Wednesday, July 30

My 10 cents on Miley Cyrus


I know a lot of people have talked about Miley Cyrus, and has been poked as 'the next Britney Spears' in media death in South Park and the Daily Show, but I got to put my 10 cents. Some have said her parents have to take away her webcam. If she had my parents, they would take away her internet access. I would take away her video cameras, picture cameras and give her a phone with no pictures. Then ban her from using any internet or wireless communication for any friend or anyone. She is just asking for it. And 'it' is not sex, it is media scrunity. I know girls her age are doing these kind of pictures but she is a celebrity and you are going get much more attention and unwanted attention.


Recently she said: "I wanted to embrace my older audience a little more…kind of taking shackles off and doing the music I wanted to do. They are the things I want to say to the world. I just want this to be a CD that you can let loose to and dance to and kind of forget all the crazy stuff!” Forget the crazy stuff? So don't do it! “There’s going to be that no matter what…I am obviously under the public eye a lot…Instead of putting negativity to it, taking the opportunity to make it a positive thing. It gives me an opportunity to voice those decisions, those things I go through a little more publicly, and hopefully they help people out in their lives.” You are getting scruntized because you are acting slutty and whorey and that is for whores. Being a whore is not a good thing. Look where Lindsey Lohan has end up. The bitch has only two movies coming up, but doubt anyone want to see them.


She has officially joined the trouble princesses out there and it is not a great club to be a part of. Just for the hell of it, I'll list them: Britney Spears, Nicole Richy, Paris Hilton, Tara Reid, Lindsey Lohan, Vanessa Hudgens, and hmm, lot shorter than I thought. Selena Gomez is next.


Tuesday, July 29

Tarzoon: The Shame of the Jungle

In 1975, there was a French/Belgian animated adult film directed by cartoonist Picha and Boris Szulzinger. I have seen fragments of the movie, it is mostly a goofy beautifully-animated cartoon, much like a satire of private parts, not hentai or porn-like at all. They had a little Penis army and Tarzoon got his penis tugged at by Vagina-like flowers. The movie was a big hit in Europe but unfortunately because of a lawsuit from the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan creator), when the movie came to the States, it was simply called "Shame of the Jungle." The "Tarzoon" character name was altered by cutting the name out of the soundtrack negative and splicing it back into the soundtrack upside down. According to Stuart S. Shapiro, the film did not do as well at the box office, because audiences were attracted to the "Tarzoon" name.

Shapiro recalls telling customs that the film was a work in progress and it would be edited to be suitable for theatrical release in the U.S. He did not remember any problems bringing the film into the country. The distributor encountered problems finding theaters willing to show the X rated version of the film. The film ended up making a profit in San Francisco, but was largely unsuccessful in other towns. Eventually, the film was reedited and dubbed. After several changes, the distributor persuaded the MPAA to change the film's rating to an R. The R-Rated version got mixed reviews.

Monday, July 28

I am for repealing "Don't Ask Don't tell"

The majority of the politic stuff i bring up is from what I hear on The Daily Show but this issue has always been important to me. In fact, it is one of the points I look for Obama to change. While John McCain has felt "If it ain't break, don't fix it." Obama has expressed being opened to the idea of repealing it. Campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor issued a statement saying, "As President, Senator Obama would work in consultation with our military leaders to submit legislation to Congress repealing 'Don't ask, don't tell' and advocate for its passage."Congress has gathered to talk about it, it is their first hearing in 15 years. Patrick Murphy said something smart about gay and straight officers being professional. Another senator (Carol) said that in the future, they will be embarrassed about the hearing. Jon Stewart of course said, "why wait now?" Stewart also brilliantly compared the "what will happen to homphobes? will they be banished from the military because of the 'extreme San Fransisco' Leftists" to what happened to the racists when Jackie Robinson was admitted to the MLB.

The reason I believe the policy should be removed or changed is because it is ridiculous. Yes, it doesn't matter if an officer is gay, but to remove them is ridiculous. Officers have to be professional, way can't GLBT officers be professional? They have been in the past. GLBT has been in the army for years, especially in WWII. WWII is the entire reason why there is a large GLBT population in San Fransisco! And it is shame that during WWII, gay people were sent to Concentration camps and at the same time, gay US officers that were 'outted' were put in prisoner camps and dishonorably discharged. A Zogby poll conducted for the Palm Center in 2006 surveyed 545 military personnel who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, found that only 37% of the respondents opposed openly gay military service.

The majority of the troops out there are young and the newer generations are much more open and less homophobic. And to bring up AIDS is ridiculous because heterosexual people are just as susceptible to AIDS and proof by society and media, South Park recently out measured how people care more about cancer than AIDS these days. Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness and anti-gay activist, claims that a case of "black lesbian" gang rapists who prey on new recruits. Othman O'Malley satires this a bit in the article link (CBS) below. Retired Navy Capt. Joan E. Darrah talks about how she almost died in 911 and how her partner of 11 years may have be left with nothing and fights for our rights. I am glad that congress is finally have common sense and the 'anti-gay' speakers are starting to loose their points and their 'evidence' and 'examples' are shattering.

AlterNet
Time Magazine
CBS
ArmyTimes

Saturday, July 26

Tiny Toon Adventures on DVD

After years and years of waiting, after Pinky & the Brain (which came out years after this series) was released two years ago, Tiny Toon **cking Adventures is coming out on DVD. But it is Season 1 Volume 1, it doesn't guarantee the other volumes. It has 35 episodes, the first season had 65 episodes, which is the full amount a cartoon show was allowed to have back when. The show came out in 1990. I remember following this show to a tee, seeing the premiere of the first episode on CBS, which was shorten in syndication. After a successful year in syndication, it was picked up on FOX and showed on weekdays and Saturdays. My parents to this day are still quoting the straight-to-VHS movie How I Spent My Summer Vacation. It is $30, but fans, if you want more, buy it!


