbow room which made them much happier this time around.
The artists were amazing, I saw so much and would have loved to take something home from everyone but alas it could not be done. I did snag a few things and had some wonderful conversations with many talented people. I met Ian McNiece and talked to him more about his short role in Top Secret! and he was nice enough to let me take a video of him saying his famous line, "what funny duck poo?" After that I met the artist and writer of the Redeemer comics, which will also be getting a review on here this week.
Friday night was also the comedy show with Oswalt Patton and it was amazing; I was laughing so hard my cheeks hurt. I think either the microphones or the sound system needed adjusting because it was either quiet or it was set in such a manner the speakers were crackling when the comedians attempted to speak up. Overall Friday was a success and left me giddy with excitement.
Day Two was epic beyond belief; first thing I did was run to Artist Alley to let Tim Broderick know how amazing his graphic novel, Cash & Carry, was. Next was run downstairs to the Chris Hemsworth meet and greet, and what an awesome moment that was. He was so polite and humble and he never stopped laughing and smiling. He knew we were there to see him and seemed to really appreciate it. Later I made my way to the showroom to explore some more and take photos. I was dressed as the Green Hornet and was happy when people wanted my photo as well. Also thank you to the photographers at the convention who held a free photoshoot, it was so much fun! I was able to get some promotional gear and talk to a few vendors about their experience so far and there was a great feel-good attitude. The lead actors from the independent film "Boy Wonder" were on hand as well for autographs and interviews and they acted in the same spirit as those enjoying the con, making sure to talk to everyone who stopped by. I left on Saturday feeling like I was on Cloud 9 and even had a bit of a nerd parade leading few conventions-goers to Union Station from the shuttle.
On Day Three I started a bit late but was able to make the first Mark Sheppard signing. I have to say he is very much so sarcastic but in such a playful way that he makes you feel relaxed when meeting him. He was also nice enough to actually come from behind the signing table to take proper photos with fans which was amazing. His Q & A session was fun and full of laughs and really made everyone aware of his monumental nerdiness. I have to say the guests that came this year were just so kind and really made the event into something great for the fans. I also made a new friend thanks to him which made everything so much more enjoyable. We walked around and saw some amazing things and I even stopped to say hello and thank Jerry Lawler for coming to the convention as I was a huge wrestling fan as a kid. We made our way to the final showing of Boy Wonder and I have to say I was blown away; the review will be up this week as well. My new friend and I parted ways afterwards and I headed home, speaking with another convention goer on the way about everything that came to mind. I have to say I love that I get to geek out openly and share my geekiness with others who are interested in similar topics.
That wraps up the cliffnotes edition of my weekend at C2E2. Feel free to follow my group on facebook, the Litter-ati, and participate in group discussions, ask me questions, or just say hello and meet the other readers. As always it's been wonderful sharing my thoughts with you and I welcome your comments and critiques. This is War Kitten reminding you to wear a helmet, it's raining awesome!
Litter-ati: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=172554432795827#!/home.php?sk=group_188729431163726&ap=1
Special thanks today to Howard and Kelsey for joining me this weekend! Also thank you to those from C2E2 joining for the first time, I hope to see you all here often!
The first day was interesting, I had to pick up my badge as I had upgraded to VIP the week before. The process was well organized but I think more signs telling people where to go was in order because there were lines and lines of people and despite having a VIP badge I was put at the end of the line instead of in the VIP line because some of the staff were unaware that VIPs were to be let in first. There were a few instances where the staff were unsure of what was going on and either gave an answer incorrectly (coat check was not open till 9pm) or asked on the radio, walked away before receiving an answer and were never heard from again. I'm chalking these things up to it only being the second C2E2 and there are still kinks to be worked out. Aside from that the showroom was so much bigger than last year. Artists in Artist Alley had more than a little elbow room which made them much happier this time around.
