D-9

I went to see District 9 last weekend.
The whole hype around the movie made me a little fearful. I thought that it probably wouldn't live up to its expectations and it would just ultimately disappoint. But boy, was I wrong. District 9 turned out to be a fantastic sci-fi movie, with a great story to tell and some of the best action sequences of the last years. More astounding even when you realize this movie was made with "only" 30 million dollars: the special effects are fantastic and really pull you into the movie. You actually get the feeling that these can creatures exist outside the screen, something that rarely happens with something created by CGI. I don't mean to write a full review, just say that I enjoyed it a LOT, and that I definitely recommend it. It was one of the best movies to hit the big screen this year, that's for sure.

Since I liked it so much, I couldn't help to put pencil to the paper and do a little sketch. I know, it's a bit lazy... but it's all I had time for. Enjoy!

Thriller

I confess I was never a big fan of Michael Jackson. Yeah, I liked a few of his songs, but I don't have any of his albums and those songs, although excellent in beat, melody and danceability never left a mark on me.

However, one of his videos did. Few things scared me more in my life than the Thriller video. I remember watching it at a friends house and just being petrified. You know when you're a kid and things terrify you but fascinate you at the same time? Well, I'll always think back to when I first watched zombie Michael dancing with a zombie horde with a smile. In that sense, Michael really did make a mark on me - especially since now I love zombie and horror movies, and that was most likely my first exposure to it.

Maybe in the end, it was the dancing I was scared of.

(the sketch is a little old, yes)
We should all dance the thriller now.

*Cause this is thriiiilleeeeer... Thriiiilleeeer night*

White Winter Hymnal

A very quick and sloppy sketch done after listening to Fleet Foxes' White Winter Hymnal. It's late and I don't even know why I'm posting this crap, to be honest. Brain Fart! :D

"I was following the pack
all swallowed in their coats
with scarves of red tied 'round their throats
to keep their little heads
from fallin' in the snow
And I turned 'round and there you go
And, Michael, you would fall
and turn the white snow red as strawberries
in the summertime... "

Dead Snow sketch

That movie was asking for it. Just a puny little doodle on my sketchbook.

Today is the day...

...of the Watchmen premiere. After such a long a wait, the movie is finally opening! You guys must be relieved, after being bombarded with post after post of Watchmen trailers and promotional photos and posters. I'm starting to get really excited, but also nervous - after all this time and with such high expectations, will the movie live up to it? What if it sucks? What movie will I look forward to, in this borderline obsessed way, next?

Well, despite all my geekyness, these questions will have to wait until Saturday to be answered, because I won't see the movie today. Not that I wouldn't want to - but because reasons bigger than myself prevent me from watching it today. Saturday is a day as good as any to see Watchmen!

Anyway, to mark Watchmen's opening day, here is a sketch I did of Rorschach.

It's been ages since I posted a sketch, huh?
To those of you that are going to see the movie today: have fun, and I hope it's as awesome as it promises to be *nods*

Christmas Songs-a-Palooza 2

First off, this Christmas songs thing I wanted to have going on may be cut a little shorter because most of the songs I wanted to post are nowhere to be found on any site that allows embedding of their players. I'm just that underground (yeah, right). But I'll try to keep it up moderately and introduce you to a few new christmas songs.

Today I'll leave you with Relient K's version of the 12 Days of Christmas. It's from the 2007 album "Let it snow, baby... let it Reindeer", built up of Christmas songs all throughout. This song doesn't hold a candle to Fairytale of New York, but then again Fairytale of New York is so awesome that very few songs would be an honorable follow-up. Everyone is familiar with the song 12 days of Christmas, even if you don't know the lyrics, so this is a decent, upbeat and fun cover of that holiday classic.



Also, here's a new digital sketch for today's post. I basically did the same as in the previous one, very quick, cutesy lines and sloppy coloring to give it a really rough and sketchy look. The sketch stars my boyfriend, Mr. Cosmic, with some Iron Man flair, because if there is one guy cooler than Tony Stark, it's Cosmic for sure ;)

If you were a Zombie...

So, the surge of Wacthmen-related news seems to have slowed down, leaving me with next to nothing to post (what are you saying, that other movies exist besides that one? no they don't, shut up.). This leads me to posting today about a little site about zombies I stumbled upon.



