So in anticipating the new Clash of the Titans movie about to come out – I got the old one (1981 vintage) from the library. The last (and only) time I saw this movie was around 1984 while staying with friends in Nicoya, Costa Rica – the town had a small theater and we saw the movie there one night (with english subtitles).

So….on the one hand, this probably was an impressive movie for its time (given the varied Ray Harryhausen animation throughout if for no other reason) – I was about 15-16 at the time and remember there being sound issues in that theater, don’t really remember much of the movie. I think I remember the Kraken, who is essentially a cross between Godzilla (size), Creature from the Black Lagoon (appearance) and the silly big multi-armed Goro from the also ridiculous Mortal Kombat movie (multiple arms). And yes, I saw at least half of THAT movie, and let’s just say it doesn’t merit its own review – play the video game instead.

Rumbling forth to modern times, ‘COTT 1981’ looks pretty dated. Like other journey + monster(s) + hero/heroine movies, there are several tedious sequences where they are just riding around. This was my main complaint about the The Two Towers (theatrical version, anyway – the extended Two Towers DVD version is much better on that score). Too much running around with obviously a camera plane tracking them from above (thankfully never saw a shadow – an Orc probably got the camera plane with a flaming arrow at some point – that’ll learn ’em!).

Neither hero nor heroine are very good actors – Harry Hamlin (Perseus) does a lot of staring into space with a half-frown and his mouth hanging open and the heroine isn’t given many lines or much to do at all. Burgess Meredith (Perseus’ helper guy Ammon) isn’t bad, but he was better playing a flightless bird earlier in life (or when he trained Italians). Zeus gets all the best lines (but considering the actor playing him, pretty unsurprising).

As to other silliness – most of the men run around in non-existent pants that would even embarass Richard Simmons – and I don’t want to know how it is to ride horses (flying or no) in effectively a medieval jockstrap for miles on end – there is a reason they invented chariots and rickshaws, guys!

Perseus’ sword is pretty cheesy – I think i’ve either seen that thing before at Brookstone or that nerd store in The Market. The matte painting backgrounds are a bit too easily spotted as such. and as for Bubo, the mechanical owl given to Perseus by Athena – I didn’t mind him but at least they open with him breaking a dead tree branch by landing on it (because as a metal owl, he’s too f’ing heavy? :))

Let’s sum up by saying there was a lot of fast-forwarding (the magic of DVDs!) and hope that the new version is decent – although if the story is the same, i’ll wait to see reviews before getting in line. Hopefully The Kraken will get a shot at eating Liam Neeson or something cool 🙂

candybowl

Finally popped up on my hold list at the library, and was able to watch the original Ghost in the Shell movie (again – saw it several years ago once before) tonight.

While the first two GITS movies have the same characters but an almost completely different storyline than the two series and much later 3rd movie, it’s interesting now to go back and watch this one again, having seen all the rest. It’s obviously older – there isn’t any CGI in this one, all classic animation (although I guess it has since been remade itself and incorporated some CGI). The characters, excepting Aramaki, all seem somehow ‘younger’ – almost as if you are seeing The Major in her late 20s or something. It’s not impossible to believe that her merger with The Puppetmaster program by the end of this movie made her into the arguably colder, more calculating/mature and ‘older’ Major of the later series? Interesting to think about at any rate. Batou seems younger too, as if he’s all but ready to *tell* The Major he loves her, but as per usual, seems torn up about it? Hard to say. He’s definitely a colder fish in the first TV series, if not the second.

As the story here (and in the second original movie) are again, not part of the rest – seeing them before/after everything else is fine, you aren’t losing out – there are only really five characters here from the later series – The Major, Batou, Togusa, Chief Aramaki, and Ishikawa. Saito gets mentioned but they never show him, and Borma/Paz don’t exist here.

I think of the three movies, I like this one best. Its story can stand alone, even though of course it was easy to build a sequel and later series from it. Of the two series, the first one was better for me (see earlier post on this). Great stuff, definitely top-tier anime, for sure.

candybowl

OK – so on the way home today I was walking down the street and saw a house that has two large, carved (wood) Rottweilers on either side of the front stoop. I did a double-take, then just laughed to myself and moved on. Wood Rottweilers? I’ve seen stone lions, griffins and dragons, but Rottweilers? I guess it would have been worse had it been Shi Tzu’s, a pair Bichon Frise or Pugs (the latter being the ‘unofficial dog’ of Seattle).

This isn’t the first weird thing that I have seen on our street. Last year (take that time-stamp with a grain of salt) – I was walking to the bus and actually saw A BANANA PEEL on the sidewalk. Having been ‘edumacated’ and ‘moydolized’ in the hallowed halls of Looney Tunes – naturally this was a conundrum: Do I simply savor the (once so far in my life) sight on its own; Do I actually STEP on it and see if it makes me actually slip and fall?; Or finally, Do I simply tell the story ad nauseam at many later dates? I opted for choice #3 – but it was still a cool thing to consider on the way to the bus.