Journey to the Center of the Earth-(no 3D) review

The last 3-D movie I have seen was Muppets in 4-D at what is now Disney Studios, I know that technology has gotten better since then but I didn't mind when they told me that they didn't have the 3-D version at the theater I went to, I didn't mind. I know its been two weeks since this movie came out, but I think it is interesting to hear a review from the perspective of seeing the movie that is not in 3-D. My mom (who is in her sixties) wanted to see Journey to the Center of the Earth, because she was in love with the 1959 version. When I went to see Prince Caspain, with a friend and we saw the trailer to this movie, he thought this was the new Mummy movie because of Fraser.

Fraser plays a professor whose brother was presumed dead ten years ago, that was a 'Vernian' and believe in the center of the Earth. But it just so happens that his brother's son (Josh Hutcherson from Bridge to Terbithia, RV, and Zathura) is on his way for a visit. With his nephew, comes the Jules Verne book with notes leading them to Iceland where they go with a tour guide Anite Briem (who indeed is from Iceland). Briem is a dead-ringer for Emilie de Ravin ("Lost"). When it is not in 3-D, it is obvious that they do the 3-D 'tricks.' Seth Meyers (SNL), who does a cameo in the movie, can be seen sighing when he has to do one of these 'tricks.'

The movie tries to be scientific but when you are doing a movie about an 'air bubble' in the center of the Earth, where there is magma, it is going to come off futile. There are cute birds (above) and one that tags along with them--which I believe is the dead brother/father's spirit. Thank god it doesn't talk or interacts too much, this what animal sidekicks should aspire to be. The movie has no real antagonists except for the supposedly extinct creatures like dinosaurs and killer piranhas and the only thing the characters learn is that they love each other. Also, to be more modern, the woman is the strong one and always saves the day--well she ties with Fraser's character. She also does all the work and has a bag full of endless supplies.

It is a cute family film, it is fun and exciting. The effects and graphics are visual stunning, but teeter from believable to too obvious green screen. If you got kids that can't sit down and shut up, I suggest this movie. If you are between the ages of 18 and 50 and have no kids or elderly parents, then you might not like this movie. My mom liked it but not as much as the original. My grandma, who is in her seventies loved it.

Thursday, July 24

Bob Saget Roast

Where most of America knows him as the 'dad from Full House.' and just a few that are actually paying attention or seen his stand-up show, Bob Saget is one foul-mouthed SOB. He is also the one with the most foulest and vilest joke in The Aristocrats. So when Comedy Central will roast him August 17---hosted by John Stamos, I am sure we will be delivered the funniest and most bleeped rant from him at the end of the show.


Angel: After the Fall 1-10 Review


Angel: After the Fall started November 21, 2007 and I think it is a good series. Like some critics have said, that the first issue is a bit confusing to new readers. For years, fans have been crazy mad to find out what happened to our friends at the end of season five where they met an army from Wolfram & Hart in a rainy alley. The series doesn't start at the same moment but some time after it. Los Angeles has been sucked into hell and unbeknownst to the rest of the world. There is a giant magical wall holding everyone prison. And our friends have changed significantly since we last saw them. Wesley is a ghost, Illyria is shifting back and forth to Fred, Connor is a hero, and Spike is helping him, when not trying to protect people from Illyria, who can also make time loopy again. Also in for the fun is Angel's ex-girlfriend Nina the werewolf from Season Five, Gwen the lighting lass from Season Four, Groosalugg from Season 2-3, and former cop Kate, from Season 1 & 2--but she hasn't seen Angel yet. Nor does Angel know she has interacted with Connor. And Angel and Gunn? Um... Gunn is a vampire out for revenge on Angel... who is now human.

It is not called Season Six like the Buffy continuation because Joss Whedon wished to separate the two. He said he was used elements he was planning to use for Season Six in this, but it isn't exactly what he was meant to be for Season Six. The dragon Angel wanted to 'get' has become his friend and a character from the comics has joined the canon--Beta George, a psychic fish. The overall plot of 'After the Fall' is Angel trying to challenge the 'Lords of L.A.,' who are all in control of LA and are demons. Two of the lords are Illyria and Lorne--who has made a safe haven. Meanwhile, Gunn plots his revenge. Illyria doesnt appear until the end of Issue 2 and Spike until Issue 3. Spike lives with Illyria in Beverly Hills with a group of warrior women, one is called Spider.

Spoilers:
Issues 6-8 are called 'First Night,' which details the adventures of most of our characters after everything went to hell like Lorne, Connor, Spike, Illyria/Fred, Kate (her only appearance is in Issue 7) Wesley, Gwen and Gunn. So because they are sent to hell and both the sun and moon are out, everyone's powers are wonky such as Illyria, Gwen (she got a cure in season 4 which is now defunct), and Nina (who is between werewolf and human). Also, Connor has feelings for Gwen. And Spider, who might have had sex with Spike (not so clear), was seen flirting with Groo. Angel is revealed not to be a vampire at the end of Issue 3, Illyria reveals she can turn into a 'real' Fred to Wesley at the end of Issue 5. Illyria revealed to Wesley, who still has his corpse in case there is a loophole out of his contract with Wolfram & Hart, that Fred is still inside her in Issue 9. It still hasn't been explained how Angel became human but it did show Gunn finding out he was turned into a vampire, and the night in the rain in the alley hasn't been shown yet.


