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Language Lessons with Berryz Kobo
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 20, 2008 in Japanese TV
Berryz Kobo is a side project of the Hello! Project — this video is from a DVD magazine and features the members of the band saying “hello” in various languages. What makes the video for me the 60s game show music which nicely contrasts with the faux educational lesson, although it would have been just a tad cuter if each presenter had a matching outfit for each language. Do the Sega Samba!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 20, 2008 in Videogames
Samba de Amigo is due out on December 11th for the Wii — this music based game goes back to 1999 when it first appeared in arcades, and jumped to the doomed Dreamcast video game console in 2000. What makes the game unique is that unlike other music games Samba is focused around popular latin music songs and of course — samba music! What’s cool about the Wii version is that it will allow you to use your Wii Remote as a maraca — although the game includes faux maracas for the full samba experience. Life Magazine Photo Archives: Film Fanboy Heaven!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 19, 2008 in Cinema, Television
If you’re a classic film or TV fanboy you have to check out the LIFE photo archive hosted by Google — it’s like having a personal time machine to view film history. After spending a few hours I found a few gems that are worth sharing, but these are just the tip of the iceberg. Shown above is a 1950 photo of Walt Disney, and below is a 1968 photo of Stanley Kubrick on set of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
How many times to you get to see a rehearsal for a scene in Citizen Kane? This photo is from 1940 and shows Orson Welles at the high point of his career. Read more… Beauty and the Beast in 3D (I’m Sorry This Headline Isn’t a Joke)
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 19, 2008 in Animation
In the good old days Walt would worry about the important things in film making: the story, character design, quality animation and of course sound. Disney rediscovered some of the magic later, but sadly they seem to be going backwards again and getting caught up in technique over theater. While I realize that the 3D is cool and of curse it will make money it sort of takes away the focus on what makes the film work on the silver screen: Read more… Lost Ate My Life: An Exclusive Interview with Amy Johnston
There are two things we love at fanboy.com: The TV show Lost and people who write books about fandom! So we’re very honored to have an interview with Amy “hijinx” Johnston the co-author (with Jon “DocArtz” Lachonis) of Lost Ate My Life: The Inside Story of a Fandom Like No Other Q. What was it about Lost that made you a fan of the show in the first place? And what makes it extra special to you? I knew the show was being made by JJ Abrams and I was a HUGE fan of Alias. I knew he was an amazing storyteller who typically thought “outside the box” – breaking the rules of conventional television storytelling – which has always appealed to me. He has also been very character-driven with his shows – the characters are not just puppets playing a part. They live, they breathe, they make you FEEL something. LOST from the beginning has been that way – stories that break convention, characters that are unforgettable. Plus the show has always been this package deal – it’s the writing and it’s the acting, but it’s also the directing and the cinematography and the SFX and the score. Watching LOST is an all-encompassing experience. Read more… First Step to an Antimatter Drive?
If your grew up with Star Trek you know that warp drives can’t exist without antimatter — well it seems now scientists have graduated from observing antimatter to actually creating it. Although there seem to be no solid plans to translate this advance to interstellar exploration: Read more… Watching the Watchmen Whatnots
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 18, 2008 in Comic Books, Hobbies and Collections
Watchmen fanboys can sleep soundly at night knowing that there will be tons of collectable knickknacks to coincide with the release of the feature film. My favorite of the goodies is a nifty 1:24 scale replica of the Owl Ship (shown above) and of course there are plenty of action figures too: Read more… The Latest Fanboys Trailer Features Williams ShatnerHow come there’s a William Shatner cameo in Fanboys but not in the upcoming Star Trek XI flick? And speaking of Shat did you know that he once saw a UFO (not!): Read more… The Non-Bootlegged Trek XI Trailer is Even More Fun!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 17, 2008 in Star Trek
The previous bootlegged Star Trek XI trailer did bring me back to the good old days of poorly duplicated VHS tapes that had a magical quality. But that said this official trailer does show off the spaceship battles much better. I’m sad that Shatner won’t be in this film, but man sign me up to stand in line on opening day! This Star Trek Remastered Trailer is Much More Amusing Than the Star Trek XI Trailer
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 17, 2008 in Star Trek
It’s hard to get a percentage of the Star Trek fanboy mindspace these days with everyone zombified with J.J. Abrams brilliant viral marketing campaign! However this promo for the remastered series (which has already be on the air for a while) does the trick nicely by using an enjoyable sense of humor. Found via TrekMovie. Happy Birthday to Martin Scorsese
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 17, 2008 in Cinema
Today is the birthday of Academy Award-winning director Martin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese (born November 17, 1942). Someone I know once mentioned that the test of a great film is that if you catch it in the middle playing on TV that you’ll sit down and watch the movie to the very end even though you’ve seen it time after time before, and Scorsese always comes to mind when I think about that. Most people think of him for his more gritty films like Raging Bull and Goodfellas, but what’s amazing about Scorsese is also his music documentary work like The Last Waltz and No Direction Home. Also as a fanboy I love the fact that he’s also been so involved in film preservation. Happy Birthday Marty! William Gibson: What’s the Future of Science Fiction?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 17, 2008 in Pulp Fiction