And finally, when we first moved into this house (about 10 years ago this fall), there was a house about 3-4 doors down, white, that had a big 80s poster in the window (facing the street) of what looked like a Lamborghini Countach getting humped by a black panther. Or at minimum, they were in the picture together. Again – no Patrick Nagel painting this – but definitely way 80s. I was sad when (I think) those people must have moved and took the kitty-humping italian supercar poster with them. Sniff!

It’s all good…..

candybowl

So – a post not about entertainment media for once. In the somewhat introspective (or lately, negative) mood I’m in typically on the way home from work on the bus – somehow today about mid-ride, my mood took a sudden upturn.

I’m sure this is no news to anyone who has been around me for > 5 minutes, but I have long been a ‘fish out of water’ – most days I either don’t feel connected to most normal people’s daily experience – and on the rest of the days I sometimes alienate them on purpose, ‘just because’. This isn’t a new phenomenon, it’s always pretty much been there since the precocious youth – ask around. I usually draw on the philosophies of Keith Moon with a liberal helping of Patrick McGoohan melted on top. This served alongside being a huge nerd, fan of Sticking It To The Man, and green things.

But today I realized – ‘WHO CARES!’ Does this mean I will be any less of ‘a pill’ (words of a famous local philosopher) – probably not. Does it mean I still can’t wait to leave ‘Maggie’s Farm’ – nope, that’s top priority. But it MAY mean I don’t have to wait for things to come to me anymore. Not sure why I thought that for so long, but hopefully I am beginning to leave that behind – time will tell.

Anyway, if that’s not enigmatic enough for you, i’m sure i’ll think of something better in the coming months – stay tuned 🙂

candybowl

Well, after 2-3 weeks of off-on watching, I finally finished the second Ghost In the Shell anime TV series – S.A.C. 2nd Gig. This series is a continuation from the previous Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex (see earlier post on that one here).

This second series is more of a political thriller than the first. Both series have a long story-arc that persists until the end, but they don’t seem to ‘explain’ as much in this one by the end – there are still at least a few motivations and actions I didn’t quite understand. There is more straight up ‘battle’ and conflict in this one too – and I liked the fact that they gave the other members of Section 9 (Paz, Boma, Saito and Ishikawa) a lot more to do in this series, than just focusing on the main four characters (Togusa, The Major, Batou and The Chief) as seen in the previous series.

There is a great villain in this one too – Kazundo Gohda, the head of the Cabinet Intelligence Service. Besides being facially disfigured and scarred (like all great over-the-top villains) this guy has plans within plans within plans, something every other main character finds out all too often along the way. While personally I thought The Laughing Man from the previous series was a more interesting foe for a variety of reasons – I had small hopes he’d show up in this one at some point – Gohda is definitely a man with a complex and hidden mission.

The main ‘anti-hero’ in this series Hideo Kuze, who remains at least in part a semi-major enigma. It would have been neat to see another episode of flashback(s) to his wanderings in Eurasia and how he came to his revolutionary stance portrayed in the series. They explore some of this through dialogue, but IMHO not enough. The Tachikomas even get a bit more to do – there are computer simulations of them used for the various episodes centered around computer hacking, besides their usual role as battle-backup for Section 9.

All in all, another great and interesting series – the animation is again excellent, The Major isn’t near as invincible in this one, and even Batou has to face up to a number of his own demons by the end.

candybowl.

So I finally finished the Inheritance Trilogy – the 3rd trilogy in a series – the first is the Heritage Trilogy and the second is the Legacy Trilogy. Ultimately, this is a nine novel series about the ‘US Marines in space’ – and how they end up battling a mysterious and powerful alien menace (the Xul) several times while morphing into an interstellar fighting force that support’s mankind’s galactic expansion.

As with other military sci-fi I’ve read recently – there are positives and negatives with this type of space opera. On the one hand, I don’t really expect philosophy or complex characterizations (say, compared to Childhood’s End, Stranger in a Strange Land, or even the Hyperion series) but on the other hand, I *do* expect to be entertained, I do expect there to be a purpose (bad, good or indifferent) behind what the main characters are doing, and I do expect some historical setup/context to be provided.