After Issue 10, there is a spin-off 4-issue comic called Spike: After the Fall, only the first issue has been revealed so far. Spike is seen taking care of a group of people, along with Illyria, which kills anything in her path and then suddenly turns into Fred. Also, it seems it is showing the beginning of how Spike and Illyria met the women (and Spider) to take over Beverly Hills.

The art is beautiful in all the comics, even though they stray away from it in different styles for "First Night," which gets a bit questionable. The writing is just as great as the show. Even though the mood is pretty low in Issue 1, the momentum picks up.


Tuesday, July 22

Watchmen behind-the-scenes

The trailer is out for the Zack Synder The Watchmen movie, coming in 2009 and the website is up. On the website, they have awesome videos are the production. If you know the story, they aren't too spoiler-y. They are basically about the color scheme, costumes, and a stunt guy burning himself. It is really interesting to me that the original graphic novel used secondary colors like orange, green, and purple, in place of primary colors as regular comic did and the movie is reflecting that. Rope of Silicon compares some shots from the trailer to scenes in the book. So far, fans are excited. Entertainment Weekly covers them this week and I squealed when I saw the cover. I think it is important they point out early on that the movie is no ordinary superhero movie to the public.

Young Hercules

When their are no references or citations, Wikipedia will take off what is there. So I decided to post what was written, if not true, it is a pretty interesting story.

Ryan Gosling, replacing Ian Bohen from the pilot movie as the title character. Ian Bohen was offered the part, but opted not to spend an entire year in New Zealand where the series would shoot principal photography. Although [a] Network Executive worried at the time that his physique at 6'2" and only 120 lbs. did not seem fitting of the brawny adult Kevin Sorbo. Producers of the show insisted Gosling's acting would make audiences believe he could grow into Sorbo's broad shoulders. [The Show] was known to be only superficially faithful to Greek mythology, as was its predecessor; it uses similar characters, but in a variety of stories, some of which contain anachronisms.

The series aired on Fox Kids Network at first on Monday through Friday in 1998 at 4:30pm PST and Saturday mornings at 8:30 am PST. Later in the year, the series aired Monday through Friday only at 3:30pm PST. Fans may notice that in earlier episodes, "Young Hercules" story lines were slightly more complex and more human story oriented. At the beginning of the series, Fox Executives thought "Young Hercules" held promise to finally grab a young female audience, a slice of the demographic pie that had eluded them for quite some time (and it did achieve this quite successfully). This was the early direction given to the Producers of the series from the Fox Kids Network Executives. The Executives thought the series would be a good transition series between their children's television block of programming and the local 5pm news. Episodes such as "Amazon Grace," "Lure of the Lyre" and "Herc's Nemesis" were written at this time. However, mid-way through the season, the Fox Kids Network Executives changed the direction rather completely along with the time slot for the series.

Suddenly, Executives of the Network demanded the series focus solely on the attention of a young boy audience. Rather than write human relation along with action and mysticism stories, the writers and producers of "Young Hercules" were requested to completely focus on issues of strength, virility (heh) and action, action and more action. Scripts were quickly changed to meet with Network demands. Episodes including "Adventures in the Forbidden Zone," "Under Siege" and "Apollo" were quickly written to replace other stories that had been otherwise in development.

Although ratings on the Fox Kids Network were strong for the season (2nd top rated live-action series below the Power Rangers), "Young Hercules" was not renewed. Unlike "Power Rangers" and another Saban series called "Mystic Knights" which were owned by Fox Kids Network, "Young Hercules" was owned by USA Studios (division of Universal Studios), resulting in television politics coming before television ratings. "Mystic Knights" which was similar to "Young Hercules" in terms of genre and overall fantasy elements, did very badly in television ratings and was a cause of embarrassment to Fox Network Executives. Fox Executives not wanting to be blamed for "Mystic Knights'" failure, decided to make "Young Hercules" the scape-goat, blaming the series for anything and everything they could to deflect the spotlight away from the failings of their own series. Speculation also has it that this was the reason for the Network's sudden change in creative direction for the series.

Because "Young Hercules" brought in such a heavy young female audience, Fox Kids Network's other more young boy oriented shows were suffering in time slots directly before and directly following "Young Hercules." "Mystic Knights" and "Power Rangers" had been lead-ins and lead-outs for "Young Hercules." Fox Kids Network Executives became more and more loathing of "Young Hercules" towards the end, especially the Fox Executive, Roland Poindexter, who was rumored to highly criticize the series along with its lead actor, Ryan Gosling. Save Young Hercules campaigns began among fan groups and persisted for several years following the end of the series.

Young Hercules' executive producers were Robert Tapert and Spider-man director, Sam Raimi. Liz Friedman and Eric Gruendemann were co-executive producers and former MTV producer, Cynthia Hsiung was producer of the series. In New Zealand, where principal photography was shot, Janine Dickins held down the fort as the New Zealand Producer while three series directors took turns shooting the episodes in blocks of four along with a fourth director for second unit. Chris Graves, Charlie Haskell and Andrew Merrifield shot principal photography and Simon Rabbi shot second unit. Later in the series, Simon Rabbi shot principal photography for the 50th episode, "Valley of the Shadow."

The series has been used in case studies of how to shoot television series efficiently. Traditional television series are shot one episode at a time. "Young Hercules" was shot in blocks of four episodes at a time. The four would be written with this in mind, keeping sets, locations, and actors similar in all four episodes even if story and plot lines might not interrelate. This saved tremendous amounts of money and time allowing the series to be shot on a shoe string budget, but with maximum on-screen dollars. The 50 episodes had a budget of roughly $20 million which includes above and below the line costs. Shooting in New Zealand also allowed the series to circumvent considerable Guild regulations for further savings. Additional monies were saved shooting the series on 16 mm film. Early research was done to see if digital film could be used, but it was determined that technology just wasn't adequate at that time to make digital filming economically viable.

