Cartoons vs. anime – Part 1

Or at least when I was a kid we had some great cartoons. During the 80s, when I was young, we had some memorable shows. Transformers, GI Joe, and the Smurfs, just to name a few.

While, like most children’s programing, the toons we had were often lacking in plot, they made sense to the viewer. These recent imports from Japan make little to no sense. The characters for each show are interchangable weirdos with ridiculous hair. They seem to always be screaming about this or that with more overacting then a trashy horror film.

At first I found the animation style of anime to be refreshing and amazing. Though I feel it has certainly gone downhill a bit since comming to America, it is still better than much of the 80s toons as far as its technical brilliance. The anime art lacks the variety and feeling put into those old cartoons of my youth. It often feels manufactured. Those old 80s toons were obviously less refined in their art, but they brought, and still bring, those farm fuzzy feelings.

Its no contest. Those cartoons many of us children of the 80s watched beat this new crop of anime hands down.

Movie reviews: The Transformers (2007) – Part 63

Not exactly “more than meets the eye”, and you’ll be thankful for it. If you’re hoping for a bizarre twist, or even a surprise within this film, I feel confident that I can dash those hopes for you. If, however, you want to see the best darned big-budget popcorn movie in years if not decades, you must not miss The Transformers.

For those who fondly remember the original toy line and cartoon, the pleasure of perfectly executed nostalgia is almost too much to bear. For those unfamiliar with the original source material (TV-by-way-of-Hasbro-by-way-of -Takara-toys)strap in and prepare yourselves for the greatest cool-fest in memory.

A lot of actioners aspire to use the velocity and intensity of their happenings to illuminate characters and their development. With The Transformers, this is unapologetically reversed. The human characters are only really used as a point of relatability for the audience,a common thread to unite the massive strands of awesomeness.

I may have had a better time in a mainstream movie, but I don’t remember when.

For Shia LaBoeuf fans, he’s endearing but underused. The rest of the cast is either virtually nonexistent or gloriously, blissfully metallic.

I promise you will learn nothing, think little, and enjoy more fun than you have any right to expect from a summer blockbuster.

Roll out!

Movie reviews: The Transformers (2007) – Part 62

I have great memories as a child, the whole family gathered round at Christmas to watch that big blockbuster movie; but something I always feel strongly about is that for a movie to have that real longevity and real appeal to the younger audience the film really needs to be set in the present; the reason? Because kids have great imaginations, and they love to believe that the sort of things that happen to the kids in these could happen to them. Goonies, Lost Boys, Gremlins, Back To The Future, and Independence Day all being prime examples of this, good family movies that all can relate to. I’ve not seen a really good example of this sort of movie since Stargate, and from the opening hour of Transformers I realised that the kids of today could now have that same feel that I had.

When Transformers were big first time round I was a bit too old, I was at the stage when kids my age stopped playing with toys, and I was gutted; a whole period of my childhood was spent playing with seemingly bad toys, then all of a sudden these amazing toys that were in fact two toys for the price of one appeared on our shores. I’d secretly watch the cartoon but never admit to it, now I had the opportunity to enjoy Transformers without stigma attached; after all it was pretty much THE film of the summer.

Transformers opens with two separate stories that connect as the movie progresses; in the Far East in a US army camp Captain Lennox (Josh Dummal from Turistas AKA Paradise Lost) is looking forward to his return home to see his newly born daughter. But the arrival of a long missing helicopter brings this dream to an end; more or less the entire bases inhabitants are killed when the helicopter turns into a giant killer robot; and Lennox and a few survivors must make their way across the desert in order to communicate with the White House and tell them of the impending terror.

In a small community in the US Sam (Shia LeBeouf) is looking forward to getting his first car, but his dream turns sour when he ends up at a bottom of the ladder car dealership, and a dealer with unscrupulous methods. Sam spots a car shortly after the dealer tells him that the car often picks its owner, something about this car certainly picked Sam. In an attempt to sell him a wreck of a car instead after haggling over the price of this chosen car fails, the car seems to re-emphasise its choosing by smashing all the windows in every other car.