The artists were amazing, I saw so much and would have loved to take something home from everyone but alas it could not be done. I did snag a few things and had some wonderful conversations with many talented people. I met Ian McNiece and talked to him more about his short role in Top Secret! and he was nice enough to let me take a video of him saying his famous line, "what funny duck poo?" After that I met the artist and writer of the Redeemer comics, which will also be getting a review on here this week.
Friday night was also the comedy show with Oswalt Patton and it was amazing; I was laughing so hard my cheeks hurt. I think either the microphones or the sound system needed adjusting because it was either quiet or it was set in such a manner the speakers were crackling when the comedians attempted to speak up. Overall Friday was a success and left me giddy with excitement.
Day Two was epic beyond belief; first thing I did was run to Artist Alley to let Tim Broderick know how amazing his graphic novel, Cash & Carry, was. Next was run downstairs to the Chris Hemsworth meet and greet, and what an awesome moment that was. He was so polite and humble and he never stopped laughing and smiling. He knew we were there to see him and seemed to really appreciate it. Later I made my way to the showroom to explore some more and take photos. I was dressed as the Green Hornet and was happy when people wanted my photo as well. Also thank you to the photographers at the convention who held a free photoshoot, it was so much fun! I was able to get some promotional gear and talk to a few vendors about their experience so far and there was a great feel-good attitude. The lead actors from the independent film "Boy Wonder" were on hand as well for autographs and interviews and they acted in the same spirit as those enjoying the con, making sure to talk to everyone who stopped by. I left on Saturday feeling like I was on Cloud 9 and even had a bit of a nerd parade leading few conventions-goers to Union Station from the shuttle.
On Day Three I started a bit late but was able to make the first Mark Sheppard signing. I have to say he is very much so sarcastic but in such a playful way that he makes you feel relaxed when meeting him. He was also nice enough to actually come from behind the signing table to take proper photos with fans which was amazing. His Q & A session was fun and full of laughs and really made everyone aware of his monumental nerdiness. I have to say the guests that came this year were just so kind and really made the event into something great for the fans. I also made a new friend thanks to him which made everything so much more enjoyable. We walked around and saw some amazing things and I even stopped to say hello and thank Jerry Lawler for coming to the convention as I was a huge wrestling fan as a kid. We made our way to the final showing of Boy Wonder and I have to say I was blown away; the review will be up this week as well. My new friend and I parted ways afterwards and I headed home, speaking with another convention goer on the way about everything that came to mind. I have to say I love that I get to geek out openly and share my geekiness with others who are interested in similar topics.
That wraps up the cliffnotes edition of my weekend at C2E2. Feel free to follow my group on facebook, the Litter-ati, and participate in group discussions, ask me questions, or just say hello and meet the other readers. As always it's been wonderful sharing my thoughts with you and I welcome your comments and critiques. This is War Kitten reminding you to wear a helmet, it's raining awesome!
Litter-ati: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=172554432795827#!/home.php?sk=group_188729431163726&ap=1
Special thanks today to Howard and Kelsey for joining me this weekend! Also thank you to those from C2E2 joining for the first time, I hope to see you all here often!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Superheroes: Why Can't They Stay Dead?
Hello Cadets! It has been a turbulent weekend with the devastation in Japan being as it has been but I think that maybe a little distraction can be good for the soul. So rather than post a typical Marvel vs. DC comparison or debate I would like to point out something both are guilty of, resurrection. Between Superman, Jean Grey, various X-Men, and Jason Todd a.k.a. Robin there is a slew of superhero deaths that are never quite final. A few deaths are blatant and frequent, such as Deadpool but others leave one asking questions such as "why bother killing them at all?" and "What was the point?" Well there are a few theories, some which go as far back as the 1890's.
