Forest for the Trees

You ever ask yourself why you watched a certain movie? Why you watch the TV shows you watch, books that you read, music you hear? Yeah, me neither, but I sometimes ask myself why others do. I'm not really talking about why you like the things you do, I mean what brought you there in the first place? Presumably, every item of entertainment must have some type of advertisement attached, otherwise, how would you find it? But advertising is massive. If you think about it, the amount of requests for our attention we are bombarded with every day is mind boggling. An unsettling amount of our economy is actually tied up in the practice of informing the consumer group of things to spend your money on, and since entertainment is, often times, big money so is the advertising of said entertainment "big business". A quick simplification of the method of advertising gives us 2 major components. 1, the presenting of the product in question in the most appealing and attractive light and 2, the distributing of said presentation to the largest amount of prospective consumers.

This brings us to (in a dry, uninteresting, meandering fashion I notice as I reread the above) the gist of my question. With so many medias vying, tooth and nail, for you attention, how do you choose? Right now, we are subjected to such a crushing onslaught of information that there is a whole new field of study dedicated to how our brains are evolving to process it. How in the world does anything get watched, listened to or read over anything else? I'm certain it has as much to do with reflecting an appealing aspect of the individuals makeup in the media being marketed as sheer dumb luck. I, also, am certain that if I could manipulate such a force, then I would have many, many dollars to spend on the frivolous things that strike my fancy.

Anyhoo, the impetuous of the above diatribe was the viewing of the movie Coraline, based on a story by the amazing Neil Gaiman and directed by the real talent behind The Nightmare Before Christmas, Henry Selick. The tried and true premise of the new kid in town adjusting to her unknown surroundings and testing her relationship with her parents becomes a fairy tale in the Grimm sense in the hands of these 2 storytelling maestros. The story is a vehicle for Gaiman to explore the phobia koumpounophobia, (the fear of buttons, in this case buttons sewn into the eyes, yummy) in deliciously inventive, mildly horrifying fashion focused through the lens of Selick's formidable imagination. And it's those two elements, imagination and horror, that are, to me, the defining ingredients to an effective fairy tale.

This is a movie I've been waiting for a long time to see, character design have popped up on the blogs I read and at the comic con for years. The movie wasn't accompanied by an sort of media blitz which may account for it's so so 1st week box office, but in it's 3rd week it comes in second with another 11.4 mil (behind Tyler Perry's Medea Goes to Jail, WTF). For me, this movie delivers on all fronts and is as good as purchased when the DVD becomes available. But, just to revisit my opening thought, how did anyone find this gem? I mean, I know how I found it, but my methods of finding things are unconventional at best. What I wonder about is how such an unusual movie with minimal marketing and zero star power ends up staying in the top 3 for 3 weeks? I guess I should just go ask Mr. Owl.

Also saw Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, yeah, that wasn't so great.

The latest episodes of Battlestar Galatica kicks copious amounts of ass. The new Joss Whedon effort Dollhouse somewhat floundered in the beginning (while I love her to death the star, Eliza Dushku, is the weak link) but after catching the 3rd episode, I can comfortably commit to further viewings. Doesn't matter though, it'll be cancelled in 4 more episodes.

The pic is the effervescent Zooey Deschanel, it came out easy but it's got some balance issues and it feels a bit static, I might need to expose myself to some Paul Pope or something. Crap, I missed 2 postings in one month by 3 hours, fail.

Oh, reading Warren Ellis's Freak Angels web comic, it's both free and awesome, please read it, you'll thank me later http://www.freakangels.com/.

-Dust

The Road Less Traveled

I'll admit, sometimes I can be a bit of a hater, ask anyone who's met me. But honestly, if I seem to get overly worked up or overly critical of something there's actually a reason. You see, I genuinely enjoy my interests. Think about it... How do you really feel about the shows you watch, books you read, movies you see, music you listen too? Are they there just to pass the time, to entertain, or to place your mind into a vegetative state? There's so much stuff out there, so many things to occupy your time with, but how many of them are really worth your time?