There’s a wonderful series of articles in the latest New Scientist magazine on the future of the science fiction genre which features quite a few well know authors on the subject including William Gibson: Read more… Will Japanese Gameshows Be the Next Anime?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 17, 2008 in Japanese TV
What’s great about Anime is that for the last 40 years it has introduced Japanese pop culture to a very wide global audience. Now while it’s true that J-pop has done very well in Asia, it’s never reached the critical mass that Anime has reaching everywhere from Russia to South Africa. While I wouldn’t expect Japanese gameshows to inspire the same depth of fandom, I think it could very well open the door to a different demographic that Anime might not include: Read more… Robotech Goes to Hollywood: Warner Brothers Film in the Works
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 17, 2008 in Animation
It’s starting to look like there is a very good chance for Hollywood to produce a Robotech film, although the project can still get shot down. After the Speed Racer film I have mixed feelings as to if Hollywood can get the film right, although on the flip side many fanboys seemed happy with the Transformers films. To me it’s not a question of special effects which Hollywood can do well, but if they can make the story and casting work: Read more… Ouch! Aren’t Astronauts Only Suppose to Drink Tang?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 16, 2008 in Science
Up until this moment I always regretted not being an astronaut — but the idea of having to drink urine to explore outer space is giving me second thoughts: Read more… Pulp Muppets
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 15, 2008 in Cinema
This video mash up of the Muppets and Pulp Fiction got me to thinking: What I liked so much about this film was that it wasn’t based on any existing book, it was an original story. In fact like all good films of the crime genre it has very little to do with crime — and is all about people. I’d love to see Quentin Tarantino get back to basics again, although being a fanboy I’ll gladly stand in line for anything he directs. Star Trek XI Trailer for Those Not Seeing James Bond This Weekend
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 14, 2008 in Star Trek
What’s insulting about this trailer is that EVERYBODY knows that when William Shatner was playing Captain Kirk back in the 60s that he rode a motorcycle everywhere! The Best James Bond Who Wasn’t: Patrick McGoohan
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 14, 2008 in Cinema, Television
It’s 007 season again and countless fanboy hours will be wasted debating the merits of who was the best James Bond of all time — a sad process of sorting out the pecking order of a sad line up that started with Sean Connery and ends with Daniel Craig. And while I have my favorites in the role, the best James Bond of all time for my money is Patrick McGoohan. Read more… The Drinky Crow Show
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 14, 2008 in Animation
I just caught an Adult Swim promo for The Drinky Crow Show which is based on Tony Millionaire’s indie comic strip Maakies. The animation looks pretty good and the theme song is by They Might Be Giants which scores extra points in my book. The show is set to premiere on November 23, 2008. The First Photo of an Exoplanet
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 14, 2008 in Science
While the photo above looks pretty, it’s no ordinary snapshot — in fact within the red dust is the very first photo of a planet that’s outside of our solar system. Read more… Second Watchmen Trailer: Fanboy Seal of Approval (Thus Far)
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 13, 2008 in Comic Books
I admit I had my doubts, but this trailer looks like the real deal. Of course this doesn’t guarantee anything, I’ve seen plenty of trailers where the film was a letdown — but Watchmen now looks promising to say the least. Yes if there’s an alternative universe where Terry Gilliam directed the film I’d want to see that instead, but living in this universe I’ll say that this don’t look too shabby (he says as he wipes fanboy drool from the corner of his mouth). Side Note: I even like the voice over effect! It’s hard to carry that off without being corny (example: Blade Runner), but here it works, and works well at that. I hope not to be let down, but this looks like they may have a shot at making a breakthrough superhero film noir movie the likes that haven’t been seen since since the 1989 Batman film directed by Tim Burton. Maybe These Leaked Photos from the Dragonball Movie Should Be Unleaked?
20th Century Fox is spending over $100 million to make the Dragonball movie and yet you’re telling me that these leaked photographs is what I can expect? I’m getting this bad “straight to video” feeling looking at these images. Above is Chow Yun-Fat as Master Roshi, and below is Emmy Rossum as Bulma. Read more… The Enterprise is Already Under Attack! By Fanboys of Course…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 13, 2008 in Star Trek
Despite the speed of my RSS reader I first learned about the Enterprise redesign via an angry chain email from a fellow fanboy who was quite pissed that J.J. Abrams was ruining everyones beloved starship. Well it seems the reaction was so bad to the new designs that movie production designer Ryan Church posted a online defense of fan criticism: Read more… Nintendo Game & Watch: Japanese & American Style
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 13, 2008 in Japanese TV, Videogames
Long before the Nintendo DS there was the Game & Watch (ゲーム＆ウオッチ Gēmu ando Wotchi) which were handheld games produced between 1980 and 1991. What’s funny looking at these commercials is that the Japanese ad above seems to be much more honest about what the product is, while the American ad below (which is from 1983) uses rather elaborate animation and shows the product in action for just a few seconds. Also notice how the Japanese ad is more aimed at young adults while the American ad is just for kids. Read more… |
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