The first and foremost reason for this trend being outside pressure. The finest and most clearcut example being Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who famously killed off Sherlock Holmes in 1893. By 1901 Sherlock Holmes returned in 'Hound of the Baskervilles' and here is why. Sir Doyle wanted to focus on other projects and career aspects and he had grown rather tired of writing the adventures of Holmes and Watson, so rather than have Sherlock die a peaceful death of old age or even the less honorable death of an addict he gave him a proper hero's sendoff. It was due to public outcry that Sir Doyle brought Holmes back for more adventures despite his strong objections and lack of interest in the character by then.
Such pressures are still present whenever a beloved superhero passes, most recently found with the death of Captain America. The story seemed posed to put the original Captain America down for good but due to public outcry he was recently revealed to not be dead but transported to a different dimension, which seems to be a popular trend to offset the obvious death of a major character, mostly found in Marvel storylines. While a brilliant idea the first time I feel that they either need to start sticking to their guns on character death or come up with much more inventive resurrections.
Now let's take a look at DC, typically DC is strangely okay with killing off characters but the resurrection trade has become a staple in their stories that involve character death. First and foremost was the death of Superman. His death was a heavy blow in the comic world and left everyone wondering what would come next. The writers tried various replacements for the story but realized that they were lacking in what it is that made Superman so endearing to kids and adults alike. After a hiatus and even more attempts to fill the boots of the Man of Steel the writers decided to bring back Superman, which brings me to the other reason for temporary death; inadequate replacement. It's extremely difficult to create a timeless and iconic character and even harder to replace them. Since then DC has seemingly refused to kill another major icon without an adequate replacement in the works.
Lastly and possibly the biggest reason lies in the consumer. Fans of Deadpool know that short of being put through a juicer, Deadpool is impossible to kill for long. That being said let's look at Marvel's favorite group, the X-Men. I dare you to just stop at five characters that were iconic and stayed dead. That being said there is no money in killing off the characters that were the staple of a decades old series. When buying an X-Men comic it is expected to see Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Rogue, and Professor X. Realistically the few of those who were killed in the series never stayed dead for long as it was all for shock factor. There are alternate reality stories that take place after a few main characters' deaths but have almost always been serialized alongside the regular X-Men series. One plus side to the Marvel universe was the birth of Mavel Zombies, which killed everyone for once. Not only were the stories filled with the standard gallows humor but it was also a brilliant way to capitalize on the booming zombie trend in pop culture.
Overall both Marvel and DC are guilty of shock-factor killing of the beloved characters in your favorite stories but let me ask you a couple questions; would you rather have a character go out in a blaze of glory or have the stories grow stale with age? Also what do you think of the overall lack of ability to kill a superhero? Is it because the writers have grown too fond of them as well or is it all for the love of money? Please post your thoughts on my facebook group The Litter-ati at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_188729431163726&ap=1#!/home.php?sk=group_188729431163726&ap=1
As always it's a pleasure to get feedback and please don't hesitate to join in on polls or group dicussions. Also, as a reminder, please donate to Red Cross or any other group of your choice assisting with the tragedy in Japan. This is War Kitten, signing out and reminding you to.... what? No I'm..... You first..... Nevermind.
The first and foremost reason for this trend being outside pressure. The finest and most clearcut example being Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who famously killed off Sherlock Holmes in 1893. By 1901 Sherlock Holmes returned in 'Hound of the Baskervilles' and here is why. Sir Doyle wanted to focus on other projects and career aspects and he had grown rather tired of writing the adventures of Holmes and Watson, so rather than have Sherlock die a peaceful death of old age or even the less honorable death of an addict he gave him a proper hero's sendoff. It was due to public outcry that Sir Doyle brought Holmes back for more adventures despite his strong objections and lack of interest in the character by then.
Such pressures are still present whenever a beloved superhero passes, most recently found with the death of Captain America. The story seemed posed to put the original Captain America down for good but due to public outcry he was recently revealed to not be dead but transported to a different dimension, which seems to be a popular trend to offset the obvious death of a major character, mostly found in Marvel storylines. While a brilliant idea the first time I feel that they either need to start sticking to their guns on character death or come up with much more inventive resurrections.