Every once in awhile, I'll be reading somethng or watching something, and the realization will hit me, "somebody freakin' created this!" Somebody had an idea, then that idea became reality, and now I'm experiencing it. Somebody created something, plucked it straight from the ether, then transferred it to a medium, (book, film, comic, song, etc..) for the expressed intent of someone like me finding it. The whole concept of that amazes me. It's that realization that, I think, connects me to my interests. It's that connection that makes me so involved and, therefore, invested, and its that investment that makes it personal. I take this stuff personally. I've seen some of the astonishing things each medium is capable of, books that have broadened the horizons of my mind, songs that are nearly a religious experience, comics that have transported me to entirely different reality, and movies that are nothing short of pure magic. These things can enlighten, educate, stimulate, but honestly, (and this could, quite possibly be the philosopher's stone right here) they ultimatley have to entertain.

That's the real trick though isn't it? What is entertaining? Foregoing the answer completely, (since I don't have it) Let's look at some indicators shall we? If you watch TV you may surmise that watching people humilate themselves on reality TV shows, look foolish, get stabbed in the back, lied to, tricked, berated, rejected, laughed at, and judged is entertning. (I realize that some of these examples may seem unfair, but I ask your indulgence). If you watch movies you may think that only subject matter that is depressing is worthy of accolade, that only stoners are funny, that the presence of black actors means race is invloved, that animation is for comedy or for kids, or that women only care about relationships and shoes. Music my lead you to believe that the only things worthy of song are sex, drugs, and, uh, sex. Books all have 7th grade reading levels and are generally about helping yourself and teen vampires. Don't even get me started about the impression comics conjure...

Admittedly, these are narrow minded generalizations, but I can't help feeling, or more accurately "fearing", that the above cited forms are becoming more prevalent. I know not everything has to be a shining representation of it's medium, but neither does mediocraty have to reign. If I sometimes get irritated, well, that's why.

I recently saw The House Bunny, Tropic Thunder, and Wanted. Both comedies struck me the same way, as somewhat missed opportunities. I adore Anna Faris, along with most of the rest of the cast of The House Bunny, it doesn't hurt that Anna is blisteringly hot in the movie, but I can't help but feel that something is just "off" from really funny. It's not the timing so much as it seems the film makers seem to be under the imppression that the premise alone is funny enough that they can softball the jokes. This may go double for Tropic Thunder, in the interest of full disclosure, I am not the biggest fan of half the cast of this movie, (Ben Stiller, Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey). Jack Black is plenty capable and RD jr is Freakin' stellar, but it feels a bit like the director, (Stiller again), is coasting along on the premise for laughs without earnest effort toward actual jokes. Wanted, now this could be the new action movie template. Based on a comic book designed specfically with movie property in mind, Wanted transcends the equation "comic+stars+$$$$$$=more $$$$$$$" and writes it's own formula with equal parts secret society-creative physics-mind warping action-deft camera work-sharp performances-clean execution. Sure, the narrative gets a bit muddy, and much belief is being suspended, but if you can buy the bullet bending, then your in for a slick actioner.

The pic is indicative of how my drawing is going. I'm finding a bit more time to draw and a whole lot more pleasure in it. Challenging myself more, having more output, and, most importanly, having more fun doing it. Which should really be the point I guess...

-Dust

Criminal

I can only assure you that I am, indeed, drawing. That does not, however, excuse my lack of posts. THAT I can only attribute to an accute case of lame.

New year/new president/economy bad... No need to address here what is swiftly becoming dead horse paste.

Most important is that the Chargers are out of the playoffs, thus my sundays are, once again, mine to control.

Movies: First and foremost, WTF is hollywood doing, seriously? Anyone? When is the last time an original property was commited to celluoid? Don't get me wrong, having movie versions of comics like Iron Man, Hulk, Batman, Hellboy, Wanted... dominating the cinematic landscape tickles me to no end, however... the sheer lack of original material is, well, let's break it down. Novels continue to be a staple of source material ( Spiderwick, Narnia, Choke) , and video game adaptions continue to pop up ( Max Payne, Dungeon Seige [shudder]), faring not so well critically/finacially, although I appreciate the effort. Leave us not forget the remakes ( Day the Earth Stood Still, Get Smart, Speed Racer) and sequels ( Indiana Jone, Harold and Kumar, Quantum of Solice). For real, if you look through a list of synopsies (sp?) of this year's movies, I'd guess at least 80% start out with "Based on the... Adapted from the... Ripped off from..." Has it always been like this? I may not even mind if it resulted in some cool movies but it seems to, more often than not, result in a bunch of "meh".

