The Criterion Collection

Hello!
You know how I put that other blog up? Well, I decided to take it down. Reasons are, that I don't think I'll ever keep up and post a review on every single film in that collection. Instead, I am going to focus on the films in the same book, but in the series of "The Criterion Collection". This way, it limits the number of posts I have to put up to a pace I can keep up with. Look for the link under "My Other Blogs.

World War II: In Requiem

I watched "Saving Private Ryan" today. A brilliant film. Let's just say, this is what I created afterwards.

"The Ting Tings" Concert at Terminal 5

Here are the photos from the concert of "The Ting Tings" concert that me and my dad went to. It was a brilliant concert, and they sound so much better live than on CD.

"Batman: Arkham Asylum" and the Future of Comic Book Video Games

Today, I was just playing my PS2. I was playing "Fantastic Four: The Official Movie Game", and whilst I was beating up Diablo, I was thinking: this is an OK game. Most of the games I have are comic-book based. I tend to go towards RPG games, and stray away from shooters. I don't like games like "Doom" and "Left 4 Dead", as I hate the violence. Not many of the comic book games I play have been absolutley mind-blowing. The one that was brilliant, however, was "The Incredible Hulk: The Official Movie Game". The game was not great with the graphics; it was pretty simple, but the playability was brilliant. One of the most addictive games I've ever played.

When a comic book game comes out, I tend to screech and say "Oh No!", as they usually end up badly. The ones I get I get on the basis of other's reviews. However, when I saw the trailer for the upcoming "Batman: Arkham Asylum", I was blown away by the playability and the graphics. And, whats more, Mark Hamill is returning for his role as the Joker! The last time he did this was in the animated series.

Hopefully, with the release of "Batman: Arkham Asylum", we will see more brilliant comic book games coming out. I'd like to see where this is going as a medium. To see the trailer, click here. And to see the official website, click here.

"1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die"

One of the things I wanted to do when I started this blog was post reviews of my progress with the book "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die". However, I did not want the website to run slowly, so I have created a seperate blog where you can view my progress. No posts at the moment, but still, the link is:

1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Enjoy!

Spanish Comic Book Help!

Hey all! I just found out that for Spanish, I got a big project due. I have to create a 10+ comic book in spanish (for those that cannot read spanish, I'll post an English version on comicprints.deviantart.com as well as here). Any ideas would really help. I all ready know the plot. My only real idea though is that the comic book will start out real cheesy, like a 1940's DC comic book, and end up dark and gritty (similar to "Sin City"). Any ideas on what type of artwork to do?

Thomas Scioli- The Next Jack Kirby!

I just found an amazing artist on the internet. His name is Thomas Scioli, and he is famous for his work on the Godland series for Image. I have never heard of this guy until a few minutes ago, but his art is just amazing. Have a look at it at:

http://tomscioli.blogspot.com/

For those of you who do not know who Jack Kirby is, he is often considered the king of comic book art, very much like Elvis was considered the king of Rock 'n' Roll. His art style is very dynamic and explosive. Tom Scioli looks very much like his artwork!

"Ranger's Apprentice" by John Flanagan

I drew some fan art of this exceptional series... anyone intrested in reading some new and original fantasy works, read this, 'cause it's absolutley mind-blowing. I read the first book- "The Ruins of Gorlan"- and am in the process of reading the second, "The Burning Bridge". Who knows where I'll end up with this new obsession?

Ranger's Apprentice Poster by ~comicprints on deviantART

Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog is a fairly famous video game originally created by Sega. It started off as a 2D brawler, very much in the spirit of Mario Bros.,  but has gone on to become a succesfull brand with many spin off video games. All across the internet, people have tried to create online flash versions of the original game. They are all pretty good, as they emulate the original graphics and pixels. For example, see the game below:

http://www.funny-games.biz/sonicthehedgehog.html

I was just wondering, do any of you guys know any where online that emulates the 3D versions of the games? It would be cool if there was, because the 3D versions are really addictive and have some of the most imaginative gameplay ever created.

Jeff Kinney's "Diary of a Wimpy Kid"

I was looking in the school library today. I have just started a two week break from school, and it is sort of required that we have a book to read. 'Cause I've been working so hard at school recently and I haven't really had one seconds rest, I chose an easy book to read: "Diary of a Whimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney. I started it at 12:00, stoppped at 12:20, and then after school started reading it again.

I finished it in one sitting.

So for anybody looking for a good book to read, and not necessarily a hard book to read, I heavily suggest this book. It takes the concept of an illustrated book and makes it into a blend of novel and comic book. It was an intresting read.

The premise of the book is that there is this kid called Greg Heffley. His mom says that if he starts writing a journal and writes an entry every day, he gets out of his chores for the weekend. Always taking shortcuts, the boy accepts, and soon he enters seventh grade (year 8 for us english people). His brain-dead friend Rowely hangs out with him and he generally has a bad time- all this is happening under the watchful eye of "The Cheese", a slice of cheese that has been on the basketball since last spring.