The three main Directors of the series were on a rotation, one Director for each four episode block. One of the blocks included two episodes with the mythical Golden Hind, half deer, half woman. None of the Directors were looking forward to working with these notoriously un=trainable animals. Deer not only could not be trained, they were also known to skiddishly run off set with no warning. The "Golden Hind" block, as it affectionately became known, kept falling later and later into the production schedule for various logistical reasons. As the block fell out of one Director's schedule and into another's, and then into another's, all the Directors quipped as to which "unlucky" Director would finally get to work with the unruly and un-trainable deer which was an integral part of the Golden Hind story. Andrew Merrifield finally got and rose to the challenge of the task of shooting the Golden Hind stories.

Once shot, these episodes were especially interesting to the Producer and Writers who intended for Young Hercules' character to fall in love with the Golden Hind. Instead, in one scene between Hercules and Kora, played by Angela Dotchin, the actors decided to interpret the script a little differently. Rather than express affection for the Golden Hind, Ryan Gosling and Angela Dotchin's interesting read of the script displayed an unusually close relationship and bond between them that was unintended by the writers. The final scene was so profoundly touching between Hercules and Kora, that it unfortunately took away from the theme of the episode. Alas, the scene had to be cut from the final air version for continuity purposes.

Ironically, the "Power Rangers" which was in direct conflict with "Young Hercules" in 1998-1999, is now shooting in, of all places, New Zealand (Until 2009) and under the same New Zealand Producer, Janine Dickins, and several of the same Directors including Charlie Haskell and Andrew Merrifield. The Network Executive at the Disney Channel (Disney now owns "Power Rangers") is Susette Hsiung, the sister of the Young Hercules Producer, Cynthia Hsiung. The series was produced by Renaissance Pictures and USA Studios for Fox Kids Network. Bill Hamm and Patricia Wells were the Studios USA Development Executives assigned to the series. From the Fox Kids Network, the Executives assigned at the beginning of the series were Sidney Iwanter, Karen DiNoto and Nancy Redford. As the series progressed, Nancy Redford left Fox Kids Network to join the then Fox Family Channel, Sidney Iwanter also stepped off the series and Karen DiNoto was then the sole Fox Kids Network Executive to the series.

The 51st episode that was never produced was also written by Patrick Phillips but was replaced when the Fox Kids Network mandate of increased action was put forth to the production team. Principal photography took place in New Zealand while post-production elements including visual effects and music were all edited and integrated together in Los Angeles. Early on in the series, special visual effects were conceived by Richard Taylor's Weta Workshop, the then little known visual effects company that went on to do the Lord of the Rings. Weta and Richard Taylor stepped off "Young Hercules" early on to work on Lord of the Rings. In fact, the early production days of "Young Hercules" saw many of its crew leave to work on it.

Many fans and Network Executives alike believed throughout the shooting of the series that because "Young Hercules" was a spin-off of "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and "Xena: Warrior Princess"; that the newer series would have access to the other two series' sets, props, costumes, etc. In actuality, this didn't really happen. Actors did cross-over the three series frequently, such as the late Kevin Smith as Ares, along with many others. However, because the three series shot simultaneously in New Zealand, the logistics of sharing sets and costumes never really worked out. There were one or two exceptions, such as the Chariots that were used in the episode "The Beast Beneath." Those Chariots were borrowed from the Kevin Sorbo "Hercules" series.

Ryan Gosling was only 17 when he was cast in the lead role. And if it weren't for his Canadian status, he would have not been allowed to play the role under US Guild regulations. He was a veritable unknown actor at the time. Prior to Young Hercules, Ryan had been a Disney Mouseketeer in the same bunch that delivered to the public Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake. To train for the role, Ryan took intense martial arts classes by the same trainer who taught Lucy Lawless and Kevin Sorbo. He was so tall and thin that his costume had to be reworked to minimize the look of how thin he was. Original costume sketches showed a darker upper body costume. When Ryan was cast, the costume designers made the upper body of his costume lighter in color and broader in the chest to help create a more bulky look. Make-up was used on Ryan's arms to help add muscle contours. Similar tricks were used for both Kevin Sorbo and Lucy Lawless for their characters.

When the series ended, the then 18 year old Ryan Gosling was quite upset, even calling himself the "kiss of death" for any television show he was in. Gosling even contemplated leaving acting and going into music for a brief period following the end of Young Hercules. With encouragement from family and friends, and from those who had become very close to him on the set of Young Hercules including Dean O'Gorman (who played "Iolaus"); Gosling continued on in acting and today can be seen playing opposite the likes of Anthony Hopkins on the big screen in "Fracture."

The Producers of the series never meant for it to be faithful to Greek Mythology, rather, to borrow from it and to expand on the cryptic nature of the myths. The Greek mythology elements were used almost as camp adornments to otherwise very real life human stories. For example, in the series, a teenage Hercules has never met his father. Alcmene, his single mother, faces the same types of difficulties any single mom would face, albeit with the added dysfunction of Zeus, King of the Gods, being Hercules' father. Originally, the series was never meant to have Young Hercules meet his dad. That changed when Fox Kids Network canceled the series.

In the final episode of "Young Hercules," unknown to Hercules, Zeus does appear to him, in disguise as an old man who sends Hercules and his friends into the "Valley of the Shadows." Here, Hercules is tested, not only for his strength and courage, but most important of all, for his character and love of his friends. He passes the test to Zeus' satisfaction. Although the series ends with Hercules thinking his father, Zeus, has never and will never care about him, the audience knows different. The last scene of the 50th episode was meant to be a gift to all the loyal fans - unknown to Hercules, the audience watch the last scene of the series with Zeus speaking proudly and lovingly of his very special son.

