Do Not Disturb Any Further

Short-film silliness: Horribly Slow Murderer with Extremely Inefficient Weapon

Following some snarky links from some people whose works I don't entirely approve of, I came across this hilarious independent short film, The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon by Richard Gale.

Check it out and laugh.

 

Missing Comic-Con again

Speaking of Comic-Con, I'm once again devastated that I can't afford to go. So I'll torment myself by reviewing what I'm missing. Not going to surf the shopping reports just yet. I think I'll cry.

Yoshitaka Amano was there! I have a huge stack of his art books, even the rare Japanese limited editions. Not sure if he was doing signings for books people brought with them, but man, I would've tried.

Capcom debuted the upcoming Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes game and the Nintendo DS Okamiden game, a follow-up of the gorgeous Okami.

Robert Rodriguez talked Sin City 2.

Bruce Campbell showed up in his usual Tommy Bahama shirt to talk Burn Notice. That silvery hair looks good on him!

Seth MacFarlane doing live Family Guy stuff was doubtless hysterical.

Ryan Reynolds, who is both hilarious and deliciously buff lately, showed up to talk about the Green Lantern movie.

Harrison freakin' Ford. In handcuffs.

And Joss! Just Joss!

Warhammer 40K movie "Ultramarines"

So I haven't played or read anything Warhammer 40,000, but it looks like a lot of fun. Found out they're making a movie, and they made some kick-ass casting calls, including Sean Pertwee (criminally underemployed in worthwhile movies) and Terence Stamp.

Check out the vids for Ultramarines!

Kick-ass remix: N.E.R.D. "Rock Star" plus more music fun

Sure, it's kinda old, but I gotta share anyway. The Jason Nevins remix is ever so much more fabulous than the original. Put it with video from Final Fantasy - Advent Children, and it's damn near perfect. Enjoy!

And it reminds me of another older but no less magnificent beat: the Blood Rave song from the first Blade movie, which is a deliciously creative remix of New Order's "Confusion". Hells yeah!

Which leads me to my favorite song from Blade II: Mos Def and Massive Attack doing "I Against I", the only Massive Attack song I've ever truly liked.

Explore animation creators' works at Aniboom

I came across a site called Aniboom that, instead of hosting anime as I expected, seems to host samples of animated works from creators around the world. Take a look. It's good for a bit of entertainment at any time.

Recommended: "Sebastian's Voodoo"

Description: A voodoo doll must find the courage to save his friends from being pinned to death.

Video silliness: Muppet Hunter D

Vampire Hunter D clips set to the muppet "Mahna Mahna" song. Sweet!

Taking anime fandom to new levels with musicals & other live-action fun

My good friend Cheryl posted a note about something fun, which I had meant to share with her and the world earlier. Here it is, longer than expected but I couldn't help gushing over this stuff I enjoy so much:

What with anime big in Japan, it's branched out so it's not just for TV anymore. It's on-stage in musical theater. There's nothing quite like it here in the U.S. Not only are many anime series expanded into live musical theater, but often the series' seiyuu perform in the live shows. They're not just a pretty voice.

The musical that caught Cheryl's attention was the first one for Kuroshitsuji. I found the anime wonderful, but I have my doubts about how well the series' darker moments could be converted to live action. According to one reviewer, the live show was entertaining, but I want more than that: Ciel is too layered and damaged, too vital to the entire concept, for the role to be performed at anything less than "amazing". And Sebastian in any incarnation simply MUST be graceful and poised, with a mellifluous voice.

Other series that aren't weighed down so much with dark secrets have inspired successful, lively musicals and other live events. Check it out:

• Sailor Moon (c'mon, you know that series is just made for the super-cheesy musicals; whoa, wait a minute: there are twenty-freakin'-nine musicals!!!)
• Inuyasha (apparently not successful enough for a DVD release...)
• Bleach (heck, there's already five of them [and three movies], and the series is still going strong, so I bet there'll be more)
• Prince of Tennis
• Naruto (after a bit of searching, I can't find a video link for this; use your imagination; actually, given how huge the Naruto fanbase is, I'm surprised there aren't a dozen of them already)
• Katekyo Hitman Reborn's ReboCon convention (not precisely a musical, but there's singing and dancing and costumes, so...)
• Pokemon (sadly, not on ice)
• Gurren Lagann live reading (extra credit for this one, because the guy playing Simon is actually Viral's seiyuu, and it's hilarious how bad he is at doing Simon's young voice, plus he's famous for playing Gai Shishio from GaoGaiGar and the audience goes wild when he bursts into his "Gai" voice that everyone loves)

You should give at least a few of them a try if you come across them. Even if you don't get all of the words or if you're not familiar with the stories, you're bound to be entertained by the vivid characterizations and hammy acting.

