Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 9, 2007 in Comic Books
No word on if Spielberg would make Tintin into animation or live action, but it’s a sure thing that he’d do a good job with any film that features a kid and cute doggie:
“Tintin, the heroic young journalist and adventurer created by Belgian cartoonist Hergé, is set to take to the silver screen again — this time with the help of Steven Spielberg.
Spielberg and his company DreamWorks have committed to produce at least one Tintin movie and are gearing up for pre-production on the film, Nick Rodwell, head of Hergé’s Moulinsart Studios, which holds the rights to Tintin, said Thursday.
“If movie No. 1 works, we will continue,” Rodwell said, adding that it is still unclear which of Tintin’s adventures — depicted in 24 books — will be filmed. A completed movie could show up in theatres by 2009 or 2010, Rodwell told a press conference.
Since his debut in 1929, Tintin has enthralled comic readers with his ongoing adventures. In 2004, fans around the world celebrated his 75th birthday.”
Why just settle for watching Battlestar Galactica when you can star in your own episode? Taking a page from the Star Wars Kid the Battlestar Galactica Videomaker Toolkit allows you to create your own four minute sci fi epic. And a lucky few fanboys (or perhaps fangurls) will have their video broadbast on an upcoming episode of Galactica:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 8, 2007 in Comic Books
I was pretty amazed to see that Captain America was featured on the front page of the New York Times (click on the thumbnail above to see the screenshot at full size). Yes I know it’s not the print edition of the Times, but it’s still pretty cool from a fanboy point of view! Afterall this is the newspaper that’s too snotty to carry daily cartoon strips (except for the editorial ones on Sunday). But sadly for Captian America, he’s been shot dead:
“Captain America, a Marvel Entertainment superhero, is fatally shot by a sniper in the 25th issue of his eponymous comic, which arrived in stores yesterday. The assassination ends the sentinel of liberty’s fight for right, which began in 1941.
The last episode in Captain America’s life comes after the events of “Civil War,” a seven-issue mini-series that has affected nearly the entire line of Marvel’s library of titles. In “Civil War,” the government began requiring superheroes to register their services, and it outlawed vigilantism after supervillains and superheroes fought during a reality show, accidentally killing hundreds of civilians. The public likened the heroes to weapons of mass destruction that must be controlled.
The registration act polarized the superhero community. Captain America (whose true identity was Steve Rogers) considered the legislation an erosion of civil liberties; Iron Man, on the other side, believed that training heroes as the military, firefighters or the police are trained would only benefit society. When the factions came to blows and caused more destruction, Captain America chose to fight his battle in court.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 7, 2007 in Comic Books
Wipe that smile off your face! This is the ultimate fanboy bathroom accessory:
Manga Toilet Paper Announced Famous newspaper manga artist and TV Talent Yakumi Tsuru to launch line of manga toilet paper
“TV Commentator and 4-panel manga artist Yakumi Tsuru (real name: Hatakeyama Hideki) announced on Friday that paper goods company Banbix will be selling toilet paper with his manga drawings and 4 panel comics printed on it. The toilet paper, called “Food Toipe”, can be purchased in cases of 50 rolls from the Banbix website for 8,500 yen (approximately 80 US Dollars), and will be available as of March 2nd.”
Maybe the United States should do a joint mission so we can all get back to the moon sooner? It’s sad for me to think how old I’ll be until I see another person walking on the moon:
“China’s leading space vehicle expert predicts the nation will be able to send astronauts to the moon within 15 years, state media reported on Tuesday.
Huang Chunping, chief vehicle designer of the country’s manned spaceflight program, said that goal was dependent on Beijing providing adequate funding and on holding successful project launches ahead of a moon launch, according to the Xinhua news agency.
“The goal to land an astronaut on the moon can surely be achieved in 15 years,” Huang said while attending the annual full session of the country’s top political advisory body.”
“The UK’s Jedi community today expressed concerns that government plans to ban Samurai swords could hinder their freedom to wield lightsabres in public. The UK’s Home Office today issued a consultation paper ahead of legislation intended to ban Samurai blades by the end of the year. In a bid to “protect the public”, replica Samurai swords will become illegal to import, sell and hire in Britain.
Breaching the new rules could mean six months in prison, and a £5,000 fine. Anyone carrying such a weapon in public could faces up to four years in prison, the consultation paper suggests.