Episodes available on Hulu.com

Saturday, July 19

The Real Bitch of the new 90210

Let me catch you up. The new "90210" update will premiere on The CW in the Fall. Jennie Garth and Tori spelling are reprising their characters on the show and it will star new kids, mostly multi-cultural. One magazine wondered who was going to the new bitch. And they said Shannen Doherty was in talks in coming back. Now TVGuide says she is to have a recurring stint as a director to a school play. But I think the new bitch will definitely be played by AnnaLynen McCord. She recently played the big psycho bitch Eden in "Nip/Tuck." HollyScoop wonders if she is going to a Kelly or a Valerie.

3 Ninjas

3 Ninjas was this movie in 1992 three Caucasian brothers who inexplicably had the Chinese Prof. Howard Birack (Victor Wong) as a grandfather. It was a wuxia comedy, they were taught to be ninjas and kicked butt. My cousin and nephew and I watched it like crazy, over and over. My cousin was Colt, my nephew was Rocky and i was Tum-Tum and that was upside down because Rocky was the oldest and I am the oldest and my nephew is the youngest. This was before our Power Rangers obsession and during the Ninja Turtles one. Mine never ended.

The second movie 3 Ninjas Kick Back (1994) but the third to be filmed. They traveled to Japan to save their grandfather, and met a girl ninja. I liked the aspect of Japanese culture in this movie and seeing a modern Tokyo. Also it had the cute Sean Fox, who I saw previously in an ep of "Full House." He took over the roll as Rocky. Tum Tum was also replaced, Max Elliott Slade (Colt) was the only to return. Michael Treanor didn't like Hollywood so chose not to continue.

3 Ninjas Knuckle Up was released in 1995 while being shot before 3 Ninjas Kick Back. This the only movie to be rated PG-13 and to have the original trio back. The reason why this was late to release has not be divulged. It was probably shot in 1993. I did not see this one.

3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain famously starred Jim Varney and Hulk Hogan. It was also Victor Wong's last movie. Michael O' Laskey II played Colt but played a young Rocky in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I did not see this one either. This one came out in 1998, two years after Laskey did PR.

Thursday, July 17

Dr. Horribe's Sing-Along Blog Review

Each act starts with Neil Patrick Harris' puppy-eye face. In th first act, he answer questions to supposed readers of his blog. The first half establishes the story of Dr. Horrible being a regular guy Billy who wanted to be part of a villain league and the leader is so horse guy (Bad Horse--could be a cowboy). His sidekick is a sweaty guy played by comedian Simon Helberg. The story is pretty cut and dry, heroes vs. villain and boy likes girl (Felicia Day) and other guy gets girl. His plan is to make a freeze ray to conquer the world and win the heart of a girl he is in love with and hasn't ever spoke to her. Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion) is Dr. Horrible's rival superhero, who is stuck-up one-dimensional dense guy. When you think the songs won't come, they do, 3 minutes into the first act. Whedon hasn't let go his musical M.O. from "Once More With Feeling" of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." The lyrics are still witty and thoughtful, there are overlapping codas and characters sing their songs together with similar music but not the same lyrics. The songs aren't very sing-along-y because we don't know the songs and sometimes the lyrics aren't so audible. I guess if he wanted to have people singing-along to the songs, he would have added lyric subtitles. But I think that would be garish and annoying.

Quotes: "How is cheesy on the outside?" "Oh goodness, would you look at my wrist?"

[Cast and Crew (from L to R): Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Joss Whedon, Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day, Zack Whedon]
In Act Two, Billy/Horrible contemplates killing Mr. Horrible and doesn't he can do it. But, when Captain Hammer discovers that Penny's friend Billy is really Dr. Horrible and that he loves Penny, so Hammer threatens that he will have sex with Penny because she is in love with him. This opens up a great song "It's a Brand New Day." As for the performances, Niel has a great singing voice and he is just plain adorable, very cute in many scenes. Those eyes, swoon. He makes you feel for this pathetic, delusional and complicated schlub. He has good timing but sometimes when being 'romantic' with Penny, it comes up more disinterested. Nathan Fillion is just hamming it up, he is a formidable opponent in Act 2, personally, more than fighting-wise--which is classic Whedon, hit them where it hurts. Felicia Day as Penny has a great wardrobe and enforces her place as cute and sweet leading lady. I have loved her since she was Vi in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." At least one song of each act is memorable and catchy. The directing and cinematography are good. Some shots are victim of bad daylighting and seem to be doctored digitally.

Act 3 has cameos from Marti Noxon and David Fury, who sung in "Once More With a Feeling." Fury was the Mustard Guy and Noxon was the Parking Meter Lady, which they reprise in the episode "Selfless" in voice-over when Anya sang. They cameoed as newcasters here. Act 3 is much more hilarious, with plenty of what I call good gay jokes, positive I mean. Captain Hammer does a speech that slowly transforms from a speech to a poem to a song, real cool. Do you get the feeling that the Dr. Horrible will win? Not really. But there is a good twist. When the good guy doesn't turn out to be so good. It's not about the win. And of course, Whedon always goes for the hurt. And hurt is good. It is expected but it's good, it's Whedon.

Each Act is approx. 13 minutes long, the last one is almost 16 minutes. The entire 42-minute show will stay up through July 20. The first act got so many visits, that the server crashed and they had to get a new one. It was written with Maurissa Tanchareon, Jed and Zack Whedon; Joss wrote and directed.