What this does, is it fills me with a fearful dread toward the upcoming crop of movies this year and it shouldn't 'cause movies are a true love of mine. Sure, I'm confident in the new Harry Potter and Watchmen movies (Watchmeny goodness), but there are a plethora of other properties that scare the bugeesums outta me. The Uninvited chief among them as that is a remake of my favorite ghost story of all time Tale of Two Sisters, an exquisite blend of psycological terror, familial discord, mental illness, and loss that this remake has zero chance of doing even a modicum of justice. Lets see, we also have the Chun Li movie (yikes), Avatar the Last Airbender (all white actors playng all asian roles), GI Joe (um, really), Friday the 13 (stop), another Fast and Furious (double stop), Dragonball (dear lord), Wolverine (ambiguously gay), Star Trek (maybe), Terminator (sorry, I really don't like Christian Bale), Land of The lost (god)... Well, you get the jist.

My point, (I did have one didn't I?) is that it really feels like Hollywood is clutching at any and every property with a whif of possible built in fanbase, or "next big thing" quality... grasping desperately, pathetically. And it's what they're doing with them! For God sakes they're thinking of casting Keanu Reeves as Spike Spiegel in the Cowboy Bebop movie, Keanu F'ing Reeves!!! It's just a big bunch of FAIL!

Rant finished. I saw some cool stuff, Forbidden Kingdom was waaaaaay better than I thought it was gonna be. Pretty, clever, exciting, not nearly as offensive as it could have been. The Life Before Her Eyes was one of the best movies I saw this year. Gorgeous, lyrical, poignant, skillfully acted/written/directed/crafted, an unmittigated crime that you've never heard of it. The Substitute, a danish scifi grim fairy tale illustating my point that averyone in the world has imagination except Hollywood.

In all honesty, I can't wait to see the next movie that reafirms my faith in the power movies, it really doesn't matter where it comes from, or who makes it, and they do keep coming, eventually, if not consistantly.

Oh yeah, picture is a sketch of Fiona Apple, absurdly talented girl.

A Time for Witches

I like Halloween for many warm and fuzzy reasons. Candy corn, Halloweentime at Disneyland, scary movies on tv, and chicks in tartish costumes chief among them. While I indulge my taste for horror fare year round, something about a good scare flick or freaky book or comic during October... I guess it just tastes better.

The lovely lady above is a harlot... Actually the Harlot, from the comic Fall Of Cthulhu. The Harlot resides in the Dreamlands, is privy to all of man's secrets, and likes to keep people in small boxes... for, like, ever... she has lots of them. Pretty much anyone who finds her in the Dreamlands is welcome to partake of either one of her boxes or one of her secrets, the latter will cost you... maybe a foot... maybe the memory of your dead wife? As far as H. P. Lovecraft inspired fare goes, Fall Of Cthulhu is not so bad. The art can be pretty mediocre in places, and the story does not maintain the gravity of its mythic characters at times, but there are many bright spots and interesting concepts. Actually, comics is being very generous to the Lovecraft fans, (In the interest of full disclosure, it should be known that my Lovecraft fan level could be accurately described as "rabid"). Boom studios has Fall Of Cthulhu, Cthulhu Tales, and Necronomicon, and Marvel Max has a Richard Corben(!) Haunt Of Horror.

I digress, the Harlot picture features her in a Snow White inspired dress, kind of a gushing pose, with unfortunate fellow in a box and the ubiquitous tentacle in the background. I thought I was gonna post it yesterday but the skirt portion was bugging me, so I reworked it. My gf has expressed every intention of stealing it from me.

Movies, I have been somewhat unimpressed by this summer's offerings, Hollywood, please do better. Very little of my meager income has gone to dvds of movies released this year. Offhand, I can only cite The Orphanage, Cloverfield, Iron Man (the Target exclusive 2 disc with mark2 helmet case, Huzzah!), annnd... I think that might be it. Sigh.

Been watching Terminator, The Sarah Conners Chronicles... mixed bag really, but I really like Summer Glau as a terminator, and Lena Headey from 300, so I will keep watching for now. New season of Pushing Daisies is on, do yourself a favor and watch it while you can, it genuinely qualifies as "too good to last".

Oh Geez, go to Hulu.com and watch Dr Horrble's Sing-Along Blog, it may change your life*.

I have every intention of posting more, really. And watching many horror movies this month. And eating too much candy corn.

*Life change directly proportional to level of Whedon/Fillion/NPH fandom you possess.