Somewhat related to the musical theater idea, many seiyuu also release music of their own or songs related to their series, like the Bleach Beat Collections. It's often delicious ear candy when these vocal experts turn their skills to singing.

And of course there's sheer entertainment value, like a collection of people counting sheep, supposedly so you can prepare for bed while listening to a favorite voice lulling you.

But who wants sheep when you can have ham? Norio Wakamoto, who is quite possibly incapable of something lullful, is delightfully, wickedly, impossibly over the top as he counts his sheep. The one recording I found of it has been cruelly deleted from teh interwebz, but I shall continue to search. If I get my hands on a copy of it, I will share. Until then, make sure you explore more of the sheer overwhelming glory of Wakamoto's voice.

And maybe we'll all be lucky enough that more U.S.-based shows will get some of the musical fun. I definitely enjoyed the musicals and musical numbers featured in Buffy, Xena, Family Guy, and South Park. The cast of Metalocalypse has toured live, but that's not quite the same as an actual musical. You know, not just the music; it's gotta have the acting and drama and dancing. Or at least an attempt at that. What I'm really drooling over is my pipe-dream of The Venture Brothers: Rise of the Sovereign with music, lyrics, and choreography by JG Thirlwell. Wouldn't that just rock your balls off?!

More geeky fun: trivia about "Real Genius"

I love the 1985 film "Real Genius". While I was never as geeky as the science/tech nerds in that film, I still felt a strong kinship with them. Following a (geeky) reference from a (geeky) site, I ended up at a geeky treasure trove of trivia about the movie. I had no idea!

Check it out. Here's some tidbits:

"Smart People on Ice" is similar to a Page House practice, discontinued around 1974, called "alley surfing", where one of the corridors (cement-floored) in the house basement would be flooded with a thin layer of soapy water and residents would practice skidding down the hallway.

At one point when Chris is accused of being a "slack", he mutters "moles and trolls". In Techer slang, a "Mole" is a resident of Blacker House, and "trolling" referred to intensive studying (since someone who trolls too much never gets the chance to see the light of day, like a real "troll"; an alternate origin is suggested by the fact that hardworking physics students would have to spend a great deal of time in the basement of the Bridge physics building, and would thus be living "under the bridge" like "trolls" do).

The exam books in the exam scene look very much like the blue books used for many Caltech exams, particularly the cobra which seems to be on the back cover.

And now I'll forever been laughing inside whenever I see a reference to DEI:

The letters DEI and their lowercase Greek equivalents have long been associated with Dabney House at Caltech. The origin of this trigraph dates so far back that there is no hard evidence, only legends.

It is commonly reported that Caltech foodservice once had a dish which was eaten only by residents of Dabney House, and that the phrase ``Dabney Eats It'' was coined by foodservice workers. The same story reports that the letters FEIF may have been coined in response when some kind of inter-house contest was held where ``Fleming Eats It Faster''.

Recommended: Inglourious Basterds

I saw Inglourious Basterds the other night, and it was better than expected, with a lot less focus on the Basterds themselves than the previews implied. It has relatively few scenes of the usual over-the-top Tarantino standards like free-flying blood and limbs. A lot of the movie is just people talking with each other. Or, rather, Nazis talking at other people.

There were only two moments where the audience laughed out loud; during the rest of the movie, it was amazingly silent as people stopped waiting for gratuitous splatter and got absorbed in the story.

The acting was amazing from nearly all players: tears, turning pale, and that intense moment when the villain's eyes go from focused to fanatic.

See it on the big screen so you can really wallow in the spectacle.

Speaking of Joss...

...see Joss speaking as he receives the 2009 Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism, sponsored by the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard and the Harvard Secular Society.

I Can Read Movies

I Can Read Movies proposes old-school pulp paperbacks based on contemporary movies. Delightful whimsy in art style, typography, and graphical representations of memes.

Liev Schreiber rocks a summer dress

In a preview for the upcoming movie Taking Woodstock, Liev Schreiber shines as a cross-dressing Korean veteran hired to work security for the unexpectedly popular festival. He's got a glorious, growly voice, which he modulates skillfully for the role. And damn, check out his sculpted calves!

Exploring District 9

I was reading up on more Comic-Con coverage, and I came across the io9 list of buzz-worthy showings from the con, where they gushed about District 9.

It looks fascinating.

Check out the various sites, starting with the D-9 site. Make sure to watch the "User Submissions" videos at http://www.d-9.com, and listen to some of the sightings reported on the MNU Community Watch, and watch the "educational" video in the "I'm Speechless" entry at http://www.mnuspreadslies.com.

While you're doing this, observe yourself for knee-jerk reactions to the anti-alien bias.

