I've watched the first couple of discs of this with Sibling 1 this week while we were working out. I never saw it while it was on tv, not because I won't watch cartoons, but rather because I prefer to sleep until around 11 a.m. on Saturdays. The animation is definitely better than the original show; framerate is a little sad still, but better than average for the low-budget Saturday morning crowd. Styling is slimmer and less muscular, but that's an aesthetic decision that doesn't impact so much on the quality of animating, though I recall on the "making of" segment on one they commented that having everyone wear black saved them the trouble of trying to animate individual muscles.
There's a visible mix of drawing and CG animation that is better blended than I expected. Other shows have been getting better at this, and X-men: Evolution is no exception. (See, I could have made an X-pun there, but once you've seen this cartoon you get over finding that funny REALLY fast.)
The bad news here is the writing.
Going with an older X-group was a smart decision for the original cartoons, because let's face it, most of those making it were last teenagers when the word "hip" was, well, hip. That's also true in this case, but the cast are supposed to be much younger and consequently there's been an attempt at writing teenagers who talk like teenagers. This was a very bad idea. The new X-group sound so much like a Baby Boomer's idea of how current teens talk that Sibling 1 can now crack me up utterly by saying "Because I'm HIP!" or "Like, TOTALLY!"
Also, I would very much prefer never again to hear Nightcrawler say "The way this homey talks is wack." Thank you. (Further Sib1 comment: "He said lederhosen. Because he's (fake accent) Gerrrrrman.")
The overall effect is pretty hilarious. We're enjoying it vastly. I haven't even mentioned the fact that Rogue appears to be a Southern goth in denial of the fact that she and punk Toad are wearing the same spiked bracelets. Same old "ugly=bad" dynamic we're all used to seeing (the Blob never has a chance, does he?), but interestingly enough the Scott/Jean/Logan love triangle doesn't appear to be pursued so far; Logan is cast definitely with the grownups this time around and as such gets to hang around mostly with Xavier and his kept woman, Storm. At least, I assume that's what she is, based on the fact that she does his bidding and follows his wheelchair around striking sexy poses.
En fin: nothing earthshaking, but worth your time if you're an X-fan.
Friday, January 12, 2007
X-men Evolution: Using One Letter Of the Alphabet To Death
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Hairy Feetsies
I think a lot of people are going nuts over what is, really, a prologue. To suggest that The Hobbit -- a kid's-level novel -- should be split into 2 or 3 more movies is absurd. Would it be great to see? Sure. Many of us loved LOTR and would like to revisit that world, even in a smaller capacity. But it certainly isn't worth all this hubabaloo.
In other news:
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Friday, January 5, 2007
Further Webcomics
I've mostly quit reading Two Lumps. Too many excrement-related jokes and I'm really not into that.
I forgot to mention this comic before:
http://www.meleecomics.com/chaos/
Hilarious if you're into superhero comics and/or remember the grandiose days of yore, the original Dr. Doom, et cetera.
Also the art is really excellent and somewhat more narratively cohesive than a lot of beginners in this art style.
I'm not sure if I also mentioned www.elfonlyinn.com. It started out as a sprite comic about a chat room and evolved with the artist's drawing skills into something impressive but still quite funny. Some of the original humor is gone in favor of a more serious tone, but the improvement in art makes up for it.
I'm a MONSTER!!!!!!
Still, we had 3 seasons and 53 episodes of the incredibly funny, highly rewatchable Bluths, and that ain't bad. I even found out that our Nancy is a fan (as well as an avid watcher of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air). Good for her.
While the third season is indeed short -- and the finale comes at such a rush as to boggle the mind -- it kept the laughs coming non-stop. I probably laughed the hardest during the "sweeps" show, meant to parody the ridiculous lengths that many sitcoms go to during Feb/Nov sweeps. Example: all of the sudden, for no reason whatsoever, the screen warns you to "Put on 3-D glasses now!" and a character chucks a tomato at the lense while the screen goes into that weird red-green 3-D mode you might've seen at IMAX. The Godzilla parody -- involving a jetpack, a giant mole and model homes -- rocked my world too. Oh, and the scene where the family abducts Charlize Theron in an unwittingly creepy manner while barreling down the road in half of a cabin strapped to a truck. Happy sigh.
I haven't decided who my favorite AD main character is yet -- GOB is an obvious choice, but Buster's insane romps qualify him, and Tobias' flaming, yet unrecognized homosexuality screams out "winner!" However, I don't think there's any competition for favorite secondary character: Franklin the puppet rules the roost. He even gets real speaking lines in season 3... of a sort.
"My name is..." "JUDGE!"
At least now newcomers can buy all 3 seasons and get in on the jokes for themselves. I've gone back to watching the first two seasons, marveling over and over how clever the running jokes and foreshadowing is.
And it's just plain good times to say "Bob Loblaw Law Blog".
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Bones
Sibling 2 keeps making me watch episodes of this show. She liked it well enough that she bought the first season, and since she is presently hunting a job it's almost always on when I get home at night.
It has one or two moments, notably in The Man in the Bear. Mostly I don't care for it. It's just another pseudoscientific crime show featuring amazingly attractive, fashionably dressed people with fantastically clean and well-lit labs stocked with millions of dollars' worth of machinery that no state or federal government would commit to law enforcement because they're busy spending it on congressional haircuts and subsidized car tabs.
Television at large is a little more fond of science now than formerly, but only when it comes to law enforcement, and only when it's been dumbed down to the level of... hmm... Basically the rest of television. Ask a real forensic specialist how they feel about CSI some time.
It's not that I'm against escapism. I just prefer my fantasy to involve swords.
I can think of so many movies this would work with...
How awesome is this: Star Wars as a silent film? The answer? Awesome to the max!
In other news, CNN has completely flipped.
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
2006 Independent Games Awards
Monday, January 1, 2007
Indiana Jones: The Bedpan of Eternal Peril
Oh... hm... maybe that's why.
In other news, looks like Silent Hill 2 is on the way -- Neil Gaiman involved? Possibly, but probably not.