-D

LAAAAAAME

Weak, lame, feeble. Lotsa stuff goin' on but nothing so involving that I couldn't taken 10 minutes out to update the blog. So, really, I'm just lame-acious, lame-ific, and weaksauce. Not gonna get too into it but... sick, art project (fell through, but still on backburner), hawaii vacation, sick (again, what'd I say about being weak?), San Diego comic con (which was freakin' awesome), and training for work. Did I mention "just plain lazy"? Anyhoo, here's a sorta quickie for the drawing board Diana Rigg thread. I didn't spend too much time on it as, if I overthink a project my OCD kicks in and it never gets done. So the new goal is to find the pleasure in drawing and not the pressure. That, by the way, is your deep thought for the week.

Movies, saw many, but not enuff (I tend to say that alot). Standouts are Iron Man (could that have been much better? a bit, but not much), Penelope (I know, it's a romcom, but its a fantasy romcom, and Christina Ricci owns that role), Hellboy 2 (the astonishing Guillermo Del Toro drunk on his own imagination to dizzying effect), and... well... see I haven"t seen alot a movies. Hulk, Wanted, Indiana Jones, that Batman movie I've heard something about. I really need to get on the ball, there needs to be more hours in the day. Did I mention my car got stolen? Much to my girlfriend's chagrin it came back. Still no excuse, I don't need my car to pick up a pad and pencil. Actually, I have been drawing, just nothing post worthy. I know, I know, I should post anything just so's I'm continuing to do it. Ya know, when you're right, you're right. I'm glad we've had this chat.

D-

Flasher girl, (pg 13)

You know what sucks? Illness. Illness freakin' blows. I'd been successfully fending off the cornicopia of deseases galavanting through my workplace but, alas, 'twas all in vain. I finally succumbed. After a spirited and gallant battle, my immune system finally triumphed. To celebrate, I thought I'd draw a girl in her undies. This is actually for a thread over at the Drawing Board... flasher girls, how could I resist? Pencil on bristol, as usual until I get off my duffer and pony up for a Wacom tablet. The tricky part was that the piece was too big for my scanner. I had to scan her in 2 halves and put her together in photo, a learning experience for sure as I am a rank noob with alot of this stuff. I already see areas I'd fix, ( right hand more prominant, boobs too round, neck a bit long, no unifying shape to jacket...), but I also see a smattering of improvment, which is the point of this here blog, yah?

While I was afflicted I mostly watched movies I'd already seen a few times, ( Three Extremes 2, Pirates Dead Man's Chest, The Host...) but I did catch 28 Weeks Later, a very decent sequel that felt reminicent of the 2nd Resident Evil movie... except less comedic... and with less hot chicks. I also saw 30 Days Of Night, not at all the worst comic to movie adaption I've seen. Visually yummy, bloody as all hell, the faithful-to-the-comic bits are... well... faithful. The embellishment bits actually work pretty well, some of it feels a tad thin on atmosphere/character, but thats really just nit-picky considering it's a vampire movie. Plus, a little girl vampire gets her head chopped off with an axe, can't beat that.

If you haven't already,( and if you read comics at all...) you need to read Kick Ass by Mark Millar and the freakin' amazing John Romita Jr. It's about a kid who becomes a costumed superhero... what's the hook you say? Well if J.R.Jr. ain't enough, (though it probably should be,) it's the fact that our hero has no powers and no decernable aptitude for this vocation save the geek loving desire to be a superhero. Not to give too much away, but let's just say he's less on the "giving" end of these ass-kickings. It's the life that Romita Jr. breaths into this world and these characters that is the real draw, it's Romita Jr. that is actually doing the ass kicking.

It's about that time I start looking to the summer movie season season with a hungry, eager eye for cinematic fare. Umm.. I'm a little worried there are only a couple I really wanna see, it makes me sad a little, like when I watch the end of Lilo and Stitch... what?

As tho' it never was...

Please disregard the link in the previous post. It was to something Time/Warner would prefer you not see now. And yet that crappy Speed Racer trailer is all over the place, go figure.

Y end the series?

