BLOGTASTIC
29/December/2007
Unlike Galv, I downloaded Transformers Animated. BitTorrent has uses sometimes!
Even though I've only seen two episodes of Beast Wars, this is a feel that Animated seems to share with it, what with the drama and humour used in conjunction and all that, though I think the CGI of the older show kind of fitted it more; Animated's art style works very well for the Transformers themselves, adding personality that the original cartoon admittedly lacked, even in their vehicle modes! But, well, it doesn't work for the humans. Despite the humongous chins and inconsistent limb proportions, the robots can at least be taken seriously from a look. The humans, on the other hand, are stylised a little too much for their dramatic moments to take place without looking slightly ridiculous. Dr. Sumdac's lament at the end is a very good moment, but the fact he looks like an egg with limbs kind of simultaneously makes it a bit difficult once you un-immerse yourself.
[fun fact! I spent five minutes trying to find a proper term for the opposite of submerging yourself into suspension of belief.]
The Autobots are all very well-defined, and already I love Ratchet simply because he's a humongous merging of Kup, Ironhide and the original Ratchet. That kind of completely contradicts my "well-defined" compliment by saying it's just a copy pasta, but shut up. The fact that Optimus isn't even a flawless leader makes him a more appealing character, though at the same time will ruin any chance of him being killed off and replaced by a new leader, which is something I've love for a new Transformers media to do. The Decepticons, on the other hand, I hope will prove to be a bit more intimidating. Megatron is Megatron and Starscream is a significantly more threatening Starscream, but all the others just look to be argumentative and sassy.
Unlike Galvatron, however, I kinda like Blitzwing and his three personas. The original was barely Mr. Personality, and simply the reason I like him is because he's a jet, a tank and a surly-looking robot. The new one is a tank, a jet and a threatening-looking robot with three faces, of which only the jack-o-lantern one is stupid to me. I guess I just like German accents! However, I really do hope that he won't just be treated as comic relief, nor any of the other guys, as they've got potential not to be doomed to such a role. Save that for Rumble and Frenzy!
The fact that Ultra Magnus looks like the original Ultra Magnus makes me vewwy happy. Maybe he'll get a toy that doesn't suck for a change!
So, yeah, Animated looks appealing, especially the toyline! So much for all the Ruined Forever comments when it was first seen, but I've been in the Sonic fandom so that's nothing new by now. Here's hoping it doesn't become cack!
24/December/2007
Spain was good. Details sometime!
18/December/2007
Not being able to get sleep until 5 and waking up at half 1 is no good. If this holiday to Spain doesn't kill me via the plane crashing, I'm sure some kind of internal clock malfunction will axe me off in some way. And I've finally tasted the stereotypical barf-tastic cough medicine, which I can't say was pleasant.
So, yeah. Spain again! For five days starting tomorrow! And I'll be back on Christmas Eve! If it weren't for my total belief in plane's exploding for no reason and my flu, it'd be totally super. I'd like to hope I have fun, but I'm leaving for the airport in about eight hours yet I still don't realise I'm going on holiday again so God knows.
See, this entry personifies my feelings: Disorientated. Fuckin' flu, man.
Enjoy yourselves and be safe and all that well-wishing!
15/December/2007
So there's all this hype about Transformers Animated, and it doesn't look that bad. I'm still not a big fan of the style, though I guess that's just my preference for old-timey painted backgrounds and realism and all that, but the toys look great and they've got the voice of Shockwave, Blurr, Arcee and Beast Wars Megatron back (again), along with Weird Al, so sounds like a recipe for decent quality!
However, one thing still bothers me.
THAT IS NOT TRANSFORMING
One thing I pay a sickening amount of attention to in Transformers is how they actually transform; where things go, if things change size, if things are consistent and so on. For example, it irks me to this day that Ironhide's back half just vanishes in robot mode then suddenly grows back when he's a van; and in the Marvel Comics when Optimus loses his head, it's bigger than Buster Witwicky. This bothered me, because his torso is twice as big as his head, if not more, so that'd mean his alternate mode would be one hell of a truck. Now I can't do my nitpicking because transforming is now just morphing from car to robot. Like that woman in Willow, except with choppy animation. It bothers me! Now I have to focus on enjoying the damn thing!
Ultra Magnus better be good, because that guy really needs some toys that aren't just Optimus Prime recolours. And the Titanium G1 toy is expensive. Hint hint ?
In other news, Jingle All The Way is on today so Christmas is saved!
13/December/2007
Two colds in one year? Fuck the system.
Seriously, there should be like some natural system that prevents people from having a cold for more than one month of the year. I'm going to Spain again in a week - I can't go there while I feel like dying! Considering the shape I'm currently in, combined with the whole holiday thing (20th of December to the 24th!), I honestly wouldn't be expecting anything from me until the new year, perhaps. The sad truth, but just need a bit of time out.
The Relic bored me so much I couldn't watch more than the first thirty minutes of it. Apparently it has some good action scenes later on and the plot may have been interesting, but having eight cheap shocks in the first thirty minutes that are really just people pulling pranks gets tiresome very, very fast. One thumb down and the other sort of bent sideways to indicate that it may be a good movie if you're not biased (i.e. not me).
I saw The Golden Compass. It's okay! It's more or less The Chronicles of Narnia but with a cowboy, a talking bear instead of talking beavers (no Dawn French :{ ) and the villain is Nicole Kidman with a monkey. I'd like to say it's better than Narnia, but that's probably because that's full of magic and I think it's a cheap cop-out way of telling a story or making things happen while The Golden Compass isn't so blatant about it so bias ahoy!
In a review that isn't filled with unfounded opinions and gratuitous use of the word "shit," this is where a plot outline would occur, but, you know, you can just see that on IMDb. There's soul animal companions and blimps and a whole bunch of killing going on, and that's what got me interested. And since it's a trilogy that means I'll make absolutely no sense of the story throughout them. It's true!
Nitpicks? Communication between masters and their animal companions, daemons. The main character has two extensive conversations with her mink when she's meant to be completely silent, making me wonder why it isn't like telepathic or something. The daemons are their souls, so why not?
Additionally, the beginning of the movie is a bit of a drag as it has to introduce a lot of concepts to the viewers, setting up the story for the next movie, the whole daemon thing and the alternate Earth whatnot, which all makes it a little confounding at first, but everything falls into place at the end. I can't say I can think of a different way for them to do it, so you just have to grin and bear it. A for effort!
And apparently there's some shit going down about the books challenging religion, but I didn't get that image at all from the movie. Probably because I'm dumb, but although there's plenty of challenging authority messages, none of it was very religious to me, so no need to fuss if that rocks your boat. I'd barely consider myself religious, but most criticism I've seen has come across as loud, obnoxious and with the mental image of a man with a mouth bigger than his brain. I'm all for freedom of beliefs, but I'm also for constraint of big loud dumbasses. Put your argument across through sense rather than volume, you guys! And allow for debate. Nobody likes a predetermined argument.
Despite this, I'd definite consider myself a sacrilegious son of a bitch. I drew a cartoon involving God starting another flood after getting sick of everyone asking the same questions. I didn't put it up for the sake of good taste, but here's the last panel which is probably worse for all I know.
It's like I'm actively trying to get into Hell.
Today's observation: I misinterpreted Nicole Kidman's name as Nicole Goodman at first. Donny, I'm out of my element.