Media Mess 01

UPDATE! - Fixed the audio, though the quality still has room for improvement. Enjoy! Going to fix the audio problems and re-post this tonight, but the original is still up if anyone wants to hear the “rough draft”.

Well, learning from my first podcast, I separated out my thoughts into their various related areas for this go, hoping that I’d be more stream-lined and yawn-inducing. FAIL! Instead, each section has taken on a life-of-its-own with the first coming in at over two-thirds of last week’s entire podcast. I’ve also thrown in a hint of production by adding an intro theme (taken from the late, great Combustible Edison’s Utopia). I had an outro selected, but it just didn’t really feel appropriate. Maybe next time!

 

 Media Mess 01 [23:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Notes

• Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
• The Dark Knight
• Final Fantasy IV DS
• Animated Watchmen
• Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
• Repo: the Genetic Opera

Thoughts on a Golden Compass

NOTE: My apologies for the extreme lateness of this post, but I did want to get it out there before I resume my inevitable Obama posting (I’ve got a couple floating around in my brain, so be warned!). Enjoy!

I love the universe (multiverse, really) that Philip Pullman created in the His Dark Materials trilogy of books. I first read The Golden Compass back during my second year of college and ever since then, I’ve dreamed of how a movie of it might be crafted. From what I’ve read of Chris Weitz, the director of the recently released rendition, this was very much his same experience with then novels. From the deamons, to the witches, to Scoresby’s balloon, Pullman’s worlds scream out for life! And in that way, at least, The Golden Compass movie succeeds in spades!

Here’s the problem. Unlike recent fantasy-novels-turned-movies, The Golden Compass‘ rich world was practically wasted. In the spectacular Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson realized Tolkein’s Middle Earth in copious detail, and almost as importantly, he let us spend the time to absorb its wonder. The first couple Harry Potter movies did likewise, though it robbed them somewhat of the excitement and dramatic pacing in which the later movies in the series excelled. Even the first Chronicles of Narnia movie let us get comfortable a bit while still propelling us through the plot. The Golden Compass didn’t afford what seems to me to be a necessity - let the viewer have occasional moments to stop and smell the roses.

Other characteristics of the film bothered me too. I did not care for the way the director decided to visualize Lyra’s use of the titular compass. It seemed to be as lacking in process as just showing Lyra closing her eyes and treating it like a Ouija board. It was very super-model - pretty, but lacking in substance.

The soundtrack was so completely underwhelming that I felt it detracted from the emotional impact of the film instead of augmenting it, as a proper fantasy soundtrack should do (eg. the movies listed above). Without this, many moments didn’t have quite the same emotional punch that it should have had. I didn’t recognize the composer’s name, but given the film’s budget and high hopes of success, they really should have paid extra for a Howard Shore, Harry Gregson-Williams, or even the totally underrated Brian Tyler (eg. his Children of Dune score is A-MAZ-ING!).

All of this said, please pick it up on DVD, HD-DVD, or BluRay. I’m hoping that those sales, combined with its successes overseas, will convince NewLine to finish the trilogy, though perhaps with a few changes in the production team.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Blonder

My apologies for not posting much recently, but I was spending entirely too much time “conquering the blank page”, “leveraging prior work”, and uh, writing a bunch of bullshit for work (pardon my French).� As such, the last thing I wanted to do was chat on GTalk, much less pull random thoughts and anecdotes from my nethers.� Enough said about that.

Things are better now.� I’ve spent the last few days relaxing, catching up on yard work, Keith Olbermann, and trying to bring my blood pressure back down out of the red zone.� Watching the Daily Show doesn’t help, unfortunately.� There’s too much craziness going on in the world (eg., Israel v. Hizbollah, America v. Terror, Kim Jong Ill v. Sanity) and too many nutters excited about it (eg., rapture-obsessed Christians, Mahdi-obsessed Muslims, South Park-obsessed Scientologists).� Jane!� Stop this crazy thing!

On a happier note, it now appears I’ll be back teaching at UCF this fall.� First, though, some history.� For three years, I taught electronic music technology for the UCF Music Department.� Then, less than a month before the semester started and as part of the ramp-up to accreditation, I was let go because my graduate work wasn’t in music (though it was in technology).� I almost returned to UCF to teach Digital Media this past spring semester, but unfortunately that fell through because of the split in UCF’s College of Arts & Sciences (the adjunct money for the department got slashed).