It's called "If you were a zombie..." and essentially it gathers zombie videos, zombies news and, the best, zombie postcards. Whenever shopping for postcards, I always find myself frustrated by the sight of row upon row of postcards filled with cuddly teddy bears, cute macroshots of dogs' snouts, or kitties playing with balls of thread. I needed something with zombies, and now my needs have been fulfilled. It's nice to know I can let people know how I feel about them with zombie cards, because, just like it says on the site, "Once they're a zombie, it's too late to say you care".



So waste no more time, and go send your loved one a postcard: If You Were a Zombie.



Enjoy the breakdancing zombie's mesmerizing moves until next time!

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

After hearing much hype about this little series created for the web, I decided to check it out, and I can say it was a pleasant surprise.

Created by Joss Whedon (famous for his work on Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and his brothers during the writer's strike of earlier this year, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a 3-part series that tells the story of evil scientist wannabe Dr. Horrible, who longs for acceptance on the Evil League of Evil, and for the love of a good-doing girl named Penny.
In the words of the creator, it's "The story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he's too shy to talk to."

The characters are all played in a campy, fun way (especially Captain Hammer, Dr. Horrible's nemesis), the story is simple and nicely developed, and the songs (because yes!, it is a musical) are all nice and catchy enough. This was obviously done on a super low-budget, so nothing is entirely brilliant and the songs are simple in their execution, but that's all part of the charm. There's a nice balance of humor/drama, though it is pretty humorous and funny for the most part.

I recommend this if you have an extra 40 minutes of free time, and want to check out something simple and fun. It's likely you'll have a good time along Dr. Horrible and his horrible machinations :)

Go here to see the whole thing, or download on iTunes if you wish to support it with a bit of your money.

The Dark Knight

I finally saw it. And I realized that the hype around this movie existed for a reason: The Dark Knight really is damn good.

It reaches way beyond the "superhero movie" genre. In this movie you will find, of course, action, but also drama, suspense, tension, and even humor, all so delicately balanced that you just have to let yourself go with the flow. It's a movie with the classic themes of good vs. evil, order vs. anarchy, sanity vs. madness, and it's amazing to see how they manage to include characters so nuanced and elaborate that they tip-toe in the fine lines between, and sometimes even slip up, to make you aware that things are just not black or white.

Gotham never seemed so real. It's dark, gritty and dangerous. Criminals lurk in the shadows, but someone lurks there with them: Batman. Batman strives to clean up Gotham, but crime seems to rise more than ever, as the Joker gains a central role amongst Gotham's mob. With his evil machinations and love of anarchy, the Joker will try to twist and turn Batman's ideals of justice by proving everyone can be corrupted, and that the only right to live is without any rules.



The plot is great. Like I mentioned before, it's a bundle of different elements, all intertwined, and it works very well. I loved how dark and tense the movie gets at some points: I won't give examples because I would hate to spoil anything.

The performances were all very good, but I have to point one out. And yes, you already know who it's going to be.

Heath Ledger was brilliant as the Joker. Everything they've been saying is true. He plays a terrifying, insane, maniac, nervous, and even funny Joker. He is so evil and disturbing, and still he makes you laugh along with him. His voice and laughter are purely unnerving, and his moves and quirks are something to be seen. It was a fantastic performance, and everything the Joker should be. There have been talks of an Oscar nomination for Ledger, but I don't know if this is the kind of role valued by the Academy; probably, if Heath hadn't passed away, he'd not see a nomination for this. But we'll never know. What I DO know is that his Joker ruled. It was a pleasure to watch, albeit a bittersweet one, because it's sad that it was his last role. I would have liked to see him in many, many more movies.


Aaron Eckhart was great as Harvey Dent as well. This is a character that suffers major changes throughout the movie, and Aaron was convincing all the way. He was a great surprise.


Christian Bale was awesome, as always. His Batman is always a little strange because it takes a little time to get used to his voice, but he can make it work. Plus, I love how he slips in and out of Batman, he is a great Bruce Wayne, really embodying the rich playboy and fooling everyone around. The changes he, as Batman, goes through in this movie are also very interesting to watch.



Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine play Lucius Fox and Alfred Pennyworth, and they're really good, as it would be expected. Maggie Gylhenhall does a decent job and Rachel, definitely better than Katie Holmes, but it's still not a very compelling character. Gary Oldman is still a great Comissioner Gordon, another character that sees his trusts and beliefs shaken to the core by the brilliant machinations of The Joker.

Another thing that needs to be mentioned is the cinematography. Everything looks brilliant and, most of all, REAL. The action is palpable, and it feels actually dangerous. Thankfully the movie relied on organic rather than on CGI effects, and the result is amazing.

