Toy Story 3: Pixar Teaser Trailer
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 31, 2009 in Animation
I hate to say it but as much as I’m against sequels, I must just trust Pixar to get Toy Story 3 right.
Eden of the East: Anime in Search of the Promised Land
Posted by John Martone on May 31, 2009 in Animation
Plot: In a world where Japan is spiraling out of control, an enigmatic and powerful man gives twelve Japanese citizens 100 million dollars to spend on “saving” Japan. Using the network he lays out for them, they have merely to issue the command, and it is done. Our protagonist, one of these twelve, begins the story stark naked in front the White House, holding a gun. Its at this moment he loses all of his memories, and must begin to unravel the mystery of who he was, and if that will affect who he wants to become. Read more…
Clint Eastwood: A Living Legend One Year Shy of Being an Octogenarian
Posted by John Martone on May 31, 2009 in Cinema
Today marks the birthday of one the cinema’s living legends: From The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly to Dirty Harry, Clint Eastwood taught us early not to mess with him. With a career spanning over fifty years, we’ve seen Clint Eastwood direct, act, and on occasion… sing. The most impressive facet of it all is that his most recent endeavors, such as Million Dollar Baby and Grand Torino show us he’s not done for the count yet. Happy Birthday Clint! I’d like to celebrate by sharing a personal favorite scene of mine, from a movie called Paint Your Wagon: Read more…
The Time Traveler’s Wife: A Romantic Twist on a Time-Tested Plot Device
Posted by John Martone on May 30, 2009 in Pulp Fiction
Editor’s Note: The film adaptation of this 2003 novel will be out this Summer directed by Robert Schwentke.
What makes for good literature? Now, this is only an opinion, but the best stories… the ones that really make you squirm with delight, are never about the guns, the gadgets, or the girls, its about how these objects move our characters. Was the “Final Frontier” about uncharted space, or was it really about how exploring the last unknown effected our heroes? In The Time Traveler’s Wife we see how an all too overused plot device, time travel, is used to stretch a conventional romance to the brink and back.
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Vintage Video of Isaac Asimov: The Golden Age of Science Fiction
Posted by John Martone on May 30, 2009 in Pulp Fiction
Isaac Asimov was an engaging speaker. I found myself almost unable to avoid being hypnotized by his soft, yet well modulated tones. Taken from a 1971 interview, Asimov comments on the “Golden Age” of science fiction. This sheds a sharp perspective on this genre during the 1940’s an era before moon landings, color televisions and the internet. Point of incredible interest: In this first excerpt Asimov logically explains why Science Fiction was so “adventure” laden leading up to this time frame. The this second expert focuses on the changes that took place after 1949: Read more…
My Five Favorite Videogame Bargains Rescued from the Used Bin
Posted by John Martone on May 29, 2009 in Videogames
Times are hard, and this recessions effects us all. However, we cannot let this economic crisis beat us. People will tell you that “gaming” is just a habit that they can not continue to support, that they should just “grow up.” Well, that’s inaccurate, and those people are capitalism hating fascists. This isn’t to say you cannot get your digital jollies and save a few dollars. Today I’m here to help the destitute gamers amongst you find great entertaining games at a fraction of the cost. To this endeavor, I went to my local gamestop: Read more…
Resident Evil: Now Extra Improved with Muppet Flavor!
Posted by John Martone on May 29, 2009 in Horror
Everyone knows that the two scariest things in the world are puppets and zombies. Now, imagine if these two horrifying objects were combined, ala Freddy versus Jason. Horror masterpiece, right? Wrong! However, what you do have is a novel one minute and forty-eight seconds of your life you can’t have back. You’ll still click it though, come on! It has zombies and puppets in it… Read more…
My Favorite Animated Soviet: Gunbuster’s Jung Freud
Posted by John Martone on May 28, 2009 in Animation
As most fans of the series will tell you, there’s just something magical about Gunbuster. Also known as Aim for the Ace!, Gunbuster was a six episode OVA released by the mostly unknown Gainax in 1988. The show also marked the directorial debut of Hideaki Anno, who’d go on to create other fascinating shows like Evangelion. True to that form, Gunbuster is also a series where the robots and monsters are merely the pretense to show kids growing up/dealing with their problems. Among them, is Jung Freud, my favorite Soviet. Read more…
Highly Animated Japanese Street Art
Posted by John Martone on May 28, 2009 in Animation
This video, by the Japanese group of artists Rinpa Eshidan is one of the coolest things I’ve come across this week! Rinpa Eshidan, which is loosely defined as “To bring people together, art crew,” is a collaborative art effort that I am entirely too enamoured with. Focused on making art for the sake of creating, not the sake of preserving, the group has managed to come up with some amazing projects. This one, for example, is a time lapse video of them, in public, painting on the same wall for a week. Using each completed painting as a springboard to the next, the results are mesmerizing to say the least. Here are some photos of them in action: Read more…
Three Boardgames to Make Your Videogame Friends Hate You
Posted by John Martone on May 27, 2009 in Videogames
If you’re like me, you secretly hate all of your friends, but only secretly. If they ever found out you hated them, you’d go, “no I don’t,” and then buy them some ice cream. Well, if you’ve ever wanted to know about the kind of games to make them start secretly hating you too, then you’re in luck. Read more…