Well, that same class that I almost taught in the spring has now been offered to me for this fall.� The course is named “Internet and Interaction”, so as an excercise for the reader, I’d like your thoughts on exactly what that should mean.� As a hint, the two technologies that are expected to be taught include Flash and some kind of web programming language (eg., PHP, Perl, Ruby, etc.).� My goal is to carve up a course that includes the above, works in some web services, and really tries to capture the student’s interest.� Oh yeah, and maybe some Marshall McLuhan for good measure.

On top of that, I’ll also be teaching a survey of computer concepts course at Seminole Community College in the fall.� I’m really looking forward to this course because of its broad, shallow scope and non-technical audience.� In addition to the expected computer and Internet basics, I’m going to throw in some basics of programming and Internet cultural items to mix things up.� If I’m really cheeky, I might even find a way to tie in some of my material from the I&I course, my past Web Publishing course, and even my Computer Music course from way back.� Happy Happy, Joy Joy!

Spider asked for a schedule of my band’s performances, so until further notice, here’s the deal.� We’re booked to play the George and Dragon Wednesday nights from 7:30-12:30 until the British tourist season dies down, which typically occurs around October.� After that, we’ll be playing at the Cypress Cove Nudist Resort the Saturday night before Halloween.� Good times!

Finally, here’s a list of do’s and do not’s, from me to you!

Do

• Listen to the new albums by Muse and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke .
• Watch the new season of Cheap Seats on ESPN Classic.
• Check out MST3K’s Mike Nelson and his new project RiffTracks.
• Listen to Drew and Savannah on The Morning After Show on 105.9FM.

Don’t

• Freak out about the end of the world.� Doing the stuff above should help take your mind off the chaos.
• Stop.� Thinking about tomorrow!
• Waste your time watching the new Blade TV series.
• Miss any moment of the Colbert Report or Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Of Music and Myrtles

Another weekend come and gone, and what do I have to show for it?� Well, thanks to Patrick’s insistence, I did finally get around to replacing that one sprinkler head in the front yard.� Its amazing how something can be so daunting until you’ve done it once, then looking back, how simple it was.� Next up on that list, laying a laminant wood floor in our living/dining rooms.

In other news, we watched two rather exciting pieces of visual fiction this weekend.� First up, Saturday night, Matt and I watched the series two finale of Doctor Who.� I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say that one Russell T. Davies has written what has to be the biggest, most touching, and most unembarrassed piece of Doctor Who fanfiction ever!� He has done for Doctor Who what Genndy Tartakovsky did for Star Wars in his Clone Wars animations, marry a fans wishlist of cool with what really works in visual storytelling.� I laughed, I cried, I yelled “no way”!� It was, in a word, fantastic!

On Sunday, the household went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean in DLP at the Waterford Regal.� I was not much of a fan for the first movie, finding the acting to be fun if not cartoonish and the music to be partciularly dreadful and formulaic.� This new one is like the previous, only more so.� Thankfully, with at least the music, Hans Zimmer actually owns up to claiming his distinct music on the credits (the last one listed a member of his studio).� What I find amazing about Hans is that he really has only written a handful of original motives in his years of work which he continual reuses for that very Bruckheimer effect.� Its not that I don’t enjoy it.� I rather enjoy candy and soda and other things that, though quite enjoyable, don’t really contribute much to the nourishment of my body and soul.� If you’re really looking for a great movie score, check out John Ottoman’s score for Superman Returns.� In it, he skillfully reuses John William’s original themes, expanding and augmenting them in ways that just move soul and raise the bumps on your skin.

Lastly, I never realized just how many varieties of crape myrtle there were!� Patrick bought me a strain called “pink velour” a few weeks back, and I’ve only this weekend decided what to do with it.� After going to all three local Home Depots, the closest Lowes, and even our local nursery, I’m still searching for a friend to go with it.� I’d really like to match it exactly, but at this point I might just give up and find two that match, leaving the pink velour for some other, solitary location.� We shall see what the fullness of time reveals.� Will I find a mate for my lonely myrtle, or will I settle for two strangers?� Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion…er, sometime.

Reading

Last night, I finished Perelandraby C.S. Lewis, a book that I started back when my father was in the hospital. Perelandra is the second in Lewis’ Space Trilogy, the first of which is Out of the Silent Planet and is concluded with That Hideous Strength.