I think on most counts this series succeeds. While I don’t think it’s quite as good with the ‘interpersonal politics’ as the Clone Republic series – it has many similiar themes (central characters are mostly ‘fish out of water’ as regards society; most love battle and seek it out in most situations; most soldiers are played pretty sympatheticallly to the reader – which might not necessarily be the case in reality, etc.). The back-story and history set up here is more diverse (and potentially interesting) than many, even if fairly focused on the Marines above all other story elements. Mr. Douglas – if you put out any other books using this universe/these characters, there are a LOT of great potential alien cultures and potential side-stories here to be explored – just a thought. 🙂

Besides the human themes noted above, there are plenty of other tidbits to interest the reader. Douglas does a good job of setting up, describing and carrying the reader through the various battles with a sufficient level of detail. You get a decent sense of ‘you are there’ despite the novels being set in the far future with far more advanced technology, weapons, etc. Ever since reading several Tom Clancy novels a few years ago, it’s always clear who can adequately describe combat, technical details and the human element all at the same time, successfully. Clancy certainly does (although not science fiction) – and I’ve tended to measure novels with a strong dose of military action in them by that yardstick since. Douglas does not disappoint.

I’d rather not spoil anything – but I would also recommend starting with the 1st trilogy (Heritage) if you think you might want to read them all – because if you mistakenly start with one of the last books, it will spoil much of the earlier books due to quick summarizations of earlier events from the previous trilogies. In my case, I missed out on the middle trilogy largely for that reason. But if you like the early stories, you will most likely enjoy the rest of the series.

candybowl

Love it! Mr. Gyro in greenwood, north Seattle – Love at First Bite, indeed. Mediterranean Kitchen in downtown Bellevue – better bring your appetite (and you’ll still take stuff home!).

And if you are downtown, don’t forget Mr. D’s in the Pike Place Market (actually across the street from the main market building) – excellent Gyros and spanikopita, baklava……[drool]….

candybowl

Watched Iron Man again on DVD this afternoon. This *has* to be considered among the best of an otherwise somewhat mediocre lot of Marvel superhero movies over the past several years.

To date, there have been 3 Spiderman (1st two were decent, last one was lame enough to quit watching midstream); 3 X-Men movies (liked all three but the first two were far better than the last one – lot of missed opportunities with that one); one Wolverine movie (haven’t seen it yet); two Fantastic Four movies (first one was decent, second one was pretty dumb); two Hulk movies (can you over-CGI the big guy more? Who cares, never saw them, bring back Lou Ferrigno!); and a plethora of misc. movies (Daredevil, Elektra, The Punisher, Blade, etc. – who cares, why bother? – just see the first Hellboy instead).

What I really liked about Iron Man (and played a bit of a role in the first Spiderman and F4 movies) is having the main characters not take themselves so seriously – and yet having a real ‘menace’ rise up during the movie. Here, it was Jeff Bridges (probably why it’s best to seal him BACK in the computer come next Christmas – woo hoo!) and he was understated but increasingly evil! And he even turned on the afghani warlord and sold him out too – always nice to have in a bad guy – the best evildoers always eat their own by the end of the story, no? 🙂

Finally, I liked the other casting choices – RDJ plays the Tony Stark character just right – overconfident, brash, but somehow ‘gets religion’ by the end – now we wait for his still controversial personality to cause him more problems in the sequel. GP is good and still keeps her distance by the end – although I predict that will change (a la Mary Jane and Spiderman) in the sequel. And the other main actors do well too, although they really didn’t give Terrence Howard enough to do, IMHO.

So, to sum up – well-rounded characterizations (for a superhero movie, anyway) bad guy gets his, lots of zooming around with several well-done ‘Iron Man kicks ass’ battle scenes – what’s not to like? It’s also interesting that Tony Stark is in some ways the opposite of Bruce Wayne – TS already had the world on a platter (arguably for the wrong reasons) when he got religion – vs. BW came from wealth based on helping people, but then became a vigilante (powered by wealth) when his parents were murdered in front of him. Despite this movie’s more ‘loner’ portrayal of him, Iron Man is more aligned with the forces of law and order than Batman ever was – and in the comics, leads The Avengers (unlike Batman, who remains a loner, vigilante killer – Superfriends kiss my ass :)). But for me, just so long as they keep kicking ass – that’s ultimately what matters?

And what DC superhero has a Black Sabbath song of the same name, either? Too cool……

candybowl

gee, another one? Yep. This is the third Ghost in the Shell movie, but unlike the first two, it follows the storyline(s) from the two seasons of the anime TV series, Ghost in the Shell: SAC and Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2nd Gig. I am just about to watch the latter season, so there are still back-story gaps for me, but suffice it to say, this is a very good movie, and I would judge it better than Ghost in the Shell: Innocence for both plot and character detail (see earlier post for that review). Both are equally beautiful animation, no issues in that dept.

The same characters from Section 9 are here again, although most get short shrift per usual. Another unusual element in this one is the comparatively minor role of the Tachikoma AI ‘tanks’ seen in other parts of the various movies and series – while they help in one major assault in the movie, they are otherwise largely ignored or left out. As in the previous movies and series, The Major, Batou, Togusa and The Chief are the main four to watch – the Chief less so this time around, however.

As these series/movies are largely detective stories, I don’t want to talk about spoilers – just watch the darn thing and enjoy it! I did.