All in all, this is a blockbuster, yes, but a great one, with feelings, substance and quality, not just some popcorn brainless entertainment.
Superhero movies watch out, your bar has just been raised to new heights.
I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

I confess I never read a single one of C. S. Lewis' books. I just never felt curious enough, despite them being fantasy classics, and after flipping through the first one I found it, on a glance, too infantile for my taste. I'm probably already over the target-age for them, but anyway.

I saw the first Narnia movie not knowing very well what to expect, since I was largely ignorant of the story, I only knew that it was about some kids that went to a magical world through a closet. Silly, right? Could have been. But I actually enjoyed the movie, I thought the characters were endearing, the story was interesting enough, and the fantastic element was always very present and well-balanced. The action sequences weren't that brilliant, but in the end the movie worked well and was, if nothing else, a nice movie-going experience.
I think almost the exact same thing about the sequel.

"Prince Caspian" finds the Pevensie siblings traveling to Narnia again, where they find out a cruel ruler, Lord Miraz, wants to usurp the throne and drive all Narnians - the magical creatures - to extinction. Prince Caspian, the legitimate heir to the throne, is the one that sumons the Pevensie kids, the Kings and Queens of old, to Narnia, so they can help him take the throne that is rightfully his.
As far as character development goes, only the kids and Aslan reprise their roles, so we're familiar with them. Well, sort of. Peter Pevensie was the most changed character, he actually came off as a bit of a cocky bastard, and not in a cool way. I know he was meant to be like that in the movie, as it actually serves as a starting point to some jokes and puns, but I didn't really like it.
Prince Caspian was a little bit of a wuss. I know he's supposed to be kind, and noble, and all, but I'd like to have seen him be a little braver. It's not like he didn't do anything, but he just came off too delicate and almost "lady-in-distress" like. The character might actually be like that in the book, as far as I know, but I wanted to see him kick a little ass. I wanted him to impress me and make me respect his character, but that didn't happen. Oh well.
Lord Miraz is just your token evil guy. He has a pointy beard and a cool war helmet, but not much more. The other characters are also kind of forgettable, which is a shame, because in the first movie, Mr. Tumnus, one of the supporting characters, was pretty endearing and ended up captivating the viewer. They also tried to hammer-in a romance subplot that was wholy unnecessary, in my opinion.

You can see they tried to focus more on the action in this sequel. That is all well and good, but one can't avoid compare them to the action in Lord of the Rings, which is far superior, and the comparison leaves kind of a sour taste. The action falls short of being enticing or awe-inducing, but it's pretty enough and entertaining.
Last complain I have is that the movie is a bit too long. But that's a minor issue.
All in all, it was an okay movie. It was good watching a fantasy flick, it's not the most common movie genre ever. I know I shouldn't compare it to LOTR, because both the movies and the source material were meant for kids, while LOTR was meant to a more mature audience. I think that as far as kids fantasy goes, this movie was pretty well accomplished, and I'm sure I'd enjoy it tons more if I was younger - especially because the stars are KIDS in the movies, and I'd be able to sit in wonder and wish I was them, running with the Centaurs in Narnia.
I'm giving Prince Caspian 3 out of 5 stars.

Be sure to check out the "Narnia Rap" too, if you've been living under a rock for the last 3 years and haven't seen it. :P

narniarap
Colocado por Gennita

And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sob on a corner over Christian Bale's arrest.

Wolverine vs. Son Goku vs. Pineapple Express

OMG! Epic Fight!

Yeah, but it's never gonna happen outside of the world of figurines and/or action figures. I was recently presented with a little Wolverine figurine by Mr. Cosmic and decided to play around a little, and take a few photos of it along other figurines I somehow have salvaged in a drawer. This was one of them, but you can see a bunch more in my flickr account.

Today's sketch, to go along with the photo, is a very quickly done Logan. I really need to get off my ass and do a proper Wolverine drawing - you know, maybe with inks, or, let me dream, even colors. It's not right that I like this character so much, and still don't have any complete drawing of him. For shame.

Also, because I'm your friendly neighborhood blogger and I want you to be happy, I'm posting a new TV spot for the movie "Pineapple Express". I loved Superbad, and Seth Rogen is pretty funny, he seems to make a good team with James Franco, and so I hope this will be a funny stoner comedy. I'm sure it'll be better than the awful pile of diarrhea that they try to pass as "comedy" these days. Disaster movie? Meet Dave? Are you for reeeaaal? God, those movies piss me off by merely existing.