Unlike Lewis’ famous Chronicles of Narnia series, these books do not wrap elements of Christianity in metaphor. Rather, Lewis simply sets out to set several science-fiction journeys somewhat reminiscent of Verne and Wells in a universe consistent with his religious beliefs. What at first appears to be metaphor in Perelandra quickly reveals to be just another chapter in a story that both extends and closely parallels events in the Book of Genesis.

While I almost always enjoy seeing mythology and religion expressed in works of science fiction (eg. Wolfe, Chesterton, Tolkein, Gaiman, etc.), something about Lewis’ sometimes snarky and morally simplistic expositions doesn’t quite work for me. The narrator in these books are nowhere as pronounced as they are in the Narnia books, yet I can still clearly hear the author’s ideaologies chiming through almost like clockwork.

I love Lewis’ writing, I really do. His diction, turn of phrase, everything is just brilliant in its imagery and storytelling. I just get tired of him preaching at the expense of his imagination. Others have managed to slip ideas through in their stories without such a compromise, so its not as if it couldn’t be done. From what I’ve read, Tolkein even bugged Lewis about how transparent his metaphors were with Narnia, even though they shared each other’s Christian beliefs. Tolkein likewise managed to keep a decent amount of Christian imagery in his Lord of the Rings, painting from a vast palette of his imagination (with a little assist from existing mythology) and telling a fantastic story but without treading too heavily into his religion.

That all considered, I would gladly read Lewis over many, many others around today. His strong narrative voice has even made me appreciative of other authors like Lemony Snicket and Philip Pullman, demonstrating other layers to their works that without Lewis would go unnoticed. I haven’t yet even purchased the third book in the Space Trilogy, and a friend has warned me that its quite different in scope and style than the previous two. So long as Lewis’ wit and very British sensability is still there, I’m sure it will be fantastic.

The Expert

Not since I first happened upon Sarah Vowell a while back have I been so captivated by an author and personality as I have been by John Hodgman. You have perhaps seen him recently as “the resident expert” on The Daily Show, or perhaps you have seen him embodying a PC in the recent Mac ads. I have yet to pick up his book The Areas of My Expertise, but I intend to immediately upon placing my next book order.

Mr. Hodgman (John if you are so inclined) is making quite a name for himself by the collection and presentation of expertise both actual and imagined. In this era of style before substance, his earnest delivery of the absurd gels rather well with other works like The Onion, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report. To borrow a word from the pundit supreme and most fantastic White House Correspondents Dinner speaker Stephen Colbert, John’s truthiness is matched in brilliance only by his prodigious depth of knowledge.

Howleys

A very awesome modern diner at which I met Hope and Sean before heading to Orlando

Chasing the Dragon

Well, its about that time of year again! Charlie D. and His Things will be playing tonight from 7:30-11:30pm at the George and Dragon British Pub on I Drive, returning there after a 6 month hiatus. For those of you who’ve never been, the G&D is a lovely little corner of England tucked behind the Sizzler and next to a mini golf course just down I Drive from Wet & Wild. They have “great” pub food and wide selection of British beers on tap. And as most of the clientèle are British citizens, either residents or just visiting, you know it’s probably as authentic as a British pub in Orlando could be.

Weekend

Let’s see, I’ve had a busy weekend! Here’s my list of accomplishments.

• Celebrated Erik’s birthday at Maria Bonitas
• Filled in for a friend at the last moment
• Planted a cherry tree in our front yard
• Wrote the final for my Valencia class
• Caught up on my Olbermann
• Watched some new Doctor

!! Doctor Who Semi Spoilers !!

Speaking of the Doctor, did I ever mention that I absolutely adore David Tennant? I don’t know if its the writing, the improved production values, or just the new Doctor’s positive, geeky, fanatic brilliance. His turn as the Doctor is quite simply fantastic! You watchers on SciFi will hopefully get a chance to see the second series that’s currently airing on BBC, but only if you spread the word and turn up the ratings! Now that those silly flatulent aliens are behind you, the episodes for the rest of the first series are all quite excellent. Keep watching, and buy the DVD of the entire first series when it (finally) comes out in July.