Wednesday, July 16

Batman en EspaƱol

These days when a American show is translated in Spanish, the main characters' names are unaltered. But back when before 1990, it is very common for the dubbers to change the names of characters to a more language-friendly name, much like in Anime dubs before 2000. For example, the Flintstones are known as los Picapiedras; Fred is Pedro and Barney Rubble is Pablo Marmol. So since I know Spanish and Batman is coming out soon, I decided to share with ya'll the character name changes of Batman and his villains.

El GuasĆ³n
While he is called The Joker in other Spanish properties, he is known as 'El Guason' in Latin America. In the American Dominos Pizza commercials in Spanish, he is referred to by this name. It is a literal translation, Guason is a Joker.

Mientras que Ʃl se llama 'The Joker' en otras propiedades en EspaƱol, Ʃl es conocido como "El Guason" en Latino AmƩrica. En los comerciales Americanos de Dominos Pizza en EspaƱol, Ʃl es refiedo con este nombre.


GatĆŗbela
Batman's romantic tease, the woman he thinks he can change but she may be just playing with him. Gato means cat, Gatubela is merely a playing with the word and it emphasizes she is female and also means she can scratch you. I dunno how, but that's been what has been imprinted in my head since I was a kid.

La conquista romĆ”ntica de Batman, la mujer que Ć©l piensa que Ć©l puede cambiar, pero ella puede ser simplemente jugando con Ć©l. Gatubela no es mĆ”s que un juego con la palabra Gato y se hace hincapiĆ© en que ella es una mujer y tambiĆ©n significa que ella te puede rascar. Yo no se cĆ³mo, pero eso es lo que se ha impreso en mi cabeza desde que era chico.

El Acertijo/Enigma
In Spain, the Riddler is called Enigma. While in Latin America, he is known as El Acertijo. A riddle is an Acertijo, an Enigma is pretty self-explanatory. In some translations of the comic strip, he has been given the name of El Esfinge (The Sphinx) by mythological beings who wondered riddles to passengers.

En EspaƱa, el Riddler se llama Enigma. Mientras que en Latino AmĆ©rica, el es conocido como El Acertijo. Un Acertijo es un riddle en Ingles, un enigma es bastante auto-explicativo. En algunas traducciones del cĆ³mic, se le ha dado el nombre de El Esfinge de seres mitolĆ³gicos que los enigmas se pregunta a los pasajeros.

Pretty explanatory names are El EspantapĆ”jaros (Scarecrow), which is a true translation. Espanta is scare and PĆ”jaro is bird. El PingĆ¼ino is the Penguin, Dos Caras is Two Face, Sr. FrĆ­o is Mr. Freeze and Batgirl is Batichica. Hiedra Venenosa is Poison Ivy, straight-forward. Clay Face is Carra de Barro, which is basically 'Face of Mud.' In a couple of countries, Bruce Wayne is Bruno DĆ­az and Dick Grayson is Ricardo Tapia. Ala Nocturna is Nightwing, Nocturna is Nocturnal.

Nombres bastante explicativos son El EspantapĆ”jaros (Scarecrow), que es una traducciĆ³n verdadera. Scare es a Espantar y crow es un pĆ”jaro, bueno un Cuervo. El PingĆ¼ino es el Penguin, Two Face es Dos Caras, Sr. FrĆ­o es Mr. Freeze y Batgirl es Batichica. Hiedra Venenosa es Poison Ivy, que es muy sencillas. Carro de Barro es Clay Face, 'clay' es arcilla. El nombre original de Bruno DĆ­az es Bruce Wayne y Ricardo Tapia era Dick Grayson. Ala Nocturna era Nightwing, Night significa noche.

Tuesday, July 15

Obama and Michelle Illustration in The New Yorker

The media (CNN and Fox News namely) has nippicked Obama about fist bumping, middle fingers, Madrasahs, and such, and now they are angry at the New Yorker? The New Yorker has rarely been controversial. It could be this illustration is in defiance of the stereotypes over Obama and not saying they believe he is that way. I think it would be better things had to stoop to these levels to begin with. It is just so useless and idiotic. It is just stooping low. Grow up media. And this isn't the so-called 'Liberal' Media.

Heroes Season Three - Villains

As many fans already know 'chapter 3' Villains of "Heroes" was going to be in Season 2, but because of the Writer's strike, it has been pushed into Season 3, which will have more than the normal amount of episodes. Now, 'Villains' isn't going to be as simple as it sounds, it will delve into the villain-side of everyone. Especially the highly-publicized dark side of Claire (Hayden Panettiere). Now, one new character has been revealed---a rival for Hiro. Her name is Daphne, or rather, "The Speedster." Her power is super speed, sounds done but listen to this: When Hiro stops time, Daphne slows to regular speed. I rarely gush at actresses... Brea Grant, who played Jean [a sassy brainy rocker who like Landry (Jesse Plemons)] on "Friday Nights Lights." I think this is brilliant casting, Hiro needs a rival that can ruffle his feathers.

Monday, July 14

Max Headroom

When I was a kid, I remember a freaky computerized guy. My dad had to explain to me it was a mask. I found it interesting. When I was older, I saw the show Max Headroom and 20 Minutes into the Future on reruns and I knew actor Matt Frewer starring as Edison Carter and Max. I thought Max was only featured in those new Coke commercials and the show. What I didn't know was that he actually started out in the U.K. The Max Headroom character originated in 1985-86 as an announcer for a music video program on Channel 4, the British television channel and it was called The Max Headroom Show. The intent was to portray a futuristic computer-generated character. Max Headroom appeared as a stylized head on TV against harsh primary color rotating-line backgrounds, and he became well known for his jerky techno-stuttering speech, wisecracks, and malapropisms. The Original Max Talking Headroom Show was made by Cinemax in 1987.