Again, quite an easy read. It is based on an online blog that the writer has- Funbrain.com- but I suggest that you read the actual book, as it is superior to the online book.

...

I don't really know what to talk about. I am going through quite a rough patch at the moment. Every night I've been going to bed way too late, and I thought that "Watchmen" was really disturbing. It was by all means brilliant, But incredibly violent and upsetting. Don't see it if you are under 18 (or feel under 18 mentally).

As for the title... uh.

Ok. Now I am going to try and write about something...

And I failed.

Again.

"Watchmen" Tomorrow!

I got my tickets for "Watchmen"! Me and my father will be going for a 6:00 PM screening of it across the street from us. I've been scribbling like crazy, drawing picture after picture after picture of all the Watchmen characters... I've been looking at all of my copies of "Watchmen" (three copies of the actual comic and the book "Watching the Watchmen" and "The Art of the Film"), and I'm about to go nuts with all of the fanart of Watchmen located at DeviantART!!!!

How many of you are going to see the film? I've been seeing some reviews that say the film is ridiculous... I hope it isn't. I really, really hope it isn't. "Watchmen", from what we've seen so far looks brilliant- and amazingly, "Watchmen" is the only film that I've seen every sing TV-Spot for. Also, there are a series of "Watchmen Video Journals", and you can view them here:

Watchmen Video Journals

And here is a picture I illustrated of "Watchmen", a long, long time ago:

Watchmen Sketch by ~comicprints on deviantART

See you soon!

Children's Post Apocalyptic Cartoons

Did any of you see "Wall-E"? I did. I was quite ill at the time, and when I watched it I found it really depressing. I mean, this is the plot: Earth has been destroyed by rubbish, and so they have robots called Wall-Es clearing everything up. Whilst that's happening, humans are living on a luxury cruise, and they are all fat. I mean, isn't that a depressing story line? I was suprised that children like to watch that sort of stuff.

So, I wanted to see if there were any other post apocalyptic cartoons that could mildly depress children. I found one called "9", which I've mentioned before, but I didn't really consider it a children's cartoon. I did, however, find two others. They are called "Peace On Earth" and "Good Will To Men". I must say that they were not as depressing as "Wall-E", but still, I think some children would end up with a post-traumatic-distress disorder. But what am I saying? Judge for yourself.

Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho", "North by Northwest" and the Precode Era

Hey, folks! I saw Psycho for the first time today. I must admit that it was quite a scary movie, but what the heck? I loved it. I felt that it was very different from other movies that Hitchcock has directed. All of his other films were clearly part of the time; for example, "North by Northwest" was very reminiscent of "Dr. No". "The Birds" was clearly inspired by the Cold War, what with the nuclear energy and everything. However, "Psycho" really was not part of any genre. It was very modern, and very, very terrifying. I can see clearly that the slasher genre had it's roots in films like Psycho- and then it went off in a different direction with films like "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre".

One thing that really striked me in the film was the very vague themes of necrophilia. I mean, Norman Bates actually loves the people he kills, so it is quite strange, as this is a sort of necrophilia. In reality, Hitchcock was a very adult director- he delt with very adult issues, but uses them subtly in the film. For example, when Northhill meets Kendel on the train in "North by Northwest", and they start making out, Kendel says some really, really rude stuff. She starts flirting with him- and saying some very innapropriate things for that time. I kept wondering if these films were pre-code films, but then I researched it and found out that the Hays Code came about in the 30's due to some sexual films being released because of the Great Deppresion. I think films like "Psycho" and "North by Northwest" were not targeted for general audiences; just adult ones. My reasons? Well, those before and the fact that when "Psycho" was released in director's cut format, it garnered an R-18 rating.

That reminds me- Bela Lugosi was in quite a few precode horror films as well- his most famous was that of "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". That sort of had to be done at that time to avert the law, as it had things like ape blood being pumped into the victims bodies (Don't look at me, look at the original novel by Edgar Allan Poe). Have you seen any precode films?

ClassicM and "1001 Movies"

Hi all! Just wanted to let you know, I've started a periodical called "ClassicM", which focuses on classic film. It basically just disects the form of film and there are lots of new articles going to be published. I'm going to get school friends involved and family involved, so if you want to get involved with it and get something published, please email me at my usual address (my gmail). Other than that, I've started a life-long quest to watch all of the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die". I've seen quite a few already before actually getting the list, but those I've seen since I got the list are:

1. Spartacus
2. The Great Escape
3. Notorious

And tonight, I'm going to watch "North by Northwest" and, if I get time, "Psycho". I just bought Psycho in the Universal Legacy Series, and it is a 2 Disc Special Edition. If you see it, get it, cause the packaging is brilliant, and there are tons of special features. With my pocket money, I am going to save up to get the two other Hitchcock films in the series: "Rear Window" and "Vertigo". And also, just because it doesn't hurt, I will also get "To Kill A Mockingbird". All three are in the "1001 Movies" book. If you want a copy of the checklist I made, just email me.