Densha Otoko

I just finished watching the first episode of Densha Otoko, a Japanese television show that a friend lent to me. From its otakutastic opening (anime set to Styx’s “Domo Arigato, Mister Roboto”) to its title animation (a fake anime opening that pays homage to a classic piece of otakudom, the Daikon IV convention short), to its beautiful Edward Scissorhandsish music, to its beautifully shot images of urban Japan…taking a breath…to its wacky/innovative exploration of internet message boards, and its sweet (almost diabetic-inducing) romance story, this show is spectacular.

Densha Otoko (Train Man) is a twenty-three year old staffing agency employee who is an absolute otaku (ie. obsessive fanboy). On a train ride home from a day at an anime gathering, he happens to notice a gorgeous older woman reading Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons. After being earlier terrified by another woman who he ran into accidentally and already being an absolute nervous wreck around women in general, the Train Man can only stare and dream about her. That is, until a drunk old man stumbles into the train and begins to harass her. After a few agonizing minutes, he finally stands up to the drunk and saves the woman. Not that he does much other than fall down with the drunk, occupying him long enough until the conductor removes the drunk from the train. Long prelude short, she winds up thanking him and asking for his address so she can send him a thank you gift.

Oh yeah, did I mention all this happens during the Star Festival, a celebration commemorating two star-crossed lovers? I wonder where the story goes next? All the romance aside, this show is brilliant for its depiction of how the Train Man interacts with a popular online message board, telling his story and receiving overwhelming support and encouragement to gjve the girl a call! It really reminds me of our little communities online, with our posts and comments, sharing and reacting to each other’s lives.

Alrighty, off to watch that new show So Notorious, just to see if its anything remotely worth keeping up with. Then, sleep (perchance to dream), and another dull week in software. On that note, two of my favorite writers with poems befitting the occasion.

Brokeback Budgets and Victorious Vendettas

Brokeback Mountain is now the 8th largest grossing movie of its genre (romantic drama) , beating out movies like The Notebook and The English Patient (among others). That’s no small feat, but likely due at least in part to the fact that it only had a budget of $14 million (contrast that with Failure to Launch’s still-somewhat-modest $50 million budget). Other recent Oscar-award winning movies have also had smaller budgets (eg. Capote $7 million and Crash $6.5 million), which definitely backs-up what George Lucas recently said, that “big pics are doomed”. While I don’t believe we’ll never see the likes of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, or Titanic again, it is encouraging to see Hollywood work more frugally and yet still turn out movies with high critical and popular acclaim.

Speaking of which, you should more certainly spend a few hours with V for Vendetta, a movie that tries hard to appeal to all the various heights of brow currently in existence. Its got violence, tender moments, political theory, satire, hijinks, and a bit of terrorism thrown in to spice it up. Even if people take great offense to its subversive (circa our founding fathers) message, it above all else demonstrates that we live in a country where freedom is respected and lifestyle choice is still exactly that - a choice.

Unlike some places that we’ve supposedly liberated, cough, Afghanistan. Check this great bit about an aid-worker who has been condemned to death for converting from Islam to Christianity. So glad that spreading freedom thing is working out for us.

Everyone Avoids Me Like a Cylon Raider

Patrick and I watched the season finale of Battlestar Galactica tonight. Its fantastic to see TV writing that doesn’t fall into cliche too often and actively strives to subvert the viewer’s expectations. Ron Moore, a veteran of shows like Star Trek and Roswell, has truly brought an important, subversive, and thought-spawning piece of fiction to the little screen. Everyone go watch it. Now! Why are you still here?

Now that you’re back, you can appreciate one of the best lines of the episode - “I don’t have to listen. I’m the President!” The cheek on that liberal! Clearly he must support the terrorists. What’s next, make the humans the Iraqi insurgents? Oh, whoops.

And now for the bad news - there will be no new episodes until October. That’s seven months away!! A time of mourning will now begin, but only until Friday at 9pm when new Doctor Who episodes finally materialize on American TV screens. Then…we…make….party! Fantastic!

A Constant Lemony Cake

Earlier this week, I finished the 12th Lemony Snicket book The Penultimate Peril. Its always a pleasure reading another Lemony Snicket, with his cheeky definitions and subversive morals. What’s sad is that there’s only one left, and that it doesn’t come out until the fall of this year. Oh well, here’s a great quote from the latest.

“Scalia,” Sunny said. She meant something like “It doesn’t seem like the literal interpretation makes any sense,” but her siblings did not think it was wise to translate.