Now let's take a look at DC, typically DC is strangely okay with killing off characters but the resurrection trade has become a staple in their stories that involve character death. First and foremost was the death of Superman. His death was a heavy blow in the comic world and left everyone wondering what would come next. The writers tried various replacements for the story but realized that they were lacking in what it is that made Superman so endearing to kids and adults alike. After a hiatus and even more attempts to fill the boots of the Man of Steel the writers decided to bring back Superman, which brings me to the other reason for temporary death; inadequate replacement. It's extremely difficult to create a timeless and iconic character and even harder to replace them. Since then DC has seemingly refused to kill another major icon without an adequate replacement in the works.
Lastly and possibly the biggest reason lies in the consumer. Fans of Deadpool know that short of being put through a juicer, Deadpool is impossible to kill for long. That being said let's look at Marvel's favorite group, the X-Men. I dare you to just stop at five characters that were iconic and stayed dead. That being said there is no money in killing off the characters that were the staple of a decades old series. When buying an X-Men comic it is expected to see Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Rogue, and Professor X. Realistically the few of those who were killed in the series never stayed dead for long as it was all for shock factor. There are alternate reality stories that take place after a few main characters' deaths but have almost always been serialized alongside the regular X-Men series. One plus side to the Marvel universe was the birth of Mavel Zombies, which killed everyone for once. Not only were the stories filled with the standard gallows humor but it was also a brilliant way to capitalize on the booming zombie trend in pop culture.
Overall both Marvel and DC are guilty of shock-factor killing of the beloved characters in your favorite stories but let me ask you a couple questions; would you rather have a character go out in a blaze of glory or have the stories grow stale with age? Also what do you think of the overall lack of ability to kill a superhero? Is it because the writers have grown too fond of them as well or is it all for the love of money? Please post your thoughts on my facebook group The Litter-ati at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_188729431163726&ap=1#!/home.php?sk=group_188729431163726&ap=1
As always it's a pleasure to get feedback and please don't hesitate to join in on polls or group dicussions. Also, as a reminder, please donate to Red Cross or any other group of your choice assisting with the tragedy in Japan. This is War Kitten, signing out and reminding you to.... what? No I'm..... You first..... Nevermind.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Japan
Hello Cadets, I'm sure all of you know of the earthquake that hit Japan early this morning and the tragedy that befell the people. I find that in light of this terrible event I cannot write my usual upbeat message today but a rather somber reminder. There are hundreds dead and hundreds more missing and it is with a heavy heart that I know that the number is still growing. The worst thing about a natural disaster is that there is no warning, no one to blame, and no time to react. I hope that the survivors know that their loss and pain are felt all across the world today. Please keep in mind that in these situations, unity and solidarity are everything, and with that we will overcome any obstacle.
I would like to take this opportunity to ask everyone to please help with the relief efforts in any way you can. I am not much for praying but I will pray for all the lost souls today and that those who survived will find the strength to move on someday. This is the War Kitten signing out.
I would like to take this opportunity to ask everyone to please help with the relief efforts in any way you can. I am not much for praying but I will pray for all the lost souls today and that those who survived will find the strength to move on someday. This is the War Kitten signing out.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Spring is in the air.... Smells like conventions!
Hello Cadets! I'd like to start by thanking those of you who have been following me so far, the feedback has been wonderful! Today's topic, as stated above, is conventions. For those of you in Chicago spring means Horrorhound Weekend, C2E2, and Anime Central. To kick off the countdown to C2E2 I thought I would start with cosplay. I am an on again off-again cosplayer and this will be my first year not only dressing as a non-anime related character but also dressing up for C2E2 on March 18th-20th. Not many people know that there are rules regarding etiquette when cosplaying that apply not only for the convention goers but the cosplayers as well.