The paper notes that genuine Samurai swords would not attract the same penalties, and there are also exemptions for other specific martial arts weapons. “We recognise it is the cheap, easily available Samurai swords which are being used in crime and not the genuine, more expensive samurai swords which are of interest to collectors and martial art enthusiasts,” Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker. “As such as we are putting forward exemptions for these groups.”
The key word here is ‘replica’. No one has yet built a working lightsabre, leaving the UK’s would-be Obi-Wans inevitably having to wield plastic, flick-of-the-wrist-to-extend weapons in duels with Sith Lords, remotes and, occasionally, each other.
But Jedi fear that the Samurai ban would leave them exposed to future legislation against other forms of imitation weaponry that would, Jedi Temple (Neasden) spokesman Indi-Anna Jones warned today.”
“The cost to find at least 90 percent of the 20,000 potentially hazardous asteroids and comets by 2020 would be about $1 billion, according to a report NASA will release later this week. The report was previewed Monday at a Planetary Defense Conference in Washington.
Congress in 2005 asked NASA to come up with a plan to track most killer asteroids and propose how to deflect the potentially catastrophic ones. “We know what to do, we just don’t have the money,” said Simon “Pete” Worden, director of NASA’s Ames Research Center.
These are asteroids that are bigger than 460 feet in diameter – slightly smaller than the Superdome in New Orleans. They are a threat even if they don’t hit Earth because if they explode while close enough – an event caused by heating in both the rock and the atmosphere – the devastation from the shockwaves is still immense. The explosion alone could have with the power of 100 million tons of dynamite, enough to devastate an entire state, such as Maryland, they said.
The agency is already tracking bigger objects, at least 3,300 feet in diameter, that could wipe out most life on Earth, much like what is theorized to have happened to dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But even that search, which has spotted 769 asteroids and comets – none of which is on course to hit Earth – is behind schedule. It’s supposed to be complete by the end of next year.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 5, 2007 in Animation
All of my fanbiy friends have been talking about this for weeks: The anime film Paprika is hitting theaters May 25th and is well worth checking out:
Here’s an overview of the plot:
“29 year old Dr. Atsuko Chiba is an attractive but modest Japanese research psychotherapist whose work is on the cutting edge of her field. Her alter-ego is a stunning and fearless 18 year old “dream detective,” code named PAPRIKA, who can enter into people’s dreams and synchronize with their unconscious to help uncover the source of their anxiety or neurosis.”
“A Hollywood outsider whose independent shop popularized computer animation, Mr. Lasseter, 50, might seem an odd fit for a studio built on old-school cartoons and the mythology of Snow White and Cinderella. But since Pixar was acquired, Mr. Lasseter has been heralded as a latter-day Walt Disney, a cultural arbiter who can rekindle the spirit of Disney’s famous animation at its theme parks, on store shelves and in a theater near you.
Since the days of the 1928 Mickey Mouse classic “Steamboat Willie,” animation was Disney’s undisputed long suit. But after a recent decade-long parade of disappointments, most famously the 2002 bomb “Treasure Planet,” the studio was desperate for a change of fortune. It abandoned its hand-drawn tradition in favor of computer-generated fare. In the process the keepers of the Magic Kingdom lost much of their cultural cachet.
Enter Mr. Lasseter who, along with a close team of handpicked animators had made Pixar this generation’s premier storyteller with an unbroken string of hits including “Monsters, Inc.,” “Finding Nemo” and “The Incredibles.” The first filmmaker to run Disney’s animation operations since Walt Disney died in 1966, he said he wants to reclaim the studio’s golden era.”
…What I like about the article is that Lasseter seems to understand what makes Disney special is traditional 2D animation, so he’s not trying to make it Pixar. I also love the fact that John respects the idea of “the story” above all. And if I had to bet, my thinking is that we’ll be seeing some nice animation coming from the magic kingdom in the next few months.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 3, 2007 in Animation
One of my favorite underrated anime shows from the 80s is Super Dimentional Space Century Orguss which came out in 1983. Becuase the show came after Macross and featured transforming mecha the show has been a bit lost to time (also it wasn’t rolled into Robotech so most American anime fanboys didn’t get to see it).
What made Orguss so special to me was the first episode which set up a pretty unique plot. The show starts off with a global world war going on over the ownership of an all important space elevator. I don’t think I’ve seen a sci fi show before or since (and it’s been twenty years now) that has ever featured a space elecvator as part of the plot. Then there is the next plot twist, in additional to the usual atomic, biological and chemical weapons — a “dimentional bomb” has been created to fight the war.