It’s not long before Sam realises that his new car is something

Easy ways your family can go green

There are easy ways your family can go green. Mother Earth is worth saving as She is our abode. Make a conscious effort to saving Earth’s resources and preserve our land and what better place to educate the next generation than at home. You will probably be amazed, years after you first start making the effort to go green, how your home is transformed into a lean and clean abode. You will also notice a positive change in your attitude towards materials, possesion and life.

What are easy ways your family can go green? The first way will probably be to throw the wastebasket out of the individual rooms in your house and implement a fine on those who mess up their rooms and the common areas in the home. Keep the rooms neat and clutter free. It has been shown that clutters in the home trap heat and prevent good ventilation. If you live in the tropics, you will feel the effect even more and it is likely that you would use the fan or air-conditioner more frequently. Open the windows wide instead to ensure that the house is well-ventilated the natural way. Sunlight is also good for the home as it gets the damp feeling out of the house.

A common disposal area will also educate the family on the ‘rubbish’ that can actually be recycled. Have empty clean milk and cereal cartoons placed next to the waste basket to contain paper waste. You will be surprised at the number of cartoons you can fill with brochures, pamphlets, notices and small pieces of paper, at the end of the month. If you have children who cannot differentiate the various ‘wastes’, designate a basin for them to put containers in. You can then do the sorting.

Buy organic food – send a clear signal to farmers that food grown on chemicals are not welcome! Buy food in bulk. You will save time on shopping trips and money on petrol. Add less condiments to your food – enjoy the fresh and natural taste of food and save your heart!

Take the mass transport systems where possible, cycle or walk – save years of your life by keeping healthy and conserve petrol. You will also be able to smell fresh air everyday.

Reuse, reduce, recycle: Paper milk and drink cartons can be recycled by cutting off the top flap and rinsing the carton. Let them air dry and they make great containers for crafts items such as crayons, odds and ends and stationery. Naturally, they make great materials for kids crafts too! The cartons can be used to hold used paper and envelopes into neatly. Chances are only one side of the paper is used,

More than meets the eye: Anticipating the release of the Transformers movie – Part 11

The Transformers is destined to be a killer blockbuster, packed with the characters many of us know and love from the cartoon series and original goofy animated film as well as the somewhat darker and more tragedy-filled comics the followed. The film has taken a non-nonsense approach that shows guts: jumping right into an all-out war involving the humans rather than beating around the bush like the comics did back in the day (when most robot conflicts went unnoticed by the people of Earth).

While there is doubtful to be much in the way of complex plot – as evidenced by the visually-gripping but duologue-lacking trailers – there is sure to be amazing action and special effects. As such, Steven Spielberg seems to be the best choice for the role of Executive Director. Spielberg is brilliant at turning standard blockbusters into epic and gripping thrillers. Between the creative live-action cinematography and classic iconography, this movie is sure to be a hit with fans of all kinds – from people like me who watched the series and owned the toys as a child, to anyone interested in seeing an action-packed summer movie!

Animation Japanese Programs That Bubble With a Sense of Humor

The world of animation has many different niches that can be covered. You will find that for people who are interested in animation Japanese style animation is taking off quite nicely. The influence of this style of animating can be seen in a number of different forms and countries.

While you may not think that this genre of animating can become popular and compete with the well known favorites of Fred Flintstones, Popeye the Sailor and even Transformers then you would be quite wrong.

There are many examples of very popular animation Japanese style cartoons and even movies. These programs will have faithful followers who will love watching how the events on their favorite program progress. One of the interesting things that you will find in these Japanese based animations is that most of the characters don’t look Japanese.

This is not a slight to the culture of Japan as you will find many subtle references to the culture in some of these animation Japanese style shows. There are other animations which feature outer space actions and people who have no connection to us.

While some of the earlier anime series may not be recognizable to the newer generation of anime fans these are ones that have provided the foundations for people loving to watch anime programs. The early anime style programs that you may remember watching are ones like Voltron, the Robotech series, among others.

The newer wave of animation Japanese programs that you will find are ones like Gundum Wing, Sailor Moon, Card Captor Sakura, Princess Tutu, Dragon Ball Z, Earth Defense Family and many others. These programs have spawned a number of DVDs, video games, books and many other products.