For those of you who like to take photographs of the cosplayers there are a few things to keep in mind: politeness, courtesy, and timing. First rule is always politeness, if you want to take a photo, "please" and "thank you" are very important. Also, unless they are already posing, always ask them first before snapping that photo. They don't interrupt you while you are talking to your favorite artist in Artist Alley so please exercise the same courtesy.
Another major faux pas occurs when a cosplayer declines photos, this honestly can happen more often than anyone would think. Despite being in costume, cosplayers enjoy taking in the sights and that includes panels or even meeting their favorite artists and actors. If they are rushing past and decline to stop for photos, or don't really have time for discussing the pros and cons of a duct tape corset just remember, it is nothing personal, and it is certainly should not ruin your day.
There are a lot of photo shoots at most conventions, try and catch them there or ask if you can meet with them after the event they are attending. With that in mind also make sure to have a charger for your camera and lots of memory on that SD card because the costumes are usually amazing!
There are a lot of photo shoots at most conventions, try and catch them there or ask if you can meet with them after the event they are attending. With that in mind also make sure to have a charger for your camera and lots of memory on that SD card because the costumes are usually amazing!
For cosplayers; I want you to keep in mind that by dressing up at a convention you open yourself to situations such as people wanting to take photos, asking questions about who you are dressed as, how you got your hair to stay that way, and overall being 'bothered' all day. There are only two rules, be courteous and lose the attitude. We know you are in a hurry but yelling "not now!" or telling people to go away is uncalled for and is a good way to alienate your fellow nerds. You never know if that guy you snapped at is going to end up sitting next to you at a panel or lets his friends know that the guy dressed as the Joker is a bit of a jerk.
Bear in mind that it is not only fun but an incredible honor to be stopped by a fan of Street Fighter who has just declared that you are the best Cammy they have ever seen or thinks that your likeness to the 10th Doctor is stunningly close. There are a lot of convention goers who are asking questions because you impressed them with your outfit, so please be gracious and if you must depart to see the SomeRandomGuy panel, excuse yourself accordingly. With that in mind just remember, don't sweat the small stuff and enjoy the con, you all deserve it!
Bear in mind that it is not only fun but an incredible honor to be stopped by a fan of Street Fighter who has just declared that you are the best Cammy they have ever seen or thinks that your likeness to the 10th Doctor is stunningly close. There are a lot of convention goers who are asking questions because you impressed them with your outfit, so please be gracious and if you must depart to see the SomeRandomGuy panel, excuse yourself accordingly. With that in mind just remember, don't sweat the small stuff and enjoy the con, you all deserve it!
In other news, I am in the process of creating a new logo to replace the one above and I will be at C2E2 as well as Anime Central promoting this blog so please be on the lookout for the Green Hornet! Tomorrow will be a new topic in the countdown to C2E2. Also please join my facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/litter-ati#!/home.php?sk=group_188729431163726 where you can discuss today's topic, take part in polls, and suggest the next topic.
Until next time, have a wonderful day and remember to always either destroy the head or remove the brain....
Friday, February 11, 2011
The First Post Is the Hardest
Hello Blogosphere!
I decided to make a blog as a way to get my thoughts heard but I had a very hard time trying to come up with what to write about. Honestly, what does a 20-something tomboy/amateur artist have to offer to the world that is worth reading? Then it hit me, nerd culture. For instance I love scary and action movies, even the B movies found on SyFy. When you read a review about that super hero movie you've been anxiously waiting to come out and see then some old person with a degree in film thinks it's contrite and unrealistic, it's irritating because they are looking at it from a completely different perspective than that of the fans and casual viewer. Most reviewers don't seem to like the genre of most of the movies they review and have it in their head the movies are all terrible so who cares about their biased opinion? Same goes for the game and novel industries. I watch a lot of movies deemed abominations and think "this isn't so bad." A word of warning, I am in need of critique for my artwork so please know there will be days where the post is only about my latest project: 4 panel comics. Also, as I gain readers, I will ask you to assign some 'homework' to me in the form of a book, movie, or game. There will be limitations as I do not read romance novels, watch romantic dramas, etc.... So now that my self-introduction has run on longer than I originally intended, it's time to move on to the topic of this entry. I present to you my review of Paranormal Activity 2. Also, as a precursor, please bear in mind my standards are rather low.