Good work on the propaganda, everyone!

Live blogging from Comic-Con

Not by me. By G4TV.

I'm drowning in jealousy.

San Diego Comic-Con has begun

And I'm not there. That's just wrong.

Tim Burton in-freakin'-person! Shiny new dunny! Heroes Claire and Peter! Seth Green and a preview of Titan Maximum! Free wi-fi!

Tonight was preview night, which is when full-show ticket buyers get to go into the dealers' room before everyone else, and when they distribute a bunch of the limited-edition stuff. For the hardcore fans, you know.

And. I'm. Not. There.

It's wrong. Just shoot me now.

Mmmm, Prince of Persia movie

The Prince of Persia games have very life-like characters, so it should translate well to an actual human playing the role on-screen.

I'm not a huge Jake Gyllenhaal fan, but with the long hair, his buggy eyes don't seem so prominent, plus he's deliciously buff in his most recent flicks.

Also, I'm very relieved that the truncated headline that led me to this story, "Jake Gyllenhaal is Prince of..." did not turn out to refer to Prince of Tennis. It's probably a hint that I'm watching too much anime when  "tennis" is the first thing I thought of in this circumstance.

Not anticipated: the new Twilight movie

I was disappointed with the Twilight audiobooks (why the hell did I listen to them all, anyway?), and saw nothing juicy enough in the previews to justify torturing myself with the first Twilight movie. At the Harry Potter flick yesterday, a trailer for the New Moon movie was inflicted on me.

Damn, it looks awful. Even in the freakin' preview, which is supposed to get you all hyped up, the special effects were less than average, and the acting was leaden from everyone. They showed the scene where Edward breaks up with Bella in the forest, and I swear not a single muscle moved in the actors' faces except to move their mouths and blink. They showed the scene where Bella cuts her finger in the Cullens' house, and it was boring and slow. How the hell do you screw up a scene with that much visual potential?!

Someone forgot to tell the actors that the series is based on impossible love and soaring emotion.

The only bright point was a shirtless Jacob, which was promptly ruined with a crappy werewolf transformation.

Definitely will not be seeing this one. I'll just keep an eye out for pics, so I can enjoy the view without the bad acting.

Excitement: Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock Holmes

Saw a preview yesterday for the upcoming Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes movie, with Robert Downey, Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Watson.

It looks amazing!

As in any Ritchie flick, there's fights (shirtless & hella buff RDJ!) and explosions, but the most promising thing is, of course, RDJ himself. Even from the preview, it's obvious he has fully flung himself into the role and is living the dream.

I never really notice "chemistry" between actors, but RDJ & Law are practically shining in their scenes. The dynamic is refreshingly egalitarian, unlike the stiff formality in the old Basil Rathbone versions. And for some reason it reminds me of the Star Trek: The Next Generation explorations of a self-aware holodeck Moriarty. Best TV role that Daniel Davis ever had.

This looks very promising.

Maybe I'll listen to some public-domain Holmes tales before the film's distant December 25 release date.

Also recommended: Tropic Thunder, the only Ben Stiller film besides Dodgeball I've ever watched where I didn't get so disgusted or annoyed that I skipped to the end. Definitely watch it with the commentary too: RDJ does his commentary in character.

Recommended: Best Harry Potter movie yet!

Saw the new Harry Potter movie (Half-Blood Prince), and it rocked!

I was less than impressed with the audiobook, but they cut lots of the fluff and angst and crap out for the movie. The only thing I noticeably missed was the flashback scenes of Tom Riddle's mother, uncle, and grandfather. I would've liked to see that. But it's not essential info, I suppose.

I've never been in a movie with that many kids & tweens that's been so quiet. The whole audience was enraptured.

The special effects weren't stunning, the acting was mostly average as always, and the HP story was... well, HP. You should be used to it by now. But the movie was well-paced and engaging, with a bunch of handy in-joke shortcuts to bypass having to waste screen time on background & fluff.

The guy playing the teen Tom Riddle, Frank Dillane, was beautiful and *perfectly* evil in his role. I'm looking forward to seeing how Dillane transforms over the next few years.

And Alan Rickman's voice during the tower fight against Dumbledore... I'm still awestricken. He's got a delicious voice at any time, but he really layered on the subtleties in this one. I'm gonna have to hear that part again when it's out on DVD. Finally, finally! Snape was three-dimensional. It may be worth seeing the final movie after all, despite the lame-ass story, to see what Rickman does with Snape to the end.

Recommended: Sword of the Stranger

Just watched the Sword of the Stranger movie. It had a refreshingly understandable plot for an anime movie, and the fight scenes are freakin' gorgeous. I may just have to rent the Blu-Ray version so I can pause and zoom in on those. There was lots and lots of blood, but (oddly to me) the actual killing blows are shown infrequently, happening just off-screen as a weapon whizzes past. Check it out sometime.