Soooo, in addition to lagging on my posts, (such is the extent that I will gripe about my laziness as I know how tedious it is to read on other people's blog,) I have been very sloth-like in my comic book reading. Annnnd, there's this comic you may have heard of called Y the Last Man. Furthermore, you may have heard that said comic ended it's run recently at issue 60. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I'm bummed that one of my favorite books has ended. I'm all for finite runs being envisioned when crafting a story, and for going out on a high note rather than jumping the shark and overstaying your welcome. However, the selfish part of me is a little ticked that I won't be rapturously enjoying this freakin' awesome book, (all due platitudes to Vaughan/Guerra/Marzan/and company, yadda-yadda-clever-yadda-entertaining-yadda-thrilling-yadda-poignant-yadda). On the other hand, I'm happy to have read such a little slice of heaven, and, I'm happy to be back watching regular old tv and movies without Y ruining the curve by making all other movie and tv shows look like ass in comparison. Oh yeah, the above is, of course, agent 355 from said awesome comic, pencil on bristol. I may post later some of the "process" sketches for you amusement. Also, saw I am Legend... all that is being said about the dodgey special effects and Wil Smith's riveting performance is true. Saw the Spiderwick movie, very entertaining, very Brian Froud, in a good way. Saw The Bourne Ultimatum, more of the same, which is not a bad thing, (side note, still very hard to watch Matt Damon without expecting him to just repeatedly say "Maaattt Daamon"). Have you seen this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNgpeTf-WaU
F'ing sick. Oh, oh, did you happen to catch the new Knight Rider show? No? Then you just missed the 2 hour, television equivalent of being waterboarded.
Dust-

Ok, not so easy

No, seriously, I did think this was gonna be easier. My hats off to all those people who can post at least once a week, for real. And I have been drawing, just not anything post worthy. Gripe portion finished. This a sketch of the murder moppet Henrietta from the anime "Gunslinger Girl". Shades of Luc Besson's "The Professional", GG is about a quintet of pint size assassins employed by the innocuosly named Social Welfare Angency. Terminal, pre-adolescent girls are recruited, given cybernetic implants, and conditioned into efficient killing machines under the tutelage of a handler. Aside from a premise that is just plain awesome, GG sports some excellent visual style, amazing italian locals, well crafted music, and some genuinely interesting, sometimes poinant, interaction between each handler and his charge. Check it out if you haven't, also if you have not seen "The Professional", shame on you. Soooooooo, I saw the "Cloverfield" movie. Took me 2 full days to figure out that I liked it. Ambitious premise pays off to riveting effect, too bad the stars are so unlikable that I was wishing that they would somehow be doused with honey mustard sauce, fall on some cocktail toothpicks, and land on an hors devours tray. That coupled with excessive suspension of disbelief it took to concede that the party-camera-friend-guy was gonna run around during a horrifying unnatural disaster with a camera in constant POV and just happen to capture a cohesive narrative almost ruined it for me. In the end, while overshadowed by the ridiculous hype, the good outweighed the bad for me. Oh, and in an unrelated subject, Dentists are the devil.

Easy Breezy

It's funny, this weekend I set aside time specifically to draw, no easy task with my football team in the playoffs (Chargers), a dirty apartment staring me in the face, some Saturday family duties with the girlfiend, and a refridgerator that can only be described as lacking. The drawing did, however, occur. I even had a subject, I laid it out, roughed in the specifics, but it just wasn't happening. I pushed through, sketching and resketching, using different angles and expressions, but I came to the conclusion that it was a no go. The subject, if you're curious, was a scene from the new movie "The Orphanage" (El Orfanato). If you're a fan of horror movies, foriegn films, or have any taste at all, you'll treat yourself to this gem. Anyhoo, Monday night I changed subjects, the results you see here, it came off pretty easy, I had fun doin' it, I learned a bit from it, and I see where I can improve, which, I guess, is the point of this little venture. Hopefully, I'll revisit the orphanage picture, if so I'll certainly post it here.

You'll notice I get a bit spikey when I talk about movies (or anime). Thats because I am a "movie whore". I love movies, old ones, foriegn ones, indie ones, blockbuster ones, cheesy ones, scary ones, funny ones... You get the idea. I figure this blog may be a bit uninteresting if is filled with my artistic musings, or the ponderously dull events of my life, so every once in a while I may squeeze in some movie related morsel. Dine at your leasure.

Just to get back to the picture, it is of course Power Girl. I don't actually read the comic, nor am I particularly familiar with her, I just thought she was an interesting subjuct. Not simply because she has big boobies. Just good 'ol pencil on sketch pad, thus the janky quality of the scan. Enjoy, hope to post again soon. Go see "The Orphanage".

-D