There are two movies that I have been patiently waiting to see for a while now - Layer Cake and A Constant Gardner. Both revolve around British men whose lives change drastically over the course of the story, one because of the schemes and mistakes of people around him, the other because of his intense desire to discover the mysteries behind his wife’s murder. The directors of these two films are relative newcomers to directing film, but as such bring a novel and refreshing voice to their adapted works (both are novels). Neither movie is at all predictable, with A Constant Gardener quickly spiraling from a love story to a thriller and with the characters in Layer Cake switching loyalties only slightly quicker than the audience can keep up. Both movies are highly recommended.

Well, now that I’ve wasted yet another hour on a Saturday morning (listening to Car Talk, of course), I’m out to run some errands before my gig tonight at Cypress Cove. Remember, don’t drive like my brother!

Chancy Gardening & Gay Cowboys

Today (er yesterday if I go by what my computer tells me) I planted not one but TWO new trees in the front yard - a southern magnolia and a red maple. Both were provided, free of charge, by the Orange County Extension Office as part of their excellent Streetscape project. I haven’t planted anything big like that in several months, partly because of the season and partly because of a rather nasty case of leaf miners. Leaf Miners!!!

Of course, I only today (see above) discovered that my problem was leaf miners and not some funky fungus, virus, or other disease. The symptoms were these odd, curvy tracks on the underside of the leaves on my lemon, lime, citrus, and tomato plants. One of the gardeners at Lukas nursery diagnosed the problem from some leaves I brought with me and recommended a particular chemical remedy. Unfortunately, I have yet to try out this remedy, but I hope to very soon (this week when I get up early enough).

Also of note this weekend, I finally got around to seeing/reading Brokeback Mountain. What stands out amongst all of the things I enjoyed about the movie (the sheep, Jake Gyllenhaal, the way the story ends) were the feelings of terror, thankfulness, and anger. I felt the terror that those two men must have felt when even considering what would happen to them if they were caught (read tire iron). I felt the intense thankfulness that Patrick and I can have a relationship openly, share our lives together without fear of mortal danger or (much) societal scorn. And I felt the primal anger at those out there who would like nothing more than to take away what gay men and women currently have.

I’m not a violent person in the least. I’ve never struck another person to inflict serious harm. I’ve never had the least desire to shoot a real gun. I abhor the occasional necessity of warfare and detest those who lead us into conquest under false pretenses. Having said all that, I would not hesitate to take arms up against any government who would take away or interfere with my relationship with Patrick. I don’t believe that our country is anywhere close to doing something quite so insane and antithetical to what I believe are its core values, but things are happening in our country now that make me question its sanity. That I can’t even say something like the above without the hesitation that it might put me on some kind of watchlist, that might cause some ‘crat to start listening in on my phone calls, is pretty damn scary.

Go see Brokebrack Mountain and put yourself in either one of those men’s shoes. Look at all the shame, guilt, and pain that their relationship contained and caused in others, all because they couldn’t openly be with one another. Think long and hard about where we’re at as a nation, what are priorities are. Are we feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, teaching the values that aren’t just easy but rather pure? Are we teaching love by banning marriage because of gender? Are we building families by preventing gay men and women from adopting? We’re not on Brokeback Mountain anymore, but we’re still a long way from home.

Imogen Heap Concert

We got into the city just before 6 and started walking around South Street. After checking out a few interesting stores (partly to pass time, partly to get warm), we wandered into an Irish bar to have a drink. We didn’t join the crowd waiting outside the TLA until about 7, at which point they began letting us in the venue. Though Justin wanted to grab one of the few seats up top, I elected to stand close to the stage. This was an unfortunate choice on my part, as we then stood in roughly the same spot for the next 3 hours.

At 8, Miss Heap (Immi if you’re nasty) arrived on stage to introduce the opening artist Zoe Keating. Zoe is a cello player who samples, loops, and layers herself many times over in each song. She had a few technical difficulties and was quite obviously nervous, but I really enjoyed her music and appreciated the skills it takes to do that kind of performance.

Imogen came on around 9pm and started out with her own techincal difficulties. First the speakers were rattling, then her earbud monitors were picking up the security chatter, then her wireless mic was cutting out. It was a rough start, but she pushed through it all with patience and grace and quite simply performed her ass off. Though many of the arrangements were reduced down to pre-recorded tracks and piano, she occassionally brought in her “chorus” (harmonizer) and mbira (a kind of non-Western tuned plucked string instrument) to fill out the performance. Zoe also came back to accompany with her unique style of cello for a couple songs.