The Max Headroom Show was developed into the television movie Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future which in turn became the pilot for a series which ran from 1985 to 1987. The first episode was presented in an extended edition to American audiences in 1986 on Cinemax. Though officially two seasons, only fourteen episodes were created, and only thirteen aired. And then he became the New Coke spokesman. Notwithstanding the publicity for the character, the real image of Max was not computer generated. 3-D rendering and computing technology in the mid-1980s was not sufficiently advanced for a full-motion, voice-synched human head to be practical for a television series. Matt Frewer was in latex and foam rubber prosthetic makeup with a fiberglass suit, superimposed over a moving geometric background.
n a 2002 web chat with Scifi.com, Matt Frewer expressed pleasant surprise at Max's continued popularity, and informed fans that he had a new Max Headroom project "in the deal-making process." No further information is known on this project.


In November 2007 Channel 4 Television made a campaign to warn UK households of the impending digital TV switchover featuring an older looking Max Headroom.

And of course, the famous...

During a broadcast of the Dr. Who episode "Horror of Fang Rock" on WTTW Chicago Channel 11, on Sunday November 22nd, 1987, at around 11:15pm, a Video "Pirate" wearing a Max Headroom mask broke into the signal and transmitted one of the weirdest, unauthorized things ever to hit the Chicago airwaves. Earlier in the evening on the same day, during the Nine O'Clock News on Channel 9 (Yes, a completely different channel) the Max Headroom Pirate also broke in - although it was for a much shorter time and there was no audio. He was never caught.


Generation X FOX TV Movie (1996)

In 1996, at the height of popularity of the 1992 X-Men animated series, a TV-Movie was produced by New World Entertainment and Marvel Entertainment on FOX. It was based on the comic book series "Generation X," which was the younger sect of Mutants mentored/lead by the White Queen and Banshee. Many fans don't like this movie, I liked it a bit when it first came out and now, seeing clips on YouTube, it is not so bad. It actually has some issues from the X-Men movies, like mutant registry and 'terrorism' is thrown around. It infamously featured a Caucasian Jubilee, which got lots of people angry, she is Asian in everything else. What I don't remember was that Emma Frost, was played by Finola Hughes, who is best known for All My Children and being the Halliwell's mother Patty in "Charmed." I knew her from "Blossom" as the step-mother. What I didn't knwo was that there is another version of this movie, outside of the United States, it had curse words, crude humor and racial slurs. One character calls another a 'wetback,' and in one good scene, a male student doubts he can concentrate and relax at the same time and Frost says to think about when he is 'playing with himself.'

Other than Finola Hughes, the cast included Jeremy Ratchford as Banshee, Heather McComb as Jubilee, Matt Frewer (Max Headroom) as the bad guy Russel--exclusive to the movie. From the Generation X movie, M (super strong and abilities, 'perfect'), Mondo (can take on the properties of a material he absorbs) and Skin (stretch skin, wrap around). The other two mutants of the original comic line-up were Chamber (whose chest and jaw was fire--or psionic energy ) and Husk (she sheds skin to another form of metal or something else), and they added characters in place of them. One was Refrax, who everyone thinks had a waste of a power because his was just x-ray laser eyes, but I think it was more like their 'Cyclops.' And another was Buff, who was the only one who got a superhero 'suit' at the end of the movie, as seen below. Her mutation increases her muscle mass and strength and she is ashamed of it. Refrax and Buff also kinda hooked up, much like Chamber and Husk in the comics.

Thursday, July 10

Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, her cred

I think people are too hard on Kathy. She is funny and smart. Yes I am in her demographic as a gay guy but as a fan, I was insulted by Entertainment Weekly insinuation in an article about her last month, stating that her fan base is a 'rare' species, that is celebrity obsessed. I find her comedy a bit broader. Especially in her reality show, she has sarcasm and self-evading humor. She has some relatable issues on the show---like people judging her and caring about her dog's behaviors. Her show has been awesome lately---when she went to Australia and interacted with Cyndi Lauper, Margret Cho, Lance Bass, Carson (from Queer Eye), and Olivia Newton John. Also, the Rosie visit was cool, especially that her children painted on her Emmy awards (She has 7) and Kathie adores her Emmy.

I like when she gets jealous of her mother stealing her 'gay' (her friend), and then introduces her to the world of Bears and hands her a magazine. And of course, Team Griffin is priceless. Jessica says she 'wouldn't hang out with [Kathy's boyfriend at the time Steve Woz' assistant] in high school.' The dancing bear almost fainted in seeing Kathy. I love Jessica, expecially when she had to hold it down with Steve, who was trying to give away 'merch.' As for hatin', that is always is going to happen. Everyone is gonna hate her, but I love her, she is in between, an 'insider' celebrity talking about other celebrities but not above publicity. It's just very self-aware as well. She's making me laugh and she's having fun, so that's all that is important.

Monday, July 7

New Venture Bros Season Three so far

We have been waiting desperately for Season Three of the Venture Brothers and it exceeds all expectations. The new season started June 1st and so far there has been 6 episodes. For those who don't know this show, it airs on Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network and it is a parody/homage comedy/adventure series with its own extensive mythology. It stars Dr. Rusty Venture, a former adventurer boy who can't get out of the shadow of his super scientist father and is not much a successful scientist. He has two teenage excitable sons Hank and Dean. Their bodyguard is Brock Samson, makes everyone fear him and can kill anyone. Brock is 'strong, but silent'-type and a hair-trigger temper.