Beast

No, not X-Men's Beast (although he is pretty cool too).

Beauty and the Beast continues to be one of my favorite Disney animated movies of all time. Say what you will about CGI and 3D animation, this stuff was the real deal. The characters were so lively and expressive, that you can't help but feel drawn into their story. The classic tale of the girl who learns to love a beast is funny, beautiful and moving, and I like this movie so much that I even forgive it for having Celine Dion sing the main theme!

That being said, my favorite part of the movie was the Beast himself. His character is complex, and it's great how we come to discover his kind, human side throughout the story. And as far as drawing goes, he is one of the coolest character concepts ever. So I did a little sketchy tribute to this piece of my childhood, during a genetics class, last year I think. Enjoy!

Feel the Thunder

I'll be honest with you: the prospect of the animated Dreamworks movie Kung-Fu Panda never really excited me much. I watched a few trailers, and a few promos, and I even wanted to like it simply because it had Jack Black doing voice-acting - and I have a soft spot for Jack Black - but none of these things really delivered to me. The trailers just seemed bland and sort of unfunny, like they had a lot of stuff that would be funny for kids (like the panda tumbling down a bunch of stairs and hitting the vilain in the face with his big panda ass), but would it be funny for me, even if I'm sillier and more childish than your average 23 year old? I wasn't thinking about watching it, until some reviews started rolling in. People were really enjoying this flick. Random comments on Deviantart stated that the animation was really good, and that the movie was actually a pretty decent, nice one. So last night, it was decided that Kung Fu Panda would be a laid-back movie to watch, and could even hopefully create some good spirits for the upcoming week.

The sinopsis of the movie is very simple: the main character, a fat and loveable panda named Po (like the damn Teletubbie) is "accidentaly" chosen by an old Kung Fu master to be the Dragon Warrior, the mightiest warrior ever and the only one that could defend the Peace Valley from the menace of Tai Lung. None too happy with this are the Furious Five, the 5 legends of Kung Fu - Tigress, Monkey, Crane, Viper and Mantis - that hoped one of them would be the One. Now it's up to Master Shifu to train Po from clumsy bum to kung fu master before his former pupil Tai Lung escapes and wreaks havoc in the valley.

First, I have to say the animation is amazing, very well-done indeed. The first couple of minutes of the movie are actually done more traditionally and were beautiful, they made my eyes shine with glee, I was so happy :D The fight scenes were all wonderful as well, with smooth kung fu movements and great choreography.

My next concern was about the HUMOR, this being a kid's movie I was worried it would rely too much on childish fart jokes or something, but I was so glad I was wrong. Of course there are a lot of instances of Po falling down stairs, knocking his head on walls, and generally being clumsy, but they are all so well done and intertwined with the story that it doesn't get annoying. It was great, and although I wasn't rolling on the floor laughing, I did laugh out loud a few times, and had a smile almost throughout the whole movie. It was pretty funny.


The voices... I thought Jack Black was on the spot as Po. He was great, and his little quirks really fit the character. Most of the Furious Five only had a couple of lines or so, which was a shame. Ian McShane did a pretty good job as the villain, and I also really dug James Wong as Po's father (who, by the way, I would have liked to see more of).

Overall, I had a great time watching it, more than in any of the latest movies I watched. I definitely recommend Kung Fu Panda!

It takes 4 out of 5 stars from me.

Wanted

Another of one of this year's summer blockbusters is the movie Wanted, adapted from the Mark Millar's graphic novel of the same name. The movie stars James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman, and was the first american movie directed by Timur Bekmambetov (known for his 2004 movie Night Watch). I saw Wanted last night. I wasn't expecting much out of it - I was only hoping to be entertained.


I can't speak for the movie's fidelity to its original source, because I never read the graphic novel, but I'm aware that some parts of the story were cut, and in my opinion it was probably for the best. If the adaptation tried to be completely faithful, it would probably be too scattered and would fail on the big screen. That's just my two cents though, and I can be totally wrong.
The movie follows the events that change the life of the "most insignificant asshole in the world", Wesley Gibson, as he morphs from a boring, stepped-on accountant into a member of an elite society of killers, called The Fraternity. It's a violent process, but also a funny one, as the movie is filled with a sort of dark sense of humor I really enjoyed.
James McAvoy does a decent acting job, and so do the other cast members - nothing to write home about, but not bad either. The special effects are all pretty stylish, but it's obvious the movie took a lot out of earlier classics like The Matrix, and even, in my opinion, Equilibrium - the gun fight at the end really reminded me of this poorly-known flick. Still, they work well and provide eye candy, even if they're not overly original. The story has some clichés - I won't point them out because I don't want to spoil anything - and is very predictable at times, and that was probably my biggest problem with the movie, along with, maybe, the excess of slow motion scenes.
Ultimately, the movie's message is to take control of your life and make your own choices, but not all of us were fated to bend bullets :P
Of course, this movie is no Godfather, so don't go in there expecting to see the best movie of all time - but if you pay your ticket in hopes of seeing an action-packed movie that will entertain you and not insult your intelligence too much, you might just get what you're going for.



