Movies, Animation, Hobbies, and the Like, Updated...
It's been a while since I've updated with anything meaty. Well, anything meaty that wasn't friends-lockedm anyway. Well, I guess it all depends on what you call "meaty," anyway. Well, today, I have a few things that have gone unsaid, and so now I take the time to say them.
Nominations
So, there were three nominees for Best Animated Feature:
1.) Rattitouille
2.) Surf's Up
3.) Persepolis
Now, the Pixar rat movie was indeed a good movie. It was very entertaining, and also heart-warming. I liked it. I'd nominate it if I were on the committee.
Personally, I don't think the second is good enough to warrant any realistic Oscar nods. I mean, really. Come on. Surfing penguins?
Now, this third movie, "Persepolis," is ineresting to me. It's foreign, adult-oriented, and autobiographical. By all accounts, it is also very good.
I must say that I am disappointed that "Beowulf" was not nominated. It was well-voiced, well-written, well-animated, and told a classic story. I guess they lost serious points because it was all motion-captured. Mo-kap is definitely cheating, after all.
My prediction: "Rattitouille" will win.
Vs. System Christmas Gift
So, I went to Austin towards the end of my Christmas break, and met with Brian. We swapped Christmas gifts. I gave him a graphic novel and a few limited-run comics. He gave me... the Power Cosmic!
...kinda.
He actually gave me a Vs. System scenario game: The Coming of Galactus. One player with an overpowered Galactus deck (included, and unable to mixed with any cards other than other cards of the same set) that is designed to go up against multiple "normal" decks played by 2,3 or even 4 opponents. The scenario is that the Alliance players (with all affiliations crossed over) have to prevent Galactus from eating Earth. Along the way, each side can capture planets that can be spent as currency for special effects.
The cards of the Galactus deck are just SICK! Because this scenario is expected to run for a long time, the Galactus deck includes some high-cost characters, including:
•9-cost The Fallen One (21/21), who KO's all but one Alliance character per Alliance player.
•10-cost Stardust (27/27), who forces an Alliance player to choose a friendly Alliance player and KO all his characters.
•11-cost Silver Surfer (35/35!!) with the text, "You can't lose endurence."
Sick, or what?!
"Amelie"
I have to say that I enjoyed this movie. I can't even remember when it was, exactly, that I picked it up. All I know is that it's been sitting in my car for the better part of a month. So, this past Tuesday, I watched it.
Now, stereotypically, if someone says they like French cinema, they're talking about pretentious black-and-white films that make no sense and take themselves way too seriously.
Likewise, in the same stereotypical way, the people themselves are pretentious and take themselves too seriously. Stereotypically. I've only seen two french movies: "A Couch in New York" and "Amelie." I liked them both. I guess that makes me stereotypically pretentious or something.
The summary of the latter is as follows: A shy waitress with a lousey childhood gets the
idea to go around being a stealthy good Samaritan. In the process, and with the aid of an old man with osteogenesis imperfecta*, she fixes her own jumbled life and finds love. I liked the cinematography and the narration. It was almost like a graphic novel on film (especially with the various X-ray shots). Good stuff.
*Not unlike Samuel L. Jackson in another movie.
The plot moves the movie along, to be sure, but the crux of the film is its characters. The whole feature is character-driven. While some of them are a little one-dimensional (the stalker ex, the hypochondriac, and the widow in particular), they serve their purpose and are quirky enough that you still care what they're doing on screen.
"Amelie" has now unseated "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle" in my top three movie list:
•"Unbreakable"
•"The Tao of Steve"
•"Amelie"
It's odd that two of these films feature people with brittle bones who guide the protagonists in their quests to help people.
What's become of the new TV season?
I posted about some new shows a while back. How did they turn out when they weren't being all piloty?
- The "Bionic Woman" remake was pretty mediocre. I'm disappointed.
- "Journeyman" had some potential with the ongoing sub-plot of mystery, specifically the mystery of how he came to be a time-hopper and how his dead fiancee is not dead. It had potential, I think. Sadly, The writers' strike will cause it to fade from people's memories and it will likely not be renewed.
- "Life," likewise, had some potential, especially with all those nuggets of Eastern philosophy. If Kwai Chang Caine from "Kung Fu" was a police detective, this would be his show. Sadly, I fear that the writers' strike will also cause this one to fade enough from people's memories that it won't be renewed.
- In the world of reality TV, "American Gladiators" is just the way I remember it, minus the human hamster balls.
- "Chuck" is the best new show of the season. Period. If I weren't teaching rowdy fifth-graders, I'd want to work for the Nerd Herd at Buy More. Perhaps I'd get a Wienerlicious spy girlfriend out of the deal, too.** (Or maybe that one girl from Pita Town...) I have to say that, aside from "Heroes," this was the only must-see show of the season. Anything else I could've missed and not really cared, but I had to see "Chuck" and "Heroes."
**(Nah... I'm happy dating my small harem right now.)