With each of these different products you can be assured that many new followers to animation Japanese programs are discovered or born. There is another aspect to this style of animation that people sometimes forget when they are looking at the different Japanese animation programs.

This form is that of the desktop wallpaper designs that you can find on the internet. With these different forms you will notice that you can download the ones that you want. There are many different sites that will allow you to use this facility.

With so many different types of animation Japanese programs and even movies you will see why there are people who look at these with never ending interest. One of the best reasons for you to look at these animation Japanese programs is the fun and sense of humor that you will see bubbling through with each program.

Thoughts on Spider

Spider Man, Spider Man

Does Whatever a Spider can

Spins a Web any size

Catches Thieves just like flies

Look Out! Here comes the Spider Man!

Is he Strong, Listen Bud

He’s got radioactive blood

Can he swing from a thread?

Take A look Overhead.

Hey, there! There goes the Spider Man!

In the chill of night at the scene of a crime,

Like a streak of light he arrives just in time!

Spider Man Spider Man

Friendly neighborhood Spider Man

Wealth and Fame? He’s ignored

Action is his reward. To him ,

Life is a great big bang up.

Whenever there is a hangup,

You’ll find the Spider Man.

Watching the Classic TV cartoon from the 1960’s I never could say the words or sing the song as a Kid in the 1970’s . The only time I saw Spider Man when he was on the Electric Company on PBS. Also the Ill Fated TV Series that came on CBS in 1978. I love this Superhero and a child I had a life size pinup poster of him in my room. He is the only Superhero that I had dreams of when I was small. On Halloween I went as Spider Man Trick or Treating. I even had the toy web shooter that shoot out foam but it didn’t work. The one thing I wished is that I could be bitten by a radioactive spider myself. I even bought a “Magic” book from the streets that told me that I could transforms my life into anything I want and guess what I wanted to transforms myself as you guess it… Spider Man. I bought this when I was 14 years of age. The only way I could transforms myself as Spider Man was to read the Comics books. I collected all the Spider Man titles, Amazing, Sensational, Spectacular etc. All the Issue Limited Issues even the time in the Amazing series he fought Firelord and Won. Now for those who never heard of Firelord, he is a former Herald of Galactus like the Silver Surfer . Also when Spider Man fought the Juggernaut and Won. Now there was a time he inherit the power Cosmic and annihilated all villains in the Marvel Universe.Spider Man even teamed with his Deadliest foe in Venom to fight a new deadlier threat in Carnage. The WallCrawler has always face enormous challenges in his storybook career and finds the knack of always overcoming. Spider Man is just a regular guy that has everyday problems like everybody else but like his great uncle Ben Parker said “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility” and has never misguided that great fortunate day of being Called the Amazing,Sensational Spectacular Spider Man.

Manga are not just comic books

Manga is not a comic book in any definition of comic book.

Manga is something onto itself.

Yes Manga has some of the same elements of a comic book but it is very different.

Manga is a different sort of art where as comics are while I don’t think that there is a word that can explain it and I don’t think that it has to be explained.

It just like saying cartoons and animation are the same thing while its not and its really insulting to compare cartoons which are what children watch and animation which is what adults or older children watch.

While the same can be said for comics and Manga don’t get me wrong I like both of them just like I like cartoons and Manga.

I just don’t like how people who know nothing about it will clump it together just because they are ignorant.

I think that people shouldn’t talk about things they don’t understand it just makes them come across as really stupid.

Like I said Manga is nothing like comic books although the do have some comic book features just like comic books have some of the same features as a manga book.

Although there are sort en features that comics don’t have and the manga does and vice versa.

One is the eyes the characters in manga have big expressive eyes while in comic books the characters eyes are normal.

In most cases Manga is black and white

Comic books are in color

Manga has more adult situations (nudity and sex)

Comic books not so much

Manga handles subjects that comics seem afraid to touch.

An example of this is Sailor Moon the original Sailor Moon not the rated stuff we have here but in the original Sailor Moon all the Scouts where gay and Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars were big time lovers even though yes Sailor Moon was also together with Tuxedo Mask.

She needed a man in order to take over being the ruler of the moon and of earth.