After doing a couple requisite encore songs, Imogen left the stage around 10:30. While I very much enjoyed the concert, I was quite ready to be out of there and did not stick around for the signing after. Instead, Justin and I went to grab cheese steaks at Jim’s around the corner, then to some local diner where they had cake with a practically all-butter butter-cream icing, and finally to a college sports bar near his house to hang with his friends. Oh yeah, and there was snow. Snow in the air, snow on the cars, snow on the ground. For this Florida-native, it was quite a novel treat to complete an already fantastic evening.

Not Quite Quahog

I’m back in Newport, Rhode Island again. This time, there’s less rain, but its just about as cold as when I was here in November. I flew in on Wednesday via a sunrise flight and got straight to work after only a minor hiccup with the facility’s security office.

The rental place surprised me with a PT Cruiser (instead of the usual Escort or Kia Rio) with Sirius satellite radio! Though I’ve been following the rise of satellite radio for several years, I actually have never tried it on. After listening to a little behind-the-scenes about Howard Stern’s radio show on the Howard Stern news channel, I switched to the OutQ channel for the Michelangelo Signorile Show. After reading him for years in the Advocate, I was pleased to find that his wit and wisdom wasn’t dumbed down or fluffed up.

Tomorrow I’ll be returning to work for the morning, hopefully helping my coworkers back home fix a few bugs before I drive back to Providence to return my rental. Then its the shuttle to the train station, where I’ll be wending my way down the coast, through New York City, to Philadelphia. I’ll be spending the weekend with my little frat brother Justin and seeing Miss Imogen Heap there this Saturday night. I’m thrilled to be able to catch one of my new favorite musicians live in concert, especially since she won’t be coming anywhere near Orlando anytime soon.

Still no sign of the Griffin family, but I’ll keep looking.

Fantasia Barrino & the Gay Pilgrim

I have mixed feelings about reality TV, as I’m sure many others do. Some shows like Colonial House and Mad Mad House have caught my attention because the subject matter interested me, but most of them just use real people in ridiculously manipulated experiences that defy reality. I used to feel that way about American Idol as well, but that show has finally produced a unique voice that totally justifies its existence - Fantasia Barrino.

I’ve enjoyed her voice since her initial audition with the three judges, each week delighting that she was moving forward in the competition. Unlike past American Idol finalists, Barrino has a unique sound that is unlike most everyone else in pop music today. Usually, America seems to prefer the expected and uninteresting in their pop stars, but this time it would seem that raw talent and distinctiveness might actually win in the end. Even so, I voted successfully 5 times last night for Fantasia, Ms. Barrino if you’re nasty.

Did anyone else watch Colonial House out there? I know PBS is usually no major Neilsen magnet, but someone out there besides the Beeb have to produce the shows that will eventually be re-run on the cable learning channels. Anyway, Colonial House is essentially a show where real people are shipped off to live like colonists from the 1600’s in America. The producers, also responsible for Frontier House, have strived to be as true to the period as possible, from the clothing to the social structure to the strident laws on behaviour. One unexpected surprise was the coming out of Jonathon, the servant of the colony’s lay preacher. At first this reminded me of the expected gay guy in the early Real World shows, but the producers tastefully wove this into the comparison between 17th-century and 21st-century mindsets.

Tonight, I finish both American Idol and Colonial House and ceremoniously wipe them from my ReplayTV. With Alias over until 2005, Sopranos and Deadwood coming to an end soon, and these shows over tonight, my TV watching will finally quiet down again. Too bad the summer movie season starts this weekend. Oy!

Super Mario Sunshine

Tired of punching, kicking, and slashing your way through life?

Sick of collecting gil, munny, rupees, and other various nonsensical currencies?

Fed up with stabbing octoroks, impaling malboros, and carjacking innocent people?

If so, then Super Mario Sunshine is for YOU!

Playing SMS reminded me of those summer afternoons when I’d spend hours hosing down anything that didn’t scream obsenities back. There’s just an inherent smile that rushes across your face as you spread moisture to the various trees, piles of dirt, cobwebs, ducks, etc. that you encounter in your average backyard. SMS captures that perfectly, allowing you to distribute H2O to all of creation while doling out some justice to the wicked (well, in this case, dirty).