It takes 3 out of 5 stars from me.

Battle of the Hans

Just a little silly doodle I did, based on an idea me and Cosmic had after seeing Hancock. Yeah, I know that the hans in their names are different, but I still thought it was funny, regardless of how little sense it made :D


I also tried my hand at a little speedpainting in Photoshop, and did this Ash (with photo reference).


I know that it pretty much sucks, there's plenty of things I hate, but I intend on improving, and keeping on experimenting with photoshop, with different techniques, and brushes, and all. So there's no loss in posting this, maybe I'll get to see some improvement sometime :P

I'm not gonna teach him...

I really like this song by the band Black Kids - I even have a sweeeeet vynil single, offered to me by Mr. Cosmic himself - so I decided to do a little doodle, inspired very loosely by it. Enjoy!

Saw IV

I have to confess I enjoyed the first Saw movie. I think the story was fairly well-written, it was suspenseful enough, and the twist was very good (at least I didn't see it coming), so despite a few over-the-top performances, the movie held its own, entertained me and surprised me.
The sequel was not that good anymore. It just inserted a few more characters to be killed off, and the story took a back place. If the first one was violent, the second one is more so, and more gratuitously.
The third one... don't even get me started. It was bad. The movies just started to be an excuse for showing some gruesome violence.
But my brother somehow conned me into watching the fourth installment of the Saw series, and so I did.


And it was bad, even worse than the previous one (by the way, this poster cracked me up. It could have a picture of Admiral Ackbar in there, screaming "IT'S A TRAP!!"). The story has become so convoluted, so anxious to be complex, that it fails to even create a glimmer of attention in me. The actors are C-list actors, at best, and their interpretations are all pretty weak - if that's all their fault, or if it's the writer's faults, I don't know. But they sure weren't given much to work with, I'll tell you that. The dialogues are terrible. The games Jigsaw creates are so intricate, and so spread out in their locations, that they really push your suspension of disbelief - you can't for one minute believe he'd pull all that off. Also, the timeline got me confused, it seems like the events take place simultaneously to the 3rd movie, but that couldn't possible, because Jigsaw is dead, and this movie actually begins with his authopsy. By the time we got to the run-of-the-mill plot twist, I had already lost any interest in the movie whatsoever. I was just glad it was over. The good part was that it was short, so I didn't lose much valuable time with it.
I did another photoshop sketch today for practice, and I decided it'd be the weird little puppet thing, from Saw. Enjoy!

Hellboy

Hellboy
Originally uploaded by cool_slayer

My lovely boyfriend gave me this amazing Hellboy deluxe action figure, and I absolutely love it.
It is SWEET - it's big, articulated, with awesome details and even a couple of different hands you can change, plus it just looks rad. I'm really excited for Hellboy II - The Golden Army too, so in that spirit, I did a sketch of Hellboy in Photoshop.








It is quite possibly the suckiest Hellboy sketch ever, but well... I tried. Hellboy is one of the characters I find most difficult to draw, I guess I need to practice!

A Couple of Buzzes

I love Buzz Lightyear. I mean, Toy Story is one of my favorite Disney movies, and Buzz is super cool. Woody was actually my fav on the movies, but no one can resist Buzz. And that being said, I did a couple of Buzz sketches yesterday.

This first one was done traditionally, in my sketchbook.



This one was done on Photoshop, with a brush that mimics pencil. I'm still trying to get used to using that pen to draw!

Enjoy... to infinity and beyond!

Nny Dome

Nny, also known as Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, is a creation of Jhonen Vasquez. He's a serial killer, riddled with problems and doubts about existence and society, and the comic he stars in is some of the funniest, most violent, things I ever read. I highly recommend reading it if you like dark humor, angular drawings, and irony.


Go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_the_Homicidal_Maniac for more info.