Some reviews and a weekend recap interspersed.
I'm totally getting spring fever. There's not a lot to do here, but it would help me so much mentally to just be able to walk and hang around downtown in something other than freezing cold. It's starting to warm up a little again, at least.
Happy Feet is a decent movie, though flawed. Most notably, all of the conflicts and villains were horribly underdeveloped. It won the animation Oscar, but then how could it not when they're putting out CG cartoons with recycled ants(z) and talking baseball bats?
I think the choice to use real human beings was an interesting choice. There's the conflict on whether you want people to think, "Hey, that's a real human in a cartoon," or "That human looks weird, cuz this and this aren't quite right and now I'm experiencing the uncanny valley effect."
Of course, then there's also the option of using a stylized human being. I think the decision to use a real human, however is supposed to better connect the reality of the situation to the viewer. Whether or not that succeeded is arguable.
In the end, however, I was pleased that the movie tackled the issue of over-fishing our oceans, which has mostly gone un-noticed in the age of global warming and other more popular causes. I'll give it three leopard seals out of five.
Saturday, Jen and I went to Omaha, mostly so I could get my comics. I begrudgingly left behind The Losers vol. 5, which I really want to finish, and opted to not get any trade paperbacks this time around. I've got enough reading to do as it is. I did, however, pick up Army@Love #1 by Rick Veich which was an entertaining satire on what the Iraq war is going to be like in the near future (hint: lots of sex).
Also, I finished reading Persepolis, which was amazingly good. Essentially the Maus of Iran, it talks about the country's fall from grace, antiquated values, and conflicts with the rest of the Middle East. It's told from a relateable "survivor's" recolections of growing up there. I think most importantly it shows how absolutely normal the people who live there really are. Five veils out of five.
Sunday my parents called to wish me a happy Easter and pester me about why I haven't found a church here yet. They're probably coming to visit this weekend for my birthday.
Happy Feet is a decent movie, though flawed. Most notably, all of the conflicts and villains were horribly underdeveloped. It won the animation Oscar, but then how could it not when they're putting out CG cartoons with recycled ants(z) and talking baseball bats?
I think the choice to use real human beings was an interesting choice. There's the conflict on whether you want people to think, "Hey, that's a real human in a cartoon," or "That human looks weird, cuz this and this aren't quite right and now I'm experiencing the uncanny valley effect."
Of course, then there's also the option of using a stylized human being. I think the decision to use a real human, however is supposed to better connect the reality of the situation to the viewer. Whether or not that succeeded is arguable.
In the end, however, I was pleased that the movie tackled the issue of over-fishing our oceans, which has mostly gone un-noticed in the age of global warming and other more popular causes. I'll give it three leopard seals out of five.
Saturday, Jen and I went to Omaha, mostly so I could get my comics. I begrudgingly left behind The Losers vol. 5, which I really want to finish, and opted to not get any trade paperbacks this time around. I've got enough reading to do as it is. I did, however, pick up Army@Love #1 by Rick Veich which was an entertaining satire on what the Iraq war is going to be like in the near future (hint: lots of sex).
Also, I finished reading Persepolis, which was amazingly good. Essentially the Maus of Iran, it talks about the country's fall from grace, antiquated values, and conflicts with the rest of the Middle East. It's told from a relateable "survivor's" recolections of growing up there. I think most importantly it shows how absolutely normal the people who live there really are. Five veils out of five.
Sunday my parents called to wish me a happy Easter and pester me about why I haven't found a church here yet. They're probably coming to visit this weekend for my birthday.