When I first read about the new Super Mario game and saw pictures of our beloved, Italian protagonist with a bulky water-spewing device strapped firmly to his back, I was in shock! I wanted Mario to fly through the air, unfettered by bulky objects, via any of his previous devices (his cape, his flying hat, or even his Tanuki suit)! And though the worlds of SMS would be gorgeous to observe from high up in the air, doing so would probably spoil (or at least significantly shorten) an otherwise joyous game (did I mention that you get to shoot water at everything?!).

Though many of my favorite Mario items (Goombas, Fire Plants, Stars, Tanuki suits) have been left behind, at least a few new items have been thrown in (nozzles, shines, durians). This combined with the search for yellow, blue, and red coins provides MUCH to do throughout the adventure. Be warned, though. SMS can be incredibly frustrating at times. Playing video games should be a relaxing endeavour, but there were moments when I wanted to fling my SMS disc out the window to see how far it would go. 4 words - red coin warp zones!

Overall, if you’ve enjoyed any of the Mario games previously, then give Super Mario Sunshine a chance. You might even find yourself wandering aimlessly around a world admiring the beauty of the water and rediscovering the joy of making things get wet!

Scooby Doo: the Movie

This past Friday, I had the displeasure of witnessing the Harry Potter-ization of the generally enjoyable cartoon Scooby Doo. To clarify, I’d like to define “Harry Potter-ization” as the literal translation of some medium into a movie without making the creative effort to make it an enjoyable movie. This was previously done in the Harry Potter movie (also distributed by Warner Bros.) when Chris Columbus was so beholden to J.K. Rowling’s text that he sacrificed modern movie pacing in order to keep the myriad of fanatical fans from saying ‘they didn’t include X’. The makers of Scooby Doo suffered from the same malady but with a more horrendous result. While Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone is still a tolerable movie for its visuals, acting, and atmosphere, Scooby Doo’s only worthwhile contribution to my life were the brief moments of classic Shaggy & Scooby goodness and, finally, the end credits!

Another problem with this film was the target audience. While I understand that Scooby Doo is basically a kid’s cartoon, I don’t think that the kids of today are too knowledgeable of the many adventures of Scooy Doo. I would guess that the majority of Scooby Doo fans are in their 20’s and 30’s by now, so why then would the producers compose a film that contained an unbearable belch/fart scene that would only appeal to younger kids? And if their target audience was indeed younger kids, why would the sprinkle pot jokes, sexual innuendo, and stylistic references from the cartoons that would likely only appeal to a more mature audience? Some films do succeed at appealing to several audiences at once by being layered with different kinds of humor. A kid can appreciate the slapstick of a Mel Brooks film without understanding the sexual humor that would appeal to adults. Unfortunately, in Scooby Doo, the attempts at layering were obvious and painful to both kid and grown-up alike.

As this movie made just over 50 million in its opening weekend, I’m quite sure these lifeless copies of our beloved cartoon characters will be dragged out again on another zany adventure. Let’s just hope that the studios bring in some real talent that will transform Scooby Doo into more of a cinematic mountain than this direct-to-video molehill.

The Legend of the Rangers

The Legend of the Rangers is an all-new story from the universe of Babylon 5, with all of the benefits and problems there-in. While I love Babylon 5 for its epic scope and timeless message, I loathe Babylon 5 for its sometimes cheesy dialogue and over-the-top acting. The Legend of the Rangers succeeds and fails in all of these aspects. There are moments where my heart pounds with excitement, and there are moments where my mouth drops in disbelief - did he ACTUALLY just SAY that horrible line???!?!

But for all this, I must forgive JMS (the writer/creator of B5). His influences include the greats of sci-fi/fantasy (Tolkein, Asimov, Clarke, Herbert) along with the greats of literature (Tolstoy, Dickens, Dostoevsky), so its not surprising to find elements in his writing that remind or even reference their works (for better or worse). An in the genre television industry, literary allusions can be a pleasant rarity, indeed!

Specifically about this movie, I loved the return of Christopher Franke’s music (they tried out a VERY different composer in short-lived Crusade series), the much-improved CG (computer graphics that rival anything else on TV budgets), and the good blend of action, political plotting, and character-driven moments. From what I’ve seen thus far, this collection of characters and situations warrants repeated viewings and a regular t.v. show (which Sci-Fi plans to go ahead with if the movie does well). The same cannot be said of most of the shows on TV today.