John Carter of Mars movie in production

I've never read any of Edgar Rice Burroughs's books, but my interest is piqued at the thought of the John Carter of Mars movie. I'll have to add some of the Mars books to my Audible wish list and check 'em out. Oooh, even better: A Princess of Mars is available for free as a public-domain audiobook!

Interviews with Bleach creators & seiyuu for Fade to Black

Spoilers be damned, I want info. Here are some translations of interviews with Tite Kubo and the seiyuu (voice actors) from the third Bleach movie, Fade to Black. Which isn't even being released in Japan until September 30, nearly 9 months after its theatrical release.

:twitches with impatience:

Zombie fun: Zombieland and World War Z

Zombieland is a new humorous zombie flick coming out in October. It promises plenty of creative slaughter of those wacky walking dead.

World War Z was a book first, then a multi-actor audio drama, then a movie script. Sadly, the movie is not in production yet, but my hopes are high. If you listen to audiobooks and like zombies, I highly recommend the audiobook.

New mecha spoof coming from Robot Chicken creators

I'm kinda glad that I'm not fanatically fond of Voltron and its cousins, because the guys behind Robot Chicken are developing a spoof of mecha cartoons called Titan Maximum, and I'm sure it will offend some hardcore fans. But that's part of the fun. Tom Root sez:

There were always teams of extraordinary young people with the fate of the universe in their hands... In reality, that would end terribly. The last thing you want when giant monsters attack is a bunch of teenagers in charge of defending you. 'Titan Maximum' is about what would really happen if a team of idiot kids was in charge of a 6-story-tall robot.

I'm not gonna reinstate my cable service or anything crazy, but I'll definitely be surfing the Adult Swim site on the show's opening day (an unspecified date in September) so I don't miss out.

Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds looks freakin' amazing

So I went to the cheap theater yesterday to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine (not too bad, but damn heavy-handed direction and music; seriously kick-ass fight scenes including a magnificently buff and not-too-hairy Ryan Reynolds), and I saw a preview for Quentin Tarantino's upcoming Inglourious Basterds.

The preview alone promised a staggering amount of blood and violence. Eli Roth, director of the gore-laden Cabin Fever and Hostel movies, stars in it, along with Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, and Til Schweiger.

It's set to release on August 21, 2009, and I may just have to go see it opening weekend (which is something I rarely do). I'm not a fan of war movies or WWII movies, but this I just gotta see.

See trailers at the Inglourious Basterds web site.

Robot Chicken roller-skating tour coming

But of course not coming to Seattle. It's so unfair.

Seth Green and other masterminds behind Robot Chicken are taking a bus on tour to several roller-skating rinks to promote their second Star Wars DVD release.

Gym Class Heroes will be performing.

If you can get to one of these shows, please report. Oh, and roast in my envious glare.

Shin Chan plushes I simply must have

I've valiantly restrained myself from buying plushes of any kind for the past 19 months, but these new Shin Chan plushes may get past my restraint.

Shin is even available sharing Mr. Elephant.

There's also Action Bastard, Maso, Georgie, Principan Ench, Hima, Penny, Whitey, and Happiness Bunny (!).

Wait, there's no Boo?! Naw, there he is.

First encountered at AnimeBooks.com, a source of neverending yearning for artbook junkies like me.

Shin Chan rocks! I've never had so much un-PC fun outside South Park!

I was dismayed while hunting up these links to discover that Adult Swim is no longer showing Shin Chan. When I had cable, that show was an integral part of my Adult Swim programming, along with Metalocalypse and The Venture Brothers. However unlikely the prospect, I sure hope that Funimation will continue updating the silly cartoon. After all, they've got over 15 years' worth of episodes to mess around with. There's a note in the Adult Swim forums where the poster says that the Funimation people said that they would continue dubbing the show, as long as licensing issues can be handled. Happy thought!

For an in-yer-face introduction to delicious blasphemy in the Shin Chan universe, American style, see Shin Wars Episode IV: A Poop Hope on YouTube or Hulu.

But wait, there's more: If you get the chance, check out the voice actors' commentaries on the Shin Chan DVDs. They're nearly as engaging as Shin himself. And there are some behind-the-scenes interviews on YouTube, too.

Ass dance forever!

Test your anime contamination level

Find out just how geeky you are in this quiz in Japanese.

Toonami extras

At Toonami Jetstream.

Soccer notes--from me?

Well, only because it involves a damned good-looking man and a funny tacky little online game based on a headbutting incident during the World Cup.

I learned a lot about the World Cup last week, but all I remember is what I put in the previous sentence.