February 2012
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Dreamscapes
I had a dream last night that I found a spot by the lake just outside of downtown Chicago that was one of the most beautiful and photogenic locations I’ve ever seen. The water was gorgeous aqua, the grass was the greenest I’d ever seen, and on the bank was a stunning mansion and a geyser that erupted from a strange rock formation.
Then I woke up and realized that the water was to the...
January 2012
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Tour de Miyazaki: Nausicaä of the Valley of the...
Released: 1984 (Japan)
Brief Synopsis: Centuries after a world-wide catastrophe wiped out nearly all life on the planet, one young woman tries to save the remaining humans from destroying themselves.
Themes:Miyazaki is a pacifist, anti-capitalist, and environmentalist, and all of these attributes are present in his films. This one has a strong environmental message and has elements of...
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Tour de Miyazaki
Recently, I watched all nine of Hayao Miyazaki’s films for Studio Ghibli (including Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, which actually was made before Ghibli was formed, but is often considered part of the studio’s canon). My next review series will look at these films, in the order in which they were released, and give short write-ups about them.
Unlike my reviews of Cowboy Bebop,...
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Beautiful Mobile Map of the 'Verse →
A 3D moving model of the various solar systems from Firefly and Serenity. Makes you sad all over again about the end of Firefly because of all the places left to discover.
Has anyone ever suggested an animated series for Firefly? It would allow all the cast members to be involved despite otherwise busy schedules, budget wouldn’t be an issue, and we’d get more Firefly. I mean, how...
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WatchA trailer for a satire film written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. It looks a bit like Falling Down, in that the lead has become fed up with society and has gone on a killing spree. The impetus for the character is the devolution of American society; the trailer begins with him watching shows parodying American Idol, the Kardashians, and My Super Sweet 16. Although, from the little...
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Cowboy Bebop Session 25 & 26: The Real Folk Blues,...
What good does holding on to the past do? Faye and Ed both got nothing but pain for trying to recapture theirs. When Jet tried to reconnect with Elisa, he learned more about himself than he wanted to. And when Jet tried to reconnect with his old partner, he learned more about him than he wanted to. Then there is Spike. He has spent the entire series claiming he had already died and that he’s...
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Cowboy Bebop Session 24: Hard Luck Woman
Who is Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV? Throughout the whole series, we’ve seen Edward as a kooky but happy young girl. The fact that she was living on her own when the crew first encountered her was strange, but she seemed to be doing well enough on her own that it went unquestioned. So when we finally see why she was on her own, her story immediately changes from funny to tragic. My...
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WatchPart 2 of Colbert’s incredible interview with Maurice Sendak, in which Stephen pitches a children’s book and Sendak doesn’t hate it, despite himself.
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Good TVeets: NBC Spin-Off Edition
Yesterday, NBC revealed that it was considering creating a spin-off of The Office centering around the character of Dwight. This is the internet’s response:
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Cowboy Bebop Session 23: Brain Scratch
For roughly the first five minutes of “Brain Scratch,” all the images we see are television broadcasts. The episode opens with TV static and a channel number in the upper right hand corner, then cuts to a different channel playing a commercial for some organization called Scratch. Every few seconds, the channel changes, and we are treated to scenes of various shows from the year 2071, none of...
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WatchThis is maybe the greatest Colbert Report interview ever. I don’t know if Maurice Sendak is in on the joke or not, but either way, his reactions to Colbert are pure gold. And his reaction to Colbert’s proposed sequel to Where The Wild Things Are is a perfect summation of the state of the entertainment industry.
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Cowboy Bebop Session 22: Cowboy Funk
“Cowboy Funk” begins with Spike very nearly catching Teddy Bomber, the bounty-head-of-the-week. Cornered and thinking he’s done for, Bomber admits to Spike that every bounty head out there is afraid of being hunted by him or some stranger named Andy. Knowing what we do about Spike, and after seeing Andy act like a total prat not two minutes later, this is kind of a strange statement. Why would...
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Creating An Iconic Character →
A very interesting article about why few “iconic” characters have emerged in the last 20 years. It examines the origins of many of today’s most iconic figures (notably Batman and Superman), and postulates on how to create a new one in the modern publishing world.
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