The movie starts out just as slow as the first movie and I admit you have to just sit back and bear with it as everything that happens is important. About halfway through the movie the movie really takes off and starts to get really amazingly scary. There are small details in the scenes and audio that make the experience truly different for the first movie without going overboard on CGI or somewhat shameless attempts at scare tactics that fall flat. I live with roommates who have a one year old toddler and throughout the movie they would constantly check on him. The crew rigged up some rather simple yet extremely impressive scares for this film without straying too far from their low-budget origins. I confess the ending was somewhat predictable as the movie is supposed to take place before the first then end immediately after but the manner in which it occurred was extremely surprising. By the end of the movie I was impressed with the overall quality and was happy to see that the slightly expanded budget was put to good use. The whole crew has grown leaps and bounds from Paranormal Activity and I am have to give kudos to the writers for making a sequel with minimal plotholes as they never planned to make a continuation. In conclusion I have to give this movie a high rating for effective use of simple tactics and some very original ideas of how to catch you off guard and keep you on your toes.
Thank you for reading and please leave comments to let me know what you think. Have a good night and please watch out for the yetis, it's mating season and they are getting.... antsy......
I decided to make a blog as a way to get my thoughts heard but I had a very hard time trying to come up with what to write about. Honestly, what does a 20-something tomboy/amateur artist have to offer to the world that is worth reading? Then it hit me, nerd culture. For instance I love scary and action movies, even the B movies found on SyFy. When you read a review about that super hero movie you've been anxiously waiting to come out and see then some old person with a degree in film thinks it's contrite and unrealistic, it's irritating because they are looking at it from a completely different perspective than that of the fans and casual viewer. Most reviewers don't seem to like the genre of most of the movies they review and have it in their head the movies are all terrible so who cares about their biased opinion? Same goes for the game and novel industries. I watch a lot of movies deemed abominations and think "this isn't so bad." A word of warning, I am in need of critique for my artwork so please know there will be days where the post is only about my latest project: 4 panel comics. Also, as I gain readers, I will ask you to assign some 'homework' to me in the form of a book, movie, or game. There will be limitations as I do not read romance novels, watch romantic dramas, etc.... So now that my self-introduction has run on longer than I originally intended, it's time to move on to the topic of this entry. I present to you my review of Paranormal Activity 2. Also, as a precursor, please bear in mind my standards are rather low.
The movie starts out just as slow as the first movie and I admit you have to just sit back and bear with it as everything that happens is important. About halfway through the movie the movie really takes off and starts to get really amazingly scary. There are small details in the scenes and audio that make the experience truly different for the first movie without going overboard on CGI or somewhat shameless attempts at scare tactics that fall flat. I live with roommates who have a one year old toddler and throughout the movie they would constantly check on him. The crew rigged up some rather simple yet extremely impressive scares for this film without straying too far from their low-budget origins. I confess the ending was somewhat predictable as the movie is supposed to take place before the first then end immediately after but the manner in which it occurred was extremely surprising. By the end of the movie I was impressed with the overall quality and was happy to see that the slightly expanded budget was put to good use. The whole crew has grown leaps and bounds from Paranormal Activity and I am have to give kudos to the writers for making a sequel with minimal plotholes as they never planned to make a continuation. In conclusion I have to give this movie a high rating for effective use of simple tactics and some very original ideas of how to catch you off guard and keep you on your toes.
Thank you for reading and please leave comments to let me know what you think. Have a good night and please watch out for the yetis, it's mating season and they are getting.... antsy......
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