This made for a pretty exciting setup for the series. What follows is the dimentional bomb going off and sending our hero into an anime version of “Land of the Lost”. The human character from our world then teams up with an odd assortment of other worldly characters. In addition to the interesting plot and characters the show was very well designed, the characters looked great and the mecha matched. Even the costume designs were interesting, even if they were inspired by the Flashdance fashions of the era.
I recently came across a great website on the show which is well worth checing out, it even features a special toys section (which was half the fun with any show from that era):
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 3, 2007 in Videogames
I like the fact that this Japanese commercial for Nintendo DS Lite isn’t aimed at little kids, but shows grown up people using it as a communications device:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 2, 2007 in Animation
When most people think of anime the first thing that comes to mind are giant robots and never ending magical martial arts battles. But what I like about “My Family” (ATASHIn’CHI あたしンち in Japanese) is that it doesn’t feature a slick look (instead it feels like a traditional cartoon) and focuses on a humorous look at the everyday daily life of a “normal” family living in Japan.
As with most anime “My Family” got started in June of 1994 as a humble four frame comic that ran in the Japanese newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun. In 2002 the manga was turned into an anime tv series, and now over five years later there are well over 100 episodes of the show. The tv show was so popular that in 2003 they also created a full length feature film. “My Family” is also very popular in China where it’s know an “Our Family” (我們這一家 in Chinese).
The first thing I liked about the show are that character designs remind me a bit of “Peanuts” with a dash of “Beavis and Butt-head” thrown in. The plot of the show follows the Tachibanis family, consisting of a housewife mom, a salary-man dad, and two teenager daughters Yuzuhiko and Mikan. The mom has a very stubborn personality and is concerned about every little trivial matter. She also follows a nurotic “can do” mantra where she applies a “haste makes waste” mindset to every situation. Even if you dont understand Japanese the humor is easy to follow and entertaining to watch.
Here’s a segment from the first episode (in Chinese):
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is now within range of Saturn, and the results are some amazing upclose photos of the ringed giant. To see the latest shots go here:
“I’m still trying to riddle this one out. On February 24th, the American Anime Awards were broadcast on The Anime Network and IGN.com. According to the AAA site, “To be eligible for an award, anime or manga must be available in the U.S. during 2006.” Now, please correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that just about everything released before 2007? “Available” is a pretty broad term. Regardless, only four of the twelve categories have anything to do with actual animation, with one category for “Best Comedy,” (FLCL…what? Azudai wasn’t even nominated) one for “Best Feature,” (Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children…NOT A SINGLE MIYAZAKI FILM WAS NOMINATED) leaving only two, “Best Short Series” (FLCL, again) and “Best Long Series” (Fullmetal Alchemist…nope, Eva wasn’t nominated) to pick up the slack for the roughly 42 billion other titles. There was only a single slot for “Best Manga” (Fruits Basket), with the rest consisting of American voice actor awards, packaging and music.”
It’s funny but he’s saying pretty much what quite a few of my fellow fanboys were thinking. But at the same time I think the local industry here needs some encouragement to produce a higher quality product. So my suggestion would be this:
I think it would be much more interesting if instead of having fifty million catagories you just have one single “Best in Show”: one for movie, one for a tv show and just one for a manga. This way the award would mean something instead of being a general pat on the back to everyone in the industry.
Next I would eliminate the “People’s Choice Award” factor to the show. In fact to judge the show I’d invite professionals from the Japanese animation industry to judge how their work is being translated. Then to top it off I’d invite some American pros who are known in their own right, like say a well known director like Quentin Tarantino or a well known comic book artist like Frank Miller. Having these high profile folks would raise the credibility of the show and make winning mean something.
Although getting to the core of things, the very concept of the show itself may be flawed. I tend to find that the hardcore fanboys who LOVE anime are tracking what’s going on right now in Japan via torrents or YouTube. By the time the shows air on the Cartoon Network for this audience it’s already over. And while folks watching the stuff on the Cartoon network are also fanboys, they aren’t the hardcore types who’d vote or even care about who won an award.
So in the end it’s the hardcore fans who determine what’s popular because they’re up on things and tell their friends what to check out. In fact I’m now hooked on Bleach because I heard about it on a podcast, but wanted to watch it on my couch instead of downloading it. So in a way that podcast mentioning Bleach is what gave it “an American Anime Award” for my valueable leasure time.