"Shadowman 9: In the Cradle of Destiny"
It starts out as a continuation of the 2-part season two finale. The Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend are taken by the mysterious Guild of Calamitous Intent and interrogated about Phantom Limb. It is an awesome love letter to the two characters, have great gags and pay-offs. It has some flashbacks that continue the mythology and establishes the theme of the third season.

"The Doctor Is Sin"
As the Monarch is no longer the arch villain of Dr. Venture, a bunch of people are trying to take the spot. Dr. Henry Killinger comes in and cleans up the place, giving Venture a new look and big crew. Although, in the end this is a plot for him to begin 'arching' his brother Jonas Junior. It is an awesome episode with a unique twist and everyone is in love with the character of Killinger.


"The Invisible Hand of Fate"
We are finally served up the origin of not only Quiz Boy (Billy), but also Phantom Limb. This episode ties up many characters together, but it does feel rushed. For me, this episode could have been a movie, maybe a straight-to-dvd since it isn't about the main characters but nevertheless. The picture to the left has Colonel Hunter Gathers of OSI in drag, as he later had a sex change to become a woman.

The first three episodes feel like vintages or mini-movies.

"Home is Where the Hate is"
The Monarch and Doctor Girlfriend have moved into Phantom Limb's former home, a gated community for supervillains. Sergeant Hatred throws a villain party, in which the Ventures go to as well. There are so delightful gags such as playing a 'guess your identity' game and Dr. Girlfriend didn't know she was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Nice gags but not entirely memorable.

"The Buddy System"
Rusty tries to build on his fame of a show he did when he was a kid to have a daycamp of adventuring. I feel this episode mostly served as the introduction to the possibility that new character Dermott Fictel (who Hank befriends) is Brock's son. But has hilarious moments such as The Order of the Triad do a 'rap' of safety.


"Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman"
A wonderful episode. It had to happen some time, the main four characters are served their female counterparts and it is obvious the writers worked real hard to define these characters. Funny enough, Rusty thinks his old childhood pal Tara Quymn's bodyguard Ginny is a man. Ginny is an interesting complex character, never being with a man, she is a flood of emotions with Brock. Of course, Hank and Dean are served twins Drew and Nancy and a love triangle occurs. Also, Tara is Col. Gentleman's step-daughter. And her picture was seen in a previous episode: "Home is Where the Hate is."

"The Buddy System" and "Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman" both go back into the spirit of the regular past 'fun' episodes, while the first three have a completely different feel.

Friday, July 4

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog


"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. Featuring Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) as Dr. Horrible, Nathan Fillion (Serenity, Desperate Housewives) as Captain Hammer, Felicia Day (Vi from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as Penny and a cast of dozens. Written by Joss Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, and Zack Whedon. Directed by Joss Whedon. Produced by David Burns, Michael Boretz, and Joss Whedon. Music by Joss Whedon and Jed Whedon. Lyrics by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen. Score and Orchestration by Jed Whedon."

It was written during the strike, Jed is Joss' brother.

Check out Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Tuesday, July 1

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

Remember the cartoon "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" back in the 90's? I watched it as a kid and liked it, but had no idea it was based on a movie. Later on cable, I discovered the movie Return of the Killer Tomatoes (pretty good movie by its standards) which had George Clooney. I found it fascinating because it has most of the characters from the cartoon: Professor/doctor Gangreen, Igor, Tara, F.T., Chad and Uncle Wilbur. So this is how it all started... In 1978, with a comedy spoof of B-Movies released by Four Square Productions. The concept of Killer Tomatoes was created by Costa Dillon, and he is the only person to appear in this film and all three of its sequels. The film opens with a scroll dictating that, when Alfred Hitchcock's film The Birds was released, audiences laughed at the notion of birds revolting against humanity, but when an attack perpetrated by birds occurred in 1975, no one laughed. This is followed by a pre-credits sequence of a tomato rising out of a woman's garbage disposal unit.

It became a cult hit and predated the movie-spoofing disaster film Airplane! by two years. The Killer Tomatoes might have remained in that genre had it not been for an unlikely intervention from an equally unlikely source. During the 1986-1987 season of "Muppet Babies," there was a segment in an episode upon which Baby Fozzie deals with how he once faced an 'Attack of the Silly Tomatoes'. The segment used clips from the movie. Oddly enough, it became one of the higher-rated episodes of the season, so much that New World Pictures (the owner of Marvel Productions, which made Muppet Babies) approached Four Square about making a sequel to the first movie. Four Square had never intended to make a sequel but when New World approached them with a two-million dollar budget towards filming a potential sequel, John De Bello, Costa Dillon and Stephen Peace got to work on crafting a script.

Return of the Killer Tomatoes released in 1988, John Astin was in all the sequels as Professor Grangreen. The resulting film, Return of the Killer Tomatoes, was a surprise success. It was one of the rare films where the sequel was actually better than the original (unsurprisingly, considering the obvious low-budget value of the first). New World was pleased with the results, and the company decided to duplicate the results of the film with an animated series aimed at a younger audience. Tweaking various characters and ideas from both Attack and Return, Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes: The Series was born and debuted as one of the first Saturday morning cartoons on the Fox Children's Network in the fall of 1990. What is interesting about the cartoon series, is that in one of the episodes, evil actually won. The show was a big hit, but unfortunately its second season spelled its cancellation because it changed in animation style, plot, and was out of order.

George Clooney did the movie Return of the Killer Tomatoes after he did "The Facts of the life' and Chad was played by Anthony Starke, Sebastian Balfour in "Prison Break," and played the Jimmy on "Seinfeld," who would referred himself in the third person. Rumors are circulating about a remake as well, one starring Bruce Campbell and some other sources says Adam Sandler.