Or the original version of Ranma is nothing like they show on TV here

It was meant for adults but some how when it came over seas it was transformed into what we see today.

Not that the versions we get over here are bad or anything it just doesn’t have that bite to it.

I am a big collector of Manga and comics.

Both are an art form.

Both are wonderful stories.

But they are not the same and I really wouldn’t want them to be.

Different is good.

Sameness is bad.

If everyone and everything was the same what a boring word we would have.

Movie reviews: The Transformers (2007) – Part 61

Caution: Some spoilers.

Transformers the movie came to theatres like an event, not just a film. As a fan of the Hasbro toys during my youth, and the cartoon I knew I would go to experience it. I have always thought director Michael Bay was on the cutting edge of action film technology and after Bad Boys 2 thought his work was just plain cool. However Transformers failed to recapture the fun I previously enjoyed with the concept and ruined any fun I may have gotten from visiting the theatre; disappointing.

The movie kicks into gear mixing action with comedy. Shia LaBeouf does a fine job in the lead role, however the jokes start to run thin before the middle of the film. Eventually they went from humorous to just plain corny and the moments were as awkward as seeing a stand up comedian bomb on stage. The jokes and action began to seem diluted down to a kids movie, which the film could very well have been made to cater exclusively to such, however what it does is try to walk a tight rope between adults and children; teetering and falling off. Comedic performance by man and machine just grew annoying.

The action, aside from big computer robots, is standard Bay. Several time as one watches fancy new cars come driving through smoke and racing around to rock music, they surely pause and think: this is a car commercial! Product placement was heavy in this film and quite apparent, with close ups on name brands on computer chips, to cell phone brand names being called out, to a soda machine turning into a Transformer.

Michael Bay has directed some awesome action scenes in the past and with this new film he basically revisited each of them like some sort of film cannibal. The shoot out from Bad Boys 2 where they are in the house of the Jamaican pirates is basically done again only with a robot in a bunker room. When the Transformers fall to Earth he makes sure to make a joke about how it is cooler than Armageddon and near the end when Shia runs into a large building the camera shot looks awful close to one of the destructive ones used in that Bruce Willis film as well. The car chase scenes fell flat when compared to his work in the Bad Boys franchise, The Rock, or even The Island; even with the giant robots who apparently ice skate on pavement. The other similarity to another film that stuck out to me was a battle sequence where the army men are trying to call for help, but the operator on the other end of the phone will not connect the call without a credit

Michael Bay: Destroying our childhoods? – Part 3

Michael Bay didn’t destroy anyone’s childhood.

Transformers is and remains a product of the 80s, a glorified advertisement for the product they’re selling. As G.I. Joe was, as TMNT was, as Pokemon was, as Naruto is now. The product may change over time (toys to cards to comics) but there’s always a product attached to the show.

To say that Transformers was lacking in depth of story is to be ignorant of the show as it stands now. I’ve seen several episodes of the show recently and they do not hold up at all. The thing that makes them great is the memory of how great they were at the time. Even the much-heralded movie from 1986 doesn’t stand up to a repeat viewing, other than as a time capsule of “remember when this was cool?”

I personally was a huge Ninja Turtles fan growing up. I’ve been buying the DVDs of the old cartoon that they’ve been releasing, but I don’t watch them. I saw a few episodes and couldn’t believe I enjoyed it back then. But it’s not made for me as I am now. It was made for who I was when I was 12. I can’t fault the show for not growing with me, it was made for a certain time and a certain audience and both of those are now gone. All that remains is nostalgia.

This same argument showed itself when the new Star Wars movies came out. And the same idea applies, the attachment of nostalgia to something that was there already will cloud your judgment of the new something, no matter what. Show a 12 year old the new Star Wars movies now and they’ll love them. Show them the old trilogy and they’ll enjoy those too, as did everyone else at the time. You can’t blame Star Wars for you growing up, but it’s still entertaining for a certain audience.

You can’t blame Transformers for you growing up, but it’s still entertaining for a certain audience. Destroyed childhood or not, it made enough money that, in the end, there will be more. And with rumors of G.I Joe and Thundercats in the works, it’s something that’s not stopping anytime soon.

Get used to your shattered childhood.

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